Last Letter from the CTM

So after I e-mailed last p-day, we went out and I got some chips (that were a weird cross between sour cream and onion and ramen noodles, somehow), some mint toffee thingies, and a mechanical pencil. We also went to Mr. Cheney's, a dessert place that sells gourmet cookies and (more importantly) milkshakes. I got a triple chocolate cookie shake, and then Elder Keller from my district got a shake. Nobody else got anything, so we still have 70ish reais left, to spend just today haha. They gave me 100 reais to start with, don't worry :) The shake was to die for, it was really good. Also, last Wednesday I finished memorizing D&C 4 in Portuguese. 

Then on Thursday, I wrote in my journal to update you guys that one of the districts that left a week ago left us a 3.3 liter bottle of Guarana :) So that's sitting in our room, and we have some occasionally when we're getting ready for bed. I had to take a cup from the cafeteria, and I put a logo on it. Batman, obviously, since that's who I am around here. I think I did a pretty good job:

And yes I am enjoying the CTM food, especially not having to make any of it haha. And there is AC, pretty much everywhere. Occasionally it doesn't work, but usually it's good. I'm just enjoying it while I have it. 

On Friday, our district got haircuts from the CTM barber. It took maybe 4 minutes, and he used clippers on the sides and used scissors on the top. It didn't actually look that weird. 

On Saturday, it was a normal day. Volleyball for physical activity, good food, and grammar. Except I finished the Jelly Beans, which was sad. I guess I should mention I'm getting fairly good at volleyball, the Brazilians are quite good so it's good practice actually playing as a team, bump set spike and all that. Even though we're not allowed to spike it. I'm definitely one of the tallest ones here, even among the English speakers, so that's fun.

On Sunday, I got randomly picked to talk in sacrament meeting. So I talked about diligence. I also was the pianist, which went pretty well. And there was a devotional recorded from Provo MTC, from Elder Nelson, which was neat. 

On Monday, we were joined by a solo sister, because her two companions were leaving. So now I'm in a trio, which is weird. Also, during physical activity, some of the guys in our zone (6 out of 7) did a plank/pushups session. 1 minute regular plank, 1 minute on just the left arm, 1 minute regular, 1 minute right arm, and 1 more regular. It's awful, and I'm probably going to be sore until I leave the CTM. Then on Tuesday, I played I Need Thee Every Hour in the devotional choir performance, just out of the hymn book. So that was cool. 

And then today we went to the Sao Paulo temple again, except we got back a lot earlier which is nice. So that was my week! 

Four more minutes I guess, he's letting us use a whole hour. Score!! Everything is just going pretty smoothly. Don't worry about me. :) I'm mostly missing music, I think. After you guys, of course. Missing music a lot. 

I've seen a few Brazilians going to Santos, that will be leaving when I do. We leave Tuesday, bright and early. Probably will take a van to Santos, about 2.5 hour drive. So we'll get there before lunch.

Thanks everybody for the letters/e-mails/thoughts/prayers. I am definitely feeling and appreciating them!

Last day in the CTM - with the President and his wife



The district and a couple who work in the office