May 24th, 2017 - Mission Update

It’s been a great three weeks since our last update.  The weather has started to change a little bit – cooler by about 3 or 4 degrees, more rain and more humidity – we are not sure it’s better but it is changing.  It usually only gets down to about 73° at night.   During one of our weeks we traveled again and visited Vitória da Conquista – which is more in the south of the state.  It was actually a little chilly at night – which was wonderful.  It is the only place in our mission where the missionaries actually have a blanket on their beds. 

During the week we drove from Salvador and visited Jequié, Itapetinga, Brumado, Pocões, Livramento da Nossa Senhora and Conquista.   It was a lot of driving and we were able to get a lot done as we are staying out later at night..  We don’t like doing that at our place in Salvador – too many gun shots and fireworks.  Kaye refuses to believe they are gunshots and just says it’s thunder even when the sky is clear.  We visited with a lot of different missionaries – helped them with their needs as best we could.  Kaye brought larger bags of M&M’s for all of them.  It was a challenge for me – the M&M’s had a suitcase of their own and I could hear them calling to me every night.  They were so lonely. 

We had some great conferences  since our last update– Elder Costa – who has been a Seventy since 1974 and is the President of the Brazil Area visited.   He has a very interesting history of helping Brazilians and his time in ministering in the Church.  A few pictures below.  First is with our Mission Office Group and the second was during a larger leadership/training meeting.  Just to identify us, we are the really old and tired looking couple – well Kaye isn’t, but I am. 

We put in a few other pictures to show a little of the differences in Brazil – the first is large white rock on the side walk.   We walk past this rock every time we go the Mission Office from our apartment.  Somehow it fell down the hill and landed on the side walk.  The road crew evidently came through and took a look at it, found it to be too heavy, but in true Brazilan fashion painted it white so no one would trip over it.  It looks like they repaint it every five or six months rather than move it somewhere else. 

The second was on a trip to a nice supermarket here – they have great ice cream.  Kaye was looking for some meat to put with the beans she has down pat now.  We found this table of hams – if you look the hams still have the hoof on them.  Easier to carry I guess, but difficult to put into a pot without some kind of a saw

The next one is the smallest avocado Kaye could find at the market and the last two show some handy carpentry work done by some of our Elders.  Someone tried to break into their apartment and broke part of the door.  Rather than replace the door – they fixed it up well with some nails and fence stakes.

It’s a really interesting country.  Right now we are taking some Portuguese classes – three hours every day for a couple of weeks.  The teacher is a person who has traveled the world and speaks three or four languages – she is teaching us a lot about the language, history and culture. 

We miss everyone and are so appreciative of the pictures people send – it helps us stay connected.  Love you all.   Paul and Kaye

April 30th, 2017 - Mission Update

So the big news for this month is that Paul and I celebrated 40 years of marital bliss!  Quite an accomplishment in and of itself it you ask me!!   Can’t think of a better way to celebrate here in Brazil than with about ten missionaries—so we made cinnamon rolls and then had a few missionaries over to play ping-pong at our apartment complex’s “play floor” (actually it is called “pingue-pongue” here in Brazil),—I know that doesn’t sound like a real celebration—The actual celebration was in the fact that I could  actually make and bake cinnamon rolls in my little Coleman like mission oven!  I am learning the Brazilian ways!!!  Although Paul does groan if I say I’m making beans again! I had to make my own powdered sugar…Never done that before!   Will the real “pioneer woman” please stand-up!  Thank-you…….and she takes a bow!

It was actually very fun and the missionaries really had a good time and one of the American missionaries said to me, “Sister Briggs, when I was eating my cinnamon roll, I actually cried a little bit inside and said, I miss my mom!”  They are great!  They had a big championship tournament and then Elder Briggs made the winner play me and I got slaughtered and  he was even trying to let me get a few points—it was embarrassing!

We are officially the housing coordinators for the mission!  There is a lot of work to be done with  housing because the missionaries are always changing houses—the paperwork is endless but we have made great strides in trying to get the records to where they should be—we still have a long ways to go!  

We are still feeling the pressure and desire to learn to speak Portuguese better.  (I am really struggling —I think Paul is doing great!)  Last night we went to a baptism, three people were getting baptized, and they came and asked Paul to share some words and his testimony—it turns out HE was the one and only speaker!  By the way, he did a great job!!  Anyway, we found a lady that is Brazilian and speaks English, so we signed up for a couple of weeks of intense lessons—3 hours a day for 2 weeks to start—unfortunately after that she is booked until August—but at least that will help us to know if taking these lessons is going to help us.  Below is a picture that was on our way home from one of our favorite spots here in Salvador.  For our actual anniversary we ate at a little restaurant that is right here looking over the beach. 

They don’t have maple syrup  here in Brazil in the stores—or maple flavoring—you can find real maple syrup in Sam’s Club but it is really expensive so many of our Brazilian missionaries have never had pancakes for breakfast  so a few weeks ago we came in early to the mission office and surprised the office with pancakes and eggs.  This Elder that is leaving said he would like that again so we did pancakes this last Friday again for them.  Three batches of pancake batter later, they were fed!  We will miss you Elder Estevam!!

This last month has been spent mostly in the office trying to update the housing records correctly.

We will be heading out of Salvador around May 9th  for the week, to travel again to visit the different missionaries and their houses to see how we can help them.   We are so grateful to be helping the Lord in anyway we can here in Brazil.  We hope our small contribution will be pleasing to Him.  

We love and miss you all so very much and hope that in our absence you will still be able to feel of our love and concern for each of you!  We also hope that you will keep calling and staying in touch—that is so very important to us.  All of you are continually in our prayers!  Love, Dad & Mom, Paul & Kaye

March 21st, 2017 - Mission Update

Wow – we are really lousy at keeping our blog up-to-date.   I guess we haven’t had too much sensational to write about.   We kept busy trying to avoid the Carnival impact – we didn’t realize it would go on for so long and most everyplace shuts down except for the stores that sell beer.   At least that’s the way it seemed.   Our apartment is on a street that leads to one of the main areas and for a week it was jammed with cars.   They put up plywood boards all in front of the complex and the stores – to protect against people throwing stuff out of the cars at the buildings – looked like they were preparing for a hurricane.   We didn’t go down to the party but did have one picture that got in a couple of the costumes – everyone dresses up in some way I guess.   Not my style though.

We spent another several days in a city across the bay called Valence.   They are having some problems there and needed some assistance.   You need to use the ferry boat to get over there.   Takes about 45 minutes and the taxi ride is about an hour.  Our hotel there was fumigating the kitchen area for cockroaches and other pests – so I think we will choose other accommodations next time.

We went up north to a youth and single adult encampment – President and Sister Bangeter asked us to go with them – they spoke and did a great job.   We met a lot of great people there – about 450 folks attended.  On the way back we stopped at an old castle – that had been built in the 1500’s.   The main house burnt down but the stones are still in place.  Pretty impressive when you consider how old it is.   We were going to visit the beach there – but ran out of time – they have a turtle conservatory there and evidently every evening at 5:00 the turtles head for the ocean.   Worth the trip here, yes?  Here are a few of the pictures we took at the castle – good sized fig tree and a few more.

We spent on of our Saturdays with Kaye learning how to make feijão e carne. (Beans and Rice – the national food here.   Kaye had tried to follow the recipe but it just didn’t work out right.   So we went to the best to learn – we have made a great friend in Robert Barbosa – he is in the mission presidency and just a terrific man.  He teaches school but for several years he was a cook, including in the marines.   So he invited us to his house to show us (Kaye) how to make the national dish.   It was really quite a process – we sped up his invite a bit with a jar of Jiff Peanut Butter that Craig managed to get to us.   He loves Jif – so he said it was a good trade.  He would reveal all of his secret ingredients and processes.   You would just love this guy – I hope some of you meet him some time – he is the quintessential Bahian Brazilian – loves life, loves others – is so animated and loves to help people out.  He also is an expert in Brazilian fruit juices.  He always has a mix of juices at meals and you are required to guess what they are – usually about six or seven fruits.

He is a character – the whole process takes about three to four hours.   But it was worth it and the food was superb he is the best entertainer we have met.  He could make pulling weeds fun – well maybe not that good.   At the bottom of the picture is Kaye’s plate tonight – she made feijão e carne yesterday with arroz and it was great.

We did have one major food mistake – we ordered a pizza – Kaye ordered her half as an Italian pizza.   We couldn’t figure out why it tasted so awful until we translated the main ingredient – which was minced tuna. We don’t recommend it.

This was a fun Saturday night –we went to the Farol da Barra – a really old lighthouse.  Wonderful views of the beach and ocean – great restaurants and a terrific ice cream place.   It’s on our list.

This last picture Kaye didn’t want me to put in – but it’s so funny in Brazil when they can’t figure out what words might mean in other languages.   This is a sign advertising a company that specializes in branding and creating a great image.   Their name speaks for itself – well I thought it amusing.

Well – “ending” on that note wouldn’t do justice to how much we love getting your packages, notes, emails, pictures and updates on what’s happening back home.   They are super important to us.   Some of the videos I think will be worn out--if that’s possible.   It was especially great to see all the birthdays and especially our newest birthday boy – Chase.  The hospital also thought he was great and put a picture of him up on a billboard in Albuquerque! What a wonderful and special family we have.  We couldn’t ask for a better group.   You are the best and we love you all – like really love you all.   Take care and we’ll talk soon.  Go Gonzaga!!!

Sister Briggs and Elder Briggs in Salvador and the rest of the state of Bahia in Brazil

February 11th, 2017 - Mission Update

We have had another couple of really busy weeks visiting the last parts of our mission area.   We were intent on getting it done before Carnaval started - as most of these cities get a little crazy during that time.   Carnaval officially starts on February 25th or something and lasts for a week.  But most areas start early and party after.   There was a huge celebration here on February 2 - Festival of Yemanja - the mermaid god who makes sure everything goes well with the ocean I guess.   People crammed into the streets celebrating - getting a little practice in before Carnaval I guess.  

Our visits last week and this week were based out of a Port/Beach city called Porto Seguro. Evidently the Portuguese when they were exploring here couldn’t find a place to land their boats because of the rocks and finally found a safe channel that went inland.   So the name Porto Seguro - or Safe Port.    Lots of beaches and resort areas - we still haven’t gone to the beach yet.   We visited several houses and churches in Porto Seguro and then traveled to Eunopolis followed by Texeira de Freitas and Mucuri is at the “toe” of our mission and is closer to Rio than it is to Salvador.  

We came back from Mucuri to a little beach town called Trancoso - took the barge to Porto Seguro and had dinner with the only other married missionaries in our mission.   They were great - from Curitiba, but originally from Rio and Santa Catarina.   They are serving as the branch presidents there and are doing a great job.   They have had a really interesting life - he played on a national Brazilian basketball team for twenty years and they won two championships.   After he joined the church he tried to play a little basketball with the members but found them too unskilled and hot headed - evidently that’s an international tendency for church members.  They showed us some sites and we ate at a small cafe that was great.   I let on that Kaye was having a tough time cooking Brazilian cuisine which led to a whole lesson about how to properly cook beans.  They live on a little farm - we noticed two chickens who climbed up a large tree - evidently they sleep there.   

This afternoon we are headed back to a coastal town called Valenca - we have already visited there - but they need some help so we are going back for a few days.   After Monday - I think we will be in Salvador for awhile.  

We miss and love you all and are very grateful for the notes, pictures and videos we receive.   It’s easier now that we finally have wifi in our apartment.   Here is a small assortment of some photos from recent visits.  I really liked the statue of the watermelon - it’s a town hero in Texeira de Freitas.   Also the small fire extinguisher at the airport was interesting.    We had lunch with the Elders at a great churrascaria in Salvador.       

Paul and Kaye

January 19th, 2017 - Mission Update

We have had an interesting couple of weeks here in Salvador. We seem to be saying that a lot!  Another one of the things that we are finding we say quite a bit as we travel around is—well you don’t see that everyday—like someone balancing a washing machine on a donkey’s back and walking along—or a guy riding down the road on his motorcycle holding onto a bicycle behind his back - or a herd of cows running at your car!!

We started visiting all of the missionaries in the interior of the state of Bahia on Jan 4 and were on the road for almost two weeks drove about 2100 kilometers - doesn’t sound like much - but these are Brazilian roads - pot holes and cobblestone or worse.  We left from Salvador on a ferry boat for Valenca very early in the morning.  We rented a car and drove with the Brazilians, which is a real challenge—they have more motorcycles than cars and nobody follows the rules of driving, but somehow they make it work, but for us Americans it is a little intimidating to say the least.  We were going to miss our ferry but one of the attendants in an unopened line saw our name tags and motioned us into her line from the back of our very long line and sold us a ticket—she wrote on the back of the ticket in Portuguese that she was a member of the church.  We took a taxi to our car rental—which is a whole other long story…

We made it to Valenca and were trying to find our missionaries and Paul decided to go across a bridge that was just for motorcycles—fortunately our car—which was called an ELF (really - just a little larger than us)—did fit and we made it across and through the round metal posts that I am pretty sure were put up to keep drivers like Paul off the bridge!  We did not find the Elders and had to move on to the city of Ilheus, which is a city on the beach—full of buses of tourists—many of which were also staying at our hotel!  We were able to find all of our missionaries and attend church there on Sunday.  We had a GPS on our car which worked some of the time.  We stayed in Ilheus a couple of days and then headed to the city of Una.  OK.  We took the wrong road—there is an easy road and then there is a road through the rainforest up in the mountains over washed out very BAD roads, with no signs of life and at one point a 24 inch bright blue iguana on the road!  We took the latter!  Someone said there were more iguanas than people on this road. It was only 60 kilometers and it took us 3 hours to get through!  It was a nightmare but when we did start seeing some people, they were very helpful and assured us we would eventually get to Una—we did and with about 20 other people helped us find our 4 missionaries there.

We also ventured to Jequie, Itabuna, Itapetinga and then Conquista—which is for the most part a very modern city with people obeying traffic laws etc.  We got to visit with many wonderful missionaries —took some of the Elders out to lunch at a Pizza Hut and a set of sisters invited us back over that night for brownies and juice.  Juice is really big here because they have so many kinds of fruit here—you can buy little pods of fruit pulp concentrate in the freezer section of the stores and then you just add water and sugar and swirl in the blender.  Some of it is pretty good.

Next we went to Pocoes, Brumado and on to Livramento de Nossa Senhora .  When we went to Livramento we stayed in a city called Rio de Contas which is up a mountain by some really pretty waterfalls.  We attended church in Livramento on Sunday and they had a young family that had been coming to church for the last two Sundays—investigators.  We were able to give them a ride home home—they had walked 3 kilometers to the church building and they had a little 4 year old boy and the wife was 6 months pregnant!  They didn’t have any furniture in their little home and were very poor yet they asked if we wanted to stay for lunch.  We are hoping they will keep coming—unfortunately this is a very small town and there are few buses for people to ride.

We cannot tell you how many times a day our Heavenly Father has reached out to us everyday to guide us to these 28 missionary homes—sometimes the address would be old and our phone would not be working up in the mountains or these small towns—yet we would be walking down the street at the same time as another member and they would show us where the missionaries lived, or and address would be wrong and we would ask a neighbor and they would know where a member lived that could guide us to the missionaries.

We met one missionary who was a nephew to some friends of our in Albuquerque—that was a fun connection for us.  

We are on a mission for the Lord, and we have seen His hand in our lives every day, guiding and directing us to these missionaries, but as I have thought about this over the past few days since we have been back, I know that He is trying to guide and direct us all the time—but sometimes we just keep ourselves too busy to notice or take the time to be aware of that guidance and how He is blessing our lives.  It is so important for us to take the time to listen, hear and be aware of His guidance.

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We are getting ready to head out here again to go visit another eleven sets of missionaries down in Porto Seguro on the Coast.  We would like to get that in before Carnival which basically goes for the month of February—we hear it is the largest in the world and can get a little crazy, so we would like to stick around close to our apartment during that time!  We love and miss you all!