Love You All

it is so good to hear from you all. i actually prefer letters since it is easier to tell you everything in them. when we email we only get about 30 minutes to email everyone and that is not enough time to write you. but everything is good. the rules here are actually better than provo. last night was raining way to much and so the court for volleyball was soaked so we couldnt play at all. instead i decided to toughen up and go play basketball with the boys. here they dont care if you play contact with them or anything because they trust us to make the right choices. but i did really well. a lot of the boys were shocked at how well i played. i made the most points it was awesome. my quartet i sang in last week to everyone was awesome it went really well. i was so nervous and my leg shook but i did a good job. i am trying to remember everything that happened but it is all in a journal. i will keep writing you letter and now that i know how to send pictures i will being printing out pictures for you guys to have of me. i am not able to send you some through email because like i said everything on this computer is blocked so we cannot really do anything other than get onto email through lds.org. we dont have new roommates and a lot of girls are leaving which is very sad. every week groups come and go and it is very hard for me because i get so close to mostly Brazilians and they leave. so i have a lot of photos with them which is awesome. one elder gave me his tie. he was a good friend and his name was elder chavez which i thought was pretty cool. make sure you write coral for me and just tell her these things that i write in an email. tell everyone hi for me and that they all write my new address since i leave this ctm soon. and really dont want  letters going all over the place. also i am starting to get used to the days of non stop studying it is very frustrating to not know the language very well but i think i am doing a pretty good job of it. we had investigator training which i enjoy because we are filmed while teaching and get to go back and see how we do. i did really well with my companion. i feel kind of bad because i think either i am learning faster than her or i am just going by the spirit but either way i just talk non stop about the gospel and the lesson we are teaching. i will look at her to have her jump in but she has nothing to stay and gives me the i am scared look and so i continue talking. i am glad that i am not shy otherwise i would be struggling here. the weather has been cold the last few days but it feels nice and the rain is cold and feels good. the tress are blooming but sao paulo is such a trashy city that everything smells like sewage in some areas and on the way to the temple there are bums living in cardboard houses under the bridges. our president pointed to the river next to the road and we asked why it was so dirty. he told us its because its not just a river but all the sewage gets dumped into it. it was so gross to find that out. people park about an inch from each other and i ordered some really cool scripture covers for 60 reals which is about 40 dollars. they are custom made out of leather and i have the picture of christ holding the lost lamb carved into the front with sister tiana cesena across the bottom and on the back i have jose smith first vision. on the side it says brasil cuiaba mission which is awesome. also the candy here is delicious and the cocla cola is very sweet. i think i am losing weight. i am in a race with the class to see who drinks the most water and i drink 3 liters a DAY. i am so proud of myself. i cut back on food and just am careful. yesterday was only speak Portuguese day or what the missionaries call the English fast. we do not speak English at all which becomes difficult. i do a pretty good job i think and we make it a game. if you accidentally speak English you get a point and the one with the least points wins. elder merker and i had one point each for accidentally talking once. other than that i am doing great. really glad to be on my mission it still amazes me that i am here and that i am actually doing this but i know that i am here for a purpose. we sing the Brazilian national anthem all the time. you should look it up. it is amazing. i love it and get so excited when we sing it. i love you so much and happy to be here. cant wait to hear from you soon. love you all!!!

love, sister tiana cesena