A Christmas Tree - in the mail!

Wonderful surprise! The mailman delivered an envelope that had a Christmas Tree from the Corona !st Ward in Tempe. The tree, with its many ornaments with personal messages from our friends, lifted our spirits and brought an extra measure of joy to the Christmas season.

Thank you so much!

The Primary and Young Men and Young Women sent some great decorations to add to the Christmas joy.

We LOVE our tree - and especially our dear friends from the Corona 1st Ward who made it and sent it to us here in Brazil! Merry Christmas to all!

We love 'our' missionaries!

 One of the great blessings of serving a mission as a senior couple is associating with the outstanding young men and women who have left their families, friends, school and other activities to devote all of their time and energy to serving the Lord. They work hard, motivated by their love for the people and their love for the Savior. They have been referred to as 'the miracle of the Church'. Indeed they are - a miracle created by their devotion, their study of the scriptures and their earnest prayers for the sustaining hand of the Lord in their work.

We're in the Sousa Zone of the Brazil Jõao Pessoa Mission. We're about as far west as you can go in the state of Paraiba, 6 hours by car from the mission headquarters. There are missionary transfers every 6 weeks and every transfer one or more of the missionaries in our zone will leave and one or more new missionaries will arrive. We quickly grow fond of the new arrivals and our hearts are wrenched as missionaries leave.

Sousa Zone - December 20, 2011

Sisters Haygood & Bee, Elders Walton & David
Vale dos Dinossauros - Sousa.  P-Day Fun!

Elders Fisi & Filbert - Pombal

Elder Petrie, Sisters Barreto, Petrie & Olney - Pombal

Elders Walton & David, Sisters Bee & Haygood

Sisters Haygood and Bee - Sousa

Elders Jay and Walton - Sousa

Elders de Olliveira, da Cunha, V. Silva & Lemos, Cajazeiras

Elders Santos, Soares dos Santos, Gutemberg & V. Silva - Cajazeiras

Sisters Souza & Haygood, Elders Rolim & Dácio - Sousa

Sisters Barreto, Petrie & Arruda

Elders Rinaldi, Rodrigues, Sisters Sousa, Chagas, Elders Dácio, Jensen - Sousa

Elders Jensen, Dácio, Rinaldi & Rodrigues - Sousa

President & Sister Hall, Sister & Elder Petrie

Easter!

We celebrate the life, the mission, the atonement and the resurrection of our Master and Redeemer, Jesus Christ this Easter. These are the most important events of all Eternity - infinite in their power, love and effect on all creation. Words cannot begin to express the blessing and glory of this great gift to all mankind.

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

"Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed. The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth." - Thomas S. Monson

"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

We add our testimony to that of millions of others that He lives! He is our Savior and Redeemer. He loves us all with an infinite love. He asks us all to follow him, obey his commandments, live his teachings and return with him to The Father.

Happy Easter!

See videos here: Bible Videos

General Conference, April 2012

This weekend we thoroughly enjoyed the messages from our church leaders. Their messages were inspiring, motivating and consoling. What a wonderful blessing to be led by Prophets, Apostles and other inspired leaders!

You can watch, hear or read the talks here: LDS.org

Here is an interesting infographic about General Conference:

Multi-Zone Conference

Every three months or so we travel 4 hours east to the city of Campina Grande for a multi-zone conference with President and Sister Hall, the 2 Assistants to the President and a group of WONDERFUL Elders and Sisters - missionaries who are serving in this part of the mission. Our mission covers 2 large states in NE Brazil, so three of these conferences are required to reach all the missionaries.

The training and messages at these conferences are both inspired and inspiring. President and Sister Hall are marvelous teachers and - most importantly - teach with the Spirit. We all leave the conference uplifted, inspired and motivated to be better and do more.

The focus of this conference was on the proclamation to the world by the First Presidency and Council of the 12 Apostles: The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

The proclamation was given 10 years ago, but is timeless in its truth and the importance of its message. The family as an institution is clearly under attack and we have the sacred responsibility to defend it.

We urge you to read it carefully and prayerfully consider what you can do in your family and community to teach the truths it contains. Even if you've read it many times before, read it carefully again. This isn't just for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is for the world, and everyone can gain strength for themselves and their families from this document.

Here are links to the Proclamation:

English: The Family: A Proclamation to the World
Portuguese: A Família—Proclamação ao Mundo

Volunteering

Here is another great article - and infographic. Read the article from a report by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania by clicking here: Volunteering

Here's the infographic:

Mormonism 101: FAQ

The Church recently published a great article on our beliefs and history that is great! You can read it by clicking here: Mormonism 101.

It included this neat infographic as well. Enjoy!