CTM--That's Portuguese for Spiritual Prison

February 15, 2002

First full day in the CTM--Centro de Treinamento Missionario. (Literally translated, Center of Missionary Training. Call me a grammar geek, but this passive voice is going to take a while to get used to...)

I met one of my teachers today. Irmão Fabio. The first thing he said to our class--composed of Elders Bawden, Merrill, Frandsen, Cooper, Clark, Melean, Lords, McAfee, and myself--was "I am Fabio. I got married last week. I. Am. The Man." Couldn't have loved him more at that moment.

Also met my branch president, Presidente Tkotz. He's tall, with a startlingly receding hairline, olive skin, and striking sky-blue eyes. Forgive me, but he looks NOTHING like what I thought a Brazilian would look like. But I'm quickly coming to learn that Brazilians don't look like Brazilians.

Oh, Elder Clark and I were called to be District Leaders. Sounds like a lot of paper work, but I'm excited to work and serve where I can. The Spirit is strong here and everyone seems to be motivated.

Right now, my body is telling me it's 5:15, even though it's 9:15. I'm all kinds of jet-lagged. That aside, though, the experience is getting better by the hour. Although, to be honest, my room kind of reeks. Like it would if you stuffed five 19-year-old boys into the same small room, turned the thermostat up to 90 degrees, upped the humidity to 100%, and then stuffed them with rice and beans at nearly every meal. And then on top of that sweet aroma, you gently place Elder McAfee's peach-smelling skin lotion as the maraschino cherry of stink. You have now made the smell of death that much more appealing.

Speaking of food and bodily functions, the food here is pretty good. That's nice, since our days are pretty much spent studying, eating, studying, eating, and then eating a little bit in between studies and meal breaks. My favorite part? You get all the guarana and fruit juice you want. But with that comes previously unforeseen circumstances. Elder Clark has to pee all the time...but it's cool. He's really motivated to be a good missionary.