2/23/2020
I’m a week late in getting my email off to you all. We are still in the middle of getting settled here in São Paulo. Each day is different from the rest except for the fact that by the end of the day we are pretty darn tired. Its good to be needed though and good to feel like you have something to offer in the work of the Lord.
We checked out of the Ibis Hotel on February 11th. We thought the bed we bought would be delivered that day - part of it was. We have been sleeping on our mattress on the floor, but the rest of the bed should be delivered today. We will feel so luxurious when we have a real bed to sleep on. This is the apartment building we are living in. We are on the 10th floor.
We have lots of people tying to help us with everything. The apartment that we are living in was the apartment of the Office Secretaries. It is in the building right next to our Mission Office. Sister Acosta bought all sorts of things for us, bedding, bath towels, plates, silverware, Iron and ironing board, blender, sandwich grill, etc. It felt like Christmas.
They also asked the handyman Rodney, and Elizabet his wife(who work for the mission) to come and get everything clean and beautiful. They whitewashed all the walls and waxed and shined up the wood floors. He also installed new kitchen cupboards, hot water faucet in the kitchen etc. We’ll take pictures when its all done.
Living in Brazil is a little different from the USA because you usually have to buy storage cupboards for your kitchen and bathroom, and sometimes bedroom. Our apartment has big built in closets in the bedrooms, but we brought some kits and Curt has been putting together more storage for the different rooms. In the last week we have had a washer/dryer (one machine), a stove, a recliner, a desk and chairs, Kitchen table and chairs, all delivered.
I’m a week late in getting my email off to you all. We are still in the middle of getting settled here in São Paulo. Each day is different from the rest except for the fact that by the end of the day we are pretty darn tired. Its good to be needed though and good to feel like you have something to offer in the work of the Lord.
We checked out of the Ibis Hotel on February 11th. We thought the bed we bought would be delivered that day - part of it was. We have been sleeping on our mattress on the floor, but the rest of the bed should be delivered today. We will feel so luxurious when we have a real bed to sleep on. This is the apartment building we are living in. We are on the 10th floor.
We have lots of people tying to help us with everything. The apartment that we are living in was the apartment of the Office Secretaries. It is in the building right next to our Mission Office. Sister Acosta bought all sorts of things for us, bedding, bath towels, plates, silverware, Iron and ironing board, blender, sandwich grill, etc. It felt like Christmas.
They also asked the handyman Rodney, and Elizabet his wife(who work for the mission) to come and get everything clean and beautiful. They whitewashed all the walls and waxed and shined up the wood floors. He also installed new kitchen cupboards, hot water faucet in the kitchen etc. We’ll take pictures when its all done.
Living in Brazil is a little different from the USA because you usually have to buy storage cupboards for your kitchen and bathroom, and sometimes bedroom. Our apartment has big built in closets in the bedrooms, but we brought some kits and Curt has been putting together more storage for the different rooms. In the last week we have had a washer/dryer (one machine), a stove, a recliner, a desk and chairs, Kitchen table and chairs, all delivered.
These are the cool dining chairs we bought with rhinestones.
This is the view from outside of our window.
This time of year, we wake up everyday and it is sunny then after lunch the clouds get heavy and at about 3:00pm the rain starts. Sometimes there is some terrific thunder and lightning as well. The people don’t even to mind though, they still keep up business as usual. I don’t see very many people using umbrellas either. They just dry off eventually.
As far as missionary work goes. We think we have some good ideas of how we can serve. After we get our WiFi we will be able to access the addresses of the missionary apartments and go do some unscheduled inspections. We are also hoping to bake some bread or some cookies and take them to some less active members of the Saude Ward and the Uba group, and invite them to come join us. We are almost ready to bake as soon as our oven gets hooked up to gas.
The last two weeks our President has been holding Mission leader Councils and Zone Conferences. I really loved one of the videos that the Assistants showed as an example of missionaries helping each other to succeed.
Check it out:
President and Sister Acosta invited Curt and I to say a few things during the training. Sister Acosta’s topic was obedience, and specifically she wanted me to talk about getting along with your companion. So I spoke to the missionaries about the Celestial Principles they are learning in the mission - learning to love and respect people in spite of your differences. And that in fact it would prepare them for eternal marriage. Curt related some stories from our first mission, about missionaries who didn’t lower their expectations. they set high goals for themselves. They continued working in the rain and working until the end of the day, and since they were so faithful and diligent, Heavenly Father blessed them to be able to find and baptize a family.
At one of the Zone Conferences we met Elder Finlinson, who is from our former Stake in Sandy.
President Acosta told this story of God asking this man to push a rock. Each day the man diligently tried to push the rock up the hill. He never made any progress. Finally exhausted, he shared his frustrations with God. “I’ve tried and tried everyday to do what you asked me, but I will never be able to punch that rock up the hill.” Then God responded, “ I didn’t ask you to push the rock up the hill, I only asked you to push it. Now you can see with all of your diligence, humility and effort you have become a strong instrument in the hands of the Lord.
We have also spent some sweet time with our group In Uba, getting to know the members. We attend Sacrament Meeting with them, and will be going to their weekly fellowshipping meeting tomorrow night, The group gathers in a Nature Reserve Area, and we get to ride over o a ferry. It is very nice to get away from this huge city.
Curt is getting to be a really good Brazilian driver. I don’t drive because our car is a standard transmission, and I never really learned to drive one. We were surprised to see some antique cars in the garage of the Mission Home.
There are some fun names to pronounce around here. We live in a part of the city called Jabaquara. We saw a license plate with this city listed: Itquaquecetuba. I’m guessing that they are Guarani Indian names. There is a reservation on the Island were the Uba group meets. The Elders really want to teach some of the indigenous people. But there is a law that they cannot teach on the reservation, but they could teach if the meet Their investigator outside of the reservation. They asked President Acosta if he could find a Guarani Book of Mormon.
These are some of the young men from the Uba group:
Matheus, Elder Christensen, Renato, Robert, Curt and another Renato. We spend Friday nights with them in a fellowship meeting, and we attend Sacrament Meeting and the second hour meetings on Sundays. We are also hoping to go visit some less active members this Sunday and invite them to church.
Talk to you next week!
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