So my p-day is today... obviously haha so I didn't get what you sent this week. It happened to everyone. We all got on hoping that someone sent us an email and we all got goose egged. Oh well. Everything is going really well, we went proselyting yesterday and it was so fun! I talked to everyone I saw and ended up handing out a Book of Mormon. We talked to 15-20 people for a little while and all but one already had a Book or Mormon or already was visited by missionaries. Everyone else in the group did well though. Total we gave out 14. Hopefully my companion can get more courageous before the one on Friday. Which is on avenida polista, one of the busiest streets in the world similar to new york. I am so excited for that!
Today we went to the São Paulo temple and there was a guy that served in Maceió two years ago. We talked a lot and he told me some useful information. He said our apartments come complete with everything you will need like washer, stove, oven. He also said that I would get sick the first week no matter what. He even did but not because of the water, its because of the food! I guess in Maceió they have really crazy strong flavors, not necessarily spicy but really strong. He said it is kind of like how Indian food is strong, just not the same flavors. I realized this would probably happen anyway but its nice to know for sure now haha. And he said that it is kind of ghetto but everyone loves the missionaries there and respects them. I probably shouldn't have told you that mom! haha
Tomorrow is independence day for Brazil and everything is green and yellow in the CTM. It is really cool. I think we are supposed to have a really good dinner tonight and really good meals tomorrow in honor of Brazil! yay Brazil!
The language is coming along really well. I found when I went out to proselyte I understood every single person except for 1. And he must have been drunk and crazy, but really nice haha. OH! and the best part of my week was during TRC which is a practice teaching program thing in the CTM. Except this time real people came in from outside that are already members and listened to us teach. we ended up teaching a mom and 3 kids and it was the best lesson Ihave had yet! such a good experience.
Oh and some other different things about Brazil... There is a trash can just for cups. It is sooo weird. It is cylindrical just like a regular trash can, but it has four holes that fit a cup perfectly. Not sure why they have those haha. I think I already told you that the keyboards are different too. Oh! and the toilet paper isn't in rolls, its in little sheets like tissue paper. That's all I can think of haha. Sorry that I didn't get your email this time. And next week I may not be able to email because I will be in the field during p-day perhaps. So I will talk to you in 2 weeks. I leave Tuesday so make sure you tell everyone to change the address if they are going to write me. And make sure you tell Cheneys about my change in address or cancel that service. I love you all! LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS
Sorry I got on a day early so I didn't get to hear about what is going on. Hopefully I will be able to send one next week otherwise you will have to catch me up for three weeks. I am trying to use up the time that I have so I will just ramble:) We sang on Sunday and it went really well. We have to sing tonight as well but we aren't as prepared as we were for the one on Sunday. haha we will see how that goes. Let me know in the next mission ties or the next letter if you change the address for Cheneys or if just cancel the service. I am fine with either decision because you know me. I love to save money:) Today I am exchanging the rest of my US dollars. And we are going to get Tigela today! It is kinda like ice cream and it has fresh fruit on it. I hear it is the best thing you could ever get. I am SO excited. Hopefully all is going well there. I miss you guys but I know you are being blessed as I am away and I am as well. I hope work is still going well for you two, keep me updated on Futi and Taylor and Otav, all the volleyball guys. I am loving being here and can see myself improving every day. It is crazy how much we can learn with our heavenly father helping. I love you guys! LOVE ELDER JAKE
JAKE SENT ANOTHER LETTER THROUGH MISSIONTIES TODAY AS WELL:
Mom and Dad,
The temple is closed on Wednesday so our Pday is on Tuesday now. I'm not sure when the next one will be because I go into the field next week. So if you don't get an email from me then it will be normal but if you do get an email you'll be that much more excited. Having a companion that is hard to work with makes me realize how awesome you guys were at being parents. Even though it didn't seem like it, I learned so many manners and just things to make it so people aren't annoyed at me. If everyone had parents like you two I feel like no one would get mad at anyone's ticks or bad habits because they would learn to control them and realize when they start. They don't realize what they are doing and it is awesome that you taught me how to control myself so thank you for that. I definitely appreciate it more than I ever showed you.
It sounds like BYU volleyball will not be good again. Shawn helped coach us. I know him and he is a good coach. That's really dad about Futi. Hopefully he gets better. They have to win this year.
I have a word of advice. The main focus here in Brazil is to interact with the ward, love the ward, talk to the members and be their friends. If somehow you can get that relationship the referrals will be flying in because the members trust you with the sensitive situation/friendship that their friend has. 75% of baptisms are from referrals, 15% from gifts (Book of Mormon's, DVD's and other free things) and 10% from tracting. So 100% of their efforts should be contributing to the ward and building that trust that is so important to every member when their friends are ready to hear the gospel. Our philosophy is love the ward=love the success(baptisms)
That's one thing I will focus so much of my effort on because I know that's how I'll change the most amount of lives.
I had an awesome experience at the TRS this past Saturday. Active members/converts come and pretend to be investigators for us. My comp and I were planning on teaching a little about families. He's not the best in Portuguese so I usually take the lead. I ended up talking about the 5 principles of the gospel. I was teaching the Espirito Santo section and I noticed the lady we were teaching began to tear up. I quickly bore my testimony that if she got baptized she would feel this every day of her life. I teared up and got choked up but managed to finish. Love filled the room as she accepted the first visit we had with her. Even though this was fake, the spirit overtook the lesson and shared exactly what needed to be said.
Oh, look up a missionary losing his leg in Vitoria Brazil. It happened two weeks ago and his parents spoke today. Let me know the details please.
Everything is going great. I feel good about Portuguese and my teaching so now I just need to go to Maceio! We proselyte tomorrow and Friday. So excited! and nervous. Tell Natalie and Thomas to write me a lot. It makes me happy. I love you guys so much and know you are being blessed while I am gone.
Love Elder Jake Langlois
These things that are really expensive here-ideas to send in a box- peanut butter m&m's, pictures, paper, pencil sharpeners, zots from affordable treasures.
Sorry I got on a day early so I didn't get to hear about what is going on. Hopefully I will be able to send one next week otherwise you will have to catch me up for three weeks. I am trying to use up the time that I have so I will just ramble:) We sang on Sunday and it went really well. We have to sing tonight as well but we aren't as prepared as we were for the one on Sunday. haha we will see how that goes. Let me know in the next mission ties or the next letter if you change the address for Cheneys or if just cancel the service. I am fine with either decision because you know me. I love to save money:) Today I am exchanging the rest of my US dollars. And we are going to get Tigela today! It is kinda like ice cream and it has fresh fruit on it. I hear it is the best thing you could ever get. I am SO excited. Hopefully all is going well there. I miss you guys but I know you are being blessed as I am away and I am as well. I hope work is still going well for you two, keep me updated on Futi and Taylor and Otav, all the volleyball guys. I am loving being here and can see myself improving every day. It is crazy how much we can learn with our heavenly father helping. I love you guys! LOVE ELDER JAKE
JAKE SENT ANOTHER LETTER THROUGH MISSIONTIES TODAY AS WELL:
Mom and Dad,
The temple is closed on Wednesday so our Pday is on Tuesday now. I'm not sure when the next one will be because I go into the field next week. So if you don't get an email from me then it will be normal but if you do get an email you'll be that much more excited. Having a companion that is hard to work with makes me realize how awesome you guys were at being parents. Even though it didn't seem like it, I learned so many manners and just things to make it so people aren't annoyed at me. If everyone had parents like you two I feel like no one would get mad at anyone's ticks or bad habits because they would learn to control them and realize when they start. They don't realize what they are doing and it is awesome that you taught me how to control myself so thank you for that. I definitely appreciate it more than I ever showed you.
It sounds like BYU volleyball will not be good again. Shawn helped coach us. I know him and he is a good coach. That's really dad about Futi. Hopefully he gets better. They have to win this year.
I have a word of advice. The main focus here in Brazil is to interact with the ward, love the ward, talk to the members and be their friends. If somehow you can get that relationship the referrals will be flying in because the members trust you with the sensitive situation/friendship that their friend has. 75% of baptisms are from referrals, 15% from gifts (Book of Mormon's, DVD's and other free things) and 10% from tracting. So 100% of their efforts should be contributing to the ward and building that trust that is so important to every member when their friends are ready to hear the gospel. Our philosophy is love the ward=love the success(baptisms)
That's one thing I will focus so much of my effort on because I know that's how I'll change the most amount of lives.
I had an awesome experience at the TRS this past Saturday. Active members/converts come and pretend to be investigators for us. My comp and I were planning on teaching a little about families. He's not the best in Portuguese so I usually take the lead. I ended up talking about the 5 principles of the gospel. I was teaching the Espirito Santo section and I noticed the lady we were teaching began to tear up. I quickly bore my testimony that if she got baptized she would feel this every day of her life. I teared up and got choked up but managed to finish. Love filled the room as she accepted the first visit we had with her. Even though this was fake, the spirit overtook the lesson and shared exactly what needed to be said.
Oh, look up a missionary losing his leg in Vitoria Brazil. It happened two weeks ago and his parents spoke today. Let me know the details please.
Everything is going great. I feel good about Portuguese and my teaching so now I just need to go to Maceio! We proselyte tomorrow and Friday. So excited! and nervous. Tell Natalie and Thomas to write me a lot. It makes me happy. I love you guys so much and know you are being blessed while I am gone.
Love Elder Jake Langlois
These things that are really expensive here-ideas to send in a box- peanut butter m&m's, pictures, paper, pencil sharpeners, zots from affordable treasures.
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