22nd February 2015

ok im really sorry but i only have 10 mins to read an write after email president and putting all this weeks stats in. we went to another city today and got back late se we have almost no time to email today, but i have some more photos for you!! 

ive had to take photos of all my emails today because i really have no time to write anyone today.

Love you so much!!!!

elder greener.

16th February 2015

"at the moment we are living of fruit because is so cheap!!! last week i got a watermelon for 10 reals!! ($5)

but yeah i was talking to the mission president the other day, president lisonbee, and he said he needs me to do some electrical work for him soon haha so thats pretty cool.

i feel like it ws just yesterday that i was at the beach with sam and texting friends and doing the usual dumb things i did!! time is going really fast!!

the only time ive been sick so far was when i got a real bad fever in the mtc, havent had the runs yet!!

on my second day on the feild my first pair of shoes exploded hahaha. but im wearing those hush puppies now and theyre doing pretty good.

it's so flippen hot!! dont know the temperature but everyday you just sweat and sweat its great haha.

ive been writing to jacob, not last week cos i ran out of time but almost everyweek.

language is going really well. like pres said if i study the gospel then the language will come so thats what ive been focusing on. still really hard to understand what people say but cos they speak so flippen quick!!

just on friday we were having lunch with a member. about a week ago her mum passed away. after lunch we shared  short message about the atonement of christ and i bore testimony to her that i know we can return to live with our heavenly father and our families. cant really remember what else i said but she was crying and it must have really helped her cos she seemed more at peace. she thanks us profusely and gave us some home made geladinhos her whole freezer was full of them hhaha.

on an average day, wake up, run for 20 mins, get back, eat whatever i can, study until 12, have lunch with members at 12 and then we go and teach and proselite until 9 pm. its a lot of walking!!

much love, 

Elder greener

Pics of his area 

outside Sao Paulo Temple while at the MTC

9th February 2015

thats so awesome that everyone is coming home now time goes so dam quick!!

but yea i love the beans here they are way different for the ones back home! i really miss apricot chicken curry and chille con carne!

oh i bet sharni is packing her pants haha, is she gonna go on a mish?? im trying to convince here i hope she does. im glad that shes got a good group of friends to hang out with.

well the area is absolutely crazy, theres like a billion motorbikes and its just hectic. all the ´houses´ are stacked up like 4-5 storeys high and you dont have to be qualifid to build haha. we are basically in the hood its awesome, and fruit here is so cheap!!! i got like 40 bananas last week for 5 reals, wich is like $2.50, its so aweosme and with every meal we have the members make home made fruit juice.

and we are like 30 mins from the mission, home there is an  area thats like 16 hors away by bus!!

for breakky we usually jusy eat fruit or bread, this morning we got fed bya little old member lady that liives across the street, whe made the best lunch for us the other day all the foor almost didnt fit on the table!! we usually have like feijoa, rice, spaghetti, fruit and like some kind of meat dish. we have lunch with members everyday cos thats the main meal here but we just have what ever we can make for dinner. last week elder fender tried to make spaghetti, it didnt go so well, ill send you a pic.

hmmm highlight was probably we i founf a lady outside her house and told her that we had an important message to share, i asked if she had time to hear and she let us in. so we taught her and her family and they seem really interested.

havent had a bad time this week at all but everything is just going awesome!!

hahaha last week i got a haircut for 5 reals too, which is like $2.50, by some random guy in some random street. its a very interesting haircut but its not that bad.

and i dont really have any pictures to send anyways!!! because we dont have time to really take pics. but i have some of the appartment, if thts whatt you can call it, some of the mtc and yeah so ill send thosse. and hey do you know if its possibe to get like a pocket book of mormon in english?? i reeealy need one to be able to take around with me.

oh yeah and here people pimp out theyre bikes with like big sound systems haha not their motor bikes but their bycicles hahaha its awesome.

so yea ill send a couple pics that i have.

much love, 

elder greener

Email to his dad...

'ive been concentrating on learning the lessons and studying the scriptures more and ive found that the language just comes more and more every day. 

but yea brazil is awesome we meet so many crazy people and so many nice people too. you would love it here the most dominant cars are VW´s and fiats, honestly like every day i see about 10 VW beetles and vand they are absolutely everywhere here. my typing is absolutely shocking because i have to type so fast i hope it all makes sense haha.

hope evrythings going good back home youse are all in my prayers.

Lover elder greener

2nd February 2015

hey so yeah im finally in savador!!!

the flight wasnt too long only like 2 hours. but nah we got taken to our house thing that night.

and yeah that would be awesome!!! so you knw what one to get yeah? a small one just like yours but with out the button closure. i got a custom made scripture case made in sau paulo for like $30 australian.

ANd  yea ive got my new companion his name is eler fender and hes from america. Hes an awesome trainer but!! brazil is crazy here. there are like no rules. there are people riding motorbikes evrywhere and cars are crazy here everyone just walks on the road and theres this one dude that rides a horse i have no ider how he keeps it haha. he houses here are all so so tiny and there are like stacked up 4-5 storeys. people can reach out theyre windows and grab the power lines its like a spider web.

and yea i will send pics but i cant right now im running out of time cos my comp needs to do something and i dont think i can from this computer;

bomfim is crazy!! the litte place we are staying in didnt even have running water for the first 4 days haha had to use a bucket and a cup it was awesome.theres a little old member lady abcross the road that gives us water shes really cool.

love you more hope things are going awesome back home!!!!!!

Lover Elder Greener

and another on the same day (he recieved a whole bunch of emails due to him missing pday the week before)

holy heck so many emails!! 

im realy happu for lukeys operation thats awesome!!

but yeah ive written back to yaya and yayo already they are doing awesome it was good to hear from them.tell to to shave it off its worse than mine haha.

super stoked about sharnis job too thats awesome i hope she decides to put her papers in.

and im really ticked about warrens papers not comiing in yet i want to know where he goes!!

i glad that everything is goig good for hime, can you telkll him to email me??

but yea like i said i have an awesome trainer. and nah i havent received any packages or any letters at all!

Starting to miss you guys now and i hope sams ear gets better!! 

Much Love

Elder Greener

21st January 2015

hahaha ok well ive only got like 6 more days here!!! i leave next teusday.

and nah we dont really have any cool stories yet, weve only been tracting once so far.

during the day we dont really have time for fun because we are alwasy so freaken busy its actually crazy.

im glad that dads been keeping busy that pretty cool and im really glad the ward has been helping out bec and damo, can you send me some pics of lukey later??

if your plannung on buying something theres no point because today is my last p-day and i wont be able to collect it haha so let nanna and uncle adrian know!!

oh and hey was warren gotten his call back yet???

not much has been happening here. everyday is pretty much the same so i dont have much to tell you. when i get out into the feild next week ill be able to tell you a lot more so i guess untill then!!

much love.

elder grener

15th January 2015

"tracting was fretty fun!! the dumped us at a mestro station so it was really hard to speak to anyone os they were all so busy and had places to go. everyone speaks so flippin fast here so i didnt understand much but me and my compaion gave away 3 book of mormons its was awesome. an old inacvtive bloke saw us and got us a nice cold can of guarana it was awesome cos it was so dam hot that day.

im so happy to hear that bec and damo are coming to church and having the missionaries thats cool how did lukeys opperation go??

oh yeah and look out for my companions mum elder bratsman just told her about the facebook page so she might be joining it sometime soon.

The elder from fiji just told me that he moved up to geraldton so thats awesome he said he seen nanna bell and tommy there so that was cool. not much went on this week district 49-A left yesterday and this place kinda sucks without them we were like a big family all the sinters and me had a cry yesterday when they left haha. that was the district with elder starnes (i call him elder starnies) and elder fairbanks in it.

hope everything is going great at home im praying for you guys. 

Love elder greener.

8th January 2015

"hooooly smokes so wazza finally put his papers in that made me cry a bit im so happy for him. your gonna have to keep my updated on that but ill probs be out of the mtc by the time he gets it. but yea things are going great here. im picking up the language fairly quick, aroung night time class is when my brain tries to shut off so the last few hours of the days uually suck. today we went to sao paulo temple it was so awesome. i cannott beleive how different brazil is it was about a 45 min ride to the temple and the whole time i had my eyes glues outside. i feel like ive been so sheltered for my whole life in australia. im starting to figure out why i have been to brazil after seeing a lot more of it today.

on froday we are going proselyting which is awesome. haha missionaries usually come back with crazy stories, one of the sisters almost got snogged by a drunk dude when she went and some elders tried to give a book of mormon to a lady and she went crazy and took ALL her clothes off and started running around hahaha.

and yea played a few pranks but its all good now it wasnt anything serious haha.

but so its pday today and im about to go to the lolly shop down the road. also do you reken you could send some hair wax?? they dont have any here!!! that would be awesome.

hope the family is doing really good im keeping yous in my prayers!!!

Lover, Elder Greener.


another email to his Dad..

yea feeling like a missionary now its pretty crazy. this friday im going trackting which im pumped for. the missionaries always come back with crazy stories it should be great.

and yea i am feeling a whole lot smarter nowhaha im starting to think in portuguese.

and thats great abouth sharnis driving i thought it would never happen haha.

but yeah ive been keeping you in my prayers i went to sao paulo temple today which was great lots and lots of things to see on the trip there. i feel like im ready to leave the mtc.

Christmas phone Call

Shortly after lunchtime - we received a phone call from Brazil MTC - it was James.   We got 30 minds to chat.  Most of that time was spent repeating ourselves because it was so noisy on his end.  He said he was calling from the computer in a room full of people (about 20 others) and all trying to talk louder than the person next to them because no one could hear anything. They were all talking in portuguese - James was the only english speaking one there..  Although it was noisy and a tad frustrating at times, it sure was good to hear his voice and have him tell us some of the things he got up to during his short time there.
Ok so now we wait for our next phone call on mothers day...we can do this :)
And hopefully we might get skype!! woohooo

1st P-Day at the CTM

Elder Greener's first P-Day was spent at the temple in the morning and then shopping for his beloved lollies.  Anyone that knows him will know he has such a big sweet tooth and is always buying and eating lollies.
Across the road from the CTM is a cookie store called 'Mr Cheney's'.  The make cookies, milkshakes, brownies - all things good!
Mr Cheney's have a fabulous little system where parents or friends of missionaries can order these yummies online for their missionary.  They then send the missionary a note to CTM telling them that they have something to pick up...how cool is that! They are pretty expensive but still pretty cool.  They also run under the name of Missionary ties that provide email services for missionaries.  They also offer one free cookie to 'new missionaries'...this free cookie comes with a photo home and a free message sent from your missionary.  Here is my message...

carrying a bagful of lollies!

This was his email to us minus a few personal bits....

"yeah its going great so far holy crap thats a long email!! im not gonna have anywhere near enough time to whrite one that long. but yea elder chastain is in my district and in my same dorm room. haha we are laughing about how crazy mums are.

and thats awesome about the school i didnt expect such big blessings so soo thats cool. and yea i went to mr cheneys today they you should have gotten my message by now i think. its really cool they give you a free cookie there on your first week. but yeah its actually a cookie shop and let you use the missionary ties service for free the first time.

awesome im going to have a look for the photos when i get back into my room. im all the way on the 5th floor and we cant use the elevators.

oh yea and im goint to ge callin you on christmas at around 11;30 am sau paulo time so i dont know what that would be there.

sorry i actually cant send any photos yet we cat use the mtc ones for flash drives or anything like that, kinda dumb. can you send me more photos of sam? i really miss him a lot.

dont really miss much else from home yet, maybe in the next few weeks but yea.

anyways i gotta go only had like 30 mins to email."

Arriving at Sao Paulo CTM (Mission Training Centre)

He arrived in Sao Paulo bright and early.... he sent us an email straight away to let us know he was there safe - this is what he wrote....

So yea i made it here alive and i didnt get pulled up by customs or anything like that. 

plane ride was a bit interesting, i had a side isle seat but swapped with a couple that wanted to sit together. dubai was pretty sweet, loads of fancy stuff everywhere.

currently in sao paulo and safe. ive got my temporary badge too.

not really too much to write about yet as i literally only just got here but ill be able to message you again sometime soon and it will be a longer email i promise.

anyways so thats about it for now.

Love you and everyone at home,

Elder Greener.

The next day we got another email when the next lot of missionaries arrived so we got a little bit more information... (he arrived a day earlier than the rest due to differing flight schedules - worked out well though as he was able to settle in and get a good sleep)

Hey mum nah i didnt end up getting another isle seat but i didnt mind too much. i still cant feel my but thought im not sure i ever will again that 15 hour flight sucked.

glad to see that people are still gonna take sam for walks hes always go so much flippen energy.

ok well im deffs gonna have to check out this icecream shop i cant wait and im so dam hungry i could eat everything in brazil right now its cray. so lastnight i was put with three other elders from america for the night and then this mornig three more americans flew in so i am in a dorm with them. they are all awesome guys.

so yeah i probs wont be able to write a generic email today cos i only have 30 mins today but i will be able to on pday, i dont know when that is yet but ill find out soon.

oh and i cant upload any photos yet either we arent supposed to use thumb drives on anything like that on the mtc computers i dont think.

so yeah thats about it things are going great so far and im excited to see what comes up next and ill be able to call you for christman at 11-30am  -  12-00am sao paulo time but ill let you know more about that soon when i find out.

so yeah love yous all see ya

We also got a lovely email from his Mission President with photo...here it is...

Dear Parents,

Sister Swensen and I are very happy to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil Missionary Training Center.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they begin their missionary experiences with us. We will surely take good care of your missionary.                                                                                                     

The missionaries now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  Their branch presidents and wives, will meet them this Sunday.  These wonderful couples are richly blessed as they work with, motivate, and interview the missionaries assigned to their branch.

The MTC has a full-time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife who is a nurse. We are also happy to report that the cafeteria food is plentiful, healthy and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of many others. President Lorenzo Snow said: “There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".  We love these missionaries as if they were our own.  We will watch over them carefully to ensure they are ready for a wonderful missionary experience after the rewarding time they will have in the MTC.

We thank you for preparing such a wonderful representative of the Lord.

President Robert Swensen and Sister Julie Swensen

Setting apart and Departure day has finally come

15th December 2014 is 'D' day (Departure day)

True to form...james left packing till last minute.  We were throwing things into his suitcases and hoping we had everything he needed!  Too late now!
We met with President Brodie at the Warwick Chapel to be set apart as a missionary. A few of his friends where also able to be there which made it all that more special for him.
Some of the things that were said in his blessing were...


It was time to head to the airport.  It was a long anxious wait for that time to come where he would walk through those gates.  In the meantime, he was surrounded by family and friends wanting to say their last 'seeya laters'.  There was a mix of happiness, sadness, excitement, nervousness, and maybe a bit of shock that this was it!  The day that he actually leaves us.  The day that he starts a new chapter in his life - without us.  The day that his faith and commitment is actually pushed to its limits.  At anytime he could have said no, I don't want to go, I've changed my mind, this is too hard, I have too many things going for me back home..but he didn't.  He walked through those doors knowing with all his heart that this is what he is meant to be doing.  He left that day forgetting about himself and wanting to serve others -people that he has never even met.  What an amazing young man he is! We love him and will miss him terribly but so incredibly proud of him.  Take care of our boy, Brazil!

Nervous?

call me baby

Bro Hugs

Daddy

Mummy

Mummy

Sharni

Tommy

Nanna Bell

Maddi

Eli

The Marathon Flight

He would have a marathon flight ahead of him.
Flying with Emirates, he flew 11 hours from Perth International Airport to Dubai.  A 5 hour layover then another long 15 hour flight to Sao Paulo Brazil.

11 hours and 10 mins

15 hours and 15 mins