Sunday, August 1, 2010

Elder Gramosa, Sandra, Odair,Elder Nascimento, Presidente & Sister
We had the opportunity to go to a wedding and baptism of a couple here in Porto Alegre, Odair and Sandra. Odair told us that he had been praying about a church to go to and one day he found our Temple here in Porto Alegre. it was a Saturday, and there were lots of people around. He wanted to go inside the Temple but found out that only church members could go in. He said that the people all seemed very happy, and it made him want to find out more about the church. He went home and told his "wife" about his experience, and that he knew what church they should join. She said, "Is it the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday saits?" (She had never even hear that name befor, the Holy Ghost just put the name into here mind. They just showed up at church the next Sunday. WOW!!! After their baptism, they thanked the Bishop and the R.S. president for everything, and told them that they were ready to do their part. . . . . how often do you hear that?


We drove down to São Lorenço to attend Church. We stopped on the way in Camaquã to pick up an extra tanquinho that the Elders there didn't need, (A type of washing machine the some of the apartments have. It is basically a big bucket the swishes the clothes around. Some of the missionaries have real live washing machines which they love, because the actually wring the clothes out and they dry faster.) so we could take it to the São Lorenzo Elders whose tanquinho was broken. I get a kick out of seeing 29-25 year old young men getting excited about washing machines. We arrived a little early, and were sitting out in the car reading our scriptures. Along came some of the members driving to church in their horse cart. It was so fun to see.

We love seeing the men wearing their dressy Gaucho (cowboy) clothes!

Last week-end we met with the wonderful people of Bagé and Dom Pedrito. They are in a struggling Stake about 6 hours away from Porto Alegre. We enjoyed a terrific Ward Conference in Dom Pedrito They had 80-100 members there. It was Father's Day in the USA, and their theme was "Strengthening Families." It brought back a lot of memories to me from my childhood, driving out there through the farmlands, it looked a lot like Pullman where I grew up. I was thinking about how most of my memories of growing up center around Family Prayer every day, Family Scripture reading, and FHE. When you think about it, all of these day by day things seem very small and insignificant, but over time they build the traditions, bonds, the strength of the family and the atmosphere of the home. Alma 37:6 By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

We were invited to lunch by President Zombrano, the Stake President. The people there live very humbly, they had two sofas that were covered with sheets, and some patio chairs, also a kitchen table with 4 chairs. Their home was very clean, and the food was delicious. They had pictures on the wall of the Temple and other church related themes.

President Zombrano shared their conversion story with us: Their 14 year old son made some friends at church and was the first to be baptized. Sister Zombrano said that she went to her son's baptism to support him. She said she sat on the hard bench for an hour, and that she would never do that again. Then the missionaries came to their home to give their son the new member lessons. President Zombrano said that at that time he was so shy, that he would not sit in the room with the Sister missionaries. His wife was there with their son, and he was in the kitchen sitting at the table listening. They both gained their testimonies from having the Sisters in their home teaching their son.

When I first came on the mission, I had the opinion that it was not a good thing to baptize these 12-16 year old youth that come and play soccer at the church with their friends, but more and more I am realizing that many of our strong Elders and Leaders here were baptized as youth, and the only member of their family at that time.