A Week of "This & That"

Nothing relates to anything else this week. 

With the reopening of the temple, we received two new missionary couples to replace the one we lost. 

We bid farewell to Elder and Sister França (Paulo and Cecilia). They returned to gaucho country in the campo down south where he is a "cowboy" and she is a "crochet-er".

We welcomed Elder and Sister Parrela (Adalton and Delgia) from Florianópolis - by way of being the mission president in Santa Maria and working in the Recife Temple.

And...

Elder and Sister Mathis (Wayne and Dianne) from Price, Utah - by way of Virginia working for the Smithsonian where he was their 'fly expert' and the Porta Alegre Temple.

The next totally unrelated item - 

When Don and Larry were down here fifty-some years ago, they helped build a church. Most of the buildings in Brazil are made from this red brick stuff. 

A contractor from the states choose to make his own bricks to construct the church. The missionaries would come on their P-day and pour the bricks. The bricks would then dry in the forms all week. Brick by brick the building was built. And a pretty good building it was. It is still in use today and has been remodeled and improved over the years. 

It is now called the Curitiba 2nd Ward and is also the Stake Center.

On the way home and - because we were already in the neighborhood - we took a quick stroll through Passeio Publico (Public Promenade). This is the oldest park in the city. In the 19th century, it was for some time the Botanical Garden of Curitiba. It was also the first zoo and, to this day, has some animals in captivity, as well as an aquarium.

 

Last night we enjoyed dinner and FHE with President Hart and his wonderful little family. He is the President of the Curitiba Mission. They are in our ward they - are you ready for this?! - speak fluent English!

From left to right - Anna, Sister Hart, President, Katelyn, Taylor, and Hayden. 

They have another son, Tanner, serving a mission in Trujillo, Peru.