Here are pictures of our Thanksgiving feast in the lovely apartment of Arlen and Debbie Woffinden. Arlen is a branch president at the MTC and a former mission president in Belo Horizonte. He is lawyer and is the Church's legal councel in Brazil.  From left to right seated on the couch are David Neeleman, São Paulo Temple President;  Donald L. Clark, MTC President and Richard C. Hill, Area Medical Adviser.

Steven and Janet Dawson,  office couple in the São Paulo North Mission.  He serves as a branch president at the MTC.

In the foreground is Claudia Andrew, wife of the Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency.  In the orange shirt is Tom Pratt, a branch president and he and his wife, Ruth, serve in the office of the São Paulo Interlagos Mission.  At the head of the table is Larry Dille,  medical adviser for the MTC and in the right hand upper corner, Zaza Clark, wife of the MTC president.

From left to right:  Jerry; Sherri Neeleman, wife of temple president; Janet Dawson;  Karen Jeppsen, whose husband is in a branch presideny and they work with the Perpetual Education Fund; Lynette Clark who along with her husband, Larry, are temple missionaries.  He is also a Branch President.

Left to right, Sisters Ruth Pratt and Debbie Woffinden.

Sister Vicki and Jim Urry, newest couple to arrive in São Paulo.  He is an auditor trainer and a former mission president in the São Paulo East Mission.  Next to him is Don Andrew, Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency.

View from the window of the Woffinden's apartment on the 17th floor.

Walking off the dinner before desert.  Within the walls of this condominium complex are miles of paths that wind through the forests and gardens.  This condo complex is called "O Portal".

This in the lobby of the commons area. It features an indoor pool, two restaurants, a large room in which craft fairs are held  twice a week, a large exercice facility and a library. Arlen Woffinden is seated on the table next to Sister Neeleman.

It was a wonderful celebration.  We have learned to love these couples a great deal. We are both amazed how fast we draw close to them and are aware that this happens because we are all engaged in the work of the Lord.

São Paulo Temple

Almost every week, we have the great blessing of going to the São Paulo temple. Not only are we able to receive the strenght that comes from temple attendance, but we are often blessed to take family names with us thanks to the research and preparatory efforts of Jerry's sister, Becky. We ride the bus with missionaries who are also fortunate to be able to attend the temple regularly. Until a few weeks ago, we went with the American missionaries. Now we go with the Brazilians and are able to attend the Portuguese session. Head phones are availble to hear the presentation in English which Jerry has opted to do.  

These photographs are on the lovely grounds surrounding the temple.

As is true of all the temples, the gardens around the them are both imaculate and stunningly beautiful.

The brazilian national flag waving in front of the temple.

Close-up of the gardens around the entrance to the temple.

Early in the morning and sometimes around dusk, these palm trees are full of noisy, colorful, wild parrots,  It is hard to see them at times because they hide themselves in the palm fronds.  But they make their presence known by the constant squawking.

Looking on to the main street that run directly in front of the temple, Francisco Morato.

At ground level underneath the row of palms trees mentioned above are dozens of gardena bushes with fragrant white flowers.

Just across the parking lot from the temple are two large buildings where headquarters of the Church in Brazil are located. In the building shown here are found the offices of the Area Presidency, a mail service and many offices for the various departments of the Church.

The grounds are proffesionally cared by by a large staff of gardeners.

Our Neighborhood

This is a dead end street that runs east and west and is located directly behind (south of) the MTC. The church purchased a home on this street and removed it. They have made a few parking places where the home once stood.  But the principal reason for the purchase was to provide an emergency exit to the rear of the MTC. This is the door that opens up to the street seen in the picture above. Behind this door are the parking places and the rear exit from the MTC which is reached by walking through basketball court to this street.

It is a little difficult to visualize it from this photo, but the owners of this home have extended the enclosed space for their car by about two feet into the street. This was done either because they have purchased a car and it wouldn't fit in the space (garage) for the vehicle or because they traded up and now have a bigger car that won't fit in that space. This seems to us,  to happen frequently because we have seen this same extension into the street many times since we have been here in São Paulo.

This vine or plant that covers the wall behind Jerry is the best deterent to graffitti that we have ever seen.  (The darker green plant)  The church uses it on the out side walls surrounding chapels, around the temples and we have some of it growing on walls at the MTC.  It must be trimmed from time to time but seems to be a very hardy plant that would be next to impossible to remove from the wall once it has established itself.

This street is called "Rua Relíquia" and runs north and south to the west of the MTC.  The street that runs behind the MTC (photos above) runs off of this street. If you were to turn 180 degrees, you would see the same view as in the first photo. This home in front of you is for rent or sale and has been vacant for a long time.

This is the same street as the one mentioned above and is located about a block north of the location of that photo.  Across this street is the entrance to the new MTC loading dock, bus loading and unloading area and parking lot.  The dark glass windows above Jerry's head is part of the guard booth.  The open door above the front windows of the green car is the pedestrian entance to the parking lot and the large army green doors on the left side of the picture are the vehicle entrance doors.

Another typical home in our neighborhood.  Inlaid rock or tile is the usual material used for the floor of the car parking area.  Most homes have iron fences in the front, which may be low like this one behind Jerry.  Other may be six or eight feet tall.

Same home with Jerry's back to the camera. If you were a missionary tracting in this nighborhood, you would normally not be able to open the gate because it would be locked.  So if there were no door bell on the fence, you would stand in front of the home and clap your hands as loud as you could.  Missionaries learn how to clap loudly enough to be heard by the people inside the homes.

Now we are looking north on Rua Relíquia. About a block and a half  beyond the bend in this road is where the new chapel is located that was featured in our last blog. It is at that point that the road becomes quite steep.

This corner snackbar is a favorite of the missionaries.  On their preparation day many come here for their favorite snacks. It serves hamburgers and french fries and has an amazing variety of smoothies.  They include flavors like maracujá, açaí, caju and goiaba.

This is the street on which the main entrance to the MTC is located. It is found six cars up on the right.

This is Sonia, the tie lady.  She used to set up a little cart across the street from the MTCunder a huge umbrella.  She was finally able to rent a little cubby hole around the corner from the MTC where she can conduct her business out of the rain. These are my "birthday ties" They are quite economical and are of fairly good quality.  We bought two ties for about $8.70 ($R 15,00)

This small corner pharmacy has served the medical needs of missionaries for many years. The pharmacist here has become a friend of the MTC purchasing agent ,Benjamin Braga, and offers the MTC a price on many medications that is competative with  the larger drugstore chains. 

This is the front of a neighborhood grocery store which is right next to the front entrance of  the MTC. Missionaries, MTC staff and even sometimes the MTC kitchen staff are regualr customers here.  We buy items here to supplement the meals that we eat in the cafertia.  These may include oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, condiments and friut.  These are some of the places we see every day here in São Paulo.  We will miss these places but will miss the people more when it is our time to come home.  Until the next blog.

Singing at the Open House

For the past year and a half the church has been building a new chapel about 2 blocks up the hill from the São Paulo MTC.  We have been watching the progress of this building with great interest. The building was finally completed about two months ago and the missionaries of the MTC were to invited to sing on four consecutive nights at the open house. Jerry was a bit frazzled with weight of organizing the program, auditioning the missionaries who would be performing the special numbers and printing all of the sheet music. This was all in addition to her routine work. However, she always does such a great job of organizing these kinds of events and this one was no exception. The following photographs give a breif glimpse of the the program. 

.  Missionaries arriving at the underground parking of the new chapel.

They are already singing (and hamming it up)as they enter the building from the underground parking lot.

They line up in front of the new building.

.  Sister Christine Brown and Sister Marília Rodriguez prepare for the performance.

. Sister Mikayla Bartell (black sweater) will sing a solo.  SisterAmanda Prestwich at her left.

. Brother Andres Lopez, Teacher Supervisor, will lead the choir.

Sister Rita Lourenço in the white blouse is from Angola, Africa and will serve her mission on the Cabo Verde Islands.

Brother  Lopez tells the choir that it is time to start the performance.

Elder Nicolas Bons plays the piano  for the first number of the choir.  He is assisted by his companion, Elder Johnathan Cannon.

A small crowd of members and curious neighbors assemble on the sidewalk in front of the chapel.

. Jerry gives some last minute instructions.

. The programs begins.

. There are more people in the choir than in the listening audience.

. Elder Matthew Barry from Provo has a solo part on the program.

Sister Kristine Hochstettler from Tucson Arizona has a beautifully trained voice and was always willing to share her talents.

View of the chapel from across the street (Rua Relíquia).

Bishop Tiago Rocha observes the choir from the lawn in front of the chapel.

Jerry observes as a double quartet performs.

Each missionary was so willing and enthusiastic as they sang.

Jerry was pleased with the results of all her planning and preparation.