Brazil. it is hot here.

Dear Family,

yes, my mother dear, I did arrive safely in Teresina. The 12 hour flight to São Paulo was long, but there were over 30 missionaries on the flight. It was very fun to see all of my friends from the MTC and hear about reassignments. When we got to the airport, there was someone from the church there to help us out with passports and all that jazz. I don´t know why, but we did not go through customs, and everything went through quickly and smoothly.

Presidente and Sister Dias picked me up from the airport and took me to lunch, this was probably about 4pm. then they dropped me off at a hotel across town where i could rest and shower for a few hours. It was incredibly strange to be all by myself for the first time in four months. in a foreign country where everyone speaks REALLY fast! I was not thrilled, but it was very nice to take a nap. The assistants picked me up from the hotel for dinner and we ate with the Dias family. Luckily one of the assistants was American, and Sister Dias said that I looked tired and that he needed to translate for me. I wish that was the case everyday. People in Teresina speak really fast.

The second day, I was supposed to meet a set of elders in the hotel lobby at 7 am. They were two and a half hours late, and i just waited, and waited, and waited some more. I was all alone in a hotel across town, where I couldn't go anywhere or speak to pretty much anyone. I was thankful to see them, and they both are Brazilian, so they should be thankful that I can’t berate them in Portuguese yet! We went all over the city in taxis that day to get my passport and visa authorized and to get me a temporary id. it took the better part of the day, and then the sisters in Teresina came to the mission office to pick me up where i have been staying since Friday night.

I will be serving in Junco, a town just outside of Sobral. It is a six hour bus ride from Teresina, and my companion (who is Brazilian but I cannot remember her name right now) will arrive tomorrow morning for us to ride together. I have heard that it is just as hot, but that the place i will be staying is nice.

So, for the past three days, I have been with Sister Fisher and Sister Aguiar. Sister Aguiar speaks so fast my head spins, but she is kind. Sister Fisher actually served her reassignment in Montana as well, and she has been an asset to help me along for the first few days. She just served in Junco and said that has been her favorite area. here in Teresina, we walk everywhere. Everyday, we walk between 45 minutes to an hour to get to an appointment. So each appointment takes three hours. one to walk there, one to teach and one to walk back or somewhere else. I hopefully will learn to endure the heat better:)

I don´t have many details yet about where I will serve my first area, but I am sure that the email next week will be chalk full of details.

for now, pray for my success, I miss you all a ton!

Love,

Sister Smith