Back to João Pessoa - training & paperwork

We spent three days in João Pessoa and one day in Natal with President and Sister Hall in a training meeting with the missionaries in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. It was exciting to be with a large group of dedicated missionaries and see their enthusiasm and devotion to the work. In João Pessoa we received excellent training from the Assistants to the President and other office staff. We also received orientation from Sister Hall, which was very helpful.

With Elder Dellrie from Gilbert - an Assistant to President Hall

Elders Kawai and Dellrie - Assistants

Elders O'Very and Ribeiro - Exec Secretary and Financial Secretary

With President & Sister Hall

 We had to go to the Federal Police offices to validate our visas, get fingerprinted and receive official identification papers. Then there was another trip to a federal office to get a CPF card which is roughly the equivalent of a social security card. You can’t buy anything of significance in Brazil without this card. Those two tasks took a full day. Government operations here make our government offices look like a well-oiled machine. We also made a stop at the largest store in João Pessoa which is like a Wal-Mart, except the price for everything in Brazil is 2 to 3 times the price in the US. A rude awakening, for sure.