Ware, Josh P

What's up everyone!! So much has happened this week and I have so little time to send this email but I'll include some highlights to keep y'all updated. Also I'm typing this on a samsung phone with a Portuguese keyboard so if there are any errors it's not my fault. On Tuesday, I flew from the training center in São Paulo to my Mission (which we call the "field") in João Pessoa. It was super sad to say goodbye to all of my friends that I made along the way, but I already made a Facebook post about them so I don't have to talk about that here. When we arrived here, we were immediately met by our mission president, who is in charge for the safety and obedience of all of the missionaries in João Pessoa. He is super nice but he's also a judge so he's a little more strict but it's all good. I then met my companion that I'm going to be with for 3 months. That's literally until Christmas, so crazy!! He will be my trainer until then. His nam...

Hey everyone! Okay so if you're wondering why you didn't get this email yesterday, I'm not dead and no I haven't gotten lazy enough to skip a week yet. We actually found out on Wednesday night that our p-day (preparation day and day that I can communicate with you guys) would be changed to Friday this week. I was super bummed out but now that it's Friday I'm kinda happy.  And about the title... by campus I mean the CTM (the spiritual prison that I've been in for almost 4 weeks now) and by Big Elders I mean that we are now the "oldest" missionaries here. This means that all of the new Elders come up to us for help finding classes, working the vending machines, and picking which foods to eat at lunch. It's kinda like high school all over again, but instead, every single week is a year and we are now seniors. I'll let you know how graduation goes! But seriously it feels like this. Even though I'm older than 99% of missionaries here, becaus...

Tudo Bem everyone!! I hope you are all doing amazing! This week has been so eventful and I can't wait to share all of my experiences. And yes, the title is correct! For the first time in over two weeks here at the CTM I was able to get out of this enclosure and experience some of the "real world". This got me so excited for my mission in João Pessoa and I'll talk more about this experience later.  This week I'm going to mix it up a little bit. Instead of starting with my highlights, I'm going to start with some spiritual thoughts that I've had this week. Hopefully it can set a nice mood for the rest of this email. SPIRITUAL THOUGHT Yesterday, there was a devotional (spiritual message) for all of the missionaries in the CTM. And for the first time since I've been here, this devotional was in English which meant it was much more spiritual for me. President Beck, the CTM President, spoke at this devotional and talked about the impact that one verse (eithe...

Hey everyone! Sorry for the click-bait title but I've been a missionary for about three and a half weeks and I already have so much to share! But I'll try and keep it short because I know, personally, long emails aren't that enjoyable and y'all are just here for the pictures. This is also the first email I'm sending out so no, I didn't forget about you.  Before I get into my experience, let's define some mission terms for all you who have no clue what I'm doing: - As a missionary, my purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. Basically, I'll be serving in the cities and neighboring areas of Joao Pessoa Brazil. I'll be walking the streets of Brazil, knocking on doors, sharing messages, sharing meals with families, and loving the people I'm serving.  - Currently, I am in the CTM. This is the Missionary Training Center and I'll be here for a total of 4 weeks. So only two and a half more to go! Like I was saying in the title, this place...