Personal history, Part 4

Been a little while since I did a blog post, and in a future post I'll get to explaining why. For now, I'll catch up on the story of my life.

I left off at the time that I got to the Brazil MTC. Day 1 was intense, to say the least, and I'm actually grateful for it. They didn't waste any time to start teaching us Portuguese, and made full use of the 8 or so weeks that we were there. To this day I still remember my teachers and how much they worked with us (it helps that one of my teachers eventually moved to the States to study at BYU for a while, so I met up with her a few times while she was here). While we were in one building for most of the time there, it did give us that initial taste of what life in Brazil would be like for the next couple years.

Truly, many things happened while I was there that I feel like just one post with words wouldn't suffice. So it's time for another series of pictures that can at least partially summarize my experiences. Going through the albums I uploaded on Facebook shortly after my return, I realized that I'm missing pictures from a certain area; I believe I have them on a CD somewhere, and while that CD's location may be currently unknown I still have it somewhere. So hopefully I can find it soon and when I do I'll upload pictures to there and update this post. In the meantime, here ya go:

Most of the group that reported to the Brazilian MTC the day I did. There were some flying out from Atlanta, GA; our flight left from Dallas, TX.

With one of our teachers, Miriam (left side in pink)

With our other teacher, Ramon (back row)

There was actually an article published about my teacher in the Ensign/Liahona while I was serving! She had served her mission in Temple Square some years before.

My first house on the mission. Not too much in there, but it holds a lot of memories.

One of the first families I met, the Dullius family. I'll never forget their helpfulness for a greenie like me.

My trainer, Elder J. Souza. From the heart of Rio de Janeiro, and one of the most humble yet awesome guys I've ever met.

After a fun day of playing soccer!

This was the most "jungle" I ever saw. Most of my mission was in cities and towns, but one part of my first area had this big old mountain covered in unsettled forest.

The guy in the middle, Marcos, was pretty much the first guy I met in the field besides my trainer. He's Brazilian, but served here in Utah and spoke perfect English and helped me a TON.

Saying goodbye to my trainer! My first transfer was his last.

We weren't always blessed to have a chapel, but we made do with what was available to us.

Examples of Brazilian currency. The real (pronounced "hey-AL") isn't quite as strong as the dollar, but a lot more colorful.

Picking up supplies at a Zone Conference in a suitcase made things a TON easier.

That spider wasn't quite as big as my palm, but still... not something we let live for very long.

The woman in the middle ended up turning 111 while we were serving there.

Found him during a service project... (the rat, not my companion!)

Down in Brazil they play a lot of the same games we do!

...and are just as competitive as we are!

Another one of the great families that I'll never forget. They made some of the best lunches I ever had.

A super-strong couple with a great family in the ward.

Picture from a service project. We cut down ALL of those branches!

Picture from a lunch while most of us were celebrating one year on the mission

Also on the one-year anniversary... long story

Making sure the baptismal font was full

A great picture of a lake while visiting an area for splits

The morning of another day of splits, we woke up early and caught the sunrise

And had some fun while we were at it!

Dinner for missionaries wasn't always healthy...

But it was always delicious

This marked the first hole of many that I would develop over the months of walking everywhere we went

Many of us from the same departure group, towards the end of our time out

The cliffs of Torres, a popular beach area (but it was winter when we went, so it was mostly deserted)

The Farias family. Always going to be grateful for their generosity and hospitality.

Playing around with Angelica, one of my favorite converts

The Freitas family, always a friend to the missionaries. They ended up coming to the airport the day I started flying back home.

The temple of Porto Alegre. A true beauty atop the hill it stands on.

Waiting for one of the last flights home

Finally.

I got home almost exactly two years after I left, in August of 2011. I will never, ever trade those two years for anything. Those memories, those friendships, those feelings will last forever.

New movies! I went and saw Catching Fire a few weeks ago, so I felt justified in getting some more movies. Black Friday led me to a pawn shop that let me get 7 for $5: Enter the Dragon, Dinner for Schmucks, War of the Worlds, 21 (which was still in its original packaging!), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Meet Joe Black. And a few days ago I just picked up The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The Incredible Hulk, and a collection with Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments.