Daily Schedule: October 30, 2012

15 October 2012 (received via USPS 30 October 2012)

The fam,

So here are some things that I didn’t put in my weekly email.  Like I said earlier, my next snail mail letter should have photos in it.  J  Yay!

I don’t worry about my wallet getting stolen because I don’t carry my wallet with me.  I taped two pass-along cards together and put my Brasil police ID with a few reals in it and that’s all I carry around in my shirt pocket!  J

You wanted to know my schedule for the field.  For a “normal” day (which doesn’t happen very often), it goes a little something like this:

6:30	wake up/work out/stretch
7:00	shower/iron shirt/get dressed/breakfast
8:00	personal study
9:00	study w/companion (in the first 12 weeks I have 2 hours of comp study instead of 1)
11:00	language study
12:00	almoço (lunch, hopefully at a member’s house); lunch is the biggest meal of the day here in Brasil)
1:00	hop on the bus
1:30	start proselyting; usually we don’t have a ton of lessons early in the day, just a lot of contacting and maybe a lesson or two
6:00	this is when we get booked with lessons all the way up until 8:15
8:15	sprint to catch the bus back; sometimes we get a little jantar (dinner) with a member but a lot of times not.  When we don’t get jantar, we eat something back at the apartment
9:00	get home, plan
9:30	(or 9:45) eat a quick, small snack, read a little bit, get ready for bed
10:30	bedtime!!

And that’s what I do pretty much every day!  It is really hard but goes by pretty quick, really.  It seems like the longest day of the week (thank goodness it feels long! J) is P-day, because we seem a little less busy and have some time to relax.

That’s all for this week.  I’m going to try and get a quick nap in today!  J

(first nap in the field)

(probably for only 15 minutes)

Lots of love! Y

Elder Eldon Ray Cummings 

 Picture from the CTM sent by Eldon's CTM companion, Elder S. (bottom right, with red tie).  Not sure who everyone is, exactly, but it is a great shot!

Another shot from the CTM courtesy of Elder S.

(and his sweet mother, who sent the pictures to me).

Mail Call from Apucarana: October 23, 2012

Written October 8, 2012

Received October 23, 2012

Dear Family!

So, this will include some things that I forgot to put in my email and what came to pass in the last 3 hours. 

We went shopping today.  Shopping on a missionary budget is definitely a good skill to have for when I get married.  I had 21R or about $13 USD to buy my laundry soap and food for the week.  (Thank goodness members give us food!!!)  Luckily food is pretty cheap if you get the off brand.  Also a good “skill” to have is learning to use anything for dishes and repurposing any item.  That will really help once I get back too.

Brasil is so different than the United States.  My first day here (in the field) I was in such shock that I wanted to go home.  I was thinking “how am I supposed to live in this apartment?” but now I find it quite luxurious and quite clean.  The houses in Vila Reis were a big shock too but again I have become accustomed to them (which will be good for apartment living in the US).

Some more info about my area of proselyting.  A lot of the roads are either dirt or cobblestone, with a few paved roads in the center of Vila Reis.  I love our area even though it has lots of hills!!

It is already getting hot and I am already seeing what the benefits of having a gahafa (water bottle with a filter) would have been.  Two days before we were supposed to get our bottles, the Church discontinued them, and are starting over from scratch.  So, I have to buy my own water (which adds up to about 7R more per week) and drink lots of juice at members’ houses.  But it is all good, luckily I have never been one to need a lot of water to stay hydrated (yes, I am staying plenty hydrated).

I love the photos, especially of Baby A!  Can I get a fancy photo of Baby I., too?  And a photo of Grandma and Grandpa would be excellent, too!!  (Maybe from our photo shoot at the botanical gardens.)  And, yes, the pictures of what I did back at the States are a hit!  A few more would be nice.  (Sorry for all the photo requests but I want to show you guys off to investigators and the other missionaries.) 

I am so lucky to have such an awesome trainer who really wants the best for me and always goes out of his way to serve me!  Elder W. is AWESOME!  Two nights ago, I couldn't sleep and the next day he told me that if I couldn't sleep, to wake him up and he would practice vocab with me or something!  He is that kind of guy!!  He is awesome.  (I wouldn't do that to him but it was a nice gesture.)  He always looks for ways to serve me.  I will always be grateful for him and his example of what an awesome missionary is like.

Well, I guess that is all for this week.  I love you guys so much!!  I am having the time of my life.  I love it!  The Church is so true!

So batizmo!!

Lots of love,

Elder Eldon Ray Cummings