Rio das Ostras

Braden is now in his first area, Rio das Ostras. He writes about when he left Sao Paulo,

We got to the airport and got on the plane and it was only about an hour flight to Rio, if that. And I lucked out so much because I got a window seat so I got to take a ton of pictures as we were flying over Rio and I have to say that it is the most beautiful city that I have ever seen in my life! I was amazed at how awesome it is! There are mountains and beaches and trees all over the place here! We flew over a ton of buildings and stuff, and there are a lot of little islands by the bay and stuff. . We flew by The Cristo Redentor on the mountain and it was amazing! So pretty! And no, I didn't feel any effects from the earthquake; I didn´t even know about that until you said that. So this week has been pretty crazy but really awesome! A lot of changes for sure. We got off the plane in Rio and the mission president and his wife were there to pick us up and he gave us all a big hug and helped us with our stuff. He is the most amazing president and he is such an awesome man. Before he got to this mission, our mission was the second to last baptizing mission in Brazil, but since he´s been here, it is now the 2nd highest baptizing mission in Brazil! It is so awesome! We came back to the mission office and the A.P.´s talked to us, all in Portugues, and it was pretty great. After that, we took the bus to the mission president's house (we take the bus everywhere) and then we had dinner with him and his wife. It was so good! The food here is amazing! They also have an apartment that overlooks the beach and it is incredible! The actual city of Rio is absolutely gorgeous! You are right between the Mountains and the beach and everywhere you look is like paradise! So awesome! After dinner, we took some pictures and had a little interview with him and then he showed us where we would be serving and who our trainers would be. My area is called Rio das Ostras ( River of the Oysters) :) and it is so amazing! It is about three hours from Rio. My trainer and companion is an awesome guy! He knows how to work hard and he has helped me get the hang of most things. He is from Nevada and has been out about 9 months now. It was so cool when the mission president showed me his picture because he said that he was about to put this elder in as a Zone leader, but he felt inspired at the last minute to put him as my trainer and it was such an amazing experience for me to hear that because I knew that he was going to be a hardworking missionary who is obedient with exactness, and that is just what I need. By the way, the mission president doesn't speak any English, so that has been fun too. :) In our area, there are only four missionaries, including me, and they are all so awesome! They are so welcoming and loving. We didn't come to our new area until the next day because it was about 8 when we finally got everything figured out and stuff, so we slept at some other Elder´s apartment that night who lived down the street from the mission home. It was very crowded. I didn't have a pillow and I still don´t have a pillow yet, but I´m going to get one today. It was fun making a pillow out of my sweater and my towel; and when I woke up a little cold, I put my towel on my legs; it was great. haha. It´s been so sweet here though. We got a ride from the bus station in Rio to Rio das Ostras from a member here and he is such an awesome guy as well! It took us about three hours to get here, and he bought us some food which was very awesome; very nice of him. Then right when we got here, my companion, who is also our district leader, had to interview a 16 year old boy for a baptism. That was before we even went to our house. So I talked with the other Elders there, practiced my Portugues with them, and took some pictures of the chapel because it is so cool and way old! Looks like it was made 200 years ago, it´s so sweet! After that, we went to our apartment, which is very nice and very awesome, and dropped off my stuff, and then headed out to a members home for lunch. We had rice and beans and some nice meat stuff! It was way good. It was pretty cool talking to the members, even though it´s still really hard for me to understand what they are saying. After lunch, I was the lucky winner who got to share the thought with the family in Portugues, so I shared a scripture with them and bore my testimony. It went pretty great and The Spirit was definitely strong, even though I might not have said everything correctly. After that, we went out and started doing contacts and we taught a few lessons as well. I hadn't shaved so I had some nice scruff going on, but anyway, it was really awesome! I was pretty exhausted for sure, but that´s just a sign of a good day´s work. My companion has been doing a great job of speaking as much Portugues as possible with me so that I learn quicker, because that was one of the things that his trainer didn't do with him that he wishes he would have. So I live with two Americans and one Brazilian. They are so awesome! So pretty much we had our first baptism yesterday; second day out in the field, and it was amazing. The Spirit was so strong there! I got to lead the music even though I didn't know the words in Portugues. After that, we went to lunch at another members house. The food here is so much better than in the U.S. There is no comparison. We are going shopping today for a bunch of stuff and I´m way excited to get some awesome food. After lunch yesterday, we went on splits and we went to teach a family, but they didn't end up being home so we went contacting, and we walked past a street, but the elder I was with decided to stop and go back down it and we ended up meeting a family there and teaching them! It was so awesome! They were really poor and so nice and receptive. The Spirit was so strong there and we left feeling like a million bucks! I only have a few minutes left, but just know that everything is going amazing here and I´m absolutely loving it here. It is so much better than the CTM and MTC. I love you all and hope to hear from you again by next week!


Love, Elder McDonald