Post Christmas

Things went back to normal surprisingly quickly. Knocking doors on Boxing Day. We don't have any Portuguese people to work with, but that's normal. I miss the simplicity of Brazil a little, at least everyone spoke the same language. I guess I’m learning Spanish which is helpful and we will be starting Facebook on the 2nd of the New Year. There’s a Spanish elder named Reagan Stanford and he's the best. That’s about all I can think of though. Will keep you posted.

Love you guys,

Elder Willard

Christmas is coming

Pretty weird week. I finally got in a pretty horrendous bike crash so i have been limping around for a few days. No worries though, just some bruising.

The compliments about my Portuguese just keep coming, "super bem!" But oh my goodness, the days go by fast when we do the same thing over and over. Not much to report on. Should be fun to Skype though. I will be able to make it happen around 3 o'clock pacific time.

That is all for now,

Elder Willard

I forgot about one thing; it was just announced that we can go to the temple twice a year. I know that's not much, but the missionaries were super excited because it used to be that the only time that you could was two days before you left. A bunch of the sisters were crying during the meeting. Pretty great.

Elder Willard

Working hard in December

We found some more investigators which was the first time that that has happened in 4 months. We have been teaching quite a lot of people this week and we might could have a baptism in the works. Our usual output for this area is one a year, so maybe we'll surprise someone and get two.

Things are going OK with my companion now, but I am so poor so who knows if I'll survive the month.

I shouldn't have any problem with getting a reliable internet connection on Christmas Day so that will be great. I was told that i have not yet received any Christmas presents so i'll keep my fingers crossed. Another thing one of our baptisms turned out to be the equivalent of a supreme court justice in Venezuela before he opposed the government and had to flee the country.

Thanks a lot,

Elder Willard

New Companion

We had our first transfer and my companion left me. My new companion is a little Mexican missionary finishing his years in 2 months.

Super cool news though, one of our less active members said that I talk like a "caipira" or a redneck/hillbilly/hick. Apparently I have a very funny northern accent.

All of the Portuguese missionaries will be going home in the next 6 months so I will be the only one to train the new ones, or they could end Portuguese work here entirely.

If I haven't already mentioned it our ward meets in the chapel directly across the street from the Orlando temple. We go there a lot, but only to do yard work, our mission president won't let us attend the temple unless we have an investigator that we baptized and taught going through the temple for the first time.

Everything else is working out ok, don't be alarmed if I start changing things on Facebook. I’ll be allowed to use it along with the other missionaries in January probably but no promises.

Elder Willard

Transfers

Transfers are tomorrow and my companion is leaving. I am very worried because I hardly know the area and I still have trouble with listening to people on the phone.

The cold weather is nice and we got to bike this week. I’m hoping things spice up a little because usually we just knock on doors. I’m not worried about getting discouraged or anything but mostly missionary work is a little boring. We are going to get ipads for internet proselyting in January so maybe I’ll chat with my friends and invite them to be baptized.

Oh well everything is good and normal here,

Elder Willard

Cooling down

It’s even getting cold here!

The last few days reminded me of Washington’s weather.

There is nothing too terribly important to add though I have added some things to the strange list:

There is a legitimate lake called Lake Butt.

We were told to find people that have the "missionary sparkle" by our ward mission leader.

We met a woman named Peaches.

Other than that, all is well and sane here in Florida.

Elder Willard

Various and Sundry

I feel like this might be a kind of repetitious mission because mostly we go out and knock on doors, but that's okay. It already seems to be going by really fast. I have a few interesting things that i write down from day to day though.

Nobody has a front license plate.

My companion spent the night of his grandfathers funeral on the morgue floor next to his coffin.

The first rain I've seen was on the day of the our first baptism here.

There is a member here who married his sister-in-law's sister.

Chick-fil-a isn't that great. I tried it and I don't get why everyone is so obsessed with it.

Brazilian barbecue is fantastic.

My companion also speaks mandarin.

The 2013 Ford Fusion is like a jet fighter cockpit inside.

Our sister training leader looks like the evil queen from snow white.

I've had a persistent blister for the last week, maybe i need some new socks.

There is an elder here who is a professional con man kind of like the Mentalist, though he doesn't fight crime.

We found a snake on the sidewalk that my companion assured me was dead until I walked over it and it snapped at me.

Other than that it's all happy good times here having fun and meeting weird people.

Elder Willard

Veteran's Day

There’s a lot of tracting that occurs here in the Florida mission as it turns out so I don't have a lot of success stories, but I get to meet some strange people: a lot of Jamaicans and Haitians, but few Brazilians. As it turns out there are a fair amount of millionaires here and man; do they spend money or what!

We’re getting everyone whipped in to missionary shape here; it's not so bad, but in Brazil you can get 10 referrals a week and here you're lucky to get one.

Not much to report unfortunately.

Elder Willard

First baptism in Orlando

We had a baptism! (which is a much bigger deal here than in Brazil) a Brazilian that the missionaries had been teaching for two months was baptized Saturday and confirmed the next day. There was an incredible party afterward with all the RMs from Brazil. First time with Brazilian barbeque and it was so good. It turns out there IS guarana here because of so many Brazilians as well as massive supplies of chicken hearts. That was the highlight of the week but the rest was mostly tracting and speaking strange languages.

Hope everyone is well,

Elder Willard

First week in Orlando

I arrived and was immediately paired with a Brazilian who speaks English with no accent and he speaks fluent Spanish. While I was in the airport I heard a British kid say "Oh mommy, Florida is MUCH better than England." And it seems like everybody thinks that way. There are so many people here; I met some Danish kids the other day. And every person I’ve met so far is bilingual.

As far as the local talent goes, we have almost exclusively elders from Utah and Idaho here. We have 6 older missionary couples that work in the office. The mission plan is to knock on doors and offer "Peace 'n' Blessings" which works sometimes. We are restricted to teaching Portuguese-speaking people only so there are still a lot of Brazilians around. They are the most receptive people.

 I was told by a Brazilian family that I still talk like a native so that was encouraging. It seems that the Portuguese part of this mission might be dissolved soon because there's not even a branch to support them and they just go to the Spanish ward because it's really close.

 We've taught a few people that have potential and we have a baptism for sure within the week. Everybody follows the rules all the time here, but we at least have a car.

 Having a good time here and no problems.

Elder Willard

First letter from Orlando

Alright I just got here and it's nice and warm. I’m at the mission office right now. No problems with the flight though I still haven't eaten anything since yesterday, because I slept through snack time on the plane. My companion and the Elder responsible for the cars in the mission came to get me at the airport. It looks like I’ll be driving around a lot and the weather here is very nice right now.

I’ll write you on Monday, but for now everything is good.

Elder Willard

Arriving Home

Frazier arrived home on Thursday, the 22nd of August from a long 32-hour trip from Manaus, Brazil. He needs to have gall bladder surgery soon. Then he can resume his mission when he has a clean bill of health. It is a delight to have him home and he is excited to get back in the field. I will update this blog when we know more.

Sister Willard for Elder Willard

New area

Laranjeiras‏ is kind of a funny name for a city and I haven't discovered the link to oranges yet. Generally people here are wealthier than in Manacapuru and most of the members have cars.

A few zones visited the temple at the same time Wednesday and I found sisters Riding, Prater, Decker, Jensen, and Guyer along with Elder Robinson and we had a little reunion. On a personal note, their accents are hideous and it hurts to listen to them. I can hear my own accent and it is killing me.

We walk around in the sun a lot and I am tired all the time, but that will get better I hope. We didn't baptize this week so that was a bummer even though we were working like crazy.

There is an enormous 15 year old we are teaching who kind of looks like my CTM companion.

We taught a 13 year old girl who smokes and she's had more girlfriends than me and my companion put together, which isn't saying much but still.

My zone leader is a really cool guy and he teaches anyone and everyone, baptized 50 people in a week by working really hard.

There are a lot of people who speak limited English and I am quite popular for being able to speak fluently. Also for being red all the time.

Anyway that’s all good.

Hope everyone is well,

ElderWillard

Moving back to Manaus

My last week we didn't hardly work at all because my companion who went home today wanted to visit all his friends and families he knew. He cried a lot.

Nonetheless, we baptized two people. The one RM that got back last week already proposed and they are getting married in February. She was baptized along with a young man I have a lot of respect for. An assistant called and sent me to Manaus to an area very close to the mission office. My new companion is a joker, but he likes to work and we are going to baptize WEEKLY.

It was tough to say goodbye to all the cool people I met though. I tried to give blood while I was in Manacapuru, but I hadn't eaten all day and I blacked out.

Very cool week and successful too.

boa sorte em todas suas obras

Elder Willard

Last week with Trainer

It was a very successful week for our little group of missionaries; we had 3 baptisms and a lot of promising progressing investigators.

An RM came home to our little area and we were in his house having açai when he came through the door so that was a little awkward. We got to know him really quick and he set up an appointment with his girlfriend for the next day. She’s very timid, but it's easy to feel the spirit because she's humble and unobtrusive. He served in Sao Paulo and he's having trouble getting used to the heat and the food.

We had some thirty people more than usual at church yesterday and I blessed the bread for the first time in Portuguese.

I also witnessed another RM propose to one of our members at lunch after church. Interesting string of events, right? RM gets home and six days later RM proposes. There seems to be a wedding coming soon.

Working along well, but my companion is 7 days from going home so I don't know how this week will go.

Elder Willard

Hospital tests

So, the week started with a surprise, we went back to Manaus to do an exam, but no one told me or my companion that they would be attaching several wires to my body and that I could not sweat or shower for 24 hours. Incidentally I used too much of my money on a battery they said I needed and then did not use insomuch that I was left with insufficient funds to return to our area. As a result I did not eat, we walked in the sun instead of using the bus system. We had to borrow 5 reals from our zone leader because my companion spent over 250 reals in less than a week, and I had to pay his fare.

But it's all good now. So they found a small rock somewhere near my diaphragm and they are going to pulverize it with lasers sometime in August.

We've got a really promising family in our area. Moderately wealthy, public servant, has his own car, wants to learn English, and the craziest thing, HE'S ALREADY MARRIED!! His name is Wilker and we taught him with our bishop which is very special and we gave a blessing to his little 8-year-old. Incredible experience, he asked all the right questions and I’m confident I’ll see his baptism.

Everything is just right. I can easily converse with the Brazilians without thinking about it and we have no trouble baptizing. Had three more this week.

Hope everyone is doing as good as me right now,

Elder Willard

Happy Birthday

I was really hoping you had already sent my birthday package and I might get it tomorrow when we go to Manaus, but thank you for waiting for my input.

I collected some ideas over the week to write. The three principle things that I would like are a Frisbee, a camera, and some contact solution. Through some strange circumstances I ended up partly responsible for the loss of elder Ashby’s contact solution and I kind of owe him for that.

If you have room in the package after that here are some things I might need:

arctic zone old spice deodorant

mike and ikes

body powder

sweet baby rays

socks

a smaller belt

blueberry poptarts

my golden tie for special occasions

more medication for diarrhea and sore throat

peanut butter m&ms

jelly bellys

If the grandparents send any money for me, could you send that along to my card?

If there's anything else you should ask dad, he knows the things that I want that I don't know that I want yet. And you can use your motherly intuition.

Thanks a lot!

Elder Willard

Still Sick

I can't say that very much has happened recently except that the illness I contracted turned out to be much more antagonistic than I first thought. The baptism of our mission leader's children was Tuesday but I missed it.

We finally got a functioning washing machine so everyone has been clamoring to use it. Really nothing has been happening for the past week, I’m sorry I can't tell too many stories right now.

Hope everyone is well,

Elder Willard

I Finally got sick

For two months I’ve been wandering around in the amazon jungle without any kind of problems. I guess I was kind of asking for it. Just some extreme stomach pain sometimes in the bathroom.

More strange things here:

-There's something in the water that makes twins really common. There are three sets of twins in our 90 person ward.

-People say sabe to mean "you know?" but it just sounds like Jack Sparrow’s, "Savvy?"

-The energy grid here is very fragile and everything will shut down for a few minutes every other day or so.

-Everyone wants to speak English.

-An Xbox 360 costs over $600.

So there's a lot of rioting in the major cities of Brazil right now. It was lit off by a large hike in the bus fare but now everyone is saying it's about corruption. They are principally upset about the fact that all this new revenue is being spent on stadiums for the world cup next year. They are hosting the fifa confederations cup right now, world cup next year, and the Olympics in 2016. They will be broke well before that I think, especially if the citizens continue to destroy public property. There was even a little riot in our town with 300 people or so, no damage though.

Everyone is coming to church and getting baptized. We have plans to visit a faraway land that is still in our zone where no missionary has gone before because everyone gets stabbed if they stay out past 6.

It’s getting better all the time and I am even enjoying the sun sometimes.

Hope all is well,

Elder Willard

Slimming down in the heat

Not much to report for this week, pretty slow.

It turns out I can speak the Portuguese I know pretty easily, but if I try to talk to anyone my tiny vocabulary is very apparent. It's getting better all the time but everyone is saying that summer is about to arrive which only means that we don't have rain with the heat.

I have been washing my clothes by hand for over a month now and I think it's better.

I’ve lost about 30 pounds since I left home so that makes walking easier.

Our landlord really likes missionaries because they don't cause problems and he took us to his other house for a visit today. It’s right on the coast of the River Solimões, but some 400 feet above sea level. Incredible view and we ate some enormous fish.

I gave a talk in church about temples and it was surprisingly easy to put everything together. I think it went over very well.

I ran into Sister Riding at a meeting with a 100 or so other missionaries and she seemed to be quite delighted. It was great to see her again; she was the only American sister there of 12 and we exchanged some broken Portuguese before saying goodbye.

Everyone talks about the missionaries that leave early, but that just doesn't work for me. No matter how hot or difficult it's been that has never occurred to me as an option. I’m here to work and that's what I’ll be doing for the next two years.

Nothing to complain about,

Elder Willard

Marriages and Baptisms

It seems like a pretty fast week, just going from p-day to p-day. I can't hardly remember what I do every day.

We had an awesome time for just a few minutes at a youth dance held at the church (I’m pretty sure I’m still able to go to those because I’m 18) after a meeting with a couple who wants to be married.

I had an opportunity to "fazer contatos" (make contact?). We met two very nice ladies who were chilling in front of their house and they listened to us for 20 minutes or so and asked a lot of good questions. I didn't have any trouble understanding what they were saying; I was so excited about that. I explained very simply about the Book of Mormon and they accepted one.

We had a marriage Saturday for a family that was being taught by my companion for nearly 6 months. It was a very classy affair and the cake was mind-blowing. The three baptisms that took place afterward were done in the glow of the emergency LED flashlight that the bishop had. Electricity is a very delicate thing here. It was still very cool.

We had four confirmations yesterday and we walked for 30 minutes in direct sunlight to get to our next appointment. I was sure I would die.

The members here continue to astound; everything is moving along well.

Hoping everyone is well and good at home or abroad.

Elder Willard

Trip to see the President

Hi everyone!

Sorry I didn't email yesterday, the internet in Manacapuru just stopped. There isn't mass internet access in Brazil, the only way to operate here in the north is by LAN houses which charge a dollar an hour for rather slow service.

Anyway, this week began with a trip to Manaus for training and the first interview with President Klein. I went on splits with a local companionship and we did street contacting in central Manaus. I met another missionary that had two months left who had baptized over 500 people and 100 of them in the same 6 week transfer! He let me baptize 4 of his investigators while I was there. My companion was a Tongan named (get this) Elder Tonga. He lived in California and speaks three languages, also he weighed over 300 pounds when he arrived in Brazil, but now he's my size, which isn't too small, but better. President Klein made it very obvious that we are not to use Facebook and if we do we won't use a computer for the rest of the mission.

When we got back we walked past a man who asked us to enter his house. He told us he wanted to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ. I baptized him three days later. That was miraculous.

I witnessed a low-speed collision between two motorcycles right in front of us. We watched a soccer game where the Manaus team Princesa won the Amazonas state championship. It was LOUD. A less active member fixed our washing machine for us for free. I’m the only one with money at the end of the month. We moved to a much fancier apartment today that has air conditioning. We heard a talk about soccer in church yesterday. One super cool thing: they called the new mission leader a week ago and yesterday they called his wife, an RM sister, and a priest that's helped us a lot already as ward missionaries! All the elders wear the same shoes, some ugly boots that all the Brazilian construction workers use. Everyone uses this word that kind of sounds like "portia" the way you would use dang or wow.

Trying to speak with everyone and share the gospel maybe it will get easier, but if not, it's ok. I miss you all!

Elder Willard

Greetings from the Amazon

Greetings from the amazon,

 More of the same this week, there isn't a very regular schedule so it's difficult to keep track of when things happened.

Nonetheless we have been teaching families the restored gospel. Yesterday was very eventful. We arose early and I learned I was to give my testimony in church that morning. That went off without a hitch of course. I tried to tell them all that I cared about them and that I love all the members I've met so far and hope to meet them all. I may have grievously insulted their families because a few were crying when I finished, but I have no idea. We walked in the hot sun for a long time until we came to a home we visited before where I learned we were not eating there but at another house, that steak smelled so good!

We literally blazed a trail through the jungle so we wouldn't have to walk a really long distance around on the road to our lunch appointment. We returned to the same house by way of a VW Voyage which is just a cheaply made CC. My companion and the other two missionaries in the district watched a soccer game on a member's TV while I talked to the two recently baptized kids. We were picked up by our ward mission leader and we went to an executive priesthood meeting I think. I couldn't understand a lot of what was being said and we left early and arrived home 2 and half hours early. The other companionship came back and told us that our district leader had lost his streak of baptizing weekly for six months. It’s all good and p-day is fun.

Hope everyone is enjoying themselves, I'm almost out of time here. Hope to have lots of emails to read next week.

Elder Willard

Arrival in Manaus

I arrived in Manaus on the 7th of May after a thoroughly useless orientation for new missionaries in the CTM where it was entirely in Portuguese and by the end of the day I had a splitting headache and it hurt to try to understand it.

After that very long day we were sent to pack our possessions and get ready to leave. We got up at a ridiculous hour to a chocolate bar and a ride to the airport. Sat next to sister Riding on the plane again and a few of the other missionaries were speaking English just because it would be the last opportunity.

We were picked up at the airport by President Klein, his wife and two companionships with two Americans in the midst. We went to their home and ate lunch before we were given some very direct instruction from the president at a stake center nearby. From there we were sent our different ways. I am currently in a small city called Manacapuru around 80 miles south of Manaus. 

A few missionaries were sent to the jungle by bus and boat and one was sent to most easterly part of Acre, another state in the mission, by biplane. It turns out President Klein does not speak English so that was a fun surprise. It is so hot here all the time and the humidity makes you sweat, but it does not evaporate ever. In our apartment there is no hot water but that is totally okay with me. The weird thing is that the bathroom is still stuffy and humid as if you had a hot tub in there after every shower. I met my companion and the district leader with his companion at the bus stop at 10 or so. My companion is the only one that is not American. Elder Emílio is a native from Fortaleza. He is headed back home at the end of June. Elder Drake is my district leader and another Washingtonian. He is a four-star chef so he does his best with our propane oven most of the time. I have met a lot of really cool members here and a missionary who came back to tour before he went home. I went in half on a hammock with elder drake. It will be his for a month and then I will bring it along with me. 

All of the mission homes have massive load-bearing hooks specifically for hammocks so I will not have to sweat into a mattress every night. Everyone wants me to pick a soccer team. It is either the Sao Paulo futbol club or the corinthians. I received over 200 hundred bug bites in my first week. There are not any laws here in the interior and there are not any police to enforce the non-existent laws so people drive however they want, let off fireworks whenever they want, sell or buy whatever they want, it is Anarchy. Everyone here rides motorcycles, even the people who do not own a motorcycle ride motorcycles. The most people I have seen on the same bike is 5 if you do not count children under the age of 3. There are a lot of Volkswagens in shapes I have not seen before, a lot of minibuses though. 

The first time I saw a Gol I thought they just lost the “f” from the Golf. Most of the cars are very small and then you will randomly see a charter bus wandering through the streets. Every building is built out of these ceramic blocks that kind of look like this when they are on one side 8888 because they are kind of like 8 toilet paper roles strapped together. I helped a member build a house the other day with these brick like structures. The church is under construction and will not be ready for human entrants until June. There is not internet here for popular consumption so people who have it charge 2 reals an hour for it and it is very slow.

All is well here see you all in 2 years or so.

Elder Willard

Temple Visit in Sao Paulo

I'm really happy with my district, everyone gets along, but my companion is tone deaf. What are the odds I would get two tone deaf companions exactly? The language is getting easier and I'm thinking in Portuguese.  The world cup is being hosted by Brazil this year and Manaus is one of the cities where the games will be played, so I will have nothing to do for a solid week but sit in the apartment and read the scriptures.

The most terrifying thing about Brazil is the roads. There are no rules! You just go whichever way you want. You want to walk across the freeway? Go ahead. How about bumping the car in front to speed them up? No problem. You want to park parallel touching the car in front and back, after all, there are no lines. It makes for very interesting travel to the temple. The temple, by the way, is incredible. Most of the time I have to use head phones, but they did an English session for us Americans.  The chandelier in the celestial room is amazing.

There is a missionary song I really like, but it's only in the Portuguese hymnal. It's very spirited and listening to the other missionaries sing it is beautiful.

Hope all is well, tudo bem.

Elder Willard

Already out on the Street

It is so weird here in CTM. There are so few missionaries. There are thirty something Americans so it's very different whereas everyone in Provo wanted to be your friend and talk to you nobody here can so you're kind of lonely.

All the Brazilians come and leave within ten or so days so our numbers go from 150 to 60 on a weekly basis. My companion is a very strange person, he's equal parts Guatemalan, German, and Mexican. He’s speaks fluent Spanish so he has no trouble with Portuguese. Our teachers don't speak English, but we can understand them for the most part. The weirdest thing by far is the heat, I don't feel it! It can be 30 degrees Celsius and I won't feel warm at all, it's crazy!

We went out on our third day here to proselyte on the street with our district and it was surreal I felt scared, excited, intimidated, and confident all at the same time. I bore my testimony of the truthfulness of the book of Mormon to a man who said the he had a copy but hadn't read it and I gave him Moroni's challenge.

We went to the temple this morning and had a great time. The temple is right next to the road so the sound of cars thundering along is so loud until you close the door and you can't hear a thing. We just forgot about the world. We visited the distribution center near the temple and I got a little Hinos (hymnal) for three dollars and a pocket size biblia sagrada for 1.25. I don't want to buy anything because I’m very worried about the weight issue. 

They have peanut butter here which I didn't expect and a lot of American things, so if anyone wants to send me a package, don't, just put some money on my card. One of my fellow district members mentioned google hangout which is like a multi-person Skype function in google+. So maybe we could coordinate and I could see Katie and Howard and the family all at the same time. I haven't had any emergencies and I’m still in one piece.

 Sincerely,

Elder Willard

Arrived in Sao Paulo

Frazier has arrived, safe and sound, in Sao Paulo at the MTC for three more weeks of training.

Visa Arrives!

Hi Willards,

I got my visa so no worries, I’m flying to Sao Paulo on Tuesday morning with a sister from my district who got hers at the same time. Everyone is saying that if your visa application was sent to the L.A. consulate you should just give up hope. San Francisco has run out of the stickers that go in your passport so it will take them a while to get going again. I’m having a lot of fun and getting along with everyone. At this moment we are in the laundry room at 4 in the morning to get spots at the computers and two of the sister companionships beat us here. I should be able to call home at the airport or there abouts. I forgot my flight itinerary at the residence but I’ll be flying Delta to Atlanta, Georgia where I’ll wait for my 9 hour 30 minute flight right next to sister Riding (we sometimes call her little red). Should be fun, maybe I’ll go to burger king while I wait. Sister Decker's mother sent a message to her daughter that I’m on her missionary mom's website so you might know her. I was sad to hear about the Campbell’s. It certainly seems that everything happens right after I leave. Anyway, I should be able to answer any questions you have when we talk and I’m looking forward to some answers too.

Sincerely,
Elder Willard

Arrival at the Provo MTC

I’m having a great time here! I know it's only been a week but it feels like at least a month. I’m in one of the only districts with more sisters than elders and it is amazing they are way more focused and gospel oriented than the elders and they are a really good influence on us. I’ve been really tired and might have fallen asleep one during personal study and Sister Jones (she's my favorite) gave us all notes with encouragement and praise and she added a scripture to mine. Luke 8:23 "but as they sailed he fell asleep:" she told that it was supposed to be how I just need to ask the Lord for guidance and help, but I thought it was hilarious. Our second night here we were told to visit this potential investigator who was on the campus. He only spoke Portuguese and we had to teach him the first lesson. It might have been a train wreck but as we kept working with him we got better and better until two night ago we didn't have to use notes at all! Then he came into our classroom and told us that he is going to be one of our instructors and that he had served in Fortaleza Brazil where he taught the person he was emulating. Our other instructor is a return missionary from Sao Paulo Brazil and he will only speak to us in Portuguese. He’s very active and helpful and loving and we are learning a lot from him. We are all proficient at bearing testimony and praying in Portuguese by now but I don't want to show off. My roommates are really relaxed and easy to get along with. Espero voces estao felicidades e saudes.

 Elder Willard

Leaving for Provo

 From Mom: Frazier left this morning for the Provo MTC because his Brazilian visa has not arrived. His hand was shaking when he handed his ticket to the TSA agent. I cried.

But I need not worry. Grandma and Grandpa Willard picked him up and delivered him to Provo. Katie was also there to greet him and say goodbye.

Here's to another adventure!