Sorry everyone - things got crazy and I didn't have a minute to post anything. So, I owe you two posts! At the beginning of December, I was able to go to Gramado with a dear friend from Pathway days- Ingrid Jost. I have known her for four years and when we met, I never thought that I would ever be able to meet her in person, but I did!

I flew down to Porto Alegre (another scary thing for me to do- travel by myself when my Portuguese is not the greatest- but I did it!) I was met at the airport by Ingrid and her friend, who drove us the two hours to Gramado. It is in the mountains, in an area that was settled by German, Swiss, and Italian immigrants. It is just beautiful. The rolling mountains reminded me of Virginia and I felt at home! 

We had fondue and saw many of the sights - the Levandario, where a lot of lavendar is grown and Lago Negro, which is a lovely park around a lake.  it is called the Black Lake because the owner, years ago, had bought the land, but there had been a forest fire and the woods were burned. The owner was from Germany and went back to the Black Forest to get new saplings to plant to make a new forest.  There is a lovely, shaded walk around the lake, which we took. In the lake, it is possible to rent swan-shaped boats to paddle around. I had wanted to do that, but the sun was shining and the day was already getting hot at 10:30 am. There was no shade in the boats, so I decided to just enjoy the walk.

 After the walk, we were starting to get hungry, so we went back to town and found a restaurant and had lunch there. It was a nice, quiet, lunch in a place that was cool. We had bruschetta and risotto com funghi (Risotto with mushrooms). After lunch, we went to the Skywalk and went out on a glass walk over a deep valley in the mountains. Then, we went up some gondolas to the top of a mountain and had a short hike there, where we learned more about the native flora and fauna in this part of Brazil. Then, back to Gramado and a bit of rest.

By the way, Gramado is beautiful and well-kept. Everything is clean (no graffiti) and safe. You can use your phones on the street and not worry about getting robbed.  And there were no crowds at any of the attractions, even though it was the height of the busy season. That's because there was a World Cup game that afternoon.  All the people stayed in to make sure that they didn't get caught away from a television set when the game was on.

When we got back to the hotel, we watched the World Cup game, with Brazil losing to Cameroon by one point in overtime. Then, we went to Canela to see the Christmas Lighting ceremony. The local cathedral was lit up with a pretty light show, culminating with it looking like a huge Christmas tree, and with Santa Claus and his two helpers rapelling off the top of the cathedral. It was quite a sight! We finished the day back in Gramado, under a gigantic light tent with a big crowd. All the people who had stayed in during the day were out on the street now. It was a great day!

The next day, we did a little shopping in the morning - I have never seen so many chocolate stores. As we walked down the main street, I saw three one one side of the street and three on the other. This is chocolate country!

I would like to tell you about a wonderful thing that happened. On Friday, when we had our prayers, Ingrid prayed that we would have the opportunity to let people know how much Heavenly Father loves them. I watched this come true- On Friday night, we went into a drug store for me to get some protein bars and the clerk at the cash register said, "Hi Sisters!" It turned out that he was a member of the church and that he had started Pathway, but had dropped out. He had tried to contact people at Pathway to start again, but hadn't received the answer that Ingrid had sent to him.  He explained his failed efforts and Ingrid said, "Here I am to help you!"

Then, on Saturday, we went into a chocolate store and the lady there said, "Hello, Sisters!" She was also a member of the church. We talked with her and had a wonderful time in the store. Then, before we left, Ingrid gave her her WhatsApp number and invited her to Pathway. A little later, Ingrid received a message that this sister had been having a really rough time and had asked Heavenly Father, "Do you even know that I am here?" Then, we came into her shop.

Later on that day, we went to a lovely park on the way from Gramado to Porto Alegre and we talked to a man who really wanted to learn English but didn't know how he could. Ingrid told him about Pathway and he was so happy to hear about it. So, within 24 hours, we had three opportunities to let people know about Pathway and that Heavenly Father was aware of them! It was a testimony to me of the power of prayer!

We got to Porto Alegre by Saturday evening, after stopping at Nova Petropolis, which has the same cleanliness and safety as Gramado, but also has a small-town feel and wide streets. It reminded me a lot of Midway, Utah. It has the same Swiss-type buildings, signs in German in addition to Portuguese. Nova Petropolis made me feel like I was back in the USA - it felt so good to go on the streets and just relax and feel safe and have things look familiar-ish.

We got to the home of Ingrid's family. They are just delightful people and so friendly and loving. I stayed in the home nearby of a friend. It is a really nice house, but it had no air conditioning. I had two fans on me - a big one and a tiny one that I had brought from Sao Paulo. With them, I was able to sleep just fine for the two nights I was there. I went to church with Ingrid and her family and I understood enough of the testimonies that I could enjoy sacrament meeting. I didn't understand Sunday School too well.

Sunday night, we had Family Home Evening, which was really enjoyable. I discovered that this family has an agreement with the elders that if an appointment for a meal ever falls through, they elders can come to their home and there will always be a meal for them. They are so loving!

Then, Monday morning, it was back to the airport and back to Sao Paulo. I got home to the apartment around 2 and hadn't been in the apartment 10 minutes when I got a call that there was an emergency and I was needed to evaluate a missionary. Back to work! 

The last two weeks have had some challenges - what mission hasn't? But there have also been some wonderful things. 

First the challenges:

On November 15, I taught my first Adjusting to Missionary Life Workshop - And all of a sudden, ,there were technical problems! The night before we were to have it, I found that I was shut out of my church account and couldn't access my teaching materials, my power point presentation for the workshop, and I couldn't receive or send emails. The Sister President who was co-facilitating with me had her computer go down at the same time. But, then I remembered that I had sent a copy of the facilitator's guide in an email and I was able to access it through Gmail. So, we went ahead with the workshop. Later. I was able to talk to someone in the General Services Center of the church, along with one of the coordinators in the Missionary Department and they said that the reason I lost access to my church account is that a bug in the program removed callings from a few random people in the database and I was one of them. But I got my access back in a day or so.

Next challenge - water came pouring down from the ceiling in the bathroom. The pipes from the air conditioner in the bedroom to the window vent in the back room were condensing and the pipes had come unhooked from each other. Water was pouring onto the bathroom ceiling. So, for a week, I had a pipe into a bucket that I had to empty a few times a day. It took me a week to get someone to come to fix it. It was crazy!

Well, things are better now- but first they got worse. My water heater, which was only giving me two minutes of hot water before turning off, finally gave out a week ago. I had no hot water at all. I first asked for it to be fixed on October 26 and our maintenance man came by and looked at it. He told me I needed a new water heater and he would get one. Three weeks went by and he never came back. When it died, I sent more emails, WhatsApp messages, and I even went by the maintenance office. He said he would come Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday, then Monday. I was pretty mad, but I tried really hard to control it. Finally, he came and put in a new water heater. He also partially fixed the leak- He cut three holes in my ceiling (I now have four). The drip is fixed completely now, and the holes in my ceiling are mostly fixed. So, it was a perfect storm!

Now, the wonderful things!

The Adjusting to Missionary Life Workshop went great! The missionaries seemed so happy to be able to talk about their stressors with the Sister President there, listening, understanding, and just loving them. I could tell that having her there meant so much to them!

Thanksgiving is a regular day here, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner for Family Home Evening on Monday. But on Thursday, I made a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie and brought them to the office, where we could enjoy them. I was blessed because one of our missionary couples had brought some ingredients from the states that could not be bought here, so I could make the pies. 

But even though Thursday wasn't Thanksgiving here, it was "Brasil Ganha!" Day (Brazil wins!) It was the first game of the World Cup - and EVERYTHING stops here when the game is on. The stores close, there is no traffic on the streets, there are almost no busses running, and the few that are are nearly empty. A city of 12 million people becomes a ghost town for two hours. And, of course, Brazil won!

The second game was yesterday (November 28) and the same thing happened again. Even at the office, everyone was gathered around computer screens to watch the game. Here is one gathering of people (complete with airhorn!). And Brazil won again! The next game is Friday at 4 our time. 

I love seeing the holiday season in Brazil! First, the season starts right after November 2 (All Souls Day here). Trees go up everywhere and I have even been wished Merry Christmas early in November. And even though they don't have Thanksgiving, they certainly have Black Friday - and it lasts the entire month of November!

We went to two different churrascos (Brazilian Barbecues) this past week. One was more formal and the other a more casual one. The food is amazing and not expensive at all. The meat is very tender and nice and there are lots of vegetable dishes (those are always my favorite part).

The work is starting to ramp up here - nearly every hour of my week (9:30 to 5) is booked. But thankfully, most missionaries just need someone to listen to them while they talk about how homesick they are, how hot it is, and how hard it is to learn Portuguese! I love helping them to adjust and it really means a lot to me when I see one who is struggling for a couple weeks and then they are smiling and telling me that their Portuguese finally all came together and they don't need me anymore!

Have a good holiday season everyone! 

It seems like one thing that a mission does really well is force you to look at yourself closely. That has really been true for me. I have discovered that I have been living most of my life in fear - fear of others getting mad at me, fear of not being competent and able to handle what comes my way, fear of being weak, helpless, and alone.

This mission has really helped me to face those fears. For the last two months, I have been afraid to leave the three-block area between my apartment and the temple unless I was with other people. After having been robbed twice in Italy and having someone tell me, "As a middle-aged American woman, you have a target on your back for thieves,' and after having the lecture at the MTC (given to all senior missionaries) about how we are targets for being robbed or attacked, I have been afraid to do anything except go to the office and the temple. I also have been afraid to go in any small stores because the shopkeepers want to talk with me and I can't understand anything they say!

But I decided that enough is enough! I am going to do scary things - not dangerous things, but things that are outside my comfort zone. I can't spend 18 months in my apartment!

November 2

Today was a holiday in Brazil (All Soul’s Day), so we had  it off. I rested a lot, but I also went out of my way to do scary things today. I went to a natural foods store that I had been afraid to go into because my Portuguese is so slow and halting. But I did it- and when the clerk started talking to me so quickly, instead of getting scared, I laughed and told him that he talks really fast! I told him that I think really slowly in Portuguese and asked him to speak more slowly. He slowed way down and I could understand him. I got to meet everyone who works in the store and found out that they are trying to learn English! So, they taught me some Portuguese and I taught them some English! They are all very nice.

Then I went to the local Japanese restaurant and ordered some takeout sushi- another scary thing. But they were very nice too! My third scary thing was planning a trip to Porto Alegre and Gramado with my friend from Pathway, Sister Jost. I am going to go down there on December 1-5 and she is coming to visit me on November 18-22 (hopefully!).

November 4

A few days ago, I saw a pretty blouse in the window of a little shop and went inside and bought it!

Today, I went back to the natural foods store and got a massage! It was only 15 minutes and it was a sitting up massage, but I did it! 

November 5

A few friends and I went to Embu das Artes today. I heard that it was a neat place - sort of a little town full of quirky little shops. We got an Uber and we all went together ($5 for a 30 minute ride!). It was so much fun shopping for Brazilian things! I didn't get really expensive things. I got a small rug for my living room, a sign for my wall, and a Tree of Life with all kinds of words on it - it is a real Brazilian Tree of Life- it has parrots in it!

We also ate outside under an umbrella and had steak, rice, and beans. It was a beautiful day in the low 70s with a slight breeze and some clouds. It was perfect for walking around. And I decided to do the scary thing - first, to organize this trip and second, to speak portuguese! I would look up what I was supposed to say and then just say it. I wouldn't have them read it. I would try to have an actual conversation with them!

I hope you all are doing well! Please comment!

October 30

I am finding places where I can serve in little ways!

This week, I met with some software developers on Monday to see if an app could be developed that would enable missionaries in my Adjusting to Missionary Life groups to be able to send me a status report daily on their level of stress with just one click. They assure me it can be done, but I would also have to get permission to use it. Then I could be translated into Portuguese for use with groups of new Brazilian missionaries. That could be such a help for new missionaries in adjusting to the field.

I am still helping a missionary couple who are auditors with their Power Point that will be used for training. They know so much about auditing, but not so much about Power Point. I am happy to help them. 

On Wednesday, I taught my English Conversation Class! It is a small class- only four of us - but we were joined by another group learning English who had been bumped from their room. So, we had nearly 20 people there.  It was fun having a big group talking together. We discussed an Easy English news article on how the electronics company Fujitsu in Japan was enticing workers back to the office by creating a dog office where workers could have their dogs. They could bring their dogs to work! Everyone in the group agreed that THAT would not happen at this office!  :)

Last week, I was able to meet Elder Koch (a member of the area presidency). who is technically my boss here in Brazil. I told him about several things, including the fact that we had no headphones at church. I had been asking for two months for headphones - some of the senior missionaries have been coming to church for a year and never understood a word. I had seen headphones used in other places (like the Rome Second Ward, where the senior missionaries had headphones), so I knew it could be done. He called in his administrative assistant, told her about the problem, and told me it would be taken care of.

On Thursday, I wasn't feeling well at all. I had one session and moved all the rest to Friday. I slept the rest of the day.

Friday, I didn't know how I would get through the day with so many sessions. For some reason, they have been a lot harder here than years ago when I did psychotherapy. But I had  been having the feeling that we needed to open each session with prayer and I did that with each missionary. It made things so much better! I felt like I knew just what to say with each missionary and I felt carried through the day. (I know - you are thinking "A missionary just discovered that things go better when they pray - Duh!" Well, some of us are slower learners than others!)

Friday night, some senior missionary friends took me to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant and it was so good to get out! The meal was fine.

Saturday morning, I had breakfast with other missionary friends (hash browns, bacon, eggs, fruit, juice and pao de queijo).

Then we went to the Museum of the Portuguese language. It was a really interesting museum, on the top floors of the Luz Train Station, which was built in 1903. It had caught fire in 2015 and was completely rebuilt in the same style, but with modern amenities.

It has fascinating exhibits, with life-size displays of people from around Brazil speaking about their culture.

There were also displays on the history of Brazil and how other languages and dialects (from immigrants and the Portuguese royal family coming to Brazil) changed the language. Because it was all in Portuguese, it was a little hard for me to follow, but I discovered that my Reverso app will translate portugues if I take a photo of it- that was great, but I didn't discover it until the end of the visit! (But I have that knowledge for the future!)

Today, we went to church and THERE WERE HEADPHONES FOR US TO USE!!! It was so wonderful to be able to understand the talks. I had only one headphone over half of my ear. I would listen to the Portuguese and if I didn't understand something, I would put the earphone to my ear and hear the translation of the part that I missed. There were two lovely talks about consecration and stewardship. I felt for the first time like I was part of the ward and for the first time, I could understand the personalities of the speakers. I loved it.

Sunday night, I was sitting in the living room, watching Encanto (again - I really like that movie and it is a great one to watch on a Sunday night. Thanks, Joseph, for making it possible for me to watch it!)

Then I hear lots of noise - people shouting at the top of their voices, whistling, cars honking, the sound of fireworks, dogs barking. The presidential race is decided. Lula won. The noise goes on for about 30 minutes. I go downstairs to see what I can see - but by the time I get down there, things are quieted down. I don't know much about politics in Brazil, and we, as missionaries, are cautioned to stay far away from politics, but it is hard not to be caught up in all the excitement.  

Sometimes, it happens accidentally! A few weeks ago, a group of us were in the park in the center of the city and we saw a man with a large bubble-head in an area with lots of benches. There were only a few people with him - no signs or banners, so we didn't know what was going on. Everything seemed quiet. I thought he must be selling something. Just for the fun of it, we got our picture taken with him.  And some of the people took pictures of us. They said "God bless the United States of America. And we responded, "God bless Brazil." And we left.

Then, one of our group, who didn't get his picture taken (and who was a lawyer for the church here as a senior missionary) said, "I wonder what the area presidency will say when photos of missionaries taken with Bolsonaro hit public media?" WHAT??? THAT BUBBLE-HEADED MAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BOLSONARO?

Needless to say, we kept a low profile after that. And nothing came of it. I am so glad that I am not in any high-profile position in the church - I am so unaware of things that I could constantly be embarrassing the church!

Yesterday, we had a Halloween Party with a member of our ward singing karaoke (in English). At the apartments, I saw families with little children going to apartments with Halloween-decorated doors, Trick-or-Treating. It was so cute! The rule was that if you wanted Trick-or-Treaters, you decorate your door for Halloween! 

I hope you had a good Halloween! Please comment - I love hearing from you!

This has been a bit of a roller-coaster week -- up and down. Emotionally, things have been rough for a few days. I hesitated whether to put things like this in my blog, as I didn't want it to be a downer, but I thought that everyone who reads it is realistic and knows that missions are not always fun. But, as I tell myself, if I didn’t have a bad week once in a while, I wouldn’t be on a mission. I would be on vacation!

First I would like to put things in context. I work with one or two missionaries out of a mission. This means that 99% of the missionaries are doing just fine and never even need to see me. And of the ones that I see, most are just dealing with normal homesickness and difficulties in adjusting to a new language and a new culture. I see them once or twice and they are fine. Even though for them, this is one of the biggest challenges they have ever had to face, they learn to adjust and don't need any more help.

A few of them need to be transferred to a service mission. It might be because they have health or mental health challenges that can best be addressed at home, or because a service mission is a better fit for them. Service missions are wonderful, with missionaries serving in many capacities, either with church organizations or local nonprofit organizations. They do excellent work and often, when they complete their missions, the organizations ask if any other missionaries can be assigned to work with them. Service missionaries can live at home and have the support of family members while they are still representing the Lord. I am fine with missionaries being transferred to them.

Rarely, there is a case when a transfer to a service mission happens because a missionary has decided that they are a failure as a teaching missionary – when their mission has barely begun. Sometimes, missionaries, just like all of us human beings have strong testimonies of Heavenly Father and the Savior, but almost no testimony of our own worth, or of how much we are loved.

The mission president and companion work so hard to help every missionary know they are loved, both by them and by Heavenly Father, and I work so hard to help every missionary I work with to know that they have within them the power to shape their life into what they want it to be, regardless of where or how they serve. I have no agenda to “talk them into” staying in a teaching mission or staying in the field, and I tell them this. Sometimes, though, it is nearly impossible to help them see themselves as precious and important and loveable. We love our missionaries and want them to serve wherever and however they will be able to love what they are doing, but it is hard to see one give up on believing in themselves.

This is hard on me - But feeling emotional pain sometimes is part of the price we pay for the privilege of working with people. I tell myself that even though I won't be seeing them any more, Heavenly Father still loves them and will be sending that love through other people they will come in contact with as they continue their mission in a service capacity.

That was the down side. On a brighter note, with the warmer weather, people are coming outdoors more. Here are some local musicians we saw near where we live.

Elder and Sister Blazer, whom I like to do things with, decided to take advantage of the fun music!

And look at the orchids growing on trees here. I love looking at the roots that are growing right on the tree.

Let's start with a guessing game - What is this? I had no idea when I first came here. They are basket/containers on the sidewalks.

How about this? Take your best guess for each one and I will let you know at the end of the blog!

This week, I have been working on the lessons for the Adjusting to Missionary Life Workshop that I hope to teach. I have done 3 1/2 of the 5 lessons so far and I am happy at how they look. I hope these lessons will really help new missionaries.

Last weekend was General Conference Weekend. The other senior missionaries were so nice to me! On Saturday, Elder and Sister Blazer invited me over for a brunch of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, fruit, and pao de queijo. Wonderful!

Then we walked a few blocks to a local padaria (that's Portuguese for a bakery). But it is so much more than just a bakery! It is a deli and a small store and a cafe. We saw beautiful cakes and pastries - and I got my all-time favorite, Pasteis de Belem.

I first had them in Lisbon (remember Liza?) then in London at Borough Market (remember Sarah?), then in Hong Kong (remember, Eldon and Penny?). They are wonderful little custards in pastry cups and to me they are such a treat!

I came back and watched the Saturday "Morning" Session of Conference (which actually was at 1 pm here), then went to another missionary couple's apartment for the next session and enjoyed being with them. The Saturday Evening Session, I watched at home from 9-10:30. On Sunday, I watched the first session at home and then went to a third couple's apartment for dinner and watched the last session at home. Eveyone was so nice to me - to make sure that I didn't feel alone at Conference time.

Today I am a Green! We have four levels of functioning for missionaries to assess themselves. Green is "Great!", yellow is "Doing Pretty Well", Orange is "Hanging in There" and Red is "I'm in Trouble". Usually, I am a green or a yellow.

And now the answers to the question, "What is it?" The first thing is a basket for putting trash in. There aren't the big bins that we have in the US. They bring their trash down to the curb. The second thing is a dedicated walking and biking track in between the lanes of traffic. No wasted space here!

By the way, the weather here is lovely. Overcast with clouds and in the 70s - perfect for me! The only problem is that it will be clear one minute and the next, a drenching downpour!! I need two umbrellas, one at home and one at the office. Otherwise, it is easy to get drenched. Someone told me to expect rain like this for the next six months. (I can't tell if they were serious or pulling my leg. Six months of downpours??)

Talk with you again next week!

I went to the police station Friday morning (September 23), leaving around 7 and getting back around 10. I stood in a lot of lines and signed a lot of papers, and hopefully, in a while, I will get my CPF number, which is sort of like a tax number that you have to have to purchase things. It is not illegal to purchase without one, but you can’t buy on Amazon in Brazil or join Sam's Club (yes, there is a Sam's Club here, but it isn't exactly like the one in the US) without one. Having my number will make getting things easier.

A little about my calling here - I don't want you to think that all I do is visit tourist destinations!  I really love what I do. I get to help missionaries who are having a difficult time emotionally and mentally. I am happy (and sad) to be talking with young missionaries who are so valiant and yet who have real emotional burdens to carry. I have so much love and admiration for them and their real love of the Savior and Heavenly Father.  I want to help them and hope that I can. It is fulfilling and yet heartbreaking - and then I see times when Heavenly Father touches a missionary and problems just fade away. I feel humbled that part of my mission is to see miracles sometimes.  

On Saturday (September 24), a senior couple and I went to Batman Alley and saw lots of fun murals there. There was also an outdoor fair, where we saw lots of things for sale - clothes, jewelry, fruits, and vegetables. I got a few vegetables and really enjoyed just looking at everything.

Then we found a wonderful restaurant that served Bahian food - food from the northeast part of Brazil. We knew nothing about Bahian food, but we decided to try it. (We couldn't even understand the menu!) 

It was so good! We had fried potatoes (served in a little shopping cart, no less!) I had Carne de Panela com Farofa (stewed beef with farofa, a cornmeal mix used to add just a little extra flavor. You sprinkle it on top of food). My friends had Mini Acarajé (small balls of fried bread that you open up, scoop out, fill with seasoned fillings - and we added the stewed beef also) Yum!!

For dessert, we had a small chocolate cake with chocolate filling (like a lava cake) and a vanilla cake that was covered in coconut and fried to make a coconut shell. Amazing!

On Sunday, I had two senior couples who are my friends to dinner. It was a lovely evening - even though one thing hasn’t changed on my mission. I am still a terrible cook! (But the desserts were good!)

This has been a really enjoyable week! On Wednesday and Thursday, I was asked to teach breakout sessions for missionaries at the Brazil São Paulo West Mission Zone Conference. I taught four 30-minute sessions on Wednesday afternoon and four more on Thursday. I had 12-15 people in each session and it was a lot of fun!

The theme of the Zone Conference was planning and my sessions were on The Joy of Planning. Each team of 3-4 missionaries was given the task to build the tallest tower possible out of spaghetti straws and mini marshmallows. They only had three minutes to plan and five minutes to do it.

Then we talked about how building a tower was like doing missionary work -

you have to have a vision of the outcome, share the vision with others, plan, work the plan, and adjust the plan when things go wrong (every tower was in danger of falling at some point). The tallest tower was 27 inches, with two that were 24 inches. Two really fun days!

On Saturday, we went to Avenida Paulista, which is the center of the old city, where lovely old homes are surrounded by modern skyscrapers. We got to see what São Paulo looked like a hundred years ago, and what it look likes now.

We spent four hours walking up and down the streets (and stopping for lunch at an Italian restaurant). We are going to go back this Saturday to do a little shopping, have lunch at the top of the modern art museum, and walk in the park.

Brief news:

My Portuguese version of the four-step program for mission presidents to use with some missionaries was finished and approved! I have talked to a couple mission presidents about it and they are excited to have it.

I am starting to comprehend what is being said around me. On Sunday, I actually understood one paragraph of the bishop's talk in sacrament meeting! I realize that understanding five minutes out of a sacrament meeting isn't much, but I am happy that it is starting to come!

September 6

What a wonderful week!

I am working on condensing the 12 step Addiction Recovery Program into four steps. A mission president requested some scaffolding for interviews with some missionaries. I read a lot of different types of material and realized that the material in the Addiction Recovery Program is so good that it is well worth reading, even for people without addictions. I finished condensing everything on Friday. If it is approved by my superiors, I will go to the Portuguese version of the 12-step Addiction Recovery Program and condense it the same way.

I really like doing this kind of work - it is a lot like writing curriculum, which I did for nearly 20 years. So rewarding!

September 7

Today is Brazilian Independence Day. In Sao Paulo, things were relatively quiet. The big celebrations were in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. But we did have a lot of fireworks tonight. I didn't get to see any because I have a side of a high-rise blocking my view, but I could surely hear them!

September 8

Today was the only sad day this week. Today, Queen Elizabeth died. I was so sad. I read the news about her death about 2 pm, while I was in my office and just kept saying, "No, no, no." She was such an influence on me throughout my life. I was born in 1952, when she became queen. For many years, I had a cup with her picture on it, given to children who were alive when she was crowned. We had it until I married, but then it disappeared. I don't know what happened to it. When I had my sabbatical on the Isle of Man in 2008, I went to an antique store and bought one just like it, so I would still have one. My parents told me that when her coronation happened, they were living in The Cottage in Enstone, in Oxfordshire. They had the only television set in the village, and for the first time ever, the coronation was going to be televised. They told me that they had a houseful of people who watched the coronation. Mother said that she worked hard to make refreshments and to make everyone welcome for such a special event.

Like many people, I felt her influence throughout the years and followed her. At 96, she was only one year older than my parents. When she died, it seemed like the last person who had an influence in my life, who was of that generation, was gone. Aunt Jean, Uncle John, all my grandparents and aunts and uncles, my parents - all gone. Even though I never met her, I will miss her. As Paddington Bear said - Thank you, ma'am - for everything.

September 10

Today, we went to the Mercado Municipal, the city's big fruit and vegetable market. We took the subway to get there - two different lines - and then walked about a quarter mile. We got lost, but a policeman took pity on us and guided us nearly all the way there. It was about 10 am and things were quiet, so I could take my phone out and take some quick photos.

At the Mercado, I got to try all kinds of exotic fruit that I had never eaten before - dragon fruit (refreshing!), kiwis that taste like bananas, jabuticaba (looks like cherries), passion fruit, cupuacu, guarana, cacau, and rambutan. My favorites were the dragon fruit and a combination of dates and strawberries together. Yum!

We had an extraordinary lunch - HUGE sandwiches called Mortadella. I have never seen so much meat in one sandwich. I got a whole one and ate on it for two days. To eat a half of the sandwich took two meals!

Getting back to the subway stop was a challenge! By this time it was around 1 pm and it was really noisy!! The streets had shops lining them, then booths in front of the shops, then individual hawkers pushing merchandise in your face, while sales people were shouting into microphones and playing loud music! It was pure chaos! But a fun, wonderful day!

September 11 (Sunday)

On Saturday night, there was a lot of celebrating for Independence Day, with loud music until 3 am!

And on Sunday morning, the closing song for sacrament meeting was the Brazilian National Anthem, which everyone stood for. I had never heard it before. It is beautiful, but long. And it seemed that every Brazilian there knew every word. It would be the equivalent to our knowing all the verses of the Star Spangled Banner - I was really impressed.

I had two kinds of treats this week- one was seeing family/old friends and the other was eating some wonderful food.

On Wednesday (August 31), President Brian Ashton of BYU-Pathway came to Sao Paulo! He had told me when we talked at the Pathway office back in June that he would be here in August. Then Elder and Sister Pace, who are missionaries for Pathway, told me that he would be here on the 31st. I asked if there was any meeting he was speaking at that I could attend- I just wanted to say hi.

I thought that President Ashton would be speaking to a big group in the chapel and I would be just sitting the back. I was surprised to see a small group (20 people) at the Caxingui Institute building and they asked us to move to the front of the room! Then I saw that it was a Zoom call and there were so many missionaries that I knew! It was so fun to see so many familiar faces! I was surprised that the zoom meeting was so short. I thought that President Ashton was going to

take questions from the missionaries, so it would be an hour, but it was only 30 minutes.

After they closed the zoom meeting, we all went downstairs and sat in a circle. President Ashton only talked for a few minutes. He told me earlier that he was really tired from the week's traveling.  Then, our visitors all had to go to catch a plane. They shook everyone's hands and got their photos taken with everyone and they were gone.  I don't think that President Ashton had much more energy left anyway. He was polite and kind (as always) but seemed very glad to be going home.

 I am really doing well here. It is really nice that things are pretty slow here right now. We are supposed to get more Americans in October and things will pick up then, I think. I am finding that I really need about 10 hours of sleep at night. If I get that much sleep, I feel really good the next day. I feel a little guilty that I am not up bright and early in the morning, even though I go to bed every night at 10.  I am sure that as more missionaries come and my work picks up, I will need to be up earlier. But I am enjoying the pace right now – who would have thought that a mission could be relaxing??

I also had a treat today of talking with Jack and Sarah, Joseph and Rosa, and emailing Rachel. I hope to talk to more family next Sunday (they are traveling today and can't talk). I love my family so much!

This week, I worked on a training that could be used with anyone working on weaknesses. It was based on an athletic coaching model and had five lessons, with readings and questions to answer. When I had it finished, I realized that, although I found it personally very helpful for me, I didn't have a strong background in sports. I needed some advice if I was going to use it to help someone else. So, I called Matt to ask him to look at it. He has such a strong background in coaching that I value his input. We talked about 15 minutes. I love being able to talk with him about something we are both passionate about - helping others to realize their full potential.

On Saturday,  I went with Elder and Sister Jefferds to El Dorado Mall and we had Mexican Food! Nachos! Enchiladas!  Corn!

Corn is nearly impossible to find here. It just isn’t that popular. I finally found some corn meal. It is actually for polenta, but I am desperate! Because I can’t eat wheat, the hard tostadas were my staple for sandwiches – so I will have to be creative and make my own. I could order a tortilla maker on Amazon Brazil- but they would be $40-60 here. I ordered one  from Amazon.com in the US ($14) to be sent to the house of a fellow missionary who was home for a few days and was coming back – but it arrived a few hours too late. He and his wife will be back there in three weeks, though, for a family wedding and he promised to bring it to me.

Ah, corn tortillas! I am missing you. Now I understand why, when Matt got home from his mission to Brazil, the first thing he wanted was Mexican food – and root beer.

It is cold here today. The temperature ranged between 52 and 57 degrees and the humidity is high (86%). It rained most of last night and, because the houses are not heated, the temperature inside my apartment is probably in the low 60s. I have space heaters going in three rooms to try to warm things up – and I am wearing a sweater. I am sure it will be warmer tomorrow! I know that those temperatures sound pretty good to those of you who are in 90 and 100 degree heat!