Yup! I'm here, in Maceió (sorta, long story that is explained below). I think I've just about completed 10% of my mission now, if my totally nonexistent math is right - anybody want to check me on it? Fffffrick. :D AH'M SO EXCITEEEEED.

As usual, lotsa stuff in the post. Hope you'll have the patience with me! Don't forget to write, as now I can receive any and everything (though if you're not sending a drawing, carepackage, bomb, or some other such thing that requires my physical presence, you'll likely just want to stick with email). Be advised it can take anywhere between 1-2 months - don't send me something weird like fruits or veggies (though I'd still love you for it, even while I was chucking them). Don't forget to write! I'm excited to hear how my awesome peoples are faring!

In the Field - Vol. 1 of 96(ish?)

HOLEY BEANPOLING TOUCANANANAS. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITED I AM TO BE HERE IN THE FIELD.

Bahaha. I've been waiting an entire week to mash a keyboard like that. :P This place is AWESOME! But first, gotta pick up where I left off last.

So. While I was in the CTM, we had to go to the Brazilian Federal Police and get fingerprinted and entered into their system (a lot of organizational nightmare, let me tell you). A bunch of the missionaries with me came in these little APCs that the São Paulo MTC has, and we went up a bunch of stairs to go into what was basically an impromptu immigration office. It was very. Very. Long. And it involved a lot. Of. Standing.

Kind of like what I'm doing nowadays, except I'm actually talking to people. :D

There were some neat opportunities to do missionary work there, though. We had a Korean member whose Portuguese was somewhat skewed (remember we met her in the impromptu immigration office), and I absolutely failed to communicate with. The Brazilians found her first, and I'm just proud to have contributed the Book of Mormon we gave her - she didn't have her library with her, or know where a church was. Glad we could help!

Also. Having a tiny Brazilian tot say "Bom dia!" to me in the squeakiest voice I've ever heard. Made my day! :D I hear it a lot now, but again I'll explain that in a bit.

And thus, the time came. Transferred from Elder Maiava (who's an absolute boss to teach with - thanks, Elder!), then we hit the road...of São Paulo again! Before we head out to the field, we're given two opportunities to do street proselyting - around the CTM (remember the last post?) and then in the heart of São Paulo, in a highly urbanized area. I was a bit nervous this time too...but Elder Shaw and I sucked it up, and we ended up handing out 5 Books of Mormon! It was SO awesome. It felt really good to be able to finally perform some of the work we've been trained to do, and I sincerely hope some lives got changed that day. One companionship actually spent the entire two hours we had to do this discussing...EVERYTHING...with a single guy in a park. He got excited to call in for freaking BAPTISM. Que legal, não?

The next day, E. Shaw and I once again went out, this time to the field - Maceió! MACEIÓ! :DDD The field! Hooohaa! We went out with three other missionaries that day - Elders Ribeiro, Keen, Maia (known amongst us as Elder Filippe), and another brasileira Sister (though her name escapes me at the moment...frick. :|)
I dedicated much of the travel time to thinking, writing, and figuring out what exactly I learned at the MTC...and I think I can sum it up in one sentence.

The phrase "encourage others to come unto Christ" requires the word "courage".

This is something I learned from those two hours proselyting out on the streets of São Paulo. And it's true! Once we started discussing with people, it was easy - the hard part was getting over ourselves, and introducing ourselves in such a way that we didn't freak them out. Beyond that, it was easy to talk about our work - I guess I DID learn something from these two months after all, huh?

That day, I met my mission president. President Gonzaga is a business-toned man who has a great love for missionaries, as does his animated wife. Sister Gonzaga is also a fantastic cook - I ate some REALLY good food while I was in the mission home that afternoon. When Prez Gonzaga and I opened our relationship with our first interview, my first line was something I hope all you UCASians will appreciate:

"Eu sou um nerde."

I also met my companion, Elder Biddulph. He's from Utah, like me. He's also had an interesting dynamic in his mission - he was actually reassigned to California while he waited for his visa to come through, and he had to start basically from scratch with his Portuguese when he arrived here. Four months later, he's training me - and he's freaking good with Portuguese. Not to mention, he's also a really good missionary. I'm super proud to be his junior, which oftimes we call a "son" here in the field. Heheh.

I'm now no longer in the city of Maceió, or even the state of Alagoas of which it is the capital - I'm currently in the state to the south, called Sergipe. My area is called Siqueras Campos, and right now I'm typing from a "lan house" - which is basically a cheapified internet café that will serve as my access points for email for the next two years! This is gonna be REALLY weird. But hey. I'm not done writing all this junk yet!

The house I'm staying in is a freaking CASTLE. We go up to the second (or third, in the US) floor, and we're basically open to the wind once we open a bunch of windows and doors - 'ti s NICE, because nights can get pretty warm here. It's also weird to think I haven't taken a warm shower or used toilet paper in a week...but HEY. Lifestyle changes, all of 'em. :D

Time's running short, but here's a list of crazy junk I've heard and seen really quickly:

- Guy having armpit stretch marks. Holy beefcaking.

- First day on the job - day of firsts. First date of marked baptism, first lunch with members, first breakfast of strictly rice and beans...first barfing in a LONG time from eating way too much. :P Is it weird to say it was fun?

- "Have you ever accidentally kicked your mom in the stomach while giving her a high five? Yeah. Didn't think so."

- "Optimization issues in programming are like picking your nose. Everyone kind of gives it a sideways glance, but life sure seems better once you do it." - for Matt Peterson

Yup. Life be crazy and awesome! I gotta peace out for now, but next time I promise you this: PICTURES. :D

Tchau tchau!

Gubler's Blarg: Brazilian MTC -1

Gubler's Blarg: Brazilian MTC -1

Yup. I'm here. In Maceió. I survived the food, the flight, and my first encounter with the mission president.

Start the party, I guess? :D

Love y'all! I know I'm supposed to be here, and it's so cool to finally be where my call said I'd go. My português is terrible, but hey. That'll fix itself soon, optimally.

(Erich)

Erich at the CTM - Vol 2http://www.lds.org/pages/we-lived-with-god?lang=engI just finished watching this. Was anyone else's mind blown?Yeah. Things are getting interesting as the time for the field comes. I know that the training period and its lifestyle have a fair amount of discrepancies, particularly when it comes to getting burned by realistic situations - my teachers here haven't gone to town on us like I know they can, and I'm somewhat grateful for it. I've been told a couple of times now I have a strange accent with Portuguese, that sometimes I sound faintly like a European Portuguese speaker (primarily because I "shush" things a lot). The end of the conversation would usually go like this:"Sim, tive uma professora de Rio de Janeiro antes de minha chamado como um missionário.""Sério? Ah, isso explica tudo.":) Bahaha. You getting this, Professora Santanna?Also. Totally mastering that finger-snapping thing that all Brazilians know but only Americans think is fascinating. Since nobody else seems to have a name for it, I'm going to dub this the Schwap do Brasil. :D Woot, arbitrary names! I know it's totally irritating my new companion, and I should probably stop doing it 24 hours a day. I'm getting a small calluse on my finger...Oh. Yeah. I got a new comp. I'm sad that I won't be having the doctrinal discussions with my old comps so often anymore, but I'm glad that I'm back into the pattern of two - it can be hard to stay in sync with a tripanionship (woot, arbitrary words!). His name's Elder Maiava, from Olympia, Washington - and he's freaking legit. :D The same day we were companions we got to jump right into teaching...and it went smooth as butter. He's excellent with his Portuguese, and works really hard - I'm glad to be teaching alongside him.However, I won't be able to have him available for...*gulp*...street proselyting in about an hour from time of writing. I'll admit to being a wee bit nervous. Perhaps I'll just laugh when I get back and reread this draft.EDIT: OH MAN. That was nerve-wracking. I didn't actually hand out any Books of Mormon, or anything. :\ I'm feeling pretty darn humble right now. Still...hey, practice! This is exactly what I'll be doing every day in the field, if my mission has a semblance of being normal.Reviewing my journal here, I have several quotes I'd like to spit out here with little or no preceding context. The first is a little lighthearted, but it gave me a good laugh. I was discussing techniques with my district for getting people to listen in the street, and one of the resulting ideas was the following proclamation:"Who wants to have American citizenship?" -E. FroererOf course, I'm not actually going to say it in public. But it's an entertaining thought. :P"Lock your hearts!"Sorry. No context for you - it's an insider thing. :P"Don't forget why you are here. Have you any loyalty to your reasons for coming here? Let them also be the reasons you stay." -E. GublerYup. I said it. Or rather, I wrote it. I was thinking about some of the missionaries I've met here who talk about the people they left behind when they stepped into the MTC, and the things they gave up so they would be able to serve the people of Brazil. It's easy to get homesick about these things, but at least for me...that was sort of the reason I left in the first place. I love my family and friends, and I feel that successfully completing a mission will help me to change in ways that will benefit them - both in the form of blessings while I'm on the mission, and the things I will be able to do for others when I get back home. I'm excited to learn Portuguese, to be able to communicate in something other that English. I'm excited to better understand the religion I feel is true, to gain a great enough understanding to teach it to others and to give them the opportunity to let it improve their lives as I know it has contributed to the quality of mine. I'm scared to have the responsibility as a representative of Jesus Christ, but nobody develops very much when they stay in their comfort zone - which is not to mention the assistance I'll be receiving while I perform this work. I'm also excited to bring these gifts back home, to be a better person for the people I love back at home - at this point, this probably means I'm talking about you.I think on this note, I'll end my report for this week. The future is uncertain, but as always it is bright! I'm getting excited to finally be in northeastern Brazil, where I have been called. I may have to miss out on publishing my thoughts this coming week - I'm honestly not certain how travel arrangements will work out at this point. But y'all are in my heart!

Brazilian MTC -1

The best time for snail mail is supposed to be a week, but honestly I dunno that snail mail's viable here in the MTC. I can't receive packages. :( You ought to just send stuff to the mission home if you want to get a care package to me. Mission Office address:

Elder Erich Gubler Brazil Maceio Mission Av. Dom Antionio Brandao, 333 Sala 402 Ed. Work Center, Farol 57021-190 Maceio - AL Brazil

The mission phone is 55 82-3336-5558 which is for the courier if you send a package thru a private courier. U.S. mail is the easiest, I think.

Also, leaving a week early to go out into the field (roughly 2 weeks) -

Yeah, I just went to the São Paulo temple today. It was very different from Provo, but I liked it a lot - I'm considering making a goal of 20 temples before I die or something. I want to be a conneiseur (sp, probably failed that one).

Ah, the temple was SO relaxing. Sometimes the food's a little weird, but I can eat pretty much all of it. The people of Maceió supposedly don't have much traditional food besides rice and beans, though...I wonder how they'll be getting creative with their meals. Perhaps the Spirit will guide them. XD

Love you!

Erich

Erich's in the brazilian MTC as of 2/1/2012