Christmastime in Ibiporã; Two sister mssionaries, one small umbrella, BIG rain storm

Hello everybody!   Another week has passed and I'm still loving being here in Ibiporã!!  :)  Today is transfers, and as I haven't received any emails from the mission secretaries yet, I'm assuming that means I'll be staying here for another transfer.  woohoo!  :)  Sister Marques hasn't gotten anything yet either, so it looks like we'll be working together again!  I'm pretty excited about that.  :)  I was reeeeeeally hoping that we'd be able to stay here for another transfer.  We have a bunch of people that we're working with right now, and it will be so great to have some more time to keep teaching them and helping them progress.  That also means that we'll be here for Christmas, which I'm also SUPER excited about - we have some amazing members here that I'm sure will take verrryyy good care of us.  :)  Ibiporã is all decorated and beautiful for Christmas, and there has been A LOT going on in the city to celebrate.  The city center is FULL of giant Christmas sculptures made completely from plastic bottles - angels, candy canes, snowmen, and even a house for Santa Claus...it's really pretty incredible.  They have a stage set up for bands and dancers and other performances, a carousel and other rides for the kids, and a ton of little booths with different foods and treats.  It reminds me a lot of Summerfest, actually!  Churros, Krepes, Japanese food, cotton candy, candied apples... Sister Marques and I have definitely been enjoying this time of year.  :)  It's definitely different from Christmas in Utah, where everyone stays inside hiding from the snow! :)   Definitely different, and awesome.  :)

So, not a ton has happened this week...João's leg is still pretty bad and hasn't really shown any signs of improvement, and on top of that, he caught a cold this week, so yeah...he's not doing too well at the moment.  :/   We pass by every day to check on him, and to help in any way we can - which usually includes running to the store to buy groceries for him.  :)  He really is so sweet, and I'm praying that his leg will heal quickly.  It was sooo heartbreaking the other day - we stopped by to give a quick lesson, and afterwards, as we got up to leave, we shook his hand goodbye and he said "Tchau....and now I'm going to be alone."  haha!  It was so sad... :P :)

Oh, and another story - this week has been SUPER rainy, which is really a huge blessing.  We had been waiting for the rain for a loooong time, so when it finally arrived, it was a relief!  Friday we had scheduled a family night with some pesquisadores that live in Vila Esperança, the FARTHEST neighborhood from where we live.  That afternoon, we quickly made a cake to bring for a treat afterwards, pulled it out of the oven and ran out the door only to find the rain POURING down.  We only had one umbrella between the two of us - so try to imagine this - two sister missionaries huddled between one small umbrella, struggling in vain to protect a hot cake from getting soaked in the rain... yeah.   After a few minutes we realized that walking all the way to Vila Esperança wasn't going to happen, so we quickly changed course and caught a bus to take us there.  I couldn't help but laugh as we walked through the pouring rain with our umbrella and our cake.  And then we arrived at the house of the family and nobody was home.  ahh.  It would have been frustrating if it hadn't been so funny.  :)  But it still turned out to be a great evening.  We stopped by Rose's house and ate dinner with her and her family, with our cake as dessert!

Well, I can't wait to talk with you all for Christmas!  I think we'll be able to go to the house of a member here and use Skype...hopefully!  It would be so wonderful to be able to see you all.  :)  I guess I'll figure out all the details and let you know next week!

Love, 

Sister Gee