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
