Looking back...

Sunday we went to church at Ala Botofogo. It was fun to listen to Dad remembering his missionary days. He says there used to be a Sears store on this corner.

Dad spent a lot of hours on these two streets 40 years ago.

The missionary returns!

It was wonderful to watch Dad navigate the streets and remember everything. It was fascinating to know where he lived (just below the favella). It was amazing to see the growth of the church in that area, to see a ward full of priesthood leaders, with so many families.

Forty years ago the members met in someone's house, and now they meet in their own chapel. It is the biggest ward by far we have seen in the mission.

our first friends in Brasil...

Presidente and Sister Bezerra met us at the airport with the two assistants, Elder Ashton and Elder Melo. Elder Humes had the time of his life trying out his Portuguese with Presidente and Elder Ashton. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and tried to get the gist. Elder Melo, was in the back with the luggage. Every time I looked back he would try to make me feel welcome by speaking a little English and smiling. He has the best smile in the world! Elder Melo was my first Brazillion friend.

We are really leaving....

Tuesday morning (January 27th) we boarded a plane at the Salt Lake airport, bound for Rio de Janeiro Brasil by way of Atlanta Georgia. Brasil was in the air, so to speak-- in Salt Lake we met a sister missionary bound for the CTM (the MTC in Sao Paulo), in Atlanta we met a Brazillian family who were members and a young returned missionary sister who was also going to Brasil for a visit. Dad talked to the family and I talked to the young sister for a couple of hours. When we boarded the (huuuuuuuge) plane for Rio we sat with a young businessman from São Paulo named Cassio, who was gracious enough to let Dad practice his Portuguese on him. It was a long flight, and when we finally arrived on Wednesday morning we couldn't believe that a mere 24 hours could take us

from this...

...and this...

to this...

...and this...!

(It was actually about 40 degrees in both places!)

The miracle had really happened. We were on our mission
for the Lord in Brasil, Rio de Janeiro.

The Perfect Storm...

There were two storms our last few days at the MTC: one was white and beautiful, and the other brought us to our knees. Dad had a terrible headache, not like any he had ever had before, which would not go away. To make things
worse he could feel a migraine coming as well. The pain was unbearable, and we knew we needed help....

Prayer, a priesthood blessing, and a trip to the ER in Provo made it so that we were only one day late leaving for Rio... We had more thoughts about opposition, and felt grateful we aren't in this alone.

At the MTC...

Office Training...

Brother Manis was one of our teachers the second
week. His mother was our Gospel Doctrine teacher
when we were in the Morning Sun ward in Las Vegas!
I think he said he was three at the time...
boy, are we old!

A face from home...

We loved seeing Elder Ken Matheson at the MTC
and couldn't wait to tell his Mom he looked wonderful
and absolutely ready to go out and teach the Gospel!

My brave sisters...
Sister Brooks, (Australia) Sister Beauchamp, (Cape
Verde Island off the coast of Africa)
and Sister Morris (Omaha, Nebraska)

What faith!

Set apart...

the day we dreamed of...

Within a very short time of the decision to serve a mission, our applications were submitted. While we waited, Dad worked by day and practiced his Portuguese by night, reading O Livro De Mórmon and listening to his tapes!

Dad was inspired to sit down with me and tell me he felt we should prepare ourselves for obstacles.

We agreed that we would not allow any such obstacles to deter us.

It is well that we had that conversation, for there were indeed obstacles of every kind-- financial, physical, mental, and spiritual. But we also had our children's joyful support, their prayers for us, unexpected financial blessings which came when those we planned on fell through, and best of all, on October 3rd, 2008, a large white envelope came in the mail. The Lord had a call for us!

Words can never express the way we felt or describe the look on your Dad's face when we read that we were called to serve in the Brasil, Rio de Janeiro mission!

Did I mention that Dad had put January 10th as our availability date? We were set apart by President Asahel Robison January 11th, 2009.

August 3rd, 2008

On this Sunday morning I was looking at lds.org, the website for the church. Just for fun I clicked on the link Mission and Service opportunities.

With a few more clicks I arrived at the page which lists all the missions in the church and the cost to serve in each one. Little did I know those clicks would change the course of our life.

Dennis asked me what I was doing, and when I told him, he said print a copy of that for me (which should have been my first clue, but it wasn't). Minutes later he said, Judy, maybe we've been doing this backwards. We keep talking about going on a mission as soon as we get our affairs in order. Maybe we should tell the Lord we are willing to serve a mission, and let Him help us get ready. Why don't we make an appointment with Bishop Messer and tell him what we're thinking, and ask him to pray with us this week and ask the Lord if the time for us to serve is now.

We met with Bishop Messer, who agreed to make it a matter of prayer. I think we even said we would meet again next Sunday.

That day Bishop initiated the Missionary Online Recommendation.

By the end of the week, Dennis had:
*applied for his passport
*renewed his driver's license
*started filling out mission papers online
*made an appointment to see his doctor
And
*ordered two Books of Mormon- in Portuguese.

Meanwhile, I was praying about it.