traquil de campinas,

yup im here and its crazy. first off ctm/past week. last week flew by. it seemed as if we were slowly waited for something to come but having no idea what was on the other side. sorry we didnt get to write emails yesterday but in the mish our pdays are wednesdays now. so anyways we had a lot of instructions leaving the ctm about health and orientation for the mish. lots and lots of pictures with lots and lots of goodbyes.it was tough because i did make a lot of friends there but i know that were always united through the work of god. anyways the ctm was boring so ill just tell you about yesterday and today. yesterday we boarded the bus at about 10 am with our bags packed ready for war. there are 5 americans and 7 brasilians that all came in yesterday. 4 from provo have been reassigned state side and i guess well have to see how that goes for them. sao paulo was super dreary and cold. campinas is on the other side of the mountains. even though its only 1.5 hours away. we come here and its just the perfect temperature with the sun out and everything. campinas is a pretty wealthy town for brasil. we could see that as soon as we drove into town. a lo nicer than sao paulo. there are a ton of huge shoppings (malls) here. its pretty legal. also on the drove we say the campinas temple. it is set aside on its own hill a little ways off the free way and it is straight up beautiful. wow. a little ways into town we went to the mission home. the mission home is really nice. pretty much marble everything 3 stories a pool. they really know how to live here. we met president and sister tanner who are both way nice. i know im really going to like them. we had a typical brasilian lunch of lasagna rice beans lettuce whatever and then some really really good brownies. you guys have no idea how much i crave american food. luckily theres a mcdonalds close to our house and i can hit that up. we conversed with them for 3 or so hours and then headed to the mission office which is also super nice. we learned about our money and the rules for the mish. which soccer is allowed. not very common in brasil. weird but true. then they took us outside and there was a bunch of elders singing called to serve outside the door. pretty cool. they then called us up one by one. of course i was second. it was like me standing in front of everyone them just staring at me. then they called out my companion elder boureros. everyone went crazy hugs going around clapping haha pretty exciting. well my campanion is from logan utah. hes been out 1 year and 8 months. hes a pretty cool guy. he also likes taylor swift so i think well get along fine but he also hates byu. def not cool. btw when do they start football. i would like a schedule or something and some recaps por favor. back to the past, present, future? i dunno um oh yeah hes way good at portugues and i am not. our area is in the city of campinas. it is so clean compared to sao paulo. i already love it. our apartment/house is pretty nice for missionaries i guess. we have a bedroom a study room and a small kitchen. i havent seen any creepy crawlers around it so i think i will be fine. anyways we got back at like 545 and about 6 he was like are you ready? looks go back and look at how i was feeling. first off i was really confused and lost when we got our companions and everyone was leaving. i had no idea what was going on. also i was a little worried and not to forget nervous. anyways i was asked this and you can imagine how i was feeling. not prepared...excited...super nervous...scared. uh huh so we went to the bank but on the way we started talking to people or should i say he started talking to people. i was in a bit of a shock. just kinda staring at people nodding my head up and down and saying boa noite when the conversation was over. man im good. well after these couple of contacts we went to the bank to take out some cash. on the way back up the road i got cat called twice. yup no lie. not that i knew they were cat calling me but my companion translated so i knew what was going on. creepy and now im even more scared. legal. next we have legit appointments. we visited a lady who is getting married september 3 so she can be baptized on the 4th. her son was there and was asking me questions and all i could do was stare at him blankly. hmmmm this should be an interesting couple of weeks neh? anyways i kinda just stood there lost in the portugues language. my companion talked to her about the baptism and wedding and her future husband. we said a prayer and left. first experience i was sweating pretty bad. still shocked. second experience we went and taught a 12 year old boy and his mom about prophets and about keeping the sabbath day holy. or my companion did. i nodded my head and went along with it. afterwards all of our appointments feel through cause no one was home and we did some more street contacts and went home. i was so tired and shocked that i couldnt even think. i zoned completely out. somehow i unpacked all of my stuff and went to bed. tough first day but also my only first day. woot. today is pday so its all good. we met up with elder miller and his companion who are in our district and are really close so thats good. we study this morning and are now at this internet place writing emails. were supposed to go have lunch with the district or zone leader i dunno. the first day was a shock. i was way lost but i feel more confident today and can def understand better. nerves just got the best of me. common for everyone right? we have more appointments tonight so ill be ready for that. mom my health is a lot better now. i think it was the ctm/sao paulo smog air. its clean here and there arent 200 elders around me at all times so i feel good. there is a lot to learn. i knew that coming in and i look forward to it everyday learning a little bit more. im glad my family is doing so well. i got the wedding announcements and a letter from cassie the last day in the ctm. so thanks for that. everyone is jealous of our good looking italian clan. i know portugues will come. its tough but its going to try me in every way and it will be really good for me in the end. i look forward to being fluent but i know there is a lot of work to get there. the gospel is true and people need to hear that. this is my motivation. eu posso faze-lo. i can do it. its going to be the best 22 months now. i can already tell. hard work will shape me into what i need to be and the lord will strengthen me as i am his servant. i love the gospel i love my savior and i love my family.hope the wedding is amazing. i love you cassie and spence. boa sorte. ate a proxima semana.

ELder DE SAnti III

ps dad can you send me all your lesson ideas. i dont remember the entirety.

pss photos included from the c