October 24, 2011

First week in Brazil! I am in San Bernardo and its great to be here, different for sure though. Lunch is the main meal of the day and breakfast and dinner are nearly non existent so you just have to cram yourself. We also do a lot of walking, at least 6 miles a day so thats a big change. Its been great though, the language is still really tough b/c people speak so fast, I dont know all the words, and have different accents. Its been fun though. My comp is Elder Meacham, who I kinda remember from our family reunion (2nd cousin) and he helps me out alot b/c basically I can only say things and when they respond I am in trouble haha. Besides that though, the ward is good. There are a lot of young families here and a lot of little kids. The people seem to be pretty open to the gospel. They are friendly too once you start talking with them, they seem to open up. A good first week though, oh and I went through my first favela, its pretty nice though, so no worries mom. Thanks for all the emails and prayers, it definantly helps when you feel like the only person down here who cant speak the language. Here is the address to send things too if you want.

Av. Dr. Luis da Rocha Miranda 159, 8th Andar Pq. Jabaquara - São Paulo -SP 04344-010

Long I know but oh well. Well not much else to report, we are just trying to find some people to teach. Cause we dont have a ton of progressing investigators. Love you all and have a great week!

October 17, 2011

So I got my visa! I found out on Thursday and I leave on Wednesday, still havent found out the flight plans yet but at least I know I am going down there. Just hope the little bit of Portuguese will get me by for awhile. Some highlights to this week are that I have been fed a ton, I want to say 12 times this week, maybe more so not complaints there. The people of Paducah have really taken care of me. Its been great to be here. Oh I had the opportunity to listen to elder Christofferson of the qourum of the 12 speak which was great and he spoke about many subjects b/c it was a q and a at the end but just his presence and the spirit he carried was really strong. He did say that often times we dont listen enough in our prayers which really stood out to me. Cant complain about hearing from an apostle, it was great because he is such a smart man but yet relies a lot on the spirit and loves to tell jokes and is witty, which I appreciated. I also went tracting for the first time, it was alright nice to get out and walk, but literally everyone we already talked to already had a church which I am not surprised. So we never did end up finding the Brazilians in that supposed area but oh well. Then we did some contacting in the "city" and found one that might be interested, the nice part of being in the bible belt is that everyone already has some religious foundation and some knowledge. Oh and I cant leave out the "greenie" meal the chapmans made for me. I dont feel that or new or like a greenie but I guess I am. So we had green mash potatoes, green rolls, green kool-aid, green bean casserole and a roast which was good. Oh and a pistachio (green) cheesecake, and she is a great cook. So it was fantastic. We have also been teaching a lady named Teri, which has been going well. She has a baptist backgound but believes everything she says but still hasnt managed to pray about the book of mormon, but I have enjoyed teaching her and honestly have learned a lot. Well thats about it for this week. Its been great to be here in Paducah but am excited to go to Brazil. Thank you all for your love and support

Love,

elder Ryan McCord

October 3, 2011

In Paducah, Kentucky! It is pretty much like Brazil haha not even close but from what I have seen I love it. Currently in Eastern Kentucky and am with 2 zone leaders as my companions. Its been great and I am learning a lot from them and from the member. Taught my first lesson or should say listened to it, we gave a lesson to a family members friend at their home at the 2nd counselors home. I didnt really say much but it was great I almost started to take notes. Oh and pretty much everyone here has a church which I guess is a good thing and everyone seems to know the bible well, aka the Bible belt. Definantly got some reading to do. Havent had a real day of missionary work with general conference and then my p-day today but its been great so far. I try to catch up on my Portuguese in my downtime, not that we have a lot but just when we are waiting for something or are driving. We have a huge area, we drove to a house last night that was 21 miles from the church building and that wasnt even the farthest member, definantly not like utah where if you go 21 block you are in a different stake. I have really enjoyed it here, the other missionaries are definantly trying to help me adjust as I figure out the routine. We dont have a ton of investigators but I feel like we are making progress.

So I got to mention this, we are allowed to listen to mo-tab and a nashville tribute, the nashville tribute is great. I guess only in the Nashville mission can you listen to country music and call it church music, its got church type lyrics mixed with country...so pretty much like mo-tab....haha. But I really enjoy it out here, I still cant wait to get down to Brazil but am enjoying it here. It really helps how nice everyone is here, I cant get over it. I also learned a lot about how to trap beavers and bow hunting for deer, so I cant say it hasnt been educational being out here! Got to love hearing about trapping beavers while having bbq right before conference. Its fantastic. OHHHH I can also email family and friends, so mallory if you could put that on FB and send me some email addresses of my friends and other members of the fam that would be great! Oh and our mission does Facebook, where we talk to investigators online, I dont get it yet but we will see how it works. I also set up a mormon.org account, I dont feel productive when I do it so I might just study portuguese but we will see. But ya can't beat Paducah! Oh and conference was fantastic, I think I learned more than I ever have and we are lucky enough to have Elder D. Todd Christofferson come on the 15th, you will have to tell Grandma Mary Ann that, I remember her saying they were good friends. I love this work.

Love you all and thanks for the support.