Temple Blessings- Recife Brazil

We take so much for granted in the United States, especially Boise, Idaho. For example: cars, grass, air conditioner, clean streets, carpet, vaccums, washers and dryers, microwaves, steady water supply, exterminators for all the nasty bugs that invade your house and most important: chocolate chips and peanut butter! (Haha,just kidding) And most important, the nearest temple being only 20 minutes away. The nearest temple from where I live in Camaçari Bahia is four states, and 14 hours away. I am not complaining, just reinstating what a BLESSING it is to live in Idaho, or America for that matter. After 14 hours of being in the cramped car, it was hard to remember why I had gone in the first place. Haha.. oh yeah oh yeah, to follow the commandments and gain exaltation with my eternal companion and love of my life… that little fact kind of slipped my mind as my journey across the states of brazil on bumpy dirt roads full of potholes and in a tiny cramped car with the heat of a 120 degree day for 14 hours. Hahaha… (I´m thankful I wasn´t a pioneer!!! And I´m even more thankful for what they had to go through. )
But we arrived and as soon as we entered the temple grounds, I remembered. It is so beautiful there, and it´s not like one temple is more beautiful than the other, but the mere fact of knowing that I was going to do an important work and ordinance there for myself and my prosperity brought such calmness and peace and BEAUTY. The Recife temple will always be close to my heart for that reason.
In the sealing ceremony the sealer President Celestino talked about how a wife isn´t just to be a housekeeper and child rearer, to do domestic duties but to be the equal partner of the husband. And it is his essential duty of the husband to treat his wife like a princess, a queen, and a treasure and doing such will create a celestial marriage. President Celestino looked at Jorge and asked, “Will you do this?” And his answer to the President was “ I already do.” Awww… my love. I love him so much. The president looked into his eyes and said, “Brother Andrade, I know you do and I know you always will.”
I will never forget those words and the feelings I felt during the sealing. Words and feelings that can´t be shared, only treasured in my heart.
We took lots of pictures!!! Except my hair was ugly and so was my makeup and I didn´t have a veil. But I really do love our pictures. I´ll post my favorite ones.

Coming out of the temple as Husband and WifeMy Niece Bruna and I

My husband and me :)

The four of us: Me, Jorge, Fabio,Bruna

The Recife Temple is BEAUTIFUL!

I'm short without shoes on. :)

OPA!!! Sneak peak... hahaha

Runaway Bride??

My Adorable Jorge

He is SO romantic!!! Honeymoon suite in our own house.

Here are a few pictures from the actual wedding. We did hire a photographer to take some pictures, but to be honest, I prefer the pictures we took with our cameras a hundred times better… Professional photography isn´t always the best way to go. That´s my two cents. The wedding was so funny, now that I remember back to that day, because it is so different than what I was raised with and use to. Weddings in the states are so…what´s the word… Proper. In Brazil, it´s like a circus! Hahaha… people talking and chatting during the ceremony, walking around, getting as close as possible to the bride and groom to take pictures, kids running around and the man performing the ceremony LOST in his own little world as he gave his 30 minute “talk”. I kept sneaking peaks over at Kelsey and Holly to see if they were as weirded out as I was. Haha… Even the little ring bearer boy got up from his seat during the ceremony to leave and on his sweet way out TOTALLY tripped on the train of my wedding dress and biffed it right there in the aisle in the MIDDLE OF THE CEREMONY. That only happens in movies or the Little Mermaid or something. Hahaha… oh man, or in Brazil. Besides that, the two hours of lateness waiting for the ceremony to even begin, hugging and kissing and posing for pictures with 500 people i´ve never seen in my life, a headache and sore feet, I´d have to say my wedding day wasn´t the greatest day of my life… but it is definantely one of the most memorable. It was crazy also because I had like zero control over anything. It was seriously like a joke or something. But anyway, that is my new culture, my new family, my new life and I love it all the same. At least I was married to my love, and that´s all that matters. Here are the pictures of the JoKE.

Finally some pictures!! I know that most of you have probably already seen these pictures on my sisters facebook, but now they are officially on my blog.



First, the trip to RIO! Here we are on top of the Christ the Redeemer Statue. One of the NEW seven wonders of the world. It really was breathtaking!! You can see this statue for miles and miles.

Here we are playing "Lost" in the Banyon (bamboo) trees. This place is located on top of Sugar Loaf Mountain, another wonder of Rio de Janiero. There are pathways that lead to different hiding places. It was so fun I felt like a kid again.

This is the awesome view from the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain. The amazing beach you can see in the background is Copacabana Beach. I love this picture... it captures the view that was seriously breathtaking.

Here we are at the bottom of Sugar Loaf. There are glass cable cars which take you to one mountain first, and then to the highest one after that. Everyone needs to come here!

Another view from Sugar Loaf Mountain. If you look really closely in the upper left corner-ish, you can see Christ the Redeemer Statue. COOL!

Dear Friends and Family

Hello to all my dear friends and family members! Thank you all so much for your support and friendship through this past month of much excitement in my life!! I feel so bad for not being able to keep everyone updated more often! Internet access is so hard to come by... seriously. It's a real pain because I have so much to share with everyone, and not enough time or access to allow me to share everything I want to.

The wedding was a dream... and the sealing in the temple a dream come true. I am so thankful to have the love of my life by my side, and even though it is through such different circumstances, I wouldn't have it any other way.

So, just a few quick facts about the past two weeks.

* Jorge and I found a decent house in the center of the city to rent for 300 reais a month. Good deal for a good house!!

* Holly and Kelsey came to Brazil to visit me and see/ participate in the wedding!! We all met up in Rio de Janeiro and spent a couple of wonderful days touring RIO and spending time on the sweet beaches there. woo-hoo!! Then they came to Salvador and stayed with me in my house. They are such troopers!! It must have been so hard to be in a strange place where they didn't know a single person, or a single word that came out of their mouth. Everyone here loved my sisters though. They are so adorable and loveable and were the perfect company for me the week before my wedding. They were also the perfect bridesmaids.

* I was married on friday November 28th! That was SUCH an awesome day. I spent four hours before the wedding in a wedding parlor getting my hair and makeup done. The wedding was suppose to start at 7:00 that night at the stake center. My neice and her husband were suppose to be walking down the aisle at 7:00 on the dot. Well, 6:45 came, 7:00, 7:30... I was still waiting in the bridal parlor, no one had come to pick me up! I was starting to get desperate. Finally Holly and Kelsey, all dressed up in their bridesmaids dresses and high heels, walked all the way back to the stake center to find out what was going on. How they remembered the way there in one week of being in brazil, is beyond me. But they are smarties and figured it out. Finally about 8:00 they came to get me! I was starting to think that something horrible had happened, that maybe Jorge had backed out... sei la! I was thinking everything... what happened was that Bruna, my neice, had been in a slight car accident and there were difficulties in getting her dress to her. She had it made in a different city and the car accident backed everything up by two hours. My sisters and I waited LOCKED inside the chapel, while the whole cultural hall PACKED with more people than we ever imagined waited even more paciently. The waiting around was really starting to get on my nerves... i was anxious, nervous... frustrated that it wasn't going as planned. I found slight relief in being able to see Jorge through the tiny opening in the divider between the chapel and the cultural hall. Looking at him made me peaceful and giddy. haha....I just wanted to get married already!!!! Finally about 8:45 Bruna arrived beautiful in her dress and the wedding was on!! Her ceremony was a quick 5 minutes, and then it was my turn. Jorge entered first with his sister, then the witnesses entered, then the flower girl and the ring bearer, then my sisters with their escorts then me.

I entered the room to the music of Josh Groban, with Rogerio (my brother-in-law) as my escort. I just remember being amazed at how crowded it was. Everyone was taking pictures, filming, using their cell phones take more pictures.. haha.. wow, it was kind of overwhelming. Rogerio had to stop me from walking too fast and kept telling me to slow down. hahaha... as soon as I saw Jorge it was instant calmness. I was so happy!! Our stake President performed the ceremony and even though he is a beloved man, it took FOREVER!! He gave it felt like a 30 minute talk! My feet were sore and I was bored and I hardly understood what he was saying anyways. I was paying attention to everything except him. hahaha.. ai ai ai... after the ceremony, we greeted everyone, took a billion pictures... then we went our seperate ways. haha... i went back home with holly and kelsey at about midnight, Jorge went earlier to his sisters house.

The next couple days it was so funny to think that we were married, but not living together. We were waiting for the opportunity to go to Recife to be sealed in the temple. We left early early monday morning and after 14 hours of being in a cramped car we finally got there... man was i cranky. haha.. we stayed in the temple housing in the common rooms. All women in one room, all men in another. But it was cozy, and reminded me of the MTC. The next day we all woke up early and had special meeting with the temple president. There were 11 couples getting sealed that day and so it was like a special thing for all of us. He is so sweet and so spiritual. I loved being in the temple with my love. I can't imagine a feeling closer to heaven then being in the temple with my eternal companion. It was divine.

Well that's about all I have time for right now. I'll write more later!! Love you all and thank you for your support. I MISS EVERYONE!! pictures to come sooon! I hope. haha