Hey, Ill skype you guys today at 4:00 here or noon there, Ill call first but give me a window of like 10 minutes or more. We have a lesson right before so we´ll be squeezing
Haha, do you guys still have just the truck and the two vans or have you upgraded? sounds hecktic but Im jealous about that fireside! Sounds like it was awesome! Our weak was a little disapointing. All of our investigators are gone. They all gave up and we dont know how to help them. They get really excited in the beginning and then they just slack off later. We have 0 progressing investigators. We did an evaluation of our work and decided we need to trim our schedule. We need to start working smart instead of trying to force people who arent interested. Another thing that bumbed me out throughly was when the pres came to our area to visit me. He wanted to talk about the stupid thing my trainer and all the stupid things he did. I didnt tell the pres about him so now the pres is mad at him and at me for not telling. It was rough. Ill be earning his trust for a while. My trainer is probably going home. wish me luck! On the up side we rededicated our zone yesterday! It was beautiful! Ill send you the pics! I dont have much elso to report. Miss you guys! Dad, have any ideas about how I can show the pres Im trustworthy? Love you guys! More next week! Pray for me so I can stand up to Elders not being their best.
It was!? I didnt know that! But I love that book! Super interesting!
Hey, Im going to call you on Saturday too so you can know when im calling
Haha, do you guys still have just the truck and the two vans or have you upgraded? sounds hecktic but Im jealous about that fireside! Sounds like it was awesome! Our weak was a little disapointing. All of our investigators are gone. They all gave up and we dont know how to help them. They get really excited in the beginning and then they just slack off later. We have 0 progressing investigators. We did an evaluation of our work and decided we need to trim our schedule. We need to start working smart instead of trying to force people who arent interested. Another thing that bumbed me out throughly was when the pres came to our area to visit me. He wanted to talk about the stupid thing my trainer and all the stupid things he did. I didnt tell the pres about him so now the pres is mad at him and at me for not telling. It was rough. Ill be earning his trust for a while. My trainer is probably going home. wish me luck! On the up side we rededicated our zone yesterday! It was beautiful! Ill send you the pics! I dont have much elso to report. Miss you guys! Dad, have any ideas about how I can show the pres Im trustworthy? Love you guys! More next week! Pray for me so I can stand up to Elders not being their best.
Haha, I want to read your book when I get back! That sounds awesome! Im a little byust (I dont know how to spell that) on chritian leaving later cause i want to see my little bro off! But It would probably be good for him to get out soon. Less of a chance for the world to get a hold of him after highschool. That was my problem. the wedding was so epic. Simple but beautifull. I was thinking of weddings in the US compared to weddings here. Like Daves or Jamis or Danis. They were hugely extravigent! If people here saw a wedding like that I think theyd explode. I got my braces! I forgot to tell you? I got them like a month ago! Sorry! they went pretty fast cause they were little! thanks so much! They help bunches! especially in this area! Its all hills and stairs! Im less worried about my birthday as Mothers Day! How are we going to work out this whols skype thing!? I dont know! We´lll figure it out. Whats the time difference again? I cant remember. So my week was a big uplift followed by a bit of a plumet. We found 8 new investigators in one day! We were pumped! They were all verry inthusiastic and ready to pray! That was the up.But then almost all of them got wet. I dont think that makes sence in English but thats how we say it in Portuguese. They got wet feet? I cant remember the saying. We visited them and they all pretended they werent home or strait out said they dont want to talk to us. We convinced one to continue with the lessons and were visiting our last tomorrow so maybe well have more luck with him. He was the most enthusiastic. We also started an english class again! We have lots more success here then our last area. The youth are amazing! Almost all of our work comes from them! The members got kinda mad at us because we dont work with them, just the youth. But we tried to work with them and the answer was always the same. Theyre to busy with their ´´important lives´´ to help grow the church. SOO anoying. Some people just bug me ya know? As far as Damião e Cladie they were going to be confermed yesterday but the husband was embarressed to come to church because he didnt have any pants. But today he went out and baught a bunch of shirts pants and shoes so next week were golden! It was a huge sacrafice on his part cause he only makes $100/month! The bishop refused to only confirm one of them wich made us a little mad. ah well. For the birthday is yall want to send me some american food or something, would be awesome! Like peanut butter! Or maybe some pancake mix! that would be awesome too! no pics this week! Sorry! I cant believe Lauren is getting married... crazy... hey, also my companion is from Samamish washington! We go to his ward when we visit grandma! Cool right!? Love you all!
Elder frogley
PS have you read Jesus the Crist? Its awesome.
Alright! WWow what a week!! So here it goes! First my old investigator! Remember Rodrigo! Our baptism who was gay but is changing!? Were gone and hes still going very strong! Im so happy for him! He got the aronic priesthood and he wants to go on a mission next year! Hes so awesome!! And here!!!!! Wow! So weve been teaching this family who my companion had been teaching for some time! They had a baptisimal date set but his other companion left. Its a husband and wife (unmarried, quite common here) with three kids! For the last entire week we did almost nothing but prepare for the wedding cause they had to get married! They were all for it! We prepped the whole thing though! Sooo hard! I never want to prepare a wedding again! Its a pain! But the wedding went without a hitch on saturday and they were baptised right after! it was tight! We still had time to teach some really great people! We met this guy on the street a week ago walking with his son. His son loves the church and has always wanted to get baptised but never had a chance to talk to the missionaries. His dads a drunk though and drags his son around with him while hes drunk. Its sad and were trying to get a hold of them but theyre hard to find. We know where their house is but theyre never there. But we were going to visit them the other day (they werent there) but while we were knocking on the door we heard some people up the hill talking about us (they assumed we didnt understand) they were saying ´´why would two rich guys be here knocking on doors instead of traveling the world?´´ we thought itg would be sweet to answer their question. So thats what we did! There were two old people who were stubernly not wanting to let us speak, but there was also this guy who really wanted to know more and was really impressed whith what we were doing. He said that were doing exactly what Jesus did and he wanted to know how he could be better. He invited us to his house to teach his family on wednesday! Soo cool! BAPTISM! But Anyway. Im typing likke a thousand miles a second. Way to go dad! I want to read your book when I get back! I speak nothing but Portuguese. The most English i speak is in these letters to you guys. I thing my skill in the language has doubled. My teaching is getting better with the language. Ive noticed I good at relating to people and getting them to tell me stuff they normaly wouldnt tell people. I have like a trustworthy face or somthing. But it makes it easier to teach. I treat lessons more like a conversation then a lesson. Which is something that missionaries have a problem with but I feel is important. I figured out who my companion is. Hes Adrian Monk but take away a little OCD and add some more uncourdination. Seriously. Hes so weird. But hes an excellent missionary! People say my accent is already better then his which is awesome! Hes been here for over a year! Luis is doing well. He had an emergency transfer recently and he got stuck as a junior companion. I dont know what happened but Im still trying to figure out what I learned from him. Maybe what not to do. Love you fam!
Wedding time!
Elçder Frogley
Figured it out! Photos incoming! Give me a sec!
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| Crazy little market out in a podunk city in the interior. |
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| The "Tiny Transfer Toilet" |
The culture is tight. Its really layed back. They have time set asside (even at work) after lunch for people to take naps. Probably because its so hot! And the rain has started! It hasnt stopped! For the past two days! Im glad I have an umbrella. Hey and I met an Elder Schofield here from New York and hes from the same ward as Lauren and Adam! weird. He said to say hi. And did I tell you that my professor in theMTC was in the same mission at the same time as Adam over in Japan. Worlds a small place. I have time cause my companion is using the pics so Im going to write my testimony in portuguese. Eu sei esse igreja tem tudo os verdades de o evangelho de Cristo. Eu sei que se fizemos tudo podemos fazer em essa vida podemos voltar para morar com nossas famílias depois essa vida. Eu sei que temos um profeta em o terra agora e ele fala com deus por nos. Palavras dele são o palavras de Deus. te-amo família! Tênue muito saudade do vocês! Photo time
Yea, he wasnt the best trainor. We did work with the members, but they had had problems with missionaries in the past so they dont really trust the missionaries now. But they do like us alot! We have interviews with the president every 3 months. Our zones and areas are too big to have anything else. I got transgered!!! Im in Maceio now! My area is so tight! Its REALY poor but the people are really cool! And the girls here are very respectfull (at least the members)! My companion is Elder White and hes american! But we speak nothing but Portuguese! My portuguese has already gotten lots better! We work like crazy! Hes known for being one of the hardest workers in the mission. We taught 24 lessons last weak and we didnt even work hardly at all on Tuesday cause of tranfers. But Its amazing! We have a lot of investigators! We have two baptisms this week and one wedding! Cladia and Damião. They are very cool! Were also teaching their Cladias sister Mili who has had some trama in her past but is very interested in following Christ. She just has a LOT of questions. I can talk pretty fluently and can understand a good bit. By portuguese (despite my trainor) is right on track with what it should be. We study every morning. We also are teaching two others the names of which I cant remember. But the wife is verry awesome. She read the BoM and she prayed and imidiatly knew it was true and wants to be baptised. but shes not officially married so well have to have another wedding. Her husbands a differednt story though. Hes pretty set in his ways but he said he would pray and read the BoM and if he got an answer, alright, but if he didnt, hes done. We could get anything else out of him. I hope for his wifes sake he changes his mind. We have lots more but Im running out of time! Ill say this though. People here are so chill. We´ll be teaching and well say ´´smoking, or drinking or sex before mairrage is bad. Its a comandment from God to stop´´ and theyll all be like ´´oh its a comandment from God!? Oh im so sorry, Ill stop! Would you pray for me?´´ Its awesome!
Love you fam! I was thinking today about how ungratefull I was when I was younger, and I just wanted to say how greatfull I am to have such amazing parents and an amazing family! Thank you soooo much!Elder FrogleyPS The past trama Mili had is her Mom tried to killer with a knife, I forgot to say that.PPS my companion is kinda weird. He is like a 5 yearold as far as knowledge of the world. He doest know ANY pop culture. He didnt know who Justin Beiber was (kinda a blessing) or even Kobe Briant, or the Lakers! So anyway... tyhats all.
Oi Family and friends!!!So the language is getting lots better. I was talking to a family the other day about their favorite TV shows cause they love american TV. Ive started to forget words in English. Ingish? I seriously cant remember. Its Inglish here. Im so jealous about youre Italian!! They dont have real Italian food here. Thats tight about the reunion though! Itll be interesting to where my companions go after my mission! I dont know what kind of cancer he has, he doesnt know that much about it. But its benine. My companion and I speak mostly Inglish cause hes not very pacient with my portuguese. But I still got lots of portuguese practice. I hope my next companion doesnt speak inglish! Good luck with the knees! I pray for ya! Alright, week summary time... So the week was pretty boring. Lots of sitting in the appartment icing knees and stretching. What else... oh yea. BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rodrigo finaly made the switch!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAH!!! We it took three interviews!!!! Gooodness. We talked to him all week about it. Tuesday he said he believed in everything and he had a strong testimony. But he was woried what would happen if he was baptised and couldnt stop being gay. Would he be alone forever? Would he be damned if he gave up? Stuff like that. I told him to try something, I told him to pray for understanding, read Ether 12 (I thing) and to apply it to himself. I also showed him Jacob 4:7. Thursday my companion got a txt that said, I want the interview. So we hurried and called the ZL and he came down Saturday morning before conference! This was all very rushed because we have transfers tomorrow. And he got baptised yesterday at about 11! I was so happy and he said he wants to go start teaching his family! Im so happy for him! My companion said its the first baptism our ward has had in over a year! And our area was longer! And it all started with my companion shining a lazer out the window while Rodrigo happened to be reading an Alien book! Crazy! So about the hospital thing. We didnt do divisions for my area, my area pretty much didnt have missionaries for the past few weeks. It was sad. Were going to the hospital today to decide if he needs to go home for sure. The rest of my week was boring so Ill tell you about conference! It was sad watching the priesthood session cause I knew you were there Dad, and I didnt get to eat Mexican. We had Priesthood session Sunday morning. All the sessions were good. We watched them all. I always love Holands the most!! So good! All the Americans watched it in a different room on a TV in Inglish. We had these two fat coolers in the room, so we turned them on all the way and left it there in between sessions. When we went back in it was around 70 degrees! We were all freezing to death! We all put on jackets and had goose bumps! I couldnt feel my feet! So good! It was exactly what I needed! Im going to die back in Utah. So Mom asked for a run through of an average day so here it goes. Usually wake up at 6:30 and exercise and stretch. Study and talk to my companion and chill in the appartment, maybe visit Rodrigo upstairs, until 12. then we go to lunch with a member. After that we go out working. We go to investigators first. Then to past contacts, and if they all through wich is pretty common, we go tracting again. then get back from 8-9 and prep dinner and eat and sleep! Good stuff! Hey Ill send you pícs of the baptism next week! I forgot my cammera! Love you everyone! Elder Frogley
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| Elder Frogley and Elder Rock's street display. |
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| Elder Frogley's companion has knee cancer. |
Oi people of the United States! Hows life! Paps! Im glad your knee is getting better fast! Im still lookinng forword to our basketchy when i get back! Sorry, I ment to right basketball and Im too lazy to change it. Bumber about General confrence dad! I wish I could go with you! I think were just watching it with members! Im going to miss our mexican food! the list of Easter food made me hungry! I almost forgot it was Easter Yesterday! You lose track of time here! We had these deep fried tortilla things with heart of palm filling and chicken nuggets! It was pretty good! So heres the list this week! My companion has his exrays and he sent them to the mission doctor. It doesnt look good. Their going to try to keep him here but hes probably going home. He has câncer for crying out loud! As for my knees, as soon as I told you about them and you started praying for me, the pain was gone. Hasnt bothered me since. And I havent gotten the package yet. Probably wont get it for a few more months. thanks though! Ill definitly use them! this week as for as lessons taught, first, we did thins thing were we went to the bus station and and put out fliers and Livros de Mormon and just walked around and yelled at people like old fashion times! It was sweet! I can carry on a conversation pretty well! Something else kinda strange! We got a reference from a member to teach two of her friends here on vacation. their both americans from Indiana and they dont speak Portuguese. We taught them, talked alot and took them to church! I was their translator the whole time! It was sweet! And they said I was super smart for speaking so well with only 5 months! I told them it was all the spirit, but I still felt awesome! Life is so much more fun when you can talk to people! Miss you Family! Love you!Elder Frogley
Haha, ahhh Family... The email rules have changed! We now can write with more time and write to my investigators! I dont know when it changed but I just found out! I just had a zone confrence a couple weeks ago. They drive me crazy! I dont like meetings. I REALY dont like meetings. So were in the hospital today and Im writing today instead of yesterday. My companion has more problems with his knees then I do. He finally told the presidente and he said to go to the hospital. So thats our plan for the day. He wishes he had a chiropractor and he just asked me if you would come down here and take care of his knees for him. haha, hes crazy. My knees havent hurt for some time now. The prayers are really helping! Thanks fam! Yea, packages take about three months to get through to Brazil. Depending on how big it is and whats in it. Its kinda rediculous. Rodrigo is still loving church. He pays tithing, he asks tons of questions, he offers to say prayers, he awesome! We watched to Joseph Smith movie with him the other day and he coppied it to watch again. I hope it answered some questions for him. The spirit was there for me, but I can never tell if theyre feeling the same way. My companion does speak english, and he likes falando em inglês. Meu portuguese e ficando melhor. E o mais dificil língua em tudo mundo. So my portuguese is getting better and its hard because its the hardest language in the world. At least the hardest latin bassed language. I can have conversations pretty easily with the other brazilian missionaries. Durring exchanges we talk anout life and stuff and its pretty chill. We only knock doors durring exchanges. Its hard to get into doors around here because people are really lazy. They are either sleeping or eating.The go to work, come home, eat, and sleep. Its rediculous. also we have two catholic churches in our área and our church is like half na hour away. So its REALY hard to get people to come to church. Rodrigo is our only progressing investigator, but were about to start teaching the friend of a member, so that should be good. And shes a girl, and girls Always seem easier to teach. Still no baptisms!! The other missionaries in our district had 6 baptisms in the past three weeks! What the poop! But they live right next to the church so its a bit easier. While I was watching the Joseph Smith movie I thought about the pagent and now I keep thinking about the music! Love that music! Hey, time flies! Its almost winter! Haha, for me anyway. Not much of a difference but still! Mothers day is sneaking closer and I can Skype yall! Hurray! I had 73 contacts last week with 5 lessons taught, two more with members, and 1 challenge to baptism accepted. But then her mom said she couldnt talk to us anymore!! AHHH! I was so mad. So thats life in Brazil. We did reactivate some members! That was cool!Love you fam!!Elder Frogley
Love you guys. SO this week was historic! First lets set the stage. Were feeling all depressed because Daniel (our favorite investigator who was really interested) was not doing anything we told him to do. And so we had to drop him. Talk about lame as poop! But we were also blessed! We went to district meeting and we told them about our two homosexual investigators and how we hadnt comited them to baptism yet because we though they were more converted to us and they creeped me out and stuff. But they told us to do it anyway. So we went to Fernandezs house. The more gay of the two (we thought), we taught the dreaded lesson on chastity (because hes gay) and word of wisdom (because he has a smoking problem). After chastity he told us that he hated when people had sexual relations out of wedding and that he had abstained from any relations after he found out he was gay because he thought it was wrong! He said he believed everything was true and wanted to be baptised! We just have to get him to quit smoking! And at the end he asked for a blessing! how awesome... So after that we were realling, and decided to visit Rodrigo (our other homosexual friend) the next day. We taught him about the plan of salvation, law of chastity, and word of wisdom in one rocking lesson. He had a lot of questions about homosexuality and coffee and drinking and such. At the very end I felt prompted to ask him something simple. I asked if he knew that Joseph smith was a prophet. He said yes. Then if he knew if the Livro De Mormon foi o pelavras de Deus. Sorry, if the book of Mormon was the word of God. He said yes. and then why. He then told us about how he felt when he read and prayed. We asked him to be baptised the next day (thiswas friday) and he said he would take the interview from our district leader and fight against his homosexual urges. He had the interview, he has something big he needs to be interviewd by the president about but he agreed to be interviewed! He also is coming to church with us regularly and he answeres more questions then we do! What a champ. I love the holy ghost. Were going to find more investigators tomorrow so wish us luck! I send yall some pics now! Love you lots!Our mission was not effected, probably because were the best and they didnt want to mess it up!Sup family and friends!
Elder Frogley
Family! And Friends! Love you guys. So this last week and a half was allllll carnival... We worked very little. Only like ten lessons all week. Our investigators didnt want to follow our challenges because they wanted to sin it up durring carnival. Stupid carnival. Daniel ( the one who doesnt believe in God) just cant find time to read the book of mormon, so we told him to read just a couple verses a day, and we gave him some verses to read. It made us sad because he also cant get passed that God would let bad things happen to his childen. We understand his concern because he is a cop, but still! We still havent gotten ahold of our first investigator women. Cant remember her name. Its hard to remember names you cant pronounce. Kainin is still excited about church and were teachin him tomorrow. Hes a kid we met on our first day. His problem is hes young and to lazy to come to church. So our gay guy and possibly gay guy (who is now certainly gay, we checked with his friend), one we stopped talking to cause he started getting creepy, but the one we werent sure about is really cool, and might be willing to fight against the gayness. Hes really cool. And he really liked church. Fernandos Mom still wont let us talk to him, and shes never home for us to talk to her. Joao, hes going to be awesome. We taught him a couple days ago before he left on a trip. He was really sad that day and he said our message was right on time. Hes back now and were goig to start teaching him! So those our our investigators. we have more but those are the main.Life sounds good there! If it was 70 degrees here Id freeze. It was around 80 when I got out of the shower thismorning and I got goose bumps. Yea, toasty. Id appreciate some prayers for my knees. Ive been having some patelar tendon pain, and not a little, more like alot. My companion says if I tell the president he´ll probably send me home. Id really prefer to stay here. Im off to the aquarium with a newly baptised family from my companions last area. Should be fun!Love yall!Elder Frogley
Thanks for all the prayers family! I feel the protection! Congrats on the names done! I miss the temple! And the snow! Sooooooo much! The members here are great! We are fed just about every lunch! The members here arent too poor. There are poor people but were in a farely wealthy area so its good! I will try to be more fickle but the buss is expensive and we spend alot of money on it because we ride it sooo much. Well make it work. We eat alot of meat here. Alot. Seriously. So much. And beans and rice. Every meal. Thats about it. If we get salad its a little letuce with tomatos and onions. But the tomatos here are really good! Ill have to make you guys some food when I get back! The members are really friendly and we do service every saturday. Some of the female members are a little too friendly but I can handle it. I love the looks people give me in the street. Theyre four of us and were all in white shirts so they give us all weird looks but Im the only american. SO they scan down all of us then just stare at me for ever. And double takes everywhere. Theres never a time when people arent staring. Im like a movie star and its getting old fast. No baptism but we took to investigators to church yesterday! Im pretty sure theyre both gay though so that should be interesting in the next couple lessons.Our other investigators have seemed to have dropped off the face of the earch for carnival which was this week. So not much work done sad to say. But were going back to visit daniel again. We taught another lesson to him a couple weeks ago and re comited him to reading the book of mormon. I bore my testimony to him and I think it really touched him. I definately felt the spirit. Keep the prayers coming! And through in an extra one for my skin! I got a nasty burn on my neck! But its all better now! And the bugs are still eating me! People keep asking if Im allergic! But I dont get down that easily! Bring in Masquitos.
Love you Fam!Elder FrogleyPs no photos this week cause I forgot my camera. Lots next week
Cool about the pics but wheres the rest of my letter! Heres the summery of last week! We have several progressing investigators and more every day. People let us in just because Im an american. Its awesome! Im getting better at understanding and can join in conversations more, people want to talk to me really bad because they think I look like Thor so their pacient with my Portuguese. We got a member referal yesterday, so well soon be teaching a family of four! THat will be solid! Maria, shes a school teacher and our farthest along investigator, is coming to church and shes really receptice, I feel like the spirit really touched her last lesson, even though I messed up with my portuguese. Doesnt matter as long as the spirits there. Our first baptisim date is next week, hope it goes well!! Im a little nervous! I bought a basketball saturday, I couldnt resist. All the people I can play here are Brazilian and no one wants to play basketball against the huge American guy. So its just me and my companion. It never gets below 90 degrees here and it never rains!!!! I would give anything for rain!! I litteraly never stop sweatting!! And theres no air conditioning!! And the ocean is so close!!! I still love it though! yAll better come get me after my mission so we can hit the beach! Did you look up Aracaju!? Love you fam!elder Frogley
Av. Dom Antônio Brandão, 333Sala 402Ed. Work Center-FarolMaceió-AL57051-190Brazil
Hey Family!Sorry I didnt write yesterday! My p day will usually be on monday but we went up to Maceio to hear Elder bednar speak! We were the first mission hes ever spoken at! I got to shake his hand! was awesome! So my Area is Aracaju! Look it up on Google street view! Its beautifull! THis computer is hard to type on, darn portuguese. I got to maceio and the president was there to greet me along with the APs and the secritary and some other guy. We went to a realy nice mission home and ate and received our assignments, and companions. My companions name is Elder Luis, hes from a city south of sao Palo. Hes pretty cool and hes very good at teaching. we went to this dumpy little layover home for a night then hopped on a bus to Aracaju, it was about a four hour ride. Macio is a suprisingly dry are, it doesnt rain much and when it does not very hard. Its REALY hot. Ive gotten used to just being sweaty all the time. Utah would prolbably kill me right now. Our first day here we went around and met a bunch of members. The social classes here range from the really really really poor, like tin shak. To the abnocciously rich. But everyone is pretty accepting. Our second day we went out and knocked on doors. we made twenty contacts, taught six lessons and got two baptisimal comitments, and it was close to the same the next day. For lessons I dont talk much, My companion makes me teach one of the sections, usually Christs earthly ministry and I do the ba´ptisimal challenge and bear my testimony. The people are really nice and cool about my portuguese. Im trying to send pics but these computers are really slow. People love that Im from America. Theyre really impressed that I would come down here. Lots of people speak english which I fopund weird. Oh, and the bugs here are murder. I have 32 bug bites, I counted. Yall should send me letters! I think you have my address. Thats a great scipture Dad, Im readding in 3 Nephi right now. Read in 3 Nephi 4? When Gidgidoini draws all the people into Zarahemla on the coming of the armies of gidianhi. Kinda like what we should do with families in these last days, the armies are coming and we have to draw close together. Oh and I got my first proposition to mairrage yesterday! from a member! I was throughly creeped out. We ride the bus, A LOT here. SOOOOO MUCH. I spend half my day on the bus. And my press is really layed back. We are allowed to go to the beach, but not in the water. Were going after this. Love You much, good luck with your knees!Love,Elder FrogleyPS my companion wants you to send him an iPod, hes making me put this is here. apparently ipods are super expensive here. like $2000
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| Elder Frogley and his district at exit interviews. |
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| Elder Frogley and his district, plus Elder Adams, Elder Stephenson, and President and Sister Sugiyama. |
Dear missionary parents,
Today your missionaries' district had exit interviews before leaving this week for the field. Photos were allowed. I thought you would like to see your son (all dressed up) with his MTC district. (Elder Volk came later and is moving to a Brazilian district.)
Don't they look like they are ready to go and share the gospel? These are really wonderful elders. Thank you for sending them to Brazil. Elder Stephenson and I have enjoyed working with them at the MTC.
There are two photos. One of just the district and one of the district with the Branch Presidency.
Photo 1:
E. Mason Volk, E. Ian Frogley, E. Kiersten Gross, E. Joshua Scott, E. Kiley Gross, E. Erick Kennedy, E. Dallin Carroll, and E. Tyler Freshour
Photo 2:
Same missionaries with Elder Adams and Elder Stephenson on the left and Pres. and Sister Sugiyama near the middle.
Hey family and friends! This week has been awesome so far! MTC stuff has been pretty average, I got a new companion though! That was cool! His name is Elder Volk! Have I told you this yet? Anyways. I went prosolyting yesterday!!! It was crazy! We started out at one and went to 3 in the afternoon. We had four coppies of the BoM. We started out with a walk around the block, we stopped a few people but none of them were interested. That didnt discourage us though. Ive found I like to laugh at peoples faces when theyre rejecting us, its hilarious. People were crossing the street to get away from us, and running for their houses! Ah, good times. We finally cornered a guy on a bench and asked if we could sit down with him. He worked at an autobody shop near the MTC, super chill. He even spoke a little English. He didnt know anything about the church but wanted to know more. We taught him a bit and then gave him a BoM and he gave us his address! It was awesome! After that it was pretty smooth. We had some people freak out at us one was even openly hostile! It was so funny! Cause their soo little! We got cursed by some little old homeless lady who I think was insain. she started mumbling jibberish at us and waving her arms, kinda freaked us out. At first I was speaking really fast Portuguese cause I was nervous and noone could understand me, but by the last guy we talked to (a construction guy sitting outside his sight) I was talking really well. We talked about construction and how I had done some before I left, then got his address and placed our book! The people are very nice and receptive down here! We get to go out again next monday but their taking us out into the middle of the city! Oh, and the girls are creepy here, they go out of their way to tempt the missionaries, its terrible. I hope your knees get better Dad! I look forword to some ball! Be nice to them! And good luch on those talks, just be glad you dont have to give them in portuguese (wich is getting easier every day I might add, still hard to understand though, esspecially when youre talking to an old toothless guy) Keep the letters coming! I got your Christmas packages! I love them!! Youre the best! And my didstrict loved them too!! Ill let you know where I get call to! Eu amo voce, muito mais! Eu esperenco tudo voce esta bem! Tchau!
I love you (all), much more! I hope you (all) are well!
Thanks dad! I emailed a lot because it was the holidays but now its back to normal. Every Tuesday Ill email around 1 30. Portuguese is soooooo hard!!!!! It drives me crazy! But its coming. Im working hard not to have regrets but there are sooo many rules here. I just got back from the temple and that was awesome. It was really hot in my suit though and I couldnt stop sweating. Baptism was sweet. Its happening on saturday and we have to hurry and squeze in the word of Wisdom. My teachers are cool though. I should have some pictures for you soon. Ill just mail them through mission ties. I think I still can even if you didnt sighn up. Regular mail is rediculous. I still havent gotten your second letter. It drives me crazy. I leave in a week and a half!! Im so excited and kinda nervous! Only one p day left! Its felt like ive been a missionary my whole life! not much else has happened! Ill keep you posted though! Thats great a bout your knees, dont try to much! Im looking forword to that basketballl game in two years!Love youElder Frogley
I got a few more minutes to tell you how the holidays were! Christmas was cool! I got a tie from the mission pres and we watched a movie and played volleyball! We also had two devosionals! It was a pretty crazy Christmas! New Year eve was wild! Theyre Crazy in Brazil! They set off fire works for everything!! Soccer games, all holidays (even Chrismas in the middle of the night) birthdays! Anything! Oh and they use double negatives in portuguese and they dont say anything. Like the word anything. It was hard to get use to but i can read really well now and am understanding most. I have a good gospel vocab but everything else is zero. I bought a cool jersey! If yall want Brazilian stuff let me know! Funny story! Missionaries are stuepid! We live in a 7 story complex (they number their floors european style) and were an the fourth floor. Some missionaries (one might have been me) were lobbing apples out the window that had gone bad, over into the street (its so dirty didnt really make a difference) and we almost hit a guy! Exploded all around him! I didnt through it though. The Brazilians are crazy. They played matress jousting! Ill let you guess...Eu sei que este ingreja e verdenderio. Eu sei que este misao ira bencao meo viva. Eu amo voce, e orar por voce todos dias!You can try google translate but its really bad.Love you! Paz! La vida Loca!
I know that this church is true. I know that this mission will bless my life. I love you (all) and pray for you (all) every day.
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| Elder Carroll, Elder Frogley, and Elder Kennedy outside the Sao Paulo Temple. |
I am a missionary at the Sao Paulo temple. My husband and I serve at the MTC on Sundays. Your son is in our branch. For a Christmas present to you I took a picture of him and his companion today during the Christmas festivities. It was casual dress for the afternoon. Really, he is usually in a suit and tie. Merry Christmas!
Sister Stephenson
I could find time, go for it! And by the way, this is my Christmas letter for the family so no reading until Christmas! I cant stop thinking about past christmases back home. Over at Grandmas, the family making ginger bread houses. The old blue house and all the lights out with the christmas lights around the tree and on the shelves, for a kid thats Christmas magic. The thoughtfull letter from santa that was proof of loving parents doing their best to give a boy a good Christmas. One thing about Christmas that I dont have any particular memories about are presents. I dont have a single lasting memory of a present I got. The only things that seem to have mattered, even when I was little, were the loving times spent with a loving family. Ive never thought of it like that before. Wether it was the long drive to Mexico. Pancakes and a movie for breakfast downstairs. Or camping out downstairs with Jami so we could run up the stairs while dad held the camera. When I was a child all I thought about were the presents. But even then those memories havent stuck. Thats the message I want to share, from a missionary to his loving family. Im not going to miss presents, getting cool stuff. The people here dont own as many things as I had sitting in my room back home. I miss my family, and the memories. I would really appreciate it if you could all put together a list of your favorite family Christmas memories and sent them to me. Christian, I hope that you can mature faster then I did and discover this for your self, it adds a pure meaning to Christmas. Its about Christ, not presents. People here would laugh if they saw our tree back home! I love you so much, from your missionary, Elder FrogleyAlright, now that the serious is over its time for a recount of the week! Right now Im looking out of a class room window at the second floor and I see a mango tree and a lot of tropical bushes. Its like one hundred degrees! I miss the snow too... Its just not the same! But pres monson said his missionary Christmases were the best so Ill trust him! Did I tell you were preparing an investigator for baptisim in two weeks! Woooooow! Of course its just a member posing as an investigator... but still!! Thanks for the prayers guys! I know its been helping! Dad, I feel ya, sitting around all day is awefull. At least I have some gym time! I went the police station the other day and got all official! I got finger printed and everything! People love blonds here! We also gave a Christmas concert out on the street and I was chosen to be in a special choir! Kinda fun! People here are amazing! So funny! Theyre definetly partiers! Im so excited to get into the field! Love youLove you lots!Elder Frogley
Hey! I havent gotten any letters yet but thanks for the updates! This is for mom too by the way! It takes a lot of time for mail to get our here. And I cant receive packages! Youll just get them back! If youre going to send packages send them to my mission! Ill have to go get that address, ill send it to you soon! I got moms email and I got a dear elder from christian when I first got here! thanks bro! Thats crazy about the connecticut shooting, I heard about that! The snow is starting to be missed. If I had the ocean Id feel better but now Im just in the middle of a huge city and its a million degrees. the CTM is fun, here the brazilians are crazy. Durring soccer games they freak out whenever their team scores. Durring sacrament meeting we were in the middle of a talk and fire works started going crazy and theyre were people shouting in the streets! I flet like a civil war was breaking out outside! Teaching is cool, but hard to do in Portuguese still. I was trying to tell a women names anna that were all here to be tested, and I accidently said were all here to be testicles. She couldnt stop laughing and then we couldnt stop laughing so we left her with a challenge and bailed! Thats exciting about your knee Dad, Ill pray for you! Today we went to the temple! beautifull! While I was there I felt prompted to put your name in the prayer box but I thought, why would he need that, should have listened to it. Next time! Youll be ok, I know it. I look forword to playing basketball with you! People here are nice. We had a little conversation with a man out on the street the other day and it was pretty cool! Oh by the way, I might have to give Jason his christmas present when I get back, let him know? I heard The hobbit was awesome! Im so jealous. When I get back Im going to veg for a while and just watch stuff! I knew Trevin would make it to the end! Let me know who wins! Letter take about a month to get here, so I might still get your letters. ummmm... could you keep an eye on my bank account? Thanks! Ill send you pictures when I get my card filled up! Thats ok about that letter system, I mostly just did it to get a free cookie. Go ahead a keep emailing! Love you!Elder frogley
