Mission Office

Elder David J. Munk

Brazil Londrina Mission

Av. Higienopolis, 1100 Sala 61

Centro

86020-911 Londrina PR

Brazil

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Elder David J. Munk

Brazil Londrina Mission

Av. Higienopolis, 1100 Sala 61

Centro

86001-970 Londrina PR

Brazil

February 6, 2010

Dear Family,

OK. Here we go. So this week was great. On Sunday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting in Portuguese of course on Fe (Faith). It went well I thought. As a district we have made a goal to do English fasts on Mon, Wed, and Saturday. It is hard, more quiet, but good for us. Devotional this week was by Elder Hinckley. It was awesome and he reminded me of President Hinckley so much. This week in the TRL we taught the first lesson in Portuguese. It went well. I cold tell the Gift of Tongues working in me. We have been going to the Referral enter where we make outbound calls. I stress "out" with it because I do not like talking on the phone and these are really people! But it is good for me. I talked with an atheist which was interesting but went well. And he agreed to receive a Finding Faith in Christ dvd. Visa's are coming in. I just heard that 80 came in yesterday (Thurs.) What a miracle and a blessing! Thanks for sending that talk. It is very interesting, and I love it. So people have been stressing the atonement a lot. So I have been searching for better understanding and a stronger testimony of it. The best missionaries in the Book of Mormon knew the atonement. So there is this quote I came by from Neal A. Maxwell. It says that as we get on the path of steady improvement (discipleship) we will become more righteous and go through a process of 1) acknowledging Jesus, 2) admiring Jesus, 3) adoration of Jesus, 4) emulation of Jesus. I am trying to move on this path. Anyways, kind of cool I thought. I love you all. Love hearing from you and how things are going. I KNOW this gospel is true with all of my heart.

Love Always, Elder Munk

January 22, 2010

Dear Mom, Dad and Family,

Oi! Como vai? Eu estou muitu bem. last wee was once again crazy and fast. i am now on my fourth week which seems weird. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. This past week for the TRC we were supposed to first, pick up someone for church, ride on a "bus" and talk with them about their family, work/school, what they like to do and follow up on commitments. Second, teach Lesson 2, Plan of Salvation.(no notes) The problem with this was in class we didn't really go over the Portuguese part. We have been tirelessly studying grammar (verb tenses command form, direct and indirect objects, etc.) Along with this we now have 2 additional large Group Meetings (usually only 1/week) for only Brazilian missionaries. This cut our time down for practice and study. So I have been trying to get a hold of what we we learned in class but i also needed to study the Portuguese task. So needless to say, I didn't feel quite prepared for the TRC yesterday. But it went OK. It was definitely an eye opener a lot of the time we were guessing or didn't know exactly what he was saying. Usually we just have people from the mega district (people waiting for visa's) volunteer in the TRC but this time we actually had someone who spoke good Portuguese. But we got it done. And then the lesson went pretty well. We have been heavily taught on using the scriptures more in our teaching. Instead of us talking and having the scriptures bear witness of us, we should let the scriptures talk and we bear witness of them. So my companion and I decided to teach everything out of the scriptures and then discuss. We taught mostly from 2 Nephi, 2 Nephi 9, alma 11, Alma 40. It was a bit weird teaching this way but it went well. Teaching out of the scriptures will only help them have a stronger testimony of them. So it went well. Next week we teach 2nd lesson again and then following week lesson 1 in Portuguese. We also will go to only Portuguese in class soon.

So I forgot to tell you but Elder L. Tom Perry came and spoke to us. He was awesome . We have had 2 seventies and him for our devotionals. It's awesome. Oh, and my teacher's Irma Tymoschendo's dad is a seventy and spoke in conference about testimony (I think april 08). His name is Elder Godoy. Great talk he gave.

This past week I studied hope a lot. I read through Pres. Uchtdorf's "The Infinite Power of Hope" and Pres. Fausts "Hope An anchor for the Soul" As I studied this I started imagining hope as an anchor. As I did this analogy started coming into my head. I drew it as it came into my head. That night I felt there was more that I cold do with this analogy and I prayed to receive it. As I laid down to sleep "Master the Tempest Is Raging" came to my head and ideas flooded in. The next morning I completed the analogy. It was a great experience. I would like you to read those talks. They are amazing.

I am sorry to hear about Haiti. That is devastating. Heavenly Father is with them thought and will help through this difficult time.

Continue to pray for visas etc. I know it is all in God's hands but we have been asked to pray with an increase of faith for them by the Branch President. We hear that if they don't come this month and have to wait until March it will be bad for us, but devastating for the older and mega districts.

So as few things I have learned about myself. I am impatient, I LOVE PEOPLE, and lastly and not as important as the first two, but I love pictures. I am praying and trying to develop patience, but it is sometimes difficult. But it will come. I love learning about people, their lives, why they are the way they are. I love talking with them, and helping them be happy. And for the pictures, I have bought 6 smaller pictures of Christ or Joseph Smith for me and 4 pictures for the classroom. I also bought the book full of church pictures. I got a great discount at the bookstore so it's not too expensive. But I guess I am a visual person and I love looking at pictures.

Mom and Dad, it sounds like you guys are doing a great job with your callings. Isn't it soul satisfying? I love the work! and Mom, I feel that maybe that analogy that was given me could or should be used for seminary. Pray and ask. And tell your students that the church is true! Read the Book of Mormon and it will help solve problems, answer questions, bring joy, bring power into their lives. Tell them that a mission is THE BEST thing they could do at this point in their lives (or when the time comes). We may give a little, but we are blessed SO MUCH MORE.

I know this church is Christ's church. It is true! I love the work. Thanks for your prayers and support, Keep writing. I love hearing about how things are going. Love you all so much!

Love, Elder Munk

Elder Munk! LDS!

In this pic Dave has his serious, I'm an FBI agent look. I am not sure what the guy in the background is about, but hey, it's the MTC. Need I say more?

Hooray for seeing someone I know!

Elder Munk was able to meet his good friend Young Tai in the MTC. He looks very excited to see him.

This picture was taken while Elder Munk and his companion snuck into the MTC President's personal coat closet.

Just kidding Mom. I am not sure where they are but they are stoked to be there.

Is this a temple for ants!? It needs to be at least...3 times this size!

Jan. 15, 2010

Jan. 15, 2010

Dear Family,

This week went by quickly. It's weird because it seems like we've been here forever and yet it seems like no time at all. But this past week we worked on verbs a lot Present, Perfect, Imperfect, Future, Irregulars. So it was difficult but good. In the TR we taught lesson 1 again but this time knew more about the investigator. It went really well! The MTC is stressing teaching to people's needs. Even though we have PMG and not memorized lessons its easy to slip into a flow. So they are really stressing switching it for peoples needs. For the language part of it we had to make 2 door contacts, introduce ourselves, ask them about their fam, tell about ours, ask them what they like to do, what their beliefs are etc. So i was nervous but i was blessed and it went quite well. Next week we teach lesson 2 and have some added stuff for a conversation. So we are continuing to work hard. It is tiring but way good. W are getting closer as a dist. and with our teachers.

So I e-mailed about this, but I can't stress it enough. This visa thing is getting to be a big problem because areas in Brazil are closing down. So pray hard and with great faith that missionaries will start getting them! I am trying to read the B of M in Portuguese. It is hard but I can do it!. I also got one of those children B of M picture books to help too.

So to help us prepare, we watch these videos about people and what we should teach to help. These videos are done by a group who just go and interview people and ask questions. It is awesome. You should search for the website and watch them. Search "6 billion others" on the internet. Watch some of the videos. My favorite so far is a guy named Bruno from some island in Africa who lives on a yacht and sails around the world. So try to find that one.

Anyway, the work moved forward. I love it! I love Portuguese! I love teaching! The church is true!

Love, Elder Dave Munk

1/8/10

Dear Mom & Dad & Family,

Hello! Or rather, Oi! Como voce vai? Eu estou mute bem! I am sure you will be able to figure that out. But this week I decided to handwrite letters and see how it goes. But man, there is so much to write about. I am not quite sure where to start. But the first few days were cray with lots of learning and reflection. My companions name is Elder Gunnell. He is from Salt Lake City. He is a good person and we work and teach well together. He likes to sing really loud which makes everyone else laugh and he also is trying to get rid of the America accent so sometimes he over pronounces words. Its pretty funny. My district is awesome. All the guys are awesome and we growing and unifying more and more everyday.

The first few days weren't actually too long. Everyone said they lasted forever but they weren't too bad. Time here is weird. All the days blend together and its...just a wierd feeling. It goes by quick. my teachers are cool. One is Irma Tymoschenlco who is a native Brazilian. She is very fun and cool. The other is Irmao Sanders. He was gone for a long time so we just met him a couple of days ago. He went to Portugal on his mission. We are getting used to his teaching style and everything is great. So a common day for us is wake up at 6:16, get ready and then to gym. When we get done we shower, eat, and then go to the classroom for personal comp, and language study. Then we eat lunch at 1-1:45. The class until 6. then dinner til 6:45 and then class til 9. Depending on the day, those things will be at different times during the day with some MDT (Missionary Directed Time) intermingled. I am constantly tired. But it is great. We have been studying the first lesson, The Restoration, along with introducing ourselves, praying, contacting and testifying in Portuguese. A lot of stuff but I have felt the Lord's hand in my life and was able to pick up on everything quickly. In the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) we were assigned to teach a 35 minute lesson on lesson 1 and a 15 minute Portuguese section (contacting in a park) No notes. Unfortunately there weren't enough volunteers for the Portuguese part but my comp and I taught a great lesson. We taught some missionaries waiting for their visas and they were impressed. We also got some things to work on which is great! Next week we teach first lesson again only know a little more about the investigator so we will prepare for him/her needs.

I have been studying a lot by topic which is awesome. The other day I read 1 John 4 about love. It said fear and love can't exist together. So then I thought love and faith must be linked. I then turned to John 3:16 and John 14:15 and interchanged the words love and faith in the scripture and found it interesting. Try it and tell me what you think. I have also been blessed with an awesome Branch President. He comes in once in awhile during the week and teaches us during MDT time. Its awesome for sacrament meeting. All missionaries prepare a talk and then you find out on Sunday whether you are giving it......and the talk is in Portuguese. So that is hard but will help a lot.

I went to the temple today and it was amazing!

O and I have sen a lot of people that I know! Elders Cryer (roommate in summer) Ahn (Young Tai from winter and spring) Christensen (played Ballistics, club soccer, and IFHS Varsity with me...Cameron) Frogley (yeah Adam Frogley from grade school!) Roberts (friend from summer and fall) Mooso (Austin, and he wants me to tell you dad, that he loves you) and some more along with Sister Pleshek (this is added by the mom.....she is our stake presidents daughter). I ran into her at the lunch and we were talking, not knowing who each other were and then she says she knew some Munks who used to live in utah but they live in /by Stevens Point. and then we looked at each other and started laughing realizing what was going on. So that was cool. It's fun having so many friends around.

thanks for your letters and everything! Its been great to hear form you.

thanks again for everything! Eu sei que este Evangelho e verdadeiro. Eu sei que Jesus Cristo e nosso Salvador e Rendentor. Ele sofreu pur mim e por voce. Eu sei que Joseph Smith foi profets e O livero de Mormon e verdaderio. Thomas S. Monson e o profeta. Em nome de Jesus Cristo, amen. I love this work!

love you so much!

Elder David Munk

O and still no work on visas. Coming through but slowly. Some sisters here have been here for 14 weeks.

O and in the MTC we can't use ipods so I have had no music for....well it seems a long time. Its hard but I know its for a purpose.