Letter dated May 31, 2013---Fiddy Fouh Bee, portuguese, food & gym time at the MTC

Ola Familia e Amigos!

 

How is everybody doing? I am quite good. It was great to hear from so many of you this week. Thanks Lauren B. for you letter. I'm glad to hear that your actually beginning to do your education in the right order. :P Cami thanks for you letter too! I bet things are getting pretty stressful with the kiddo coming along soon. By the way, whats the current update on his name? Grandpa Luymes welcome to the good side of technology. Mom happy to hear from you and thanks for the update. Also I told Elder Welch about the story of you talking to your Elders and he was really happy to hear about his friend. Also you'll have to tell Brother Moh to tell Dylan congrats! It sounds like Andrew's farewell was really good. I wish I could have been there to hear him and Adrienne speak but I guess I will have to suffice welcoming him into the MTC.

 

So this past week has been quite intense for many reasons. One the language is getting easier (in the perspective of pronoucation) but harder because we have to be able to know more vocabulary. Such is life I guess. We now are teaching 2 investigators, both who are actually our teachers Irmã Ricks and Irmão Pinho. It's an interesting experience trying to teach someone else about your beliefs in a language they know perfectly yet you don't know much of. But I am slowly getting better. Elder Welch and I are still working together quite well as it comes to lesson planning and delivery. Oh and our district came up with a name. It is "Fiddy Fouh Bee" also know as 54B. We got a couple of goofy Elders in our district but it has been pretty awesome.

 

Elder Welch and I pointing to Cabo Verde

 

 Okay so some details about the room and board. So all the Elders in our district share a room, so there are 5 other Elders that live with me. We each have a bed, but we only have 4 closets, like 10 drawers and 2 desks with 4 chairs. So basically we are sharing a room made for 4 people. It has been interesting sometimes but hasn't been too bad. We have 12 showers to share amongst all of the people of our floor which is like over 80 people I think... I don't know exactly but point being there are a lot of people. Basically you have to wake up at 6:30 and sprint to the showers before the crowd that rolls in at like 6:35. Food has been good. They have a lot of choices from burgers to nice chicken platters. Somethings are better than others. Apparently the soups are really good although I haven't tried any of it yet. The chocolate chip cookies are to die for and they have creamery ice cream every Sunday and Wednesday. They have BYU Chocoate Milk and Cookies N Cream milk available to (which makes me very happy). But we have learned that you stay away from the meatballs and the orange juice because you will be sick for the rest of the afternoon. Not very fun. Lucky that didn't happen to me.

 

All of District 54B's Elders with our Zone Leaders outside Provo Temple

 

 Let's see what else is there... gym time is quite nice here. We as a district like to do things together which is a lot of fun. We play volleyball (indoor and beach), knockout (basketball), 4 square (which is awesome), kickball and frisbee. It's been a lot of fun and I've probably played more sports here in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 2 years.

 

Life is awesome here at the MTC. It's funny because there are a lot of people who are going to Brazil but are here because they couldn't get their v***s ("visa" is a bad word here :P) and so they are here for their 6 weeks and then are reassigned temporarily to a stateside mission. Our zone leader got reassigned to Tennessee and some one else I know is going to Iowa. I'm sure that they're are excited but I'm sure they wish they were going directly to Brazil. I still haven't gotten my visa yet but we are bound to have it by the week before we are supposed to leave. I'm not too worried. Also since being here I have seen many friends for BYU and it has been great to catch up with them.

 

Me and my Zone Leaders, Elder Childs and Elder Smith outside Provo Temple

 

 Oh I forgot something. So Sundays in the MTC are a little strange because they aren't like normal days. We have study time literally all day except for Priesthood meeting and Sacrament. Scrament Meeting is said in 85% Portuguese. All the hymns, prayers, talks, and most of the announcements are in Portuguese. It has been really interesting. Every week everyone has to prepare at 2 1/2 minute talk in Portuguese about a given topic. Then in the meeting, we are picked at random. So far I haven't been pick but neither has anyone who reported on May 15th so it is just a matter of time.

 

So if you have nothing to do with your lives or you just want to watch a really inspiring video, go to lds.org, and in the search bar search "Cape Verde" and click Enter. Then on the side of the window there is an option for narrowing the search to just videos. Find the video called "Land of Light" and watch it. It's super cool and it will give you a perspective of what I will be experiencing.

 

Today, being P-day, we were able to go about doing our laundry and write our letters and emails home. Tonight we have TRC and that will be a lot of fun. For TRC we get to talk to members of the Church and practice our Portuguese communication skills. Tonight we will be practicing our "Getting to know somebody" skills and others. Should be fun.

 

All of us Elders in the MTC Choir

 

 Well I better go. By the way, it would be really great to hear from all you people at home, from BYU, or from Indonesia (I don't know anyone from there but you get the point; write me because I want to hear how your doing!). I promise that I will write back a quickly as possible!

 

Love you all and I will talk to you all soon!

 

Tchau Tchau,

Elder Dorff

Letter dated May 24, 2013---Elder Welch, cousin Sister Dorff, MTC choir

Before Elder Dorff's letter, I want to explain a few abbreviations used in his letter for friends who may not know what they mean. P-day is the day they get once a week that is their preparation day---time to do laundry, write letters, grocery shop, serve people in need, etc. It is the only day they get to wear casual clothes but never without the name badge! The MTC stands for Missionary Training Center where he will learn Portuguese and more about teaching people the gospel. Once he leaves the MTC, he will be in Cape Verde for the rest of his mission. FHE stands for Family Home Evening group which consists of an apartment of guys and an apartment of girls. At BYU, (Brigham Young University) Monday nights are reserved for FHE groups to get together for a short spiritual message and a game or activity and refreshments.

The Missionary Mom 

 

Ola Familia e Amigos! (Don't you just love the totally unoriginal greeting)

So first of all, I am alive but as you know my P-day is Friday and so today was my first chance to check my emails and respond.

 

Okay so the MTC thus far has been pretty good. Yes I am 1 of 10 people in my district. No we don't have a name (yet) but we are pretty tight. There are 6 Elders and 4 Sisters namely Elder Welch (my comp), Elder Bazzaroni (who is the guy that lived in Andrew's Helaman Hall), Elder Ernst (who actually lived in building 25 on the first floor [surprised I didn't get to know him at BYU]), Elder Seeley and Elder Curfew (the only 2 of the district not going to Cabo Verde), Sister Bradford, Sister Valenzula, Sister Sharp and Sister Webb. Half of us went to BYU Provo at the same time. Who knew? Let me tell you about my companion, Elder Welch. Elder Welch is from Orem. It's funny because my FHE sister told me to look out for an Elder Welch going to Cape Verde and low and behold, we were each others first companions. She had told him about me to so we were like, "Whoa we are going to be companions! You know Taylor? Yeah she told me about you!" Needless to say it was fun and he has really been a great first companion. We get along well and we haven't had any problems.

 

First companionship---Elder Welch and Elder Dorff

 



 

 

So as you know, they like to make life as hard as possible in the MTC and so first day after my Host took me away from you Mom, he took me to my classroom and my teacher Irmã Ricks just started going off in Portuguese. I was like, "What did I get myself into..." After the first few days though I am understanding Portuguese much better. I know how to say some words and have my purpose already memorized in Portuguese. We have already had to teach 5 lessons to our "investigator" Amadeu in Portuguese. Yes they were rough but the Spirit was there for most of them so that is all that is important. Next week we are going to be teaching 2 investigators at a time. Should be fun right?

 

Okay so daily routine. It kind of changes everyday depending on the day. Most days it is wake up and get ready, personal study, class instruction (for like 6 hours [sometimes on the language and/or the teaching]), companionship study, teaching "investigators" (usually in the evening [I say "investigators" because they our teachers pretending to be someone else]), and language study (where me and my comp talk to each other practicing the Portuguese). After that we have Golden Hour (when we get ready for bed) and then lights out. Start at 6:30 and ends at 10:30. On Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays schedules are a little different but mostly the same.

 

Thanks a lot you and Aunt Sandi for the cookies and the letters. The cookies needless to say made everyone quite happy after such a long day. Thanks for all the awesome letters Dad. I'm surprised that you are already getting so many things out of your garden.

 

Okay so about flight information. I don't have anything set in stone but I know we either are leaving on June 24th or 25th and that it consists of 2 flights. Salt lake to boston and then boston to cabo verde. After that we will probably be in the mission house for a couple of days then shipped off to our areas by ferries or cars. Lots of traveling in my future.

 

Oh I forgot to mention that I got to Marina! Or I guess Sister Dorff. So on her last day here, which was Sunday, she knocked on our classroom door during our district meeting and asked for me. I'm not going to say that I had to beg to be let out but I was prepared to if my District Leader said no. So me and Elder Welch went out of our room and I got to talk to her for a good 10-15 minutes. She doing well and I am sure she is going to have much fun in California.

 

Okay birthday shoutouts. Happy birthday Cami, sister of mine! Love you a bunch! Also happy birthday to Maggie over there on the East Coast!

 

I've gotten... well I wouldn't call it a ton... but a good number of letters from people. Evaly, thanks for your letter about the kiddos. It made me laugh and smile. I miss all 7 of my nieces and nephews! Make sure you, and Mark, tell them that I say hi! Also, Lance you are so on top of things. I will try to respond to all the handwritten/Dear Letters I get but just so you know, we are only supposed to write personal letters on P-day so if you send me something like on Saturday, expect a response later. Either way, write me because I love hearing how everyone (both friends and family) is doing!

 

So we we as a district decided to do something that I but you would have never expected. We joined the MTC Choir. Yep we all did. I am singing the bass line and we have already sang at one of the devotionals. It went well and was a fun experience. Also because we are in the choir we are guarenteed seats inside for devotional which is an awesome bonus. I have been here for 2 devotionals already, both really good. Some things that I learned from these were that we must be of good cheer and have no fear. If we are fearful of the things that we must do, we will be uneffective as missionaries and in life.

 

I am loving this whole experience here and I am grateful for my opportunity to be here! Love you all and I will talk to you all later!

 

-Elder Dorff

 

(Here is a little bit of my Portuguese)

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo é amoroso e podoroso. Eu sei que o Livro de Mórmon é verdedeiro. Eu sou representate de Jesus Cristo e eu estou "grateful" aqui.

First letter from the Missionary Training Center

 We received our first letter from Elder Dorff and he sounds great! Isn't this this notecard the cutest ever? Thanks Shirleen and Allen.

 

Reporting to the Missionary Training Center

 

Flying to Utah

Taking care of business....

and important needs...

like a visit to the Creamery.

The MTC....right this way...

As the traffic control officer told Brent about two other Elders also going to Cape Verde, a group of elders in exercise clothing walked by the open window of our car. They started hootin' and hollarin' saying, "Welcome, welcome! We're so glad you're here. You're gonna love it! Brent was all smiles and so ready to go. What a happy day!

Final hug and he's off!

Its official...he is Elder Dorff

Thanks Chuck, Olivia, Shelby, Malia, David, Karen, and Rach for coming to hear Brent speak. Thanks also to family for coming. It was a fun day! Brent posting his picture on the Placentia Stake missionary board....he's a lone Elder out there in the Atlantic.

Going to the San Diego Temple

In preparation to serving a mission, Brent went to the San Diego Temple on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 . It was so wonderful for the entire family to be in the temple together! A special thanks to those who traveled to be with their brother on such a special day.

Christy & Mark, Ken & Lorinda, Brent, Evaly & Nathan, Cami & Adam with soon-to-be baby boy