It is wonderful to live in the “flat world!” My Senior Companion (Sister Anderson) remains on assignment in Sherwood, OR while I hold down our Humanitarian Services assignment in São Paulo. We stay connected via “What’sApp” so we really are together.
The “good news” of this last week was:
Ellie is making excellent progress. She will still need to re-learn how to walk, talk, play Mine Craft, etc., but with the faith and support of friends and family, no biggie. It was so good to see the “spark” in her eyes once again!
We wrapped-up the logistical arrangements for the two June WHO wheelchair training courses (one in Ribeirão Pires; the other in Macapá.)
The “bad news” for the week was that we learned that, because of the Brazilian truck strike, the wheelchairs we had ordered for the training events would not arrive in time. Consequently, HQ Humanitarian Services Wheelchair Coordinators postponed the courses until August.
That’s okay, we have other projects to catch-up on and a make-up trip to visit potential partners in Manaus and Boa Vista. Besides, we are all ready for the courses in August!
We had a couple of other “tender mercies” last week. Elder and Sister Ketcheson are working with the Venezuelan Refugee project in Roraima. They noticed a young Venezuelan couple at church with a darling 2-year old son. The boy (Alejandro, or Alexandro, in Portuguese) was born with Microcephaly. That is the Zika-related condition that has plagued Latin America in the past several years. Because of his condition, Alexandro’s spine in unable to support his upper body. He rides in a stroller with his arms and chest draped over the front bar to support his weight.
Although the parents have not requested any help, the Ketchesons gave us a call to exchange ideas on how to obtain medical care and a wheelchair for Alexandro in Boa Vista. We jointly came up with a strategy, cleared it with Area Welfare Management and arrangements have been made for an assessment and wheelchair prescription.
On Thursday afternoon, I noticed a young woman using a white cane walking to the bus stop across from the Area Office. I crossed the parking lot to chat with her and her caregiver. It turns out that they both work in the Area Office call-center that helps locate lost member records. The young woman (Anna) speaks English and Portuguese fluently. She is 24 years old, an accomplished ballerina, and recent convert to the church. She joined the church in 2017 after attending a performance of the BYU Young Ambassadors. She has been legally blind since birth (80% vision loss) but is a college graduate and very independent.
We talked briefly about the Victor-Reader Stream (“VRS”) pilot project. She enthusiastically agreed to participate in the project as a trainer. The VRS is a hand-held device (similar to a TV remote control). The device allows vision-impaired individuals to listen and “search” the scriptures, conference talks, books and other materials, just as a sighted person would. The device also inserts bookmarks and recorded notes in the materials for personal study, preparing talks. In effect, the VRS allows vison-impaired members to read and study the scriptures with their ears.
On Friday morning, Anna was waiting in my cubicle at 8:30 am for our first training session. Within an hour, she knew the VRS better than me. This next Wednesday, she is having a teleconference with Norm Gardner (blind church member that programmed the VRS). Anna is ideally suited to launch the VRS project. (Our chance encounter was purely coincidental, I’m sure.)
In closing, I have been thinking a lot about faith, miracles and angels these last couple of weeks. You know how much I like good folk and country music, so here is a verse from one of my favorite Alabama songs, “Angels Among Us:” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7TpMejadLo)
“Oh, I believe there are Angels Among Us,
Sent down to us from somewhere up above.
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love.”
As much as I like good folk and country music, I love the scriptures. Here is one of my favorite passages from the Book of Mormon (Moroni 7:35-37) regarding angels. It was written by Moroni, who was himself to become an angel in this latter-day dispensation.
“Has the day of miracles ceased?
“Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?
“Behold I say unto you, Nay; for … it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men. …
“For behold, they are subject unto [Christ], to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.”
I have a testimony of faith, miracles and angels. I’m grateful for the angels that surround our dear Ellie, as well as for those that have comforted and ministered to all of us in the past weeks, and throughout our lifetime.
Love,
Papa
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| Anna - Victor Reader Stream Pilot |
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| Elders Quorum Pickleball Clinic Held on Saturday Morning - Winners Eat Pickles |
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| Alexandro and Parents - Venezuelan Refugees, loving parents, fellow citizens in the household of faith. |
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| Polo Shirts Ready to Go When “WHO” Train-the-Trainer course is rescheduled. |
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| Freedom Wheelchair Partners |
