Hello Again!

Ola! So last week I made a commitment to myself. I promised that next week I would think up a much more exciting Subject line. I'll keep working on it! How is everyone doing? Is it getting hot over there? Its been warm today and yesterday but besides that its starting to cool down! We recieved new roomates on Thursday to replace the Brazilian Missionaries. One is from Brazil and the other is from Paraguay! They are just as fun and cool to be around. They are constantly helping us learn the language! They walk in at night and ask us how the day was than force us to respond in Portuguese. I know that they understand English, but they just wont admit it! They help us read the scritures, pronounce better, and some nights we teach them lessons. They are such a huge help.

 

Our instructor, Irmao Costa, decided to stop being the investigator Alexandre. Instead, he is playing a new investigator, Igor! We taught Igor his first lesson and it went so well. We only got him to commit to read thought. He is going to be a major challenge. He loves to talk, but he doesnt care about religion and sees no reason why he should learn or obey it! We have a good plan though!! Also, we taught Hirmonie yesterday. We had such a hard time with her the last few lessons because she keeps saying she hasnt recieved an answer. My companion and I thought really hard on what to teach and he says, 'I have an idea! Why does the Relief Society always do crafts and handouts? Because girls like that stuff!!" It made me laugh but we tried it. I drew three pictures of the same bedroom with a girl trying to pray. On two pictures, there were many distractions such as friends, tv, and music. The last picture was very calm and peaceful. The drawings looked rediculous but they worked really well!! We used the pictures and they made her laugh so hard! She really enjoyed it and it helped her understand how to pray and recieve answers. Because of that she told us that she has already recieved answers to her questions and we commited her to baptism in two weeks!!

 

Each Sunday and Tuesday we have devotionals. A while ago, my district signed up to sing! Yesterday, we sang Ye Elders of Isriel. We did such a good job! It was acapella with the 8 elders in our district. The president told everyone that it was the best version of the song that he has ever heard. He said that we arranged it really nicely. That was a big compliment to me because I conducted the group and was kinda nervous! Everyone after the meeting came up and told us that we did really well. I have such a great district. Four from our district has decided to spend our Gym time working out. We are focusing on our core and abbs! We worked out monday and I am still hurting! Ahh what a bad idea. Its a lot of fun and as we say, each "up" is another baptism!!

 

There will be a temple dedication next week in Brazil. That means apostles will be in Brazil. I bet theyll fly into Sao Paulo and guess what building is only 20 minutes away?? Were all praying to see someone soon! Sunday they have a movie after sacrament. I have never gone but we heard that it was 17 miracles so we decided to go this past sunday. It was so nice to see and its a great testimony builder. If you havent seen it than I suggest you go buy it.

 

Heres more weird Brazil things! They dont sell penut butter here! Today I was at a store that alot of missionaries go to. A lady behind the counter said Elder, come over here! She wanted me to taste this new penut butter found in Brazil and compare it to American penut butter. It was a real funny experience but I was happy to help. Also, Brazilians love Halls, like the medicine. Only its not medicine! They have Halls candy that looks and tastes just like the medicine! Its so strange and the chocolate flavor is really grose!

 

Anyways I hope everyones doing good. I cant wait to hear from you next week!

 

Elder Horst.

 

It's been a month!

Hard to believe right? A whole month has passed. The days feel like years and the weeks feel like days here. Its a very odd delema, but my district and I are making the best of it. It just seems like we are progressing so much. Each day I learn so many more words and so many more things stick in my memory. I am so greatful to be here at the CTM in Brazil. I cant imagine how hard it would be to just be thrown out in the field without any training at all!! My companion and I have been praying all week, and we made a goal that we would hand out a Book of Mormon today. Oh, I am so nervous! I dont know much of the language! I do know, that the Lord is on my side, and with him, all things are possible! We will do this within the next few hours, with us luck!!   So here are a few more things about Brazil and the CTM life. I learn new things each day! First of all, have I talked about the Drivers? They are so crazy here! There are no rules, cars fly down the street, there are motorcyles passing you every way possible. Last week we were on this big bus going to the temple. The bus was trying to turn onto a 5 lane street but it was way too crowded. Suddenly, he just started driving and hoped for the best! He took up about three lanes of the road and made a lot of cars slam on their brakes in the middle of the road. This stuff happens all the time!   Some people have asked more about the food. Its been good. For the most part I eat the main dish which is usually meat or chicken. Than I eat a roll and try some beans and rice. Of course, I drink guarnana too. There are a few exceptions. Theres a meal called Feijoda. The dish is mainly black bean soup with meat. The part that makes it grose is the meat is just leftovers that the bucher doesnt use! So while your eating the soup, you have to chew on a bone of some random meat! Most of us dont eat it... My favorite food is so good! Its kind of like a flat meat that is breaded and fried. Most people top it off with rice and beans but I eat it seperate. I just found a big surprise about it though! Rumers are that my favorite food is really made of cows tongue! haha....   We do a lot of things here at the CTM to have fun. They most are very simple and harmless. A year ago, I learned from a good friend how to go /star gazing/. In this game, you look up at a star and spin around really fast. Than, when they start to get dizzy, you shine a bright flash light in their eyes and they just instantly fall to the ground!! Its so fun and obviously there are people there to catch him for safety. Any ways we taught a few guys that and now it has spread and everyone plays it in their room at night! I feel honored to bring the game here to Brazil.   Also, on Sunday, a lot of people were packing to go out to their mission. Someone thought up a brilliant idea and secretly told everyone in the building. At 9.45, just before quiet time, all the missionaries went into the loud echoy starecase and sung God be With you Til we Meet Again in portuguese! It was so cool because you could here us throughout the whole campus. There were missionaries going all the way up 6 flights of steps. After, we all sung called to serve. These type experiences are how missionaries have fun at the CTM. They basically are the only things that keep us from going crazy!   Today I went to the temple and decided to do baptisms. What an experience! I witnessed than was able to confirm. We said the prayers in portugese which really broght the spirit. Heres something funny. When I did baptisms in Sacramento, the names were way too hard to read and understand. When I did baptisms here in Brazil they were supper easy!!! Names like John Smith. How is that possible??   Lastly I wanted to talk about my nephew Bridger! His has a big day today and I wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday!! He turns 7 and is getting so old. Like... really old!! Have a good Birthday Bridger!   I hope everyone is doing well and staying close to Christ. I love you all   Elder Horst

Week #3

Hello everyone!   This week has gone by so fast. It feels like I just emailed you yesterday. There has been alot going on at the CTM. Most of it is tedious, but regardless, my district and I sure have a lot of fun each week. Ill start with the bad news of the week. Everynight after all the classes and before bed, we go to the gym and have some kind of cake and unlimited chocolate milk. Its an amazing thing to look forward to. Usually I down 4 or 5 glasses (minimum) and mingle with some Brazilian missionaries. Well, the CTM no longer gives chocolate milk and cake. Now they serve a cheese sandwhich and a glass of juice with an apple..... BUMMER!! I looked all over for chocolate milk today and couldnt find any. Oh well! Second, my Brazilian roomates Elder Stantos and Chaves left yesterday early in the morning for their missions. We were all so sad to see them go. Sunday night in the room we sang God be with you til we meet again in Portuguese. The spirit was with us and it was so nice to have one last night of fun! Last night was really sad not being able to talk to them, so we just talked about them all night using their accents and their limited english vocab. Its really funny how much love you can have for people after only three weeks. We went to the temple today and to our surprise, Elder Santos was there doing the session right after us. It was such a blessing to see him one last time. It was also nice to see him in the temple because he got his endowments just last week. I was really happy to see him.   I was sick this week with a sinus infection. Each morning I woke up and wasnt able to breath. I had big headaches all day long and my nose was always runny!! I also had a sore throat for a few days. Im happy to say that it didnt slow me down one bit. I just kept focusing on the work. The doctor gave me some medicine and I think by tomorrow I will be perfectly fine!! Our district is in the same classroom for over about ten hours a day. As you can imagine it can get dull at times. I decided to start a quote board in our room and we are having lots of fun with it! We put insirational quotes, quotes that people say throughout the day, and things of that nature. Elder Place told us that when we leave, he will colect all the quotes and when we get home he will make a book for us with them all in it! I am excited for that.   We have firesides each Sunday and Tuesday night here and all the meetings have at least three musical numbers. On the 29th my district will be singing Ye Elders of Isriel. We practice most nights after dinner and sound really good! Its fun to be in the CTM choir because each song we usually sing in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.   Friday we had TRC again. This time we taught fellow missionaries while getting filmed. My comanion and my goal was to have a lesson without reading any lines. We did so awesome!! The guy wanted to know about tithing before he commited to baptism and we did really good answering his questions and letting him know about the church. Besides the dictionary and a few notes, we didnt have to read anything and did the whole lesson in portuguese. Our teachers are saying we improve each lesson.   Its funny hearing about how hot it is in the states because today I put a sweater on for the first time. Its starting to get pretty cold here and it has been raining  the last few days. Rain is really fun for the most part. Its nice to hear the rain with the windows open when your in class. Its even more fun to slide on the tile outside when its soaking wet. Its fun to hear thunder. The bad part is.. the roof leaks in our gym! Whenever it rains we have to run very carefully. I always end up slipping anyways and it kinda hurts! A girl slipped a few days ago and had to go to the hospital because she hit her head!   My mother asked if I missed hot, tasty Chocolate Chip Cookies yet. Well I do. Luckly, there is a Mr. Cheneys cookies store that sells amazingly good chocolate chip cookies!! Us missionaries love going there each week.   I hope everyone had a good week. Remember I love you all and hope to hear from you soon   Elder Horst.

Week #2 at the CTM in Brazil

Hey all!

 

Week two just wrapped up for me here in Brazil and there is alot to talk about like usual! My schedule is so busy each day. By 7h-1h we are ready for the day doing personal, companion, and language study. We eat breakfast and have an hour for gym. We usually play basketball or volleyball depending on our mood. Some Elders work out, but thats definitely not me. Breakfast is the same every morning. The main dish is cream of wheat. They also have sandwiches. Than they switch off between cereal, eggs, pancakes, and other breakfast items. I usually get a sandwich and make a good panini. I also get half a bowl of cream of wheat. The other half i fill with hot chocolate. Some say its gross, but others are starting to do it too! Lunch is at 13h. From after lunch to 21h we have class with the exception of dinner at 5. We have a male instructor named Costa before dinner. He just got off a mission to Brazil a year ago. He is Brazilian and a convert. After dinner we have Korth (Kortch). She was raised in Porto Alegre and also speaks english. Its fun to have her as an instutor because she teaches us things that only apply to Porto Alegre. They both speak pretty good english.

 

Lunch and dinner is also pretty good. Lately the meals have been a bit questionable but its not worth complaining about! Worse comes to worse, the bread is good!! I have lost four pounds if you were wondering...

 

Each friday we have a thing called TRC. My first one was last week. There, you are filmed as you teach people their first lesson in Portuguese. Its good because you can go back and watch the video to see if you made any mistakes. The catch is, the investigators are members in Sau Paulo and they dont all know English! It was a challenge trying to speak to them, understand their questions, and answer their questions. After it was done, one member told me that we did a great job interpreting their questions and answering them. That made me and my companion feel real good.

 

The best part of being at the CTM is being able to meet Brazilian missionaries. Each day whenever we get a chance, my companion and I sit by them and try our best to talk to them. Some Americans dont do that. We have made really good friends this way. In fact, last night a Argentine asked me to come into his room to meet some more friends. It was kinda weird. We open the door and its really quiet with the lights off. I walk in and twenty Brazilians jump out of nowhere and start screaming! They throw a blanket over my head, push me down, and start dog piling me!! It was a trap! We had a blast and apparently that was my initiation to Brazil.

 

Today we were able to go to the temple and I learned alot. We are about to finish the laundry and than go to get Brazilian Burgers to see how they compare! Than we have to get a few supplies... including candy!!

 

I hope everyone is doing good. Always remember to invite the spirit into your life as much as possible. He is your best friend!!

 

Elder Horst

From the CTM President

Dear Family,

We are pleased to be able to send you a picture of your missionary´s recent visit to the temple.  The morning they enter as a group is a very sacred experience for them, and it is an experience that is always anticipated with much excitement. We know they will treasure this remembrance. 

It is a great honor to serve with each of these fine young people and to watch their growth as they learn more about their sacred calling of a missionary.  We have a great love and respect for each one of them.

Thank you for your support for them.  They love to receive emails and letters from you, and feel of your love.  We know that your family will feel the blessings of their service.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Degn

Elder Horst's photo taken today!

Brother Pettey, Sean's Sunday School teacher and Missionary Preparation Instructor, ordered a gift for Sean from mission ties.  

This is the night before Elder Horst left for Brazil.

  Sean went across the street to pick up his gift today.  Brother Pettey received an email today from his friend Izabel with Sean's photo.  

Here is a photo of Elder Horst, taken today!  

This is Izabel, she works at Mission ties.

Brother Pettey purchased a shoulder bag for Elder Horst to carry when he is working.  It has the mission's logo on it :)

First email from our missionary !!!

Hey all!

It was only a week ago when I turned to give one last wave to my parents before departing on a new adventure. It seems like it was weeks ago! The flight from Sac. To Georgia was so unpleasant! I met up with four elders from provo. We were together for a while. One came up to me after going to the bathroom and said, Elder I dont want to scare you, but 10 more Elders are coming. I asked why that would be scary and he said... they're from Utah! All together there were like 16 Elders and 2 sisters. My district has 8 Elders and 7 are going to Porto Alegre Sul!

By the end of day two I could pray and bear my testimony in portuguese. By sunday I will be able to do it without having to read anything! I have two `investigators`` that I teach (they are my instructors). I have had three appointments and we did the whole thing in portuguese! It sure has been an amazing experience and a testimony builder.

My companion is E. Lazarte from Nebraska. He is a great E. to have, we get along great! We have two Brazilian missionaries in our room so every night we talk with them and learn new words. We also try to eat lunch and dinner with them. That brings up a good subject. The food is so amazing!! I have eaten every meal except one... but even said the brazilians it was bad! Each time I eat I try a new fruit or something and tudu bem (its all good). They have unlimited guanana (kinda like Canada Dry but so much better). Each night before lights out we have a snack. usually some kind of cake and unlimited chocolate milk!!! I splurge... We are on the 5th floor (6th in america) and we have the best view from our window in the CTM. I am blessed.

Today was the best... P-Day. First we went to the temple which was a great experience. It was hard not to doze off when it got dark... Then I bought a portuguese hymn book from the distribution center. The songs here are so fun to sing. After we had a bit of freedom and went out to town! Our district invited our two instructors (one teaches all afternoon and one teaches all night) to lunch and we went to this amazing place! They had unlimited meats of all kinds! I had amazing drumsticks, pieces of steak, and best of all, chicken hearts. I ate probably 5 of those. mmmm.

I love brazil I love the work. I cant wait to teach people that need the gospel.

Love,

Elder Horst

p.s.  I dont know how to use the question mark.. it only works sometimes. the keyboard is mostly the same but all the punctuation is different. I can't upload pictures at the CTM. I haven't had a bad day yet. Love you guys soo much!

 

BTW elder Staples from South Jordan is in my district and will serve with me! Cool huh. We had a devotional last night and the announcer spoke in portuguese. we couldn't understand anything but all of a sudden we heard the name Bednar!! We got so excited, the crowd whispered... than all of a sudden the projector came on and we watched a video of him. Oh well, it was still fun! Today we were able to take off our geek dots. I dont feel so new anymore! I was so excited to see E. Ray today. Everyone will have to keep me informed on when he will transfer to the CTM. Everyone says Provo is just as great.

Editor's (Mom) notes:  

Sean didn't use any apostrophes, because the keyboard is different i think.  E. Ray is Elder Ray, Sean's friend from Rocklin.  He left for his mission a week after Sean (yesterday or today).  He will be serving in the Sao Paulo North mission.  His visa hasn't arrived yet so he went to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo.  Elder Ray and Elder Horst both submitted their mission papers on the same day and received their calls on the same day.  

Elder Horst said he only had 30 minutes to be on the computer and that included reading our email.  He can't print them to read later.  He didn't have a bunch of time to email today.  It sure is great to hear from him and how happy he is :)