4 Months Down...

We can hardly believe 1/3 of our time in our current city has currently passed!  While it feels like we're nice and settled in, it definitely doesn't seem as though it's been 1/3 of a year.
We celebrated 6 years of marriage on May 18 and went on a little family trip that weekend to celebrate :) There's a town called Pirenopolis about 2 hours away I'd been bugging Nick to go to.  It's a historic city with  300 year old cobblestone streets and cute little shops and restaurants lining the road.  We stayed at a Poussada (hotel) that was super nice and so relaxing.  We were able to book a room that had a separate sleeping area for Carter and a sitting area outside with a hammock.  They also had a kiddie pool the Carter loved, a playground, and oddly, a horse.  Carter had a rough time part of the trip...but he was awesome at night going out to restaurants.  It was really nice to get away for a quick retreat, just the three of us.  I had a great time!

Earlier in the month (May 1), Brazil celebrated labor day.  We made the drive out to a fazenda (farm) about 40 minutes away.  We drove over pot-holed 'highways' and dirt roads through the crops and around the cows and ended up in a shaded area next to a creek with members of our church and a church from a neighboring town.  It was fun to play in the water and eat churrasco with our new friends.

We're still playing lots and lots of volleyball.  We are so blessed by our many new friends here and are truly going to miss these people when we move!
We've had a few more families over for dinner and our conversations are really beginning to flourish with others.  I no longer have to ask the standard questions of "How old are you," "Where do you live," "Do you have brothers and sisters," etc. but can get into the more nitty gritty of life.  (Please note, I am nowhere near where I want/need to be in my language learning but it's thrilling to see the progress we are making).  I've felt guilty of not participating in much ministry outside of relationship building but am beginning to feel hopeful about entering a new phase.  In fact, last night I met with two of the youth girls from church and we visited and shared stories for 3 hours!  They wanted to know all about my past:  how I came to know the Lord, how I decided to become a missionary, how I met Nick, and on and on.  I was able to ask them similar questions it honestly felt like I was back in the states, out to ice cream with some of the youth at FBC.  They were very patient with me and even helped me some with my Portuguese.  (And it's definitely good practice to just talk for 3 hours - practicing a ton of vocabulary and verb tenses).  I want to start memorizing some scripture in Portuguese, and they helped pick a verse and are going to try and memorize it themselves before we meet again.  Also, I mentioned to my volleyball team that I would love to start a Bible study with them once my Portuguese is a little better and they seemed to be on board with the idea! (This is a huge praise because the majority, if not all, are unbelievers and are part of a very hard to reach group in our city).  God is good!