September 29, 2009 - Letter Home

September 29, 2009  
Minha família!

Wow wow wow! How happy am I to be speaking with you! Though we are more than 7000 miles away, I feel like Im speaking to you face to face! What a blessing it is to have this available, don't you think? I can't imagine how the missionaries of old were able to cope.

Anyway, today was such a great week, and one of great joy for me, for inexplicable reasons. I think I've finally realized that there is never a limit to how close you can come to following God, never a limit to how much spirit you can be filled of, never a limit to worthiness, to diligence, to faith, to happiness, to joy. It amazes me as I climb this staircase how each flight just becomes fairer and more delightful, the vistas available become only more epic and full of wonder, and it has no signs of stopping. How great is this plan for us! How much joy is there to be found in every moment! If only we can stop seeing and hearing, and start looking and listening, we can have this available to us!

So we stopped by the levandaria this morning after the temple, and talked with Rogério! The man we left the Livro de Mórmon with! I was amazed at how much I was able to understand when he spoke this time, as opposed to just last week! The language has really started to flow now! Rogério really liked the Livro de Mórmon, but told us about how his family didn't like religion. He also told about how his wife was very dedicated to her church. I wish that I had been able to sit down with him in his home and teach him how to resolve these problems in detail! I can't wait to be in the mission field! I hope it sufficed that Elder Feller and I bore our testimonies, and invited him to continue reading and holding to the words of God. We also invited him to call the phone number we were given to find out where church was meeting. We will continue stopping by the levandaria every P-day, to just be his friend and cheer him up and testify of the one way we can be comforted and strengthened through this life. I hope to work this week on vocabulary that will allow me to express this.

We got Brasilian roommates this week! We've already become fast friends and have had some good conversations! I really think it's helping me learn alot. I describe them a bit more in my small 2-page letter this week, so you'll have to wait for details.

This week we go proselyting as a district, and I am very excited! It'll be so cool to have a couple LdMs to hand out, instead of just one. We will also have passalong cards with phone numbers to missionaries that we can hand out! It will be insane... ly fun.

Elder Feller and I are becoming better and better friends, and I am really loving my district, and I can't imagine being on my mission without them. It's so cool to know for a fact that you were placed in the exact right place that you needed to be. I feel very lucky to have been placed in this district with them specifically, and also somewhat feel like we knew each other well in the pré-existence. For surely the last day together will be a sad one.

Sao Paulo Temple

Brendon and I continue to see each other often and enjoyed being in the temple together this morning. The São Paulo temple is amazing. The outside looks normal for a temple, but inside it has amazing stained-glass windows, original impressionistic paintings of Brasilian landscapes, and impressively grand architecture. A temple suitable for one of the largest cities in the world. Anyway, Brendon and I make sure to sit together in the group meetings, to catch each other up on our week and our twin thoughts that just no other person would be able to fully understand. It's such a blessing to receive counsel from him, and to try to raise him up as well. It's like the things that we are learning are sometimes directly applicable to the other's life. I want to keep that up even after we are separated. It will be a sad day, but for surely it is only for the best, and will only strengthen our relationship to be apart. Maybe similar to how we can only be resurrected only after having been separated body from spirit? That concept is probably true for a lot of things.

I very much enjoyed your mail, Mom, and I wish I could reply to it in full. To Lynsey and Kaitlin as well. However, as always, I am short on time. Just know that your words are with me, and are lifting me up. I was so happy to receive news about Dad and the guidance he has received. Brendon and I participated in a fast on Thursday and I received the answer that night that you would be taken care of. I knew even before opening the last letter that it would contain good news about this :). Dad, I love you very much and am constantly in wonder and gratitude at your centering yourself in the Lord. Thank you so much for that example. It is certainly a strength to me.

Lynsey, a good scripture is Helaman 5:12, I think. Surely no thing can topple us when we are built on the rock of the Lord! Kaitlin, I love you much and look at your picture every night! I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas, and I hope you have a good Halloween! You will be the prettiest Indian princess out there! I have such wonderful and delightful sisters! Thank you!

My family, I leave you. Until next week,
Elder Con

P.S. If you'd like, send me messages through MissionTiés only. There's no limit, I think, and I can get them at any time in the week. It's much more convenient to receive a physical letter than to have to read them quickly in an email! Nevertheless, any communication is good communication!

Tchau tchau! Com amor!

September 22, 2009 - Letter Home

1:15pm September 22, 2009
Bom Dia!


Hey guys! I'm going to write a quick e-mail because I'm going to write my long e-mail later. I'm doing this because I unexpectedly had the opportunity to write you guys, but I left the outline of what I was going to write about back in my room. Therefore, this will be quick.

I'm feeling like I'm on the top of the world right now. Why? Well let me tell you a story:
Last week, an Elder from another district mentioned that their district were planning on going proselyting on P-day on their free time. I loved the idea, and Elder Feller (my companion) and I decided we would do the same. So we prepared all week in our study time to go an give out one Livro de Mormon (only one because that's all we had). We also prepared the LdM with our testimonies written in the front. So today comes up, and we're way nervous. And it's raining outside. I wanted to call it off, but we decided to do it anyway. So we get ready, say a heartfelt companionship prayer in our room, and head out around Sao Paulo to place this LdM. Whew.
We decided to walk the CTM boundaries to find people that wouldn't regularly see missionaries around. And we were both super nervous.
I talk to my first contact, a lady carrying groceries. I ask if I can help. She promptly rejects me.
For about 45 minutes Elder Feller and I were walking around in the rain, without an umbrella, and every 10 minutes we would nervously talk to someone and try to have a conversation and place this Livro de Mormon. Probably talked to 10 people, some were nice, but some weren't (one guy was saying "Nao! Muito nao!" to us when we started talking to him).
So Elder Feller and a were discouraged, and we stood underneath a tree to say a prayer and regain our confidence (we pretended to look at our planners while we prayed, just like Uncle Kevin said he did). We say the prayer, and then, a moment later, this guy walks by with an umbrella. I want to talk to him, but I'm still too nervous. Then he stops, looks back, and motions for us to walk with him under his umbrella. We talk to him, and make out that he's going to work around here, and when we ask if he goes to church, he says hes an evangelico (evangelical church member). We talk about loving God and Jesus Christ, and about being missionaries, and being new to Brasil... We pull out the Livro de Mormon and start saying what little we can about it. We talk all the way to his work, where he gets two other people to listen to us talk also. We tell him we want him to have it and read it, and he talks about how he doesn't have any money on him, and we tell him its free, and then we point him to 3 Nephi 11, and bookmark the chapter with a passalong card with a phone-number for the church on it. Feller and I give quick testimonies, and ask if he will read it. He said yes! We then wrapped it up before we could mess it up. Wow! It was the best feeling I've ever had! Even on my mini mission, I never was able to get someone to take the Book of Mormon, and teach about it, by myself. Being able to do it in Portuguese was also way sweet. Wow. Man. His name was Joriao (or something like that).

So Elder Feller and I said a prayer of thanks at the next corner, and went and celebrated with abacate (avocado) smoothies. Woo! It was the coolest thing.

Anyway, a longer letter to come! I love you guys! I read your letters all morning! You are in my heart! Love!


--Later--September 22, 2009 2:30pm

Hey mom!

Real quick letter this week, because my companion is (impatiently) waiting for me to finish. All cool though! Also, probably no written letter this week, so sorry. :/ Simply not enough time after proselyting for an hour and a half. :)

Anyway, I'm over the sickness, and I'm feeling great. Can't say so for the rest of my district. Too bad. :(

Todd and Grandma Imogene and Grandad and Grandma Christensen e-mailed me. Sweet sweetness, both of their letters. Totally love them. At the same time, I realize writing letters is hard, so don't worry if you cant get in a lot in a week. Don't worry. I can take it. :)

Mom, I love your insights in Moroni. I'm doing personal study on those scripture tomorrow! I'm already in 3rd Nephi, from the beginning of the Book of Mormon! I love them! They are the best thing here. My entertainment, even. I also love the part about weaknesses: I'm starting to see my weaknesses come to light as I stay here. Every time I think I've fixed all of them, a new batch crops up. Only part of the perfecting process. :) It's going well, also. Anyway, its so cool seeing your insights, and seeing into your head as well! So awesome, Mom.

I love the pictures! Lynsey, you look SO beautiful in that picture. Will is a lucky guy. :) I haven't gotten the photosthrough Missionties, but I printed black and white pictures from your e-mail. Awesome.

Thanks for the news! Kind of cool. I'm also more interested in the economy. Getting worse or better? Still, somewhat glad I don't have to worry about it. Thanks guys.

Mom, I love you so much, and are so thankful for your words. I truly treasure our relationship and our families relationship more than anything out here. Thank you for all the comments.

September 16, 2009 - Companions for a 1/2 day...

see Brendon's blog for that story here (on 9/22 next to same photo)

Anyway, I'm out of time, so I hope that my story about this morning will prove enough news for this week. I have to realize that I will soon have to give up all the time that I'm getting here in the CTM to write letters. Nevertheless, all is going well, and I love you guys.

Really quickly, I want to let Todd, Grandad and Grandma, and Grandma Imogene know that I got their letters, and I loved reading them. I have responses all written out ready to type, but unfortunately I put off my e-mailing time today in favor of practical needs and a little proselyting. I love you guys and love your letters, and am so thankful for the great family that I have lifting me up even 7000 miles away from Sao Paulo. Love you guys.

Con

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September 15, 2009 - Letter Home

AM letter: September 15th, 2009
Minha Querida Familia!

So this week I decided that instead of spending two hours writing a letter which will have to be transcribed by my mom into text for e-mails, I would spend two hours writing an outline of all of the interesting things I could possible say, and then attempt to cram it all into an e-mail. Hopefully this works! Hopefully you like it! Mom, if not, please tell me to continue sending letters.

Boy boy boy, the last letter I got from everybody got here yesterday, which is like 5 days later than usual. This is because a huge rainstorm blew through, and shut down the city. Woah! Cars were underwater! The nearby canal was overflowing! People were trapped on islands of concrete! The city. Shut. Down. Can you believe the 4th largest city in the world would have this problem? I loved it, though I feel bad for the people. It was slightly apocalyptic. However, it only lasted for about half a day, and after that it wasn’t so bad. However, apparently it drastically slowed down the mail.

Mom, thanks for taking notes of my blessing! I loved getting them. They’re now sitting next to my patriarchal blessing. I have been holding on to a couple sentences I remember from the blessing: that I would have an easy time with the language, that I would enjoy the culture, and that I would have leadership opportunities. However, now that you’ve jogged my memory, I have a whole bunch of other blessings to ponder and keep sacred. I'll remember now to thank God specifically for those things, when they come up in my mission. Sweet. I also love the part about me being able to give many blessings. It's somewhat already come true! I've been able to give two very powerful blessings while I've been here. In one, I was impressed to say something which that Elder later said I couldn’t have known about. Awesome. I love blessings because I feel the spirit so strong even when I'm just participating in laying on hands. I love giving blessings because every time I feel it improves my testimony because I can feel the words coming to me through the Priesthood and through God. I love it.

The twin musical performance was awesome. I was so scared, but I love that I did it now. The other twins are going to separate missions, and unfortunately I haven’t seen them as much since we did the performance. They might’ve left, actually. I do love singing here. We get very much opportunities to sing and to listen to music, and through the spirit I've been able to enjoy them very much. Its like divine entertainment. Though I brought a bunch of songs on my iPod, I find that I've already listened to my Mormon Tabernacle songs ten times more than all the others. Love it. However, singing has been hard recently. My voice was gone for a couple of days, and is slowly coming back. Can't sing! Boy do I try though. Some Elder don’t like that I try. I think I mess them up cause I'm so hoarse right now.  Its funny. Portuguese hymns are the bomb though. Especially because we know the hymns in English so well, you can pretty much translate as you go along in Portuguese very easily. It’s a great learning tool I think. That's probably why they make us sing so much.

Elder Connor and his Companion

We are all on a Hero's Journey. You don’t have to be on a mission. I am now simultaneously on a hero's journey here on my mission, on a HJ for my life, on a HJ for eternity. Loops within loops within loops. The phases of the Hero's Journey are as follows: ordinary life, a call to action / rejection of the call, acceptance of the call, entrance into the journey and the new world, the making of friends, enemies, and the overcoming of trials, then there is a last battle in which all you’ve learned pushes you to the belly of the whale / the innermost cavern, the hero achieves victory and reward, but then must return home. The hero dies, then rises with the elixir of life which… heals the wasteland of the ordinary life. Match up the following story of my mission to the above 12 steps: I'm living at home, bored, waiting to do something, I get my mission call! It's scary, but I accept it, and get ready to leave to Brazil. I go on my flight to Brazil, and I'm in a strange new world. Now, I'm having to overcome many challenges, meeting tons of people, gaining friends, not very many enemies, but still it is a growing experience. When in my mission will I have a final battle? Who knows. More to come. Awesome.

The weather has been colder than I thought. Foggy and rainy. I haven’t really needed a sweater or anything, but its odd that its always overcast here. Its winter, so that’s probably the reason. Ill eat it up while I can; I hear it’ll be super hot in a while.

I love the food at the CTM. However, its always the same. That’s my only problem. You'd get tired of huge steaks too if you ate them every day. My favorite things here are the desserts: they serve cinnamon flan cake sometimes, and also some awesome desert called pastels which are filled with chocolate and coconut and fried somehow. Wish I could describe it better. Its different.

Mom, good job on the plum jelly! I think its so cool you're still learning stuff. Intelligence is the glory of god. Continue learning about the world and you'll continue loving it. Keep up the exercising as well! I'm doing push ups and volleyball and crunches every day! I'm gonna be ripped! You can too!

Glad Dad is doing well, I'm so thankful for him and the effort he is making to support all of us. Just gotta keep the spirit and the Lord will lead us in our paths, despite whether they be good or bad. You’ve just got to find comfort in the fact that it’s the path the Lord wants you in. I'm praying for you Dad. I love you.

I just found the last card you hid, yesterday! It was Kaitlin's, and it was in my study journal. It was so awesome. It took me three weeks to find it! You guys are awesome. I go through those cards everyday before bed.

Lynsey, I'm glad you're having a good time this year! Maybe though, it’s the fact that you worked so hard last year, and got stronger, so now this year seems easy, though it may not actually be easy. Cool. I'm doing the same thing here in the CTM; it gets harder, but I'm getting stronger too. So its okay. Just don’t sweat it too much and enjoy the opportunity to push yourself. That’s hard to do, but I it has worked very well for me. I love that you're reading the Scarlet Letter. I really liked that book. As you read, keep in mind how glorious the atonement is. Without Christ, tragedies like those that occur in the book occur. That story is the testament to the need of a Savior. Perhaps you could use that in an essay? Heh, that'd be hard, but it’d be awesome. I love literature. Keep writing me about the books you are reading! Perhaps I can give some pointers or something.

Kaitlin, I love you! I'm just doing language classes in Brazil. No teaching real people yet. But in 5 weeks I will! It'll be awesome. Tell me about the things you learned this week! Especially what words you learned in Japanese! I love learning languages now, so send me stuff you know!

Family, will you do something for me? Will you try to read some of the Book of Mormon every day? A chapter, a page, or even a verse. Anything helps. I promise as you do this that you'll have the spirit with you, which will act as a personal Liahona for you in your life. No matter where it leads you, it will be for your benefit. I testify that by the Spirit we can do great things, and it will lead us to joy in the end.

Nick and Zach! Reading this? Just want to do a quick shout out. You'll love being in the MTC. It's so awesome. You can prepare just by reading scriptures, and making sure you give meaningful prayers whenever you pray. Pray to know about anything you are questioning. I know you'll receive the truth as an answer if you do this.

Family: I love ya. I'm so thankful for you in my life. Thank you so much for your words. It helps me so much.

Unfortunately, I’ve run far far past the time allocating to me to send my letter. Whoops. Uploading videos has caused me to far overshoot this time. I apologize that you wont be getting a letter later: apparently I can't type quick enough to fit an hour outline into an email. Shoot. Here's the rest, I'll leave the details up to your imaginations.

So let me tell you about this last week very quickly. Last week was hard: I got sick, and classes were hard, and I was super homesick. I got over it though, and now I'm loving being here more than ever. I hope that cycle continues so I can enjoy the work even more. I love the scriptures now. Just entertainment for me now. Now I know what Dad was talking about. Okay, I'm getting kicked off! Sorry! Bye! Tchau. Later!

I know the Gospel is true! Love love love love!

Connor

Written letter received later.....
09-15-2009
Mom, Dad, Lynsey, Kaitlin!

I felt bad about not getting to write all that I wanted to today. So you get a letter after all! Hurrah! I’m going to try to continue exactly where I left off in my email.   I want to let you know, though, that though I like pondering the Heroic Journey, I am out here because of my love of Christ and my decision to be His servant. All else are details.

Okay, I am going to write about a bunch of details of my life here in Brasil. Sorry if I get a bit choppy.
So I already mentioned that this last week was hard for me. Headache, sore throat, homesick, class finally getting difficult. I had a moment in class where I thought (I am ashamed to say) “What am I doing here?” I was amused at this thought, because it was so unexpected and not according to the pattern of positive thinking that I’ve established. Secretly, I was glad that I finally had something to work out of. It was a difficult, monotonous week, but on the 12^th we had a fireside that night, and all the missionaries who were leaving that week stood up and sang “If You Could Hie to Kolob” and changed the last verse to be Brasil-missionary specific. I had a wave of comfort and euphoria, and since then, I have been physically somewhat better, and my difficulties have been the same, but in a strange way, I am happy for it. Happy for the opportunity to endure such trials because the Lord knows I can handle it. Also, I may or may not have said already: I haven’t felt like I was on my mission, or was a missionary, since I got here. Until I heard that song, that is.
On the 13^th in our Priesthood meeting, our branch president also gave a lesson on how, in the preexistence we were called to serve a mission in Brasil. Look Jeremiah 1:5 to see how this is true. We were all preordained for this. I loved it. Wanted to give a “Hoorah!” right after. So needless to say, despite having a headache and sniffles right now…. I’m pumped. Bring it on! (Mom, I’m not too sick. Lots of people here have it way worse than me. Winter months, they say.)

Elder Brendon, Elder Getz (a friend from high school!) and Elder Connor

I’ll give one short experience before I move on to more entertaining and practical details.  So after the fireside on the 12^th, we had a district meeting, 8 elders, 3 sisters. I had just had that spiritual experience, but I hadn’t yet put it into words or even thoughts. I knew that I would have to give my testimony in District Meeting though. It was the only thing I could think, and it kept nagging at me, “Share your testimony, share your testimony”. This went on for 15 minutes while the District Leader took care of news and business. Finally, I raised my hand, and said I had something I wanted to say. I had no idea what words to say before I stood up, but as soon as I did, I talked for about 10 minutes straight, on becoming a missionary, on fulfilling the yearning to bring souls to Christ, on our divine calling and how we should live every day in the CTM as if it were our last day there. It was probably the most I’ve ever felt the spirit talk through me. I’m still astounded that it happened. We’ve been having some obedience and attitude and unity issues, and I feel that it was very important for my district to hear those words. Even if no one listened, though, it totally testified to me the power and reality of the spirit. I love being a missionary. Anyone can receive that kind of experience, but it is so much easier when you are being held to a higher standard to actually live it. Cool.

Okay, now for some funny details of my day-to-day activities. In bullet-point-list-style!
  
 *Sao Paulo is a maze of crooked streets and crammed storefronts. And it’s not flat. At all. Awesome.
 *Favorite P-day eats? Avacado smoothies followed by choco-coconut fried pastels (with an okay glass of lukewarm milk)
 *Our district stays up late telling stories and I love it. Dad, you’re a big hit in my district!
 *Just had an awesome conversation with some new Brasilians. Understood everything and understood how to respond quickly! (They were probably speaking slowly and easily for us though.)  :)  Brasilians rock!
  * Our district is unfortunately called ”the sick district” or “the district that needs to be quarantined”. Haha. Doctor’s solution for each one of us? Snort warm salt water. It’s so unnatural, but it freaking works. You feel like you’re drowning. It’s embarrassing to do it alone because you start tearing up and every orifice of your mouth leaks and the noise is hilarious. So we do it as a whole district. And it’s freaking hilarious. 8 guys submitting themselves to this ridiculous prescription. Haha! The whole bathroom clears out when we go in. But we’re all laughing as we simulate drowning, because it’s so gross. I think it’s kinda fun now. “Ya gonna go snort?” is a common question, and we all have salt packets in our pockets. Funny detail…
  *All the lights here are on motion sensors. They go off after a couple of minutes if no one is there. So we always are trying to sneak past them. The goal? Make it through the stairs and down the hall to your room without being sensored. Nobody has done it yet, but we’re getting closer everyday. It’s fun. We look forward to it after meetings.
  *Brendon and I have been handing back and forth a piece of paper for the past couple of days, whenever we pass each other in the halls. We can only draw a couple of things before passing it back. It’s fun. We’ve got quite masterpiece going on so far.  Nice to interact with him a bit more than is usually possible.
  *I’d like to mail you guys my Ipod at some point so you can put a bunch more stuff on. The rules are much less restrictive than I thought. Guys play Coldplay here. I want more. I’ve listened to everything a million times. Possible? We’ll talk. It’d be a nice Christmas or birthday present.
  *Out of time and out of paper! I love you guys and you’ll hear from me soon! Be good! Love love love!

From Con!

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September 8, 2009 Letter Home

Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2009 10:26 AM

Subject: Querida minha familia!

Campinas, Brazil Temple

Aha, another P-day! Fantastic! I love it! Brendon and I just came back from our second trip to the Campinas temple. It was fantastic! It reminds me of what mom always used to say about how everywhere in the world there are people doing endowment sessions. Honestly, if the temple workers weren't so tan, I would've been convinced I was in America. It's so very beautiful. We also had a great ride to and from the temple, because it was raining very hard for a while, which was cool, but then everything just got really misty and foggy, and the jungle on the side of the road looked very mysterious and epic. Very cool.

I loved your letter! Thank you so much for writing so much! I don't care about the wait at all. Just to get something is amazing. The rest of my district has not been so lucky. Thanks for being such a good family. I think I am going to write a bunch of letters throughout the week, and then just do a quick summary over e-mails. But, I'm going to try to write as much as I can right now.

So this week has gone very fast. The biggest thing I think I can say about it is that I really bonded with my district this week. We've all gotten very close, and I love it. We regularily tell stories at meals and before bed, and it's cool to slowly understand more and more every person here. I've never been part of a group of friends like this, and it's a very good feeling. :).

Portuguese is going well. I havent really hit any rough spots yet. If anything, we're going too slow. Im just eating it all up. Just yesterday we taught the first discussion in Portuguese. A lot of the other people in my district memorized phrases, but I felt like that if I just studied vocabulary and grammar, that I would be blessed to know what to say when I actually taught the lesson. It worked! Our teacher, Irmao Ramon, said our companionship was the best in the class, sweet! Im so grateful for the blessings that Ive been given to accel here at the CTM.

I'm still having the time of my life. I am so thankful to be out here, and every chance I have to stop and think, I am completely rejuvenated by the fact that I'm out on my mission, on an adventure I've been preparing my entire life for.

Thanks for putting up the Vita! I loved hearing from extended family! It reminds me how much support I have only 7000 miles away. I can feel it. I really can. Thank you so much.

It was Independence Day in Brasil yesterday, and it was awesome. Decorations, songs, special meals, ect. We sang the National Anthem of Brasil 3 times yesterday, and I love it. Its completely different from ours. Its fast, exciting, and gets my heart pumping. I love Brasil.

Thanks for the kind words, they really helped. If there was any day that I felt a bit down, it was Friday. And then I got your letter. It completely changed everything. Sweet.

Here at the CTM.... it's groundhog day. Seriously, we do the same thing every day. Thus, I find its somewhat difficult to have cool stuff to tell you. We have 8 hours of class every day, which is a mix of sunday school and Portuguese class. Not interesting. We have 3 hours of eating in the day, which is always good, if a bit off. Im loving it still. Our district plays volleyball every day for gym time, and I'm getting quite good, I think. More excersize here than I have ever done before! Thats cool but also somewhat pathetic! Anyway, hopeful my letters will get more exciting as I get out into the field.

So I asked an Elder if you could send pictures over email last week, and he said we couldnt. So I didnt bring my camera today. And then I talk to someone else here and he says you can upload pictures and videos. Dang! So Im going to try to send videos and stuff later today, but I dont know if itll work. I might need to wait until I use computers out in the field. Hmmm.

Please write to me to tell me how I could improve my writing. I saw Brendon's and I was very impressed. How does he remember all those things? I will try to do better in the future. Also, just wait for my written letter, because I was able to take my time writing it. Here... its a bit rushed, with Elders behind me urging me to get off so they can write. It's alright, but I feel bad for ya, you wait all week for this!

However, I hope it'll sufficeth for me to tell you all this: I love you, and you are constantly in my thoughts. I am so thankful that I am here, and I am enjoying myself immensely. If you'd like to support me at all, your prayers will probably be enough. If you're very nice, a letter through missionties helps me sleep happily. Thank you very much everyone.

Mom, Dad, Lyns, Kait, and the rest of the extended family and friends, I love you. Write you in another week! It'll go by like nothin!

Com amor,

Connor Carpenter

Sept 6th - 8th 2009

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                                                                                      6:10pm, September 6, 2009
My Dear Family,
Hello! I am writing to you on Day 11 of my mission. It’s so odd to me that I can actually say that! For surely it has not yet registered for me that I am now actually a missionary. For now I feel as if I am simply attending some sort of seminary boarding school, but I hear that changes as soon as you go proselyting for the first time. I am writing this on a Sunday, 2pm for you in California. On Sundays, we have a LOT of free time, actually, which I did not expect. I actually enjoy Sundays more than my P-Day, right now, because at the MTC it is certainly a day of rest. That’s a relative term, however J. This morning Elder Feller and I gave a lesson to our district on the Holy Ghost, and it went very well! The thing I liked most about it is when I was prompted with the following observation:

Everything we observe in the world is, for the most part, fairly explained. We know that the nerves send electric impulses through our fingers to our minds to give us the sense of touch; we know that what we see is explained by reflections of light off of object. What then is our sense to feel the spirit? It’s a very real thing which people all over the world are feeling right now even. It’s a quantifiable reaction. How then can we not explain it in scientific terms? The Holy Ghost is a very real testament to the existence of spiritual truth. I believe that sense is the connection to God. As missionaries, we can awaken that sense in others, as 2^nd Nephi says, “Speaking with the tongues of angels”!! I know that as we repent and are obedient, we can improve this sense enough in ourselves to give it to others, and to help God guide our lives and understanding. Cool. It was a good lesson and we had the spirit there.

          Brendon and I got to do something cool today! Every Sunday we have 3 hours of what they call “conference” before sacrament meeting, where the MTC presidency and other great speakers give talks. Anyway, Brendon and I sang in front of about 300 missionaries as the opening number. Woah! Actually, it wasn’t just us. We sang with 3 other sets of twins who were also at the MTC at the same time! We sang “Redeemer of Israel”. Two verses were in Portuguese and one verse was acapella. Everyone said it was great, but I am relieved it is over. Brendon and I have been preparing since we got here! Very cool.

          You have no idea how excited I was to get your letter yesterday! It was better than a bag of candy! I was feeling a bit down yesterday because I finally caught the bug that’s been going around the district: headache and sore throat. And we were fasting since lunchtime. And class was somewhat more monotonous than usual. And there was your letter! I was smiling the rest of the day! Happiness must be a good cure, because this morning I was fine! Seriously, thank you so much Dad, Mom, Kate, Lyns and the rest of the extended family. That was awesome. Now I’ll reply to your letters!

Dad – Thank you so much for the spiritual message, for surely, that one part of thanking God even when you’re sick cheered me up lots! Thank you. I’m so glad you are doing well now. I think it was a tough separation, but I think it will be smooth sailing from here. J I’m going to sign out for now, there’s a fireside in 15 minutes. Time now: 6:45 PM (Brasil)

Time now: 10:00 pm. Alright! The fireside was great. One speaker talked about the necessity of being happy, and staying happy by looking forward to the changes in the lives of others. They put up pictures of a family that was baptized, who then sent out missionaries, who baptized families, who sent missionaries and then did a collage of all the people that had been baptized from that one family! It so got my whole district pumped.

…Back to Dad. I love you Dad. I continue to tell myself what you told me: that this work is exciting, and the most important that is going on in the world.
Time now: 12:33pm, Sept 8, 2009 I am on the bus coming back from the Campinas Temple. It was fantastic. There’s large, dark, low hanging storm clouds floating over the countryside. It reminds me of Torino (Italy), yet slightly more jungle-y. Cool.

 What keeps me going is whenever I have some quiet moments, I think, “I’m on a mission.” Here I am now in a foreign land, with a divine mandate to change people’s hearts. I’m meeting lots of people, I’m learning new things constantly, and I feel like I’m applying myself in a way I never had before. Waves of excitement and euphoria rock me whenever I realize that I’m finally on the adventure I’ve been waiting for my entire life, that I’ve been preparing for my entire life. I can see myself as a young kid reading fantasy adventure books, escaping into these fantastic worlds, journeys, characters, and acts of heroism. I can see myself as a kid, wishing the day would come when I too, would be able to live those stories. And I find now that my call to action finally occurred; my escape across the threshold into a new world, new purpose has happened. I am in it now. I hope this doesn’t sound crazy or immature; I just feel that I’ve been yearning for this point in my life since before my life began, that every enjoyment and flight of imagination has stemmed from this fact. And I feel that it can only get better.  I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with this point of view; it has been a shield to me, I feel. A lot of my friends here have taken to venting their homesickness, their boredom, their frustrations. An elder who was on my plane here went home yesterday… I think these are all natural reactions, but I am thankful for this lens I’ve been building throughout my life, to turn frustrations into challenges, boredom into exhilaration, a feeling of homesickness into a feeling of something worth fighting for. As I ride through these misty green jungles, I can’t help but feel these things; I want to share them with you.
 
But back to more practical observations…

 The Campinas temple is amazing but I can’t help but thinking about what mom always said, about how people all around the world were doing temple work exactly the same. In Brasil, this is absolutely  correct! Save the slightly browner temple workers, it could be in the middle of Sacramento! People say that the church is the same throughout the world, and I am starting to feel that comment is truer than I supposed. Even the details are alike. Feels like a miracle.
 
          It was Independence Day of Brasil yesterday. Sweet! Decorations, special food, fireworks, music! The CTM was completely different, and I loved it. I also sang the National Anthem of Brasil 3 times! It’s completely different from U.S.A.’s anthem! It’s fast, it’s intense, it’s over-the-top, and it’s so epic that it gets my heart pumping every time. I just want to give a big “Whoooop!” right after finishing. I love it!

 Hear the Brazil National Anthem and see some great landscapes

Portuguese is going well! I feel like I need to challenge myself a bit more, but I taught the 1^st discussion in Portuguese yesterday! It was short, but it went well! Most of the others memorized their sentences, but I put mine together on the spot! My teacher, Irmao Ramon, said our companionship was the best in the class! Beleza (awesome)! You guys better get ready to have me coming home with an accent! I want to go as completely Brazilian as I can get!
 
Anyway, we’re almost back to the CTM. I’m sorry if this letter is a bit sloppy/choppy. I loved Brendon’s letter, but it’s hard for me to plan my writing out; I like to do it more stream-of-consciousness-style.

 Anyway, Love You Love You Love You! You guys keep me going.

Mom, I love you. Keep helping to comfort and strengthen the fam.
Dad, I love you. Have good success and keep the spirit with ya!
Lyns, I love you. Good luck with your performances! Thank you for the great updates! I love it all!
Kaitlin, I love you! You’ll be such a pretty Indian princess! Send me a picture! I love you!

I love you all!

          -Con

P.S. – I am at Cheney’s cookies! It’s 1:45pm! Putting it in the box now! Bye!

September 1, 2009 - First Letter Home

 He made it! (At the bus stop in Sao Paulo!)

Date: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:42:29
Subject: Minha Familia!

Okay, so I spent a bunch of my allotted 30 minutes to try to set up my camera so I can send videos. I did quite a good job, I think, videotaping my entire journey to the CTM, and I think it would be quite interesting!

I just got back from the Campinas temple, which is about 1 1/2 hours away and so my P-day is very short. I only have about 1 hour 1/2 left! Anyway, on my way I was able to compose about 4 pages of letter to you guys, and I'm hoping that later I can send them through MissionTies. Thank you for setting that up Mom! I also can't wait to use those free cookies.

There are a lot of details in my letter, so I don't want to have any over laphere. I will give a few general details, however: my trip to the CTM went off without a hitch, and I am safely in Brazil without loss or injury! Hooray! My first week at the CTM has been amazing, and I'm looking forward to the next 8 weeks! They take very good care of us here, and there is nothing to worry about! Hooray! I'm doing very well in my classes, and even my little study with YouTube Portuguese lessons and ten minutes every night with the Brazilian phrasebook has worked wonders! I actually feel as if I had prepared too much! A lot of the other elders here came straight out of high school without a word of Portuguese! 90% of them are from Utah, so I felt a little out of place at first, but I think I'm used to it by now.

I see Brendon a lot! Almost twice daily! It's great, and has really helped ease me in here. It's so awesome to see him here, however we don't get much time to talk because we're always off to the next thing.

I love you all so much and so thankful for your prayers and thoughts! I have surely had an amazing experience so far here, and it's only looking to get better. It's actually very hard for me to feel homesick, because I love all the learning and work that I'm doing here. I feel somewhat guilty saying that, but I want to let all of you know that I'm extremely excited and whenever I remember that I am actually now on my mission, I am just so excited! Honestly, right now I feel just as if I'm at a church camp or something, and that it'll end next week. I really dont want it to! But we'll see how I feel in a couple of weeks.

There are so many details to give, but I want to save the rest of my allocated time to upload my videos. I am sending a MissionTies letter with more details on all of the above. Hopefully though, it will sufficeth me to say that I am having the time of my life already, and that my Mom, Dad, Sisters Lynsey and Kaitlin, Grandma, and Carpenter and Christensen relatives are very close to my heart, and provoke only happiness while I am here. Also, I hope its enough to say that now that I've taken the plunge, there's no way I would want out! The mission I think is one of the greatest things I've done so far. I love you all and I am really starting to love Brazil!

I sincerely wish I could write more, but know that you're all in my heart and prayers. Love you very much!

From Brazil, with love,

Elder Connor Carpenter

Follow-Up Letter

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9-01-2009
Quer ida minha familia Maravelhoso,
Hello, this is Connor! This is the first opportunity I’ve had to write; I am on a bus ride from the Campinas Temple and it’s about an hour from Sao Paulo, which is plenty to bust out some communications. Man! It’s been a week and I feel as if I have just left. I’m sure you’ll hear that a lot from me. My experience can so far only be described as brilliant. What little challenge there has been has been only mental. My trip to Brazil was completely fine, and they take great care of us at the MTC. Today is my P-Day, and soon I will write you my first email. I wont have very long to do that, so I am going to try to reserve this letter for the details. This is something I wish the missionaries who posted their letters to blogs did more. A result of that is this: no matter how much I read about Brazil before I came here, it has still never ceased to surprise me with all of its interesting details.

Some interesting things:

The CTM is huge, and it’s beautiful, but it is smack dab in the middle of the suburbs of Sao Paulo! The neighborhood around it is certainly middle class by Brazilian standards, but the CTM sticks out like a sore thumb. Don’t hide your light, right?     CTM is pronounced “seh-teh-emmi” . That’s how you pronounce those letters in Portuguese. It’s funny to say.

Sao Paulo is the 4^th largest city in the world! I think they measure that by population, but I think if it was by the area of land it takes up, it would be 1^st! The buildings stretch far into the horizon! I am continually in awe of how it sprawls.

Also there are no building codes, so skyscrapers can be built wherever. Instead of having the city buildings slowly get taller as it gets closer to the center of the city, you’ll see 100-story buildings alone or in clusters, but surrounded by very simple 1-story buildings. And imagine that painted over rolling hills as far as you can see. I love it. We have a fantastic view from our dorm window (we’re at the top floor of the CTM), and at night the whole landscape twinkles. I wish I could explain more, but it is magical.

Red shingle roofs are popular, so the country looks like Torino, Italy, but larger with skyscrapers.

I love the food. I eat beans and rice every meal, but unlike others here, I love it. Fruit is also amazing.

My companion and I are getting to be great friends; I have found it a little hard to talk about much with him. Our mission is just about all we have in common. He’s from Utah, was kind of a skater, and has a girlfriend he misses. I want to reassure him and stuff, but it’s completely outside my expertise. However, he loves the mission as much as I do, and is ambitious as well. He also has a great testimony. So basically all of our bonding has resulted from us discussing Portuguese and Gospel Doctrines. So it’s going well, but I wish we could be more like buddies and less like business or study partners. We have 8 more weeks, so there’s plenty of time.

Our district is also great. Many are having a tough time with the schedule and the classes go so slow for me too. My companion and I seem to be a little ahead and study while the rest of the class catches up. But it is okay.

My district leader is straight out of “Singles Ward” or something. It is amazing. I’m constantly amazed as he consistently represents Utah culture. It’s not annoying, just very surprising how accurate those movies were. I just love his attitude.

I see Brendon a lot! At least twice every day between classes or at lunch. However, we’re often en route to somewhere else, and I’m not able to talk very long. Still, it’s helped a lot! He looks like he is doing awesome. My district has a lot of A-type personalities, but it looks like Brendon is the only one in his. So he looks like he has taken more of a center role in his group. Kind of like high school, being “smart” has unfortunately set me apart from the group a little bit, and even a bit from my companion. I have really been working on humility and concentrating on helping everyone else out and it has seemed to help.

Some of these guys came straight from high school and have not had time for much preparation! There was a lot of immaturity at first, but I think it’s gotten better as people have been humbled by the workload and by the spirit.

I absolutely LOVE being here! I have heard some complaining, but I’ve enjoyed every moment! I continually am reminded that so much of what I am and have experienced has prepared me for everything I am doing here. I have been blessed with enthusiasm for the work, and I am thankful!

I LOVE Brasil! Everything is amazing! I feel as if I have returned home after a long exile! Honestly, it’s the attitude and culture of the Brasilians that is the best part of it though. They are consistently friendly, fun-loving, enthused, and place so much importance on personal relationships. It’s impossible to be shy around them, even with limited knowledge of Portuguese! They are also very laid-back and genuine. I think I am going to enjoy being among them very much!

Portuguese is going very well. For some reason I’m doing very well at it. I expect to be fluent in 8 weeks! ;-D Heh Heh. I’ll probably need a bit longer, but I am thankful for the gifts of the mind I’ve been given.

I miss you all immensely, and I think about you and pray for you very much. But is actually kind of hard to feel bad or sad because I am having such a great time here. I only hope you guys can have as much fun as I am! Live and love life guys! We’ll see if my attitude changes as times flows by here, but I love that I am here, and I love that I have my little family on the opposite end of the world. Thank you so much for the many notes! I found my 3^rd one yesterday, and I think I might have one more even! I’m collecting them, and I love looking at them at night. I am at Mr. Cheney’s Cookies now, about to both send my letters and eat what looks like some very delicious cookies from you. Thank you. I love you very much my family. I want to hear how you’ve been! Write me questions and stories from your week, and I can read them before bed.

With the most love,
Your son, your brother,
Elder Connor Carpenter