This Prison Feels Like A Temple

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 feels like a heavenly prison. Windows are barred shut, the property is lined with fences and security guards, and we have a pretty strict set of rules to follow. However, this building is also filled with so much love, growth, and happiness. Our days are packed with classes, spiritual messages (devotionals), and studies.

- Elder/Sister: This is the name that we refer to other missionaries as. For example, I'm Elder Ware. We are set apart as missionaries for our church, so this is our calling. And with this calling comes this title. This is going to be very helpful to know when reading my emails.

- Companion: Every missionary is paired with one other missionary and this is their "companion". Companions are created to keep one another safe, accountable, and obedient. My companion is Elder Barela, and I love him so much! He's from Idaho and works super hard but is also very fun to be around. Fun fact: he's only 5'5".

- District: A district is a collection of companionships. Just like companions are there to keep each other accountable, districts are there to keep companionships accountable. Last week, I got called as the district leader, which I don't really know why because there are so many other better leaders than me, but oh well. Basically, I get the job of making sure our district is happy, gets to places on time, and communicates well.

- Zone: collection of districts. That's all you really need to know.

Okay so sorry for all of that but let's get into some content! My first two weeks were online. That's why this is my first email. Because online training is very boring and not worth writing about.

Our flight to Brazil took off about a week and a half ago. Probably one of the sadness and happiest days in my life. Sadness because I had to say goodbye to my family for two years. I'm sorry for all of the people in the airport who had to watch me hobble around the airport with tears running down my face. But those tears were gone as soon as I saw my district, who had to sit through two weeks online with me. We had a nine and a half hour flight from Atlanta to Sao Paulo, and it was honestly a blast! I had a row to myself, and we had the whole back of the airplane for just missionaries. It was a dream! Watched some disney movies in portuguese and had such a nice sleep.

At the CTM so much as happened, so I've put together a little highlight reel for you guys:

- We have beans and rice for literally every meal of every day. Kind of expected not gonna lie. Sometimes they have some good chicken, but its just like America where the cafeteria food is kinda basic.

- Like I said earlier, I'm the district leader, so I'm in charge of getting to places on time. Well... last friday we got an email about attending a picture with the CTM President. It was a very formal email with a no late policy. Ummm, I kinda forgot to open the email, so sorry that there is one less picture this week.

- There are some ballers at the CTM. Every night, we have an hour to do "physical activity". My district loves basketball so we play basketball pretty much every single night. And these games are really good! We have a full ourdoor court with some decent basketball, but the Elders get competitive. Sometimes a little too competitive. On our first day here, I was shoved to the ground after I stole the ball because someone thought that I fouled them. And just yesterday, one of the Elders in my district broke his pinkie and spent the day in a Brazilian hospital.

- We've been learning a ton of local slang from the Brazilians here, and it's so funny to see people's reaction when we go around the CTM saying this slang. Some of it I can't repeat. They've also shown us some of their Brazilian dance moves which we love doing. We even got to teach them some American slang. For example, "cap", "facts", "fresh kicks", and we taught them how to griddy (dance move).

- My portuguese has actually gotten so much better these past couple days. I came into the CTM barely knowing how to ask basic get to know you questions. And now I'm able to teach ten minute lessons in all Portuguese with no notes. It's very rough and slow, but others are able to understand which is all that really matters. Still struggling to listen to others talk in Portuguese, but hopefully I'll get there next week.

- We've had two English fasts this week. One of them went really well and the other one wasn't so well. The first time, we took it very seriously and grew a lot in the language. The portuguese was coming to our brains with ease and I was able to talk to so many people. The power of prayer and fast is real!! But only if you put in the work, haha. The second fast we kinda got lazy and started adding -o to the end of every word. "Passo o Basketballo". This wasn't as good of an experience but it's something to learn from.

Something that I've grown to live by here at the CTM, and as a missionary in general, is the phrase, "Find joy in thine afflictions". As a missionary, I face, and will face, many "afflictions". I currently have the challenging tasks of waking up at 6:30am every morning, attending 6 hours of classes, and using a Samsung phone! As I move forward, I'll be faced with doors slammed in my face, muggers, insanely hot climates, and much more. Plus I've been pretty sick this past week with a cold. So much coughing and running nose. But keeping a postive attitude is everything. In the Book of Mormon, it talks about the story of Ammon. In Alma 17: 29 it says, "Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen with him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king." In this story, there are people who are scattering the flocks of a king. This king has servants who are in charge of watching the flocks, and if any of the flocks are scattered, the king will kill them. Ammon is helping to watch the flocks and finds joy in gathering the flocks, though risking his life. Just like Ammon, we need to find joy in our trials. God puts these trials and afflictions in our lives because he knows that we can overcome them.These afflictions can and should be used for growth in our lives. As we keep a positive attitude through the thick and thin, our lives will be so much better and we will develop so much more faith!

This is soooo long, sorry guys, Don't feel bad if you didn't read all of it. If you want to talk, you can email me with this email. I can read any email throughout the week but I can't respond until Thursdays.

Now time for the pictures!

1) some people at the airport in Atlanta took a picture of us. Most of our district is here.

2) this is a picture I took out of our window. We have crazy sunsets here! It's amazing!

3) our district saying goodbye to our favorite Brazilian friend (in the middle). We signed his flag for him.

4) we learned about the body parts in portuguese and drew this fine picture.

5) we had the opportunity to go to the temple today! Such a great experience! I'm so grateful for the temple. But what I'm not grateful for is the driving. I nearly thought that we were going to die several times on that 2 hour bus ride to the temple!

6) this was probably our best meal yet! Classic beans and rice but the grilled chicken and the potatoes were actually amazing! Still doesn't compare to mom's cooking though.

7) a view out of our window that you can actually see.