September in Brazil

SEPTEMBER 1

First of all, all of the Americans here and many Brazilians also are praying for the Hurricane Katrina victims.  It has been hard for some of the missionaries here as they either have family in these areas or they were raised in New Orleans or Biloxi, Mississippi.  It is very hard to watch on FoxNews here.  It looks like it should be happening in another country and not the United States of America. Since the last letter we visited a bird park which is a zoo in the USA.  The birds were unbelievable.  Bright reds, blues, and yellows.  The monkeys and the ostriches put on a show for us.  We went with the Fore Family who also moved here from Wichita Falls.  They will be here until April before they move to their permanent post in northern Brazil.  What a precious family they are.  It was fun to see the animals through the eyes or their children. We also went to see the Fore Family play their violins at the Portuguese Baptist Church here.  What a wonderful treat to hear the beautiful hymns they performed.  Truly blessed. We had a luncheon at our Portuguese School and our teacher, Marina, showed us how to make a Portuguese fish dish called Peixe a Moda Capixaba.  It was made with layers of tomatoes, fish, olive oil, onion, and the milk of a coconut.  I tried two bites.  Fish isn't my favorite.  I met two new friends through my Portuguese Class. Kyle Ice, who has been here 3 years and Nancy Goulding from Kansas City who arrived about the same time as we did. We have had lunch and they will be good friends for me for our time here.  We went walking and I wiped out on the cobblestone streets and my new friends picked me up and dusted me off and on we went.  Although I was embarrassed--I was also so glad to not be hurt.The house the company is renting for Kyle and her husband, Sam, has 13 bathrooms.  They love bathrooms here.  Even our little apartment has 5.

One of the PCA Presbyterian Missionaries here, Lynn Adkisson, blessed me so much by making me homemade applesauce.  I eat some every meal and feel like I am eating Motts except it is even better.  David and Lynn Adkisson have been faithful friends to us here.  They pick me up for Bible Study every Wednesday and we've eaten out a couple times and gone to the movie.  We are truly blessed.  They have 3 children.  Hillary, Jacob and Taylor. Another missionary couple here with The Navigators, Mike and Jan Rodgers, have been so wonderful to us.  They have 3 children also:  Seth, Lauren & Ben.  Mike taught John how to drive here in Campinas.  Without his help he would not do the magnificent job he does.  It still amazes me how well he gets around here.  They also went with us to an Italian Restaurant and I had the best spaghetti I've ever had and a dessert here that is very popular which is just two thick slices of pineapple flamed with ice cream.  OH MY!!!!!  I just realized that I talk alot about food in my newsletters.The new things this week:  1.  First rain after 50 days.  It was wonderful.  It settled the dust and made things so much better.  Although we are two hours from the ocean we could smell the salt water when the wind was blowing the rain this way.  2.  We found sour cream at a really nice grocery store here in Campinas.  It isn't like ours but is very close. 3.  I was here by myself all week.  John is in France.  It was tough but so far so good.  I felt safe.  4.  I found out that a "head of lettuce" in US is a "foot of lettuce" here in Brazil.  5.  I found a CHRISTMAS Shop and it reminds me so much of my dear friends at The Last Straw.  I can't wait to see what they have done to the store when I get there on October 8.Thank you for your e-mails and your prayers not only for us but for our precious children Ben, Meredith and John and my Mom, Dot.  We are most grateful.