Week 1 in the Provo MTC

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Hi guys!! So I am alive and well in Utah in the MTC (Missionary Training Center). I'll be here either 2 or 5 more weeks depending on if I get my visa, but then I will head to Brazil. Pretty much I just learn Portuguese here and learn how I'll be teaching investigators of the church once I'm down in Brazil. It is a lot of hard work, harder than I've ever had to work for school. It's 6:30am - 10:30pm every day, and I feel very busy. But that is honestly the best thing for me. 

My 3 years of high school Spanish is paying off!! I think I actually learned a lot in those 3 years and its a huge help with Portuguese because they are similar, especially verbs. So shoutout to Coach Flores for that. I've been told my Portuguese is very good for only being here a week so thats exciting. 

Funny story of the week is when I first got here people trying to pronounce my last name in Portuguese. I've heard the Brazilians will really struggle with it so I may just end up being Elder G. The first thing my teacher called me was Elder Guruksneezy. At least thats how he pronounced it haha. So I'm thinking Elder G sounds pretty good now. The other funny pronunciation thing in Portuguese is "ão." You pronounce it like "oww" and it has to be like super nasally. It sounds so weird to me, especially when I or someone new to Portuguese has to say it. 

Chad Lewis, a former BYU football player who also played for the Philidelphia Eagles, came and spoke to all the missionaries last night. He told a great story about a boy named Beau Richey who was a Mormon kid in their ward a couple years ago. He passed away in a 4 wheeling accident (I promise Mom I won't have a 4 wheeler when I'm older, I know you don't like them) just after his 16th birthday. His Mom went to the hospital immediately and brought his phone with her. While she was waiting to hear the news, she heard a buzzing from his phone. It was a reminder that said "Make Christ the center of your life." An hour later, the same reminder. That 16 year old boy had set an hourly reminder to make Christ the center of his life in any way he could. The story broke my heart, but also motivated me to follow in his ways. I would challenge all of you, no matter your situation, to just try to make Christ the most important thing in your life. 

I'm in a trio right now with Elder Abel from St. George and Elder Ranger from a indian reservation in Arizona which is so cool. They are cool guys. We have more guys here learning Portuguese who I love as well. They are all so positive and great examples to me. I get a new companion this week and wont be the only newbie so thats exciting!

Sorry this is pretty long, but I know as I move along I'll probably have less to talk about. I'll attach a few pictures from the week as well! Good views and the craziness of BYU vs. Utah!

Love,
Elder G






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