On Friday we left Rio and flew to Sao Paulo. From there we decided to test our true adventurous selves and rented a car to drive to Campinas. This certainly a lesson in communication. I am not a good navigator and doing it in Portuguese was even more challenging. Lets just say we both got a little frustrated, but we made it there okay. That evening we went to the Campinas Temple. I wrote my thoughts up about it on Facebook, so I'll just share what I wrote.
My thoughts about a small part of my trip to Brazil: Today was such special day. One that I’ve looked forward to for 16 years. From 2001-2003 I served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Campinas, Brazil. This time of my life and this place will always hold a place in my heart. I love Brazil and the people here.
In 2002 the Campinas Temple was finished and dedicated as a House of the Lord. Once a temple is dedicated, only members of the church can enter. But prior to the dedication, an open house is held, inviting the public to come inside. It’s a great opportunity for all to see and learn more about the temples. During my mission, I was part of that open house. I was a missionary that welcomed those wonderful Brazilians and showed them around this special and sacred place. It was an opportunity I’ll never forget.
I remember thinking that I wanted to get married there myself or at least return someday with my husband. While I wasn’t married in this temple, I was married and sealed to my husband in the Washington DC temple and it has been a blessing to us ever since. While there are 100’s of temples around the world, I have often thought about this temple and have wanted to return for many years. But with children and life, it was just not an easy trip to make. But today, after 16 years, I finally made it back!
It wasn’t easy to get there. It required months of planning for someone to watch our children, a 10 hour flight, renting a car and trying to find our way through the 3rd largest city in the world with a slight language barrier. It was not easy to get checked in with the front desk and once inside, we still really weren’t sure where we were supposed to be. Remember the language barrier… I’ve been able to remember just enough Portuguese to get us by. Once inside we still needed help in English at certain places in the temple, and this didn’t come easily. Slowly but surely we made it to the place I most wanted to return, the Celestial Room of the temple. This is the most sacred room there, and it’s beyond immaculate.
Once inside this room, I could not hold back my tears anymore. I was so happy to finally be back at that special spot. I couldn’t help but think of our Heavenly Home. The place we are all striving to return to someday. Even though I had spent day after day inside that temple, many years ago, I didn’t remember too much of it after 16 years. But inside, it felt so familiar and the memories came flooding back. I think our heavenly home will feel the same way. While we don’t remember our premortal life, we know it was wonderful and we know we want to return there. The journey back is not easy! It requires a lot of hard work and faithfulness. But once we return and are welcomed back into the arms of our Heavenly Father, how great will be our joy! My words are not adequate enough to explain was joy I felt just by being back at the Campinas Temple. It gave me a small glimpse of how amazing that day will be when I see my Savior again.
And another great joy was seeing the bus loads of people that had traveled over 9 hours to spend their weekend there in the temple. The sessions were so full that they had to bring in extra chairs! The place was bustling with faithful members of the Lord’s restored church here on earth. The work will go on!
The next morning we drove to some of my areas. Castelo was my very first area and I was certain I'd be able to just get us around and be able to show David everything. However, it all seemed so different. Familiar, yet different. I was able to find the church first. And there were some sisters outside the gate waiting for the Bishop to arrive and unlock it. So I struck up a conversation with them. Turns out they were there to set up for a ward lunch and invited us to come! We helped them set up for a little while, but then left. I had other places I wanted to see. Plus, I had to be back in Sao Paulo that afternoon to catch my flight home.
The Castelo ward was my first area and the by far the wealthiest area I served in. The church building there was very nice compared to the homes we met in in my other areas.
This was where I lived! Well, in the little house in the back of this one (the fundos). But this was the gate I entered through everyday to go out and serve and to return and rest. We also drove out Santa Barbara Do'este, which was my favorite area. It was a very busy day and the town was super crowded. I also realized how different it was to get around by car vs. walking everywhere. It was difficult to get to see everything I wanted to show David. But we went to the town center where I did a lot of contacting. And then drove down the street I lived on. I was in this area for 9 months, so I knew my way around pretty well. Then we drove out to some neighborhoods that we did a lot of work in. Then we were out of time and needed to head back to the airport. Prior to our trip I had tried to find some people I knew so we could visit, but wasn't successful. My mission was before Facebook and I lost contact with most everyone I knew there. It's sad to think about all the people that meant so much to me, and now I have no way to get in touch with them. But still, it was amazing just to be there in those special places again.
I bought a few souvenirs to bring home. This bag was full of guarana for the kids. I prayed the whole flight home that they wouldn't explode on the airplane. They made it home safely and the kids loved drinking the Brazilian soda.
And Dallin wore his new soccer jersey for several days before we made him take it off.
