Vila Velha, ES, Brasil

So we are ALIVE! I promise.... We are now in Vilha Velha visiting one of the areas on Brint´s mission. I like this city. It´s really clean and the people are relly friendly. It´s beautiful... We are stying with one of Brint´s old friends from the mission. He has been so kind to us... So far we´ve done quite a few things. We went and visited an Old Convnet (pictures to come) and toured the city. They have a Chocolate factory here called Garoto... We are going to visit that tomorrow! YAY! I cannot wait! I think it´ll be so fun!

Salvador, Brasil

Oh Salvador, we will miss you! Tonight is our last night here and it is a bitter/sweet feeling. I am so sad to go. Brint and I have felt a sense of permanence here in Salvador. We have been very fortunate to meet some great friends and explore a beautiful city. We sure will miss our time here. What an experience it has been. I was asked what my favorite thing has been and I think I will have to say Pelourinho. This bairro (neighborhood) has so much culture! The buildings we beautiful. There was so much life and color. I really enjoyed walking the streets and getting a glimpse of what it might have been. Brint says his favorite was the Sáo Joáo party. I agree, this was SO MUCH FUN! We got to experience a holiday down here and see what it's like to party brazilian style. Dancing, eating, enjoying great company... Let's just say it was memorable.

I feel like everything we've done here has been memorable. In our 2 months of being here in Salvador we have grown to love it and have enjoyed exploring and capturing anything & everything that we can. I am very excited to see another city here in Brasil. Our next stop is Vila Vella, Esprito Santo! This is there area where Brint served his missing 10 years ago. We will be staying with one of Brint's BEST friends from the mission. They have kept in contact all these years and have remained best friends. I am very excited to actually meet Enilson in person. I think our next adventure will be great. Then we have a few more adventures lined up before we head home. So stay tuned! :)

Here are some highlights of Salvador.... Enjoy!

GOLD, GOLD, & MORE GOLD!!!!

Igreja de São Francisco

(aka The "Golden Church") 

Brint and I finally made it to go and see this church! I wish my pictures could do it justice. This was the most incredible church I've ever seen. From the outside you wouldn't believe that this church building is one, if not, the most expensive in the world. With over 2200 pounds of gold inside helping sculpt and decorate the walls, ceilings, and ornaments. Like I said, INCREDIBLE! 

This was a room before you entered the Chapel area. 

Look at that.... it was so beautiful! I wish I had a professional camera. 

Click on the picture!!!
you will see a Silver chandelier hanging from  the ceiling... This chandelier is pure silver! 

The ceiling! These images are the original painter's works.

There were about 10 different archways and each one had a different sculpture as it's focal point. 

This picture gives you more of an idea of what it really looked like... The gold on the walls were amazing! 

This picture is taken from the back of the chapel facing forward!
BEAUTIFUL! 

This is a small room that was for the black slaves to come and worship and listen to the sermon.
They were not allowed in the main chapel, but they were allowed to look at the Saint shown in the picture below. 

This is a Black Saint that was meant to represent the African slaves.  This is what the slaves saw as they sat and listened to the sermons. 

Right outside the chapel, there was an area where the local people could come and bury their dead in the church. 

This is called the Ossoário, or Bone Receptacle

This is a mural of the Bible scene Abraham and Isaac.  

This room is the Sacristy. The photos below are different views of the room. 

Wasn't that AMAZING??? Wish you could see it for yourself. It completely overwhelmed me with beauty! 

Elevador & Mercado Modelo

The other day Brint and I took the famous Elevador Lacerda down to the Lower City to go to the Mercado Modelo (huge flea market). It only cost 15 cents to ride the Elevador. I think it is a great thing the city has done for the people to transport between the Upper and Lower cities.  

Here is Brint waiting to ride the Elevador down. 

This is a picture of the Elevador taken from the Lower City. 

 TIME TO SHOP!!!! :) 

Since we've been here in Salvador, I have been wanting to go here to get some fun souvenirs to bring back with us. I finally got what I wanted! :) The building was huge with tons of stuff inside to buy. I really enjoyed myself here! haha

A cool monument in front of the Naval Base. 

Boat yard... don't they all look so peaceful? 

 Later, Brint said I had to experience the Brazilian style hotdog!! 

So the hotdog itself was cooked in a sweet tomato sauce, then you can add lots of  stuff on top. Mine had mayo,  sweet ketchup (not your traditional ketchup), shredded fried potato. It was actually really tasty!  

OK- so our friend Marcia told us that coconut water is good if the coconut is really green/unripened.  Brint and I both don't like coconut water but Brint really wanted to see if it was better when the coconut was green So we got a coconut and guess what!! IT WAS WAY BETER! Marcia- thank you!! Now we can drink coconut water! :)

Overall it was a great day full of lots of touristy adventures! :) hehe We only have 2 more days left here in Salvador. We are going to miss our friends Pedro and Marcia, and everyone else! They have been so great to us. THANK YOU!!!! :) We sure will miss you guys!

Boy Scouts of America!

Have I told you that my husband is a Boy Scout????  

While we've been here in Brasil our apartment didn't have a can opener.... So Brint, being the Boy Scout that he is, improvised! Let's just say I was very impressed! I made a little tutorial for you of how we have been making moose. It wasn't my favorite at first, but through the weeks I have come to love it. Here ya go....
Ingredients:
Fruit extract
1 can condensed milk
2 boxes/ 1 can of heavy cream

Add 1/2 bottle of fruit extract to blender

Brint using a knife to open a can of condensed milk

Add condensed milk

Add your cream

BLEND! 

YUMMY MOOSE! :) 

ZOO

We had the opportunity to go to the Zoo last week. This was mine and Brint's first time ever going to the zoo together. =) It was a beautiful day and surprisingly a large zoo. From the front it looked like it would be small but it wasn't. We had a lot of fun. We went with our friends Pedro and Marcia. They brought their ADORABLE little boy with them. He's not quite a year yet, but he just wanted to get down and walk all over the place and explore. Let's just say, he kept mom and dad busy! ;) 

Thanks guys for a wonderful trip to the zoo! We really loved it! 

WE FOUND IT!!!!!!

We've been here, in Salvador, for over a month and a half now and have been SEARCHING for a church. Last week Brint found one!!! HOORAY! :)

I didn't realize, until I was reading my cousin's blog, how much I truly missed going to church. My cousin is in Peru helping out at a Children's Orphanage. She talked about her experience at church and how strong the spirit was there. She said she got up and bore her testimony, in Spanish. She wrote it out on her blog and I cried. I could feel the spirit so strong through her testimony even though I didn't fully understand the language. I then realized that I've missed feeling the spirit that you feel when you go to church. Feeling the love that the members have for the gospel. Partaking the sacrament... I missed it all. So when Brint said he found a church I was SO HAPPY! We went for the first time in 7 weeks and what a comfort I felt while I was there. I tried my hardest to really listen and try to understand the talks. I got a few bits and pieces of what the speakers were saying. After the service, I was overwhelmed.... Everyone came up to us and introduced themselves to us. A few spoke a little english and were so excited to use it on us. They were truly the sweetest people. I loved them. There was a time I could feel myself shutting down because I was overwhelmed by portuguese. I was aware that even though practicing everyday, I still couldn't really speak the language. Everyone was talking so fast... I couldn't keep up all the time. Brint was a shining star though! My husband is truly AMAZING!

 The coolest thing happened while we were there. There was a guy named Eric that was member of the ward. I noticed him during the meeting, he kept staring at us... I was just thinking maybe he was trying to figure us out. He came up afterwards and Brint recognized him... they figured it out! Eric was a member in one of Brint's areas he served on his mission!!!! How cool is that??? I guess a short while after Brint left, Eric went on his mission! WOW! It gives me the chills! It was so cool to see them reunited! Brint was beaming with joy! haha I'm really excited for the next chapter of our trip... next week we will be traveling to the area where Brint served... I am SO excited and I think, now especially, Brint is even MORE EXCITED! :) 

After church, on our way home, we stopped at this little area with the fat ladies! :) I have been dying to take pictures of these statues! I think they are so funny! so here is us being goofy...