Hello everybody!
Things here in Brazil are very interesting. First off, I got to fly about 8000 miles with several 3 to 4 hour layovers, so that was a ton of fun. haha, I mean that totally jokingly. Flying is cool, but not that cool. I left out of Ontario CA at 6:00am on the 11th, and got into Salt Lake UT a few hours later. I was alone for that flight, but before I got on I saw one of the Elder's leaving from the Ridgecrest ward. Anyways, I spent another 3 hours in Salt Lake and there were soo many missionaries there, going all over the world. I talked to some going to Chile and that was fun, but I was still pretty much alone. My good friend Ben Christensen found me in Salt lake and we talked a bit, and that was super nice. Travelling long distance alone isn't super fun. Anyways, next I flew into Atlanta Georgia, and might I say, it was awesome! The airport was really cool, and after some wandering around I found other missionaries bound for the Brazil MTC, which is really the Center de Tranemeinto de Missionarios, or CTM. So I'll refer to it as the CTM. Anyways, I met up with like 7 other Elders and a sister, and we all ran around the airport in Atlanta and were just very happy to have found other people we could talk to. We already had our name tags so we all looked like legit missionaries. It was really fun. We got some people who didn't speak English to take a picture, and after our Passports and Visas were checked, we were off. The next flight was a little over 4500 miles, and it took nearly 10 more hours. That was long. We were flying to Sao Paulo Brazil too, so not many people spoke English. It's one thing to be travelling for a long time, another completely when you can't effectively communicate with anyone. haha loads of fun. But it was a good experience.
So, first impression of Sao Paulo: WHATT??? It is seriously the biggest thing I have ever seen. It is impossible to see the whole city, even from 20000 feet. I later found out it takes several hours to drive from one end to the other. There are literally buildings and roads over every square inch, and most buildings are about 30 stories tall, with smaller ones interspersed. The Sao Paulo Metro area is home to more than 30,000,000 people. Yeah, think the biggest city you have ever seen, and then square it. HUGE. And tall! All the buildings are so tall. Something else that is funny is they only have small cars here and the streets are very narrow. And drivers are crazy! There are like no traffic laws, so people literally weave in and out of traffic with no indication! No signals or anything, and a lot of times people don't even obey red lights. Haha, so lots of fun. Once I get to Rio, I'll send pictures; We aren't allowed to upload any here. Anyways, the city is huge. The area we are in is lower class, so it is very interesting. Very run down, but it has character.
The CTM itself is really cool. It is definitely the largest and nicest building in this part of Sao Paulo, which is known as Casa Verde. It is only six stories tall, but the land it is on is much larger than any other single place for a building, including a full size supermarket nearby. And it is really nice. No air conditioning in the bedrooms, but no complaints.
Anyways, life here at the CTM is interesting. 16 hour days everyday, full of studying the language and the gospel. It is really great. I don't like being idle, and I love learning new things, so learning a whole new language is very gratifying. Also, Brazilians are super outgoing and expressive, and always laugh and smile, so I fit right in! Once I am good at Portuguese, I could actually pass as a Brazilian They have all kinds of different people here, so nobody really looks to foreign.
My time here has been amazing. It has only been one week, but I've learned as much as I would in three maybe, maybe a month, and I feel like it has been at least three weeks. I feel like our minds have so much put in them here and are under so much stress that they age faster than the time that really passes. Most missionaries are fluent in Portuguesse after 9 weeks. I can't imagine. Well, I can, because I am learning so fast, but to think such a thing can happen is truly amazing. Already I can understand a great deal. I can usually understand almost all of the lessons (which are in Portuguese) and I've even taught class a few times, when none of us knew what to do and we didn't have a teacher. I pretty much just read the textbooks ish things we have and explained them, and we all learn together. I am progressing pretty fast, but I just hope I continue to. It is much harder than anything I have done before, but it is also much more rewarding. I feel like I'll leave the CTM a year older rather than just two months older haha.
Anyways, I feel the spirit here so much. Our teachers are amazing, and even the food is pretty good. (I only mention it because I know some of you are wondering). I am growing a lot. I feel like I am not at my pique yet, as to where \i have been in the past, but I know I can do even better than I have ever done before. I am here with so many good people. We have so much good work to do. If I had more than five minutes left to type, I'd tell you so much more. I guess you'll just have to write me!! It's the only way I can get your address too. So if you want a letter from me, you have to send me one first, else I don't know where to send it. Look on my Facebook page for my address. It takes about a week for a letter to get here from the US. Unfortunately, it takes two weeks or more for one from here to get to you guys. I'm finding a way to speed things up, but we'll see how that goes. Anyways, write me please! I would love to hear about life in the world I know. It is easy too lose your identity here. Nothing is the same outside of the gospel. But it is soo good too :) I love being a missionary! It isn't easy, but this will definitely be the best two years yet. And the last two will be very very hard to eclipse. But there are great blessings for those who are willing to sacrifice for Heavenly Father. And this work, in this way, as a missionary requires you give almost everything. But the great part is, you get even more back!
I haven't heard from anybody yet, so write me! :) And if you are wondering if you should be a missionary yes you should :) So good! I love you all so much! Please tell everyone you know who knows me too that I love them too and that I say hi!
I miss home. But this is good :) Haley, please email this to everyone. Stay true to the Lord! No sacrifice is too great for what is right! And you can never out-give heavenly father, so don't worry about making hard choices!
Love you all!
Elder Viglione
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