Monday, March 31, 1969

Several American families are members of the Jardim Botânico Branch here in the south part of Rio. A week ago Sunday Elder Stewart and I ate dinner in the Burton home, an apartment overlook­ing Copacabana Beach. Brother Burton works in the legal department of the U.S. embassy and serves as counselor in the mission presi­dency. Yesterday Elders McFarland, Walters, Stewart, and I were in Brother Dennis's home. He served a mission in Brazil in the first part of this decade and has returned to complete a doctorate in Portuguese before returning to BYU to become a member of the faculty there.

Today our plans included a visit to the statue of Christ on Corco­vado but clouds were hanging around the point, and so most of the day we spent in the mission office listening to records, writing letters, catching up delinquent journals, and such details as that.

A few days ago a letter arrived form Jeff Boswell. I was thrilled to read of his growth and progress in the Samoan Mission. My wonder­ful family writes regularly. No further word from Karen since her letter I mentioned on March 17.

Yesterday I saw a few firsts. In Sunday School I blessed the sac­ra­ment for the very first time in Portuguese and for the first time since being ordained an elder. In sacrament meeting an investigator with whom we are working, an Irmâo Victor, attended. That is a first in my labors to this point here in Brazil.

Last week two nights in a row we saw some violent rainstorms. The first night, Wednesday, was by far the worst storm but the effects from the second evening were far more dramatic. The street on which we live, Rua das Laranjeiras, was virtually a river. The busses were still chugging forward, and a few Volkswagens, but traffic was vir­tually stopped. Water was running as high as the headlights on cars in the street. It required some 20 minutes to travel the few blocks from the square Largo do Machado (Lago do Machado) to our place on Rua das Laranjeiras (Rio das Laranjeiras). When we were out of the bus, we had to wade in muddy water up to just above our knees as we crossed to the other side of the street where we lived. It was more water than I have seen at one single time in all my life from a storm.

One of the letters I wrote today was to Jerry:

Once again I am glad to be hearing from you. I do not under­stand exactly why your letters have not been coming through, but I am glad to know you have been writing every week. Cer­tainly you are always welcome to ramble to me (that is what brothers are for), but I wish sometimes you would ramble in a little more detail. Just as an example, who is Lareen?

You spent most of your last letter speaking about your problem—a moral problem as you termed it—and the complications that was creating. You said that after three days of fasting, prayer, the Lord's help, Lareen's help, you made the choice and the change. Would it be out of place to ask what were the choice and the change? I do not need to know of the past if you do not care to relate it (especially if repentance has been involved), but I really am interested in more information about whatever is going on.

Although you suggested I did not know what was going on, I think that I am aware of more than you ever would have realized. As a person tries to serve the Lord and tries to live by the Spirit (which you remember I spoke of often last summer), he has greater abilities given him to discern between light and darkness, between good and evil. I was aware of some problem that was not of the Lord that was blocking further progress in your life—that must have been what you were referring to. I even think I know the sort of problem it may have been, but I need not go into that here. I will rely on reticence here also.

Enough of such rambling—I guess I do a lot of rambling too. Since this conference season I will not be able to partici­pate, please write following the sessions to give a detailed report of the pro­ceedings. It will be July or even later before we will have the June Improvement Era with the messages from the Brethren and the Prophet. And so please fill me in on every exciting detail concerned with the conference.

Are you saving your pennies? You always used to say you would come to meet me at the end of my mission. Brazil is a super exciting place that you would like to visit. I have no idea how much it would cost (probably $600 or $800 round trip), but it is interesting to think about.

Unfortunately my time is running short today and this will have to end now. I was saddened to hear of President Eisen­hower's death. What were the details of that? Know of my prayers and love in your behalf.

 Another letter was to my family:

Well, here it is the end of another month and time pushes relent­lessly onward. Within the next week will be realized some of the greatest—if not the greatest—anniversaries ever commemorated by man. This is an exciting time of year. April 6 we recognize as the date of the Savior's birth and as the foundation date of the Church in this dispensation. Appropri­ately enough, the Church will be as­sem­bled in another annual general conference—declaring to the world the glorious mes­sage of the gospel and its restoration.

This year Easter happens to fall on April 6 (probably the date of the first Easter), and we pause in profound remembrance of the tri­umphant victory over death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As with Job we can confidently exclaim: “I know that my Redeemer lives” (see Job 19:25).

Presi­dent McKay lists a testimony of the divinity of Christ and of this latter-day work as among our greatest pos­sessions. And so it is. My knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is my Savior, that the gospel has been restored, that we can behold the Savior even in this life—which knowledge is but revelation from God Himself—all these lend to life pur­pose, dignity, and peace.

Last Monday I prepared and sent you a tape instead of a letter. I hope you have already received it. When you borrow a tape recorder to play it—if you haven't yet—find one that plays 1f speed because that was what it was recorded on. You might dig out my little tape recorder (without messing up the box of stuff that it is in) if you want to buy new batteries. How­ever, I do not know what speed it plays. To return the tape, send it airmail first-class. If the cost is not too pro­hibitive, you could even send it registered just to make sure (although this is just an added precaution and not really essential). On the outside write: tape without value / fita sem valor.

Thanks for the letters. Mom and Jerry are the most faithful in that department. Since you realize I keep pretty busy here, I hope you share all these letters with Ray and Sheryl and with Gene and Cheryl. I cannot write them each as often as I would like.

To answer a few questions from Mom’s letter: No, we do not live in the mission home now, although we eat our noon meal there every day. We are living with a nonmember Brazilian family a few blocks away. The dona (landlady) cer­tainly is nice to us—like last night she happened to find the Tabernacle Choir program on the radio and came and told us and had us listen and fixed us some hot chocolate and cake. She is always doing things like that.

Prices are still running about the same. The cruzeiro is in­flating pretty fast. When I came in December a US dollar equaled 3.02 new cruzeiros (NCR$). Already it is at NCR$3.97 (or a cruzeiro novo equals about 25 cents). The bill I am in­cluding is worth about ¼ cent. The Americans here call it 10 beans because that is probably about all it is worth. The largest denomination printed (10,000 cruzeiros or 10 cruzeiros novos) is about $2.50 in US value.

The stamp on the outside of some of my letters—Leia o Livro de Mormon, o livro mais interessante no mundo—simply means, “Read the Book of Mormon, the most interesting book in the world.” There you just learned a little bit of Portuguese.

The name of the Church in Portuguese is A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias, this differing from the name in Spanish, La Iglesia de Jesuscristo do Los Santos de Los Últimos Dias. Brazilians can both read and listen to Spanish and understand over 80 percent of it, but Spanish-speaking people cannot understand Portuguese. The grammar of the two lan­guages is similar, although Portuguese is some­what more complex. In reality the Portuguese language is probably closer to Italian. I can understand a person speaking Spanish—yet it sounds like Portuguese being spoken with a serious speech impediment because of the dif­fering pronunciation.

As in the United States, German was nearly the national language in Brazil. In the U.S. the Continental Congress decided by only one vote to remain with English rather than change to German. That was how close we were to being German-speaking. German would have been the language now of half the people of South America had not it been banned by the Brazilian government during World War II be­cause of anti-Kraut sentiments.

Well, both time and space are gone again. And so until next week, may the Lord be with and bless you.