PS

No convert baptisms this week, and no news to report, so I am going to do a little update on a few of the things I shared before.

The first Sunday the new Mission President was here we invited him and his wife for Sunday Dinner.  One of the first things he insisted upon when he came into the office that week was that the mission buy this apartment a new Air Conditioner.  (Which is really embarrassing since nobody else has one at all!!!)  There really was no ulterior motive to our inviting them, but that did end up being a nice by-product!  :)  So it was installed about  six weeks ago.  Craig just got the first bill that covered full month since it was installed - it was over $100 less than the bills with the old AC that didn't work nearly as well!!!!  (Interesting point, right?)  We enjoyed a first-hand look at how installations / repairs are done here!

I was trying not to be too obvious, so I didn't get a great
picture, but the worker straddled the window three stories
above cement to put a very heavy AC in place!!!

And this is the very heavy AC.  I keep comparing this
picture to the current state of the holding box to see
if the cracks are getting worse.  Look out below!!!!

We need to decide if we are going to paint just that area
or the whole room.  Dang.  The workers left a large hole
above the AC saying it wouldn't hurt to have the fresh air.
Craig stuffed styrofoam to keep out lizards, etc.  Oh my!

We really did try to clean up after them, but apparently there
was still lots of silty dirt on the floors!!!

While we got our house 90% put together the first week, we have been searching for picture frames.  As anyone who has been in my house knows, I love to have pictures of family hanging.  I told Craig I at least needed a picture of Christ, a picture of the temple, and pictures of our families.  After realizing our cheapest option for anything but an 8x10 would be over $75 each (which would be fine if they were nice or permanent, but not for cheap ones that we need several of and will use for only a year!) we "got creative."  Unfortunately, that is not my strong suit.  This was Craig's idea, but I thought I could carry it out.  So we will replace the crinkled temple picture, but at least now I feel like this is OUR house.  (Picture of Christ is on other wall.)

Marie, where are you when I need you the most!  :)

At one point I mentioned that while home owners (even those who live in slums with dirt floors) are very fastidious about their sidewalks being cleaned morning and night, there is no concern for garbage on public property.  The huge pile on our street that I showed several weeks ago was finally cleaned up.  But people had gotten in the habit of throwing trash there, so within a week another pile started and it grew to be as big as the first!  Several weeks ago when walking to the office we saw a piece of glass that had fallen in the street at a busy intersection, obviously off of a delivery truck.  It looked like it could have been for a large car's front window.  It shattered, but was held together by some kind of wrapping which kept it mostly contained.  But still little pieces of glass were everywhere.  Craig and I joked about how long it would be there.  We were both so wrong.  It's still there, though after a week someone pulled it from the middle of the street and put it along the side.

And some of it is still there.... six weeks later!

So this isn't a PS.  A darling young couple in our ward invited several new members over for FHE with the sister missionaries and us.  Bait and switch - they asked us to give the lesson after we committed to come!  :)  Craig was, of course, awesome.  The young converts here love him and even asked to take a picture with just him the other day.  (Good thing I'm a confident woman!)  He is definitely someone the missionaries and young converts come to with doctrinal questions.  (Does anyone know if a convert baptismal candidate in the US confesses to a crime committed several years ago for which he/she was never caught is turned over to the law authorities?)

The girls in the front right LOVE Craig; the girl on the far right is getting baptized this Saturday!!!

So I REALLY need to learn Portuguese - at least well enough to describe what I want for a haircut!  I thought I had communicated so well, but I came home to WAY short on the top and straggly, awkward on the bottom and back, so cute Craig cut the sides, back and bottom to blend with the top.  We cut more off here than the hairdresser did.  More than I intended, by far, but at least it's not a punk kind of style like I had when I left the salon!!!  I REALLY wish I would have gotten a picture of the second "stylist" helping me out!!! 

Good news - it grows fast!

Shalom!

Yentl and Craig