Merry Christmas from Fortaleza 2014

Some for Mom Dec 22

I would kill a horse to go to Bravo tonight for Anne's birthday dinner, but at least I am making a trip into the city today so Subway is on the menu for lunch. Take a picture at Anne's dinner and send it to me. 

Yes I will do google hangout again on Christmas D. I will use my google email wjpercival@gmail.com. I am thinking 1:00 in the afternoon my time would be best but let me know what works for you guys. I have received here 3 packeges from you and 1 card from G&G and 1 card from Allison. I never got numbers 1-7 from the christmas numbers but maybe they are there today. 

W

22 December

That is funny your weather report of this town says it is very humid each day because it does not feel that humid here. Probably because of all the wind. My area is one of the hotter areas in the mission but the heat does not affect me that much compared to other missionaries. I found out though that sunscreen is way expensive here so I might have you send me some. I will talk to you about it on Christmas. Yes I miss playing the oboe as well but I can still read music and I have practicing my singing. I am actually a pretty good singer.

Let me know how the Hawkeyes did and what happens with the national championchip. You never told me who won the world series but I assume the giants did because you never mentioned it. It is impressive Kansas city got that far.

My new companion is great. Even though he does not speak English he can understand it pretty well. He is also very easy to understand unlike people here. He has lots of experience here as he will end his mission in March. So I have been learning lots of things from him. I hope to stay with him for next transfer as real transfers are in 1 week.

 We have a new area now that our ward only has 4 missionaries (instead of 6) but we kept the good people I was teaching in my old area. So it has been nice to walk on some new roads and have a bigger area. We put this guy we have been teaching named Andre on date for January 10th so that is cool. We went to the Fortaleza temple location when I got here but it is just a bunch of dust right now. The church is struggling with some problems here with the leadership and people. That is the reason I have heard they have not started building but you never really know. I saw the thing about a N. Korea movie at the bus terminal and was wondering what is was so thanks for the info. Sony makes movies?

1 00 on Christmas my time and I will video chat with ya. Lots of love

W

Merry Christmas from Fortaleza

December 15

Dad,
I always loved the Bourne movies as well and Anne informed me that they will make a new one in 2016 with Matt Damon so that is exciting. The new one they made with the other actor was not nearly as good.The people here in Brazil like the Bourne movies as well. 

 Normal transfers are on December 28th but due to missionaries who wanted to be home for christmas many missionaries who were normally going to go home on the 28th went home today so many things changed in the mission. Three of the missionaries I live with are leaving including Elder Benetiz my companion. I am getting an Elder Olievera (Brazilian) so this will be interesting. I am sad to see Elder Benetiz leave but we had been together for a long time now. It will be interesting to be with a Brazilian because of the fact we cannot speak in English. Either way Bentiz and the other two guys leave tomorrow. Normal transfers will still happen on the 28th but I am sure I will stay. I think next transfer will be my last here. 

We had this guy named Andre come to church who told us he had visions of us coming and teaching him. He wants to get baptized as well so if he comes to church next week that will happen maybe on next Sunday. He is either crazy or very elect. I cannot tell. The family with three girls has been out of town for the past week which has been a bummer. 

Our ward will finally get a ward mission leader next week which will be good. We are hoping it is the `rich` guy with the wife who makes good food. We can only hope. People say it gets hotter here for December January February but it feels the same to me. 

And yes I realize I am not a very open person but I will try to work on it. And preparing for the temple is a very important thing. I met someone the other day who was sealed in the Sao Paulo temple to her husband and she did not know who Joseph Smith was. Look forward to talking with you on Christmas.

Will

Free Thanksgiving Turkey

More from Nov 24

I am sorry I am not there to help you with the patio furniture. One thing I miss about weather in Des Moines is the Thunderstorms. They are so cool.  I think for thanksgiving we will order pizza and I will try to take a picture. 

This week was good for lessons and finding people. We only had 1 person at church but next week will be better. 

 There are only a couple inactives that we know of but there is one kid named Diego that is 21 who we like to talk to. He always gives us Din Din as well for free which is good. Din Din is something like a popsicle for reference. We have yet to find any single member families. Our area is bascically a new area for missionaries as no one has talked to missionaries before and we do not have many members. 

Chickens, cows, horses, geese, goats, sheep, dogs, rats, cats, coackroaches, turkeys, and different types birds are the usual animals on display in the neighborhood. We teach a guy who has 10 horses and it is fun to pet them. I really wish we could ride them but it is against the rules. It is quiet at night except for the fireworks people always light off. People work during the day, and lots of men drink during the night. Yes it is very windy here except for the night which makes the heat tolerable. It's really not that bad because it is not very humid and there is usually lots of wind. I live with 5 Americans from, Spokane Washington, Virginia, South Carolina, Washington DC, and Santa Cantarina, Brazil. 

Bummer that Utah got creamed. My companion and I really like Lebron so you should let us know how the Cavaliers and how he is doing next week. I know you are not a huge fan so you can cheer against him. I hope you like the meetings in church. Sometimes they are pointless for missionaries but sometimes they are good. In my eyes it depends on the Bishop. Have a good thanksgiving.

Will

More December

My companion and I are sorry Lebron and the Cavs are not doing well but I am sure you are not too disappointed. The mission field is the same; I am getting better at learning who has true potential to teach and who does not. It is harder to know in Brazil because everyone tells you you can talk with them even if they do not have any interest. They will just sit and listen content.

 I just had a missionary I lived with for 4 months go home and a sister I served with in my first ward go home as well and they both sent me emails. Almost all of my companions have been older that me or the same age (elder Benitez).

 I talked about that scout camp photo in my going away talk if you remember. One thing I have been blessed with in my life is having a good memory and I remember that moment very well. We should have some baptisms coming soon I hope. We had one member of a family come to church on Sunday which was good. 

I do  not have a lot of time today sorry but I sent a longer email to Mom so you can read the answers to the questions that she sent me. I am betting the eagles win the Superbowl. Who's the quaterback for them right now?

W

Definition Clarified

Haha that is funny, nah companionship inventory is when you get together and talk about what problems you have. I have not had a bad companion since my trainer so this has not been a problem. I think it is better to talk about problems when you have them that to wait until weekly planning on thursday. (companionship inventory is the last part of weekly planning.) 

On Sun, Nov 23, 2014 at 3:46 PM, Cindy Percival <mtpercival@msn.com> wrote:

Hi Will, 

Today in stake conference President Pence asked each husband and wife to take a companionship inventory.  He said if we didn't know what one was that the missionaries could teach us.  Well,  can you fill me and dad in? 

Thanks! 

Nov 24 2014

Send me a picture of the Thanksgiving table. Sorry I have been pretty terrible with photos here. I will send a good photo next week as I do not have my sd card with me. I will call today about the packages and ask the office and let you know next week. If they have come I will get them on Wednesday when we see the zone leaders. Yes that is funny about Sabastion and Michelle both going to the same mission in Alaska on the same day.. I will take a good picture for you. But yes you have to be careful here with that camera. Yeah let me know what BYU says. This week I will take photos of our area and send them to you and you will call BYU and ask for me. Sound good? Awesome. I thought Andy Harpole was already home but it looks like he will be coming home soon. We put some christmas lights in our room but all the christmas lights here in Brazil flash all the time and they do not sell ones that just remain lit. It is kind of wierd. 

Week was good, we met a lot of good people to teach. Only 1 person came to church but next week will be better. It is funny that thankgiving and christmas is during this transfer. I did not know Kate was going to get endowed. That is interesting. Which temple?

W

Questions answered

For Thanksgiving we ordered pizza and I took some pictures holding a wild turkey for thanksgiving. I put the pictures in dropbox. I will take a nice photo for a christmas card today and put it in dropbox today before p-day is over. Weather here has been the same except it rained a couple days in the mornng. I do not like the rain here because it gets very humid after and hot. Usually the air is never very hot unlike Iowa. Only the sun during the afternoon. 

As for BYU I think that would be the ideal situation for me; to come home and work at Pioneer. The reason I would want to go to school right away is I would need a job where I could work everyday and I am almost positive Des Moines Golf could not give me hours everyday. I just do not want to sit around and do nothing. But I will continue to think about it. 

Only one person came to church but she is a part of a family of 5 that we will baptize here soon. They are really cool and are intelligent as well which is nice. The father works himself to death though and only is home for 4 hours during the day.... out of 24. And he probably makes maybe 10,000 dollars a year. Probably less. 

As for the survey, Mail has not come, I called today. The skin on my face is always the same, never terrible, never perfect. Pants still fit, its hard to gain weight here when you eat rice and beans every day. I am not any taller. Not even a little. I use a different bag that I found in a apartment in the states and had a member sew on these backpack straps so all the weight is on my hips. I have yet to buy a soccer jersey but I really want one, so next time I go downtown I will buy some. I use my Portuguese scriptures everyday. I drink lots of soda here but I am careful not to drink too much. People always serve it with lunch. That or juice they make from fruit. We have a mission party on the 18th.

Thanks for calling BYU, look in dropbox for a better photo later today,

W

December

 The people here are very uneducated for the most part and have a very hard time understanding the message we bring. Sometimes I just want to tell them they will be damned if they do not listen but that is not very loving so I refrain from that. For impressions I would say the area is poor for the city but everyone here still has huge nice phones which is ironic. They live in trash but they have the new samsung flagship phone. I would say yes I am growing. Spirtually and physically. I think my shoulders have gotten a little bit wider here but I am not any taller. I stay in pretty good shape as I walk all day and I work out every morning. 

I read the Book of Mormon every day as it has been a goal of mine to try to get to know the book really well. Remember it is a rule in this mission that I only have 1 hour and 1/2 to email and it goes by quick. I remember looking at the weather with you guys and think that it rains a lot but it has only rained 3-4 times since I have been here. It usually only rains during the night but the rainy time of the year is in January and February so we will see. 

I would say this is a good experince to help other people. I am glad to be serving with Elder Benetiz because we get along very well and we teach well together. It is frustrating sometimes here because people are so lazy that it is hard to get people to come to church. I will say though sometimes I get tired of walking the same roads every day. 

Do not worry about asking questions, It makes it easier for me to know what you guys want me to write, just like its the best when people ask questions when you teach, it means they care.

Gotta go, i have 2 minutes left.

Love,  Will