opportunity to attend church in a ward I visited just under two years ago in Sao Paulo. (Indianapolis Ward). The ward has grown quite a bit and there were some people that actually remembered me. It was fun to see how the ward has changed and to talk to people that remembered me.
Like every time I visit I noticed that everything is very much the same and different. First it was great to hear the hymns in Portuguese again. Brought back memories of my mission and how I played the piano (not very well) in many of my areas because no one else could play. When the sacrament meeting started about 1/3 of the seats were filled. By the end of Sacrament meeting it was filled. This brought back memories as well. :) Another thing I noticed was I was the only one with white hair. (insert old man jokes here.) This reminded me of toward the end of my mission when my parents came to pick me up I was surprise at how fair skinned they were and my mom's blond hair really stood out. I guess I had not looked in a mirror for two years.
This trip has more meaning this year because my son was just called to serve his mission in this part of the world. This ward is in his mission (a geographical area that missionaries serve). I talked to some of the other missionaries that are here and got a feel for the area. Tips of the trade to pass on to Jacob.After Church I headed over to the Sao Paulo Interlagos Mission Home. This is the central office for the mission and I took some pictures and a couple of videos to share with my son Jacob. I ran into a couple more people that work in the mission office. Brother and Sister Loveless. They work in the office a handle logistics and care and feeding of the missionaries. They knew that Jacob was coming and even told me the date that he was going to arrive Aug 8th, after spending 6 weeks in the Mission Training Center in a different part of Sao Paulo (about 45 minutes away).
There is a Stake building next to the mission office so I went inside to see what it was like and talk to more missionaries. When I walked in I could hear the primary children singing. It was a beautiful sound and reminded me of my primary class I team teach with my wife every Sunday. I miss those kids this week. I also found a bulleten board that listed the missionaries from the stake. They had missionaries serving all over the world. Including the US, Europe, Central and South America. I sometimes forget that other parents in other countries are missing their children as they serve in other countries as well.I look forward to hearing weekly from Jacob when he is on his mission and to see the pictures of this beautiful place.
DWP
Check out my videos from Sao Paulo Here
