August 19, 2015 - Week 1 in Brazil

Ah, so little time!! Hello everyone! So glad to hear from all of you.

I need to be pretty quick, because we have some time to go out and

walk around outside the CTM (Missionary Training Center in Brazil)

and use our Portuguese, and we want to use

as much of that time as we can. But I also want to tell you as much

as possible. A difficult task. But here goes.      On my flight from

Portland to Atlanta there was just me and one missionary just leaving

home, heading to the Peru MTC. We didn´t have much time to talk. On my

flight from Atlanta to Sao Paulo, there were like 35 missionaries. It

was crazy. I was like the first or second one there, and they just

kept coming. A lot just leaving home, and a lot coming from Provo MTC

to finish in Brazil. Elder Nelson (AKA Sean), a good friend from my

hall in BYU was on our flight, which was crazy because I hadn´t even

heard he was called to Brazil. Weird.     So, we got here and got

right into it. My district is just three people, all of us were visa

waiters. Our purpose here, as our teachers say, is solely to learn

Portuguese. We already know how to be missionaries. But, at the same

time, we are learning more about that too. Elder Hammond (was in my

district in Provo) and Elder Rodriguez are my companions. We jumped

right into Portuguese, and were teaching 3 lessons our first full day

here. And have been most days since then. It´s crazy. The language is

doing okay, but definitely needs work.     We have already been out

proselyting in downtown Sao Paulo twice. We go out with a teacher, get

4 Livro de Mormons a piece, and go to it. People are super open and

receptive here. And even though I can´t understand everything they

say, it´s easy to pass the books out. They have been good experiences.

The CTM is way different here because everyone is trying to speak the

same language. You can talk to anyone in Portuguese. It makes it so

much easier to speak your language. I have barely spoken English since

Wednesday. It´s weird.      Our teachers are awesome. I have learned

that Brasileiros really like to joke around a lot, and our teachers

are hilarious.     We went to the Campinas temple today. It was

awesome. Super pretty. It was P-Day for all non-native speakers today,

so our session was in English. Kinda nice, and also kinda

disappointing at the same time. But I had a really good experience in

the temple today. Personal revelation is so real.      I need to head

out soon. Sorry I can´t answer all of your questions. But, before I

go, spiritual thought. A few days ago I was really upset with the

language and slightly depressed. I really missed Oregon and everything

that I loved there, and I felt like I had just left to come to Brazil

and not understand people. Leaving a mission is super hard. Then in

one of our lessons, we talked about how Heavenly Father will help us

in all our difficulties because He loves us so much. I bore my

testimony on just that. And as I did, the Spirit confirmed it to me.

That Heavenly Father knew my problems, and will help me because He

loves me. That slight depression or whatever you wanna call it left

as I bore my testimony. And hasn´t come back since. I know it´s true.

He will help me. And He will help all of us. Just trust in Him, and

it´s all gonna be good. It was a sweet experience.    I love all of

you so much! You are amazing! Good luck with everything going on in

your lives! I love it here, I´m starting to love Brazil a lot, and I

know this is where I need to be. Love you!! Elder Baldridge