People and Experiences At the Brazil MTC – April 2017

It is has been very interesting to meet special people here at the Brazil MTC. We knew that we were going to see some people that we knew but some are surprises.

President Paulo and Sister Zuleika Grahl –

The President of the Brazil MTC and his wife with us on orientation day. They are from São Paulo. They greeted us when we arrived from the US and helped us get settled in our apartment. He has been a mission president and is well known in the church here.

Elder Richard and Sister Lenore Snyder –

Elder Snyder is the Executive Secretary to President Grahl and Sister Snyder is in charge of the Help Desk- where the Missionaries go for lost items, lost meal cards. She also prepares packet for the new arriving missionaries.

Missionaries that we know here:

Sister Kate Barney, Orem Utah 
Sister Barney’s family live in our Stake. She arrived here 2 weeks before we arrived. She is learning Portuguese and will be serving in Natál.

                                                        Elder Lucas Rolim from Brazil
Elder Rolim is from Curitiba and is learning Japanese and will serve in Japan. He will be leaving in 2 weeks. He is the Nephew of Edite and Robson Rolim

Brazilian Family Visit- On Friday April 14, 2017

Miriam and João Daniel came to see us on Friday. They are from Curitiba, Parana, Brasil. Miriam is the older sister of the Bittencourt family that were baptizied on the 30th of Nov, 30, 1968. I left to go home on Dec. 3rd 1968. They were here to celebrate Easter and to see their daughter Barbara and family. And of course to see us.

Sister Lia Ann Gale from Utah. We arrived together on April 4, 2017.  We talked and found that we have the same pioneer ancestor, Henry Gale, who joined the Church in 1856 in Australia.  She will be serving in Brazil.

Shopping on the Street

Here in Brazil they have street markets, where you can buy fresh fruits and vegetables. In our area it happens every Saturday and is about 3 blocks away! Here are some pictures our our purchases.

 In the top picture, we have spinach, tomatoes, an avocado, mangos, papayas, and oranges.
The next picture shows oranges, limes ( they look almost the same as the oranges, an avocado, broccoli, persimmons, bananas, papaya, and mangos.
We washed and sanitized these items so  that we could eat them. They were all very fresh and good.
We also ate pastels at the market which were very good. They are deep fried pastry pockets with meat and cheese inside.

Brasil Missionary Training Center

We arrived at the Brasil Missionary Training Center!

 

We arrived after a very long flight from Salt Lake to Atlanta and then a nine hour flight to São Paulo.  The Synders from Provo, who serve here as the Exec. Secretary to the MTC President, greeted us and helped us get settled in our very nice apartment here at the MTC.  We arrived with a great bunch of young missionaries, several from Utah.  Among them was a Sister Gale, who we decided is a distant relative of Melinda's.  We saw Sister Barney from our home stake and a nephew, Elder Rolim, a nephew of our dear Brazilian friends who live in Curitibia.  With our arrival came changes in some of the administrative work here.  We will coordinate medical care of the missionaries and set up appointments for them with the doctors that come four hours each day.  Melinda will also help with services for the missionaries, music, and greeting new missionaries. Ted's Portuguese seems to be serving him well.  Melinda greets people, and picks up words here and there.  Today someone brought her language and grammar books and offered to help her increase her knowledge of the language (It must be evident that she needs lots of help).  We have been shopping at a mega grocery store and also shops in the neighborhood.  It has been a good few days here, even with a bit of jet-lag.

Provo MTC

 Here we are at the traditional Picture Site.

Well, We have completed our stay at the Provo MTC and will be off to Brazil! The Provo MTC is awesome with great leaders and teachers! We wish to thank them! Sister Anderson, Sister Peterson, Sister Ritchie, Sister Pugsley, and Brother Gomes our Portuguese Tutor.