The 1st Letter: "I'm Alive and I Don't Need A Witness"

Oi familia!!! I'm alive and well in the beautiful country of Brasil!!! But setting up this email address was so hard!!! Right now I only have 24 minutes and this key board is funny so if i spell wrong, it's because I'm not used to the keys.

I know that the Lord protects His missionaries and watches out for them. On the plane ride from Phoenix to Dallas, I was standing in the airport, waiting for the plane and thinking I was so thirsty and a little hungry. I was just about to walk away to get stuff when these giant hands came onto my shoulders and in a deep voice said, "Elder, you look thirsty so I bought you a water bottle and some snacks for the plane ride." This man had seen me walk up and bought me a water bottle and m&ms  for the plane ride. He stood there and talked with me as we waited to board. He sat behind me on the airplane to Dallas and I could hear him talking about missionaries and me to a non member. It was so cool.

But the thing I was most scared about was getting from Dallas to Sao Paulo. As I walked off the plane, I said a quick prayer to Heavenly Father that He would help me make it to Brazil. No sooner had I said amen, the man that bought me food for the airplane was walking off behind me. He started calling "Elder! Elder!" (I didn't turn around right away because I'm not used to hearing that) but when I did turn around he said, "This airport is pretty big, let me help you to your next termanal." He took my things and walked up to a lady and got my information and took me on this train. The Dallas airport is so big that they have this subway train thing that takes you to the different parts. He took me to where I needed to go and I met up with like 15 or 16 other missionaries.

The plane ride was so long and airplane food is not good. But once we made it to Sao Paulo we went through all of the baggage stuff and exchanged our monies. This small man loaded us into 3 volkswagon-like buggies and we made our way to the CTM! One thing I learned is that there are no driving laws in Brazil. People do crazy lane changes and motorcycles use the lane dividers as lanes and people drive on the shoulders. IT´S SO AWESOME!!! The city is HUGE! It's so amazing. The mission pres met us and we took pictures (They should have emailed it to dad?) and then we had meetings. It was a long day but so much fun.

My district is so awesome. Elder Groom is my companion. He looks a lot like Ben Stinnett, but acts almost exactly like Dan Chamberlain. We have so much fun. Our district leader's name is Elder Gessel and he could be the coolest guy ever. He is a lot like me, but way more awesome. One of the missionaries in our district bags didn't make it to Brazil, haha poor guy. The airport finally told him that they couldn't locate it and they would reimburse him. So today was p-day and we get to roam some of the streets in Sao Paulo. Today we went shopping with the elder that lost his bag.

I know that the CTM is a holy place and the spirit is here. I have learned more about Portuguese in 6 days than in the 2 years I took Spanish. The Lord is helping us so much. I love Brazillians. They are the nicest people in the world. My first day, this Brazillian missionary came up to me and gave me a big hug. He pointed to my badge and said, "Elder Askins??? No no no, We give them answers!" And now every time he sees me he always gives me a hug and says, "less asking, more answers!!" But it reminded me that we are missionaries and we are helping people and giving them the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don't have much more time. But I want you to know that I love you so much and I miss you guys. I'm not homesick at all, so please don't worry about me. The Lord is helping me and protecting me in more ways than we will ever understand. I love you guys so much and 2 years will fly by faster than you think. Mom- thanks for always taking care of me and loving me and putting me and the girls before yourself. Dad- Thanks for joining the church and being the best example ever. I love you both so much. Girs and Aaron- I love you guys so so so much and when I get back, we have a lot of pounce to play.

If you put this on the blog, let everyone know I accidentally misplaced the addresses so write me so I can write them. I love you all!! The Church is true!!!!