Dear family,
We have had a very good week. I think that things are going to start to really pick up for us. Bro. Gaspar had his last day on Tues. and I am trying to learn all that he did. I found out on Friday that there is a very important meeting on Tues. that I have to have the PowerPoint presentation ready! It is almost ready but there are some things that I still have to learn about PowerPoint before I can get it completed. Bro. Gaspar is coming over to the office tomorrow to help me. I had no idea that this was for the meeting. The Area Presidency might be there.
Most of our senior couples went on "vacation" this week. They went down to southern Brazil for a week. They will be back on Tues. We got here too late to go with them and now I can see that it is a very good thing that we didn't go. We had a conference call with Salt Lake on Friday that got us both really pumped up! In fact, when we left to come home I told Dad that all of a sudden I feel like we have a ton of things to do and not much time to get it done! It was a good feeling.
Members of the Welfare Dept. took Bro. Gaspar to lunch on Tues. to a really good churrascaria (Brazilian barbecue) and it was really good. Dad and I ate there 23 years ago with Sergio and Glaucia. Carlos Gaspar is such a good man. He is about Jolene's age and has retired. They are moving to Salt Lake in Feb. His wife is going to take an English immersion program and then get more nurses training at the "U." She is a nurse here but I don't think she is working right now. Her name is Dagmar (Carlos calls her "Daggi") and she is helping me with my Portuguese and I am helping her with her English. She came over on Friday and I helped her with their application for the married student housing at the "U." I think that they will be living in the same complex that Lynn and Brandi lived in a few years ago.
On Wed. we went to a very special retreat with the Sao Paulo West missionaries for their Christmas Conference. It was a GORGEOUS place. It would make the best place to have a family reunion and it is very cheap to rent! I have attached some pictures of it. It is called the James E. Faust something or other. The church owns it and they can host four stakes at a time there. It rained on us all day but I didn't care. Ferron and I went for some walks to take in all of the beauty. The missionaries didn't care about the rain either. They played soccer, volleyball, football, etc. all day long and were completely soaked and muddy by the end of the day. They had a ball!
For those of you who have ever gone huckleberry picking, or been up in the mountains, off of the main roads, picture in your minds a little trail of a very hilly road that is all wet and muddy because of the rain. Got that picture? Now add a Greyhound bus to your picture! I think that you have guessed it--we got stuck! We had to walk the remainder of the way to the retreat, which was about a mile or so, in the rain and mud! I was determined to have a good time anyway but the other senior couple who came with us, well the sister, was not happy at all. We felt bad that we had talked them into coming. At least when the first group of young missionaries arrived, Dagmar came in an SUV to rescue us. (Carlos is in the mission presidency.) I thought that Sis. Thomson was at least 75, but I found out that she is Cynthia's age. I'm sure glad that my sister doesn't act like an old woman! Compared to Sis. Thomson, I'm sure that people would think that Cynthia is about 50! Don't get me wrong, I like Sister Thomson a lot but she does act old. I want to grow old like our mother and grandmother! I tell people all of the time that my mom doesn't act her age and that I'm very grateful!
Friday we had a wonderful meeting with Salt Lake and we really got fired up. This is about doing some food production and hygiene programs. We are also working on a water project for the northeast but this other will probably take some precedence. We are starting to study Pres. Uchtdorf's talk about the welfare program from the Oct. 2011 conference. It is really powerful. We are supposed to put together a presentation using that talk and our personal experiences. The Teton Flood days will really help us here. One project has already been approved that Fernando really wants us to get busy with. It is about an hour away from here, close to Santos. We are really excited.
At church today I volunteered to lead the music in Relief Society. The sister who usually does it is one of our missionaries who is on the trip. I was also asked to take part in the lesson. The teacher said that I could do it in English, but I did it in Portuguese. I got lots of "thumbs up" and a pat on the back from a sister. I know that I made mistakes but I think that the women knew what I was trying to say. I am trying really hard to speak more. I know lots of words but it is hard to get them all put together correctly, but I am trying. Some of the sister missionaries who have been here for over a year haven't learned any, or very little, Portuguese. I want to be able to do my part, in fact, when we start to give our presentations I told Dad that I want to have a speaking part. Anyway, it is coming slowly but surely.
It has been a good week and I'm sure that this week will be also. I can't believe that it is Christmas already! People really have the Christmas spirit around here. You see nativities all over the place; in stores, in parks, along the highways, etc. We could take a little lesson from the Brazilians about that and not get so caught up in being too "politically correct." Brazilians are a very happy people even though things are very difficult for them financially down here because of the huge amount of corruption in the government. Oh, I forgot, we also went to the temple on Friday. I talked to a sister in the dressing room and I learned something very interesting. She told me that most Brazilians do not like Carnival one bit. I asked here if that was just the members of the church and she said no, it was country wide that they do not like Carnival because of so much crime and evil that go along with it. (This was all in Portuguese.) I thought that was very interesting.
Well I'd better close for now. I have attached some pictures of the retreat we went to. You will see our stuck bus, beautiful flowering trees, wild pineapples, a lake, a Brazilian Parana pine tree, and the missionaries having a good time. The pictures are not as clear as I would have liked I think because of the rain and fog. I love you all very much. Hope you have a very good week and especially have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Love,
Mom/Paula
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