WEEK 7: First Week in Fortaleza

Elder Perry and the other new missionaries arrive in Fortaleza

Ola! Eu amo voces. First week here in the field has been pretty crazy. Also, extremely hard and rewarding. My trainer for the first 3 months here is Elder Makino. He is from Brasilia, and has been out on his mission for 9 months. He, no matter what is happening here, has a really positive attitude about everything. He also really helps me with the language, because usually I have no idea what the kids are saying. They always use so much slang. Our area is called “Guararapes A.” It is the same zone as the Fortaleza temple and the temple is right across the street from our ward building. Super cool stuff.

The only thing is, the most ready people here (in this area) to be baptized are the “rapazes” (young men). They are all really awesome. I have met so far two named Levi, Paulo, Brendo, and a few others. They have all been super nice, and for the most part they refrain from making fun of my Portuguese.

This first week here for me has also been the first week in this area for Elder Makino. The missionaries who just left this area left us with 2 addresses of people who weren’t interested when we went past, and beneath that it just said “Friend of Carla” and that’s basically it. Not sure how that worked out, because neither of us know where any of the members are. Because we have no contacts or anything, we are basically just walking around trying to get contacts by talking with people in the street, and knocking (clapping) at doors. Neither of these methods are super effective. We had a few families we planned on visiting this week, but they either failed to answer, or a menino would come out and say their parents weren’t home. It was muito chato. But, we have been getting anywhere from 40 to 60 contacts a day. On Friday, we got 8 addresses of people to visit. We are working on that now. We plan on getting more lessons taught once we know where the ward members live and getting references from them. Hopefully that will help move the work along.

I understand more and more of what people are saying to me every day. The first day hit me like a wall of bricks. The accent of people here is a little different than people in Sao Paulo, but I have been able to adjust. Elder Makino has been teaching me all the slang phrases they use. Another thing that is really funny here is that after basically any phrase most kids and some adults will append the word “man.” One phrase that Elder Makino always says to me is “ô cara man” which translates to “the face,” which means “the best.” It’s a weird translation, but that’s how most of the slang here is. So, “ô cara man” it is.

Every day there is a ward member who is designated to feed us lunch. We have a little schedule that tells us where we go. The lunch meals are always really good. It’s hard to eat so much, because you can always tell that our lunches are the best meals that they prepare. The members live in very humble circumstances, but are always willing to give us everything they have. I am also fortunate enough to be in the same ward as Elder Haddock from my CTM district, so our companionships always get lunch together. It is very “legal” (or nice).

Some days when a member who is supposed to feed us isn’t doing too hot, they give us a couple bucks to get a meal for ourselves. The other day (Saturday), this happened. We got the money, bought a 2 liter coke at the grocery store, and walked into this open restaurant down the street. It was kind of a self-serve thing with beans and rice, and then a woman serving meats at the far end. The meats all looked pretty strange, so when it got to me and Elder Haddock, we both pointed at this relatively normal looking orange meat, which the lady gave us plenty of. We sat down, and Elder Haddock’s companion started laughing at us for some reason. He said it was nothing, so we just kept eating. Partway through the meal, he asked us, “Do you know what that is?” in reference to the orange meat we were eating. We told him no, he laughed again, and proceeded to tell us that it was cow stomach. Delicious. Needless to say, I had almost eaten all of it at that time, but I wasn’t able to finish it. Elder Haddock felt the same way. I’m fairly certain that it is called panelada or something like that.

Yesterday, Sunday, was my first here in Fortaleza. We got to finally meet all the members of the ward. They are all super nice. Basically all of us drove over together in this really old looking bus. It was pretty weird, because I really didn’t know what was going on. But we got a really nice view of the ocean. I will try to get a picture of it next week. Anyway, the bus showed up a little late to the meeting - and we entered right at the beginning of the sacrament hymn. Directly after the sacrament, the bishop said that all of us 3 new missionaries would be going up to the pulpit to introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies. A little freaky given the quick turnaround after arriving, but it went pretty well in my opinion. Also, it appears that our ward doesn’t have anyone who plays the piano... so I played the closing hymn. Looks like I’m going to need a little time during the week to practice.

I love Brazil. I love you all. I love this work.

Elder Perry

Elder Perry and Elder Makino

Looking for contacts in Fortaleza

Elder Perry and Elder Makino (sent to David via Instagram!)

WEEK 6 (Part 2): Final Week at the CTM

Elder Perry's CTM district prepares to fly to Fortaleza

Para o campo! Hello everybody! This week was my last one here in the CTM. It was definitely the hardest week here. We were teaching 3 or 4 practice lessons every day, which was pretty mentally exhausting. We have been working on adapting the lesson as we are teaching, which has proved to be rather difficult. But as of now, everyone in the district seems ready and optimistic to go out into the field tomorrow (September 24th).

This week had some highlights too. Last P day, Wednesday, the district all went out and got haircuts. There is this really small barbershop that is about a block from the CTM where everyone goes on p days. This really nice old guy cut my hair, but also his finger in the process. It was bleeding profusely, but he went on, giving me updates every once in a while as my hair got all over his cut. Kind of weird, but it was great. Great experience.

Things got nice and cool here in Sao Paulo this week too. After days of scorching heat, it was nice to feel the breeze. We were actually able to open up our window during the night, and use our covers. That was the nicest feeling. It was so great to finally feel that. And then we checked the electronic board to see the temperature in Fortaleza - 96 degrees at like 5 pm. I am not looking forward to those nights. Just kidding.

For now, I am getting ready to start working out in the field. Constantly studying the scriptures and practicing Portuguese is what I’ve been doing. And teaching lots of lessons. I look forward to applying all of that practice to the real people in Fortaleza. But now I am officially done at the CTM. I can’t wait to start sending you all updates about the work in Fortaleza! Eu amo voces, e estou animado para comecar trabalhando!

Love, Elder Perry

Last CTM pizza party

WEEK 6: Fortaleza!

I am alive and well here in Fortaleza finally. It was a bit of a crazy day. We woke up at like 4:00 AM to drive to the airport at Campinas and fly out to Fortaleza. When we arrived and were sitting there at the terminal, we were just waiting for like an hour. And then another, and they had to move us all to another plane. It was super weird. Then a 3 hour flight next to Elder Gygi which was great. We met the APs - Elder Haslam and Elder Fernandes. They are both great, and we met with some of the other secretaries at the airport as well. It was way cool. It was also very very hot. And humid. Now we are out at the main ward building for some training and then dinner with the mission president. I don´t have much time to email. But I will send you this week´s email and next on our P day (Monday). I love you all!

Love, Elder Perry

WEEK 5: Oi! One Week To Go at the CTM

Last Temple Visit for Elder Perry's CTM District (Sao Paulo Temple)

Oi! I hope you are all doing well! This last week at the CTM has been mostly the same as all the others. Classes all day every day. Nearly every meal is an identical helping of rice and beans. Actually, last night we had soggy hotdogs. It was the best.

This last week has been incredibly hot here in Sao Paulo. Last P-day (Wednesday) was close to 100 degrees all afternoon, and that is our only day of the week to go walk around outside the CTM. So that was great. The fans kept turning on and off on the bus ride, so we were all cooking in there. Just imagine 50 sweaty missionaries, in a 100 degree oven for an hour and a half. It was brutal. But the P- day nap never disappoints.

We have new roommates now! Elder Yamaguchi, who is from Sao Paulo and speaks Portuguese, and Elder Fogg, who is from Idaho and speaks English and Spanish. They are both great. I have loved practicing my Portuguese with them.

As a district, we have been working on speaking only Portuguese when we are together. We have been doing mock lessons several times a day now, so that is great, but we are all improving in our Portuguese a ton. It has been great learning here. We also get to sit and talk with many native Brazilian speakers during meals. There are people there from all over South America, and also many from Africa too. They all have pretty amazing stories. But most of my conversations with them end up being about soccer. Almost every meal the Messi vs. Ronaldo debate is brought up. Fortunately, most people here have their heads screwed on well enough to side with the GOAT - Messi.

We passed through some major difficulties this week. Starting last Thursday, half of the showers on our floor went under maintenance. There is all this yellow and black tape strung all over them, including my good shower. So every morning, people wake up earlier and earlier to try to get the good showers of the few we have left. I moved my wake up time to 6:00 am, and that's usually early enough to get first pick in there. But, someone actually tore the tape off of the super good shower the other day, so... I may just have to use it.

I found a scripture that I felt was inspired for me last P-day at the Campinas temple. While I was still in the temple right after the session, I sat down and opened the Book of Mormon next to me. It was bookmarked to Alma 38, wherein Alma is giving advice to his son Shiblon. It's a really great chapter, and I felt that it was very applicable to my mission right now, and it gave me good hope.

Love you all lots.

Love, Elder Perry

View of Sao Paulo from the CTM

WEEK 4: First time Proselytizing!

Getting ready for another day at the CTM

This week felt like a whole month! Just kidding, but it was very slow. I have actually been here almost a month. Imagine every day a regular morning, followed by 4 hours of Portuguese study and 4 more hours of seminary. It can feel hard sometimes, but I have come to enjoy the huge amount of spiritual and language learning that goes on here.

This last Saturday, we got to go proselytizing around downtown Sao Paulo (at their equivalent of a Times Square). And coincidentally, Saturday was also Brazil's Independence Day. We got to walk around and talk with a ton of people, and try to collect contacts. Elder Magleby and I talked with a lot of people, and were able to get the information of 2 people. Oh also, they reorganized our district and I only have one companion now (Elder Magleby). On the street we were proselytizing on, there was also a huge protest. Apparently there has been some serious political contention here in Brazil, so that was pretty interesting. I just wish I could read the news and see what it's all about, lol.

We said farewell to our roommates today, Elder Rojo and Elder Santos. They are both great guys, and will be fantastic missionaries. It's weird to see them go, because we had already been here for a week when they arrived. I can't wait to follow them out into the field.

The spirit is strong here amongst the missionaries. I have loved being able to feel the love of Christ through them every single day, even if we're just learning grammar. I love this work!

Love Elder Perry

P.S. Shout out to Thomas Stewart who leaves for the MTC this week! You'll be great!

Elder Perry with Elder Rojo & Elder Santos

View of Sao Paulo from the bus

WEEK 3: Ola Ola! The Prophet's Visit to Brazil and Fun at the CTM

Elder Perry in front of the Sao Paulo Temple

Ola Ola!

This past Friday was President Nelson’s address to the missionaries of Brazil. He counseled all of us to help our investigators begin reading ô Livro de Mormon at 3rd Nephi, chapter 11 when Christ travels to the Nephites in America following His resurrection. This is because most people know about Jesus’ life and his ministry, but his visit to the Americas is unique and specific to the Book of Mormon. Anyway, it was pretty cool and I felt the spirit strongly.

On Sunday evening, we got to see another devotional from President Nelson, addressing the members of the church in Brazil. We were able to listen to Elder Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve as well. President Nelson didn’t have a talk prepared, and didn’t even bring his scriptures to the pulpit with him. That was a super cool testament that his words were directly from God. His main point of the night was about eternal families. He counseled us to have pictures of our families, and the temple hanging in our homes. He also talked about making our homes “laboratories of love.” It was a cool message, because if God thinks it is significant for members to hear, it is going to be important for me to share that with the people I will be teaching. It was also cool when he left the building, the choir was singing “We thank thee o God for a prophet” in Portuguese while the congregation waved white handkerchiefs in the air. All of the people the camera showed were crying. The spirit was so strong. I know that man is a prophet.

On a sour note, everyone in my district got sick this week. Basically everyone in the MTC came down with some kind of strep throat, which was awful. On Sunday, my companionship trio was sitting in our classroom with two other elders, doing personal study. All of a sudden, one of the elders got a really bad bloody nose. I took him into the bathroom to start cleaning him up. It didn’t stop so I ran down to the bottom floor to find a medical person. Someone who spoke English and Portuguese helped me to find a doctor and we ran back up to the elder. At that point, the bleeding was out of control so we took him into our classroom for a minute. While he was in there, Elder Gunn anointed his head with oil for a blessing, and I sealed and gave the blessing to him. It was really quick, because people had to take care of him. We took him to the CTM lobby, because someone had called a taxi to take him to the hospital. He left with his roommate who speaks both Portuguese and English, and we went back to sacrament meeting. He came back during lunch looking much better. The doctors had put him on a ton of painkillers and an IV (eek!) and they cauterized his nose. He’s doing alright now and we just made sure he went to bed really early. Everyone else seems to be doing really well.

NOW, ABOUT THE CTM…

The CTM (MTC) is not always super easy for us, so we need to find ways to entertain ourselves.

Most days during our lunch and dinner of rice, beans, and unidentified meat, there is a small pot of hot sauce with this bright red pepper next to it. One day I decided to grab the pepper and eat it. That was probably the spiciest thing I have ever eaten in my life. We now have a form of initiation where someone eats the pepper every meal when it’s there.

Every breakfast we are given a roll, or two if we want, and some meat and cheese. If you really want, you can stand in line for 30 minutes to make it into a panini. One time, I made a butter poptart by just panini-ing a roll full of butter. It was honestly kind of gross.

I was able to find the best shower on our floor. It is the farthest one in the left corner. It has the best pressure, and if I wake up early enough the water is actually pretty warm. Plus, that shower doesn’t have mold or bugs. It is worth waking up 30 minutes early before everyone else.

Like 4 times a week, our district gets to go outside and play basketball, or some other physical activity. But first, we all have to run 5 laps on this tiny track that is probably 100 meters long. And while playing basketball or volleyball, we’re not allowed to jump. At all. Or keep score. So as you can probably tell, our games get pretty intense.

Every day, we are given 7.5 reais, (pronounced aye-eyes) to spend on the vending machines. Sometimes, if you are super lucky, there is a candy or something that is on the outside of the shelf, and if you select it, that one falls down as well as the one behind it. That’s a legendary moment. Elder Gunn once got two packets of Skittles from doing this. All of the Skittles were gone from the machine in less than 10 minutes.

But, life is great here in the MTC. Our district has bonded really well, and even though our Portuguese is not always where it needs to be, we are all doing our best.

Love, Elder Perry

The "tiny track" at the Sao Paulo CTM (photo courtesy of churchofjesuschrist.org)