April 30th, 2017 - Mission Update

So the big news for this month is that Paul and I celebrated 40 years of marital bliss!  Quite an accomplishment in and of itself it you ask me!!   Can’t think of a better way to celebrate here in Brazil than with about ten missionaries—so we made cinnamon rolls and then had a few missionaries over to play ping-pong at our apartment complex’s “play floor” (actually it is called “pingue-pongue” here in Brazil),—I know that doesn’t sound like a real celebration—The actual celebration was in the fact that I could  actually make and bake cinnamon rolls in my little Coleman like mission oven!  I am learning the Brazilian ways!!!  Although Paul does groan if I say I’m making beans again! I had to make my own powdered sugar…Never done that before!   Will the real “pioneer woman” please stand-up!  Thank-you…….and she takes a bow!

It was actually very fun and the missionaries really had a good time and one of the American missionaries said to me, “Sister Briggs, when I was eating my cinnamon roll, I actually cried a little bit inside and said, I miss my mom!”  They are great!  They had a big championship tournament and then Elder Briggs made the winner play me and I got slaughtered and  he was even trying to let me get a few points—it was embarrassing!

We are officially the housing coordinators for the mission!  There is a lot of work to be done with  housing because the missionaries are always changing houses—the paperwork is endless but we have made great strides in trying to get the records to where they should be—we still have a long ways to go!  

We are still feeling the pressure and desire to learn to speak Portuguese better.  (I am really struggling —I think Paul is doing great!)  Last night we went to a baptism, three people were getting baptized, and they came and asked Paul to share some words and his testimony—it turns out HE was the one and only speaker!  By the way, he did a great job!!  Anyway, we found a lady that is Brazilian and speaks English, so we signed up for a couple of weeks of intense lessons—3 hours a day for 2 weeks to start—unfortunately after that she is booked until August—but at least that will help us to know if taking these lessons is going to help us.  Below is a picture that was on our way home from one of our favorite spots here in Salvador.  For our actual anniversary we ate at a little restaurant that is right here looking over the beach. 

They don’t have maple syrup  here in Brazil in the stores—or maple flavoring—you can find real maple syrup in Sam’s Club but it is really expensive so many of our Brazilian missionaries have never had pancakes for breakfast  so a few weeks ago we came in early to the mission office and surprised the office with pancakes and eggs.  This Elder that is leaving said he would like that again so we did pancakes this last Friday again for them.  Three batches of pancake batter later, they were fed!  We will miss you Elder Estevam!!

This last month has been spent mostly in the office trying to update the housing records correctly.

We will be heading out of Salvador around May 9th  for the week, to travel again to visit the different missionaries and their houses to see how we can help them.   We are so grateful to be helping the Lord in anyway we can here in Brazil.  We hope our small contribution will be pleasing to Him.  

We love and miss you all so very much and hope that in our absence you will still be able to feel of our love and concern for each of you!  We also hope that you will keep calling and staying in touch—that is so very important to us.  All of you are continually in our prayers!  Love, Dad & Mom, Paul & Kaye