Week 16

Hey Everyone!



Yes, this week marks 4 months in Brazil! and 5 and a half on the mission! Looking back it's passed by fast, but at the same time it feels like it's been forever!

Mom, the mission secretary told Elder Agnelli that my packages arrived safe and sound, so I should get them on Wednesday, which is transfers.

Speaking of transfers, we will find out what will happen latertonight. I'll be excited to be transfered, but at the same time it'll be tough because we have several people that we've been working with a lot, and I'll be sad to leave them.

This week we had a visitor at church! It wasn't someone we've been teaching or one of the many people we invited. He's the spouse of one of the sisters in our branch. But we're teaching him tonight so we've got high hopes! So far 100% of the people who have come to church have been baptized, so the odds are good!

Times up, but just to sum up: I'm doing ok. Safe, happy, a little sunburnt, and exactly where I need to be!



Love, Elder Carr

Week 15

Hey everyone!



Summer here is getting started! The heat isn't half as bad as I imagined, but combined with humidity it's hard to breathe. It feels like a sauna outside, and it practically is because the ground steams after it rains. We had almost a whole week with a lot of heat and no rain (which is strange).  Then on Thursday we were walking to an appointment, and it went from sunny to cloudy in a matter of seconds with huge gusts of wind. Elder Agnelli and I looked at each other and then turned and started to run for cover. The nearest place was nearly 400 yards away and we weren't going to make it. A man shouted out to us and we literally jumped into his garage just as it started to pour. Sunny to gale-force winds and pouring rain in a matter of seconds. This same scenario happened later that day. It's too windy to use an umbrella, so basically we have to be constantly on the lookout for places to go if it starts raining in the next 10 seconds. But every time that this happens we are able to teach someone who is also hiding from the rain, so that's a plus!



This transfer has flown by! Next week on Wednesday is transfers so I don't know yet where I'll be for Christmas. I've really enjoyed living with another set of missionaries, but I'd love to experience more that just Itapetininga. I guess everyone here has a really thick "redneck" accent and I'm scared that if I stay here any longer I'll start pick up on incorrect Portuguese.



This week was good as far as lessons go. We've been teaching 25-30 lessons a week. But, as always, people have agency and choose not to keep commitments and not to go to church. President sent out a letter to the whole mission that said that if we don't have visitors at church, we should go out on the street and invite people to come to church during the gospel principles class. Elder Agnelli and I were excited to do this, but to our surprise, there was a large gay parade/festival in the plaza in front of the church. We decided that two guys with matching outfits wouldn't come across very well there. But we'll keep working hard and praying that we can find the people here who the Lord has prepared!



See you guys soon!



Love, Elder Carr

Sufficient Faith to Leave Your Boat

     For the last several weeks in my personal scripture study, I have been studying the life of our Lord an Savior, Jesus Christ.  While Christ is and always will be our greatest example in life, I have recently gained a greater appreciation for the example of the apostle Peter. 

     Peter was called to be an apostle while he was fishing.  Upon hearing the Lord's promise to make him a "fisher of men," he "forsook all," the load of fish they had just brought in, his boat, his business, and his house, to follow Christ.

     Later, when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water towards their boat, Peter called to Christ saying, "Lord...bid me to come unto thee on the water."  Peter left the boat relying only on his faith in Christ.

     My favorite example given by Peter is one that I recently encountered in John 21:7.  Peter, upon recognizing the resurrected Savior walking on the shore, leapt from his boat and swam to shore.

     In all three of these instances, we see a willing and faithful disciple leave his boat in order to be closer to the Savior.  While this analogy can be applied to numerous situations, I'd like to compare it to missionary work.  How often are we, as members of the church, content to sit in our "boats" while many of the people around us are in the water struggling to stay afloat?  We need to not only have the faith, but also be willing and eager as was Peter, to leave our comfort zones and insignificant worries in order to help those who are spiritually drowning.  That doesn't mean we will be fearless or even that we will succeed.  Again we look to Peter.  He didn't have the faith to walk on water, but because he exercised the faith that he did have and trusted in the Lord, he was okay, and as a result, his own faith was strengthened.  When questioned by the Savior if he loved Him, Peter answered saying, "Yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee."  In reply, Christ declared, "Feed my sheep."  What better way to care for lost sheep than to bring them to the Good Shepherd himself?  If we can exercise our faith by leaving our "boats," our faith will be strengthened, and "if it so be that you ... bring save it be one soul unto [Christ], how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of [God]."

Week 14

Hey everyone!

Well, as of tomorrow (Dec. 3), I've been out for 5 months! In some ways it's felt longer than that, but looking back it's hard to believe!

Last week we had a multi-zone conference (my 3rd so far) and I got a stack of letters, so thank you! I don't think I've told you guys about conferences and all yet, so here you go: Every Tuesday morning we wake up early and take a 45 min bus ride to Tatui to our district/zone meeting, where we discuss the missionary work in the area, address difficulties, and do practices. When that's over, we hurry and catch another bus back to Itapetininga in time for lunch. Multi-zone conferences are usually every 3 months and are in Sorocaba, about an hour bus ride. About half the mission is there, we get to hear from President and Sister Martins. Generally, we receive instruction, important news, and any changes to the mission that have happened, like the fact that we are no longer allowed to use backpacks :(   I was anticipating that, and so I've been observing what people use here, and I have yet to see a male with a side bag, aka a purse. But when our leaders, in this case the First Presidency, ask us to do something, we do it! Without complaining! So yes, I bought myself a man purse. I have yet to use in on my shoulder yet, my dignity requires that i carry it in my hand.

Maybe I forgot to tell you guys: yes, it is Christmas here. The day after Halloween the mall was fully decorated and had a big Christmas tree in front. I have yet to hear a Christmas song in Portuguese however, everything that is played in public is in English.

As far as teaching, this week was difficult. We taught a ton and found a bunch of new investigators, but almost every single one of our return appointments has fallen through. On Friday, after a long day of disappointments, Elder Agnelli and I started to make our way back to our house.  We got there a little early, and while it would've been easy to justify going in and collapsing on the couch, we decided to try to talk to some people near our house. This alone is difficult because the neighborhoods close by are pretty nice and don't have many people in the streets at 8:30 at night. But we went, and ended up finding the best family and teaching the best lesson I've had so far on my mission. I've got high hopes for them! The blessings we receive when we are working hard!

Well, thats all I've got for now, See you all soon


Ate mais!

Elder Carr

Week 13

Happy Dia de Ação de Graças!

Thanksgiving exists here but isn't celebrated. You can buy turkey, but I haven't seen any cranberries :(

This week was pretty normal. We taught a lot of lessons and found a lot of new investigators, but again, none of them came to church this week. So far, every one that comes to church has been baptized, so I guess that's good!

This week has been unusually cold. It got really hot on Wednesday or Thursday, and it POURED. I don't know if the rain here is different or if it's because I never walked around in the rain very much in the states, but it sure does rain hard here! We didn't bring umbrellas that day because it started out so hot and not a cloud in the sky. The people who we had appointments with that night were shocked when they opened their doors to find two missionaries soaking wet, standing in the pouring rain. On the plus side, everyone who was home let us in! To sum it all up: It rains enough here to walk outside and call it baptism by immersion.

My portuguese is improving "rapido de mais"! Seeing as this email is the only thing I do in English the entire week, that's not too suprising! I understand most everything that's said, and I can be understood when I speak. I've been told that I don't have much of an accent, and that the only way they can tell I'm not Brazilian is wrong sentence structure and verb conjugations. So I still have a lot of room to improve, but I'm not totally lost now!

As far as receiving packages and letters before Christmas, we have a multizone conference this week, and we'll have another conference on or near Christmas (from what I've heard). Don't worry Mom, I won't open my Christmas box before Christmas, but just think, if I do, you won't even know! haha just pushing your buttons :)

Love you guys and I'll see you soon!

Ate mais!

Elder Carr


P.S. If nothing else, the gospel is true because of the fact that it is impossible to teach the First Vision without being interrupted. Car alarms go off, dogs begin to bark, cell phones ring, and fireworks explode almost every single time. The adversary tries his best to distract people from feeling the Holy Ghost because he knows that the restoration of Christ's church and the authority of God is knowledge that leads to true conversion.

Week 12

Hey everyone!

 

So to answer some of your questions Mom:

 

No, nobody brought guitars on the mission, but lots of Elders buy them while theyre here. Right now we have 3 in our house, I inherited one from my zone leader, Elder Hendrixson. There isn't a whole lot of time to play, mostly just on P Day afternoons.

Yes, we are required to wear our suits to church. Not my favorite thing, but we all receive blessings when we're obediant!

Yes, the water here is generally safe to drink, and I drink lots of water, usually mixed with some juice packets.

And you don't have to worry about me using sunscreen, all of the sisters in the branch ask me if I've been using suncreen, and tell me that my face is burnt. They're just not used to seeing someone as white as me when it's hot and sunny outside. My face is just permanently a little red and will probably be worse after 2 years. But I use sunscreen every day just so iIcan tell them, "yes irm�i have been using sunscreen. In fact, I put some on this morning." The answer is always "But Elder Carr, your face is so red!"

 

The biggest news of this week is that Vanessa and Sheila were baptized! It was amazing to be able to help them take this step in their lives that will bring them closer to the Savior and will have an impact on them not only for this life and for the next, but also the lives of their children. The impact of their baptisms is one that is infinite when they continue on the path that they started this Saturday.

 

We have a couple of families that we have been teaching, but almost all of our appointments fell through this week, so it's back to finding new people to teach and helping those who we have already taught keep commitments.

 

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

 

Ate mais!

Elder Carr

 

 

Why Am I Here?

*asked that this excerpt from his mission journal be posted to the blog*

Why Am I Here?

 

        The week or so after I heard about the death of Elder Taylor Ward were some of the hardest days I've had on my mission so far. Not because of his death; the Lord comforted me and my sadness of hearing the loss of one of my friends was brief, but because the reality of the sacrifice I was making hit me. I began to ask myself "Why in the world am I even here?" I needed to tell my Mom I loved her. I needed to spend one more evening working in the yard or garage with my Dad, learning as much as I could from his knowledge and wisdom. I needed to thank my older brother and sister for the examples and friends they were to me. I needed to hug my little sisters. Suddenly I found myself thinking the sacrifice that I was making was too much; that it wasn't worth it.

       Then the thought came to me of who is asking this sacrifice of me. This call to serve a mission came from a loving Heavenly Father who knows and wants what is best for me. He already sent another one of His sons to take upon Himself the sins and pains of the entire world and then lay down His life so that all might live again. The sacrifice being asked of me is a minutely small portion of what was asked of Christ. This being so, why should I , also being a son of God, not be asked to sacrifice time, money, or even the chance to see some or all of my family or friends again in this life, in order to bring a few souls back to the kingdom of God?

     So now, whenever something is hard or I feel like I can't go any further, I remember why I am here and He who sent me. Then I say to myself "If (insert trial here i.e. walk on a dirt road for several hours in what feels like a sauna) is what I have been asked to do so that (Insert persons name here) can return to the presence of God with his/her family, then I WILL DO IT"

Week 11

Hey Everyone!

This week is the last of my second transfer here in Itapetininga, and I'll find out tonight if I'll be staying or if I'll be transferred somewhere else.

This week was both easy and difficult. Difficult in that I found out that my mom has cancer, but easy in that I felt immensely comforted and uplifted. I found it easy to work hard when I was tired because I suddenly had a real reason not to be here. But as much as I wanted to be back home helping my family, I know that this is where I need to be right now; this is where I am doing the most good. In D&C section 100 it says (I'm paraphrasing because I only know it in portuguese) (this is Christ speaking to Joseph Smith when he was away from his family and worried about them) "You families are well, they can be found in my hands" I know that this promise applies to me and that my family is in the care of the Lord.

This weekend, Vanessa and Kelly accepted baptisimal dates and they went to church!

A note about the culture of Brazil: There are tons of holidays. And if a holiday happens to fall within a day or two of another, then it turns into an extended holiday. And if a holiday happens to fall on a weekend, and therefore not giving extra days off work, the weeked turns into a 3 or 4 day weekend. It's been one of the weekends where last week was memorial day, and tomorrow is the day Itapetininga was founded, so it's just been one big holiday. I'm not complaining though, Holidays mean that we get churrasco (Brazilian BBQ that rivals my dad's tritip) and everyone is at home with their families. Unfortunately, that also means that most everyone is drunk too. Again, I'm not complaining, because when people are drunk, they always recognize us as servants of God and they are happy to give us their address and set up an appointment to return! So holidays are a blessing!

I love it here and I know that this is exactly where I need to be right now. I love that am I able to be an instrument in the hands of God in serving His children here.

Ate mais!

Elder Carr

Week 10

Hey everyone!

This week was kinda tough. We weren't able to teach many lessons, and we didn't have anyone in church, despite all of our efforts this week. And we don't have any investigators progressing. But there's good weeks and weeks that aren't so great, and I think that Satan tries to discourage missionaries right before something great is going to happen, so we'll keep our chins up, work hard, and expect an amazing week ahead of us!

 

An upside of this week is that our branch has been very helpful and we've done several splits with various members. This allows us to visit more people as well as gives our investigators the chance to talk to someone from the church that isn't a missionary and hear their testimony as well.

 

Funny Experience in Learning Portuguese: I was offering one of our recent converts, Joao, a cookie that was chocolate and cherry flavored, which in portuguese is "chocolate e cereja". However, I asked him if he wanted a "chocolate e cerveja" cookie, which being translated is "chocolate and beer".

 

Next week on Wednesday (november 6th) is transfers. It's likely that either Elder Ahmed or I will be transferred, but nothing is for sure. We find out next Monday, but probably not before Preparation Day is over, so you'll probably be finding out the next Monday.

Nobody here knows whats wrong with my camera, but I'll try to take it to a tech service store and get that sorted out today, so I can (hopefully) send pictures next week.

Week 9

Tudo bem!

 

Its been another pretty normal week here in Itapetininga! It's starting to get hotter, which is a curse and a blessing at the same time. It's tough to be wearing a shirt and tie and pants in heat and humidity all day, but on the upside, we can basically knock on any door in the city and ask for a cup of water and they'll give it to us. Who can turn down two American kids that look like they just got out of a swimming pool? They usually ask what in the world we're doing outside in the heat of the day and we explain that we're messengers of God and that we're here to share with them the plan that God has for us so that we can return to live with Him and with our family forever. Then we ask if we can come in and explain more. So the heat is a blessing for sure. And its only the beginning of spring!

 

I've also learned the blessings of goals. I've never liked goals much, or making goals, or anything of the sort. But here on the mission you have to make goals for everything. This transfer we wanted to have 6 baptisms, and we based that goal off of the 6 baptismal dates that we had marked. However, all 6 of those dates fell through. But, the Lord provided, and now we have six more dates marked! I still don't like making goals, but now I know that they are important and that we are blessed for making them.

You asked about my Christmas wishlist.  Ties are always good, but no red or pink; it just accentuates my pink face and then everyone knows that I'm American and asks me what time it is just to hear my accent. I respond by saying 3 pm, next to the cofesa supermarket. They give me a confused look and I respond by saying that that is what time church starts.

I got letters on Sunday!  President says that if I keep getting so many letters he's going to have to start charging me because its hurting his gas mileage, so thank you!

And I met one of Brother Ferreira's mission companions! Brother Murad.

Week 8

Hey everybody!

 

I can't believe that the baby of our family is already 15!

 

The spider drop would be much more terrifying here, because the paper one that Dad cuts out is the same size as real ones here.

 

The Carr household must be a happy one with BYU winning all these games!

 

In answer to some of your questions: We eat late every night, if at all. We have planning when we get home, and if we had a late lesson, there isn't time to make any food. My usual dinner is ramen noodles and hot dogs. You're probably not surprised.

 

We get mail on transfer days and whenever president is out here, so usually twice a month.

 

Nothing too exciting this week, just lots and lots of walking. We went to a part of town that we've never been to to contact some old investigators and maybe find some new ones. We taught a couple lessons up there that went really well and we have return appointments this week, so hopefully they hold up. That's something that I've noticed here, is that most everyone will talk to you and give you an address and a time to stop by, then about half of those people are home, and then about half of those people drop off the face of the earth and are never to be found again. But for the other half, we continue teaching them, which has been going great! I can pretty much teach the first lesson without any problems or forgotten words.

 

A small miracle that happened this week:

We received a reference from the other elders here, and we went to go contact them a couple nights ago. We were looking for house number 10, but it didn't exist. We figured that the people had given the missionaries a random address, which tends to happen, but decided to knock on some doors and ask if they knew the people we were looking for. It was nighttime, so the first couple houses didn't answer, but finally one did, and it turned out to be the lady that had talked to the other missionaries and given them the address. It was actually number 110 that she lived in, and she just happened to be visiting her daughters house, which was the one that we knocked on! So we taught them all!

 

Ate mais!

 

Elder Carr

Week 7

Oi Família e Amigos!

Ok, so this part is from last week and i just forgot to include it: I gave my first on the spot Sacrament Meeting talk (yes, in portuguese!). I assume I was understandable, because it was referenced 4 other times in that meeting. Or everyone just felt bad for the poor american kid on the stand.

Conference was a little sad for me because it was all in portuguese and it is so much harder to understand someone when you're just hearing a voice. So basically I understood what the talks were about, but beyond that, I was just struggling to keep up. But I'm sure it was great! The best part about conference was that one of our recent converts, Joao, attended all 5 sessions! We didnt have to pick him up or anything. And in between sessions he came out and taught with us and he did great. He's a natural missionary!

Right now we're teaching the family of José Francisco. He and his wife have three daughters who all have small children as well. They all live on the same street so when we teach they all come over. It's kind of difficult to teach to the needs of all those people, but it's great to see them all together learning and praying as a family.

A typical day consists of waking up at 630, exercising until 7, then personal, companionship, training, and laguage study until noon, then lunch, then missionary work until 9 pm! Most of that time is scheduled appointments, and times that arent scheduled or when appointments fall through, we contact references, old investigators, or inactive members. It's so good to hear from you! Love you all! Remember to pray and read your scriptures!

Love, Elder Carr

Week 6: In Brazil

Elder Ahmed and I didn't get transferred! I'm glad because that means that we get to continue working with our investigators and see them grow and progress. Elders Hendrixon and J. Almeida were transferred to a different area and we have 2 new Elders living with us. Both Elder Bezerra and Elder Oliveira are Brazilian and Elder Oliveira is fresh out of the CTM.

 

We will be watching the sessions of conference at the chapel this week. It's a great opportunity, because we always tell investigators that we have a living prophet, and this week, if they come to church, they'll get to hear from him!

 

It's technically spring here, but it's been pretty cold the last couple days. But missionaries here like to say that the more you walk in the rain here, the more beautiful your wife will be. While this is true, there are blesings that we receive right now! People are much more willing to let you in, and I guess we walked enough in the rain this week because we have 7 investigators with baptismal dates! See you!

 

Love, Elder Carr

Below are excerpts from Jason's letters to his parents.  He has more time to include details when he writes letters.: 

 

My mission president, President Martins, is a black Brazilian.  He has a huge testimony because he joined the church back before blacks could hold the priesthood, but he knew the church was true.  His dad was the first black South American to hold the priesthood, and President Martins helped translate the Book of Mormon from English to Portuguese.  Actually, "revise" would be a better word since a translation existed, but it was flawed, and the current one is the one he worked on.

 

It is kind of tough for our investigators to get to church because our church building is being reformed, so for the time being we are meeting in the other branch's building which is not in our area.  Therefore, it is kind of  a long walk for lots of our investigators.

 

The food here is amazing!  Rice and beans every meal, and they are both usually flavored along with awesome meat and vegetables.  The "awesome" in that sentence is not applied to the vegetables ... I haven't changed that much.  :)  I haven't seen a whole lot of fruit yet, but that's because it is still winter here. 

 

It was tough to hear about Taylor's death.  I can't believe that I was just talking to him at the MTC.  The last thing I said to him was "Serve well, work hard, and God be with you 'til we meet again!"  That's something that I said to all of my friends at the MTC when I said goodbye to them.  At the time, I didn't know the significance of what I was saying, but his death changes nothing.  I'm certain he is doing just that on the other side of the veil.

 

This incident has added so much meaning to the plan of salvation and to why I am here.  I left my family for two years so that people here could be with their families forever.  That being said, I am so grateful that our family has been sealed together for eternity.  Since the beginning of my mission I have pled with Heavenly Father to keep my family safe physically and spiritually while I am gone.  I will continue to pray that same prayer, but I know that should Heavenly Father call one of us back to His presence earlier than expected, we will all be together again, but this time for eternity. 

 

A cool experience in regards to prayer is one from my companion, but it involved me.  He found out that he would be 1) a district leader, 2) training an American companion (me), and 3) opening an area all in the same transfer.  His former companion remarked on day that Elder Ahmed's prayers had been unusually long since receiving this news.  He had no idea what we would be doing our first week or what we would find when we got here, so he turned to Heavenly Father.  Upon arriving in Itapetininga, we had a blank area book, no investigators, and didn't know a single member, or even where a single member lived.  However, Heavenly Father provided.  We were unloading our bags form the van, and a lady walking down the street approached us and told us that she had taken the discussions in the past and invited us to teach her that night!  Later that day we were talking to a lady on the street, and she was uninterested in hearing what we had to say, but told us that she had seen missionaries at the house across the street from her and that they might want to hear our message.  So we went across the street and met Joao who is now getting baptized this Saturday!  So even though we may feel as if we're "wandering in the dark" or rather "lost in a foreign country where we don't know the language" the Lord will provide a way for His plan to happen.

Week 5 in Brazil: Pictures

Week 4 In Brazil

Oi Familia!

 

My heart and prayers go out to the Ward family. It's hard to believe that only a few weeks ago I was talking to Elder Ward in the MTC laundry room. I distinctly remember being impressed at how much he had grown and I told my companion, Elder Andersen, that Taylor was going to be a powerful missionary. I'm certain that is exactly what he is doing right now. His enthusiasm  and testimony will continue to be examples to me. Honestly, I am just at a loss for words right now. God be with you till we meet again Taylor.

Everything else that I have to say now seems frivolous, but I'll try to answer your questions.

Pictures: It turns out that my SD card picked up a virus at the MTC (of all places!) and the computers here have been rejecting any attempt to send pictures because of security settings, but I had someone clean my card so hopefully they'll work this week.

The zone leaders meeting last week got cancelled, but President Martins happened to be giving a training in our chapel yesterday and he left my letters and package with the branch president, so I was able to get them yesterday! On my actual birthday, Elder Ahmed treated me to Subway for lunch and when we came home that night, the other set of elders surprised me with some homemade chocolate chip cookies, which don't really exist here. I'll try to attach some pictures now, but just know that I know that the plan of salvation really is a plan of happiness, and that I know that families can be sealed together for eternity. That is why I am here!

Love, Elder Carr

 

 

Week 3 In Brazil

Another week here in Brazil!

This week was full of walking and teaching. I've never walked so much in my life. Because we showed up here with next to no investigators, our teaching pool was kind of small, but this week we put in a lot of work and were blessed with 27 new investigators! We have 2 with baptismal dates set that are solid, and several more people that are progressing, but for the most part we just teach the first lesson, the restoration. We've never knocked doors/ tracked, it has been all old investigators or random people that we talk to. Well, I guess not random, they've been prepared to hear the gospel!

 

The other set of missionaries that live with us are the zone leaders, Elders Hendrixson and Almeida. They cover the west half of the city and we have the east.

 

This week was my first testimony meeting in Brazil! It was pretty similar to testimony meeting in the states, except for it was all in Portuguese. And I bore my testimony in Portuguese! I hope they understood any of it! For the most part, I can follow a conversation, but I feel like a caveman whenever I speak. But I attempt to speak anyways, and for the most part people understand. As always Elder Ahmed has been helping a lot. I'll try to send pictures again, but no guarantees. For sure next week though.

I didn't get the package or letters yet because nobody has been out to Sao Paulo yet, because it's a 3+ hr bus ride. But the Zone Leaders are going out on the 4th this week so I should get it then.

Love you lots!

Elder Carr

Week 2 in Brazil!

Well, it turns out that I spoke too soon in my last email, because in less than 24 hours it went from wearing a sweater under our suits to dripping with sweat in our short sleeve shirts. But other than that things are good!

A little more about Elder Ahmed (my companion): He was a Catholic growing up and went to church every week. He was converted when he was 13, and he has an awesome testimony and tons of gospel knowledge. His experience/conversion gives him a unique perspective that he shares with the people that we teach. He's been super helpful at helping me learn portuguese as well.

Towards the end of this last week I had been feeling like my portuguese was going nowhere. I still couldn't understand much, let alone say what I was thinking. However, I realized while I was sitting in church yesterday how much I really did understand, especially compared to how lost I was the week before. So I'm improving, slowly but steadily.

The area authorities have said that missionaries are not allowed to play soccer here, so yeah, that's all I have to say about that. We follow the rules because we know that we will receive blessings for being obedient.

And we have already seen these blessings!  Because we are opening this area, we had no one to teach, and we didn't know anyone here. As we were unloading our bags, a lady approached us, and it turns out that the previous missionaries had been teaching her. This has happened multiple times, and now we have lessons scheduled for the entire day!

The branch here is great and we have had great lunches every day. Beans and rice with every meal, with some type of meat, and sometimes a type of pasta or casserole and vegetables - which I love so much. But seriously, I'm usually so hungry that even vegetables taste absolutely delicious.

All in all, everything is good in brazil!

Week 1 IN BRAZIL

Ok, so I had some trouble logging on, so I don't have much time. We got stuck in a holding pattern outside of Atlanta and we were going to have to land somewhere else to refuel, but with the prayers of 20 something missionaries on board we were able to land and rush to our connecting flight to Brazil. It was long, but I was able to sleep for most of it. I was looking out the window as we came into Sao Paulo, and I thought wow, thats pretty big. Turns out what I was looking at was just a suburb of the city. The plane turned, and even from thousands of feet in the air, I couldn't see the other side! Sao Paulo is HUGE! Four other missionaries and I waited in the airport for a couple hours while the church travel people helped the other missionaries that were on the flight catch connecting flights to their missions. Then the 5 of us got in a van and drove to the mission office to drop off luggage and then we went to have lunch with President and Sister Martins. After that the other elders and I went back to the mission office where we would sleep, but first we went out contacting with the office missionaries and I taught (mostly listened, with the occasional testimony) my first lesson! I didn't understand most of it, but it was exciting nonetheless.

 

I was assigned to serve in Itepetininga (population ~ 150,000, or so I've been told) with Elder Ahmed. There are 2 branches here and we live with the other set of missionaries in an apartment. Elder Ahmed is from NYC has been out from a year and six or seven months, and he's awesome. He's trained several times before, and he was a zone leader for a long time until this transfer. He's fluent in english and spanish and now, portuguese. Most people we meet think he is from brazil because he speaks so well. Elder Ahmed and I are assigned to the eastern half of the city. We live in the "centro" which is a relatively nice part of town, but many of the neighborhoods in our area could be described as "humble". Which is great! Especially because we are opening this area, so we had no one to teach. Had. Now we have our planners filled for days in advance with scheduled appointments. It's awesome! The people here are, for the most part, very friendly and willing to at least let us in and talk to us.

 

Portuegese is coming along. I can understand most anything gospel related if people talk slow, and I can follow normal conversations, but not quite understand everything. I've been told I speak fairly well, but I know that I probably sound like a caveman, with simple sentences and unconjugated verbs. But I'm learning fast and Elder Ahmed is super helpful.

Oh, one last thing, it is freezing cold here. Like, I can see my breath. In Brazil! and it's windy. So I just wear my suit most days, and Elder Hendrixson lent me a sweater to wear at night time. You don't need to send me any, because by the time they get here it will be blazing hot. I'll probably buy one today since it's PDay. But I'm totally fine, so don't worry!

And the food is absolutely amazing! I've loved everything I've had so far.

Ate mais!

Love,

Elder Carr

Week 5: IM GOING TO BRAZIL!!!

Well, needless to say, this has been quite the week!

 

First and foremost, I got my visa and I leave for Brazil on Monday morning! I'll get to that later though.

Last Friday we got to go and clean the Provo temple. It is undergoing some major renovations (which look amazing) and there was a lot of dust everywhere from the construction, so most of my district was dusting and cleaning. My job was to scan in the contractors, which I did for 3.5 hours. In any other situation that would've bored me out of my mind, but I was able to read and FINISH the Book of Mormon while I was there. To understate it a little bit: it was awesome.

Then on Saturday we skyped with people in Brazil! Elder Andersen and I got to talk with some guys that work in an institute building in Sao Paulo. It was hard to understand, but I'm going to blame that on the computer and microphones; I mean, come on, its hard to understand english on skype sometimes! But it definitely gave me a wake up call! We taught them the restoration and plan of salvation and then got to hear a little bit about what their missions were like. Overall it was a great experience!

Sunday was normal, and Monday was far from that, because I got my Visa!

Elder Andersen and I were teaching one of our progressive investigators and just as we were asking him to be baptized, my entire district burst into the room yelling about how the travel office just called in on the intercom in the classroom asking for me to come down. We finished our lesson and then ran down to the travel office where one of the workers nonchalantly handed me a packet with "Travel Intinerary" written on the front! So here's the scoop:

I leave the MTC at 8:45 Monday morning and take the Frontrunner to SLC, where I fly to ATL at 1:55. Then at 9:55 (after a 2 hr layover) I fly to BRAZIL! I'll get there at 8:25 am on the 13th! I'm buying a calling card today and I'll be able to make a brief phone call at the airport. I don't know which one or anything, so I guess just stay by the phone all day? I'll try the home phone and then I'll call mom's cell. If you want me to do it differently, email back and I'll check later today. I'll let you know during that call an address to send stuff to, although it will probably just be the mission home.

Once I'm in Brazil, I will go to the mission home and then go straight to the mission field. No one else go there visa, but I was talking to an Elder in the lunch line and he is on the same flight, so there will be at least one other elder there (Plus Sister Yankura who got her visa last week).

Mom, to answer some of your questions:

 

My district's reassignments just got here and I have to go get the mail, so I have to go, but I'll get back on later today. If you have mmore questions let me know soon!

 

 

Week 4: MTC

Oi minha familia!

I got your package with the pictures and candy yesterday!

This week was, once again, a typical week in the MTC. We woke up, went to breakfast where I have a chocolate donut, a cinnamon roll, a glass of chocolate milk and a glass of pink lemonade (every day).
Then we go study. I finished 4 Nephi yesterday and should be done with the entire Book of Mormon within the next few days. Personal scripture study is easily my favorite part of the day; yes, even more than gym time. It is uplifting and refreshing every day without fail.
Then we have class until lunch. During this time we usually teach one of our "investigators", have a lesson on how to be a missionary (for example, yesterday was about teaching people, not lessons), and,  of course, Portuguese.
Then lunch and pick up mail, and then TALL (learning Portuguese on the computer/ try to stay awake). Then class again with our other teacher.
Then dinner and back to class for personal study time, and after that is gym time, where we dominate on the volleyball court (more or less). After gym is more study time until 930 when we go back to the residence.

The two things that weren't typical this week happened yesterday:

1) The entire district spoke Portuguese all day. It was awesome. And a lot quieter.

2) Sister Yankura got her visa! She'll be finishing out the last week and a half here and then head to Brazil on the 12th. Four other missionaries in our zone from "younger" districts got their visas earlier this week as well. However, I'm not getting my hopes up, the district above us all got reassigned (Riverside CA, a bunch of New Hampshire, Colorado, and New York). If no visa comes, I'll get my reassignment on Friday (a week from today).

As far as Portuguese goes, I feel as if I've hit a wall with my learning. I just can't wait until I get to Brazil and I am forced to learn. But, until then, I'll continue to work my hardest!

Oh, cool little fact: Elder Ward, who I spoke with in my farewell, is serving in Elder Andersen's (my companion) stake/ward in Idaho, and is having dinner at his house this week!

Sorry this is short, but next week will be more exciting. Here's a preview: Cleaning the temple, Skyping people in brazil, hosting (showing the new missionaries around), and reassignments. A lot to look forward to! Ate mais!

Love, Elder Carr

 

 

 

 

Week 3: MTC Halfway Done!

Oi!

Well we officially passed the halfway mark of our MTC stay this week! The days don't seem any shorter, but looking back, the weeks are going by fast. The rumor here is that once you pass halfway, you're stuck here for the whole 6 weeks, even if your visa comes. No visas have come this week though, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

To answer some of Mom's questions:

Yes, it does seem odd to be in one place so much. Every now and then we'll be up in one of the top floors of a taller building and get a glimpse of the outside world.

The temple is closed for renovations/construction from July 1st to August 11th. So we don't get to go at all. During our alotted temple time, we go and walk around the grounds outside of it. However, my district has been assigned to go and clean the temple next week so we might get a chance to go inside.

This week hasn't been very eventful, so I will scrounge up some things to write about.

Last Sunday I was assigned to be the District Leader for our district. Basically, this means that I conduct our class meetings, attend a bunch of extra meetings on Sunday, and pick up the mail for our district.

Also last Sunday, the Branch President read a portion of my weekly letter to him over the pulpit. When we first got to the MTC he challenged us to read the entire Book of Mormon while we are here. At first, it was challenging to balance that with class studies, teaching people, and learning Portuguese. However its gotten much easier as I've gotten more comfortable here. I was going to include my letter here, but the MTC computers are severely resticted and don't allow copying and pasting (or spell check, as you can probably see). Basically, I expressed my regret for not reading the Book of Mormon very much and that I was thankful for this opportunity to increase my testimony in that book, especially because I'll be teaching it to other people.

 

Portuguese has been coming along quite well. For a while, I felt like I hadn't been progressing and it was kind of discouraging. Then two days ago I was asked to read my summary of lesson 3 to the class. However, I had done it earlier in the week before our teachers had made the rule that we could only speak in Portuguese in the classroom. So I translated my paper on the spot! I was so surprised and it was a nice to see that I had been learning a lot, it just didn't feel like it. Although, we just learned several new tenses yesterday, so now I have a new challenge. Last friday night, we had TRC (Idk what that stands for) where we go from room to room talking to RM's from Brazil or to native Brazilians that live in Provo (there's a lot more than you would expect) about our lessons and just talk with them. It's been awesome and I've been surprised at how much of it I am able to understand. Saying what I'm thinking is a whole different story though. I can convey basic principles fairly well, but it is frustrating to not be able to say what I want to say, how I want to say it. I'm forced to speak in simple sentences that get the meaning across just fine, but lack the ideas and emotions that I am trying to convey. But I guess it's the basic principles that people are going to need to hear, not necessarily my thoughts and emotions.

That's all the news that I have for now, ate mais!

Love, Elder Carr

Week 2: Email

Hey Family and Friends!

It's been another awesome and long week here at the MTC! (missionary training center) Not to get your hopes up, but one of the districts that came in last week had 3 Elders get their visas! That being said, two of them went through the Houston consulate and the other went through San Fran. No one who went through LA has gotten theirs yet.

This week has been a whole lot of the same stuff. Just lots of studying and class, mixed with cannon center food 3 times a day. Portuguese is coming along; we teach a lesson to one of our "investigators" at least once a day, entirely in Portuguese! A couple days ago I only spoke Portuguese for the entire day! However, my vocabulary consists mainly of church related words, so thats about all I can talk about. If I needed someone to pass me a napkin I had to use hand gestures, or look it up in a dictionary.

Heres some cool things I learned about Portuguese.

1) Instead of CTR standing for "Choose The Right" it's "Conserve a Tua Rota" which means "keep your path." Coincidentally, I was reading in Alma 7 the day that I learned that and "Conserve a Tua Rota" was even cooler when I saw verse 19, which says "For I perceive that ye are in the path of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making His paths straight." Keep your path!

2) There is no word for "awkward" in Brazilian Portuguese. That means there's no reason to not open my mouth and talk to people about the gospel!

Our "investigator" "Amadeu" that I mentioned last week turned out to be our other teacher, so now I have two class sessions a day, one with Brother Durfee (from Arizona, served in Brasilia), and one with Brother Pinho (from Brasilia, served in Curitiba). I'll take some pictures with them this week so you can put a face to the name.

I've started to wear my glasses sometimes, and my district says that I look like Clark Kent/Superman. And in case that didn't make my head big enough, they also think that I slightly resemble Channing Tatum. I dont really see that one, but this is the 3rd time I've been told that. Apprently my head needed to be deflated, because I had a 'humbling' experience in the gym yesterday.

Story from gym time yesterday: None of the guys in my district like to go to the gym at gym time, so I went on splits with an elder from the other district in our zone that came in at the same time as us. He is built exactly like Cameron, and is apparently an awesome gymnist. I, having not run for months, ran some stairs with him after our workout. Not to be outdone, I pushed myself to keep up with him. Unfortunately, gym time was right after dinner, and I had eaten 2 plates of BBQ wings and fries. Fortunately, I made it to the garbage can, and didn't make a mess. Needless to say, I'm going to start running to try to get in better shape.

The blessing behind this story is that I was able to lift and run at all.

For those who don't know, last summer I dislocated my shoulder in a tubing incident, and I spent months rehabilitating it back to the point where I could lift weights again. Then in February, I attempted an unintelligent stunt (a backflip over a pylon and off a 10 ft wall into a sparsely filled foam pit) and I "taco-ed" and hurt my back really bad. Rarely a night went by that i didn't go to sleep with a sore and aching back. Lifting and running only made it worse. However, when I was set apart as a missionary my Stake President blessed me that my body would be strong and able and later, when my Dad gave me a father's blessing, he blessed me with the same thing. A couple days into my stay here at the MTC, I realized that my back didnt hurt as the day went on. I spent the next couple days testing it out, and it has yet to give me a single problem, even after handstand pushups! It has truely been a blessing for me.

Thank you for your letters and DearElders! And thanks Mom for the package! :) The poptarts have been my midnight snack (and by midnight I mean 10 o clock. but it sure feels like midnight by that time!) Oh, and thank you to the Riley family and their DearElder they sent me, we all had a good laugh at those missionary jokes.

Love, Elder Carr

P.S. You know that you're a missionary when you quote the movie "The Testaments" (which we watched on Sunday) as often as Remember the Titans is quoted in the Carr household!

Week 2:MTC

Week 1: MTC

Hey Family and Friends!

Oi! Como vai!? Thats about all the Portuguese I know... haha

I sent you a letter on my second day here, but if you didn't get that here's the scoop:

I will be here for 6 weeks, and if my visa hasn't come by then I'll be reassigned somewhere stateside. My appoximate departure date (for whereever I'm going) is August 12th. So far, only one Elder in the last 2 districts to leave has gotten his visa before being reassigned. The people being reassigned are going all over the place in the US, so I have no idea where I'll be.

Sorry I haven't email for 9 or 10 days, our P-day is on friday, but the first friday that I was here (I got in on wednesday, July 3rd) we didn't get our P-day because we didn't really have any laundry to do and the was "not a need to prepare or recover from anything." I would disagree, because the first couple days were crazy! After a flight delay and then having to borrow a stranger's phone to find my cousin, I arrived at the Missionary Training Center where I got my badge and schedule and put in a room with the 900 other missionaries that arrived that day, the biggest arrival group in MTC history (this week was about 700 and traditionally they were more like 400). After that we went to our classroom to meet our district and our teacher. If I can figure out how to attach pictures before my time is up, you'll be able to see all of them. On the 4th of july we watched the movie 17 miracles at night and then got ice cream and watch the fireworks at the stadium of fire (from the MTC). Other than that, the days have all been pretty typical.

My companion is Elder Andersen from Blackfoot, Idaho. He's a great guy, fresh out of high school with an enthusiasm for missionary work. We've been able to work well together. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that weird or hard adjusting to having someone with me 24/7. My district hase 6 elders, including myself, and we are all squeezed into a room that was built for 4 people. That means that I have 1 drawer and half a closet for all my clothes, so I store most everything I have in my suitcases under my bed.

A typical day at the MTC is wake up, shower and get ready (no time to exercise because the line for the showers is too long), go to breakfast, then go to our classroom for personal study, then we do more studying, teach our "investigator," "Amadeu" (in portuguese!) then lunch. Then we come back to the classroom for more studying, then dinner, then our teacher teachers us for a couple hours (Brother Durfee, who served in Brasilia 2 years ago. He's awesome), then more studying, then we go back to our dorm and iron our shirts and read our scriptures and go to sleep. So basically we live in our classroom on the 3rd floor of 18M for more than 8 hours every day. But time flies when we're studying, and there's more to learn than we have time for. For the first couple days we didn't get any gym time but recently we have, so its nice to be able to get out of the classroom.

My time is running short and I have yet to add pictures, so if you have anymore questions, send them to me through Dear Elder (that is the best way to contact me for the next 5 weeks, I get them the day of and I can write letters at night, sooo yeah, I'd like to hear from anyone and everyone!) (I'll reply to everyone's individual emails by letter, since I'm out of time!)

Overall, I really do like it here, but I'm just anxious to be out in the mission field!

Tchau!

Elder Carr

"Perfection. Let's Go To Work!"