Humanitarian Services (10/27/17)

“It is not okay to do good works to be seen, but it is okay to be seen doing good works.”  (Elder Devin Cornish, Caribbean Area Presidency, April 2014)

Humanitarian Services approves projects to help the poor & needy, and reduce misery.  The focus is always on the people being helped and the partner organizations that support our efforts.  

Opening doors and/or establishing relationships with political leaders is never a factor in approving humanitarian projects. In fact, every effort is made to minimize the Church’s public profile in projects. 

Public Affairs, on the other hand, focuses exclusively on opening doors and establishing strategic relationships with influencers.  Their goal is the “let the light of the Church shine.”

Although opening doors and establishing strategic relationships not an objective of Humanitarian Service initiatives, it is natural bi-product of projects.  

The bottom-line is that both Welfare Services and Public contribute to “bringing the Church out of obscurity” and helping the Lord “hasten His work.”

The wheelchair project we just completed is an excellent example of indirect benefits of Humanitarian Services (see newspaper article and photos below).

Luv Papa 

Our APRAESPI Brazil World Health Organization Wheelchair Training Project team (L to R): Brian McCollugh (Occupational Therapist & former Brazilian missionary-Ogden UT); Marcia & John Dow (HQ Wheelchair Specialists for SE Africa & Brazil-San Diego, CA); Jennifer Terry (Physical Therapist & former Brazilian missionary-Highland, UT); Elder & Sister Anderson (Humanitarian Specialists & Brazil Wheelchair Project Coordinators-Sandy, UT)

More Garden Project Pictures from Papa (10/26 & 10/27/17)

Our Praia Grande Garden Project - Cassio Nascimento, Project Champion (Project Leader).

Cassio's garden

Cassio's wife, Rosani, and 6 yr old daughter Heloisa. Carrot held by daughter was first one harvested. Beautiful, humble family being blessed for their faith and hard work.

Sandwich with lettuce and cucumbers from garden.

Heloisa in her school uniform 

Letter...Finally! (10/24/17)

Hello family!  

In less than a week, we will be in North Dakota for Logan’s baptism!  We are so excited!!  Can’t wait to see all of you that will be there!

We are currently in Ribeirao Pires for the second week of a World Health Organization wheelchair training.  4 people from the States came for the training… an OT, Brian, a PT, Jennifer and the Dows, who are the Wheelchair Specalists over the Brazil and Africa areas.  A PT from Manaus, Juliana, joined us for this week’s training.  We train 12 people each week.  Can’t believe how much we have learned about the importance of correctly fitting a person for their wheelchair.  The participants found out quickly, as they were each assigned to sit in a wheelchair and stay in it for the week! The coolest thing was learning how to make good seat cushions yourself, to relieve pressure from the spine!  I am in my second week of sitting on one and I love it!!!  

Religion isn’t brought up in anything we do, but Jennifer was asked in class why we do what we do.  WOW, the spirit filled the room as she explained fast offerings and humanitarian donations that people freely give.  She explained that we do it because we love Jesus Christ.  It was powerful.

Thursday or Friday, Papa and I will sneak away from training to drive over to Praia Grande to buy supplies and meet with participants in the “garden project”.  It is kind of funny that we are “garden specialists”!!  Spence Mortensen would be so proud!

Yesterday we were in the lobby of the hotel waiting for our ride to get there.  Papa started talking to the lady behind the desk.  She started asking a lot of questions and asked for literature!  Jennifer brought a bunch of Liahona magazines and Book of Mormons with her to hand out!  You never know when someone will want to know about the church!!  Glad Jennifer was ready!

So happy Logan did well!  Shayne, have fun in Japan and Ryan and Laura in Hawaii!!

Love to all!!

Papa and Grandma

“Strong people don’t put people down, they lift them up!”

Garden project in Praia Grande

Papa and Ana putting together wheelchairs!

1st WHO graduating class

Presenting certificates to graduates

Opening ceremony

First 12 World Health Organization trained graduates in Brazil! Sharp ladies!

Spring Time in the Southern Hemisphere (10/5/17)

Even MLP has come south to avoid the Wasatch inversions and cold temperatures.

Spring has sprung in vibrant colors!

The flower photos were from the Holambra Annual Spring Flower festival we attended our first weekend in São Paulo. Unbelievably beautiful!  Good Dutch food too.

Pictures from Papa (10/3/17)

Jau: Town of roughly 145,000 people in center of São Paulo State, 300 km northwest from São Paulo City. Known for sugar and women's shoe capital of Brazil.

Lots of my favorite color: Green sugar cane!  Excellent highways too 

Typical scenery once you leave São Paulo.  Not too cool, not too hot right now. Perfect temperature for springtime in the Southern Hemisphere.  (Certainly much cooler and less humidity that the Caribbean!)

Cristiany Castro (President of FEAPAES Franca) with one of the "continuing education" clients of Jau Special Ed Program.

Papa giving impromptu closing ceremony speech. You can tell how interesting it was by the two women in the background! The audience and my senior comp. thought it was OK.

One of the 2 garden projects we inherited.  If they only knew how limited our gardening skills are!

Wonderful project for families with small space.

With a little fertilizer, topsoil mixed with sandy soil and water, anything grows in this part of the "promised land."

Hollambra city entrance

Did we mention that they have beaches an hour from SP?  (Guauja)

Definitely need my Churchill fins! (Ryan? Sara? Por favor! Snorkel gear too please.)

P-day with Senior Comp

Still Alive in Brazil! (10/3/17)

Update from Grandma with Photos from Papa: 

Hello family!

Just the grandparent like figures checking in!!  All is wonderful here, with life getting a little busier each day.  We have been traveling quite a bit.  On the 27th of September, Papa and our boss, Fernando, drove to Riberão Pires for meetings on a  wheelchair project... I stayed home to attend ¨play practice!¨ The play is so hilarious ... we are like a bunch of kindergarteners, dressed up in sheets, putting on a play...reading the script.   

The next day Papa and I drove 4 hours to Jau for a Wheelchair closing with Apae.  It was great. They had some of their handicapped students dancing the Capoeira (originally an African song... I think the Brazilians dance to it to learn soccer moves!). It has a strong beat and the young, down syndrome performers kept the beat with their kicks and twists... kind of like Tae kwon do. They beamed with pride!  They also had two young men in wheelchairs perform.  The instructors put them on the ground and they just flopped around to the beat! So cool!  They handed out awards and a few speeches were given... of course they asked Elder Anderson to speak on behalf of the church.  There were 60 wheelchairs to be handed out.  We only witnessed one, Ketlyn... she was so excited to get her new chair and so disappointed when it didn´t fit - someone had made an error.  She was remeasured and promised a new one in 2 weeks.

We were so excited to watch conference on our TV... and of course the internet stopped working!  No pajama session for us!  We watched both sessions on Saturday with the Moores.  Susan and I crocheted infant hats as we watched.  They fed  us a wonderful Brazilian dinner! Enjoyable day.  Sunday we went to the chapel to watch in Portuguese.  We were to meet up with Fabio and Rachel.  Fabio decided to hang out with friends instead, but his grandmother came.  She always brings us grapes.  We drove her home and then Papa and one of his YM from 1978 went to visit another of the YM that was less active now.  Nelson, the first YM, borrowed my missionary tag! They were well received!  We watched the afternoon session with the Moores, and again had dinner with them.

Yesterday, I had an intense training for translating missionary applications.  Papa drove Elder and Sister Lopes to a garden project a couple hours away.  We met up again for FHE with the senior missionaries... Next week is our turn to present.

We think of you all often... our photo frame continues to make us smile!  Keep the pictures coming!

Thought for the week:

¨God has no phone, but I talk to him everyday. He has no Facebook, but he is still my friend.  He has no Twitter account, but I still follow him!¨

You are in our thoughts and prayers!  

Love to you all,

Papa and Grandma

The special ed school in the rural town of Jau (accent on the "u") about 200 miles northwest of São Paulo

Mom and Sister Susan Moore keeping up with providing hats for newborn babies in the pediatric hospital down the street from our home.

Women are masters at "multi-tasking."  Two days of General Conference resulted in wonderful counsel and 12 new hats!

Our "Bussola" (Compass) (10/1/17)

From Papa:

São Paulo is so huge that it is very difficult to get your bearings.  Moroni (on top of the temple) is the best we can do for a compass.

The only problem is that for the first couple of weeks we were here, we "assumed" that Moroni was facing east.  It just didn't make sense with the sunsets and moonrises.  Finally, I used the compass app on my iPhone to confirm the direction Moroni's trumpet is facing.  It is due south!!

Lesson learned:  There is no Church doctrine regarding which way Angel Moroni must face on temples.  Although in many temples Moroni faces east for symbolic purposes (Christ's second coming will appear first in the east), it is not a requirement.

In the case of the São Paulo temple, Moroni is facing the major thoroughfare (Avenida Francisco Morato) that passes in front.  Could it be because Samba bands march down this street during Carnival season and Moroni plays a mean jazz trombone?  (I don't think so, but the temple and Moroni are beautiful regarding of the direction they face.)