One Week Left in the CTM!!

What’s up fam! I just completed my 5th week and I am starting to freak out. I’m both excited to get out and actually “be a missionary”, but I’m also scared because that means I have to act and speak “like a missionary”. I am happy to know that I can just put my head down this next week and successfully get through this bloody CTM. We went to the Campinas Temple on Wednesday and we will go there again tomorrow for Pday because the Sao Paulo Temple is closed for cleaning.

I’ve tried harder to be exactly obedient and I have truly seen more blessings in my life. I lost my “sons of Helaman” coin and was really worried because I really like it and it’s basically the one thing I have to remember home. I prayed super hard and then the next day, I heard a thud when I was in class and I looked down to see my coin had appeared out of thin air and then me and my companhero went crazy.

I guess you could say Saturday ended with a bang for me. When I was pulling out my shoe drawer to put my shoes away, the drawer ended up falling on my big toe and instantly bruised it. I just hope my toenail doesn’t fall off! Sunday also ended with a bang, but it was a good one this time – LOL. I started to feel sick again after my classes, but I thought nothing of it. We learned about being more Christ-like and how we can be better missionaries. That night I had a prompting to talk to a certain Elder in my hall and share some scriptures with him. When I did that, he told me that he had actually stormed down to Presidente earlier that day and asked him if he could go home. The spirit was super strong in that room and I bore multiple testimonies with tear-filled eyes that night. I didn’t end up sleeping that night because my body wouldn’t let me sleep for some reason and I felt horrible the whole time. I didn’t get too much sleep last night either. This sickness is truly from the depths of the inferno without a doubt. My stomach is still really upset, but I hope this will be gone by tomorrow. I’ve been doing sooo many TRC’s this week and all I can say, sick or not, I’m a beast. I’ve really seen how much I’ve progressed while here in the CTM and even though I’m not fluent yet; I can’t wait to be out in the field – LITERALLY A WEEK FROM TODAY! I miss you all and I love you sooo much. God’s Speed!

I'M ALIVE!!

Hey guys. I don't know how I did it, but I somehow survived week 4 in the CTM!! I had the opportunity to go do another session at the Sao Paulo Temple and it was "lit" as usual. The Celestial Room is always a great chance for me to forget about the CTM and outside world. It actually gives me a chance to thank the Lord for everything I have and to ask for help in the next coming week. I love the chandeliers as well as the cool pillars found on the walls. I also loved seeing the golden leaves painted on the really dark wood of the temple. I went down to the baptistry and got to see the amazing murals. There is one on both the East wall and the West wall in the baptistry. There is one that is the main painting of Alma when he was baptizing people and the other one is John baptizing Jesus. Both were made entirely of colored tiles!

    

After the temple, I went with my district to a Brazilian BBQ buffet…IN BRAZIL! I've never been to Tucano’s, but all of the guys were going crazy about how it makes them think of home and that it was soo much better than in America. I also got a ginormous cookie from the Hunters - so that was a great way to end my time out on the town. I took a nap before dinner and when I woke up, I felt sicker than a dog. Needless to say that when I went to bed that night, I had a 102 degree fever again. I was super sick throughout the week and I could truly see the hand of the Lord take my pain away as I would pray to him continually.

I did a bunch of TRC's (where we practice teaching the discussions to the teachers) throughout the week and I was an absolute beast. I can finally start to teach in Portuguese now - so that’s pretty great! On Saturday, I got to actually go out and PROSELYTE! I went out and met sooo many great people as well as sooo many crazy people. All I’m gonna touch on with the weird people is I saw a bunch of homeless guys sucking each others toes…Yummy. Besides that, I ended up talking to about 7 people and got 5 of their contact information! So Teresina better look out - LOL. One old lady we talked to tried to give us like 100 Reals (about $25). We said, "no" but she was like, "you are servants of God so you need this". We explained that we had plenty of money and that she should keep it. The first two people that we spoke to were from El Salvador, so I did a great job using my "Sportuguese". Haha. I’ve watched a bunch of church talks like “We are all Enlisted” and would suggest that all of you watch that one.

All of the older groups left this week and it was heartbreaking because they were my closest friends here ;( I also got to read my patriarchal blessing this week and got something out of it…Turns out I’m gonna die young or something because it says I’m gonna be dead before the second coming, so yeahhhh. Love you guys!

Elder "gonna die young" Durante

CTM Life

Hey everybody! Just in case you guys didn't know, I´m not dead...yet. Nah, I’m kiddin. These past 3 weeks have been pretty cray cray if you ask me. I've been learning Portuguese like a mad man and I still only know how to say good morning and good night - LOL. I've basically been surviving off of my Spanish and hoping that people can understand what I’m saying. Fun fact, I've basically gotten in trouble for my transgressions like 3 times already! Let me repeat that they were transgressions and that I didn't know I wasn't allowed to play ping pong on Sundays. Since the first day I was able to understand why everybody calls this place THE PRISON. 

It might not seem like it, but I actually miss all of you guys a lot but I know that there is no better thing that I could be doing right now other than serving a mission for my Lord and Savior. Through most of my CTM experience (yes it’s called a CTM and not an MTC) – Faith has been a big factor in receiving and asking for blessings from the Lord. I haven´t prayed this hard in my entire life, but I likewise haven't been this blessed in my life either. I cannot emphasize enough how important faith is in receiving blessings from our Father in Heaven. To me it is made super obvious considering every blessing you receive is THROUGH YOUR FAITHFULNESS. So that's pretty neat.

 Campinas Brazil Temple

Oh, I basically took a vow of silence for two days and only spoke when absolutely necessary. I found that when I was quiet that I started to get some good revelation! I was praying for some revelation a lot this past week on how I can better learn the language and how I could be the missionary the Lord wants me to be and it came to me in the form of talking to Papa...I don’t really know how to explain it, but it was as if I was having a conversation with him in my brain and I almost cried. I told him how much I missed him and he said the same. He told me that "This isn't high school anymore" and that I need to focus on improving myself by setting time aside to practice the language and to not be too caught up in the drama of the CTM. So cool! So the other missionaries realized how sweet that was and now they are taking "vows of silence" to help receive revelation. I got to do a session in the Campinas Temple this week! Since it’s been hard to fall asleep here, with the club bustin their speakers every night right next to me, I try to fall asleep going through the temple blessings in my head. I love the temple! I have also never been so in love with acai!!

Acai Berries

I have been gaining weight so that is always nice, on top of that, I am the biggest baller in pick-up basketball and the literal center of comedy in this dang place. Every Pday is a blessing to me because I'm actually outside and free to breathe some g-dang fresh air. Anyways, I love you all and I hope things are going good! My new mission mantra is....if they don't make a “safety zone” segment about me, then my mission is a failure. Haha. See ya!!

The Church’s new missionary safety video series is patterned after a fictitious studio show called “The SafetyZone,” with hosts talking about safety principles and showing “highlight” clips.