Autumn is here

Monday was our one year mark in Brazil. We have passed through all the seasons and Fall officially arrived (again) on Saturday.

We have a new employee in the ICS department. His name is Daniel. He is also an STS for the Santos stake. When someone new arrives they seat him on a stool and ask a lot of questions (like do you prefer an iPhone or Android) to get to know him better.

Daniel on the hot seat

We finally finished watching our Korean soap opera, "You Are Beautiful". Even though we don't understand Korean there are English subtitles. The programs are so cute they are funny, unlike the American programs that are often crude.

We passed St. Patrick's Day without incident, but I did enjoy the Blarney Stones Diane made. 

We don't know if you have been getting news from Brazil, but there is a huge national crisis going on. The Brazilian government is known for its scandals and one of the biggest has been uncovered lately. It makes Watergate look like a swimming party. It started with large contractors secretly meeting to overcharge Petrobras (a government-owned energy company) then using part of the excess money to bribe Petrobras  directors and government officials. A couple of weeks ago the special prosecutor uncovered evidence against Lula (the former President of Brazil) so Dilma (the current president of Brazil and Lula's protege) appointed him as a Chief of Staff to shield him from prosecution. If this last sentence sounds confusing, it is not nearly as confusing as what is going on in Brazil. The result was massive demonstrations (over a million people) protesting against or supporting the government. 

The sun sets on Brazil

We were planning to visit some museums at Parque da Luz on Saturday, but felt it wise not to go downtown. We went to Embu instead.

The American mob catches a bus

Let's look at Brazilian shirts 

Missionary eating lion

Tall, skinny giraffes

 After lunch in a German restaurant we headed back to São Paulo.

Handcart pioneer?

Feira at the bus stop

In the evening Diane attended the Relief Society birthday activity. She didn't understand everything, but said she enjoyed it. This morning the Relief Society president talked with us to see if she had a good time. We told her that it was simple, but very nice, just like church activities should be.

Refreshments at the Relief Society birthday activity

They finally got the wireless mics working for Sunday School so we can hear what is being said. Since it represents meetinghouse technology, I couldn't help taking a picture of a ward member reading a scripture for the class.

High-tech Sunday School class

We spent much of the week getting our files on the computer organized so we (and someone else) can hopefully figure out what we are doing.