Welcome back,
Over these last 2 weeks, a number of things have happened; some good, some not so good, but all have been learning experiences for us. That is one idea that has been reinforced to us, like it says in D&C 122, all things are for our good, we just need to learn from these experiences.
As we have told you in previous posts, Janet has experienced difficulties since we have been here. Some of it is because of the language, some of it because it is a completely new culture, some of it because she feels isolated, some because she misses the family and there probably other reasons. We have been working with the church psychologist in Sao Paulo, with the M.D. there, they have been in contact with Drs in Salt Lake and we even went to a psychologist here in Itabuna. After about a month and a half of this and some new medications that seemed to help temporarily, we (Janet, me and the Drs involved) decided that it would be best if we came home and got some treatment for Janet. So, we will be returning sometime early in December. We still don't know exactly when. We will let you know. While this is disappointing to us, we have learned many things. We have become closer to each other and closer to the Lord. We have become more dedicated to the Gospel and what that means. In many ways, this has been a blessing. We are grateful for the opportunity we have had to serve a mission here. It truly has been a blessing in our lives.
On Monday, the 16th, we drove to Salvador for some training and meetings with Elder Fernando Araujo. He is not the father of the former BYU basketball player. In fact, when I asked him about that, he didn't know that BYU had a Brasileiro on their team. Elder Araujo is the #1 assistant to Brother Grahl in the Church Education System here in Brasil. He is also a Seventy.
Salvador is the capital of the state of Bahia and is the 4th or 5th largest city in Brasil. It probably has 4 - 5 million people in the metro area. It sits on a large pennisula and is one of the oldest cities in Brasil. It was also the major port for bringing in slaves from Africa. As we drove up, we had 2 choices as to how to get there; 1 was driving all the way (about 100 - 120 km longer ) or 2 take the ferry boat (about 30 - 40 minutes ) across the bay. We decided to take the ferry boat. (ferryboat is the brasilian word for ferryboat) We arrived at the dock at about 3:30. We had to wait almost 2 hours. We finally arrived in Salvador at 6:00. We filled up with gas (alcohol, really) and took off to find our hotel. We had an idea where it was and we had google maps. The hotel was in a wealthy suburb north of Salvador. We made some lucky quesses and some unlucky guesses and ended up getting lost. We thought we knew where we were, but we didn't. We finally called the mission president, Elder Vecchi, and he came and rescued us. We were 15 km or more from our hotel. He knew were it was, but he had a hard time finding it, also. We got there at about 9:00. It was an 11:00 hour trip. By bus it is only 6 - 7 hours.
The next morning, we drove into the city to the meetings. We drove around and, guess what, we got lost again. We called the institute and somebody came and rescued us. We found out we were only 1 - 2 km from the institute building as we were looking for it. The map was accurate, but most streets do not have signs on them so we never knew where we were. That afternoon, we had an interview with Brother Araujo. He was very kind and very grateful for the time we had spent and for the example we had been to the members. We also met the brother who will be doing most of the work we have been doing. He will not be moving to Itabuna, but he will be the coordinator of the 2 stakes we have, Itabuna and Vitoria da Conquista. He will have to do most of the work by telephone. He has 5 other stakes in Salvador that he works with, but only with the seminaries.
The next morning, we left to go back to Itabuna. We decided to drive the whole way. We didn't get lost and we had a rather enjoyable trip home. Because the trip back was so pleasant, we decided to travel again on the weekend.
Saturday morning, we left Itabuna for Vitoria da Conquista. It's a 3 hour drive, most of which is on very good roads. The last 35 km, however, is really bad in places. But we survived and arrived there at 10:30. We went to President Denio's home. We had preciously made arrangements to meet him and his wife. They wanted to take us to dinner. We have become good friends with them. They were our rescuers the first time we went to Conquista. While we were at dinner, we explained to them that we were going home. They were both saddened by this news and were very concerned about Janet. That afternoon, we had our training meeting with the teachers and explained to them what was happening. They were also very touched and concerned, it was an emotional meeting. That night we went to an open house for a new chapel in the city. Many of the city's important people had been invited as were any others who were interested. It was very well planned and the turn out seemed to be very good. The next morning, we went to church and then returned to Itabuna. It was good to get back. We had a relaxing and enjoyable evening. On our next blog we will have all the information about our return.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Eunapolis
Greetings from Brasil, we are back on schedule.
Some interesting experiences and reflections on our calling have made us think more these last few days than at almost any time since we have been here.
First, we met with the member of the stake presidency over seminaries and institutes and with the high councilman who has that same responsibility. The 1st counselor in the stake presidency is man named Davi dos Santos. Everybody calls him Brother Davi. We have been to his house for dinner before; we talked about it in another blog. As we met, we talked about what needed to be done for this next year. I explained that, as I had learned from our training in Recife, we needed to have more activities for the Institute students. One of the problems here is that many of the young people, including returned missionaries, do not have many opportunities to meet a lot of other active members. Because of this, many of them do not marry or they marry outside of the church. The church views the institute program as one way for these young adults to meet other active members of the church. As such, these men were very supportive of increasing the number of activities and the size of these activities. We are planning 2 regional activities that will involve all of the institute aged members of the 22 units for which we have jursidiction. Besides this, there will be an activity once a month for the institute members here in Itabuna and Ilheus. Janet and I are also planning on teaching 3 or 4 classes here at the stake center next year. It will be interesting to see how this goes.
On Thursday, we went to a family night activity for a number of members in the Itabuna ward. The stake secretary, who lives in that ward, invited a number of ward members to his home for a lesson, games and food. Although we are not members of his ward, we were invited. We had a very enjoyable time.
Friday night, the Itabuna ward had a ward dinner. There was a short program, then dinner and then some entertainment. Once again we were invited, even though we are not members of that ward. We were also invited to give the prayers. One of the dishes thay had was chicken breasts in a cream sauce. It was really good. Once again, we enjoyed ourselves. Janet does get a little frustrated at these events because she cannot understand what is happening.
On Saturday, we traveled to a city called Eunapolis. We don't know the origen of its name, but we decided it has to be Greek. The city is about 200 km away. it takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there. This is the same road we took to go to Porto Seguro, but this city is closer. We got there and couldn't get a hold of the branch president. We had a google map, but it was wrong and we we couldn't find the chapel. The bp was going to help us find a nice hotel, but since we couldn't get him, we found one ourselves, the Hotel Portal. It was really very nice; spacious room and a very nice bathroom. We finally got in touch with the bp and arranged to meet him. He took us to the chapel. It is a rented house, but it is very nice. The lady's bathroom was the nicest we have seen here in Brasil, in any house or hotel. It had a jacuzzi bathtub in it. That night they were having a class that is preparatory for PEF.
We had our training the next morning before church, then we had church. We were the speakers in sacrament meeting. There was a good crowd, about 70 - 75 people. We are quite an attraction. The church has been in Eunapolis for only 7 tears. It has been an independent branch for 3 years. The missionaries are working very hard - there were 6 - 8 investigagors there. One of the missionaries was a Sister from Orem who had been there for only 2 months. Janet talked with her a lot. They both talked about how hard it is and how much crying they have been doing. This trip was hard for Janet. It brought back all of the negatives that happened last month when we went to Porto Seguro. It is interesting that Janet now does not like traveling. Just a suggestion, buy stock in Kleenex.
Some thoughts as to what it all means. As I mentioned, it is interesting the reception we get when we do our visits, or even here in our own ward of Sao Caetano. There is a obvious curiosity because we are from the United States, but the members also seem genuinely appreciative of our willingness to serve a mission for the church. They are also very concerned that things go well for us. They are especially concerned when they see Janet having difficulties. It is very gratifying and humbling to be the recepient of this attention. It also makes us want to do a better job. All you old folks, makes some plans, it really is a great experience.
Some interesting experiences and reflections on our calling have made us think more these last few days than at almost any time since we have been here.
First, we met with the member of the stake presidency over seminaries and institutes and with the high councilman who has that same responsibility. The 1st counselor in the stake presidency is man named Davi dos Santos. Everybody calls him Brother Davi. We have been to his house for dinner before; we talked about it in another blog. As we met, we talked about what needed to be done for this next year. I explained that, as I had learned from our training in Recife, we needed to have more activities for the Institute students. One of the problems here is that many of the young people, including returned missionaries, do not have many opportunities to meet a lot of other active members. Because of this, many of them do not marry or they marry outside of the church. The church views the institute program as one way for these young adults to meet other active members of the church. As such, these men were very supportive of increasing the number of activities and the size of these activities. We are planning 2 regional activities that will involve all of the institute aged members of the 22 units for which we have jursidiction. Besides this, there will be an activity once a month for the institute members here in Itabuna and Ilheus. Janet and I are also planning on teaching 3 or 4 classes here at the stake center next year. It will be interesting to see how this goes.
On Thursday, we went to a family night activity for a number of members in the Itabuna ward. The stake secretary, who lives in that ward, invited a number of ward members to his home for a lesson, games and food. Although we are not members of his ward, we were invited. We had a very enjoyable time.
Friday night, the Itabuna ward had a ward dinner. There was a short program, then dinner and then some entertainment. Once again we were invited, even though we are not members of that ward. We were also invited to give the prayers. One of the dishes thay had was chicken breasts in a cream sauce. It was really good. Once again, we enjoyed ourselves. Janet does get a little frustrated at these events because she cannot understand what is happening.
On Saturday, we traveled to a city called Eunapolis. We don't know the origen of its name, but we decided it has to be Greek. The city is about 200 km away. it takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there. This is the same road we took to go to Porto Seguro, but this city is closer. We got there and couldn't get a hold of the branch president. We had a google map, but it was wrong and we we couldn't find the chapel. The bp was going to help us find a nice hotel, but since we couldn't get him, we found one ourselves, the Hotel Portal. It was really very nice; spacious room and a very nice bathroom. We finally got in touch with the bp and arranged to meet him. He took us to the chapel. It is a rented house, but it is very nice. The lady's bathroom was the nicest we have seen here in Brasil, in any house or hotel. It had a jacuzzi bathtub in it. That night they were having a class that is preparatory for PEF.
We had our training the next morning before church, then we had church. We were the speakers in sacrament meeting. There was a good crowd, about 70 - 75 people. We are quite an attraction. The church has been in Eunapolis for only 7 tears. It has been an independent branch for 3 years. The missionaries are working very hard - there were 6 - 8 investigagors there. One of the missionaries was a Sister from Orem who had been there for only 2 months. Janet talked with her a lot. They both talked about how hard it is and how much crying they have been doing. This trip was hard for Janet. It brought back all of the negatives that happened last month when we went to Porto Seguro. It is interesting that Janet now does not like traveling. Just a suggestion, buy stock in Kleenex.
Some thoughts as to what it all means. As I mentioned, it is interesting the reception we get when we do our visits, or even here in our own ward of Sao Caetano. There is a obvious curiosity because we are from the United States, but the members also seem genuinely appreciative of our willingness to serve a mission for the church. They are also very concerned that things go well for us. They are especially concerned when they see Janet having difficulties. It is very gratifying and humbling to be the recepient of this attention. It also makes us want to do a better job. All you old folks, makes some plans, it really is a great experience.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
For all our loyal followers(6), sorry we're late. We have a good excuse, we were lazy.
This past week was the week of rain. The Cachoeira river that runs through Itabuna is not much of a river. It is about 80 meters (we are in Brasil) wide and about 2 meters deep. It moves very slowly and from here to the ocean (about 25 km) it only drops about 100 meters. It flows over what appears to be lava, which means there is not much of a river bottom as far as dirt and mud goes. It moves so slowly, there are a lot of water lily like plants that grow in it. At times it looks like the river is filling up with these plants. Last week, things changed. It rained.
It had rained a number of times since we have arrived here, but last week, the number of times and the intensity increased a lot. It rained every day, at times very hard and usually it rained during most of the day. The water level in the river went up about 2 meters. As this occured, all the water lilies plants came floating down the river and there was a lot of it. Much of it got caught on the concrete posts supporting the main bridge. It kept piling higher and higher. Normally there is about a 5 meter clearance from the underside of the bridge to the water, but as the water lilies continued to pile up, they acted like a damn and the water level on the up river side of the bridge kept rising. The clearance of the underside of the bridge to the water lilies was reduced to about 1 1/2 meters. The city closed the bridge and brought in a big back hoe type machine with a claw like thing on the end. It would pick up the water lilies and lift them across the bridge or put them on the banks of the river. After 4 - 5 hours of this, most of the problems were taken care of and the bridge was reopened. It was quite interesting and created a lot of national attention down here. This happened on Wednesday but the rain continued throughout the week. there just weren't any more problems.
On Saturday, we went to our twin city, Ilheus. We just wandered around the downtown area. It really is a pretty city. There is a large cathedral right on the edge of downtown. It is very well maintained and very beautiful. We will post some pictures latter. that is Janet's job, so if you don't see them soon, talk to her.
Monday night, the missionaries came over. Janet taught them the animal game. The one where candy is hidden and there are teams, with each team being an animal. When candy is found, the person has to make the sound of there animal until the captain comes and picks up the candy. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Janet or the missionaries.
This past week was the week of rain. The Cachoeira river that runs through Itabuna is not much of a river. It is about 80 meters (we are in Brasil) wide and about 2 meters deep. It moves very slowly and from here to the ocean (about 25 km) it only drops about 100 meters. It flows over what appears to be lava, which means there is not much of a river bottom as far as dirt and mud goes. It moves so slowly, there are a lot of water lily like plants that grow in it. At times it looks like the river is filling up with these plants. Last week, things changed. It rained.
It had rained a number of times since we have arrived here, but last week, the number of times and the intensity increased a lot. It rained every day, at times very hard and usually it rained during most of the day. The water level in the river went up about 2 meters. As this occured, all the water lilies plants came floating down the river and there was a lot of it. Much of it got caught on the concrete posts supporting the main bridge. It kept piling higher and higher. Normally there is about a 5 meter clearance from the underside of the bridge to the water, but as the water lilies continued to pile up, they acted like a damn and the water level on the up river side of the bridge kept rising. The clearance of the underside of the bridge to the water lilies was reduced to about 1 1/2 meters. The city closed the bridge and brought in a big back hoe type machine with a claw like thing on the end. It would pick up the water lilies and lift them across the bridge or put them on the banks of the river. After 4 - 5 hours of this, most of the problems were taken care of and the bridge was reopened. It was quite interesting and created a lot of national attention down here. This happened on Wednesday but the rain continued throughout the week. there just weren't any more problems.
On Saturday, we went to our twin city, Ilheus. We just wandered around the downtown area. It really is a pretty city. There is a large cathedral right on the edge of downtown. It is very well maintained and very beautiful. We will post some pictures latter. that is Janet's job, so if you don't see them soon, talk to her.
Monday night, the missionaries came over. Janet taught them the animal game. The one where candy is hidden and there are teams, with each team being an animal. When candy is found, the person has to make the sound of there animal until the captain comes and picks up the candy. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Janet or the missionaries.
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