O meu dedo!! (Oh my Gosh!)

I woke up this morning with a feeling like I didn’t really want to do anything. The day before our teacher had informed us that we’d be visiting the temple today. In order to get to the temple, we’d have to catch two buses… oh man I was not looking forward to that. In addition to this, I volunteered myself to be the navigator for the group of people to the temple. As I stood in the bathroom, brushing my teeth and preparing my responses to the group for when we got off at the wrong spot/ got on the wrong bus, it crossed my mind that I could just say I was sick and stay home that day…. It wouldn’t be hard. I’d done it for school before…. But in the end I went with everyone else.

Surprisingly, we got to the temple without any confusion! (Actually it was because another guy, Doug, in the group had thought ahead and looked up the directions)

Upon arriving at the temple grounds, my feelings of self pity evaporated. I saw other members who had come hundreds of miles in large buses just to visit the temple, and I thought about how close a temple is from my home in the US. I really have nothing to complain about.

As I watched the some of these members walking around the temple garden, I recognized one of the members from one of the wards in my mission! What a cool surprise! I talked with her a little bit and she told me that there was a large group of church members from my mission here visiting the temple today. They had been there for a couple days and were preparing to drive a couple hundred miles later that night to return to Bahia.

The rest of the visitors were still inside the temple. Could some of the people who I saw get baptized on my mission be here? I got really excited.

As we entered the temple, I saw a man sitting on a couch reading the scriptures. As he took his hand off his face, I realized that it was Marcelo!! I had taught Marcelo on my mission and had seen him get married and then baptized! His wife Neia was there as well! It was their first time visiting the temple!

A little over 1.5 years ago. Do I look fat in this picture? All the Brazilians tell me that I've lost weight since then.

What are the chances of that? Well, if I didn’t believe in God, they would be very slim I think. The rest of the day passed by in a breeze. I honestly don’t remember a whole lot about the rest of the day. The Jones held a party at night and some of the study abroad group came! That was awesome.

I shoulda looked in a mirror before taking these pictures, but at least it's a candid shot!!!

I’m just really thankful that I didn’t let my laziness get the best of me and that my teacher Vanessa was inspired to take us to the temple on this day.

My life is GOOD!!

Thanks for reading!