Merry Christmas from Brazil

Here is a Christmas message from Justin
http://www.zshare.net/audio/7037551830f1a61f/

12-09-09 Email

Hey everyone!
Hope everything is going well for all of you. Here it is great. I just got done with a division with a missionary from a place called Piriquata. Its here close but my companion had to go get his new Brasilian ID so he wouldn’t get sent back to the states lol. The bad thing is its been like 4 months that his other one expired so good thing the cops didn’t stop anyone. But things here are good. This week we have found a great family. They live really far from the church but they are awesome. The 1st night we taught them they were asking a whole bunch of questions and we ended up staying there longer than expected lol but it was worth it. I was actually on a division with our District leader when we met them.
This week we have stake conference in church so we are going to be going to the chapel in Pinhais Central. Its only like 30 min away so not too bad. We hope to have a bunch of people there from our 2 wards. This week I asked President about the other ward that we are taking care of because the members there are super excited and are working hard. They have called a new Mission leader of the ward and it should help the work there.
But its been good here. Not much going on here new. Have a great week, take care.
Elder Mitchell

12-02-09 Email

Hey everyone.

This week was pretty good, we have been working hard but we didn't have much success. We will try to do a thing we call a school project, where we go to a school and do a service like an English class, talk about US culture or something like that and just show that we are more than just robots walking around lol. Today was crazy. We were playing soccer and one of the Elders passed out and we had to call the ambulance to come pick him up. Idk what happened with him but it was crazy.

We met some pretty cool people this week and we hope to continue talking with them and helping them change their lives. There's this guy named Marcio and he is a big skater kind of guy lol. He has big holes in his ears, tattoos and what not. And he is super cool. We met him yesterday. It was the 1st gate that we clapped at that night and he came home early from work. They moved there a week earlier. Its crazy how things work out lol. It was actually really cool.

Other than that, I think we will have a division with the Elders from Bairro Alto. But we have a lot of divisions with Tebas as well. This Sunday I was on this division with a kid named Jonatas. It was super good. We taught a lesson and he told me that he had never shared his testimony like that before. And then we talked a little bit about life and I'm glad that I had an opportunity to talk to him. I hope he continues doing what he's doing. Other than that everything else has been pretty good. We should have a couple of dates marked here in the next couple of weeks and hope to help some people out before the new year comes so they can start fresh in a new life for 2010.

We had interviews with the President yesterday and also had training. It was good. Taught about how to become a better professor and stuff. Well, that's all for this week. Hope everythings going well on the home front. I have gotten a few letters and so if you sent one don't worry I will write you back as soon as possible. But we don't have a post office in our area so I have to wait until the 18th when we have mission conference to send everything so everyone's Christmas cards will be a little late but I hope they get to your houses before you go back to school and what not.. Well have a good week.

Elder Mitchell

11-25-09 Email

Hey everyone. This week was really good for me and I hope that it was great for all of you. I have received a lot of your letters and I appreciate all the time that you have given me with your thoughts and your words.
This new area is great. I love being here. The people here are so awesome and we have already some great things here. We have already done 2 service projects moving dirt and stuff for our members. We have played soccer with the guys from the different wards and we have taught so much.
We had the ward olympics the past week and it went pretty well actually. We had only about 30 people there but it was still fun. We called it Dia Das Galinhas(Day of the chickens). We had 3 different games that all involved eggs. The 1st was the egg walk where they could only use a spoon to carry it and pass it. Then we had the egg toss. But the last one was the best. All of the rm´s should remember that when we get in the MTC we receive plastic exercise bands. Well we don't ever use them for exercising but we ended up using them as a way to shoot the eggs onto 4 targets that we put out on the court. It was so funny. Our bishop went first and shot the egg out of the court.
The rest of the week went pretty well. We ran into some really good contacts and so we should have a pretty good week this week. We have some divisions marked with Tebas and they are supposed to be the ones closed down. But they are working super hard. Its awesome.
Thanksgiving would be good. But they don't celebrate it here lol. I think I will make peach cobbler. They have a super easy recipe. Just put cake mix in a thing of peaches and you are set to go. lol. Do you remember that thing thing you did with the pickles and ham I believe. And you put cream cheese around it:??
That sucks that Jordan isn't going to get home for Christmas, but better later than never.
Dad is going to California? Really what part? I know a lot of people from Cali. Just let me know and I will tell them to tell their parents to go out with y'all lol.
I don't need more SD cards. I will send this one back when it fills then you can send another lol. I am good for now.
The packages already arrived. I already opened the box because we didnt have room so I put everything in my bag to take it home. I didn't open anything so no worries. I think we are going to go buy a tree or something lol
But I have to go. Talk to you later mom. Thanks for everything. Love ya lots. I think I will put up some new pictures next week. We have interviews next Tuesday!
Love ya.
Justin

Hey,
Things here are going well. I like this new area a lot. The new companion is cool. I am staying healthy but at night I'm getting bit up lol so gotta figure something out here shortly. It has been a while out on the mission. Idk what's changed lol I guess we will see when I get back what has really changed. I'm glad that you like the photos last week.

But I haven't really heard about anything that has to do with visas. We are kinda short on missionaries too. If we don't get any soon I'm sure we will be closing a lot of areas or having missionaries taking care of many areas like we are doing here.

Tebas Ward here is the one that is shut down but for some reason they are helping a lot more than the ward that we are supposed to be taking care of lol. We have like 7 dates marked in Tebas. Hopefully we can get this ward up and active. They have a new bishop that got here 3 weeks ago and he is on fire. He is bringing a lot of encouragement to the ward. Im sure things will change there this transfer. We should get a lot done and hope that pres. puts some missionaries there.

They didn't approve Jordan's leave? O my, that would suck. What day will they HAVE to let him go??

Where are you going to watch the double feature? Sounds like some fun. You and a couple of friends are going?? That sucks that you cant take the next day off. But that's good you will get time to spend with Jeannette. Is dad going to be home for a while??

Steve is running for judge? That's awesome. It takes a lot to do that I have heard.
Thanks for the advice from the rev lol. Its good.

But here we have been definitely working hard. My companion got sick on Thursday when we were moving some dirt into this lady's house for her foundation. He about fainted out there. He was throwing up and had a bad case of diarrhea. But He is all good now. We hadda take that day off and so Friday and Saturday we taught 11 lessons which was great. We have been doing a lot here. I have been doing a lot of divisions in Tebas. Its cool there. I like it a lot. I hope that I can be the missionary there to open up the area. The members are awesome!!! We have an activity this Saturday. It should be awesome. Will be the ward olympics. Will tell you more about it when I know more about it lol. I am still hammering out the details.

Well not much new is going on here. A new area which is humongous because of the 2 wards but its cool. People say its really dangerous here but don't worry. The missionaries haven't been really effected by it. We have a good friend on our side :)

Have a great week. Take care,
Love ya lots.
Elder Mitchell

11-11-09 email

Hi everyone,
Its good here. I am in a new area. Amiliana Pernetta. Its in a city called Pinhais. We are taking care of 2 wards here. It looks like a good area. We will just see what happens. I have a new companion as well. His name is Elder Games. He is from Utah but he was born in New York. He is Latin. His dad's Mexican and his mom is from Ecuador. Its pretty cool. He said its hard for him to speak Spanish now because all he has been speaking lately is Portuguese and English. But its pretty cool here.
I got here about 10 hours ago lol. We were late there too because the traffic was bad and B Fernandes needed to pick up his new companion from the bus station.
Yeah they usually do the transfers on pday. But I found out on Monday that I was leaving. They call everyone Monday night and tell them to either meet in Barigui or go to the Bus station. If you are staying in Curitiba you don't find out where you are going until Wednesday. If you are leaving the city and going far away they tell you where you gonna go and what time the bus will leave. Its pretty stressing. Because you never know where you are going to go. lol
Ah I C. Yeah Our power didn't go out. It just blinked I thought it was just natural. LOL. Our power blinks a lot. Well it did in the old house. Now we live behind a LAN house lol. Its pretty nice here.
Yeah I was still in Derosso for my birthday. It was alright I guess. Didn't really do much. We had a division and so it was pretty cool. We celebrated with the kids from my English class. They are awesome lol. We also ate pizza with these two kids from our apartment. They aren't members but they are really cool. We talked with Igor´s dad for a little bit. But not about the church just about life. It was good.
Yes, I had heard about Fort Hood, crazy. I just put pictures up and you have some in the mail. And no, now im not in Curitiba. But its just like Arlington and Dallas. Basically the same thing but different. I had to buy a new bag because C Williams broke my other one so I had to take money out. I bought some other things as well.
I still haven't gotten the package from dear elder yet. IDK where it is. Maybe next week.
Jnett just sent some pics for me. YEAH!! I will let you know when I get those.
Well, I have to go now. Have a great week.
Justin

Latest Mission Photos:

10/21/09 email

Hey everyone,
The last two weeks have been great. We met this girl named Aline last Sunday and she wanted to be baptized so we had to teach her everything in just one week. It was a wild week of running around but it was worth it. She was baptized on Sunday after the regular church meetings. There were so many people there and so it was really awesome and it was also kind of funny. Aline is really shy and so after the baptism everyone was talking to her and saying congratulations which made her open up a bit. We met her through her friend Jessica that we are teaching but Jessica is still on the teeter totter and is still thinking about this whole church thing. I guess when you are younger and life is full of worldly things it'll be hard to make a leap if you would be the only one in your family joining. But we marked a date for her that will be the 30th of October.
I don’t know if I already told you about Mari but she stopped smoking and drinking café and she will be baptized this Saturday. Mari was a very difficult investigator. She used to go to this other church that filled her head with a bunch of jibberish and so many things that would happen she would think its because the Lord didn’t like her or that it was some weird karma. But we have been working with her a lot. She has 2 daughters, 1 is a troublemaker and left a grandson for Mari and the other Hadhija (hajija) is 7. They were both adopted and now only Haji and Du-du(the grandson) stay with her. Her husband is a mess and doesn’t live with them but she is raising the kids the best she can and shes doing a pretty good job. The missionaries have been teaching her for like 7 or 8 months and now we are finally taking the dunk. She wants me to baptize her and Haji but Haji wont turn 8 until march of next year. So we will see what happens.
This past Sunday a girlfriend of a member came up to us and was like. Elders, I have to talk to you, I am moving to Maringa but I want to know things before I get there. We didn’t know she wasn’t a member so we were kind of confused in this moment. And then she said that she wants us to teach her so she can get baptized before she leaves. But the bad thing is, she doesn’t know when she will be leaving. Could be this week and maybe it will be next week. So we are in another rush like last week, just running around trying to teach everything before this Saturday.
Yesterday was a really good day. We taught 6 lessons not even trying. We only had 3 marked but the other 3 were basically handed to us. One was during our time for contacts(where we try to find people to teach. We are supposed to do 15 each day but we have been slacking the last 2 weeks and so we were trying to get them done) but Elder B Fernandes did a contact with this old lady and then we ended up helping her with her bag all the way to her house where we taught her, her daughter and 4 of her great grand daughters the 1st lesson. It was pretty cool. The family was a missionary’s dream. The kids were paying attention and everyone was saying the right things as well. We will just have to wait and see what happens with them. Then we went to use the bathroom in a member’s house and their dad was there. He isn’t a member! So we shared a message with them. Then we had a meeting with Bishop in the chapel where every Tuesday they play soccer. While in the meeting Bishop received a message from Marcelo (he is preparing to go on a mission.) And he said that he had a couple of friends who wanted to come play soccer. So bishop asked us if we could teach them. So we stayed there and taught 6 guys about the words of wisdom (How to stay healthy and show gratitude to the body God gave us.) It was cool.
So Monday it was my companion´s(Elder B Fernandes) birthday and Sidney, Glaci, Erika and Barbara threw a little party for him with cake and stuff. They even got him a present. It was really cool of them. These 2 families are the best here. Leandro was a missionary here a while back and he returned to work and stuff. Him and Erika used to live behind the house of Sidney and Glaci. They have this book called The Best Leader ever Known and it teaches how to run your business better and become a better leader using the attributes of Christ as a guide. So Sidney and his daughter Barbara are doing a speed reading course. Its 4 months long and the books for this class says that by the end of this course you will be able to read 2000 words in one minute and will understand everything that you have read. Its crazy, but this would be a really cool ability to have for school.
So the language is going pretty good. I understand pretty much everything in Portuguese, now I just need to get the talking part down. They have so many rules its crazy. I don’t know how to talk like I do now because I just talk and don’t think about it lol.
Well don’t have much else cool or interesting news. We will be having the mission Olympics on the 4th of November and also Curitiba conference the 2nd of November. The Olympics will be really fun, when I get more information I will pass it on to you all. If you all have time you should go watch the movie The Other Side of Heaven. Its really good. It was produced by the same people who made Schindler´s List and Jurassic Park. It’s a movie about a missionary like me but he went to the Tongan Islands. I would tell you more but I don’t want to ruin the movie for you all :)
Have a great week.
Justin

09/30/09 Email

Hey yeah I am doing well here. Soccer has been super fun. Last week the other elders came down so that was fun to play with them. The week was pretty good. We had a stake conference last week and so that was really good. It was on the process of sanctification. Talking about how its an ongoing process and sometimes we can be really close but let others bring us down. This happens in a lot of areas in our lives. We get far in our business or in school or whatever and we let someone else decide what we will do and sometimes it brings down.

But I didn't go on the division with the other elder. They were super busy I guess and so it didn't go as planned. But the English lessons are super fun. They are a little wild at times but its still cool.

But yeah things are changing everyday and I will be super far behind when I get back to school. LOL But it will be fun to try to catch up. In the netbook do they have cd drives and everything or do you need external?

I think we will play soccer today, but we are going to pass by Andre´s house to make sure. He doesn't get home from school until 12 and I have been up since 6:30. So we decided to leave the house. We played soccer golf this morning. It was fun. Soccer golf is just like golf but with a soccer ball. You have different obstacles to go around and you kick the ball to get there. We played in our house. It was loud. We are on the 3rd floor. I hope they didn't get mad lol. We played at 9 in the morning. My new companion was going to play professional soccer but he has a low immunity so they didn't want to pay someone who was going to be sick all the time. He is pretty good. He is excited to play today and so I hope we will. The other elders are doing some other things so I think we will play with them next week or something.

My new companions name is Elder B Fernandes and he is from São Paulo. He plays soccer and went to school for administration but will change it to Odontology when he goes back. He's been on the mission for 10 months and he just became senior last transfer. I like him a lot. He is smart and he is a hard worker. He is a chick magnet so we have to watch out lol. Also this guy tried to kiss him lol so we have to watch out for that too. But I think the next 6 weeks will be great. Last transfer, he was robbed, he got the swine flu, and these girls & guys tried to kiss him lol. He had a difficult last 6 weeks.

IDK when I'll post more pictures. There is one lanhouse that I use that has a memory card reader there so thats when I usually update but its so far away lol. And so I just kinda wait until we have something to do close to there. Because with my camera you need the program or something if you plug it in with the usb cable or something. I dont know.

But miss you too. Hope all is well. Well my time is running short. My computer will turn off in 40 seconds. I hope all is well at home and have a great week. Tell everyone to look at the new site. You can get to it on lds.org/topic/hope . I think that is it. But its super good.

Bye!

Letter home 09/18

I'm uploading four images. They are the four pages of the letter that Justin wrote. Click on the images to make them bigger to read them.

09/09/09 Email

Hey everyone,
Things here have been going pretty well. We didn’t have much success this week and it was a little hard but something happened yesterday that was pretty cool. We were walking on the main road here called Francisco Derosso and usually there are a lot of people on this road but it was pretty empty because of the holidays and the fact that it was raining didn’t help at all. But we ran into this guy who was just broken down. Telling us that he has lost everything and how Jesus doesn’t love him. We had the opportunity to share the 1st lesson about how much God loves us and all the things that he has given us. He loves us so much that he has called another prophet to guide us in these days. We could see a difference that this made for him. He told us all the work that we are doing is not in vain. And that God sent us to him. He doesn’t live in our area but it was a blessing to run into this man. At this point in the day we were kind of down and didn’t have anything planned for the day and we just thought that the day was just a waste. But we got a little boost with this guy. Well that was just one cool thing that happened this week.
Yeah I usually send more than one when I send via missionties. Like to bishop and what not. But I guess in the box, I have a vest in my room somewhere in the armario that is black but has red and white in it as well. Ummm, reeses, pretzels almond bark, ritz cheese, hamburger helper. Whatever else you want to send would be cool.
What was the new movie called that you went to see? Was it good?
Only 3 months left for Jordan? Is he pretty excited? He doesn’t know whether he wants school or a job?

Well hope everything is going well with everyone back home. Things here are going, its been raining the last 3 days and its supposed to rain until Saturday. We have some different activities going on this week, a fireside on Sunday that should be really good. We have the mission president attending, so hopefully it will spark some fire with the references here.
Take care everyone, have a great week!

Elder Mitchell

09/02/09 Email

Hey everyone.
So my mom has told me I have been a little skimpy on these emails so I will definitely try to make things better for you all.
Well things here this week were a little weak. We only taught 15 lessons but it was the best in our district so we aren't doing too bad. This week we taught 6 first lessons but none of them really had interest so its been hard to find good investigators. Nothing really new or anything hás been going on these last couple of weeks. Just doing the same old same old. Trying to find some good people but in this área a lot of people are well off so they are hard to come by. When people have money sometimes they just don't want to talk to a lot of people about this type of stuff. We meet a lot of new people but they aren't solid so its just another day in the mission.
This area is about the same as my other area. They have a lot less hills here and the members are a little harder to work with here but other than that things are good. They play soccer every Tuesday here but of course I can't play. The bishop has some good things planned for the ward these next couple of weeks with firesides and activities. Should get them pumped up for some missionary work. We have a new mission leader of the ward and so we are getting to train him and I think it will be a good change.
Other than that its pretty much the same. We have our areas that are better off than the others and we can definitely work harder to get more work done. Just a little difficult some times.
We have 4 lessons that we get to teach the one of them is called Evangelho de Jesus Cristo. (The Gospel of Jesus Christ) I love this lesson. It relates the most to everyone here. Everyone already has this knowledge of Christ but its so awesome to bring more light to them and to help them realize what he did for us and what it really means for all of us.

But anyway things are good. Just working. Hope everything is well there. Take care.

Elder Mitchell

08/26/09 Email

Hey everyone,
Yeah things here are going good. I am in this area that has been a little slow but we can get it up and running. A lot of people are well off and so they think that they don’t need anything else in their lives so it’s hard to get in but its only been a week. The last couple of missionaries that worked in this area didn’t do a lot of work so every night this week I was trying to reorganize and make some of these things a little easier for us. We have an area that we work in and the area is separated into 5 mini areas and these areas are categorized by colors so I just went through all of our records and color coded all of the old investigators/ members/ prospective investigators. TOOK FOR EVER! But I know the area really well already and so these next couple of weeks should be getting easier. Usually the missionaries in this area only get about 10 lessons in and last week we got 17. So it’s already looking up but we only had 3 so far this week so we have a lot of work in front of us. My companion is pretty new in this area so it’s a little hard for him as well.
It’s only been a week but I really like the members here. They have 8 missionaries out and so some of them are actually super excited about the work. We will have to do some changes to help it out but other than that I think it will be an awesome transfer. They just had a baptism and now we get to start teaching her family.
We went to the zoo today and it was pretty cool. We stayed there a little longer than I would like but its okay. It was still good. While we were there 2 bears were fighting each other. So I guess it was pretty interesting. This was a free zoo so it wasn’t like super spectacular but it wasn’t bad. Had a lot of birds and such but I will put up some pictures another day.
Well other than that, not much else has been going on. Just working lol. Well I hope everyone is doing great. Take care and have a good week!

Elder Justin Mitchell

08/19/09 Email

Hey everyone! Things here are great, I have moved to a new area and it is called Derosso. Its in a community called Xaxim still in the city of Curitiba. I have a new companion named Elder C Williams and he is from Minnesota and plays football. I just arrived today so I don’t know much but it should be a good transfer (6 weeks). This area is a little bit smaller and haven’t had that much success but still has a lot of members but most inactive  This past week was pretty good, not much new just started teaching a group of ladies and it was really fun. Idk if they hate guys or what but it was funny lol. Yesterday for my last night there we went to a buffet of pizza. It was really good and a lot of people showed up so it was amazing. I just got a Cortiba (soccer team) jersey and its really cool. It has been raining the last 3 days so its not too good on the weather side but other than that things are good.
Not much to talk about today because I just got here but I will definitely let you all know how it goes.

08/12/09 Email

Hey sorry don't have much time or that this isn't long but I have to run we have a lesson in ten minutes. But I hope everything is well at home. This week has been pretty much the same but we had an activity today that was pretty cool. We went to jardim botanico (botanical garden). But we spent a lot of time out there so don't have much time to do a lot of writing.

Its a nice day today but its still getting cold in the morning and at night and the swine flu is still getting people. They didn't shut down the city but if it rains like it supposed to they say it will get worse. We are not supposed to stay in closed places with people so we cant ride the bus or things like that. We have been getting a lot of new investigators. We have been doing alot of work trying to make this work out for us but its still hard. We are teaching a lot of 1st lessons but a lot of people after this try to avoid us and even turning off the light after we clap. We have met a lot of great families and we are trying to get them taught but its getting hard with this flu.

I didn't know that Jordan had that artisitca ability with him. The pictures are awesome. We had our interviews with Pres. Araujo this week. They went really well and we have transfers next week. CRAZY! but will update you all next week. Love you all see ya;

08/05/09 Email

Hey, things are good here. If you haven't heard there is this epidemic of the swine flu here. They can't seem to get rid of it, because everyone is always in contact with so many people. The buses, work, etc. And the virus stays on objects up to 12 hours or so after a person infected touches it. It's crazy but its okay. We are still good. Not symptoms or anything so we are just staying very cautious.

But as for last week. They didn't show up so we just played amongst ourselves. Not too bad but could have been better if we had more people.

That's cool that you had the chance to talk with Jordan. That's crazy he is in Singapore. Do his pics look good?

But as for the week. Things went well. We ran into 2 different people who didn't speak much Portuguese. One was from Czech Republic and was here for vacation with her Brasilian boyfriend. They met in the US. That's crazy that they only speak in English to each other but its neither of their 1st languages. And the other guy was this missionary for the 4 corner church. And hes been in Brasil for 4 years and has a Brasilian wife but I guess he forgot English because when he was talking to us wasn't very good and he didn't know much Portuguese either. So IDK kinda crazy that I have only been here for 6months and can hold a good conversation. Maybe is saying something about what we are doing? Idk. Ill leave it for your imaginations :)

But we have gotten a lot of rain up til yesterday. Rained 2 weeks straight. It was crazy. And it didn't help with this H1N1 around either because people are freakin out. But we just walk in ignorance because we don't watch the news lol

Umm. O yeah. If you have time listen to Alex Boye. He is super good and he is Mormon. He sings in the MoTab (Mormon Tabernacle Choir).

This week has been pretty hard. A lot of people are telling us to pass by and then they aren't in their houses or they hide from us even though we saw them. It's whack. They can't just tell us no thank you?

Well that's all for me this week. Have a good week. Take care!

07/29/09 Email

Hey this week has been really good. Minus the rain everyday, all day we have been doing a lot of work. We are working with a lot of young men and its fun because we are playing soccer today! YEAH! If we win then we get to teach them so it will be definitely a battle We recruited a member in a different ward to play with us and he plays for the Corintians Junior team. So he´s pretty legit I hear.
This past Saturday we had an event in our chapel that was for the pregnant moms in Uberaba and it went great. We had like 50 moms there and they had a couple of lessons and talks. It was good.
But other than that just the same old stuff. I have been doing a lot of the planning and so I don't have much time to study as much as I would like but we are teaching a bunch. We broke Elder Groesbeck´s record and taught 19 lessons last week so that's cool. We have 4 marked for baptism on the 15 and so we will see what happens Well not much this week but I will talk to you more next week. Thanks for everything. Love you!
Elder Mitchell

07/22/09 Email

Hey this week has been great! We have already taught 8 lessons, 4 Monday and 4 Tuesday. We have been doing a lot of work with our less actives and trying to help them out a lot. We have this family that is just so awesome that we are trying to get to church. They have 8 kids and I see them everywhere I go. Its crazy because they are always like hey speak English. How do you say this how do you say that? LOL and its so hard sometimes because I rarely speak English that its just umm... But its okay.
We marked 3 dates this week already and they are all 18 and 22. Its really cool. We are trying to get a soccer match going again on Tuesday nights but we still haven't found a leader to open the courts yet so we are still working on that because we are teaching a lot of people who like to play. But one day it will work out.
Things here are good. Just been working hard on patience. A lot of people are ignorant and it's just sad that they say they are Christians and are so rude. IDK but if a Christian is a person who follows Christ, I doubt they would be acting a fool. But it's okay. I have been reading a lot about how to be more like a representative of Christ. It's good. I am a lot better now than I was before I got to Brazil, so that's good. We are having an activity this week and we can't do a lot. It's a government thing they are holding at our church building. So we have to spend 5 hours hoping and wishing that people ask us who we are and ask for more information. It will be 80 mothers from the area for some activity. I don't know what for sure but its supposed to be nice for them.
As for the week, it's been good. We met 3 boys that are 17-19 years old and they were super cool. It was really cool to talk to them about life and help them out. We have their number and just haven't called yet so I will let you know how it goes with them. We had an activity here in Guabirotuba with our district and we ate missionary stew, played basketball and I cut peoples hair. It was fun.
Well that's all for me this week. Talk to you later. Thanks for the prayers!

Elder Mitchell

07/15/09 Email

Hey! Thanks for the package, its awesome. I am listening to the music right now! But things here are great. We have been doing work here. We taught 19 lessons in the past week and Monday we had 6 in one day. Usually we do only like 10 a week but things are diff now.
I guess I never really talked about what I am doing here and why I am here. I am in Brasil to help people find faith in Christ and help them change their lives to become more like our Savior like He has asked many times in the Bible. "Become perfect as I and as my Father in heaven are". To do this we must follow His instructions He gives and to remember Him in all we do. But we walk around trying to invite others to hear our message. And these messages are called lessons. These lessons range from - Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Christ, and the commandments. But yeah, that's what I'm doing. We have different areas here and I am working in Guabirotuba, but I could go anywhere in the south east of the state of Parana here in Brasil.
Well this week has started great. Monday we had a Family Home Evening(a program to help build families) with AniMeri, Carlos and their kids and I spoke on the atonement and how it has blessed our lives. We returned Tuesday and she told me that there was something about my message, not that I was speaking broken Portuguese but that the spirit was talking to her and she started talking about how I have blessed them. They call me "Anjo Americano" - American Angel. Its awesome to be able to touch a family this way.
It really made me think about how big of an impact we truly have. Just being a friend makes a big difference in another's life.
My partner here is cool. He is still learning the language and now I don't have much time to study because I am planning every night for like a hour for the next day. Kinda stinks but its okay.
Today we are going to the Temple (a very beautiful and sacred place where members go and learn and make promises with our heavenly Father.) with a Catholic Teacher(Salete) should be an awesome day.
Well got to go. Thanks everyone who has written this past week to my mom and has sent mail (Scott, Aunta Nita, The Other Mitchells, Yolie, Bishop Doyle.) I look forward from hearing from everyone! And I will write you back as well.
Have a great week!
Elder Mitchell

07/08/09 email

Hey it is another day and its pretty exciting. I have a new companion. His name is Elder Groesbeck. And yeah he is from Utah but he only lived there for 2 years. He moved from California where he spent a lot of his life. He likes dancing and hip hop lol. He asked me about soul food. I laughed. But I am in the same area in Guabirotuba and he has been out for a little bit longer than a year.
But everything here is going well, hope to get better. This week we didn't really do much because Elder Rodrigues has been sick. It's been hard, he couldn't do a lot of walking so I went with a member and we just went and did the lessons while he rested. The language has been getting better everyday. I just got to use it more often.
Yeah I heard about the Michael Jackson Memorial yesterday. I thought it would be good, and the Usher song was good I'm guessing. That's cool. He did influence a lot of people and I'm sure many people will remember him for years to come. It's sad how many people were talking down on him, though, and now its like hmm.
But things here are definitely going well. Not much going on like I said but hope everything is well there. I just bought a new dictionary that's in Portuguese, so that's nice. Our small dictionaries didn't have a lot of words and just translated the words. Now my new one just explains them in Portuguese so it helps me learn a lot better.
And I blew a tire lol. You remember how all my cleats have a hole in the side of them. I think there is something wrong with the way I walk or something because I now have a hole in the side of my shoes lol. Its crazy. I was trying to last til the 14 because that would be 5 month mark. But its alright. The mission has some shoes for 35 reais. 17$ American. So I'll probably try those out. Well have a good week. Talk to you later.
Love ya.
Elder Mitchell

07/01/09 email

Hey everyone,
Mom, yeah I know Elder Madrid. He got stuck at the airport on our way to Curitiba. So he had to wait for like 2 hours for the next plane. Sad news. But its alright. You are also talking to another mom. I forgot his name, but he came up to me at the Zone Conference and was like your mom is talking to my mom. I was like O? Cool lol. I didn't know what to say.

But things here are good. We are going paintballing today. YEAH!! For our zone activity we are going, but its like 2 hrs away and so I'm doing all this now because I wont have time later to get on the net. But as for the shoes lol. I am still using the same shoes that I have and they aren't in horrible shape so its all good. 200 dollar shoes? Elder Cox was telling me about some shoes policemen use that are only like 100 and they lasted this guy in his ward 6 yrs of police duty. So IDK. I will find out next time I see Elder Cox.

100 degree weather there? Aw sorry, here its like 12 celsius. Not too bad. But it was super cold like 3 cels. a couple of days ago. Very sad that its Brasil right? But its okay. Everything is all good.

Umm. New and exciting. Not really. I only have a couple days left with Elder Rodrigues and things are a lot better now than they were before. I really did learn a lot. And I have improved my language a lot but I just don't notice because everyone is fluent here so I'm comparing my language with theirs. Is that fair? LOL O I don't know if I am moving or not, I will find out this up coming Monday and I will let you know the details on Wednesday. But we just found that out so I decided to let you know. It will be really strange to stay companions for this long. So that's the reason I figure. I guess I don't really know but I am guessing. We think that I will be moving areas but not for sure.

I like that quote you sent, Set Your Goals High Enough To Inspire You And Low Enough To Encourage You. very true.

But things here have been pretty slow since last time I talked to you. Just went on division with some members and I got a chance to go out with Diogo (He returned from Rio de Janeiro last yr) and he is visiting America for 6 months this August. But it was nice to hear about things and to see how a mission should be. It's really crazy the first few weeks but when you get to hear other stories it's great.

I have been playing the piano on my pdays and I have the right hand down pretty good by itself and the left hand by itself. But when I try to put them together :( not so great. But I guess we will just see what happens.

Hey I just found out that Elder Madrid is moving missions. He is in the Londrina mission now. They changed the borders of the mission. Now I wont be able to visit Foz de Iguaçu. This is the great waterfalls they have here in the State of Parana. Disappointing. But its okay.

And I heard bout the game on Sunday. Didn't get to watch it but that's crazy that America has been doing so well this year. But it wasn't too crazy here. I guess it wasn't like a big deal here cuz it was the US and it was a close match so they were scared at first lol. They thought they were going to kill us. But they didn't. Can't wait til next year for the World CUP!!

And thanks. Its going to be fun to paintball. People are talking a lot of mess too lol. Well that's pretty much it for me here. Not much goin on but have a great week. Love you.

Elder Mitchell

06/24/09 Email

Hey don't have much time today. Long story I will tell you later.
But things are good here. We had our baptism and I was the one that did it. I didn't mess up so that was good. But you wouldn't guess what happened. We returned to his house yesterday and he moved with out telling anyone Pretty messed up but its alright.
Everything else is good. I have been studying a lot and we have taught a lot more this week than usual. It's getting a little hard because my companion is ready to go home but I'm trying to keep my head up and to keep doing the right things. We have our Zone conference tomorrow and so that should be good. I got to go on a division this past week and we didn't teach anyone but we did contacts. It was nice to see another area.
We continued teaching Salete and I think it went well. But we are here now and her kids are acting a fool. Bad news. But its all good. I will try to get on later and talk to you more.
Love you.
Elder Mitchell

And More Photos

Some photos

06/17/09 Email

Ai muito bem. Obrigado pelo artigos de anîmo!

Hey very good, thanks for the articles of encouragement. Things here are good. They are better. We only had 67 in our ward these past 2 weeks so thats a little hard. When my companion first got here, they had 90-100 every week. And before that, this guy told me they had 120. We have 60 families in our ward with only about 25 active or so. We've got some work to do here.

This week has been pretty much the same as the others. We had our last lessons with Douglas. I hope he doesn't fall away after because he is the only 18 yr old in our ward. We need to find some more but they are in their own little world, you probably know what I mean. His Baptism is this Saturday and the bishop's daughter's Baptism is this Friday. So it's a good week for us. Our bishop is getting more involved with us and is going to go on splits with us every Thursday afternoon. This should be a great help to go and talk to the inactives. Our bishop is young and he´s funny. But he has been super busy with work and family but now he cleared some time for us. Should be good.

We have Zone Conference next Thursday. My companion has leadership meeting this Friday so I will have splits probably with Elder Arroyo. But I will see him Thursday and I will ask him if his mom said anything about it. That's way cool though. (I 'met' Elder Arroyo's mom online through a message board for Missionary Moms and he was Justin's companion in the CTM - rm) I found out from him in the CTM that I emailed him and he didn't email me back before the ctm. We had to fight it out :) lol

Elder Rodrigues and I had talks last week and can you guess what we talked about? Missionary work but I threw in the perspective of being prepared lol. Thanks mom for the great info. And he talked about obedience. It was good because a member from our stake membership was there to back us up. People complimented me on my talk so I guess my Portuguese is getting better.

Sometimes I just start day dreaming in English and then I forget I'm in Brasil until someone starts talking to me in Portuguese lol. And then it takes me a little bit to answer because my mind's thinking totally in another language lol. Its funny.

As for the box. Hmm. Yeah can you send a sweater and sweat pants. ITS FREEZING!!! Here when you are in the sun you burn and then you get in the shade and you freeze. Its so two faced here lol. Umm IDK what else really. I already have to much other stuff that I don't really use. But people were saying like Ritz(cheese) :) My fav. Ask Jeannette. LOL. When I was in SD I would eat one box a day lol. crazy biz. Um. Smileys from Wal Mart. Crystal Light packet things (Thanks Derek) umm. more pictures :) And that's all she wrote I believe for now. I will write down a list for Christmas so I can be sure of what I really miss :) When you send it, just say its books and put a picture of Jesus on there. People are loco.

But anyway. So we received a whole bunch of stuff in the CTM the day that we left and I finally had time to look at it and what not. There was a poem in there that Coach Farley had us read before every game. And how good is it now. But its called ¨The Man in the Glass¨

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say

For it isn´t your father, your mother, or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass;
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people may think you a straight-shootin´chum
And think you´re a wonderful guy;
But the man in the glass says your only a bum
If you can´t look him straight in the eye.

He´s the fellow to please, nevermind all the rest;
For he´s with you clear to the end.
And you´ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass;
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you´ve cheated the man in the glass.
-Dale Wimbrow

How true is this in our lives? I guess take some time to think about it and I will comment next week. All the things that you send back I receive. So you can just reply and comment and I will be sure to get back to you if I have your address or write a little something in these for you. Well thanks for everything.
Have a wonderful week.

Elder Mitchell

06/10/09 Email

The week has been good besides the rain and cloudy skies. Oh Tacoma, thats cool. (One of the young men in the ward got his mission call to Tacoma, WA) I don't know what it would be like to have a mission in the states. Derek (his friend on a mission in Spain) and I were talking about it when we put our paperwork in and was like it would be funny if you got in the states and stuff. But idk maybe the same just don't have to learn another language? And no you didn't tell me about Elders now, is the other ward the Sisters? Or none at all?

That's awesome you got to talk to Jordan (his older brother in Japan) on aim. How's he doing? He still has about 5 months or so?

Thanks for the recipe. I don't think we can get manwich here. I asked my companion and he didn't know what it was or a sloppy joe was. LOL so I'll do some digging. What is manwich like I guess scientific name lol, tomato sauce or something?

Well this week has been slow but good. We got to go to the Temple today. So that was a great experience we needed to lift up our spirits. Our whole district hasn't been doing so good with numbers. So we just gotta keep planting seeds and seeing what grows. I have been working a lot on my attitude. I find myself getting a little upset with people sometimes. SO I've got some work to do. There are a lot of good articles in Liahona and Ensign. I don't know why I didn't read them before. If you can you should definitely get them for yourself. They just talk about ways to improve your life and be a better person. Also we started teaching Enilde this week and she even came to church on Sunday, but she left without saying anything in the middle. So we don't know how it went yet :( And Monday I had another division in Uberaba. Went well. Only taught 1 lesson and didn't go so hot, but it was another day of growing.

Check this out. I remember this talk from conference.



Well I finally received the letters and the package thanks! Have a great week and take care.
Elder Mitchell

06/03/09 Email

This week has been good. It definitely has been cold. The state below us got snow. And I have been freezing my butt off here lol. I sleep with gloves, sweater, and a beanie. NO JOKE! And we only have one heater. So can you guess where we put it mostly? In the bathroom lol. Its so nice in there. I want to stay in there all day. But... I cant. As for the food here. Its mostly just black beans and rice and meat everyday. LOL just a different type of meat. And sometimes brown beans. YUM! But yeah not much of a selection for food lol its good though. Well some of it, but I eat everything by just smashing it all together. Its all going to the same place anyway right?
As for the packages and letters I have not received them yet because my ZL hasn't checked the mail to give to us and he's not going to until Friday so I wont be able to get them til next week which is dumb. It's been like a month now lol. So I think I might have a lot of writing to do when I finally receive all of my letters.
Thanks for the story, that was really good. I am going to try to translate it so I can use it for a talk or for something during lunch. Will be good. And also thanks for the scripture. Was really good I like it a lot.
The members here are great, they are friendly and nice but its just hard sometimes to get them to give us referrals which I'm sure is hard everywhere but that's what I've been working on this week is a way that we can help them do this.
My companion again is Elder Rodriguez and he knows his scriptures. It's great to learn from him. He is almost done, he only has one transfer after this one. So he will probably get transferred and I will be in the Guabi for another 11 weeks or so. He is from Pernambuco, this is north east of Brazil. He was in a band before he left for his mission so maybe I will learn a little bit of guitar on Pdays??
We only have a couple of investigators right now. John Lennon is one that is really interested but works a lot and then we have Douglass which I think I have told you about. And he is so close to baptism(may 15), we are just praying for him to receive his answer. And then we have Selete and João(john) that are really close as well. We set a goal for 3 wks. Miguel´s wife is a member but he hasn't found the right time to get baptized yet. People here aren't as open to our church, similar to US, but we are still trying to find ways to help them out.
Sunday is like ours back at home 9-12 but sacrament is 11-12 and we only have about 78 in our ward and our goal is 90. So we are working with less actives as well. Mostly everyone just works. They used to play soccer and tennis but I guess its too cold or everyone is getting to busy to go play. But its okay everyone is still awesome.

O yeah we had a division this past week and it was fun. We taught this Muslim guy and a set of brothers. It was good. We had to run, like actually run, from place to place because we were in the city and we had our appointments in 2 totally different places. Kind of sad, but it was a nice little work out. I went with Elder Pulsipher. He is the Zone Leader of my zone. But when we got home, it was already late. It was freezing and Elder Pulsipher's companion only had one blanket and I was so cold. I woke up in the middle of the night like 3 times. And finally I found their heater and plugged it in and put it full blast on me. lol. So I didn't get much sleep that night, but I didn't get sick so that a blessing. There was a car accident in my area and I was about to start directing traffic because I guess the cops are really slow here and there were buses that needed to get places and what not but my companion was like no lol so we didn't. Next time we will be their heroes though. LOL. Welp Tchao.

Thanks everyone for the letters! Take care and I will talk to you next week!
Elder Mitchell

05/27/09 Email

Everything here is good. This transfer I am in the same area and what not. So I guess we will see what happens. My pday schedule is not much of a schedule at all. I just wake up and study and wait to go to lunch. I study and read and do laundry. And no one plays soccer here like missionaries and so I don't have anyone to play with. And no I don't play tennis because no one is there anymore to play. So kind of lame but its all good.

Thanks for the poem. I needed it this week. Here's a good one as well.

Who are you Boy?
You are a boy who journeyed to this land of ours.
This land where I´ve endured my days, and felt oppression kill my soul
And forged me into some tight mold.
And teach me that I should not hope
Unless I care to smell the smoke of dreams that the Red Army Tamed.

Who are you Boy?
From this land of plenty, teaching of God, if there is any.
You have all; we have none.
Do you know what that feels like, son?
And yet, you ask me to believe in something that I cannot see;
Some force you say will bring me joy.
Do you know what that feels like boy?

Where you´re from, faith is free,
But it has a price for me.
When I have pain, I have my bottle.
Hurt kills quickly when you drown it in vodka.
That's enough to warm my soul.

I work, I sleep, the days go by-
I´m waiting for the day I die.
You don´t understand this place.
You say and give.
Here in Russia, we just live.

Who are you boy?
Why do you come?
To save a soul who once was numb?
To teach a wretched, hateful man who cursed your help,
Refused your hand?
I thought that we were worlds apart.

So how is it that you knew my heart?
A fraction my age you calmed my rage;
Mercy paid my generous wage.
I should have been left behind,
It is hard to love my kind.

Hope in your heart,
Power in your hands,
Why did you come to this distant land?
I know now, it was for me.
The Red Curtain fell, but I was not free.
Until a boy from nations away, brought me my Lord.
I bless the day!

He led me to weep at my Master´s feet,
The American boy I met on the street-
New and naive, still in his teens,
With a message to bring the world to its knees.
I thought that truth would come from another-
I did not know, this boy was my ¨brother¨
------------------------------

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Given to a missionary serving in Russia. It's awesome how you can make a difference in someone's life. Not just me here but you all. To everyone that you talk to, that you come in contact with. Your love and kindness can change someones heart and make someone's day so much better. I hope all is going well for you. The baptism was good and everything else is good as well. Thanks for everyone's letters. I love to hear everyone's uplifting words and helping hands. Thanks again. Love you lots.

Elder Mitchell

05/20/09 Email

Hey I am doing good. Training was good, As for the transfers, we don't find out til Monday. But the mission conference was awesome. Well, that part I could understand was good lol. It was nice to be in the presence of so many spirits again. Felt like the MTC, and gave me some more hope seeing others doing well in their area. This conference we just talked about our responsibility to lift up the church in all aspects ( bring in new, strengthen the old, and reactivate the others) It was good. This week we have been doing a lot of traveling so not many stories but we are teaching this 18 year old named Douglas and he went to church and everything. Its just amazing how something so small can make such a great difference in someones life. And Ian is being baptized this weekend as well. So pretty good week. Its still difficult here and there, but can't overlook the things that we did accomplish.
That does sound like a good talk. I have been reading some past issues of the Liahona and Ensign and I saw a couple of articles that have helped me out as well.
Idk much else that's been going on with me. Just kind of the same old same old.
O Yeah, Can you send me the recipes to missionary stew and tortilla soup? I am definitely craving some American food But i don't remember exactly those ingredients I need.
Also whenever you get some extra cash or something can you send me some reeses, gummies and peanut butter and some maple syrup. They don't have any here and I love reeses lol.
Well thats all for now. ta ta
Love you lots.

Elder Mitchell

05/13/09 Email home

Hey Everyone!
As for the flooding and the droughts, I am nowhere near there. I have heard about it and It's not even in my state so no worries. Thanks if you were :) As for this week it has been great. We have 2 baptisms marked YEAH! and we are almost over with this transfer (Every 6 weeks we might move or someone moves in) so we are trying to get as much done as we can. This weekend I got to talk to my family. It was nice to speak English for a while lol but we did find out no more soccer so that was a bummer. We have a zone conference next Tuesday so I will definitely update you on that next week and we have more training on Friday so that should be fun too.

Also this week I have had some time to think about what I need to really be doing here and I needed to turn up the heat again and I created 800 new words to learn on notecards. What a great way to study. Because I can just walk around and just have these small cards with me. So everyone, if you want to learn something. This will work. Biology, Calculus, another language, your extended families names. LOL we have so much time going from place to place I guess why not fill it with something constructive. Unless you are the one driving, then I wouldn't want to be the cause of any accidents.

Hmm what else really happened this week for me to share. Its actually been kind of the same. We have a a new family to help out, I'm half way on the BOM since I came on the field. No divisions or special meetings. Except for today, we are doing this missionary choir thing now so that's cool. We are singing at the conference.

The language is going well, people can't believe I have only been here for 3 months and I am not Brazilian so that's cool, and I have had an opportunity to re-evaluate myself. So all for all, the week was great. I got the chance to write back some more people who have written me. Thanks and sorry I am so far away but it takes 4 wks to get here and 4 wks to get back to you so try to tell the future when you are talking to me and I will try to do the same :)

Never quit, this week I went back and looked at some of the things mom sent me and I ran across a poem I had her send me. And it's really true. Out of all the things we have in life, sometimes we have to take a leap and not know what's on the other side to find the things we love. Some of us get caught up in jobs we don't like or doing things we couldn't care less about, but why be scared to try something new? It's never to late to follow your dreams and it's never to late to find something better. But don't just leave something you already have. Look at it and try to find the best in what you have as well. All things have good things about them I think. But others just have more. Make the best with what you've got, and if you want something else that much more try to go and get it. We are here on this Earth to receive happiness and joy. So why not strive to get it. Remember who can help us and remember who we are. Thank those around you who have put you where you are and pray to recognize those who are helping us get to where we want to be. I love you all and thanks for everything. I finally put the new pictures up so check them out here and I will talk to you all next week.
Ciao Ciao de Brasil!
Elder Mitchell

05/06/09 Email

Heyllo!
As for things going on here everything is good. This week we had another exchange with the other set of elders in our district and it was pretty good. Got to meet some more great people and they are baptizing a lot in this area. It's kind of crazy how we are just down the street, but we think that we found some great families this week proselyting. So hopefully everything works out. We have been teaching Celete. I don't know if I told you about her, but she is the one that teaches Catholic school. The only thing now is she doesn't want to leave her kids that she teaches if she gets baptized. Getting closer and closer but not there just yet. Everything else here has been pretty good. Every Sunday at about 5, they have like a parade because the soccer games are over. So everyone is celebrating if their team won. LOL so honking and yelling lol fun fun stuff I suppose. But you don't really need to watch tv on Sundays because you can just step outside and see which flags are hanging out of the cars.
Well my time is up and I have to run, Sorry I haven't sent the pictures yet I forgot my camera today and I had to ask for authorization and what not but next week I will definitely have some up for you.
I received the letters that everyone sent the 16th and 17th and I have written you back, so you should be receiving them in about 4 weeks or so. You can send them normal 42 or whatever I still receive them the same time as if you sent the 97 cents thing. Save you a couple cents here and there but it soon adds up lol.
Thanks and take care. Love you lots.

Elder Mitchell

04/29/09 Email

Entao...
As for me here in bRaSiL. Everything is good. We had Stake conference this last week and I didn't understand most of it, lol. My heads starting to hurt because its being filled with words I've never heard before and so I usually find myself spacing out when my companion is just chatting. But I can hold a conversation with people as well. Kind of crazy how things work out. These last couple of days I have been talking to 20 people per day about the church and its been good. My companion and I had an exchange with the Zone Leaders yesterday and that went well. Had some training about planning and some paperwork stuff. And also yesterday we had interviews with the president and that went well as well. Just gotta keep talking in Portuguese and striving to continue to learn and not be scared to mess up. How many times did we fall when we learning to walk? Many times. So when things get hard, just keep on trucking on yeah??
I have had the opportunity to share a message for lunch with the members and I have been talking about the story of Zacharias(John the Baptist's father) and how he had no faith that his wife could have a kid and then his voice was removed because of his doubts. We must have faith and know that with our Heavenly Father all things are possible.
As for other things we visited the slums here and wow have I been humbled. As much as I thought I didn't judge people I really did. At the beginning of yesterday I wasn't talking to anyone and by the end of the day I was talking with all of them and cared about all of these people. Most of these people were born into this circumstance or something came up where they got put in this situation and we kind of take for granted the things our parents went through to make sure we didnt get into that same circumstance. They work really hard everyday to try to make money for their families to get food on the table. Hauling carts 10 miles a day full of garbage and trying so hard but sometimes it doesn't work out.
But things are great here. I am learning so much and growing everyday. I have pictures for you all. I got a little bit of America. YEAH SUBWAY! it was an awesome day. Take care everyone. Love you mom and I love everyone. Thanks for keeping up with me.

Elder Mitchell

04/22/09 Email

Hey I hope you can open this. We got disconnected from the internet earlier and I hadda wait til now. NIGHT! its 8 30 here.

The first week here was crazy. I found out I really don’t know any Portuguese I like the food here a lot. The people in my area aren’t as open as the rest of Brazil, so no, I’m not getting baptisms every other day. I wish And as for the days, they are long. We have one of the biggest areas in Curitiba and I guess Guabiratuba means land of many hills because it seems like we have to go uphill both ways to get somewhere and back, lol.

Hmm so about the members here huh? Well all of the members are great, and we have some really good investigators but its just hard to find people to keep commitments, like when they set up an appointment that they are home lol. But they are really like Americans, they just speak a different language. You have the guys with Mohawks and handlebar moustaches. The people listening to American rock drinking outside. The kids all still listening to Lil Wayne ( in English), so am I really in a different country?? Lol things are great. The kids are awesome. They are helping me with my Portuguese. My companion is really patient with me. Our investigators are progressing. We have found some good people, they just aren’t doing the things we ask so they can't be baptized. But our goal is to baptize 2 by the end of the month and I'm guessing it will be Miguel (a man whose wife is a inactive member, he plays soccer, has a kid, and knows the church is true but has a hard time getting to church) and Selete (A catholic professor who definitely knows what we are saying is true but has commitments with the church so we've got to get that worked out.) And we have others who need to get married first or try to work out not working Sunday mornings etc. But I love it here. The scenery is wonderful, and I like the city so things are good.

I hope all is well for you in the US. I have you all in my prayers. Até logo!(until later)

Elder Mitchell

A Few Mission Photos

04/15/09 Email

Since Justin left the Training Center yesterday, I didn't know if I'd hear from him this week. But I got this quick update:

Hey, I didn't know if I would have been able to get on or not. My new companions name is Elder Rodrigues and we are in Curitiba but like 1 hr from the central. Its called Guabirutuba and its pretty nice. They don't get much baptism right now in this area and we are hoping to change that. At every chapel they have a futsol court, lol. (soccer on a court with small goals) and its pretty cool I played last night with some of the kids and dads from the church. It was fun. Haha, if you know my son, you knew that it would only be a matter of time before he found a soccer, or futsol, game.


As for everything, its been really good. Now that I'm here, I'm just getting everything organized to start working. Its been really good tho. I'm excited to see what is to come. I met the Mission president and he's really nice and my companion is real cool. I just can't understand him all the time, lol. I just shake my head and copy what his facial expressions are, lol. But I've got to run, we don't have the full time today but I will let you know more next week.


Oh yeah. Here we ride buses all the time and they are always packed kind of crazy but its the major type of transportation. The food here is so amazing. I guess I kind of just smoosh everything together so I just taste what I want to taste lol. The people are so friendly so far and its just so beautiful around here. Even if the houses arent like perfect its just the scenery is so nice. But take care! Ciao!

04/08/09 Email

Hey yeah I am super excited to get out of the CTM just because its kind of getting old sitting here going to class everyday all day. I just can't wait to talk to real people about this wonderful gift. But everything here has been great. We did get to listen to conference and it was pretty amazing. This was the first time i listened to all 5 sessions and I got so much out of it. I really got a lot out of Elder Holland's talk about Jesus Christ and about the whole season of Easter. So amazing. It definitely made me start thinking about what I am doing here and who I am. (Here's the link to the audio of that talk: Link )

But anyway thanks for everyone's prayers and hi´s I really appreciate it.

I leave next week to a new place and officially starting what I came to do. (Mom you can send the stuff to the mission home that was in the packet.) I am ready to go and I can't wait to see what's in store for me around the corner. Everything here seems just like life. A lot of people think of Brazil as this beautiful place where everything is perfect, and it is in some areas, but we see many areas were there are people who are just happy with almost nothing. I've just come to a realization that I am truly blessed and that there are people in worse circumstances than I am, but they have done the best they could with what they had. And that's what we must do: work as hard as we can and do the best that we can with what we have. Then we will be truly successful and we will reach places we never thought we would. Reach for the stars and you will get to the top of the mountains, reach for the top of the mountains and you barely get started. Reach to start your trek and you get nowhere. Believe in yourself and give yourself the opportunity to be successful. You never know what you can become if you never try.

And yes ma'am, I got your letter Aunta Nita thanks. And mom, I sent a couple of letters. I hope you receive one soon. People are saying that it takes 6 weeks to get to Texas, so it might be a little longer. But take care everyone! Love you lots. Mom, as for the Ensign I don't know yet, and I don't know when pday is, lol. I'll let you know next week. Cião,e tem um bom semana tambem. Obrigado por sua oraçeos e por sue amor. Eu sou muito benção por teranda boa amigos e familia marvilhosa. Até logo.

-Elder Mitchell

4/01/09 Emails

Hi everyone, this must be a very busy time for Justin because his emails were very short this week.

Hey yeah i received the Missionties. I like them a lot thanks. And Jeannette also wrote me and she sent me a picture of the gang back in sodak that was really cool. I wrote those things down in my journal thanks a bunch. I think I either received them the next day or in 2 days depending when you send it because if you send it on Tuesday or Wednesday then they wait for me to pick them up during my pday which is Wednesday and if you send it on the weekend they get it to me on Monday so its cool.

The week here has been hectic because we leave in 2 weeks so we gotta get on the ball and start getting the language down.

As for everything for me its going really well. And yeah Elder Young (his original companion that couldn't leave Utah because he had to have surgery) actually sent me some mail through a guy who headed up here from Utah last week and then he got here today so it was nice seeing him again. As for Missionties, yeah I don't know exactly what but it would be nice to get some American food. All they serve us here is beans and rice. How yummy lol. But American candy is cool if they have it.

I have 2 more weeks here at the CTM (Center for Training Missionaries), so one more pday (preparation day) then I leave the following Tuesday. Crazy how fast time has flown by here.

Yeah Derek (his very good friend that left for his mission to Spain shortly after Justin left) wrote me when he got there today. He said he´s going to email me tomorrow so I wont be able to email him back until like next week sometime. But all is well for him too.

We got 6 new missionaries and we got to take care of them and what not. They are all from Utah except for one of them who is from Idaho. Crazy lol. But they are pretty cool and definitely want to be here. As for the language it is coming fast, we are on the 3rd lesson out of five and they just seem to be easier because now its just remembering exactly the verbs and words for each of the lessons. But all is well I gotta run but ta ta

Love you all,
Elder Mitchell

And MissionTies is an American company in Brazil that is run by returned missionaries. It's a pay service that I can write letters and send photos to him, similar to email, but they print them out and mail them in-country. They have an office across the street from the MTC, or CTM and they deliver the letters there, and once they get to the mission field, they mail them out. It is supposed to take a lot less time than mailing them from the U.S. They also have treats for purchase. The treats are expensive, but sometimes it's worth it. Today I sent Justin a Pizza Hut Pizza and some candy, that he will pick up on his next P-day.

3/25 Emails

LOL I always send 2 emails a week. I don't know why just one for inspiration and one for updates. I guess because there's always two from you as well. But I think it works out. I´m glad to be able to talk back with you. (From RM: It was really cool. He sent the inspirational one below and he was still at the computer when I replied asking for an update)

Everything is great. This new AP thing is harder than I thought and I am super swamped with other meetings and trying to catch up with all of my members in my district. We got another district in today so 6 more elders to talk to every night on top of catching up with my American Elders and my Brazilians. Its very fun though. I am picking up the language better because I have to talk to the Brazilians everyday and make sure they are doing alright as well. Its awesome how they put Brazilians in our room to help us learn the language and its just so amazing to learn about their culture. Monday night we had a little devotional because our Brazilians were leaving because they only stay for 3 weeks. But it was awesome. We were all speaking Portuguese and the spirit was so strong. One of the guys who always played around was crying. It was awesome to see that side of him. The Lord brings out the best in all of us.

As for everything else it has been awesome. The Sao Paolo Temple is so awesome and we went to the police station today to get our ids for proselyting and what not since we will be in the country for longer then a year. The days have been going well but long and tomorrow I have to give a little seminar for the new missionaries so that should be fun too. Again I hope you all like the email I sent before (from RM: see below) and I don't know what else you want to know.

I sent a small memory card of pictures to you so I hope that gets to you but it was free so if it doesn't get there I don't mind. I guess they have some problems sometimes with the mail, but I just hope they don't worry bout mine. :) o well. Its all good.

Well that is all for me this week. There is so much I could write but than I wouldn't have anything to write in my journal. Mom, I hope you keep these as well so I can fill in the spaces of my journal. Thanks. Take care everyone. Love you lots!


This is his inspirational email for the week:

Our thinking vs. Gods Promises
--------------------------------------
It´s impossible - All things are possible (Luke 18:27)
I´m too tired - I will give you rest ( Matt 11:28-30)
Nobody really loves me - I love you (John 3:16/13:34)
I cant go on - My grace is sufficient (2 Cor 12:9)
I cant figure things out - I will direct you (Prov 3:5-6)
I cant do it - You can do all things (Phillipians 4:13)
I am not able - I am able (2 Cor 9:8)
It´s not worth it - It will be worth it (Rom 8:28)
I cant forgive myself - I forgive you (2 John 1:9)
I can´t manage - I will supply all your needs (Phil 4:19)
I´m afraid - I have not given you a spire of fear ( 2 Tim 1:7)
I´m always worried and frustrated - Cast all your cares on me (1 Pet 5:7)
I dont have enough faith - I´ve given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)
I´m not smart enough - I give you wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30)
I feel all alone - I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrew 13:5)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is so awesome and true. I hope it touches all of your lives and I hope that when you do feel down that you know that your heavenly father has blessed you with so much and that he is always watching out for you.
God Bless!

Elder Mitchell

Photos from the Sao Paolo Temple

Special email received today with photos of Elder Mitchell's district at the Sao Paolo Brazil Temple. Elder LeBaron (last on the right) is the District Leader and Elder Mitchell (5th on the right) is the Assistant to the Branch President. These photos were sent by the Branch President's wife.

3/18/09 Email home

This week has actually been super crazy. I got called to be the AP(assistant to the President) last Sunday, so now there is so much on my plate, on top of what I was already trying to do. I am actually a little ahead of everyone on the language side of things, so I'm glad I wont fall behind with the extra meetings that I will have to go to and what not. Each night I walk around to the rest of my districts that I have to make sure everything's good and I have to learn a lot more Portuguese because there are some Brazilian districts. Its really awesome to be able to just be able to just see how everyone is developing while they are here at the CTM. The Brazilians stay for 19 days so we get a chance to talk to and meet a lot of these guys. The way cool thing is they have such amazing stories to tell and they are trying to learn English as much as we are trying to learn Portuguese so it equals out with us teaching each other.

As for this week its been actually really good. We went to the Sao Paolo temple today and it was really cool but yet again people were thinking I was Brazilian. So one day I definitely need to get on top of that whole language thing so I can talk back with out having to be like 'what? what? what?' lol. One day.

Last night we had a speaker come and talk to us and he was actually really cool. He talked to us about how if we put our priorities in order by putting first things first then we get the second things thrown in there as well but if we put the second things first then we lose both. And that is so true. All things will fall into place if we just strive to do the best in the things we need to do.
Well we don"t have much time to talk but I hope you get the letter as well.

1st Email from Brazil

I'm Elder Mitchell's mom and I will be posting his emails home here on his blog for him. Hopefully he will be able to email once a week. This is from today.

Well everything here has been great. I will send pictures as soon as I can. Did you get the letter that I wrote last week? We missed PDay last week so i wasn't able to get on last week.
The Portuguese has been coming slowly but surely but its still hard because everyone thinks I am from Brazil so they just start spitting out Portuguese super fast but its all good. There has been many inspirational things that I could share but I forgot them inside the CTM. Yeah its the center for training missionaries here in Brazil. Last Friday we went proselyting downtown Sao Paolo. Wow, that was an amazing experience. We had 2 weeks of Portuguese under our belts and we were out trying to talk about the Restored Gospel and people were actually listening. There was so much that I wanted to say but I couldn't and there was obviously a lot that they had to say but I couldn't understand them. LOL it was actually really fun and a great experience.
I have a new companion. His name is Elder Arroyo and he´s from Mississippi. Him and I are the only ones in our district from the south and so its actually really interesting how things work out. He is a super clown, not someone I would think I would chill with back at home but it's crazy how the Lord puts people together and opens up peoples eyes.
We have 2 new teachers as well. Irmao Parapato and Irma De Santana. They are both awesome and its just so amazing how quick we are picking up this language and how quick we can learn something so different.
Hows everything going there? I hope everything's going great. I cant wait to hear from you and I will definitely have something a little more interesting next week. I just totally forgot to grab my note book. But take care everyone!

Elder Mitchell

Another Day in the life

So it's been a while since the 1st time I wrote in here but I plan to write everyday or at least every week so I don't have to write so much every week.
There is so much that I thought about writing and as I was on the road and away I told myself that when I got home I would do it but I never got back to actually putting it into action. It's been actually a crazy couple of weeks. Last week I went to go see 7 pounds. A great movie with Will Smith again playing a role that left me speechless and a mind full of thoughts, the first being pursuit of happyness. What he portrayed was the idea of true Christ-like love. For he gave his life so others can live in happiness or in a situation that was better than they were in. I started really thinking about what I am doing on a daily that shows this charity that our Lord and Christ would have us do while we are here on this earth. Pretty insightful thinking for a movie.
Also last week I went to the gym with my cousin Dmitri, and I started thinking about who I really was. I noticed that everything that came hard to me I quit at. If its not something I'm good at or comes natural, I just don't try it and that's a problem. Its kind of crazy as I look back at all the decisions I have made may look like hard ones to others but they were actually easy to me. Computers and graphics just come so naturally to me that its just evident that C&M had to be the decision. I was just better at soccer than any other sport so I'm doing that. I guess its just time to really think about what I want to do when I get back huh?

Inspiration
Today was the finale for the greatest loser and it is so amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it. I've been talking to a friend and trying to find out who she really is and as we search for the answer it is slowly working. You see if you constantly care about what others think of you will never get out of this life alive. Success is truly measured by what you do for others not for the things that are given to you like houses and cars. Our greatest potential is to truly become like our Savior and brother, Jesus Christ. Remember the day that we lose ourselves is the day that we truly will find ourselves. Confusing huh :) Think about it.


I'm wondering if there was something else I was suppose to say? I think I need to start carrying a notepad around so I can keep all my ideas. LOL well until next time.
Justin