An interesting evening...

Dear Family,

If you wonder if your prayers on behalf of the missionaries are being heard, wonder no longer.  As usual, tonight was date night.  We left our apartments at 5:30 and were inside the El Dorado Shopping Center by 5:40, a very short bus ride.  We went to the "Fifties" restaurant which is an American restaurant and is Elder and Sister Hale's favorite.  They are leaving Tuesday, so we went there and paid for their meal.  There were 13 of us.  Mom had her favorite salmon salad and I had a small filet mignon.  Then we went to the new Star Trek movie and we liked it a lot even though we aren't Trekkies.  We had some really good ice cream on the way out. Mom just told me something:  She said, "The Hales have never stopped at Parmalaat to get ice cream and they have been here almost two years.  We never have as it is very expensive."  On the way to the Fifties restaurant, we have to go by Parmalaat.  Every single time we say, "We should stop there some time."  We never do.  On the way out, I knew we were going to stop.  We will have been married 41 years on Sept. 12th, and one thing I know about your mother/Paula, is that she loves ice cream.  So even though it was expensive, we finally stopped.  As mom just now told me, had we left El Dorado sooner, we would have been in the middle of the bonfires and the demonstrators.  We missed most of that directly in front of the shopping center by about 10 minutes.  Coincidence, maybe, but we have never stopped to get ice cream and we did tonight.  I think we should all thank grandma Benson for our love of ice cream.

 

We no sooner left the shopping center when we could see bonfires in the middle of the street with police in riot gear and automatic weapons, shields, etc.  We climbed up to the "pasarella" which allows you to cross the street.  Some of the missionaries started down toward the bus and others stayed on the pasarella.  Mom and I went down the stairs as i didn't feel we were safe up there.  People were running around screaming at the police and we could not really tell who was friend or foe.  I know that all my protective instincts kicked in and quite honestly I was not scared, I just was making sure that I was between mom and anything else.  I kept a good hold on her.  I was a little worried about stray bullets.  That happens here a lot.  The missionaries out in head of us came running back as people were throwing rocks.  The police kept moving them down the street and the traffic started to move forward.  Thankfully, our bus came by right then and along with lots of Brazilians, we all crowded on to the bus.  Several Brazilian men immediately got up and gave their seats to our wives.  That is very common here.  We who speak Portuguese began talking to those around us to find out what was going on. Interestingly, two by me and Elder Burke spoke great English and were super friendly.  I also talked to all the young guys around me and they were good fellows too.  I thanked them when we got off the bus.  These riots began all over Brazil and here in SP on Wed. after Dilma Rouseff, the president was officially impeached.  It has divided the country to some degree, although the vast majority are glad to have her gone.  Wed. night, right close to us, the many highway around the city was shut off as well as Avenida Vital Brasil which is the street we take the bus to the Metro.  Nice to be inside a locked down compound and seven stories high.  I know the Lord blesses us.  We had no idea that would happen tonight, although i wondered if there wouldn't be something somewhere on a Friday night, which is a date night for couples and families all over Brazil just like in the USA.  

Thursday night, I spent from 8:00 p.m. until midnight at the hospital close to us.  Elder Anderson was in so much pain I went with him and Sister Anderson to the Leforte Hospital, a place I know quite well.  Elder Hale and I gave him a blessing and then I took them over.  They are brand new here and Elder Anderson is just getting his Portuguese back and was in no shape to talk.  I was glad i could go and that Sister Anderson called us.  He almost passes out but the pain meds finally kicked in and made a huge difference.  He had to have a tomografia (cat scan) and then we waited forever to find out the results.  The doctors guessed it was a kidney stone, but it turned out to be diverticulitis which is an extremely painful condition in the intestines.  The accounting dept. was closed down obviously at that hour but they still had to pay their hospital visit at the reception desk before we left.  I told the three people there that the American couples were their best customers.  They thought that was pretty funny.  The last time I was there and went in to pay for my visit, the fellow I always see said, "Nice to see you again.", to which I said, "It isn't nice to see you."  He laughed as he understood what I was trying to say.  He is a good fellow.  So anyhow, we have had an eventful two nights.  We did not feel any panic or fear, just some concern about what was going on and staying out of harm's way.  We were able to make it home safely and we thank the Lord and all of you who keep us in your prayers.  Somehow, I don't think we are in Rexburg anymore.

Sure Love You All,

Dad/Ferron

Also, a picture:

Mom and I last February at a chapel in Embu Guaçu after the fireside with José and Laura Guimarães and another leader whose name I don't have.