November 7, 2012




Dear family,

Mom that sounds great. please give Daniel the card when he gets back that would be great! Yes I still love the scripture and won't change my mind! The flight over here was absolutely awful and the longest nine hours of my life! I was in the very middle of the plane and couldn't get up to take my jacket off. There was so much turbulence and so little space to put any carry on bags. So I managed to get and hour and a half of sleep  before arriving to Brasil! It is so very beautiful here! It looks like a concrete jungle with skyscraper apartments as far as I can see. Instead of mountains like back home we have tall buildings surrounded by little poor houses. The CTM, what we call the MTC, is really nice. It is seven stories tall and we are on the sixth floor and have such a beautiful view to go to sleep to every single night. they are super strict about when and where we can take pictures here so it might be a second until I can get some out to you. The first day here when we arrived we just had a lot of orientation kind of things and some on the second day. The night of Thursday when we got here was great. We had just learned very little Portuguese and we had to teach a lesson to an "investigator". We couldn't speak English so my companion and I spent a little time in the middle of our lesson looking up words but we got through and I thought we actually did quite well. My companion is Elder Yarn and he is from Baltimore. I love him and I have been blessed with the best companion. Out of our district he and I and one other elder have really progressed quickly with the Portuguese. Taking Spanish helped so so much! It is such a beautiful language but it is really tough and we have tons more to go!  This first week has seemed like a month! All of the other Elders say the first week is terrible and then it gets much better and before you know it, it's week six! I'm so happy to finally have p day. It feels like Christmas and a birthday mixed together! It has been tough to focus all of my energy on one thing for so long but it has been great. The reward of teaching a good lesson to our investigator is well worth the work. I just need to be patient when it comes to learning. I wish more than anything that I knew all of the Portuguese! Today for p day we got to go to the temple in Sao Paulo and it was incredible. Something I definitely needed. The testimony is growing each day. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here. Brasil is way humid but it didn't take long to adjust to the temperatures and it doesn't usually get above 95 or so degrees in Sao Paulo. Campinas will be the same thank heavens. It is so nice to have native Brazilians here to speak with. They all love Elder Yarn and it has been so nice to have them as friends. We are always sitting next to them and talking to them during breaks. It helps the learning go smooth and It feels good to apply what we know for some real use. I love this work so much. There is no other place that I would rather be than here! The work is hard but salvation is not a cheap experience and so I don't expect it to be easy. I can't tell you how much I love you and miss and I would love to be laughing with you all back home right now but I am supposed to be here and I am going to lose myself in this glorious gospel. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ and it is the only way to feel pure joy and happiness. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and loves each of us more than we can love anyone else. He died for me and for you all. I love you all so much. I hope everything is great at home! Levi, get ready for the best time of your life. This is perfect for you. It may be a commandment to serve, but it isn't a commandment you'll want to miss out on. I love you bud. Dad and Lacey, thanks so much for your letters. I love them so much. Mom, I couldn't find yours. I'll keep looking though. I love  you so much! You are the best. Hugs and kisses. Love the gospel for me! I love you all so much! Have the greatest week! Talk to you soon!
Love bunches,
Elder Paynter

3 comments:

  1. Yeah!! I'm so excited you are doing a blog. Best way to keep everyone who is interested, updated. Thank you!!!

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  2. how fun to have a blog to keep up with elder paynter. we will be checking back.;)

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  3. Hi Preston. I love this blog already. You are so dang cute and wonderful. I know you are a great missionary already. I am very proud of you. Love you sooooo much.
    From Aunt Colleen

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