Pictures

I do not have any pictures yet from Brazil but here are a couple pictures leading up to Christopher's mission.  First, Jamie had the opportunity to drop Christopher off at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT so here is the final picture before saying the final goodbye.

 We were able to attend the Temple with Christopher before he left on his mission.  The LDS Temple is a place where we attend as members of the church to learn more about Heavenly Father's plan for us while on the Earth and where we have the opportunity to make covenants with God.  A covenant is like a promise - God makes promises to us and we make promises to God.  As we live up to those promises or covenants then God blesses are lives in various ways - peace, guidance, the companionship of the Spirit, etc.  The Temple is a special and sacred place.

 Before leaving on his mission, Christopher had a chance to speak at church and many of us were able to come home for the weekend to be there and hear him speak.  Our Uncle Jimmy and his family came from Oak Ridge, Jamie was able to fly in from Utah, Steve and the kids came from NC, as did Andrew and his family, and Caroline.  It was wonderful to be all together one last time before Christopher left.

Here is a short section of Christopher's letter from this week:

Ok! So! Things are going great here! Elder Cook came yesterday with Elder Clayton from the Presidency of the 70 and another area 70 came. They spoke to all of us, and their wives spoke too, and we got to shake their hands before the meeting. Plus the international MTC director who manages all of the MTCs came and spoke on Sunday, so we had two straight days of fantastic talks on missionary work. All of the talks I heard were inspiring.   The talks really inspired me to be the best missionary I can be, so I'm going to give it my all!

Not much more to report. Things are the same. We only have a week left which is crazy. The language is coming along and I still have so much to learn, but I know as I work hard the Lord will help me.

A few more things:

On the way back from the temple - we take big tour buses to the temple - I got to sit up front with the driver and talk with him in Portuguese. Brazilian drivers are CRAZY! Small cars, zipping in and out, and avoiding crashes are the norm, but it is fun, and talking to him showed me just how much I have to learn.

Welcome!

Christopher has asked me, Caroline (his sister), to share his mission experiences with his many friends and family through this blog.  We will use this blog as an avenue of communication so that you can keep track of Christopher's progress throughout his mission and read about some of his wonderful experiences he will have while in Brazil. 

Christopher, as many of you know, is serving a two year proselyting mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  At the age of 19, he has the opportunity to devote two years of his life to the Lord and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news, with the people of Brazil.  During this time, he will learn the Portuguese language, study the teachings of Jesus Christ from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and teach those interested in learning more about the Gospel and our beliefs as Latter-day Saints.  He will commit individuals to baptism and a lifelong opportunity to follow Jesus Christ.  For those of you unfamiliar with Christopher's beliefs, a wonderful resource for learning more about what he will be teaching can be found at the website: www.mormon.org 

Up to this point, Christopher has spent 2 weeks in Provo, UT at the Missionary Training Center. During this time, he began his study of the Portuguese language, studying the scriptures to stengthen his own understanding of the Gospel, and learning how to teach others about the Gospel. He was also waiting for his visa to travel to Brazil.  Christopher is now in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the Missionary Training Center and will remain there for approximately 6 weeks before going to his assigned mission in Belem, Brazil.  We know he is safely at the MTC in Brazil and working hard. 

For those interested in writing Christopher while he is at the MTC, this is his address (I recently sent a letter and I believe the postage was around $1):

Elder Christopher Dunn
Brazil Missionary Training Center
Rua Padre Antonio D’ Angelo, 121
Casa Verde
02516-040  Sao Paulo – SP
Brazil

If at any time you have a question for me, please feel free to leave a comment and I will address it as soon as possible.  I look forward to providing you with insights into Christopher's mission and sharing his Testimony with you about Jesus Christ and the Gospel.  I, along with Christopher, know he is doing an important work - sharing his beliefs and testimony about Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and I know we are God's children.  Heavenly Father wants us each to feel and understand the saving power of Christ's Atonement and experience the peace and comfort that the Atonement can bring to our lives.  God loves each and everyone one of us. 

Christopher is blessed to have this experience and he is also blessed to have such wonderful friends who care about him and are supporting him in his efforts to serve a worthy mission.