8/2/11

The first week went by really really slow but since then it has gone by fast.  I can't wait till I actually get to go outside of the CTM because it is like a prison in here. We get pizza every Wednesday so we don't need that pizza party. Missionties is awesome because getting letters is the most exciting thing that could ever happen to the missionary in the CTM. Sad but true. I don't have much time to read Dan or Robins email because I have 30 minutes. I will have to read them once I get more time in the field. Our program was supposed to get harder yesterday but it is going to start tomorrow. It seems like we won't have time to do anything. Our schedule will be jam packed.  My hair on my head is straight now because it is so short. I am used to it now so it doesn't really bother me anymore. Sounds like Taylor is doing well at the Junior National World Volleyball. Hopefully they end up winning the whole tournament. Tell Sara and Steve they can email me. The only guideline is that it has to be immediate family. I got Sara's letter and am sending one out today. I also am sending one to Dan.   Anyway, it was a pretty good week.  Last Tuesday while I was outside of the CTM we went to Cheney's and I got a package! It was weird though because there was a lot of Brazilian things in it. It wasn't American Doritos or Ruffles haha.  One Wednesday while we were in our classroom we were throwing keys around and somehow they flew out the window.... whoops. So we tied all of our shoelaces together and put a safety pin on the end. I ended up fishing it from the second story. That was pretty much the most exciting thing that will ever happen in the CTM. I took a picture so I will send those asap. The Portuguese is coming along really well. On the way to the temple this morning I was forcing myself to think in Portuguese so I think that will help me a ton! Our teachers are still awesome, we are going to Charrascaria which is exactly like Tucanos with our teachers. We are leaving in 10 min! I am so excited! I am buying envelopes so I can actually send letters to people that have written me. The food is still awesome. I wish I could take pictures of it because I don't really know what it is to explain it to you.  Gym class is still pretty lame, but with this new schedule we might get some more people into our gym and maybe even some athletic ones. Todos as coisas estão muito bom. Eu estão animado para sair o CTM e sair no campo. Voces são muito importante para me e eu guardo em minha oracãos todos os noites. Ate Mais.   LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS


JAKE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!  Thank you to those who have already written.  He loved hearing from you!
****Please write Jake.  Letters from home are so important to the missionaries.  Respond to this email with a note or letter to Jake.  I will forward it to Missionties and they will print it in Brazil and mail it to him.  Jake will receive it in 2-3 days. 

If you want to mail a letter, you will need to use his Mission Home address because he will be out of the CTM by the time it gets there. 


Elder Jake Langlois
Brazil Maceio Mission
Av. Dom Antonio Brandao, 333 Sala 402
Ed. Work Center, Farol
Maceio-AL   57021-190  Brazil

7/26/11

Congrats to Amanda. I cant believe she got engaged! Regular mail isn't very reliable but it will still get to me within 2 months. There is one athletic missionary and I don't have him in my group for gym so I have to deal with only 4 other guys that aren't the most athletic. There is one missionary that is 6' 10" too. Here,  I am dois e dez. because they measure in meters.  The beds are just like the Disneyland hotel beds. I am on the top bunk and I have a really hard time sleeping. I finally just got used to it and it is fine now.  I live on the top floor which is 7 stories high so there is a lot of stair climbing we do in a day. Portuguese is really similar to Spanish so my comp. and I are doing really well with the language. Our teachers Irmão David and Vana say that we are at the level of someone that has been here for 5 weeks. So it is pretty easy for me. My bags didn't get anything pulled out of them so I still have the beef jerky, but I do have the most stuff out of everyone haha. I am taking as many pictures as I can but there are lots of strict rules about pictures.  I can send prints if you want to see them a week earlier, otherwise I will wait till I can send them through email. When i got to Dallas there were 5 other missionaries there. 2 were from Provo and the others were from Washington and Oregon. The food was really good on the flight and I was crammed in the second flight. When I got on the first flight the lady told me to move to the bulk head seating. I didn't complain. Batteries are ridiculous here! A pack of 4 triple A batteries are 24 reais which is roughly 20 dollars. I might have a enough for a long time though. I will let you know. I still haven't gotten a razor but it is fine because i just use a straight blade to trim off any access I can see. I don't even have to shave because no one can see if i can even grow hair. By the way the keyboards here are really weird too.......... I can't press enter to make a new paragraph so it has to be one huge one. Anyway, last Tuesday we went out around the CTM and within 10min we witnessed a car crash! hahahaha it was crazy. The people here drive like maniacs. We walked around and one of my companions Elder Fulton tried to buy some photo prints. He thought the lady said it has 96 reais but it was really 9,6. He freaked out and thought his parents were going to kill him haha. The next day as a bonding experience our room and district shaved our legs. Wasn't my idea but I thought why not? We wear our pants all day anyway. Don't judge me. ha Class isn't too bad.  We have lunch then 4 hours of class then dinner then 4 hours of class. When you work hard it goes by really fast though. Our teachers are awesome! Can you email me my mission home address? I need it as a return address because if you send anything after right now it might not make it to me in the CTM. Today we went to the temple again which is awesome. We aren't supposed to take pictures there but we are going to our last week because we will never go there again probably.  Some things that are coming up... on week 5 we go tracting outside of the CTM. Week 7 we go tracting on avenida paulista which is one of the busiest streets in the world! It is going to be crazy. On August 1st the teaching program is going to change here and it is supposed to get a lot harder. It will be good because I need to learn Portuguese faster and the program right now is not the best. Anyway, I am doing great. Let me know what you want me to write about. I usually have some extra time left over because I type so fast.       
  Love you guys!   ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

7/19/11

   My first P-day and it feels great! The first week has gone by really slow, but now it is beginning to pick up.  I almost couldn't sign into my account because I didn't know the password. somehow i guessed the right one.  Anyway, the food is awesome. We get fresh fruit everyday with tons of different kinds of juices and drinks. Every meal we get meat and rice and beans. which, for everyone in my room, is the worst thing that could ever be served. I have a companion named Elder Fulton and we get along really well. There isn't a second that goes by where we aren't laughing at something or making jokes. BUT we are also progressing in the language faster than most people because of our past backgrounds in Spanish.  We learned how to pray the first day, testify the second day, and learned how to introduce ourselves and talk with people the past few days.  My English is already starting to fail which is a good and bad thing.
      We went to the Sao Paulo temple today and it was awesome. It is a really cool temple and is very different than going to one in the states.  we have class 8 hours a day except Sundays and on our p-days.  The CTM is way less strict than the MTC in Provo. We can pretty much do whatever we want besides what is scheduled. every day we have an hour to play any sport, but everyone is terrible at every sport so it is really hard to get anything going.  Today right after i send this email we are walking the neighborhood around the CTM and going shopping.  it is going to be really cool. By the way i cant send anyone emails from this email so if you want to contact me then send a letter. Also mom, make sure Dan gets this so he knows i am in the CTM safe. If you are wondering how my Portuguese is going here is a little taste of what i learned in three days.  Oi! meu nome é elder langlois. Eu sou um missionario de jesus cristo dos santos dos unltimos dias. como vai? muito bem. Tenho um mesagem por vocé muito especial sobre jesus cristo.  That is only a little of what I know and if you think you are saying all of those phrases right.... I can almost guarantee you aren't haha. You will just have to wait and see what it sounds like in two years. Also there is only one missionary going to my mission at the moment and it is sister nelson. So she cant really be my companion once i get there.  Everything is going great, i read the letters you hid in my candy and loved them.  The weeks will start flying by soon. anyway.... got to go love you guys    ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

Farewell!

Jake spoke in sacrament meeting on July 10th. He left for the Sao Paulo MTC on July 12th. 

We were all sad to see him go, but we are so happy he is on a mission and he will be awesome!