#6 - Good Bye English (6/28/23)

 Boa Noite todos!

For this weeks email I am trying to send it myself (thanks to my dad sending me a list of contacts) so hopefully this works! If you ever want to communicate with me or know of someone that would like to be on my email list, let me know! Id love to add them and talk with you guys!

This past week was defintely full of ups and downs. Every day is full of learning more about the gospel and how to speak portuguese. Starting tomorrow though, I will be saying goodbye to having religion classes in english and will now be speaking ONLY Portuguese in class. Best of luck (boa sorte in português) to me!

My district during our p-day walk

Some of the downs this past week was saying goodbye to fellow Elders who are leaving for the mission field. For most Brazilians at the CTM, they only need to be here for 3 weeks to learn what they need to then go and serve. As someone who doesn't know portuguese, my district and I need to stay here for 3 more weeks to learn portuguese só majority of the Brazilian friends I made when I arrived have left and I know they are going to do a great work!

My favorite portuguese class substitue and the coolest guy at the CTM

We also had to say goodbye to a remarkable individual who we've only known for about 3 weeks but has touched my heart tremendously. Thank you Elder Rinehart for your great example and teachings these last two weeks! I look forward to seeing you after the mission and speaking to you in Portuguese!

 Last pic with Elder Rinehart (the sisters photobombed )

Something cool I have discovered this past week is how good the youth music is that the Church creates! Ive really enjoyed listening to "Faith" from the 2023 youth álbum if any of you want to give it a listen.

Today during our P-day, we went to a restraunt called "Rota 79". It had the BEST burgers and it was a really cool joint, 10/10. Elder Condie from our district also shared with us all cookies from this cookie place that works with the church to send letters and cookies to missionaries at the CTM. (Shout out to Elders Condie parents for the cookies!)

Rota 79 burgers

One of my favorite parts of this past week was discovering that Brazil has one of the best sports ever.... PICKLEBALL!!! Elder Mortenson and I were challenged to a game, best of 3, against some sisters who  were on a tennis team before the mission. Elder Mortenson played tennis before as well and I had a good amount of experience playing pickleball so it was a good match. The sisters won the first game and then meu companheiro and I made a come back. The sisters then asked us to do a best of 5.... we won again😅

Elder Mortenson and I with the candy the sisters gave us for winning pickleball

Positive affirmation activity:

A fun activity we did this week that I recommend everyone do is to get with your family or friends and have someone sit in the middle. Everyone then shares something they like about that individual. When our district did this I could see us all bonding and see the love of Christ in everyone.

My district

I would love to write more but I sadly dont have the time. Starting tomorrow I will officially have completed the first month of my mission. Im looking forward to see what the next 23 have in store for me.

Até mais!

Missionary Geese (Elder Mortenson and I laughed when we saw these

-Élder Fisher

#5 - My Brothers in Mosiah (6/20/23)

 Hey everyone! E aí Beleza!

Another week of CTM has gone by in a flash! Something that our gospel teacher, Irmã Torres, told us is to "not count down the days, but make the days count" and thats what ive been trying to do here!

Within the last week, I have been able to have some awesome experiences! We had a few opportunities in our language class to speak with others in portuguese and it is such a unique experience to be learning a new language and be a "beginner" all over again. My companion, Elder Mortenson, and I have begun to sit with a group of Brazilians during lunch and let me tell you, we sometimes have no idea what they are saying!🤣 They have taught us a whole lot and when we can communicate it feels like we've climbed Mt. everest.

*to anyone learning a language, I highly recommend you make some friends who speak the language and whenever you can, speak! Even if you dont know how to say something, try!*

This past Sunday, Elder Mortenson and I gave a lesson during Elders quorum. Our topic was Christ-like attributes and we had this entire lesson planned out but only ended up doing 2 parts of it. Our bishopric had a lot of meaningful experiences to share and shared a scripture that I hold very dear. In Alma 17:2 it reads....

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

I love this scripture so much as it talks about the relationships we form with others. I have come to love my companions and the people of brazil and this scripture helps me know that I will see them all again, at a time when we will be even stronger in the gospel.

Last Sunday night, we had a zone meeting with all the districts in our zone. We got to know one another and find out who everyones favorite Disney Princess is. We also played a game called "Bunny Bunny". Now for those here who havent attend an Efy or Fsy and havent played this game, this game is a intense rhythm game where you have to perform different actions depending on who has the "bunny". Its hard to explain but so far my record with the zone is 2 wins for Dfish, and 0 loses. The first time i won my companion practically picked me 2 feet off the ground!

Another favorite part of mine at the ctm is choir! We have choir before devotionals on Wednesday and Sunday night. With multiple languages here, we sing songs we all know and change the language each verse such as portuguese first, then spanish, english, and sometimes Japanese! 

Its also hard sometimes to distinguish between spanish and portuguese here and so I might have learned some spanish words instead of portuguese. Whoops, wrong language😅)

Today for P-day we had the opportunity to go walk around and try some açaí! I thought it was pretty good and the Lady helping us was super sweet! My companion didnt like the açaí so much but, he pulled through and finished his. We also visited this clothing store where this Lady sells ties to missionaries at a very legal (nice in portuguese) price and throws in a tie clip for free. Brazilians are so cool!!

One final fun thing that happened during the week, the sisters started singing a song and asked me to beatbox for them. We ended up performing it for our teachers. If i can find a way to send the video, I will

That sums up a majority of my week! Until next week!

Tchau,

-Élder Fisher

#4 - I'm Bill Gates (6/13/23)

Olá a todos! Como vão vocês?

Officially done with my first week at the São Paulo CTM and it was awesome! Here are some highlights:

1. The São Paulo Temple is muito bonito! We had the opportunity to attend the Temple and look around the visitor center there. It was a really cool experience to also get to sit next to this giant Jesus statue and have a moment to realize how much Christ has done and still does for us!

Elder Condie, Elder Fisher and Elder Mortenson
[Mom note: Devin isn't exactly short, but looks tiny here]

2. I found out that Brazil celebrates a lot of Holidays and last week they were celebrating one that we didnt know about. I'm not sure which one it was but we didnt figure out it was a Holiday until we were sitting in a empty room for 15 minutes waiting for an instrutor to arrive. Once someone found us and asked what we were doing, they explained it was a Holiday and we had free time so we went to play volleyball. Which leads into...

3. I apparently look like Bill Gates🤣 

While playing volleyball, one of the Brazilian Elders said I looked like Bill Gates and we all begun to laugh. That Elder was really cool and he helped teach me some portuguese because he knew some english.

The district

4. I have been asked and assigned to be the leader of my district of 10 missionaries. This means that I make sure everyone is following the rules and has everything they need. It also means I have to attend some extra meetings and drag my companions along with me (sorry Elder Mortenson and Elder Condie😅)

5. Choir rehearsal is AMAZING! We get to sing and practice songs in portuguese, spanish, english, and some japanese! It is really special to be able to have music connect us all together even though we come from different places and speak different languages.

6. The food here is DELICIOUS! Brazilians know how to cook. They always have good Rice and beans and it excites me to see what they will cook next.

A quick spiritual thought:

No matter the burdens or trials we face, we must press forward. I quote 2nd Nephi 31:20 here with: "ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: ye shall have eternal life"

I know these words to be true. When we continue to move forward with Christ and love not only Him but all the individuals around us, we can have the greatest gift of eternal life.

I wish you all the best and look forward to more adventures!

Facebook messenger chat with the family

-Élder Fisher

#3 -The Fisher Arrived in Brazil (6/6/23)

Boa tarde! I have officially arrived in São Paulo! After being awake for a straight 24 hours I have now unpacked and officially tried my hand at speaking with some locals! Someone from Brazil (shoutout to Nielson!) spoke with me on the flight and helped me learn about Brazil. He was an awesome guy and was heading back home to see his family after being in Seattle for a year and a half.

I have also met my district in person and they are awesome! Elder Mortenson is in fact 6'4" and a really cool dude. We have already made plans to go [on a double date] swing dancing when we get back🤣

I'm going to go ahead and keep this short since I sent an email on Saturday but I think at the MTC my p-days are on Tuesday.

Wish you all the best and know that God lives and truly walks beside us at all time, in all things, and in all places!

 -Élder Fisher

First day at the Brazil CTM

#2 - I'M A MISSIONARY NOW! (6/3/23)

Week 1 - I'M A MISSIONARY NOW! 

Boa noite everyone! 

I have officially begun my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! This past week I took part in online MTC (or CTM, as Brazil calls it) and it was a blast! Day one was intimidating at first joining a Zoom and only hearing Portuguese speakers for the first 5 minutes. I soon learned that I could change the translation to English, making everything easier to understand.😅

This week we focused on learning both the standards and fundamentals of missionary work. A big takeaway for me was the idea that Missionaries don't just preach a lesson to an individual, but rather they preach to the individual based upon their needs. Everyone is different and needs different help and that's what makes each lesson so unique. God communicates to us each in a way that we will understand and will benefit us the most.

Another thing I learned this week that I feel everyone could take away from is knowing that through Christ, everything is possible. I felt very nervous about learning Portuguese at first but I have come to know for myself that through God, I will be able to communicate what is in my heart to those I need to. When we ask the Lord to assist us and we meet him halfway by putting what we can forward, He will make up all the difference. I know He will.

For those who may wonder why it is I am serving a 2-year mission, I would like to share with you a scripture. Alma 26:30 which reads...

"And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some."

I absolutely love this scripture! This scripture shows the goal of my mission. I wish to be a light to not only my Heavenly Father, but His children and be able to save "some soul". That is my purpose. To find joy in helping those of God's children by sharing with them the love I have for this Gospel and the love God has for them!

Come Monday, I will be traveling to Sao Paulo to begin my in-person MTC experience. WOOHOO!!!! I'm super excited to be going to Brazil and being able to meet my district and all the wonderful people there. If you want to view my adventures more, feel free to check out this blog my mother put together for me:

'Fisher of Men' in Brazil (fisherofmeninbrazil.blogspot.com)

If there are any missionaries out there whose email list I didn't get on, please add me! (devin.fisher@missionary.org)

I wish you all the best and I will try my best to write each week!

From a 'Fisher of Men', Elder Fisher 1st pic: A lesson about Oranges and the Restoration 2nd pic: My BYU roommates and friends as Twinkies. (Thank you @ Allie Doss!)