Week 7 and First Days in Brazil!

Hi family! it was so nice to hear from you all this week while i was in dallas! it was so good just to hear your voices again and feel of your love!

so i guess that's where i can start off. on the plane to brazil, which was an 11 hour flight from dallas, i was able to sit in between two other elders so i didn't have much of that missionary experience on the plane that everyone talks about! (by the way if my spelling is crazy, i am sorry. i am using a portuguese computer and a portuguese keyboard. its a little different to get used to. haha.) anyway on the flight i tried to sleep as much as possible but that only resulted in about 4 hours so needless to say i am still pretty tired.

when we landed, it was insane! first moments in brazil - i was immediately hit with humidity and according to the brazilians...coldweather...which in idaho means 60 degrees. it was paradise! after we made it through customs which was kinda crazy and really putting my portuguese to the test, we managed to find our driver out of about 200 other drivers. she looked about 14 but she swore she was twenty. after we all got relief from the banheiro, we were on our way. it was also crazy. the streets here are so crazy! most of the time we were on what in idaho we would call a 3 lane street but in brazil that results in being 7 lanes with motorcylces as well as the city with the most cars in the world. insane!! we almost died about 3 times but i think thats just what we think. we were probably really safe in brazils eyes. driving was also such an awesome time because we got to see the city. we got to see what this whole deal is going to be like.

let me first say, i love it!!! absolutely love it!! the people here are so so so nice. now being also realistic it is a very poor place. even the wealthy people here would be considered poverty in america. its very sad to be honest that such good people live in such bad conditions. i feel for them so badly.

it was about an hour drive to the ctm from the airport which wasn't bad at all. i really enjoyed the drive and seeing everything in a different country and in a different language! i loved it. in the ctm, i guess no one told them we were coming until about an hour before we landed so no one was really prepared for us at all. but we had a good orientation (again) and then we got to go out in the city for about an hour. we were led by a guy from the ctm just kind of showing us around but it was so awesome to be out among the people. being around the culture and to see what its really like here. its alot like mexico if you remember with a ton of little shops and street merchants everywhere! the poeple are so nice to missionaries too. after our walk, we had free time the rest of the night which meant we had time to sleep. so i went to sleep early after unpacking and had an awesome sleep last night. i slept without any blankets and the windows open to the city.

my new companions name is elder oakey. he is a cool guy. i saw him a couple times in provo but we both got put together here for the short two weeks we will be here. he is from centerville utah.

today has been p day. my morning started at what would be 2 am your time but 6 here. we were able to go to the sau paulo temple which was awesome! the spirit is the same in every language. i loved the temple. after the temple we got back at about 11 here and we have the rest of the day to go out in the city and shop and eat and do really anything, mission appropriate of course. we wear our missionary uniform out in the city. before this email i went with my new district to a churascuria. very similair to tucanos but 80 times better. it was so delicious. especially because the ctm food is not that good. you know how i dont like rice and beans all that much so its been difficult but i do love it here and i am learning to love the food. the barbeque place was so good. i had guarana from a real glass bottle bottled in brazil and there was a soccer game on with poeple screaming. it was crazy but yet so cool just to be around the people that i have naturally loved for 6 months now!

right now i am in mr. cheneys cookies. its right across the street from the ctm and really kinda funny. a lady from missionties picked me out and said she knew my name because someone wrote to me! =) thanks mom! since its my first time i got free internet and a free cookie which was really good.

all in all not much has happened since my last email. its all gone by so fast but has been so amazing! it seems like at the same time that everything has happened. by the time i write next week i will have proselyted in the streets here and of course it will be in portuguese. i will be one week away from the real thing and i can't wait!!! anyway once again it was so nice to talk to all of you! i can't wait until mothers day when i can call again! i love you all so much!! stay strong this week! dad, good luck in boise. oh, by the way mom, you asked for "stay strong" in portuguese.... fica forte. (fika forch) and as always i love you all! eu amo voces!! until next week! =)