Wow this whole Email thing is isn't as nice as calling and talking on the phone.

"...oh well, only 5 more months until we talk again... Anyways... Hey family how is everyone doing? I know I just talked to everyone like 4 days ago but still, any new and exciting things happen? By the way it was GREAT talking to you all. You all sounded great and I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing well...

...So I don't think I said in the email what we did for Christmas or Christmas Eve so I'll start talking about that. Down here, things are a little different. They don't wait for Santa Claus to pass by during the night and then get up in the morning and open presents. Down here, they have everyone together for Christmas Eve, have a huge party, wait up until midnight, and then open up all the presents. So because of the traditions, President told us all that we could stay at a member's home until 11 so that's what we did. Elder Moretti, Me, and the LZs Elder Melo and Peterson, all went to the stake patriarch's home. They're pretty well off, especially for Brasil, so there was a flipping feast there that we got to attack. It was amazing. I don't think I ever mentioned this, but down here Stroganoff is pretty big, they have it over rice, and so the Patriarch had stroganoff, with SHRIMP!!!! It was the first time I had seafood in like... 7 months! I was in heaven. Then eventually after we finished demolishing the main courses, we had dessert which had ice cream (which is pretty dang pricey down here) and cake and all sorts of goodness. It was amazing. Then eventually we went home aand got up for Christmas. For Christmas, I waited for 2 and a half hours while my comp called home (his mom is super clingy and wouldn't let him hang up) and then we went to lunch with the LZs again. This time we went to a different sister's house where she made even MORE food. Seriously, the main course had like 26 different things. It was ridiculous. And then we got to attack dessert, which was another 11 different dishes. Yeah, I was pretty much rolling out the door. But after that I went home and tried to call you guys, eventually we got in contact and after that we went back to work. Yup, Christmas for missionaries...

But now that Christmas is in the past we're back to working again. First thing that you guys should know is transfers happened again. (Already?!?!?!) I'm now serving waaaaaaay in the interior. Just kidding, I'm staying in Ponta Grossa for at least another 6 weeks. Elder Moretti is still my companion too, he's going to "die" the 19th of January so we don't really know exactly what will happen when he goes home but we'll worry about that in another 3 weeks. But yeah, we're going to keep tearing it up until he "dies". Speaking of tearing it up, we saw something really funny. We passed through a papelaria (paper store) ato buy a couple things. While we were there, we saw this person try to get out of being parallel parked. She slammed on the gas and rammed the car in front, then slammed the gas in reverse and hit the car behind. The she slammed on the gas again and scraped the length of her car along the bumper of the car in front as she left. It was ridonkulous. Seriously, the worst driving I have ever seen...

...Oh, we also had a baptism yesterday. Her name's D and her husband is a member... But I was in a division with another Elder and we ran by the chapel really fast so we could start filling the font and then we went to go finish the division. We got back to the chapel and we had a minor problem: the water was GREEN! Not a nice healthy looking green either, like sewage dark green. what we think happened was the Elders from another ward had a baptism and they tried to use the water heater to make the water hot. Problem is, the heater is broken and they were pumping pure gas in with the water, hence the green. D didn't want to get baptized in that water and I don' blame her. So we drained all the water, turned off the gas which was on, and started filling it again. Problem was, the water was green AGAIN. So we turned off the tap for the font and started filling the font with buckets. Yes, it was very, very slow. Eventually around 9:00 we had a kneeling baptism (what you do when the water level isn't very high- they kneel and get baptized kneeling) and it all worked out in the end. Yup, quite the adventure...

...But yeah that's basically what happened this week... I hope everything is going well for you all and that you enjoyed talking to me on Christmas as much as I enjoyed talking to you guys. I love you all."

HEEEEeEEeEeeeEllLLLlLLLLLLLLLLLLLoooo00000OOOOOOOOO

"...Oi Família! Tudo bem? Tudo otimo aqui! Como vocês estão? Estão pronto por Natal? Já terminaram suas Aulas? Okay I'll knock it off. But seriously, how are you guys doing?...

...Life down here is going well. Paraná (the state I'm in) is really Bi-polar. Its supposed to be summer but it got super cold and rainy. Like I actually had to bust out a jacket. Strange, I know. Its was pretty nice though, its the first time it felt kinda like Christmas- cold and wet- so I am kinda enjoying it. Did you guys watch the Christmas devotional? I hadn't really thought of home or anything trunky but then President Uchtdorf started talking about the Grinch and apple cider and leaving cookies out for Santa. It made me a little trunky. I also had to explain to all the Brazilians about leaving cookies out for Santa. Can you believe that they don't do that down here? They looked at me like I was weird when I explained it to them. Strange place...

But anyways, this week was a good week. Actually, it was a really difficult week- but that doesn't change that it was a good week. We are having a hard time finding people to teach and we basically did nothing but knock doors the whole week. I felt like Phil in Ireland- constantly getting rejected... But we also had Stake Conference here and that was sweet. President C came out from Curitiba (its about a 2 hour drive) to give a talk and we also had President A of the Seventy give a talk. It was great. They spoke a lot about missionary work and how they need to do more to help us. President A had all the full-time missionaries stand up and he told the stake to take a good look at us and that they have to do more to help us and when they do there will be more baptisms and that the church will grow stronger... after the conference was over Bispo came up to us and said that we all need to work together more and that the Ward needs us and our help... It was sweet. After that, things have started improving a lot. We have a new LMA who wants to work with us and we're starting a new program to work with the Home Teachers (I had to stop for a sec and remember the term in english... strange...) to help get inactives coming back to church and start completing NTM (Não total membros- families that aren't all members). I think things are going to start taking off from here.

...We also have 3 very solid baptisms marked. One will be tonight actually, her name is D... Well, with our new awesome Zone Leader, Elder Melo (Seriously this guy is a total stud. He has the same time on the mission as me and he's already trained and is a LZ agora.) who sits down with the families and help them understand how important baptism is and why they need to let their daughters be baptized. But so yeah, we are baptizing them all now that they have permission to be baptized. We also have another M marked for Sunday and we have a NTM that will be baptized after Christmas. Her name's D... But yeah, we're baptizing a lot here in Ponta Grossa right now. We just need to get more investigators and that'll happen as we prove to the Lord that we want to teach and baptize and be guided to the people that will accept the gospel.

Hmm... other things that happened this week.... On a happier note, I successfully made cookies again this week and shared with my comp and the LZs (they live like 2 minutes away). I made a ginormous pan cookie and it was sweet (ha ha... punny). I have also been making pancakes almost every morning. I also discovered that if you put in a little strawberry nesquick they taste like strawberries. Gotta love it when missionaries improvise...

Well fam I'm about out of time so I"m going to have to wrap this up. I'm doing well, the work is progressing and we're baptising a lot. I love it down here. I'm starting to understand what President Holland meant when he said that the mission was the best time of his life. I can't imagine doing anything else right now, I love where and what I"m doing. I"m super excited to talk to you all and I hope finals and everything will finish up without any problems for you all. Love you all and até mais..."

I can't think of a witty title for this email this week

"...Well this week was an interesting one. For starters, I'm in the process of trying to get over a fever. I've been feeling kind off for the entire week but I was doing my best to ignore it and keep working but last night we were at the house of a recent convert and I was like "Oh crap, this feels like a fever." After that, the symptoms starting coming on rapidly. I managed to stagger home and collapse into bed and now its a matter of trying to stay hydrated and get this over as quickly as possible. I don't like being sick..."

"...So this week have been basically nothing but knocking doors (well, down here they clap at the gate of the house but anyways...)...  But I know that there are people here who will accept the gospel when they hear it. Speaking of accepting the gospel, WE HAD A BAPTISM THIS WEEK!!!!!!!! It was pretty unexpected. I was on a division with Elder Melo, one of our LZs and he asked me if I knew any of our investigators who had been to church several times and had received all the lessons. I thought about it for a minute and said that I did know someone. We had taught a family and the daughter had been going to church for about a month and a half now... At the end, she decided that she indeed wanted to be baptized and then that Sunday we baptized her. It was sweet. I got to baptize her and that is always super awesome..."

"...This week was also very interesting from a culinary aspect. I. FOUND. JALAPEÑOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were passing through this store to use the bathroom and buy a bottle of water and I saw them. The little green peppers of amazingness. I almost screamed. I'm pretty sure  I squealed like a little girl. And then I looked next to the jalapenos and I saw TABASCO!!!!!!!!!! I definietly squealed like a little girl when I saw that. So yeah, I bought them. And then called one of our LZs (who also is american) and told him and he also started flipping out. Our Brazilian comps were looking at us wondering what was so special about them that was making us flip out like that. But yeah, it was amazing. I am now carrying tobasco with me and putting it on all my rice and beans every day. So. Much. Better. Honestly, I do like rice and beans, but its much better with pepper and spice..."

"...But yeah, that was basically our week. We baptized, found tobasco and jalapeños, knocked a LOT of doors, had a couple run-ins with crazy people, and worked some more. All in all, it was a good week. I'm attaching 2 photos this week. One is of the Baptism of L. I was trying to involve her 11 year old cousin and let her take photos so I gave her my camera to take the pics but she didn't really grasp the concept of how to use the camera and took the photo when we weren't ready so we all look a little off but oh well. The second was a sign that we saw when we were knocking doors, just shows about how much English the Brazilians down here understand. The word they were trying to use was freezer..."

Answers from the Missionary

Dallin answered some of my questions from a previous email about what is new area is like:

"Okay I have a little bit of time waiting for my comp to finish up so I'll answer some of your questions. I'll try to take a photo of the area during the week so you can see what its like. Basically, its got hills, but not in my area. Its got farmland surrounding the city but we also have plenty of trees. VERY green. I'll take a photo for you this week. We don't have a Wal Mart, but we do have a Big, which is owned by them. Basically a mini-Wal Mart. We do have a Mickey-D's... The ward here is really good. They like us a lot...

My new comp is... the LD (District Leader for you gringos) and he's a good missionary and I'm learning a lot from him. The food hasn't changed at all- still lots of rice and beans. I have, however, grown to like and appreciate a good rice and beans so that isn't really a big problem anymore. When I started it was horrible but now, its all good. You can go all day on a stomach full of rice and beans..."

Its P-Day! P-Day! P-Day! (Sung to the tune of Beat It by Michael Jackson)

"Oi Família! How are things? I'm glad to hear you all had an excellent Thankgiving...I can't believe that its already December. I can't believe that Christmas is in like 3 weeks. I can't believe I hit my bump day this week. Man, time flies. So anyways, I realized that In 24 days I get to talk to yo all! Excited? I am.... but it was good for the rest of the Zone because they brought back all our letters! It was nice being able to sit down and read a good letter- thanks guys..."

"...So anyways, this week was a good week. We worked our butts off. We basically cut our entire teaching pool...  so we have been working hard trying to get new investigators. Its been hard, but good. We've found some sweet families that we're going to work more with and get them progressing. We also hit the mission padrão (standard) for lessons this week: 22. Yeah, it was a good week. Its definitely an improvement than Pilarzinho when we were grinding it out and the best I ever had in a week was 13. So yeah, I like working here in Ponta Grossa. We also got dropped with giving talks in Sacrament meeting this sunday. I don't know if you guys remember my story about last time I gave a talk in sacrament meeting here in Brasil, but this time was a little bit smoother..."

"...So I don't know if you guys have heard up in The States, but there's practically a war going on down here. The Army has invaded a couple of the favelas in Rio where there's basically total anarchy and drug wars and they're laying the law down. This is major, they're like using tanks and everything. So far they've seized like 300,000 kilos of drugs (I think I heard that right). Its kinda nuts. Its kinda strange to me that the amry is being deployed on their own country, but its total anarchy in the favelas. Like seriously, there's no police or order- just the gangs. The new President taking a strong stand on drugs..."

"...But anyways... Also, do we have condensed milk in the states? Its like super popular down here. Like seriously, they use it with basically every kind of dessert. They put it on bananas, jello, cake, everything. Actually, condensed milk with jello is actually really good if any of you want to try it. Oh, and while we're on the topic of culinary deliciousnesses. We made COOKIES! It was sweet! We had a FHE with a member family and some investigators, so we offered to make cookies and bring them there so they could try them (Elder Moretti has the recipies for them). We couldn't find any brown sugar so we made sugar cookies, well kinda. They kinda evolved from sugar cookies to snickerdoodles. But anyways, it worked out well. Also, since Elder Moretti is the LD, he has a leadership meeting every thursday and I get to tag along and sit there with the other junior comps. Well another Elder and I were bored so we started wandering around and eventually found our way to McDonalds, and I just couldn't resist. It was basically the same thing as McDonalds in the states -including service- but it was way more expensive. Instead of a dollar manu, its a R$3 menu. A Big Mac Meal is like 15 Reaies, so I didn't buy that- just fries, a hamburger, and a chicken sandwich. But it still was great to have a taste of home..."

"...But yeah, that was pretty much my week. LOTS of work, actually having success, cookies, Mcdonalds, bump day, and more work. All in all, it was an excellent week... Keep helping the missionaries out, this ward is teaching me just how important member help is for the missionaries... But anyways, yeah life here is going well. We're working out butts off and we're seeing blessings and its a good time to be a missionary... Keep praying for the missionaries and help all of us out. I love you all and am super excited to talk to you all in 3ish weeks!.."

Pictures that need to be Shared!

We got some pictures from Dallin from earlier on in his mission/just before he left - thought we ought to share them!

With Dad just before he left for the MTC

spelling out "BRASIL"

pointing to his mission

with Mom before he left for the MTC

New Pictures!

Here are pictures of Dallin's two most recent baptisms- F and A. 

Feliz Dia das Graças!!!!

"...Well hello fam! How is everyone doing? I'm glad to hear that you all get to be together for thanksgiving. So you are having a blizzard? Oh poor babies. Its pretty flipping toasty here so you're not getting much sympathy. Well honestly, I'm getting acclimatized (is that a word and if so did I spell it right? I don't remember how to speak English anymore! arggggggh!) so honestly if I was in a blizzard I'd probably freeze to death. Odd, coming from the guy who wore flip flops in the snow..."

"...But anyways, I am really really liking Ponta Grossa. Our area is way smaller than Pilarzinho and doesn't have hills as far as they eye can see so it much nicer when we're walking around. Combine that with teaching WAY more than Pilarzinho, and the work is much easier. Honestly, the first few days were so different from Pilarzinho I wasn't sure how to handle everything. It was just too easy. I was used to grinding it out on the hills of Pilarzinho, trying to find someone to teach, getting rejected a lot, and maybe teaching one or two lessons a day. COmpare that with here, where we taught 7 lessons on thursday. Yeah, a big difference. I have to say, now that I'm adjusted, I like Ponta Grossa a lot better. Please don't think that I'm in Paradise by any means, the area needs a lot of work... Please don't think I'm complaining about anything, I'm way excited to work here. This area is fertile ground, we just have to work hard and get things really going and growing..."

"...guess what we had this week... BATISMO!!! Yup, first week here and we had a baptism. For the record: baptizing 2 weeks in a row- best. thing. Ever. The girl who was baptized's name is A... and then on Saturday she was baptized. It was way sweet..."

 

"...But yeah I'm about out of time, so I'm going to have to wrap this up. Glad to hear that everyone's doing well and is together. Have a great thanksgiving, eat lots of turkey and pie and watch lots of football for me. (Speaking of football, what's happening in that department?) I love you all and hope you all have a splendiferous week and holiday..."

Oi Família!

"Oi família! Tudo Bem? Como vocês estão? I'm doing well. This week has been a crazy one and a lot of things have happened. For starters, I'm currently writing this email not in Pilarzinho, but in Ponta Grossa. That's right, I've been transferred. Don't know where Ponta Grossa is? Neither did I until the LZs called and told me that I was getting transferred. Ponta Grossa is way in the interior of Paraná, it was at 2+ hour bus ride to get here. Its also way different than Pilarzinho. Its a lot more humble and has way less money. Apparently its one of the highest baptizing areas of the mission, which will be a huge change from Pilarzinho. My new comp is Elder Moretti, another Brazilian. He's the LD and from São Paulo and he's getting close to the end of his mission... We haven't really talked much but he seems pretty chill. It also means that I'm going to be speaking nothing but Português this transfer. But that's totally okay with that though. My Português improved ridiculously when I was with Elder Loyola and it will continue to improve until I'm fluent..."

"...Well first, since Ponta Grossa is so far away I will only be getting mail once this transfer, twice if I'm lucky. So, if you guys have questions or basically anything you want to say to me- put it in email..." 

"...We had the Bapstism of F this Sunday too, and it was excellent. He chose me to be the one baptizing and that was totally ridiculously amazingly awesome..."

"...But yeah those are the two biggest things that happened this week- Baptisms and transfers. Oh wait, what's that? I'm forgetting something? Tomorrow I'll be 20 years old? Seriously? I don't believe you. I can't be 20. 20 means I'm old and have to be mature and responsible and all those icky things. Oh wait, I'm a missionary in Brazil and I am already doing those things. Oh well. But seriously, thanks for the Birthday wishes. It'll seriously feel like just another day of the mission. Maybe I'll make a cake or something...."

"... I'm doing well, I've got a new area and a new comp and loads of opportunities to prove myself to the Lord. I'm stoked to get out there and start working and bringing more souls unto Christ. I love you all and can't wait to talk to you all for Christmas. (5 weeks, right?) but yeah love you all and until next week..."

*Insert generic email title here*

"...Well hey there fam. How's everyone doing? Do you have snow yet? Its raining and actually cool here, which is a welcome change from the baking hot heat we have usually. Okay, its not really that hot compared with Arizona but it when you're climbing gigantic hills and out in the sun for hours on end it gets pretty dang toasty. Okay most exciting news of the week is I MAILED YOUR CHRISTMAS PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I'm pretty flipping excited about it. The lady said it could get there in 10 days but I kinda doubt it and I think it'll get there in a little bit more time than she said. Still, I hope it gets there in time for Christmas. Like I said, I'm pretty stoked about it...Speaking of packages, I got a package from BoB this week. It was amazing. She most definitely gets the sender of the week award..."

"...This week has been way better than the last few weeks. (In reference to his companion)We're working a lot better in unison and we're having success. We have baptism scheduled for this Sunday and we're really excited about it. His name's F. He is the boyfriend of a member of the ward and he's been to church like 8 times and is really excited to be baptized. Its great to see all the hard work pay off and to see someone genuinely excited about baptism..."

"...Satan is always trying to counter-attack, though, and he's found a new way to make my life aggravating: bugs. It appears there's some kind of bug down here that I'm allergic to and when it bites me I swell up like a balloon. I got bit on my pinky finger and it swelled up to about the size of my ring finger. Another time I got bit it was swollen and irritated from the base of my pinky to my wrist... annoying... But yeah, the work goes ever on and on..."

"...But yeah to be honest nothing too exciting happened this week. Lots of work, lots of sun. Speaking of sun, my hair keeps getting lighter and lighter. Like I showed my pictures to a member family and they asked if I had dyed my hair black for the wedding. That's when I realized I'm a very light brown now. Who knows, maybe I'll be blond by the end of my mission lol. But yeah, I'm doing good. I had an interesting experience last night, I kinda just stopped and realized that I despite all the hard work and frustrations and setbacks, I really am having an amazing time and I really do love being here on the mission. I really do have a testimony of the Gospel and how it blesses lives. I love Brasil and I love being here. I love you all, I pray for you all and hope you all are doing great..."

  Dallin and Elder Loyola at the start of the transfer 

November 3rd update

"...Life down here is going well. Its stinking summer here and its really blooming hot. I'm sunburned again... On the bright side I'm also gloriously tan and the pounds are practically melting off me as well...which made me a very happy missionary. I guess these hills are actually good for something. Yesterday was Dia dos Mortos (Day of the Dead) and everyone was out partying and drinking in the streets, it made missionary work lots of fun. They have lots of holidays down here..."

"...Life down here keeps going, I can't believe that its already November. This whole being on the other side of the world thing is really confusing me. Christmas during the summer... weird... just weird... I think that the most exciting thing that happened this week is I learned how to harvest bananas. One of the members in the ward gave us a call and asked us if we could help haul some sewing machines from his garage up to his house at the top of the hill. Well, turns out they were those 20-year-old cast iron type sewing machines that weigh a ton (actually like 50-60 pounds), and guess who got to haul them up to the top? That's right, the gringo. I felt manly after it and I did the haka at the top of the hill to demonstrate my manly powers. But anyways... after that Helverton (o membro) told us he would let us harvest bananas in the lot next to the house. I was excited to learn and to climb a tree, but turns out that they do it a little differently here. He handed me a kitchen knife and pointed to the tree and told me to go for it. Yep, to harvest bananas they cut down the whole tree. And so I cut down the tree. With a kitchen knife. It was pretty sweet..."

"... I love you all, pray for you all, and hope you all are doing great. Prayers, packages, cookies, taco seasoning, prayers, and love are always appreciated..."

Extra "Conversation" With the Boy

When Dallin sent out his email last week, I happened to be online too. So I sent him a quick email and we got to "chat" back and forth until it was time for him to get off the computer. Here is a bit of our mini conversation:

C: Hey Bubba are you still online?

D: Yuppers, for about another 15-20 minutes

C: Sweet! So what's up!? How are you? Is today your PDay? Whatcha gonna do today?

D: Well right now I'm not feeling too great, I've been fighting getting sick since Saturday. I think we're just going to write letters and chill in the apartment this p-day. Sounds boring, I know but its nice to just relax and chill for a while.

C: Sick? Yucky! Is it more like a cold or a stomach flu? Take care of you! And I think an easy P day sounds nice and relaxing- you deserve it! Have you gotten my last few letters? Did you get your package yet?

D: I think its a sinus infection. I have gotten your last few letters- thanks for them I appreciate it. Packages take like 2-3 months to get here so I'm not expecting it for quite a while.

C: Oh sorry Bubba- get better okay? Oh really, no package yet? They take that long to get there? Well good thing I sent it a month and a half early!  So are you having a good time in Brazil? Do you really like it?

D: Yeah I really do like it here. Some things are really similar and others are really different, but I really do like it here. Its beautiful here and the people are wonderful 

C: That is so cool Bubba- I wish we were there with you to see everything that you see and be everywhere that you are... but you can just show us pictures I suppose! Do they have Halloween in Brazil? Or is it more like the Day of the Dead? 

D: They have it, but nobody really does anything for it. Its kinda sad actually. But they are having the elections on that day (I think its kind of fitting)

C: Lol talk about random timing! Do they have Thanksgiving in Brazil? Or any other big holidays that are coming up other than Christmas? 

D: They have lots of feriados- basically days off of work but no, no big holidays soon.

5 Months and Then Some

"Can anyone believe it is almost November? Its nuts, it seems like yesterday it was June and I was sitting in the MTC- man how time flies. I don't know if anyone is keeping track, but tomorrow I will be hitting 5 months, and then during the month of November I will hit both 6 months and 20 years. This is kinda freaky how fast things are going..."

"...we went to Wal Mart because it was close and off the street and safer (being out on a Brazilian street past curfew is a little scary). While we were there I found 2 marvelous things: HAGEN DAAZ (or however you spell it... the ice cream) and Tortillas!!!!!! Yeah, that made waiting a little bit better (American ice cream is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than brazilian)..."

"...We also marked a baptism for next week. His name is Fabiano, he's already gone to church like 6 or 7 times and his girlfriend is a member- he's very excited to be baptized and he's ready..."

"...I know that I am going through a bit of a difficult time right now but its all worth it because this really is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its an honor to be serving in the mission field sharing the Gospel with other children of God. I love you all and pray for you. I really apreciate recieveing letters from you all and its always great to hear from you. Hope you all have a great week and I look forward to hearing from you next week.

Eu amo vocês..."

English? What is this strange language that seems so natural for me to understand?

"Oi familia! Tudo bem? How is everyone doing? How is my little sobrinho/sobrinha? How is life in the states? Its funny to hear you guys talk about how it is getting cooler up there because down here it is getting hotter and hotter. Curitiba's pretty far up in the mountains and the sun is way strong here so I'm starting to fry. Seriously, its easier for me to burn here than it was for me to burn in Arizona. I bought sun screen and I'm using it now so don't worry, my sunburn will go away soon and I don't plan on getting another one. The members got a good laugh out of my face though. I'm toasted but not too bad. We alternate between rainstorms and baking sun. What's really fun is when you get a combination of both- 90% Humidity and pretty hot too... fun... there are times when I feel like I'm swimming not walking. I have decided that I really don't like humidity. It could be worse though, I could have been called to João Pessoa or another mission in the nordeste. There, they have to deal with this year round..."

"...life is going good down here. Seriously, it may seem like I'm complaining but I'm actually doing pretty well. I actually got my letters which made me very happy, and my portuguese is continually improving. We are also teaching a lot more, which is a welcome change... things are changing. We taught 7 first lessons last week which was way more that I've ever taught in one week in my mission. We're also gaining more investigators and helping them progress too. No baptisms yet but to me its more important to help them gain a solid testimony and be solid for the rest of their lives than it is to throw them in the water after 2 weeks. Right now our best investigators still are L and F- they just need more fellowshipping from the ward and to strengthen their testimonies. All in all, the work is going well here right now..."

"...Oh, I don't remember if I mentioned this last week or not but I had MEXICAN FOOD!!!!!!! There's this mexican restaurant here and last week me, Elder Loyola, Elder Brown, and Elder Pettigrew all went. I was in flipping heaven. It was basically a rodizio of fajitas. They had actual guacamole and sour cream and tortilhas..."

"...Work, sun, sweat, spirit... yep... But seriously life here is going good... Eu amo vocês e eu sei que esta evangelho é o evangelho de Jesus Cristo e sei que eu estou onde eu foi chamado. A igreja é verdadeira e eu amo sendo um missionário. Amo vocês!!!!"

Oi!

"Oi família! Tudo bem? Eu estou muito bem agora, nesta semana foi um pouco difícil, mas hoje foi maravilhosa. Oh, wait, I can think and talk in English now. That's different. Well I survived my first português-only week. The first few days were a little rocky, okay maybe a little bit more than rocky, but I'm adapting. Elder Loyola and I are getting along fine, and we're working together better. The first few days I got pretty frustrated. It can get pretty lonely not being able to speak your native language or be able to express yourself in português either... but I'm adapting quickly to portuguese-only life. Its actually really quite surprising how quickly you can learn when you are totally immersed. There's a big noticeable difference between this week and last week. I wouldn't say I'm fluent, but I'm definitely closer than I was last week..."

"During this week, nothing big really happened. Its always a struggle to find investigators or even people to teach. Forget the stereotype about walking down the street stopping and teaching in every house. We walk for miles and miles and do lots of contacts and people will give us their addresses, but when we go to teach them they either: 1) Lied 2) Aren't home 3) The house doesn't exist. We are always trying to find new people to teach, but we're not find much success; Its a bit frustrating. But we're not quitting..."

" Yesterday was a holiday called Dia dos Crianças (Day of the Children) and there was literally nobody at home or on the street... all the Brazilians were amazed when I told them we don't have that holiday back home. I told them that we have Mothers Day and Fathers Day and the rest of the 363 Days are all for the kids. They thought that was funny..." 

"Nothing too exciting happened this week, just lots and lots of walking and trying to find someone to teach. Yep, I'm a missionary. I still keep having those moments where I stop and realize I'm in Brazil, as a missionary, speaking Portuguese, changing peoples lives. We have lots of trials and challenges right now but I wouldn't have it any other way..." 

Carta 5/10/10

"Things are moving and changing here in Curitiba. We had transfers this week and things have been shaken up a bit. I'm still in Pilarzinho but Elder Brown got transfered. My new comp is Elder Loyola, a Brasileiro from São Paulo. I've been with him all of about two hours but I think we'll get along well. This will also probably be the only time this week that I can think in English, the rest of the time I'll be trying to communicate in Português. Should be fun. It was kinda a weird thought when I realized I'm the only American for miles and miles and the only way I can function is to speak Português. I'm starting to notice those times when I phrase an English sentence like I would in Português and I'm starting to forget English words. AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Conferência Geral was way sweet. There were three americans in the district and we all got to watch the sessions together in english, which made life much nicer. We also got to stay out late and watch the priesthood session live with everyone else. I never thought I'd see the day where I felt uncomfortable being out of the house after 9:30. Oh, how missions change people."

"The work here is slowly progressing. We successfully got our important investigators to church to watch conference, so that was a really great thing. We're also continuing to work with L and F... We also have been working with other investigators who are starting to honestly progress and feel the blessings of the Gospel in their lives. I was kinda wanting to get transferred out of here but I feel like there's still things I need to accomplish here in Pilarzinho, so I'm staying here." 

 

What? 4 months already?

• The brazilian elections are next week so everyone is going crazy. They strap these big speakers to VW vans and drive around blasting the person's jingles. Its kinda anoying to be doing a contact on the street and then this van drives by blasting BETO! BETO! BETO! BETO! BETO! BETO! really flipping loud. Sheesh, I thought american elections were annoying.
• There was a training for new missionaries this week (which doesn't make much sense for me seeing as I'm probably leaving my trainer next week but oh well) but it was super awesome and I learned some new things from Presidente Cordon and Os Assistentes. The biggest thing is that because of all the problems with visas with Americans, every mission is short at least 40 missionaries. So to get more missionaries, they lowered the age for brazilian boys to serve. Young men can now serve @ 18 and every Bispo is going to interview everyone from 18-25 and get them going on getting ready for missions. Its kinda crazy, but we really need more people, we keep closing areas every transfer because we lose more missionaries than we gain.
  
• Do dog whistles attract dogs or make them scatter? If they make them run away I would really, really like one. I'm sick of these stupid mutts...
• We had SUBWAY!!!!!!!!!! It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! It had BARBACUE SAUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• We taught the youth a lesson for mutual and everytime they started getting distracted we would start speaking in English. Shut them up pretty good. The Irmãs were most impressed.
• Thanks for the letters from: Mom, BoB, and Phil, I really enjoyed them.
• BYU football seems like they are having a bad year. Boo. Sucky. Well, it makes things easier for me down here.

Another week gone... How many is that now?

"Life down here in Brasil is the same craziness and wackiness as always. Its spring here, so sometimes it is chilly and dumping rain- but other times it is really flippin hot. The climate never can make up its mind- oh well. I discovered that I really do not like humidity, it makes me sweat a lot- guess I'm going to have to adjust and quickly." 

"Well last Thursday and Friday were the Leadership training meetings in Portão, so I actually got to work in another area other than Pilarzinho. It was actually way cool. We took a bus up waay north of the city and worked up there. It was the Brasil I actually expected: dirt roads and people actually willing to listen to our message. Its kinda difficult to find people to teach here in Pilarzinho so that was a really nice break to just go and teach some lessons."

"This week was kinda difficult. We had 6 baptismal dates fall on Sunday because people don't want to go to church. It gets pretty frustrating but that's just missionary life. Right now the only investigators we have that are really honestly trying to find the truth are a couple called L and F. They're actually reading and praying and feeling the spirit, and its amazing to see the changes the gospel makes in their lives. When we first met them they didn't seem happy at all, but now they are smiling and you can see how much happier they are." 

 

Address Update

For those of you looking to send Dallin a letter/package/etc. here is the best address to reach him by:

Elder Dallin Marx

Brazil Curitiba Mission

Praça Joseph Smith 15

Portão

Curitiba - PR

80610-210

Brazil

(And of course, he would LOVE a letter from anyone- feel free to send him one at your earliest convenience.)

Boa Dia de Independencia!

Dallin said that Brazil celebrated their Independence Day last week. There were lots of festivities throughout the country and lots of people enjoyed shooting off fireworks and their guns.

Dallin says the work is "progressing slowly" and at times it his hard to not become frustrated. But he says that they have been teaching a man named Lúcio who "shows a lot of promise, we just need to help him overcome a few Word of Wisdom issues".

"Also, the Mission Christmas Choir is starting up next week with Elder Brown directing it, so we've been running around like crazy getting ready for that. I also got recruited to sing bass in the choir so for now on my P-Days will include heading into Portão every morning for practice. It should be fun though, we're trying to find a tuba for me to play as a solo for a song maybe."

BATISMO!!!! (That's Português for baptism)

"...Winter is officially over down here, so now it is reallyhot, especially when we are hauling up and down the ginormous hills of Pilarzinho. But life is good down here, I'm developing a killer missionary tan and I have lost a ton of weight..."

Dallin is very positive and excited about being on his mission. He cannot believe that he has already been in the field for a month! He likes that he can not only speak to someone in Portuguese but also understand what they say back to him. (Plus it is still fascinating to him that he is in Brazil!)

"...We had transfers this week, but nothing really changed for me- Elder Brown and I are staying in Pilarzinho. I kinda figured it would happen, after all, I've only been with my Pai for four weeks. I'm glad I'm staying here though, the ward is ridiculously awesome and Elder Brown and I get along great..."

Dallin said they had their 2 baptisms on Sunday for T and M. Things went really well and there were over 60 members there to support the girls. The girls are very excited about being new members of the church and Dallin knows they are going to do great things.

"...We've been having a hard time finding enough people to teach and fill up all the hours of the day, so we decided we'd start passing by the members' houses and we'd sing a song and leave a condensed version of the first lição (lesson) with them so they would feel the Spirit and then ask if we could share our message with any of their friends. Its been going really well..."

"...Baptism, lots of walking, lots of rejection, but then lots of success too. Yeah, this whole missionary gig is pretty sweet. Eu sei que Jesus é o Cristo e eu sei que o Livro de Mórmon é verdadeiro. Eu amo Brasil e eu está muito bem. Eu amo todo mundo and eu amo de ser um missionário!"

Its A Mission

"Life down here in Brazil is going okay. Its been a bit of a difficult week. We walk up and down and up and down and up and down these huge Brazilian hills trying to find people to teach but we haven't had much success. Also, we've had some investigators disappear off the face of the earth, so we're trying to change things up and support the ward and strengthen them instead. It all balances out in the end though- we walk and work hard all day and then finish up with a really good lesson or something at the end of the day..."

Dallin said that his first baptism was on Sunday (and he is very excited!) They've been teaching these two moças (young women) named T and M and they are very accepting of the gospel and are really excited about baptism. Dallin says that even though they live far away, the walk is completely worthwhile because of the girls' excitement and happiness.

"...So yeah, things are hard...then something awesome happens and it gets better, then they get difficult again, then another awesome thing happens to get you through the hard parts. Its a mission..."

Dallin got to visit the Curitiba temple this past week and he said it was GORGEOUS.

"...We eat every day with members for lunch (lunch here is the big meal of the day). One day they had peppers on the table too, so me being me, I mixed them in with my rice and beans to add some spice. The sister started freaking out and telling me that it was too spicy and I wouldn't be able to handle it. I told her not to fret and I would be fine and ate the peppers. The sister was surprised to see me be totally fine and enjoy the peppers, because apparently it was one of the spiciest peppers in Brazil. It barely even tickled. So now the story of me and my leather tongue has started spreading throughout the ward (thanks to Elder Brown telling everyone) and the elders in the ward are going to find something to make me cry. I told them good luck and I would take whatever they dished out. I'll keep you posted on whether the Brazilians can actually find a spicy pepper..."

Just FYI

Dallin's mission has a blog: curitibamission.blogspot.com

You can check the blog out to see what is going on down there in Curitiba and meet Dallin's mission president/family.

Here is a picture they posted of Dallin when they picked him up from the airport:

Pioneer Children never walked as much as we did this week...

Dallin has had quite a busy week since we last heard from him. To begin with, the afternoon after Dallin sent his last email, he and his companion decided to cook hamburgers and french fries- just to have a taste of American food. Dallin's companion, Elder Brown, put some oil in a pan and covered it with a lid so it would heat up. Long story short, Elder Brown forgot about the oil and they noticed smoke pouring out of the kitchen. They took the lid off of the pan and saw that the oil had caught fire! After trying many different ways of putting the fire out they finally just wrapped towels around their hands and took the pan outside so the fire could finish burning without causing any damage to the apartment- crazy!

"...Our neighbors were all staring at us and making fun of the stupid Americans who tried to burn down the apartment. Quite the experience..."

Dallin says that they have experienced a difficult past couple of weeks but God saw their struggles and blessed them because of it.

"...I was actually on divições (splits) with Elder Lima in a different area called Boa Vista... while I was gone, Elder Brown went to a noite familiar (FHE) with a family and taught two girls who accepted and want to be baptized! Then, we met back up the next day and went and visited a contact we made the other day. We taught her and her boyfriend the First Lesson and the were really enthusiastic about it and really want to be baptized..."

"...we went to another noite familiar and taught a different pesquisador (investigator) and she too was really interested and excited in our message. Yep, it was amazing. We also saw success on Sunday. We have been working with this family, R and L, who were baptized a few months ago but then Satan really went to work on them and they went inactive. Well, after months of trying to get them to come back to church, THEY FINALLY DID!!!! It was awesome and they had a great experience..."

It sounds like Dallin is doing better on his Portugues as well:

"...My Português is starting to come along. I can understand people better but I still have trouble speaking it...It is kinda difficult still at times to understand all that everyone says but I'm still working on it..."

Dallin is also enjoying the Brazilian food:

"...Brazilian food is RIDICULOUSLY salty, so sometimes its all I can do to choke down the food with some water, but its usually fairly good. They also have Tang here... basic orange, mango, guava, passion fruit, grape, pineapple, watermelon, and there are more flavors too. Yep, its awesome... The pizzas have no sauce and they also have crazy different kinds of toppings. I had a stroganoff pizza. No joke. Also, they have dessert pizzas with about a centimeter of chocolate over the cheese and fruits- they're awesome. Hot Dogs are way different too with lots of different kinds of toppings..."

Finally... A REAL Missionary

"Well hello everyone- I survived my first week as an actual missionary. Its been a really long week but its been good... Pilarzinho is EXTREMELY hilly, (I have discovered) and I have done A LOT of walking this week. I think I've lost at least 5 pounds this week. I've been getting to know my area more so now I know my way around better..."

Dallin has been a "real missionary" for a week now and he is loving it. He has been keeping busy with meetings, working with the members, teaching investigators, and trying not to freeze.

"You know how they say Curitiba is chilly? They weren't exaggerating. It is FREEZING right now, and nobody heats their houses so we don't really have any place to escape the cold...I am really enjoying my big fleece missionary jacket right now."

Dallin says his area, Pilarzinho, is a little different than what he expected. There can be a very well-off neighborhood with a run-down neighborhood right next to it. He said that there are lots of bars in the area which means that people like to party and struggle with living the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity.

"My Português is improving. I am getting better at understanding what everyone is saying, but I'm still having a hard time forming my thoughts into Português..."

"Our ward here is AWESOME- they really support the missionary work, which makes life much easier. The sisters always feed us lunch, and we get a lot of diviçãos (splits) with the Elders Quorum."

"Right now, were focusing on a man named H who will be baptized on the 15th and then we are teaching a really cool family: S e W. We got them to come to church this week and they really enjoyed it. They're responding well to all the lessons we teach them so our hopes are high. Also, we've been working hard at trying to support the ward members. There's this family, A e M, whose son has drug problems so were trying to give them support. We are trying to get this less-active family, R e L, to come to church. Satan has really turned out all the stops trying to ruin their lives and were trying to help give them support with all their problems and get them to come back to church..."

Dallin says that he had no idea he would have so many meetings to go to as a missionary (district meeting, meeting with the Ward Council and Ward Missionary Coordinator, weekly planning, church, etc.) He says that there are way more meetings than he expected but he is enjoying them all.

"Know I'm doing well and I'm working hard- we're not having too much success right now but we will keep at it."

First Email from Curitiba

"I am now in Curitiba and loving it."

In his email, Dallin reviewed his last days at the CTM and then his journey to Curitiba. He said it was really hard to stay focused when he was so excited to get to Curitiba but he did it.

"I got up at 4:30am yesterday to drop off my companion at the front desk and then at 5:30ma I checked in for my departure. I was the only one who was going to Curitiba so I pretty much got dropped off at the airport by this guy who doesn't speak English and was told to find my way through the airport. We only had about an hour to pack so I didn't check the weight on my bag and it ended up going over..."

"...Eventually my flight left, it was only about an hour so we were there in no time. My baggage got through with no problems and President Cordon met me at the airport. We then went to the mission office where I met my companion, Elder Brown. He is from Atlanta, and has been out here 11 months. He is super enthusiastic and we are going to work super hard together. After that, we went to the Curitiba temple and President Cordon took a picture of me and Elder Brown outside. After that, we went to the mission home where we ate with President and Sister Cordon and their family. I'm the first missionary they've received and they were pretty enthusiastic."

Dallin said that the mission home is actually on the 13th floor of an apartment building in downtown Curitiba. Apparently in all the cities there are apartment buildings with 15+ stories everywhere.

"Riding around Curitiba was cool, its very green and MUCH cleaner than São Paulo. Its also very chilly. Ive been wearing sweaters since I've got here, which beats São Paulo and me wishing for a pair of shorts."

"After lunch, President dropped us off at our apartment and told us to get to work. I'm in a place called Pilarzinho (little pillars). Its the very farthest part north of the actual city of Curitiba with our area going a little over into another town. It is VERY hilly- I'm going to start dropping weight way fast and I have a feeling I'm going to develop legs of steel quickly if I want to survive. There's a pretty well-off area and there's also a not-so-well off area so its pretty diverse. I've also already started to develop a hatred for dogs. They growl and bark and sometimes they follow you until you act like you're going to pick up a rock and throw it at them- that usually makes them scamper."

It sounds like the language is a little more difficult than originally thought:

"I understand maybe 60% of what everyone says so having a conversation is kind of difficult at times."

"I'm super excited to be here and I know its going to be hard work but I am super excited to be out there doing it. I know that this gospel is true and I love sharing it. I'm going to do great down here."

Finally in Curitiba!

Dallin is officially in Curitiba, Brazil. His mission president is brand new so Dallin was the first missionary they received. They did snap a photo with Dallin though...

In the email they sent to my parents, Brother and Sister Cordon said:

"We are thrilled to have your son arrive yesterday in the Brazil Curitiba Mission. He has been given one of the best missionaries, Elder Brown as his trainer.

Elder Marx will be serving in Pilarzinho area. The Lord has prepared many wonderful people for him to teach there. We love your son. He will be a great addition to the Lord's vineyard."

Also, here is Dallin's new address for those of you who would like to send him a letter:

Elder Dallin Scott Marx

Brazil Curitiba Mission

Caixa Postal 9501

Portao

80613-991 Curitiba - PR

Brazil

Just keep in mind it takes about 2 weeks for mail to arrive!

Last Week in the CTM in Brazil

"Life here is going great. Thanks for all the good emails, Ive been looking forward to them all week. Life here is CRAZY busy. If you haven't been counting, this is my last week here in São Paulo. On Tuesday I leave for the magical and mystical land of Curitiba (also, apparently it really does get cold there because every Brasileiro I've spoken to about Curitiba says its cold). Were spending most of our time prepping on getting ready to go now. You know, make sure you actually know how to talk to people, make sure you know what to do in the field..."

Dallin mentioned that he can't believe he has already been out for 2 months- time sure does fly! He doesn't know when his p-day will be when he gets sent to Curitiba (so that means we don't know when we will get emails from him!)

"I had been praying all week trying to be ready and actually understand what people say when they speak and it really helped me when we were out there. We placed all six of our LDMs (Livro de Mórmon) and we had a little time to spare so Irmão Zamboni, our instructor, took us on a tour of this huge old catholic church nearby. It was cool, but the priest wasn't too happy we were there. Oh well. It was really cool to get a taste of what its like to actually be a real missionary and actually go out and talk to people about the gospel. I'm so stoked (well, there's a healthy bit of nervousness thrown in there too) to go out and be a real missionary..."

Dallin says his Portuguese has come a long way and he feels like he can actually function in society and understand what is going on around him. He doesn't like socialized health care but he loves the Brazilian food!

"Oh, so for lunch, since this is our last P day, we went to a Rodizio. Think of Fogo de Cheio, but only 15 Reis (about 9 American dollars). It was AMAZING!!!! Dad, if you were trying to make me trunky by mentioning Texas Roadhouse, nice try but I've got better down here. For an hour there was this never ending wave of meat (and amazing isn't strong enough of a word). I LOVE Brasíl!!!!!!!!"

New Pictures

A senior missionary couple in Dallin's mission took some pictures of his district when they went to the temple this past week.

Here they are:

First Week in Brazil

Dallin has now been in Brazil for just over a week and he says he is "freaking loving it here". He had nice plane rides and even got to have 2 seats all to himself for the long flight to Brazil. He did mention that it was hard to stare at his shoes for the whole flight while everyone else was watching movies... way to be a trooper Dallin.

"Once we landed here in São Paulo we got picked up and started driving across the city to the CTM. However, as we were driving the van broke down in the far right lane of the freeway, and we don't have any shoulders on the roads here. The driver just hopped out and started working on the engine right there in the middle of the freeway! It was nuts!!! Cars were whizzing by us and I learned several rude Brazilian gestures, but we were just laughing our heads off. Eventually some random person in a truck took pity on us and pulled us over to the shoulder on the left side of there freeway. There we spent about an hour and a half just sitting on the side of the freeway while they tried to fix the van and coordinate someone else to come get us. It was awesome. Eventually we arrived at the CTM, where we met our president, President Clark. I also met our new district. They are all really sweet."

Dallin has nothing but good things to say about Brazil...

"The food consists of pretty much nothing but beef, chicken, rice, beans, fruit, and guarána. Yep, I love it here."

"I am in love with the brazileiros already, they are just so incredibly happy and enthusiastic about everything."

"But yeah life here is going great."

"...I am here in Brasil and I am doing amazing."

Dallin also had a really cool experience:

"We had a really cool experience this week though. We got here in São Paulo and Elder Ludlow (my new companion) and I had to handle this really difficult TRC scenario two days later while everyone else had been prepping for it all week. What happened was we had fifteen minutes to try to teach this family and after that we get pulled out and critiqued and then we tried again. Well the first time was just plain terrible. For some reason I couldn't speak any Português for the life of me and Elder Ludlow was the same. It was awful. Let's just say our professor who critiqued us had plenty to cover. Before we went back in we said a prayer and asked for help so we could speak the language and understand what was being said. When we got back in there, Elder Ludlow just took off with practically perfect Português. It was seriously amazing. It was seriously the gift of tongues and the spirit kicking in and we taught what we needed. Amazing. I just need that help 24/7 now..."

Sounds like Dallin is going to have some great experiences in Brazil. Enjoy it Bubba!

"I love you all and I am loving life. I love Brasíl and I love the gospel."

Finally there!

"We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC."

Dallin is officially in Brazil! My mom received an email from the mission president and his wife (President and Sister Clark) letting her know that he had arrived and was doing well. My mom also got to talk to Dallin on the phone while he was in Atlanta waiting to fly to Brazil. She said he sounds very grown up and is doing well. He is happy and was SO EXCITED to finally be going to Brazil. For those of you who want to send Dallin a letter, his new address is:

Elder Dallin Scott Marx

Brazil Curitiba Mission

Brazil Missionary Training Center

Rua Padre Antonio D'Angelo 121

Casa Verde

02516-040 Sao Paulo SP

Brazil

The mission home asked that we do not send any packages to the MTC. Letters are always wonderful and usually take about 2 weeks to get there.

(When Dallin leaves the MTC I will post the address of his mission home.)

And He's Off

Dallin will be flying to Atlanta in just a couple hours and then on to Brazil! We are so excited for him! Have so much fun Dallin!!!

I'm Going to BRAZIL!!!

"Ola familia! Como vai? Eu vou bem..."

Dallin thoroughly enjoyed the "top secret fireside" and got to hear a great talk from Elder Oaks. All counted there were 8 Apostles present for the fireside and Dallin loved the experience. He also got to meet his new mission presidents, the Cordons. Dallin described the experience as being "super good" with more details in a letter he sent home to the parents.

On Tuesday the 2 missionaries who got their visas were dropped off to fly to Brazil and when Dallin's district got back to the MTC he heard his name being paged over the intercom and was told to report to the travel office. Once there they told him that his visa was in and he was going to BRAZIL! He leaves tomorrow, July 6th and will fly to Atlanta and then on to Brazil. It will actually be the morning when Dallin lands in Brazil so he will be one tired boy.

"I am really super incredibly uber mega psycho stoked, to understate it."

Dallin says this past week has been a bit harder than usual as they have been trying to speak Portuguese constantly.

"We have trying to speak as much portuguese as possible and now I understand what dad means when he says "Helen Keller Days". We asked on of the teachers how we could best prepare for our lesson in Portuguese and he challenged us to a 72 hour fast from english. This was on wednesday @ 11. I'm in the middle of it still. Not. Very. Fun. Especially when everyone around me is speaking english. Oh well. However, we had a lesson with one of our progressing investigators a half hour into our English fast and so we had to give a lesson we hadn't prepared for in portuguese with a half hour prep time. Needless to say, we ferventely and desperately prayed as hard as we could and we were amazed that our lesson was a huge success. However, this really gave us a lot of confidence for our two 1st lessons in portu that we had prepared for the next day so we went in over confident and totally fell flat on our faces. Lesson: rely on the spirit and not on ourselves and we can succeed. Cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh."

One of Dallin's friends is heading into the MTC soon and he listed 3 things as good advice for him. Here they are:

1) don't trust the chicken (apparently Dallin doesn't like the chicken at the MTC)

2) pray hard, pray often

3) don't be afraid to ask lots of questions

"Well, this will be my last email from the Provo MTC. Thanks for all the dearlders and packages and everything else. I guess my flow of mail will start to slow, but that means I expect larger and longer letters. (Just kidding... well, kind of...) Thanks for everything. Love you guys."

1 Month Down... 23 To Go

"I can't believe I've been here from a month already.. That means I only have 23 more to go!! Time Flies!!! Life here is great, but starting to get repetitive, its the same things every day.. I'm not complaining though, I love it here.. Some extra spice and variety would be nice though..."

Dallin has officially been in the MTC for over a month! He is having a great time with his district and they are all rooting for the USA and Brazil to win the World Cup.

He mentioned a funny story in his weekly email about the "power of missionaries". One of Dallin's teachers is married and the other isn't. As his district was planning out their weekly goals they decided it would be funny to make one of their goals be: get the single teacher to be engaged. Apparently some of the missionaries prayed for this teacher to have success and get engaged. The next day the teacher saw the goal and laughed really hard because he and his lady-friend became "official". They have become completely head-over-heels for each other and are now "engaged-to-be-engaged" (whatever that means). Dallin said that he and his district now talk about the "power of missionaries" and that when they are all praying for the same cause, anything can be accomplished. Funny funny.

"...It struck me how much I've learned and grown these last 4 weeks.. It crazy, I mean I'm going to be teaching the first lesson this week IN PORTUGUES! How crazy is that? I am learning super fast.. Apparently my pronunciation is pretty good too, my teacher mentioned to me how he thinks its the best in the class.. Not bad for someone who used to only speak gutteral languages, speaking a romantic language, huh? (PS I came to the conclusion that Portuguese is far prettier than spanish, just saying)..."

At the MTC it has been "new mission president week" which means that all of the new mission presidents are at the MTC for some training and such. Dallin said that the entire first presidency has been there and at least 8 of the 12- very exciting. There will be a secret fireside by someone and it should be really good, so all of the missionaries are curious as to who will be speaking.

A couple of missionaries in Dallin's district got their visas. There district will be shrinking down to 9. Dallin is a little envious but he knows whatever happens will happen for a reason and he is staying positive. If per chance his visa were to come in, he would get 5 minutes to call home so he is excited about that as well.

"...Well I'm almost out of time but know that I love you all and I am having the time of my life here.. I seriously feel better and happier than I have in a really long time and I know that's because I'm putting all my time to serving the Lord..."

Extra Extra- Read all about it!

Elder Marx sent out his weekly email on Friday. He was experiencing some computer technical difficulties, but here is some of what he had to say:

"This week has been pretty good.. We had this special speaker, maybe you've heard of him.. His name is Robert D Hales.. That's right, ROBERT D HALES! It was sweet.. He gave a wicked good talk and it was really powerful.."

Dallin says he has been having "Reunion Week" since he was running into lots of people he knows- old roommates, people from AZ, people from his wards at BYU, etc.

"My biggest problem is that I hear portuguese but naturally want to reply in German, its a pain.."

For those of you who didn't know, Dallin has taken classes in German and Arabic, so now throwing Portuguese into the mix must be challenging!

Dallin says learning Portuguese continues on slowly. He is struggling a bit with learning proper conjugations for the various verbs as well as structuring sentences correctly. However, reading the scriptures in Portuguese seems to be helping him and he remains optimistic. He sends his love to his family and especially to Molly, the family dog.

"I feel like my testimony has increased tenfold since I got here.. I always had faith and believed but when I get here I realized that to teach I had to know with an absolute certainty and I feel like my testimony has grown as a result of that...I'm doing well, I feel better than I have in a really long time..."

New Pictures

Looks like Dallin is having lots of fun in the MTC. Here are some pictures as proof:

Week 2 Is Through

"Has it only been two weeks? Well it feels much longer. Like a month. Or more. Seriously."

Another email from Dallin! He is doing well and had a great week (especially considering he got 2 packages). He and his district are meshing really well and have a great time together. They still study for 12 hours a day and Dallin can now say his prayers completely in Portuguese and testify without using a "cheat sheet".

"Its been A LOT of hard work here, we've been working on our portuguese like mad getting ready for TRC sessions. My comp (Elder Gagon) and I taught this volunteer the first lesson and we did really well. We were super stoked at the end of it. In two weeks though we have to teach the First Discussion in portugues so that will require about fifteen times more prayers blessings to get there."

Dallin described life in the MTC as a "roller coaster". He said some days it is easy to get very frustrated with the language and then on other days a missionary can bear testimony of the First Vision and bring him to tears.

"Some days its all I can do just to make it back to bed at night and others I am so stoked about everything I don't want to stop working. Its crazy."

Dallin got to go to the Provo Temple on Friday. He says it was a wonderful experience and he had some new insights about things he had never really thought of before. He says that he loves getting mail and DearElder.com letters (so lets send him some people!) He also sees some people he knows from AZ quite regularly so that is fun.

"My testimony is growing leaps and bounds and I know I'm where I need to be and I'm not too worried about my visa anymore (if it comes, it comes. if not I get to teach somewhere else instead). I'm content where I'm at and I am having a blast with my district."

Dallin's district is so close that they have all given each other nicknames. Apparently he is now known as Elder Sasquatch because "I'm large, muscular, hairy and have a similar disposition in the mornings." But Dallin says it is a fun nickname and it doesn't bother him at all.

p.s. Here are the instructions and necessary info so you can write a letter to Dallin on DearElder.com.

1. go to DearElder.com

2. click "write a letter"

3. choose "Provo MTC" and then "Write a Missionary"

4. fill out the information on the envelope (Dallin's box # is 277 and he is scheduled to depart July 27th. You don't have to worry about his mission code.)

5. enter your email address

6. write the letter and then send it!

Any letters written on DearElder.com that will be sent to the Provo MTC are FREE so you don't have to worry about paying anything. (That is why this website is so wonderful!) As long as you have the letter written by noon (UT time) Monday-Friday he will get the letter that day. If not he will usually just get it the next day. Have fun!

p.s.s. If you live in the Provo/Orem area and want to send a letter or package to the Provo MTC, you can take it to the UPS Store at 3214 N University Ave in Provo and they will do it for FREE. Letters are free and so are packages as long as they are 5 lbs. or less. Also, if you get it there to them by 2pm it is same day delivery. Yay UPS store!