Curitiba, Brazil- Day 1

I left this morning at 5:30 from Sao Paulo on a direct flight to Curitiba. It was a very short flight and I arrived here saftely around 11:00 my time. It is so beautiful here and I love it already. I do no know when my P-day is but look for another email soon. 

The mission President and his wife are really nice and I am holding my own as far as the Portuguese. They say to get on the Curitiba South Mission Facebook. There are two. Use the one that has a longer name. The other one is from the first mission president. There will be photos of our arrival posted there later today. 

Love you all and I am so excited to be here. I can already tell things will be really different than it was in CTM. It is so beautiful and clean. I am safe.

Love you all,

Elder Pinkney

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Sao Paulo, Brazil- Week 6 and Out

It has been the final grind this week. We have been working really hard. It is crazy to think that my next P-day will be in the field. I am so excited to get to Curitiba. 

Everything is starting to calm down and little. We starting to say goodbye to all the instructors that taught us which has been really sad. Irma Alonso and Irmao Factori have been our instructor and they are awesome. We are going to take more pictures with them before we leave. 

We had our last lesson with one of our practice investigators yesterday and it was super sad because we had to say goodbye. Both Elder L and I shared our testimonies and then he share his testimony and started crying. It was so sad and so awesome. It really felt like a real investigator for a moment and it was taste of what I am going to experience in the field. The Spirit was so strong. 

I can´t wait to be sending these emails from Curitiba. I am well. We are all well and safe here at the CTM. 

Lots of love,

Elder Pinkney

Sao Paulo, Brazil- Week 5

This week was the week my district got haircuts. The CTM has a hair cutting guy, but it would have been no fun to go see him. Instead, we decided to do it ourselves, which actually turned out pretty well. It took us the better part of the evening to get them done. None of us had really done it before so everyone was giving their input. Six people all trying to cut one person´s hair. There were no casualties and it was a very fun evening. 

I am excited to be past the one month mark. It feels like it has only been a week. I am now only 10 days away from being in Curitiba and I am so excited. We think, talk, and dream about Curitiba every day. I will have one more P-Day here before I get to the field. 

Today´s temple trip was unique because I got to perform confirmation ordinances in Portuguese. It was such a memorable experience. I am so grateful I have been able to go to the temple every week.

Miss you all lots and hope you are all well

Elder Pinkney

Sao Paulo, Brazil- Speaking Portuguese

Three times a week while we are in the CTM, we get the opportunity to do "companion exchanges" were they give you a Brazilian companion so you get the benefits of teaching with someone who can speak Portuguese really well. I got paired with a very humble and quiet Brazilian Elder, but we had an amazing lesson. We taught about the Restoration. He spoke first and then it came to my turn and I just started speaking and everything flow like never before. It was truly incredible. My Portuguese is not horrible. I can talk but it is not at level that my teaching in English is. However, by the time I was done bearing my testimony and reciting the First Vision, my Brazilian companion and the investigator were in tears and I, all at once, felt how strong the Holy Ghost can really be. It was a truly incredible blessing; an answer to my prayers that I might be able to teaching with power and authority, the tongue of angels, and the Gift of Tongues. It was a very humbling and an eye-opening experience.  It taught me how much work it really takes.  By far the highlight of my week!

Something that happens here at the CTM is that power goes out. It happens maybe once a week. This week, our district was doing Book of Mormon study and the lights went out, but we continue reading and discussing. The lesson became a great obejct lesson for the Light of Christ in our lives. Christ dispells our darkness. He is the Light of the World. He is the way back to our Heavenly Father. It was a fun and very spiritual night.

We sang a song this week for choir practice. Oh also, we do a CTM choir here. They call it the Mormon Tabernacle without the Tabernacle. It is fun. We get to sing different hymns and songs while practicing our Portuguese. Happens every Sunday and Tuesday night before devotional. We sang this song called Um a Um by President Bednar. Super great song. I am in love. 

Getting mail is a very big even here. When someone in my district gets mail, it is a big topic but natural not everyone gets any, so the sisters in our district were so sweet to write us all little notes and then shove them in our mail box. This week the Elders recpricated and it was an awesome moment. Our district is very close. There is a lot of love and we take care of each other. 

September 7 is Brazil's independence Day, so for lunch that day, they had a little party. There was decoration and everyone was really excited. The best part, however, was ICE CREAM. At least at the CTM, ice cream is not a big things so that was a super big plus. We sang the Brazilian national anthem at devitional too. They do not really do fireworks here, which is obvoiusly very different than in the states.

Funny story. The desserts here are interesting and they serve one about every meal. I was eating them but then two time I got really bad stomachaches so I swore to be more careful about the funny smelling jelly and any other weird mush.  I can't believe it's not chocolate.

I am grateful for the things I am learning. The field is only two weeks away now and it is definetly our main excitement. Love to everyone back home.

I want to bear my testimony in Portuguese.  It's not perfect yet.  

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo e nosso Salvador. Eu seu que o Livro de Mormon e verdade. Nos somos filhous de Deus. Atreves Jesus Cristo´s Expisicau, nos podimos vida eternal. Deus tem o plano para nos. O Plano de Salavaco, O Plano de Flicidade and Algeiam. Testifico Joseph Smith ver Pai Celestial and Jesus Cristo. Ele e o profeta do Resorucao. Tesifico de trabhlor de Deus e em o Terra, hoje. Eu sou muito grato ser o missionary. Eu amor esse o Evanghleo. Eu amor meu Salvador. Eu amor meu familia.

Elder Pinkney

Note from Elder Pinkney's parents.  

Mailing Address while he is the Brazilian MTC (only for 2 1/2 more weeks)

Elder Ryan Roland Pinkney

Brazil Curitiba South Mission

Brazil Missionary Training Center

Rua Padre Antonio D'Angelo, 121

Casa Verde

CEP 02516-040 Sao Paulo - SP

Brazil

Mailing Address once he leaves the MTC

Elder Ryan Roland Pinkney

Brazil Curitiba South Mission

Caixa Postal 9501

Agua Verde

80613-981 Curitiba - PR

Brazil

Sao Paulo, Brazil- Another Week in the CTM

I am going to try and load as much as I can in this email. Little time. 

PLEASE TELL DAD HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM ME AND THAT I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. 

Things these past week have been amazing!! I am praying in Portuguese and teaching 30 minutes lessons and bearing my testimony all in Portuguese. It has been an incredible experience. I have been studying a lot however. Flash card practice constant. Memorizing phrases and scriptures all day. Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. Next Tuesday, will be my half way point. That is the day that new missionaries come every week, which makes it a very exciting day.

Last P-day, we got to go out and walk around the CTM. We bought candy and Brazilian food. It is a very different world done here. I would not say that everyone loves the missionaries but people are friendly. It is definetly a warm feeling however. It is nice to get out. It can feel cramp in here sometimes. 

Today, we went to the Sao Paulo temple. Very pretty despsite the scaffolding they had around the Angel Moroni. The session was in Portuguese!!! I didn't have any difficulties understanding, however, because they gave us headphones to translate. I could understand most of it in Portuguese without. 

I had an amazing experience with a practice investigator this week. We were teaching and the investigator brought up questions about the Book of Mormon. My compainion and I were not expecting it.  We had not practice talking about it and honestly did not know what to say, but we were able to answer his question and bear testimony and the spirit was so strong! We were really blessed for all the work we have been doing. 

I hope you have been able to see the pictures of my district I sent. They are awesome, most of the are going to Curitiba and are from Utah. We really get a long well. I still have the reputation of being the strict and tense one in the group but I have been able to get more friendly with them. It is wierd. I had not really expected to be making friends on my mission, but I am figuring it out. 

We had an area authority come this week. His name was Elder Basset. Very cool for the CTM. Before the devotrional started he shook hands with every single missionary and there are a couple hundred of us. It was a cool experience and he gave a very good devotional. 

We also did exchanges this week. I got paired with an elder who is on his last week of the CTM. He was a really nice guy. We didn't however get to teach any lessons because of some Elders being late but we hopefully get to teach at our next exchange. 

Saturday, we go out on the street to talk to real people. I will get to do this Staurday and on my fifth week. It is a very nerve wracking idea that soon we will have to actually talk to real Portuguese people with our three weeks of Portuguese. 

Everything is going really well here. Miss you guys a lot and I hope the first week of school went well for everyone. 

Love,

Elder Pinkney