If you ever think your load is too heavy, keep this fellow in mind!

Sister Sousa

This is Sister Sousa who is Brazilian and serving a mission in the Sao Paulo North.  She didn't speak English and I didn't speak Portuguese but during the conference she wrote a sweet note in Portuguese to me and we just connected heart to heart.

Tatui Branch Church

This is where we meet each Sunday.  You can see the parking lot is made of bricks of stone,  all the streets in Tatui are the same.  The members keep the grounds and the church very clean.  We are estatic to report that Jose came to Church today as he said he would.  I hope he felt the welcome and love that was extended to him.

This is a nice home just across the street from the church.  Every home has a locked gate in front of it.  Beyond the locked gate there is usually a tiled area where they park their car or bicycles or motor bike or use it for storage or a patio.  The tile is always spotless.  In the evenings they wash the tile down with buckets of water.  When we go to a home we stand in front of the gate and clap and wait for them to come greet us.  Once in awhile a home will have a buzzer, but not often.

     We are having some wonderful missionary experiences here in Tatui.  It is our goal to visit every member of the Branch in their homes.  We go out every day and visit at least two or three.  That doesn't seem like a lot but we don't have a car so we do a lot of walking and the members live from one end of Tatui to the other.
     Each family we have visited, whether active or less active, have been so welcoming and kind.  The sisters always greet each other with a hug and kiss on the cheek and the brothers hug also. 
     One brother we visited today is 75 years old.  He has just come back to the church. His wife died 35 years ago and he never remarried.  He hasn't been to the temple yet so we asked him to begin preparing himself to go to the temple, I hope he does before we leave.
     When we were at the praca this morning, a non-member sister (her husband is a member), heard we were visiting the people in the Branch. She asked, "Quando vens a minha casa?" When are you coming to my house? We told her we will be there next week.  She is planning on being baptized in February.
     We visited a family last Wednesday who are less active.  Their daughter and her little boy come out to church.  The father, who was the Branch President at one time, was a little aloof at first but warmed up as we visited with him.  Finally Elder Barrus told him that Heavenly Father loves him and the Branch needs him to come back to church and asked him if he would come to church this Sunday.  He looked down for a minute and then said, "Yes, I will come."  We are praying that he will be there Sunday.  He and his family would be such a welcome asset to the Branch.
     

Open Air Market

On our way to find a bus stop we came across this great feira (open air market) surrounding one of the pracas.  Beautiful fruits and vegetables, avocados the size of grapefruit, it just took two to make a huge bowl of guacamole

Elders Marinho and James

These are the two best Elders ever!  Elder Marinho and Elder James.  They have helped us with so many things from setting up our internet to getting our washing machine working and meeting members of the Tatui Branch.  They are not only our guardian angels, they are our personal security guards.  Elder James is 6 ft. 8 inches and Elder Marinho is about 6 ft. 3 inches and could easily play linebacker for the BYU Cougars.  When we have to be out after dark, no worries, with these great elders we feel perfectly safe!