Happy Easter From Way Down South

Today, Easter, has been a significant day for us. First of all, of course it is the day that we remember our Living Savior! This has been especially meaningful for us this year because our Risen Savior is the reason we have left everything, drastically changed our lives, and moved here. If it were not for Easter things would be very different for us today.

Second, Easter was a significant day for us because in these past months of support raising and moving between homes we have said over and over, "Hopefully by Easter we will be in our own home"....and we are! While we are still not completely settled, we were still able to invite friends from Asas over and cook a meal to enjoy with them. It really was exciting for us!

So, here is a picture of us today. (From left to right - us, Paulo, Cininha, Camila, Andres) Interestingly, both of these other couples are also married to someone from another country, so for once we fit right in in that way. Paulo is from Brazil, Cininha is from Portugal, Camila is from Brazil and Andres is from Argentina.

Interestingly, it seems that here in Brazil Easter is not the big holiday that it is in the States. Most people were just having normal Sundays with a special message only in church. In fact, this morning there were even workers from the power company working on the cables of our block. Unfortunately this meant that we were without power for 4 hours today!! The funny part too is that is wasn't an emergency - we later found in our mailbox a notice that they had left saying that today there would be some maintenance. It is interesting to see the cultural differences of how holidays are celebrated! (Here is a picture of what we saw this morning from our balcony when we discovered there would be no power :)

Anyway, what else is going on? Right now getting my permanent visa is the first priority. This will allow me to stay in Brazil, otherwise with the tourist visa I have right now I would have to return to the States in 6 months. We began this process at the end of last week, but it still could take a few more days (or more) to get everything done. In Brazil things move much slower and involve many more steps and running around. For example to get my driver's license setup here in Brazil we drove to the DMV equivalent here. However, when we arrived they had just left for lunch and were closed for the next hour or so. We waited only to discover that we have to first take my license to an official translator in a city an hour away to get it translated to Portuguese. Then I have to bring the translation to another place to get it validated. Also, often when you have to make payments for documents like this you have to bring your money to the bank that the place uses, make a deposit in their account, and bring a receipt back to the place. Quite a process! So please be praying for us as we try to run around and get everything necessary done for my permanent visa and also for my driver's license.

Oh also before I forget to mention it, Cininha, the girl who came over from Portugal, will be the one tutoring me in Portuguese as soon as we are finished with all of this documentation and start up a normal "work week". I think this will be Monday and Thursday afternoons for several hours at a time. Also, we have been hoping and praying about becoming involved with the youth at our church. The program is understaffed and needs helpers. The leader invited us our to an event they were having and we felt like this could be a good fit. This coming week will we be sitting in on the Sunday school class. Please pray that God will give us wisdom to know if/how to be involved with this. We hope you are all doing well and Happy Easter from WAY down here!