HI everyone,
Unfortunately, I have not found any root beer here. They have some other pops but nothing is even close. I'm not sure where my first area in Rio will be but I'll let everyone know as soon as I get there. I'll switch companions pretty often. Over the 2 years, I'll probly have 10 or 12 different companions. Definitely some variety. Probly the hardest thing about being away from home is the little contact I have with all of my friends but I know that they're doing well and that I'll see them when I get back. The couple letters occassionaly from everyone is really nice. I'm glad to be here and learning the language is going great. The food is still pretty confusing sometimes but I recognize probly 75% of it by this point. Some of its pretty Americanized. The weather is beautiful and I'll definitley be sending tons of pictures back as soon as I can. Its their winter here so its cold for them but its only in the 50s some days. It doesn't always rain here, but when it does, its pretty crazy. I'm doin well and learning a lot. Made some good friends so far and have had the opportunity to sing a little bit. I miss the music back home so much! Catch myself humming Sinfonian tunes every once in a while. I hope everyone is doing great and I hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Jared Knotts

Here is part of the letter he sent me (his mother):

I'm trying to be more wise. I feel like this time here has been really good but I wanna make the last 3 weeks (at the Missionary Training Center) the best. I'm trying to eat healthier and not buy any junk food and I'm working out a lot more. I'm only buying things that I know I will want and will be able to keep for hopefully the rest of my life. Its been a good week and it really flew by! I sang Sunday night for everyone. I sang the first verse and then the choir sang 2 and 3 and I sang the beginning on the 4th verse both times in Portuguese for the song "O Meu Pai" or the song Oh My Father. Great song and I had sooooo many people come up to me after and then the next day. Made me stand a little bit taller and felt good to be recognized a little. Definitely thankful that the Lord helps me with so many things. Our speaker that night was Elder Tanner who is the mission president of a mission here in Brazil and his wife, Sister Tanner who was the General YW President for the whole church just a couple years ago. It was awesome! I talked to her just briefly after and shook her hand. Her talk was really good about How Nephi was commanded to build a boat but he was not a ship builder. Many times we have callings or problems or responsibilities that we don't feel ready for or we feel inadequate but the Lord will always prepare us as we continue to rely on Him. She said something else that really hit me and made me think of you. She said her motto is "I can do hard things." It made me think of your picture by the computer and I teared up a little.....

This is Jared's mom....I sent a whole packet of letters that people sent to me for him...keep them coming and I will keep sending them to him snail mail...if you will put your mailing address in your letter he might send you a letter back!!! Here is his message from today!:

I've been gone 5 weeks..... wild. 4 more weeks till I go to Rio! Can't wait! I'm doing well with the language and playing volleyball 4 or 5 times a week to chill out is a welcome rest from all the studying. Its been in the 50's and 60s all week. Not near as nice as the weather back home but thats ok. Its a pretty mild winter here so far! My District is ordering Pizza Hut today and I'm super pumped. I haven't had real pizza since I've been here so I'm ready to dominate. I love talking to the guys about the great friends I've got back at home from the BSU, Phi Mu Alpha, Connersville and my awesome YSA Branch! I pray for you guys often and I hope you're doing great. Let me know if theres anything particular you guys wanna hear about and I'm always open to mail!

Jared

check out the weather in Brazil...

http://www.bing.com/weather/search?q=S%C3%A3o%20Paulo%2c%20Brazil&unit=F&FORM=DTPWEA

http://www.bing.com/weather/search?q=Rio%20de%20Janeiro%2c%20Brazil&unit=F&FORM=DTPWEA

Hey Mom!!

The pictures showed up great! Nice to see some familiar faces. …

I love all of my studying here.... sometimes. Long days and short nights but its good. Almost half way done with the MTC. I'll be in Rio before we know it. The language study is doing well and our teachers think we're progressing really well. I haven't had Pizza Hut yet but today we went to this Brazilian restaurant that they have in the US. Its called Razidio's I think. Its a buffet that they come over with big things of tons of different meats and you get as much of different kinds as you want. It was really good and just like 5 minutes from the MTC. In the US for dinner the restaurant is about $15 for lunch and usually $25 for dinner. Today it was exactly 20 reals. So,way cheaper. I exchanged some of my English money today and its a 1.7 exchange rate in our favor. Not too bad. I finished the New Testament in English a couple days ago. I had been reading it for a long time but finally took the time to finish it. So good. I'm reading in the Book of Mormon in Portuguese quite a bit and I finally hit a point just the other night where I felt like I was really studying and not just reading. I read along side with the English so it takes longer but my comprehension is getting a lot better. I went to the temple today and no I don't have pictures yet but I'll see what I can do. I went back to the distribution center and I've bought a hard back German and hardback Swedish Book of Mormon for less than $2 each and then I bought a triple combination in Spanish for like $2. Really awesome prices! I talked to a missionary from Sao Paulo last night for about 20 minutes. He lives in the dorm room next to me and he's 20 years old also. I speaks fluently: Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese and his next language he wants to learn is German. Its absolutely incredible and inspiring to me. I'm striving to learn Portuguese the best that I can and it motivates me to learn at least Spanish and French when I return home. Lanugage is such a beautiful thing. I absolutely pray for you everyday…  My prayers are almost all in Portuguese now too. They're not perfect and I have to slip in English sometimes but I love it. I've been to the White River Chapel before where you were at the other night. I went there for a couple YSA activities. Just right down town. I don't get to fast all that often but I will keep doing it the 3rd Sunday of the month when I can. Our diets are kinda different here. We have like 3 and a half meals each day. Dinner and Lunch are so close to each other. Lunch at 12:15 to 1 and then dinner at 4:30. I think I've lost a little weight here.  Watch this talk from President Eyring from April 09. Its called "Adversity". Its really good. Also a talk by Presidetn Uchtdorf about Hope. Hope is an incredible thing. Well I will talk to you soon and I pray for you every day. I love you

Jared

Here are the links to the talks that Elder Knotts was referring to:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/adversity?lang=eng&media=video

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/the-way-of-the-disciple?lang=eng

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