First Email From Brazil

We would have posted this sooner but, we were on a wonderful 25th Anniversary trip. We opted not to take a lap top, thought we'd be able to get internet access at the places we stayed. They do things a little differently there. So anyhow, here are bits of Andrew's first email home. We're glad to hear he is doing well. We took out the more personal notes

It´s pretty weird here in Sao Paulo, Brazil. the weather was pretty cold for the first few days I was here but it´s really picked up now. we went to the campenas temple today and it was beautiful. my companion (or campanheiro in portugese :) is two years older than me... he comes from Orlando Florida. the other 4 people in my district come from Utah, also known as the factory around here.. haha. I´m picking up the language pretty quick... and i can say a prayer all the way through.I´m making a big effort to learn at least 25 words a day and converse with the Brazillians as much as possible. i think i know about... 100 different words now, maybe more. Brazil is pretty great down here though. the houses and businesses are small and really jampacked and the traffic is scary. Very little regulation. Motorcycles drive inbetween cars all the way down the highway. It´s estimated that 5 motorcyclists die a day. and pedestrians do not have the right of way, so they´ll run you over if you´re not careful. there´s a few different bugs to watch out for like this thing called the Botch Fly, where it rams into a mosquito to force it´s eggs on it, and then when a mosquito bites you, it places the eggs inside your skin. it eventually becomes like.. a boil in your skin, and if you do nothing about it, a fly eventually pops out and flies away. pretty disgusting right? overall, my first week was a good one. the 15 hours of flying wasn´t fun... but it´s so great being here. every 30 minutes of our days are planned out, so there´s never anytime for sleep, except when it´s assigned. Well.. i gotta get going because my district is waiting for me...
Love, Andrew