Monday, June 27, 2011

WEEK 10

hey there! i am so glad that everyone is doing good! really its nice to hear from everyone! sorry for not emailing last week but we had no time to do it. as soon as we got here we went right to work! literally and its awesome (be sure to print up this email because i have had no time to write in my journal since we got here) so we took a 2 hour plane ride south to Porto Alegra and from there met the assistants and took about a 6 hour bus ride to Santa Maria and that was pretty cool ( and it was just us ,19 new missionaries,on the bus so no chickens ;). Is not really what i expected Brazil to look like but it was really good and ate the best sandwiches i ever had and Guaraná ( pop of choice down here in Brazil, reallyt good) and then we got there and dropped off our luggage at the bus station because we were not going to stay in Santa Maria very long, then went to the mission home which was very beautiful apartment at the top of a building and there were all all the trainers and new misionaries and president and his wife and the assistants. it was awesome! and we all met and had a good time and ate a ton of pizza and met people and it was awesome. president and his wife are soooooo awesome! and i love them a lot. so my companion is an Élder Vianna. he is alright, kinda a slacker...hahah NO WAY!! he is awesome! probably one the best missionaries in the world, seriously! and he didnt want me to know it but he just got done being the Assistant to the President and unfortunately he is going to die with my, this is his last tranfer. so after the transfers we went to the assistants house and spent the night over there and then the next day we had training which was cool but all in Português so i didnt understand it all but its all good. then we found out our area and its a city of about 40,000 named Itaqui and we opening it!! its way awesome! and our bus was not leaving until 12 30 that night so went and walked around and talked to people and he said bye to some of the families he knew and then later we got permission to stay out late and his old bishop and us went to a pizzeria and it was awesome and we ate a ton! and so we then got on a bus and took a 7 hour ride from santa maria to Uruguaiana and from there a two hour bus ride here. its pretty sweet! there are tons a great people. so got to our house and it is really big and there are only 2 companionships in it. then we took showers and changed and went to work meeting people and members and its great! there is only a small branch here, can you believe that, 40,000 people and only a small branch!! my comp. and i dont understand and we are going to put an end to that! but here it is so awesome!! all the streets are coble stone ( kind of hard to walk on) and dirt and a couple aspalt streets. there are only a couple normal and big houses here most of them are really small but the people here and so awesome and dont care about that and have a lot of love and are proud of what they do have! and no one can pronounce my name! its hilarious! and there are also a lot of horses here and people still use them to pull stuff around and its cool and sometimes they get loose and just wander around the streets, pretty sweet. i am learning the language more but oly because The Lord is helping me and each day i understand more its great. o i love it here and the people are so awesome and FANTASTIC cooks! but i love you Mom and Dad and Mitchell and Grandma Vogel and G and G Wilson and all my other family and friends!
love,
Élder Hollandsworth!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Spencer made it to Santa Maria

I answered the phone at work and I heard, "MOM!" "It's me, Spencer." I yelled his name, "SPENCER"! He said he made it to Santa Maria just fine. I put the phone on speaker in Tom's office so we could talk together. He was all excited and asked us to pray for him, which we always do. I heard a bunch of other guys in the background and it sounded like they were having fun and were waiting for their turn to call their families. He had to hang up quickly. He had only a minute to call.I am so excited that I got to hear his voice. We miss that kid alot.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

WEEK 8 IN THE CTM

OLÁ!!! tudo bem? Sim, meu Português é muito bom. i could keep going on but i figure you would like to know what im saying ;) haha. but to start off thanks for the emails from Sister Pochop ( sorry if spelled wrong) and from Grandma and Grandpa Wilson, and from the Hamptons! i love them. and i can only email family here in the mtc but once we get in feild it may be different but thanks! so yes the language is hard but the Lord is really helping me and so its coming along pretty good! and so last friday was the big São Paulo trip and it was awesome! it was what i think New York would be like; nice big buildings, clean, crazy people, and just a lot of people also very beautiful. It was a lot of fun and great to just be able to talk to people and share my testimony with them and try to help and improve their lives! really the only way we coiuld really do that in a couple minutes was by giving them a Book of Mormon and telling them that if they read it and ask God if it is true than they will know that it is true by the power of God! and there was also a number in there for them to call. we talked to a bunch of people and gave some away and just tried helping people out too and that was awesome! people are actually pretty nice down here its great, I really love the people here, they are so awesome and kind! so also on thursday we had a day somente (only) in Português  and that was good! also today we went to the temple and it was awesome, its so beautiful and the weather here is great! it has only rained a couple of times and its like sunny everyday. it is getting cold down here though, probably in the 40s some nights. and we went to churrascos ( bbq) again and it was awesome!! the meats down here are awesome and from what i hear we eat like this a ton in my mission! but yeah tuesday morning we fly out of here to Porto Alegre and then bus from there to Santa Maria and that will be like a 5 hour bus ride. but its cool! but thanks for the  emails and i love hearing about whats going on even if i dont comment on it. i sure love you guys and miss you ( but only on P-Days ;)) haha but bye!