Oi familia como esta?

So Brazil has been great so far and we already get to have a P day so it has been pretty exciting!! It was nice to talk to you all at the airport! So Sister Sowa and I are in Sister Twitchell's district and it started out with only 3 American Elders and now there are a total of 10 of us so things are looking good! The CTM said that there has been no one getting visas for months now but they are slowly starting to come in. They only had one American Elder here 6 months ago but there are about 3 American districts here. Plus, 25 Americans come next week which is unheard of, so this is pretty exciting for them because there are only 250 people here in this MTC and it can hold much more and 900 people plus more each week are waiting on visas. So I think that some of the people coming next week will be from my original district because 20 are coming from Provo MTC of the 25 missionaries coming. The Lord works in wondrous ways and I cant wait to hopefully meet up with some of them again and Sister Sowa and I will move to that district next week so it would be sweet if it was with some of our old district. Sister Sowa and I are companions still so that is great but we room with two native Brazilians which is super cool but it is really funny because we can't really communicate very well and sometimes after one of us says something we all just stare and laugh because we have no idea what is going on. They speak no English and their Portuguese is a much stronger accent than I am used to but they are really sweet and hopefully by the end of my stay here we will all communicate pretty well and smoothly. The CTM here is much more chill in some aspects; like today we get to go walk around town and go out to eat and go in stores and buy things if we would like we just have to stay in the boundaries. We also got to go to the temple today and it was a pretty great experience and I was able to speak both English and Portuguese. The people here are way nice and friendly. The cafeteria is much smaller than Provo, the differences are pretty crazy but it is great! I do miss my old district a bit but our new one is super sweet and everyone is chill but its sad because we will be moved to a new one next week so that is why I am hoping it is some of the people I know from Provo. I will have to wait and see.

The airport was crazy and we gave away a Book of Mormon to a young guy named Nando. He spoke English super well but was from Brazil and he was such a nice guy! We all talked for about 30 minutes and he gave us advice and just told us all about Brazil. All the people here are so nice so I know what people mean when they say Brazilians are the nicest and most friendly people ever. Crazy thing though is there are more Latinos here than Brazilians. It is kind of hard to tell the difference because everyone is so diverse. It is so amazing to see the diversity of colors and accents here. Some people are really light and others are much much darker. It all depends on what part of Brazil they are from and like I said some people are Hispanic so there is just so much change I am loving it! We played volleyball last night as a district and here we get a snack at night which means more food for Sister Mattei haha. Plus I tried some meat they had here and I just about threw up. I have no idea what is was but you know me and how I am with meats so it will definitely be something to work on. Oh so funny thing on the way here to the CTM we took some van to get here and we for sure thought we were being kidnapped or something because it was just a bit sketchy and the driver didn't talk to us at all and then we pulled in at the back of the CTM and it had the churches name nowhere so we were all like where are we and he kept talking on the phone with people and we had no idea what he was saying. It was pretty funny and Sister Sowa legitimately thought she was being kidnapped haha.  Sister Twitchell said she thought the same thing when she came. Good news is I am here and safe an our president and his wife are the sweetest people ever! It is cool here because you get to know people so much faster since it is so much smaller but I do miss things about Provo. I am glad I got to experience the both of them. The airplanes were so nice on the way here had TVs and everything but don't worry I was obedient and didn't watch LOL. Plus we got dinner and snacks and a pillow and blanket. I felt rich. It was long and we got pretty much no sleep and then came to the CTM and started our day so I am still a bit tired and was dozing off at the temple but I was able to get through it and now I feel pretty awake.  We talked with an Elder from Bolivia the whole way back on the bus ride so we were able to practice Portuguese and Spanish. It is definitely difficult to comprehend things at times. So far though I love it but it is definitely a change and something to get used to. Our district is singing at the devotional this next week so that should be a good experience even though I can't sing haha. Oh and if you don't want to send a small Preach My Gospel they sell them here so let me know what works best. I would just wait to send a package when I am in the field. Well I better get going! I am not sure when I will write next because this isn't my normal P day so you will just have to wait and see! Tell everyone hello! Eu te amo!! Miss yall!!

Muito amor,

Sister Mattei

Sister Mattei with Sister Sowa and Elder Bramwell at the CTM in Sao Paulo