Dec 26

Anyways so the CTM experience in Sao paulo was pretty great ha.  I remember when I first got into the CTM (mtc) and was thinking to myself.  This is the hardest thing i´ve ever done in my life.... By the end of it, it was so easy I was getting bored haha.  And now i´m in Fortaleza.  FIRST missions are no joke haha.  They are so absolutely hard.  Let me rephrase that.  TO be obedient on a mission is so absolutely hard haha.  A lot of missionaries don´t follow the rules (especially here because fortaleza is in the top 3 baptising missions in the world) so missionaries think they are doing a good job so they slack off..... Luckfully my companion (Elder Waldron) is very obidient so that is a ton of help :) it makes it a lot easier when you have someone else being obedient with you.  but yeah the first like 4 days in Fortaleza I didn´t get to bed until like 11:30 - 12:00... and waking up at 6:30.... So tired... but it´s getting better.  I think the true beauty and the thing that god wants us to be doing is constantly pushing ourselves to the limit.  So just when you are getting confortable and/or bored of something he throws a new challenge at you... It´s not a bad thing it´s just because faith is constantly being tried.  And when you conquer it he is going to take you to the next level.  Like right now it´s really hard to keep pushing forward, but I know that when I get used to it, he is gonna give me something to keep bettering myself.... after all that is what he wants us to do. Learn and grow.  But I feel like a mission is a bit different.  I´m taking like LEAPS of growth rather then steps.  Missions ask for a 100% of your well being, mentally, physically, and emotionally.  It´s hard but there is nothing like going and telling Heavenly Father in your prayer that you gave it your all that day.  VERY satisfying :) So I know it will get better I just need to endure the trial and learn to teach and help people with more conviction.  When Christ was here during his mortal ministry he took upon himself the form of a servant!  Missions are basically what Christ did ( except he didn´t have a p day :D ) .  I´ve been really blessed to be able to have the opportunity to get to know my savior better through the service I am doing.  He really does love us and want us to suceed.  Which brings me to the next thing I´d like to say is the one thing that never fails is charity.  Charity is the perfect love of Christ.  It never EVER fails.  I´m trying to develop charity so I can give these people the thing that they need most, and that is love.  It´s what everybody deep down inside wants and the savior has the perfected version of love.  I forgot the scribeture but it tells a lot about what it is I think it´s like Moroni 7?? IDK but yeah hope all is well at home I love you all tons and you´re all in my prayers every night! PS I have two baptisms tomorrow :) later! love you all
Elder Diamond

Dec 12 letter home

This week I learned a lot, I don´t even know where to begin but yesterday me and Elder Davis got to go out proslyting!! We were given 4 books of mormon and had to give them out in 4 hours.... we gave all four out within 45 minutes.  It was amazing... We were so scared to talk to the first person on the street... Why would someone wanna hear our broken portuguese especially coming from 19 year olds concerning religion but we talked to the first person and he seemed friendly.... so we just started going up the street and talking to everyone approaching us. Aw I wish you could see how nice brazilians ( or just people in general ) actually are.  If you have a smile on your face and are geniuine people can feel it and will talk and listen to what you have to say.  After we passed them out we went back to the CTM to get more but they wouldn´´t give us any.  It´s crazy like I litilarly just want to share this message with everyone it´s just about LOVE!!! all you need is love alllll you needddd is lovveee (beetles knew what was up haha)  but yeah just this gospel is about love.  It´s so simple.  It´s what Christ taught was to just love eachother and everything would be okay!  PS i´m almost done with the book of mormon and I absolutely love it!  It is the best book ever and guess what ITS FREE!!

But yeah i´m enjoying it, I know the book to be true and my love for this gospel is increasing SO much by the day!  Portuguese is very hard but i´ll get it eventually.  I can barely hold a conversation but I can somewhat manage to say what I need to say.  But that doesn´t even matter.  People only care and will listen if they know you feel something about the topic.  It´s hard to explain but looking back i´ve learned SO MUCH just in the CTM it´s absolutely crazy.  I went to my last endowment session for two years today :( I absolutely love the temple.  I learn something new everytime.  This gospel is perfect and everytime I talk, think, or go do something gospel related I figure out just how perfect it is.  

The one message I want to share with you this week and you taught me this all growing up but it´s a lot easier said then done.... but it´s all about ATTITUDE.  I promise if you just make the best with what you have and everyonce in a while take a step back and see what god has given you.  Then waking up at 6:30 doesn´t seem so bad.  God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are there to help us through our trials.  You are NEVER alone, I know that to be true.  It´s getting upon the year mark when I had my most spiritual experience that changed my life.  It was Christmas day.  No one was home and I was by myself sitting in my car crying because of the things that had happened.  Somehow a thought came into my head to pray ( I hadn´t prayed in months) and I said it out loud.  I asked god if he was really there.  I asked him to please help me because there was no way I was gonna get through this by myself.  At that moment I can´t even describe the confort that came over me.  It was so strong it felt like someone was giving me a hug.  That was the pure love of Christ.  and that is why I am on a mission now.  If I can touch just one person and let them know that they are never alone and can feel the love our savior, god and the holy ghost have for me.  I´ve done my job.  This gospel is real mom, I´m so thankful for everything everyone does for me and I can´t wait to come home after two years and continue bring souls unto Christ!  I hope Josh Tracy goes back out, he doesn´t know what he is missing.  I don´t even really thing about home any more.  I just want to serve! Love you lots mom and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Be happy you have a reason to smile! Love you lots!

Elder Diamond

never look back

PIZZA

Here is a picture of Rourke.  
This place I found out about, you can purchase pizza over the internet from them and they

will send a note to the MTC, which is right across the street for them to pick up a package.  It is a surprise for them.  Hopefully, Rourke enjoyed the pizza, chips, and drink.  Enough for him and his companion. 

Letter to Mom

Oi mai! ( hi mom )

 

I lovee hearing from you as well haha, unfortunately I don´t have a lot to write about this week it just flew by! I have SO many fun expierences that I would love to tell you about but an hour a week just doesn´t justify it and I don´t even know where to begin!  But yeah this week has been WONDERFULLLL I love the gospel hahaha so so much!  It´s so simple, people try and look at the gospel to hard sometimes and it really boils down to the point of how a five year old can understand his purpose as much as a 50 year old can.  Just obey gods commandments and be happy... And you got a great life :)

 But yeah anyway so i´ll answer your questions because I really don´t know what to write about haha (sorry my brain is permanantly in overdrive mod, I think 1 million miles an hour )  so just know missions are the best.  I can´t even describe it, I know now why return missionarys that I would talk to would tell me you just have to experience it. 

I am not in Fortaleza yet unfortunately, still in the MTC until december 20th. 

I don´t need money BUT if you can, could you please go to the bank and investigate how much it costs every time I swipe my debit card.... because I don´t want an international charge of 3 bucks eveytime I buy something that costs 50 centavos ( cents) and I use my debit card.  Does that make sence??

So second pair of shoes I think I will just buy them out here if that is alright, i´m pretty sure it will be cheaper and i´ll be better off Thanks though!

I do not need a blanket it´s already so hot in Sao Paulo I just sleep with a sheet haha. thanks though!

THE FOOD where do I begin:!?!?!? It´s pretty legit haha.  Rice beans and chicken and meat and just really good food :) unfortunately Brazilians don´t really use spices or sauces on their food! it´s still good though

As for working out, I work out every single day :) i´ve actually gotten stronger since i´ve been here which is pretty good! My six pack is almost in probably another three weeks and it will be there :) and I can now do 40 push ups compared to like 21 two weeks ago haha.  Gotta hit the ground running when I come home after two years :)

The City is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  That is probably the one thing I wish you could see is the view I have of sao paulo every night it looks SO pretty!  I´m so thankful for the view and simple things our heavenly father gives me every day :)  The city is kinda poor it´s hard to explain I will later but I am running out of time!

This week was great I feel like my testimony is starting to grow and i´m in the rythm of being a missionary.  I still can´t believe i´m on my mission.  Just another stage in my life I guess.  I´m starting to go into overdrive with my efforts, I can feel my mind honing in on what I need to be doing more and more everyday.  The language of the spirit is becoming more and more manifest unto me by the day,  I´m learning more about why this gospel is what it is.  The gospel is perfect,  The plan of salvation is perfect.  So grateful for all that I have been given I love my life!

 

Have a wonderful week mom love you so so much!

Elder Diamond

Never looking back (that´s my slogan for life)

ADDRESS for letters!!

My mission adress for fortaleza is:

 

Av. Santos Dumont, 1789, sl. 1612, 16th andar

Ed. Potenza - Aldeota

60150-160 - Fortaleza - CE

 

What a wonderful week!

What a wonderful week!  Missions are awesome :)  I feel like i´m almost officially in motion as to what the MTC is about.  It´s a really set schedual so there aren´t really times through the day where I can just lay around... busy busy busy busy... but it´s a wonderful busy!  I wish I could really describe to you how i´m feeling but I really can´t.  I just know that this is what i´m supposed to be doing and i´ve learned to just enjoy the moment.  One of my teachers doesn´t really teach us what you would call a "normal" lesson.  He teaches how he feels we should learn things, and that is honestly what i´m going to be doing for my investigators.  It´s great :)  anyways so not to much new is happening because i´m just learning a lot.  The only thing I can really say is that i´m constantly building my relation ship with our heavenly father and my savior Jesus Christ.  The days are launching by,  I felt like I wrote you guys an e mail yesterday but it´s been a week. 

So my teacher (2nd one 1st one is awesome to) talked to us this week about confidence and happiness.  Just live life in the moment with no regrets.  Never look back or look to far forward.  Just enjoy the moment and what´s happening around you.  You choose your happiness.  If you want to be sad you´re going to be sad and the other way around.  I found out that being happy is a lot better then struggling to get through the day.  A failure is just a lesson LEARN FROM IT and grow.  If you moup to much about the past you won´t get anything done.  If you worry to much about what´s gonna happen in the future or say "oh hey things will be better in another month" it´s not gonna just be happy and live in the moment :) ha I feel so cheesy saying it but it really does make a difference if you are activley applying those principles in your life!

ps me and elder davis are kinda gettin swollen ( aka hittin the gym erry day!) :)) 

and lastly this week my challenge to everyone is to find beauty in the little things.  God gives us SO much that you sometimes forget to just stop and look at the things that are just right in front of you.  For example at the end of my day I look out the window and I have an absolutely BEAUTIFUL view of the city.  I sometimes find myself staring at it for at least an hour at 10:30 when I should be sleeping but it´s just to wonderful.  Life is so simple and so wonderful and it´s ours for the taking make the most of it :)  The gospel is real and I love my savior and my father in heaven,  i´m so thankful for the blessings I recieve even if they are the small things :)

I love you all and have a wonderful week

Elder Diamond!

To start Brazil is great!

To start Brazil is great!  I got off the plane pretty tired.  On the way to Sau Paulo I got to teach and talk with a brazilian it was pretty good, but unfortunately due to me not thinking I forgot to bring my portuguese O livro de mormon... So I ended up giving him a card with the website.  I got his e mail so maybe i´ll try to communicate later or something :D 
On the way to the CTM I got to see the city and it was very very pretty! took some pictures n stuff like that,  got off the bus went inside and got my paper... my companion is ELDER DAVIS WOOOO :) totally made my day... Got up to my room and he was already unpacking and yeahh just very glad I have my old companion for the rest of the CTM me and him get a along a lot.
The food is pretty good it;s a lot of rice and beans with some meat but unfortunately NO SAUWWSSCCCEEE. Sorry dad I can´t be the sauwce boss for two years =/ oh well ha! the deserts are pretty funky half the time my district and I eat em and all of our faces turn into odd shapes and we don´t touch it any more haha.  Oh yeah PS sorry that my spelling and english may sometimes get bad.  I´m starting to spell things like they would be in portuguese so yeah....
The language is difficult... Very difficult.  It´s so hard to not be able to express yourself the way you want to.  There are times I just wanna cry because I know when I get out there I won´t be able to communicate that well to the people who I so want to bring the gospel to.  I know Deus ( god ), Cristo, and Espirito Santo will help me get through it.  Other then that I am absolutely loving it.  The language will come and I know it will it´s just sometimes it really gets to you.
So when I entered the CTM I thought that I had a pretty good testimony of this gospel and woww.... The spirit hit me across the face with what felt like a 2by4.  This is by far the most difficult (and I know it´s only going to get harder) thing i´ve ever done in my life.  The amount of spiritual, physical, and emotional stress i´m undertaking is more then i´ve ever had to deal with... But I love it.  so much.  My testimony has grown about 10 fold of what it used to be.  I KNOW this gospel is real.  I will never be able to put into words just how I feel about everything that god has given to me.  I entered the CTM with very little knowledge as to how much our heavenly father does actually love us.  The answer is more then we will ever know.  He loves us so much.  Just think about the blessings you´ve recieved in your life and it still will be a fraction of the amount of love you think he has for you.  It´s such an amazing thing to know that no matter what happens, we are never truly alone.  Families are eternal and god wants us to return to him :) such simple doctrine but it hits me in ways i´ve never felt before.  Maybe it´s because I´m a missionary :)  it still hasn´t hit me that I am a missionary yet but I hope it will soon! 
But i´m really enjoying myself SO happy, by far the happiest i´ve been in my life.  I´m so eager to go preach to the people god has prepared for me it´s gonna be great! anyways my teachers are great the first one my district and I were a little scared of at first but now we aren´t when he warmed up (which was by the second day)  he is an absolute CRACK up such dry but great humor.  My second teacher blows my mind.  He makes me think about myself and investigators more then I have ever thought about myself or them before.  love it I wish I could tell you more but time won´t allow for it.  Also my mind is racing at a million miles an hour because I only get 30 minutes on here so I have to pick and choose what i´m going to say. 

Today was GREAT finally got to go OUTSIDE FRESH AIR A WHUT UP??!! Brazilian culture is awesome I can´t wait to see more.  Spiritually i´m growing more and more everyday so loving it!

The thought i´d like to share with you this week is humility.  Humility is a wonderful thing.  It´s one of the many principles that christ taught.  being humble is more then just being thankful for your things.  it´s not being jealous of anything or anyone no matter what.  Just be you.  I can´t even put into words what i´m trying to say... Just practice humility :) i´ll try working on better things to bring next week but i´m running out of time so I can´t ponder what i´ve learned to much...

Diferences between provo and this CTM is this one is honestly just better... about 300 missionaries compared to like 1800 or something like that?? much more personal and I get to go out into brazilian culture... also apparently some brazilian roomates are gonna move in with us soon so yeh :) anyways can´t talk much more LATER

Much love, Elder Diamond (my name in brazilian is pronounced gia-mon-chh)

Group Photo

Arrived Safely Letter from President

Dear Parents,
We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.
They now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting.  These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.
The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.
Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on individual assignments.
Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others.  We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”
Please accept our love,
President Donald L Clark and Sister Zaza Clark
 

ADDITIONAL  information . . .  

DO not send packages to the Brazil Missionary Training Center. All packages must be sent directly to the mission where your missionary will be serving not the MTC. If you have already mailed a package to the Brazil MTC and it arrives after your missionary has left for the field, please understand that the package can not be forwarded to his or her mission and will be returned to you. The only other option is for us to open the package and forward the letters and photographs, giving the rest of the content of the package to the missionaries that are here.
WE Strongly eNCOURAGE sENDING HAND WRITTEN LETTERS. Please write your missionary´s first and last name. Your missionary will provide you with his district and box number. Also, please DO NOT SEND ANYTHING BY FEDEX, DHL, UPS, or other private carriers.  The cost to get this type of correspondence is exorbitant.

Phone contact with mom before flying to Brazil!

Rourke was able to speak with Vicki last week before he left. "He said he absolutely loves it.  He doesn't miss anything about home except mostly his hair.  He does miss his family, however, he is not homesick.  His visa finally came thru on October 31, and he flew out to Brazil 11/1/2011.  He called me from JFK, he had a 5 hour layover and spent $30.00 in phone cards, but he sounded good.  He said he is learning a lot, already knows quite a bit of Portuguese. Anyways, he is doing good.  He was excited to go to Brazil, and serve the people.  He said he cant wait to get there and just share the gospel with them.  As soon as I get his new address I will let you all know.  He should be writing via emails, however, he said they do not get much computer time.  Ive heard maybe 30 minutes per week is all they get.  So, said just to tell everyone he is doing well and LOVES and MISSES everyone.  He said the gospel is true and he just wants to get out there."