04 December 2010

A Visit to Ubatuba

Brazilians like holidays. It seems that once or twice a month Brazil celebrates another holiday, during which most businesses close their doors.  Because of this, on November 2 we were able to take advantage of the Day of the Dead holiday, and traveled by bus to the small coastal city of Ubatuba to meet up with three other missionaries couples and their tour guide, Brother Cobra, who had earlier traveled by van to Rio de Janeiro before meeting up with us in Ubatuba.

Ubatuba is a city, located on the southeast coast of Brazil, in the state of São Paulo, and west of Rio de Janeiro. The city frequently receives rain, hence the nickname, Uba Chuva (chuva being Portuguese for "rain").





Carlie and I, and Sister Sonia Cobra, traveled by bus from São Paulo on a Friday afternoon, leaving about 5:00 pm and arriving about 9:00 pm. This is a picture of Carlie and Sonia Cobra waiting in the Rodoviária for the bus to arrive.


Upon arriving in Ubatuba we headed directly to our lodgings for the four day weekend. We had arranged to spend our time there in a "pousada" or "bed & breakfast" that had been recommended to us by other missionaries couples who visited Ubatuba with the Cobras earlier in the year. Below are pictures of the "pousada" where we stayed.

On the second floor of the pousada is a breakfast room, where we would enjoy a great breakfast every morning before heading out. 



On Saturday morning we made a few necessary purchases of snacks and assorted items (i.e., suntan lotion) that we would need for the day, and then headed to the beach.

One of our beautiful granddaughters asked that "we take her with us" (a picture she drew of herself, that is) on this trip.  The next two pictures are of Anise, Carlie and me.

 

The following pictures are of two "beached albino whales" that had fun playing in the surf, before coming to their senses and covering up. Carlie says that she refuses to ruin someone else's vacation by her wearing a swimming suit. Perhaps I should take her advice. We still had fun!















 This picture is of Carlie, thoroughly enjoying roasted cheese on a stick (mozzarella).


On Sunday morning we all traveled into downtown Ubatuba to attend our Sunday meetings.

The first picture is of the LDS Chapel in Ubatuba,  The Church has a branch there, and we were privileged to meet and attend church services with the branch members.  This first picture is of the branch building, and the following pictures are (1) the portable baptismal font located next to the building, (2) our visiting with the members of the Ubatuba Branch, and (3) the chapel where we met for Sacrament Mtg.

 


The following is a picture of our group of touring missionary couples.  (From left to right, Elder and Sister Alldredge, Elder Dille and Sister Dille, Sister Jeppsen, Carlie, Elder Jeppsen, me, and Brother and Sister Cobra). Brother Cobra drove the van and Sister Sonia Cobra works at the Church Headquarters in São Paulo, along with the Alldredges and Jeppsens in the Welfare Services Department. Elder and Sister Dille work as area medical advisors at the Centro de Treinamento Missionário (CTM) in São Paulo.


While we were seated in the chapel, waiting for sacrament meeting to start, a couple sitting in front of us (Bro and Sis Malheiros) turned around to welcome us the their branch.  She then looked at me, and said, "I know you."  I was taken aback, since I had never been in Ubatuba before, and didn't know who she was, even after she told me her name.  It turns out that she was a 13 year old girl living in the city of Santa Maria, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, when I served as a missionary in that city in January of 1965.  She remembered me from that occasion 45 years previously.  

After our meetings were over, she asked her husband to run home to pick up her journal that recorded my three month stay in Santa Maria.  In fact, I had written an entire page in her journal (as had other missionaries), and had given her my picture, which she had glued in her journal. This is a picture of that page in her journal, with my picture attached.

She said that I and other missionaries were instrumental in keeping her active in the church during her teenage years.

The following pictures are of Sister Malheiros, her daughter,  Carlie and me in front of the Ubatuba Branch building.


Sister Malheiros also asked that I write a short note in her journal on the same page where my picture, my testimony and words of encouragement were written.  She and her husband are great members here in Ubatuba, and were preparing to travel to São Paulo on the following Tuesday to pick up their son at the Guarulhos airport.  He is just finishing a successful two-year mission to the Porto Alegre North mission, and is returning home to his family.


We stayed in Ubatuba an additional two days. It rained the entire day on Monday, but we still had time to visit the sites, and eat at a couple of restaurants.

We had decided on Monday nught to visit this group of eating establishments, each one catering to the cuisine of a different country.  I chose China....boy that was a mistake. Carlie chose Germany, and fared better. However, afterword, we all went to an ice cream parlor, which was great!


On Tuesday morning, we took one last group picture, before heading home.


These last pictures are of (1) our trip home in the van, (2) Carlie, standing outside of our van, where we stopped for a lunch break on the trip back, and (3) of our tour guides, the Cobras.

Brother and Sister Cobra, shown here, own the touring van, and provided a wonderful service to each of us.  They exemplify the great church members we encounter on a daily basis here in Brazil.






I will always remember Ubatuba, where the Lord shed forth another of His "tender mericies" on me, by allowing me to have another reminder of my former days here in Brazil.

4 comments:

One Big Happy Family said...

Awesome adventure telling David!! Love it! The church and baptismal font remind me some of the ones we had in Japan. How neat to run into someone who knew you as a missionary! Also loved the beach photos - Carlie looked like she was having lots of fun!!! XOXOXOXOX

Lincoln Farrell and Marilyn Barlow said...

What a great experience. You never know the influence you have but this time you got a peak at successful missionary service. What a great adventure you had. It made us wish we had been with you. What good work you are doing.

Kevin Pratt said...

WOW! That is such an amazing, inspiring story, Dad!!! How rewarding that must have been. I looooove all of the pictures of you guys on the beach...so fun to see you playing and having fun. Thanks for sharing<3

Pousada Ubatuba said...

Visiting this place makes your vacation full of excitement and memorable