Elder Jeremy R. Teela

Elder Jeremy R. Teela

Monday, September 23, 2013




Dear Related People--

I want to start off by saying how happy and thankful I was to receive everyone's letters.  Nice to know you all still love me ( or at least pretend that you do ).  I'll be writing a ton of individaul letters this week I guess, so i will mostly dress this to Mom and Dad.

I'm doing great and my Portuguese is doing even  better.  You guys always told me I had a knack for language but now I really feel it working here.  I'm going to write a bit more in Portuguese and hope you understand at least a bit:

Quando eu vim ao CTM, eu escrivei minha meta e pus eles a minha parede de revelcao.  Eu oro muito para ajudan com esta metas.  Durante mela tempo em CTM ea sentia o mao de Jeus em mihna vida.  Uma estas metas e ter meis directsao sobre o poder de oracoa, porque ea tihna sentir o Espirito Santo guida me licoins, estudia e forta lecer- me em muitos coisas.  Se a ser RM dexiar ciar peso, comando certo ou ensimar pesquesedors.

Not too bad, right? I'm sure the spirit and God have a lot to do with it but I love studying and learning the language too.  I'm doing three days a week totally in Portuguese now and it's awesome!

Well, thank you for everything you have sent me.  All the letter alone, cookies and snacks and prayers, especially prayers.  I know this is where I'm supposed to be and I will be back before you know it.  I love you all.

One in God's army--

Elder Teela

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Week 4

Oi! Tudo bem? Pronto por um outro discoursa na vida de Elder Teela?
So something majorly funny happened this week. Elder Weight got high. I'm not talking about he was laughing a lot cause it was late at night, I'm talking about drug-induced craziness here.

There's been a bit of a bug going around our district that I have been lucky enough to miss but just about everyone else got it. Elder Weight went out and got some cold rub and some sort of nasal spray to help deal with the symptoms. He put some of the cold rub under his nose to help clear it up a bit but what he didn't know is that it was strong and menthol and a whole bunch of other chemicals that basically can be broken down into alcohol. So when he put it on his lip it went into his mouth.... oops. 

He laughed hysterically for about half an hour about talking some horrible selfies on his companion's camera and then started laughing at Elder Francom's hair, even though there was nothing wrong with it. So for about 30 mins. he laughed like a mad man. After that he deiced to go get a drink and promptly ran into every corner on the way there and stumbled around like a drunk. After he chugged half of the lake came back into the class room and crashed for another half hour. He's fine now but it was pretty funny :)

As you all well know I've been doing the choir here at the MTC and it is AMAZING! But something even cooler happened this week. Elder Eggart (the director) got up on Sunday after rehearsal and told us that last week's performance of "Where can I turn for Peace" was probably the best and his personal favorite performance of the MTC choir in the 11 years he had been doing it. Talk about high praise! He says he hopes he can say the same of this week's performance later tonight of "Joseph Smith's Prayer". I don't like the song as much but I did learn I can hit a "G5" (the one above middle C) without any issue lol. I'm pretty sure I'll be a tenor 1 from now on.
On the subject of music, I heard what I think is now my favorite song ever last week for the special musical number before SED. A sister sang a song called "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee". I swear it was like an angel was singing and the song seemed to perice somewhere even deeper than my soul. You should all go and look it up sometime.
I had a really awesome experience yesterday with an ASL Elder. Me and Elder Francom were walking back to the res. hall with our mail and we were stopped on the way by an Elder who asked if they could teach us really quick. We agreed and one of the elders started waving his hands around. We soon understood that one of them was signing an the other interpreting. I don't speak ASL but I felt a spirit so strong it was awesome. He taught with such fervent spirit and might.... it was indescribable.
For my final thought I think it would be right to share a poem that has been an underlying theme for me in the MTC. I don't really know why but every time there is a devotional or a talk somewhere on the pages of my notes is the phrase "Hold on thy way". I think it'll mean more to me in the field but for now I just have this poem: 

As I walk the path of life
Through the wind and driving rain, 
I find myself drowned amidst 
My waves of earthly pain
Lead laiden are my steps
The soul crushed beneith dispair, 
I know where my heaven lie 
But know not should I make it there
And so with heavy heart
I fall from my shaking knees,
My body racked with aching sobs 
The tears flowing free
As I lay there in my wretched state
Unto mighty God I pray, 
Amid my torment, the Lord did reply 
Fear not my son, for my hand I shall not stay
I raise my head back to the storm 
The torrent still unceasing, 
But with renewed faith in my God 
I find my strength increasing
I know not what this night might bring 
Nor this coming day 
But with faith in every foot step
I shall ever hold on my way
I thought it was pretty cool, I hope you all have a good week and that God blesses you all 
Ficam Doce!
-One in God's army 
Elder Teela

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Elder Teela's District in their cozy quarters

And so another week has passed us by here in the MTC. It's been fun and crazy so let's get right to the good stuff :) 

So last week I forgot to mention  something really cool that happened. One of our subs was named Irmao Miller and he was none other than Elder Gale's professor! It was pretty great and we had a lot to talk about. I couldn't get a picture with him but hopefully I'll run into him again. 

We finally met "Antonio" for real. His name is Irmao Porter and he is an awesome guy. He stopped by during our additional study time and talked to us for about half an hour. He confirmed that the sister had in fact asked him for drugs and then asked him to "swim to God" lol. He told us all he was married and showed all of us but me and my companion some pictures of his "wife" and "daughter". They were his sister in law and his nephew, that was the funny thing. 

He showed me and Elder Francom the pictures and the baby was wearing boy clothes! I have no idea how he tricked them into thinking he was married but it was pretty funny.

We have two new "investigators" now. The weird thing is they are our actual teachers so it's a bit strange to talk to them and they suddenly have a completely different personality. But it's great practice and they are great ways to help us learn the language. Their "names" are Camillio and Edgar but we are doing well in our lessons they say that that we always have the spirit with us when we teach.

So, I'm still a bit known around here lol. I was just starting to think that everyone had finally forgotten when my Branch President used it as an example over the pulpit. I was a bit embarrassed but it's nothing too big I guess. I just had another Elder come up and say I was famous just now lol.


OH! Big news everyone. We are the new District leaders! Well technically the calling is Elder Francom's but the Pres. said it's a two man job. He said "He might be in charge of the district but you are in charge of him" to which I so wisely blurted out "So basically, I'm his wife". We all had a good laugh over that one. It's been good though, with our sports and captaining backgrounds we're a lot more productive and better at goal setting. It's awesome to serve :)

So I'm gonna close this letter out with a bit of a more serious note. I have been praying recently to have more patient and to have more strength through trials. I didn't think the Lord would pull a fast one on me like he did. I was standing in line to get my dinner on Sunday and I was pretty hungry and the line was moving slow. I didn't make a fuss or anything but I was getting more and more annoyed with the line's slow progress. When I finally got my meal I sat down with my district and began to complain quite a lot about this. I stopped all of a sudden and just realized what I was doing. I realized while I might not have complained during the wait.  I was certainly sounding like Laman and Lemuel at the moment. It was but a small test and I had failed miserably. 

We should always remember that we can be tested at anytime and should be ready to  rise to occasion, no matter how small.

Well, until next week :)

-One in God's army 
Elder Jeremy Teela 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Dear Family--

Hello again my people.  I got your last letter and loved reading it.  Life here at the MTC has remained busy and spiritually charged as ever.



I hope Kyle is okay.  A torn meniscus is pretty rough.  But he kind of deserves it for making Kenz miss seminary, not.  I think Kyle will learn to love Brother Biven, when the food starts rolling in.  Seriously, the man knows how to cook!

We've had some funny times here but I figured I would send those stories in the e-mail since you'll get them faster that way.  But I want to share a  more personal one with you all.

We were trying to find a movie to see after the devotional this Sunday ( they play recorded talks and church movies- documentaries ) and we wanted to see this Elder Holland talk but there was no room.  So we met as a district and decided to go see Joseph, Prophet of the Restoration." We got there and wouldn't you know it, it was packed as well.  So, feeling a little discouraged, we walked around a bit and saw one more film, this one was only half filled.  So we went and sat down and watched it.  Probably one of the worst documentaries ever made.  It was about Thomas S. Monson.  Despite it being horrible, the spirit in that room was amazing.  We all knew we were led to that room that night, we didn't know why, but we were.

It was great to see the Lord helps his servants even in the smallest ways.  I know we are here to do a great work and this church is true.

One in God's Army--

Elder Teela

Tuesday, September 3, 2013




Elder Teela and Elder Gale-- Two in God's Army






Bom diaz de a CTM! Hello everyone! Everything is going great over here and I have a lot of stories to tell some I'm just gonna get right to it and chronological order.

Tuesday night we have a devotional every week and the choir preforms and it's always amazing. This last week Neal L. Anderson talked and it was an amazing experience. But the best part came after the devotional. We were told not the leave the Marriot center because there was an intense storm outside. We all stayed after and sung some hymns but after a while we got bored and bravely (yet stupidly) decided to try our chances with the storm. We got soaked to the bone. It was coming down like crazy and we all where running and laughing and it was awesome!

The next day we had our personal fitness day, meaning we were to work out without going to he gym or field. We decided to run around the MTC in a loop which was about 2/3 of a mile and after only two laps they were all exhausted. These are Elders I expected to leave me in the dust, two of whom are varsity college athletes..... Pansies lol. I ran loops around them literally to keep up my pace. That is, until we found the biggest pine cone in the history of existence. No joke, this thing was as big as a football and we deiced to throw it around like one. It was pretty funny and awesome and we only got hit in the face a few times ;).

So then our teacher, Irmao Whitiker, took off to lake Powell for a while and we had some subs. They were woefully unprepared for what awaited them in that class room lol. The first one was Irmao Workman who is literally a midget. He's about 4 inches shorter than me and a great guy. He taught us for a while and we somehow got on the topic of what we like to call The Book of Teela. It's pretty much what you'd imagine it would be if you know me very well. A book of my, as I like to call it, "Whimsical Wisdom". Including quotes like "I swear it was a laser guided trial bomb" or "Sometimes you need to step into enemy territory to gain any ground". It's pretty great. Irmao Workman took one look at the content, smiled, and shook his head and said "Sao Locuo" meaning "You guys are crazy".It was pretty great.

Later that class we were all practicing contacting people on the street with each other. Elder Francom and I decided to be particularly difficult and ask poor sister Jaramello (Har-ra-me-yo) and Gamez (Ga-mez) about plural marriage. We all had to speak in Portuguese and they handled it pretty well. The problem came later when Elders Colett (Co-let) and Harberson(Har-ber-son) deiced to do the same. When the sisters asked them about polygamy Elder Harberson responded with an enthusiastic "Sim! Estou bom!" Meaning "Yes, it's great!" lol. We almost all died laughing. After we all recovered it was our turn to play the missionaries. I immediately made the situation worse by saying "Tudos Igrejas ter pecodos" Meaning "All churches have sin" instead of saying all churches have pieces of the truth lol.

So we've made a habit of making meal time a bit more interesting by making bets about who can eat what and this particular day was really funny for two reasons. One, apparently Elder Francom's stomach is about as big as the earth. We know this cause we bet him to eat 4 dinners and he did. And Two, on of the sister missionaries can fit an entire piece of pizza in her mouth. I bet her she couldn't and now the Bowens will be getting a lovely letter from here lol.
I participated in my first Falar-faria or "speak you language day". Every Friday we try to speak the entire day in only our language and only our language. It was really really hard but I made it all the way to dinner before my brain started leaking out of my ears. I really am much better at the language for it though and I feel an notable difference in my my ability to speak. I can even still tell jokes in Portuguese :)

I'll finish with this last little tale. Yesterday we deiced to play some district volleyball. We all went up to the sand fields and set up our net and whatnot and started playing. It was overcast so we kinda saw this coming. The heavens did unleash their extremely wet fury upon us as we battled in the sport of the Gods. The rain was crazy and we just kept on playing and we all got soaked worse than we did Tuesday night. It seems that if we can't go to Brazil yet, the Lord is intent on bring it to us lol.

I miss you all and hope that the Lord is blessing your lives and watching over you. Please send letters and such because I get those any day and I can only read your e-mails on P-day. If you use Dear Elder the letter usually get here within a day and I love love love love to hear from you all.

-One in God's army
Elder Jeremy Teela

P.s. Just got some great news. Sister Gamez in my district got her visa! 

Sunday, September 1, 2013

MTC Letter

Como esta? Tudo bem? Ey estoeu muito bem!  Mino compehano fala ola.  Minba primo semana em CTM estou muito otimo! O Espirito Santa esta muito fortesomo aqui.
( That is a rough translation as we can hardly decipher Jeremy's handwriting in English, let alone Portuguese )

Good luck translating that! As you can see my Portuguese is coming along well.  We just finished our first temple session and it was great!


My district is pretty darn awesome.  We have only grown closer since my last letter and we are truly brothers in the army of God now.


We've been teaching and "investigator" for about four days now and I really thing we are doing well.  I bring this up because we found him on campus yesterday using his lds.org account.  It was pretty funny and we all had a good laugh about it.


I want to say thanks to Bee and Kenz for their letters and yes Kenz, I can read yours. If you send anymore, please use dearelder.com.  I get those the day after you send them and I love reading them.  


So you know how I said  my district is awesome? Well it gets better.  They all want to ( The Elders at least ) want to sing in Sacrament Meeting in our branch with me! ( 3 out of 6 of them are tone deaf including my companion, but I figure I can fix that ).  Two of them have choir experience, the not tone deaf ones, so I won't be alone in this endeavor.


I'll share a story now because I know you are dying to hear one.  So we were teaching Antonio, the "investigator" about baptism and asked if he had been baptized ( this is all in Portuguese too! ).  He said he had and that is was " muito frilio ".  I responded by saying they were trying to freeze his sins away.  That's right, even a language can't keep me from cracking jokes.  Anyway, he laughed and we went on to have a great lesson and bear powerful testimony to him.


I want to close this letter by letting you guys know that I know I've made the right choice in coming here and that I know this is God's work.  I love and pray for all of you and hope the Lord is with you.


One in God's army--


Elder Jeremy Teela