Our departure and arrival!

Couldn´t resist this picture..........that´s a brand of butter here.  One of the girls took this picture and we are so glad to have them around to help us keep laughting and having fun, amounst the work!  President Jones was born to be a mission president!  He has so much love for the missionaries ALREADY and can remember their names and faces and where they are from.  It´s really incredible to me!

We were welcomed at the airport by President and Sister Campos.  They were so kind to us and had the mission home prepared so beautifully!  They had done some remodeling done during their time, so much of the home was fresh and new.  They also left the refridgerator and pantry full of food!!  We were so grateful for this!  All of a sudden with 175 missionaries to care for, food was not a huge priority! So not to have to worry about a big grocery store run was so helpful!   It was awesome to have Malorie with us and she helped a ton in the house and with meals and shopping etc. when she was here........not to mention the times she was so willing when her dad asked her to share her testimony or sing at an event!!  The Campos left the mission in excellent condition.  We will always have a sweet love for them and how they worked so hard to help make the transition of a new president arriving smooth and as comfortable as possible for us and the missionaries!  They are wonderful and we discover more and more as time goes on the amazing service they gave during their time as Mission President and Companion.  The missionaries have such a great love for them!  We feel so inferior to them and wonder how we will ever be able to feel thier shoes!!  Sister Campos has so much love and took such great care of the emotional and physical health of the missionaries as well as made sure their apartments were well furnished and that they learned skills to be organized and clean in their apartments.  She is a very organized woman and I am reaping the benefits of this!!   (pictured in the center is Bayard, the man that cares for the mission home, he overlooks having things fixed etc.)  He was amazing help to us as well......and still is!    

And we´re off!  Salt Lake International Airport 6/28/2018.  Here we come Porto Alegre, Brazil!  (no, we didn´t coordinate our colors, haha)

...........but wait!  I more hug from 2 of our grand daughters, Shay 2 and Navy 4.  Ahhhhhh! it´s got to last for 3 years!!
(this was before we entered the MTC)

Morgan´s Arrival!

Six hours after we arrived in Porto Alegre at 12:30 AM, Morgan arrived from her mission in Chile, Osorno to meet us there.  It was such a sweet reunion!  Maybe a little disappointing for her to not have the whole family at the airport at her arrival but we were so happy for her decision to come to our mission to spend a month.  She was released the next morning by President Davis over a SKPE.  She didn´t stop doing missionary work when she joined us.  She got references for our missionaries every place she went!

It was so awesome to have these two reunited again!

Sweet, Sweet hugs!!  And such a blessing to have her back safe and sound!

Ahhhhhh..........Dad and daughter!!

..........more MTC

What an honor to have dinner with Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, General Young Women´s president.  And she even speaks portuguese!  She went to Portugal as a young woman when her father was called to be the mission president in Lisbon Portugal and soon after was called to serve her mission in that same mission with her father as her mission president!  She also served with her husband as the companion to the mission President of the Brazil, Curitiba Mission.

Just a sampling of those that we were trained by at the MTC seminar!  I wasn´t able to get the prophet in the picture, but he was there and the only speaker in Sacrement Meeting that day!  So very memorable!!  To me, this is proof of the important and urgent work of inviting all of Heavenly Father´s children to come unto Christ!

Dinner with Elder and Sister Bednar at our table was a priceless experience!  We were taught and edified by them and always feel so loved in their presence.  Elder Bednar gave us some hope that he and Sister Bednar would possibly visit our mission because he has been recently asigned to Brazil.  We are hoping!

It has been so fun to have dear friends Pres. and Sis. Baird from our Heber Ward going to serve the same time as us.  They will serve in the Trinidad, Port of Spain Mission!  Looking forward to sharing many experiences!!

We were so thrilled to be taught by Elder Brent Nelson, Exececutive Director of the Mission Dept. (grew up in Burley 7th ward with Dee).  Him and his wife Marcie were so kind to us!

Ahhhh........my cute language training teacher at the MTC, Marjorie Dultra from the state just above our mission, Santa Catarina.  She taught me how to speak like a Gaucha.......well, she did her best!  Just happened on to her too while she was working at the MTC!!

Look who we ran into......Sam Matthews who grew up in our ward in Heber and whose parents we love dearly!
Sam works at the MTC.  It was a fun suprise to see him!!

Pres.and Sis. Marsh-Brazil, Campinas Mission from North Carolina.  We are excited to reunite with them at the semi annual Mission President´s Seminars in Brazil.

Pres. and Sis. Biddulf-Brazil, Salvador South from Idaho Fall, ID.  We discovered that their neice is serving in our mission, Sister Hoover.

Pres. and Sis. Granga-Cuiabá, Brazil.  We knew them in Recife.  He was the Dr. that took care of all the YM in our ward preparing to serve missions.  He did dozens of  mission physicals for free and payed for their lunch and transportation home!  Awesome guy!

Our son Davis´s roomates´s parents Pres. and Sis Treadaway-Provo, Utah Mission
where 2 of their kids live and a grandchild.......jealous! 

Brazilian couples going to serve in Brazil.  Pres. and Sis. Castillano-Tetizinha
and Pres. and Sis. Souza-Porto Alegre South, our neighboring mission. 

The first couple we met at the MTC.  President and Sister Ackerman from Filer, Idaho going to serve in Farmington New Mexico Mission where a good friend of our daughter is serving.

MTC training

Feeling very official now! Yikes!!

We entered the MTC for training June 22-26.  We received a flood of spiritual nurishment that we hope will last for 3 years.  As we were receiving instruction from the entire First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, we were sure it would!  Such an amazing, unforgettable 5 days for us!!

The traditional" Mission Map" picture

Elder Maxwell, one of our Mission Prep students at the MTC
preparing to go to Indonesia!

Setting Apart

     June 19th we had the privilge of meeting with all our family, 2 of our oldest grand daughters and our adopted son and his wife in Elder Neil L. Anderson´s office to be set apart.

Dee was set apart by Elder Anderson and I was set apart by Elder Sitate of the Seventy.  I asked our son in law to remember some of the wonderful blessings that we received in our setings apart.  He was able to remember and write down most everything!  We have reflected and embraced the blessings recieved that day as we serve in the mission field  It has given us the strength and power and faith to fullfill our calling.  It will be a precious resource to us the whole mission. 

In the Church Office Building with our most precious asset.........our amazing kids! (Morgan serving in the Mission Chile, Osorno) 

Our Mission Call!

        We received our official call 2 days before Christmas!  It was so fun to have 5 of our kids there to share the excitement of learning we would serve in our beloved Brazil!!  A completely different side of the country from where we lived before in the most southern state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul.  Our official mission is the Porto Alegre North Mission and we were so excited!

Add caption