Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Culture Shock!

Elder Lemley finally received his Visa last week and the next day was on his way to Brazil! We got our first email from him this week and while we feel bad for him, it also made us giggle. He is experiencing what every missionary gets to experience and it will only make him a better person and a better missionary! Here is some of his first email from Brazil.....
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where the heck am I????? For having 3 people in our family serve in Brazil and four learning a new language, why do I feel so unprepared?!?!?! Brazil is freakishly different! There is NO dress code in Brazil! AND bugs apparently like to eat humans alive! Especially if they are American! Blegh....things are different. It will take time to adjust to everything. Of course I have been sick since I got here. Cold, sore throat, now sore throat and upset stomach. Yup, exciting. My companion is Elder Blend (Blen-gee). He is from Sau Paulo. He speaks NO English AND we are white washing the area. We are in uh, Cordeiro or Cardeiro....something like that. It is right next to the city, so we are only like a 5-10 minutes bus ride from the mission office. Our President speaks barely any English, so our first night here was interesting. And no, I don't understand much because people speak SO fast!!
I am not looking forward to the next few months. Church yesterday was interesting. Didn't understand anything. I just feel awkward all the time. Wanna know something else? Guess who the ward/primary pianist is here? That would be me...cause I was messing around on the piano at church. I CAN ONLY PLAY THE RIGHT HAND!! So, add that to my stress list. I know I need to have more patience, that is my weak point. Just pray for me! Forgive me, I won't get a letter off today cause I am trying to learn the ropes of everything here and need to figure stuff out. But I will get letters off next week. I promise! I love you all!!! Love, Elder Lemley"

Eric is SO excited that David is finally there and after reading his email Monday night, Eric spent like 45 minutes looking on the computer figuring out where David is, how close he is to the temple, and how close he is to any areas where Eric served. We are excited for David and know with time he will learn to love Brazil and adjust. Hopefully the bugs don't eat him alive in the process!