19 February 2009

Dear Everyone,
I received your letters today and was very happy to see that there were two! I guess I will answer all your questions first and then tell you some stuff of my own. I finally had something to eat at 6:00 in the evening Wednesday. The food is great.

The flight was fine. I sat next to a man I didn't talk to the whole time, but I had a wonderful window seat. It was beautiful to watch the ground turn from green to brown to white. I could have had some pretzels or cookies, but I really wasn't in the mood. It is much colder than Santa Maria: in the 30's and 40's all day! But me and my companion, Elder Kariya, are rarely outside.

I got into SLC about 8:50 AM, so I made the 9:30 shuttle. I made some missionary friends at the airport who I hung out with through the MTC introduction process.

My companions name is Elder Kariya. He is from Kaysville, Utah. We have been getting along great. We haven't had too much time to find out about each other's home life because we have been so busy, but I will be on the ball soon. I do have a pillow here, and I did need the hangers. My language training started today and I think it will go well.

I do have my badge on now. It looks great. I am glad that my room is being emptied out so fast :). Thank you for the poem :/ I laughed and cried. I don't have to do much walking. Provo looks great from here, and the MTC is part of the BYU Campus, though you only see missionaries walking around.

I am the senior companion in my companionship, and I was made District Leader yesterday. There are 12 missionaries in my district, "G", and we are in branch 54. All of us in the district are waiting for our visas.

I will send my first email on Friday the 27th, so you should get my email address then. I'm sorry I can't write in more detail, but I rarely have any extra time to write letters. I know I am doing the work of the Lord, and I am so grateful you are all supporting me in this calling. Thank you for the setting apart blessing,

Love to All,
Elder Daniel Floyd

Change of Plans

Okay, some things have changed. My visa has not come back from the Brazilian Consulate in Los Angeles, so I, along with nine other missionaries from my mission, will be reporting to the Provo MTC on 18 February instead of the Brazil MTC on 11 February. I will be there until my visa comes through, at which time I will transfer down to the Brazil MTC.

While I am in the Provo MTC, the best way to contact me will be through dearelder.com.

Maiden Post

This is Soon-to-be-Elder Floyd. Having viewed Elder Webb's Blog and finding it interesting, I have decided to copy his approach and create a blog where you can read letters and view pictures that I have sent home from the Brazil Curitiba Mission. I will be entering the Brazil Missionary Training Center on 11 February 2009, and I expect to be there for nine weeks before traveling to my mission. You can write me letters using the addresses on the right. I look forward to serving the people of Brazil and the Lord. I'll see you all in two years!