WEEK 1: July 2, 2019

No pictures in the MTC so you get pre-mission pics for a while.

week one

Lots and lots and lots of beans this week... and if you know me, you know that I really love beans.
First week has been a ton of a work!  This week has felt like trying to drink from a fire hydrant! So much information and it feels like I'm getting not very much of it!  I'm trying my best to put in my side of the work and then rely on my Heavenly Father for everything else.   Here at the CTM, probably a quarter of the people speak English, everyone else is Brazilian, which is frustrating because they all think that I look Brazilian... but i don't speak Portuguese so a lot of confusion happens there haha.
anyway, life is good i'm working hard and exercising a lot to relieve my stress. haha
'til next week!
-Elder Hammond

Highlights from our conversation with him:

• His companion is from Kansas (forgot to get his companion's name). He's a pretty nice kid who is really into video games and computers (at least that what I got from his description).
• He's in a district with 8 other missionaries.  His companion and 2 other Elders and 2 Sisters are all going to his mission when they are done with the CTM.
• He ate too many beans right off and got a little sick to his stomach and now eats mostly chicken salad and the grilled ham and cheese that they have every morning for breakfast.  He's glad I sent him with cashew's and granola bars, but the Kitkats were unneccessary since they give them 10 Real (Brazilian money) every day for the vending machines that have Kitkats in them.
• They get to email on Tuesdays and have Pday + temple on Wednesday, which he is very excited about.  Tomorrow they are traveling to the Curitiba temple by bus which is about an hour and a half away.  Most Pdays they'll go to the Sao Paulo temple which is 30 minutes by bus.
• They get an hour everyday to exercise on the track they have there or the basketball court.  He says he's in great shape eating all that chicken and exercising hard to relieve stress every day.
• He also mentioned that he has had some anxiety checking his pocket for his phone on the first day or two.
• He is doing well considering how overwhelming everything is.