So What if Dad Missed the Fair

A few weeks ago we read the blogs about the Eastern Idaho State Fair..... about the great time everyone, except Becca, had. It was a little tough on Alan. He has always loved the fair. He doesn't do the rides or games, but since I have known him, he has never missed the animal exhibit except when he was on his mission. Well, on a recent trip to the "interior" of our mission, he took the camera along to show you all the animals you can encounter without even leaving the road. First, of course, is a sheep. You have to look pretty close to recognize that it actually is a sheep, but Alan says it was and he ought to know a sheep when he sees one.

Now, that's a mama sow if I've ever seen one. We thought it was ironic that he caught it strolling along the road right by a sign that almost spelled PIG.

Even with all the variety of foods at the fair, I'll bet you couldn't get fresh dove meat like this guy was offering along the side of the road.

One of the many groups of goats meandering down the side of the road. There never seems to be anyone tending them either. Alan always says, "Who owns these stinkin' goats?"

The elders are always complaining about not being able to drive here. Alan offered them this alternative. I think Elder McConkie's legs would be dragging. All the horses we have seen here seem quite small.

I doubt this burro would win any ribbons either. They are unattended usually too. They just stand in the road, never moving as cars go by. It may not really be like the fair, but driving in the interior is always an adventure.

We Meant Well

Last week I attended a Helping Hands service project. I had never been involved with one before, but I guess the church does them all the time when there are natural disasters and stuff. If I understood correctly it was a huge project. Members all over Brazil were cleaning and painting public schools. Our ward and another one were assigned to a school not too far from our house.

When they handed me the putty knife I thought I would be patching holes, but I actually spent most of the time scraping gum off the bottom of desks and chairs. I didn’t really mind. In the long run, I think it was more interesting. A lady that speaks quite a bit of English told me that they give a medicine to the school kids in a gum/candy form. It must not taste too good because I think that was actually most of what I was scraping off the bottom of the desks.

While we were cleaning the desks, the paint crew came in. The just moved all the desks to the middle, took a few essays off the wall, and brought out the paint brushes which looked very much like the end of a broom to me. They were only painting the bottom half of the room. I guess that makes sense, from a functional point of view, because that is the only part of the wall that gets much wear. From an aesthetic point of view, it wasn’t that great of a plan because the paint wasn’t quite the same shade of white. But really, that point was minor.

The paint they were using smelled more like thinner than paint and it was very runny. With the broom like brushes you can imagine the drips and drops that were flying everywhere. The crew was mostly made up of men and boys and I really don’t think they thought about the drips and drops. They were just there to paint. When the paint crew moved on, I grabbed a rag and started wiping up drips. The one good thing about thin paint is that it cleans up easily. I didn’t even have to get any paint remover or thinner to get it off things. But I did wonder how long that paint was going to last on the walls.

After that was done, somebody handed me a small paintbrush and some of the smelliest, stickiest paint I have ever worked with. Three of us were supposed to paint the metal bars on the gate of the school red, yellow, and green. I had the red and two Mutual age kids had the other two colors. We were trying to work around each other keeping track which bar was supposed to be red, which was green, which was yellow. I sensed early on that this was not a place that I was going to be proud of my work. I ditched out of there as soon as another Mutual age girl came along. I think she wanted to paint with her friends anyway.

Then I got on the scrub team. The women there that day really knew how to scrub. I don’t know how long it had been since those wooden desk/chairs had been scrubbed, but they were getting the scrubbing of their lives that day. Those ladies were intent on getting all the writing off them. I don't even know what kind of cleaner we were using, but if you ever want to remove writing and the finish off furniture, I will try to find out.

It was fun to work with the people even though I couldn’t talk much and it was interesting to see what their schools are like. I sure didn't see much in the way of supplies or equipment and teachers' desks were a far cry from what I've seen in our schools. They weren't that great to start with and now there is a good chance they won't be able to get their drawers open...ever again. That bright yellow oil based paint they were putting on them is seriously sticky stuff.

This project probably turned out just fine, but let's just say I hope we did more good than harm and I hope the church doesn't get sued.

What's Been Goin On

Last week we finished up Zone Conferences. This is the lunch line. They seemed pretty happy when we finally got done with interviews and brought out the food. I made 2 cookies for each missionary and even though they weren't the greatest cookies, they were a hit.

This Elder painted the back of his badge to read "I am hungry." He turns it that way when they go to lunch at some of the members’ homes. He thinks it is hilarious. Don't ask about the tie. I might have to see if I can make that disappear sometime. Though ugly, the extremely patterned ties do hide food spots better and might not be that bad of an idea for some of them.

Some of our sweet Sisters.

The next two pictures and the captions are out of order. I have already spent too much time on this post, so you will just have to figure it out. Sorry.

At the last minute Alan brought the office Elders to the going away dinner too. That explains the short tablecloth. The dinner was well, interesting. I tried to make sweet and sour chicken and besides the chicken ending up a little tough, the sauce sort of congealed (I think that is the word) while we were waiting about an extra hour for them to get to the house. It turned out looking a little like globs of jello stuck to chicken. It tasted okay though and they ate it. We had brownies and ice cream for dessert (Thanks for the idea, Mary.) and that seemed to make up for it.

We had 5 missionaries leave this week. We had a dinner for them the night before they left. The previous president's wife always had their names on a paper taped to the door when they came so I did that too. It gave the missionaries the perfect opportunity for one last immature moment together before they become dignified "returned missionaries." Our tallest Elder and our shortest Sister were among this group. Side by side, the difference is very noticeable.

We had an uninvited guest show up. Yes, that is a gecko climbing up one of the Elders pants. It was really tiny and not very scary, but still just a little creepy. We captured him in a jar and I dumped it outside the apartment building in one of the plants. I noticed his tail had fallen off though. I hope they are like lizards and can grow a new one because that curly tail was pretty cute.

The next morning we said goodbye to them at the airport. They all looked so great. Elder Hamilton, next to Pres. Batt, is from Blackfoot. We didn't get to know him very well, but wish we could have.
Right after we said goodbye to the ones returning home we greeted 18 new ones. They look excited to be here and they seem like a great group.

We even got two new sisters which is great. We need to keep a little bit of the feminine touch in the mission. So, here we go again!

Why is there a blender in my trunk?

Just when I think things might be going a little smoother, that there actually might be hope for this Brazil thing to work out, I have a day like this:

Friday we had zone conferences. They were at a church pretty close to home and I know how to drive there so Alan went ahead of me in one car. I was going to finish cutting up some fruit for the lunch, pick up a few things we needed at the grocery store and come a little later in the other car. Irene was here helping me with the fruit. She doesn't speak English and I, well.... you know. When we finished cutting up the pineapple, she put all the little scrap pieces in the blender, added some water and gave it a whirl. She doesn't waste anything and I guess she was blending it to strain and drink later. I don't know why I felt it was necessary to say something, especially when I can't , but in very broken Portuguese I tried to tell her that I thought that was a good idea to use up those scraps. She smiles, says something in Portuguese that I don't have a clue about, but I smile and nod my head in agreement. The next thing I know she is washing and drying the blender and putting it in a bag. I just watch, trying to figure out what is going on, but in too big of a hurry to go look up words in my dictionary to use to actually ask her why she put it in a bag. We start to take the fruit out to the car and I notice she has also picked up the bag with the blender in it. It gets put in the trunk with the fruit and other stuff. We say "tchau" to each other and I drive off with a blender in my trunk.

I head to the store, successfully get the parking ticket out of the machine at the parking lot entrance and go straight to the deli counter. I order the sliced cheese we need, tell the man I'll be back in a minute to pick it up, head for the bakery counter and ask for 80 buns. I had double checked how to say eighty before I left home so I didn't expect any trouble. He started loading the right kind of buns. Things seemed to be on track. Then I notice he is already going for the scale and the little machine that spits out the sticker with the amount you owe. I say, "Mais, Mais," which means, "More, more." He looks slightly puzzled and so I say "oitenta" again, this time drawing the numerals, 8 and 0 in the air as I say it. I think to myself, "That for sure ought to work," but it didn't. Another store employee comes along, says something to him, and I think I'm saved. He starts loading more buns, but hands them to me way before there are 80. I start looking around for anyone that I think might speak English. There is a lady in the line that has started to form behind me that steps forward, and asks me how many I need. I tell her 80. She then says "oitenta", just like I did, and now his light goes on. I load them up in my cart, trying not to make eye contact with anyone in the line that formed during this misunderstanding and is now having to wait while he counts out 80 buns. I head for the checkout. I remember to get my parking ticket validated. I drive safely to the church. Everything is good . I start unloading the car and suddenly remember I forgot that stupid cheese. I just don't have it in me to go back and get it then. I figure the Elders can pick it up when they get the pop later. I try to slip into the meeting next to Alan quietly. He can tell by the look on my face that I must have had a bad morning. He whispers, "What's wrong?" I say,"Nothing really, but there is a blender in the trunk and I have no idea why."

Fare Thee Well, Hebecca

The party is over, but we had such a good time with Rebecca, or Hebecca, as she was known here in Brazil. This is a picture of her arrival at the airport. She seemed a little giddy to have escaped Paraguay and all her critter friends.





We had her room fixed for her and welcomed her with a smile.

She went shopping with us and was shocked at some of the sticker prices. You can see why I no longer make anything that calls for cream of mushroom soup.

Grocery shopping is still an adventure and Rebecca liked going with us. We are still trying to figure out what things are and what to do with them once we know what they are.

We fixed a breakfast for some Elders that were leaving the mission. I thought we had to have it ready by 10:00, but the morning of the breakfast, I found out it was supposed to happen at 8:00. Yikes! I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if Rebecca hadn't been here to help. She had all of this arranged at the mission office by the time I got there with the cinnamon rolls. She had made banana bread the night before and we had quite the nice breakfast buffet. The Elders seemed to be happy with it at least.

This is the driver of the van that took the missionaries to the airport. He is a bishop here in one of the Fortaleza wards and we use his van/taxi service as often as possible. When he came for the Elders we invited him to join the party. I included this picture for a reason though. Notice the gold watch on his right arm. He no longer has that thanks to being held up right outside our apartment building just after dropping Alan off early one morning.

Double yikes!

Rebecca took this picture one of the evenings that we went walking down by the city beach. We usually go in the evening and it is often just this pretty. We were glad she got to enjoy that beautiful evening with us.

We got to celebrate Becca's BiRtHdAy with her. We went out for a nice buffet dinner and tried a lot of foods we hadn't tried before. Some we'll have again I hope. Some I hope we won't.

Anyway, we had a great time and hope she did too.

A Day in the Life

Last Sunday was a pretty long, but nice day. Alan, Rebecca, an Elder, and I left Fortaleza about 7:00 a.m. and headed for a couple of the outlying branches. Sometimes I have to settle Alan down as he is driving. It's his most traumatic time. Sunday mornings aren't all that bad though. We had pretty nice road most of the way and enjoyed the scenery which I didn't take any pictures of. Sorry.

Alan had to interview a sister that was going to the temple for the first time later in the week. She could not get to the neighboring city where he was doing other interviews, so we drove to her branch in Russas. Here he is talking with the Branch President, his counselor and Elder Olivera. You can see how young some of the church leaders are here. They all look like missionaries.

They had fixed a house into a church for the branch. I thought it was so pretty. It had a fresh coat of paint, new tile, and just really looked nice.

Rebecca and I had time to check out the neighborhood a little and I got this cute picture of her in front of one of the prettiest little places I have seen in Brazil. It is just across the street from the church. The fence was low enough that you could see into the beautiful yard and we thought it was a great photo op.

We then drove for another hour or two to Aracati. They have two branches in this town, maybe wards. I can't remember for sure. This is the church parking lot. Ours was the only car there. These good people walk, ride a bike or maybe a motorcycle to church.

I had packed stuff for sandwiches and we had a trunk picnic. Too bad I forgot the knife to cut our buns or spread the mayo and mustard. We were hungry enough to deal with it though.

We had to hurry back to speak at a fireside which we found out started at 6:00, not 7:00 like we were originally told. We made it by the skin of our teeth, but everyone was in their seats waiting for us. How embarrassing. This is a picture of the bishopric and some of the missionaries that serve in that ward.

By the end of the day, I had to kick back a little. I found just the right spot to do it too.

A Day at the Beach

We had to go to the beach, praia, while Rebecca was here. There are lots of great beaches in the area. We drove to Beach Park, which is sort of like Seven Peaks, but on a beautiful beach. They have way less slides, but it looked like a pretty fun place.

This is some of the scenery on the way there. It really is just outside of town and only took about 15 minutes to get to.

We found out when we got there that Beach Park was closed for maintenance. So we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. Yeah!! We hadn't planned to do the slides and stuff anyway.

This fun girl from the ward here went with us. We love her for a lot of reasons....like I said, she is fun, she speaks English, and her name is......Kimberly!

The sky was beautiful, the breeze and the temperature perfect for a relaxing day at the beach.

This was the only picture Rebecca got of me at the beach that I will post. Believe me, it's for your sake as well as mine.