Dear Family,
We have had a good last few days. We have been getting ready for a Christmas program in which we are singing with a small choir and then I, yes me, am singing with a group of men, including Antonio Carlos Guerra who I worked with when he was 15 years old. We are singing for the Area Presidency, scary a little bit. We are getting busier, especially today. We have emails from Elder Henrie and Brother Brady in SLC about water projects (wells) to be dug in the Northeaster part of Brazil. We had a conference call with them and we are excited. Elder and Sister Henrie will be coming to Brasil in Fevereiro to train us and travel around with us. This is great news and an answer to our prayers. We could end up having a project or two in the states of Paraiba, Piaui, Pernambuco or Ceará. You can look on Google Earth to see where they are. This is an area of the country where there is a perpetual drought condition. In some areas, all agua potável (drinkable water) is trucked into these small Sugar City size areas. I imagine if we go there, it will be by car and driving across areas of Brazil where there are few people. Our director, Fernando Souza, is having surgery today. He didn’t tell anyone except mom and I and two other fellows, irmão Gaspar and irmão Bonini who we work with. In our Monday morning devotional, we finished and I was surprised that nobody had mentioned Fernando and there wasn’t a prayer for him, so before everyone could leave, I said, which I assumed was true, “You know that irmão Fernando is in the hospital this morning for surgery and I think we ought to say a special prayer for him.” Everybody was shocked and the fellow in charge for the week asked me if I would say the prayer, which I was glad to do. Fernando should be back by the end of the week.
Fernando sent me two emails that he sent last Friday to a minister of the 7th Day Adventist Church in Brasilia (the capital of Brasil), and to another fellow who I don’t know. In the email, Fernando told the one fellow that he would be flying to Brasilia to visit with him. That could mean that it will be us and Fernando, or just Fernando, or just us. I guess we will find out soon.
On Sat., we went into the city center, the most dangerous part, and visited a monastery, We were hoping to hear the monks do their Gregorian chants, but they weren’t doing it that day. Most everyone spent their time buying souvenirs, but Paula and I went in and sat down in the very large chapel area (I don’t know what you call that in the Catholic Church). There were quite a few people who came in and were praying, not out loud, but reverently. I know I took off my hat and just sat very quietly out of respect for the church and the people praying. It was a very beautiful building on the inside. We then went to lunch at the Café Girondino close to the monastery and Rua São Bento where I used to send packages back to my parents with things like butterfly wing trays. The restaurant is one of the oldest in the city. They treated us really well and I think we will go back. Mom and I had a grilled chicken sandwich with tomato and emantaler (sp ?) cheese on a ciabatta bun. I ordered a plate of mandioca frita (fried manioc root) for us both. Well, they brought French fries and I said, “That isn’t what I ordered”, so they asked everybody else and came back to give it to me again. I told them that I specifically asked for mandioca frita not batatas fritas. So they went and got the mandioca and it was beyond delicious, way better than French fries. None of the missionaries had ever heard of it and we let them try some and they loved it. I wish you were here to eat it with us. The head waiter then began asking, as is traditional, if we wanted café. Everybody of course said no and he was standing by me looking really perplexed and I said, “Would you like to know why we don’t want café?” He said he would like to know and I gave him a condensed word of wisdom lesson and he thought that was pretty cool. We then just chatted and he basically said that we weren’t like some Americans, that we were so happy and friendly and nice to the staff. So we made a good impression on all the waiters there. On the way in I had seen an older man sitting at a table that looked like his and his spot only. When we left, he was still there so I went over and made friends with him and we had a good chat while we waited for the other missionaries to come downstairs. It is easy to smile and say something kind to anyone here. I talked to two high school aged boys on the Metro and they left thinking good things about Americans. I talked to a young mother with a four month old baby with lots of dark black hair and talked about the Church. I told her she reminded me of four of our grandchildren who were born with lots of black hair (I wonder who that could be?). I watched the Alabama and Florida game on usatv which we now have. It made me feel way less homesick which has been tough to wake up feeling everyday. Sounds weird, I know, but just to be able to see one game has made a big difference already. That and just trying harder and looking for things to do, things to say, etc. and just try to go about doing good. I feel the best I have felt on our mission and I think we are both starting to see why we are here. I also went with a member to the fitness center here and biked and bench pressed and that made my day as my body was starting to feel way out of shape. I plan on going there twice a week which will be just fine time-wise and fitness wise.
Sunday, we went to our meetings. I am the official new ‘if you can’t find someone to go home teaching with you, call Elder Sonderegger guy’, which will be great. Maybe we can reactivate some people. We had a great testimony meeting. The testimonies were about the Savior and His gospel, nothing else. Great spirit. I went and talked to sister Walkyria Bronze Damiano afterwards. I asked her if by any chance her father was Irmão Rui Bronze? She said yes and I told her that her father made two suits for me when I was a missionary. He was a tailor and I have a picture of him and myself together. Those are great experiences to tie into people here. We had dinner at Fernando’s apartment which is only a block from where we live. He and his wife are great people. She is the Primary President and was responsible for putting together a wonderful program a couple of weeks ago. They have only been in São Paulo just over a year. They are from Fortaleza in the North where he was a stake president. We then went hope in an incredible rain storm. We live on a hill that goes down to Avenida Francisco Morato and the water was coming down in torrents. We had to wait a while to cross the street as it was a river. In the evening, we went to a Christmas singing event by the São Paulo 5th ward and they invited all the missionary couples to come up and sing in English our Christmas songs. So accompanied by Elder Zaugg on the guitar, we sang. The Brazilians there, member and non member would clap to the rhythm of the music. Never had that happen before, but it was really fun. We made an impression on everyone. Almost all the non members here at Vertentes talk to us. They know who we are. Well, I have rambled enough so I will quit here. My testimony is growing and I know the Savior lives and that he is pleased that we are here trying to do His will among the Brazilian people. We feel his love and his protection. At this Christmas time of year, may we all remember that Jesus Christ is the real gift of Christmas. Without His selfless sacrifice, Christmas would be nothing but commercial. He is everything that matters. I love you all and hope these letters are enjoyable to read. They are my diary.
Love you all very much,
Elder Sonderegger
*NOTE – Please don’ send any packages to us. There is a huge problem with import taxes. I just spent an hour and a half with Sister Cox trying to get a package out of the post office across the street. The value of the package was above $60.00 and it cost her $80.00 to get it out. It was supposed to come to our distribution center here, but as soon as the government sees the value, it goes through a horrible bureaucratic process. We can’t afford to do that, so in the goodness of your hearts, if you want to send something, just deposit some money in our PayPal account. That sounds awful, but it is just the truth of the situation here. Elder DePaula had some medicine he needed sent to him from the USA and the gov’t x-rayed the pkg. and determined it was illegal drugs and sent it back. Makes no sense, but that is what happens. The missionary couples are quite upset over this. I am going to talk to Elder Mazzagardi about it and see if we can get some instruction or ideas of what we can do if anything.
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