Our last week in Brazil was great. We had already trained the Elders that replaced us so we really didn’t have much to do in the office. Elder and Sister Simmons, who lived next door, took us to a symphonic concert at a lovely auditorium. What was sad was that during intermission, one of the cellists left his instrument leaning against his chair and it got knocked down. The cello broke and you could hear a huge groan from the audience. It was really a horrible thing to happen. That player didn’t return for the second half of the program. Fred took us to a drive-through zoo where we saw lots of animals. That was fun. We had a nice dinner at the mission home with other missionaries who were also being released.
When we arrived at the airport, since it was the middle of December, an orchestra was playing excerpts from "Messiah"! What a send-off!!! It was wonderful to be home in the USA again. We were able to see all of our kids except Tricia and Alan, who had moved to Albuquerque. We spent Christmas with Syl and Brent and then Sylvia drove us to Monticello for Leon to interview for a band director position in Monument Valley. He had taken a leave of absence from the Alpine District but there were no openings at that time. It was a real blessing for him to get that job.
From Southern Utah we drove to Albuquerque to see the Romriells and to pick up the little yellow Toyota pickup they had been using while we were on our mission. We were able to see the site of the new house that was being built for them. Returning, Syl and I rode in her car and Leon drove the pickup.
Alan, with Will, and Mark helped up move to Monument Valley. The small trailer broke down before we got there so we left it with someone and retrieved articles at a later date. We gave the trailer to the man. There wasn’t housing available at the time so all our furniture, etc. was placed on the stage of the auditorium. The boys were so helpful, stayed one night, and then returned home. Leon and I stayed an entire week at Goulding’s Motel, paid for by the school.
After a week, a three-bedroom, two bath trailer arrived for us. It was quite nice and we were happy to be in our own place again.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
trip to Matto Grosso do Sul
In November, 1992, Carol’s mother came to visit and Fred and Carol planned to take her with them when they visited the outlying state of Mato Grosso do Sul, that was part of our mission. Since it was close to the time for our leaving, we were invited to go too. We rode in the "Veraneo" the mission van. Of course, Fred did all the driving; he got sick if he was a passenger. Our first stop was in Americana, a city founded by Southerners after the Civil War. The ones who were willing to work were successful, those who weren’t, failed. There still are Southern descendants living in Brazil. We attended a Zone Conference in Campo Grande.
We visited the "Pantanal" which is like the Everglades. Lots of birds and water. We saw an alligator, "Jacaré, and an otter. There were very large white birds called "Tuiuiu (pronounced too-you-you). We also saw parrots, toucans and macaws. We had to take a ferry across the Paraguay River and stayed in the city of Corumbá. We were able to take a river trip on that same river seeing lots of birds and animals. Corumbá is on the border with Bolivia and we were able to cross the border into the city of Puerto Suarez and visit shops there. One of the stalls we visited was run by an LDS couple.
After visiting Corumbá, we visited an Indian tribe. There was a huge ceremonial hut called an "Oga" and we met the Indian chief, wearing only a pair of shorts. The hut was made of reeds or some kind of grass. There were some ceremonial feathers and things on poles but the hut was mostly empty. Leaving the reservation we saw ostriches and tall ant hills in the fields.
We spent the night in the city of Ponta Porâ, on the border with Paraguay. We stayed in a lovely hotel and we had musical entertainment: a harp and guitar and the fellows sang and played Paraguayan music. The next day we crossed the street into the city of Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay. We went to a nice shop and met the owner and a very cute Indian girl who waited on us. We took the girl’s picture and the owner wanted us to take hers too, so we did. I had always wanted to visit Paraguay and finally was able to.
Fred received permission for us to go out of our mission and visit the Iguazu Falls or Foz do Iguassu in Portuguese. Iguazu means Big Water in Indian. I had seen many pictures of them from childhood and was finally able to see them for myself. We rode in a boat to a place where there was a walkway built. There had been recent floods and we could see some of the damage along the way. We came to an observation place where we could see the huge fall called the Devil’s Throat. A huge fall with little birds flying through all the mist. There are 275 separate falls of varying size and covering a large area. Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet here. The falls are most spectacular and are set in tropical jungles. Really beautiful. When we left the falls we visited a huge hydroelectric dam at Itaipú on the Paraná River, making the largest artificial lake in Brazil. There were 18 huge turbines; quite a sight.
It was a lovely trip, a very nice way to end our time of service. When we got back we had Thanksgiving dinner at the Gallaher’s home, some American LDS members of the branch. All the branch members were present and it was a fun time. He worked for some big company, I can’t remember which, and had a huge, lovely home which was all enclosed with a guard at the front gate. Typical for Sâo Paulo. Fred, Carol and I did some singing as entertainment.
We visited the "Pantanal" which is like the Everglades. Lots of birds and water. We saw an alligator, "Jacaré, and an otter. There were very large white birds called "Tuiuiu (pronounced too-you-you). We also saw parrots, toucans and macaws. We had to take a ferry across the Paraguay River and stayed in the city of Corumbá. We were able to take a river trip on that same river seeing lots of birds and animals. Corumbá is on the border with Bolivia and we were able to cross the border into the city of Puerto Suarez and visit shops there. One of the stalls we visited was run by an LDS couple.
After visiting Corumbá, we visited an Indian tribe. There was a huge ceremonial hut called an "Oga" and we met the Indian chief, wearing only a pair of shorts. The hut was made of reeds or some kind of grass. There were some ceremonial feathers and things on poles but the hut was mostly empty. Leaving the reservation we saw ostriches and tall ant hills in the fields.
We spent the night in the city of Ponta Porâ, on the border with Paraguay. We stayed in a lovely hotel and we had musical entertainment: a harp and guitar and the fellows sang and played Paraguayan music. The next day we crossed the street into the city of Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay. We went to a nice shop and met the owner and a very cute Indian girl who waited on us. We took the girl’s picture and the owner wanted us to take hers too, so we did. I had always wanted to visit Paraguay and finally was able to.
Fred received permission for us to go out of our mission and visit the Iguazu Falls or Foz do Iguassu in Portuguese. Iguazu means Big Water in Indian. I had seen many pictures of them from childhood and was finally able to see them for myself. We rode in a boat to a place where there was a walkway built. There had been recent floods and we could see some of the damage along the way. We came to an observation place where we could see the huge fall called the Devil’s Throat. A huge fall with little birds flying through all the mist. There are 275 separate falls of varying size and covering a large area. Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet here. The falls are most spectacular and are set in tropical jungles. Really beautiful. When we left the falls we visited a huge hydroelectric dam at Itaipú on the Paraná River, making the largest artificial lake in Brazil. There were 18 huge turbines; quite a sight.
It was a lovely trip, a very nice way to end our time of service. When we got back we had Thanksgiving dinner at the Gallaher’s home, some American LDS members of the branch. All the branch members were present and it was a fun time. He worked for some big company, I can’t remember which, and had a huge, lovely home which was all enclosed with a guard at the front gate. Typical for Sâo Paulo. Fred, Carol and I did some singing as entertainment.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Life in the Mission
Our days were very busy working in the office. Leon working with all financial responsibilities. I kept track of new incoming missionaries, typing up transfers, making doctor appointments for sick missionaries and a lot more. Leon and I had to take new missionaries to the Polícia Federal, the Police Headquarters, to get identity cards; we also picked up new missionaries at the airport or took returning ones there. We took Fred to the airport whenever he had to fly to the other state in our mission where he would attend zone conferences every six weeks.
The mails were not very reliable so all bills had to be paid at different banks. We would go and stand in long lines in order to pay the bills. We also drove to the Clinica Fry, where the missionaries went for doctor appointments, to present the payments for medical attention; a different check for each doctor.
On Saturdays, we would go to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping. There were many checkout stands, it looked sort of like Wal-Mart or Target checkout stands. Occasionally we would go to the outdoor feiras, or markets but not often. They were usually held during the week when we would be in the office.
Our service was tuning pianos. Fred told Leon to bring his piano tuning tools. Most of the chapels had pianos that had not been tuned for years! Since our branch met in the afternoon, we would go Sunday mornings to locate the ward where we would visit during the week for the tuning. Traffic was much lighter on Sunday so it was easier to locate the places. We had a Guia, or guide, which helped us negotiate this large, busy city.
At one time, Leon developed severe pain in his side. He finally went to the hospital and the x-ray showed a kidney stone. The hospital was called Albert Einstein, a Jewish hospital and a very good one. The doctor that attended him had attended John Hopkins in the States. They gave him a relaxant and sent him home. Carol, Fred’s wife who had suffered from many kidney stones, recommended he drink a glass of water every 15 minutes. He did this, all day and night and the stone passed.
Close to the end of our mission, two other couples came to Sâo Paulo. Elder and Sister Fowler (she was a nurse) and Elder and Sister Simmons (he was a doctor and she was Pres. Benson’s niece). They were assigned to the North and South Missions but we lived in the same apartment complex. The Simmons were in the apartment next to us and the Fowlers across the way. It was really nice to have other couples to do things with and to show around.
Towards the end of our mission, the location for our Mission Office changed. We went to a building in the Santo Amaro neighborhood behind the Santo Amaro chapel. Fred had worked on that chapel when he was a young missoionary.. It was a little more cramped as to space and did not have the branch of the bank we used close by. I’m glad most of our mission was spent in the Church Area building next to the Temple and MTC or CTM as they called it.
The mails were not very reliable so all bills had to be paid at different banks. We would go and stand in long lines in order to pay the bills. We also drove to the Clinica Fry, where the missionaries went for doctor appointments, to present the payments for medical attention; a different check for each doctor.
On Saturdays, we would go to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping. There were many checkout stands, it looked sort of like Wal-Mart or Target checkout stands. Occasionally we would go to the outdoor feiras, or markets but not often. They were usually held during the week when we would be in the office.
Our service was tuning pianos. Fred told Leon to bring his piano tuning tools. Most of the chapels had pianos that had not been tuned for years! Since our branch met in the afternoon, we would go Sunday mornings to locate the ward where we would visit during the week for the tuning. Traffic was much lighter on Sunday so it was easier to locate the places. We had a Guia, or guide, which helped us negotiate this large, busy city.
At one time, Leon developed severe pain in his side. He finally went to the hospital and the x-ray showed a kidney stone. The hospital was called Albert Einstein, a Jewish hospital and a very good one. The doctor that attended him had attended John Hopkins in the States. They gave him a relaxant and sent him home. Carol, Fred’s wife who had suffered from many kidney stones, recommended he drink a glass of water every 15 minutes. He did this, all day and night and the stone passed.
Close to the end of our mission, two other couples came to Sâo Paulo. Elder and Sister Fowler (she was a nurse) and Elder and Sister Simmons (he was a doctor and she was Pres. Benson’s niece). They were assigned to the North and South Missions but we lived in the same apartment complex. The Simmons were in the apartment next to us and the Fowlers across the way. It was really nice to have other couples to do things with and to show around.
Towards the end of our mission, the location for our Mission Office changed. We went to a building in the Santo Amaro neighborhood behind the Santo Amaro chapel. Fred had worked on that chapel when he was a young missoionary.. It was a little more cramped as to space and did not have the branch of the bank we used close by. I’m glad most of our mission was spent in the Church Area building next to the Temple and MTC or CTM as they called it.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Death of Dad, short return to U.S.
We had only been in Brazil a few weeks when family called to tell us that my Dad had passed away. He hadn’t been very well when we talked to him just before we left the U.S. Of course, neither Fred nor I could leave the mission field to attend the funeral. Just about all of the extended were able to go to Mesa and support Mom. Elder Richard G. Scott, who had been one of my Dad’s missionaries, spoke at the funeral. My sister Gina told me that he looked right at Mom all the time he was speaking. It was hard not being able to be there. A few days after the funeral, Elder Scott called the mission home, where we were staying with the kids, and wanted to visit with Fred about Dad but he and Carol were out in another state for zone conference but I had a nice visit with him.
In early December, a Monday, I received a call from the Murdock Travel person who takes care of all missionary travels. She told us that Leon and I had tickets to fly to Los Angeles
the next Tuesday evening to get our permanent visas. It had not worked out as earlier thought, to go across the border into another country to get the visas. We would need our copies of birth certificates and marriage license. I immediately went upstairs to the church lawyer’s office to get them but he was out of town! He had no secretary and no one knew where they could be. The Area Authority’s secretary told me to look through all the papers and files I could see but I couldn’t find them. They were not in the file he had for us. Our originals were packed away somewhere in Utah with one of our kids. We couldn’t get the visas without them! I said a quick, heartfelt prayer and the secretary came in and said I should look in a certain pile of papers. I had already gone through it but looked again and THERE THEY WERE! I have never had a prayer answered so quickly and completely before and I was so grateful.
We flew to Los Angeles. The church had rented a car for us and arranged for us to stay at the Los Angeles Temple patrons’ lodging. We went to the Brazilian Consulate and got our visas and now we could wear our missionary name tags. Carol had given us a list of things to buy for her family and we also had a list of things we wanted that were unavailable in Brazil. It was fun shopping at an American grocery store. One evening, I stood outside at a pay phone and called all eight kids collect and got to talk to almost all of them. What fun! We also went one afternoon out to see Mary and her family. We enjoyed being in the States again but were happy to go back to Brazil and continue our mission.
In December, Mom and Gina came to Brazil for about a month-long visit. I’m sure it was a big help for Mom, to have something nice like that to take her mind off her loss. They stayed with Fred and Carol, in the same room Leon and I had used. It was so fun to see them, to show them where we were working and living, and taking them to different meetings.
Close to Christmas, Fred, Carol, Jonathan, Violet, Gina, Mom and I drove to Santos, which is on the coast. Fred had worked there as a missionary and our family had stopped there at various times while traveling on ships to Argentina and Uruguay. It was so great to see the ocean and the hills covered with greenery. There were also the famous wavy sidewalks that are so prominent in Rio de Janeiro but Santos had some too. You could get dizzy staring at them for a long time.
One of the members of the International Branch, the branch we attended, was an American working for some company. He and his wife had bought a beautiful vacation place out in the country. He was Dallas Archibald, and later was called as a General Authority in the 2nd Quorum of Seventy. It was a gorgeous place. So many flowering trees and plants. They had a lake and a swimming pool. It looked like the Garden of Eden. They were very generous and held many branch activities there. For New Years, they had a big branch party but Mom was having problems with her heart so she was in the hospital for the day and I stayed with her. Later, the family went out to the vacation place so I got to see it. It was lovely.
In early December, a Monday, I received a call from the Murdock Travel person who takes care of all missionary travels. She told us that Leon and I had tickets to fly to Los Angeles
the next Tuesday evening to get our permanent visas. It had not worked out as earlier thought, to go across the border into another country to get the visas. We would need our copies of birth certificates and marriage license. I immediately went upstairs to the church lawyer’s office to get them but he was out of town! He had no secretary and no one knew where they could be. The Area Authority’s secretary told me to look through all the papers and files I could see but I couldn’t find them. They were not in the file he had for us. Our originals were packed away somewhere in Utah with one of our kids. We couldn’t get the visas without them! I said a quick, heartfelt prayer and the secretary came in and said I should look in a certain pile of papers. I had already gone through it but looked again and THERE THEY WERE! I have never had a prayer answered so quickly and completely before and I was so grateful.
We flew to Los Angeles. The church had rented a car for us and arranged for us to stay at the Los Angeles Temple patrons’ lodging. We went to the Brazilian Consulate and got our visas and now we could wear our missionary name tags. Carol had given us a list of things to buy for her family and we also had a list of things we wanted that were unavailable in Brazil. It was fun shopping at an American grocery store. One evening, I stood outside at a pay phone and called all eight kids collect and got to talk to almost all of them. What fun! We also went one afternoon out to see Mary and her family. We enjoyed being in the States again but were happy to go back to Brazil and continue our mission.
In December, Mom and Gina came to Brazil for about a month-long visit. I’m sure it was a big help for Mom, to have something nice like that to take her mind off her loss. They stayed with Fred and Carol, in the same room Leon and I had used. It was so fun to see them, to show them where we were working and living, and taking them to different meetings.
Close to Christmas, Fred, Carol, Jonathan, Violet, Gina, Mom and I drove to Santos, which is on the coast. Fred had worked there as a missionary and our family had stopped there at various times while traveling on ships to Argentina and Uruguay. It was so great to see the ocean and the hills covered with greenery. There were also the famous wavy sidewalks that are so prominent in Rio de Janeiro but Santos had some too. You could get dizzy staring at them for a long time.
One of the members of the International Branch, the branch we attended, was an American working for some company. He and his wife had bought a beautiful vacation place out in the country. He was Dallas Archibald, and later was called as a General Authority in the 2nd Quorum of Seventy. It was a gorgeous place. So many flowering trees and plants. They had a lake and a swimming pool. It looked like the Garden of Eden. They were very generous and held many branch activities there. For New Years, they had a big branch party but Mom was having problems with her heart so she was in the hospital for the day and I stayed with her. Later, the family went out to the vacation place so I got to see it. It was lovely.
Monday, July 13, 2009
arrival in Brazil, apartment
Since we were traveling on tourist visas, we couldn’t wear our name tags. We arrived in Sâo Paulo early in the morning, before 8:00 a.m. and Fred wasn’t there to meet us!!! Here we were in a foreign country and no way to get to the Mission Office. We tried calling but as it was early in the morning, no one was in the office. Fred finally came; relief! He took us to his apartment, which was on the 17th floor of an 18th floor building. Carol had given us Violet’s room, with twin beds, in which we stayed for several weeks before an apartment was ready for us. Fred, Carol, Lexie, Jonathan and Violet lived in that apartment.
When he took us to the office the missionaries had prepared a big welcome banner for us and made us feel very welcome. My trainer was Elder Brown, who had been the executive secretary and Elder Boyer trained Leon, he was the financial secretary. There were a couple of other missionaries working in the office, the historian and the commissary elder. Leon’s office was rather small and had a huge, old safe in it, where we kept the missionaries’ passports. All passports had to be taken to a Cartório, a notary public, where they were copied and the Elders carried the copies with them at all times. My office was larger and I had a computer and printer. It had an old version of Word Perfect. The keyboard was in Portuguese and so I wrote my friends at UVCC to send me an old template with the commands in English. This really helped a lot.
The mission office was located in a three story building which housed the Area President’s Office as well as the Church Offices and it also had a branch of the Itaú Bank that we used for all the missionaries and office monies. This was on a huge block that held the Temple, a Stake Center and there was also a building used as lodging for visitors to the temple and as the MTC or CTM in Portuguese. We had guards at the entrances to the complex.
After a few weeks, an apartment became available in the Vertentes apartment complex across the street from the church block. There were about eight tall buildings, four on each side of a little plaza. We were in building Lambari apt. 51. Several apartments in the complex had been purchased by the Church for temple workers but there were not anymore American temple couples so these apartments were available for us and later for some other missionary couples.
We had two bedrooms, a bathroom with different shades of dark blue for the sink and toilet; also the tile on the walls was turquoise. Very colorful. The kitchen had a marble counter. No hot water; it had to be heated for dishes. We had a washer and dryer which I appreciated but I had to wash with cold water the whole time we were there. My stove used a propane tank and was quite small, it looked like it belonged in a doll house. We also had a refrigerator. There was another bedroom and small bath (which we never used) which would have been the maid’s quarters. We had a large water bottle which we kept filled at the temple complex where a well of pure water was located. The apartment was like low class student housing but we were happy to be in it. All fresh vegetables had to be soaked in a special solution before we could eat them.
We did have hot water for showering. Every night, when we got back from the office, we would turn on the fuse that the water heater for the shower used so I had hot water for my nightly shower. We would turn it off when we went to bed and by morning the water was still hot enough for Leon to shower. We didn’t dare leave it turned on all day, the water just kept getting hotter and hotter and we were afraid it would explode!
When he took us to the office the missionaries had prepared a big welcome banner for us and made us feel very welcome. My trainer was Elder Brown, who had been the executive secretary and Elder Boyer trained Leon, he was the financial secretary. There were a couple of other missionaries working in the office, the historian and the commissary elder. Leon’s office was rather small and had a huge, old safe in it, where we kept the missionaries’ passports. All passports had to be taken to a Cartório, a notary public, where they were copied and the Elders carried the copies with them at all times. My office was larger and I had a computer and printer. It had an old version of Word Perfect. The keyboard was in Portuguese and so I wrote my friends at UVCC to send me an old template with the commands in English. This really helped a lot.
The mission office was located in a three story building which housed the Area President’s Office as well as the Church Offices and it also had a branch of the Itaú Bank that we used for all the missionaries and office monies. This was on a huge block that held the Temple, a Stake Center and there was also a building used as lodging for visitors to the temple and as the MTC or CTM in Portuguese. We had guards at the entrances to the complex.
After a few weeks, an apartment became available in the Vertentes apartment complex across the street from the church block. There were about eight tall buildings, four on each side of a little plaza. We were in building Lambari apt. 51. Several apartments in the complex had been purchased by the Church for temple workers but there were not anymore American temple couples so these apartments were available for us and later for some other missionary couples.
We had two bedrooms, a bathroom with different shades of dark blue for the sink and toilet; also the tile on the walls was turquoise. Very colorful. The kitchen had a marble counter. No hot water; it had to be heated for dishes. We had a washer and dryer which I appreciated but I had to wash with cold water the whole time we were there. My stove used a propane tank and was quite small, it looked like it belonged in a doll house. We also had a refrigerator. There was another bedroom and small bath (which we never used) which would have been the maid’s quarters. We had a large water bottle which we kept filled at the temple complex where a well of pure water was located. The apartment was like low class student housing but we were happy to be in it. All fresh vegetables had to be soaked in a special solution before we could eat them.
We did have hot water for showering. Every night, when we got back from the office, we would turn on the fuse that the water heater for the shower used so I had hot water for my nightly shower. We would turn it off when we went to bed and by morning the water was still hot enough for Leon to shower. We didn’t dare leave it turned on all day, the water just kept getting hotter and hotter and we were afraid it would explode!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Richard's birth, Doug deployment, call to Brazil
On the 5th of October, 1990, Mark Richard was born to Mark and Sharon three months early. He only weighed 2 lbs ½ oz!!! He was so small! He was in the hospital for quite a long time. Leon and I were allowed to see him a few times. He was finally permitted to return home but was on oxygen. I took a special class so I would know how to care for him while Mark and Sharon attended her sister Carlene’s wedding.
In December Doug, our marine, was activated to go to Okinawa. His group went to relieve other marines who were sent to Iraq for Desert Storm. The family got together to take a family picture. We hadn’t had one for a long time and everyone was present! Sharon’s Dad, Spencer Rigby, who lived across the street, took the picture.
My brother Fred was called to be Mission President of a new mission in Sâo Paulo, Brazil. He was to be set apart by Elder Richard G. Scott, of the Twelve. He had been a missionary under my Dad. Fred invited Leon and me to be present but when we got to the MTC, Elder Scott thought it best to wait a week or so when my Dad could be present. Carol was scheduled to give a concert in the Assembly Hall and the folks were coming up for that. David accompanied on of Carol’s numbers on the violin.
Fred invited us both to visit with him in the lobby of the MTC. He said he had found out that mission presidents could suggest couples to come and serve in their missions. He and Carol had prayed about it and he felt Leon and I should come and be office missionaries! I though we should go home and pray about it but Leon said that we had made covenants in the Temple and, of course, we would go! He was teaching summer band and I was working at UVCC. This was the 18th of June and the next Portuguese class would begin July 3rd at the MTC. I quit work and Tricia and Alan, and others started working on our house to get it ready to sell. We couldn’t go without selling it and paying off debts. The 3rd of July was supposed to be Leon’s last day of summer band but the other band teacher took his classes. We were able to be with Fred and Carol when they were set apart by Elder Scott and our parents were also present.
All the arrangements for our call were conducted over the telephone. We didn’t get our official missionary call letter until we had been in the MTC for three weeks! We lived at Tricia’s for three weeks and three weeks at David’s. We had classes morning, afternoon and evening. At night, after the last class, we worked on the house. Two of our teachers were returned missionaries from Brazil and the other was a girl from Portugal. Her accent was different from the two young men. We enjoyed our classes and the firesides and devotionals very much. As we studied Portuguese, all the Spanish Leon had studied in high school came out of his mouth when he wanted Portuguese. There was one other couple in our class; they were going to Recife, Brazil. They had lived in Brazil before. He was a Texan and spoke Portuguese with a Texan accent!
We finished our six weeks in the MTC but our visas had not come. They finally decided to send us down to Brazil on tourist visas and thought we could go into a country on the border of Brazil and get our permanent visas there. Two more weeks had passed before we were finally ready to go. We had a great family picnic in Provo before we left. We gave Tricia our power of attorney to take care of all our bills, sale of house, etc. She did a magnificent job of it all the time we were gone
In December Doug, our marine, was activated to go to Okinawa. His group went to relieve other marines who were sent to Iraq for Desert Storm. The family got together to take a family picture. We hadn’t had one for a long time and everyone was present! Sharon’s Dad, Spencer Rigby, who lived across the street, took the picture.
My brother Fred was called to be Mission President of a new mission in Sâo Paulo, Brazil. He was to be set apart by Elder Richard G. Scott, of the Twelve. He had been a missionary under my Dad. Fred invited Leon and me to be present but when we got to the MTC, Elder Scott thought it best to wait a week or so when my Dad could be present. Carol was scheduled to give a concert in the Assembly Hall and the folks were coming up for that. David accompanied on of Carol’s numbers on the violin.
Fred invited us both to visit with him in the lobby of the MTC. He said he had found out that mission presidents could suggest couples to come and serve in their missions. He and Carol had prayed about it and he felt Leon and I should come and be office missionaries! I though we should go home and pray about it but Leon said that we had made covenants in the Temple and, of course, we would go! He was teaching summer band and I was working at UVCC. This was the 18th of June and the next Portuguese class would begin July 3rd at the MTC. I quit work and Tricia and Alan, and others started working on our house to get it ready to sell. We couldn’t go without selling it and paying off debts. The 3rd of July was supposed to be Leon’s last day of summer band but the other band teacher took his classes. We were able to be with Fred and Carol when they were set apart by Elder Scott and our parents were also present.
All the arrangements for our call were conducted over the telephone. We didn’t get our official missionary call letter until we had been in the MTC for three weeks! We lived at Tricia’s for three weeks and three weeks at David’s. We had classes morning, afternoon and evening. At night, after the last class, we worked on the house. Two of our teachers were returned missionaries from Brazil and the other was a girl from Portugal. Her accent was different from the two young men. We enjoyed our classes and the firesides and devotionals very much. As we studied Portuguese, all the Spanish Leon had studied in high school came out of his mouth when he wanted Portuguese. There was one other couple in our class; they were going to Recife, Brazil. They had lived in Brazil before. He was a Texan and spoke Portuguese with a Texan accent!
We finished our six weeks in the MTC but our visas had not come. They finally decided to send us down to Brazil on tourist visas and thought we could go into a country on the border of Brazil and get our permanent visas there. Two more weeks had passed before we were finally ready to go. We had a great family picnic in Provo before we left. We gave Tricia our power of attorney to take care of all our bills, sale of house, etc. She did a magnificent job of it all the time we were gone
Monday, June 29, 2009
Kansas and Denver
After leaving Nauvoo, we drove by where Dean Morris lived. He had about 180 acres and local farmers farm it and give half of the crop, hay and field corn, to Dean. There is a nice two-bedroom home with two creeks running through the property. Strawberries and blackberries grow in the woods. It looked like a fun place for kids to enjoy.
We next drove to Miltonvale, KS, where Grandpa Honey was born. A very small town! We visited the little historical society in Clyde, KS, where Barsuma had lived and saw mention of the Honeys. The two towns are only about 20 miles apart. Incidentally, Barsuma is the one who named the town of Clyde.
On to Denver, CO, arriving in the afternoon. After checking into our motel, we drove to the Molly Brown house. It was 3:55 p.m. and found it closed at 4:00 p.m. The last tour had just started and, after Leon had talked to the people, they let us join the tour and didn’t charge us a fee!
We found out many things about Molly. First, her name was Maggie, not Molly, and she was not an orphan but had 10 brothers and sisters and was born in Hannibal, MO. She and a brother came out to Leadville where she married J.J. Brown. After he struck it rich they moved to Denver. The city welcomed them and she gave parties for up to 800 people though her husband did not like society. Only the sacred 32, the old money, did not welcome her, new money. Their house was very modern for their times. Molly spent much of her time in Europe and learned six languages. Her children, a boy and a girl, were educated in Europe.
One time, while she was in Europe, she got word that a grandchild was very sick so she booked passage home. The Astors persuaded her to change her ticket to the Titanic, costing $5,000, as they thought it would get her to America sooner. She was instrumental in calming people in her lifeboat and in getting the wimpy sailor assigned to it to function. She nursed people on the ship that rescued them for three days and told reporters that the Browns were unsinkable, that’s where she got the nickname. The sacred 32 invited her to lunch after that but still didn’t invite her to play bridge. She and her husband separated and never did get together again. Hollywood really changed a lot of things about her life!
We had dinner at the Casa Bonita. I had heard about this place for a long time. It has a pink and gold leaf tower on the outside and going inside is like going to Disneyland with the winding lines to get tickets. We wound around quite a bit then paid for the dinner, a little expensive, more winding around then got to the place where the dinners are shot out of the kitchen onto a counter and a fellow, with hot pads, plunks the dishes on your tray. The food was nothing special, but the atmosphere was great. A grotto with trees and pool where divers dive into the pool, strolling mariachis, gun fights, puppet and magic shows. You felt you were in a Mexican market. Kids would love it but all two years old and older have to buy a dinner.
We saw beautiful scenery out of Denver in the Rocky Mountains. We stopped at the Dinosaur Museum outside of Vernal. Leon had always wanted to go there and it was very impressive; more than I thought it would be. A bank of rock, with the bones that have been uncovered sticking out of it, is enclosed in a building for protection. The displays were very informative and everything done very nicely.
We stopped a few minutes to see Lou and Lucy in Duchesne. They are fun people to visit and Lucy gave me a large copper tray she brought back from Belgrade. It is very beautiful. She certainly has given me many lovely things.
We got home in the evening and it was great to be back. We had had a wonderful 18 days, being with family and then seeing so many great things.
We next drove to Miltonvale, KS, where Grandpa Honey was born. A very small town! We visited the little historical society in Clyde, KS, where Barsuma had lived and saw mention of the Honeys. The two towns are only about 20 miles apart. Incidentally, Barsuma is the one who named the town of Clyde.
On to Denver, CO, arriving in the afternoon. After checking into our motel, we drove to the Molly Brown house. It was 3:55 p.m. and found it closed at 4:00 p.m. The last tour had just started and, after Leon had talked to the people, they let us join the tour and didn’t charge us a fee!
We found out many things about Molly. First, her name was Maggie, not Molly, and she was not an orphan but had 10 brothers and sisters and was born in Hannibal, MO. She and a brother came out to Leadville where she married J.J. Brown. After he struck it rich they moved to Denver. The city welcomed them and she gave parties for up to 800 people though her husband did not like society. Only the sacred 32, the old money, did not welcome her, new money. Their house was very modern for their times. Molly spent much of her time in Europe and learned six languages. Her children, a boy and a girl, were educated in Europe.
One time, while she was in Europe, she got word that a grandchild was very sick so she booked passage home. The Astors persuaded her to change her ticket to the Titanic, costing $5,000, as they thought it would get her to America sooner. She was instrumental in calming people in her lifeboat and in getting the wimpy sailor assigned to it to function. She nursed people on the ship that rescued them for three days and told reporters that the Browns were unsinkable, that’s where she got the nickname. The sacred 32 invited her to lunch after that but still didn’t invite her to play bridge. She and her husband separated and never did get together again. Hollywood really changed a lot of things about her life!
We had dinner at the Casa Bonita. I had heard about this place for a long time. It has a pink and gold leaf tower on the outside and going inside is like going to Disneyland with the winding lines to get tickets. We wound around quite a bit then paid for the dinner, a little expensive, more winding around then got to the place where the dinners are shot out of the kitchen onto a counter and a fellow, with hot pads, plunks the dishes on your tray. The food was nothing special, but the atmosphere was great. A grotto with trees and pool where divers dive into the pool, strolling mariachis, gun fights, puppet and magic shows. You felt you were in a Mexican market. Kids would love it but all two years old and older have to buy a dinner.
We saw beautiful scenery out of Denver in the Rocky Mountains. We stopped at the Dinosaur Museum outside of Vernal. Leon had always wanted to go there and it was very impressive; more than I thought it would be. A bank of rock, with the bones that have been uncovered sticking out of it, is enclosed in a building for protection. The displays were very informative and everything done very nicely.
We stopped a few minutes to see Lou and Lucy in Duchesne. They are fun people to visit and Lucy gave me a large copper tray she brought back from Belgrade. It is very beautiful. She certainly has given me many lovely things.
We got home in the evening and it was great to be back. We had had a wonderful 18 days, being with family and then seeing so many great things.
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