[Reeve tried a new way to send us his email. Apparently it didn't completely work because this email ends mid-sentence. Very sad]
8/8/2011
Oi como vao?
Things are going great here in the MTC. My testimony is growing and the language is coming. To explain some things right off the bat my "Investigators" are my teachers. They act like someone from their mission that they taught. And we teach a lesson in portuguese every day. We also have the TRC where we go once a week and teach a volunteer (who speaks portuguese) from outside the MTC. They used to pretend to be different people, but as of this week they changed the whole MTC curriculum. Now we teach them as themselves. We have assigned topics each week. This last week taught about getting revelation from attending church. The Provo mission now also sometimes brings in real investigators for us to teach. We haven't had or seen one yet though.
Like I mentioned last week we have a new teacher. Irma Jacobs. She is from Brazil and her English is good, but she struggles sometimes. I can definitely relate. It's helped us so much with pronunciation though and she is an excellent teacher. And it was surprising to me that she talks fast, but I can always understand her. Sometimes I forget she's speaking portuguese. I'm definitely experiencing the gift of tongues. I'm sure she's dumbing down her vocabulary for us though. It'll be a whole new thing once we get to Brazil and we don't understand anything. She's lived in pretty much every part of Brazil and she says she has a combination of the accents and slang.
So this week was kind of exciting because I got to leave MTC grounds. Not very far, but still. Elder Hutchins, Elder Freeze, and I went to the BYU health clinic on Thursday. They forced me to go to the MTC one becasue of a sinus infection I'd been dealing with since I lost my voice. They sent us to the BYU clinic. It was weird to see BYU again. They just gave me some medicine and I'm fine. Elder Hutchins got some too because he was also sick. But on the way back a white, giant van drove by full of people screaming my name. I don't know who because I couldn't see them. So if anyone would like to confess and let me know it would be greatly appreciated.
President Brown spoke at mission conference yesterday it was excellent. He spoke about the Light of Christ, Personage of the Spirit, Manifestations of the Holy Ghost, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was very good. We also had our Sunday night devotional yesterday as well. Afterwards we watched mormon messages because we've run out of movies on lds.org.
It's Elder Hutchins birthday tomorrow. So that should be exciting. I had a different companion one day this week because his companion and whole district had already left. Elder Adams was his name and now he's in St. George. He kept me until 12 packing with him and then I took him to the travel office at 4. I was very tired the next day.
A few people got their visas this last week and are leaving this week. 3 to be exact. Elder Bernhisel going to Campinas, Elder Candland going to I don't know, and Elder Manning from my district is going to Brasilia after the Brazilian MTC.
After one week as district leader I was fired. Yes I was that bad. But as of yesterday I was made Zone Leader because Elder Manning was leaving. I was completely shocked to find that out yesterday. I now have a new companion named Elder Morrey. He is from San Francisco, California. He plays the trumpet better than I do I'm pretty sure. He also played volleyball in High School and is really good. I've seen him play many times. We aren't companions until tomorrow, but it should be excited. Eu estou muito animado.
This week we are getting 20 more missionaries into our branch bringing us to about 90. We are the going to be the largest branch at the MTC. 2 are going to my same mission which is exciting. One I went to high school with. They are the first 2 Elder out of more than 100 that are going to my mission. There are 2 portugues...
[See what I mean - very sad]
Monday, August 8, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Our P-day #5 email entitled "Up Next on the Discovery Channel"
8/1/2011
Oi familia e amigos,
Como vai: Eu estou muito bom. O trabalho esta muito bom tambem. So this week has been exciting. I think the timers are broken again today because the printers are broken, but I'm not sure on that so we'll see I guess. We'll start out with the less spiritual things. I took a picture with Martha today and I've also run into Elder Bryant many times. He has class on the floor above me. Very exciting to see him. He seems to be doing very well. I thank you all for the wonderful letters. They are very encouraging and supportive. We missionaries love the mail. It's everyone's favorite thing. Cartas! That is in no way correct, but we enjoy yelling that a lot more than saying it correctly.
We now speak in somente portugues. Some of the Elders in our district were struggling so our teacher told us we needed to stop responding unless they spoke to us in portuguese. So far it is definitely helping all of us. I now know all the tenses in portuguese even if I don't use them correctly. We learned the subjunctive this week which was confusing at first, but we're getting the hang of it. also this week we received 24 new elders into our branch. Their portugues is terrible and they can't understand us. It's crazy to think that I was there myself a mere few weeks ago. They'll learn quickly.
We just had a district get reassignments for their waiting period. 3 left for Fort Worth, Texas today. One is going to Orlando, Florida whatever mission that's in, one to Los Angelos, one to St. George, and the most exotic to South Dakota. His name is Elder Lyman and he is huge. He is also the Leifer's (from Highland) cousin. He's really cool and nice.
We also celebrated Sister Rick's birthday this week. She is 22 now. A few days younger than our teacher. Thursday is our teacher's last day. Anyways we held an exciting party and we had cupcakes and party stuff her sister sent her. There are pictures for all to see. Funny story. Earlier that day I was an idiot. There is this rope fence thing everyone jumps. I did it all the time. You see where this is going. I caught my back foot after running full speed and now I have many a scabs and rope burns to show for it. My chin, knee, bruises, a rope burn in my elbow pit from the rope after it. I basically face planted it into cement. Very funny and surprisingly it didn't hurt. I learned my lesson and yes I will be better. It made a great story for our whole building though and everyone watching. There are pictures of this too. I am completely fine and it's pretty much healed now. Once again for my mother's sake I am fine I promise. I share this story merely for the humor of it all and to explain the pictures. [His mother/parents are grateful that he didn't hit his eyes, since his implanted intacs (or even the loss of his glasses) could have caused him serious problems.]
On a happier note Elder Head did his online portion of his visa this week. No idea how long he'll have to wait. I'm already positive I'll be reassigned which is sad, but I'm fine with wherever the Lord wants me. He knows best. Another exciting announcement our other investigator Emanuel committed to being baptized! Very very exciting. He is 17 and doesn't talk too much. He wants to be a singer so we sang hymns with him which he enjoyed. We are very excited about that.
I am half way done with the MTC as of yesterday. Because of this we Elder Head is no longer district leader and I was asked to be the new one. It's very nice because we are still in charge of the mail. I just have more meetings to attend on Sundays and I get the oppurtunity to serve my district. My district is the greatest. We all get along great and we are really close. It's strange being down to 9 though. This week Elder Chavez (from Bethel, Alaska--yes he and Elder Head knew eachother even though they were 100's of miles apart) was sick. He was throwing up during gym time on Saturday. Very sad. He's doing great now which is good.
We got to go to the Temple today which was an excellent way to start off P day. We were there at 6:30 this morning. It was Elder Head and Hutchins second time. They both very much enjoyed it and we're looking forward to next week already. We see people from the outside world at the temple which is always an adventure. So on Wednesdays during drop off time is when I have gym time. So sometimes when we go to the field we run into people hugging their families goodbye at their cars. Very sad.
Elder Head just read a funny story from his parents. They have a small plane and his brother has his pilot's license. His younger brother was on a campout for scouts so they went up in the plane with a tub of ice cream wrapped in lots of bubble wrap in a box to drop in on their campout. I thought it was funny. We had an italian sub this week. I talked to her and apparently she taught Isaac Healey when he was here. She loved Isaac. She said he had lots of personality.
Portugues mishap of the week: obras means works. ombros means shoulders. Elder Manning/Homenindo said to his investigator that we will be judged after death by our shoulders. We all had a good laugh about that.
Yesterday we watched FInding Faith in Christ after the devotional. Both were exceptional. I always love watching Finding Faith in Christ and seeing all the wonderful miracles Christ performed. The greatest of all being the Atonement. I almost just typed Expiacao which is portuguese. Because of the limitless love of Christ we have the oppurtunity to return to live with God and with our families forever. Our church knows this unique message and we need to share it with everyone. I know that Christ lives and that he loves each and every one of us. He tests and tries us in different ways, but it is to make us stronger and so that we can know true happiness. I love you and all and I miss you terribly, but I'm having a blast at the MTC and I cannot wait to get out of here. 4 and a half more weeks. August 30th.
It is my sister Emma's birthday on the 7th. Happy Birthday, Emma! I love you! and I miss you more than you know too. I appreciate all your emails. Well I've taken enough of all of your time. Eu amo voces e a igreja e verdadeira.
Com muito amor,
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
Letter from the 25th of July
7/25/2011
Dearest Family,
Happy Pioneer Day. Our devotional for Pioneer Day was yesterday. It was on how missionaries are modern day pioneers. The speaker was a director of some kind of the church commercials. We watched a bunch. They were funny and inspirational. We also sang pioneer hymns. Other than that and having no hot water like the pioneers that was the only difference from any other Sunday.
I'm glad you had fun in California. I just got all the pictures and I'm very appreciative. I enjoyed myself here in the dorms/not Marriott. We don't have a swimming pool. You'll have to writes lots this week. Impressed with how many letters I've written? I told you I'd write anyone back. Sorry about not writing [a handwritten letter - we received an email] last week. I am going through stamps. I can buy them here though. I was also making an attempt to preserve my hand. Every Monday I write letters for literally hours. I do need to work out a system for how to write you all. Brazil will be different too. That you for the goodies this last week. Very, very appreciated.
So how is everyone doing? Including cousins and Buddy. This week our zone leaders and Elder Osnkt and Kline from my district left. We sang them off as we usually do. It was sad, but happy. I'm sure they're enjoying Brazil. The temple opens up tomorrow so we didn't get to go today. But we will next week. Two more elders from our branch got their visas. They leave on August 3, an important day.
So I mentioned that our investigator is going to be baptized which is exciting. Our other investigator isn't going as well. He's coming along though. I forgot to mention that one elder, Elder Freestone, from the district that just left with the zone leaders got reassigned to Baton Rogue, Louisiana while he waits. That would be a cool place to wait.
So anyways, Miguel was really interested in modern prophets. We gave him Ensign/Liahona articles to read. The testimony of the prophets about Christ in that Christ Ensign from 2008 was very influential. That you for those, mother. Because of those I was able to look them up in Portuguese.
This week in class we learned possessives, commands, and subjunctive. We now know present, imperfect, preterite, and all those. I've memorize all the irregulars - well the main ones - for present, imperfect and preterite. We're working on memorizing Joseph Smith's words for the First Vision in Portuguese. We've already got the purpose down.
Well I love you all very much. And I miss each one of you. I wish I had the time to write each of you all long letters. Oh also I sang in church yesterday. Elder Morrey, Elder Hutchins, Sister Ricks, Sister Smith, Sister Doyce, and I sang "How Great Thou Art."
Eu amo voces. Lembre-me.
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
Dearest Family,
Happy Pioneer Day. Our devotional for Pioneer Day was yesterday. It was on how missionaries are modern day pioneers. The speaker was a director of some kind of the church commercials. We watched a bunch. They were funny and inspirational. We also sang pioneer hymns. Other than that and having no hot water like the pioneers that was the only difference from any other Sunday.
I'm glad you had fun in California. I just got all the pictures and I'm very appreciative. I enjoyed myself here in the dorms/not Marriott. We don't have a swimming pool. You'll have to writes lots this week. Impressed with how many letters I've written? I told you I'd write anyone back. Sorry about not writing [a handwritten letter - we received an email] last week. I am going through stamps. I can buy them here though. I was also making an attempt to preserve my hand. Every Monday I write letters for literally hours. I do need to work out a system for how to write you all. Brazil will be different too. That you for the goodies this last week. Very, very appreciated.
So how is everyone doing? Including cousins and Buddy. This week our zone leaders and Elder Osnkt and Kline from my district left. We sang them off as we usually do. It was sad, but happy. I'm sure they're enjoying Brazil. The temple opens up tomorrow so we didn't get to go today. But we will next week. Two more elders from our branch got their visas. They leave on August 3, an important day.
So I mentioned that our investigator is going to be baptized which is exciting. Our other investigator isn't going as well. He's coming along though. I forgot to mention that one elder, Elder Freestone, from the district that just left with the zone leaders got reassigned to Baton Rogue, Louisiana while he waits. That would be a cool place to wait.
So anyways, Miguel was really interested in modern prophets. We gave him Ensign/Liahona articles to read. The testimony of the prophets about Christ in that Christ Ensign from 2008 was very influential. That you for those, mother. Because of those I was able to look them up in Portuguese.
This week in class we learned possessives, commands, and subjunctive. We now know present, imperfect, preterite, and all those. I've memorize all the irregulars - well the main ones - for present, imperfect and preterite. We're working on memorizing Joseph Smith's words for the First Vision in Portuguese. We've already got the purpose down.
Well I love you all very much. And I miss each one of you. I wish I had the time to write each of you all long letters. Oh also I sang in church yesterday. Elder Morrey, Elder Hutchins, Sister Ricks, Sister Smith, Sister Doyce, and I sang "How Great Thou Art."
Eu amo voces. Lembre-me.
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
Monday, July 25, 2011
Love P day emails (P day #4)
Oi todas pessoas,
Thank you for all your wonderful support and for all the letters. I am very appreciative. The MTC is going great. The gospel is true and the spirit is so strong here. The language is still coming. 1 more week until I'm fluent. If I'm lucky. The MTC is currently broken. Yesterday and this morning there was no hot water. So showering was really fun for all of us. They also couldn't wash dishes so we had paper stuff. There is also a lack of apple juice lately which I have become addicted to. And we can't print emails today because that doesn't work either. So they turned off the timer which is nice, but we're still supposed to be fast. The video play on the internet was down yesterday too so no Sunday night movie night. and the shower heads consistantly fall off on us in the shower which is always fun. It's happened to me twice.
Other than those minor things it's great here. The gospel's still true. I ran into Martha or Sister Proctor on Thursday and many times since. It's good to see a familiar face around here. But there are lots. Lots of people from high school and from BYU. My district makes fun of me for knowing everyone. Martha and I didn't have much time to talk though. Not much time for those kinds of things when you're constantly busy. I love the schedule though I'm really enjoying it. Especially the study time. We study a lot for our "investigators".
Our "investigator" Miguel (the Evangelical) commited to being baptized on Saturday which was and is really exciting. My companions make fun of me for bring up Baptism all the time. All the time being twice in one lesson. They call me Elder Calhoon [from the movie The Best 2 Years] and now my district does every once and a while. Miguel is great he is 28 and hitchhiked from Uruguay when he was 18 and his mother died. He quotes the Bible on us all the time which is difficult when you don't understand the scriptures in another launguage.
I'm excited to see Taylor Bryant this week. Hope he's excited. I've seen a couple people from Wyview in the last couple days. Travis, Trevor, and Eric (who works in the Cafeteria). I'm excited to hear what he's been up to in the past few weeks. Not that we'll have tons of time to do so. I've been taking more pictures lately and yesterday during temple walk we discovered the whole back of the temple we'd never been to which opens up so many more possibilities.
The Sisters in my District said they'd never met anyone like me. In a good way. Sister Ricks from Highland is constantly laughing at what I say which I don't entirely understand. She says my mannerisms are just funny. They told me they're going to be waiting at the airport with all of you when I get back. And they want to meet my family to know why I'm the way I am. Look forward to that.
Yes I do have a bit of a spanish accent when I speak portuguese. It's a bad habit. I made friends with some foreign missionaries that speak spanish. I talk to them all the time because they seem to be everywhere. My companions and I still get along great. We have different personalities, but it works out. Unfortunately one of my teachers in going to California with his wife's family this next week so we'll have some Italian subs. Then in 2 weeks my other teacher Irmao Jones is quitting and starting his new job. So my teachers will be changing up the next few weeks. No idea who our new teacher will be.
Funny story of the week my teacher told us about how he mixed up ter and ser. He was trying to say he wanted to have a beautiful wife when he got back, but messed up and said he wanted to be a beautiful wife when he got back. Funny language mistakes. I've been talking to Elder Michael Hoggard lately and he's going to Finland. I'm glad portuguese is so close to english, unlike Finnish. Too confusing for me.
Family I'm sorry for not sending you a letter this last week. It was an effort to conserve stamps. I write lots of letters. Everyone who writes me and sometimes more. Thank you all again for all the lettters. I am very appreciative. I love you all. I wish I had more exciting things to write about, but my life is kinda repetetive these days. Eu sei que a igreja e verdadeira e que Jesus Cristo vive. Eu sei que o livro de Mormon e verdadeiro. Thomas S. Monson e um profeta de Deus e Joseph Smith foi um profeta de Deus.
Eu amo voces. and I miss you all.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
Monday, July 18, 2011
Email - p day #3
7/18/11
Oi!
The MTC is going great and the language is coming. I just make a lot of spelling mistakes which is weird since it´s supposed to be easier to spell in portuguese. We talk many more lessons this week in Portuguese and we learn more words and get better every time. What have ya´ll been up to? It's been a pretty normal routine week here at the MTC. I would tell you everything, but it would be boring.
First off, thank you for my glasses. They are very much appreciated. When I first put them on they were making me sick so I only wore them for a little while. The next morning we played four square (MTC four square is intense--well at least with our Branch). My depth perception was so off because of my glasses. I was doing so bad and it was really funny. But I've gotten used to them and I own once again.
Thank you to those of you who wrote letters this week. Charlotte, I'm very sorry about your letter. I wrote you one and I didn't know I didn't send it until I read my letter saying I didn't and I found it in my notebook. Elder Hutchins' family was in Florida this last week. They sent lots of pictures of them in Disney World, Harry Potter World, and Universal Studio. It was really funny because it was kinda rubbing it in his face and he was a little jealous. Elder Head and I laughed though. Speaking of Harry Potter I missed it. But I was excited to hear a little about it from you all. Irmao Jones, our teacher, went and saw it at midnight. We were all very jealous.
Another exciting part of the week was that pretty much my whole District got sick. It started with Elder Head who just had a really bad cold. Then I got a sore throat, fever, and I lost my voice. It was this super high pitched, tiny voice like it was when I lost it about a year ago. My companions made fun of me so bad. Actually the whole district. It lasted for 3 whole days it was funny at first then it got really annoying--especially when you're trying to learn a language and you have to teach. Next came the Sisters who both had fevers and terrible colds. Then Elder Freeze who became sick to his stomach and finally Elder Onskt who was throwing up a lot. It was really weird how we all had different symptoms.
I went to Sick Bay because of it and that was exciting. I got in pretty much right away which is unusual. Then the nurse checked all my vitals, stuff like that, then tested for strep. She said it was going to 8 minutes. I kept checking my watch and about 20 minutes later was the last time I remember before I fell asleep sitting up on the bench thing they have in doctor's offices. I would up about 40 minutes later still sitting up waiting. Then waited another 5 minutes and the doctor came in. Apparently I have a virus that hopefully feeling the end of. I got my voice back yesterday though which was great. My companions just had to sit in the waiting room the whole time. They were waiting with another Elder from my branch who got hit in the side of the head with a soccer ball and lost his hearing in that ear. It's coming back slowly though. Ok not that exciting, but still.
Our Zone Leaders are leaving this week. Elder Morrey and Elder Manning from my district are the new ZL's. They have power over the other districts, but Elder Head is in charge of them. They have no free time on Sundays. I'm glad I still have mine because it's nice to relax.
We had our devotional yesterday which was excellent as usual. President and Sister Sonne spoke. He was the mission president of the Salt Lake City Mission and did a lot of stuff with President Hinckley and the Apostles. There were lots of cool stories shared, but I don't have time to type them up. I need to learn to type faster. Afterwards we had our weekly movie night and watched the 2010 First Presidency Christmas message. It was great and funny because of the time of the year. The background behing them reminded me of Jeopardy. I made a joke about it and it took everyone a second to get it.
Eu sei que esta igreja e verdadeira. E que Jesus Cristo vive e que Ele morreu para nos. O livro de Mormon e verdadeiro. Eu sei que Thomas S. Monson e um profeta de Deus. En nome de Jesus Cristo amem.
I love you all and miss you all. Write lots of letters.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
PS I did not throw away the sandals. I will try and find some super glue, but I doubt they have that here. They're far too cool to throw away. I love you and thank you for all the support, packages, and letter.
Oi!
The MTC is going great and the language is coming. I just make a lot of spelling mistakes which is weird since it´s supposed to be easier to spell in portuguese. We talk many more lessons this week in Portuguese and we learn more words and get better every time. What have ya´ll been up to? It's been a pretty normal routine week here at the MTC. I would tell you everything, but it would be boring.
First off, thank you for my glasses. They are very much appreciated. When I first put them on they were making me sick so I only wore them for a little while. The next morning we played four square (MTC four square is intense--well at least with our Branch). My depth perception was so off because of my glasses. I was doing so bad and it was really funny. But I've gotten used to them and I own once again.
Thank you to those of you who wrote letters this week. Charlotte, I'm very sorry about your letter. I wrote you one and I didn't know I didn't send it until I read my letter saying I didn't and I found it in my notebook. Elder Hutchins' family was in Florida this last week. They sent lots of pictures of them in Disney World, Harry Potter World, and Universal Studio. It was really funny because it was kinda rubbing it in his face and he was a little jealous. Elder Head and I laughed though. Speaking of Harry Potter I missed it. But I was excited to hear a little about it from you all. Irmao Jones, our teacher, went and saw it at midnight. We were all very jealous.
Another exciting part of the week was that pretty much my whole District got sick. It started with Elder Head who just had a really bad cold. Then I got a sore throat, fever, and I lost my voice. It was this super high pitched, tiny voice like it was when I lost it about a year ago. My companions made fun of me so bad. Actually the whole district. It lasted for 3 whole days it was funny at first then it got really annoying--especially when you're trying to learn a language and you have to teach. Next came the Sisters who both had fevers and terrible colds. Then Elder Freeze who became sick to his stomach and finally Elder Onskt who was throwing up a lot. It was really weird how we all had different symptoms.
I went to Sick Bay because of it and that was exciting. I got in pretty much right away which is unusual. Then the nurse checked all my vitals, stuff like that, then tested for strep. She said it was going to 8 minutes. I kept checking my watch and about 20 minutes later was the last time I remember before I fell asleep sitting up on the bench thing they have in doctor's offices. I would up about 40 minutes later still sitting up waiting. Then waited another 5 minutes and the doctor came in. Apparently I have a virus that hopefully feeling the end of. I got my voice back yesterday though which was great. My companions just had to sit in the waiting room the whole time. They were waiting with another Elder from my branch who got hit in the side of the head with a soccer ball and lost his hearing in that ear. It's coming back slowly though. Ok not that exciting, but still.
Our Zone Leaders are leaving this week. Elder Morrey and Elder Manning from my district are the new ZL's. They have power over the other districts, but Elder Head is in charge of them. They have no free time on Sundays. I'm glad I still have mine because it's nice to relax.
We had our devotional yesterday which was excellent as usual. President and Sister Sonne spoke. He was the mission president of the Salt Lake City Mission and did a lot of stuff with President Hinckley and the Apostles. There were lots of cool stories shared, but I don't have time to type them up. I need to learn to type faster. Afterwards we had our weekly movie night and watched the 2010 First Presidency Christmas message. It was great and funny because of the time of the year. The background behing them reminded me of Jeopardy. I made a joke about it and it took everyone a second to get it.
Eu sei que esta igreja e verdadeira. E que Jesus Cristo vive e que Ele morreu para nos. O livro de Mormon e verdadeiro. Eu sei que Thomas S. Monson e um profeta de Deus. En nome de Jesus Cristo amem.
I love you all and miss you all. Write lots of letters.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
PS I did not throw away the sandals. I will try and find some super glue, but I doubt they have that here. They're far too cool to throw away. I love you and thank you for all the support, packages, and letter.
Joyous bundle of letters
7/11/11
Dearest Family,
I need to learn to type faster so I can write longer, better emails. Oh Buddy, he's one tough dog. You'll have to keep me updated on how he's doing. I think he's part tank. [Our dog was hit by a car, but seems absolutely fine.]
Brother Cree-L Kofford spoke at the devotional on Tuesday. It was excellent. I sang in the MTC choir at it. It was a great experience and guaranteed me a seat which is hard to come by.
Our zone leaders are leaving next week which means we'll be getting new ones. The current zone leaders said they were most likely to come from our district or the one above us. We'll see. It's weird because we've only been here 2 weeks. Thank you for all the letters and packages. We missionaries live off of mail.
It was good to hear some about trek. I'm glad it was a spiritual experience. It's very spiritual here. I'm sure you all know that. Elder Head has been sick the last couple days. Not too bad though.
More peole from our district should be getting their visas soon supposedly. I'll have to tell Brother Adamson about the Days. [In response to Reeve's prior question if we know certain people.] I did understand your email dad. [His dad wrote to him in Portuguese.] We read and speak a lot in Portuguese, definitely not fluent though. I feel like the language is going well for me. Our lessons are going well too. Well I love and miss you all. I wish I could write more, but life is kinda predictable here and my hand hurts. We've been playing soccer lately; the gym is closed right now. Soccer and volleyball.
I love you!
love, Elder Reeve Sudweeks
[We all got separate letters as well that day. In mine, Reeve answered some of my questions.]
Dearest Mother,
Thank you so much for the package. I was very surprised to get it the same day I asked.
Well every day we have breakfast, 2 classes for 3 hours in 3 different slots depending on the day, TALL which is on the computer, gym time every day, but Sunday and P day, personal study, companionship study, language study, devotionals, and meals. It's pretty repetitive, but it's good.
Sundays we have sacrament meeting at 8, priesthood at 11, lunch after, then temple walk, then devotional, then it's movie night [not the movies most 19 years are watching :)]. We have lots of free time, but we have to be in our class rooms. My favorite experience is just teaching in Portuguese. Pray for language help. I love you, mother.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
Sorry it's bedtime.
Dearest Family,
I need to learn to type faster so I can write longer, better emails. Oh Buddy, he's one tough dog. You'll have to keep me updated on how he's doing. I think he's part tank. [Our dog was hit by a car, but seems absolutely fine.]
Brother Cree-L Kofford spoke at the devotional on Tuesday. It was excellent. I sang in the MTC choir at it. It was a great experience and guaranteed me a seat which is hard to come by.
Our zone leaders are leaving next week which means we'll be getting new ones. The current zone leaders said they were most likely to come from our district or the one above us. We'll see. It's weird because we've only been here 2 weeks. Thank you for all the letters and packages. We missionaries live off of mail.
It was good to hear some about trek. I'm glad it was a spiritual experience. It's very spiritual here. I'm sure you all know that. Elder Head has been sick the last couple days. Not too bad though.
More peole from our district should be getting their visas soon supposedly. I'll have to tell Brother Adamson about the Days. [In response to Reeve's prior question if we know certain people.] I did understand your email dad. [His dad wrote to him in Portuguese.] We read and speak a lot in Portuguese, definitely not fluent though. I feel like the language is going well for me. Our lessons are going well too. Well I love and miss you all. I wish I could write more, but life is kinda predictable here and my hand hurts. We've been playing soccer lately; the gym is closed right now. Soccer and volleyball.
I love you!
love, Elder Reeve Sudweeks
[We all got separate letters as well that day. In mine, Reeve answered some of my questions.]
Dearest Mother,
Thank you so much for the package. I was very surprised to get it the same day I asked.
Well every day we have breakfast, 2 classes for 3 hours in 3 different slots depending on the day, TALL which is on the computer, gym time every day, but Sunday and P day, personal study, companionship study, language study, devotionals, and meals. It's pretty repetitive, but it's good.
Sundays we have sacrament meeting at 8, priesthood at 11, lunch after, then temple walk, then devotional, then it's movie night [not the movies most 19 years are watching :)]. We have lots of free time, but we have to be in our class rooms. My favorite experience is just teaching in Portuguese. Pray for language help. I love you, mother.
Love you too,
Elder Reeve Sudweeks
Sorry it's bedtime.
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