BRASIL!!!

 We flew from Billings to Minneapolis to Atlanta, Sao Paulo to Goiana. I didn`t sleep at all during the flight to Sao Paulo! Haha. We were able to sleep a bit on the flight to Goiana, and after dinner with the president we slept in a little hotel for a couple hours. President Prieto is really great, maybe next time I meet him I will be able to understand what he is saying. haha. 

Ah, the language! I love learning it, though sometimes my brain is fried at the end of the day. I am constantly trying to speak it with Edler Benatti and Elder Macedo. (from Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre) both Brasileiros. 

Elder Benatti can speak some english but he told me he isn]t going to in order to help me learn. 

The food. Haha, it is good! Yep always rice and beans, usually with a salad that is mostly tomatoes. The other day we had a fruit salad that was really good, and let me know that I am not allergic to any of those fruits. Yeah sometimes we get a feijoada that has all sorts of things in it... Now I understand where Spencer was coming from when he said chicken part soup. Except ours was pork. The food hasnt fazed me yet, you just take out the toe nails and vertebre and ears and organs, or you try to avoid getting it when you dish your plate. Or just eat and dont look! 

My companions are fantastic, they`re always joking to stay sane because they work really hard. My first day working we had some fantastic lessons, and people accepted batismal dates! 

Lets see. I was going to say something about the drivers.. There`s no cruising speed, they are either accelerating or stomping on the breaks! haha. I m pretty sure to film [fast five] they told 5 brazilians to get from point a to point b and then filmed them. People do the craziest things. (I just realized I forgot my camera... But I am taking photos... forgive me mom.) Anyway, its like there is a vin Deisel behind the wheel of every fiat.

Holy cow! the other it rained and their were just rivers in some places. The cars just get a little speed and then plow through them. We were caught in it after a lunch with a member.

Our Area is Parque Amazonia. The water is ok to drink here. Our house is... well I will send pictures, but it is nice. We have two bedrooms but we all sleep in one with the fan on. It is pretty hot and humid. Humid enough that it affects the hold of Duct tape on things (of which I brought a roll) anyway, six of us sleep in the one room. 

I had this huge bag of chocolate chips Amber Carr sent me and they all love them. Elder Benatti and Macedo were dissapointed I didnt bring any Beef Jerky or Peanut Butter. haha. 

Ah man, So one of them only knows certain phrases that he throws out at random teams, very funny. like: Dont touch me. Kiss Girls. Repent quickly. I love you. 

Alright. I cannot email friends nor read their emails. I will try to write some letters today. Sorry It is hard to type on this dang keyboard! Ç is in the way, and I cannot make contractions...

I love you all very much. The Lord helps us so much and I am already seeing miracles. I have everything I need and life is good. It is hard to believe that I am here, but I am very greatful. It is kind of weird typing in english already. Thanks for everything!

Love you much,

Elder Wallace.

An E-mail To Jessica

Aaaaaaah man, thanks for the e-mail!

Wow. You are so great! You can really make an impact in those younger kids lives, as you well know, by being an example.

You're letter made me think of a few things.

The most important thing is people, and loving them.

Sharing the gospel isn't hard, satan just tries to bind our tongues like with Joseph Smith. Why should sharing something so important and precious with a friend be hard?

President Uchtdorf said (I think), and you reminded me of it, When It comes to gossip.  "Assume the good, doubt the bad." Love that. Like you said the only person who really knows everything they're going through is Christ.

Holy cow you have such awesome scriptures you are finding. I really liked the 2 Corinthians 4:6. Here's one I use with prayer, 3 Nephi 18:20"Whatsoever you shall ask the father in my name, if it be right and believing ye shall recieve, it shall be given you" . If you read 18 and 19 and underline everytime the Savior says prayer, it's a lot! It must have been really important for him to teach that.

Yeah, I miss you too. you should go ahead and send those pictures, mom has my address there. I loved the last ones.  haha, we always ask people, "Well, is there anything else we can do for you today?" and I was about to ask you that. Seriously, if there's something I can do for you let me know. I hope there's something I can do for you, I guess I can share spiritual thoughts and such...

gotta run. I send you some cool stuff I've learned. Take Luck.

Like BD Prayer and Conversion.

Love you tons!

Elder Wallace 

Flight

Haven't checked my flight plans yet, and spent my time writing to Jess.. haha :)

I fly out at 6:00 a.m. That's all I know for now.

Love you and thanks for everything. I'll take some pictures now!

Elder Wallace

Elder Wallace is on his way to Brazil!

Life In Billings

Alright, so I told you a little bit about my companion. Elder Walch is a good guy. We live with the B's, two older people who are really cool and excited to do missionary work. They love their dogs, Max and Teddy, and their RV (VERY nice). They are super nice and very kind.

I exercise in the morning, we have some weights and dumbells, possibly a treadmill in the Barn that I haven't checked out yet. P-days we play basketball for hours. We played some dodgeball and my eye is pretty swollen today, haha. It's fun though.

We went tracting my first couple days here. We've got to figure out a different way to get in people's houses because you don't have very good chances tracting. One cool thing that happened though: Elder Walch has had a feeling about Betsy Street, so the second day we were tracting there we met the Gs. Sister G and her three little kids  go to church every week. Brother G hasn't been in like 13 years. BUT he let me come back and teach a lesson to him to practice my portuguese, because he served in Campinas, Brazil. I'm going back again today. I really hope he will feel the spirit and start coming again. 

This week we have visited tons of less actives. Elder Walch has known some of them his whole mission, and they love him. I was amazed how people open up and tell you about all their challenges and trials they are experiencing. I guess it's because of how missionaries before me have acted, they trust us and tell us everything. 

Thursday we went on splits. I went with Brother B to visit a less active family. This visit was all the spirit, because Bro. B was kind of reserved and quiet, very cool guy though. So I visited with the Mom and her 2 boys. They are afraid people will judge them if they come to church. They go to a different service where you just come as you are and no one knows you. Her boys haven't been baptized, though she teaches them about Jesus and doing good things for other people. I challenged them to pray to be guided to help somebody and to remember what happens because I want to hear about it next time I come.

They're the ones I'm really rooting for this week.

Thanks for the Emails, It's great to hear from Grandma and Grandpa and Jessica too. 

I'll be watching for that battery charger! haha.

If you can get me the information for Kris's "DearElder" That would be awesome! or maybe I could send you it via email and you can DearElder him.  

Bye! Love you always.

Elder Wallace

A Short Message

I've really come to terms with my reassignment. I had a great talk about "unpacking your bags" while I was at college. I'll act like that's where I'm staying, because expectations and attitude are everything.

I love when you guys send me pictures! wish I could do the same, haha.

Love you so much. Costa Rica Looks AWESOME!

Love,

Elder Wallace

New Address

Montana Billings Mission 

1848 Rimrock RD

Billings, Montana 59102

Or use dearelder.com!

Welcome To Billings!

It felt really weird leaving the MTC, seeing people and houses. haha. 

Airport security line was CRAZY long! I talked to this lady who was next to me, because that's what missionaries do. She is a member, from AFRICA, returning to there after visiting her mom in Bountiful. Way cool. We got off the plane and I've had a great first day. 

We went and played basketball since it is P-day. Elder Walch is going to be my companion, but he's doing other things tonight. I'm with Elder Neilson, (met Elder Peterson from Vernal!). We went to the Brother and Sister Rehers and they fed us dinner and we talked with them about the first vision and a bunch of other things. Brother Reher is originally from Germany, but he's lived in Canada and Visited China. He was hilarious. I can see how missionaries gain weight. Despite his protests, Elder Neilson ended up taking half a lasagna, some salad and pop with us. He kept trying to say no. haha.

Anyway It's been great so far, I hear Elder Walch is really great. 

It's not that cold, only when the wind blows. 

I grabbed another suit from the mission home, I can easily get another coat too, but it's not that cold.

I'm staying here in Billings, which meant I got to have a P-day while the rest of my MTC district drove to wherever they are going. 

President and Sister Mecham are very nice, very cool. 

Anyway, I called Gma and Gpa and Jess and I love you all very much.

Eu amo Voces!

Love

Elder Wallace.

BILLINGS

Soooo. hahaha. After 8 hours of in-field Orientation, we were all really anxious to get to the travel office to find out if we got our Visas or not. Probably the fastest our district has ever walked, according to Sister Workman. We got there and they didn't have our travel information, BUT they did know where we were going. Elders Myers and Neibaur are going to Utica, New York. Elder Singleton Dobberfuhl and Sister Workman are going to Birmingham, E. Parker to Nashville (Rolltide!), Elders Dahl, Hansen and My companion and I are going to BILLINGS MONTANA! haha. ah man.

I'll admit I was a little let down that night, I really want to get to Brazil. Everything is o.k. though, I'll work hard in Montana and I'm sooo ready to get to work. It's a great opportunity for me to bring others to the Gospel here and there. 

So I'm fine with the thought of going there now. My only other thoughts are:

It'll be cold!

I hope I meet some weird mountain men types. 

Part of the mission is about 2 1/2 hours from Roosevelt. haha.

Yeah BABY!

Alright. So M. Russel Ballard talked to us last Tuesday! That was really cool. My favorite part of his talk was when he promised us that if we work diligently on our missions we can grow our love for Christ to an extent greater than we would have ever dreamed possible. When an apostle promises you something, you write it down. He also paused for a bit and then decided to just read part of 3 Nephi 11 with us (when Christ comes) I wish I could read scriptures with Elder Ballard every day.

I hosted Wednesday, which was awesome! It was great to change up our schedule and I felt like I could actually help other people; the missionaries, the families, ESPECIALLY the moms. I did see the Willards! I was so excited I yelled to them, "What's up Willard family?!?" To which they paused from their special moment to give me a smile and say hello. I hope that didn't ruin their farewell moment, haha. It was great to see Brother Willard, who was pulling luggage out of the trunk as everyone else cried. I LOVE THOSE GUYS! I haven't seen Sister Willard since, and I didn't stop to chat because I was hosting my first sister and she was already sobbing. Dang it, that made me a little sad during the next class.

(pause while I switch my laundry)

Hosting was fun though. 

I'm still hopeful for getting my visa, one of the districts that left three weeks ago had a couple Elders go to Billings, and he got his visa this last week. If I get it while I'm there I would leave pretty quickly. So estimated time is 3-6 weeks, and I've only heard two stories about people that served their whole mission without getting it. Sooooo. I'm hopeful.

Cameron is going to GHANA??? To tell you the truth it was his letter that cheered me up that night, I couldn't stop laughing. Kris and him will be awesome missionaries because they will work! Mason better hurry and get his papers in so I can see where he's going! I'm betting Kentucky or Madagascar...

I got a phone card, no Battery charger yet though. So No pictures for y'all. you want me to text you the number in the airport? Like the number of a pay phone so you can call me? So it must be cheaper if you call me instead of me calling you. I have the number of the phone though, thanks.

I hope it snows like crazy when we go to Montana. I thought of Mr. Hanke who was always saying how great Montana is.

Also it has come to my attention that some of my letters were not received. Sorry! I found this out when I got some letters from seminary kids. 

Writing letters is over-rated right now anyway, I like to do it to let people know I care about them. I do miss you, I like to hear from you, but I'm having less and less desire to write. I will try to respond to everybody who sends me one though, thanks so much.

Much love,

I love studying CH3 in PMG. and Portuguese, and about the sons of Mosiah.

Love,

Elder Wallace