November 30th email

Howdy y´all,
I just want to let you all know that you are the best and the only exceptions.  I received 14 letters on Monday and a package.   So mail does exist down in the southern hemisphere.  I also went to the eye doctor today.  The building was chique demais to say the least.  Up on the 14th floor.  Mother would have loved the view.  Everything is fine there and nothing to worry about.  No changes.  Just a fun little bus ride to the center.  Then to Japan.
This week I did 2 divisions 2 for half a day.  One so Elder Karren could do an interview and the other so he could go to a leadership training.  So high maintenance I know.  The first was with Elder Black again and we helped paint a recent converts house.  Good thing I´ve got lots of practice.  The second I went to Araucária (another city) and I was with Elder Sousa and Elder Andrade.  Both Brazilians.  No trouble really communicating which was good.  We studied, did contacts, and ate lunch.  And rode the bus forever.  
Funny story of the week.  So I was singing in the shower Sunday morning at the top of my lungs of course and someone knocks on our door.  No one does that.  No one.  We live behind people so you can´t even do that. Elder Karren goes outside and it´s one of our investigators all ready for church at 7:30.  Excited I guess.  We don´t even know how he knew where we live.  Super funny.  Good thing I don´t get embarrassed.  There´s window in the shower that goes right outside to the front.  
We´ve been teaching a lot lately and finding some really intense, awesome, legit, super cool people.  That was for all of you out there reading other missionaries´ letters.  You understand.  We´ve found some families that are really progressing and some single people as well.. We find more every day.. Some really spiritual lessons.  My Portuguese is getting much better.  One problem here is that no one is legally married :/  It´s a barrier, but nothing we can´t handle we´re tough.  (See Alma 26:11,12) Just a little joke there.  So Christmas bells are ringing.  What are they saying to you?  To me they say white Christmas.  Which here means baptisms.....  Just saying.  I love this town
I love you all to bits.  I love you I love you I love you.  I hope that this letter captures my personality.  The church is true.  I know.  Because I personally asked God and he told me so.  And I know that whoever will ask in suas proprias orações will receive the same answer.  Jesus Christ lives and Thomas S. Monson is a prophet.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve T.T. Sudweeks

November 23rd email

Greetings loved ones,

So no mail this week because it´s transfers and I´m going to stay here with Elder Karren.  He goes home next transfer.  January 4th.  Crazy stuff. But one of the Zone Leaders was transferred so we won´t get to see them.  It´s alright though I´m holding out fine. 
It´s Thanksgiving tomorrow and we have no plans.  Actually we don´t even have a lunch tomorrow so maybe we´ll do something fun.  We´ve been getting really creative lately making lunches.  We´ve made fried chicken sandwiches with fried onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and ranch dressing that we made.  It wasn´t exact, but it was the best we could do.  We also made lasagna yesterday which was pretty good.  The other stuff was really simple, but we´ve been mixing it up.  We also made cookies again and fudge.  This time for a family home evening that members were bringing their non-member parents too.  The mother came to church and said that she was feeling lost in the desert about life.  Então we shared a message at family home evening.  Lehi´s dream.  Starting with being lost in the desert.  It then transformed into the first vision.  Elder Karren´s idea.  It was very spiritual.  You could cut it with a knife.  The cookies were great too unlike last time.  We have no idea how to translate shortening into portuguese though.  It just comes out as butter.  
Another fun fact.  I am exactly 19.5 years old today.  And growing.  Well not really.  Just older.  Soon I´ll be old like Elder Karren. It is also Devin´s birthday this Friday!  17 years old.  I remember those days.  They were good.  So everyone wish Devin a happy birthday.  I wish I could do it in person, but I guess this digital image will have to suffice.  So happy birthay!  Parabens!  I love you, Devin!
This week we did another division.  I was with Elder Black from Washington.  He has been out about 3 months more than me.  It was an exciting day.  There was a lot of looking at the map because we stayed in our area and I´m not exactly an expert at getting around here.  It was good though.  We had some good times.  
The langauge is coming though.  Slowly but surely.  I´m understanding better every day.  The speaking is off and on.  That´s usual so I hear.  To answer a question.  Yes we do get the Liahona, but it´s a little delayed and by delayed I mean we just got the January issue.  Just a little.  It´s all good.
Tragic story. Elder Dearinger died today.  He´s currently somewhere up there in the sky.  His family will be able to see the body soon.  And by died I mean he went home.  Probably not on the plane yet though.  I´m sure he´s fine and excited.
Our investigators are great and we´re finding more every day.  We had the most investigators at church in a long time.  We set the record.  A grand total of...2.  Yeah it´s not that exciting, but it was for us.  
Everyone also wish Elder Stout a speedy recovery.  I hope he heals speedily.  But nothing stops good ol´ Steve.  
Things that I´m thankful for:
1.  My family.  Especially Devin during this holiday celebration season
2.  The gospel
3.  My companion who speaks portuguese
4.  The United States of America
5.  Brazil
6. My friends
7. Investigators
8. Curitiba
9.  Last but definitely not least.  Taylor Powell. We´re best friends.  We do everything together.  She is currently being a great student at BYU.  I sure do miss her.
Well just so you all know for sure I am loving it here in Brazil.  And Im not getting sunburned anymore (knock on wood).  But here is my sun tan after a haircut, my district (none of us were transferred), and our neighbors rabbit they just bought for 5 reis. I hope you all are doing great.  Thank you for all the love and support.  I love and miss you all.  Happy Thanksgiving!
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
PS Eu te amo e a igreja é verdadeira

Semana 3 - November 16

Opa!
I am understanding people much better and people are understanding me which is exciting.  Today we waited in very long lines so once again we´re short on time.  We never have time for anything.  It´s like running for two years.  Crazy.  I got my first two letters today!  \they were sent the normal way before I even left Brazil.  Yes all mail must go through the mission office which is then given to Zone Leaders who eventually give it to us if they don´t forget.  So it´s a very slow process.  But that´s alright I´m doing fine.  I still have no idea how to use this Missionties thing though.
So this week has been full of exciting stories.  I did my first division with the Zone Leaders.  I went to Tataquara however that´s spelled.  It´s still in Curitiba.  Also this week we taught this super drunk family that we didn´t know was drunk until we sat down.  We taught the Word of Wisdom.  They thought I was Brazilian and then when they found out I wasn´t they told me my accent was better which I´m absolutely positive was the alcohol haha.  We also taught this older man.  They lesson was one of the most spiritual I have ever had.  He told us that he already knew our message was true, but his children would disown him if he joined.  He agreed to meet with us and to even have lessons in the church.  It was Elder Karren´s birthday yesterday.  He is 21 years old now.  So we celebrated with pancakes in the morning.  We also made cookies the night before that ended up way too buttery.  The oven is so had to cook with too because it doesn´t have a rack or any numbers on it.  Solution:  We put a piece of cement inside and guessed on the temperature.  They were alright, but definitely not the best cookies we´ve ever had.  Irma Ana the member that owns our house threw a party/fhe for him.  It was fun.  It has also rained a lot this week so our legs get soaked.  I also got my first blister which is a mile stone for sure.  I’m loving it here though. I love the food so much.  And to surprise you I am alright with hot dogs now.  After 19 long years we finally worked things out.  I have had them a few times here.  Yeah it´s been an adventure to say the least.  
Now for crazy stories.  Elder Karren was bitten by a dog that was on the other side of the fence.  He is totally fine.  No blood was drawn because of his layers of clothing.  He was in a lot of pain for a bit though.  Elder Karren also had a 2 liter bottle thrown at him by a drunk.  Really really hard.  We were walking away because we had an appointment and apparently he wanted to talk more and had a very short temper.  It hit him it the back.  We just kept on walking.  He has a mark from it.  He got beat up and old all in one week.  I´m fine though and loving it.  The primary program was this week.  How much did I understand you may ask?  Nothing.  All of our investigators bailed on us to go to church too.  But on Saturday we had a movie night at the church and invited members, less actives, and some investigators.  We watched testaments and it was really good.  It struck up some questions for us to answer.
Thank you all so much for your support.  I love and miss you all.  I hope you are all doing great. Eu te amo e a igreja é verdadeira.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks

Brasil? -November 9th Email

Oi tudo bem?

So for those of you who were wondering...yes my portuguese is getting better.  I can understand the majority of people we talk to.  We have this one investigator who doesn`t have teeth that is impossible to understand.  So lately it has been super hot here.  The weather changes more dramatically than Utah.  I`m officially registered with the Brazilian Police now.  We went and Elder Rios from Highland, Utah was there too.  He is one transfer behind me.  He served in Wisconsin for like a week.  We were in the same Mission Prep class at BYU.
So Brazil is a very different yet similar place.  I could go on and on about the things that are different, but every day they seem to become more normal.  First off milk comes in boxes and doesn`t need to be refrigerated until it is open which is crazy.  
We have lots and lots of investigators.  We mark more dates all the time.  But then a lot of the times it`s impossible to find the person again.  And I will tell you I officially know what alcohol smells like.  I cannot tell you how many drunk guys have come up and asked me for a Bible.  Or when we do a contact sometimes you can smell it.  It`s pretty nasty.  Anyways we teach people of all ages.  
I have seen quite a few miracles this week.  At the end of the day when we are short on contacts and we are frantically trying to talk to people they just seem to do themselves.  This guy the other day stopped his bike and waited for us to finish talking to another guy and he asked where our church was.  So we told him and he told us he`d been going to the church in New Jersey for 2 years and wasn`t a member.  So we were excited about that. We also got a DVD referral we have been trying to drop off, but they were never home.  So we finally called them and they answered.  We went and were expecting to have to try and talk a bit to get a lesson going, but she let us right in and started pulling all these pamphlets out from missionaries who had previously taught her years ago.  She even had programs from church that were all kept perfectly.  So what did we do?  We taught of course.  I could go on and on about this lady.  She is nothing short of amazing.
The houses here are very interesting.  There are usually a bunch of houses all inside of one wall.  For instance we live in a house behind a members house and we are one of three houses there. And some of the houses are so nice on the inside.  Others..... Let´s just say I`m not sure that they are waterproof.  
The sun is so hot here.  I´ve heard from so many Brazilians say that other parts of Brazil are hot, but the sun burns here more.  I`ve started to get a sunburn, but I´ve fought it. I have a watch tan and glasses tan.  It´s pretty funny actually.  I´m getting my haircut today.  Our zone does lots of activities.  Today we studied and played some games together.  Brazil is awesome to say the least.  Oh and I`m pro at the bus system now.  Except I need Elder Karren because I don`t know how to ask or answer questions haha.  
We may have a baptism this week.  I`m hoping that we do.  He´s 18 and he has progressed so fast since he got his response.  The gospel is true ladies and gentleman.  
If you have any questions or complaints feel free to write me or call me.  Haha yeah you know you can`t call me.  All mail goes through the mission office.  I have no idea after that since I have yet to get anything.  Thank you all for your love and support.  I miss and love you.  Eu amo vocês e a igreja é verdadeira.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
PS These pictures are of Elder Dearinger and I`s pumpkins.  Me in Brazil with Elders Elias, Karren, and Rave (he used to serve here and is now studying here).  Then me on the largest bus in the world.

First Week in Brazil

[For now, we'll try the blog again, since he's in Brazil.  Also we set up a missionties.com account so that it is easier to write him in Brazil & easier for him to write too.  Basically, we can type letters which are emailed by the company, printed & sent to him locally in Brazil.  He can write letters, send them to the company office there (local postage), his letter is scanned and emailed to us (the user/subuser).  If you would like to use this account, let me know (cesudweeks@yahoo.com).  If you want to write often, I will set up a subuser account for you and he can write back to you directly.  If you just want to write occasionally (which is fine), you are welcome to send me your letter and I can forward it down and any responses back to you. Or you can send it regular mail ($0.98 stamp) which takes about 2 weeks (missionties.com takes about 2-5 days).  The address is on the blog page.  


Normally Elder Sudweeks writes to each member in our family a note about this size plus his big email to share.  He must have been very short on time because this is it and no one else got an additional email. -- Claudia Sudweeks]




OI tudo bem?
Just as a note the keyboards here are different and it´s hard for me to type so if I make mistakes I am sorry.  Well I~´ve been here and week and it´s almost summer.  But that doesn´t mean anything here in Curitiba.  For example my first day I was sweating so bad and the next day it rained.  It´s exciting walking and contacting people in the rain.  My legs were soaked.  Last night it was so cold I had to use three blankets and today we wore sweaters.  Until now because it´s sunny now at the end of the day.  
So our apartment is very different. First off it´s small.  Then we have termites, the electric shower head, no heating of course, and all tile floors.  I would just have to show you pictures.  I´m totally used to it now.  The window in the bathroom is broken though so taking showers in the morning is pretty cold.  I´m loving it though except for the part where I can understand everything until people talk directly to me then I can`t at all.  I´ve received a lot of compliments on my portuguese but I think I´m getting worse honestly haha.  There´s a lot of walking, but i`ve bee fine there.  The flight here was long and I was so tired.  WE had zone conference this week.  WE went on a bus tour of Curitiba today and got back late so we don´t have time.  I´m serving with Elder Karren from California.  He goes home in January.  WE´re actually in Curitiba in an area called Pineirinho.  It~s great.  I~ll tell you more next week.  I love you all thank you for your support.
Love you too,
Elder Sudweeks
I´m here safe

Signing off for now, I think

This is from Reeve's mom:

Due to some concerns that have been expressed about what some have been doing with the contents found in missionary blogs, we have decided that for the time being, we're going to switch to forwarding Reeve's emails.  The Chicago mission has discontinued their blog and after talking with my husband, we think it is best that we do as well at least while Elder Sudweeks is still in the U.S. and then we will decide what to do from there.

If you would like to have his email forwarded to you, please email me at cesudweeks@yahoo.com.

Sorry for any inconvenience.
Claudia Sudweeks

October 5th, 2001

Ola Irmaos and Irmas!

This week has been exciting to say the least.  I have lots of good news and stories.  First off we've found our Halloween costumes.  They were in our closet.  I'm going to be a storm trooper and Elder Dearinger is going to be Pikachu.  They're pretty good costumes.  Perhaps we'll take some pictures.  I sure hope I'm still here for Halloween because I don't want to miss our 3 baptisms coming up on the 22nd!  Yes I know it's a miracle.  I will tell you more about these in a second.

General Conference was amazing of course.  It was very inspired.  I can tell you that it is a great thing to have non-member watch.  I have witnessed it first hand.  So we watched the first session of conference with some Less Active members.  I noticed that it seemed to have a theme of personal revelation.  All of conference did.  As well as missionary work (so I challenge you all to help out your missionaries and make their lives easier and things happen.  Our Mission President has been highly focused on Member Work the last couple meetings.  We need to work with Members every chance we get).  But the T's have a non-member living in their house.  He watched with us and started asking questions.  It was good for us as you can imagine.  We watched the second session at a part member family.  I talked about them last week.  The L family.  M L is in her 80's and is having health problems.  So we go and do service for her every week.  She lives with her daughter M (same name)  Who is not a member.  Yes it's confusion I know.  And M Jr.'s niece lives there too.  She is 9 and her name is M (different name) and not a member.  She is T's daughter.  So we watched with all of them and T who was the golden referral we talked about.  Afterwards we ate dinner with them.  They loved conference they ate it up.  Especially T.  But we had to teach another appointment so we had to run after dinner.  

Then we attended the priesthood session which was focused on missionary work.  I really hope that lit a fire under you all because we're pretty pumped up out here.  I can tell you that there is nothing better than serving a mission.  The young men there were pretty excited too.  But on Sunday we went and watched with some members in the morning.  Our ward mission leader.  We ate a fabulous lunch with them  Ribs.  Absolutely delicious.  They left the TV on between sessions and up pops a special on Elder Norton.  Now Elder Norton was not Elder then, but he was in my MTC Zone.  He became the new Zone Leader after we left.  Great Elder and it was surprising and cool to see him on TV.  Probably not as exciting for you. He should be leaving the MTC this next week.

The Sunday second session we watched at the T's again.  Afterwards we rushed to teach the L.  They watched all the sessions and they were really touched.  Theresa really love Bednar.  Now we hadn't taught about the angel Moroni yet so she was very interested in that.  (Side note I don't know about you all, but I sure thought of my Mother during his talk on family history).  We taught  the first lesson to all of them.  The First Vision story was so powerful.  They all committed to being baptized on the 22.  Only M and M are in our ward, but T is getting baptized too.  The spirit was so strong you could cut it.  I have never felt the spirit like I have when someone realizes for themselves that it is true.

I'll spread out the miracles here.  I guess this is still a miracle though. So the early weeks of my mission we had problems with having dinner appointments.  This week was the opposite.  We had 2 dinner appointments multiple nights this week.  It was crazy and I don't know how it happened.  I have been so full all week.  One night 3 people called us asking if we were going to come to dinner that night.  We accepted most of them because they were all part member families.  I had some crazy connections with members this week though.  Last Wednesday night we went to dinner at the S's house. After we ate Brother S pulls out his Mission Scrapbook.  Which isn't too weird I mean we remind him of his mission.  So he opens it and points to a picture.  And lo and behold I'm staring at Ray Sudweeks (my uncle) in the MTC.  Brother S served in Korea.  My Uncle Ray was working at the MTC while he was there.  The next night we go to the C's for dinner. And they used to live in Eagle Mountain, Utah.  So I told them that my cousins lived there and we discovered that my Uncle Rick was their Bishop.  We talked about more than that, but it was crazy that two nights in a row people knew my dad's siblings.  She sent my Aunt a message on Facebook while we were there.

Next miracle.  Yesterday we received a referral from the church for a free Bible.  So we went to give it to C.  He accepted it very graciously and invited us in to teach him.  First off people don't just say, "Teach me".  So we went in and taught half of the first lesson.  He accepted to be baptized on the 22nd.  He invited us to come teach his family later this week.  That was the craziest most exciting moment of the week.  There are people ready for the gospel and we don't even know it.  All because he saw on his phone online that he could get a free Bible.  

I'm sorry that this is so long it's just been an awesome week.  We're working hard and I hope you all are too.  Keep up the good work.  The gospel is true and I'll see you in two.

Love you too,

Elder Sudweeks

[And he sent this addition]
Oh on Monday Elder Dearinger had a leadership training meeting so I was sent to be a Spanish Elder In Woodstock.  It was a pretty fruitful day.  We found quite a few people to teach.  I taught lessons in and contacted in Spanish.  It was intense.  My Spanish is terrible.  I have a hard time not using Portuguese words or pronunciation.  I got to talk in Portuguese to my companions all day though. It was a good experience.

Oh I also forgot to mention that our investigator D got married on Saturday so he should be getting baptized next week!  The work is moving forth and the area is on fire.