ConferenceandEasteritwassomuchfun!

Wow!

What a weekend!

I don't even know where to begin. The Solemn Assembly, the two new apostles, all the changes, seven more temples announced. These are the Latter Days for sure! And, on top of all that, there were some really good talks. Some favorite quotes (in no particular order) - 

"Let us ponder our lives, listen for prophetic council, and follow Christ more perfectly."

And, of course, celebrating Easter on this glorious weekend was just frosting on the cake.

How grateful I am for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his atoning sacrifice. 

And Easter just wouldn't be complete without dinner with family and friends. We celebrated with our mission family.

Brazilian, Portugal, American, and Greek food. Yum. 

And then with all the leftovers, we were able to celebrate again with lunch the next day!

Just the four couples this time.

And, lastly, The "Cajazeira Sisters" of the Curitiba Temple.  

Shirley and me. 

And thus we end another month and April begins.

Cozinhando 101

Cooking class for "Dummies" was held in Sister Freide's apartment Monday.

Zenia is always cooking up something - she truly keeps us in Brazilian treats. 

I told her to call me down the next time she made coxinhas. She said that they were so very easy to make!

First, you have to pressure cook the potatoes - mash them up - add the chicken stock and milk - simmer - add the flour - cook it up - plop it on a buttered counter - knead it - roll it - cut it - roll it into balls - flatten it - add the stuffing - make it into a teardrop - splatter it with egg white - roll in bread crumbs - fry.

Easy?

HAHAHAHAHA

(That's what she thinks!)

Then, with the same dough, we made nyoki.

(Shirley was the scribe.)

Lastly, we made empanadas.

Chicken, beef, and cheese filled these little babies. 

They may not have been that easy to make, but they were sure yummy to eat.

Easter (Páscoa) is just around the corner.

Brazil is ready!

 This is one of the mall attractions. You make your very own cupcake and then, while it bakes, you color an Easter picture. 

 

Zenia made us ovos de Páscoa de chocolate (chocolate Easter eggs). In between the two chocolate layers you will find creamy coconut. 

REALLY?!

With half of the temple property in jungle/forest I guess this is to be expected. Little critters can be found in the shrubs. The top guy is a preás (Brazilian guinea pig). They get pretty big and seem to think that they can play in and out of the gardens. (Elder Carmargo says they taste like chicken.)

I just spotted this bottom guy the other day. Talk about ugly! He's a Brazilian Gamba. He looks like a mole-rat to me. I believe his only purpose is to scare me out of my wits. (I'll have to ask Elder Carmargo if he tastes like chicken!)

Moving into March

I can't believe that so much of March is already gone! And tomorrow is the first day of autumn!!

(I know, I don't think I would ever get used to the reverse seasons down here.)

Anyway...this is what has been keeping us busy.

We celebrated summer's end by going to the beach.

(This was the best place to get Frutos do mar - seafood for you English speakers)

President and Sister Stadler have a home on the beach about two hours from Curitiba. It was a nice break from the city.

The water was so very warm!

So, if seafood isn't your thing, the Cesars took us out for pizza one night.

Or, if you're looking for something with a little more meat - we missionaries took ourselves to....what else....a churrasco.

And since we're on the subject of food, last night's FHE had a great selection to choose from.

(Can you guess which item I made? They had never seen deviled eggs before, but, since they love eggs and mayonnaise, the little guys were a big hit.)

And, in between all that eating, we still found time to finish a 1,000 piece puzzle. (999 actually. One piece was missing.)

Hope your March has been as fine as ours. And who knows what the next 11 days will bring!!

Finishing February

Short little February sure went fast!
But, lest we forget, these activities completed our month...

We had this great adventure planned last week for our Monday P-Day but the rain prevented it. Not to be deterred, we had our picnic upstairs in our apartment building. A good time was had by all.

Ward members Nephi and Elizangela Martin (Miguel and Ester) invited us to Sunday dinner.

Birthdays are always so special.😏

Anyway, mine was celebrated with wonderful friends.

But wait, there's more! We celebrated again in FHE. Happy Birthday Presidente and me!

We welcomed Elder and Sister (Luiz and Shirley) Kulchetscki to our missionary circle. They are from Ponta Grossa, Brazil - by way of Canada. 

What better way to welcome them to the "family" than with homemade strawberry ice cream?!

(After our Friday date-night to Subway)

Puzzle update 

 2 more have been completed.

Last Sunday it was dinner with Daniele (our temple secretary and her family). 

Little Helena and Ester don't think that Linda is a real name. They think Camila is a much more Brazilian name for me.😃 Who knew?!

This week's FHE was with the Marques and Rezende families.

And, lastly...Pastel night at the Freides.

Sister Freide made them all - chicken and cheese, meat, egg, and palm, banana, and Romeo & Juliet (which is guava paste and cheese). All were very delicious!

My dear friend Kathy Rees passed away on the 18th. She fought a valiant fight, but, in the end, the cancer won. She leaves behind Scott, 10 wonderful children and 40+ grandchildren. 

till we meet again, dear friend...

Odds & Ends

Some things just don't deserve their own post. They're not that "news worthy" but they are "memory worthy" to me, anyway.

So, today, things I want to remember from the last few weeks.

 All the rain caused a lot of damage to some of the streets in Curitiba. This is what happened to the street/sidewalk on the jungle side of the temple block. (That one hole goes all the way to China!)

The city is now in the process of fixing the problems. 

There's never a dull moment when waiting for the street light to change. Red lights bring out the talent! They just don't have this kind of stuff in Utah!

The youth had a "Noite de Hambúrguer" event to earn money for youth conference. For a mere R$20 we were served a hamburger, drink and a dessert of our choice. They weren't bad. 

We later invited the Freides to go to Maderos for "the world's best hamburger." They had to admit that Madero's burgers were truly superior to the ones from Barigui Ward. 😋

We had dinner with the Rasera family and friends on Sunday. Good friends. Good food. 

On Monday we made our last trip to the Federal Building to renew our IDs. We are now "legal" for our final months in Brazil.

Kansas City may have their Cow Parade but here in Curitiba we have the Capi Parade.

Ya gotta love the GIANT insect display at the Palladium Mall. (The fly is in honor of Wayne.)

We got a new missionary couple last week - Vicente and Margereth Camargo from Ponta Grosse. 

Bem Vinda!

Carnival is being celebrated throughout Brazil today through Wednesday. After that, it's back to school for the kids in public schools. (The private schools generally use the September-June calendar with a break for Carnival.) 

This is also the week for Youth Conference throughout the Church in Brazil. It keeps the youth away from the not-so-good influences that result from 24/7 parties, parades, and general permissiveness of Carnival.

Our faithful red onibus. Our temple tube. Our mangy dog at the terminal.

And - last but not least - we finished another puzzle. Mona was really a challenge! But we persevered and - wallah! - success!!!