Elder Revelli

"Elder Romney.
Hey jock type, is that even a word? But really it's cool that you're so motivated. It was good in ginastica with you. You made stuff fun and understood why I got upset when people didn't hustle. You remind me too much of my old best friend, he is currently a great missionary, so i know you will be too. Keep up your hard work. No one can ever convince me that a merciful freebie handout is better than an earned trophy. Always use your knowledge. I remember when we taught our palestra together, your spirit was soo strong and you portugues was excellent. Keep it going good, love it, live for it.

Elder Revelli
626 Herschler Ave
Evanston, WY 82930
maceiowarrior@hotmail.com"


This guy was funny and quite the character but I really liked him. He was a very old fashioned kind of guy but he was very competitive and didn't mind competitiveness so we got along well.

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Elder Keppner

So at the end of our districts MTC experience we all wrote in each others journals. Here's what Elder Keppner had to say:

"What a privilege it is to write in your book. Thanks for keeping me up on the Lakers victories, I won't go any further on that for your happiness and my health. That's cool that you should be leaving your Texan home to come find a wife in Idaho/Utah. In case you feel like getting a hold of me.

Trent Kepner
4250 Grome Street
Idaho falls, ID 8340

Good luck in Recife, I know it'll be awesome."

Elder Keppner



Elder Kepner was a funny guy. He was reserved and quiet for the most part. He was very compassionate and he was very old fashioned. I remember he always wore his pants up to his belly button. He wasn't flashy or overly exciting or anything but he did his work to the best of his ability every day. He was also one of the better athletes in the district.

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4/17/03

"Well, today was another good day. There's this kid that works here who's a nonmember and sometimes he eats in the cafeteria. So one day I said to E.O. lets go sit by him and we did. Overtime we became very good friends with him. We took pictures with him and then yesterday we talked to him about the church. He said he already had a Book of Mormon that he read sometimes and that he felt good when he was around us. So we gave him a reference card and he gave us his address and now we can give it to the missionaries in this area."

Turns out this was the last journal entry of my missionary training center experience. We really enjoyed eating with this young man because we could practice our Portuguese with a native speaker and it was almost like being in the field when we were with him. he was someone from outside of the MTC walls. He was from where I wanted to go. The FIELD.

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4/15/03

"Well, today was our last P-day. It was great. I also got a package from home full of candy. It had 9 snickers and 7 butterfingers. Yum! I'm trying to make a little money out of it. I'm selling them for 3 reais. I've only sold one so far but I'll sell more. I also bought a new tie today that Elder Shepard wants and he's trying to trade me for it. I'm trying to speak all Portuguese outside the classroom. Well, I gots to turn the lights off."

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4/14/03

"Well,today is Monday and tomorrow is Christmas. It will be our last P-day. We have 8 more days. Something funny happened today. I had to go to the restroom and we had to go to the other side of the building cuz our restroom was being cleaned. I walked past the Men's restroom and I was heading into the girls restroom. I said hi to two of the girls and I was a step in when the 3rd siter looked at me really funny and then my companion said to me what are you doing. I then realized what I was doing and I walked back over to the Mens restroom. Today was a good day. We had our last service this morning. Next Monday Elder Richard G. Scott of The Quorum of The Twelve will be here to talk to us. Ther are only like 150 missionaries here so we'll all have good seats and we'll all probably get to shake his hand. We are all very excited. I got a letter from my cousin Aubrey, Mawhinneys and family today. The one from family had family pictures and pictures of Byrin and Coltin in the bluebonnets."

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4/8/03

"Well, today was a P-day. I'm not very good at writing in my journal. We went to the temple at 7:00. We have one more P-day and then we're out of here. Our last P-day we are going to order 3 large pizzas from Pizza hut. We have only 3 districts in our hall now. Everybody left today. Today I bought a new tie and a soccer tie tack for 10 reais. I was in the supermarket and these Brasileiro girls were checkin me out and they said i was a muito bonito American and they kept on looking at me. I would've given em one of my pass-along reference cards. Elder McPhee gave me his 1 real soccer ball so I didn't have to buy another one. It was so fun to play with. Texas is in the Final 4. I am waiting for word from my Dad. Well, the language is comin along real good! Conference was this weekend. it was great. I stayed awake for all 10 hours of it. The Spirit was really strong. I'm in Helaman chapter 10 in the Book of Mormon. I want to finish it before I leave the CTM."

I had a lot of fun playing with those little soccer balls. We would kick em back and forth in the hallways and see who could kick it past the other.

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4/1/03

"Well, today was a P-day. We went to Embu whih was a big outdoor market. It was a lot of fun. They had lots of cool shops. I bought a little marble armadillo for 8 reais, a Brazil jersey with Ronaldo's number on the back and a little ring. Then when we got back we went out on the streets and a man started talking to me and my roommates. I couldn't understand what he was saying but he seemed friendly and he kept putting his hand on my shoulder. He seemed nice and so I asked him if he knew anything about the Book of Mormon cuz he was talkin to us about religion and then in English he started sayin F-you. He was talking and looking at me the whole time. Then I bought a little ball for 1 real and people started talking to me. I talked to one guy about soccer and gave him one of the proselyting cards. That made me feel better. Then I talked to two other guys about soccer. Then we were walkin past this bar and this old guy came up to me and asked if he could have my ball and I gave it to him and he rubbed it on his face and walked into the bar. It was the same place where that other old dude yelled at us and grabbed his balls. The old people here don't like us."

I remember this day very well. It was kind of a traumatic experience for a few of the Elders in our group. The 1st guy started talking to a different elder in our district but I stepped in a bit cuz I felt like I know the language. So he's talkin to us for a few minutes and then all of a sudden he starts saying F-you but he was actually saying the real word. At that point some of the elders in my district stepped up and started telling the guy No. All they really know how to say was no but I appreciated them speaking up.
The second old guy had no shirt on and was soo drunk. He really just caught me off guard. And next thing ya know he had my ball. Some of the Elders were tellin me that I really had a rough day that day. It really didn't affect me much other than I was learning to stay away from that bar.

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3/30/03

Well, today is Sunday. Saturdays and Sundays are so fun here at the MTC. We have lots of prep time to work out, write letters, shine shoes and do reading. I have started reading "A marvelous Work and a Wonder." O love it. I finished the book "Our Search for happiness," that was an amazing book also. I have grown a great love for scripture study. This last week I really focused on the work. We got basketball back!! Boy am I out of shape. My team went 4-0 though."

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3/24/03

"Well, today was a good day. It is Monday. We always have 11 hours of class on Mondays but we stay positive cuz we know the next day is P-day. My Portuguese discussion is getting a lot better. I don't have long pauses in my discussions. Tomorrow is Christmas! I have started reading A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. It's a pretty good book. I also got a letter today from home. She sends me these Texas post cards. the first one was a thing of Blue Bell ice cream filled with bluebonnets and the one I got today was an armadillo by cactus and bluebonnets."

3/20/03

"Well, today was a rough but good day. The morning and afternoon were both really good but the night was really rough for me. Volleyball this morning was really fun. My team was really good and I had lots of spikes! I am doing a better job at not getting upset with people when they mess up. I cam up with a way to pick different teams every time we play. I take 5 Brazilian and American coins and put them on my hand. They close their eyes and pick one. If they pick an American coin they are team 1, Brazilian they're on team 2. Tonight was a really humbling experience. I have too much pride in my heart. Me and E.O. are very different. We have different ways of leading, I am usually short and quick to the point and he usually talks more about stuff. We come from very different places and sometimes I have a hard time respecting people from Utah or Idaho and I don't listen to what they say. I also had contention in my heart when he said what I was supposed to say when we were giving our discussion. I will talk more about it later."

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3/19/03

"Today was a great day. We had gym in the morning and then service at night. Service is really fun cuz we get to wear normal clothes and they usually let us off early. The language continues to zip along. I speak more and more Portuguese every day. Sitting with the Brazilians at meals really helps. Today we had a spiritual district meeting. The meeting was about us needing to pay more attention in class. I got a letter from Dad today. DeSoto basketball won state! I saw the pictures and showed em to everybody. The Dallas Mavs and Stars are also in 1st place in the NHL and NBA. Emmit Smith was released but I think the Cowboys will be getting much better. Today was Irma Sandra's last day. We bought her flowers and had a spiritual testimony meeting. Tomorrow we are supposed to go all day without speaking English. It will probably be a very tough and frustrating but with the Lord we can do anything. Friday we go proselyting. I am really excited and scared."

3/18/03

"Well, today was a really fun day. It was P-day. We went to Bom-Ta-Ta at 9:30 AM. Se we had extra time in the morning and we went to the I-net cafe place. It's really cool cuz an RM runs the place and he has ties and stickers and if you need anything he will run and get it for you for a small fee. I bought the tie that everybody in the district wanted. it was the only one. Elder Oliverson was standing right in front of it but he didn't see it and I grabbed it before he got it. Bom-Ta-Ta was pretty fun. They had monkeys and snakes and we took pictures. The best part was when we convinced them to take us to McDonalds. I got a Big-Mac, Chicken nuggets and a chocolate milkshake. The milkshake wasn't that great cuz they don't have real chocolate ice cream. Everything else was great though. I spent lots of money. I spent 50 reais on a pull up bar, 8 reais at McDonalds, 4 reais at the paper store, 2 reais on a sling shot and Dominoes, 1,60 reais on popsicle and this really yummy bread. We were walking down the street today when this old guy w/no shirt on started screaming at us and grabbing his balls at the same time. I don't know and don't want to know what he was saying. The U.S.A. is at war right now and the Brazilians don't seem to like that for some reason and so sometimes they yell at us. I got two letters from home today. One was from Dad and had lots of sports articles. the other letter was from Mom and the little boys. I love to get letters. Tomorrow morning our District is speaking all Portuguese. It is difficult but fun. Our Portuguese is getting lots better."

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3/14/03

Well, today was a pretty good day. We had 3 hrs. of class in the morning. After lunch we went to the museum. It was pretty fun. Then we had 4 hrs. of class. We have started translating the 1st discussion into Portuguese. Me and elder Oliverson go sit next to Brazilians at lunch so that we can practice our Portuguese.

3/13/03

"Well, today was another great day. We gave the 6th discussion and it went really well. this morning we went to the police office for 3 hrs. these kids asked to shine our shoes. I always let them shine my shoes because I have sympathy for them and I can talk to them and practice my Portuguese. Plus they only charge um real which is about 30 American cents. I talked to them about soccer and got other missionaries to let them polish their shoes. We shared Moroni 20:3-5 with them. I can't wait to get out in the field and serve the people. Then we got our mail and I had 4 letters!! 1 was from Yak and 3 were from home. Dad sent me all kinds of sports articles. DeSoto basketball is going to state. We beat Cedar Hill in the semi-finals which is our crosstown rival. The Mavs are still in 1st and the Cowboys just released Emmitt Smith. Then tonight after we had our 6th discussion we just talked for an hour. Everybody got a little teary eyed including myself. I cried like a little girl. It was a great spiritual experience."

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3/11/2003

"Well, today was a P-day. I've been sick with a cold since Monday morning. I accidentally kicked my covers off while I was sleeping and so the fan blew on me all night and I caught a cold. My head's all dizzy and my nose is stuffed up. I made a tape of myself talking and sent it home. I told them about district dump time which is right before gym, volleyball, food, constipation, Sao Paulo, P-day, companions, candy, Irmao Almeida, language and other MTC stuff. Today I bought candy, a tie, cheetos, ice cream, garments, and a notebook. The notebook was not the right size so I wasted 6 hai. Oh well. It was fun making the tape. My companions talked about my hot sisters and Elder Shepherd talked about how he knew what biscuits were but he didn't know what brisket is. This week is going to be on of the best weeks. Wednesday and Thursday we have gym. Friday we go to the museum. Saturday we have 4 hours of classes and then gym and then service and then prep time. We have a tie swap Sundays at 8:30. I gave Elder Shepherd my 3 Wal-Mart ties, a box of mentos and some mint skittles for his tie. It was worth it."

I really liked ties on my mission and I really liked Elder Shepherd's tie. It fell apart like two months later so I guess it wasn't worth it after all.

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3/8/2003

"Well, today was another great day. It's Saturday and we had lots of free time. I broke my pushups record-122 in two minutes! That's one a second for two minutes. Me and Oliverson did a complete workout after that. The fireside tonight was great as usual. I always like Saturday night firesides cuz they have movie clips and clips of the prophet and the apostles on the big screen. I've gotten three letters in the last two days!! Dad sends me sports articles and stuff. The Mavs are whoopin up on everybody. DeSoto basketball team won its first round playoff game. we had like 5 hours of free time today. I've been reading this book called "Our Search for Happiness." It's a really good book. I also polished everybody's shoes. Tomorrow I will start making a tape to send home to my parents. they still haven't gotten one of my letters yet. I am in 4th place in the loneliest missionary contest."

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3/7/2003

"Well I haven't been able to write here the last couple nights because I haven't had any time. We usually only have around 30 minutes of free time at night on Wed, Thurs., & Fri. & I usually spend that time exercising or reading my scriptures. Today was a great day!! The mornings of WTF are always great cuz we have gym and an hour of lab. The afternoons are always great cuz we have Irmao Almeida. he's a really cool guy. He's really funny and we teach him American slang. Our night classes are when the district has a tough time. We are all tired and Irma Sandra isn't as relaxed as the other teachers. I don't think she likes me that much. She loves my companion Elder Oliverson cuz he sucks up to her. But that doesn't matter who she likes. I am here to learn. Our district always gets in big arguments in class at night and so today we had a meeting. I shared scriptures that would be helpful and expounded on them and Elder Oliverson gave a cool quote. Tonight we worked together really well. We went and gave our discussion to another district. It was really great. The Spirit was really strong and at the end they asked some bible bash questions and they said I did an excellent job of answering them. At the end the teacher shared some great stories and he sang a song. Today was a really spiritual day."

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3/3/2003

"Well, I just did 101 pushups in 2 minutes. My previous record was 92. I did it against 3 of my other companions and I always do more when I have competition. I usually do 50 and then rest for a few seconds, but this time I did 70 without stopping. Tomorrow is Christmas (P-day)! We are going to the temple and then we will go out in the town for 2 hrs. One of my teachers, Irmao Pires is leaving today. We had 10 1/2 hrs. of class today. I was really tired today. I also ate tons of candy. Today I did the outline for my 4th discussion. Well I gotta get ready for bed."

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3/2/2003

Well, today was a good day. We woke up and had church at 8:00 AM. We started our fast yesterday after lunch and we ate lunch today. The meal was really good. I stuffed myself. That is only the 2nd time I've ever done a 24 hr. fast. I didn't even feel that hungry till about an hour before. Today we made a paper chain to countdown the # of days left at the MTC. We have 51 left. We just finished the third discussion the other day and we'll be starting the 4th soon. Our district meeting today was good. I came up with the district goal to have each companionship read a chapter in the BOM in Portuguese each night. One of our fireside speakers wold us that if we would read in Portuguese out loud that we would be able to speak Portuguese by the time we left the MTC. I remember the last thing I ate. It was Promised Land Choc. milk. Mom wrote me and told me she saved my last bottle of Promised Land and that she was gonna use it as a vase. My sleeping problems seem to have gone away for now. I love Sundays. I can't wit til P-day. Tchao."