Dear Family,
Well another week has passed. We still aren't very busy but hopefully things are looking up. We know that two water projects have been approved for next year up in the northeast. That is a semi-arid part of Brazil. It really surprised me that Brazil has a dry region. We have been doing research about water resources, policies, etc. here in Brazil. I thought that we needed to know what all of the terms mean before we actually meet with someone. Right now it is just a very slow time of the year as it is now summer vacation and the schools are either already out or will be getting out right away, it is the holidays, and then it will be Carnival so it might not pick up until the first of March. I guess that we just have to be patience. Maybe we will find more to do. The Welfare Dept. down here consists of only 4 people I think and one of them is retiring this week and another one is changing depts. so we will probably have more to do.
Most of the other missionary couples are leaving on Tues. to go on "vacation!" They are going down to southern Brazil and it sounds like a lot of fun. We got here too late to go with them so it will be lonely for a week. Oh well. We are going to go with the Sao Paulo West mission on Wed. to an area a couple of hours away to some property that the church owns. I guess it is really nice. All of the young missionaries are going so we will tag along. It should be a nice day.
On Friday we went into the city to get our last registration papers completed. Another couple took us and we had a good time. We had an interesting experience on the metro. Dad bought some DVDs of a church Christmas video and has been giving them to people. He brought one with us and we saw two young women that really looked nice. Dad stated to talk to them and one asked if we were Mormon. We said yes. Dad gave one of them the DVD with the intent that she share. They were on their way to take the Vestibular-the entrance exam to get into college. One of the girls said that she has been to Temple Square and has heard the Tabernacle Choir. She asked where we were from and he said, "Idaho." She said that she has been to Blackfoot! I said that I was born in Blackfoot! What are the odds of that happening in a city where approx. 4 million people ride the metro everyday! It was neat. Dad talks to people wherever we go. I think that he does more than the other missionaries.
I am trying to be more brave and talk to more people. One of the senior sisters has been here for just over a year and hasn't learned any Portuguese except for 'How are you,' 'Thank you,' etc. I want to be able to visit with people. I am trying hard to talk. I understand quite a bit but it is much harder to speak. I have been brave and gone alone (in our office building) to ask people some things a few times. Tomorrow I am going to start visiting with a member lady who lives over here by us and she is trying to learn English as they are moving to Salt Lake in Feb. We are going to meet for an hour each day. I visited with her for a while yesterday and that really helped me. They say you have to make 5,000 or so mistakes before you get a language down. I'm working on that number! :)
I sang in a choir last week for a special devotional with the Area Presidency. It was a lot of fun. The Brazilian people really like to sing and sometimes they hit the right notes! There was a good spirit there. One of the women next to me asked me to teach her how to lead music. That would be a lot of fun. I told her I would so I hope that it works out.
After the meeting I visited with our friend, Jairo (Elder) Mazzagardi and his wife, Elizabeth. They are such good people. They really took care of our family when we were down here 19 years ago. I told him that I couldn't tell him that he gave a good talk! Of course, it was all in Portuguese and what was harder is that I was sitting in the choir seats behind the pulpit so it was doubly hard for me to understand the talks.
Our Sunday School teacher teaches at the University of Sao Paulo and is one of the church translators and he has translated some of the scriptures and he translates when General Authorities come. In fact, he was the translator when we were here before when Pres. Hinckley talked and the meeting was in the Morumbi soccer stadium. He teaches our class, for the missionaries, in English. He told us today that they always ask the General Authorities not to use sports illustrations in their talks in conference. He said that that is one of the hardest things to translate because sayings don't translate. He said, for instance, "Don't drop the ball." Well how do you make that make any sense in Brazil, or in most countries of the world, where they don't ever touch the ball with their hands?! I've never thought about that. We have learned some interesting things from him. He is a brilliant man.
We love you all very much and hope that things are going well for all of you. You are in our prayers.
Love,
Mom/Paula
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