This week has been pretty good for the things that i am supposed to be doing. Getting lots done around the apartment and getting some good study in. Had some success proselyting which was good.
So here was some events in my week.
-Had divisions this week. don't remember the Elder´s name i was with but it was nice. He only spoke Portuguese but i was able to converse with him. That was fun. He understands me better than my companion who is American. It was long day with him though. Lots of walking about half an hours worth to get to our appointment and for a while it was raining. After the rain though it was a beautiful day.
- Same day as divisions got to eat some chicken heart. Was not bad at all but probably something i am never going to buy to eat.
- Well those are the really eventful things i can say to you at this moment. However doing really well at waking up taking care of the apartment. So i have been staying pretty healthy and the apartment has been clean almost to my standards of cleanliness.
Lots of crazy things happening to us these days and lots of learning. Sorry about the short letter. At this moment i don´t have much to say. Probably in a month or something though it would be great if you could send lots of those fiber tablets. They eat lettuce here but they soak it in vinegar and oil and it is not healthy or good tasting. Thanks for all the support you give me.
Thanks for all you do for me and i am excited to speak to you on Christmas. I will find out more about that and contact you. We have Transfers next week and i do not know what will happen.
Love Lots Elder Kramer
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The weekly letter. - Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Time is going by pretty quickly here. The days are short and the pdays are even shorter.
This last week I finally saw the first real rain here in Brazil. It was fairly strong but it only lasted 30 minutes. I think the north gets much more aggressive rain than down here. The skies are almost always super clear with no clouds.
I know i am getting better with Portuguese because I know I can talk to people if they talk very simply. I know more how to talk about gospel related stuff though just because we use it all day every day. It is defiantly interesting to see how the learning curve has changed from the MTC to here. I love it at lunch with less actives how they try talking to me and i do not understand them. They then assume i know no Portuguese and then start talking about how i can´t speak Portuguese and they find it funny. However they understand the lessons and the messages i give so it usually shocks them that they could understand me. I find it amusing. I wonder how it feels to foreigners in The United States.
One thing i have gotten better at is talking to people on the streets. I was advised in the CTM to focus our efforts on Men and families or Men with families. This is what i do. It is very difficult because men are less receptive but it hopefully will work out.
(Story Time) The first time i was really able to contact someone on the street well - I saw a man waiting for the bus and we went to talk to him. I ask him about is belief in god and afterwords i brought up our belief in the Restoration. He thought we didn´t use the bible so i taught him that we use the bible and the book of Mormon and that the book of Mormon was another testament of Christ. Well i was very excited to be able to have a real conversation and then the bus came and picked him up. However in my haste i did not get his name or number. This taught me very quickly that at bus stations to get those things almost first. But is was a good learning experience for me.
We had a ward activity this week and it was very interesting. Unlike any ward activity i have ever seen. First of all it was for investigators but the activity itself was hastily planned and gave us no time to try to invite people. In the end we had 2 investigators. After watching a short clip about Jesus Christ purpose we went into the cultural hall and the members sang songs and ate ice cream. It was strange because most of the songs were English Beatles songs. Not my idea of a spiritual activity to help the investigators but everyone there seemed to enjoy it a lot. (The Ice cream here is pretty good but it is fluffy. You have to eat a lot to be satisfied)
I have been enjoying reading from the book of Mormon quite a bit here. I can get the general drift of what the book of Mormon is saying in Portuguese but it is still pretty difficult. I love reading the English but i have to also read the Portuguese book of Mormon otherwise i will not get any language training.
Trying to work hard and learn and follow the rules better. The thing we do here most of the time it seems is cleaning and cooking. So much to do. However i love personal study. During the day i always think of things that old prophets have done or things about what god has done for us and how we can better live. Thinking is something we have a lot to do here. Thinking when cleaning, thinking when walking because it takes a lot of energy to speak(very hilly around here and hot). Pondering things about Christ defiantly makes our work seem more and more important. Even though i still probably have to idea how important the work we are doing here is.
Keep up the good work at home.
I know mom already does things like this but keep on helping the missionaries with references and also go out with them. We can always use more references and we can always use help teaching.
Sorry for the lack of information and stuff. Running late today. Lots of things to do. P days are crazy.
This last week I finally saw the first real rain here in Brazil. It was fairly strong but it only lasted 30 minutes. I think the north gets much more aggressive rain than down here. The skies are almost always super clear with no clouds.
I know i am getting better with Portuguese because I know I can talk to people if they talk very simply. I know more how to talk about gospel related stuff though just because we use it all day every day. It is defiantly interesting to see how the learning curve has changed from the MTC to here. I love it at lunch with less actives how they try talking to me and i do not understand them. They then assume i know no Portuguese and then start talking about how i can´t speak Portuguese and they find it funny. However they understand the lessons and the messages i give so it usually shocks them that they could understand me. I find it amusing. I wonder how it feels to foreigners in The United States.
One thing i have gotten better at is talking to people on the streets. I was advised in the CTM to focus our efforts on Men and families or Men with families. This is what i do. It is very difficult because men are less receptive but it hopefully will work out.
(Story Time) The first time i was really able to contact someone on the street well - I saw a man waiting for the bus and we went to talk to him. I ask him about is belief in god and afterwords i brought up our belief in the Restoration. He thought we didn´t use the bible so i taught him that we use the bible and the book of Mormon and that the book of Mormon was another testament of Christ. Well i was very excited to be able to have a real conversation and then the bus came and picked him up. However in my haste i did not get his name or number. This taught me very quickly that at bus stations to get those things almost first. But is was a good learning experience for me.
We had a ward activity this week and it was very interesting. Unlike any ward activity i have ever seen. First of all it was for investigators but the activity itself was hastily planned and gave us no time to try to invite people. In the end we had 2 investigators. After watching a short clip about Jesus Christ purpose we went into the cultural hall and the members sang songs and ate ice cream. It was strange because most of the songs were English Beatles songs. Not my idea of a spiritual activity to help the investigators but everyone there seemed to enjoy it a lot. (The Ice cream here is pretty good but it is fluffy. You have to eat a lot to be satisfied)
I have been enjoying reading from the book of Mormon quite a bit here. I can get the general drift of what the book of Mormon is saying in Portuguese but it is still pretty difficult. I love reading the English but i have to also read the Portuguese book of Mormon otherwise i will not get any language training.
Trying to work hard and learn and follow the rules better. The thing we do here most of the time it seems is cleaning and cooking. So much to do. However i love personal study. During the day i always think of things that old prophets have done or things about what god has done for us and how we can better live. Thinking is something we have a lot to do here. Thinking when cleaning, thinking when walking because it takes a lot of energy to speak(very hilly around here and hot). Pondering things about Christ defiantly makes our work seem more and more important. Even though i still probably have to idea how important the work we are doing here is.
Keep up the good work at home.
I know mom already does things like this but keep on helping the missionaries with references and also go out with them. We can always use more references and we can always use help teaching.
Sorry for the lack of information and stuff. Running late today. Lots of things to do. P days are crazy.
Friday, December 2, 2011
About my week - Tuesday, November 29, 2011
First of all I have to thank you for keeping me up to date on what is going on in CT. It has been great hearing about your experiences.
Second I would like to have Jefferson´s Email Address so I can email him. Also Grandma´s Grandpa´s and Grandma´s Email. I might have them already but it is easier if they are right here on my account.
If you send me another package could you send Peanut Butter. They are in short supply here. They really don´t have any here in Brazil.
After I receive the package with the sunscreen I will see if it does the trick and I probably will ask for more. I reapply every 1-2 hours. Being out in the sun all day without a hat can be deadly to fair skinned Elder Kramer.
I don´t know if I have told you but also they really don´t have any good stain remover here. So getting some good stuff from the US will be pretty nice.
Lots of normal items that we got in the US are very expensive here in Brazil. All the chemicals and medicines we got are very expensive here. Vitamins are expensive. They have other things which are about as cheap or cheaper here. Food is decent price that is about it. So I might be asking you for more things if I start running out things. When I say expensive it is about 15 Reis for a bottle of mouthwash. It is about 30 Reis for a bottle of Vitamins. Around here you have to be pretty rich to live well. We only get 180 Reis every 2 Weeks. And with sunscreen running at 30 Reis for a tiny bottle that money runs out quick when I need to buy some things.
Another thing I don´t know if I told you is about visiting peoples houses here. Everyone has high gates with spikes or electric wire at the top of the fence and the fences are about 20-40 ft in front of their doors. We have to clap in front of the gates instead of ringing door bells.
The water here is pretty safe. Most of Brazil is not good but for some reason the water in Bosque and Passo Fundo is good water. We received Water bottles with filters in them at the MTC which i use anyway for safety.
The people here are very friendly but when religion is brought up most of them either preach to you or just say they are Catholic and don´t let us share a message about Christ with them.
The Main Meal here is lunch so at lunch time everyone disappears from the streets at 12 and it is always rice and beans. And you don´t really see anyone until after 2. I hear they take a hour nap.
Lots of the roads here are cobblestone. they look cool but not very fun to walk on.
It is very hilly here. It is always going up or down a hill. Kinda like some places in CT.
Most of the houses are built with this certain type of brick and are always tiled inside. I think i sent a picture of a building that was under construction a few weeks ago.
It is pretty interesting. Most of the older houses or the rich houses are the ones that look like something might see in The United States.
Dogs, Lots and lots of dogs. I think everyone owns at least 1 dog here. Many people own 3,4 or more. There are always strays on the streets. I am not sure you could walk a street here without seeing at least 1 or 2 stray dogs.
Alright about my week.
Tuesday November 22 - Found a new food i like. It is like fried bread and rice. It tastes pretty good. This day was hard. All of our most sure investigators except one this night dropped. It was weird how that happened. Our Kitchen light broke and i was partly responsible. However after talking to Elder Cefalo i learned that the light was giving them problems before and i just finished it off.
Wednesday November 23 - I am not really sure what happened this day. I didn´t write it in my Journal for some reason. I think it was just a long day.
Thursday November 24 - I was given permission to get glasses. We went everywhere to get sunglasses and sunscreen. I think they just want to make Americans pay a lot here.
Today was crazy because appointments failed right and left.
Friday November 25 - Doing some laundry when laundry machine started making weird noises. The machines they have here cheap and can only hold so much stuff. (Today we had a repair man come over but the machine was not making weird noises anymore so he told us to call if it happened again. That threw us off because it was making weird noises all the time before and we were behind on laundry because of it.) Cool Story. This day we went to an investigator that has not been making any progress for a long time and we thought we might have to drop her. We tried to teach her for several days in a row but she was never available. We thought she was avoiding us. When we went to her house today through we found here in an excellent mood. Apparently a blessing we gave to her several days before worked. She said that she went to the hospital the day before and felt terrible, but as she left the hospital she felt better than she ever did in her life. She said she believed that our church is true. Now we just have to get her to church and get her to find how being a follower of Christ can bless her even more.
Saturday November 26 - Several lessons and the day went by super fast.
Sunday November 27 - Getting used to the people and all the other things around here. It is nice to be able to focused now on the work rather than being unused to everything.
Monday November 28 - Had some good lessons today. I was able to lead a lesson tonight and and invited one of our eternal part inactive member family to read the book of Mormon everyday and they accepted. I hope they follow through but it was nice to get some experience. It is hard for me and my companion to really be 1 while teaching the lesson due to the fact i don´t understand all the fine details of what they say. However we do switch back and forth teaching points just because that is one thing i can do in Portuguese.
These were some crazy days and my companion who has been on the mission for more that a year said that these were some unusually hard days. We figure the lord is trying us to help us become better missionaries. I just know that this week has given me the chances to think on how we can do better and some other important topics. It Has really been a ride since the beginning of the mission. This week i am going to be going on splits. So this will give me the opportunity to learn from the district leaders.
Another thing that happened this week was a conference with the Mission President. We had interviews with him and i was able to get to know him better which was a nice opportunity. Due to time restraints on our first day the new missionaries were not able to really have any chance to get to know the President.
I cannot believe how much i have learned and changed just from 3 weeks in the field. I am excited to keep on growing as a person and as a teacher.
One thing that keeps coming back to me is how sacred parenthood is and how it effects so many people. Having parents that care so much is truly a blessing and the fact that they taught the ways of the lord to me. I read in the Book of Mormon and see in real life how disobeying the commandments of God really cause contention. In the Book of Mormon it lead to many wars over things that really had no value. The value of good parents is really priceless.
Love Elder Kramer
Second I would like to have Jefferson´s Email Address so I can email him. Also Grandma´s Grandpa´s and Grandma´s Email. I might have them already but it is easier if they are right here on my account.
If you send me another package could you send Peanut Butter. They are in short supply here. They really don´t have any here in Brazil.
After I receive the package with the sunscreen I will see if it does the trick and I probably will ask for more. I reapply every 1-2 hours. Being out in the sun all day without a hat can be deadly to fair skinned Elder Kramer.
I don´t know if I have told you but also they really don´t have any good stain remover here. So getting some good stuff from the US will be pretty nice.
Lots of normal items that we got in the US are very expensive here in Brazil. All the chemicals and medicines we got are very expensive here. Vitamins are expensive. They have other things which are about as cheap or cheaper here. Food is decent price that is about it. So I might be asking you for more things if I start running out things. When I say expensive it is about 15 Reis for a bottle of mouthwash. It is about 30 Reis for a bottle of Vitamins. Around here you have to be pretty rich to live well. We only get 180 Reis every 2 Weeks. And with sunscreen running at 30 Reis for a tiny bottle that money runs out quick when I need to buy some things.
Another thing I don´t know if I told you is about visiting peoples houses here. Everyone has high gates with spikes or electric wire at the top of the fence and the fences are about 20-40 ft in front of their doors. We have to clap in front of the gates instead of ringing door bells.
The water here is pretty safe. Most of Brazil is not good but for some reason the water in Bosque and Passo Fundo is good water. We received Water bottles with filters in them at the MTC which i use anyway for safety.
The people here are very friendly but when religion is brought up most of them either preach to you or just say they are Catholic and don´t let us share a message about Christ with them.
The Main Meal here is lunch so at lunch time everyone disappears from the streets at 12 and it is always rice and beans. And you don´t really see anyone until after 2. I hear they take a hour nap.
Lots of the roads here are cobblestone. they look cool but not very fun to walk on.
It is very hilly here. It is always going up or down a hill. Kinda like some places in CT.
Most of the houses are built with this certain type of brick and are always tiled inside. I think i sent a picture of a building that was under construction a few weeks ago.
It is pretty interesting. Most of the older houses or the rich houses are the ones that look like something might see in The United States.
Dogs, Lots and lots of dogs. I think everyone owns at least 1 dog here. Many people own 3,4 or more. There are always strays on the streets. I am not sure you could walk a street here without seeing at least 1 or 2 stray dogs.
Alright about my week.
Tuesday November 22 - Found a new food i like. It is like fried bread and rice. It tastes pretty good. This day was hard. All of our most sure investigators except one this night dropped. It was weird how that happened. Our Kitchen light broke and i was partly responsible. However after talking to Elder Cefalo i learned that the light was giving them problems before and i just finished it off.
Wednesday November 23 - I am not really sure what happened this day. I didn´t write it in my Journal for some reason. I think it was just a long day.
Thursday November 24 - I was given permission to get glasses. We went everywhere to get sunglasses and sunscreen. I think they just want to make Americans pay a lot here.
Today was crazy because appointments failed right and left.
Friday November 25 - Doing some laundry when laundry machine started making weird noises. The machines they have here cheap and can only hold so much stuff. (Today we had a repair man come over but the machine was not making weird noises anymore so he told us to call if it happened again. That threw us off because it was making weird noises all the time before and we were behind on laundry because of it.) Cool Story. This day we went to an investigator that has not been making any progress for a long time and we thought we might have to drop her. We tried to teach her for several days in a row but she was never available. We thought she was avoiding us. When we went to her house today through we found here in an excellent mood. Apparently a blessing we gave to her several days before worked. She said that she went to the hospital the day before and felt terrible, but as she left the hospital she felt better than she ever did in her life. She said she believed that our church is true. Now we just have to get her to church and get her to find how being a follower of Christ can bless her even more.
Saturday November 26 - Several lessons and the day went by super fast.
Sunday November 27 - Getting used to the people and all the other things around here. It is nice to be able to focused now on the work rather than being unused to everything.
Monday November 28 - Had some good lessons today. I was able to lead a lesson tonight and and invited one of our eternal part inactive member family to read the book of Mormon everyday and they accepted. I hope they follow through but it was nice to get some experience. It is hard for me and my companion to really be 1 while teaching the lesson due to the fact i don´t understand all the fine details of what they say. However we do switch back and forth teaching points just because that is one thing i can do in Portuguese.
These were some crazy days and my companion who has been on the mission for more that a year said that these were some unusually hard days. We figure the lord is trying us to help us become better missionaries. I just know that this week has given me the chances to think on how we can do better and some other important topics. It Has really been a ride since the beginning of the mission. This week i am going to be going on splits. So this will give me the opportunity to learn from the district leaders.
Another thing that happened this week was a conference with the Mission President. We had interviews with him and i was able to get to know him better which was a nice opportunity. Due to time restraints on our first day the new missionaries were not able to really have any chance to get to know the President.
I cannot believe how much i have learned and changed just from 3 weeks in the field. I am excited to keep on growing as a person and as a teacher.
One thing that keeps coming back to me is how sacred parenthood is and how it effects so many people. Having parents that care so much is truly a blessing and the fact that they taught the ways of the lord to me. I read in the Book of Mormon and see in real life how disobeying the commandments of God really cause contention. In the Book of Mormon it lead to many wars over things that really had no value. The value of good parents is really priceless.
Love Elder Kramer
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The real letter - Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thank you for your letters and support. A mission changes a person. I have barely been out here 2 weeks and yet I feel like my whole life has changed and that I am changing with it.
The big things happening here are that we finally have 2 progressing investigators. We have 1 who was a referral and he is progressing super fast. The other is a woman who was not progressing for a long time who finally went to church. This is big deal for us and them, however I know that the lord put us in a place to teach and progress many more people. Something I learned in the MTC was that the Sister Missionaries are way better missionaries than the Elders and that we need to work hard to get to where they are.
Even though I am still a newb, I have been trying to work with my companion so that we will follow the rules more closely and teach with more power, spirit, and love. It is not easy to do. I don´t know the language and all of the things I need to teach, and my companion has been out here for a long time and he knows the language and what points to teach but it will still take lots of work on both our ends to become master teachers.
Somethings I have learned.
1. Preach my gospel is incredible. If I am able to follow that book and its teachings very closely I will have a good foot in being a missionary. Only problem is that the book has so much information and so much skills to learn that I feel like it would take a lifetime to learn all of them plus I need to learn Portuguese.
2. The people in the world are prepared to receive the restored gospel but there are more distractions and reasons to say no than ever. I think that many people think that happiness that they want will come through things like TV or other activities with no real value but to distract. (Every one here no matter how poor has a TV and a cell phone)
3. The closer you follow the Missionary hand book in the mission the more preoccupied on good work you will be and the better you will feel through the day. There is so much to do to just to prepare to teach others that if you don´t get yourself prepared and stay focused through the day on the gospel and helping others than it is easy to think about things with no meaning. The rules were not given to us just for fun.
4. Brazilians are laid back. This is both a blessing and a curse. They will accept you in their homes but they don´t always feel like they need to change things in their life.
5. You can´t change just because you want to or that an experience will change you. You have to act.
6. Good mothers who have the gospel are essential for a house. I have seen such diversity from the people who do not have the gospel in their lives to those that do and even similar in wealth people have totally different moods in their houses.
7. Parenting is a sacred calling and I am sad to see those who do not do as much as they could. I am grateful for the great parents I have.
These are some things i have learned and there will be more things. So much to learn.
Thanks for your support. I will write you next week unless something unplanned happens.
I hope you enjoy the photos. I will try my best to work hard and be a good missionary keep on supporting me.
Love Elder Kramer
The big things happening here are that we finally have 2 progressing investigators. We have 1 who was a referral and he is progressing super fast. The other is a woman who was not progressing for a long time who finally went to church. This is big deal for us and them, however I know that the lord put us in a place to teach and progress many more people. Something I learned in the MTC was that the Sister Missionaries are way better missionaries than the Elders and that we need to work hard to get to where they are.
Even though I am still a newb, I have been trying to work with my companion so that we will follow the rules more closely and teach with more power, spirit, and love. It is not easy to do. I don´t know the language and all of the things I need to teach, and my companion has been out here for a long time and he knows the language and what points to teach but it will still take lots of work on both our ends to become master teachers.
Somethings I have learned.
1. Preach my gospel is incredible. If I am able to follow that book and its teachings very closely I will have a good foot in being a missionary. Only problem is that the book has so much information and so much skills to learn that I feel like it would take a lifetime to learn all of them plus I need to learn Portuguese.
2. The people in the world are prepared to receive the restored gospel but there are more distractions and reasons to say no than ever. I think that many people think that happiness that they want will come through things like TV or other activities with no real value but to distract. (Every one here no matter how poor has a TV and a cell phone)
3. The closer you follow the Missionary hand book in the mission the more preoccupied on good work you will be and the better you will feel through the day. There is so much to do to just to prepare to teach others that if you don´t get yourself prepared and stay focused through the day on the gospel and helping others than it is easy to think about things with no meaning. The rules were not given to us just for fun.
4. Brazilians are laid back. This is both a blessing and a curse. They will accept you in their homes but they don´t always feel like they need to change things in their life.
5. You can´t change just because you want to or that an experience will change you. You have to act.
6. Good mothers who have the gospel are essential for a house. I have seen such diversity from the people who do not have the gospel in their lives to those that do and even similar in wealth people have totally different moods in their houses.
7. Parenting is a sacred calling and I am sad to see those who do not do as much as they could. I am grateful for the great parents I have.
These are some things i have learned and there will be more things. So much to learn.
Thanks for your support. I will write you next week unless something unplanned happens.
I hope you enjoy the photos. I will try my best to work hard and be a good missionary keep on supporting me.
Love Elder Kramer
These are some cool photos of the places I have passed. I work closer to the cities more densely populated than Cromwell in people per foot. It is very interesting seeing the beautiful Brazil and then going to the cities an towns where they are not so nice. The things of god and the things of man are totally different.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
About the time I was not writting to you and some letters to members of the family - Tuesday, November 15, 2011
First of all it was great to hear about the family. Great that Jefferson is back and that N´krysta is 17 years of age. Crazy. Glad for the letters and support.
It was a huge change from the CTM to the field. CTM is how they do MTC. In Portuguese they describe the object after they say what the object is.
Originally, the day before I left the CTM, I was supposed to go to the center of Sao Paulo and hand out Books of Mormon, however, instead we listened to a talk given by Elder Evans. The talk was great because of the significance it gave to Missionaries and what we need to do.
The next morning we woke up at 3:40 a.m and left on a bus at 5 a.m to go to the airport. I had my first taste of a real Brazilian public restroom. They are not the nicest of places.
When I arrived in Porto Alegre we were meet by the mission president and some missionaries. I got to ride with a Elder Peterson who only had one day left on his mission. He was awesome. He became friends with he driver and got the drivers name and address in a matter of minutes. We went to the mission office and dropped our stuff off and then went to a buffet to eat. It was very nice to eat some good food and talk to Elder Peterson. Lots of fun. Afterwords we got our stuff, had some interviews and then left to the bus station. I had a 4 hour bus ride to my first area called Bosque. On the trip I learned lots talking to a Elder Black. The big city our town is next to is called Passo Fundo. After we arrived, I met up with my new companion named Elder Cefalo. We went to our apartment and then had my fist night in the field. Our apartment was a lot cleaner than I expected most missionaries to have it but still not quite up to standards. Our entire apartment is about the size of Mom and dad's bedroom. The size is not that big of a deal but it makes some things difficult. The way we live is closer to a weird combination of camping and living in a modern world. The only hot water we have is from the shower and we are not really supposed to drink the water here. We were given water bottles with filters in them at the CTM which makes us able to have water anywhere.
My first day of actual work was a little strange. We ate lunch with member (rice and beans is always at lunch. lunch is the biggest meal of the day here.) and then we walked for a long time to go into another area to get to a bank. My companion had a conference in Porto Alegre the next day and needed money. So we got money and went and bought Bus Tickets. That took up lots of our day. We then went to teach some people. I don´t really understand what the people say but I can get general meanings out of what they say.
The next day my companion left for Porto Alegre and I left with my new Temp Companion to his area which is 2 hours away from Passo Fundo to an even more remote random city. I had a great time with him we arrived in his area and I was able to teach some English to some little kids during his English class at the church.
The next day (Elder Dowden) and I (November 11) went to a remote very poor town to teach. This was one of the places with known "not good water". It was a great day because the people there were actually interested in what we had to say and Elder Dowden is a great teacher. He let me bear my testimony often and it was a good chance to get used to speaking with natives.
Saturday 12 - I went back to Bosque. For some reason when ever I am in our residence I get homesick. I like going and working more than being in the apartment. Around here we walk and walk. Even though there are tons of people here it takes a long time to get from appointment to appointment. We ended up walking around for 3 hours because all of the people we wanted to go see were busy or were not home.
Sunday 13- The building we go to is pretty old and they are supposed to fix it up in the near future. The members are great and even though I really don´t understand them I know they are very kind and like missionaries a lot.
These last two days have been hard but are getting better. The people here are very kind but they don´t like changing their ways. We really don´t have any progressing investigators right now but we are trying to change that. Hopefully things will get better on that part. It the great work when me and my companion are doing the things we are supposed to.
This is pretty much what is on my mind now. It was great to read all of your emails. Always busy here. I can´t wait to understand and speak the language.
My scripture can be Alma 48:17 if you need a picture of me then hopefully one of those I sent you could work. Maybe just crop it or something.
We are not really supposed to carry cameras around here just for safety reasons so maybe I won´t have as many pictures as I expected to have. Who knows? I still have 2 years. Keep on praying to give me the strength to go throughout my day and be fully plunged into the work. My area is super hilly and it is a workout. L think David had something like that in the Canary Islands.
Love lots and I will keep sending you letters on P -days (Tuesdays for me) Love lots. (Tell grandpa thanks for the letters he sends me.)
Love Lots Elder Kramer
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Hello the snow covered family - Tuesday, November 1, 2011
How is it going?
It was crazy to hear about the snow fall in October. Things down here are not to bad. Pretty nice weather.
It is great to hear about Jefferson coming home.
Almost out of the CTM, it is very exciting. I didn´t realize about Nicole even putting in her papers.
Do you know anything about Drew Owens going on a mission. I thought I heard a rumour awhile back.
Here has been lots of fun. The food is great and the building is nice. The showers are not that good and we need to conserve paper towels and water.
Inside the CTM we are cut off from the world. I live on the 6 floor (really the 7th in America) you realize that there is much poor and much poorly built buildings.
This Monday we were able to go out and proselyte on the streets. It was a great experience. Next Monday we are going to go the the middle of São Paulo and do the same thing. It sounds very exciting. We are able to leave the CTM on P-days too around here. I love talking to the Brazilians here and when they say I have great Portuguese but I really know they are just being nice. It is interesting because our sacrament meeting is just in English and so is the temple in English to accommodate the missionaries from the United States. The people who I have met here in the CTM are very friendly and all good people.
Only 6 days until I leave to the field!
I am very excited. Not sure how it will turn out but it will be an experience.
Love
ELDER KRAMER
Monday, October 17, 2011
How is it going - Monday, October 17, 2011
I love getting you emails and mail, it is a lot of fun to read it.
I have had a great time here and it is always interesting.
My companion got his visa so he is leaving tomorrow and that will be a change. I am going to be moved to another room on the same floor. I am rooming with my zone leaders who are also in my district.
I am getting very excited for the field. Time is closing in.
Lots of things are always happening around here. Finished JESUS THE CHRIST. That book is amazing. JAMES E. TALMAGE does such a great job concerning the events around Jesus´ life.
It is weird how people who we thought were brand new in our branch are suddenly leaving because their 3 weeks are done. Although it isn´t much time I have been gone, it seems like forever here.
Had a devotional where we were taught some table manners and that was pretty interesting. That was done by Sister Hacking. It only shows as to how important manners in front of others is.
I have made many friends through soccer. There is bonding here is unlike that on a competitive team. It is fun to play soccer and not be to serious about how you perform.
My Portuguese is coming along. I can get most of the lessons down in basic sentences. At some point i am going to have to learn to talk about things other than how "Deus ama nos" which is god loves us.
I saw Danny and he seems to be doing pretty well. He is not on the same schedule as I am so i have not seen him a lot.
Well I have to go, we have a 30min time limit for the day on P-Day for email.
Love Elder Kramer
From Elder Kramer - Monday, October 10, 2011
How is it going, i have been having a great time here. The language is very hard so i put all my free time into studying it. Every day is learning something new.
It is great to hear about Dan. I can't wait to see him. He might even come to my building.
I am fine if you send my letters to others.
As for my coat size i have no idea. It is getting a little chilly here though. There is snow on some of the mountains.
I really enjoy the time here to prepare. I could not imagine going into the field without this experience. There is so much to learn. On Sundays i have been reading Jesus the Christ also i read it during quiet time. It is truly inspirational. There is tons to still learn here though. Acquiring a knowledge about the language and the scriptures plus being able to teach effectively is very hard.
I am very excited to go into the field and the days are closing in.
I was able to hang out with Mckenna on Sunday and get some pictures with her. It was a lot of fun.
Two of the people in our district were called as zone leaders which is pretty cool.
I have not had the opportunity to write anyone so i am sorry about that. There is just so much to do.
You never go hungry here because of the mass amounts of food you get to eat all the time. I hear people gain lots of weight here but i don't think i gained any.
This morning after a great temple endowment session me and my companion had the opportunity to do some service for the people in the temple by preparing some clothing in the laundry room. They were low staffed so they really needed some help to make sure all the missionaries were able to have clothing.
The MTC is undergoing lots of renovation and one of the buildings is being closed down. This means that my room might get a third bunk in it. Things are already crowed around here and it is only going to get worse. However this will probably give the church reason to expand the MTC.
It is suit coat season now so we have to wear suit coats all the time now. I really like those Stafford shirts you purchased from JC penny.
Ask grandma and grandpa Timmons and Grandma Gilchrist to send more stories. It is lots of fun to have real life experiences from you family around here. Keeps things interesting.
Keep on sending me lots of home life news.
Thanks for the support
Elder Kramer
Hello - Monday, October 3, 2011
That was very interesting hearing about Jefferson. It seems like forever since i have heard from him.
In terms of coats i have heard some things about Brazil in the fact that it rains tons there. So i would rather have a good solid raincoat to keep me dry.
General conference was great and it was really alot easier to pay attention here.
On October 2 after General conference we had a person named Chad Louis come and speak to us and it was pretty cool.
I get to play soccer just about everyday here. However we are not allowed to head, slide tackle, or wear cleats. This and the fact you try not to hurt the other players really makes the game totally different. However it is still lots of fun.
I have really gotten into reading Jesus the Christ. It is such an amazing book. It takes all we know about Jesus and analyzes his goodness and kindness plus cool facts pertaining about the circumstances he was in.
I feel like i have no time at all around here and in just a few days i will have been here 4 weeks. Also Sister Kramer is leaving soon which will be awesome for here but i will be sad not to be able to see her.
Even though i am not that great at Portuguese yet i am able to give some basic lessons and try to get what i want though with some hand signaling involved.
It seems like for the past week no one has gotten any visas so i am wondering what is going on with that.
If Garrett is around you should invite him to dinner so that he will have something to with our family. I really appreciate the example he has set for me in being kind to others.
It would be nice if you and Grandma Ivy and Grandma and Grandpa Timmons could send me some cool stories. Tell them i love them.
I will Try again to get letters out but there is always so much to do here.
Elder Kramer
Doing Well - Monday, September 26, 2011
How is it going?
I am have a great time here and it is a great experiance so far. Can't imagine what it is like in the mission field.
In order to solve the question about how we are being taught portuguese: we go into a classroom for 6 hours a day and have a teacher who only will speak portuguese for the most part teach us about vocab and other things he thinks are neccissary. During that time we will go and teach the teachers who are pretending to be investigatiors compeletly in portuguese. It it pretty hard since we dont speak the language really but it is fun. We have a couple more hours during the day to do personal language study which is very benifical.
We have had a great week this week. We had Elder Nelson come and speak to us on Tuesday which was pretty cool. It turns out he has a granddaughter that goes here.
I am have a great time here and it is a great experiance so far. Can't imagine what it is like in the mission field.
In order to solve the question about how we are being taught portuguese: we go into a classroom for 6 hours a day and have a teacher who only will speak portuguese for the most part teach us about vocab and other things he thinks are neccissary. During that time we will go and teach the teachers who are pretending to be investigatiors compeletly in portuguese. It it pretty hard since we dont speak the language really but it is fun. We have a couple more hours during the day to do personal language study which is very benifical.
We have had a great week this week. We had Elder Nelson come and speak to us on Tuesday which was pretty cool. It turns out he has a granddaughter that goes here.
My companion and I had to teach a lesson to our district on Sunday and the Branch president was there and it went incredibly well. It has just been a good week for studying and focusing on the task at hand
Thank you for the letters you have been sending, they are very fun to recieve. Sorry about not sending letters out. There is very little time to do things like that around here. I have yet to send mail to anyone but you and David. Hopefully i will be able to send some mail out to some other people today.
Cool Story, There is a Elder Thomas in my district whose dentist is apparently Alan Timmons which i thought was pretty cool.
If i was to have done one thing before i came out here more it would definatly be to know The Book of Mormon inside and out. It always it the topic of discussion around here and it definatly is nice to know what you are talking about.
Tell Dan and Sarah that MTC is a little different in how we do things that the field. We have gym every day so keep that in mind and bring lots of shorts and shirts. Also to bring pants for service if they already are not doing that.
The MTC has been great but it seems like we have been here forever yet no time at all due to the fact we don't know much portuguese yet. Every day seems like forever. The day before seems like a week ago. However this makes it nice to get lots of things done during this time.
Hope you are having fun out there. David pretty much said that he would hook me up with food which i thought was nice.
Have a great Week
Elder Kramer
From the MTC
Monday, September 19, 2011
Hello From the MTC
Hello From the MTC
To answer some of the questions
The flight went flawlessly
The Package Mom Sent Came and i enjoyed it
I see Sister Kramer almost every day and i got to visit with her on our temple walk
Lots of fun here. Learning the language is hard but considering i am only a week and a half here i don't mind the fact that i don't know the language.
It is nice living in a place were everybody is willing to work hard and try to be their best.
Tell David that i am very grateful for him waiting for me at the MTC when i came here. I will try to send letters when i can on P Day, however there is always something that needs to be done
That was a pretty neat story about the people who live at the Fordhams old house. Hope that turns out well.
Whenever we here a devotional here it makes us very excited to get into the field even though we don't know Portuguese yet. Everyone just wants to go out to the field and teach.
It is kind of interesting to see how desperate people here are to hear from home. Everyone loves letters and packages.
One person in our district got his new flight itinerary to go to Sao Paulo. It is very random it seems as to who has been getting their visas. I figure the lord still wants me to learn things here before he sends me out.
Something random that happened though was that i found out that one of my pants we ordered was a size 34 by 34. I thought it was strange that all the other ones fit but this one. The Stafford shirts we got are very nice and i like them a lot.
Elder Ballard and his wife spoke at last Tuesday's devotional and that was very awesome. Mckenna will probably tell you if anything cool happens.
I get to play soccer here almost everyday. It is a lot of fun. However here there are no cleats no headers and no slide tackles. Even though this was to be expected it took a while to get used to the change and start playing well.
Thanks for keeping me up to date. I have almost no idea what goes on beyond the MTC.
From Elder Kramer
Re: test
Monday, September 12, 2011
Dear Mom and Dad:
Dear Mom and Dad:
This is the new email address. So Far i have had a great time here at the MTC. I sent a letter briefly explaining the first day i had. It has been pretty fun going self study and then Portuguese Class. I am able to see Sister Kramer almost every day which is fun. My P day is Monday. My companion's name is Elder Edgington. He is a very "legal" guy. It is almost as if he knows half of the people here. My district is very close. All of them are very "legal". It is enjoyable to be able to work with Elders who are dedicated to the work and very nice to each other. On Sunday we had the opportunity to watch a 9/11 presentation which was very heart touching. This morning we went to the temple and had a great time. It is strange but only a day after we came here it seemed as though we have lived here for a long time. I am interested to hear any news from Jefferson or anything new in the family.
Elder Kramer
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