I Made It!!

I got in this morning! So good news that I made it!

Here's a good story about my flight- after the flight from College Station was delayed, I was worried a little about making the connection in Dallas. When I checked the board, it said the American flight to Sao Paulo was boarding. So I sprinted all the way to the gate. Turns out that there were two American Flights to Sao Paulo that day, an hour apart. So I had gone to the wrong gate. I left and found the right gate and everything went well.

I waited and waited for other missionaries to show up but none ever did. Mom, I did eat a nice American meal before I left- Texas BBQ. I took a picture but I don't have my camera with me right now. They let us in here kinda by surprise.

Anyways, the people I ended up next to were members and were very friendly, but only spoke Portuguese. So it was exciting to work out the communication thing.

I sat by a 14 yr. old boy. His name was Samuel. He was really nice and funny. I asked him if burping is okay and he said no……so too bad for that plan.

Flying in was really cool. As the sun rose, there was a huge blanket of clouds. Breaking through that, I could see so much of the land. It's all so green and brown. Really pretty. The land is rolling and the streets are really steep.

When I landed in Sao Paulo, the family from the plane was very helpful and I found the right contact. With him was one other Elder, Elder Taylor. We were the only Elders to come in today. We are companions also. He was on the first flight from Dallas. I exchanged all my American money for Brazilian money. It’s a 2:1 ratio, so now I have 400 Brazilian dollars.

According to the people here, there are hundreds of missionaries waiting on Visas. The Houston and Washington consulate embassies are the best, so most of the Americans here are from Virginia and Texas and Oklahoma (which uses the Houston consulate thingy).

Elder Taylor and I are in a trio, but our other companion, Elder Sanders, has not yet come in.

This means that Elder Taylor and I are the only ones in our district right now. But there are supposed to be 50 Brazilians coming in tomorrow, so we'll have more in no time.

There also is a sister who came in today, Sister Brown. She's from Virginia, but has lived in Brazil before and knows Portuguese. So many people here know Portuguese, we hear it all over the MTC. A lot of the people here only know Portuguese, so communication is awkward for now.

As far as I’ve seen, there aren't very many missionaries here. I think about 70. But even with a small program, it's pretty cool.

One American Elder got sent home today because he broke his knee playing volleyball. So I'll promise to be safe.

The food here is great and the water isn't so bad. I'm excited to be here. On our P days we get to go around the city and it's so pretty. I'll have to send pictures next Pday. I don't know when it is, but it will be either Sat or Wed. I think.

Sorry for the bad typing (especially capitalization) we are using Portuguese keyboards and I'm not really used to it. The shift keys are really small. I'll make sure to send pictures next time.

Word for everyone- don't send packages. Everything is carefully searched and there's a 60% tariff tax on anything worth more than $50. Also I can get in legal trouble if I’m sent something that is not allowed. So for the large part don't send me anything other than mail unless I ask for it. If you want to send something, ask me first and I can find out if it's okay. Also, never ever send money it's prohibited.

Much Love,

Elder Jasperson