Last Calendar on the Wall

 

Not actually in August but just got it, I'm there behind Durk and my feet are slightly off the floor....

The AP's came, I assume they visit to support new district leaders

 (assistants to the mission president, they help run trainings and zone conferences and zoom mtgs, etc) 

The ceremony on Friday was moving the calendars, and having the last one we will use up there now. 

Unfortunately it did not occur to me to take a photo of us making Pão de Queijo with Tales! I asked if they were hard to do and he invited us over to learn. They said the tapioca starch you buy here is the wrong stuff but this works. A choice of the mix (above) or the starch (below)  - which would mean adding a cup of oil, water or milk, and cooking it then cooling down. Then it works like the mix. The whole bag of mix suggests 8 eggs but since they have gotten expensive they use 2-5, and a LOT of cheese! Tales said for big crowds you use less but for fmaily he's generous. Parmesan is first choice but more costly so they use a lot of mozzarella and some parm. I wrote down all the steps he did but should have taken photos. He makes the whole bag and freezes the uncooked rolls on a plastic tray.

We are going to buy some at Market Basket next week and try on our own. I think we will be able to get it from Amazon when we leave. (note: we looked and it's very expensive on Amazon, maybe we should bring a whole cse home?) We brought some almost frozen uncooked ones home to try, they say that improves them, that cooked right away and eaten warm is not the way to have good flavor. They said using water makes them softer and milk sturdier. Or that other way around.....and I'd like to experiment with resting dough in fridge vs cooking from frozen. You can also fill them with sweet (goyaba paste) or meats, which I did not know was a thing. (another note, we cooked some for Sunday dinner and they took longer than expected but definitely did have a better texture) 

When we looked on Amazon we also found a lot of "sour" cassava starch, whatever that is for.

The branch had an assignment to take a turn sorting food orders at the Belmont building (by the temple). We were glad to hear the stake pres is working on adjusting some who have gone a bit overboard, and unfortunately a few orders (even though confirmed) somehow didn't come. But we unpacked everything from the truck and lined up things in the order they come on the form then went around filling boxes and bags. It was a big ask for our little branch with lots of people who work Saturdays to come up with 20-25 people but we had a good group, and the person in charge brought a few from the school where I guess he works. Quite an undertaking! Most of us stayed to help take things out to cars - they have a whole flock of foldable carts to use. Driving there wasn't bad but by the time we came home the traffic was such that it took over 48 minutes to go ten miles.

 

Renata, me, Soraia, Katia, student?, student, Lurdhina, Mary (widened by camera angle)

It was interesting how many people mentioned this service in their testimonies on Sunday,- and one said it was especially meaningful to realize how good it felt to help total strangers, as none of us knew the people getting the food orders. 

My sister Chris posted about their busy time in Nauvoo during pageant season - and how much they like the British Pageant. I have to agree, I love it! She likes the music but my main reason was how you see the power of the Book of Mormon in people's lives. She's done some Spanish translation for it.

British Pageant in Nauvoo Illinois - it's free and awesome! if you haven't gone you'd better hurry.

We had to figure out what to do about Self-Reliance class when there was a baptism at 11:30 (class is usually 11:15 til about 1) - some said of course we wouldn't have class, but if we skip every week with a baptism we won't finish before we leave plus it will lose momentum. So after much consideration, we invited everyone to read the lesson ahead and to hurry in and see what we could do before the baptism. We hit the meat of the lesson and I sent a link to the video plus I plan to send a bit from the lesson each day throughout the week (WhatsApp group). Everyone went to the baptism where most of the class was involved in playing, speaking, or doing the baptizing. Tiny miracle: Today while playing prelude for Primary I looked for and found music to Quero Andar Con Cristo in the back of my music book with a bunch of papers so I stuck it in the front thinking I might use it during prelude but had no more time. When we got to the baptism just as it was to start, they told me they needed me to play the opening hymn, Quero Andar Con Cristo (and of course no one had thought to have the music) So there it was, ready for me in my book, even though most of my Portuguese additional Primary music had been moved to my binder.

Victor, center with hat on, was baptized and confirmed, and we drove him and Otacilia home with a Zoom going on Durk's phone during our last leg of travel so we could hear the new bishopric announced in Jeff City. 

We haven't had the chance to do much support of leaders in anything like branch council, etc. so I decided to send some notes and information from trainings I'd had with area authority and in my stake calling to the leadership, as well as links to some of the most helpful things on ministering on the church website. I erred in the first sending by not prefacing with some words of how great they are doing, the RS pres who is pretty new sent an apology and I hurried to reassure her that they are really doing well and doing a lot (she called every sister on the whole list right after she was called - though most didn't answer). I did send some things about building capability too in case that will help, as there are not many with callings in the branch. The branch president seem to really like it, but then he's a positive type and the Brazilians tend to say everything is wonderful. I figure it can't hurt, at any rate - I told them it was just in case anything was helpful and no worries if they didn't need or want it.

Chris (Sister Graham) in Nauvoo

Some of the seniors are going to do a cranberry bog activity, we decided we didn't feel a need to spend the money and make the drive so we could see cranberry bog and have a photo op, so I'll let the Risenmay's adventure stand in for us:

Monthly zoom - three stories of converts by themselves; one baptized just a week ago, named Yogi. He said after an unusually good day he thanked God, then on the way home saw someone refuse the missionaries so when they invited him he felt it was something God would want him to do, he spoke of how much his life had changed and that he now has a different kind of confidence in life. A young couple told of a trip where they stayed in Marriott hotels all the way and kept seeing the Book of Mormon and the brother started doing lots of research and found the history of the church very interesting. He felt his Catholic religion was definitely THE truth yet everything he learned about our beliefs sounded absolutely right which kind of bugged him. The first time they decided to go to an LDS meeting just to see what it's like (happened that they had a meetinghouse just minutes from home) they were struck by how straightforward and down to earth it was - no mystical Latin and incense, etc which they had thought made the "mystery of spirit" but felt it much stronger in the plain-spoken words of regular people just bearing testimony.  Also they were struck by how welcoming and loving everyone was, really interested in getting to know them. They also said their lives have completely changed - something Durk and I have never experienced.