Hello Brazil!

This was a strange week. My last couple of days in California were great. The highlight is that Greg was reading the Book of Mormon and decided that he wants to be baptized! He's a great guy and I hope I'll be able to reconnect with him in a few years and see what he's accomplished. 

Then on Thursday morning I am dropped off at the airport. The trip to Brazil is three flights and takes the whole day, so I arrive in Brazil at 8 am on Friday (4 am Cali time) on maybe 2 hours of sleep. There are some missionaries there to greet me and all is going well as we find our Uber.

In the Uber, as any good missionary, my fellow Elder starts talking to the driver. Eventually the conversation moves into a lesson and, like any great missionary, the experienced Elder works hard to get me involved in the lesson. But while dealing with the shock of a new world and going on two hours of sleep my brain was not ready to use Portuguese...

So that went... alright. After a while the driver just stopped talking to us. Then we got to the office and did some training then into another Uber.

This time I was able to say hi! Which was more than last time. Then my friend took over XD that driver was interested in learning more. I met the mission President then went off to my area. On the third Uber,  I just slept.

But yeah it's been a crazy time. The past few days I've been following my trainer around just trying to survive and understand what's happening. All of our work is done over the phone, but while walking to the church or to the market there are a ton of people out, which I love because I feel like I've been able to see Brazil. 

I am getting to the point where I'm following what's happening in lessons and can contribute some. I can understand my companion... sometimes... but not much else. It's still a huge burden on my trainer who is doing almost everything, but he's handling it well.

The last day or so I've been leaving my "survival mode" and starting to appreciate the experience more. Attending church in Brazil was a ton of fun. I loved my time in California. And I'm excited to be here.

Elder Smith