Another one flew by

(A note from Brian about letters: I got both of your letters this week! One took 10 days, the other 7.... If you want to tell people they can send me real letters, do it in the next 2 weeks so we make sure I get em before I leave, that'd be great, thanks!)

MTC Mailing Address (send through August 5):

Elder Brian Robert Merrill

Brazil São Paulo East Mission

Brazil Missionary Training Center

Rua Padre Antônio D'Angelo, 121

Casa Verde

CEP 02516-040 São Paulo - SP

Brazil

I can't believe that it's been a week! It's so crazy here, I live in a time warp. The days feel sooo long but the weeks go by sooooooooo fast. 

Word of the week: Feijão - beans

Oh my goodness I love the food here, I'm just worried I'll get fat because I eat so much haha

More and more and more Portuguese. It amazes me every single day how much we learn, and how awesome just being a missionary is. Elder Hughes and I are teaching 2 or 3 lessons a day now, and it's so cool how far we've progressed in just a week... we haven't been using any notes, whereas we had to almost read our entire lessons from what we wrote on paper earlier.

So on P-days in the Brazil CTM, we get to walk around the streets of São Paulo! It's so cool! Elder Hughes, Elder Baker, Elder Batten (the other Elders in my District) and I went exploring last week, and the whole time we were like "holy cow, this is where we get to live for 2 years!" So. Awesome. 

Also another way cool thing about the CTM is we get Brazilian roommates, and it's fun to get to know them in our broken Portuguese hahaha. Elders Batten, Baker, Hughes, and I usually make it a group effort to understand when they're telling us stories and such, but it was super ótimo when we finally could carry on full conversations and understand each other.

Last week I forgot to mention that I played piano for Priesthood meeting in Church and for our Tuesday nightDevotional, so Mom and Dad, all those years of miserably forcing me to practice when I hated it is already paying off haha:)

We got 2 Sister missionaries in our District this week who had spent 2 weeks in Provo. It's kinda fun to get new people because we can relate exactly to how overwhelmed they feel, and it's great because now we feel seasoned and experienced haha. It was also kinda weird to get 2 new sisters, since our District has gotten super close since we've been here. We have the most tender spiritual moments, it's just amazing to be around so many people who are so strong and willing. We've grown into a little family, and it's been such a blessing because the CTM gets really stressful sometimes.

The Lord is so amazing, and He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. On Monday, I was sick (not too bad, just coughing and sniffling and a slight fever maybe, but I still had to study, so I did) and was getting kinda discouraged with the load of everything all at once. In the evening, a group of Elders that were visa-waiters before and were leaving the next morning came into our classroom and basically just shared some advice and bore their testimonies to us. It was so powerful, I felt so strongly that I am in the right place and that I need to be humble so that the Lord can make me so much more than I can myself.

I love you all!

Elder Merrill