Monday, December 23, 1968

I wrote the following letter to my family in Idaho:

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you. I was planning on sending a distinctive Brazilian card or something to you for the holidays, but due to the happenings of the past week that became impossible. I am writing this from a bed in the mission home here in Rio—more of that later, now I will tell you of more exciting things.

The three hours at the airport, saying good-bye to everybody, seemed more like ten minutes. Especially when it was time to leave, everything was a hectic rush. When we reached Denver we were late and thought we had missed connections, but the other plane was likewise late. There wasn't any snow in Denver. When we finally did leave we were an hour behind time. Almost all the way across the country a cloud covering prevented seeing anything below. As we approached New York's Kennedy International we were in a 40-minute holding pattern waiting for a landing spot. The skies were literally thick as flies with other craft above and below us in holding patterns. That indicates how much air traffic there is in New York. Anyway, our frequent circles over the city offered a fantastic view of the billions of lights sparkling below, a breath-taking view indeed.

By the time we finally got off the plane it was 6:50, leaving only 40 minutes before our next flight was to leave! We had no passports yet and had no idea where the VARIG airlines building was (it turned out to be about 1½ miles from the United building where we deplaned). The only thing that saved us was that Elder [David] Babbel's family was there to see him, and his father had called a limousine to rush us over to VARIG. Well, making a long story short, we just barely made the plane, but our luggage didn't. That made all kinds of fun going through customs in Brazil.

We landed in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday morning at 7:30 and President and Sister Hal Johnson and some of the elders on the mission staff were there to meet us. Most of that day was spent being fingerprinted, photographed, visiting the embassy, and such. President Johnson interviewed each of us and then as a group we had an orientation meeting with him and Sister Johnson.

We were supposed to have left for our assignments that night but couldn’t because we had no luggage. Thursday morning we spent six hours and a half getting our baggage through customs at the airport. After all that, we returned to the mission office, where President Johnson told us where we were going. Two of us went to a city in the interior near Brasília, five went north 1,700 miles to Recife and João Pessoa, and one went to Petrópolis—a city in the mountains about 1½ hours from Rio by bus (probably 50 or 60 miles), the only cool place in the whole north mission. The president of the republic has a summer residence there. This is the city I will be working in first. My companion and I are the only two elders there. The branch has about 140 members. I am told Petrópolis was once mostly German, but now nobody speaks German there.

Thursday night I took a bus all alone to Petrópolis. After spending the night there, my companion and I returned to Rio the next day. Friday afternoon I had my right big toe operated on and the nail completely removed. The other foot is all right. Since then I have been just laying around here in the mission office leading an easy life—listening to Brazilian radio (which is mostly American music, sung in English), being fed grand meals three times a day, getting plenty of rest, and getting lots of studying done. I just finished reading all of Talmage's Jesus the Christ, which I started only Saturday. There is no need to worry about anything because I am in good hands.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. That is so hard to believe, partly I suppose because we are here sweltering in the heat of summer. The Christmas tree here in the mission office is just like Jerry’s miniature tree that looks like a pine and a fern all in one, except that it is about six feet tall. They grow naturally here. Christmas Day all the missionaries that are at all close to the mission office will be here for a big dinner and such. Hopefully by the day following Christmas I will be able to return to Petrópolis.

Elder Slade, my companion from Las Vegas, is branch president and district leader. He was transferred to Petrópolis one week before I arrived. The branch was in such a mess that the entire first week he spent in getting it in order and had no time for missionary work. By the time he leaves for home February 7 he is supposed to have trained local membership to run the branch and a junior companion, me, to be able to be a senior companion if necessary (and it just might be).

Well, I should close now. Have a most prosperous new year and, though it will be late, merry Christmas also. Remember me in your prayers.