December 22, 2014- week 16- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Feliz Natal Familia!

As the end of the year and Christmas has been rolling closer, things have started to get a little harder over here (work wise). People are leaving for their summer break to their families all around Brazil, so we didn't have as much teaching to do as usual. Everyone has just entered their Summer Break about a week ago, and it's getting really hot!

So, this week we had a Christmas mulit-zona conference up in Piracicaba! We went up there on Tuesday and it was actually really fun! Apparently there was a ''Secret Santa'' thing, but neither me nor my companion knew that, so we weren't allowed to participate. :( Haha, oh well. It was still a really good discourse that President Canuto gave. Also, I got the shoes!!!! I started wearing them the next day, and they are so awesome! Thank you so much! The shoes are really good, and I have a feeling that they'll last for a while. Also, up at the conference, I got to meet up with a lot of other American missionaries, and its always really good to talk to others from back home. I got to talk to Elder Arnson and Elder Maxwell, who are both from my CTM district. Elder Arnson actually is in my zone, and I see him every Tuesday at the chapel, but it was cool to talk to Elder Maxwell. Also, since we got here, there's only been other American group come here who weren't visa waiters. Elder Akina is in my district, and he actually has a blog too! If you want to know more about what its like over here, you can check his out!

There was recently an emergency transfer, because one of my zone leaders is going home- Elder Costa! And also one of my district leaders this Saturday. Elder Costa is super cool, and we've been in the same zone for two transfers now. We always played foosball together, and now I'm pretty good because of him haha. Attached is a picture of him. Apparently, there's going to be a lot of changes going on within the next couple of weeks, with where people are going. We're also getting an American zone leader! Yeah!

Well, since it's Christmas time, I'd just like to bear a small testimony, but I'd also like to do it in Portuguese!

Para esse Natal, lembram que Ele, Jesus Cristo é o presente. Por causa Dele, nos temos um esperança que ninguem pode tirar de nos. Eu sei que Ele vive. Sei que Ele sofreu por nossos pecados e desafios para que possamos ser limpos e voltar a presença de nosso Pai Celestial. Ele deixou o exemplo perfeito para todos nos a seguir. Fazendo isso, nos ajudará com qualquer coisa em nossas vidas. Eu amo essa igreja e sei que é verdadeira. Eu sei que o Evangelho abençoa as famílias e nos ajuda para entender nosso proposito aqui na Terra. Sei que esse evangelho foi restaurado por meio do profeta Joseph Smith. Eu testifico que essa igreja é a mesmo igreja que foi estabelecido por Jesus Cristo, que é restaurado, e que Ele guia-lo por meio de um profeta vivo- Thomas S. Monson. Eu tenho um testemunho forte sobre essas coisas e estou muito grato por esse oportunidade que tenho para estar aqui no Brazil. Eu espero que todos possam ter um Natal muito feliz!

Love from your son and brother,

Elder Matthew Collins

PICTURES!!!!

Elder Costa goes home today!!

Elder Maxwell and Elder Arnson, who were in my CTM District!

Just another morning here in BRAZILLLLL!!

Our last full zone picture

Another view of our zone!

December 15, 2014- week 15- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Hey Family!

Well, another week down! It was a little bit slower than the previous one, but still a good one! It was super rainy this week. It's rained pretty much every day for the past 6 days. About a month ago, we had a stake fast (all the Wards in the Sumaré stake, maybe other Stakes too) for it to rain, because it had been years since it had rained for a week straight, and it wasn't doing any good. Since then, it started to rain every now and then, and then last week it came down hard. That was really cool to see; fasting really does work. 

Also, I finally got a haircut! The cabeleireiro (barber) was interesting haha. He was kind of old, and had been cutting hair for 50 some years. He was talking about how he was still learning! Haha, but he spent about 30 minutes on me, making sure everything was even. I hadn't cut my hair since I left the CTM, so it was a lot of hair. You probably saw all those pictures and were thinking- What in the world is he doing with all that hair! Haha, we just didn't have anytime to get it cut, and then we always forgot on P-Days. But, here I am now!

On Thursday, we went to the main plaza in the centro of Sumaré and sung Christmas songs for the "Noite da Amizade" which is a weekly Ward activity. We usually meet at the chapel and have a special message, a brincadeira (game), and then a lanche (snack). But, for last week, and this week too I think, we are caroling. We also set up a little table with gifts for everyone who passed by. Haha, there was also this crazy dog who had been roaming the city. Elder Holder and I started petting him, and he got so excited because no one really did anything like that for him. He starting jump around in joy, and then tried biting our ties. Then, he ran over to this one woman with a dress, and then pulled on it, dragging her with him. The bishop ran after them and then wacked the dog to get it off of her. It was pretty funny.

Well, there's that little update. Hope all is going well back home! That's super awesome to know that the shoes are here! Tomorrow, we have a multizona conference up in Piracicaba. We'll all be going up there, so I'll be able to pick up some mail! I don't know if they are gonna send down any more mail before Christmas, but I hoping they do something like that. I get to Skype on Christmas Day, and it will be at a member's house. I'm not for sure who its going to be, as of right now, but I'll tell you guys more next week. Also, thanks for the Christmas package! I am super excited to get it! I don't know if it will get here before Christmas, but I know I'll get it sometime, and anytime is a good time for me.

Thanks for all the emails again, and until next week, and CHRISTMAS!!! I love you all!

Elder Collins

PICTURES!!!!

My hair cut, and also a little break from walking

The other side from that picture of my hair cut

 This one sign we found that talked about a killer on the loose in that area! What you can't see is the scratched out part of "de gatos". A CAT MURDERER! Still kind of scary haha.

 Us leaving our house to use the internet!

December 8, 2014- week 14- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Oi Familia!

This week went by really fast too. I seems like I just sent off an email to you guys yesterday haha. Also, we didn't do much when you add it all up- so, I guess this will mainly be a picture letter.

Anyways, so the big things that happened this week were that we finally got our planners! We had to go almost two weeks without new planners! That was hard. We started using every free space in the planners, but we had to go somedays without using the planner, rather we had to use lined paper haha. But luckily, we got new planners on Wednesday during our Zone meeting! It definitely is nice to be able to use new planners.

Also, I can't remember if I told you last week or not, but our washing machine is broken. We have to wash and dry our clothes by hand. Holy Cow, that is a reminder for me of how blessed I was to have a washer and dryer back at home! Anyways, we had a technician come and look at the washer to find out the problem, and he said that the wires had all been chewed! BY A RAT!!! We had seen a rat a couple times, and we even found some poop on Elder Murray's clothes that were in the washer. So, we got some rat poison from a member here and laid it all over the ground by our door. The next morning, with all the poison gone, we found the rat- dead! Cha-ching! Too bad we saw some of its babies the other day...The technician said he'll be coming sometime this week to fix the washer.

This week, we also went to the other Elders' area- Portal Bordão. We helped them out by doing contacts for a couple hours. It was a district activity. It was really fun, and I'm actually kind of jealous because there were so many interested people over there! Almost everyone we talked to wanted us to go to their house! There were even a couple who wanted us to bring them to church! Oh well. Anyways, still a cool experience going to someone else's area.

As for the shoe problem, they are completely out of use. I am now renting some shoes from Elder Murray for a modest price haha, so that way I'll have something to wear.  It doesn't really look that bad, but trust me- you can't wear them without them falling apart as you walk. I anxiously await for the new shoes you got for me! They look pretty cool!

Well, thanks for all the emails this week, until the next week!

Love,

Elder Collins

PICTURES!!!!

 Portal Bordão!!

 Elder Holder and part of the house (for some reason he can never make anything less than a devil face haha)

 Epic mission pic: A super cool shot of our district (minus me...)

 A selfie with Elder Murray #missionswag

 The rat we killed! 

 The rat we killed! 

December 1, 2014- week 13- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Minha Familia!

     This week has been great! We found a lot more investigators, and we also have some baptisms marked! My companion and I have also been able to work together a lot better. Also, as usual, my Portuguese is progressing.

     So! Like I said the other week, Tuesday was transfer day. Almost everyone left from our disrtict except my house (Elder Holder, Chipana, and Murray) and one other guy. We got two more Americans straight from the CTM! They're not in our area, but we saw them at church and at the District meeting. Also, our District leader changed. It is now an American. His name is Elder Sanchez, and he's been here for a little more than a year now. It was cool to see the new guys, because that is probably how I looked to the other people in my District. One of them knows a decent amount of Portuguese, but the other one needs a little work. With time, I'm sure they will both be amazing. I hope I can be amazing one day...haha.

     We were able to find one pesquisadora this week who is really interested in the church. We were able to go there 4 times this week! She wants to know everything she can learn from us. Its going really well. She wasn't able to go to church, though, because she got sick at the last minute. She was able to send her three kids though. We will see how well we can progress with her. Also, we found another family who seem pretty interested in what we do. They also want to know more about our church. We've already gone there three or four times too. We actually found them by mistake, because we were looking for a person with the same name, but they accepted us with eagerness. They always invite us in their house when they see us.

     Well, thats about all the cool stuff that happened this week. We did a ton of walking, as usual. The heel on my left foot is literally falling off the shoe, but its still connected. I've already put three soles in there to give me the support that I can get. The original sole, the sole from my slip one, and Elder Holder's gel sole. Hopefully, it'll last me a little bit longer. 

     Sorry about there not being much this week, but here are two pictures and just a little update on me.  Anyways, thanks again for all the emails, I love you guys! Till the next week.

Elder Collins

P.S. Portugal sounds like it was fun! The Portuguese you heard in Portugal, however, is not the same as Brazil. Haha, still cool that you got to hear Portuguese though!

A picture of our district here in Sumaré with President Canuto. This picture was taken in October I think.

A sunset in the area of Paulistano. Shows the center of Sumaré.

November 24, 2014- week 12- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Helllloooooo Family!

Another week down here in Brazil! This past week, not much happened, but there were some cool events. On Saturday, the Ala (ward) had a End of the Year party/churrasca at the Recreation Center close by. It was really cool and a ton of people went! We also got some of our investigators to go, and they said they had a great time! The food was also definitely good! 

Anyways, work was same as usual. We contact people on the streets, and they're almost always really positive and they love to hear what we have to say. We have a lot of investigators! They all live in far and spread out areas, though, so we can't always go and visit them. Some times we'll have to walk 30 minutes to an hour to get to one place, and then walk another 45 minutes back to visit someone else. We're starting to focus a little more on the people closest to us haha.

As for my Portuguese, it is coming along well as usual. I am starting to participate a lot more in the lessons, because I can actually understand and say a lot more. There is still a lot that I need to learn- mainly vocab...vocab, vocab, vocab- but I can hold conversations easily. I kind of have an accent, but I'm working on that haha. It's not even that bad, a TON better than most of the American Elders here.

Also, transfers was this week. I am still here with Elder Holder, so that's a relief. We have a lot of Investigators who are almost ready to be baptized. Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks, and we shall see!

Well, there's my little report for the week. Till the next week, all. Thank you also, for all the emails!

Love,

Elder Collins

 A view from the main road in Paulistano

Some random cows in Paulistano

 Another road on the outskirt of Paulistano

The view of Sumaré from Paulistano

NOTE: Paulistano is a little neigborhood just outside of the city Sumaré, but it's still part of Sumaré.

November 17, 2014- week 11- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Oi!

Another week down here in Brazil! It was a fast week, but a lot happened. I also included some more pictures for those who wish to know what my area is like down here.

This past week, we opened up a new favela called "Villa Soma". It's been around for 2-3 years, but that whole time, only Sister Missionaries have been here. I can't remmeber if I've told you or not, but we're the first Elders that Sumaré has had for several years. Anyways, Villa Soma is a dangerous area, so the Sisters weren't allowed to enter it. So, we made history! First missionaries ever to set foot in Villa Soma! We found a lot of investigators there, too! There's this one family that's super accepting, and their daughter wants to serve a mission! How cool is that? We've only been there two times, too! Haha, kind of funny- Villa Soma is ginormous, but you can't really tell from the picture because most of the favela is behind the hill- but the second time we went there, we got lost and couldn't find the address of the family. So, for two hours, we walked and walked and walked. We asked for directions, but no one knew anything. Ai, haha.

On Friday, we had interviews with President Canuto here at the chapel in Sumaré. The whole zone was there. Because we work here in Sumaré, we have the keys to the chapel, so we have to open and lock up every time there's an activity for missionaries. The interveiws with President Canuto lasted about 5 hours, so we had to stay in the chapel until he was done. Good thing there's a foosball table at the chapel!

Also, Elder Urquia left! He was having serious problems with his knees, so there was an emergency transfer. He's in Piracicaba right now, but Elder Chipana has a new companion- Elder Murray. He just got here to Brazil a couple of weeks ago, but he's been serving in the States for 14 months! He's pretty cool! Now, there's 3 Americans in our house, all against one Hispanic haha. Oh! Another cool thing: Elder Chipana and Elder Murray had their first baptism yesterday! As for Elder Holder and I, we're progressing.

We have a lot of cool investigators. There's this one family in Paulistano who the dad is really interested. He also really wantes to learn more English (he can already speak really well), so we gave part of our lesson in English. I also gave him my mini Book of Mormon that I got from Sister Miller in Seminary. Along with the gift, I told him about the promise that if he reads the entire Book of Mormon in English (along with his Portuguese one) two things would happen: first one, he would learn English and become fluent; and second, that he would receive a testimony of the divinity of the Book. I bore my testimony and we could all feel the Spirit. Just one of the many experiences on the mission.

Anyways, I hope all is well back home. All is well here, so no need to worry haha. Thank you all for the emails. Until the next week.

Love,

Elder Collins

 A view of the edge of our area

 Elder Chipana's new companion, Elder Murray

 A pathway to Villa Soma and Paulistano

 A river under a bridge on the way to Villa Soma

 Me on top of one of the huge anthills near Paulistano, with the Book of Mormon of course :)

 A bad picture, but one that holds the last memories of dear Elder Urquia

 A view of Villa Soma and the river

Pathway to Villa Soma

November 10, 2014- week 10- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Hello Family!

Another week down from my mission! This week went by really fast. We had a lot of activities that we went to. Last Saturday, there was a Family History Activity in one of the nearby Wards outside of the main city of Sumaré. All of the missionaries from my zone were there, and we all handed out little notices throughout the week. At the activity, people learned how to do Family History and were introduced to the Family Search website. It was a really fun activity! Also, on Friday, my companion and I and the two other missionaries helped a member with his work. He's a construction worker, so we helped him to build his house. We also moved a ton of dirt using shovels. I got some blisters and my hands because I have never used shovels as much as I did that day. It was exhausting work, but we got fed lunch by him!

That reminds me, we actually get fed lunch everyday by the members here. Everyday, except P-Day, that is. But, they're almost always SO GOOD. The people here eat rice and beans with every meal here, doesn't matter what you're having haha. But they also eat a lot of meat, that they usually fry. Yesterday, we had a churrasca at one of the members' house. Like always, churrascas are the best.

This week, for work wise, we visited a lot of our investigators. Because we walk alot, I have a lot of blisters, and one pair of my shoes is already ruined. The other pair started to fall apart too, so I took out the sole from the broken shoe and added it to the shoes I'm wearing right now. It helped a lot, but it's still not comfortable to walk with blisters. Oh the life of a missionary in Brazil haha. Anyways, our investigators! Almost all of our pesquisadores (investigators) are really receptive. They all believe in God. I haven't met a single person here who doesn't. Also, almost everyone loves us and wants us in their houses. There are a few people who don't really like us. But I've only seen maybe two or three people total like that.

 

Only two more weeks left in the transfer!! I'm pretty sure I'm gonna stay here though. My Portuguese is going well. I'm reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese right now, and I'm starting to understand a lot. Theres a ton of vocab, but the basic format is easy to understand. Its funny, though, because its not a literal translation- so the wording is changed. For example, in the very beginning it talks about Lehi and seeing the burning bush and then he goes and falls on his bed with exhaustion, but the Portuguese translation says that he throws himself on his bed.

 

This week, I went and visited a lot of my pesquisadores (investigators). I wouldn't say its easy to get investigators, but everyone is always so happy to let us into their house. They always go and fetch us a glass of water. I don't know if you know, but theres a kind of drought here, so there's not very much water. People have to travel far to find a well and get water from there. Yes, I am beginning to understand better. I am reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, so that is helping a lot with learning vocabulary.

 

Anyways, for this week, I only have one Picture, but at least its something! I'll try to take more this week. Thanks for all the e-mails! Until the next week.

Elder Collins

Just another day here in Sumaré

November 3, 2014- week 9- Photos from Sumaré, Brazil!

Olá!

Another week has pased! I've been starting to take lots of pictures, so this update will mostly contain pictures! Yay! So I will add descriptions to the pictures!

Anyways, I've been doing just fine over here in Brasil. Last week was kind of slow, but I'm constantly learning Portuguese every day. Till the next week. (Sorry for the short email, but next week I'll have more to say)

Love,

Elder Collins

 Elder Holder and I; my companion is a little too excited at times...haha

 On our way back from a little village outside of Sumaré

Our kitchen! 

Just outside of the kitchen 

My companion and the two others who live with us. Elder Holder on the left, Elder Chipana (this dude is hilarious) in the center, and Elder Urquia (who arrived in Piracicaba with me) on the right. 

A view of the favelas from Sumaré 

Me!

Me again! In front of our humble abode! (Just the gate on the right)

October 27, 2014- week 8- Sumaré, Brazil!

Querido Família,

This past week has been pretty cool, indeed these past few weeks. I know I wasn't able to send you too much last time, but the work is still the same. The people here are super cool, because everyone will talk to you. It would be even cooler if I could actually understand what they are saying, but that will come with time, I am sure. Anyways, my Portuguese is coming a long pretty well. The Potuguese that they taught me at the CTM is really not enough to be able to communicate effectively, so I've had to relearn a lot of things. Also, the Portuguese is different! And unlike Spanish, there aren't as many conjugations, but the people talk so fast and with so short of words. Another thing that I have learned about different languages, at least with Portuguese, is that you just can't phrase things the same way you would in English. There are some phrases which do work, but most everything is worded differently. Its really hard to explain, but this is something I've only recently learned. As I continue to strengthen my Portuguese, I will be able to communicate this better.

So, this past week, we did a lot. We found a lot of people who were interested, and there are a lot of receptive people. We also taught a lot of people, and that was pretty crazy. One of the days, we had a super tight schedule because there were 4 families to teach and many others to visit (Menos ativos e inativos). And because we had all these people to teach, we walked a ton. Needless to say, I have blisters and whatnot. Also, my shoes are basically trashed. The soles are pretty much ruined, and because one of my shoes had that gell-insert sole, that completely broke off and moves around. I'll have to glue it or something. Oh well. But, like I was saying, we taught a lot of people and they were all located in different areas of the city here in Sumare. Also, there are two sets of missionaries here for Sumare (Elders) and basically the area is split into two parts. Elder Holder and I have Sumare ''A'' which covers half of the city and everything outside on that side. We teach a lot of families who live outside of the city. There is a family who lives in a Favela named ''3 Pontes'' and a family who lives in a community a ways out in a place called '''J.D. Paulistano''.

Like I said in the previous letter, our Ward is really active and there are a ton of activites. Every other day, kids from all over the city come to play futebol and there's an activity every Thursday which includes a special message, a brincadeira (game), and a lanche (snack). Also, every Saturday, the Ward holds free classes to learn Spanish, English, study Mathematics, and Informáticas. We were given a referral of a family that went there, and they glady accepted us and they are now one of our best pesquisadores.

Anyways, I have a some sad news to report- I was doing something with my camera the other day, and I unknowingly deleted ALL of my pictures!! Aggghhh. Now I have nothing but the picture that I sent to you guys in the last email. I have taken a couple pictures here, but now there is nothing from the CTM. I'm really upset about that, but then at the same time, not really. A lot of my companions took the same pictures, so I can get pictures from them. In the meanwhile, I only have new pictures I took. Which, those aren't even good either. Just of what it looks like down here. I don't know if the two pictures I attached will send, but I have my fingers crossed.

Well, that's basically it for this week. Oh! Last week, we did have a Mutli-Zona for three zones here- Sumare, Americana, and Hortolandia. President Canuto came down with all the APs, and other assistants and we got some training and orientation. I also got to meet up with two others from my district at the CTM. That was pretty cool.

I look forward to hearing more from you guys,

Love,

Elder Collins

 

 

October 20, 2014- week 7- First area is Sumaré, Brazil!

Oi minha Familia!

For some weird reason, I can't login to my own email so I am using my companion's email. Anyways, the past week has been unlike any other. We left on Tuesday of last week and rode a van to Piracicaba, where we met the President and his wife there. President Canuto is really cool. We ate lunch at their house and then went to the chapel there in Piracicaba to recieve our new companions and areas. I was assigned to the area of Sumaré! And my companion is Elder Holder! He is pretty cool. He is an American from Maryland and has been serving for 9 months. His Portuguese is really good and he knows what he's doing. 

Anyways, like I said, its a lot different out here than in the CTM. It's also a little bit harder for us than other missionaries, because we are opening up this area. My companion and I are still getting to know Sumaré, but so far its pretty amazing. The ward here is super awesome and very active and excitied to help move forward the missionary work. Its unlike anything I've ever seen. They also have a lot of weekly activities. I'd say most of the members are converts, but many of them have served missions themselves, so its really cool to see that.

So! The real Brasil is quite different from the United States. I haven't been able to take too many pictures here in Sumaré, but in the next email (hopefully It'll be on my own), I'll send some. Included with this email are some pictures. The housing here is very different from the States. Its hard to explain unless I have pictures, but in most of the areas the people live in these brick houses. They all have the same kind of brick, because its the cheapest, and so I see it in piles everywhere around the city. Oh! Also, we walk a ton. I already have blisters on my feet, but I am recovering haha. I think the farthest we've walked to an investigator's house was probably 30-45 minutes away. But we walk everywhere.

Also, the people here are very receptive and love to talk. The Portuguese I learned at the CTM is not enough to be able to understand what the people say here, so I'm usually lost throughout the conversations we have. But, I am learning! Because we are opening this area up, we didn't really have any investigators to teach last week, but this week will be different.

Anyways, I hope all is well over there in Italy, and I'll try to get my email fixed by next week.

Love,

Elder Collins

Pictures (I can only send one at a time):

(the view outside of my room at the CTM)