December 27, 2011

Merry Christmas again!!! So since I wrote you on Sunday I don't really have a whole lot to tell this time. I'm glad you guys got my email though. The computers were so slow because everyone in the MTC was trying to email. They had us do it in shifts but it was still crazy. The rest of Christmas was pretty awesome as well. We had another speaker, an area Seventy who's name I forget right now. He was super funny! He kept asking questions that we had to stand up or stay seated to answer AND he let us take our suit coats off!! That never happens during firesides!! He told us a story about when he was a stake President and he was spraying a kid with water from the water fountain at church. It was one of those ones that when both are going, they lose pressure but when one turns off the other one shoots really high. He said he did it about 8 times and the kid never knew it was him. It was super funny. His talk was about missionary work and how we all need to stay strong and work our hardest so that we can return home knowing that our mission was acceptable to God. His and Elder Bednar's talks were probably my favorites since being here. We then watched Mr. Kruegar's Christmas before bed. It was a pretty good Christmas though. The only things it was missing was family and grandma's cooking. Shane sent me a picture of Christmas dinner and I'm kind of jealous! But I had a really good day.

So Brodie emailed me. AND he said that all the talk about only one bag is a lie!! Basically he said you can bring the same amount of stuff as you can on other airlines. 2 bags, a carry on, and a personal item. I still have to pack light but not that light!! It's crazy to think that I'll be there in one week exactly! So we leave from the Salt Lake airport at 9:53 AM on the 3rd and then have a layover in Boston. I don't remember exactly what time but it's about a 4 hour layover I think. I don't know if I'll phone from Boston or Salt Lake so maybe try to stay home that day? I'll try to find out more and email it to you next Monday before I leave but I will definitely call you sometime on Tuesday. Not much else happened though since Sunday. I went with Elder P. off campus so that he could get some prescription medications but thats probably the most exciting thing that has happend. We get to host again on Wednesday but my companion and I have to do traffic duty. Not quite as fun but it will still be good. I'm going to try to get some pictures with Jordan before I leave because he's in my residence building.

That sucks that Orlando lost!! Have they made any trades yet?? I heard that the Lakers lost to the Clippers in pre-season. Also that Jimmer played really good on Sunday?

Well I miss you all. It will be good to phone you guys next week. I'm super excited to leave!! Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

Amo voces!!!

Elder Brandon Dola

December 25, 2011

FELIZ NATAL!!! Eu ainda estou aqui...BUT I got my flight plans on Friday and I leave on January 3 at 9:55 from the Salt Lake Airport!!! How exciting hey??!?!?? Also today is Christmas and since we don't get to phone home I get to email! Not as cool but still. I hope you guys read this at sometime during the day. Although you are probably enjoying a delicious Christmas dinner at grandma's house while just had my cafeteria meal. Although it was't that bad. Elder David A. Bednar came today and his talk was so amazing!!! He talked about finding the Character of Christ in our lives and how that will help us become fully converted to the gospel. We also had a sacrament meeting with around 2120 missionaries. It was really awesome. Probably one of the biggest sacrament meetings in the world and it only happens every 7 years when Chrismas falls on a Sunday. Pretty cool experience. Thanks for all the stuff that you guys sent me!! I really appreciate it a lot. Please tell grandma and grandpa thanks as well. I will send them another letter but I won't be able to do that until Tuesday. I don't know what exactly my flight plans are right now but I will email them to you on Tuesday during my P-day. We have a pretty long lay-over in Boston where I think I will get to call home. I only have a week left!! Christmas Eve was pretty much a normal day except we watched a re-enactment of the nativity and then watched "A Chrismas Carol." It was a pretty good night and the first time I've seen the full movie I think. It wasn't the Grinch like we were hoping but it was still really good. So I've seen Jordan twice since he got here. The first time was when I was hosting new missionaries and the missionary I was hosting was in his district so I saw him when I brought the missionary to their classroom. Then I saw him at lunch one day. He seems to be doing really well and seems really excited. He is on the third floor of my residence building so I am going to try and see him again before I leave. It's crazy to think that I've been here for almost 2 months already. This next week is either going to go by really fast or it is going to drag on forever. I hope it kind of goes in the middle. But I am really excited to leave. Today we had a combined district meeting with some of the other districts in our Zone and read through the Christmas story in the Bible while singing Chrismas songs in Portuguese. We then finished with a testimony meeting and now we are emailing. I don't really have much else to write but if I remember anything I'll send it on Tuesday.

We are going to start preparing to leave and I'm going to have to figure out what I need and what I need to send back home. I think for the most part I have everything that I need but I am definitely going to have to send some stuff home.

The Spirit is so strong here, whether it's in English or Portuguese. Especially today. I love Christmas and even though it still feels a little weird not being at home with all my family, it's still Christmas and the Spirit is just as strong. I love all of you guys and am so thankful for all the amazing things that you do for me. Anyways, I have to get off because they still have to have tons of other missionaries email today. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and I will write again on Tuesday. I am super excited to go to Cape Verde and serve the people there. The Church is true and I want to share it with everyone!! Amo voces!!!!

Elder Brandon Dola

December 20, 2011

Tudo Bem!! Feliz Natal!

So this week has gone by really fast. I only have two weeks left before I leave for Cape Verde!! I'm super excited. Nothing too exciting happened this week though. It snowed finally! But only about half an inch. It is super weird because most days feel like Spring right now. Also Utah is super disgusting. There is this thing called inversion which pretty much means that there is a super thick layer of pollution hanging around in the air. You can actually see it, and it traps all the warm air down below. It looks like it's permanently foggy but it's dirty fog. I'm definitely glad it's not like that where we live. It doesn't really feel like Christmas here. Other than the decorations and the lights up everywhere, you wouldn't really be able to tell. Christmas day should be really sweet though. We get to watch a couple Tabernacle Choir presentations. I'm not entirely sure if it means they're coming here or not but I'm pretty sure they aren't. We are getting an apostle at least on Sunday during sacrament meeting because the entire MTC is having a combined meeting. It's gonna be crazy! Thats over 2000 missionaries all having one sacrament meeting. It's so the branch presidencies can go home to their families. Thats why we are having an apostle. We're guessing though that we'll have a minimum of two come though in the next two weeks because we have a lot of extra firesides and devotionals. It should be interesting!

Wednesday is the last day that new missionaries will arrive while I am here and our district gets to be hosts. That means we get to show the new missionaries to their residence hall, help them get their books and then show them their classrooms. We are pretty excited because we were worried that we wouldn't get to do this. Jordan comes in this week but I don't know if I'll see him right away because I'm guessing he'll be flying in and I don't know where the missionaries who fly in get dropped off.

I'm almost finished reading the Book of Mormon again. The branch presidency challenged us to finish it before we leave. I'm just starting 3 Nephi and if I keep going at the same pace I'll definitely finish in two weeks. Portuguese is coming along as well. I feel like there is only so much more I can learn here though and that I need to get out and be completely immersed to become fluent. We are trying to have more speak your language days but it is still hard and not everyone in our district wants to do it so sometimes we forget. We're trying though and I feel like I can speak pretty well.

Basketball is so much fun right now! The past couple of weeks we've got a lot of new elders in our gym period who play basketball so it gets really intense. I feel like my jumping is coming back quite well and I dunk all the time now. One elder calls me White Howard because I always wear my Superman shirt. It's a lot of fun though. There are some really cool people here. Volleyball can be fun at times but it never gets competitive and I lose interest easily. Plus the lines are always super long.

I look forward to hearing from Brodie because it would be good to hear more specific details about what it is like in Cape Verde. Nobody really knows much about Cape Verde here. All my teachers served in Brazil. Anyways my time is up. I hope you all have a good Christmas! I'll be thinking of you as you are enjoying grandma's delicious home cooked meal and I am eating my cafeteria meal. Eu amo voces!!

Elder Brandon Dola

December 13, 2011

Tudo bem!!!

Well another week has passed by and nothing new or exciting has really happened. I only have three weeks left in the MTC but it still feels like it is so far away. Umm the BYU Men´s Choir came on Sunday for our devotional and did a program for us. It was pretty good, they did a really cool version of the ´´hummer pum pum´´ song that I think K. would have liked. Other than that though everything here is pretty much the same. It feels like spring outside right now. It snowed a little bit while we were at the temple but it´s pretty much gone already. Today was the last day that we get to go to the temple because it closes for Christmas I think on Saturday and doesn´t open up again until the day that we leave. We also ate lunch at the temple again so that was good. The language is continually improving and we had another speak your language day yesterday. It went pretty good and I learned a lot. Last week when we tried it we pretty much failed. The Wednesday we made it until after lunch and then we kind of stopped. The Saturday was even worse. But yesterday went well and we are going to do it again tomorrow. C. leaves tomorrow for Boston which is crazy. He came in two weeks after me and gets to leave three weeks before me. He´s really excited though which is good.

I don´t really know what to write this week. My journal entries are slowly getting shorter and shorter because we don´t really do much different. Yesterday I played basketball in gym and it was really fun because it was super intense like when I used to play at home. I dunked on one kid and then hit a game winning three which was really cool. It was nice to play competitively again though so I really enjoyed that. Volleyball is a lot more fun now too because the new district that just came in has a whole bunch of volleyball players in it. I think K. would like breakfasts here. Almost everyday we get some kind of pancake, waffle or french toast and usually they are pretty good. Sometimes they are a little cold or undercooked but for the most part they are good. My birthday was really just another day here. Although I definitely got the most mail that day. My district sang happy birthday in one of our classes in Portuguese which was kind of cool but other than that it was just a normal day. We had to teach two lessons and we got new missionaries in our room but that was about it. I did get the package. Thanks a lot! I hope I can finish the box of cereal before I leave. I can only really eat it on P-day and I definitely won´t be able to bring it to Cape Verde.

I don't get to call home on Christmas but I will get to call home from the airport. I'll know more about that though in a couple weeks. Also the MTC stops accepting packages on the 23 and won't start again until the 26. I'm supposed to tell you that in case you try to send packages before Christmas. I started reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese everyday during my personal study and I can understand maybe about 75% of it which is pretty amazing I think. I have to look up some words and I keep my English scriptures nearby but it is helping me expand my vocabulary quite a bit. How's everyone else doing at home? I don't hear from anyone other than you guys and grandma and grandpa. C. says he hasn't heard from anyone outside of his family at home either.

Well I don't really have anything else to write. I'm still having fun and learning a lot. Hopefully in the next three weeks I can improve my speaking quite a bit more since I'm not going to understand anyone in Cape Verde anyways, I might as well be able to talk to them. I love you all and hope to keep hearing from you lots.

Love,

Elder Brandon Dola

December 6, 2011

Tudo bem!!

So not much happened here this week. Sometimes the days seem to just blend together. Probably because we do the same things every day. But I am learning a lot and am continuing to progress with my speaking. I still have a very basic vocabulary but tomorrow we are having a "Fala Sua Lingua" day. This means we speak only Portuguese all day except for at meal times. Everyone has been telling us that we need to do this in order to learn faster and we were finally able to convince the rest of our district to do it. So... we'll see how it goes.

We have been told that we have to relax sometimes and have some fun. Apparently some missionaries become stressed out because they work too hard and never take any breaks. I'm not going to let that happen. We are having fun though and that makes it so much easier to learn. We get to teach every other day and have so much study time. We got to watch the Christmas Devotional on Sunday and it was really good.

Today we went to the temple and then ate lunch in the cafeteria. The food was soo much better than MTC food!! We are really getting tired of eating food that makes you feel sick after eating it, although nobody else has been super sick since Thanksgiving. I've learned that the salads are usually pretty safe to eat as well as the ice cream. I got your card today so thanks! It's the first time I've had more mail than the sisters. They get so much mail and so many packages it's ridiculous!

Thats good that the NBA is back although I was hoping it would miss a season so I would only miss one. Oh well... it doesn't matter. I just hope Howard doesn't get traded. The gym person got mad at me again because I brushed the rim when I went up for a dunk. I just flicked the ball in, didn't hang or anything, but my hand brushed the rim on my way down and they didn't like that. So now I just try to dunk in games. It snowed here the other day but it didn't last long. It is getting colder though, but not too bad. They have Christmas lights up all over the place but it still doesn't really feel like Christmas time. Probably because right up until Christmas we will be studying and working. It's going good though and I'm half way done my time here in the MTC.

I don't really think I need anything more right now. Although I am really getting bored of my ties. Also if you found some way to send real food without it spoiling in the mail, we have a fridge in our room!!! Just kidding but I'm doing good and learning a lot. Other than that, I like hearing from you. Please forward me the letters from all my friends. The one Sister P. puts together from all the missionaries. Thanks.

Anyways, thanks for everything and eu amo voces!!

Boa noite!!

Elder Brandon Dola

November 29, 2011

Tudo bem minha familia!!

So I definitely haven't been getting some of the letters you have been sending. I think I've missed maybe two or three. But I did get the package which is awesome! Thanks so much! I really want to listen to music right now but I am not allowed until I get to the field but the speaker is perfect. I see C. almost every day at meal time but we don't get a lot of time to talk. So is R. going to Barcelona, Spain or the Dominican Republic?? Either way that is super cool. Although too bad he's not in Asia because then we'd have someone in every continent in the world. So this week was pretty busy and intense. Last Tuesday, Elder Christofferson and his wife came to talk to us and they both gave really good talks. And then on Thanksgiving, Elder Nelson and his wife came to speak to us which was also really cool. It's funny because you can always tell when an Apostle is coming because the lineups to get into the gym are huge and there are cops and security guards everywhere. It was a really neat experience though and I learned a lot. Me and two other elders were making guesses on who was going to come on Tuesday and Elder Christofferson was my number six pick so I won. Our last picks were pretty crazy though. I picked Captain Moroni, one elder picked the Three Nephites and another picked some other deceased Prophet. We're having fun though.

Other than Elder Nelson's visit, Thanksgiving wasn't that amazing other than we got a break from classes. Elder N. was sick all day from the food and threw up six times I think. He's better now but the food here really isn't that good. The only thing that you can count on to taste good is the salads and the ice cream. Other than that you just feel sick afterwards. But we are not starving and if you try you can have a decent meal. This week at lunch there wasn't anything good to eat so my district and another district ate an entire tower of frosted flakes. It ended up being about 63 overflowing bowls of cereal between about 12 people but it was fun. Except I don't think I'll be eating frosted flakes anytime soon. Elder P. ate 9 bowl and didn't feel too great after that. We have a really fun district though and I just got assigned to be district leader because our old one is now a zone leader with his companion. That means I get to go to meetings on Sunday, run district meetings and interview all the senior companions every week. It's not that bad though and I'm learning a lot from the experience. I have the same companion the whole time here and things are going well. Yesterday we committed one of our mock investigators to baptism which was really cool. Yesterday while I was teaching I was talking about receiving revelation through the Book of Mormon and words just started flowing out of my mouth. I wasn't stumbling and it made sense and I was able to say what I wanted to say and fast too. It was really cool. I feel like I just need to focus on learning as much vocabulary as I can and master some of the other grammar principles. I'm not too worried about the language anymore.

I sent you guys some pictures in the mail so I hope you get those. Not much else is going on here though. We teach two lessons a day, every other day and are constantly learning the language and studying our scriptures. I love study time because I am learning so much from the Book of Mormon. Days seem like weeks and weeks seem like days here. I still have five weeks to go and C. leaves for Boston next week on my birthday.

We've always been told to work hard and be serious but to always take time to relax and have some fun so that you don't get too stressed out. I think my district works really hard so I'm not to worried about it. We got a mini-fridge in our room one day randomly. None of the other rooms have one and I walked into the room to get my passport so they can get my visa and it was just sitting in the middle of the floor. We don't know where it came from but we are definitely using it. It's pretty sweet. Thats about all that is new from me. It's good to hear that everything is going good at home. I'm learning so much here and even though the days become repetitive we are trying to make the best of it. Even if the people who run the gym are on a power trip. I got in trouble one day because I jumped and lightly touched the rim. He said if I did it again I would get kicked out so I just play volleball most days. I love you all and I hope to keep hearing from you.

Eu amo voces!!

Elder Brandon Willam Dola

November 22, 2011

Bom dia minha familia!

Everything here is pretty much the same. We have the same routine every single day and it feels like we have been here forever. One of the older Portugal/Cape Verde districts just left this morning and they were super excited to be leaving. We only have 6 more weeks!! Ha ha but it has been getting a lot better. Elder N., he's on of the other missonaries in my district, and I have been trying to speak in Portuguese every chance we get because everyone keeps telling us that that is the only way we are going to learn the language. However there are some people in our district who get upset because they can't understand or they don't like speaking so we normally just speak with each other. I can actually speak quite well although my vocabulary is very limited still. When we teach our investigators I still end up doing most of the talking but my companion has been contributing a lot more. So far I have memorized the Missonary Purpose, the baptisimal prayer and recently the First Vision all in Portuguese. Elder N. and I like to say the First Vision whenever we can just for fun.

This week is American Thanksgiving so Thursday we don't have classes or anything. I think we are doing some sort of service project and then we have a bunch of firesides throughout the day. Nobody has told us exactly what is going on yet but it should be good I think. They are setting up for Christmas already and they have lights everywhere. They haven't turned them on but we are pretty excited to see what it will all look like when they are done. Also, I don't think I get to call home on Christmas this year but I will get to call before I fly out. I'm the only Elder in my district going to Cape Verde but there were three elders in the older district who just left for Cape Verde and they all seemed pretty sweet. They said they had to get rid of a lot of stuff in order to keep there bag under the correct weight. Apparently the carry on can only be 10 lbs? So that could potentially make things more difficult. I'm not really worrying about that yet because I'm not leaving this place any time soon.

It snowed a couple days ago and it's really funny to see all of the people who have never seen snow before. It melted the next day though and it has been nice ever since. I don't know how I will be able to send pictures home. The computers won't let me access my camera and I can't get on the drop box site. I may send a couple in the mail but I think I might just have to wait till I'm out in the field and have more internet access. The computers are pretty locked down here. But we do get to watch Mormon Messages and every Sunday we get to watch a movie. So that is a nice break. Other than that though we are constantly studying the language and the scriptures/ Preach My Gospel. We don't really get much of a break other than P-Day and gym time. I've been playing basketball more lately because the volleyball lines are always so long now that nobody can go outside. I even had a dunk in on of the games! It was pretty sweet. Some of their rules here seem a little weird. You are allowed to dunk in a game when someone is guarding you and trying to hack you but if you dunk with nobody guarding you they get mad and kick you out of the gym. I know the rules are for safety but I would think that it should be the other way around. Oh well, it is still nice to be able to play and I'm just enjoying it because after the MTC I will most likely only play soccer till my mission is done.

So if you guys get a chance to send my iPod, there are a few songs that I would like if possible. A Poor Wayfairing Man, Come Thou Fount, and a Spirit of God. Whatever other songs will be fine but those are my favorites I think. It's so quiet without music and it takes some getting used to because I always listened to music at home. And I forgot to say that all of the Lord of the Rings and Gladiator music is on my iTunes library on my laptop. Thank you!

I don't think I really need anything else. I love you all!

Elder Brandon Dola

Nobember 15, 2011

Bom Dia!!

Well I've been here for 2 weeks now. Everyday is pretty much the same except for p-days so days kind of blend together. Sometimes it seems like time is going by slowly but other times it flies. I'm learning so much and yet I still have tons to learn. We are finished teaching our first "investigator" and he is now our second teacher. Only one pair of elders got him to commit to baptism but we have two new investigators now and I think it will go better now. I can understand almost everything that is said to me in Portuguese and I can even reply back now. My vocabulary is still lacking and I'm still learning all the different tenses for verbs so my Portuguese probably sounds awfull. However, I can say my prayers and bear my testimony in Portuguese so that is pretty cool. Every Sunday we have to prepare a 3 minute talk in Portuguese and the Branch President randomly picks two missionaries to give their talks. I didn't have to give mine this past Sunday which was nice but I think it would have gone ok if I had to give it. It's really amazing to think of how much I've learned in the past two weeks. I definitely belive that the gift of tongues is real but you have to work super hard in order to receive it. We talked to some elders from another district who are getting ready to leave next week and they said that as long as you continue to work hard, the language will come. I'm not too worried right now but sometimes it is frustrating not to be able to communicate fully your thoughts, especially when we have to teach every day. Other than that, nothing much is new. Every day is pretty much the same, stuff is just switched around depending on the day.

It's been really nice here as well. It's rained a couple days but no snow and it's never been below zero yet. People still complain about how cold it is but they obviously have never experienced a REAL winter. I don't really know what else to say. We got to watch Legacy on Sunday after the fireside and we get tons of personal time to study our scriptures. Our district had to recite My Missionary Purpose from memory in Portuguese during priesthood meeting. We didn't sound very good but most of us have it memorized already. I play volleyball every day during gym time with an elder from another district. It's frustrating at times because some of the missionaries get so competitive and try to do stuff on their own instead of using everyone. They also don't know how to play by the rules very much because I spike served a ball pretty hard and it got shanked into the roof but I didn't get to serve again. It's still nice to play though but I miss playing competitively.

Today we got to go to the temple which was a really cool experience. I really like that we get to go to the temple every week. It's definitely one of the highlights of being in the MTC. I can definitely see why missionaries get tired of the MTC though. Every day is the same and we don't have a lot of time to do personal things. Somedays the food is pretty good and sometimes it is awfull. I eat a lot of salads because those usually taste pretty good. We had uncooked chicken this week and a lot of the time the food is cold. I'm not going hungry though but I don't see myself gaining any weight anytime soon. There is so much to learn here and we get to do some pretty cool things. Also, what a lot of the missionaries have done is brought their iPods with church music on it and then a small set of portable iPod speakers because we are allowed to listen to music in the field. So I was thinking, sometime next month before I leave the MTC can you guys take my green iPod from my bed table, erase everything that is on there and then put on a ton of church music? Also my Lord of the Rings and Gladiator soundtracks because we can listen to instrumental music as well. Then just find a small set of portable iPod speakers and send it to me? That would be really nice because it gets really quiet not being able to listen to music.

Anyways my time is almost up again. I don't really have much else to write. Anyways I am still enjoying my time here however 7 more weeks seems like too long. I hope to keep hearing from you guys, it's nice to hear whats happening at home. Hopefully I'll get to see Chris tomorrow. I love you all.

Elder Brandon Dola

November 8, 2011 - The Missionary Training Center

Tudo Bem minha familia!!

So I've been here almost a week now and it's been pretty good so far. The food isn't all that bad although apparently biscuits and gravy is an American thing down here because they served that one day for supper. I get unlimited chocolate milk and bananas for every meal and the rest of the meals have been pretty good. We are always kept super busy and don't really get a lot of time to ourselves other than p-day. My p-day is Tuesdays so that is when I'll be able to email home. The MTC president asked us all to write home on the first day so I did... but I'm gonna bet that you won't get that letter for another month. They don't waste any time here. The very first day, we started language class. I think our teacher maybe spoke two minutes of English to us the entire three hours of class. The rest was in Portuguese. I can almost understand everything my teacher says to us already however I'm still not very good at answering back. However it gets easier every day and the language is super cool. My district is all super cool and we all get along very well. We have a lot of fun together but we are also able to learn a lot together. My companion is Elder T. and he is SOOO loud!!! But he's super fun and we get along very well. Nobody told us about daylight savings on Sunday so we all woke up at 5:30. We decided to just have a shower and then went back to bed for half an hour till 6:30. Sacrament meeting was really cool though. Our branch is all Portuguese speaking missionaries so other than announcements the whole meeting is in Portuguese. The Spirit is still very strong even when you can't understand what is being said... although I was able to understand most of what was said. We also had MTC conference since it was fast Sunday and got to hear from some of the members of the MTC Presidency and their wives. It was a really good meeting and it was neat to see all the missionaries together in one room. We also had an evening fireside after dinner and got to hear from someone who works at Church Headquarters. I can't remember his name but he talked about all the different ways the Church has been able to get missionaries into some of the countries that didn't use to let us in. Tonight we also have a fireside and apparently we Tuesday nights are when General Authorities come so it should be really good.

Most days are pretty much the same here. We started teaching an investigator last Friday already... in Portuguese! We teach him every day and our lessons usually involve a lot of reading because our vocabulary isn't good enough to answer his questions. We are getting better though. We have 6 hours of classroom study each day where we learn the language and teach our investigator. We also get lots of personal study time to read our scriptures and Preach My Gospel as well as time to study the language by ourselves. We get gym time every day although volleyball is rather boring. We've had two power outages so far. One was Friday night so we had nice cold showers on Saturday and cereal for breakfast. Yesterday some of the power went out as well and we thing there was some sort of fire because we could see smoke coming from one of the buildings and a firetruck drove past us into the entrance when we were walking to class. It's also starting to get colder here and everyone is complaining. It's not even below zero! Ha ha it feels nice outside. On the Wednesday when I got here I was put in with the other Canadian and American missionaries who arrived early. I met a guy from Raymond and a guy from Calgary who are both going to the Winnipeg mission. I also met a guy who is going to Montreal. Canadians are pretty much considered foreigners here and everyone always thinks it's so cool that I come from Canada. I haven't really had any weird questions yet though. I met an Elder from Lethbridge who I apparently went to school with. I think his name was Brody O. or something? He remembered me and said we played basketball against him in high school.

Anyways, my time is almost up. Thanks for the letters so far! It's always nice to hear from home. I'm learning so much here and having a lot of fun. The language is difficult but I know it will come and my testimony of the Gospel is strengthening every day. I miss you guys although I don't really have a lot of time to think about home so maybe thats a good thing. I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Love, Elder Dola

Boa Noite!!!