Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Sr. Missionaries, Elder Christofferson & Religious Liberty~

São Paulo Senior Missionaries
This cool photo was taken in April,  
just prior to our good friends,
Jill & Craig Ferguson, left to go back home.
(far left) 



A few of us took them to a farewell
 dinner at an excellent Chinese restaurant
located in the Asian neighborhood of Liberdade.

This is a popular place and we were lucky to get a reservation at 6:00 pm
Most Brazilians eat dinner late.  Many restaurants won't even open until
7:30 or 8:00.  One of our native friends called to reserve, explaining that this is a group of 
"older Americans and they can't stay up late" :)
Ok then~

Jill and Craig are from Arizona and they are now serving happily in the Mesa Temple
on Saturday evenings.  They worked with me in the São Paulo temple until they left.
They both taught me so much about temple service.   We walked together twice a week, 
the back way, through the pleasant, quiet neighborhood, to work our morning shift.
  I loved the stories they told and lessons they taught.
I miss them and hope to see them again someday.




Elder Todd Chistofferson 
from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of our church,
 Elder Gérald Caussé from the Presiding Bishopric, 
and Elder L. Whitney Clayton from the Seventy,
 came to São Paulo in April.

We were fortunate to spend an amazing week 
"at their feet".


#1   We started on Monday evening, April 27  
My husband, Craig knew in advance, that this group was coming.
He arranged, through the area presidency office, for Bishop Casussé
to speak to the senior missionaries for our Family Night activity.

To begin, our group of Seniors + Randy sang 
Eu Sou Filho de Deus
(I Am a Child of God) in Portuguese
We had worked for several weeks with 
Elder Zaugg on the guitar and
Sister Rebeca Kawai accompanying us on her flute. 
 Rebeca is one of our choice Brazilian friends, 
young adult daughter of Haroldo and Eliane Kawai, 
who serve with us at the CTM on Sunday.



Paul and Diane Wheeler 
are our newest missionary couple.
They are IT specialists.
Elder Wheeler accompanied our song that evening also
 with his - harmonica. 
 When he first suggested it, I thought he was joking.
 It all sounded great together!





Then Bishop Caussé and his lovely wife, Valérie
 each gave inspiring messages and counsel, 
complete with personal family stories, 
concerning senior missionary and church service experience. 



#2  The next day, Tuesday, we were invited to a church employee devotional
held in the chapel.  We viewed a new, very emotional video story about some 
Brazilian saints in Manaus, and their desire and commitment
to take a "caravan" of people, in 1992 to go to the São Paulo temple. 
There were many sacrifices and miracles that came 
with the almost 2,000 mile river and road trip,
to receive their temple ordinances and be sealed as families.
Manaus finally opened their own temple in 2012

You can click on this link to watch the 14 min. youtube :)


Manaus - Caravan to São Paulo Temple


#3  On Wednesday evening of that week we were excited to
attend the "Liberdade Religiosa" celebration
with about 700 other people!

The following are some internet images, commentary, our photos, and my perspective.
You can see the full lds.org article at the link below.

Apostle Speaks at Historic Religious Freedom Event in Brazil

 Elder Christofferson encourages Brazilian interfaith group 

 to hold fast to the freedoms they enjoy



This is the invitation we received.


 banner in the foyer




Brazil Area Pres. Costa on the right


Elder Christofferson, spoke about basic principles of religious freedom and the need for vigilance and cooperation to preserve it. Here, he visits with Sheikh Dr. Abdelhamid Metwally, the main religious leader in the oldest Mosque in Latin America. The Brazil Mosque was the location of Elder Christofferson's speech.



 Brazil is a country recognized by the Pew Research Center as a global leader in 
religious liberty protections — that "religious freedom is the cornerstone of
 peace in a world with many competing philosophies." 



Elder  Christofferson  delivered his remarks in Portuguese Wednesday at the Brazil Mosque 
during a first-of-its-kind Brazilian religious liberty event celebrating
 the nation’s strong support of religious freedom.



Craig's office was very involved in putting this event together.
Greg Clark, front/left, is Craig's supervisor in the area legal office.




The Zauggs and Wheelers went with us to the mosque to attend the party.
Randy made the right decision for him and stayed home.
We left our apartment at 4:30 to fight traffic and 
make sure we were not late for the 7:30 start time.

We arrived at 6:00.  We were not the first to arrive but obviously we were not late.
But - because of traffic, (and because we are in Brazil :)
a lot of other people were late.
While we waited, we were amused 
to hear some Tab choir and other LDS music in the background.

So we started closer to 8:30.
There were several speeches, all translated for English speakers, via headsets.
Also 3 or 4 musical numbers.
(Our "Senior Glee Club" did not qualify!?)

This was scheduled to last two hours and it took 2.5 hours.
Then this huge, delicious buffet dinner served - at 11:00 pm - 

Not unusual for a big Brazilian event~
but not exactly my style ;/  

We were grateful to be included and
thankfully, we were with people we like  8)



#4  On Friday afternoon, Elder Christofferson met with all the missionaries from the
CTM and 2 of the São Paulo missions at our local stake center.
We were pleased to be invited to this meeting as well.

To begin, everyone lined up to shake hands
 and make eye contact with an apostle of Jesus Christ.
He spoke and then did about 1.5 hours of questions/answers
for the missionaries.  He ended with giving an apostolic "blessing"
with sacred promises, to all of us in attendance.
The meeting was humbling and enlightening~


#5  On Saturday evening we went to the Stake Center once again
for a fireside for married couples.

 It's our understanding that the meeting
was broadcast throughout Brazil.  But many, many couples
wanted to be in the building with the apostle.
They lined up for 2 hours prior, to completely fill the building.
Our Sr. "glee club" was fortunate to have reserved seats in the front because:
for the opening hymn, we sang our Filho de Deus song once again :)
This time without the flute, guitar and harmonica.  It was decided that piano
accompaniment would be more appropriate.





Elder Christofferson offers this counsel on marriage:

"In my calling, I have the opportunity to observe other members of the
 Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and their wives.
I observe the First Presidency and their wives.
I have observed that these couples have strong marriages because
they have included the Lord in their marriage. 
Many people—particularly millennials—seem to think that successful
 marriages just happen. It is not just a matter of luck.
Yes, you can have a successful and a wonderful marriage,
 but you must work to make it so. You must work with your spouse and with the Lord.
I know that it takes a great deal of faith to take the important step toward marriage. 
And it takes more faith to keep going forward once you are married.
When we do what the Lord has asked us to do, He will help us.
He has ordained marriage—in fact, it is He who created it!
Marriage is something we do with God. I promise you that 
He will help you, guide you, and bless you in your pursuit for a happy marriage.
~amen~

Also, some other things I took note of is that:
1. he suggests that as couples, we check in with each other occasionally and ask
 "how can we be better?"
2. husbands/fathers need to lead the family in spiritual activities
 such as FHE and family prayer.
Much too often the wife/mother takes the responsibility because the fathers will/do not.




At the end of the week we felt like we had run a marathon, physically and spiritually.  
All of this took place after and in addition to all of our other mission work.

Definitely a "mission highlight" for us! 

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