Dear Family,
I haven't written for a month or more and decided I had better get on the ball. We enjoy hearing from each of you whether by email, phone, or FB. It helps keep our spirits up. We have really hit some snags in our Petrolina Project (the quail). The project was not approved after all and it is simply because the costs are way too high. This has all happened because someone without authorization promised things that the Church simply will not do. I spent over an hour on the phone Friday talking to a member of the Stake Presidency with whom we traveled with to see the families. I think it was one of the most difficult things that I have ever done. I came home by myself feeling just horrible, not because everything they want will not be provided, but because a promise was made that should never have happened. I just even today feel sick about it. There is a feeling that some members might leave the Church if this doesn't go through. All I could say was, "Everybody must make that decision on their own. If their testimony is based on one experience that doesn't go their way, that is their choice unfortunately.~ We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. It is not very fun being in the middle of something we did not create. I did ask if the members, when they do receive a smaller incubator, smaller brooder, fewer cages, fewer quail, less feed, etc. would really still be offended over being given so much. The counselor was not sure. Needless to say, we will not be mentioning the word quail for a long time. I am trying to get them to understand that the purpose of welfare is to get people back on their feet not to set them up in private business. We do need your prayers and your faith. This has been really really hard, not what I thought a mission would be like.
Thank the Lord that we had a wonderful experience yesterday at the ~Copa Smith~ (Smith Cup), a track and field meet for the youth of the Sao Paulo Stake in celebration of its 50th anniversary, being the first stake in all of South America, organized in 1966. Several wards asked me to come teach their youth how to pass a baton, which I did on a Saturday and on a Tuesday. It was fun. I did have to remind myself that I was not working with experienced athletes. The leaders were surprised that I knew all the Portuguese words for track and field terms, but I have known those for years. The Copa Smith began a long time ago but was discontinued because of some sportsmanship issues (pois e). So this was the first one in 15 years and everyone was very excited. Sister Raquel who is the Church Legal Department secretary came with her husband to pick us up Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. It was cold outside at that time but the sun came out and warmed up to a perfect day. People were really nice to us all day and dept bringing food and drinks to us and even brought pillows for Paula to sit on. It was like a giant picnic with activities.
The event kicked off with a parade of athletes on the track, a nice synthetic one that was provided to the stake for free. The kids marched in with their own colored tee shirts by ward and their flags. Then they lit a torch and two young people, a young man and a young women from our ward carried the torch around for a lap. It was really cool and all done with the Olympic music coming from a loud speaker. We had a prayer and then a welcome from President Maia. They had the athletes take an oath by repeating the rules of sportsmanship of what was expected of them. That was really neat and the kids were on their best behavior all day, not complaining or flare ups that I could see. There was even an ambulance there just in case. We had one case of dizziness with a young sister but she recovered just fine. Each ward then did a special dance they had worked on and they really got into it. It was a lot of fun to watch.
They didn't do all the events as that would not have been practical, but they did the 100 200 and 400 meter, and 4 x 100 races as well as the shot put (they found one, a 4 kg. women's which worked fine for both), and the long jump. I got a group started in the shot put. Many leaders and ward members served as officials and they did great. A lot of people kept asking me if I thought things were being done right and I assured them that they were well organized and prepared, because they were. In the shot put, there were a lot of illegal throws, the shot dropping down from the neck area and to the side which is not only illegal but dangerous. A side arm throw like that can really mess up your elbow and shoulder. But I suggested they not mention anything more than to show the correct technique and then let them be. They had never one single time in their lives 'put' the shot. It is not a throw after all, but a push. I didn't see anything too horrible so the officials didn't worry about it after we talked. I am sure a few kids had sore elbows this morning. I got the long jump officials to measure the closed point of contact with the sand and to read the measurement from the takeoff board. They did great after that. Someone had put together a homemade rake made of wood and screws which actually worked perfectly. All the little kids in the stands were running and jumping into the pit when the event was not taking place and even the leaders all went out and took a turn. That really endeared them to the young people. They were such good sports. If you are wondering if I tried anything, the answer is NO. I did not want to make a complete fool out of myself. I thing my vertical jump which was once enough to dunk is now about 3" on a really good day. I did do a 50 meter jog over to an exchange zone but that was out of necessity and wasn't real pretty I am sure.
The running events took a long time as they had separate heats for the Beehives, the Mia Maids, the Laurels, the Deacons, the Teachers and the Priests. Then they would have a final. One little girl who ended up winning her group in the 400 asked me what the best thing to do for the race was. I grinned and said the best thing would have been to train for it for 4 months so you knew how to run it. But I told her what to do and to save some energy for the end, which she did, winning by about 60 meters. in other words, she would have won anyway without by great counsel. This morning, I talked to her at Church and she thanked me. I actually thought she had some potential to run pretty fast if given an opportunity. I told lots of kids to run the inside of their lane to shorten the distance a little. They did that. The only scare was after I had walked back up in the stands, they were putting the kids in their lanes for the 400 meter relay and they weren't using the right staggers. Had they started the race, the runner in lane 1 would have run 400 meters, the next about 408, the next about 415,until out in lane 8 the poor kid would have already been 40 plus meters behind. The starter didn't think I knew what I was talking about and in a kind way I assured him that I did as did a lot of others who knew me. He finally could see it and the rest of the relays went just fine. They even called me out of the stands (they had a great and very funny announcer all day) to show them the relay exchange zones and that went great for all the heats. The kids really tried their best and they had a great time. They get few opportunities to have physical exercise like that and so they were loving being out of their homes where there was a lot of room to roam.
The leaders had a 4 x 100 relay also, first the sisters and then the brethren. Paula and I actually got excited and stood to watch them. It was not world class talent, but it was competition between them and It was fun to see. They finally did an on the site improvised bishop/stake president (just the president race. You knew that was coming with all the youth loving it. President Ret (prounounced Het chee) won, with bishop Ret his brother in second. Our bishop, Ultimo Valois was last. I told a few members that "O Ultimo foi ultimo." Ultimo means last and he took last place. He was given that name because his father told everyone he would be the Last Velois, o Ultimo Valois and that is his name. He is a really great bishop. Everyone loves him. I told him he was a good sport to participate. He said, "I wasn't going to kill myself out there.". Our second counselor, Leo Bettencourt Moraes participated in about everything and this morning at church his wife Deborah told us that he threw up all night long. He came for a while but looked a little pale. He took us home after the meet. It was a very fun day, Portuguese all day long. We both got to know a lot of people and the members were happy we attended. It meant a lot to them. We heard that at meetings today. I would just add that there were small holes all over the field which had been filled in with dirt. I will let my kids take a guess at what they were. There was a really nice throwing cage like at BYU and those holes were made by the hammer throw. I asked a member what he thought they were and he quickly said, "The hammer." There wouldn't have been one single person there outside of Paula and I who would have known that. Later I found out that he runs his own personal training business. Also, there are 3 Brazilian athletes competing in the Olympics who train at the facility where we had the Copa Smith.
I guess I will end for now and hope to write more frequently as I had been. We love you all, pray for you and think of you often.
Love, Dad
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