Last Day at the Manti Temple

Well we knew it would come sometime.  on June 10th we went to the Manti Temple for the last time before we go to Brazil.  We arrived early to be at a sealing at 10:00 for my niece and afterward went to Ephriam for lunch.  It was so wonderful to witness a live sealing of someone you are close to.  After lunch we came back for our last shift which began at 2:30.  Everyone was so cordial and loving and wanted us to know we would be missed, but they were very happy for us.  We finished our shift at 9:30 and headed for home.  We were very tired.

Our Tutor Brother Mateus

This is Brother Mateus our tutor.  He gives us one hour lessons 2 or 3 time a week on Skype.  The picture at the right is a captured frame from our lesson.  One hour for Jim and one hour for Verae.  I am not allowed to listen in on Verae's lessons because Mateus says that the husbands are too critical of the pronunciation.  Verae is now able to say a prayer in Portuguese and is learning to bare her testimony.  Mateus is from Fortaleza in the North of Brazil and is studying at BYU.  He is so kind and patient with us.  I think he is a bit of a soccer fan.  They call it futebol and our football is called futebol americana.
I am learning things like trying to arrange transportation, speaking with members, and some temple tasks like the recomend desk and guiding those who are at the temple for the first time.   Our lessons are mostly in Portuguese.  After I try to say something.  Mateus will give me the correct phrases and pronunciation.  I believe he has been here in America just a little under 2 years. He is teaching a couple of other couples besides us and one of the couples has left for Brazil now.

Learning the Portuguese Language

We have been trying to learn the Portuguese language now for about a month. We drove to Salt Lake and then to the MTC Bookstore in Provo on May 4th to pick up our language study materials. Ever since then we have been reading and praying and listening to the recordings assigned to us by our tutor. His name is Mateus and he is from Fortaleza in the northern part of Brazil. I have copied the audio lessons to the new mp3 player that I bought so we can listen to the lessons on the road. We have been spending a lot of time on the road lately.