Week 5 Sacrament Meeting Talk

Brazil Piracicaba Mission Map

     Hazzzit my pasoas! (people) So this is my last week here in the CTM and I am stoked to the max, I cant wait to leave.

     I had to give a talk this past Sunday, ha ha here in the CTM they announce who is speaking like in sacrament meeting, this past Sunday I left my bag with all my manuals and what not with my talk back in my room thinking I'm not gunna give a talk.  There are tons of people here, so I'm sitting in sacrament meeting and they talk super fast, so it was kinda hard to understand but then I hear an "Elder Akina"... and I was like this is not real life right now!  Ha ha!  So I got a scripture and talked about it a little and bore my testimony on it and I thought it went pretty good, it was like 4 minutes. It's just freaky cuz its in a different language.  One of the branch presidents pulled me aside after and was like, "you did that without anything written down huh?"  I was like, " yah."  He laughed and said, "you'll be amazed what the spirit will help you accomplish if you are always in tune with it", and i was like, "ha ha believe me i know!"

     We just got back from the temple, it was pretty sweet!  Its' getting pretty hot here.  Nothing that new this week though just more classes and devotionals and classes then food then classes. It's super crazy, there are all these brand new missionarys that are coming in every week and you say something in Portuguese to them they dont even know what to say back.  It felt like that was me like yesterday, time definatley went by fast here. 

     I think the next time I will get to email you guys it will be from the Mission Presidents house.  Oh mom stuff for the box that I need : office supplies, Chapstick, verb book and dictionary (Portuguese/English), floss.  Thanks heaps.

     Tell Carlie to start checking her mailbox at school I sent her a letter last week.  Send me pics mom, especially one of Carlie playing, also the one with me and Daddy Kanani in front of the hotel in Hawaii,  I'm in the red long sleeve hawaiian life guard shirt, and the one with me on the beach boogie boarding surfing etc. . . . I think I sent them to your phone while we were in Hawaii. 

 Thanks, love you lots Tchau

Bonus Second E-mail:

Mom to Elder Akina:
Eu te amo muito meu filho maravilhoso

 

com amor,

 

Sua mae.

Elder Akina's Response:

he-he da madda is learning Portuguese!!  Does this say, " I love you a lot my wonderful son, with love, mom.

Mom to Elder Akina:  Yes it does!

Week #4 Hitting the Streets

Sao Paulo

 

 Hey Mom!   The food is still super good, I dig it.  We only got 2 weeks then were out!  I'm pumped, I just want to get out in the field already!  My companion and I get a long, he's super spiritual and like quiet; not into anything I'm into so were pretty much the opposite, but we teach really well together.  I try to learn all I can from him. 

I'm glad Carlie was able to see you guys, make sure she didn't take any of my socks!!!! haha jk.  Tell Imua I love him and I guess Opihi too.

No I'm not getting letters from that place and I asked them if you put money or you got me stuff from there through that thing they do and they said no, so idk.

This week was super fun!  We went proselyting on Thursday and my companion and I tore it up!  They gave us 4 BOMs and we placed all of them in half an hour.  Haha - - we were terrified, you take a bus to downtown Sao Paulo and you're on your own.  We said a prayer before we started.  As we approached the first guy - - I was so nervous!   My companion and I worked it out to where I was the one with the intro like "hi, can we share a message about Jesus Christ with you" and intro the BOM and what its about.  So we walked up and I talked to him like perfectly, he said yeah and I got a little time, we had like a 10 minute convo with him!  I could understand his questions and I answered all of them.  He took the Book of Mormon and walked away!  My companion and I just turned, we looked at each other, and I told him, "if a month ago you told me I would be able to that I would not have believed you!".  

We did get rejected a lot though, we got a lot of,  "no its okay I believe in the bible"  or "sorry I'm working",  but it was all good.  It was so much fun.  

I've just been using my card so I don't really need the paper money, so it would help to just if anything put money on my card.  I don't know how much is on it so if you could get me my balance that would be nice. 

Tell everyone I love them, love you the mostest.

Elder Akina

Week 3 Pig Hooves & Chicken Hearts

October 30, 2014      
      I am sending another e-mail via the cookie place.  Some Elders with P-day on Friday are taking this out for me so you can get it. 

     Sadly, p-day has come to a close.  We ate at that Churrascaria and I ate so much!  These guys would just come by our table and just keep cutting different kinds of meat, I had every kind.  There was this soup, it had pig hooves but it was so good.  Elder Cummings and I loved it!  The chicken hearts were not that bad, they kind of tasted like shrimp to me. 

     We got two new roommates.  They're both Brasileros which is good because it forces us to speak more Portuguese. 

     We just got done teaching,  my companion and I read the schedule wrong;  so we had no lesson prepared.  We decided to freestyle it with no notes or anything and it was honestly one of the best lessons we every taught.  Our Portuguese was a little rough at some points but we figured it out.  We answered all the questions he had about the Word of Wisdom but this one we got stuck on.  We told him we we'd have his answer next time we met with him.  His question was, why do Mormons not drink coffee because of the caffeine, but they can drink like 10 cokes a day?  Ha-ha we were stumped!  We'll find his answer later tonight! 

     One of the Irmaos (teachers) asked me last night if I was excited for Halloween . . . and I was like, "Oh, it's Halloween?"  It's crazy how many things just don't matter when you're immersed in the missionary work!  I will miss Opihi in his pumpkin costume! 

November 5, 2014

     We just got back from the temple. This week has been very long, but I have learned a ton.  We have gotten like double the missionaries we have had this week, all of them Brasileros.  They're so funny.  We got these two new districts in our physical activity so the v ball games get pretty intense, with Brasileros tho, they'll just wait for the ball to get to them and use there feet haha!   We get a new sister in our Districto tonight so were all pretty pumped.

 

     My district has made a goal this past week to stay awake in all of the devotionals and conferences (which is the struggle because everything's in Portuguese) but I have developed a formula to stay awake in everything.  Before any leadership meeting or anything else, I drink 1 bottle of water like in 4 seconds. Then I have to go to the "Elder's Room" really bad right about the time I start to get sleepy or whatever so it keeps me up.  (Proud Mama moment!)

 

     I'm about to go to Chainey's so I'll check for your mail mom. I also need Carlie's address like to mail. Nothing really new and exciting, same thing pretty much everyday.  We have a sweet view from our room and we were looking out the window.   This plane was like out in the distance and Elder Jensen was like hey Elder Akina how far away you think that plane is.. I was like idk a mile... he was like nah man for you it's about 2 years!  Ha ha good laughs.

 

     I forgot to tell you guys a couple days ago an Elder Camacho left for the field.   Well, he is a Kamehameha grad and is good friends with Anna and Tierre, so let them know he and I were boys!   I got a pic with him,  I'll send it when I get out of here. 

 

     To the Packer Boys: When I get back I need to see Kade, Rand and Mont dunking on the regs, you too Rhet!  Be nice to your sister.  I'm proud of all you guys, and grateful for the opportunity I had to be amongst such fine young men.  You guys need to know Heavenly Father has blessed you with an awesome family.  Listen to your parents!  Your dad is seriously the coolest of the cools, he is one my hero's as I am sure he is one of yours.  I can't wait to come back and see how much you guys have grown. Much Love,  Elder Akina.

 

     Okay mom I'm going to try and send you another letter through the cookie place.  Give Imua a hug and Opihi a kick in the shorts for me.

 

     Love you dad,  thank you for your letters they are really what I need to hear.  Love you mom,  'till next week

 

Elder Akina

Week 2 in CTM

Hazzit!!  We just got back from the Sau Paulo temple.  It's a lot smaller then the one in Campinas but still super awesome.

This week was crazy, it feels like my brain is going to explode!  We have 3 hours of language instruction in the morning, then like teaching investigators. TRC (where we teach in these rooms with instructors who help us with what we could've said and how to say it and stuff.)  After that we get 3 more hours of language, then more preach my gospel classes.  We got this new Elder in our district Elder Jensen, he's awesome, so I'm not in a tripanionship anymore.  My companion is Elder Welch.

Yeah, i exercise everyday, we play volleyball against these Brazilians everyday and it gets intense.  The sister in our district, Sister Ostler played in high school and she like a beast setter.   I get ripped a new one by our physical instructor like daily because you're not allowed to hit, like they just want you to bump it over the net.   I tell myself to stop but then i just get these perfect sets on my left side so I kill it.  2 days ago I hit an Elder in the face with one and his glasses fell off and I got like this lecture about this is why we don't keep score and don't hit and stuff. (Hopefully we learn to be a bit more obedient!  Written by Elder Akina's Mom!)

Today we're going with another district to eat at a Churrascuria (sorry the spelling is a rough matter right now) that meat place where you just like eat until you die in your chair.  So I'm pretty pumped to the max about that.

Oh yeah, mom please do the Cheineys cookies thing, that would be awesome if you could. The guys is a member and he hooks it up with missionaries.  Did you send mail through there? Oh, I use my card some places so don't freak out when there's Brazil transactions or whatevs cuz its me.

We had an area 70 come speak to us at devotional but it was in Portuguese. Starting to follow some of it!  I'm kinda ready to leave the MTC,  the days are long, but I know I just gotta learn as much as possible.

I love you guys so much!  Tell the dogs whatsup for me.
Tchau

Wednesday is "P-Day" !

Oi!!! Hazzit everybody, whew this week has been crazy here in the CTM. There is noo english allowed here so it feels weird to even write in it.  We just got back from the campinas brasil temple, it was beautiful besides that fact the session was in Portuguese, I had to wake my companions up twice!

I am in a tripanionship which is more common here then companionships, it's weird i know. Elder Welch and Elder Cummings, They're both runners (but not that fast because i race them everyday and have yet to be beat) and they're super diligent, their prayers are like 15 minutes long; they can recite scriptures like nothing.  They're not that into sports, but they push me to be better and learn; that's all i need right now.

I have learned more Portuguese this week than Spanish those 3 years I took in high school.   I can bear my testimony, pray and carry on like a solid convo. I definatley have a testimony of the gift of tongues, it is a real thing and helps missionarys everywhere.  I sit with these Brasileros at lunch and they are so funny, but Brasilian people are different than Americans.  They don't do sarcasm, like you do or say something sarcastic, they don't get that type of humor.  Everyone's left arm is darker then their right because when they drive they hang it out the window ha ha.

We are teaching an investigator right now by the name of Erik, and I teach tonight, it will be our 4th discussion with him.  It's all in Portuguese, the first 2 lesson were pretty rough, but the third one was great.  I got to bear my testimony (for the first time other than practicing it) to him and the spirit was definatley strong in the room.  He's one of those MTC investigators but it's just like the real thing.

Everyone is scared to play me in basketball, we have zone sports with the Hispaico district (everyone from Chile, Dominican Republic, etc.) and I've played all the guys and no one will play me again!!  They know 1 nba players name so whenever they see me in between classes they'll be like Lebron!!! 

All the missionaries are suuper cool, and funny. The MTC is so stressful, though we're getting ready to go proseliting on the streets in Sao Paulo in about a week.  My companions and I are pretty pumped about that.  The food here is good, its all Brazilian food.  My companions hate it so they just give what they don't eat to me ha ha. 

Well I gotta go, it's P day so we get go out on the streets to shop and eat.  We're hitting up a Churrascaria today, it's like a meat buffet!  

I'll write next week, love you lots mamma, you tooo dad. 

Tchau, oh and the blue dot is what they call the dork dot, first weekers get it.  

First day in the MTC

October 14, 2014 Checking into the CTM 



The Adventure Begins!

Haazzit my people! Im in the MTC, but here its actually called the CTM because of the way they speak. The flight was long, but the guy sitting next to me was super cool, it turned out he was very familiar with the church and he was amazed at what they ask of us missionaries at such a young age. Over here people drive crazy, theyll have like 2 adults and a kid sitting on someones lap on the same moped lane splitting like nothing haha. I am still currently locked out of my suitcase so i should probably look into that. When they came to pick all of us up there were like 10 of us coming from all over packed into this little Brazil travel van. I got some sweet pics too, but were not aloud send them here at the mtc. I still cant find the apostrephe button on this keyboard, its in portegese haha i guess ill figure it out. Okay I love you all. Ill email next week, sorry we only get like 5 min. to email this time just to let your family know you made it. Give everyone my e-mail.  Love you guys.

Elder Welch from Omaha, Nebraska flew with Elder Akina from Atlanta to Brazil. 

They will be serving in the same mission.