Dear family,
We have had a good week this week. We actually got to do something related to our specific mission call. On Wed. we went to Aracatuba (the C sounds like an S) to attend the ceremony where a lot of wheelchairs were delivered to those who were in need. We drove out and took the missionary couple, who are Brazilian, who are over the wheelchair program with us.
It is about a 6 hour drive and it was absolutely beautiful! As soon as we got out of the city the scenery reminded me of Wisconsin or eastern Nebraska with rolling hills and completely green. There were cattle and horses and even a herd of goats! Soon we were in the farmland; miles and miles of sugar cane (sorry Evan), Eucalyptus tree plantations (tons and tons of them in all stages of growth), coffee fields, an avocado orchard, corn, etc. It was really refreshing to see the farms. It only takes 10 years for the trees to get to maturity until they are harvested. They are used for paper.
Aracatuba is a city of about 200,000 and was so refreshing after being in Sao Paulo. By the time we got back to our hotel room Wed. night it was midnight. As we drove through the city to get to the hotel, everything was quiet. There wasn't any traffic, there weren't any people on the streets. People were at home, in bed where they should be at that hour. Sao Paulo never sleeps! Also, there was hardly any graffiti which was nice. Dad worked in that city as a missionary and loved it. That is where he baptized Beto's mother. We met several people who knew the Cavinati family.
The ceremony was really neat. The cultural hall was packed as well as half of the chapel. Down here they can switch the direction of the pews in the chapel for these kinds of events. There were city dignitaries there as well as representatives from the Salvation Army and doctors. There were lots of speeches given and all praised the church immensely. There were about 20 young elders there who were helping. It was fun to talk to them. One of them was from Montana. We asked where and he said, "South of Billings." We asked specifically and he said, "Red Lodge." We told him that we have been there and been over the Bear Tooth Pass. He got really excited. He said that he skis up there in July. He has tried to tell the other missionaries about it but they didn't understand so he was excited to meet someone close to home. Dad asked him if he had ever been to West Yellowstone and he said lots of times. We asked if he had ever been to the Playmill and he said, "Yes! Every summer for my whole life! We have a cabin on Hebgen Lake." That was kind of neat. Of course we told him that my parents helped start the Playmill and he was excited.
We took the Guimaraes couple with us. They are very short! She is under 5' I'm sure and he is maybe, barely 5'. He is on crutches and has been his whole life. Twenty or so years ago, he spent 3 years straight in the hospital. He had leprosy. His hands are all deformed and parts of his fingers are missing. He still has a big sore on the bottom of his foot but Sis. G. said that he never complains. They are a fun couple to be with and are very animated, especially her! They don't speak any English, so for two days I had total Portuguese. I think that it helped me a lot. She has only been a member for 9 years. They were both married previously and have been married for around 9 years. I think that they must have gotten married shortly after her baptism. I told them a little about my heritage and now they have invited us to speak at a fireside next month! It will be good for me. I already have a short talk prepared about Benjamin Benson.
The wheelchair experience was really neat. There were wheelchairs lining the hallways of the church and people everywhere. Some were there to replace their old chairs as they had worn out. Probably some people turn around and sell them but, from what I understand, most of them are honest about them and get them because they really need them. They all looked very grateful for that special gift. A large part of the funding for this program comes from the Humanitarian program of the church. If any of you have any extra $$, I would encourage you to donate to the Humanitarian fund of the church. Fast Offerings go to help members only, but the Humanitarian fund helps anyone who is in need, member or not. Whenever there is a disaster somewhere, the church is there helping out with money and supplies from the Humanitarian fund. One of the things I am doing down here is preparing reports on Fast Offerings. It is a huge problem down here with not many members donating and lots are receiving help. We are working on a plan to try to reverse that trend. Another thing, I hope that you are all donating a generous Fast Offering. What I have learned is that the generosity of the saints in the US is what helps the other countries around the world. There is so much need in the world. We are really blessed to live in the USA. Something that was said in our Welfare Training in SLC before we got to Brazil is that people living in the USA are not living in the real world. The real world lives in complete poverty and we have seen plenty of that down here. Poverty in the USA is different than in other areas of the world. We have the poor but I don't think that we have misery. Even our homeless have places to go to get something to eat. It is different in the "real world." Anyway, please give generously.
We had an excursion yesterday with the other senior missionaries. We went down to the south of the state of Sao Paulo and went to the Cavernas do Diablo (Devil Caves). It is a cave like the Lewis and Clark Caverns or other caves in the US. It was neat. It got its name because the slaves discovered the cave in the 1890's and they would hide food and other things inside. When they would go back to get their stuff, it would be gone and they would hear strange noises. Turns out, it was the monkeys who were coming in and stealing everything! They thought it was the devil. It was a fun day but very long. It is Carnaval weekend and there was a ton of traffic plus all the construction (it is on the way to Curitiba) so the 3 1/2-4 hour ride took about 6 1/2 hours to get there. We went down in a 15 passenger van. Sadly, that ride took a huge toll on Dad's back and he is flat in bed today in a lot of pain.
It is Carnaval on Tuesday. Well they celebrate it for several days but the official day is Tuesday. It is a very wicked holiday. Even many of the Brazilians who are not members of the church don't like it. What is interesting is that Carnaval always falls on the day before Lent. So after all of the sinning they go to their priest on the first day of Lent or soon after, and buy their forgiveness. The other churches make a lot of money that way! Our ward today was short of all of the youth. All of the wards and stakes down here take their youth on an encampment during Carnaval.
One last thing. On Monday morning I discovered a HUGE cockroach in our apartment! It was about 3" long 3/4" wide and 1/2" thick! Yuck!! Disgusting!! It crawled up on our blanket that had fallen off the bed during the night so we took that to the cleaners! Dad was telling one of the maintenance guys about it and he said, in a very serious way, "The way to get rid of the cockroaches is to paint lipstick on the one and let it go. All of the others will die from laughing to death!" HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! We had a good laugh.
Well have a great week. Love to all of you.
Love,
Mom
P.S. The first pictures are of our wheelchair day. One of the pictures is with the Guimaraes couple and with Bro. Saito. The other pictures are of the caverns. The last one is a fruit stand near the caverns. They have interesting fruit down here. The big thing is called Jaca, in Hawaii it is called Jack Fruit. It grows on trees and is as big as a huge watermelon!
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