Dear Family,
Hope you are all doing well. Sorry to hear about all the forest fires and the smoke. I hope they are soon over with. We had a memorable trip to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil. We flew to Porto Alegre (2.5 million people) and then to Santa Maria, the closest airport to where we were going. As usual I set off all the alarms, but at least I told security that was what would happen. So now I get searched every time. When we got to Santa Maria, Presidente Arides a counselor and Bishop Traje were there to pick us up. They were so kind and did so much for us. We talked for two hours on the way to the city of Cruz Alta. It was like we had known each other forever. Bishop Trage said, "We did. In the preexistence". We told stories and asked questions back and forth. We passed lots of fields of oats which they trade back and forth with soy beans. Brazil is one of the largest exporters of soy beans. We saw many grain elevators but mostly they store oats and soy in them. The landscape was full of Parana Pine trees and other pine trees. It reminded us a little of southern Idaho with rolling hills and fields everywhere. The difference was the occasional palm tree. From Cruz Alta we traveled to the city of Ijui, a city of about 80,000. It is a really peaceful place. We stayed at the home of President Arides and his wife Rose. They have four children, the oldest is a girl aged 14 and the baby boy is 11 months and cute as can be. We have decided babies all cry the same. They certainly don`t cry in Portuguese here, they just cry. We had fun playing games with him. They had a great big meal fixed for us. Their house is big and really nice. President Arides has a distributorship of furniture and travels all over Brasil. He has worked really hard to get where he is at. We came in his SUV. I finally got to try what Shelley has been telling us, some mate which in Brasil is called chimarrao (pronounced She Ma Hone). It is a green tea that everyone in the south drinks, Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. I actually kind of liked it even though it seemed like I was sucking in a bale of hay. It is incredible to see people walking everywhere with their cuia and bomba (a gourd and a silver drinking straw/tube). President Arides passed his around the next day to the other bishops and that is what everybody does. I asked him if they didn't get sick drinking from the same straw and he said that never happens. Not sure if that is true or not. Besides the gourd, they carry a thermos of very hot water and they drink all day long. I don`t think I would like it that much. We went to one of the bishop's little ranch/farm out in the beautiful countryside. He had a nice garden and some animals, including chickens. While we were there, we started brainstorming about possible projects for the stake. We had an incredible conversation and you could feel the spirit. Toward the end, I said, "Maybe the stake could set up their own booth at the outdoor market and sell some of the produce." President Arides said, "I was just thinking the exact same thing." It was a good experience to share our thoughts and learn from each other. We went back and had lunch and then took a nap. It had warmed up a lot during the day, in the low 70s.
At night around 6:00 p.m. we went to the chapel and got our power point all set up. We were glad to have someone there from the stake who could help us do that. Paula gave her talk which is about our experience with raising our fast offering when President Benson asked us to. We didn't have the money, but we did it because we were asked to. We raised by $5.00 which was a lot at that time with all our hospital bills from Lynn's surgeries and treatments. A secretary in the accounting dept. at Primary Children's looked up our account and said "Oh, someone came in and ;paid one of the bills." To this day I have no idea who did that, but it was a blessing. A couple of weeks later, we got two checks we weren't expecting from our insurance that paid everything else off. I know the Lord blessed us. That was Paula's message which she gave all in Portuguese. She does really well. I had a couple of cordless microphones which I used to get the members to comment as we went through the power point rather than speak from the pulpit. It worked really well. My Portuguese was really good (it isn't always). That may sound strange for someone who has been speaking it for 45 years, but some days your brain gets fried. I know the Lord helped us as the message went over really well. We had thought that it was to be just a leadership training, but all the wards in Ijui were invited, so we had a packed house. Later, two sister missionaries gave us a little note thanking us for coming and for teaching the principle of the fast. Later, I happened to turn that note over and in reality, it was an invitation on one side and their note on the other. The invitation said, "On August 20th, the Sondereggers are coming to speak to us all the way from Sao Paulo, so don't forget. You won't want to miss them." Wow, we had no idea. But we did get treated like celebrities and that is very humbling to say the least.
On Sunday, we spoke in sacrament meeting in bishop Traje's ward. He requested that I tell the story of President Monson and Lynn. So I gave my talk with no notes. After all the meetings, we met with sister Juliana, the whole reason for our trip in the first place. She is the sister who has been living in extremely poor conditions, no toilet, no running water, leaky roof, no glass in the windows and on and on. Her husband ran out on her because her daughter Ana has severe health issues and needs a lot of treatment and surgeries, so he took off. She also has a litle boy. Bishop Traje said in an email to me, "Sister Juliana is a full tithe payer and she pays her fast offering every month." That sealed the deal for us. We knew we would make down there. The bishop and the priesthood quorums built her a very small house which had all the things she was not used to having. We visited her there on Saturday. The house is the size of a very small living room, but it is a mansion to her. Her neighbors who are not members live in poor conditions, the worst we have ever seen. We visited there also. Bishop Traje is such a good man, he knew the names of every single one of those people even though they aren't members. He treats everyone as if they were members in his ward. I had told bishop Traje several months before that I would help out Juliana as the bishop said they were low on funds. I told him we would make it down there even if we had to buy our own plane tickets. Well, I eventually talked to our department head about doing a training down in Cruz Alta and he agreed to send us. When Juliana came into the bishop's office with us and the bishop, we gave her a sack of candy for the kids and when I gave her the money, she began to weep and weep. When she could finally talk, she said, "It seems iike every time I have some financial problems, the Lord blesses me in some way" She had some unpaid bills she needed to take care of. A humbling experience. She later asked me to give a blessing to her daughter Ana, which president Arides and I did. Once again this was a humbling experience. Ana is kind of a naughty, pouty little girl, and she wasn't real happy. I reminded myself to just let it go as who wouldn't feel that way as a 7 year old with such poor health and so many trials at such a young age. Juliana cried all the way through the blessing. After, I told her that often the blessing is just as much for the mother as the child receiving the blessing. Juliana is an example of the Lord's promises to those who pay their tithes and offerings. We wish we could help more people that we do as so many are in need. She has never been one looking for a handout, but she was certainly in need and we saw it first hand. I wish all my family could have been there at her home and at the church. We said our goodbyes to bishop Traje. It was very emotional. I hope we see him again in our missionary efforts. He is something else, a great man.
We had a churrasco at Pres. Arides parent's home and it was great. We had already tasted his mother's cooking, a cake she had baked and it was awesome. When we arrived, I told sister Alves that she was the queen of cakes and brother Alves that he was the king of churrasco. Bother Alves turned to his wife and said, "He even knows all the right things to say in Portuguese." We said our goodbyes and were off to Cruz Alta to speak in sacrament meeting there at 4:00 p.m. We stopped along the way to finally meet the stake president, president Peixoto. He is a highway patrolman and was on duty. He talked to us and hugged us like we were his long lost family. I asked him what caliber his pistol was and he said it was a .38. Then, he took me back through their office area and showed me his .357mag pistol. He was very proud of that. When President Arides let us off at the chapel in Cruz Alta, as we were saying goodbye, he put his head on my shoulder and just cried. He did not want us to leave. He an his sweet family will forever be in our memories. We love those people in Ijui.
We gave our sacrament talks and they went well. We then had a 15 min. break and had some cake and tea (some herbal tea) and then it was time again for another training session. I had been really worried about going south as I have been battling pneumonia and Paula has been sick as well. I started feeling sick the first night and I told the Lord that we needed our full energy to do all the visits, talks and training sessions. "Heavenly Father, we just need thy help or we won't be able to do this." Well, it all worked out and we felt good those three days. The chapel was clear full again. We both felt that our training session was better than the night before. I know without a doubt who it was that helped us make it through and teach the message we were sent to give. When I challenged the members to raise their fast offering by 1 Real per month (about 30 cents), and talked to them about the law of sacrifice and how their offering would bless others, maybe even their own relatives, and that the Lord would bless them in ways they could not imagine, they began nodding their heads. They did not take offense to the message, even in these hard times they are going through. They realized just as the widow who gave her all, that the law of the fast is for everyone, rich or poor. The Lord makes no distinction between an honest offering from the rich or the poor. He showers His blessings upon his dilligent and faithful children. My Portuguese was as good as it could be that night and I know the Lord helped the right words come into my mind. The message came out the way it was supposed to. I asked the Lord to give me the right words and He did. A sister came up right after the closing prayer and told us that she and her husband had wanted to have children for many years but with no success. Their hearts were broken. I told her that there are many in the Church who don't have children, some times because they are single and some times because of other problems. She didn't ask for a blessing, but she wanted us to know for some reason. I assured her that we would put her name in the temple in Sao Paulo and that she would be in our prayers.
e had a wonderful time at the Peixoto family home. They are an older couple who have been in the Church for many years. We had a lot of fun visiting with them. At one point, the name of president Brassanini came up. They were dumbfounded when we told them he lived in our stake, in the same ward as Gary. He has been a mission president and the Porto Alegre temple president. Brother Peixoto said, "What a small world it is in the Church." Brother Peixoto had a big Rottweiler dog, so we felt protected. He is 72 and another brother who is 76 were helping me with our luggage. They refused to let me or Paula lift anything. That pretty much is a summary of how the members treated us. I do hope we can go back some time and see them all again. Such a great feeling of love in such a short period of time. That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ does, it unites us. One thing I mentioned in my talk was the idea that patriotism is really important and we should love our countries. "But it doesn't matter tonight that I am an American and you are Brazilians. What really matters tonight is that we are all sons and daughters of the living God who loves us. The gospel of Jesus Christ turns us into one people, His people."
Love You All,
Ferron/Dad
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