Saturday, February 25, 2006


The picture says it all – I danced… sorta; but Dave's mad dancing skills were the big success. I have to admit, Brazilian dances are fun. The music played is often the same as American-dance music, but the big difference is the Brazilian music – Forró, Pagode, Samba, and others I don’t remember, require a certain type of dancing, which at first is a little complicated, but when you’re a foreigner, it makes for a good chance to get to know new people. It’s humbling, I can tell you that. Just look at my face in the above picture… ha… Me, a guy who has probably participated in less than five church dances in my life, had to crawl out of my shell and try something new. The fun guys and cute girls made that change a little easier. J

By 9 am Dave and I were packed and on our way to the Kobrasol chapel to catch the 9:20 bus to Mafra. But first I quickly stopped by Pedro Pimentel’s house (my home teaching companion) to explain that due to our last minute decision to participate in the weekend’s conference, I wouldn’t be able to do our scheduled visits with him.

A little after ten o’clock, the CASEI 2006 bus left Kobrasol and was on its way. I’m the first to admit, I felt a little awkward in the bus, especially when Rafael, one of the directors of the conference, introduced us to the entire bus and said that we had served missions there and “didn’t know why we were back.” Ha… I could just imagine what people thought – what fubekas (slackers).

They didn’t tell us we were to bring a little extra money for food stops, so as most everyone ate a quick lunch, I stood outside the rest-stop restaurant conversing with some soon-to-be friends.

By the end of the bus ride, a few friendships had begun: Leandro - who served his mission with Viviane (who I know from her home town of Colatina, Espírito Santo) and also lived in California for his senior year of high school; Carol and Simone - who speak fluent English; Daisy and Rafael – the main directors of the conference; Flávia – university student studying English and interested in photography; Cristiano – a cool guy who gave me a cool coconut ring. It was clear to me that if we made this many friends in a quick bus ride to Mafra, this weekend was going to be a lot of fun!

The Sussin Hotel in Mafra was a perfect place for our group of 90 and it felt as if we were the only people in the entire hotel.

Dave and I roomed with Lucas, but probably spent more time in Leandro’s room where he, Rafael, and Marcelo stayed. Marcelo’s a fun story – he’s from São Gonçalo, my first area from my mission, his brother was my Ward Mission Leader, and we often ate at his mother’s house. We had a fun time playing the name game and tossing back and forth memories and questions about people there. One of his best friends is engaged to Angelica, an awesome girl I taught and helped baptize.

The meals at the hotel were very good!

After dinner everyone got ready for the first dance of the weekend – and that’s where the picture above came from. Here's a picture of my friend Aline and I:


Thirty minutes into the dance I looked up to find an ex-mission companion staring at me with this look of confusion. I smiled and we exchanged a big hug. Marcelo Dalla Rosa was my fifth companion, and we served for a short time in Campos dos Goitacayzes, Rio de Janeiro.

After the dance him and I and a few others (Ingridy, Carol, Leonardo, and a different Ingridy) conversed in the lobby. To end on a spiritual note we each shared our favorite scriptures, and then went to bed.