Leaving Salvador

On Sunday we had one more fabulous breakfast at our hotel and then found a ward in Salvador to go to. Nate cried through most of sacrament meeting. He was so happy to be there. Then we went to see a couple more things in the city before we left. And we got coconut milk and acaraje, a traditional street food. It was a little weird and spicy, but I really liked it (and it didn't even make me sick which I was certain it would). We also caught a parade of some sort while we were out. When we got in the car to head to the airport, neither of us could stay awake. We woke up just in time to see the tunnel of bamboo trees as we drove into the airport. I was so excited to be going home to the kids, but so sad to leave Brazil. It was such a great trip. Almost hard to put into words it was so great. The sightseeing was incredible, but the people were even better. And watching Nate be so happy was the best part. 

One thing a lot of the members talked about was how anxious they are to get a temple in Salvador. Right now they are ten hours from the nearest temple. We had heard that the church owns land for one, but it hadn't been announced yet. When spring conference came, I was crossing my fingers that when the new temples were announced, Salvador would be on the list. It wasn't. But just two weeks ago in October conference, President Nelson announced a temple will be built in Salvador. We are so, so excited. So, maybe this trip to Salvador wasn't our last...maybe we can go back for the temple dedication. I'll keep my fingers crossed. 

Our Last Night in Salvador

When we got back to our hotel that night, there was a wedding just beginning at the golden church. It was unlike anything we had ever seen before so we had to stop and watch and take pictures. I have never seen so many beautiful people and dresses before in my life! I really wanted to change our clothes and try to sneak in, but it was over almost before it began. It was sure fun to watch though! And we weren't the only ones who thought so. 

When we finally did get up to our room, we changed to go to dinner and in that short amount of time, it started pouring, and I mean really pouring! We got soaked just walking three doors down to dinner. And then it stopped as quickly as it started. I had to get a picture of the pool at our hotel when the rain was pouring down on it and one more of the Pelorino since it was our last night there.

Feta and Coite

On our second full day in Bahia, we drove to Feta to meet Oswaldo and his family. Oswaldo served a
mini mission before his actual mission and lived with Nate and his companion. They became good friends. Nate was so happy to see him again and meet his family. They were so sweet. We brought Salt Lake Temple puzzles with us to give away and their little girls loved it. They had gifts for us too, one of which was a soccer jersey for the local team with Nate's name on the back. Nate was so touched. We had a great visit and lunch with them and said our goodbyes with the hope that we will see them again. They want to come to Utah and we told them they could stay with us and we'd show them around. I hope they can make it happen.

Our next stop was Coite. We met a couple of families there at their beautiful new church building. Nate was blown away that they have a chapel now. We first met Erivaldo and his family. Nate baptized Erivaldo. He was a minister for another church when Nate met him. Nate was so impressed with his faith and how readily he accepted the gospel. He currently serves on the High Council in the stake there. We also met up with Erivaldo's sister Elivania and her family. Her husband is serving as a bishop in the stake. And we saw Erivaldo's mother and a few other members that Nate knew when he served there.  We had a really nice visit at the chapel. I noticed how both of the bishops we saw at their church buildings that day and the night before were in their white shirts. They were busy doing their callings even on a Friday night and Saturday afternoon and they were dressed appropriately to show their respect. It was an impressive example and made me think how we may sometimes get a little too casual with things like that where we live. I also noticed, however, how the little kids in the chapel kept running up to talk in the microphone just like they do here and also how the sisters from the Relief Society were busy setting up for the Relief Society birthday dinner that night just like we do here. And I took pictures of the Primary room and the Young Women's room to show our kids how similar they were. I've always heard how the church is the same all around the world, but to actually see it was pretty cool. Again and again while we were in Bahia I was struck by how similar we all are even in very different parts of the world. Heavenly Father loves His children all over the world and wants to bless them. I am so grateful we got to witness some of those blessings. And I'm so grateful that Nate was able to be a part of some of those blessings.

Before we left, Erivaldo went with us on a drive around the city. Nate was surprised by what had changed but also what hadn't changed. It had been almost two decades since he'd been there, but I'm sure in some ways it felt like yesterday.

Candeias

Later that day we drove to Candeias, about a 40 minute drive from Salvador. Nate found us a driver through a friend of his who drove the missionaries around when he was there. Our driver was a member from Salvador who's currently serving as a bishop. He was fantastic. He and Nate talked church the whole way and Nate invited him in to all our stops (at our first stop he said, "just so you know, visitors are welcome" and he took us up on that). I loved seeing how excited he was to meet other members and how he fit right in everywhere we went. 

Candeias was amazing. That word is so overused these days, but it was amazing. The spirit was overwhelming when we walked into the building that's been converted into a church building. And as Nate introduced me to everyone and told me a little bit about their stories, we both were totally overwhelmed. (I needed kleenex in the worst way possible, but there wasn't any tissue or kleenex in the building.) The ward planned an activity that night for us and for another missionary that had just come home. Nate couldn't believe how much it has grown and what a strong priesthood presence there is now. When he left the area, there were several strong women, but hardly any priesthood. In both Salvador and Candeias we were able to see all the good that has happened in the last 20 years. We've always felt bad that it's taken us so long to return to his mission, but the passage of time allowed us to see the generational impact that has occurred in those years. Families have been sealed, new members raised their children in the church and sent them on missions. One of the members I met that night was a new member when Nate baptized his wife. He could barely read and now he is the bishop of the ward. It was so, so great. And once again, I was overwhelmed by how kind the people were. I wished I could have expressed to them how I was feeling. Hopefully they saw and felt what I couldn't express.