Email received December 16, 2014

Elder Cole Gunnoe and I emailed back and forth during his email time today and unfortunately it caused him to not have enough time to write a longer, detailed blog email so I will include some of our email at the end of his blog post for today:

This was an awesome last week!
Monday not a lot happened after the emails. We had dinner with a member and then went to work. We visited an investigator and had an interesting visit. She really likes to just talk and joke around, but that wasn't the interesting part. She has a 1 year old son who is awesome, and very hungry. And it's pretty normal here in Brasil for a mom to feed her child when he's hungry right there in front of everyone. And it aint solid food! So she proceeded to feed this toddler 6 times during our visit... Kid starts whining and mom proceeds to give him some of her calcium right there in front of the missionaries and anyone else that happens to be there. But I figured out a way to know when it was going to happen, so at that moment, I would just so happen to look away or look at my companion! Just a coincidence! But it's going to take some getting used to for that...
Tuesday was a good day! We had a District meeting in the morning and then had some time to study. After lunch, we went and visited some members and investigators. Made a couple contacts and left a few pamphlets for people.
Wednesday We had a service project in the morning. Pictures should be on the blog and on facebook of that! We moved some bricks for a family and then proceeded to make a throne with them haha. We had a good time with that! After lunch we went to one of the Conjuntos (there will be a picture posted that explains what this is) where we work and had an awesome lesson with a lady who is super funny! Really good lesson!
Nothing really happened on Thursday.
Friday was awesome! We found a new family to teach! They are super open and so ready for the blessings of the gospel in their lives and family! We are very excited to teach them and feel that they will be blessed with the opportunity of baptism very soon!

Love,
Elder Cole Gunnoe

From our email this morning:
He wanted me to remind everyone that if a package is sent it cannot be valued at more than $50 on the customs form.  If it is then he has to pay additional money on his end to receive it or it will be returned to the states.

I asked him how he was doing and he said "I am great!!  Doing very well!"

How are all of your mosquito bites - "Most of the original ones are gone but I always have a few new ones.  It's a constant battle.  haha"

How is the food - "Food is still amazing!  Juice is still amazing!  I have been getting more than enough to eat.  The members always make big meals and just about all of the food is super delicious.  Lunch without fail thus far has had at least rice and beans.  Other foods range from chicken to beef to potatoes to lasagna once to pizza to fruit to almost anything you'd normally have for dinner in the states.  But here it has more spices and different flavors and styles of cooking.  So it's a variety and it's very good!  The only problem is that we almost always have soda at lunch...And the members usually have only that...So I have to drink that.  I have had more soda here than I have ever had in my whole life.  But when we have juice or water, I drink that."

How are your investigators - "The pesquisadores are progressing well!  We found 2 new families this week and a couple new individuals!  So we have a lot of people to teach now.  They are all very open and accepting and prepared for our message.  The Lord is Definitely working in the area!"

Any big bugs yet - "We saw what was either a millipede or a centipede the other night.  Some HUGE wasps.  Couple big lizards.  But nothing out of the ordinary really."

How was church and how is Portuguese coming along - "Church was great!  I really like it a lot.  Portuguese is getting better all the time!  Still a bit hard to understand people, but it is definitely getting better."

Do you eat out much - "We have fresh bought and baked bread for breakfast every morning.  But other than that, it's just snacks every now and again.  Members feed us lunch always.  And if someone doesn't feed us dinner (someone usually does) then we just buy some snacks before going home."

Do you find that you are taller than most people there - "I have only met 1 Brazilian that is taller than me.  And he's a missionary.  The people are pretty short generally.  Especially the women.  So short."

Elder Cole Gunnoe's apartment in Parnaiba (they live on the top floor)

Another angle of his apartment.

President Siedschlag, Elder Medina, Elder Cole Gunnoe

He didn't name the man on the right except by "grandpa", Elder Medina, Elder Cole Gunnoe.  "Both super awesome people"

Start of a service project this week.  Moving these bricks from the front of the house to the back.

End of the service project with the family minus the dad.  We took the bricks and built a throne.  haha

View from our house.

This is one of the areas that we work in.  It's called a Conjunto.  Basically just a tract of houses.  They are all exactly the same, quite small, and very plain.  And there are hundreds just in this one Conjunto!  We have 2 more that we work in just like it.  So hundreds of the same exact houses.

It's interesting here.  So many people have beat up and old cars, but they are driving around with this either behind, in, or on top of their cars...Don't quite understand that.

Another fine example of what I said in the last one... (he said they are speakers)

Email received December 8, 2014

Primeira semana no campo! (First week in the field!)

Oi tudo mundo! Tudo bem??  (we think this translates to something like...Hi all world!  It's all right?)

It has finally come! My first area! It's a city called Parnaíba in Piaui. It's such an amazing place! But to get here was quite the adventure...
So I found out last Monday when I was leaving the CTM in Sao Paulo. 3:40am on Tuesday morning... It was so so so early! But I didn't complain because it meant i could get into the field that much sooner! The flight went smoothly, no problems. Then when we finally landed in Teresina, I was so excited!! And then I walked off the plane and I thought I had walked into a fire!!!!! The sun was super strong and the heat was so intense! It was crazy hot! Then we waited a little for the cars to get there to take us all back to the mission president's house. He is a really awesome guy! President Siedschlag and his wife are awesome! So we went to their house and had lunch there. it was tough. I have never eaten so much food that I didn't like. But I ate it! And then we got ice cream!!! So that was sweet! Then the waiting started. He took some elders and the sisters to do interviews at his office at around 2ish. So the rest of us stuck around. Sister Siedschlag said we could nap, so we did! And then we woke up and it was 6:30. so we thought, okay, we should be going any time now. It was about 8:45 before we ever left the house. Then we went to the mission office for interviews. It went pretty well. So after that we went to the place that we'd be staying at until we go to our areas. There are normally 6 elders in the one apartment. That night, we had a little less than 30.... So needless to say, it was crowded. And hot!!!!! So hot everywhere! But I slept pretty well just because I was so tired.
So the following day, Wednesday, we got to me our trainers and find out where we would be going. It was a big meeting and orientation for both the new elders and the trainers. We were at the stake center from 8am-8pm. Just sitting and listening. But anyways, my trainer is Elder Medina!! (Pronounced MeGina) He's from Peru! Super amazing elder and trainer! Just a stud! Our area is Parnaíba in the state of Piaui. We are serving in the Parnaíba 4th branch. Super amazing branch! The members are all amazing people and are solid members! They are so friendly and so helpful! I guess in the recent past, they have had missionaries that didn't work very hard and just didn't do much, but every person that Elder Medina and I have visited, we tell them that we are here to help and serve them. So the members are gaining confidence in the missionaries again. We are going to work super hard on that! Back to tuesday! So after all that waiting and anticipation, I found out that i was staying in Teresina for at least a day to get my Brazilian ID. Oi. So we went back to the same apartment and slept there again.
Thursday brought some more waiting and anticipation. Didn't really do much of anything. We just did some stuff to prepare the paperwork for my ID. My comp and I got to go out in the streets around the mission office and do some contacting! That was super awesome! First we talked to 2 guys. One had been in a moto accident recently. (moto is just a motorcycle) And the other was missing his left leg from the knee down. They were pretty open and receptive to our message. Then we talked to an amazing guy! We were walking away from the first contact and talking about how it went. This guy was sitting on the step of a business with his head down. so we turned around and went to talk to him. He was from a different area, but he was there becuase his mom is sick and in the hospital. So we talked with him about families and about the plan of salvation. He was really touched by the spirit. We left him a pamphlet and a Book of Mormon. He said that when he saw the missionaries in his town, that he would talk to them. And before we left, we ended with a prayer. It was super amazing! The next contact was with two ladies sitting on a street corner. They were also really open and talkative with us! We left them both a pamphlet and got their addresses for other missionaries to go back and visit them. Then we talked with a family of 13 people! Such a big family! They were awesome! The father was very interested in the Book of Mormon and how it is like the Bible and how it testifies of Christ. So we left one with them too! That's about all that happened that day.
Friday was the big day! Woke up and knew that we would be leaving that day! So we went to a couple different places to get the paperwork all done, drove around  for that and went back to the mission office. Waited, sat around. Then everything was finished and ready to go with my ID! We had a bus trip booked for 6:30 to come here. So my comp and I went to the shopping center so he could get some cash. But it took forever!!! We didn't get out of there until around 4:30ish. Then we quickly went to the mission office to call a cab to go to the apartment to get my bags and go to the bus station. But the cab took about an hour and a half to get there to the office! We finally made it back to the apartment and got my bags and went to the bus station. But by the time we got there, it was 7:05. There were 3 buses leaving at 630, 645, and 7. We missed them all.... So one of the other elders going to Parnaíba got our tickets changed to go on the 9pm bus. So we waited. 9pm comes and no bus. 930, no bus. 10, no bus, 10:30, no bus. 11, no bus. It finally showed up at 11:20pm! FINALLY! We got on and went to sleep. It's a 6 hour ride from Teresina to Parnaíba. We got to the bus station here are around 5am. and got to our apartment at 5:30am. The sun was up at that point! So Elder Medina and I slept for a couple hours. We got up at around 8:30am on Saturday.
Saturday was a good day! We didn't do much in the morning. But for lunch, we went to a member's house and had chicken, beef, rice and beans. It was super good! The foods here have a lot of spices in them so it's a really good flavor without any kind of sauce or anything! Then we went WAY out into the farthest area of our area to talk to people out there. We went to a school where a bunch of kids practice break dancing! It was really cool! And just before we left, Elder Medina did a little dancing! He was a break dancer back home in Peru. So he used that to make a connection with them! We got 14 contacts out of it! So that was super cool! Then  we went to talk with some other members of the branch at their houses. They are all so cool!! They are helping me with my portuguese too!
Sunday was great! We had church at 9am.The chapel is just a house converted to be a small church building. But it's really cool! We had lunch at a branch presidency member's house. He is super young! Can't be more than 24 years old! We had rice and beans, beef, sausage, potatoes and juice! All of it was really really good! Then I gave the message on the spot. It went pretty well, only tripped up a few times. Then we went to talk to a family that other elders contacted a while ago. They are super amazing too! They are really friendly and love talking with us and laughing and making jokes. They are living together right now with 2 daughters. But they both want to be baptized. So the elders before me have been working really hard to get them married and baptized, but haven't had any luck. So we were talking with them yesterday about baptism and how Christ was baptized. Elder Medina asked them what was keeping them from getting married so that we could help them. They said nothing was holding them back and that they want to be married and baptized!!! So amazing! Now we need to work with them to set dates for both of these. They also  need financial help with the wedding, so we are going to find out how much they need and then talk to the branch about it. But still!!! So amazing!!! One problem with that. There are 4 elders here in Parnaíba Ramo (branch) 4. And this family is in the other companionship's area... so Elder Medina talked with one of the other elders about it and he said he would "pray about it". But I really doubt we will get to teach and work with this family. These other 2 elders are difficult. They are always in the apartment and never do a whole lot of work, they are teaching people in our area, they don't follow the rules, and they are selfish. It's just difficult. One is in his last transfer so he is super lazy, and the other one feeds off of it. They are setting a horrible example. As I am typing this, the elder in the other companionship is on youtube watching some anime show. And earlier he was watching My Little Pony on youtube. Which is flat weird. He also has 2 my little pony ponies in our apartment.... And it's not a joke. I walked into the apartment last night, and he was coming its hair........... I am quite worried about him. I don't really know what to make of it. But anyways, like I said, I doubt we will get to teach that family that we talked to and that Elder Medina has been talking to for a while now. So that is really sad.
Today has been a great first P-Day in the field! We had a zone choir practice this morning! We are singing at some point soon, but I don't know when. After that, we just came back to our area and had lunch and talked with another family in the branch. Awesome people as well! Everyone here is awesome! haha
People here in Brasil are very friendly and open. You can go up to anyone and just start talking to them. A ton of people sit outside one the sidewalks or in chairs wherever there is shade. Especially at night and in the evening. So it's really easy to contact and talk to people here.
I love it so much here! It's pretty hot but here in Parnaíba we get a pretty constant wind, so it helps a lot. the Mosquitos here love me. If I counted right, I've got 33 bites..... I itch so bad! But it's all good!
I am super excited to finally be here in the field and working with these amazing people! I am sending a few pictures to my parents to put on the blog and facebook. This email is already super big, so I don't want to try attaching any pictures... But they will still be sent!
I hope everyone has a good week and is doing well!
Love you all!

Love,
Elder Gunnoe

Elder Cole Gunnoe and his companion Elder Medina from Peru

Email from November 28, 2014

Bom Dia!

All is well here in Brasil! Things are going so great here! It's been a fairly normal week. Nothing like getting here to Brasil was. Not too much crazy to report on.
We got some rain the last couple days here! And that made it so so hot and humid! Even though it wasn't even hot here. In Teresina, it will be far worse! But I am so looking forward to heading to the field in just 4 short days! It's really crazy to think that I've been in the MTC for 6 weeks now and am about to head into the field... It's gone by quite quick! I couldn't be more excited to finally get into the field and start teaching and continue learning!
Like I said, not a whole lot to report on this week. Just plenty of class time, gym time, chow time, teaching and devotionals.
OH! There was a devotional yesterday afternoon broadcast from the Provo MTC! The speaker was David A. Bednar!! It was so good! What he did was they passed out cellphones in Provo to the missionaries and the MTCs around the world had iPads. And anyone who had a question could text\email it in to him and he would answer them over the pulpit in the devotional! It was super cool! I would encourage everyone who reads this to find it and watch it because there was some very good stuff in there!
Also, I want to invite everyone who reads this to watch 1 other devotional and listen to another. The first is "The Character of Christ" from David A. Bednar. It will change your life! And the other is a BYU-I devotional given in either 1988 or 1998. I think it was 88. But it's called "The Restoration" and it was given by Hyrum Smith. It will blow your mind! Have a pen and paper ready and write fast! All of them are super good and just mind blowing!
I am going to be sending the next email from somewhere in my mission! And by that time, it will be much hotter than it is here in Sao Paulo! But I am very excited to get into the field and serve the people of the Brasil, Teresina Mission!
Stay safe! And stay warm everyone! Have a great week and find those devotionals!!!!

Love,
Elder Gunnoe

Email from November 21, 2014

Wow! What an adventure it has been to get here and to be here in the beautiful country of BRASIL!
Flight from Salt Lake to JFK in New York city went smoothly! No problems at all!
Flight from NYC to Brasil on the 12th, not so much. Actually not at all. We get on the plane for Sao Paulo and all seems fine. We go onto the runway to prepare for takeoff, all of a sudden we turn around to go back to the gate... Captain announces that one of the generators for the left engine wasn't working at all. So we go back to the gate for maintenance to fix it. 3 hours (!!!) later, we head back onto the runway. This time we actually get off the ground! Then we start flying in circles. Captain announces that the generator went out again, So we have to go back and land to switch planes. He also informs us that the plane weighs too much to land safely. So he tells us that for the next 30 minutes or so we will be dumping the majority of our fuel into the Atlantic ocean so we can land. An hour and a half later, he tells us that it'll for sure only be another 30 minutes before we can land. So we all think Okay that's not horrible. An hour and a half later!!!! He finally says that we are headed in to land. At this point, we had been on the plane for 5 hours. We land and there's firetrucks everywhere and they ended up doing nothing. They just left. So captain tells us that they are taking the plane out of service and that we will be put on a different plane at 1030 the next morning... In actual terms, what was happening while we were in the air was pretty serious. They just weren't telling us that. But we made it safely to our destination... Wait. Nope! We are still in NYC. We then spent a very sleepless night in the airport waiting for the flight the next morning.
The next morning, we got safely on the plane and headed off for Brasil. Made it here 10 hours later!
That night, it was raining here in Sao Paulo. So as soon as we got off the plane, we could feel the moisture in the air. It was tangible! And it was pretty warm too! We got on the van to come to the CTM and got here at 1 in the morning. VERY long couple of days.
The schedule here is a lot like Provo was. Classes, studies, teaching investigators, practices, all that good stuff. Teaching is going pretty well! Both of our investigators accepted the baptismal invite! So that's really good! Both are very interested and progressing well!
Portuguese is coming along quite nicely! Still a long way to go, but I can understand what people say and have a conversation with them. I can also teach pretty decently! So that's always good!
The CTM is awesome! The food is SOOOOO GOOD!! Fruits are amazing! The meats and desserts and breads and juices and everything! The CTM is just a 6 story building with classrooms, bedrooms, a cafeteria, some offices and a couple courts for volleyball and basketball. Pretty small space. But it's awesome! I love it here in Brasil so much! But I can't explain why. There is just something inside me that loves it so much. Even though it's super dirty and smelly and poor and humid and HUGE, I just love it! It's so amazing! I love the people and everything about this place!
If there are any specific questions, just shoot me an email and I'll have to wait until next Friday because I am basically out of time. Only 45 minutes here.
Anyways!
I hope all is well in the US of A and that everyone is doing well!
My address for the mission home in Teresina is:

Elder Cole Joseph Gunnoe
Brazil Teresina Mission
Rua Tersandro Paz N^o 2129
Salas 105-108, Centro
64001-380 Teresina- Piaui (PI)
Brazil

So that is my address for the mission home.

Have a great week! And stay awesome!

Love,
Elder Gunnoe

VISA HAS ARRIVED :)

From an email we received from Elder Gunnoe on Monday, November 10, 2014:

"I have a firm and unshakable testimony of the power of Fasting and Prayer.

I GOT MY VISA TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I leave on Wednesday Morning at 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7 out of 9 people in my District got their Visas today!  And we all leave on Wednesday morning!  We fly from Salt Lake City International Airport to JFK in New York.  Not sure how long we are there.  But then we fly to Sao Paulo!  It is such an amazing thing to be able to go to Brasil to experience the next part of this chapter in my life.  I know that I have been here in Provo to learn and grow in ways that could only have happened here.  And the same will be true in Brasil!"

From email on November 3, 2014

Hey! Don't have super long this week. But it's been a great week!
Super good devos on sunday and tuesday this last week! A lot of talk about being fully dedicated to the work and giving it all to the Lord. We had another Devo this morning with David F. Evans, a member of the first quorum of the 70! He is the one that prayed for "Our strength to be Faithened" hahaha. So funny. He's a great speaker! And the Devo tonight is going to be broadcasted, which translates to It's a general Authority. So check BYU TV for that! Not sure who the speaker is, but it should be good!
Portuguese is coming along very nicely! Other missionaries tell me that I'm so good with Portuguese, but I'm really not. I can't say a whole lot and what I can say is all similar. So it's nothing really that special. I could and should be working much harder though. So I am really going to buckle down this week.
So sad to hear about Mr. Bellamy! He was an amazing guy and I will miss him much!