How's the missionary?

I thought it might be kind of fun to share some of the things David has been experiencing as a new missionary in Brazil - you know, shake things up on the blog since I haven't had much to say lately (which I know is such a bummer for all of you....haha). :)

David is doing really well and loves Brazil! He got to spend all of December and about half of January at the MTC (CTM as they call it in Brazil) in Sao Paulo and he loved it.

He said the food is amazing, and he would tell us about the teachers he got to be friends with and some that he even hopes to meet up with once he's home. There was a missionary couple that he really liked who are from Rexburg so he told them if he ends up going to BYU-I when he's home, he wants to go have dinner with them every Sunday, and apparently they were all for it. I think part of the reason he liked them so much was because he said the guy reminded him a little of Grandpa and was a stud. :)

The language has been a bit of a challenge, he says, but he said he's not the only one who gets frustrated at not being able to communicate as well as he wants to, so he knows it'll all be ok.

He finally sent us some pictures, so we were excited to see a few of the things he'd told us about.

 This first picture cracks me up a little. He said that while he was in the MTC, him and his comp. found an empty bedroom that had tons of mattresses stashed in it, so they got permission to sleep in there instead. It was on the 5th floor so he got the brilliant idea to stack 5 mattresses on top of each other and put them right next to the window. (Hard to see in the picture, but it literally comes to the edge of the window sill).

Then at night he would open the window and lay there looking out, at what he said, is the biggest city he's ever seen - Sao Paulo.

This was his view every night!

He really enjoyed the experiences of the MTC and would write home and say, "It's the coolest thing ever to be in a room full of missionaries who are all singing 'Called To Serve' together. It literally raises the hair on your arm!" So it's been cool for us to hear about things like that.
   I'm sure he loved it even more after spending years in the car with all of us sisters, who usually got the final say in what music we listened to on road trips.
    It brings to mind the time, not that long ago, when were on our way out of town somewhere and had been listening to Taylor Swift non-stop with all of us girls un-doubtedly singing along without reserve.
   He'd been sitting pretty quietly for a long time, but all of a sudden he cracked  and grabbed his pillow, buried his face in it, and just let out this gut-wrenching moan/scream. He couldn't take it anymore!! :D

  Anyway, towards the end of January he got to leave the MTC and headed up to his actual area near Joao Pessoa (on the eastern coast, pretty much under the equator). We've been telling him how cold and snowy it is here, and he emails back saying how all he ever feels like is hot, sweaty, and smelly. I'd take it over being cold any day!
  The first week or so out of the MTC was a little rough for him since all the people he'd gotten to be friends with had all gone their own seperate ways. Not to mention, he's still learning Portuguese and is now surrounded by people who don't speak English - including his own companion. :)
   Lucky for him, the bishop of the ward in his area has been able to help him out (the fact that he speaks English was probably one of the biggest blessings!) and they've become friends. David's always been a pretty social, out-going guy, so I'm sure he's enjoying meeting all these new people despite a few challenges here and there.
   One of our favorite emails came after his second week in his new area. I think I'll just let you read it for yourself to get the best idea of how it went:
  "Next experience is my first meal with a member. We eat lunch at members homes since that’s the big meal of the day and my first one was at a very poor family's house. I don't say any of this to talk bad about the family or the people here, but I say it to describe the situation. I love the members and people here! They are the nicest people. Anyways we walk into this hole in the wall that is their house and we go to the very back where the little kitchen is. To start this all off the kitchen smells like a sour chicken coop. A wet un-cleaned chicken coop...and we sit down and we had beans, rice, some kind of noodles and all that was really good! The fresh fruit juice is way good too! Then comes the ''mystery meat''...two different kinds. I don't know what they were but the first one I ate was tougher than year old jerky. It tasted good but it broke my jaw trying to chew it. There was actually one point where there was a part I could NOT chew through for anything so I put some juice in my mouth and swallowed this chunk of meat down like a pill..... I wanted to dab the buckets of sweat off my forehead.....too, but....no napkin....! The second piece of meat tasted like dirty dishwater. So while eating that piece and smelling chicken coop I was literally dry heaving! Luckily the members were looking at my comp because I was gagging hardcore! It was rough! I ate it all though and they never noticed that I was struggling. Again, I love the family, but I had to describe the situation in detail so you would understand. I hope you got a good laugh from that."
  And yes, we did get a good laugh at it! :) The very next thing he said, though, is that the members give them fresh grape juice, and mango drinks, and even an avocado drink that he really likes. So I think he'll be just fine!
  The last picture was what they saw on their bus ride to the mission home in Joao Pessoa. Yeah, seems a little cruel to show this while we're here in the chilly land of Boise.

   Anyway, as he told us, "I love being a missionary!" and we were so glad to hear it. What a cool thing to have someone close to you out serving the Lord in that way. It's a good reminder for our family that every member is a missionary, whether you're wearing an official badge or not, and that we need to be aware of opportunities to share the gospel anyway we can.
     I'll keep you posted as we hear more from him and the cool new things he experiences as an elder!