Monday, March 13, 2006

Ten years ago, in an old house two blocks in front of the Kobrasol chapel, my sister Jenna lived as a Sister missionary; tonight we held a joint Family Home Evening in that same house – now owned by fairly new members of the church, Pedro and Suelange Pimentel. Together with the Pimentel’s (Pedro, Suelange, their older son and two younger daughters) came two other families: Aldo, his son Tiago, and his son’s friend, along with Anchieta, Aldo’s neighbor and yesterday’s visitor at church. The sister missionaries were also present.

We arranged ourselves all cozy like in the big room that multi-served as their kitchen, living room and playroom. Tonight’s message: David’s Game of Life, of course. As routy as we all were, by the end of the game a great spirit was present – the game’s subtle messages and “judgment day” at the end left everyone in think-mode.

Today was also one of the Sister’s birthdays, so after the message/game we sang happy birthday and enjoyed the refreshments – a Brazilian classic of mini-French bread filled with a hot dog sauce, accompanied with a cold plastic cup of Guaraná.

Here’s a picture of us all. Please ignore the gang signs, ha..., and poor Irmão Pedro had surgery on his eye today, so that's why he's winking :



One of the best parts of the night was the friendship we were able to make with each of the families. Anchieta especially was fun to talk with – his many life experiences, Spanish backround, etc. I was quick to invite myself in on his missionary lesson with the Sisters on Tuesday.

Other than the FHE, most of the day was spent resting or at the SRE office. We left Leandro’s apartment about 10 am as he went off to work. I was dead tired once I got back to our hotel.

And how could I almost forget, I received an email from the Visual Arts department of BYU; I have been accepted into the Photography program!! I wasn’t expecting to receive the announcement for a few more weeks, nor was I expecting it by e-mail, but it definitely made my day!