Zone Conferences, Transfers and More

Hi All!

Time keeps zipping by here in Piracicaba!  In February the Brazilians celebrated Carnaval.  We didn't see much in our area but seems like many of the stakes here held youth conferences over that weekend and holiday.  Howard and I had the privilege of speaking at four of these-two on Sunday and two on Monday.  It was fun to be with the youth and see them enjoying the activities and sharing in each other's company.  Being from an area where there were not many LDS youth I remember how important these activities were to me.

Then we had transfers.  We lost some gems but gained some new ones!

This last week we had our zone conferences and this week starts three weeks of interviews.  I love this new schedule and being able to spend more time with the missionaries.

With zone conferences my running schedule has been off and I ended up running one evening in a torrential rainstorm.  It was only sprinkling when I left and actually it's easier running in the rain than in the heat.  Anyway, I ruined my mission phone.  It drowned! I lost some pictures and my notes.  I'm using my old phone from home until I get a replacement.  It was one of those memorable runs though.

We've had some amazing miracles here in our mission.  One person of another religion dreamed the name of our church.  She investigated it online and is now receiving the lessons and preparing for baptism.  Another family had been contacted by a pair of sisters but with transfers the sisters hadn't returned.  In the meantime someone had delivered a basket of food and some money to them in the name of the church.  When inquiry was made as to who sent it, the deliverer said it was two missionaries in white shirts and ties, with  name tags, one tall American and another Brazilian. We have no elders working in that area and the ones close by had no idea what they were talking about.  We don't know where the help came from but we're not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.  We're grateful for any help we receive.  Our missionaries are seeing other miracles in their lives and in their work as they work hard and are obedient.

We're on our second round of stake conferences now and are speaking nearly every Sunday.  Will it ever get easier?  I comes so easily for Howard!

We love and miss you all and hope some of you will come visit us while we're here!

Love,

Mom/Lissa

 Some of our wonderful sisters

 Zone conference

 Soggy car

 Happy to have completed an honorable mission

 YM preparing for missions

 Missionaries of Excellence

 Zone Conference in Piracicaba

 Lunch after interviews in Botucatu

 Zone Conference

 Encampment

Girls Camp

Hello From Piracicaba!

Dear Family and Friends,

I know it's been a long time since I've written.  I figured most of you are following our mission experiences and didn't need a detailed version of my trip home.  Besides I got to spend wonderful moments with many of you.  A quick overview:  I went home for Emily's wedding which was perfect.  Thank you to all of my Friends who helped with this special occasion. I was also able to attend my grandson's baptism which was an honor.  Howard got to be an unofficial witness via Skype to both the baptism and the festivities of the wedding.Having a cardboard cutout of him didn't quite make up for his absence especially when Emily tried to dance with him.

Other than those two special occasions I was able to spend time with family sledding, attending BYU basketball and a grandson's lacrosse game, making candy for the reception, an awesome bachelorette party (Watch out.  We're all trained in self-defense now) and lots of fun hang out time.  I got to meet my new grandson Solomon who was born in September and found out I'll have two more this summer: a girl from Nick and Gina and a boy from Amy and Dave. That'll make it an even dozen.  Lunch and dinner with friends and family and even a long run with Felicia, and cross country skiing made it the perfect trip.  Maybe a little too perfect.

I had to go through the adjustment of leaving family and being a missionary in a foreign land all over again.  Fortunately this adjustment came much faster and I'm back into the full swing of things.

A couple of weeks ago there was a worldwide missionary training and we pulled all of the missionaries in for that and a zone conference.  It was a great day and so great to be with all of the missionaries again.

Now we're doing interviews.  According to the new schedule we will be doing zone conferences and interviews every transfer.  Last week we left on Tuesday and didn't get home until Sunday night.  We have two more weeks of interviews, but we'll only stay in hotels two or three times in those weeks.  While Howard is interviewing, the zone leaders are doing training with the missionaries.  Last week's trainings were impressive and I love the time I get to spend with the missionaries!  They're amazing!

I see many complaining of all the snow you're getting and I'm somewhat envious.  My first winter home when I'm running in the snow you need to remind me that I said I'd rather run in the snow than the heat and humidity that we have here!

Life is good.  We feel blessed!  We see the Lord's hand in this work everyday and are surrounded by miracles.  We appreciate your prayers.  We feel them.  And we hope many of you will come visit us while we're here.  We'd love you have you!!

Love,

Mom/Lissa

Driving to the worldwide training

 

 11 investigators Howard crammed into the car last Sunday

This Elder's first baptism in Portuguese. 

He's only been out 2 weeks. 

He doesn't speak much Portuguese but he makes up for it with his smile!

 Sao Joao de Boa Vista

Pirassununga 

 Sao Carlos

 Baptism in Villa Sonia

 Nova Piracicaba

The Bride

Amy and Dave's boy due in July

Nick and Gina's girl due in June

 All my children

 Almost all of the Americans in one place. 

The bravest of the brave watched the training in Portuguese.

 My newest grandson, Solomon

Sammy's baptism

Happy New Year! And Utah Bound!

Dear Family and Friends!

2016 was a fun, exciting and adventurous year and we look forward to a new one with much more fun and excitement!

December was a fun and busy month for us.  We started by saying good-bye to some beloved missionaries and welcoming in a new wonderful batch.  From there we went to our Christmas zone conferences.  We had training in the morning and then music after lunch from the various zones and various missionaries.  We have some amazing talent in this mission and it really helped put me in the Christmas spirit. Especially when one of the conferences fell on the day the #LighttheWorld challenge was to light the world with music!

A special thanks to the sisters who unfortunately were sick and had to spend a few days in the mission home because I don't know how I would've wrapped and labelled the missionary's gifts without you!  A blessing in disguise I guess.

The highlight of this month was the two weeks we had Emily with us.  We played hard while she was here.  Three highlights stand out.  The first was the day we got to zipline over the jungles of Brazil and then go play in a waterfall.  Next was the day she went and worked with the sisters.  She had so much fun and came back so happy and excited and also a little homesick for her mission.  The third was the days we got to spend with her old companion Mercia Francino who returned from her mission less than two weeks ago.  They laughed and giggled the whole time like a couple of jr. high girls and we had some fun adventures. Letting her go was hard.  Harder for Howard than for me since I'm headed to her wedding in a couple of days.

Also a reminder for anyone who has not received an invitation and would like to come, her reception is on Saturday January 14th at the church on Ole Bish Lane in Highland from 6:00-8:00.  Missionaries and missionary parents, I would love to see you!  I'll even have a little gift for you!

I wish you all a very blessed and happy new year.  

Love,

Lissa

Merry Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends!

December already?  Where did November go?  I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.  I had planned to cook a chicken but when I woke up I decided I wanted to do more so I made stuffing (kind of), mashed potatoes and gravy, and green bean casserole(again, kind of).  With that we had pao de queijo since I haven't mastered rolls with these ovens like Jalayne has, guarana and chocolate cake.  We had so much food that Howard decided to invite some friends.  I had a fun day in the kitchen and we had a fun evening together roasting in the warm weather on our deck.

It's hard to get in the Christmas spirit, but I'm enjoying all of the Christmas music that Howard downloaded for me as I sit in front of the air conditioner.  Our good friends found a live little tree for us that we decorated with some of our most precious ornaments that we brought from home.  Now we're anticipating Emily's visit in a couple of weeks to make everything complete!  I've decided that what I miss most this Christmas season other than family is singing with Friends!  It's just not Christmas without those wonderful women, their beautiful voices and their precious friendship!

We have a couple here who has been called to oversee missionary housing.  They're lifesavers!  They find new houses when a move is necessary, oversee repairs, and when things are beyond repair purchase replacements for everything from blenders to beds.  This week Howard and I went with them to make some deliveries and do some surprise inspections on the houses.  For the most part I was pleasantly surprised with how tidy the houses were.  The ones that weren't up to snuff really weren't too bad .  Word's out now that we're making surprise visits and leaving candy to the clean houses, so I expect things to get even better.  All in all it was a good day with good friends and the missionaries.

Transfers again this week!  Howard just called a new assistant.  He was so cute.  He literally looked ill when Howard finished talking to him, he had tears in his eyes and was truly humbled by the call.  He'll be great!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season, remembering always the reason for the season!

Love,

Lissa

 Stake Conference in Botucatu

Saying goodbye to one more wonderful sister

Brazilian BBQ Piracicaba Zone

Mission home christmas tree

A wonderful afternoon with District President Bonini and his family

Hello From Piracicaba

Dear Family and Friends!

Tonight Howard is at a Stake Priesthood Leadership meeting so I figured I'd take a few minutes to try to catch up on the news.

Time is flying by!  And we're loving every minute of it.  

At the end of October we had a visit from Elder Bassatt and his wife.  He's the second counselor in the area presidency.  We got the whole mission together for this visit.  We understand that getting the whole mission  together is not something that's done, but we've been able to do it twice so far.  It is so much fun to have all of the missionaries together in one place!

Elder and Sister Bassatt were wonderful and we received excellent training from them.

Just before they came we got a new group of missionaries.  They come to the mission home for training and lunch and then over to the chapel for their assignments and new comps.  This is one of my favorite moments in the mission.  The new missionaries all stand and sing Called to Serve and on the second verse their new companions come in through the back singing.  It gives me chills just to write about it.  The volume doesn't just double but it's like all of the angels in heaven have joined in!  I always get too emotional to sing along.

This last week we had our Brazil Mission Presidents Seminar  in Iguacu.  It was amazing.  I felt like I'd been invited to a very exclusive event by mistake.  The training was amazing and being able to be with other presidents and wives and pick their brains was a real blessing.  I was somewhat jealous of other missions where there was another mission president and wife in the same city (like Paulo and Jalayne) or other Americans close by (Paulo and Jalayne) or a beach (P&J).  But the more I learn of other missions compared to ours the more I feel Heavenly Father picked this one just for me.  I feel really blessed.

It was also great to spend time with Paulo and Jalayne.  With more than a year under their belts they were a great source of information and it was wonderful to be with family again.

On Thursday we went on an excursion to the falls that was so much fun!  This group can be wild and crazy which made me feel like I fit in a little better!

The week before we left we started with interviews.  Okay, Howard started with interviews while I attended a special zone training meeting-a wonderful idea from Elder Bassatt.  We'll finish up with those this week.

Today we had the privilege of attending a meeting where one of our branches was made into a ward.  So great to see the church growing.  We have a lot of work to make sure those who are baptized are really converted and stay active and to seek out our "lost sheep".  Howard got some great tools from Paulo when we visited with him last Spring that he's ready to implement.  We hope to see a lot of work done in bringing many back to the fold.

We love our work.  We love Brazil.  We miss you all and hope you will come visit us!  Piracicaba is not really a destination spot but we've found some fun things to do and we're not far from Campinas International Airport, so we can be a jump off point for anything you want to see here!

Love,

Lissa

Iguacu Falls with Howard's brother Paulo and his wife JaLayne 

(serving as mission presidents in Salvador Brasil)

 Iguacu Falls

Members from the old days in the 1960's

Elder and Sister Bassett

Lunch at the mission home at Leadership Council

 At the cemetery on Dia dos Finados (Memorial Day)

EMILY ENGAGED! Mission News, Departing Missionaries

Dear Family and Friends,

Seems like we're always busy, but interesting stuff comes in spurts.

The big news is Emily's engagement to Peyton Moss.  They'll be getting married on January 14th.  I'll be coming home for a couple of weeks and can't wait to see many of you.  Most of you I'll get to see around and at the reception, but missionaries and parents even if you don't get announcements, I would love to see you.  I'll send out the info later when I know more.

<3 <3 <3

Last Sunday was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program.  There were twenty children.  Every single one from the oldest to the youngest sang every single word.  It was amazing.  I loved it.  Good thing I don't know the songs in Portuguese or I'm sure I would've been singing along and embarrassing myself.

This week we're losing eight missionaries.  Yesterday we went to the temple with them.  For two of them it was only their second time.  For four others it was they're first time in Portuguese.  One Elder's stake was there.  They'd rented two busses and had been their all week.  Such a coincidence!  I know they'd traveled a long way but found out today it was a 24 hour trip just to get to the temple!  They were actually from Nick's mission and one of the sisters remembered Nick and called him her filhote.

Today we had their training, lunch and testimony meeting here in the mission home.  Sweet day.  They're such good kids, full of hope and enthusiasm.  I'm going to miss them.  We'll receive 14 new missionaries on Tuesday and so it continues.

It has become very hot and humid here and it's not even summer yet!

Still trying to figure out when to decorate for Christmas since there's no Thanksgiving here to guide my decision.  I may enjoy the music and the decorations a little longer this year although I'm not sure it'll feel much like Christmas in the 100 degrees.  Maybe I'll go to the pool on Christmas!

We love you all and miss you.  We are having a great experience and are grateful every day for this opportunity.

Love,

Mom/Lissa

 The departing missionaries and their self sufficiency teacher

Departing missionaries

Departing missionaries 

Members who traveled 24 hours to get to the temple