BRAZILLLLL!!!

Ummmmm... Wow. Where to begin? How about, this keyboard is super hard to write on, because it's a Portuguese keyboard instead of English? Well Saturday and Sunday weren't too eventful, except for saying goodbye to people that were leaving, which stunk. And packing. Lots and lots of packing. But my adventure started Monday, when I went down in the morning to board the bus to the train to the plane to the bus to the plane. Got all that? The shuttle bus dropped us at the train station which we finally figured out how to ride to the airport. It was me, one other Brazilian going to Florinopolis, and a ton of Argentinians. We eventually found the airport and our planes, but it was crazy. I got to talk to my family twice while at airports which was super amazing! I thought I was going to be alone to Brazil on both my flights, but as it turned out, there were two Elders from reassignments flying with me on both my flights! Awesome right? We didn't sit next to each other and I didn't have anyone sitting next to me, so no plane ride conversions. Getting off at JFK airport, a one year convert who had recently gotten cancer stopped me and asked for a blessing. So Elder Carney and I literally gave a Priesthood healing blessing inside of JFK airport with all its noise and craziness. Super cool. Then we hopped on our flight to São Paulo. That's where things really started going berserk.

Pretty much everyone on the plane spoke Portuguese which was fun. So was the 10 hour plane ride. Hear the sarcasm? I managed to sleep a little bit, but not much. I got lots of scripture reading done. Eventually we landed the next morning and I was in a new continent. Forget the country, I was in a new continent. And yes, the toilets do flush the opposite way this side of the equator. One fun fact down. The other one? Brazilians speak verrrry fast. It's hard to understand a lot of the time. It's crazy.

 Anyways, I dealt with passport and visa and got picked up and taken through São Paulo to the house of President Martins, who, in fact, while looking intimidating, is actually SUPER nice. He's hilarious and full of all sorts of wisdom and knowledge. Upon entering the apartment, guess who I see? My dear old companion Elder Youd of course! Sitting on one of the couches. We hugged as everyone looked at us awkward like, why are these two random Elders hugging? Anyways, super awesome, and then we ate. Also super awesome!

The new missionaries stayed the night in the mission house until the next day when we got sent to our first assignments. After being interviewed, he told us each where we would go and who we would be with. My companion's name is Elder Marciano, which translates to Elder Martian. We are in the Amador Bueno Ward of the Barueri Stake in the town of Itapevi, São Paulo, Brazil, which was previously occupied by Elder Santos and Elder Paredes, which translates to Elder Walls. Elder Marciano is from Rio de Janeiro and knows very little English. The English he does know is from American songs he listens to. American music is EXTREMELY prevelant in Brazil. Tons of people listen to it. But he speaks Portuguese perfectly! He's super patient though, and we are now terrific friends. We practice Portuguese all the time obviously, and he helps me with words and translating people's words. He is amazing. He teaches really well and knows what he's doing. Just another sign that God puts us in certain places for certain reasons. This is the exact type of companion I needed.]

For right now, Elder Marciano does most of the teaching and I do smaller portions. My Portuguese is already getting tons better. It's seriously a miracle. For all of you waiting to come here, study hard. You'll need it. The people here do a lot of talking with their hands. They use the thumbs up sign for everything. Hello, goodbye, how are you, I'm doing well, everything. Just be prepared. Also, Brazilians really do use that finger snap thing all the time. And it doesn't mean let's go faster like the MTC video says. It's their expression of excitement of happiness.

The houses here are tiny and scrunched. They have no yards, and lots of people live in Fundos, which is housing behind houses. You have to go down an alley to get the them. And there are tons of super steep hills. We walk miles every day teaching people and telling people our message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Being a missionary just has the coolest feeling about it. It's indescribable. Seeing the faces of people as they hear the message we spread is priceless. After all, the worth of souls is great in the eyes of God. It's an amazing thing I'm glad I get to do. And I haven't even been here a week!!

Our housing is actually under a house. I'll try to attach pictures. We have to go through the non-member's garage, down the side of the house, to the back porch, and down some steps to our little hobbit house. It's seriously tiny. Smaller than most dorms. Heck, a lot of people's houses here are smaller than dorms. A lot of people we've taught only have one bedroom houses with a small bathroom. And that's with like 4 or 5 people living there. The drivers are crazy here. but the sights are absolutely beautiful. I had my first church meeting yesterday, and they do it backwards! Sacrament is the last hour here. The church building is super nice in comparison. It's the only building that doesn't look completely torn down. But it still doesn't compare to houses in America. Consider yourself lucky to live in the USA.

I have tons more I wish I could say, but I have no time. I hope everyone is doing well. I don't have time to even look at personal emails, but hopefully next week. I love everyone and can't wait to tell you more. Stay safe, work hard, and have fun! And those of you waiting to come to Brazil, hurry up!

Sincerely,

Elder Michael Ashford

PS. Of course I have the one computer with a problem and can't send photos, Super sorry y'all. Next week hopefully. =(