Matthew was actually able to send a few brief personal emails to specific family members and friends, but this was his main email. Sounds like he is busy, but doing great!- JMC
Hello Family!
This past week has been incredible! The flight here was
exhausting, but I was able to get to know a few of the missionaries. I found
out, after arriving at Sao Paulo, that there are actually 7 others going
to Piracicaba with me! So our whole
district is made up of missionaries going to Piracicaba! We all know each other
very well now and get along great. I actually have two companions, and they're
names are Elder David and Elder Bush. They are both really cool. Unfortunately,
I can't send any pictures during my stay here, but the camera's turned out to
be really poopy any way. The pictures are really grainy and the zoom is
terrible. Other than that, I can still take somewhat of a picture. Ah, yes- Mr.
Cheney's! Yes, there is a place right across from the CTM that does care
packages, and I heard they have some really good cookies. For my P-Day today,
we went to the Sao Paulo Temple, and it was really cool. We had to wake up
extra early to go there today, though. We just got back about 20 minutes ago,
and we have to finish our emails as fast as possible to be able to go out
exploring. That also means I can't go up to my room and get my mailing address,
but I think you have a book that says what the mailing addresses are. Its the
one with the missionary lists of items to get.
Anyways, my schedule goes something along the lines of:
6:30-7:00 Wake up and get ready for the day
7:00-8:00 Personal study (scripture study; my district
made a goal to read the whole Book of Mormon here before we leave)
8:00-8:30 Breakfast
8:30-9:55 Additional study
10:15-11:00 Physical Activity (we can't play soccer
though)
11:00-11:30 Take a shower, prepare
11:30-12:15 Lunch
12:15-13:30 Language Study
13:30-16:30 Time with Instructor (his name is Irmao
Tavares)
16:30-17:15 Dinner
17:15-18:00 TALL (like a language program on the
computer; it barely even works half the time haha)
18:00-21:00 More time with Irmao Tavares
21:00-21:45 Daily planning and snack!
21:45-22:30 Prepare to sleep
So, yeah, thats pretty much our schedule. Sometimes,
something will be changed or added, like on Tuesdays- we have a Devotional at
night, and Wednesdays are our P-Days. The meals! Oh my, they are so good. With
every meal, there's beans and rice, beans and rice. They also always have some sort
of meat. And they have milinesas! (or however you spell it) But that is
seriously the best meal I've had so far, and both my companions agree. For our
language study, we have learned so much. Like, I know more Portuguese than I do
Spanish now. Also, my companions and I always sit next to the natives during
lunch and talk with them. Also, before we go to bed, the Brasileiros storm our
room and its like they've never seen Americans haha. Needless to say, we've
been very immersed in the language. On Tuesday, our second day here, we had to
give a full lesson to an "investigator" all in Portuguese. The cool
thing was, that we were able to do just that. We had learned so much Portuguese
that we could actually carry on a long conversation with them. I learned so
much in the past week, and have come to grow a strong testimony of the Gift of
Tongues here on my mission.
Yes, Dad, that would be awesome to have you create a blog
for my mission. Anything that works, right? :) I love you all and hope the
best.
Your son and brother,
Elder Collins
No comments:
Post a Comment