Week 40 - Portuguese Pokemon and lime trees.

On Christmas Eve we went to the branch secretaries home and ate.  They had a beautiful meal.

Gorgeous Christmas Eve dinner

Today for p-day we went with the  branch president's son to the mall and out to eat at a fancy restaurant.  Then we went to a cathedral. I didn’t know if could take pictures so I didn’t out of respect. We went to a music store and a card store.  Guess what I found?   Portuguese Pokemon cards which I bought.

I found a lime tree.  I figured out the hard way not to get lime juice on you and then go into the sun. It leaves a bruise on your skin. You don’t feel it but apparently it last for 6 months...

Lime tree

For New Years we went to a home and had churrasco.  We watched the fireworks from the house which was on top of a hill.  We got to see all the fireworks from the city of Suzano.  It was way cool.

Barbecuing inside?

I want to go back to the farm.  It was way fun.  We fished with bamboo polls.  The polls didn’t have a fishing real, just some line.  It was way simple, but only took a maximum of three minutes to catch something.

Elder Farias with a fish he caught.

Week 39 - Struggling with the Brazilian heat.

It is so hot here and I struggle with the heat.   Sometimes I think about coming home.  The heat zaps my strength.  When you walk all day and no one wants to talk to you it is discouraging.  The heat makes it difficult to sleep.  I dream about being transferred to Alaska or Canada where it is cold.

Everyone just keeps telling me that summer hasn’t even started.  Even my companion struggles with the heat.   He comes from a state that is supposed to be hotter, but he says that this is the hottest place he has ever been.

I drink lots of water.  I can’t go an hour without water.  The only relief I have found is a cool shower. But, the second you walk out you become hot and sweaty again.

For our p-day, we went to a farm.  It rained so it wasn’t as hot.  There was a cabin in the woods and we were able to fish and eat churrasco.  We caught and released lots of tilapia.  We didn’t eat the fish.