December 2, 2024

Salt Lake airport 12/3/24 headed to Manaus Brazil

Bonus Photos not in email:

(from Mom: Noah requested a denim tie. I made him one and shipped it out. BUT I mailed it to the wrong address. I was afraid he would never see it. Whoever lives at that address brought it to the MTC the night before Noah flew out. Prayers were answered. He got his tie, his consecrated oil vial and a letter from home just in the nick of time)

(He brought 6 ties with him and accumulated a few extra while in the MTC)

YO? WHATSSSSSSGOOOOOOOD??

It's ya fav Elder, Elder Chapman

Guys... WE DID IT!

The end is here...

Today is the last day of MTC. So crazy. It's only felt like a week that I've been gone, and we ship out tmrw. Around 20 hours of flight and travel time. Pray for my mental sanity, please and thank you. It's going to be a long day. I am so very excited though. The start of a crazy adventure, lots of learning, improving, and growing. Super hyped to make some life long Brazilian friends, and teach people about Christ. Gonna be CRAZY (and super scary and hard)

It was a really good week... Better than every other week lol. We started off the week with teaching a full Portuguese lesson on gratitude, to church members FROM BRAZIL (Thru ZOOM) that our teacher had baptized on his mission. They also had one of their non-member friends on the call as well, so that was kind of nerve wracking, but it actually went super well.

For Thanksgiving, we had the most MID lunch of all time. Imagine a fairly normal Thanksgiving dinner, but like kind of nasty and cold. That's what we had. #BLESSED. Then dinner was a sack dinner (Sandwich, juice, chips, cookie) and to be honest with you... it was better than that garbage lunch.

After Thanksgiving "dinner" we did a service project. The operation was insane. We were the second shift of missionaries to work. We were filling and sealing plastic bags with oats, and brown sugar, for a food bank. Guess how many meals we packed in 4 hours between two shifts? The grand total was 520,000 meals. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? So crazy. It was a ton of fun and a really good feeling after we finished.

After the service project we went into the gym for a musical devotional. We had no idea who was performing, but turns out it was one of the "Piano Guys" John Schmidt. He was INSANE at playing. The dude played upside down, with his feet and backward. Wild, and super entertaining. He also had a random missionary that knew some sort of line of notes for blues music and they freestyled a piece together and it was amazing. Just two guys randomly working together and it turned out super well. They got a standing ovation. So hype.

Kendamaing? (Is that a word?): I started to get into Kendamas. Elder Talley found one that one of the past elders had left, so we've been practicing. I landed 3 Ken flips in a row. Not bad for only using it for 3 days haha. I'm going pro. Swear

Basket Ballin: We played some ball the other day - Me, Elder Talley and Elder Bergsten Versus - Elder Hogard, Elder Franciscotty, and Elder Loertscher. We were down 11-0. It was so bad. We couldn't score worth a crap. Finally I drain a 3 pointer. That's what we needed. We played INSANE. Came back and won 21- 16. I might be white Micheal Jordan hahaha

TIES: No one can beat my tie collection. It's insanely good. Oh and I manged to get a hold of 2 Burberry ties, and 3 Dior ties so that's pretty fire.

EI EXAM: We took a final language assessment. I scored slightly above average, and not the worst in my district. Not to shabby haha. Someone in a different district (Elder Perez Plaza) (what a legendary name) - he scored FLUENT which is so crazy. But to be fair he was already fluent in Spanish haha.

Feeling pretty good about everything. More confident, more prepared and not as stressed. Prayers work guys. For real. Get to praying. Hahaha. Still kinda nervous about Brazil but... everything will be fine.

"THEY DIDNT BELIEVE IN US... GOD DID"

Guys... Elder Franciscotty has a massive booty. Like it's insane. (Don't ask me how I know.) - drawing is included down below somewhere.

SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK: Proverbs 3: 5-6

5. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

6. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK (2):

1. "Por que e gamora?" - Brother Wilson (If you know you know)

2. "Tattoos and alcohol is our plan" - Brother Wilson (talking about how we can fit in, in Brazil)

Well... that's pretty much it for now. A good week. Heading to Brazil tmrw. Feeling good I think. Excited for the adventures ahead. Next email should be crazy. I'll be in Manaus... Guys pray and read ya scriptures. You'll feel good. Heavenly Father loves to hear from His children. Get to it CHOP CHOP.

LOVE YOU ALL. Keep being awesome. Keep living. Keep praying. Keep being the best you can be. Keep improving. Also think about all the things you are thankful for and write them down. I miss you all. I'll be back before you know it. <3

PICS

1. Elder Bergsten and I