17 October 2012

Week seven is officially over which means I only have two more weeks in the MTC! I'm leaving the MTC on October 30th, that should be a Tuesday. My P-Day in the field will be definitely be different but I'm not sure what day of the week it will be on. I'm doing well even though this week was more tough than the previous weeks. The more we learn to speak Portuguese the harder its getting with all the subjunctives and conditions that dictate the way you have to speak. A member of the area 70 told everyone in our devotional last night to not worry about the language, he says once you are in the field everyone recieves the gift of tounges haha.

We got new Brazilians this week. One is from Brazil and the other is from Mexico I think. The spanish speakers have to stay in the MTC for 6 weeks and the Brazilians stay for 3 weeks. Our new roomates are slowing becoming more and more comfortable being in the same room with a bunch of Americans. I can understand why it could be strange for them.

This next week we get to go prostelyting twice during the week. Basically they take us out into the center of Sao Paulo, drop us off, and come pick us up three hours later. It should be interesting to say the least with our broken Portuguese haha. We are supposed to give out a certain number of Book of Mormons. It will be a trial by fire, but everyone comes back saying it was the best experience they had in the MTC.

I'm excited to hear all the sports news from Dad, and Grandpa. I hear the Seahawks are doing really well and Manning is still the clutch quaterback of the past. Also, it sounds like Romney is doing well which I am glad to hear. It is definitly a topic we discuss between us missionaries, and we are all rooting for him. I got my first handwritten letter from Dad this week and it was awesome. I had been waiting for that letter for awhile now. Also, I'm becoming anxious to see what Jessie wrote me and I look forward to writing her back. Im so happy to hear Greg is getting some interviews with some companies, I know he will do well wherever he ends up. Im jealous of Oupa right now because he is in Sweden. One day I want to go to Sweden and see where it all began on that side of our family. And mom I am so proud of you for doing all these workouts lately, I dont think I could even do an insanity workout especially right now haha. I get 50minutes for excercise but I usually just go and play volleyball with our district and there is not a lot of movement in that sport.

I got some news from some Elders from Porto Alegre this week. Apparently our mission president is a very nice man and is rather laid back. The Porto Alegre mission is one of the harder missions in Brazil, not as many baptisms as other parts of Brazil :(. Like our member of the 70 said last night if we believe we can get a baptism every week, we will.

That's it for now, 

Love Elder Miller

10 October 2012

 Conference this past weekend was so awesome. There were so many good talks, I was touched by all of them. I almost broke down in a couple of talks because they mentioned families and how we can be together for eternity, Im so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. Oh, and when President Monson announced that missionaries can now leave when they are 18 everyone busted out cheering in the auditorium. We all talked about how there will be more missionaries out in the field, especially more girl missionaries. I liked Oupa´s letter because he said, "Now missionaries are going to be going to the MTC on skateboards and in there spiderman pajamas." Haha this is true, even I feel too young to be doing this work so I can only imagine being 18. I want Greg to know that I took his advice and wrote down some questions I had before conference started. All my questions were anwsered and I felt very good after this.

Its getting pretty hot here in Brazil. I think it is around 26 celcius now and getting hotter by the day. Im starting to become anxious to go to Porto Alegre, the MTC is very repitious now. I had a couple spiritual experiences this week with some of the other Elders in my District. We were wondering if we were actually feeling the spirit or if it was just ourselves making us feel this way. We all got on our knees and each took a turn praying, and I can honestly say we all felt the spirit. It was the strongest I've felt it since being here. The Elders in my district are some of the best guys I've ever met. We have all grown so close with each other and it is going to be sad when we all go our seperate ways.

How is the blog going? Also, I need whoever has control over my Facebook to go on and accept the friend requests from my teachers! Israel, and Matos are their names, they told me that they found my facebook page and sent friend requests. They might have some pictures with me, Im not sure though. I want you to send me an email with a recent picture of our family, my teacher says that it can be a powerful tool when sharing it with investigators. Oh, and if you plan on handwritting me send it to my field address, it wont get here to the MTC before I leave. Also, let people know on Facebook that my mailing address is going to change. I didnt get any Brazilian roomates this week, Im sure we will get some this week. Other than this nothing really new happened, same old routine until we leave for the field. Im getting good at volleyball haha. Oh! Try and get Reuben to meet up with me at the Temple, I havent gotten a response in my email from him. We usually make it to the 8 o clock session.

I hope everyone is doing well, it sounds like it from all the letters Im getting.

Love you guys,

Elder Miller

3 October 2012

This week has been great. I understood Português so much better this week, it has started to click in my mind what people are saying. No doubt the power of God is working in this place, there is just no way a bunch of 19 year olds could be picking up this language this quickly without some divine help. My district had our first English fast which means we tryed our best not to speak English the whole day. This helped me out a lot with my speaking and I think my district is going to start having English fasts more often.

Our Brazilian roomates left for the mission yesterday. They are both going to Fortaleza, Brazil. We should be getting some new roomates tomorrow which will be good for us. Brazilian roomates are the best to learn Português from, but eventually you just start learning how to speak Português slang haha.

Today has been such a good day for my companions and I. First, we went on our temple trip as usual but then we went to a burger joint for lunch and it was amazing. It was on the same level as Gazeebo Burger. And after that we went to Cheneys where I picked up my package. I had not told my companions that we were getting milkshakes from you so when they saw I recieved 3 chocolate milkshakes they were so sad haha. Then after a few minutes I told them that the milkshakes were for all of us and now they want to be adopted into our family. The milkshakes were sooo good, it was insane. My companions are very grateful for this.

To awnser some questions you guys have been emailing me about, yes I leave the MTC on P-days. We are allowed to go a few blocks around the MTC, and yes I try to interact with the locals. The locals talk very fast and since they dont talk about church like things it can be hard to understand them. Grandma sent me a letter this week wanting to know how to greet people in Português. To say Hi, you say Oi. To say goodbye, you say Tchau which sounds like the word chow. The most common thing to say to someone is Tudo Bem, which sounds like two do bain. That means everything is good, it is like our hows it going sort of.

I sent a few letters off through Cheneys today. One for Mom and one for Dad and one for Grandpa. I havent recieved any hand written letters from you all yet, it takes awhile to get here. Dad, it hurts me to hear the cowboys are playing mediocre this year, but I still have faith in them. Im feeling a Super Bowl this year haha I hope at least the rangers can pull through this year.

Other than that it has been a pretty normal week. We are looking forward to conference this weekend. I think we will all huddle into the gymnasium and watch it. Oh, and this weekend in TRC we get to be investigators for the new guys who have only been here a week in which will be fun haha.

 

Thats it for week five in the MTC. 4 to go

 

Love you all, Elder Miller  

26 September 2012

I am almost half-way through the MTC here in São Paulo. It is crazy because it literally felt like yesterday that I left home. The days are going by so fast and the weeks are moving even faster. It is scary because there is so little time to prepare before I get out in the real world. Mom it is funny that you put Ether 12:27 in your last email to me because that is the scripture I want on my missionary plaque. There are so many good scriptures I could put on my plaque but that one stands out to me.

Thank you for all the cookies you have been getting me. I so look forward to going to Cheneys and seeing that I have a package waiting for me. I now have a balance with all the cookies I have. I usually take out four at a time and devour them in seconds. Lately I have been trying to be a little more christ-like and giving one or two to someone. I gave one to Irmão Israel, or brother Israel my Portuguese teacher. He appreciated it and gave me a hug. It was funny because he like 4feet tall so I had to get on my knees to give him a hug. Also, Im looking forward to the milkshakes.

It has been raining the past week and with the rain came some colder weather. I love it outside now because it isnt so hot anymore. Brazil is an awesome place and I cant wait for you guys to see it with me one day.

My Brazilian room mates are very nice. They are very kind even though they cant really understand us. We have started praying with them at night in Portuguese and they will tell us if we said something incorrectly. One of them is going to Porto Alegre so who knows maybe we will be mission companions one of these days. The MTC is slowly becoming vacant. There are a lot less people here than when we first got here. It is kinda sad.

I got a letter from Greg and the Lofstrands this week. All the Elders in my district were so jealous when I opened the Lofstrands letters because there was like six letters in there and a story about a penguin that Lucy wrote. I read the story out loud to my whole district and they got a real big kick out of it, it was hilarious. Also, Greg put a photo in with his letter. I had to fight off all the sisters trying to get a hold of it. Oh, and Greg im sending you a letter through mom and dad, and I want you to send me the 8 fundamentals thing you were talking about.

Im kicking it into a higher gear here in the MTC. I have started reading the bible and Im about half way done with the Book of Mormon and Im trying to start reading it in Portuguese. I have taken on the leadership role in my companionship because I feel that we have a lot of potential.

 Anyways, time is running out on my email

 Love you guys lots,

 Love Elder Miller

---

19 September 2012

This 3rd week in the MTC was a very good one. First off, we got Brazilians in our dorm room. It is fun to try and talk to them but I dont have the vocabualry to keep a conversation going for very long and they speak very quickly I cant keep up. Speaking Portuguese was a lot better this week especially in TRC. TRC is when we get filmed trying to teach a lesson according to the investiagators needs. I was able to mostly understand what the investigator was telling me and I was able to communicate back to them. It was a real confidence booster and I got some good feedback.

I had a cool experience when our district went to the federal police station to do some visa stuff. This young Brazilian man came up to me and asked if I knew English. I almost told him that I didnt know how to speak English because no one here has ever asked me that, they always ask if I speak Portuguese and I usually tell them no. So this guy and I got to talking and He asked whats our purpose for being in Brazil and I told him we are volunteers for our chuch. We give up two years of our lives to serve the Lord and the people of Brazil. After talking a little bit about myself and our message the man said he was very touched about what I had to say and I got his information and passed it on to some missionaries in the field. This man was mechanical engineer working in Sao Paulo and he was really stoked to have the missionaries come over. This made me feel very good that day and I was grateful to be in the right place at the right time. 

In the temple today the power went down during our session. It was so funny and eventually we just had to leave without finishing the endowment. There was a bunch of missionaries leaving for home that day at the temple, it was so fun to talk with them they are beyond excited to get home mainly beacuse of the Dark Knight haha. The food here in Sao Paulo is pretty good. It usually consists of a couple meats with some beans and rice. Also, there is some gross dessert that we always get. Our district enjoys watching Elder Russell eat all our desserts in one bite, it is disgusting but hilarious. Alot of my freinds from BYU hit the field yesterday. Elder Funk, Elder Peters, and Elder Walton were all in Budge with me, I took some pictures that hopefully I can send to you guys sometime soon.

Thanks for all the letters you all are sending me, I enjoy getting the updates from the outside world. Dad, keep sending me updates on the sports I love that stuff. Through Cheneys I get all of them within a day that you send them. I got letters from Oupa and Grandpa today and I was really happy for that. I need you to send me their emails so I can send them letters through cheneys but they have to be signed up, that way they can get my letters without having to wait weeks. I have been getting some letters from my friends out on mission. Their stories are so cool, it makes me way amped to get out there. Im looking forward to getting some handwritten letters from you all. I will write you back as fast as I can, a handwritten letter takes about a week and a half priority mail to get to the States.

 I love you guys and Im always thinking about you all, 

Love Elder Miller

12 September 2012

 

This week was pretty difficult mainly because of the language. I can read and write portuguese better than I can speak\understand it right now. It will come eventually it is just frustrating trying to teach someone when you cant speak the words which you are thinking. My district is pretty slow at learning the language so I feel like Im getting held back, but it is all good. 

The days are starting to go by quickly now. We have a routine each day. Usually it is personal then language study until lunch time then we get a Portuguese teacher for a few hours. At night we get another teacher but she doesnt speak english so it is hard getting anything done at night. My first teacher is this little guy from Porto Alegre. He is awesome and I stay after class and ask him all these questions about Porto Alegre. It sounds so nice, but the work sounds a lot more tough than the rest of Brasil. If somebody doesnt want to hear your message they will straight up tell you unlike the rest of Brazil where it is easy to be engaging.  

Even though my district is a little off task most of the times we have so much fun together. We play volleyball pretty much everyday and it gets pretty competitve. There is an Elder hear named Elder Taylor, he is pretty much my best bud here. He is this California surfer dude that reminds me a lot of my friend Ryan Taylor in Costa Rica. Another notable Elder in my district is Elder Spencer he is this way cool kid from Salt Lake and he knows Dallin Hall. He played for West Minister lacrosse so thats how he got to know him.  

Anyways, some stuff that happened to me this week. We got video taped trying to teach an investigator in Portuguese. It was so bad haha. And everybody can go and watch it and it is streamed live to Salt Lake. I thought I did okay, but my companions sucked it up. I also got a haircut this week. The barber guy used a stright razor on me which at first was kinda scary, but he did a really good job even though he didnt speak english. I got back from the temple a little bit ago. We got stuck in Sao Paulo traffic which was terrible. 

Other than that im doing well. I try my best everyday to do the best I can.

 

Love you guys,

 

Love Elder Miller

5 September 2012

 

So this first week in the MTC was a lot of fun. The MTC here in Sao Paulo is very laid back compared to the Provo MTC from what other elders have told me. Everything is on our own honor. My district and I wake up at 6.30am and have language/personal study until the afternoon. Then we get a teacher that teaches us the basics of Portuguese. We already have to teach fake investigators in Portuguese! It is really hard because we have to figure everything out ourselves.

 

I’m in a trio of missionaries, Elder Russell and Elder Tapp. The first elder is from Oregon and the second is from Idaho.

 

The first few days it felt like a dream being here, I didn’t think it was really happening. Our district must have looked so lost when we got to the MTC because we couldn’t believe we were actually on mission now and in Brazil. Sao Paulo is a gigantic city. When you look outside all you see is buildings for miles, apparently there are 20 million people living here. The food is good but a little strange.

 

Today is p-day so we got to go to the Sao Paulo temple which was really nice. It is a beautiful temple. Then we got to leave the MTC and check out the city within a certain boundary of course. I bought some sweet Brazilian flip-flops! I want to buy a bunch of watches and ties here cause they are so cheap haha but they look super nice.

 

There are a bunch of my friends from budge hall here. It is like the good old days when we talk about the things that happened while we were at college. A good friend of mine for BYU just finished his 9th week and left yesterday. Its nuts he was speaking fluent Portuguese. These missionaries here learn so fast I just hope that I can learn as quickly as they do. We might get some Brazilian roommates which should help a lot. Brazilians are the nicest people on Earth. They just want to know all about you and be your friend. No wonder the Church is so strong in this part of the world.

 

There are about six missionaries in my district going to Porto Alegre. Apparently the church is growing quickly down there. I can’t wait to get there, it sounds like the crown jewel of all of Brazil. The older Brazilians think it is funny that a Texan is going to Porto Alegre because both places have a lot of pride for their state.

 

One last thing, sign up for this mission ties thing you will be getting through your email. It makes sending things to Brazil a lot easier, and it is run by this church member here in the MTC.

 

Got to go,

I love you guys more than anything in the whole world

Love, Elder Miller