Last Week in MTC and off to Fortaleza

On Christmas we were able to talk to Daynen for 30 min.  It was fun to chat to him and visit for a short time.  At that time we found out that he was the only missionary to not receive an actual letter while in the MTC.  Whoops.  **Bad missionary parent alert!!**

Today Elder Biggs was able to hop on a 3 1/2 hour flight to Fortaleza and officially be out in the field.  He has been ready and excited for the change from the MTC.  Now it's time to see if he really learned the language.  He will love to get any letters :)  He will be sending home some pictures and we will upload them to a photobucket account for anyone who wants to see them.

His last cookie goodie bag for his district while at the MTC

Here is his last letter after we were able to speak with him on Christmas day:

It was super nice to talk to you guys yesterday.  Don't worry about not spending letters or stuff to the MTC, it really is ok, you sent milkshakes instead ;)  I'm really missing Charlies right now, and Baskin Robbins.  I'm not feeling homesick, but I do wish that there was a Charlies and a Baskin Robbins here!

Sounds like Christmas was fun, Dad sent me some pictures and it looked cool!  Gus looks so different I didn't even recoginize him!  And it was fun to talk to you guys, even though its only been 5 weeks, it feels like its been FOREVER since I left.  

Anyways, everyone is really excited to leave in 4 days.  I'm pretty nervous about the language and who my comp will be, but I'm not too worried.  I'm excited to actually be working and serving people. So far, its been hard to lose yourself in the workwhen theres no work to be doing.  But, it sounds like there will be not enough time in the day to teach everybody who wants it.  There aren't any other missionaries going to Fortaleza, but there are a lot from Fortaleza.  And every time I mention my mission, they yell "Batizmo!" and tell us about how missionaries only get a chance to teach 2 lessons because people want to get baptized so fast.

So I'm excited, but I am taking this with a grain of salt.  I'm not sure what to expect, other than hot.  Ive also been told that its not actually THAT hot and that the rain is really nice.  But we'll see. So I guess Ill let you know when I get my first P-Day, which may not be for a while...  Thanks for the pictures and for writing, these emails, really help me through the repetition of life at the MTC.! Ill be sure to send you guys some, first chance I get!

Elder Biggs

Last Pizza Party that another missionary in his district was given by his family.  
So nice for them to share the love!
Thank you kind stranger :) 

Week 4 in the MTC

 Thanks for the email and the pictures! I didn't recognize Gus and I am still laughing at Reygan's picture with Scrooge!

I'm glad to hear news from home and that everything is going good. We just got the schedules for Christmas and I will be calling at 12:30-1:00 Brazilian Time. Just so you know :)

But the food is actually really good.  Beans and Rice are like brazilian Juica (sorta) and Guaranna will make a fine Root Beer substitute! The only problem is the repitition, but P-Days we get to go out and try all the other restaraunts and stuff.  We're meeting our favorite instructor at a chascorea in an hour, so that'll be cool.  They have Oreos and Chocolate milk slao, but not in the MTC.  I'm also gonna check if they have tomato juice today.

But everything is going really well, I'm sending a letter today with an SD card in it that will hopefully get there before I leave here.  Me and my comp are best friends and are told by everyone else in our district that we have the best relationship. We got another member in our district and we moved to a different classroom! WooHoo! We were all pretty excited about that!

The movie making itch is worse than all the mosquito bites I get every night!  I've been taking so many pictures its rediculous. E Wedekind is a super hard military dude and always talks about building an Iron Man suit.  It's funny because we're both kinda interested in the other's hobby, so one day we both talk about his suit, the next we talk about movies.  It's really fun.  Also ukulele, thats another, but I found out that you can buy them in Fortazela so...

Thanks again for the milkshakes, I totally lost it when I found out you got milkshakes! I figured you had something to do with it ;)

We're all really excited for Christmas, none of us expect any gifts or a Christmas like at home, we all just are really excited because of how surrounded we've been by thoughts and lessons of Christ.  It's been pretty cool so far.  Pres. Swenson gives really good talks and devotionals, and is a super great guy.  In fact, he was Pres. Fusco's mission presdient, and said that Fusco is a very cool, funny guy. 

Oh, and Dad, you know that missionary baptizing Sadam Hussein in that picture? That is Elder Swenson, Pres Swenson's oldest son! Crazy right?

Be sure to tell everyone thanks for writing.  Its really nice to look forward to them.  Love you guys!

Elder Biggs

Week 3 in the MTC

This week has been farily similar to the last 2.  We did get 2 new elders in our district, and one of them is a film major, so thats cool!

This week we did get to go out proselyting, and that was supper cool. Each person got 2 BoMs and I placed mine within 15 minutes.  It was a super cool experiance filled with speaking the language, crazy naked 50 year old ladies, and talking to a drugged up homless man for 30 minutes.

The language is getting easier.  I can talk about a lot of gospel topics and can read fairly well, but I still can't understand anyone outside the MTC.  But that will probably come with time in the feild.

Is that "He is the Gift" video all over the internet? Thats what Ive been told, but I havent seen the rest of the world.  That videos super cool and we watch it every single meeting.  Anyways, tell everyone thanks for writing and that I love all of you!

Elder Biggs

**There is a website called MissionTies.com that will arrange for the missionaries to get cookies, milkshakes, and pizza from a local shop by the MTC.  We sent some money for Daynen and his district to have cookies and milk shakes.  :) I guess since we can't send packages to the MTC this is his Christmas.  Feliz Natal!

 

Week 2 in MTC

If you had asked me 3 days ago about how i was doing with the language, I would have told you Terrible! But since then I have made a ton of progess!  I am able to understand my instructors ALMOST all the time and can speak much better!  The people outside the MTC who talk a million miles per hour though is a different story.  The hardest part of the MTC at this point is the boredom.  The exact same thing everyday can get a little tiring. We sit in one class all day except for meals.  But My companion and I are very good friends at this point! There are bad days where we want to kill eachother sometimes, but he has become one of my best friends in the 2 weeks I've known him.  Then there's my district.  We have all become so close, we all have such a close bond, that it really is what gets me through the long days.

The MTC in Brazil (according to the missionaries who came from Provo) is WAY more strict.  It`s easier to learn the language, they say, but its very strict.  That's not a huge problem, but it is a little lame.   The overall experience here is really great!  I'm missing home but Im not homesick.  And I'm really excitied to get out in the feild! 

Congrats on selling the car! I`m very happy for you. And sorry about not being very good about packing up my stuff, was kinda in a hurry.

I really appreciate all the emails, even though I only have a limited time to email, it's really nice.  I've been struggling with the filmmaking urge this week but I will try my best to fight it!  I love all of you and can't wait to talk to you on Christmas, which sounds like it will be awesome here btw.

-Elder Biggs

Week 1 in the MTC

Holy Cow! This has been the longest week and a half in my life.  It feels like I left months ago!   As for how I`ve been doing, I`ve been pretty good.  Today is my first P-day and we got to go to the temple!   The MTC is nothing at all what I though it was going to be.  There are a couple hundrerd missionaries and it`s very small.  My companion, Elder Wedekind and I have become very good friends and get along pretty well. My district has 3 other companionships in it and is one of the only ones without any sisters.  We`re all very close and I`ve become really good friends with one of them named Elder Wiltbank.   The food here is very good and the city is GORGEOUS!  I`ve taken a bunch of really cool pictures but we`re actually not allowed to send pictures from here, so I guess you see them in 5 weeks.     The only thing that I am having a hard time with is the language.  That is pretty stressful.  Granted I`ve learned more Portuguese in a week and a half than I did Spanish in two years at school. But because everyone here speaks Portuguese, I am not able to easily communicate with them, even though I can understand them now, so thats a plus! But if you pray for anything specific in my behalf, please pray for the gift of tounges, cause I`ll need it.   Other than that, my experiance here has been pretty good.  I`ve had plenty of really cool experiances that I`d love to share but I only have 3 more minutes to finish writing.   Anyways, thank you for writing, that was the only thing I had been looking forward to for the last week.     I love you guys!

Elder Biggs

a pic from missionties.com

I Made It!

We got our first email from Daynen.  We are so excited for him and he sounds awesome!  The mix of emotions is crazy, but we are overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement.  It's funny that after his whole life of preparing him for this, we had no idea what it would really feel like until we actually sent him away.  We also got a letter from the MTC president who sent this picture.

Daynen's Letter today:

I just arrived at the MTC here in Sao Paulo.  The temperature is super nice and I have absolutley no idea what I am doing or what anyone is saying.  I didn`t get a chance to read Dad`s email because I only have 10 minutes on the computer, but I just wanted you to know that I made it here alright and that I`m all good.

By the way, there were 2 other missionaries on the flight to Atlanta, and almost 40 on the way to Brazil, including my friend from high school! So that`s cool. I didn`t get sick on the flight, but I did after I got off. Anyways, I`m not sure when P-day is, but I`ll write you then!

-Elder Biggs