Allright, Curitiba is one of the dopest cities on the planet. It´s super green everywhere and it is called the city of the 4 seasons because everyday there are 4 seasons that occur. For example, I´ve only been here 1 day and it was sunny when we got here, clouded up and rained, and then was fall time through the night and a tiny bit chilly in the morning. Crazy. President Araujo is one of the coolest dudes I´ve ever met. He is a lot smaller than I expected but he can speak English pretty well. We drove out to Campinas Airport and flew only like an hour to Curitiba where we met the AP to the Pres and President Araujo. We took a van to the President's house and had lunch there. His house is in a huge sky scraper and is very nice. Then we went to this chapel and had some missionary training meeting. We met our comps there and my comp is named Elder Lee. He is this burley, red haired dude with like a sculpted face. He wrestled and took state in Arizona where he is from. Then we took a bus for like 2 and a half hours to the booneys where my first area is called Rio Bonito, or beautiful river. There is no river here though. Our apartment is pretty crazy. We live with two other missionaries. Then last night before I even unpacked one thing, we went to a dinner appointment to this family that we had to walk to like 30 minutes away. It was good and the family are members and they were cool.
It´s been a shell shocker going from the CTM to the field. I am still currently getting used to it. The language is the biggest barrier, but I think I´ll learn quick. Seriously, this is crazy and a little scary. The last few days at the CTM were fun and we enjoyed it immensely. There is a lot of structure that I´m not used to. That´s what I´m gonna have to get used to the most. In due time I think I will adjust.
You sound extremely busy Ma. You need to take a chill pill. Tell me how Piper and Roxy doggy are doing. I miss you guys and I love you.
Elder Beckstrand
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wild Adventures at the CTM
God does help us. We were blessed with the gift of tongues like 30 times here so our tongues are about to explode. We have been really getting Portuguese. My companion's name is Elder Hardy. Even if the language doesn´t come to him he has an amazing gift that may be more valuable than any language. The Brazilians honestly flock to him. He has some mysterious energy about him that attracts Brazilians. It´s crazy. I get a lot of friends out of it.
Mom you are gonna laugh at this. There are two Brazilians who look SO FREAKING EXACT to Barrack Obama.........and Jamie Fox...... Oh my gosh it is so crazy how they look alike. Everybody always calls them Obama and Fox. So funny. O.K, so we were on our way to the temple today when there was this black lady on the corner of this very small park. She was FREAKIN out!!!!! She had her eyes rolled in the back of her head and was jiggling her whole body in sharp movements and huge spasms. She must have been feeling the Holy Ghost or something. She then started kicking as high as she could and i´m not sure if she was wearing any underwear....haha. She was just freaking out mom. I´ve never seen anything like it!!
So proselyting was way good. We basically shot out our Books of Mormon and Passalong cards. Funny story... We were walking and passed this huge public telephone when it started ringing. We were like what the heck, so we just started walking away. I was like wait, I´m gonna go answer it! haha. So, I said hola...and this guy started jabbering away at me. So I said ´We are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The guy kept jabbering so I told him my name was Elder Beckstrand and we believe in the Book of Mormon, Bible and Christ. He was like, are you Americano? And I was like ya, I am. I told him to have a nice day and that other missionaries would teach him. All this in Portuguese. hahahahahahaa!!! I was crackin a cheek for like 2 days. So funny.
This one day we were just sitting in class when this huge freaking bee flies in. O.K., Mom, curl your hand into a fist. The bee was as big as your fist!!! It was pure black and seriously had to flap it´s wings in order to fly. Geez!!! Then all of the sudden it spewed all this orange shizzle out all over and buzzed everywhere and then out the window. We were freaking out. It was crazy. The bugs here are on steroids. Also, right before I wrote this there was this HUGE wasp. It was 3 of the wasps in Utah and was black and brown. Scary.
Mom, yesterday I had the best pineapple that I ever had in my life. It almost tasted artificial. I had like 7 pieces in one meal and my mouth started tasting like metal. Weird. It was so good. Also the bananas are so fresh here and taste kinda sweet. All the fruit is much better than in America. It´s been so hot this week. Sweltering really. Luckily we got the air conditioning working and that made it a lot better. We leave in about 6 days and I´m pretty stoked, but pretty scared. Curitiba is gonna be dope. Well, I miss your little face! Mom, you should send me some treats.....like your whole wheat bread or something good. Love you guys. Also, can you take a picture of Piper and Roxy and have Brianne send them via email again. Hurray. Thanks. Have a pimp week Mom. and Connor is funny. It´s just the teenage coolness. hahahahaaha. Tchau!
Elder Beckstrand
Mom you are gonna laugh at this. There are two Brazilians who look SO FREAKING EXACT to Barrack Obama.........and Jamie Fox...... Oh my gosh it is so crazy how they look alike. Everybody always calls them Obama and Fox. So funny. O.K, so we were on our way to the temple today when there was this black lady on the corner of this very small park. She was FREAKIN out!!!!! She had her eyes rolled in the back of her head and was jiggling her whole body in sharp movements and huge spasms. She must have been feeling the Holy Ghost or something. She then started kicking as high as she could and i´m not sure if she was wearing any underwear....haha. She was just freaking out mom. I´ve never seen anything like it!!
So proselyting was way good. We basically shot out our Books of Mormon and Passalong cards. Funny story... We were walking and passed this huge public telephone when it started ringing. We were like what the heck, so we just started walking away. I was like wait, I´m gonna go answer it! haha. So, I said hola...and this guy started jabbering away at me. So I said ´We are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The guy kept jabbering so I told him my name was Elder Beckstrand and we believe in the Book of Mormon, Bible and Christ. He was like, are you Americano? And I was like ya, I am. I told him to have a nice day and that other missionaries would teach him. All this in Portuguese. hahahahahahaa!!! I was crackin a cheek for like 2 days. So funny.
This one day we were just sitting in class when this huge freaking bee flies in. O.K., Mom, curl your hand into a fist. The bee was as big as your fist!!! It was pure black and seriously had to flap it´s wings in order to fly. Geez!!! Then all of the sudden it spewed all this orange shizzle out all over and buzzed everywhere and then out the window. We were freaking out. It was crazy. The bugs here are on steroids. Also, right before I wrote this there was this HUGE wasp. It was 3 of the wasps in Utah and was black and brown. Scary.
Mom, yesterday I had the best pineapple that I ever had in my life. It almost tasted artificial. I had like 7 pieces in one meal and my mouth started tasting like metal. Weird. It was so good. Also the bananas are so fresh here and taste kinda sweet. All the fruit is much better than in America. It´s been so hot this week. Sweltering really. Luckily we got the air conditioning working and that made it a lot better. We leave in about 6 days and I´m pretty stoked, but pretty scared. Curitiba is gonna be dope. Well, I miss your little face! Mom, you should send me some treats.....like your whole wheat bread or something good. Love you guys. Also, can you take a picture of Piper and Roxy and have Brianne send them via email again. Hurray. Thanks. Have a pimp week Mom. and Connor is funny. It´s just the teenage coolness. hahahahaaha. Tchau!
Elder Beckstrand
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sao Paulo Halloween
Ma, I am totally gonna ask for that number back when I get home. haha. So you had a pretty fine adventure with piper then I take it? haha. I bet you loved piper after that. haha. I had another dream of piper and roxy. Ya and I told connor to pelt that dog hardcore. He actually hit her. so funny. I don't have a lot of time right now. My comp is wantin to go. Elder Scott was dope. He was pretty powerful and I got to shake his hand. He is half the size I pictured him to be. It sounds like the good old days of halloween parties and such. IfIi was connor I´d rather go to byu breakdance rather than halloween ward party. haha. Ya mom, you´ll be a mechanic. haha, I could just picture you in a little jumpsuit with grease all over your face drinkin gasoline out of a gas can. hahahaha. It is way warmer here than where you´re at. It´s goin into summer and we had a mega hot day this past week which made me want to shotgun myself in the face. HOt. I almost got pictures on here this week but they took the little memory card adapter out so I couldn´t do it this week. Time actually is flyin pretty fast. It´s cool. I go proselyting this next friday and my comp and I are not even afraid. We own at proselyting. So Connor told you ROFL was a swear word? hahahaha it´s not, it´s an expression meaning rolling on the floor laughing. ROFL!!! Dude, and a raccoon? seriously? so cool. I didn´t think there were any of them in the city that far.
There are so many problems with the visas right now. They are only letting in like 3 americans every week and there are like 10-12 americans leaving every week so the CTM is gettin pretty slim. The language is coming pretty good and we feel like we can construct sentences and at least communicate to Brazilians. I take my hat off to Japanese learners and such. Seriously mom, English speakin mission is a peace of cake. I only have two weeks to go and the date I think is the 10th of November. Well I seriously got to go and I wish I could say more but my comp is about to wig.
Elder Rhett Ammon Beckstrand
There are so many problems with the visas right now. They are only letting in like 3 americans every week and there are like 10-12 americans leaving every week so the CTM is gettin pretty slim. The language is coming pretty good and we feel like we can construct sentences and at least communicate to Brazilians. I take my hat off to Japanese learners and such. Seriously mom, English speakin mission is a peace of cake. I only have two weeks to go and the date I think is the 10th of November. Well I seriously got to go and I wish I could say more but my comp is about to wig.
Elder Rhett Ammon Beckstrand
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Elder B.'s recent letter!
Dude, your wrote the longest message!! hahaha. it´s good though. I like long ones. I got 3 letters today and all these emails so it´s good today. Dude, i´m on my freakin seventh week right now and in 2 weeks i´ll be peacin out to curitiba. this past week i was having a bad day and then i got a letter from Connie Johnson!!!! She sent me this little Halloween card with a spider on is and a message inside. That made me feel so good and i wrote her back today. Seriously it cheered me up so much. Tell her that i appreciate her thought from the bottom of my heart and tell her a letter is on the way for her. yee? yee!
So i have no clue what you ever are goin to put in the ward news letter. I would laugh so hard if you did. Connie Johnson said she wanted to put some shizzle in it. I guess you could put my testemony in Portugues in there. I´ll type it below.....:::
Eu sei que o Livro de Mórmon é a palavra de Deus. Eu testifico que Deus chamou profetas através tempo. As profetas viveram e registraram as palavras de Deus. Eles escreveram o Livro de Mórmon para nosso beneficio. Quando o enagelho de Jesus Cristo foi perdido, Deus chamou Joseph Smith para ser um profeta. Eu sei que Joseph Smith foi guiado pelo Espirito Santo e Deus restaurou o evangelho. Eu testifico que Joseph Smith traduziu o Livro de Mórmon através do poder de Deus.
Yay! Yo mom, you wrote the longest message once again. haha. That´s crazy that scott got shafted like that. What exactly was wrong with him?..if you know that yet. That´s cool that jeff got married though. AAAnd Colby and terra are having a girl. So pimp. Get yo son to write me back!!! he is a nigger. It´s been raining all week here....more like pouring for a week straight. It´s been making some huge thunder as well. The thunder like wakes us up at night and scares the shizzle out of me. This last friday we went prosolyting. My companion and i place 4 books of mormon and we passed out like 20 passalong cards. We were speaking pretty good portuguese and we talked to like 50 people in a 2 hour time. There are like hills gallour here and we had to hike for the 2 hours. Going from sitting down in class everyday to hiking mountain streets makes you so freakin tired. we were all wasted. guess what, spencer thomas wrote me back after i wrote him. haha. i haven´t read it yet though. I also got your letter and g mas letter today. so many letters!!! dad wrote the funniest email. I think you read it. haha. We went to the sao paulo temple today and it was dope. Some of the things here are so cheap and some of the things are so expensive. We went to this buffet in casa verde today with one of our teachers. It was EXACTLY like tacanos and only costed 12 reais...or about 8 or 9 american dollars. plus the food was actually made in the soul of brazil. awesome huh. on the other hand, we saw some scissors for 70 reais. I was like what the heck!!! anyways my comp wants to go and i need to mail some letters to some peeps. Oh i already emailed brady so he has my email now. That sucks for brianne gettin stuck witht he kiddies for 2 hours. That byu job sounds like it would be fun and i really hope you get it and it is pimp. Have fun. Love you and talk to your face next week.
So i have no clue what you ever are goin to put in the ward news letter. I would laugh so hard if you did. Connie Johnson said she wanted to put some shizzle in it. I guess you could put my testemony in Portugues in there. I´ll type it below.....:::
Eu sei que o Livro de Mórmon é a palavra de Deus. Eu testifico que Deus chamou profetas através tempo. As profetas viveram e registraram as palavras de Deus. Eles escreveram o Livro de Mórmon para nosso beneficio. Quando o enagelho de Jesus Cristo foi perdido, Deus chamou Joseph Smith para ser um profeta. Eu sei que Joseph Smith foi guiado pelo Espirito Santo e Deus restaurou o evangelho. Eu testifico que Joseph Smith traduziu o Livro de Mórmon através do poder de Deus.
Yay! Yo mom, you wrote the longest message once again. haha. That´s crazy that scott got shafted like that. What exactly was wrong with him?..if you know that yet. That´s cool that jeff got married though. AAAnd Colby and terra are having a girl. So pimp. Get yo son to write me back!!! he is a nigger. It´s been raining all week here....more like pouring for a week straight. It´s been making some huge thunder as well. The thunder like wakes us up at night and scares the shizzle out of me. This last friday we went prosolyting. My companion and i place 4 books of mormon and we passed out like 20 passalong cards. We were speaking pretty good portuguese and we talked to like 50 people in a 2 hour time. There are like hills gallour here and we had to hike for the 2 hours. Going from sitting down in class everyday to hiking mountain streets makes you so freakin tired. we were all wasted. guess what, spencer thomas wrote me back after i wrote him. haha. i haven´t read it yet though. I also got your letter and g mas letter today. so many letters!!! dad wrote the funniest email. I think you read it. haha. We went to the sao paulo temple today and it was dope. Some of the things here are so cheap and some of the things are so expensive. We went to this buffet in casa verde today with one of our teachers. It was EXACTLY like tacanos and only costed 12 reais...or about 8 or 9 american dollars. plus the food was actually made in the soul of brazil. awesome huh. on the other hand, we saw some scissors for 70 reais. I was like what the heck!!! anyways my comp wants to go and i need to mail some letters to some peeps. Oh i already emailed brady so he has my email now. That sucks for brianne gettin stuck witht he kiddies for 2 hours. That byu job sounds like it would be fun and i really hope you get it and it is pimp. Have fun. Love you and talk to your face next week.
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