Rainy Tuesday

March 10  Tuesday

We woke to a dreary, rainy day.  I opened up the blinds and wanted to crawl back into bed.  There are many things that we can do at home, but the quarters are small (and rather boring), and I like to at least get out once a day to walk and see whatever there is to see.  Today didn't look too promising.

Friendly beetle - just too big for comfort

Merl is always working on an anticipated discourse - he know the request will be coming - just doesn't know when.  I think he could spend all day at the table with his books, Nexis, and papers in front of him.  I am sure I would be learning the language better if I did the same.  Ann spent most of the day at the church preparing a talk and giving piano lessons.

Instead, it felt like a good day to make a big pot of chicken noodle soup.  Fortunately, we had most of the ingredients on hand (with a little ingenuity) to make a tasty soup.  Grilled cheese sandwiches and a bowl of hot soup for lunch hit the spot.

They even have sunflowers here.

At 6:00 p.m., the rest of us (Ann was already there) went to the church for District Presidency meetings and piano lessons.  The weather was the worst we have experienced so far - strong winds and heavy rain.  I almost lost my umbrella when we crossed into the street and got hit by a side wind. 

 After a good lesson with Larissa, we visited about everyday life for a student - her first year in high school.  Some students go to school only in the mornings, others in the afternoon - and some go all day.  Larissa goes all day and has 12 courses she is taking (at sometime during the week):  History, Philosophy, Math, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Art, and Physical Ed.  She does homeschool seminary with a three hour session with other students at the church on Saturday and private English lessons at the Wizard school.  One busy girl. . .  Danubia and Rodrigos came late to the meetings/lessons - she wasn't feeling well and he went straight into the meeting.  So no more lessons tonight.

All the branches in the district are going to the temple in Porto Alegre on Saturday.  Part of the meeting Merl attended was discussing the temple trip and bus costs.  He learned that there was a new member family who wanted to go to the temple for the first time to do baptisms, but currently unable to finance the trip ($R25 each).  To us, the price is very low, but for many here it is prohibitive.  Merl donated the money to support them in their desires to be in the temple together.  It is times like this that it is a blessing for us to be here, particularly for us to be able to share.

Flowering bush by the lake

I think someone was smiling down on us tonight, the wind was calm and there was no rain for the first time today as we walked home.  Count our blessings!



 It was dusk, but this cute little lavender house with white trim caught my eye (on our walk to Chacrão Monday night).  There was a little white poodle playing guard dog as we walked by.