WEEK #41- KYLE'S BIRTHDAY!

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a great Christmas!!! Mine was awesome, I got to Skype my family. That was definitely the highlight of my week. But it was definitely the craziest Christmas of my life! So after dinner, we were walking to a members house, and we saw a dog get hit by a motorcycle. It was really gross. Then when we were walking home a couple hours later, my companion got hit by a car!!!! It was so crazy! The guy was drunk and he wasn't even watching where he was going. We were walking the side of the road, and all of the sudden I heard a car that sounded like it was really close, and I looked back and BOOM! Elder Vecchio got hit from behind. He is okay and isn't hurt too bad, he just has a bruised hip and a few scratches. It all happened really fast. Elder Vecchio is a champ though, he was in the hospital last week, and got hit by a car on Christmas, haha it's crazy. 

Anyways, it has been a great week. Our investigator didn't end up getting baptized but we are working on it. We worked hard this week and made tons of contacts, so we have like 15 new investigators to teach this week. We set a date with one of our investigators Sonaira, she is 14. She will get baptized for sure! She really really wants to join the church and she has a lot of friends in the church, but we just have to get her mom to let her. We will be praying and fasting for it to all work out. But Sonaira is such a great girl we are very excited for her! Her date is January 12 so we will work with her this week! :) 

Brazil is really crazy, I love it. It has been really hot this week and it has rained a lot. I don't care for the rain too much but its all good! I ate Capivara (capybara) the other day. If you don't know what Capivara is, it is pretty much a really big rodent that tastes like pork. I thought it was pork when they fed it to us, but I found out afterwards what I was actually eating. haha. What you don't know doesn't hurt you, right?!

Anyways, things are going really well here, Brazil is awesome, the people here are awesome, the food is awesome, I love it haha. The language is coming along  but it is still really frustrating at times. I'll get it down eventually!

Well all, I hope you have a wonderful new year!!! I love and miss you!

Falou,

Elder Kyle Payne

Pictures!

Kyle and Elder Kennington just kicking it at the mission home!

Ready for the 18 hour bus ride!

Ponta Pora

These mounds are ANT HILLS!  The ants here are huge!

Family Home Evening

Ponta Pora

WEEK #40

Tranquilo Gente! 

First off, FELIZ NATAL EVERYONE!!!!

Haha so I can pretty much describe Brazil in one word.... LOCO!!!!! haha i love it though. This week has been really really crazy! So I was supposed to go to Campo Grande, but it got changed so right now I'm in Ponta Porã! It is sweet here. But we kept having problems with our bus tickets, so it was just really hectic and stressful. Things are not very organized here haha. But anyways, after 18 long hours on the bus, I finally made it here. When I got here, nobody was here to pick me up. I couldn't use anybodies cell phone, because everybody buys there phones from Paraguay because it is cheap, so to call out of state to the mission office is really expensive. So there I was by myself with all my bags without a phone and nobody to help me! haha It was alright though. On the bus, I sat next to a guy who played professional soccer in Sao Paulo, and he called his brother to come pick me up to take me to the church in Ponta Porã! Way sweet. I used a payphone to call the mission office and then a couple hours later some elders came and picked me up. It was pretty stressful but it all worked out and everything is good. Tudo Bem!

My companions name is Elder Vecchio, he is from Argentina! He is way cool. We are like exactly the same size, so its pretty funny because we are both pretty tall compared to the people here. He helps me out with the language a lot. He got super super sick at the beginning of the week before I got there and he was in the hospital! But he is better now. Right now we live with two other missionaries, one is from Brazil and the other is from Chile. But they all speak Portuguese well, so I am starting to learn a lot faster! I had to speak in Sacrament on Sunday, that was pretty cool. The ward is great here, the stake is strong in missionary work. Elder Vecchio just had a baptism and we hope to have a baptism this weekend. We taught a lot of lessons this week so it has been good. 

So Ponta Porã... is crazy! It is right by Paraguay, so it is pretty hectic. Apparently it is the most dangerous city in the mission. So we have to be really smart about what we do. But for the most part we are ok. 

My Portuguese is coming along, I have learned a TON this week. It is still hard to understand people though haha. But I just have to be patient with myself! It was kind of funny though, we had a Churrasco yesterday, and one of the members spoke a little bit of English. So he was talking to me in English, and he asked if I was thirsty and I said yes. He asked if I wanted water or orange juice and I said I wanted orange juice. Then he said, Do you like poop in your orange juice? I said no, that's gross. Then he said ok then here is some water. So I said well can I have some orange juice without poop? haha I thought he was joking with me but he was like you can have orange juice, but it has poop in it! It was really weird but I finally figured it out.... He was trying to say PULP instead of poop! haha I busted up laughing once it clicked! Then I explained it to him and everybody thought it was really funny. Then I got my orange juice with PULP :)

Anyways, everything is good here! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!!!! It is such a wonderful time of year, to remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love him and I'm so grateful for his sacrifice! I hope you all have a great Christmas week! I love and miss you all!!!

Atê mais,

Elder Kyle Payne

Picture!

Our Zone at Mission Tour

WEEK #39

Tranquilo família e amigos!

Well this week has been pretty crazy, we have gone on exchanges a ton. So I have been going with Elder Groff and Elder Moraes lately. My Portuguese has improved though so that's good. Its fun with Elder Groff, because he is trying to learn English and so we teach each other while we are walking and stuff. Anyways, so on Thursday Elder Moraes found out he is getting transferred to be an AP in the south, so we got a new roommate Elder John. He's from Idaho Falls and he's way cool! Then yesterday at church, President Reber came and spoke at our sacrament meeting and he came up to me afterwards and was like Elder Payne remind me where you´re going again? I was like uuuhhhhh what do you mean? And he was like oh that's right I haven't told you yet... Well, you're being transferred! Haha so me and Elder Kennington are going to the south! We are both going to Campo Grande. It is the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul and its a big city. Elder Watchman is there so I'm excited. I have heard lots of good things about Campo, they even have a Walmart so that is good news! I am kinda bummed though, I was looking forward to being with Elder John here and I will really miss the area. The ward here is awesome. The reason they're transferring us is because there is a group of missionaries going home this week and the mission isn't receiving any more, so they are taking some Elders out of areas that have more than one companionship to fill in. 

Anyways, tomorrow we have Conferencia Natal (Christmas Conference) in the Center, then after that I have to take a 12 hour bus ride to Campo Grande. I'm not looking forward to that at all. But Elder Mayolo and Kennington will be on the bus with me so that will be good. My new companion is a Brazilian, and I will live with the Zone Leaders there who are also both Brazilian! So I will be the only American in the house. I'm nervous but I am hoping I will learn Portuguse a lot faster that way. Presidente Reber told me he thinks I'm ready to have a Brazilian companion so I guess we will see how it goes!

Our baptism fell through this week, it is really frustrating. Her name is Dalila and she just isn't keeping commitments or anything. That's the hard part about Brazil. Tracting works here and the people are really open and friendly and you can talk to them about God and Jesus all day. But the hard part is getting them to read the book of Mormon and actually attend church. Everybody here is really relaxed and flies by the seat of their pants haha so it is tough. I like it though the culture is awesome.

Oh also, time here is just kind of whatever, nobody really cares about the time. It is taking some getting used to, because in Montana we planned out everything and were on time. But here people will be like oh yeah come tomorrow night for dinner! Which means dinner could be anywhere from 6-9 o clock. So sometimes we wait around forever but its way cool. Church doesn't always start or end on time either haha. 

I have lost some weight already, they use the Kilograms instead of pounds so I'm not sure how many pounds I am but I weighed 97 Kilograms the other day. I think its around 215 pounds. There just isn't a lot of food to eat its hard to explain! Like in Montana I just ate cereal and sandwiches and eggs and potatoes and stuff, but Cereal here is super expensive and they don't have normal milk in the gallons, they just have like evaporated milk and when you buy it its warm. so for breakfast i just have fruit or granola, and then for Almoço (lunch) we have a really big meal of rice and beans and meat at members houses. Its the biggest meal of the day. Then sometimes we have Jantar (dinner) or we just eat some bread. Also i drink tons of water and juice and coke. So here there is an herbal drink called Tereré, you put the herbs in a cup with water or juice and drink it through a filtered metal straw thing. Everybody drinks it here and just passes it around like peace pipe haha. It is an acquired taste but its really good!  

Oh man I love Brazil I just cant wait until i can speak the language fluently! I pray every day that it will improve and I am excited to keep learning Portuguese. The people here are amazing I am excited to be able to work down in Campo Grande. I hope you have a great week and stay warm!!! Love you all!!!

Atê mais,

Elder Kyle Payne

Hey everyone, 

So I just got a call from the Assistants, and I am actually not getting transferred to Campo Grande! Now I'm going to a place called Ponta Porã. It is literally right on the boarder of Paraguay, so tomorrow I have an 18 hour bus ride! Are you kidding me? 18 hours?! haha I'm not looking forward to that but I'm excited for the new area. I guess I will get to hang out with the Elders serving in Paraguay so that's pretty cool. My best friend Parker is in Paraguay maybe I will get to see him! Anyways, just letting you know where I will be next week! Ponta Porã!

Atê mais

Elder Payne

Pictures!

WEEK #38

Beleza!

I hope everyone had a great week! It has been a good week down here in Brazil. It has been super super hot and humid. It is rainy season right now, so usually it rains during the afternoon for a little bit then it stops! It helps it cool down a bit when it rains but then it makes it way more humid so that sucks. But God shows us mercy by giving us a few clouds during the day! haha

We have an investigator on date for next week her name is Dalila, we are stoked for her. We will be praying for everything to work out.

Things are crazy down here though it is a totally different world! We take the bus when we have to go to the Center and the bus is crazy! I got my butt grabbed by a girl on Friday, the girls here are crazy. We call them Snakes because they're deadly! They are really into Americans. 

We had a Churrasco (pronounced shoohasco) the other day. It is basically a brazilian barbecue. They definitely give Tucanos a run for the money! Brazilians know how to cook some meat!!! We eat rice and beans for every meal but i haven't gotten sick of it yet, i love it actually. Rice and beans and Meat! And pimenta, Brazilian hot sauce. It is just oil and chilis but its really good and hot.

My companion is way cool he helps me a lot with the language. I'm way grateful for him otherwise i would be totally lost! haha. The language is coming along better but it is still way hard. People speak so fast down here! oh my gosh haha. But I had to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting yesterday so hopefully people understood me! Elder Kennington and Groff said it made sense so that's good!

There are bugs everywhere, I saw a huuuuge spider outside a members house on Saturday! I didn't get my camera in time before they killed it but it was seriously as big as my hand! And it was grey and hairy. haha i wish i had gotten a picture.

But I've lost a little bit of weight already, i am eating healthier down here. junk food is expensive so nobody really eats it much, but i eat a lot of fruit too. I love the people and the culture here!!!! It is eye opening and humbling. I absolutely love it. 

Well all, i love you all very much and I am praying for you!!! i hope you have a great week! Fica Forte!!!

Elder Kyle Payne

Pictures!

WEEK #37 BRAZIL

Beleza!!!

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! :)

I don´t even know where to begin! haha. Things are so crazy in Brazil! I love it already. We had a super long flight here I was way tired when I got here. But I´m just so happy to finally be in Brazil I don't even care haha

Well, the first thing I can say about Cuiabá is that it is suuuuuper hot!!! Like unbelievably hot. When we got off the plane it was like 105 degrees F. It was quite an adjustment coming from 2 degrees when we left Montana! And it is super humid here too. it seriously feels like a sauna. hopefully I´ll get used to it though :)

The food here is really really good, so far I have had rice and beans for every meal but we usually have some sort of meat as well. On Saturday I ate Coracão de Vaca (Cow heart) it was actually really good I liked it. but other than that the food is normal, just rice and beans all the time

The language is really hard!!! People speak so fast and its hard to understand but its all good. I am serving in Industríario which is part of Cuibá. My companion is Elder Kennington, he is way cool we get along great.  He helps me with my Portuguese a lot. he has a mission blog too, so I read it and I already knew who he was before he was my companion! Kinda funny.  We live with two other missionaries, Elder Moraes and Elder Groff, they are both from Brazil near Curitiba. They are so funny we are teaching them English. Elder Groff always says funny things like Hey be quiet you horse! or Elder Payne I am going to ticklish you on beneath your arms! haha 

We have a few progressing investigators right now so that is good, we have taught a few lessons but i don't know what anyone is saying most of the time, i just bear my testimony. i bore my testimony yesterday in sacrament meeting so hopefully the people could understand what I was saying haha. I had a few people come up and thank me for my testimony so I guess it made sense haha

We had a really cool experience this week. So on Friday we had to take the bus to Cuiabá to take care of some paperwork and stuff at the office, but on our way back our bus got a flat tire. it was hot and crowded and we had to wait for another bus. the bad thing is is that we didn't have money left on our card things to pay for another bus trip, so we needed to go get another card. we started walking and a guy stopped us on the street and asked about us, and we taught him the entire first lesson and gave him two pamphlets. he was way cool and he said he would go to church on Sunday.Then awhile after that we got on another bus and a stranger paid for me to get on which was awesome. the people are so nice here. But the Lord put us in the right place at the right time. He knew we needed to teach that guy on the street, even if it meant us having a flat tire and no money! He even took care of us to get back on another bus to get home. 

I love this work so much.

Anyways, I love you all so much and I´m grateful for you! have a great week

Love,

Elder Payne