Well, this week has been very busy. Wednesday, besides our usual office work, the Sister missionaries had us go with them to visit an inactive family. We are glad to help them. Thursday, we started to pack things for the move to our new offices. In the afternoon, the Elders in the Lomanto ward asked us to go with them for some visits. We were happy to oblige. We visited a young woman who will be baptized in 2 weeks. The Elders said we did not have to go because it might be a little dangerous, but we went anyway, and it proved not to be, although the nieghborhood was a little scary. We had to walk to the house because there was no road. The houses were made of wood collected from various places, there were dirt floors and broken pieces of furniture to sit on. There were no windows except were they hadn't put wood; yet each house had electricity and they probably all had tvs and dvd players. They also all had electric meters. It was interesting. That evening, we went with the same elders to a city close by that used to have missionaries. They are now part of the Lomanto ward and the ward is trying to start a dependent sunday school. We had a list of members who lived there, but it wasn't very current. We were not able to contact anyone. When we came back, the Elders took us to a sidewalk stand that sells acarajes. This is almost a cornmeal muffin deepfried, cut in half then holded with shrimp, chopped celery and a thick paste like sauce. All for about $.50. They are really quite good.
On Friday we started to move the office. A member of the stake presidency, Brother David, was in charge. Everybody here in the church goes by their first name. He was very helpful and very funny also. We filled up our car about 4 times to haul stuff over. Besides our office, we also have a storage room for all our supplies. We filled that up very quickly. Our furniture had to be disassembled, taken over and then reassembled. Brother David and his helpers did all of that, for which we are very grateful. We spent most of the day with the move. That night, we went with the Sisters again as they taught some teenage girls about Christ. It was a good experience.
Saturday was moving day again. Another 2 carloads of manuals and supplies. We got a lot of things done. The office is almost ready. That afternoon, we traveled to Ilheus, about 20-25 miles away to do some teacher training. It is part of the Itabuna stake. Ilheus is a very picturesque city. It looks like some city on the Mediterrean coast. The chapel is about 200 meters from the beach. We had a good experience there. There are some very dedicated members here, as you would expect.
Sunday, we were invited to go with the stake presidency to 2 ward conferences. It is interesting and a little humorous to hear the sustaining of the General Authorities. They really struggle with some of the names. I was invited to speak at both of the meetings, which is good practice for me. It is interesting to see the church in action here. Except for the language, it is like being in our own home ward. What a blessing for us to be here.