Mission 2 - Week 7

Hi everyone, it's a great day!  And we've had a great week - if you don't count me almost dying of some bug that I picked up.  It was a lot like the flu - which would be wierd because it's not flu season down here and I already had a flu shot (We now think it is probably Dangue, rats!  I mean... mosquitos!).  Well, let's get to the full report:

Monday was a normal work day, we stayed late for FHE with the other couples.  The lesson (another in a long list of classics) was on the national debt, how big it was, and how much trouble we're in.  Tuesday was another long day at the office, but we followed that up with a visit to Ric's (Ric Davids, our exchange student in WA) apartment, then a walk over to the apartment building that he owns and is fixing up.  It's a big project, most of the apartments have not been renovated for 15 years.

Selfie inside Ric's apartment

This is the outside of his apartment building - it has 7 rentals, I think.

After that we went to dinner with Ric at a new restaurant downtown (we were supposed to do Mexican, but it closed early).  It was very posh, they had a live band and everything.  The food was also pricey, but it was delicious.  Mom had the lamb and said it was wonderful.  We took the bus home.

View of a nice park across from the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant, looking at the bar.

My dinner.

Wednesday was another holiday for us here in Brazil, so we went with several of the other senior couples on a "walking tour" of São Paulo, this one was of the graffiti art on the streets of São Paulo.  It was quite interesting because there is a movement to replace the ugly graffiti with more artistic works!  In fact, there are business owners that pay the artists to create nice art on their buildings so that they don't get the ugly graffiti on them - apparently there is a respect among the people that do graffiti and they don't generally paint over someone else's work.  Here are some of the pictures on the walls of the area where we went (one of the roads is called "Batman Alley" and it's the most famous).  The tour was very fun.  It's a "free" tour, they walk you around for a couple hours and then ask for tips at the end.

Mom with some of the graffiti art

We're getting more used to the buses now, although Mom almost followed another couple onto a bus after the tour.  I told her we weren't taking that one, and the couple got back off and came with us - good thing because that bus would have taken over an hour to get home and we made it in 30 minutes.

Thursday morning started off with another French toast breakfast for a couple elders in the São Paulo South mission.  I told them I would treat them for doing such a good job on visa renewals!  Then to the office, but we left early because I wasn't feeling well (sore throat, etc.)

Friday morning was a real treat, we got to attend a meeting with Elder Renlund and his wife.  Sister Renlund's talk was short, expressing gratitude and saying there is no small part when we serve in the church.  Elder Renlund told the story of when he was called - he got a text from his sister (that he said got all the brains of the family) that said congratulations on being the 100th apostle called in this dispensation.  She went on to say that he was the fourth "binary" apostle called (0's and 1's only).  001 was Thomas B. Marsh, excommunicated.  010 was Orson Pratt, excommunicated.  011 was John F. Boyington, excommunicated.  100 was Dale G. Renlund, ??  It was pretty funny.  Then he spoke on the Church as a "delivery system for the Atonement".  
That night we went to dinner and a movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" with the other couples.  The movies here are almost always in English with Portuguese subtitles, so that makes them awesome!  Before the movie we had the best chicken I've tasted in Brazil - it was crusted with baked parmesan cheese, delicious!

Saturday I was still in bed, but got up to go to see "My Fair Lady" at a very nice theater here in a nice district of the city.  We weren't quite sure what to expect, knowing that plays are not in English (and no subtitles either!).  The play was spectacular, very well performed, and super talented actors.  We couldn't take pictures but I snapped some at the end of the play.  

Mom wanted some more Christmas pictures - Reindeer at the mall

Like I said, very nice part of town.

We just loved the play, the cast (shown here) was fantastic!

The theater was great, sorry you only get to see the closing curtain.

We had a great time.  We were outside finding our way home and some of the couples decided to walk down to a bus stop instead of taking a taxi home (it was dark).  When I saw that this "short walk" included walking through a dark tunnel that was about a block long, I told Mom we weren't doing that.  I suggested that the single sister missionary go back with us and get a taxi home.  Well, the others followed us, finally agreeing that it was better safe than sorry!  Yeah, we're talking one of the most dangerous cities in Brazil (so, that means the world!), just behind Rio de Janeiro.  Anyway, we made it home quickly and safely - well worth the $10 cab fare!

So that's the news across the nations, love to all of you.
The church is defintely true!
Dad and Mom