Dear Family,
We have come to the last week of our mission. We will be busy as we transfer our assignment dealing with missionary referrals to local members. We are working with the missionaries from the two wards that meet in our building to hold home evenings. Over the past few weeks, we have also been able to visit the various wards where we have served.
Last week, for our preparation day, we decided to make one last trip to the city of Ouro Preto, a Baroque colonial gem that is a world heritage site. With every visit, we discover a new street or a new church.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouro_Preto
We look forward to seeing you all soon.
Love,
Dad/Cliff
Monday, August 24, 2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
Greetings from Brazil July 27, 2015
Dear Family,
We send our greetings to all.
Our adventures continue here in the last weeks of our mission. This week, our mission is in the midst of the first transfer with our new mission president. There will be many changes in our last weeks here.
Our activities remain the same with work on referrals during the day and home evenings 2-4 times per week. Our family home evenings always give us the opportunity to share a gospel lesson using scriptures from the Book of Mormon. This past week we shared a message on how the Book of Mormon can lead us to faith in Jesus Christ and the resultant desire to show our faith through our actions.
This past week we add two additional adventures. Friday evening, a member of the ward invited us to attend a soccer game. It was a fun evening. Saturday, we attended a national exhibition for Mangalarga Marchador horses, a breed native to Brazil.
We send our greetings to all.
Our adventures continue here in the last weeks of our mission. This week, our mission is in the midst of the first transfer with our new mission president. There will be many changes in our last weeks here.
Our activities remain the same with work on referrals during the day and home evenings 2-4 times per week. Our family home evenings always give us the opportunity to share a gospel lesson using scriptures from the Book of Mormon. This past week we shared a message on how the Book of Mormon can lead us to faith in Jesus Christ and the resultant desire to show our faith through our actions.
This past week we add two additional adventures. Friday evening, a member of the ward invited us to attend a soccer game. It was a fun evening. Saturday, we attended a national exhibition for Mangalarga Marchador horses, a breed native to Brazil.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Greetings from Brasil 7/22/2015
Dear Family,
Sorry for the delay in sending this email update. We continue in our work here in Belo Horizonte. We are grateful for the opporutnitie to share the gospel in person as well as vicariously by distributing the hundreds of referrals recevied in the mission to the missionaries. Our home evenings continue to be opportunties for integration of members in the Santa Lúcia and Bandeirantes Wards. There is a real hunger and thirst for social and spiritual interactions between new members, those returning to church, as well as those who are just now hearing about the gospel from the missionaries. So many just want an invitation to return. We had the recent bad news that the mixer that we bought here died, spewing smoke and sparks as it was used to prepare its last batch of cookies.
Last Sunday, we had the chance to visit the Venda Nova Ward, where we spent a great deal of our time while serving in the Pampulha Stake. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and see the progress of many members. We will have time to visit other wards around Pampulha before we return home.
FYI, as of today, we are the last missionary couple in this mission.
That´s all for now.
Love,
Dad/Cliff
Sorry for the delay in sending this email update. We continue in our work here in Belo Horizonte. We are grateful for the opporutnitie to share the gospel in person as well as vicariously by distributing the hundreds of referrals recevied in the mission to the missionaries. Our home evenings continue to be opportunties for integration of members in the Santa Lúcia and Bandeirantes Wards. There is a real hunger and thirst for social and spiritual interactions between new members, those returning to church, as well as those who are just now hearing about the gospel from the missionaries. So many just want an invitation to return. We had the recent bad news that the mixer that we bought here died, spewing smoke and sparks as it was used to prepare its last batch of cookies.
Last Sunday, we had the chance to visit the Venda Nova Ward, where we spent a great deal of our time while serving in the Pampulha Stake. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and see the progress of many members. We will have time to visit other wards around Pampulha before we return home.
FYI, as of today, we are the last missionary couple in this mission.
That´s all for now.
Love,
Dad/Cliff
Monday, July 6, 2015
Greetings from Brasil 7/6/2015
Dear Family,
We send our love and greetings once again from Belo Horizonte. We hope that you are all well and happy.
This week was a transition week in the mission. President and Sister Fortunato were released after three years of service here in Minas Gerais. They now go back to their normal lives. They had a great influence, leading the mission and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We enjoyed serving with them. Monday evening, they had a farewell dinner with the other couple missionaries. Another couple also finished their mission this week and are heading home to the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Wednesday, our new president and family arrived from São Paulo to lead the mission. They brought their three children (ages 11-16). All of the missionaries gathered for a conference on Friday for the opportunity to meet and greet the Fernandes family. They will bring their own style and inspiration to the leadership of the mission.
The conference started on a sad note as we received word that a missionary had been in an accident on the way to Belo Horizonte. Four missionaries were in a bus coming from an outlying city. The bus hit a pedestrian. The Elders got out of the bus to give the injured man a blessing. A truck hit the stopped bus which in turn hit one of the missionaries. The mission president brought the injured Elder into a hospital here in the city. There were concerns that he had sustained a head injury. Fortunately, by the end of the conference, we heard word that he was recovering quickly and would soon return to his area. It was a miracle and a blessing!
For our preparation day this past week, we went back to the city of Ouro Preto. We had another wonderful day in this colonial city and got to visit more baroque churches that we missed on our previous visits. It is apt that the city has been designated a World Heritage Site.
That’s all for now,
Love,
Dad/Cliff
We send our love and greetings once again from Belo Horizonte. We hope that you are all well and happy.
This week was a transition week in the mission. President and Sister Fortunato were released after three years of service here in Minas Gerais. They now go back to their normal lives. They had a great influence, leading the mission and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We enjoyed serving with them. Monday evening, they had a farewell dinner with the other couple missionaries. Another couple also finished their mission this week and are heading home to the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Wednesday, our new president and family arrived from São Paulo to lead the mission. They brought their three children (ages 11-16). All of the missionaries gathered for a conference on Friday for the opportunity to meet and greet the Fernandes family. They will bring their own style and inspiration to the leadership of the mission.
The conference started on a sad note as we received word that a missionary had been in an accident on the way to Belo Horizonte. Four missionaries were in a bus coming from an outlying city. The bus hit a pedestrian. The Elders got out of the bus to give the injured man a blessing. A truck hit the stopped bus which in turn hit one of the missionaries. The mission president brought the injured Elder into a hospital here in the city. There were concerns that he had sustained a head injury. Fortunately, by the end of the conference, we heard word that he was recovering quickly and would soon return to his area. It was a miracle and a blessing!
For our preparation day this past week, we went back to the city of Ouro Preto. We had another wonderful day in this colonial city and got to visit more baroque churches that we missed on our previous visits. It is apt that the city has been designated a World Heritage Site.
That’s all for now,
Love,
Dad/Cliff
Friday, June 26, 2015
Greetings from Brasil 6/26/2015
Dear Family,
The weeks are passing quickly for us here in Belo Horizonte. This will be the last week for President and Sister Fortunato in their service in the Brasil Belo Horizonte Mission. We eagerly await the arrival of the new mission president next week.
We continue to deal with the missionaries on a daily basis as we distribute and follow-up on referrals received in the mission. It is a responsibility that keeps us busy throughout the week. We do get to feel the vicarious joy in getting reports back from the missionaries: that they have had spiritual meetings with these new referrals; that contacts have attended church for the first time; that investigators have decided to make major changes in their lives; that they have accepted the invitation to be baptized. At times, these new converts to the church did not know that they were searching for the gospel in their lives. However, they were all touched by spiritual impressions and received personal revelation and confirmation of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a great blessing for us to serve with these talented and blessed young missionaries.
At present, we are having up to three family home evenings in our apartment each week. This has been particularly effective in integrating the recent converts with other members of the ward and to have a spiritual discussion based on scriptures.
Two preparation days have passed since our last letter. Last week, friends from Pampulha took us on a day trip to Serra do Cipó, a mountainous region more in the interior of Minas Gerais. We hiked and visited many waterfalls in the area. This week, we visited museums in Belo Horizonte and went to the Central Market. Sorry, no baroque churches this week.
That’s all for now.
Love,
Dad/Cliff
The weeks are passing quickly for us here in Belo Horizonte. This will be the last week for President and Sister Fortunato in their service in the Brasil Belo Horizonte Mission. We eagerly await the arrival of the new mission president next week.
We continue to deal with the missionaries on a daily basis as we distribute and follow-up on referrals received in the mission. It is a responsibility that keeps us busy throughout the week. We do get to feel the vicarious joy in getting reports back from the missionaries: that they have had spiritual meetings with these new referrals; that contacts have attended church for the first time; that investigators have decided to make major changes in their lives; that they have accepted the invitation to be baptized. At times, these new converts to the church did not know that they were searching for the gospel in their lives. However, they were all touched by spiritual impressions and received personal revelation and confirmation of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a great blessing for us to serve with these talented and blessed young missionaries.
At present, we are having up to three family home evenings in our apartment each week. This has been particularly effective in integrating the recent converts with other members of the ward and to have a spiritual discussion based on scriptures.
Two preparation days have passed since our last letter. Last week, friends from Pampulha took us on a day trip to Serra do Cipó, a mountainous region more in the interior of Minas Gerais. We hiked and visited many waterfalls in the area. This week, we visited museums in Belo Horizonte and went to the Central Market. Sorry, no baroque churches this week.
That’s all for now.
Love,
Dad/Cliff
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Greetings from Brasil 6/7/2015
Dear Family,
Sorry for the delay in getting a letter off last week. Here are a few highlights of our past week.
We spent most of the week dealing with referrals on the church system. With a little poking around, we found an additional 200 referrals in need of attention. Thursday was a national holiday, so we moved our preparation day to maximize our access to the on-line resources at the church.
Thursday was the national and Catholic holiday Corpus Christi. We took the bus to the nearby historic town of Sabará to attend the event. The stone streets throughout the older colonial part of the city were covered by “carpets” made of dyed sawdust with various religious designs. After a ceremony on the steps of city hall, a religious procession began. Only after the priest had walked on the carpets, were others allowed to do so. Hundreds of people were in attendance, participating in the procession, often singing in unison. Fireworks were also set off. Bringing up the rear of the procession was the town band. It made for quite a morning.
Friday, we had Zone Conference together with two other zones here in Belo Horizonte. This was the last conference for President and Sister Fortunato before their missions end at the end of the month.
Sunday, a new stake was formed in the mission. The Betim Stake was formed from parts of the Contagem Stake as well as from branches in some outlying areas. It is a sign that the Kingdom continues to grow! Due to a lack of facilities in the new stake, their conference was held in our building in Belo Horizonte and our meetings were postponed until the afternoon.
That’s all for now.
Love,
Dad/Cliff
Sorry for the delay in getting a letter off last week. Here are a few highlights of our past week.
We spent most of the week dealing with referrals on the church system. With a little poking around, we found an additional 200 referrals in need of attention. Thursday was a national holiday, so we moved our preparation day to maximize our access to the on-line resources at the church.
Thursday was the national and Catholic holiday Corpus Christi. We took the bus to the nearby historic town of Sabará to attend the event. The stone streets throughout the older colonial part of the city were covered by “carpets” made of dyed sawdust with various religious designs. After a ceremony on the steps of city hall, a religious procession began. Only after the priest had walked on the carpets, were others allowed to do so. Hundreds of people were in attendance, participating in the procession, often singing in unison. Fireworks were also set off. Bringing up the rear of the procession was the town band. It made for quite a morning.
Friday, we had Zone Conference together with two other zones here in Belo Horizonte. This was the last conference for President and Sister Fortunato before their missions end at the end of the month.
Sunday, a new stake was formed in the mission. The Betim Stake was formed from parts of the Contagem Stake as well as from branches in some outlying areas. It is a sign that the Kingdom continues to grow! Due to a lack of facilities in the new stake, their conference was held in our building in Belo Horizonte and our meetings were postponed until the afternoon.
That’s all for now.
Love,
Dad/Cliff
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Greetings from Brasil 5/21/2015
Greetings to all. We hope that you are all well.
I just have time for a quick note today. We are continuing in our routine of taking care of referrals received in the mission. We also are receiving members and their friends in our home during the evenings.
Last week, some friends from Pampulha joined us for home evening. Rodrigo, a young man who was baptized in September, recently had the opportunity to go to the temple for the first time. On Monday, several other recent converts in Santa Lúcia visited our home. They also had the chance to go to the temple for the first time this past week . They all came home excited and elated after having the opportunity to serve their ancestors, providing vicarious baptisms for their deceased family members. It was the concept of eternal families and the restoration of priesthood authority necessary for temple ordinances for his deceased brother that led Rodrigo to the Church.
We send our love to all,
Dad/Cliff
I just have time for a quick note today. We are continuing in our routine of taking care of referrals received in the mission. We also are receiving members and their friends in our home during the evenings.
Last week, some friends from Pampulha joined us for home evening. Rodrigo, a young man who was baptized in September, recently had the opportunity to go to the temple for the first time. On Monday, several other recent converts in Santa Lúcia visited our home. They also had the chance to go to the temple for the first time this past week . They all came home excited and elated after having the opportunity to serve their ancestors, providing vicarious baptisms for their deceased family members. It was the concept of eternal families and the restoration of priesthood authority necessary for temple ordinances for his deceased brother that led Rodrigo to the Church.
We send our love to all,
Dad/Cliff
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