December 17, 2015

December 10-14, 2015

Dear Family,

I don’t know if anyone is reading these, but it is an easier way to keep a diary for me anyway.  Last Thursday, we went with Elder and Sister Hale into the centro to get our CPF which is basically a social security number.  When we got on the Metro, mom and I sat by two young woman.  They seemed pleasant and so we started talking to them.  They were headed to take the ‘vestibular’ which is a standard test to qualify to get into college.  There are only so many openings, so it is a big deal.  They said they weren’t too worried.  Then one of them said, “You are Mormons right?”  We said yes and then I had a video I had brought of Silent Night with the Tabernacle Choir.  I told them I brought it on purpose to give to someone on the Metro.  I started explaining about the choir and one of the girls said, “I have been on Temple Square before and my best friend is a Mormon.”   They asked us where we were from and we said Idaho.  The same girl said, “I have  been to Idaho.”  “Where?”  “Blackfoot.”  Mom said, “I was born in Blackfoot.”  As I have said before, there are over 4 million people transported on the Metro every day.  What were the chances of us sitting next to one of them who had been to SLC and Blackfoot?  We then paid a fee at the Post Office, and took the receipt to the Receita Federal just down the hall.  I went in and got my ticket of when it was my turn, and sat down by a young man.  We started talking as he didn’t seem Brazilian to me although his Portuguese was great.  He said, “I’m from Haiti.”  He then told me that my number would show up on the screen and what teller to go to.  My teller left for a few minutes and I noticed the Haitian fellow standing off to my right so I went over and talked to him.  I asked him why his Portuguese was so good and he told me he had worked for the Brazilian Embassy in Haiti.  I gave him a pass along card.  After we got our CPF, we were walking down the hall in the Shopping Light Mall (was the Canadian Light building when Canada came in and did the electrical work in SP many years ago), and I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around and it was the Haitian.  He asked me if we taught English classes and I said we did.  I told him where we were in SP and he knew where it was.  He seemed real excited and I hope he will come.  A very very friendly fellow with a huge smile.  We then went to a huge food court where there were hundreds of people in lines at the twenty plus eating places.  Mom and Sister Hale got a subway sandwich and I got a freshly baked lasagna and Elder Hale a milanésa.  Gostoso!  Brazilians like to eat and they know how to do great food.

We walked up and down the area by Edifício Itália, the Teatro Municipal and Praça da República for about an hour.  The downtown area isn’t so run down as it was.  There are hundreds of skyscrapers and businesses of all kinds.  Some of the streets are completely shut down to traffic which is nice.  Some of the buildings (the whole building) were wrapped like Christmas packages.  We passes by a little girl selling a few small trinkets out of a basket.  She obviously wasn’t having any success.  I told mom, “I have to go back.”  So I turned around but she wasn’t there.  I walked back a ways and saw here across the street so I walked across and handed her R$25.00 and said, “Feliz Natal” (Merry Christmas) and walked away.  I turned around and waved at her and she had the biggest smile and waved back.  I know it didn’t solve her problems, but for a time, maybe she feels like somebody in the world cared and that was worth it to me.  I will never forget that smile.  When we got on the bus at the Butanta station, I was talking to an older lady who was with her little nephew.  I noticed a fellow standing listening intently so I included him in the conversation.  He finally smiled and said, “I have been a bishop in the Church and am currently a counselor in the bishopric.”  We talked for quite a while til we had to get off at our stop.  We talked a lot about Oscar Schmidt, Brazil’s Pele of basketball.  He was surprised that I knew all about him.  I do because I have his autobiography at home and have read it. 

Saturday mom and I went and got groceries at Pão de Açúcar.  We bought a roast (lagarto), or at least we are going to put it in the oven.  I then took off on the bus to Embu das Artes with Elder Zaugg to pick up the painting we had done of the São Paulo temple.  We sat by people on the bus and visited.  I sat by a fellow a year older than me so we had quite a bit in common.  He gave him a DVD of the Tabernacle Choir.  He was happy about that.  Elder Zaugg  was talking to two ladies, one who had been an English teacher and has been to the USA.  The other lady started talking about how we are decended from monkees and Elder Zaugg said, “No, we are created by God and in His image.”  The lady said, “But the skeletons they find……….!  They are monkey skeletons.”  To break the tension I said, “Of course there are some politicians who are descended from monkees.” Instant laughter, probably because Brazil’s president is headed for impeachment and the government is so corrupt that many politicians have been jailed.  We got to Embu and picked up the picture.  It turned out really nice.  I didn’t really want to buy many things right now, but it was something that will be really nice.  Elder Zaugg and I had a good talk on the way back.  He told me not to wait for the administrators to tell us what to do but just go about developing our own program.  That is what we have started to do.  It is still a little strange not to have any direction, but hopefully that will change.  We got on CHaS finally (Church Humanitarian Site) found that two water projects have been approved for the states of Paraíba and Piauí in the hot, semi-arid Northeast.  I imagine we will be going there and it will be extremely hot.  I might come back the size of a pencil as much as I sweat.  I know the Lord will protect us, so I am not going to worry about it.  I hope we can do something really good to help people who don’t have easy access to water.  Some areas up there don’t even have a water table, so water is trucked in.  Water is one of those blessings we take for granted until we have to do without.  We are using our water purifier on our tap.  No missionaries who have used it have ever gotten sick.  It saves us a lot of money on bottled water, plus the hassle.

Our Sunday School teacher has done a lot of interpreting for the Church leaders when they come down, like in 1996 when Pres. Hinckley and Elder Scott came down and we listened to them at Morumbi.  We mentioned that and he said that he was the interpreter for Pres. Hinckley.  The General Authorities have been told not to tell jokes or use sports stories in other languages because they often don’t mean anything to the people.  I remember hearing of an interpreter who listened to the joke told by the GA and then said in his language, “I have no idea what that joke means or how to interpret it, but everyone please laugh when I finish speaking.”

Monday was a good day as we were busier.  Mom worked on the fast offering reports with Irmão Gaspar.  He and his family are leaving for the USA in January and will live in Salt Lake while sister Gaspar gets her nursing degree.  They are such good people and we will miss them greatly.  I worked on a better version of the exercise program I have designed for missionaries so they can work out in their apartments.  Sister Cox who the Church has sent all over the world working with missionaries with mental/emotional problems has been sending it out to the elders and sisters.  She was talking about an elder who was going crazy not being able to do any kindof workout and I told her I would be happy to write something up for him.  I have written hundreds upon hundreds of workouts for over forty years, so it was fun for me to do.  So workout is evolving and I keep trying to make it better, something I always tried to do with the workouts I designed.  She was so grateful and is already getting posititive feedback from missionaries.  Today I am finishing typing it out in Portuguese for the Brazilian missionaries.  If any of you who read this would like a copy, just let me know and I will send it to you.  On second thought, I will include it in this email.  For FHE the DePaulas were in charge.   Sister DePaula is so sick with encephilitus and really should go home.  She just keeps getting worse.  We feel bad for her and pray for her.  You could all include her in your prayers.  She is around 75 years old.  Even though she feels horrible, she still made dinner for us all, a delicious chicken and rice dish.  She is American and brother DePaula is a Brazilian from Curitiba, really great people.  They also showed us a Christmas program from byutv by the singing trio GENTRI and a 13 year old girl named Lexi Walker who has an encredible voice.  You would all enjoy watching this.  Just go to byutv.org.  If you watch it, see if you recognize the tall fellow in the middle of GENTRI.  You may have seen him somewhere.  Well, love you all and hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.  Christmas for me has always been a great time and fun to go shopping for people I love.  I miss it.   God is at the helm, stay on the ship and all will be well.

Love,  Dad