Stayin' Alive

Bom dia peeps!

Its been another good week down here in the hood! This week has been a week of some crazy adventures! I have seen some really messed up stuff haha!

First off I got to have another experience with spiders! They are a lot bigger in this area than the last! We did a service project and we were cleaning out this old ladies backyard thingy and we found the motherload! I was wearing my Jesus sandles and had a trianchula run across my toes..... yes I freaked out.. yes I jumped.. and yes I did scream like a little girl... I went to kill it by stepping on it.... it didnt die from my weight and started freaking out! So I beat it to death with a shovel haha! Just when you think it doesent get any worse, we found a nest of trianchulas..... probably had 20 or so that were a little smaller than a baseball..... yup that was fun haha I totally handles that like a man should. 

Now to tell you about the more beautiful bug I want to tell yall about the butterflys here! holy flip!! They are incredible! I have seen every kind of color! Black pink blue green orange yellow!! They are so freaking awesome!

We have this guy that we are teaching and he is freaking awesome! He teaches English so we got to go to his english class and act like celebrities for all his students! They thought it was so cool that we were Americans! I felt like a pretty cool cat im not going to lie! 

A little more creapy story is about one of the members in our branch. He is around 15 years old and has a very strong testimony.... when hes not possesed by demonds.... Its really creepy because he actually sees them and they control him and our mission president says that we have to help him and it gets really interesting. His house and his property is haunted. Like I hate going there. Its the most aweful place I think I have ever been in my life. But we are helping him so we have to go.

hmmmm what else... I baught a switch blade knife from a member for like six bucks so that was freaking awesome haha! And I saw a dead guy on the road.... Also saw a guy that was hit by a car, that was really gross. Oh and we were in a car race with one of the members and we were jumping speed bumps haha...... yeah that was my week haha! oh and the best way I can explain my companions is with two words... glee club.... yup. haha gotta love it!

Well I love yall and love to hear from ya!

Elder Wright

 

 

Transfer

Hey der peeps!

So I got transfered today! Really Really Really far! haha! I had to get up at 3:45 to catch a taxi to the bus station and then take a four hour bus ride to my new area! Im a little tired im not going to lie! I sat by a sister on the bus but I didnt talk to her because I didnt want to try and translate that early in the morning! She was american though and neither of us new that haha! 

I think im on the other side of brazil now... I really have no idea! Canôinhas is the name of the city im working in. Its a small little town and it is a farming comunity planted in the heart of a jungle! Like a real live jungle! With vines and tarzan lives here! Its crazy! When you go by the trees you cant see in ten feet! 

On the bus ride I saw a deer crossing sign and this is going to sound weird but it was one of the most comforting feelings I have felt here haha! I was so excited just to see a picture of a deer on stupid sign! Im such a redneck! Also this town has John Deer tractors so that also made me feel pretty awesome! I can tell Im going to like this area a lot! 

We have a senior missionary couple here and they are my favorite people ever! The Browns. Elder Brown is good friends with Bishop Field and lives in Roy. He is the only person that doesnt try to speak portuguese with me 24/7. Its real nice to talk English to people. Like you have no idea how amazing an English word sounds when all you hear is portuguese.

Well Thats all folks. Ta Ta! 

Elder Wright

And Boom Goes the Baptism

So we had a pretty great week! I baptized two people... nothing big. Elder Leite baptized two as well. I also had the opportunity to comfirm someone in sacrament meeting.... I wasnt even nervous... haha jk jk I was trippin pretty bad! It was such a great experience! The whole baptism was an adventure haha, I will explain later on in my letter!

First off this week we got hair cuts and it was pretty awesome because here they give you a straight shave with it! I was terrified the whole time but it felt pretty great after!

I taught with elder Newbold from Kaysville for a day and we always have the weirdest things happen to us! We contacted a guy and I THOUGHT he was wearing a sweater tank top.... It was all body hair and I ended up laughing in his face and I had to just walk away! It was so so so bad! Like I literally could not stop laughing and I couldnt breath! 

We have a retired pro soccer player in our area so we have been teaching him and he has been signing stuff for Elder Leite. I guess he must have been pretty good because he has the nicest house in brasil haha!

About the baptism! I baptized Antonio and Sebestiana! They are great, and their son was baptised a month ago. We had the water heater break on us so we had to run pots of hot water back and forth for the font. It didnt help at all haha! The hardest part for me was trying to remember their names for the baptismal prayer! For example her name is sebastiana de oliveira de Souza...... yeah. And I had to do Antonio twice because his hair didnt go under haha!

Sunday I sayed the oppening prayer in sacrament meeting and I confirmed Jorge. It was awesome! I said a few things in the comfirmation that I didnt even know and I just went with it haha! I guess it worked out and people understood it so thats all that matters! 

Monday my companion received a call that he was being transfered and he was gone two hours latter. So I have been in a threesome with Elder Phelps and Newbold. The three Americans haha! I love these gus! 

The reason I am writting today is because we went to the zoo today so we had to do it on tuesday haha!

Well I hope yall are doing good and I love to hear from all of you!

Love Elder Wright

Apparently if this spider bites you, you die.... like instantly. Scary!

At the Zoo

Elder Wright's first baptism

Another Day in da Hood

Hey der people of America!

So I have some pretty great stories for this week! I will start of with the story of the eagles... yall know the eagles in Lord of the Rings... Yup they flippin live here!! We were ridding on the bus of death and I looked out the window and what did I see! Eagles bigger than any bird in the US! Like I cant describe to you how big they are! Im honestly waiting for one to swoop down and take me away for a snack haha!

Second story. The garbage men are on strick here... There is so much trash in the streets! And people here dont flush toilet paper they just throw it away! Yeah! It freaking smells like... well poo. It just stinks haha!

Third story. Elder Phelps who lives with us started freaking out. He had killed a spider... whoopty freakin doo! Jk Jk it is a spider they have in Brasil that when it bites you, you die haha! So Thats fun! I will try and send a pic of it. We have found probally four or five of them. 

Fourth story. People have many ways of transportation here. number one is walking. 2 is the bus. 4 is driving your car. 5 is your motorcycle. and 6 is my favorite! many people have horses that pull their little hand made carts around haha! Its like really really really funny to watch because they will have a car tire on one side and a bike tire on the other... yeah they are real smart in brasil!

Fifth story. Elder Newbold blew my mind. we worked together for a day and it was great! we had nobody that would talk to us, so we said a prayer in the street and went to the next house. The house had 15 empty bottles of vodka on the front step haha. The lady came out and said she didnt believe in any religion and that god isnt real. Elder Newbold bore his testimony on her driveway about the Book of Mormon. All three of us sat and cried for a good 3 minutes because the spirit was so strong. We are now teaching her. We also went to a house that was part members and part not. Two little kids lived there and they were incredible! They both asked us for priesthood blessings because they knew it would help them. Ive never seen someone so little have so much faith.

Last story. We have been teaching Jorge. He is probably one of my most favorite people in the world. He has come so far and we are going to baptise hime on Saturday. We have had a go around with Jorge. He is a crack addict and alcholic. We have caught him dealing crack a couple times haha! Good thing the gangs here like missionaries!! But I just wanted to testify to yall that anyone can change.

Love yall. Elder WRIGHT

New Week!

So it is a new week!! It has been a great week to be honest! sorry for the debby downer last week!! yall are such amazing people and I feel so lucky to have each and every one of you! 

This week we have walked so much!! We have and a lot of failure haha but it is all starting to pay off!! One day we only had two houses answer which is really weird for Brasil! But one of the houses that did let us in accepted our baptismal challenge which was pretty baller because I was the one that invited them! The other house We went to I messed up the first vission so bad!! I forgot to mention the two personagens..... They are kind of critical!! It just reminds me of the quote that Coach Arquette has on his wall by michael jordon.. I missed over 300,000 shots, lost over 300 games, 29 times ive been trusted with the game winning shot and missed. I fail, and fail, and fail...And That is why I SUCCEED.

They have a soap here with a cool name... nips all day.... yup you heard me!! Its freaking awesome hahaha! They dont mess around in Brasil!

mI gotta tell yall about the rain here! Its flippin crazy!! like an unberella is a complete waste of time. The rain comes from every direction, and where the rain doesnt get ya you wsweating hahaha..... I love it!!! I havent seen a day here without lightning and thunder!! Its so cool! and the clouds with the humidity are so beautiful! 

I must say that we had a pretty unique teaching moment haha not! We had this inactive lady crying about something.... I dont know what because I dont have any idea what people say still haha, but as she was crying her four year old daughter decided that she wanted attention... so she descided to remove all her clothes and run in circles going weeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Elder Leite and I deserve a medal because that was so hard not to laugh at!! And plus the mom didnt even care so  it went on for a good 30 minutes... freakin loco!!

Love yall and hope to hear from ya!

Elder Gringo/Wright

Oi Amigos

Oi Amigos,

Well to start off im just going to say this has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Me and my companion have had some disputes but we are good now. I have been missing yall like crazy and think about each of you every day. We are working so hard and we all have at least 4 blisters each. I should have been hit by a car at least a dozen times now haha. There is no care for life and people either love missionaries or try to dispose of them haha. 

I recieved my first prompting to not go into a house and I didnt listen. bad idea. The guy was so crazy and he just had such a bad spirit about him.

I dont wanna gross any of you out, but do you know what its like to have one bathroom and three elders from america who have constant.... hershy squirts????!!! sometimes you make it... sometimes you dont... ill just leave it at that hah!

Ive lost a tone of weight because we only eat one meal a day and on top of that we fast  a lot! 

There has been a lot of bad things that have happened that im not going to share with yall but just know that we are blessed.

Despite all the bad I have never seen so many prayers answered in one week! we have 5 baptisms lined up for the 28th! boom. I dont have any idea what people are saying but they point at me a lot and it gets really annoying. during lessons its really hard to stay away because I dont know whats going on and I day dream a lot haha! 

There was more that I wanted to write but I dont remember haha whoops!!

love yall and hope your doing good!

Elder Wright

ps. id tell ya about our investigators but I dont know how to spell or say their names so sorry hahaha

First Week in Brazil

Oi americanos!!

Sorry if my writting is bad, the keyboard is different here.

So to start you off on my adventure in brasil.... The plane ride was when it hit me that I was leaving the united states for good hahaha. I may have had a small panic attack with the other two missionaries. I turned around to Elder Hoese to see how he was doing and he was crying pretty hard so I started crying too hahaha. I sat next to a little brazilian boy and his dad. They were the nicest people... i think. In the MTC i had drawn a picture of moroni, and they saw it and really liked it. I wrote some things on the picture and gave it to the little boy, he was very excited and hugged me.. I know precious. 

Sao paulo airport. scary place. No English haha. we had to find this bus get on it then travel to a different part of the airport where we met missionaries that were locals going to our mission. no idea what any of them said and they thought it was real funny when I talked. We finally got to Curitiba and the mission president had no idea that me and sister cook were coming. surpise surprise!! We didnt have companions!! They sent me with another Elder to this little tiny not very nice hotel with one of the new missionaries. He new how to say Hello so he just kept saying that over and over and over. 

Honestly the first day here I wanted to get back on the plane and come home. I hated the people. I hated the smell. I hated the gigantic city im in haha! 

My companions name is Elder Leite and he studdied English in Utah for 3 years. prayer answered, I can stay in brasil haha! We have a pretty sweet place, it has a spiral stair case and everything! The other missionaries that live with us are Americans! Elder Phelps is pretty dope, and Elder Newbolt went to Davis and we know eachother haha! Small world right?! 

Elder Leite got mad at me for killing spiders... apparently we like them. They kill all the mosquitos i guess. I dont like them at all haha! They are muito Grande here! While we were teaching an investigator I watched a black widow the size of a quarter go ham on this fly!.... needless to say I have no idea what the lesson was on. Well I guess I have no idea what any of our lessons are on hahaha Elder Leite just looks at me and tells me to bear my testimony on a certain subject haha. 

I also saw my first snake in Brasil! It was about 6 inches long and I jumped like a little girl. We dont like snakes in Brasil hahaha

Yesterday we had a BBQ which was really good until they handed me this jar of what looked like bits of beans and peppers. They told me to put some on my rice..... I think i died a little on the inside when I ate that. It was ghost pepper juice...... The hottest pepper in the world!!!!!!! people put two or three drops in a pan of rice to spice it up, and I put a spoonfull on my little plate of rice!!!! Needless to say I now know what hell tastes like and I dont recomend it. 

Other than that I love it here and every day is a new adventure! We teach a tone of people and already have every saturday for march booked for baptism! boom! Miss you all and love to hear from you!!

Elder Grande Gringo