Monday was the birthday of Liz and Jameson, so we called them a sang Happy Birthday to them in Portuguese. We worked in the are office and got all of our work done. Mom's work load is still pretty light because the Brazilian government doesn't have the money to print passports! Our FHE lesson was given by Elder Passey on the Pathways program - an educational program available on-line worldwide, hosted by BYU Idaho. We went to dinner afterward with the Sharmahds and Sister Whiting (her husband had to escort a missionary home to the US). We went to a Fondue place that was pretty good - but, as usual, we ate too much.
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| Sis Sharmahd, Sis Whiting, Mom |
Tuesday we worked in the area office again, then Mom left about 11am to go to Santos (a city about to 2 hours away) with the Sharmahds - Sister Sharmahd didn't want to be without someone to talk to on the trip. Not sure what that says about her husband, who was driving! 😉 Anyway, they didn't get home until about 10pm - they stopped for dinner, then had a flat tire, and it was a LONG trip. Here are a couple pictures she took at the ocean in Santos.
So "the rest of the story" with the flat tire. They hit a pothole and popped the tire, but they couldn't find a place to stop along the road for quite awhile and finally just pulled to the side of the road and at that point Sister Sharmahd said, "We'd better say a prayer", so they did, asking for safety and for protection. Right as they finished the prayer, a guy pulled up in a truck and asked if they needed help but Elder Sharmahd said he could handle it. This man told them that this particular section of road was not a safe place to be since it was down by the docks. He then went back to his car and waited there until Elder Sharmahd had finished changing the tire. When it was all done, he gave them directions on how to best return to São Paulo, then he drove off. What do you think - one of the 3 Nephites?! Mom enjoyed the ride anyway, and they had dinner on the beach at the ocean which she said was very pretty.
Wednesday I got word in the office that the Rio mission was going to just let us handle another set of missionaries that need visa renewals - all the other missions (33 of them) handle the renewals just fine in their mission, but for some reason Rio thinks it's easier to dump the work on us. As you can tell, I wasn't very happy about it. Fortunately, we went to the temple after finishing up in the office and I was able to get a better perspective on things - so I rescinded the "hit" that I had put out on the mission secretary... 😌
Thursday, another day in the office. After work we went to get burgers at Burger King then stopped by Walmart for milk - sounds like we're back in the US, doesn't it? Today I made arrangements and got approval for a trip to Vitória Brazil in the state of EspÃrito Santo. We are going to take a train ride - a long 12 hours - from there to an inland state called Minas Gerais. We'll do some sightseeing in both places, so it should be fun - we capitalizing on a Thursday holiday, taking Friday off as well.
Friday we went to another appointment with the dermatologist to go under the knife. I had two suspicious moles cut off and Mom had one cut off - they will be sent in for analysis to see if we'll live any longer... probably. On the way into the office in the afternoon Mom noticed that she was bleeding down the front of her blouse from the incision! We went back home and cleaned up and patched things up a bit, then decided that since we were all caught up with everything at the office, we would just spend the afternoon at home relaxing so as not to open up "old wounds"! So basically, if we don't die of skin cancer, the treatment will probably get us... That evening the other couples went to a Chinese Restaurant - reportedly one of the best in São Paulo, Chi Fu. We stayed home and relaxed a bit. (This does have a connection to tomorrow.)
Saturday I took several of the senior couples, including the mission office couple from the West Mission, to República Park in the center of town. We went to a big open market that sells all kinds of things and souvenir type stuff as well. I bought a few wallets. Afterward some went home and the Sharmahds and Whitings went with me (Mom didn't come to the Feira) to a new Mexican restaurant that I had found with Ric Davids. While there, Sister Whiting and Sister Sharmahd told me how bad the food was the night before at the Chinese Restaurant and that they would never go eat there again. (This does have a connection to later on.) But the Mexican food was very good, but not traditional at all. My enchiladas came in a pan covered with green sauce - cilantro and tomatillo.
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| This was the size of the taco - kind of like "Street Tacos" |
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| And these are the enchiladas! |
Saturday afternoon, Mom and I went with our friends the Kawais to a Buddhist Temple here in São Paulo. It was very cool, all of the materials were shipped to Brazil from China.
We walked around the grounds, which are always open to the public. And they had some groups practicing some martial arts... all I could think of was Kung Fu Panda!!
Afterward (here's where we wrap up the story line), they said they would take us to a Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood of Liberdade - which is primarily Asian. We agreed and said that we would pay, since they paid last time. So, we pull up in front of the exact same restaurant that the others had gone to the night before - with the terrible reviews! Of course we didn't say a word but went in to see for ourselves. The food was very good and we enjoyed all of the 5 dishes that we ordered. (That's it.) Sometimes you just have to try things for yourself and make your own decision about them.
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| This is the main street in Liberdade, with all the Asian lanterns as street lights. |
Sunday we went to our ward in Perdizes. We taught our last Temple Prep class - and then got asked to teach a Young Single Adult gospel doctrine class. Came home, rested, Skyped with the older kids. You're all awesome - older and younger!
Love to all
The Church is True
Dad and Mom
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