I am learning so much stuff about life. haha Laundry doesn´t do itselft!! I know crazy huh. But at least here the washers are automated so they put in the soap and detergent for you. We live basically in dorm rooms with 6 people and study there in the mornings. companion study is done in the courtyard or classroom depending on the weather (i mean if its too hot we go inside) haha its crazy that it is winter here and I am sweating so much everyday.
I did get the cookies. i only ate 2 though. I gave the rest away. There are a lot of people here who could use a cookie so I found ways to give them out. I honestly liked that better. Thank you so much they were such a great birthday gift. honestly that was probably my hardest day. haha Idk why it was pretty much the perfect storm of little things that just made that day really rough. I~m doing really well. The language is coming along well. I can now write out a plan in english and use the plan to teach someone. The hard part is understand other people. the brazilians talk really fast and they structure sentences different than us so it is hard to translate things. For example I ask de onde vocé e? (where are you from) that is one of two ways to ask the same questions today the the temple someone asked me (vocé e onde de)(and you are from where) its just a lot of little things. Luckily portuguese is a really system language. The conjucations are all pretty regular and once you learn the system you can use verbs and nouns in different tenses fairly easily. The hard part is talking like they would talk. but oh well its fun. I hope your camp goes well!! I know how amazing you are and how lucky those girls are to have you as a camp leader. (ps i sent romney a birthday letter today so keep and eye out for it)

The language is coming pretty quick. Its still super hard to understand people and its a spritiual struggle everyday to be surrounded by people who don~t speak your language but its also really fun. I used to think that God sent me here so I would be humble and rely on him not just my speaking skills, and i think thats part of it, but he also sent me here so I would have something to do. I~m so excited to learn the language. Its a challenge everyday and sometimes I win sometimes I lose. I~ve been thinking about how much I need the spirit to teach. I love teaching in portuguese because I can only do it with the spirit. It is impossible for me to teach without the spirit because I cannot speak portuguese. I~m ahead of most of my class in my ability to form sentences. I~m behind in vocabulary and grammar but because I have good language skills I know how to use the words i have to get my message accross. Too many kids try to translate directly what they want to say. The key is using the words you know and keeping your message simple. Don~t get too deep and let the lord speak through you. I love it here. Its hard. This week has been really hard. It is sinking in how long this thing is
. yesterday I did some shadow drilling. I really miss wrestling. I am seriously thinking about trying to wrestle at SVU when I get back. We´ll see. It is easy when I am not getting beat up to think about wrestling in college. but i do miss it. I did mountain climbers and pushups last night just so I could feel like I was in the wrestling room. I put my hoodie on and went at it. hahaha it felt so good.

Well my birthday was a little disappointing honestly. It was just a hard day (one of those days) and I think i got pink eye and I did not get any mail..... oh and I´m not a teenager anymore (a fact I hold over the heads of the other missionaries all the time hahah) But this was a good week. On the 4th they had ice cream here!!!!! It was great. We have had a few portuguese only days where we speak nothing but portuguese and it really helps the language come along. We are speaking a lot now and all our practice lessons are in only portuguese. The Lord really helps you teach. It is a lot easier to say things and remember things when you speak with the intent to practice than when you speak with the intent to goof off. I had a brazilian room mate who is really homesick. We talked a lot (in portuguese) and I gave him a blessing (in portuglish). We are pretty close now. Things are going really well. I had a great temple session today so i^m feeling really good and am really excited about this week. I hope everything is going well. I love you guys!!! (btw you never answered my question about my truck did you sell it?! have you had any offers?! ) love, Elder Noel