First week in the Field. 9/26/11

Hey hey family. How is everything going? It sounds like your are all having a great time. Potato harvest huh? That sounds pretty intense. I bet that is fun and of course you didn't see Aubree. She stays hidden as much as possible ha ha {By the way... Andy is lying here.. haha. I don't stay hidden. ha.}. I'm glad that Rusten had a good birthday and that he was made a deacon. That is such a blessing. Tell him congrats 
for me. 

Well it has been an eventful week. We went proceliting, that's not how you spell it but whatever ha. So we went to Paulista and we gave out all of our copies of the Book of Mormon, so that was legit. The street was so crazy and so huge. It blew my mind. So then we finished up our last couple of days at the ctm, and we headed out at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, so that was pretty dang cool. We got to Vitoria at about 10 and met up with the AP's and they took us to the chapel to meet with president and have lunch and everything. So we get there and have this meeting with all of the trainers and with the pres but we still don't know who our trainers are yet. President is really nice. So we got done with everything at the church and headed off to the bus station because that is where they do the transfers. 

So we get there and I'm expecting this quiet little meeting, but heck no! It was so dang fun. Everyone was just talking having a good time and then they called all of the new missionaries and the trainers up, so we headed up there and they start   announcing the names and my trainer is Elder Swanson. He is way legit. He is from Las Vegas and I'm his last comp that he will have on his mission, so that is pretty cool. So my first area that we're assigned to is called Linhares. It is about a 3 hour bus ride North of Vitoria and it's a smaller little town. It's pretty legit though. There are 3 duplas in our area including us, and Elder Swanson and I are in charge of the biggest area of Linhares, but it is really cool. So we got off the bus at about 9 and we didn't have a way to get home or even know where our house was for that matter, but we got a member to come get us and take us home. So we get to the house and Elder Swanson tells me that this is a really nice house and we got there and I was freaking out because it wasn't very nice, but the next day when we went to lunch at the members house, I realized that it really is and I'm very greatful to have what we have. So we have just been tracting and kinda teaching lessons and just doing the normal stuff.

It is really cool to actually be out here. The language is still pretty rough, but it is coming along good. My first Sunday was cool. Straight Portuguese except this one kid that I talked to that could speak English that is going to BYU-I. He was cool. General Conference is next weekend and we will just watch it at the church. We have a branch of about 100 members and they are all really nice, so that is awesome. So last night we had to catch a bus and take off to this other city to go do some baptismal interviews. The city is São Mateus and it was about an hour away and it was so cool. It's right by the ocean and there is this river that goes through it and it has a slave trading port and everything. It was nuts. So that was way cool except the only 
bus that came back last night was at 2 in the morning, so we got back this morning at about 3:45 and then had to walk an hour to get to our house from the bus station, so that was a good time ha ha. 

I love it here and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope everything is going 
well back home. Being out here has made me realize how thankful I need to be for what I have because the people here do not have much. Some of the houses are so horrible, so I'm thankful for what I have. Well have a great week. I love you guys. 

So the pictures I'm not sure what the order is of them. but the big one is my two teachers and my district at the ctm. Then there is one in Sao Mateus, and then there is one of me and Elder Brown at the ctm. He is the one who is taller. Then me and Swanson at the transfers, and then the on with all the green, and that lake looking thing is in Linhares. Love ya!

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.