Received Oct 21, 2009
Mailed Monday, Oct 19, 2009
Hey Family!
The MTC is CRAZY! Amazing but crazy. My handwriting is bad cause I’m writing on my leg as I wait for laundry! and its bad to start with. We will get to email next week. I have little time, so I will hit the big topics.
I have been called as District Leader! It’s a lil overwhelming because the guys in my district are all so great and I have more responsibilities, which means less time to keep up with these guys who so hard, and know so much more than I do in both the language and the gospel/teaching. But I am very grateful for the experience, because I get to interview these great men and learn so much for them!
Companions – They are all so great in my district. Loads of fun, and so smart, and all with such a passion for the gospel and the language. My comp is Elder Jesse Caldwell. He’s about 5’8”, 140 lbs – perfect to use for a bench press. But he is a good guy, from Utah (with 50% of the rest of this place). He is from Brigham City. He is a bit quiet, a lil bit of his hick accent comes out when he speaks Portuguese, but we have fun, and we work hard.
The MTC is a super great place. I love the Spirit, and the great people here, food isn’t too bad! But it doesn’t sit well. Haha. It is great to see all my friends from school. The first person I saw when Pete dropped me off was Noah, my roommate. He was my host and helped me get settled.
I am kinda going crazy here. We spend so much time indoors, in the same classroom. I am truly being tried. Haha, I twitch a lot now. I just pray a lot. I know the Lord can help me get through this, and the Spirit and knowledge we gain here is absolutely invigorating I get so excited. (This makes it harder to sit still. haha) But I love the experience; the trials are far outnumbered by blessings! I only think about the gospel, and the language. That is about it. It’s wonderful.
I was getting a lil’ stressed, but my comp and I were teaching another companionship yesterday and I began bearing pure testimony. The Spirit was so strong and it absolutely made my day. The Lord will help me in all of this!
Language – The language is going okay. We are already praying in Portuguese and bearing testimony. It’s a bit overwhelming at times, especially since I have less time to study, but it’s really awesome to see how far we have come. Tell Kevin and Justin and others to study PMG! [Preach My Gospel]
Visa – The visa situation is crazy. As you know, almost 50 elders came here last Wednesday instead of Brazil. There are tons of other visa waiters here already! My ZL has been have 3 weeks and only 3 people have left. We may be here a while. You can tell the Brazil Elders cause their pants rarely match their one suit coat. We did, however, have one elder from our district get his visa today, and he’ll leave soon. So there’s hope! But I don’t mind being here. Our building is nice and has a colored wall in our room! and new mattresses! and our bathrooms are nice. Our building was just remodeled, finished Tuesday. There are still boxes from the iron and microwave and other stuff in the tras.
Life here is good, I’m loving it. Just missing actually moving, haha.
Tell everyone hi! Have the kids write me. (US mail – email doesn’t come for a while and is limited!) Tell JJ to make sure he practices! SJ needs to write me! Have a wonderful day!
Love, Elder Jake
PS My email will change, not allowed to access gmail.
