A Few Mission Photos

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

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