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

Zone Conferences and General Conference

Dear Family and Friends!

What a wonderful couple of weeks we've had!  This last week we had four zone conferences.  We'll have two more this week.  We try to keep them small.  It gives us more of a chance to deal one on one with the missionaries.  They are so wonderful and these times are my happiest!  Doing smaller and more zone conferences means more traveling but I don't mind.  The countryside here is so beautiful.  And spending three nights in hotels means no meals to prepare or beds to make.  I even had a chance to go out and work with the sisters!  I felt like I was able to make a difference and that was great.  When I go out with the sisters, it's not to teach them or observe them, it's just to learn from them.  And I have so much to learn.  I have a couple of work days planned this coming week that I'm looking forward to.

Conference was wonderful!  We could've watched it in our apartment but chose to watch it instead at the stake center with the members and missionaries.  It's much more fun that way.  On both Saturday and Sunday we were able to attend baptisms between sessions.  On Saturday between the afternoon session and Priesthood, we attended the stake mission prep institute class.  I don't know what I was more impressed with-the teacher or the students.  The saints here are really amazing.  Between the two sessions on Sunday all the missionaries brought snack food and we snacked together.  In our family we always have breakfast casserole for breakfast on conference Sunday, but with just the two of us I figured we'd skip that tradition.  When we heard about the lunch, I made our traditional casserole, with just a few ingredient changes due to availability, cut it in squares and served it cold. During the afternoon session Howard leaned over to me and suggested we have a recap with the missionaries who were there.  It was so great.  This is a tradition we've had since we married and since we wouldn't be doing it with our own families that evening, we ended up having it with part of our new family.  It was just a quick meeting where everyone was able to share their feelings on conference and a talk or two that impacted them. It was a sweet experience. We're hoping to do that with our own family tonight via Skype.

Today the skies opened and it poured.  Running into the store I felt like I'd gotten into the shower with my clothes on.  Very reminiscent of running Ogden. The streets were absolutely flooded. Made me happy it was p-day for our missionaries but I'm sure they experience plenty of rain.

We love you all and appreciate your prayers.  We need them and feel them!

Mom/Lissa

Piracicaba and Nova Piracicaba

Botucatu

 Siao Carlos and Pirasioanunga

 Mission Prep Piracicaba

 The whole Piracicaba mission! 9/8/16

Zone Conference Siao Joao da Boa Vista

Lunch between conference sessions 

Visiting Authorities and Transfers

Hi Family and Friends!

It's been an eventful and exciting couple of weeks!  First we had our visit from Elders Anderson and Aidukaitis with their wives and Carlos Martins and his wife.  We had a great lunch here at the house prepared by a ward member: salads, salmon, beef, chicken, sausages, chocolate cake and passion fruit mousse.  At the same time all of our missionaries were gathered at the stake center for lunch and then we headed over there.  When we entered the chapel and saw all of our missionaries reverently standing for Elder Anderson, I thought my heart would burst.  I knew I'd love my missionaries, but I didn't know I'd LOVE my missionaries.  The brethren taught us for a couple of hours.  Not a bad way to spend a day!

You may remember that the next day we had planned on marching in the Independence Day parade.  Because of the political unrest the area presidency asked that none of the missionaries in Brazil participate in the parades for safety reasons.  Piracicaba is a pretty safe little refuge in Brazil but of course we didn't march.  We did take all of the missionaries to the Piracicaba falls to film a little something for the kiosk at the CTM.  It was fun, even if it wasn't a parade.

When I say all of the missionaries were there, there were a couple of emergency appendectomies on Monday and Tuesday.  Both in the same district.  What are the odds!  Anyway unfortunately not everyone got to participate in our wonderful days together.  We missed them!

We had 10 missionaries going home on Monday and since we'd brought them in for the conference, we didn't think it was worth sending them back for one day and then bringing them back in again, especially since some of the bus rides are a few hours long and they needed to be back Friday for post mission training and interviews.  Long sentence.  Sorry.  With an extra day we were able to go to the Campinas Temple with them.  That was a wonderful experience. We spent some wonderful hours with them and it was hard to see them go!

Before we could catch our breaths we got 28 new missionaries yesterday.

They arrive first thing in the morning, having left at the crack of dawn from the Sao Paulo CTM and sit through a day of training.  I feel kind of sorry for them.  They have a look that switches between deer in the headlights and excitement to be here.  We serve them a lunch (also made by a ward member) and head over to the church for them to meet their new trainers.  The trainers have been there receiving training. The new missionaries gather in the chapel and we start with the opening song-Called to Serve.  During the second verse the trainers all march in from the back of the chapel.  It gives me goose bumps and gets me emotional just thinking of it!  They meet their trainers and then it's off to the bus station which looks like it's own mission conference with all of the transfers taking place and just about all of the meetings up taking place there.  This time I only had to drive one set of sisters to their area here in Piracicaba so it was much less hectic than last time. Maybe we're just getting the hang of it.  I hope so!

I still get excited and kind of fluttery every time I stop to realize that I really am in Brazil serving a mission!

We love and miss you all!

Lissa/Mom

 We love our Sister missionaries!!

 So many missionaries all in one place!

 More of our beautiful Sisters

 These departing missionaries will be missed!

Departing missionaries at the Campinas Temple

Adding to our army! 28 new missionaries!

Leadership Council and Mission Life

Dear Family and Friends!

Time continues to fly by.  We've been travelling quite a lot with interviews and Stake Conferences.  We live pretty much in a concrete jungle but it always takes my breath away when we're out on the road.  It only takes a couple of minutes to be out where it's so green and lush and the dirt is red and the hills rolling.  It's so beautiful!

Today we had our Leader Council.  Dad wanted to have it here in the mission home.  In the past it's been at a ward building, but I think he was jealous of Paulo's having it at his place and decided to give it a try.  It was a lot like Thanksgiving at the farm-pretty crowded but lots of fun.  I like to have the missionaries here with us!  

It was a great meeting and Dad talked about the leadership qualities from D&C 121. Also we talked about the logistics of next week, which will be a red letter week for the mission.  Dad had already decided to bring all of the missionaries in to march in the Independence Day parade on September 7th and then have a conference with all of the missionaries together.  Then we received notice that Elder Anderson and Elder Aidukaitis and Carlos Martins were going to visit the mission on September 6th and wanted us to gather all of the missionaries,  It's so perfect!  They'll all arrive on the 6th for the conference, will march in the parade on the 7th and then will head back to their areas.  It's not often that they all get together so there are a lot of details to work out, but everyone is super excited, including me!

My stuff arrived and we now have family pictures on every wall and in every nook and cranny of the mission home.  I also bought a canary!  The house was so stark and quiet, but now with my things and the canary who sings beautifully all day long I feel quite at home!  I only need a dog (and my family of course) to make it complete but we'll wait three years for that!

This is such a wonderful experience.  We feel the Lord's hand in all we do.  I knew I'd love living here in Brazil, but I didn't realize how much I'd love these missionaries.  It is truly a blessing to be able to get to know them.  The future of this church is definitely in good hands!

Communicating with the Americans is easy.  We understand each other's accents really well and if we don't we just switch to English.  Speaking with the Brazilians is not bad.  Usually if I don't understand they slow down and explain a little more and we come to an understanding.  But communicating with those who come from Spanish speaking countries can be a real challenge.  I don't understand their Portuguese and they don't understand mine.  We're working on it.

We love you all and pray for you everyday.  We have faith that the Lord is watching over and protecting our loved ones.

Love,

Mom/Lissa

Leadership Council meeting at the Mission Home

With President Calssi and family, 

Hortolandia Stake Conference Aug. 28th

  A young woman headed to Paulo’s mission in September, 

Sao Joao da Boa Vista on Sunday

 One of Cory’s sister missionaries, her husband and daughter, 

in Sao Joao da Boa Vista on Sunday

 Sunflower field enroute to SJBV on Saturday

 Storm Clouds from our balcony last week

With Pres Campos (SJBV stake pres.) & family, 

and others in Aguas da Prata on Sunday after stake conference 

 President Campos’ wife could be Suzie’s twin sister! (although the photo doesn't show it very well) 

First Transfer and First Interviews

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been a busy couple of weeks with a lot of firsts.  We had our first group of missionaries leaving, our first missionaries arriving, our first transfers, and now our first interviews.  Okay, most of this was firsts for Howard.  I get to watch, sympathize and appreciate.  

Saying good-bye to missionaries that we'd only known for a few weeks was hard.  They are such great young men and women, it's easy to get attached really quickly.

The new missionaries we have received are so sharp and well prepared.  It's fun to watch them jump into the work.

Interviews have been fun.  While Howard is meeting one on one with each missionary I get to hang out with the other missionaries and listen to them joke and find out more about them and their backgrounds and future plans.  

We have a television but haven't turned it on until this week.  We've been watching a little of the Olympics this week.It's a little frustrating because we haven't been able to see much of what's going on with the US.  They just show what's happening with Brazil.  Go figure!  I did watch some of last night's volleyball match between the US and Brazil.  It was fun to watch BYU's Taylor Sanders on the court again.

This weekend we start with Stake Conferences and will continue with another week of interviews.

We're having a rich and wonderful experience, loving every minute.

We miss you all a lot.  We hope to see many of you here in Brazil.  We have lots of beds.

Love,
Mom/Lissa

Brazilian sushi!

Working with the sisters