Wednesday January 16, last day at the MTC:
Someone is doing an amazing job at organizing and training teachers. I learned things about Excel that would have come in very handy a few years ago, and have a bit of knowledge about many of the programs used in a mission office. We feel like old hands who really know our way around the campus.
We had a very helpful presentation that was about dealing with vehicles (which we do not do in Recife) but was full of good advice about helping young missionaries in loving ways as they learn how to grow into their adult life.
I wish I had been able to get a “last view” photo from the window near our classroom today, looking past a lovely courtyard over other buildings out to the lake and mountains. I’m pretty sure the view next week will be a lot different.
We gave up on eating really healthy for dinner after searching for some of the things on the menu board without luck, plus it was weekly ice cream day and I have to say, BYU makes REALLY good ice cream. We scoped out the “sack breakfast” options and decided we will be able to grab something before leaving on our shuttle.
This evening we packed up a box to send home our few winter clothes and we really hope there are no emergencies that require us to spend time outside between now and boarding our plane. Now we are doing a last load of wash so we can take clean clothes. The biggest job will be weighing and possibly adjusting the suitcases so none go over the limit.
Here’s hoping for a smooth trip - SLC to Atlanta to São Paulo to Recife. About 30 hours all told.
Hmmm, not as easy as it sounded. (surprised?) We arrived in good time to check in our bags (that weighed more than the MTC scale said but ended up OK) and they let us know that our 11:00 flight was now scheduled for 1:00 but would probably leave earlier than that. We called mission travel to make sure we shouldn't try to get something earlier since our connection would be very close in Atlanta, they said no worries.
Then as 1:00 got closer, it suddenly changed to 4:00. seems the airplane had been in the shop all night and still wasn't fixed. So the best that could be done was to send us the next day, and through JFK instead of Atlanta and Rio instead of Sao Paulo. Fortunately we were able to get hold of my Sister Chris who picked us up and hosted us, including loan of pajamas.
Since we hadn't actually left, people thought we were returning missionaries so we got a family meeting their sister to "welcome us home" to post on Facebook as Shortest Mission Ever.
I can't believe I actually look OK in this photo! no sleep, same clothes for three days, etc. We were glad to see the Housemans, who drove us along the coastline and through part of the city and to a lovely churrascaria with much yummy food, dropped our bags at the apartment, showed us around the office, dropped us and our neighbor Sister Chambers at the corner WalMart for a few groceries. then finally......bed!
Next day was our introduction to the ward, more about them later. The office we work in is the same building as the chapel and Institute and really is just a short walk from the apartment. Tomorrow starts the first week right off with a day in the office. The original schedule would have given us a Saturday right away to get things in order, but it will work out.
Someone is doing an amazing job at organizing and training teachers. I learned things about Excel that would have come in very handy a few years ago, and have a bit of knowledge about many of the programs used in a mission office. We feel like old hands who really know our way around the campus.
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| We had just about gotten the hang of navigating the cafeteria, doesn't it looks like fun? |
I wish I had been able to get a “last view” photo from the window near our classroom today, looking past a lovely courtyard over other buildings out to the lake and mountains. I’m pretty sure the view next week will be a lot different.
We gave up on eating really healthy for dinner after searching for some of the things on the menu board without luck, plus it was weekly ice cream day and I have to say, BYU makes REALLY good ice cream. We scoped out the “sack breakfast” options and decided we will be able to grab something before leaving on our shuttle.
This evening we packed up a box to send home our few winter clothes and we really hope there are no emergencies that require us to spend time outside between now and boarding our plane. Now we are doing a last load of wash so we can take clean clothes. The biggest job will be weighing and possibly adjusting the suitcases so none go over the limit.
Here’s hoping for a smooth trip - SLC to Atlanta to São Paulo to Recife. About 30 hours all told.
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| The Merrells have Left the Building |
Then as 1:00 got closer, it suddenly changed to 4:00. seems the airplane had been in the shop all night and still wasn't fixed. So the best that could be done was to send us the next day, and through JFK instead of Atlanta and Rio instead of Sao Paulo. Fortunately we were able to get hold of my Sister Chris who picked us up and hosted us, including loan of pajamas.
Here we are back again the next day for a reprise. The workers were able to track our luggage, which had gone to Atlanta, and let us know it was arriving right then at JFK to get on our flight to Rio.
The flight to Rio was overnight but the plane was relatively comfortable. The next adventure was at the Rio de Janeiro airport. Hiking a very very long way to customs, Durk sailed through but mine seemed complicated. it turned out my visa said one day instead of one year. They looked at Durk's and checked with the federal police and fixed mine (as far as I know). Then on our second try we found the right airline to take our luggage to and when they told us we had to use a kiosk but it wouldn't work the kind worker let us past the long line. Which didn't solve much because it seems the airline didn't get the message from Delta that our flight had been paid for. another fortunately, Delta was only a few feet away and I could stand over all the luggage while Durk worked with them to straighten it out. I wasn't sure just how much time we had left until our flight since we never got a printout of the revised itinerary, but we made it.
Now we had Portuguese as the principle language and really interesting views, at least as we got closer. Definitely a different landscape. Just the shapes of the hills/mountains and greenery patterns were new. So, about 55 hours after leaving the MTC we were HERE.
Next day was our introduction to the ward, more about them later. The office we work in is the same building as the chapel and Institute and really is just a short walk from the apartment. Tomorrow starts the first week right off with a day in the office. The original schedule would have given us a Saturday right away to get things in order, but it will work out.
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