We Have Wheels!

It's been 3 weeks since we entered a blog and how the weeks have flown. Well, it didn't seem so as they passed, just looking back it seems that way. Yesterday was our 2 month anniversary since our mission began. As we considered the past two months, we've thought about what has transpired and tried to evaluate where we stand. We set some goals last Sunday (about time, right?) We've felt kind of like we've been in culture shock, or numb with all the changes we've been absorbing. Long work days, language problems, transportation difficulties, a change in our focus, hot muggy weather, strange food, everything we try to do takes a major effort. Everything about our mission life has been hard to say the least, but we've been blessed tremendously through it all.

Though we've been tempted several times to throw in the bag and go home, we're still here. That is a blessing of the Lord! We love the Elders we work with and the Elders and Sisters who pop in and out of the office are always so eager to get to know us and we feel their love. The Lord has helped us to adapt to the weather (air-conditioning is also a true blessing). The other missionaries have fans pointing at their beds as their only relief. President Emerick has really tried to make everything about our mission as comfortable as possible. We get up each morning with energy and optimism even though when going to bed the night before we think we'll never be able to get back up again. The strange food has been good for us. What a blessing! We worried that we'd get sick and lose a-lot of weight at first, but it looks like as long as we drink bottled water and are careful where we eat we'll not lose a pound.

We are enjoying mission work. This last week was zone conferences again. Ours was on Thursday. They are inspiring and enjoyable. The President asked us yesterday if we would speak at the next zone conference, topic unknown yet. That looks like a daunting challenge as of now. Maybe if I write it all out with a lot of help, then I can read it. He told us to take 30 minutes.? I'm glad Elder Ivey knows the language better than I. Also, on May 2 there is a fireside for couples in all the Recife Stakes encouraging them to prepare to serve missions. The Area Authority will be speaking, Pres. Emerick is speaking, and he asked us to speak there also. I hope it's just a testimony bearing opportunity. I think I can do that, with the Lords help.

This picture is with Elder Gama (pronouced Guma) who is one of our favorite Elders. He has recently been released as an Assistant to the President and always brought fun into the office.

The majority of our time in the office is spent entering baptismal records into the church system. There was a backlog of baptisms and confirmations that have been done, but the records have not been delivered by the missionaries to the office for recording . So we are trying to round up those records and get them entered. For some reason the missionaries forget the importance of handing those papers in after a baptism and confirmation. Converts may be baptized but they're not on the records of the church until we actually type the information into the system. It feels like sacred work we're doing.

Also we will begin visiting and inspecting mission housing starting this week. We've been searching for a car to purchase for the last 2 weeks. A week ago we found a little silver 2003 Citroen, cute as a bug, with only 34,000 km and we started the process to purchase it. What a process that has been. During that time we thought several times we might be making a mistake buying a car, the process was so difficult and frustrating, but the President kept reassuring us and, a week later (yesterday) we drove it home, all paid for. It won't be in our name (not sure who's name it will be in) because we are not permanent residents here, but we can drive it. It is sooo nice to have the freedom wheels give! Another blessing from the Lord. We named it "Tartaruga". That's Portuguese for Turtle. Some of you may remember the last turtle we owned. We're sure this one will serve us better than the last one since it's on the Lord's errand.

Those buses were getting old. Standing with the crowd on the sidewalk, waiting for the right bus, discovering we caught the wrong one and trying to figure out how to correct the problem, digging in pockets for the right amount of reais to pay the fare. One time it took us 1 1/2 hours to get home from the office. We may never ride another bus again as long as we live! YEA!

It's nearing the end of another P-Day and so we'll end this epistle for now. Tomorrow we're going to the Boa Viagem ward to help the Elders there with the division of their ward. Our preparations for the week ahead are finished. Time to call it a day and get ready for tomorrow.

You have to love "P" day!

President and Sister Emerick and their son Mateas.

The Ocean at Olinda.

Jessie hard at work in the office.

After working all week in the office it was fun today to go with the mission president and his family on a trip to a city called Olinda. Beautiful and lots to see and explore. We drank coconut milk from the coconut and ate the coconut. The view from this old city around the seaside was awesome. Our president and his family are Brazilian and speak very little English so we got plenty of opportunity to work on our Portuguese. We ride the bus to work each day and depending on traffic it takes anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. It is still very hot 24-7 but I think we are growing used to it. Although having AC in our apartment is heaven sent and we are most grateful. The young missionaries just tough it out! We received 5 new missionaries this week and 12 went home. It is fun to help out. We have been surprisingly healthy and have good energy considering we work a full days all week. Jessie was tagged by the Bishop last Sunday to play the piano and he was all smiles to know we are going to be in his ward. The President said when the two Elders assigned to this ward are transferred out in five weeks he is not going to bring in new ones - we are it for the ward! So life will even get busier in the near future. We are happy and loving it here notwithstanding the never ending summer. Boa Noite to all - Elder and Sister Ivey, Dad and Mom, Grandma and Grandpa, or just friends!

Settling In

It's Sunday again. We attended two wards this morning trying to find out for sure which ward we are geographically situated in. Last week we went with the office Elders to Boa Viagem Ward but were told that we are not living in that ward and since Pres. Emerick said we should attend the ward we live in, we went to Setubal II Ward this morning. Then we found out from the Elders in that ward that we should be in Setubal I Ward which met at 10:20, so we stayed and attended that Sacrament Meeting. The Setubal I Ward Bishop said that we don't live in his boundaries and should be in Setubal II ward really. . . We're still not sure what ward we're in, everyone else seems to know for sure but they all contradict each other. . . Oh well, we were able to partake of the sacrament twice, which is a good thing, right? And with Ed translating for me we got along just fine. I even volunteered to play the piano for Sacrament Meeting; can't express myself verbally but through music was able to participate almost fully.

We are settling in somewhat. Our duties in the office are somewhat limited but feel that in time they may be expanded. In other missions the Senior Couples fill the duties of Financial Secretary and Executive Secretary to the President. Our Mission President has young elders filling those positions and so they are sharing parts of their responsibilities with us (in other words, we're lightening their loads).

We:
1. are the "official mission historians",
2. file mail and packages which arrive to be held until Zone Leaders pick them up or they are
delivered at Zone Conferences,
3. input baptism/confirmation information into the Church IMOS computer system, (there are 300 baptisms every 6 weeks in our mission, so there are several records to input each day),
4. file all weekly letters from the missionaries to the President, and,
5. will be inspecting the missionaries apartments, to be sure they keep them clean and in good repair. We've been told we should arrive unexpectedly to inspect so we can catch those still sleeping, thereby encouraging them to arise on time and get to work studying, etc. We'll find out how much fun that might be.

Occasionally, we've had time on our hands at the office with nothing to do. We're not very good at that, so, it won't be long before we find things to do, or make things to do. When talking to the Bishop this morning we offered to help with activation so, if there's not much to do in the office we'll start working on that. At the Zone Conference a week ago, we were told that "to rescue is as important as baptizing" (or some words to that effect). We agree with that and are anxious to serve in that way. In the meantime in our free time we've been studying the language and studying the map of Recife and surrounding areas trying to locate where the Zones are and learning about the missionaries in our mission.

We love getting your comments and hearing from everyone at home. Our internet service is sometimes spotty but we've found that skyping works quite well. So good to see faces and hear voices from home and family. You are all missed.

Two Weeks in Brasil

We have been in the mission field exactly 2 weeks today. We have a nice apartment 1 block from the beach with a view from the roof of the entire city and the ocean front. We are learning our duties in the office and enjoy interacting with the elders and sisters that come to the office. We had the opportunity to attend a zone conference last Friday that was inspirational. We were asked to bear our testimonies there and enjoyed meeting some 80 missionaries from the Recife and surrounding area. The two church buildings we have attended are beautiful buildings and thankfully there is air conditioning in the chapels. It is very hot and humid but we are adapting. Our apartment has partial air-conditioning and we are hoping to get another unit installed for the living and kitchen area. Jessie does not enjoy cooking while sweating in 85 degree F. heat. We are well and happy. Get home exhausted each evening and have been enjoying our kindle before bed each night.

The Visa Trial

Are we excited or what! Last week we were told that our chances were slim to none that we would receive our visas. And this week we were given the following choices: get reassigned to another mission, or keep waiting even though it looked very doubtful that we would ever get to Brazil. This morning we called Elder Poelman in Salt Lake to tell him we'd wait 2 more weeks then if they didn't arrive by then, we'd accept another assignment. Before we could say it, he told us that our visas had arrived yesterday!

We had been feeling all week like they would come within the next couple of weeks.
They arrived just before our patience had given out totally. Now I know what Sister Hawley meant when she told me "just know that Satan will try you before entering the MTC". The last 6 weeks have been trying to say the least. Not understanding why the visas were taking so long left us assuming all kinds of scenarios which left us wondering what was happening.

Elder Poelman finally explained it: Because of the terrorist problems around the world our country has tightened up the requirements for getting a visa for religious reasons to come to the USA. Evidently, the terrorist radicals have been establishing strip mall religions to get into the US, so we are making it harder to get a religious visa. As a consequence, other countries (including Brazil) are reciprocating in kind. Also, Brazil changed the process for applying for a visa. We had to apply twice. First last August and again in November. And they were not giving out the visas in the order they came in. It was all messed up, I guess.

But, the visa trial is finally over. We overcame. We are celebrating right now at the Grand Canyon, having a grand time. We came to mourn our prolonged wait but now we celebrate.