Brazil: Day 7

On our way back from Rio we stopped at Parque Nacional de Itatiaia.  We could have easily spent a whole day there but we only had a couple hours.  The forest was beautiful and alive with the sounds of all the animals, although during the heat of the day we didn't see most of them.  We did a couple short hikes to some beautiful waterfalls.

There were hundreds of colorful butterflies at the National Park!

After leaving the National Park we stopped in Lorena.  This was the first area where Jason served on his mission.  Before coming he kept saying that he really wanted to find Ivone, his first baptism.  Searches on the internet weren't able to find anything but he said we couldn't pass Lorena without trying.  We stopped in Lorena on our way to Rio on Wednesday and went to the house she lived in 17 years ago.  She had moved but the owner of the house knew was able to tell us how to get to where she was now living.  Ivone wasn't there when we got there but some of her family was.  They were able to leave a message for her so we could stop by and see her on our way back on Friday.  Jason was thrilled to find out she is still active in the church and to meet her grandson who is a deacon.