A Quiet Christmas - Dec. 27, 2011 email

Merry Christmas!
Christmas was really cool.  My district put all of our presents under the tree that you gave me and we opened them on Christmas morning.  It was really fun.  We are all really close and wehave a ton of fun.  I sent you all letters with a little present for everyone in them.  You will probably get them in a week.  I am doing great.  Nothing really happened this week.  We just had class every day.  We did get to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional which was really good. 

My portuguese is improving and I am slowly starting to be able to teach lessons in it.  It's hard but I know it's nothing compared to Danish so I won't complain.  We get to go out in the city every P day and just go to the stores.  Its way fun and I still think its weird that I am in Brazil.

I thought about you all a lot on Christmas.  I miss you so much but I am exactly where I am supposed to be.  Thank you so much for your letters.  Except Hailey...they made my week.  I love you all so much and I hope you had an amazing Christmas.  Love, Elder Taylor
PS  The toilets stil go straight down.  Just letting you know!

Christmas in the Brazil CTM

We received this forwarded email from our friend Tina Estoque, whose parents are serving at the Brazil CTM right now.  They were able to spend some time with Trevor and the other missionaries for Christmas.

"Elder Taylor, from Tina's ward, arrived in Brasil a week ago and brought us the beautiful family calendar all of you contributed pictures for.  Today, we were at the CTM helping with game activites this afternoon and he was able to go to his apartment and give us the gift Tina sent with him."  The couple missionaries helped make 200 cookies to go in goodie bags for the missionaries.  They were able to play games, puzzles, movies on Christmas Eve.

Slight Change in MTC address

There's a slight change in Trevor's MTC address - a box and district number.  I'm sure he would love to hear from you!

Trevor's first letter and email!

Yay!  We finally got an email - after checking every day - about 10 times! 

Bom dia!                                                                                                           Tuesday, Dec, 20, 2011

Brazil is amazing. The weather and the food is great. The flights went well and we got to the CTM at about 11. My companion is Elder De La Cruz. He is from Seattle. 

The language is very hard. Im sure its not as hard as Danish but I am still struggling. Im working my butt off though. I know it will come so Im focusing mostly on becoming a better teacher. Its going well. We are teaching our teachers and our lessons are mostly me talking and my compainion just sitting. But i think its helping me a lot. Ive learned how to start lessons really well.

Hailey Im sorry to say that I still dont know which way the toilets flush. The toilets here just go right down the hole haha. But i will find out soon enough :)

Elder Cottrel has been here for 7 weeks so he has been showing me around and playing basketball with me. I usually get picked first when we pick teams because I stroke the threes. I think its the first time in my life that has happened haha. FAZER CHUVA! That means MAKE IT RAIN! Scott will understand :)

The first few nights were very hard for me. I was way homesick and I just layed in my bed and cried. But I just kept thinking about President Hinkleys story about his mission and his dad telling him to forget himself and go to work. I just pictured dad saying that to me and it got me through it.

Well i better go so that I can email Syd. We only have 30 minutes. I love you all so much and I hope you know that the church is true. I am sorry that this email is so short. I will send a longer one next week i promise. This is the greatest thing that I could be doing right now and Im so happy to be here. I love you!

I love you all so much. My P-day is tuesday. Bye!

Elder Taylor

 

Trevor arrives in Brazil!

We were really happy to get this email from the MTC president in Brazil! 

Dear Parents,
We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.
They now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting.  These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.
The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.
Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on individual assignments.
Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others.  We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”
Please accept our love,
President Donald L Clark and Sister Zaza Clark

He's on his way!

Trevor left for Sao Paulo, Brazil MTC this morning.  His flight left at 11:30 and we were able to see him off at the airport.  It was a little emotional, but we're so excited for him,  Best of luck, Elder Taylor!