1-18-2010 Letter Home

Minha familia e meus amigos, Beleza!
(My family and my friends, Beauty! )

Hey everybody!

Transfer day just ended and I am here in... a LANhouse. Alright, alright, I guess I'll end the suspense right now and tell you its the SAME LANhouse I've been going to for the last six weeks. Yep, that's right, I'm staying in Maracanau with my awesome comp Elder Matias! It is still cool regardless. We have some good stuff coming up here. We have two couples that are going to get married and baptized, which is nice because we did all the paperwork for them and we thought there was a chance that some other missionaries would get the honor. We also have a great ward, strong members, and plenty of work to do here. Elder Matias and I want to hit the ground running this transfer, we are dead-set on making up for the last slow six weeks by stepping up the pace. We are going to be praying more, following Preach My Gospel more, we will be tracting more and helping the members out more. We also received quite a few more missionaries here in Maracanau.

Elder Ghallagher is from Salt Lake City and will be training a new Brazilian Elder in Novo Oriente,
my old area (I'm staying in the area that we moved to four weeks ago, Jereseiti). There is another
Brazilian Elder that will be heading to a different part of the city and training there as well.
Great! Meanwhile, I lost my good friend, Elder M. Ribeiro, who came in the transfer after I did.
Sad leaving him, we had some great times...

"Saying goodbye to Elder M. Ribeiro - But I'll surely see him in the next nineteen months of my mission!"

Yeah, so what happened this week? Well on Tuesday we had Zone Meeting which was fun... all the Elders in our Zone, some forty or so, came to the same chapel and a few Elders had talks, including the Zone Leaders. That was very fun. Elder Matias and I came back from this meeting and after going to the grocery store we fixed up a feast of American food! Hamburgers, french fries that we fried up ourselves, coca-cola... it was pretty fun because we don't get to make non-instant food very often.

 "Festa da Comida Americana?" (Party of the American Food?)

We had no luck with investigators this week despite our earnest intentions. We had a lot of commitments, too, because of choir practice and getting ready for the stake conference that happened only yesterday.

I shaved my legs three days ago. Yeah, never do that, Elders. On my mini-mission in Sacramento in August 2008 the Elders I lived with for two weeks said that shaving your legs helped with the heat. They didn't treat it as very weird so I thought they were on to something... and of course one night I start remembering this and I get this wild hair and spend nearly two hours shaving my legs with a razor. Uh, so, it actually does the opposite of what you want to do. It is more hot without hair on your legs! I think I've figured out why. The hair provides an airspace between the skin and the socks/pantsleg, first of all. The hair also radiates heat away from the skin and leg, which sounds strange but you only need to imagine that hair conducts heat better than the air itself and then you can imagine a typical temperature gradient... heat flows towards cooler areas. So, hair itself helps pull this heat out of your skin. The third factor is that when you sweat, the moisture is absorbed by the hair, and when this doesn't happen, it trickles down your leg and pools in your socks, or against your pantsleg which creates agitation. So, I think I've proved enough that shaving your legs is not an answer to any problem involving reducing heat. Don't try it, just stick to social norms and don't try to re-invent the wheel.

So, Stake Conference was awesome. I sang in the choir, which helped me a lot in pronouncing words with a Cearense accent. Both of my companions have been Paulistas, and they have an accent that the Cearenses think is odd. Like Texans and New Yorkers, they both have noticable accents and they clash
in a big way. So these last few weeks I improved my accent a lot, which is great.

This transfer was definitely the one where I finally started being fluent. Am I there yet? No, but just like Connor was saying in his last letter, I'm beginning to be surprised at how involved I can get in a conversation. Its so cool! I speak a different language!

During Stake Conference, a new Stake President and his counselors were picked, including the bishop in the ward we are most active in! Great for him! He invited us to his house afterward and we got to have lunch with the new stake presidency. Who made such an important decision? None other than Elder Loureiro and Elder Soares of the Brazilian Area Presidency, and General Authorities as well. I got to speak a little with both of them and shake their hands as well. Those men are spiritual giants. I have no doubt in my mind and I want to testify to all readers that these men hold keys of prophetic power, that have been truly been restored to the Earth. These keys of priesthood power and authority were given at first to Joseph Smith by Peter, James, and John who came to Earth as angels and conferred them to the first Prophet of this Modern Dispensation by the laying on of hands. These keys have been passed down, one priesthood holder to the next, by the laying on of hands, identical to the same process that existed in the Church of Christ during the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, and now Elder Soares and Elder Loureiro hold a few of them. What is strange and wonderfully awesome is that I too hold some of that same authority as an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ. This authority is used for nothing more than the Salvation of Man, for the building up of Zion, the Family of God, upon this Earth. It is an exciting opportunity to be a Disciple of Christ and I am incredibly grateful for it, as grateful as I am bewildered, at least.

I received quite a few letters this week! From President Watkins and the El Dorado Stake Presidency, first of all. Thank you so much for the great Christmas message! I'm very pleased to be representing the El Dorado Stake here in Brazil! I got the picture from Mike and Natalie, that was awesome, thank you guys! Grandma, I got your Christmas letter, bless your soul! Thank you for your kind words Grandma. I will be writing you a letter, Natalie Perek, so be looking for it, hah. Thank you so much for yours!

Hey Mom, really quick, you only need to send me a package for my birthday, I don't really need anything and I don't want to burden ya guys. The only thing I would really like for my birthday is my new journal, photos, maybe a CD or two, teeth whitening strips... easy, light things to pack and probably cheaper too. I loved hearing about your experience with finding Barb's son, that's great! Thanks for sharing that with me and good luck!

I love you Dad! Thank you so much for your faith. I know it hasn't been easy getting a new business off the ground. I'm praying for you and thinking of you. I know the Lord has a reason for all of this. I believe in you, Dad, more than ever.

Thanks for the e-mail Lynsey! Glad to know the band is doing great and that giving the Book of Mormon to your teacher went well! That is awesome! I know you will be blessed for your act of courage. Good luck with the new painting and have a great week, I love you!

I love you Kaitlin! Have a good week sista! How has school been lately? Do you like the rain or do you want the sun to come out more?

Hey Connor, go ahead and pay attention to the other e-mails first. Only read mine after answering everyone else, ya know? My e-mails can get pretty long sometimes. What ward are you in by the way? A Gaucho friend here wants to know.
"Thank you Turtle! You saved my life!" "Why are you talking to a turtle?"
Cool that you are getting a companion from Fortaleza! Get ready for a soft and airy accent deprived of R's. Awesome to hear that the language is doing well, I'm having the same weird moments in conversations. Still difficulties but its a lot easier than it used to be. I want to try reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese out loud now every morning, though, I'm sure that has helped you out a great deal. The experience with Antonio sounds amazing! Like the picture perfect conversion story! I'm sure the Lord is rewarding you for your hard work and diligence, bro.

You gave your iTouch away? You crazy?! No, just kidding, sounds like it was a reasonable decision.
I told my companion and a member I like about your plan for studying in Brazil, they really liked it and I do to! It's beginning to work on me, this idea. Elder Matias started listing all the universities in Sao Paulo that I could go to, though I have no interest in planning everything exactly right now, hah. What do you think the family's reaction would be to this, though? Think they could take us being so far from home again? I think it sounds cool and adventuristic though. Saying goodbye to Elder Duarte was tough, huh? Eh, don't be too worried about having a good time with the members a bit, have as much fun as you can when the opportunity presents itself and don't have regrets, just work as hard as you can and if you are given a little bit of time to recharge, count it as a blessing for your efforts.

"Nobody can tell ya, there's only one song worth singin'!
They may try and sell ya, 'cause it hangs them up to see somone like you!!!

But you've gotta make your own kind of music sing your own special song,
make your own kind of music even if nobody else sing along!!!

You're gonna be knowing the loneliest kind of lonely.
It may be rough goin', just to do your thing's the hardest thing to do!!!

Make your own kind of music... B)

(In case you are wondering that song was on "Lost" - )
Tciao minha familia e amigos!
Eu te amo todos de voces! Obrigado por suas cartas e todo!
(Tciao my family and friends!  I love you everybody!  Thank you for the letters and all!)

1-11-2010 Letter Home

It's a beautiful day! Don't let it get away!

"Maracanau in the Morning"


Dearest Family and Friends!
Man, so much news from the other side! Thank you so much for all the letters and pictures (especially you Lynsey!) and for putting up new entries on the web and everything! I feel so loved! I'm having fun trying to get all the pictures onto my iPod and other fun technology stuff while I type up this message.

So, news about this week... we finally got back to a normal pace of work, and that is great, but the transfer is almost over and so I feel kinda frustrated, that we might have to leave our investigators to the arriving missionaries, if I leave. But I have a feeling that I will stay in Maracanau... maybe that's just me wanting to stay here but, who knows. Right now I have a great companion, a fantastic area, an awesome ward, and one of the best missionary houses in Ceara... I don't want to leave any of it behind! I'm so blessed right now! But change is a coming in one way or another, starting January 17th. Who knows, this could be my last P-Day!

Hey, Mom, one day for personal study I picked up Erastus Snow Carpenter's document, his auto-biography, if you will, that he wrote in 1909. I read the whole thing in one sitting! It was so interesting and cool. It made me think, and Elder Matias is very interested to know... how far does our family really go back in the Church? Who can we really call our first ancestor who entered the Church? It would be interesting to know and I could tell members and investigators, too. Yeah, his life story was very neat to read.

On Tuesday Elder Matias and I left for the Mission Office in the center of Fortaleza, using the bus, because we needed to get some paperwork for a marriage for a couple we could baptize if we stay here next transfer. While there I had my transfer interview with President Batt and he told me the main thing I should be working on is waking up, every single day, before or at 6:30 AM. I haven't been exactly obedient with this for the last few weeks, though it's sort of something I let slide only recently, but it definitely felt like the Lord was telling me I need to pay more attention to how I am spending my mission. So every day I have been waking up at 6:30 and my week has been much better, more spiritual. Definitely an inspired interview.

Speaking of sleeping, well, you will find a picture which describes everything.

 "This BlackOps-Defying Bioweapon Teleported Here from a Parallel Dimension Where Humans Are Hunted Down by Ant-kind for Sport! It Plays Cards Too! ... no, actually it just fell from the roof. It was the only one I was brave enough to take a picture with because it didn't have wings. See what I have to deal with?"

Flying ant season sucks... we found five titanic flying ants in our house when we returned home. Like, the size of your thumb. And lots of littler ones. So we shut all the windows and the doors and turned off the lights as if preparing for a nightly siege, just like in I Am Legend. I wrapped myself in my blanket mummy-style and wrapped my head in some net-like material and went to sleep with the fan roaring right by my ears to keep the bugs off.

 "What I Do To Stay Alive: The Gargantuan Ant Siege of Maracanau"

Man, one day you are enjoying the ocean breezes and the next you are besieged by deadly swarms of insects during the night. Dang it! Actually, its gotten a lot better. Apparently the first night is the worse, cause the rain wakens all the breeders and they go flying off in all directions, looking for new earthy places to start a hive. Once the new queens settle in, well, they lose their wings. I'm told pretty soon it'll all be back to normal, and its already much much better than that first night.

So, our best new investigators of note include one boy who has been to church with friends several times and only needs to be taught the lesson. His name is Paulseza and he is pretty cool, I think fourteen years old and its pretty certain he will be baptized. Then we have Marina, who is very interested in the gospel, but she has a sad story. Her boyfriend who she was living with was taught by the missionaries and wanted to get baptized, but he was waiting for his marriage documents to go through. Just a week ago he passed away after a motorcycle accident. This caused Marina to contact us through some member friends of hers, and now she wants to be taught and baptized into the Church. She is really enthusiastic by the doctrine of Temple Work and wants to get baptized as soon as possible so that she can possibly get sealed to her would-be husband. I am not sure how that would really work, if that's possible while one is living and one is on the other side, but I am sure she is working with the bishop and such, and we just are having a very spiritual time teaching her about the Gospel and the Plan of Salvation.

I gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament Meeting, in Portuguese! About missionary work and how fear (especially of sharing the gospel) is a creation of the Adversary and how we can be more confident as members by sharing the gospel with others. It was supposed to be five minutes long and I went overtime, seven minutes, but the members were very impressed. Many people complimented on my Portuguese and my talk after wards and I was beaming with appreciation. Many said they were very impressed my Portuguese is the way it is only after four months here! Who knew, me, above average with the Portuguese language... it felt very good to be congratulated on my hard work.

That was pretty much my week! I guess I should move onto responses.

First of all, I got all the letters from Mom's side of the family! Oh man, those were so great to read! I loved all the drawings, especially from the little cousins. I want to reply to them individually, I hope I will be able to do so soon, but I'd just like to thank everyone for them, they really warmed my spirits and I've looked at them more than once in the last week. I got the letter from Seth and Lacey too, that was very nice. However, I have not received a package from Grandma yet. She sent it a while ago, didn't she? Hm.

Lynsey! Thanks for the two huge letters! Your holiday sounds like it was SWEET. You lucky punk! Six Flags and an aweSome iPod and Sherlock Holmes, Sushi and Snow Boarding. Lots of words starting with S, there, hmmm... Awesome goal, reading the Book of Mormon twice. You can do it! Just read thirty minutes a day and you'll achieve your goal and be blessed to! One of the prophets said that reading the Book of Mormon for thirty minutes every day would bring very special blessings so keep it up! Great idea for -------, its probably a time in her life she would need it. Maybe include something in the Book of Mormon like "My Great-Grandpa died when I was __ and I have been reassured a lot by the fact that after this life, our families can live together eternally in the presence of our Heavenly Father. The Book of Mormon explains about this here..." Look in PMG under the 2nd Lesson for some good scripture references maybe you could use. If you can get a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation from the missionaries that would be better than the cards, but the cards could still be good. Ask the missionaries there for their advice, if they come over soon, but don't wait too long! She needs help now ... if you wait too long, it might be too late. Good luck! Explain to Heavenly Father this plan in your prayers and ask for help, and listen for answers. I know you are very busy, but find a good calm part of the day to do this and try your best to keep the spirit when doing it. I know you will be blessed if you reach out to your fellow spiritual sister with the Gospel, the Living Water of Christ, of which, after partaking of it, none will thirst evermore.

 I have made some New Years Resolutions, but they are all things that I should be doing already, like waking up on time, working out in the mornings and reading more of the scriptures, just more of the same, hah. Love ya!! Have a good week! Thanks again for all the pictures!

Mom, Yeah, the 6 month mark is coming up soon and I am very excited! It means I am not a greenie any more! Many missionaries say that the 6-12 month period of your mission is the funnest... you are still learning but you have some experience and you aren't burnt out yet. I hope I don't burn out afterward but it sounds like fun! The holidays were pretty crazy here, apparently, but I only heard a lot of fireworks. Apparently the really bad stuff went on down by the beach... I guess the locals who wanted to get really out of control headed down there. Thanks for all the news about everyone, I really appreciate that! I love to hear about all the stuff you are working on, and I hope Family Home Evenings turn out fun. I will be praying for you all.

Dad! Best of luck on the New York trip! You know I will be praying for you. Ah... stories for the Portuguese party, huh? Nao sei... wish I could have been involved in some more dangerous exciting interesting activities. Last night we had a blackout and we had to use candles for a few hours. Um, shoot, I am drawing a blank right now. Hah, I hope it will still be fun even if you can't drop a killer story. Nossa. Thank you for all of your awesome spiritual words. I love you so much Dad and I feel connected to you so much. Its been four months and yet I know exactly how you'd act if you entered in this LANhouse right now for a visit. I miss you a bunch but I know you want me to be out here doing what I am. Thanks so much for all of the things you have taught me in my life, all my experiences and memories. I owe so much to you Dad. Sometimes I just lay awake at night thinking of things I would like to thank you for, how difficult life was some times and yet how you put up with it for me, how you have given me so much in hope that I would become a good man. Yeah, its hard to put in words. I love you, Dad, and I'm with ya in everything you do. Have a great trip in New York! Knock 'em dead! My prayers are with you.

Hey Kaitlin! Yeah, Christmas was very fun but, hey 2010 is going to be fun too! Avatar was a cool movie? Can you make sushi now! That must be great to be able to make Japanese food! You have an awesome talent now! That Japanese candy sounds tasty. I do love you so much and a miss ya sista! We have some little Brazilian girls and babies that you would love to see! They are very cute and they speak in cute Portuguese voices. Love you Kate! Have a great week!

Connor, man, glad to hear everything is great. Wish I could say more to ya but the family in the States comes first, right? But I am thinking about ya, man, and I am writing you a letter. Should get there much sooner than a letter to the states would. Keep up the great work and the photos are awesome. Neat place down there. Sucks about the rain though. Rainy season so far has only meant one full day of rain and rain during the night and mornings... but I hear it gets worse. Dude, one of the member families we visited were watching Lost, and in English, with Portuguese subtitles! The fifth season just started here. Sooo tempting to just sit and watch the whole episode with them. Love you man! Talk to you next week!

Well, I guess that's it. Oooh, spent a little too long on the internet. Hmmm. Have a great week family and friends, I love you! More when I can type it!

Love,
Your Friend and Brother and Son and Relative,
Elder Brendon Carpenter

1-04-2010 Letter Home

 "Just chugging along"

Hey Family and Friends!

This is my first e-mail from the year 2010! This will be the year I remember most about when I think of my mission, being the only full year of my mission. 2009, my shortest year, is officially over. A lot to think about. My mission is getting underway, quite a bit. Portuguese is still difficult, and I am not fluent by far, but I can communicate with the natives enough that I don't feel like I'm an imbecile wherever I go. It feels like in a short while, I will have finally transformed completely into an iconic American Missionary in Brazil. Life gets easier every day and I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping me grow so much, in the language and other things.

But, this last week was slow. We would walk and walk and walk to an investigator's house and, surprise, they were on vacation for New Year's Day, which here is a much bigger holiday, bigger than Christmas even. People go see their families and spend the night drinking, eating, and shooting off tons of fireworks. I bet you can guess that I didn't get too much sleep that night, hah.

We have an appointment tomorrow to teach a deaf boy, did I mention that? We have a translator and everything. One of our ward's has a large group of deaf members and is one of the few in Ceara that offers translation into sign language of all the meetings. That should be a cool experience.

Also this week Elder Matias and I started playing chess and we are still tied after four games, usually at night after proselyting or in the afternoon before heading off to lunch. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were pretty much lost days. Thursday we had to be back home by six o'clock, because New Year's apparently is very dangerous. We spent the night at the home of another missionary companionship and watched videos on a television they had brought. Friday was spent pretty much watching more and more movies, we had to be inside the whole day on President's orders. I am not completely sure why. Is it because everyone in the city had been awake through the night and early hours of the morning, and no one was on the street? That was true. It was a ghost town that day. Maybe he didn't want us to disturb homes of people full of sleeping relatives. I don't know, but there has to be a good reason.

Yesterday was the first day of the rainy season, it started early this year. It rained throughout the night and when we woke up, the streets around our house was practically flooded. Giant streams of water that would have carried you down into the huge storm drains they have here. But we had umbrellas and it wasn't very windy, so we made our way strategically to the chapel and stayed there for the services practically the whole day. The rain also brings the mating season for the ants and mosquitoes, here, so there are a lot more flying insects in the air, which shows as I have a ton of red bites on my neck and on my arms. I need to buy a mosquito net pretty soon, I've heard it will get worse in the next few weeks.

So, uh, that's pretty much it! Sorry for the uneventful week, guys.

(Wishing Feliz Natal to a Burro - Lynsey's Christmas Shirt does a cameo!)

Connor, we might be able to watch movies here, but we can't go bowling here! Bowling only exists in the big malls, and it is against the rules to go there because some missionaries have abused the privilege in different ways. So you've got one fun thing that I won't for two years, hah! I also forgot to say that I really liked that card game idea! That sounds really cool, man, I can't wait to get some in the mail. Using your talents for missionary work! Awesome. Great job on the baptisms, I know it makes it feel like all your efforts have been worth it, and its definitely an important part of the missionary experience. Keep up the great work!

Hey Mom, one thing I could use here: those teeth whitening strips. Something in the food is yellowing my teeth rather quickly, and I am brushing three or more times a day and flossing. Any guesses as to why this happens here?

Anyway, descriptions of the holidays have been great. I do hope you guys had a fun time! This last weekend sounded very fun, with all the family and going to see movies and to Sutter's Mill and riding around on quads... definitely wish I could have been there instead of just sitting around in a small apartment the whole day and getting eaten by mosquitoes. If only I could just be there for the holidays and then come back to Brazil and the mission afterwards, that would be such a blast.

Hey Dad, good luck on the meeting next week! We'll be praying for ya. Definitely agree on how important hard work is, I've learned that a lot here. Never did develop good habits on that and I guess the Lord wants to give me a crash course for the next two years, hah. That birthday trip of Lynsey's sounded sweet! Argh, so much fun happening in California right now ; ).

Love you Lynsey and Kaitlin! When do you guys have to get back to school? What has the holidays been like for you guys? I love you a lot! So much!

Well, I'll chat with you guys next week, hopefuly some better stories and news then. I love you all!

Your son, brother, friend and relative,
Elder Brendon Carpenter

12-28-2009 Letter Home

Noite Feliz? Conserteza!

Hello friends and family! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did, and in circumstances in which you’d think I wouldn’t. But let us start at the beginning.

This last Monday was very fun. It was Elder Matias’ and Elder Cheevers’ birthday and we celebrated at a member’s house with six missionaries, a big cake and a lot of other food. It was a very fun day, just chatting with each other and laying in hammocks. The fun of that day really set the tone for the rest of the week. I have to admit, Christmas Week was as fun as it was difficult. It was just hard to teach many people this last week, and we spent a lot of time with the members. We had a lot of commitments to check up on different houses and attend Christmas parties and Christmas activities. Yeah, the mission is so TOUGH, isn’t it? Haha. We built a lot of friendships though with the members and that is important for missionaries to work well. I feel somewhat guilty for having a good time, but, I am feeling very energized now to get back to work.

Speaking of work, Elder Hlavaty and Elder Shibata both left the area, the former to the United States for health reasons and Elder Shibata to another part of the mission to train a new arrival. This means that Elder Matias and I practically changed our area from Novo Oriente to Jereseiti, which means new people we’ve got to get to know and new investigators we’ve got to find. We are still sleeping in the same house, now just the two of us, and we don’t have to take the train, which is great. We spent a day just organizing our stuff, cleaning the house and moving the rest of our things from our house in Novo Oriente to Jereseiti. But, we have also now inherited a huge area of Maracanau that reminds me of the size of Juazeiro, and we have to manage four wards and a branch, which means our Sundays are going to be very busy. But… on the positive again, we now get to work with the investigators Elder Shibata and Elder Hlavaty left behind, which includes two sets of couples that are going to get married and baptized! We also have a much larger pool of members to get references from, and we already, with little effort on our part, received references for some friends of members that appear very special and receptive to the Gospel. I am amazed with the members here, actually. If for some reason missionaries were taken out of this city, I bet that in no time at all they would pick up missionary work responsibilities and start proselyting themselves and be just as productive! We are very blessed to be here and it’s just awesome how the Lord keeps on bringing us people to teach and to baptize. Best mission in the world!

This last week I happened to find a copy of the Christmas Books by Charles Dickens, in English! Just lying around the apartment! I don’t know where it came from. So, I read The Christmas Carol, then The Chimes, then The Cricket on the Hearth, all written by Charles Dickens in the 1840s concerning Christmas. What delightful heartwarming stories, those! Very Christian in character as well. Despite the heat and the palm trees here, I was feeling the Christmas Spirit just as strong as ever!

On Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day I wished everyone I saw a Merry Christmas, to the general confusion of pretty much everyone. You see, in this region of Brazil, Christmas is just like any other holiday, really, it is not especially special. People get a day off of work and they get drunk at night. It is kind of sad to me… but I did what I could to spread the Christmas Spirit and didn’t let the lack of it pull me down.

On Christmas Eve we went to a member, Linda’s house and ate Christmas Dinner with her family, rice and beans and chicken like always but it still felt special. I played jump rope for an hour with the kids and we watched a little of television and played Christmas songs on the piano. A very beautiful, fun family and it was a Christmas Eve that will live long in my memory.

(Christmas Eve Dinner with Linda's Family! Linda is a new convert who loves the missionaries and is a very fun and funny person and she invited us to spend the night with her family!)

Christmas Day was awesome! I woke up and immediately opened up my Christmas Present and to my surprise I unwrapped some new black shorts, an awesome, funny shirt made by Lynsey that reads “Got LdM?” LdM being Livro de Mormon, or Book of Mormon, and a nice leather book to put photos in. Thanks family!

We ate lunch with Linda’s family again, then off we went to find a phone to call our families. From six to eight in the evening I was able to talk to my beloved family in Sacramento as well as my twin brother in Passo Fundo.

 (The Greatest Telephone Call I've Ever Had)

What an awesome experience that was! I cannot describe in words how the conversation left me dazzled for the rest of the night, how wonderful it was to hear the voices of my mother, father, my two dear sisters, and my best friend. Everyone is so happy. I’m so grateful to be on my mission! Mom and Dad, do you want to write a little bit here about how the call was, in your own words? It’d be good to have a second opinion here on the blog, hah, and this is a good opportunity to do so. : )



***Per Brendon's request, I'll just say briefly that our phone call with our Brendon and Connor was our best Christmas present ever! We all gathered in one room and had them both on speaker phone. It was so good to be together as a family for those 2 hours and just to move into a very comfortable conversation about their news, our news, questions we had been wanting to ask each other. It was fun to listen to them compare their Portuguese and learn that there are differences in pronunciation and slang from area to area. We also got to say hello to their companions and hear some of the sounds of their surroundings. It was awesome to hear each of them speak so fluently (at least it sounded that way to me) and realize the incredible amount of learning that has taken place. We were not overly emotional until it was time to go, and then it was hard to break that connection. I just didn't want to let go.... that's a Mom for ya! We love and miss our boys! But we are so proud of what a great missionary Brendon is and for his consistent positive attitude and desire to follow the rules, to get the most out of his mission and for all he is doing to make a positive difference in the lives of the people he is coming in contact with.***

After that, we went back to our house and I crashed on my bed, emotionally exhausted, and then was told that we had to attend a Christmas Party. So I got on my clothes and we shuffled off to the ward Christmas party, and despite what you might think, my spirits were never higher. I really needed the members at that time. So I danced as much as I could, I organized a big game of Mingle that everyone loved, and I made people laugh and smile. Made a lot of friends during that Christmas Party and I loved doing so.

( A Present for Me from the Members: Sports Jersey for the Flamengos!

The best team in Brazil and the world! )

The day after Christmas was interesting. We woke up at six o’clock and headed off to the bus stop where we met a huge gathering of members of our ward. A few minutes later, a bus pulls up and picks us all up, just members of the Church inside! I’m standing in the bus, crowded with loud little Brazilian families, looking out the window and watching the streets and buildings become more sparse, watching as we emerge into the countryside and the mountains that surround Maracanau. Then we hit a few narrow dirt roads and right when I think that we are heading into the jungle, we pull to a stop right in front of a huge brick wall and a giant wooden gate, the sign above which reads: “Sitio Deseret”. The gate opens and we all pile out… and what do I find?

Dude. The Church built something out here that is… so cool. It’s a compound, a bunch of nice green fields dotted with houses and ramadas, with banana tree orchards in the back and tucked safely in the mountains. Obviously the Church wants to relocate all the members here when the End Days or the Zombie Outbreak hits.   ;)

(The outdoor large group meeting area at Sitio Deseret,

made for sacrament meetings and other events.)

It was such a fun place. Every ward in our stake found a ramada and began barbecuing a huge amount of meat. All the young men started playing soccer and all the children ran to play in this pool they have. Never did children play so long in a pool as those!

 (Brendon says "Nao a Lagoa Salgada, mas ainda muito legal"
Translation tool says "No the pond salty, but still very cool" )

The weather was perfect, and we changed into sports clothes, played everything from Frisbee to UNO, and I took a lot of pictures and went adventuring into the banana orchard. Such a great day. The Church really loves the members here in Brazil. I hope some of my pictures get through to show you how cool it was.

Brendon among the Banana Trees

 

"The Vacas (cows) Want to Join in the Fun! ...And the missionaries too!"

So that was my awesome, fun week in Maracanau, Ceara, Brazil. Wish it could have been made better with some progress with our investigators or some new baptisms, but I guess the Lord is just giving me a short break. I am having some technical problems with getting the pictures through so I am going to devote the rest of my time here to fixing that. I love you all, as always, and I wish you a Happy New Year!

Hey Mom,
Yeah, the call did make me a little sad and homesick that evening, but lately I have been feeling even more energized and ready for the next five months. The call was definitely a success and helped me more than it hurt. I am so glad you guys had a fun Christmas and that Snow Day looked so fun! Was it the same hill we went to last year? Awesome. I am glad the kids had a good time. You guys saw Avatar? Ah, man, everyone here is talking about that movie and there is a huge banner of that movie in the mall here. I was looking forward to it for months and that was before I left! Tudo bem, all is well, I’ll see it eventually, hah.

Lynsey,
Holy crap, that painting of the pomegranate tree with the birds and the yellow sky and the roots wrapped around planet Earth... that is one rad painting! Man, I can’t believe you are so talented and this being an ability you just cultivated in the last few months! You must have inherited an artistic knack from Mom, hah! Way cool.

Connor,
Hey, loved hearing from you this last Friday. I was glad to hear you are doing well there. It was impossible to not think of all the good Christmases we have had these last few years, you and me. I love you man! Keep up the great work!

Love y’all,
Have a great week!
- Elder Brendon Carpenter

12-21-2009 Letter Home

Feliz Natal Todo Mundo!

God Bless Us Every One!


Friends, family, this is my Christmas letter, but its not going to be super amazing because its not like I have more time than usual to type one. This last week was great! I got my package, which by the way is incredibly AWESOME! I cant believe you planned all of that, you guys! It was perfect!

Everyone in my house was impressed and my companion had a huge smile on his face as he opened his first present addressed to “Elder Companheiro”. Hah, he hadn’t gotten his Christmas package yet, so his spirits were lifted when he received a few little things. Its so funny, some of those little things you gave us were just so awesome because they were from home. Very cool. Our little Christmas tree is like the only decoration we have here for Christmas, but it makes all the difference. Thank you so much, everybody, you put so much thought into that and it really made me feel the Christmas Spirit so far from home.

We were blessed to be able to baptize two of our investigators this Sunday! Vitor is a twelve-year old rapaz (a word used for all young men here, HA-pies) who has a large family that we are going to continue working with. He has a lot of friends in the Church and man, he is just so ready for the Gospel, he is like a member already. Bruna is a sixteen-year old moca (MO-sa, word used for all young women here) whose family are all members, and will likewise be very strong. Two very awesome people have just joined the Church and we are glad for the experience.

That was really our week, despite the usual ground-pounding and door-knocking and teaching people. Oh, we did give out DVDs of “Feliz Mundo”, a Church film about Christmas, and all of our investigators loved the presents.

Okay, responses now… my favorite part of the letter!

Hey Lynsey!! Don’t worry, I understand how busy you can get. That sounds crazy! Wow, Alex ----- is getting married?! That’s great! Congrats to them. Your Christmas sounds like it will be so fun! Yeah, the package is very, very cool. The house I am living in isn’t so bad. I sleep well at night, every night, because I am so tired after work, I have running cold water, no hot water here, hah, and we drink from jugs of mineral water we buy from a nearby store, can’t trust the public water for drinking. The food is different from the food we had in Los Angeles, but it is really good! Rice, beans, noodles, sausage, lasagna sometimes, chicken. They make it great here. You are in a ROCK BAND?!?! That is fantastic! Oh man! That is so cool! I hope it is a bunch of fun and that you will get fans! That’s sweet Lynsey! I love you so much! Talk to you in a couple of days!

Hey Dad! I like Maracanau a lot, but there are some differences between working here and working in Juazeiro, which I still need to learn. As far as comfort, though, it is definitely an improvement. I really need to worry about a freckle? What should I do to make sure it isn’t skin cancer? There ARE a few things that would be nice to have here, hah… little tools that would make life a little easier. I need to keep a list and remember them better, because I can’t quite put my finger on it right now. Hmmm. That is a definite affirmative on the cooking a fresh chicken! Yeah! Maybe start raising it now from a chick so it’ll be big and fat when I get back! Haha. We did not get our new house yet, still waiting for it. I am thinking about the cottage meeting idea a lot, and I think it will be an awesome program. Unfortunately I think I need a little bit more experience with missionary work and the language before I can begin putting it into action. But it will happen! I love you Dad! Thanks for all of your encouraging words!

Hey Kaitlin!
I miss you and love you! I hope you are feeling very Christmasy and have some good gifts under that tree! I’ll talk to you soon and I am thinking about you every day!

Hey Mom! Natal isn’t a big holiday here, actually. It’s kind of just lumped in with all the others, and there aren’t too many decorations. That might just be Ceara, though, because the other Brazilians say that Christmas is a big deal in Sao Paulo as well. One funny tradition is that Santa Claus is depicted differently here. He has a wide-brimmed hat and he rides a flying donkey. No joke! It is hilarious! Christmas here will probably be just like every other P-Day, with perhaps a really good meal (we are thinking barbecue… hmmm…) and Christmas songs and a few little festivities. We’ll definitely do something fun though and take a lot of pictures. I have been writing in my journal every single night and I have filled up the first book quite a bit! I think I am nearing the halfway point, which means it might be a few more months before you receive it. There is a lot of content there; I think you’ll like it a lot!

Yeah, so, the only way I can talk to Connor is if we are on the phone at the same time! It is permitted to talk to him, as he is part of my family. So, I am going to call at 6:00 here, which should be 1:00 there and figure out what the time is in Porto Alegre at that time, because you need to tell Connor to call at that time. There aren’t too many rules here and I will probably be able to talk to you for an hour, maybe longer. NOTE: Just figured out I can call home to set up the call on Christmas Eve. So. I. Will. Call. On Christmas Eve and talk to you guys for maybe five minutes. Connor, what about you guys? Can you do this?

Hey Connor! I hope that we will be able to talk to each other! That video Nunes sent was absolutely fantastic! I could understand much of what you guys said, the accent is different but not incredibly so! Cool to see you at work there! Your companion seems cool from what little was said. Neat, man. I hope your Portuguese is better when I talk to you, it sounds like you have put in more study time than me! The pictures on your blog are great; I am really enjoying your adventures. Man, I’m glad I didn’t have to stay in my first area and guide my senior companion around, that sounds tough.

By the way man, you need to start keeping a record of all of your baptisms. Buy a nice notebook. Keep the first page clear for you to write your testimony at the end of mission. The next page should be a title page for that area you are in, with perhaps a picture of you and your companion. The next page is your first baptism, with a picture, and all the information you need to keep track of them: address, date of birth, date of baptism, date of confirmation, date of temple entrance, who baptized who, who your companion was at the time, what ward it was in, and a quick paragraph summarizing your experience with them. When you leave that area or switch companions, make a title page for your next area and your next companion. This makes a really cool Livro Dos Batismos that looks very nice. Mine looks sweet, I’ll have to send pictures at some point, and Elder Carvalho has one that is awesome. Please make this book! You’ll want an in-depth record of everyone you baptized on your mission and I will want to see it! I love you man!

I love you guys so much! Merry Christmas everyone! Talk to you soon!

- Elder Brendon Carpenter

12-14-2009 Letter Home

Brendon with President and Sister Batt when he arrived in Fortaleza on October 23, 2009

Chicken is so TASTY when it was alive just a few hours earlier. Except for the spine, that part of it - yuck. But it is better than the head. The only fun part about eating a chicken head is the fact that its a chicken head. Haha, I've actually eaten several meals so far where they have just killed and cooked the chicken that morning. It really is much more delicious.

Anyway, this week was called Sete Dias das Problemas com Casas. Cada ("dude"), first of all, that terrible house in Novo Oriente that I was telling you about was causing Elder Matias allergy problems, so we have been catching the crazy train (crazy in that it rocks back and forth like you are on a ship caught in a storm... and there's no lights which makes it scary at night) to another area every morning and night to another companionship´s house. We just decided a few days ago that we are going to stay there throughout this transfer, because the other house in Novo Oriente we want to move into is being renovated. At least tomorrow I can finally fully unpack my things after a week, and maybe finally put on a new pair of clothes (just joking). Figuring that whole problem out... touring the new house we want to buy and talking to a whole bunch of people about buying it and getting the money from the financial secretaries here, just one big hassle that took a lot of time throughout the week. Eh. Whatever. The house we are going to be staying in with the other companionship is really cool, we live on the third story of this big building and we can see the whole city and the wind is awesome at night.

By the way, you know how I said the other missionaries abandoned all of their things in our terrible house that we arent sleeping at? Turns out that one of them has the same size of clothes as I do, and so I was able to scavenge some really good pants and shirts. I was really excited by that... but typing it here kind of makes it sound a little pathetic. But hey, really, my clothes are deteriorating very quickly in this tropical climate! ; )

Speaking of tropical climate, the closer proximity to the Sun has caused me to develop a new freckle on my right cheek. It is strange to see there, but it was meant to be. According to my calculations, if this freckle has appeared solely based on my increased exposure to the radiation here on the Equator, then by the time I return home I will have seven new freckles in total on my face! It will make telling the difference between Connor and I much more easy.  : . )

Maracanau... is not incredibly hot every day! The first few days here, feeling the wind coming in from the ocean, I can't describe to you guys how it felt, it was so refreshing. I guess I had forgotten over the last six weeks how much I had been burning alive in Juazeiro. I was getting hit by temperatures upwards of 90 degrees Celsius every day without breezes and I had just gotten accustomed to sweating every minute and soaking my clothes down to the tie. But here... you guys would still think its hot but it is much more comfortable. Some days the temperature is down to the high 70s.

Other than the weather, Maracanau is a little bit more urban, though I have still seen wandering cattle here and there. No one riding horses. The problem is there is far less people on the streets here, its much more empty. The reason is because so many people commute to Fortaleza, for work or for school. They take the train into the city in the morning and come back at night to go to sleep. It makes talking to people much more difficult... we knock doors (not really, people here clap their hands instead) without a response much more frequently. A little frustrating.

We have three people with a date for baptism already! All investigators that had been working with the other missionaries when they left, so we don't feel like we earned the privilege of baptizing them, but it is still good news.

I was so happy to see all of those pictures, guys! I laughed, I smiled, I caused a disturbance in the internet cafe. Man, I cant believe it snowed that much at our house! And, the pictures of all the relatives were excellent, I loved seeing all of those faces. It looks like everyone had a very fun Thanksgiving vacation.

By the way, I will be getting my Christmas package today, it arrived a few days earlier and the secretaries were just holding onto it until Zone Conference, but the companionship Elder Matias and I are living with (Elder Hlaverty from Cash Valley, Utah and Elder Shibata from Sao Paulo, Brazil) are heading to the Mission Office and are going to pick it up for me! I too am looking forward to my Christmas phone call, and I agree getting Connor and I on the phone at the same time would be very fun. Maybe, though, only twenty minutes of us both on the phone would be better, so that you can stretch out your time with both of us. Good luck planning all of that! I haven't been given any information so far on what is going to happen. Remember though that the time to call is the most important information I need.

"One more photo of the members I left behind in Jauziero!"

 A mission is hard wherever you go, but the difference is that in Ceara, the people are much more receptive and we see the fruits of our labors in very short time periods. I already have ten baptisms and will probably have thirteen by next week. You know how much that helps me keep working and smiling? Its wonderful to see people start changing their lives after only a few visits.  I'm spoiled up here in the north.

Hey, Connor, there is an Elder Trage here that was born in Passo Fundo! He knows the city very well and was excited to hear that you are there. He's German-Brazilian, and he looks exactly like an American missionary, only he can't speak English and instead is fluent in Portuguese. Do they have a lot of people there that look exactly like Americans?

Dad, sorry to have skipped your last letter, I just didnt have enough time. Funny how often that excuse is used. We taught Jorge, Jackson and Jardel many lessons from Week 3 to Week 5... I want to say around seven to eight. We wanted them to have a firm understanding of the commandments and so we taught them one each morning for a number of days. My Portuguese is to the point where I can teach the first lesson very well, the third lesson okay, I can testify well and give answers to very easy questions, but many time it is my Brazilian companion who answers questions and is there when the lesson deviates from the plan (which happens a lot and should happen). After speaking with many American missionaries, I feel that I will never become fluent like a native, but it surprising how well I can speak Portuguese even now. I can follow a conversation pretty well... its weird, I can just recognize the meaning of words and sentences that three months ago would have sounded completely illegible.

Yes, President Batt let my district play Rockband for one P-Day. That doesnt happen every day for sure. We can watch Disney movies here in the Fortaleza Mission, and many Elders take advantage of the permission, watching three movies every P-Day. You might think that might destroy the rest of the week, but it doesnt. A few hours of clean entertainment in an air-conditioned room can do wonders after a week of sweat and tears. The problem is, when we watched School for Scoundrels, is that the whole district thought it was a Disney movie. It wasnt until after that I discovered that the Elder who had rented the movie had... uh... "forgotten" to check to see if it was made by Disney and for that matter what the rating was. The thing is, I had thought it was taking the Spirit away while watching it, but everyone else kept on watching and laughing, so I did as well. Elder Carvalho and I talked about it afterwards and he assured me that we had did nothing wrong. The thing is, like I have explained before, you end up accidentally watching unauthorized movies a lot, like at members houses or even in restaurants that have television (even fast-food places have televisions here, Brazilians just love watching TV while eating). It would be inappropriate to ask someone to turn off the television or to excuse yourself from the room, especially in this culture, and yet we still keep the Spirit with us afterward, because we didn't go looking in the first place to break the rules. Hmm... its not something I like doing here, but it happens.

Back to Connor. We aren't contacting very many people every day. Even with Elder Carvalho we were only doing an average of maybe five people a day, and in Maracanau so far it has been less. Missionaries here think that thirty is an incredibly high number to contact every day. I want to change that, too, and I will. I want to give you some advice on the first lesson that I have learned, as it is the one you teach the most, but I am going to have to wait until next week. I am missing you a bunch man. I think I have been dependent on the Lord and on the other Elders here in a huge way to help me cope with that. I am glad you arent feeling as homesick lately, that sounds really crappy. Just take one day at a time and try to have fun with your companion and with the members. Americans are so used to being constantly entertained, but you can turn that into a strength by entertaining others or creating an entertaining atmosphere by smiling a lot, talking a lot with people, playing games with children, and making jokes (especially about how horrible your Portuguese is, that always creates laughs). You can do it man! Remember, you have got to focus on other people, how to help them, lift them up, in order to lift yourself up. You solve your own problems by solving the problems of others. I am sure there are some small exceptions sometimes to that rule, but generally, especially in being a missionary, it works.

My memory this week is the two of us playing Indiana Jones: The Lost City of Atlantis when we were kids. Salaam afendi! *chuckle*  That was a fun game.

I love you Lynsey, Kaitlin, Mom! Thank you for your letters!

Christmas is almost here!
- Elder Carpenter

From Kay Lea (Mom)
Even though this photo is blurry, I loved Brendon, the future Movie Director's caption:

"Four missionaries. One large city in Brazil. A sacred duty with eternal consequences... "Elders of Juazeiro" Now showing in theatres near you."

Love you guys!!!!

12-7-2009 Letter Home

Opa! Uma area nova! Ola Maracanau!

Yeah, I have been transferred! My new companion is Elder Matias and I am now in Maracanau, after another long bus-ride. No longer in the Land of Cariri! I left Zona Juazeiro behind, the best Zona in the mission, but I am excited to start work in a new city too. Should be fun!

Could be a shortish message. Just a heads up.

Turns out for my second transfer I will be staying and preaching the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in Maracanau outside of Fortaleza! Yes, yes, I left the Land of Cariri, the Chosen Land of this Mission that everyone wants to go to. It was sad to see everyone, especially the people I baptized, for the last time! So hard. Everyone saw us off at the bus station last night, many, many people in the ward and I just thought, standing there with all my bags waving to all these smiling faces that I was going back home! Like I had finished the mission! It was so crazy.


The members of the Ramo (Branch) who came to the bus station to say goodbye to all of us that were leaving Juazeiro. I love these guys! These members are so awesome!

I haven't seen much of Maracanau yet but it looks a little bit more urban than Juazeiro. Elder Matias is really cool, big Brasileiro that I hope to  become good friends with. We just found our house a few hours ago and man! I can't believe I thought Juazeiro was bad! It looks like the previous just abandoned the house and left trash everywhere! Hah! I am not angry, just amused that they left the house in that bad of disrepair. We might be moving to another one though, even Elder Matias says its
ridiculous how many things are broken.

Pff, last week was fantastic. Elder Carvalho and I really bonded over the last week and I will miss him a lot. We finished the transfer strong by baptizing a family! Otacilo De Neto and his new wife (just married this last Friday!!!) Kathiwera, and her sister who lives with them, Capucherra, and I am probably mispelling their names terribly. We were so excited to baptise an entire family and it was a great climax to the transfer.

Here is a photo of their baptism. Such a great family! I love them! I will miss them so much! Last Friday after their marriage we went to the casapela (house chapel) and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration in Portuguese and it was really fun, they liked it a lot. They already have such great testimonies and we met them our second or third week here!


Man, I loved Juazeiro so much and I am so happy with my experience there. I feel like I can take on the world now that I have beat my first transfer. Awesome.

So, I really want to read some letters, answer them and send pictures, so this is going to be about it. This last week was very simple, no huge stories, just a lot of working with Otacilo and his family and preparing them for their baptism, and then the whole ordeal with changing zones and all that.



Hey thank you Mom for the info and pictures! Don't feel bad for me, those pictures really don't make me "trunky" (homesick) , just happy for all of you and glad to be part of it in some way. Thank you so much for the kind words! I hope you feel like you are part of my adventure!

The Santos family is good, we left them on good terms. They all received the Espirito Santo this last Sunday. I wish we could have worked more with the one brother that was not baptized and the parents, but it seems like other missionaries will have to do the work. I love all those kids, all like my little brothers, always joshing around with me and making jokes when they see me.

The marriage paperwork went through for Otacilio! You dont know how much of a miracle that was. We fasted for it and were praying a lot and the paperwork was finished up in FOUR DAYS! In Brazil it usually takes a month! They were married in a courthouse in a cool ceremony that we got to be a part of, involving a judge giving an interesting prayer in Portuguese.

My feet are fine. My shoes socks and clothes are feeling good too. No medical conditions, feeling just fine. The weather  has been really hot here but I am used to sweating every minute of the day by now, hah. Money is hard to manage because we take a lot of buses and we pay for the transportation of our investigators sometimes too, but nothing too bad. Oh, I withdrew a hundred reals this last week, I hope that was okay, I needed to pay for my half Otacilo´s marriage with Elder Carvalho and I also needed to buy food for the week! Thank you so much, it helped me out a lot!

The hardest thing is no longer constantly working, like in the CTM. I like doing that. The hardest thing is, of course, being apart from you all and being able to communicate with you only an hour a week! It stresses me out so much!

The best thing is baptizing worthy converts that you love, that love you, that really have testimonies and look forward to their baptisms with such enthusiasm! Its the greatest feeling to lift them up out of the waters of baptisms and say "Para bens, bem vindo!" (Congratulations, welcome!) with a smile on your face.

I am reading in Second Nephi right now, starting over after having finished a short while again. I am also reading Jesus the Christ and Preach My Gospel again.

Oi, Kaitlin, minha irma! I love you so much! Yeah, it is going to be 2010 soon! Crazy, huh? Styles do change very, very slowly. I miss you girl! You are learning spanish! Thats great! Good luck! I miss you! Hug hug kiss kiss :)

--

Hey Dad, I love you so much! Thanks for your letter! It is such that I cannot respond to you this week but you will be first in the next! Lynsey, I love you my sister! I hope you all have a fantastic week and I will talk more about my area and answer all your questions next Monday!

I love you guys!

I love all of you! By the way, I got the pack of letters from all of the Primary Children in the Ward! Next week I am going to write them all back individually, but just give them a heads up that I got their letters and that I enjoyed them so much! Thank you guys, for giving me a little taste of home!

Ate mais!
- Elder Brendon Carpenter