Thanksgiving

Ola!! Sorry I didn’t email yesterday. The email was down. I will ask about the relation and get back to you! So thanksgiving was awesome!! haha okay not that different but for lunch we got chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and corn with ice cream!! It was pretty awesome! Besides that it was the same until Friday night! They strung up Christmas lights everywhere in the courtyard and let us out of class early to come sing hymns, eat ice cream, and watch the lights turn on! It was way way legal! (cool) haha I took some pictures don’t worry and i will send them soon. Thank you so much for all of the packages and letters! They even have a fake Christmas tree in the cafeteria! haha. But bad news about the battery charger, it got here but it would take almost 50 dollars to pick up!!! It is because the Brazilian government doesn’t like electronics being shipped here so they charge lots of money. The good news is my roommate has an extra that works for me so i am just going to use that one! The one you sent should just get shipped back. Sounds like you guys all had an awesome thanksgiving! I am muito jealous of the food! Haha but Im glad it was good and hope you are enjoying the Christmas season! Thanks so much for the letters! I will be anxiously awaiting them! haha. So we can listen to music but if i want to i will have to buy it when I get to Rio because if you send it, it will be extremely expensive to pick up. Ill let you know more about music later. They have explored a little but can’t go to far. We go to temple until around 12, and then have till 5 to eat, explore, email, and whatever else. Thanks so much for all you guys love!! So next time you send a package do you think you could send some collar stays for my shirts? Its not important so don’t worry but i will probably end up losing mine, haha. Also my permanent retainer broke... So I’m just going to wear my normal ones. So something we learned a lot about this week was personal revelation! I never really noticed how important and useful it is! We can receive help with almost anything! You guys should study chapter four preach my gospel haha. Also I noticed how important it is to have an eternal perspective, to trade short- term gratification for long term success. I think this is extremely important in out lives. What might seem good at the time but be horrible for trying to achieve eternal life. Anyways I love hearing from you all and hope you stay healthy and have the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of Christ with you!! Tchau!

Schedule at the CTM

Im glad you got the picture!! My comp is the tall one with dark hair on the end if I remember! I didn’t get a copy but I got to see it for bit. Thanks so much again for the gift. Haha I think we will do a pizza party on our last pday. So it actually wasn’t their Independence day, just the day they became a Republic, nothing too big that we were aware of, haha. So I haven’t gotten the charger yet but no big worries cause my companion has the same charger that I can borrow. I got you package and letter on Wednesday or Thursday! Thanks so much for those, haha I love both of those candies. The mail probably took extra long because of the holiday I am guessing. Usually it takes 6 to 8 days for me to get it. Oh and by the way I sent a letter to nick alvarez but I had to mail it to our house cause I didn’t know his address so if you could get it to him that would be great. I bet it is exciting that Thanksgiving is already here! Ill let you know if they do anything different here in the ctm. Hope you guys all have a fun and enjoyable holliday!! It is so crazy to think a month has already gone by. Also I will try and find something to mail Kade though It might take me a bit to figure out how to mail a package I will hurry! They actually are putting up Christmas Lights here in the CTM so I am super excited about that. It will be weird to have Christmas with no snow. Hey so I was talking with My roommate elder Gividen and his grandma is an Ottosen from Tabiona! Just wondering if you know the relation there. haha. So I guess Elder Bednar was in Rio over the weekend and visited the Missionaries! What an experience that would have been, haha oh well. Also the Biggest TV network in Brazil did some filming here last Friday for a news report or something? I wasn’t in it but it still was cool. So a normal day for me is wake up, get ready and eat breakfast, personal study. Then Gym and play volleyball or basketball, then more study time until lunch at 12 30. Then class until dinner at 4 45. Then class with a different teacher until 9 30 and then snack time and get ready for bed. haha so that is most my days!! But they are all good and I honestly love studying the scriptures!! It is my favorite! Thanks you all so much for the support, Gifts, and Love!! Send my love to friends and family!! Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving because I am sure I will!

Brazil Independence Day

Hello from Brazil!!!

First off thank you soo so so much for the missionties package! I haven´t gotten anything yet but I will have to go talk to them later today if they are open. It is actually a holiday here, the day they became a country, so lots of stuff is closed. But it will be awesome to get the food! Thank you!! That is awesome you got to volunteer for the Temple! It is so peaceful every time where go there. I love it. Tell Kade I´m happy for him and to stay safe! Tell Paige that is awesome and I am very proud of her! And tell Cole good luck with battle of the bands and college! I’m sure he will do great. Thanks for selling the Xbox, unfortunately there is not a remote but most universal remotes should work with it. I hope Moab went well for Dad! I love it there! The hardest thing so far has been learning the language, it just isn’t coming as fast as I want it to. It will come in time though. Honestly waking up early, and companionships really haven’t been that hard. They were the first week but I am pretty used to it now. I have really learned to love the scriptures so much!! They have so much advice and awesome stories I never noticed before. I wish I would have studied them more before. Also you guys should read preach my gospel, it has lots of good info that is relevant for all!! That is super cool about the family history, for sure send me a copy when you are done! It is so crazy to think what they went through. I was reading our heritage today and it amazes me what people endured to be a part of this church!!

So there isn’t much new to report here as every day is pretty much the exact same. haha. Except it has been cooler and constant rain the past two days, still nice though. We have a very interesting teacher that is learning about behavior in school I think I told you about. He has some awesome pointers about being a good missionary, I forgot most but they include never doing something for others approval, be in the present not the past or future. Similar to dad’s Buddhist quote, haha how does it go again? I am continuing to love my district and companion. My comp has been quite the traveler and has preformed in the Paris ballet and many others. Hope you guys have a fun Thanksgiving! I’ll let you know if they do anything special for it or Christmas. Maybe Turkey?? haha i wish... But also let me know what else you guys want to know. haha I always have things I want to tell but then I forget when I email, I will have to write them down. I hope you all stay safe and healthy!! Tell the grandparents I love them and I’m doing great!! I love you all so much!! Love Elder Ottosen.

Venturing Outside the MTC

Oi! or Ola! that is how to say hi! Tchau is how to say goodbye! it has been a great week! Languauge is still coming but it is slow.. Time will help though! I did get those to letters! On the same day to so thanks! Oh and you don´t need to worry about doing religious stickers, people say the mail service is not a problem! That is awesome about testimony meetings and the farewell and homecoming! Testimony meeting was awesome here! We only have about 40 people in our branch. I bore my testimony about hard work and how hard hans peter ottosen worked in his life. that is so weird to think that it snowed there!! It is really wonderful weather here! It will be getting hotter though. I go to the temple every p-day! It is really small but really awesome! going outside for pday is an adventure! We bought candies, ties, and a burger and smoothie! Both very delicious and safe according to people from the mtc. haha. thank you so much for all of the support! It is hard but an awesome experience. needless to say I can´t wait to get to Rio. Oh by the way I mailed a written letter, just because I dont always get to say all I want in 30 mins of email. I looked up the missionties thing. The cookies are very delicious! i have heard good things but packages have to be picked up on pdays. It is crazy how close you can become with people after you have spend 3 weeks 24/7 with them. I love my district and roommates! Lots from Utah and the East Coast. though our entire branch is from Washington or Oregon, dont know why. Oh my old district got split and my new district has Rourke in it!!!  Well hopefully you get the letter soon! Love you all so much and take care of yourself! thanks again so so so much for all of the support! Love, Elder Ottosen

First e-mail from Brazil

Ola!!!

Okay well so I am at Brazil!!!! I have to say I love it here. I was really worried because when we got in on Wednesday morning it was overcast and kind of depressing looking. We passed miles and miles of favelas on the bus ride. It is so much different to see it in person. It really made me think about how fortunate we are. Also the city is huge!!! I have never seen so much concrete in my life. We aren´t in downtown or anything but you can see it and I have never seen so many skyscrapers in my life, I have never seen a city that compares to this. But at the same time it is by far the dirtiest city I have ever seen. So much trash and graphitie on at least 25% oh the buildings we see. I don´t think there is a such thing as city planning as there will be a house, then a business, then a 30 story apartment high-rise. haha It is so different from the States, but at the same times very similar. All the grocery stores have fences around the parking lots and gates to get in or out.  The canals that run through the city are almost black and littered with trash. When we pulled up to the CTM I was really worried, there were 15 to 30 foot high walls with razors, barbwire, and electric fences all around. But it is a whole different world inside. It is really clean and nice with more personal space than Provo. It is pretty much a square building but with an open courtyard in the middle. I am on the 6th floor with the other 3 kids from my former district. They are all way nice and cool. My companion changed from Elder Kerr to Elder Stanger. He is from Boise Idaho, and has lived in South Korea and London before doing professional Ballet. Really nice kid. Us 4 are all going to Rio! The food here is really good and always fresh. There are less choices than Provo but it tastes better, usually meat, rice, beans, dessert, and some other sides. Breakfast is always the same though, bread, cheese and meat, and something kind of like oatmeal that is really good. They had sloppy Joes last night!! It was crazy! The only weird thing about the food is dessert, sometimes they are good but lost of times super weird. Last night it tasted like pudding with mouthwash on top. Anyways we have a weight room, volleyball and basketball courts to work out 4 times a week, probably my favorite part of the day. haha  It is way more relaxed here the mtc president even said so himself. We get to wear short sleeves except on Sunday. And after I am done writing this I get to go explore the surrounding neighborhood!! I am way excited to do that. It is actually 4 hours ahead here just so you know. So the people are so nice here!! I love it. The Brazilians we meet at the MTC are awesome and have so much energy! They stay up all night pretty much. We have native teachers that speak English pretty well. The language is coming slow I have to admit. It is really hard for me to understand them when they talk even if I know the words because they speak so fast!!! It will come in time though. There is so much energy and life in the city and with the Brazilian people! It makes me want to come stay a summer in Brazil! We will see if I still feel that way in 2 years. haha Thank you so much for all the advice and info. I love all you guys so much. Tell Kade to get better soon! I will try to write a written letter soon so that I can get more info. Love you! Elder Ottosen