Church in the Ala Nelson Costa - Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil

Some of our most memorable experiences during our trip to Brazil were going to church at the Nelson Costa Ward in Ilheus, Bahia and hanging out with the local members.  The LDS church has only been in Ilheus since 1991 and we met many of the first members of the church in the area.  We were able to attend church four weeks and met some wonderful people and created lifelong friendships.  

We showed some pictures of our first week to church in a previous post but it deserves some more description.  We had been getting our pretty well using public transportation so we thought we would ride the bus into town for church.  Some of the locals from our town gave us directions to the building and we had mapped it on the internet and it didn't seem too difficult.  The problem was the rain that had fallen for 3 days straight and the flooding that it created in front of our house.  We had to take off our shoes and wade through 12" of water just to get to the bus stop.  Then we waited along the highway for 40 minutes in the rain for a bus to finally pass by and take us into town.  After a 25 minute bus ride we had a short 1 mile walk to the chapel.  By the time we got there it had been an hour and a half and we were 45 minutes late.  To add insult to injury we were all sweaty and sticky.  Especially Brad, he has very active sweat glands and it took him 2 hours until we got in the air conditioned chapel to finally stop sweating.  After church two wonderful families offered to give us a ride back home in their cars and we excitedly accepted.  It took two cars to fit all of us.  After that experience we decided to rent a car.

We also had the missionaries over to our house for lunch after church one Sunday.  There are 4 missionaries in the ward; 3 Brazilians and 1 Argentine.  Elders Bitencourt, Belko, da Silva, and Ovanco shared a delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy lunch along with 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies.  We had so much fun with them and they were so nice to our kids.  It was fun for Brad to hang out with them and reminisce about his days as a missionary in Sao Paulo almost 20 years ago.  

The members of the ward have welcomed us and treated us like family.  We were invited to two family nights with various ward members and Maile, Hannah, and Carson were invited to mutual night with the other teenagers in the ward.  Many of the members in the ward are recent converts to the church and their stories of conversion and faith are amazing to us.  They are truly special people that have made a lasting impression on our lives.  The experiences we had and the people we met while attending church in Ilheus touched our lives forever and will be memories that we never forget.

January 5, 2014 at the Nelson Costa chapel in Ilheus, Bahia.

Nelson Costa chapel

Derek getting out of the trunk in the church parking lot.

Inside the chapel.

Mingling in the chapel after church.

The missionaries at our house for lunch January 12, 2014.

Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy lunch on the patio.

Elder Belko and Elder Bitencourt with their gift to our family.

Maile and Hannah at mutual on Saturday night.

Three days of rain flooded our driveway and road to our house.

We waited on the road for 40 minutes in the rain for a bus into town.

Walking to church after riding the bus into town.

Water balloon fight, firing squad-style, at mutual.

Family Home Evening at Irma Neide's house.  Denise Longo giving a lesson.  Sandra, Gabriela, Maile, Hannah, the 2 Dereks and Jamilly looking on.