BRAZIL (part 2)

Our first Sunday in Manaus. We attended 2 meetings to visit with some of Ty's friends. The Church buildings were very clean and beautiful. The Church's we went to had an open court with plants.

This 12 year old boy won my heart. People were excited to talk with Ty and I would stand next to him not knowing what was being said. This boy came up to me and after a couple seconds of thinking said out loud "Hi, how are you?" He totally had me:) I talked back to him in English and he was happy to kind of understand. I learned that he is learning English at school.

This is where we ate lunch that day. This was Ty's last area of his mission and he would eat here often. So story behind this family: The missionaries came and taught the parents and 3 kids ages 14,16, and 18 I believe. Well they all felt like it was right but they were Catholics and the father said they couldn't do it. Well the kids knew that it was true and so became baptized. By watching the example of their children and how they stopped drinking coffee and they attended their meetings and paid tithing, the parents were baptized while their son was a year into his mission. The oldest girl also served a mission. A very neat and welcoming family. 

Our oh so good dinner. Fish over the coals, rice, beans, banana's, and lots more.

The family room of where we stayed in Manaus

So kids like to fly kites but there is a problem....power lines get in the way. You can see this throughout the city:) here are some pics from the balcony/porch.

A bakery near the house. Lots and lots of little stores like this. We like bakeries.

The granddaughter of Nazara. Okay so it is like REAL hot and REAL humid down there. People will take numerous showers throughout the day to try and stay cool. So Maria was a little hot so they filled up this tub for her. They say she is a really good swimmer:)

Riding the bus downtown to see the Opera House. This is one of many bus stations.

The Opera House. Manaus was able to build this from their donations to WWII. Wood, furniture, and other supplies were given from many different countries and they built this with those supplies.

The painting on the ceiling

They even had a lego replica of the house, made me laugh

Making our way to the street market. One thing that I didn't get a picture of ...... people paying for tattoos right on the street. A boy around 14 or so was getting one.....not very clean and very disturbing.

Our yummy dinner...OH did I say that I loved the food down there!

More and More pictures are to come!!!!!!

BRAZIL (part 1)

Holy fire people it happened. Ty and I went to Manaus Brazil....and survived:)! No really it was a lot of fun and I am glad that we went.  Our journey started with flying from ABQ to Fort Worth Dallas to Miami then to Manaus. Left ABQ around 6:30 and arrived in Manaus at 10:30....Yep it was a long day. But no worries on our flight from  Miami to Manaus we got a movie and NBC played some of their TV shows.

We played Yahtzee for a while....its our favorite game. Really its mine because it is the only game I can actually win.

 My first on flight meal, taco salad with chips and twix. Ya it was overrated.

 Beautiful sunset over the ocean I guess.

Ty getting our luggage and we had a lot! Oh I forgot to mention that there were only 30 people on our flight, the plane was so empty. There was a group of Americans on our flight heading out on a fishing trip. They told stories and gave us tips on how to catch the peacock bass. Nice fellas. They even gave us some of their lures to catch some big ones.

Ty's friends came and picked us up. They are the ones that were sealed as a family. On temple grounds they have rooms/hotel rooms to house those that are traveling far. The temple grounds were beautiful and the housing was too. Okay the people in Brazil are totally awesome and so giving. The family gave us one of the 'suites'. This room had a balcony and a picture perfect view of the temple. AMAZING!

When we arrived the temple lights were on and it was beautiful! When we grabbed the cameras to take pictures the lights had been turned off, BLAST!

 So this family is awesome! Ty was able to teach them the gospel and was there when they were married and baptized into the church. Fast forward 12 years or so and Ty is now the escort for Carlos and then a witness for the families sealing. What a very very neat experience. 

Here is the before going inside the temple....

The family after they are sealed, what a great experience!

 My dumb dumb camera....Folks its real humid down there and I had just pulled out my camera for a photo. I should have checked the photo to make sure it turned out okay. Oh well at least we got a picture of all of us.

Another view from the balcony.

Okay this part was so hard for me....the toilets. So the plumbing in Manaus is not good. So this means no toilet paper down the john. See the little garbage in the left hand corner, yep all toilet paper goes in there. TMI: so grateful I wasn't on the rag for this trip. Wouldn't want to throw my period toilet paper in there, just sick!

Carlos and Nora walking back from the Temple

Someone is called to help those who travel far with food. So for our meals someone brought us food and we ate in the housing cafeteria. Very very nice of them!

What the temple housing looks like, right across from the temple.

We took a little walk around the temple grounds