Temples. 8/24/11

Wow it sounds like you have had an intense week, but that is good that you're busy. It always makes things more fun. Of course Rusten would want to live in CA on the beach. I can see him diong that for sure. I bet the wedding was amazing! That temple is so cool.

Ya so we went to the Campinas Temple today and it was so flippen legit. It is massive and it's not like the Sao Paulo one, where it's right in the middle of the city, it is up on top of a hill in the country, or the closest you can get to being country in Brazil. It took about a little over an hour to drive there, and the drive was way cool. It was really thick jungle for the most part and then every once in a while, you would see a little fevela so that was way cool. The temple was just so massive and the celestial room was so amazingly gorgeous. It blew my mind when I walked through the door. I wanted to just stay there forever. The spirit is so strong in there, and you can really just think and clear your mind and talk with the Lord while you are in there and I love it.

I never would have imagined how much I would pray till I got out here and it mind as well be just one continuous prayer. ha ha. But everything is going very well. The language is coming alright. I can get my point across, at least when I am talking about gospel stuff. It just takes me some time, but it will come.

Elder Peleegrini is doing very well. He has totally changed for the better, so that's good. I thought that I told you that Elder Brown and I are comps now. He is a cool kid. he is from Murry. We get along pretty good. One of my teachers might be moving to Utah to be a translator for the church, so I told him that I would take him skiing when I get home. There isn't much going on here besides that. Just staying busy and learning a ton about the gospel and everything else, and there is no place else I would rather be.

I concecrated some oil this week in portuguese so that was a very good experience. We have this thing here called TRC and we practice with fake investigators and one of our investigators we invited to be baptised this semana, so that was cool. He said it might take him some time though, but other than that it the same and I love it.

That's cool that Ty and Sheen got a new car, and that they got so much out of there's. Good for them. And that blows me away that Rusten is already about to start school! That's awesome. Tell him good luck for me. Well, eu ti amo todos voces.

Têm bom semanalove.

Elder Furrows

Starting to Teach Lessons! :) 8/17/11

Well I'm very glad that all is well back home. It is just another week here at the ctm, but I'm loving it more and more every single day that I am here. It is definitely a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, so I'm getting humbled, I would say every 30 seconds or so. ha ha. But it's good for me. The language is tough, but I'm getting it ok. Elder Brown and I taught our first whole lesson in portuguese this week, so that was dang intense! I have come to a realization that I need to grow up and put all my faith in the Lord if I want miracles to start happening because that is what it is going to take. So I'm praying as much as possible and putting a lot of faith in the Lord and putting forth all the effort that I can. I know that it will all work out if I put my faith in Christ. That's one thing that they make sure to teach you here. If you put your faith in Christ, then things will work out. I love it here. The spirit is always so strong and you can always feel it.

We are going to the Campenis Temple next week because they are cleaning Sao Paulo, so that is awesome.

The pic of Cam's wedding looks like it was beautiful. Tell them congrats for me. Oh ya, you are going to Cali! That's so awesome. I hope you guys make it safe and sound.

We got two new kids from Provo in our district. Elders Litchfield and Hill. One is from Oregon and the other is from Cali, and we also got some brazilian roomates. They are flippen cool! It's so fun to talk to them.

Ya that sucks about Anthany. I feel so bad for him. I hope it all works out for him. How is Todd doing? Good to hear about Charlie hope he comes around. My hand is doing so good! Only one week till I can stop wearing my brace. woot woot! I'm so ready to get it off. The doc just looked at it and asked how it felt and I said good and he sent me on my way pretty pain free.

Ya I could definitely find some way to listen to it. You can send them to me out in the field and I would love that. I am half way done with the ctm this Saturday. I'm so ready to get out of here and preach the good word, but I'm really not ready because I need to know a lot more portuguese, but it will come. Well I hope Rory's wedding goes great. Tell them congrats for me.

love,

Elder Furrows

The Lord Has A Purpose For Us. 8/10/11

Hey Mom and family and freinds! Brazil is just as amazing as it was last week. I have only grown to love the people more and more since I have been here. Wow that sounds like you guys are having a busy week back home. I hope everything worked out for you for the better. How was Cam's wedding? Ya I love getting the letter from you and the email both. I would write you hand written ones back every week, but I figure I would just be saying the same thing twice so I just email you if that's ok. But yes, keep sending both please. It is the best feeling ever when you get mail. Oh and I will send you some pictures next week in a letter so you can see some of the stuff.

Thank you for that little short story you put in your last hand written letter. That really boosted me up and Elder Pellegrini, yup that's right, he decided to stay! It is such an amazing story. The Lord knows exactly what he is doing and I gained a testimaony of that this week. He was dead set on going home last p-day and we went to talk to the mission pres and I went down there with him cause I had to, and then he was trying to call his mom and she wouldn't answer her phone, and then we went back up to the room and he was just crying and trying to figure out what he should do and then Elder Sheaperd came up to him and said, "let's talk," and they went out and talked and Elder Mathews talked to him too and those two elders are honestly sent from God for him! They where meant to be here at this time for that exact purpose. Both of them are just such great guys and they are always so encouraging and so nice, it would blow your mind. So they talked him into staying and he has been so much happier ever since, so it is awesome. The crazy thing is Elder Mathews went out last year on his mission and then went home after the first week and then came back out this year, so he could really relate to Elder Pellegrini, and he just said the right things, so it was awesome. I feel like that all happened with Elder Mathews coming home for this reason, so it's a good thing.

Well the language is coming along great I'm really starting to understand when people talk, really only when they are talking about the gospel, but I can kind of form small sentences so that is good. It is very humbling though to learn a new language, but I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world. We had the craziest thunderstorm yesterday. It was so dang loud, but it was cool. ha ha.

That's awesome that there was a moose in the backyard. I bet Beezly was all over that. ha ha. I bet Table Rock was a pretty fun hike though, so that's good. But ya, they still had a 14 foot base when I left. My hand is doing great. Everything is coming along just fine. I only have to wear that stupid brace for 2 more weeks so I am pumped to get it off. But I have an appt. with the mission doc this Sunday. He is gioing to take a look at it, so it will be good I'm sure.

That is way cool that Ernie and Bryant flew up to see you. I bet that was fun for you and them both. That stinks about Todd. I will definitely keep him in my prayers. That is crazy that there is a kid from Lyman coming. I haven't seen him yet, but maybe he came today. There is one of the instructor's here that knows Cam and I was talking to him the other day and he was all, "Hey Elder Furrows, Cameron says hi!" So that was funny. His name is Pissanya.

The new schedule is awesome. We're always super busy, so I'm tired by the end of the day, but it is sweet. I like it a lot. We're teaching a lot. One of our teachers quit this week cause he got a better job, so that kinda stinks but it's alright. We will get a new one. I love all of the elders that are on my floor they are all so flippin sweet. There are a lot that went to BYU-I, so maybe we will room together when I get home.

We had our first Fast Sunday and that was amazing. My whole branch got to bear their testimonies. All 9 of us. ha ha. But it was still way good. The spirit is always so strong here. Today we're supposed to be getting two new elders from the Provo MTC to add to our district, so that will be awesome. I am way pumped about that, and guess what! I am one third of the way done with the MTC this week. woot woot!

We had a fireside last night and it was dang good. I got a quote from it and I think it is my new favorite quote. "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles." I thought that was pretty dang good. Well as always temple was good and p-day was amazing. I love it here, and wouldn't trade it for the world. Hope all is well this week! Love you.

Elder Furrows

Brazil MTC experience! 8/3/11

Ok... so for all of you wondering what a ctm is in the last letter, that is how they say mtc down there! :) Well, by this letter he had been out 2 weeks! :) ENJOY!:

Hey mom and everyone! Everything here is going good. Brazil is an amazing place, I love it here so much. The food is still just as amasing as ever, and me just eating and sitting around is not doing me much good at all, but it's alright. They say once you get out into the field that you lose it all the first week, so that will be nice. Ya district leader is pretty easy here in the ctm at least, but I'm sure it is different out in the field. Really? My bike sold? That is so flippen sweet! That is a big relief. Make sure you tell him thank you so much for me cause that was dang nice of him. Really? how long did Rusten stay down there for? I bet he had a blast. Yes I got both of your letters. I think they take about a week for them to get here so that is good. I am sending you out a letter today. Right when I get done emailing you I am going out to the post office. That is one heck of an adventure especially when you don't speak portuguese. ha. But it is all good, it is dang fun. Ya there is no favelas by the mtc but there are a couple on the way to the temple that are dang cool looking. They say that Vitoria has a lot of them too, and also that it is the second most dangerous city in all of brazil. ha ha. Exciting huh? I will make sure that I am always wearing my g's just in case we get shot at ha ha. So yesterday and today were good and bad we had an elder in our district, Elder Bennion, go home yesterday cause he didn't like it here and Elder Pellegrini is trying to go home also today, so that is really sad cause they are both supposed to go to my mission but it will be ok. I know that I love it so much here and that I would never ever come home. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life and my testimony feels like it is increasing by the minute so that is amazing. How is Uncle Charlie doing? I hope he is doing well. I am praying for him. Ya mowing the lawn is pretty intense right? ha ha. Ya you better give him a raise. Man were definitely taking a trip down to here when I get home and going to the temple, because it is hands down the most pretty temple inside. It would blow your mind. Our whole entire schedule is getting changed tomorrow. They are trying to make it more like Provo, so there will be a lot less down time which is a good thing, cause I love learnig. The language is hard but it will come, I am sure. We actually got a new roomate today. He is from Provo, but he lived in brazil till he was 16 and then moved so he will teach us a lot and I'm dang excited about that. Well hope everything is going well back home. I will send you pictures probably not till I am out in the field because we can't send pictures on the computers in the ctm, and I can't speak well enough yet to get them developed so maybe in a couple of weeks ha. Love you. Thanks for the letters and emails and support.

Andy's 1st e-mail to the clan! ha. :) 7/27/11

This is Andy's 1st e-mail to us! :) I went through and fixed punctuation, capitalization, spelling, etc. haha. Don't worry... he's just like every missionary! haha. They don't have good handwriting, but they write really good e-mails and you can tell they LOVE their mission! :) ENJOY!:

Well everything is going very well. You're going to have to forward this to everyone because I only have 30 min to email and I am only supposed to email you really just while I am in the MTC, but everything is so amazing here! I love it so much and I love the spirit that you are always feeling so strongly. The flight was pretty long, but it was alright. I didnt sleep much but I had this little girl by me that was like 12 and she could speak english alright so we talked most of the time. When we got off the plane I expected it to be hard to get though customs and everything but it wasnt bad at all! We just grabbed our bags, and dont worry my hand was fine when I was carrying it, and we grabbed them and headed out to go like past security I guess and there was this little brazilian waiting for us and he couldnt speak a lick of english, but we got everything taken care of ok. It took us a while to find another elder that we were waiting on. His name is Elder Tanner and he had to fly the whole way by himself on a different flight than us. Even i felt pretty bad for him, but he said it was all good. So the other 3 elders that i flew with was Elder Pelligrine, Elder Bennion, and Elder Brown. They are all three from utah and they are all cool kids. It is us 5 in our district and guess what? I'm the district leader. It is kinda intimidating at first, but it is all good. I think it wont be too tough. The MTC is beautiful. It is just right in the city and it is all gated in and just so dang nice. Well i guess everywhere is the city. This city would blow your mind it is so huge, but the ctm is just a little sancturary and it is sweet. The days are suprisingly going by way fast! I thought it would go slow for the first little bit, but it has been going way fast so that is good. The language is pretty tough but for what they have taught us, we have learned it all pretty good. they are trying to teach us the language of the spirit first before the language or at least with the language cause that is the way we will learn the fastest. I love it here, and I love the spirit as my constant companion. It is so crazy how you are always feeling the spirit here I love it. Our p days here are so legit. I'm so happy I didn't have to go to provo cause they have to stay in the mtc and everything, but here at the ctm they give us 2 hours to go out on the streets and just go to the vendors and the stores and to just mingle with the people, but I haven't done that yet. We're doing it right after this. Oh and also, we get to go to the Sao Paulo Temple and it is the most beautiful temple that I have ever seen in my life! Just everything about it is so pretty inside and out, but mostly the inside. we definitely have to come back when I'm home and go through it!

The trip over to the temple was fun. The drivers here are crazy so they keep you on your toes and we got to see some favelas which were awesome. After the temple, we went to the distribution center and i bought some scriptures and a bible in portuguese and a case, they are pretty sweet, and I should have just waited to buy garments down here they are so much cheaper but it's all good. The food here is great. I really love the rice and beans they are so amazing! But the brazilians say that it is nothing like the real food it is kinda like brazil's version of a cafeteria, but I think it is the best cafeteria food I have ever eaten. ha ha. the brazilians are way cool, they want to learn english just as bad as we want to learn portuguese, so we are always talking with them. It's way fun. There are alot of them going to my mission so I'm sure we will be comps in the future. Well everything is amazing down here I'm loving the people, the food, the language, and most importantly I love the gospel and the spirit that I am always feeling. Hope everything is going well back home. Eu ama voce!

Letter from the President. 7/20/11

The President sent a letter to my mom and all the other parents of the missionaries when they first arrived there at the Brazil MTC, and along with the e-mail came this picture! :D

Andy is the first one on the left! :)
And here is the e-mail. ENJOY:

Dear Parents,

We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.

They now have companions and are settled into their rooms. They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study. The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting. These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs. He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple. This will be either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on individual assignments.Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”

Please accept our love,

President Donald L Clark and Sister Zaza Clark

ADDITIONAL information . . . DO not send packages to the Brazil Missionary Training Center. All packages must be sent directly to the mission where your missionary will be serving not the MTC. If you have already mailed a package to the Brazil MTC and it arrives after your missionary has left for the field, please understand that the package can not be forwarded to his or her mission and will be returned to you. The only other option is for us to open the package and forward the letters and photographs, giving the rest of the content of the package to the missionaries that are here.

WE Strongly ENCOURAGE SENDING HAND WRITTEN LETTERS. Please write your missionary´s first and last name. Your missionary will provide you with his district and box number. Also, please DO NOT SEND ANYTHING BY FEDEX, DHL, UPS, or other private carriers. The cost to get this type of correspondence is exorbitant.

Elder Furrows:

Hi, I'm Aubree Egbert from here. My brother was called to the Vitoria Brazil Mission and I have made this blog to update everyone on how he is doing! :) It is also to like Journal for him so when he gets home, he will know what he wrote to us and when! So enjoy the Adventures of Andy in Brazil, and let me know what you think! :D To read about his departure from Idaho, click here.
Have a great day!

*Aubree*