Our visits to the missionaries this week. We had scheduled two visits to Elders apartments this week - we found only one house!
With very few street signs and no numbers on many houses or wrong numbers it is a challenge to find the place where Elders live. We call on the phone as we get closer and have a google map in hand and still we miss the target sometimes. The Elders are not sure of their address (street and number). They were once upon a time transferred in and the other companion knew how to get them home at night. Then one gets transferred again and the other can lead the new Elder home but has no clue of where they are as they walk home from the bus stop. So they try to lead us in without the aid of street names or numbers. We ask them to stand out in the street and guide us in. We have to find them at home before about ten A.M. or we miss them that day. We check to see if the house is clean and they are dressed, studying and ready for the day. The picture above was taken with Elders Christensen and Ribas (pronounced Heebus) in front of their very blue front door (that was our landmark), they live up the stairs behind in a very basic apartment. Their refrigerator had such a buildup of ice in the upper freezer area I'm not sure how they got the door shut. There was a circle of space open about the size of a round 5" ball. That was probably why there was no freezer door on it at all. Elder Christensen is a new elder, here only a few weeks from Yakima, WA and Elder Ribas is from Sao Paulo and is the trainer. In front of that blue door is a running storm drainage/sewer ditch they have to step over each time they come in and out. It's quite smelly and I understand the elders all have boots to wear in rainy weather when the ditches and roads become flooded. I understand that the rainy season hits hard in June. I think we'd better start looking for boots before it gets here.

The other pictures above we took today on our P-day excursion to Olinda. Nathan and Heather and kids, you're going to love this spot when you come visit in December. The old town is so colorful with bright colored house fronts. It was settled in the early 1500's. The dutch burned a good part of it when they invaded Brazil in the 1700's and it was rebuilt by the Portuguese and Brazilians after that. The many cobblestone streets shake your teeth out as you drive up and down the hills of Olinda. There are more artists and craftsmen there than anywhere else in Brazil. We purchased a small wood carving picture and a watercolor from the artists lining the streets. Dad was looking at the beautiful hammocks they have there for sale. Didn't buy one... yet. We wouldn't have time to enjoy it here anyway and nowhere to hang it at home in Utah. I think he's going to buy one before we leave for an extended rest when our mission is over.

They were boasting about how many churches Olinda has. We didn't tell them that in Utah County there are churches on every other block. A gentleman showed us through the church in the picture above and told us all about it. There is a real effort in several Brazilian cities to preserve their historic landmarks. As usual today was very warm and we cut our excursion short as the sun was intense.

Tomorrow we are going with the elders in a different area to teach a couple about eternal marriage and the blessings of the gospel. It should be fun.