15 June, 2011

Where do i begin? Well my flight to Brazil was an adventure of itself so I`ll start there. I flew to New York alone! I was so hopeful other missionaries would be on my flight, but they weren`t. When I got to New York I was completely lost. I ended up having lunch in this cafeteria thing so i could sit down. Some members found me though and  took care of me. He brought me to the Delta Skymiles club, haha which was pretty sweet! After chilling there for a few hours i decided to go to my gate in another terminal. This was about 7:00 local time. On my way I saw two Missionaries walking around! I practically jumped for joy! Missionaries!! haha  When i got to my gate the missionaries numbered around 15 maybe. But they were all from the Provo Mtc. They had all just got their visas and were on their way to the CTM. Anyways, life was perfect after that! Being a lone missionary is terrible! haha.

The flight to Brazil was about ten hours long. We flew on one of those jumbo planes with the middle row, which is pretty cool. There were a ton of Brazilians on the flight! They are so nice. I love the people so much! When we got to Brazil we filled out some papers and things, and we went through immigration and everything. It was easier than i thought it would be. Both my bags made it! Which was a relief! We got picked up by some Brazilians who work here at the CTM and we set off. Remember that this is after 24 hours of traveling.  10 teenage boys piled in a van driving on a Brazilian freeway was quite an adventure! The people here drive insane! They barely even use lanes it seems. That`s not completely true but it was a very exciting experience for all of us! Motorcycles like to drive where ever they feel like too and that is always fun to watch.

The CTM is great! It is a beautiful building and like 7 stories high. I live on the 5th floor, but Here the first floor counts as zero. (So i`m up six floors). My teachers are amazing. They are so spiritual and incredible. I love them! Learning Portuguese is hard! But when i look back on the last week I realize that i have learned so much more than i should be able to. It is a muito bonito language. It`s fun to see the similarities to French it has sometimes, but i`m also just trying to forget French because Portuguese is so different.

Well after this email we get to go out to on the streets! Once a week on p-day we can leave the CTM and walk around the nearby parts of Sao Paulo! There is fun things to do and shops to browse etc. Yesterday  an Elder from Lake Stevens had intestine for almoço. I don`t know if I´m as brave!

I love being a missionary. Every second has been incredible.  I am humbled by my flaws and yet empowered to work through them.  I am doing my best and loving it. The food is great. We eat a lot of meat!  And a lot of the food is very interesting.  But it is good.  I am also being really careful on how much i eat haha. Some Elders are already gaining weight!  But i´m the same.  Haha I love you all so much! Thanks for the support and for all that you do.  I´m working my tail off and will continue to.  I´ll make you all proud!