Mission 2 - Week 22

Well, we`re baaaaccck from the awesome Pantanal trip.
Sunday we went to church in Cuiabá and saw all our friends and it was so nice to visit with them and renew friendships.  President and Sister Oliveira were also at church and invited us over for lunch after the block, so we went over with the Burkes and Sister Cox and it was very nice.

Our Group at the "Center of South America" (I'm taking the picture)

Mom with Vera Cavalcante and Morgana with Marco,
he was about 3 months old when we left Cuiabá!

President and Sister Oliveira with us in their home.

We flew back into São Paulo Sunday evening, getting home pretty late.  But it was OK because Monday and Tuesday were holidays and the office was closed for Carnaval.  Monday we did some cleaning around the house and put everything away from the trip and did wash.
Tuesday we did some shopping and then went to the temple since it was open during the holiday - it was packed with people.  Mom decided to start a diet so... we went out to eat before she started!  We went with the Sondereggers, Passeys, and Sister Cox to a Japanese restaurant close by (not the same as a couple weeks ago), it was very good.
Wednesday was back to the office and we were swamped with work, trying to catch up after being away for a few days.  Our work group went to lunch because it was the last day of missionary service for another casal - the Leals, they are a Brazilian couple that worked from home, helping out the travel department.  We ate at a restaurant known for its Feijoada, a typical Brazilian dish, it was very good also.
Thursday was another busy day at work, but I wasn't feeling well.  When we got home I worked on Pantanal pictures, we studied and went to bed.
Friday, still not well, we went to the temple after work with several of the other couples and it was nice.  Today I had both a head ache and an ear ache - unusual for me.  Mom and I were both pretty worn out.
Saturday, we went downtown (to look for a job!) to a feira (open market) and bought some souveniers, etc.  Then we went up on top of the Hotel Itália, one of the tallest in São Paulo, to look around and take some pictures.  We ate at a nice Padaria (bakery) with the Sondereggers then went home.  After we got home we were invited to go to Sam's Club!  So we went with the Passeys and it was really fun - the store looked amazingly like a US Sam's.

These are the tents at the park where the feira was.

Many of the police downtown use horses - kind of like NY

The building in the middle is the Hotel Itália

This was taken in the Praça Republica - the Park downtown

Mom and Elder Sonderegger in the Subway station (could
also be New York, except for the Portuguese signs!)

The one on the left is a lemon pie, but they didn't sell it
by the slice so I had to pass on buying the whole thing.

These were in the Padaria where we ate - they are little
candies made up like Finding Nemo characters

Cool São Paulo suspension bridge

These pictures give a little idea of how big the city is.

More city shots from the Hotel Itália.

Love to all,
The Church is True
Dad and Mom