Nossas Bênçãos no Brasil!!!!: February 2013

The big news for us in February was that in creating 58 new missions the church has placed us in the boundaries of the new Brazil Curitiba South Mission. So the next few transfers make a big difference to the Elders here in the Brazil Curitiba Mission. The May transfer will determine which mission/mission president, they will be assigned to. Technically we could also be moved—though the current president has not indicated that. All we really know is that both new presidents are native Brazilians.

I was invited to attend a mission Sister’s Conference in Curitiba. We again bought the tickets and rode the bus into Curitiba. I am blatantly copying the following information from Sister Cordon’s blog at http://curitibamission.blogspot.com.br/ .

Sister’s Training, Day 1 – February 27, 2013

All of the Sisters of the Brasil Curitiba Mission met at the Barigui Chapel today for a specialized training. As a group, our Sisters defined their culture and what they stand for as representatives of our Lord Jesus Christ in this mission. The day was full of trainings and practices led by Presidente & Sister Cordon. Following the trainings we all had the opportunity to attend a session in the Curitiba Temple.

Here you can see the Sisters and their definition of their culture. "Batizmos" was first on the list!

The pizza was abundant and varied --
the chocolate desert pizza isn't even shown!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Pancake Breakfast at the Mission Home - 2nd day of training.

Sister’s Training, Day 2 – February 28, 2013

The Sisters arrived at the Mission Home at 8 am for "Breakfast with the President". Presidente Cordon and the assistants made pancakes and waffles for the Sisters. Following breakfast we all went to the Barigui Ward building for training on Finding and Planning. We had a special musical number and returned to the Mission Home for a late lunch and pictures before heading out to work. It was a fantastic day full of testimony, training, and the Spirit.

APs in the kitchen with President Cordon

Of course Elder McKinney traveled into the big city with me. We stayed with the Cordon’s at the mission home. We was able to eat most of the training meals with us. He attended a temple session during our first morning meeting and accompanied us again that evening for our session. I have been challenged by listening to the sessions in Portuguese. Upon our return that evening we had a late night sandwich at a Subway near the mission home.

Elder McKinney was able to do some investigating on the very modern Curitiba bus lines. They are a model for the world—efficient, fast, and inexpensive. We have made some interesting contacts on buses. We had been told about a very American Mall in town. We did not find it. We did find a very expensive mall. Is that American? We have yet to find any of the practical products that we are short of. I was able to ride the bus line with Elder McKinney for the hour we had before our return bus ride. Because the bus left at the end of a busy work day it took us over an hour to make the 10 minute drive to get out of town thus making our return to Prudentópolis a very late 5 hour bus ride. Luckily a cab driver took us and our luggage home quickly that evening.