The rest of the week - Feb 26-28

Feb 26 Thursday
Ann is still sick in bed, so the responsibility of preparing lunch for some invited friends fell on me.  I assessed what we had in refrigerator and put lunch together the best I could.  I took a pan of frozen chicken legs/thighs (left-overs from our pre-camp chicken dinner fund raiser), made a veggie/rice side dish, reheated some lasagna with added sauce, and a green salad.  Merl and David went to town to pick up some ice cream to be served with waffles for dessert.  I mixed up a batch of waffle batter, and Ann was able to up long enough to eat some lunch and cook the waffles.

Our lunch guests were David and Aline Buchebaun, good friends from the Branch.  He was a previous Branch President here.  They enjoyed lunch but especially enjoyed the waffles - layering caramel sauce and ice cream on the waffle, folding it in half, and eating it like a sandwich.  Maple syrup was also an option. . . I sent them home with a small bottle of maple flavoring that I brought from home - still have a few to give away.  We played a few games of Spot It before they needed to go back to work. 

Ann mustered up enough strength to walk to the church for piano lessons - only Paulo Benito came.  She and Fabiana went visiting teaching, and Ann was back home and in bed before 7:00 p.m.



Cathedral across the
street from Daupers

Merl and I walked to town to pick up items to put in bribe bags for church.  We stopped at the Dauper discount store to purchase for cookies and granola.  we then went to Plastico, for small plastic bags and ribbon.  The bags will also include balloons, and suckers, and cheesy popcorn.  We had another stop at Papelaria for a ream of computer paper and sheet protectors.

David facilitated the Hortencia Branch Integration meeting (along with the Elders).  He showed a video of  A  Restauração (The Restoration).  The Elders then played the silly tie game with those in attendance.  Fortunately I brought a bag of cookies from our earlier trip to the Dauper store - enough to serve the purpose - give them a treat and send everyone home. 

 February 27 Friday

David, Merl, and I were out the door by 8:15 this morning, heading to Gramado for the District Missionary meeting.  Ann is still not feeling well enough to get out much.  Elder Gallardo presented the English learning game by writing a word down vertically (twice - one for each competitor).  Then two elders would compete to see who could write down a word in English that started with the corresponding letter in the word.  When it came to Merl and me, we were to write our words in Portuguese.  Merl got Harold B Lee and I got giraffe.  I can't remember the words Merl came up with, but I wrote:  G-gusto, I-irmão, R-rato, A-até, F-fica, F-finale, E - em.  I was competing against Elder Gallardo and actually beat him (by just a little).  He was writing his words in English.

 The theme of the trainings for the Mission continues to be Qualidade and Quantidade.  A role play using a big piece of cardboard and spit wads was enlightening.  Merl had the role of investigator, Elder Piccini was the missionary holding the cardboard 'shield.'  Each time a scenario of Elder Piccini not doing what he should, a piece of cardboard was ripped off.  Then we threw spit wads at Merl.  At first, Elder Piccini was able to deflect the hits, but each time a piece of cardboard was removed, it was easier and easier to hit Merl.  So. . . if the missionaries is fulfilling his part and doing his best to follow the rules, the investigators will be 'protected.'

After the meeting we all headed to the Colonial bakery and purchased loaves of bread and pãozinho.  We gave Elders Gallardo and Cooper (on exchange) a loaf of hot morango bread to take to SF de Paula.   I went to the Artisan building and purchased a porto
jóias (a portable jewelry bag).  I also purchased a small jar of strawberry jam from the Colonial store.  There were a lot of things there I would like to try - maybe another day.  Copas gave us a ride home after doing a little running around looking for ribbon jewelry and hortencia paintings in local shops. 

Merl and David walked to town later to pick up a few things and to cash a check.  Copas came over in the evening to pick up the flash drive with camp pictures for Pres. Nunez.  The District conference choir practice was cancelled tonight.  We played Quirkle and a card game.  Nice evening.

February 28 Saturday

The day today was pretty slow - laundry, studies.  Merl and I did go to the copy center to print photos of the new children in Primary for the bulletin board.  I also typed up some Regras de Fé (Articles of Faith) cards to give to the Primary children.  We purchased the microwave popcorn to pop for the bags for the children tomorrow.  We don't have a microwave, so we stopped by the Elders' apartment, but no one was home.  After returning to our apartment, I knocked on the door of one of our neighbors to see if he had a microwave.  He spoke no English, but I was able to communicate my needs and he gladly popped my corn.  We actually had a nice visit.

Merl and I then spent most of the afternoon packaging cookies and popcorn into small bags and putting them into a large bag with a balloon and a sucker.  Each bag was tied with red, yellow, or blue ribbon (the Primary colors).  We were glad when that project was done!

 Tonight was the After Camp Dance back in Gramado.  Merl and I went to the dance to support Pres. Nunes and the youth.  They love their music loud and rhythmic. 

 

Learning a new line dance

The SF de Paula kids were brought over by the bus hired to transport everyone to church.  There was a good turn-out considering the distance many of them have to go get to Gramado. 

Gabriel and me

Part way into the dance, Merl and I walked back to the bus station (to clear our ears and head) and purchased some chicken pastels for dinner.  We stopped at a bench to eat them and tried taking a selfie with my regular camera - not to bad for taking it backwards.  I spent much of the evening taking movies of the kids dancing and visiting.  Wonderful bunch of kids!

 

So, February is finally done!  Only two more months to go - and it is going fast.  I obviously can't keep up with it!