Week of August 30

Well, it has been a little over a week. not to much special this week, but some interesting experiences. On Tuesday, we went with one of the seminary teachers to visit some students who had not been attending his class. The teacher is a young man preparing for his mission. He plans to go next spring. As we visited some of the homes, we felt very grateful for all the material blessings we have. We traveled down some dirt roads in the city to some houses that looked as if there was no running water or indoor plumbing and very little of the things we take for granted. We are blessed.
Janet's English class is growing. There are new students each week. Most people here want to learn English and have taken some classes. but they want to learn how to speak, so her class is becoming popular. We also visited a seminary class in another ward. There are some very dedicated teachers who love the Lord and want to help in His work. We are fortunate to be working with them.
On Friday we went to the city of Ilheus. We wanted to find one of the chapels, since we will be visiting there on occasion. It is part of the Itabuna stake. It is the port city and about 20-25 minutes away. It is a touristy city and very picturesque. There is a lovely small bay with buildings very close to the water. It is an old city, probably 350 - 400 years old. Many of the streets are very narrow, so they have made them pedistrian only streets. We tried some food from a street vendor. Janet really like it (it had shrimp, need I say more). I thought it was tasty. We had a good time. On Saturday, we had a training meeting with the seminary and institute teachers from Itabuna. This is always a good measure for me. I have to teach the class and it stretches my language skills. I seem to be getting better and the people are very kind.
Sundays are always good. The members of our ward are very kind to Janet. They want to help her learn to speak Portuguese. In the late afternoon, we have a young returned missionary come over and Janet helps him with his English and he helps her with her Portuguese. Janet likes it because it is somebody besides me she can talk to. He is a very sharp young man.
We will have more next week. We go to another city to give some training. The church is true