Cool things happened the last couple of weeks, starting with Conference weekend. What a powerful General Conference! We love Pres. Nelson and his inspired counsel. I am excited to read the Book of Mormon again with a new focus. I had just finished reading it, so the timing was great for me! I love the Book of Mormon and am so excited to keep reading to learn more this time around, especially with the focus being on Christ. Papa is great at helping me understand things I have questions about. Last night we read in Mosiah. We studied about Zeniff and his background. The power of that book really has hit me on this mission.
Saturday morning of conference, the session didn`t start here until 1pm, so we invited all the senior missionaries to our home for a potluck breakfast. It was a great way to start conference, and someone else made the cinnamon rolls!!!!
Sunday, after the first session, there was a knock on our door. I ran to change out of my PJ`s and Papa answered the door in his. He welcomed in Elder and Sister Call, relatively new missionaries here. We thought, how cool is this that they came to visit us. We had a great visit and they just kept staying! The second session began… It was starting to feel a little weird! Half way through the session, Sister Call bolts forward and declares, “Oh my gosh, you AREN`T Dorothy”!!! Another couple had invited them over for dinner between sessions! AND we gave them water!!! She called Dorothy… in the mean time Dorothy had called them several times, even gone to their apartment to find them and when that all failed she was looking for a key to go in, expecting to find them deathly ill or dead! We have all had a great laugh over that!
A few months ago, we were told about a young Venezuelan refugee family in Boa Vista. (Up by the northern border) A young couple and their 2 year old son, Alejandro. Alejandro`s had Microcephaly, the brain defect caused by the Zika virus. – he has a very small head and no spinal core strength. Elder and Sister Ketchesons were in Boa Vista at the time so, with their help, the process to get him a wheelchair was started. Ketchesons returned to Sao Paulo a month or so later, so we never knew if he got a chair. Papa really wanted to head to Boa Vista to make sure he did, but that didn`t happen. (12 hour bus ride from Manaus!!)
Last week we received amazing news. His family had been relocated to Ribeirao Pires. The ward found them a home (and furnished it) across the street from APRAESPI! They are our amazing partner organization with wheelchairs AND a school and medical help for children with disabilities! So, on Monday the Ketchesons went with us to Ribeirao Pires and we met this special family. We were able to get Alejandro fitted for a custom wheelchair and leg braces!! The coolest thing is we were able to introduce them to the team at the school and they are excited to help them! Eduardo (APRAESPI administrative director), said it well… “It is a miracle that they are here and living where they are…. We can help him!” Tuesday we went back again and this time we were able to bring our last Bell Canyon Ward donated blanket to Alejandro. He was freezing! He already had one of the newborn hats that still fit, but someone added 5 or 6 more rows of stitches on the bottom, so it covered his ears. We even got a smile from him!
Tuesday, we also did 30 post delivery interviews in Santo Andres. We met the cutest senior, seniors. Most in their 80`s and 90`s. They love their wheelchairs … guess they were bed ridden before. Their caregivers couldn`t stop talking about the improved quality of their lives!
Thursday we headed to Praia Grande to wrap up the Garden Project there. We just needed to buy a few more supplies for them and visit the families. BUT the rains came and the flooding started, so we bought supplies and headed home! One more visit there, I guess.
Friday we enjoyed a session in the Temple.
Since then we (Papa) taught our Sunday School class. We (especially Papa) spent many hours at the office and good things are happening! The Victor Reader Screen project for the blind is moving forward, two more wheelchair trainings are planned now for November, chairs are getting delivered and so much more…Papa is amazing at making things happen!
Like I said, it was a GREAT couple of weeks! Love you to the moon and back!!
Papa and Gma
“Never give up on anyone. And that includes not giving up on yourself!” - Dieter F. Uchtdorf
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| Saturday morning potluck breakfast |
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| Alejandro and his new blanket |
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| Alejandro will be warm! He likes it!! |
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| This fun guy showed us how he could stand up in his chair! |
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| This sweet lady, in one of our chairs, showed me what she was working on! She crochets all day! |
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| The group of cute senior, seniors at the nursing home. We got to visit with them and check out their chairs. |
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| Raised gardens at APRAESPI for kids in wheelchairs |
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| Buying the last supplies for the Praia Grande Garden Project |
The story of the couple who came to your apartment instead of the one they were invited to is a classic. It is hard to imagine the feeling of Dorothy when they did not show up and she could not contact them. Also the story of the young man who moved to exactly the right place to get help shows how the Lord looks after His children! Thank you for sharing and for serving.
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