New Year, Same Us... Amazing Fam!

So the life at the CTM is great!! I literally had a 4 day weekend kind of because of how many activities were going on! Christmas was great I would send you pictures but I’m not allowed haha so oh well!! There were supposedly some crazy fireworks on Christmas but I slept through them... oops. haha other the the excitement of Christmas there hasn't been anything crazy going on. I’ve been able to go to the temple both in Sao Paulo and Campinas temple which are both so beautiful!! P-days are my favorite because we can roam the streets and buy a bunch of treats or whatever we need. Thank you for buying me cookies from Mr. Cheneys!! They were so good! They were really big and I ended up giving a lot to my friends because I was always so full haha

So I had the opportunity to go proselyting in the main area in Sao Paulo and literally the first lady I try to talk to threw up her arms and screamed! hahahaha It was the funniest thing ever!! There was my comp & two Brazilian elders who were there with me and got the privilege to witness the whole thing haha. Other than that proselyting is HARD! We were able to contact some people but we literally speak in broken Portuguese so its so hard to get them to know what your saying haha still had a ton of fun though!!

The learning here is coming along as well. I’m able to have broken conversations with Brazilians and I can teach the lessons in Portuguese. We have these things called TRC which is were we teach in only Portuguese. Those are pretty fun and I just realize how far I've come!

This New Year was crazy!! I stayed up till 12 and the world was literally blowing up. The fireworks were exploding from every direction and for so long! It was so loud and crazy haha the sky was literally lit up because of all the lights going off! And a huge line of fire trucks with their horns and lights blaring drove right by the CTM so that didn't help with the peace and quiet hahaha but my new year was so good and I hope all of yours was as well. Same with your Christmas! I have come to really appreciate Jesus Christ and what He did for us as I've been here at the CTM this Christmas!!

Life here is starting to get dull and I can't wait to get out into the field! My schedule is literally planned by the second it seems but it's really fun! My district is awesome and we all get along and have a ton of fun!! Some of my best friends who I love so much are leaving this week and that really sucks! one of them was name Elder Mayisela. He is from Swaziland in Africa and he was the coolest guy ever! There's some other elders as well that are leaving who I'm going to miss a lot!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIMON!!! I'm so happy for Simon and his decision to get baptized!!! He's the best brother ever!! I love those three little boys so much and I am thankful to have them in my life! Also Kollin is home and Simon really wanted Kollin to be the one to baptize him ahhhh so awesome!! I'm sad that I missed Simon’s baptism!! But I know he's making the right choice in this life and will be forever blessed!

I might be able to send pics soon, my comp has a wifi camera! That's so cool that Braeden is leaving to school soon!! boa sorte (Good luck)! He's going to do awesome!! I'm amazed at Molly getting baptized! She's so awesome and I'm excited for her.

I love my family and this gospel and am so happy for all those who are brought into it and have to opportunity to share the love that I feel!!

Gotta go!! LOVE YOU ALL!!


Elder Whelan