3 weeks down :)

Hey Fam and Friends,

It´s been another great week here in the mtc. I find it hard to know what to write about, because for me the last 20 days have all been almost exactly the same, and I forget what I´ve already written about. Make sure that you write me whatever questions you might have, because a lot of things are strange here, but for me they seem routine. The Brazilians that lived in my room moved away yesterday. They only stay three weeks because they don´t need to learn a language. I never was able to talk to them deeply, but we were good pals, and it was sad to see them go. I took a few pictures with them. Maybe when I´m out in the field I´ll be able to send them to you. The computers in the mtc are locked up really tight. The browser doesn´t have an address bar, and all the hot keys on the keyboard have been disabled, like tab and enter and delete. All the usb ports have also been disabled. It´s a little frustrating, but things will change once I´m in the field. I´ve really been enjoying the mtc. I have good companions, a good district, and a good branch. The other district in my branch leaves next week, so that means that my district will be in charge of the whole sacrament meeting, and we´ll get a new AP from our district. Things go so fast here. We set crazy goals to accomplish in a week, then miraculously by the end of the week we´re accomplishing them. We´re already teaching lessons in Portuguese. It´s rough, but a couple of the members of the district are really getting the hang of it. I cant wait until I´m fluent. I want it so bad. I can only imagine writing a letter to my Brazilian roommates once I actually know how to communicate with them. I´m so proud of all my friends who are giving farewells now and leaving. You´ll be great. I´ll see ya at your homecomings. I think Portuguese is adversely affecting my spelling. All of their spellings are phonetic, which makes me realize how screwed up English is. I want you all to know how much I love you. The church is true! I know that there is a battle raging on the earth between Satan and the truth. It´s my job to fight for truth, and I´m so thankful for my calling. I know that through the gospel we can all be happy. I liked what amber said about happiness being a choice. I know that when we are choosing the right, and that when we´re obedient we deserve to be happy. Don´t ever let anything keep you from being happy. Love, Elder Forsyth.

2 weeks out

Everything has been going really well for me this week. The Brazilians that live with me are still way crazy. I don´t remember if i told you last time, but every time a Brazilian district leaves they all get their mattresses out in the hall and play dominoes with them. We´re not supposed to be out past 10:30, so it turns into a covert operation for them. They do the whole thing in less than 30 seconds, all the way down the hall. It's nuts. Last night we had a techno dance party in our room around 10:20. We turned out all the lights and sang techno music and moved around our flashlights. Missionaries here have a very unique sense of humor, and just recently I began to understand it, and now I´m beginning to embrace it. The temple in Sao Paulo is amazing. The whole inside is made from Brazilian wood that is illegal to harvest now. Some man had just harvested a lot of it one day for no reason, then it became illegal. Then when the temple was being build this man came forward with enough wood to build the whole thing. I've been able to send a few letters back and forth with Amber since I've been here, but I haven´t received anything from America yet. It´s fun to send stuff to Amber because there are some guys in her ward that work here at the MTC, and I have them smuggle my letters to her. We´re not supposed to do that, but I really enjoy it anyway. Even though I can't see Amber right now, I feel really close to her. The weather in the Sao Paulo winter is really nice; probably about 70 all the time. Sometimes 60, but not much colder. Last week it rained quite a bit, but lately it´s been great. It makes me wish I could go outside more. I am very luck that I´m allowed outside on p-day though. There's a really nice tie lady who sells missionaries 2 ties for 15 rais, and there is tons of other cool stuff to explore. It makes me realize that I´m not in America anymore though. The buildings are all really old, and the sidewalks are about as smooth as hiking in the Uintas. My district is still really cool. I like them a lot. I tend to forget what else I want to write once I get in on the computers, and it sucks because I only have 30 minutes and the connection is way slow. It´s exciting to hear about all my friends farewells. They´re going to love missions. I truly do love it here in Brazil. The spirit is always so strong here. I know that the church is true, and that what I´m doing in Brazil is right.

Hi Everyone! Im so excited to write you! its a little difficult because there arent apostrophes and the shift is in a weird place and the enter and tab keys dont work. My plane ride was very long and tiring, but overall ok. i met 4 elders in salt lake airport, and 3 more once we were in Sao Paulo. i love my district here. there are 5 elders and 1 sister. I ended up in a 3 way companionship with elder Kelly and Elder Varner; theyre both great. Elder Varner is from salt lake and is very fun to talk to. Elder Kelly is from Washington and is very very shy. once we landed in the Sao Paulo airport, we were picked up in a 15 passenger van. it was pretty scary, because the people who picked us up didnt know English well. our van ended up breaking down on the freeway, and the freeways here dont have places to pull off, so we were just chillin in the middle of the road in a broken van. it was really funny for me for some reason, and a little scary. eventually, after a lot of waiting, a new van arrived and we made it to the mtc, (ctm in Portuguese). jet lag was rough for the first few days, but now i´m used to our schedule.(i just found the apostrophe). we´ve just been diving right into Portuguese. we already pray and bear our testimonies. yesterday we wrote Dear Jane letters to the English language and pinned the letters to the wall. within a few days our language study will be all the way in Portuguese. I´m playing the piano in my branch, and on Sunday I was called to serve as district leader for the next two months. Right now it feels kinda weird, but i´m really looking forward to this opportunity to serve my district. I really like the food in the ctm. it´s all Brazilian, and tastes great. we do in fact eat rice and beans everyday, twice a day, but the meat here is really good and there is good fruit and juice. I room with my two companions and two Brazilians. the Brazilians tend to be a little crazy. we can barely communicate with them, but they´re very nice, and are always helpful with learning the language. one of them has some tattoos on his arms, and kinda doesn´t shower very much, but it proves to me that even people in the wildest situations can turn their lives around to live the gospel and serve the Lord. last night all the Brazilians got their ma tresses and lined them up in the hall and played dominoes with them. i was sure that we were all going to get in trouble, but there wasn´t anything i could do to stop them. in the end we didn´t get in trouble, and it was kinda funny to watch them all go wild. we´re supposed to go to bed at 1030 here, but the Brazilians have a tough time with that. Here in the MTC hand written letters are gold. I check the mailbox for my district everyday, and it´s always empty. I would really appreciate it if you could send some letters in the mail along with your emails. I´m not allowed to send letters to people other than family through email, so that would really be good for my friends if you want to get my emails in the future email my mom your address go4x4syth@msn.com. or check the blog i guess. i think i´ll try to get this email to everyone, but understand that from now on I won´t really be able to. I finally got to send amber´s package today. It cost 13 rais. I love you all so much. I´m so thankful i got to come to the Brazilian mtc instead of the one in Provo. I`m having a great time here and i´m learning a lot. I´ll look forward to hearing all about efy next week. I love you, and have a great week. love Elder Forsyth!

Arrival to Sao Paulo

I traveled with about 15 missionaries from Salt Lake to Atlanta where we met up with other missionaries. After 14+ hours of travel we reached Sao Paulo the morning of July 7th.

New Blog

Hey Friends and Fam.

I leave in 5 days, so I thought it would be nice to start a blog so that people can track me down while I'm gone. I'm really excited to leave, and I'll miss all of you. Hopefully I can set this up so that my mom and other people can post updates and letters I send from Brazil! Again, I'll miss ya tons, but it will be worth it because the church is true!!!

Love, Elder Forsyth