Independence Park

The doctor caught me shooting in his shot

This is the Paulista Museum in Independence Park in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Itwas built in honor of Pedro II, the son of the man who declared independencefrom Portugal. This is in the Ipiranga Area. Ipiranga is referred to inthe Brazilian National Anthem as the birthplace of Brazil as a nation.

traveling arrangements

this is how we travel. The President drives, Sister Woodward navigates, we sit in the middle, and the Doctor and Sister Linford sit in the rumble seat. It is a tight fit but we enjoy being able to get out once a week and go somewhere together.

They bought the CTM a violin

Elder Lohner is playing the violin. Braga is over purchasing for the Brazil MTC and agreed to buy us this wonderful violin. Elder Lohner's mission president gave him special permission to bring a violin with him. He played with the church orchestra for two years. We had a violin that we were barrowing from a teacher but she left and took her violin with her. So we were thrilled when Elder Lohner came. he has graciously let others play his violin. We had three others that played but no violin. Now we have a new Elder Lew who also played with Elder Lohner in the Church Orchestra.

june in Brazil

Here we are in front of the lane full of food and heading home




I could not resist taking this picture of the lane leading away from the home.


We had sausage, chicken, stake, and ribs. The two older men are brazilians serving in one of the branches at the MTC the two young men are BYU exchange students living with President Yamagochi (spelling is off but grandpa/Vern is taking a nap) in Brazil as foreign exchange students.


Everyone brought salads, desserts, or drinks.


This is the back yard of the home and where everyone parked

This is what you see when you look over the deck on the roof of his home


These two Brazilian brothers are branch presidents at the MTC. This is the home of the one in the white T-shirt. He just resently traded his apartment in the city for this country home. Actually it is more like a jungle home. The party was held on the roof. We had rain most of the day but it was delightful never the less. We were a little worry that we would not be able to make it up the hill with all the rain. But everyone made it home safely with just a lot of mud on all of the cars Sunday morning in the MTC parking lot.



The whole month of June the people in Brazil have what they call a Hill-billy celebration.
They have dancing and singing and eating. They dress up in silly hats. The men roll of their jeans and paint wiskers on their chins. The women traditionally wear floral print dresses, put their hair in pig tails and wear colorful ankle socks. This was the first june celegration for many of us so we were not sure what to wear.

P-day at the Sao Paulo Zoo

This was school day at the zoo. I got to sit next to a four-year old on the bus who could speak Portuguese better than I could. Here

English. . . . . . . . .Portugeuse

Elephant . . . . . . . . . Elefante
Hippopotamus . . . . Hipopótamo
Giraffe . . . . . . . . . . .Girafa
Tiger . . . . . . . . . . . . Tigre
Rhinoceros . . . . . . . Rinoceronte
Chimpanzees. . . . . .Chimpanzées
Monkey. . . . . . . . . . Macaco

Happy birthday Jeff

We love you and are so proud of you.

June is the off-season in Guaraja and it was Friday so there were very few people on the beach. If any of you decide to come and visit this is a place we would want to go.

Vernon/grandpa went too

It was a very pleasant day. Actually it was a perfect day. The weather was not too hot and not to cold. The only thing that went wrong was we forgot to charge the battery on the camera so we were not able to take all the pictures that we wanted to take.

Ocean Day-trip

We left early friday morning and drove to the Beach. President and Sister Woodward are on the left and Doctor and Sister Linford are on the right.

Sleepless in Brazil

Many nights we can't sleep. So I get up and write. I have been keeping a paper and pen journal that I refer to it as my small plates; in it I am recording my study and reflection on the scriptures. Usually about midnight I am tired enough to sleep.

Sometime the sleeplessness is due to taking our medication late at night. I have to take my thyroid pill in the morning before I eat and then wait at least four hours to take any vitamins or minerals. I usually get busy and involved with the missionaries and forget to take them until around 8:00 at night when I shut down the help desk. Vernon/grandpa sometimes forgets to take his pills before his meals so he takes them at night and he has the same problem.

Sometimes the sleeplessness on Sunday and Tuesday night is caused by the spiritual impact of the day’s activities and our minds and hearts are just too full to sleep.

Sometimes the sleeplessness on Monday nights can be contributed to the missionaries that are leaving. There is a tradition here for missionaries to gather in the court yard just outside our window to sing, take pictures, and say their last good-byes, before going out into their various missions throughout Brazil. The missionaries start about 9:30 p.m. and are suppose to end at 10:00 p.m. but usually things do not quiet down until about 11:00 p.m.. Lights are supposed to be out at 10:30. When Vernon/grandpa and the President attend the send-off the missionaries usually end on time.

Sometimes the sleeplessness on Wednesday and Thursday is due to getting new missionaries that are tired, but wired, and forget that quiet time starts at 10:00 p.m.. Vernon/grandpa and the President have had to go and knock on some doors, turn out their light and lovingly remind them it is time to lay quietly in their beds, even if they can’t sleep.

Usually we are not sleepless together.

Fortunately for us we have two other rooms where we can go if we can’t sleep. Fortunately we can take a nap in the afternoon on Sunday, especially now that I don’t have to practice leading the music for the choir. Taking a nap in the afternoon, however, at our age is also a cause of sleeplessness at night.

Fortunately we have our preparation day on Saturday and can sleep in a bit. The missionaries, however, start their classes at 7:30 A.M. with a song and their classrooms are just across the courtyard from our room. Often I think of this struggle with sleeplessness as preparation for the next life when we won’t need to sleep to stay healthy and alive.

Happy Birthday Kari

We have been thinking about you all day! Love ya lots!

edit point

I am in charge of "All the Music" for the Sunday and Tuesday night meetings. . .

magnifying my calling

We were able to participate (via technology) in the dedication of the Brazil Curitiba temple dedication and celebration. The people in Brazil are very exuberant in their celebrations and this was an occasion for the people to celebrate. They put on a major production Saturday night for the Prophet; dancing, singing, and dramatizing the coming of the first German family that were members of the church to Curitiba Brazil. The wife wrote a letter to the prophet, Heber J. Grant, requesting Missionaries be sent to this city. James E. Faust and Grant Bangater (Vernon’s mission president and emeritus member of the first counsel of seventy) were sent to Curitiba. There were thousands of people in the stadium that night waving their arms, dancing, and singing "We are the Fruits of your labors"

This morning at 9:00 was the dedication. Participating with hundreds of missionaries was also quite thrilling. The first counselor in the CTM (Portuguese for MTC) Presidency was the interpreter for the Prophet. To night we will have a fireside and the missionary choir will sing "O My Father". It should be quite lovely because we had a new missionary arrive on Thursday that has played the violin in the Church Orchestra for the last two years and was given permission to bring his violin. He will play with the choir.

I must say I am much more relaxed now about my calling in regards to the music. I am in charge of all the Sunday and Tuesday evening meetings and any other special large group meetings that are held at the CTM. I showed the Lord I was willing to do what ever I was asked and found that I could magnify my calling by seeking out the talents of the young missionaries.

I felt impressed to have the young missionaries with musical ability lead the choir. I make all the arrangements; pick the numbers, the conductor, the pianist; I print out the music and take care of all the details. My strength has always been in project management, attention to detail and delegation. So far I have had the missionaries conduct twice. They have been wonderful. In fact the Mission President and his wife think it is a great idea to give the missionaries this opportunity.