Made it to Florianopolis

Quick email from Elder JT Moore

Okay so I made it to Floripa! Its awesome! I don't have much time to write. We are here at the mission office. I'm waiting to meet with President Ramilfo da Silva. The flight was good, we left at 5 am from the CTM, and the plane took off from Sao Paulo at 9 something, and it only took an hour to get here. Baggage was fine and there was no weight fee, which was awesome.

My Pdays are now on Mondays.

I don't know yet which area I'm going to or who my companion is yet!

Love you all so much. I'm fully healthy!. Everything is good, this place is absolutely beautiful. Once we got of the plane it was sprinkling a little, so awesome!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Jesus Christ IS EVERYTHING! I'm here to invite others to come unto him, and I am ready to start serving others. I didn't get to see Jacob, his plane lands tomorrow. All of the pics will be coming next Pday!

CAN YOU BELIEVE I'M IN BRAZIL!!!!!!!!! CRAZY!!!

LOVE YOU, Oh you need to read Alma 26:27-37 it is awesome!

When you write me or send any packages, make sure to write my FULL NAME: Elder Jason Trueno Moore, and only send packages to the mission office. They will get it to me from there. The address is:

Rua Feliciano Nunes Pires No. 42

Centro-Florianóplois-SC

CEP: 88015-220

Brazil

Love you,

Elder Moore

Elder Moore and Elder Blanchard (Photo credit to the Blanchard Family)

Last Pday at the CTM or MTC!

Please let everyone know that we don’t get a lot of computer time to email, so I have just been taking pictures of your emails and I read them later so write some long ones because I like to read and reread them afterwards, but put important questions and comments at the top so I can reply quickly!

So as far as the food goes here in the CTM it is kind of repetitive, meat, veggie, rice, beans, salad bar with fruits and fruit drinks/soda. It’s good though I’ve had flan like 3 times so far! It’s great; all desserts are like gelatin or pudding like stuff. Some days food is super good and others days no so much. I am doing great health wise, I have gained 3 kgs (7 lbs)! No bom (not good)! 

I wrote a huge letter last week to send but they messed up and sent it back here so you will get a couple letters from MissionTies.com soon, hopefully!

Here is part of my CTM schedule. Basically Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat are generally the same, and Sunday and Wednesday are way different. When you get the letters, review this week. IT WAS THE HARDEST AND BEST WEEK YET! I’m feeling the best ever!

Our Schedule

6:30   -  7:00	Wake up and Prep
7:00   -  7:30	Desjejom (Breakfast)
7:30   -  8:30	Personal Study
8:30   -  11:30	“Teach Investigator” Time com instructor  - Irmao Tavares
11:30 -  12:15	Lunch
12:15 -  12:45	Estudo do Idioma (Language Study)
12:45 -  13:30	TALL (Language Computer Programs)
13:30 -  16:30	“Teach Investigator” Time com instructor – Irmao De Oliveria
16:30 -  17:15	JantarDinner
17:15 -  19:25	Additional Study
19:25 -  19:45	Prep in room
19:45 -  20:30	Physical Activites (Basquetball)
20:30 -  21:00	Shower, Prep
21:00 -  21:30	Plan for next day (Late night snack)
21:30 -  22:30	Prep for bed and in bed by 22:30

So Thursday was a blur, but I did finish HOLY TABBS!!! Boooyah! I have never studied the footnotes so much before!

Last Wednesday after Pday I received a letter from Yaya (Spain Grandma) and Spain Family, tell them thank you so much, definitely was a pick me up that day and it was awesome reading that!

Friday I got the Valley vs Willow game from dearelder.com, and then yesterday I got the missionties.com letter! So Awesome!

Friday we went proselyting to Barra Fundas, a giant bus station metro hub, look it up its crazy! There were 11 missionaries and Irmao De Oliveria. So each elder had 2 Book of Mormons (BOMs) that we had to pass out. We hopped on a public bus to get to the place, and before we get on the bus this man runs up to one of the Elders and asks to have the BOM, just like “Can I have that book?”, it was crazy! Then we are on the bus and I had this feeling that I should talk to this man who was by the window, but there was a lady sitting by him, as soon as I saw that the lady got off the bus, and I was like well I have to go talk to him and he was awesome! His name was Edger, married, 67 yrs old, has 3 kids, has lived in Sao Paulo his whole life, and is a shoemaker. The rest of the conversation was a lot of jibberish! Haha! I have a lot to learn, but then we talked about why we are here, and I talked to him about the BOM and what it is and explained it and shared my testimony of it, and that he can come to know for himself that it is true, and then I showed him on the front page where he can call a number if he wants more info, and missionaries just like us can come and teach him. It was awesome! The spirit was strong!

Then we arrived at the bus station and went outside around the area, and there is this parkish thing, and we went up and started talking to this family with a lil boy and shared our testimony of the BOM and everything, just like I did with Edgar. They were traveling through Sao Paulo, but we talked about it and told them they can read and know these things for themselves. It was awesome, because we went and talked to more people and all of us, 11 Elders, gave out 22 BOMs. So who knows where they are at now and what little seeds we have planted! One thing I learned is the people here in Brazil are crazy nice and welcoming and interested! Dad, it was very different from our time with the missionaries in Spain. They are honestly really impressed that we are so young, and making a sacrifice to be out here doing this. But it was awesome though because as we left we saw some of the people we had given the BOMs to were reading it!

Saturday was another blur. Honestly devotional and basketball are some of the funnest things! Our whole district plays basketball and its awesome. I tried to shut down Elder Christensen in Basketball, but couldn’t. He wanted me to give him a shout out!

Sunday I was supposed to have a talk, but didn't, so my first talk will be out in the field. We heard a devotional from Elder Scott about prayer and the power of prayer, and how God loves us perfectly! Also sometimes God sends us answers like small inspirational notes, like a father leaving a note to a son.

Monday was hard, Satan tries to get fear and doubt into you head, and get you unfocused, and your mind off the work, it was tough! Not lying hardest day of the mission yet! But my companions gave me a blessing and that helped so much! The priesthood is soooo real!

Tuesday was an amazing day, we had the usual, a devotional from Bishop Causse, 1st counselor of Presiding Bishopric, and he is awesome! It was great! I have more info in my Missionties letter I will send, sorry for the sloppy handwriting. He talked about being with the apostles and how humble they are and the importance of unity in the companionship, and being TEACHABLE. He also talked about the more we sacrifice the more we are indebted to the Lord, because the more the Lord blesses us. He also taught us to do everything with the end in mind, and at the end we can go to the Lord and say, “Thank you Lord for all the blessings, and I have done my BEST." Everything we do needs to be faith driven. He also shared 2 Cor 12:10, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” I liked how this one Irmao explained it a while back. He said he really like the words a broken heart and contrite spirit, he said the word “broken” reminded him of a horse being broken-in, and that it is obedient to its master. That is how we need to be like “broken” and obedient to the Lord. It’s not easy because our pride and ego get in the way. We always need to BECOME and STAY humble! The last thing he taught us was to always ask the Lord how to be the best instruments in his hands, for we are only the mouthpiece for him.

Wednesday Today we are going to a churrassco (all you can eat meat restaurant) and this Elder in our district is buying because it’s his bday and his mom said to take us all out to eat! Then another Elder is getting a pizza party from Mr Cheney’s! Boooyah. Oh by the way don’t do the Mr. Cheney’s pizza  party thing though because I will be gone before I can receive it. This is my last pday in the CTM! I leave Tuesday 30 Sept sometime; probably early morning is when I’m guessing, so I don’t know the next time I will able to write back to you. I’m super excited about going to Florianopolis, there are 17 missionaries going! 13 elders and 4 sisters including me the day I leave, that’s wild!

1 Cor Chapters 1 and 2 are awesome, so read them up! I have learned to study the scriptures so much! I never used the footnotes so much in my life, hahaha. But I’m enjoying everything now! I know it will be hard, but it’s so worth it! This church is awesome; it is run by God through president Monson!

I have a ton of pictures, so when I get to the field brace yourself! We just got a new roommate, a Brazilian going to Puerto Alegra North.

Oh if you send me a package send me like goodies, if you can, that would be great, and maybe some good pens and another journal. I really am not sure what else, I don’t really need anything. I've been feeling awesome recently, going to go out and preach the gospel and share my testimony! I have to ask the Lord daily to be the best instrument in his hand that I can be and be obedient and talk to everyone! Send me longgg e-mails though because I can take pictures of them and read later. So how’s ASU doing!?

I have learned so much here at the CTM, especially the importance of serving others, through serving them you can love them 10000 times more. So always serve each other at HOME, it’s crazy how much you can begin to love and take care of someone. You guys are an amazing family. Always have the end in mind. Families are truly ETERNAL!

Love you all so much, Justin keep kicking butt in football and working hard, it will pay off! Also do work in school and get good grades! Mom its crazy to think but we've been learning here a lot about Jesus and how much of an amazing mom Mary was knowing that she would have to give her son to save the whole world. And she had to sacrifice a lot but at the same time you are doing that, not on the same level haha but you are and dad is too, and I’m sooo grateful for you guys.

LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Elder MOORE!

13 Days left at the CTM!

Okay so I’m still in the awkward/terrific trio! haha Elder Echohawk (that’s his name) is super cool, and he is from Pocatello, Idaho. He is this short, but super buff guy and his testimony is as strong as he is! He is like a beast! Haha, but seriously he is a great Elder and has truly been awesome in learning Portuguese so fast. He is really similar to me. He is going to Fortaleza East. Elder Andrews is my other companion and he is from Sugar City, Idaho and is great. He is a 1/4 Korean so at first the language was hard but now he is great, and getting better day by day! We are doing really well transitioning while teaching. Oh there are 6 other missionaries that are going to Floripa with me the same day, Blanchard and Bergquist in my district, then Morales and Mericado and these two Northern Uruguayans that just got here that all go out with me.

I have been great of health; only the first week of Provo did I need to use musicnex! I still have a ton of meds left. I am so grateful for the tons of tissue you sent.

Oh like during physical activity we always play basketball, never would've thought I would be so excited to play bball before, but it’s our district main activity and we are awesome. We can bust our butts at work, and we can also have fun! I've also been running 1/2 a mile a day and doing 50+ push-ups and sit-ups so I am trying to stay in shape.

Oh check MISSIONTIES.COM they have this store called Mr. Cheneys right across the street. It is like the dearelder.com of Brazil. You were right dad about the letters; they are like manna from Heaven.

We get to go proselytizing this Friday, and we are supposed to give out two BOMs (Book of Mormon)! Crazy we get to go somewhere in busy downtown Sao Paulo! The lord’s hand has been so evident in my time in the MTC! Sometimes I get down on myself and stuff and the times I need it most I get a letter from you or I learn something amazing in the devotionals or the spirit just picks me up! The lord’s hand is definitely in this work! Last week was probably the hardest week as a whole in the CTM. We learned about hot to be better at planning and man was that a trip! I never knew I could get so much done in 1 hour before. Managing my time has been an amazing blessing. Another thing I have learned is that it is good to be quiet sometimes during a lesson, sometimes I feel like the conversation needs to constantly be going but as we listen to the promptings of the spirit and hear the person we are talking to heart to heart this message of happiness can touch their lives! I also learned that you don’t need to exactly teach a lesson for it to be productive, as long as the spirit is there, we bear testimony and the people are keeping commitments it was a good lesson. Also how loving the lord is and as we are humble and ask him to guide us he has our back and will watch out for us! One of the scriptures I really like this week is John 3, versus 16 and 17. This week I also learned a little about when we lose ourselves in this work we can be saved and find ourselves. So very true!! HOLY TABS has been amazing but super long! I finished the Book of Mormon, and I am half way through the Bible, my goal is to finish by the end of CTM.

Service here is just simple things like dusting and stuff so I will be happy to do legit service out in the field! I can't wait to serve.

Okay so I leave the CTM and head to the airport on Sept 30 early am and fly to Florianopolis and get to my mission that day! 13 days!!!!! It’s crazy! So next pday will be my last one in the CTM.

I am definitely progressing in talking and especially writing in Portuguese. Yesterday we have our weekly goals and Tuesday is when we only speak Portuguese and man was that tough, but it has become so much easier then before! Oh also pday last week was super dope. We went to the post office, and to Dia (grocery store). Dia is the exact same store just like Spain, same logo same food! haha. I have already realized that I am thankful and humble for living in America. Some places here are great, but there was this one house under a freeway bridge overpass that was made out of only plywood and people live there! Its crazy! LOVE YOU ALL some much JESUS CHRIST truly is our Savior and only through him and his atonement and example can we return!

Love you guys, families are eternal!

Elder Moore

PS. I have like 200 pics and can’t send any here at the CTM so brace yourself when I get to the field. Also I have been sleeping well! It’s funny because I get more sleep here then I did during my senior year haha.

Half Way Mark at MTC

Okay short on time today but will try to pack everything in with this quick email! PDAY was awesome! We went out and sent mail, it cost 2 reais or 1 us dollar. Then we walked the streets and I got a churro pumped with dulce de leche (condensed milk)! SOOO good but diabetes on a stick! We then went to this paper store got some more pens which was good, and then we went to this sweet candy store, and got some stuff (sugar rush). We then met this guy by the MTC who makes these awesome customizable scripture cases. I paid half today for the scripture case, they are sooo awesome, like one side has the Savior after being resurrected and the other a map of Brazil with my mission flag pointing to my mission and its all leather. The Temple is such a great time the Lord’s work gets done no matter what! I love it so much! This week was definitely a fun one. We had fast Sunday and that means CTM (missionary training center) conference which was great! I was able to bear my testimony in our branch sacrament meeting that day and THE GIFT OF TONGUES is real! The days feel like they go by like weeks and the weeks feel like they go by like days. 

Another thing I learned a lot this week is not to be afraid of asking people to be baptized, but I need to be bolder! Crazy story so Irmao Talvares, our teacher, comes in to our class and tells us how he got on the metro (subway) to get to the CTM and is talking to these missionaries and this random guy comes up and ask if they can pray for him. The missionaries get off, and Irmao Talvares stays on and talks with the guy a little more. The man pauses and then just asks if he can get baptized in our church!!!! I’m definitely in Brazil hahaha.

I also learned in our Tuesday devotional is to always have the temple in mind when teaching people, because once people get to baptism they may think they have finished, but they still have so much work left to do! That is just the first step. The food is great here! They don’t have too much spicy food here in the CTM, but outside the CTM Irmao De Olievra says there is more. We had tacos one day and pizza tonight!!!! The desserts are always some different creams or gelatins. We had flan one day!

THAT IS AWESOME VALLEY WON! THAT’S CRAZY!!!!! I can’t believe they beat all those Mormons at Mountain View!

I have made a few audios already, so once I get out I will send those. I’m staying in a trio with Elder Echohawk and Elder Andrews, they are great! Elders Blanchard and Bergquist are here, plus Elders Page and Sant, and they all joined our district. Also in our district are Elders Gardner and Andrew, and Elders Christensen and Page (there are two Pages and two Andrews and an Andrew!) There are no bdays here in the MTC! So mine came and went without even noticing it. I love it though; I am serving my Heavenly Father! I can’t spell to save my life! (Dad please fix before posting, thxs). I love talking with the Spanish and Portuguese speakers its way fun!

Everyone here is super fun and we talk a bunch, it stinks that people leave but that’s part of the mish! LOVE YOU ALL, BEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD! Read

Doctrine and Covenants 123/12 it is great and also John 3 16/17.

Elder JT Moore

First P-Day in Brazil MTC

First email at MTC in Brazil
I got to Brazil MTC fine, I used my debit card at McDonald's to let you know I got here safe. I am good, I slept a lot on the plane, my sinuses are snuffy but I will keep taking medicine and ask them what I should do. There are two other missionaries who were visa waiting, one has been out 2 months and  the other 1 year, they are both going to Floripa. I am in a trio both elders are from Idaho but going to different missions. My Pday will either be next Wednesday or Friday and I will send you all my pictures and everything. We have a lot more time here for things then in Provo. Like Lunch is an hour! Everything is good though I am able to communicate with the natives too. I love guys sooooo much! I loved talking to you guys! Definitely gave me the boost I needed.

First Pday email from MTC in Brazil
Okay so we don't have a lot of time 45 mins and I cant' send pictures in the Brazil MTC, but I have like 150 pics so far! I'm loving it so much here definitely a lot more of a family environment here then at Provo MTC. I'm writing this one right away to tell you everything. I'm also sending a letter today in a bit. We can only send letters on Pday. I went to the temple today it was awesome! I need some names that we gathered from Spain!

My district is great I'm in a trio with Elder Echohawk and Elder Andrews, and then in the district there are 4 others all Americans too! I'm one week ahead of everyone! I am eating great! I gained 6 lbs in 3 weeks! I'm PHAT! I am speaking Portuguese, English and Spanish everyday it is crazy! But I love it! I will take pictures of my journal and when I get out to the field I will send you pictures of each page so you can see my day more in depth day by day!

The days are super long but are so packed we don't have time for anything. Our teacher is Iramo Talvares and he is super cool. We are teaching an investigator named Juliano, he definitely asks us hard questions since we can speak Portuguese alright, but the spirit is awesome! It has put the words in my companions and my mouth when we don't know what to say. I definitely feel how much love is here! I can feel the amount of love I can feel for people I don't even know very well that is definitely the Savior in my life! Ether 12 is a great chapter!

I have sooo many pictures I wish you could see. Brazil is a lot like Madrid but just run down a bit. It is transitioning between the old world and the new world! I love it so much! I love HOLY TABBS and learn to studya lot from them, this will help for someone to come closer to Christ. I'm eating all sorts of crazy food! Some fruits and foods I've never seen before but they are really good.

The Valley-Willow game sounded awesome! Tell Justin I am so proud of him and too keep working his butt off! I just got so pumped up reading that hahah. Thanks for giving me the play-by-play. LOVE YOU MOM DAD JUSTIN YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST FAMILY EVER!

Today we get to walk around an area by the MTC!! So pumped! I loved talking to you guys soooo much while I was in Atlanta, that was such a huge help! Definitely gave me the boost I needed! I love the MTC but i'm sooo excited to go out and hit the streets! I can communicate with the natives not great but I understand most of what they say and if not I ask them to describe it for me. I can also reply back about stuff. No one can ever guess I can speak Spanish so its funny when they figure it out. I'M FEELING HEALTHY AND GREAT! There is no pouch mail but I can send letters. My sinus are clear, I have been drinking a lot of mango juice too! I cant believe 3 weeks of my mission are already over! ;0 I wrote a lot in my letter so hopefully that gets there quick. I haven't received any letters yet but I know they take a weee bit. The weather here is awesome even though its winter I wear short sleeve shirts most days and its rained lightly at night 3 of the days. Been studying so much but this week was a lot better at adjusting to everything and getting more into the groove.

I have been loving it in Brazil, the people are such a loving people! They are amazing! The power of prayer is realer then real and receiving answers in scripture are the same! The mission definitely has its ups and down but soo worth it! I love it so much!

OOh I met this Elder Lins from Videra just south of Joinsville! He is a convert since 2012 and his family are not members. He has one little brother, just like me! I felt like when I met him I had already known him and promised him I would share the gospel with his family and brother. When he left yesterday, he told me that he wanted me to teach his family!!! That is crazy I hope and pray that I can get to teach his family on the mish!

LOVE YOU!
Elder JT Moore