Another Letter through MissionTies from Brazil today:

Dear Family
So to answer your question; the Temple session was in English and a lot of the Temple workers spoke English, so going to the Temple was a breeze. Except, if I wanted, I could have had a headset that had the translation in Portuguese. Some more new things: if you are sending me a letter soon, send it to my mission home in Joao Pessoa. I have not lost any more weight since the first 12 lbs so far. When I got here, I was surprised to see how heavy I was.

Did I ever tell you about my room-mates? Well, if I didn't here it is. For the first four days, my companion and I had a certain type of barrier with the language our roommates only spoke Portuguese. The barrier was very difficult to get passed. Well. one night we prayed together and the Brazilian roommate in the prayer asked for the gift of tongues. After the prayer we all sat down and next thing you know, our roommates started to speak English Perfectly. My companion and I started to go crazy because of the gigantic language barrier and the roommates being able to speak English all along oh, what a humbling experience!!

Well, in the CTM the scheduling is very self-motivating and relaxed. I actually don't like it, because it is so hard to have all this time and not be pushed like in the Prove MTC. I guess I just like having the specific teaching style in Prove. However, being immersed in the language a lot more than Prove is VERY nice. My Portuguese is coming along pretty well, but sometimes it is hard to fathom that I am leaving and will be in the field in two weeks!! I think that I am ready in the sense that I can teach myself a lot more Portuguese and be ok in the field.

Some other new things - I received the package, but had to pay the tariff tax, but that's ok. Oh, and some day this week I will have to go to the Police Station to do my finger prints. All except 3 in my district have already done so.

The other day, I memorized the first vision in Portuguese and the Missionary Purpose in Portuguese. Right now, I am finishing the whole lesson of what the Book of Mormon is and why it is important.
Some other things I have recently learned is that Joao Pessoa in the summer is a constant 95 - 118 degrees, so lucky me!! I guess I will be black when I get back. Oh, another thing is that the toilet paper is already separated into perfectly cut squares and Mr. Cheney's cookies are way better than any American cookie I have ever had. Hmmm....I guess it's a good thing I know how to keep a level head because here it can be stressful, but for me it is so hard to worry about really everything, like I do get a little nervous, but it's like I can just set it aside so easily. I find it kind of weird, but it's just who I am.

It is so hard to write because, with time constraints I have written this letter over a four day period. Sometimes it is hard to remember things. We are on our way to Sao Paolo Temple today, but to get there, you have to travel though the city. Campinas Temple is on the freeway and not that many people are on that particular freeway. The last time we went to the Temple it took us over three hours to get there  (that was the day the driver went to both Temples). The traffic in Sao Paolo is horrible; I would rather be driving in Seattle.

The average money we receive is $120 reals every two weeks, so plenty of money for everything I need. I do love the weather here, I don't know about Joao Pessoa. It's funny to see that almost every car here is a Chevy Aveo. I also heard that each companionship has a DVD in their apartment, so if you could sent me the P90x that would be great!!  If people also want to send me letters, they can at:

Elder Adam Jensen
Brazil Joao Pessoa Mission
Rua Deputado Jose Mariz, 515
Tambauzinho
58042 - 020 Joao Pessoa - PB
Brazil.

(please also include your email address)

You would really like Brazil a lot, I know you guys would. I miss you all and it won't take long before I am back home.  I LOVE YOU!!

elder jensen

(oh, I promise that my next letter will be more meaningful)