Half way done!

This week has been great! I am pretty fluent in the language, you could say, well not really but it is really coming along. So this week I have taught three 15 minutes lessons fully in Portuguese with my companion Elder Simper. Some fun things from the temple: the temple is super pretty and I was able to pick up a mini Portuguese hymnbook. Also some fun revelation is now I'm going to switch my major from Biology to Business which is awesome but not what I was expecting. God has a plan and its not always what we want or plan but in the end His plan is better. Not much happened this week, very repetitive. So funny thing from my instructor Irmão Ribeiro was, for all the men out there. He told us the secret to women so tell me if this is true or not. So he said that the prettiest part to the woman and the key to her heart is her armpit. Now he said this completely serious and let me tell you we all freakin died! So funny!

So Elder Silva, my Brazilian roommate left and much crying happened. He gave me his Spanish book of Mormon with a note from him which made me cry more and so far I've avoided talking or thinking too much about him because we were super good friends. Also I've gotten two ties from Brazilians that left which are super sick and I wish I brought all my ties that way I could have more to trade with them. One final thing, my teacher told us if we don't already have a testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith then we should pray and be prepared to act on it. I already had a testimony but the Spirit will testify every time so I did it again and felt the same calm and peace. If you haven't ever done it or are wondering, pray because the spirit will testify.
I love you all and my emails will be longer when I'm out of the CTM.

Elder Pettingill

WEEK DOIS!

How has it already been a week! This week was crazy! We`ve been speaking so much portugues this week and its been insane! I can pretty much say what I want to say every time. Some fun things from P-day: I went to the São Paulo temple which was so awesome. Unfortunately I left my camera so I didnt get any pictures but I will get some this week. Also I sewed a tie up this week for one Elder which was awesome because I got to serve him. Then his companion asked if I could sew up his tie too which I did very willingly of course. But he wanted to pay me which I wouldnt take but he gave me one of his ties which he signed so that I would remember him. I also gave him one of my American dollars (all of the Brazilians LOVE them) which I signed for him to remember me. I gave my other one to my roommate Elder Silva who wanted to frame it which was super funny! Also super funny, most of the Brazillians dont really know what a joke is; they know how to be super funny so I have taken it upon myself to teach Elder Silva jokes every night. He also loves English hymns so Ive been teaching him my favorites. He actually loves A Child's Prayer which is super special to me because it built my first testimony in the gospel. When I was around 12, I used to sing it almost everyday because I couldnt feel God's love or at least I didnt know what it felt like. So I would always sing the question from the song "Heavenly Father are you really there? And do you really hear every child's prayer?" for around 2 years. So like from 12 to 14 I asked that question but one day the second versus hit me where it says "Suffer the children to come to me. Father in prayer I'm coming now to thee!" and that completely changed how I was looking at it. Suddenly I felt like I knew what God's love felt like and it really built my testimony. I know God loves his children. He cares and is watching over every single one of us. There is so much more I wish I could tell you guys! I've taught whole lessons in Portuguese which is awesome and have done two splits with Brazilian elders for an hour today and yesterday. I truly love the Brazilian people and can't wait to go serve them!

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo a vivo. Eu sei que a Deus ama seus todos filhos. Eu sei que todas coisas são possíveis por meio Cristo.

Tchau,
Elder Pettingill

This picture and note came from a local business member that sells treats to the missionaries:

First Week is Done!

Holy cow! How has it been a week already! The MTC (CTM) is amazing, I don't have much time this week but the language is coming great and I made it here in one piece (barely) I hope you're all doing well. I have already taught two lessons in Portuguese and I was made zone leader with my companion which was sick, basically I am in charge over all the elders in my district and two others! The food here is AMAZING and I'm so excited. So funny story every Brazilian Elder who asks about my mission and I say it is Teresina they all laugh then say "muito quente" which means very hot and if they speak English they say "good luck with that!"
I  wish I could tell you all about the things I did this week but I'll try to write more next week.

I love you all, o Evanglho e verdade

Elder Pettingill

I got to talk to Adam over Google Hangouts today! He answered some questions for me, that I will post below. So fun!!

How were your flights? My flight from Sacramento was delayed, which would have made me miss my connecting flight to Brazil, so I was switched to a different airline and flew through Chicago instead of LA. Because of that, I arrived later than all the other missionaries, and no one was at the airport to greet me. That was the one hour so far that I was homesick, because I couldn't speak Portuguese and there was no one who could speak English and I had no idea what to do. But I finally got a security guard to let me use his phone, and I was able to call the MTC. No one knew I was coming, so they sent 2 missionaries to come pick me up! Also, my luggage was supposed to also be rerouted but was not, so it did not arrive until the day after I arrived. So I just wore the same thing for two days in a row. Also, because I flew through Chicago, my flight was 5 hours longer than any of the other missionaries.

What is your schedule? Get up at 6:30 am, shower and eat breakfast, class for three hours, lunch, more class, personal study time, dinner, more class. I have email on Tuesday night at 8 pm and then my pday is on Wednesday.

Will you get to go to the temple? Yes. We will go to the Sao Paulo temple tomorrow and to the Campinas Temple next week.

Who is in your room? We have 4 Americans and one Brazilian.

What do you like best about the food? The chicken and beans and rice. We also had steak on Sunday. That was the best! Also the Brazilian juice and soda are so good.

I made it!!!

First day kinda crazy, I made it here safely but I'll update you on everything next Tuesday.

Goodbye at the airport