Hey Everyone!!
Hope everyone had a great Easter!! Easter in Brazil is different than the states I guess, they still eat tons and tons of chocolate but I´m not sure anyone even knows what Easter is about haha in Church we didn´t have a single talk on Christ and His resurrection, but that´s fine, we had some investigators some to Church and they really liked it, hopefully we will have some baptism coming up real soon. The language is really starting to come, (thankfully) it´s not too bad to understand what people are saying but I still have a lot of room to grow. The island is such a rad place, going from the beautiful beaches of Southern California to Hawaii and not to Floripa...I´ve been pretty dang lucky, altho it can be a killer knowing that I can´t go in the water here, o well! The traffic on the island is soooooooo bad tho, like worse than LA and that´s probably because there are only 2 lanes here. We got to do a service project the other day here, we moved all of these cynder blocks from one corner of this lot, to another corner. It was pretty tiring and we were sweating pretty good but after a few hours we had the job done and it felt real real good! Also the hot dogs here are amazing!! they put everything on hot dogs (just like the pizza), like seriously, they will put potatoes, peas, corn, chocolate, whatever you want. So exciting that the twins adoptions will be final this weekend and then they will be sealed to our family!!! Somewhat bummed that I can´t be there but I know that I am suppose to be here right now!! I love you all so much and give the little ones extra loves for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Elder Michael J. Neilson
ps. I sent some letters out last week so hopefully they will get to the states soon!!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
April 18, 2011-Floripa Livin!!
Hey Everybody!!
So Floripa is definitely a really really cool/pretty island, like unbelievable. My companion says that the people in Santa Catarina (the sate that our mission covers) are the rudest and meanest people in all of Brazil, I didn´t believe it at first but I can definitely see what he means now haha they aren´t that bad, it´s like serving an English mission in the states, they are all pretty well-to-do financially here so they don´t really see a need for religion. Historically, our mission is the lowest baptizing area in all of Brazil but al the missionaries say that President Queiroz has done a great job with this area, too bad he has to leave soon! We teach English classes soooooooooo much here, it´s cool but we are really trying to just gain the trust of these people and then introduce them to the Gospel. I teach this one man, Steferson, 3 mornings a week. He is a professor at a university here, has his doctorate in engineering and is going to Germany in September to do this really big project. His English is pretty good so I have to teach him some more complicated stuff about the English language...I don´t even feel like MY English is that great haha o well. The work is defintely slower here and everybody we teach just invites us to come to the beach with them or to go surfing with them...I´ve decided that living on Floripa as a missionary really isn´t that fun haha I wouldn´t be sad if I get transfered to a new area really fast!! haha I got a giant envelope full of letters from the Las Flores Ward Activity Day girls so that was really nice of them! Takes a while for mail to get here tho, and even then it takes a few weeks for us to get it from the mission office but it´s all good, no worries. Soccer is everything for the people out here, we are always playing soccer with kids, it´s pretty fun and they tell us to do it so we gain the trust of the people out here. Besides that, everything is going really well, hopefully everything is great back home!! Give the little ones loves for me!!!
Love,
Elder Michael J. Neilson
So Floripa is definitely a really really cool/pretty island, like unbelievable. My companion says that the people in Santa Catarina (the sate that our mission covers) are the rudest and meanest people in all of Brazil, I didn´t believe it at first but I can definitely see what he means now haha they aren´t that bad, it´s like serving an English mission in the states, they are all pretty well-to-do financially here so they don´t really see a need for religion. Historically, our mission is the lowest baptizing area in all of Brazil but al the missionaries say that President Queiroz has done a great job with this area, too bad he has to leave soon! We teach English classes soooooooooo much here, it´s cool but we are really trying to just gain the trust of these people and then introduce them to the Gospel. I teach this one man, Steferson, 3 mornings a week. He is a professor at a university here, has his doctorate in engineering and is going to Germany in September to do this really big project. His English is pretty good so I have to teach him some more complicated stuff about the English language...I don´t even feel like MY English is that great haha o well. The work is defintely slower here and everybody we teach just invites us to come to the beach with them or to go surfing with them...I´ve decided that living on Floripa as a missionary really isn´t that fun haha I wouldn´t be sad if I get transfered to a new area really fast!! haha I got a giant envelope full of letters from the Las Flores Ward Activity Day girls so that was really nice of them! Takes a while for mail to get here tho, and even then it takes a few weeks for us to get it from the mission office but it´s all good, no worries. Soccer is everything for the people out here, we are always playing soccer with kids, it´s pretty fun and they tell us to do it so we gain the trust of the people out here. Besides that, everything is going really well, hopefully everything is great back home!! Give the little ones loves for me!!!
Love,
Elder Michael J. Neilson
Sunday, April 17, 2011
April 11, 2011-Floripa...Heaven on Earth
Hey everyone!!
So ya, I´m finally here in Brazil, this place is absolutley crazy and I love it! The island of Florianopolis is absolutely stunning! Like the most beautiful place on earth, it is unreal! My first area is the southern half of the island too so I get to be surrounded by it´s beauty all day, every day. Our apartment is the tiniest thing I have ever seen, they say it is by far the smallest apartment in the mission...I definitely believe them haha but it´s all cool, the view from our place is sooo sick. My companion is Elder Kneipp, he is from Northern Brazil and doesn´t speak a lick of English and since arriving here I have come to realize that I don´t speak a lick of Portuguese haha he is a way cool guy tho and is really good with the people here. President Queiroz and his wife are like the coolest people I have ever met, they are so nice and down to earth. Sister Queiroz told me that the most beautiful women in the world live on the island of Floripa (Florianopolis), yep, she is definitely correct haha we just have to stay away from the ones that are bad news. President told us to never go tracting out here because it is a waste of time but that we need to find other ways to find investigators. So, in my area we teach English class twice a week, we get anywhere from 20-40 people to show up. I wish my comp new English so he could help me but he just sits outside as I teach everyone, it´s a ton of fun tho. Everyone here wants to know English. Floripa is super nice, we have some ghetto places in our area but besides that, this place is ´muito legao` as the locals says, ´very legit´. Tons and tons of pizza too, on the island they are obsessed with pizza. They put everything on pizza too: chocolate, strawberries, whatever you tell them, they will put it on your pizza haha The work here is night and day compared to work in the states. In the states you aren´t suppose to stay at a lesson for more than 45 minutes, here each lesson goes anywhere from 2-4 hours, it´s crazy, I´m not a fan of it at all but my comp and everyone else here tells me that this is just how it is. We ride the bus a ton down here too, like probably 4-5 hours a day but I´m already getting used to it. The members here are amazing too, going to church was such an experince, it was like a massive family reunion and as if they hadn´t seen each other for YEARS haha it is so entertaining. Everyone here has their own handshake that you have to do with them whenever you see them too haha it´s pretty fun, even the older women in the ward have their own haha But ya, I love this place, it is absolutley amazing, I will definitely live here after the mission. Portuguese is not Spanish, they are completely different and I don´t really have a clue about what is going on until we start talking about church things, but I know it will come sooner or later. I´m doing grea and hope everyone else is too back home. Give the little ones tons of loves for me!!!!!
Love,
Elder Michael J. Neilson
So ya, I´m finally here in Brazil, this place is absolutley crazy and I love it! The island of Florianopolis is absolutely stunning! Like the most beautiful place on earth, it is unreal! My first area is the southern half of the island too so I get to be surrounded by it´s beauty all day, every day. Our apartment is the tiniest thing I have ever seen, they say it is by far the smallest apartment in the mission...I definitely believe them haha but it´s all cool, the view from our place is sooo sick. My companion is Elder Kneipp, he is from Northern Brazil and doesn´t speak a lick of English and since arriving here I have come to realize that I don´t speak a lick of Portuguese haha he is a way cool guy tho and is really good with the people here. President Queiroz and his wife are like the coolest people I have ever met, they are so nice and down to earth. Sister Queiroz told me that the most beautiful women in the world live on the island of Floripa (Florianopolis), yep, she is definitely correct haha we just have to stay away from the ones that are bad news. President told us to never go tracting out here because it is a waste of time but that we need to find other ways to find investigators. So, in my area we teach English class twice a week, we get anywhere from 20-40 people to show up. I wish my comp new English so he could help me but he just sits outside as I teach everyone, it´s a ton of fun tho. Everyone here wants to know English. Floripa is super nice, we have some ghetto places in our area but besides that, this place is ´muito legao` as the locals says, ´very legit´. Tons and tons of pizza too, on the island they are obsessed with pizza. They put everything on pizza too: chocolate, strawberries, whatever you tell them, they will put it on your pizza haha The work here is night and day compared to work in the states. In the states you aren´t suppose to stay at a lesson for more than 45 minutes, here each lesson goes anywhere from 2-4 hours, it´s crazy, I´m not a fan of it at all but my comp and everyone else here tells me that this is just how it is. We ride the bus a ton down here too, like probably 4-5 hours a day but I´m already getting used to it. The members here are amazing too, going to church was such an experince, it was like a massive family reunion and as if they hadn´t seen each other for YEARS haha it is so entertaining. Everyone here has their own handshake that you have to do with them whenever you see them too haha it´s pretty fun, even the older women in the ward have their own haha But ya, I love this place, it is absolutley amazing, I will definitely live here after the mission. Portuguese is not Spanish, they are completely different and I don´t really have a clue about what is going on until we start talking about church things, but I know it will come sooner or later. I´m doing grea and hope everyone else is too back home. Give the little ones tons of loves for me!!!!!
Love,
Elder Michael J. Neilson
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