Rainy Season and a Missionary Program

Not related, but events of this week!

The rainy season here in the Brazilian Northeast is in January and February.  During January the weather was very Camelot-esque, in that it rained only at night.  The last couple weeks we have not been so fortunate.  We have gotten caught in some wild rain storms.  And the drainage here isn't great because of all the pollution in the street, so the water just puddles, making getting across the street a real trick.  And, of course, like anywhere in the world, there are the motorists who think it is so funny to splash pedestrians.  It's not!  This state has been in a draught, so we have been glad for them to have the rain, even if we arrive at work pretty soggy some days.

Hum - Where to cross???

He had an umbrella!!!

So did I - but my hair still got wet.  Of course,
my clothes were sopping wet, but since I
was ALL wet you couldn't tell in the picture!

About six weeks ago our Mission President and Stake President decided it would be nice to have a Missionary Open House and asked me to be in charge of a one-hour program.  I will admit that I have been in my glory putting together a program that outlined the basic beliefs of our Church.  I may not be able to speak Portuguese, but I do understand how people can feel the Spirit through music!  We also used some of the AWESOME Church videos.  I was able to hand-pick about 30 missionaries to join the 30 who serve in our Stake, and imported some Elders with incredible voices.  Because I didn't want to disrupt missionary work more than absolutely necessary, we had only one practice last Monday (their P-Day) for two hours, and one on Saturday for two hours.  We were really blessed to pull it together and shared a one-hour program that seemed to touch a lot of people.  The best part is there were 450 people in attendance.  I honestly don't think we could have gotten 20 more people in the chapel.  It had been raining hard in the morning, but cleared up in the afternoon - people would not have come if the rain had continued.  So we felt really blessed.  Those who attended, most of whom were investigators or less active in the Church, seemed to be touched.

Dang - a picture on the stand in the chapel would have been
so much better, but I am trying to teach them that we should
not take pictures in the chapel!!!

Too many for one pic - I love these missionaries so much!!!

It was a real Spiritual highlight for me to be able to have a part in that.  And a great reminder that music can touch hearts in a way that the spoken word cannot.

Our Love to All!