We arrived in Brazil!

Hi Kids!

Dad and I arrived in Brazil after a LONG system of 3 plane connections. It was almost like going to Australia except there weren't any adorable grandbabies to see... the similarities were that people here have accents too and that the main streets remind us of King Street in Newtown. It also reminds me of California with it's beautiful natural setting of rolling hills and flowers.

Our Mission President Fortunate and his wife greeted us at the airport when we arrived and took us on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride through the streets of Belo Horizonte, pointing out sights and shooting questions to Dad. I'm pretty good at understanding what they were saying, I just need to courage to join in the conversation.

W dropped Sister Fortunate off to their apartment (she made a wonderful lunch for us) and we headed to the Mission Office which is on the 10th floor of that address I sent you. I thought Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was over at that point - but NO - he proceeded to drive almost vertically in a parking garage to get to the level he wanted ( I know what it must be like to be on a space shuttle now). Wow. He is one incredible driver. I'm talking Formula One.

He spoke to us at length on our assignment. We'll be staying in the city of Belo Horizonte for now, working with less active members of one of the Stakes here and helping in other things as well. We meet with the Bishop and Stake President tomorrow evening. In the meantime, we are in a hotel for a few days until our apartment furniture arrives and the apartment is ready.

As soon as we figure out our direct address, we'll let you all know. Obviously, we have internet access here at the hotel.

After our meeting in the M.O., we had lunch at the Fortunato's lovely apartment (he was the head of a big business in Sao Paulo before his call - he was also a counselor to President Richardson of the Redmond Stake when he served as a Mission President in Sao Paulo) and then here to the hotel (proceeded by another Wild Ride - wow- he sure can drive) where Dad and I fell asleep for a good 5 hours. Now we're pushing to stay awake so we'll be in synch with the time here (it's 9:18 pm as I'm writing).

The adventure begins.

Stay in touch!

We love you all!

Love, Mom and Dad