The first day of work!

Today was our first day to get our hands a little dirty! We began repair/updates on the house, had our first VBS class, and some people began making bricks!

The house repairs consisted of cleaning the outside of the house (sweeping and sanding the walls), painting the house and the four smaller buildings around it, repairing the laudary house (sawing new posts to hold up the new nets that act as windows), and cleaning the windows.

To get home, ten of us (Duane drove and Madison is next to Glory) piled into a five person car!:

We had a great first day of work. The weather was cool and we got a lot done. Tomorrow, we will finish up the house, start some new painting, visit a seminary, make more bricks, and some will be going to a small orphanage.

WE MADE IT TO CRUZEIRO DE SOL!!

After....

• 17 travelers
• 7 flights
• 1 mistaken identity for Marci
• 1 cancelled flight
• 5 days of travel
• 1 explanation of how to light a match under water from Kristen
• 3 time zones 7 different times
• 17 cancelled tickets
• 1 Brazilian BBQ
•  8 airports
• 2 skipped meals for Jessica
• 1 visit to Sao Paulo
• 6 boys with 6 machetes
• multiple searches for Eathan and Ryan
• 4 missionary hosts
• 5 airport meals
• 1 roll of duct tape used on Tara's suitcase
• 1 missionary house
• 1 early morning shower (2am) for a very confused Karch
• 5 cardboard boxes not marked fragile
• 1 awkward taxi ride for Jordan Bowen
• 22 bags
• 1 visit to Manaus
• 47 hours of flight and layovers
• 28 games of spades
• 2 bouncy balls
• 1 confiscated and popped bouncy ball
• 5 scanty pat downs
• 1 visit to Salt Lake City
• 8 swollen ankles
• 2 showers
• 15 pounds of American snacks
• 4 miles of touring Manaus
• 1 visit to JFK airport
• 2 life-threatening taxis
• 1 Brazilian couple asking where Candice's parents were
• 153 airplane snacks eaten
• 2 missed wake up calls
• 1/2 gallon of water chugged at security

WE FINALLY MADE IT TO CRUZEIRO DE SOL!!

    Thank you so much for all of your prayers. We had a great 5 days of travel but we are excited to get to work here in city. We were welcomed by a home-cooked Brazilian soup (fantastic!) and enjoyed a couple games of volleyball and soccer. We also drank fresh coconut juice! (Sorry for the sideways views):

Thanks again for all of your support and prayers. Tomorrow we start working and will host our first VBS session with some of the kids. We plan on playing games, having a message, and possibly sharing some of our testimonies. Our missionaries told us that they are extremely open to the Gospel right now (amazing!), so we have a great oppertunity at our hands.

"Let the poeples praise You, O God; 

Let all the peoples praise You."

Psalm 67:3

A day in Manaus

Hey family and friends! We have had a terrific day in Manaus. We woke up this morning to a good breakfast at the hotel we stayed at, and then we made our way to the airport so that we could fly from Sao Paulo to Manaus. This is Sao Paulo:

We then went to Manaus and spent the day touring it because our final flight doesn't leave till tomorrow.

Some of us on the flight to Manaus:

The mission house we stayed at in Manaus:

We went touring Manaus and found incredible bananas at the market (the boys also bought machetes that came in hand with some coconuts later):

After the market we have Brazilian BBQ at Rei Do Churrasco, but we had to pile into taxis to get there:

We saw a very famous opera house while we were downtown, too. Then, we ate and went back to the mission house for a comfy nights rests. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray that we make our flight tomorrow and can get to our final destination: Cruzeiro de Sol.

Day 3 Adventures

We arrived in Sao Paulo to find out:


While here, the Lord was used a couple of us to help one of His lost children:


We thank all of you for your prayers. Although this hasn't been the ideal way of getting to our destination, we have had fun! We were able to see and experience new things, and we have also got to be a part of a sinner repenting. God is so good.

The newest plan is that we will fly out of Sao Paulo to Manaus at ten Monday morning. Once we arrive in Manaus, we will have to wait there for our flight to Cruzeiro that is at ten Tuesday morning. Please be praying we get there soon! As of now, we should be in our final destination Tuesday afternoon.

Day 1 cont.

At dinner Coach Troop explained our travel plans! Crazy fun!



We also found ways to occupy our time while in the airport

Travel Days Continued

Travel Days

Success!  We have now all made it out of Oklahoma!  However, we are further from our destination then when we started.  Oh well, small steps.

Group one, consisting of the sponsors (minus Lacey) and the boys (minus Ryan), left OKC this morning at 9:15 and are currently enjoying a twelve hour layover in Salt Lake City.  We've already visited the Temple Square and the Mormon Tabernacle.  People keep asking us why we have our pillows.  : )

We're now relaxing at Starbucks, catching up on some sleep, loading up on caffeine and waiting on group two to arrive.

Group two, consisting of all the girls, Lacey, and Ryan, left OKC at 2:00 this afternoon and will arrive in Salt Lake City at 3:30 (SLC time).  As soon as they arrive, we will join up and spend even more time enjoying the city before our flight leaves tonight.

In a round about kind of way, we will eventually end up in Brazil sometime tomorrow.  Our current flight schedule is as follows:

May 29 - Salt Lake City to NYC Kennedy - DL 1002  11:45 pm - 6:11 am
May 30 - NYC Kennedy to Sao Paulo - JJ 8083  9:25 am - 8:25 pm
May 30 - Sao Paulo to Manaus - G3 1704  9:10 pm - 11:59 pm

From Manaus, we will fly to Cruzeiro.  However, right now we have not been able to reschedule that flight.  We may have to spend a little longer in Manaus than we planned.  But so far nothing has gone as planned, so we're not worried!

*As soon as group two arrives in Salt Lake City, we'll have pictures of their adventures to share here too.