August 5, 2013

Elder Cabrera

I've officially completed my first week in Brasil...man is it different here! 

1) I'm grateful for stuff I had in the US because we don't have stuff here. For example there isn't really any good water. NEVER drink out of the faucet here. You don't find AC a lot here except for wealthier people or in some of the nicer buildings (like the chapel). 

2) People here can have cars but its mostly bikes. And there really aren't any rules on the road. The strange part about that is its safer here than it is at home on the road. And in Brasil people honk at each other all of the time...but its 99% nice honks. People will honk to tell people they are passing them or to let walkers know they will stop to let them pass, etc. Why cant Americans do this?! Oh...and we walk everywhere. Ha ha

3) People are super kind to each other. On Saturday evening we were walking and right in front of us this motorcycle accident took place. Thank goodness no one was seriously injured. But being in the middle of like a market area EVERYBODY stopped what they were doing and assisted the victims. I've never seen anything like it. I'm going to love these people!

4) Kids fly kites...super high too. Its pretty cool. No video games in these parts. Just kites, running around, and soccer. 

5) Food. I love the food...rice and beans and some type of meat every day. In Brasil they don't really do dinner. Its all about lunch here! Member meals are at lunch! Its nice even though we really don't eat breakfast or dinner unless a member randomly invites us. Lunch is usually so big that we don't really need anything else the rest of the day. I cant wait to lose weight here. :)

6) Mosquitoes here are punks. In America they're pretty big but here they just annoy you. Don't worry I am using spray and they don't even hurt. They're just everywhere. 

7) Oh, I need to mention that living conditions aren't that great. No AC, kitchens are full of bugs, showers are dirty at times, water is gross, etc. But I enjoy it! Its a cute home. I need to take pictures of it sometime. 

I work in the Bayeux area. It's a nice little town that has a lot of markets. People here are generally poor but it's a fun place. Brasil is full of cobblestone roads...wears out my feet a bit. My companion is Elder Cabrera from Chile. He speaks absolutely no English so that's fun. We live with the Zone Leaders, Elders Peirce and Bond. They are great and American! I love all the people I live with. We speak mostly Portuguese and its helping me a lot. I'm still not very good at speaking it but I'm picking up things little by little. I'm excited to see what 20 months can do. 

On Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, there was this huge concert in the middle of our city and it went on till like 3 am. Wow that was annoying. I was sooooo tired yesterday. Luckily we didn't walk AS much. And then last night this huge cat fight broke out somewhere around our house. That was interesting... 

That's the main details I have for now. Sadly this area didn't have much going on and all of us are new to the area. We have a couple of investigators but none are solid. So as of now, 0 baptisms. But that's okay. I still love this place. My ward is pretty small but it's still nice. It does need priesthood though. A lot of women and not much priesthood. That will need to change! :)

That's all I have for now. 

Love,

Elder Steven Untch