May 29, 2012


New message from Elder Knotts:

Hey guys! Brazil is great! I'm studying 8 or more hours almost every day but I'm still getting a tan somehow. Its been incredible communicating with people that do not speak English at all. I spoke with a Chilean Missionary last night that spoke no English and we talked just in Spanish and mostly Portuguese. For all of my Sinfonian's back at home, I'm eating 4 meals a day and not even breaking a sweat. I still haven't found any root beer but the 6 different kinds of fruit juice at lunch is keeping me preoccupied. I think of everyone back home often and I pray for you daily. I hope that you're all enjoying your Summers. Its Winter here and every day is averaging in the 60's. Not too bad I guess. A lot of the candy and food here is super cheap but I payed 13 reals for a small can of shaving cream and thats about $6.50. You win some, you lose some. Luckily I win at everything forever. I hope you're reading this in my voice. I can't wait to hug you guys here in about 100 weeks. Its gonna be GREAT!
Elder Jared Knotts

I am including part of his letter to me because there are lots of great details....

Everything is going really well. I've been praying so much and asking the Lord for help. Its been tough but I'm learning and understanding quite a bit of portuguese. Church is actually all in English because we are seperated into branches here in the MTC. I'm in the 4th English Branch of about 40 people. Its nice though. We also have devotionals on Sunday and Tuesday nights. Those are in English or portuguese with a translator that speaks the other. .... I've seen 1 Area 70 so thats kinda cool. Its awesome going to the temple every Tuesday. We leave early around 7 but its a beautiful temple! Last week I did it all in Portuguese. I didn't understand very much but words here and there were clear. They have a distribution center next to the Temple and I've bought a couple things. I got a hardback BoM in German for 1,40 reals which is about 75 cents! Crazy! I also got a Primary hymnal in Portuguese. Its not as nice as the english ones but it was less than $2. I really wanna get an Italian and French BoM when they get more in. Its been a crazy 3 weeks but I've loved it. Daniel emailed me and we talked a little bit. It was nice to hear from him. I've gotten one letter from a friend back at the YSA but I'm not too worried about letters. I don't have tons of time to write anyway. We're only supposed to write on PDay. I'll have more time when I get into the field. I've been taking some pictures. I'm not sure how I'm gonna send them all to you but I'll figure something out. Thats great that the music at Brother Carmany's funeral was soul stirring. I've missed singing here so so much. I don't get to sing very often but I look at my Portuguese Hymnal and now my Primary Hymnal often to learn Portuguese and the Spirit that the songs bring.

Hey All of Jared's friends...I, Elder Knotts's mother, had an idea!! If each of you will email me, jknotts2347@frontier.com , a note for Elder Knotts I will print each one out separately and mail them to him in one big envelope so he will get it by the time he heads from the Missionary Training Center to the Mission home in about 6 weeks. It takes about 10 days for mail to get from there to here so lets try to get me a note or letter by July 1st!!! (I will send out stuff more than once, so any time you want something to go to him and don't want to send it yourself, email it to me and I'll send them to him). Thank you everyone for your support for Elder Knotts!

May 22, 2012

Now for everyone,

2 weeks done and it feels like 4. Its good though. The days are long but the work is fun and challenging. The language is coming relatively quickly and I'm thankful for everything I did to prepare before I left for Brazil. I miss everyone back at home and I'm thankful for your thoughts and prayers. I don't have a lot of time to write every week but I look forward to any and all letters that I recieve from friends and family. You are all special to me and I'm thankful for you. I hope to hear from you soon

Jared

Dear Everyone,

You`re GREAT! Brazil is amazing! Beautiful weather and the MTC (Missionary Training Center) is huge and awesome. The food is (usually) pretty good and I have no idea what half of it is but thats ok. I`ve met a lot of missionaries from all over the US, Brazil and other countries in South America. I´m in a group of 5 other missionaries and we all get along really well. My day is super full from 6:30 when I wake up till about 11 when I go to bed. Long day full of Portuguese classes and grammar and a lot of teaching. Its great though. Its been interesting communicating with the people that speak little to no English but I love it. Tuesday is my P-Day (Preparation Day) so I will be able to email and write letters each week for everyone back at home! It seems like its been a lot more than a week since I left but its been a good week. We got to go to the Sao Paulo Temple today and it is absolutely beautiful! We get to walk around the city a little bit today and explore with our District (my self and the 5 other missionaries in my group). Its been incredible learning the language and its been incredible how much we`ve learned in one week. Conversing and learning and teaching in Portuguese has been a great challenge. Big shout out to Jonathan Solomon with his help learning Portuguese these past 4 months. Its been a huge help! I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to hear from you soon!

Jared