bravo!

Bonjour! 

Bonne Nouvelle Année! Happy 2014. This is going to be a good year. I can just feel it. 

To ring in the New Year we were invited over to the Family Ferreiras' house. There weren't busses running that day so I got out the map and, feeling confident with my one year and four months in France map-reading ability, mapped out the quickest route to their house. Flash forward an hour and a half later when we are LITERALLY in the forest on a road called 'path of the donkey' in the pouring rain and covered in mud. I thought it was just a cute name not an ACTUAL donkey path. Well. Good story for the future right? Eventually we found their house and they thought it was hilarious and so at least my map reading mishap brought some New Years cheer, and lots of comments like "Hey what a great omen for the New Year! Lost in the rain in the forest! Also why didn't you take the bus? The one to our house takes 15 minutes and it runs on New Years." 

Faux pas after faux pas. But this week was good! We spent most of our days inside doing some crazy area book work and scheduling lots of rdv's for this week. But we did have a beautiful Sunday when Paula and her three kids, Maria, Ayman and Aysha, all came to church! We picked them up and all walked together, and Paula participated during every lesson. I got to sit by the kids during sacrament meeting (GOLD STAR to every single mom in the world who sits with their little kids during sacrament meeting. That was no easy task.) During Sacrament meeting Ayman would observe everyone during the prayer and then follow suit and fold his arms or clasp his hands together. And during the songs he just belted whatever tune came out and after everyone's testimony he would shout 'BRAVO!' As they were leaving church he was sobbing and wouldn't leave without us, and was rattling off phrases in Spanish and Portugeuse that ended with "Laaaasss CHICAS!" So we walked on home with them and I got to walk hand in hand with Ayman while he told me about boats and his favorite colors and animals. The cutest curly haired three year old I have ever seen. Can I bring him home with me?

Paula has had a hard life. One of the hardest. And it was so beautiful to see her with this new family that she has at church, and speaking in Portuguese with the Ferreiras, and smiling and laughing. She talked about how she is just searching for a "hope for joy." I just kept on thinking of our fave fam memorized scripture: "Adam fell that men might be, men are that they might have joy." 'Tis true. I believe in joy and I believe that we find joy in finding God. 

So it was a happy day to end a pretty cooped up in the apartment week. I love you and miss you toujours. Tonight we are teaching a lady named Zena Fofana. YES!

Olivia