It Takes Faith

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Thursday the 5th  I was at the front door of the temple here in Campinas.  I was doing the normal thing of greeting people as they come in.  I was unaware of what exactly was happening in the life of this family who were coming for their first time. I didn't know how far they had traveled or how long they had been trying  to come here, the struggles they had been through, or what there expectations were.  A few hours later that day he came to talk with me.  He told me something of their trip and how hard it had been to prepare and save the money necessary, and how happy he was to finally be here.  He said it has been over 10 years that they have been waiting for today.  Always when we had planned to come, something would go wrong and we couldn't come.  As you can see in the picture it is over 1600 miles from Manaus in Northern Brazil by the Amazon River, to Campinas; so it is either a 7 day trip by boat and bus, or a 3 1/2 hour plane trip.  The caravan they were in came by plane.  He hadn't had any sleep for over 24 hrs before getting to the airport.  When he arrived at the airport he found out that he was to be the leader of the caravan.  I guess there were about 20 people in the group.  He had never even been on a caravan before.  He then had to take care of some problems that had arisen.  There they finally were at the front desk, I told him his recommend had not been activated yet.  He didn't know what that meant and was devastated for just few moments, thinking he wouldn't be able to come in.  However, his wife's was just fine, which cause me to wonder for a moment.  As we talked about his experiences that day I got to know how prepared he had been.  He noticed things in the paintings on the walls that I hadn't thought of and how they relate to the temple ordinances.  I felt a special something about him and we have exchanged emails and even Skyped once since he has returned home to Manaus.
    Normally caravans leave on Saturday to go back home, but this one was staying over until Monday afternoon.  We saw he and his wife taking pictures of each other in front of the temple on Sunday and went over to offer to take pictures of the both of them.  After the pictures we visited for about an hour and invited them to come to our apartment the next morning which is our P day, to visit some more.
We found out that they had been unable to get permission from the father of the 2 oldest daughters so they could be sealed to them.  This is a second marriage for both of them.  They were heart broken to have to return without having the whole family sealed.  They still felt so very blessed and the experience of going to the temple and receiving the ordinances was more wonderful than they had dreamed.  The Manaus temple will be completed in about a year, but they don't want to wait until then to return to the temple.
    Monday afternoon we were invited to a devotional the caravan was having before returning to Manaus.  After a couple of talks they opened up the meeting for anyone who wanted to bare their testimony.  They were all so uplifting.  They related how this experience had changed their lives and strengthened their love for the Savior.  The spirit was so strong, I couldn't remain seated. Those who where leaving sang the closing song "Till We Meet Again" to the temple missionaries.  It was an honor to be there.  After the meeting we hugged everyone.
    I have learned to try to put myself in the shoes of the person on the other side of the desk as they enter the temple.  It isn't routine for them.  I am there everyday and so things become kind of routine and it shouldn't be.

P-Day Paradise

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 For our P-Day on Monday the 18th of April we took 7 car loads of the temple missionaries to a private retreat. The owner used to live on the property with their family and now they rent it out for family or company party.  We didn't know what to expect, but we certainly didn't expect this paradise.
We planned on leaving at 8:00 AM but ended up leaving at 9:30 to go and have a bar-b-que and return about 4:00.  It was only about a 30 minute drive and I wondered why we were leaving so early and not coming back until late in the afternoon.  After seeing all that was here and the sheer natural beauty,  I wanted to stay longer.  The meal was a real Brazilian barbeque with pork, chicken and beef.  Better meat I have never tasted.  We started eating shortly after noon and I ate like it was thanksgiving.  Then I played some pool and ping pong.  Verae and I got a tour of the gardens by the owner.  They used to raise chickens, pigs and cows and had crops to feed the animals.  Now that the family is raised, they rent it out to help pay the costs of upkeep.
After returning from the feast and party, we prepared for the Family Home Evening which was held outside around the fountain in front of the temple.  Such a beautiful setting for a spiritual feast which was the close of a wonderful day.

Caravans Fill The Temple

These are some of the buses that come to the temple on a given day.  On Fridays and Saturdays the temple is full of patrons.  We had more that 12 large buses this weekend.  Some come with entire families so they can be sealed.  There are places for them to stay while here during the week.  It is really special to see the little children enter to be sealed.  We are getting used to walking around the temple grounds seeing these family with small children in their arms.   Caravans are organized by stakes and come with their own ordinance workers to help with the work.  We have a skeleton crew of workers during the week to make sure the temple functions.  In the evenings and on Saturday when the caravans come, then we are able to fill the temple and a lot of work is done.  It is difficult to plan when you don't know how many will be coming.

Some LDS Chapels in Brazil

Newest Stake Center in Campinas, Brazil

This is a side view of the newest chapel built in Campinas. It has been in use about 10 months. Notice the parking under the building. This is where we attended stake conference 2 weeks ago. We parked in the rear under the chapel.  There is room for about 30 cars under the building.

 This is a front view of the same chapel.  It is in the heart of the city next to the UNIP University.

Sousas Ward

This is the Sousas Ward in Campinas.  This is closest to the Temple here.  Lately we have been going to other wards for conferences or to hear someone speak.

This is a picture of the 1st chapel in Bauru, São Paulo when it was dedicated in 1965 which I attended.
Here is a link to a little of the history of the church in Brazil that I came across.

click  here to view a history of the church in Brazil

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Also I am trying a new feature to imbed a slide show in this post of more chapels here.

Trip to Paraty, Rio de Janeiro

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We took a great quick trip to an old colonial town on the coast of Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro with our friends.  We stayed in their 2 bedroom summer home.
To see all the pictures Click Here.

Unusual Food

We have tried some unusual food here in Brazil.  For instance this is a hamburger they serve here in the little cafeteria for the bus caravans.  This is not the cafeteria inside the temple.  This hamburger also has an egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and HAM on it.  The french fries are tiny fried potatoes that taste more like potato chips.  No ketchup to be found in the cafeteria, but you can buy it in the supermarket so we have some at home.  I really quite like the egg and ham, but I prefer the potatoes on the side.

  We have here some small speckled bird eggs found in the supermarket next to the chicken eggs.  There are 30 eggs in the package which is about the same size as a dozen regular eggs.  Our friends told us they were really good in salads, so we tried it.  You boil them for about 10 minutes so the yokes are hard, then peel them and put them in the salad.  Boy that is a lot of work peeling those little eggs about the size of a big marble.
For Easter they would be great, already colored and the kids would have to try hard to find them.  Then it would take a long while to peel them.

They do look nice in the salad and taste pretty much the same as regular eggs, but they are bite sized.  The dressing is a Rosé, is similar to thousand island dressing.

Saturday was a huge day in the temple.  There were 5 buses and the temple was full all day long and into the evening.

Baking In a Portable Oven

We have been here one month now.  We decided to try to bake a cake the other day.  Because our apartment doesn't have an oven we were going to try using the microwave oven.  Then we found out that there were a portable oven that we could wheel into our apartment.

It is a little larger that the normal microwave and plugs into the 110 Volt outlet.  All the temperature markings are in centigrade.  There is a dial for the upper element and one for the lower element.  We were able to bake the cake, but it was overdone.   I didn't know you had to turn the dials down and turn  the upper dial down more so as not to burn the top of the cake.  We will try cookies next and do a better job of watching the clock.  There is no timer on the oven and I can't find one on the microwave either.

Well Carnival began this Saturday and goes until next Wednesday. Last week there were fewer than normal patrons at the temple.  We were the only couple on one of the sessions last week.  It rained everyday last week and one day was really a down pore.  I hope because people are off work and only a 10% chance of rain, that more will be at the temple this next week.
For those who didn't see the pictures of the temple, here is a link to them.

Verae and the Banannas

A few days ago we went for one of our walks. Still on the temple property.  This picture was taken at the bottom of the temple hill and looks opposite direction from the temple.

 I always seem to catch Verae with her eyes closed, but you get the idea of the size of the tree.  There are quite a few of them in this area.  I bet you can't find the bananas in this photo.  They are just above the big leaf hanging down.  This is why I didn't see them the first time I went down to this area to take pictures.

This picture is a close up of another tree and as you can see there big stem hangs down with a purple bulb/ flower at the bottom.  You need to click on the picture to enlarge it and then you can see the bananas grow curling up from this stem.

Verae was so fascinated with this little flower/ bulb she took some pictures of just this part of the tree.



One more final picture of the temple on our way back up the hill.  It is about a ten minute walk to the bottom of the hill, but about twenty five minutes to climb back up it.  It is a pretty good work out for our hearts.

The Portuguese language is coming along pretty well, a bit faster than I thought it would. Verae can't see her progress yet, but I can see here becoming more at ease with it.  She can read and pronounce all the ordinances she is supposed to do and goes alone on sessions as a worker and helps at the veil.  I am being trained as a coordinator.  One difference I notice at this temple, from the other temples I have worked at, is that  buses arrive with officiators and patrons in the caravan.  We help those who come to do all the ordinances.  These caravans come and stay up to a week and then return home again.  For many it is a 2 day trip to get here and for others, it is longer.  There is housing for them here on the temple grounds.
The temple here in Campinas server members from 94 stakes and districts from 10 of the 27 states and the federal district.  They are:
São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Federal District (Brazilia), Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Acre and Tocantins.

The distance from Acre to Campinas is about 2000 miles or the same as from San Francisco to Chicago.

Settling in Here

Well we have been here for a week and a half now.  We love it here in the Campinas area, and our apartment is just great.  We had a good rain storm yesterday in the late afternoon and the temperature dropped to 69 degrees.  The power went out twice but came back on after a few seconds each time.  We have been shopping here at Wal-mart and Sams Club and have been to 2 large shopping malls.  In a way it feels more like home than Manhattan.  We have a Magic Jack phone connected to our computer with a Logan, UT phone number.  The internet connection here is faster than in our home in Utah, so the quality of the phone connection is great.
Other missionaries who have cars, or sweet members, have taken us shopping when needed.  We haven't used the buses yet.  We went for a walk with some of the Brazillian senior couples around the temple grounds which are grand and had a fun time visiting with them on an informal basis.  The church owns the whole mountain on which the temple stands.  The temple hill is just across the street from the Notre Dame college and the area had that name because of the school.  Since the temple has been built, the area is now called Mt. Zion and not just by the members.  The address is  Rua James Esdras Foust 400.  It is really quite a bit of exercise to walk up that road on the left.

Our schedule is 8:00 to 3:00 Tues and Wed. and 2:30 to 9:30 on Thurs and Fri.  Saturday is 6:00 to Noon.  We have one meal in the temple at the cafeteria and breakfast at home each day.  Verae went on a session yesterday with the headphones in English but finished the session in Portuguese.  I am picking up the Portuguese faster than I expected.  President Oakes asked me how our first week was and I told him, much better than I expected.
Some of the Brazilian couples have asked us to teach an English class which we will be setting up.  We have been welcomed so warmly here.  I hope to be able to serve these wonderful people here and learn to have more generosity in my service.
We love you all
Elder and Sister Hansen

Arriving in Brazil

 

Well the day of getting on the plane to go to Brazil finally arrived.  President Garff the Manhattan Temple President and his wife were so kind as to take us to the airport about 5:30 PM.  It took about an 1 1/2 in route through the traffic.  We did curb side check in and waited for about 2 hours at the gate.

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The Trip was  about 16 hours from beginning to end, but when we arrived at the apartment we were relieved that we had made it through immigration and customs.  This is the picture of the temple I took as the sun was going down behind it. I still haven't unpacked but I got the computers hooked up.

  We went to church today and I bore my testimony.  It felt so wonderful feeling the spirit and hearing the testimonies of these wonderful Brazilian members.  After church we were invited to dinner at the  home of the Temple Recorder with 2 members of the presidency and their wives along with the brother from the temple committee who is here for a few days.   It has been a wonderful day.