Almost at the End!

The last two weeks in Brazil were a whirlwind! I was cleaning out drawers, closets, and the kitchen pantry. I put everything on tables and took pictures for everyone to see. People came in, and little by little, things disappeared off the tables. Hooray!

People were so nice to offer to help me have any experiences that were still on my Brazil Bucket List. On Saturday, January 6, I went with Elder/Sister Snyder and Elder/Sister Roebeck to the Parque da Independência in São Paulo. It is beautiful. Part of it looks like Versailles, with beautifully manicured grounds. Another part looks like what the sacred grove would look like if it were in Brazil - shady, quiet, with lots of room between the trees and light filtering down through the leaves. We got there just as things were opening and we got a parking spot easily. We also got tickets to the museum easily - when we came out an hour and a half later, the lines were winding and all the way out the doors into the sun!

The museum was about the history of Brazil, which was fascinating, and about how objects of everyday life have changed over the years. It was a little strange to find objects that I used in my kitchen as recently as the 1980s in a museum and labeled antiques!

The next day, I went to church and bore my testimony in Portuguese. You have to race to bear your testimony in Brazil! When they open the time for testimonies, 20 or 30 people will get up in the first two minutes! If you don't get up immediately, you have to wait until the next month! They are such faithful people!

The last week was full of spending time with friends, both American and Brazilian, eating out a lot, cleaning, and meeting with missionaries for the last time. If I described each one of the people I spent time with, this would be a very long blog! I have described each one in my personal journal. If you are reading this and you are one of the dear people who spent time with me during the week, know that I love you and miss you!

My last day in Brazil was a strange day! It was wonderful, with the exception of one thing. It was a Sunday morning, and I was going to be teaching at the MTC in São Paulo. I was taking a shower before leaving for church. I tried to close the sliding glass door on the shower, and it seemed stuck, so I pulled again. It shattered into a thousand pieces! Most of them were "rounded" (It was safety glass), but there were many tiny shards among the rounded pieces, and I got many small cuts on me (I later counted 31 cuts on my right leg and foot).  I was also covered with tiny slivers of glass, with glass all over the floor of the shower and the bathroom floor. I had to shower for another 20 minutes to get all the glass off me, but that left me only 15 minutes to dress for church. I was going to the MTC with Sister Smith and Sister Jackson and the Uber was leaving at 8:55. I was due to teach the Temple Prep class to the newly arrived missionaries that afternoon, so I had to get moving. I had three cuts on my leg, ankle, and foot that wouldn't stop bleeding. I was blotting them with toilet paper (I had given my first aid kit away!) and trying to not get blood on my skirt as I dressed. No time for breakfast. I grabbed some trail mix and off I went. Luckily, Sister Jackson had two band-aids in her purse that I could use for my leg and ankle. We got three more from the helpdesk at the CTM when we arrived.

Church went well and I enjoyed it. The real reward of the day, though, came in teaching the Temple Prep class. I taught the principles that we needed to teach, but instead of sticking closely to the script, I asked them questions and had them figure out the answers. I also told them stories that related to the temple. Lastly, I told them stories about experiences I had had that strengthened my testimony of the temple and told them that temple marriage was worth sacrificing for. 

It was amazing! The missionaries loved the lesson! They lingered afterwards, wanting to shake my hand and asked me if I would be teaching any more classes at the MTC. I told them "No," and that this is the last class I would be teaching, on the last full day of my mission in Brazil. They were sad, and so was I. It was a great lesson, probably the best one I have ever taught. I feel like the whole experience was a gift from Heavenly Father for me.

Then came the final morning!  I had packed a few last things the night before and was in bed by about 10:30. At 1:15 a.m., I was wide awake. I had thought of a few things that needed to be done, so I got up and did them. I repacked a little, ate the last of my granola for breakfast, and went back to bed. I woke up at 5:10, which was exactly the time I needed to get up to be picked up at 6 am for my 10:15 flight. Elder/Sister Smith, Elder/Sister Ripplinger, Elder/Sister Lamoreaux and Elder Snyder were up to see me off! (At 6 am! I told everyone not to get up at 5 to see me off - I wouldn't get up that early to see myself off! But they did anyway!)

Bispo Luciano was at the front gate of Vertentes in his taxi to get me and the drive was good, only lasting 1 hour 15 minutes to Garulhos Airport, instead of the usual two hours. I was even able to hold a conversation with him in Portuguese - nothing in depth, but a good simple conversation!  And I even saw three capybaras near the river on the way! We talked on the way, he took our picture, and I was off to come back to the US!

I arrived in Atlanta at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Will and Liza were there to pick me up. I was happy to be back, but SOOO tired. I went to bed at 8 pm. It is great to be back in the US. I love being with my family here. I love finding familiar food in the grocery stores. And I am looking forward to seeing family in Utah on January 30!