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