We celebrated Mike's birthday on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Monday, after our FHE, sixteen of us took the bus to the Eldorado Mall and ate a fabulous dinner at the Outback restaurant. It was just like being back home. Mike got a great steak with garlic mashed potatoes and I got the bbq ribs with fries and cinnamon apples. We shared a house salad which was surprisingly like something from home. So yummy! We love Brazilian food, but sometimes it's comforting to have a meal that resembles home.
Birthday breakfast was Mike's favorite, eggs creole! I baked him his favorite chocolate cake and brought it to the office to share with others in our department. We are part of the Bem Estar (Well Being) group and we love the wonderful people we get to work with each day.
He had quite a nice birthday! Who doesn't like being King for the day? His favorite part is talking to the kids and grand-kids on his special day and he got several FaceTime calls from most of them, so he was thrilled!
We are into our 4th month of our mission and I am finding myself missing my family immensely!! We FaceTime with each of them and still I find myself longing for them! I know that we are supposed to be here and I love it here. I love our mission, but some days I have a hard time being so far away. When I have these days, I remember the great blessing I received of peace and confirmation that this is where we are needed for these short 18 months and that our family will be ok. I read this quote this week on the blog of another senior missionary friend and it really helped!
I hope our grandchildren know how much we love them and how hard it is to be away from them. I also hope that they realize that this sacrifice of our time and energy can and will bless all of our lives. I hope they are praying for us as we are surely praying for them!
Here are some pictures of the things we do each week. This cute strip mall is right across from our apartment building--we shop at the Armazem do Natural for things like oatmeal, nuts and dried fruit and at Fifo's for just about anything besides groceries--kind of like a dollar store. There's also a little grocery store called Maky's where we get fresh rolls and eggs and he also has really good, fresh and clean produce.
This is our gym, Just Fit! It is on the street level of our apartment complex. We go there in the mornings 3 times a week. It's our way of keeping from gaining a ton of weight here--that and walking everywhere we go. We eat so much good food here that we need to get to the gym whenever we can!
This is our Portuguese teacher, Luciana. She volunteers her time twice a week to come and teach us! She is awesome and we love her!
The Temple Visitor's Center is coming along! We hope it will be finished in the next few months. It's going to have a large Christus like the one in Temple Square in Salt Lake City in that front circular area. We are all very excited for it's completion!
On Thursday, we got to travel about 2 hours away with our friend, Ivan Tramontina, (director of LDS Family Services here in Brazil), to accompany a missionary to the beautiful Campinas Temple. We stopped for lunch on the way at Madero, which has a sign that says, "World's Best Burger!" That's a pretty big claim, but honestly, it was very delicious! We did our magic trick here--two or three people eating when we arrived, and a line out the door within a couple of minutes of our arrival! It's a phenomenon!!
We sadly have to start saying goodbye to couples that are finishing up their missions! We had a delicious Feijoada lunch for the Shumways (Diane and Rex from Tempe Arizona) and the Thackers (Stacey and John from Fresno California). We get attached to these wonderful people and it's hard to see them go, but we are excited for them to go home to their families and their next adventures!
 |
| John and Stacey Thacker & Diane and Rex Shumway |
 |
| Ruth Barrett, Roxanne and David Saulsbury, Brett Barrett, and Edmundo and Fatima Lopes (they made the Feijoada) |
It was little Austin Maverick's first birthday this week! Talk about hard things to miss!! We love him and all our grand kids (and now two great-grand kids) sooo much!!! Those eyes! Isn't he absolutely precious? xoxoxoxo
I hope this week brings you joy, peace and contentment in all you do! May the Lord bless you and keep you in His loving embrace always!
No comments:
Post a Comment