Looking Good in White

Proof of Residence

Looking up in Fortaleza

Wjp

I am serving in an area called Siquiera. It is somewhere in Fortaleza. To be honest I have no idea where in Fortaleza I am. It is a very poor area even for Fortaleza. Everyone here has cement homes with basic plumbing and electricity. A good salary here is 7000 dollars a year. People do not have much but they always like to give us things. Members that is.

 I do like the weather here. It is the same weather everyday. Around 80-85 I think ( I have no way of knowing ). The sun goes down every day at 5:30 and it cools off to a nice 75 so nights are nice. I am happy with the weather but some change would be nice. There are bugs of course but not many. I have not found a basketball but next week we are going downtown to go shopping so I will look then. There are sister missionaries but none in our zone and the only missionaries I ever see are the same 6 guys and I see them every day. We practically all live together as 4 of us live together in one house and 2 feet away the other guys have an identical apartment. 

 I cannot really understand people yet here so I never really know what is going on. People here speak terrible Portuguese. Our bishop is from Sao Paolo and I can understand him much better than people here. My  companion says it's because people here who have less education speak worse Portuguese. I guessing that is universal for all languages. Nobody here speaks English. Nobody. You would think some people would.

 We are teaching a guy named Claudio and his wife. The both believe the church is true and we have to go get them married next week. That is one of our tasks when we go downtown. Hopefully we can get a ride with the guy and not take the bus. I wish you could see what the busses were like. I feel like a sardine. There are not exactly regulations in the country. Last night I saw a huge fire burning in a forest. I guess that is normal. People here are really lazy. They will always listen but it is hard to get them to actually do something. 

Thank you for the sports update. Good luck with your talk. 

Lots of Love,

Will 

From Sao Paulo

Star Trek Universal Translator Needed ASAP....

My companion, Benetiz, is from Virgina. He is a Pureto Rican kid but was born in the states. I like him. I am staying here with him and the two other elders in our apartment for the next 6 weeks. We got transfer emails today. It should be fun. The Brazillian keyboard is not very different but this one is a piece of crap so yes.

 We taught a girl named Laynea and I actually baptized her yesterday. I will send you a picture next week. I look good in white. We literally have the same thing for lunch everyday but we get fed everyday for lunch by members. Spaghetti noodles, rice, beans, some meat,  and usually soda or these fruit drinks they make which are really good. I really like it and am not sick of it yet so all is well for food. We usually eat out for dinner every night at this bakery that is good and pretty cheap. I feel like Dad going out to eat all the time. We have a washing machine but no dryer which means I have to Air dry my clothes which means I have to iron now which is a bummer.

 I will soon purchase a basketball. The stores are indeed like America but a Walmart would be nice. I do not think people in America realize how nice Walmart is. We moved apartments this week. Our old apartment was so dusty is was  terrible. Our new apartment is a little smaller but we live right next door to other missionaries so the 6 of us have a good time. We cannot watch disney movies anymore which stinks. The mission president here is pretty strict with rules and he came here in July like my old mission president. I really like the cool dark nights here but the days are a little toasty at times.

 I put some photos in a new folder called Brazil Photos on Dropbox but this computer is slow so it will take some time to upload them all. Thank you for all the news at home. It is always nice to know what is going on. I got a good email from Joe Wandro today. I only have time for one email home today. We only have an hour and a half. Thank you Dad for all the sports updates. I wish you knew how much I enjoy reading them. All the American elders like to know as well. Its kind of a black hole here for news. I love you guys thanks for the support. 

Will  

p.s.  Did you ever get any more new music and I would like another Percival calender for Christmas. I am sorry I lost my Christmas presents but for christmas next week I will come up with a list of things I want from America. It should take like 2 months to get here but you should ask the post office how much it costs and the cheapest way. Let me know. I will pay for it if you like. 

p.p.s  Conference was terrible because it was totally in Portuguese....ha!

First Email from Fortaleza

I am living in a city called Siqueda, but everthing is in the borders of the city of Fortaleza. It has only sprinkled a few times. The only address we have is the mission home. It is the Siqueda Ward. It is a regular sized ward, a little smaller than most.  I sleep with a fan every night. It's not very hot at night. It is pretty hot during the day from Noon to 5 but once the sun goes down the nights are very nice. It is the same weather every day. We get fed lunch every day. It is the same meal but I like it. Rice, beans, meat, and usually guarana and some strange desert. I am reading the book of mormon. Percival is actually a Brazilian name so it is very easy for them. I like the fruit guava. Yes we walk a lot. Everything has held up great. P days are pretty lame as there is no more basketball but we can watch one disney movie. Today is Wreck it Ralph. We email at an internet cafe. It costs very little. Food here costs very little but other things like gasoline, and electronics are expensive. We will watch conference at the church but it will be in Portuguese so I will bring a nice pillow. 

I hit one year this thursday. I always imagined I would be happier on my one year mark. I miss my old mission. I wish I had stayed. I will try to keep my head up but it is hard to keep my mind busy during the day. Lots of Love.

Will

First Email from Brazil

Well, I made it.  It is funny to see guys I have not seen since I was in Provo.  I have a good companion for the two weeks that I am here so that is always good.  My MTC companion from Provo was supposed to be living in my room with us but his passport and visa did not make it through the US Mail so he couldn't get on the plane yesterday with the rest of us.  That is a big bummer for him.  Instead, his companion is with us and we are in a threesome. The plane ride was long and I did not sleep much.  It will be a long day.  This place reminds me of Culebra.
Lots of love,
Will

On the "road" to Brazil

From: william.percival@myldsmail.net
To: mtpercival3@msn.com; mtpercival@msn.com

Keep your phones on you throughout the day. I will try to call either before I leave or in Atlanta. One of the two. I do not know the time in Iowa but you guys can figure it out. Make sure you answer. 

On Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 10:55 AM, William Percival <william.percival@myldsmail.net> wrote:

I do not have lots of time today as I have many things to do. I also wish today was not a holiday as I was hoping to stop at Wells Fargo on the way up to Tacoma. They have none here in Aberdeen. I sent one package home 3-4 days ago and I am having a family send a package home tomorrow for me. The one being sent tomorrow has lots of cash in it. I did not want to carry all that Brazil money around and I also ended up FINDING 210$ cash in my study desk as I was cleaning it out. I think it was the missionaries before me but go ahead and put it into my checking account along with the Brazil cash. I am emailing him and will wire it to him if it is his. 

I think that is it for this week. I talked to our Ward Mission Leader all about his schooling and his Radiology job. I learned a lot from him. I uploaded some pictures on dropbox today and he is the bald guy I took a picture with. I also had a women the last couple weeks re-sew all of my pants to make them fit better. She is a very good seamstress and I look much better in them now. She was very kind as it was a lot of work she did. I also picked up a cool pair of burgundy shoes to wear with my blue pants at Goodwill for 10$. Great deal. So I should be looking stylish in Brazil. 

Also a fun fact: my MTC companion, Elder Sheridan, has been waiting in Idaho this whole time for his Visa and he is leaving the same day for Brazil as I am. It will be hilarious to see him again and potentially be his companion. That is all I have. I will try to jump on email later today if you have any last minute requests. Lots of love... It's been a long ride but the prayers have been answered and I am leaving.

Wish me luck,

Will

Welcome to the CTM in Sao Paulo

Dear Parents,

Sister Swensen and I are very happy to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil Missionary Training Center.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they begin their missionary experiences with us. We will surely take good care of your missionary.                                                                                                     

The missionaries now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  Their branch presidents and wives, will meet them this Sunday.  These wonderful couples are richly blessed as they work with, motivate, and interview the missionaries assigned to their branch.

The MTC has a full-time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife who is a nurse. We are also happy to report that the cafeteria food is plentiful, healthy and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of many others. President Lorenzo Snow said: “There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".  We love these missionaries as if they were our own.  We will watch over them carefully to ensure they are ready for a wonderful missionary experience after the rewarding time they will have in the MTC.

We thank you for preparing such a wonderful representative of the Lord.

President Robert Swensen and Sister Julie Swensen

Here's some sleepy Missionaries after just flying 24 hours to reach Sao Paulo....

Probably no Cheesecake in Brazil

So he had cheesecake at the Bishop's house before he left for Brazil.