REUNION REPORT
Any report of our reunion last Friday will be inadequate, but I will share some of the news as I observed it. Please excuse me for leaving out many names as I am going by memory and there were some 450 persons coming and going during the event.
Both Elder Claudio R. M. Costa and Elder Stanley Ellis of the Seventy shared not only their love for Brazil and the saints of Brazil, but their marvelous vision for the kingdom of God which has been established and is growing in beauty and faith. I wish all could have been there to be uplifted and feel of the power of their messages to us. They spoke with the spirit and power of General Authorities and both inspired and challenged us. Elder Costa is President of the Brazil Area since August of 2011, and Sister Margareth Costa was with him at the reunion.
“If you ever wonder if your missionaries ever did any good,” said Elder Costa (my paraphrasing), directing his remarks to Sister Catherine Beitler Humphrey, “I am the fruits of your missionaries.” He named the two sisters who taught him the gospel when he joined the church at age 28, when Sister and President Beitler were presiding in São Paulo. Elder Costa recognized and appreciated Elmo Turner, present at the reunion, as the president of the Missionary Training Center at São Paulo who hired him many years ago.
Both speakers spoke of Brazil as the “second country” in the Church, behind the USA, in the number of stakes and other markers of growth, and shared marvelous actual stories of the faith of the members. Elder Costa, who was the first mission president in Manaus, told of the early faith-filled efforts of the saints there who made 15-day trips to obtain their temple endowments. The new Manaus Temple will be dedicated in June.
I cannot name all who were in attendance at the reunion, but will note some. Seen at the luncheon—okay, it was a big feijoada feast—were Sister Geri Bangerter and family members, Nelson and Julie Aidukaitis, President Duke and Sister Alice Cowley, Elder Larry Y. Wilson, David and Diedre Paulsen, President Tom Jensen, Helio da Rocha Camargo, Jr., President David Beck, and President Wilford Cardon. In the afternoon a big group of Sisters, mostly from the Bangerter era met, I understand, and then Elders from that group and the Cardon group.
In the evening I also saw Gary and Rose Neeleman, President Jerry and Sister Patty Twitchell of the Curitiba Mission. President Lloyd Hicken (who served his first mission before WWII) met with a good group of his missionaries. Elder Darwin Christenson and Sister Sandy Christenson met with a large group of their missionaries from the Brazil SP North Mission. Ralph and Colleen Sorensen Chipman were there on behalf of the Sorensen family. President Roger Call and his wife Cheryl were there too.
I know there were others of note, but I could not see or visit with them all. A number of the mission presidents we honored by mention were absent so they could attend their own reunions with their younger missionaries. (See the list of mission presidents below.)
We had in attendance a few of the missionaries who served before World War II, including Wayne Johnson, Barlow Briggs and Lloyd Hicken. As part of our chapel meeting, we were able to pay tribute to them and those who served with them and then went into military service during the war. (See a copy of the tribute below.)
The next super reunion is planned for the Thursday before October General Conference in 2015—3 ½ years from now—so presidents, if possible, we hope you will be able to make arrangements and join with us on that evening.
I want to express my thanks to all who came to the reunion and even more so to all who made it possible. The setting at the Bountiful Central Stake Center was perfect, thanks to Denis Hawkins and Alan Hill who headed the organizing committee and did so much work before, during and after. Sister Lola Gygi Timmins was a source of so much of the tableware and table decorations and opened up her company’s large kitchen for the cooking of the feijoada. Sister Cleonice Hermansen organized a fine group of sisters and brothers who prepared the big pots of feijoada and farofa and all the fixin’s, including Fatima Silva and “Bete” Concha, Socorro Pragana, Osvaldo and Marcia Junot. Sister Ana Maria and Bishop Oswaldo Bueno de Moura and his mother and daughter were there early to decorate the tables and set up a large map of Brazil. Kim and Marlene Russell manned the check-in tables. In the afternoon Brother Roberto Viveiros showed and narrated a DVD with the history of the Church in Brazil; Tom Williams played Bossa Nova songs; and Kim Russell showed many interesting slides of Brazil and missionary activities there. Special thanks to Alan Hill for acquiring bastante guaraná for the luncheon. Other committee members included Larry Seamons, Mauricio Junot, Ray Taylor, and Dave Prows.
Thanks to organist Denis Hawkins, pianist Lex de Azevedo and conductor Karla Toland Rosenlund for help with the music at the evening session, and to Luiz Meneghin for a vocal number. We got to sing six hymns in Portuguese during the meeting, and it was good, loud and joyful.
Finally, I will say that “a good time was had by all who came.” We ate, we sang, we visited and there were lots of abraços all around. . . .
You are aware that Sister Julie Bangerter Beck was released as general president of the Relief Society. I am sure that you share with Sister Gunn and me a profound admiration, respect and love for Sister Beck, who has been a wonderful leader. We count her as one of our finest alumni of the Brazilian missions. Did you know that when meeting with saints in Latin America and Brazil she gives her talks in Spanish or Portuguese? See a nice interview of her in LDS Living magazine, “Sister Julie B. Beck, Continuing the Legacy” online at
http://ldsliving.com/story/68005-lds-living-interview-with-general-relief-society-president-julie-b-beck
Elder Stanley G. Ellis was sustained as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, moving from the Second Quorum. Read about the newly called and newly released Brazilian Area Seventies at
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-leadership-changes-april-2012-general-conferences
Brazilian Mission Presidents, 1935 to 1987 period
President Rulon Stanley Howells and Sister Mary Pierce Howells 35-38 and 49-53
President John Alden Bowers and Sister Amelia Pettit Wright Bowers 38-42
President William W. Seegmiller and Sister Ada Pratt Seegmeiller 42-45
President Harold Morgan Rex and Sister Diania Rex 45-49
President Asael T. Sorensen and Ida Lorene Mason Sorensen BM 53-58 and BSM 59-61
President Wm. Grant Bangerter and Sister Geraldine “Geri” Bangerter 58-63
President Wayne M. Beck and Sister Evelyn Beck 63-66
President Lloyd R. Hicken and Sister Alice Hicken 66-69
Brazil North Mission Presidents
President Hal R. Johnson and Sister Virginia Johnson 68-71
President George Oakes and Sister Jeannette Oakes 71-74
President Gustav Salik and Sister Ida Salik 74-75
Brazil Central Mission/South Central Mission/Brazil Sao Paulo South 72-87
President Sherman Hibbert and Sister JoAnn Hibbert 69-72
President David A. and Sister Pat Christensen July-October 1972
President Nelson Baker and Sister Lucille Baker 72-75
President Roger Beitler and Sister Catherine Beitler 75-78
President Wilford Cardon and Sister Phyllis Cardon 78-81
President John H. Hawkins and Sister Rebecca Hawkins 81-84
President Roger Call and the late Sister Janet Call 84-87
Brazil North Central Mission/Brazil São Paulo North 1979-1987
President Leroy Drechsel and Sister Ruth Drechsel 72-75
(and President of the Brazil Recife Mission, 1986-1987)
President Saul Messias de Oliveira and Sister Elvira Oliveira 75-78
President Harry E. Maxwell and Sister Carol Maxwell 78-81
President Darwin Christenson and Sister Sandy Christenson 81-84
President Robert R. Steuer and Sister Margaret Black Steuer 84-87
Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission 1975-1987
President Helio da Rocha Camargo and Sister Nair Camargo 75-78
President Max Leroy Shirts and Sister Nell Shirts 78-81
President Danilo Talanskas and Sister Marina Talanskas 81-84
President Cory Bangerter and Sister Gayle Bangerter 84-87
Brazil South and Porto Alegre Missions 1961 to 1970
President Asael T. Sorensen and Sister Ida Sorensen BM 53-58 and BSM 59-61
President Finn B. Paulsen and Sister Sarah Broadbent Paulsen 61-64
President C. Elmo Turner and Sister Lois Turner 64-67
President Thomas F. Jensen and Sister Sherma Jensen 67-70
Brazil South/Porto Alegre Missions 70-85
President Orson Pratt “Bud” Arnold and Sister Colleen Joy Arnold 70-73
President Lynn A. Sorensen and Sister Janet W. Sorensen 73-76
President Jason Garcia Souza and Sister Lindamir Souza 76-79
President Walter Guedes de Queiroz and Sister Neide Satico Queiroz 79-82
President Osiris Cabral and Sister Ivani Riveira Cabral 82-85
Brazil Recife Mission
President Harry Klein and Sister Maria Moreira Klein 79-82
President Paulo Puerta and Sister Rita Cundari Puerta 82-85
Curitiba Mission
President Duke Cowley and Sister Alice Cowley 80-83
President Jerry F. Twitchell and Sister Patty Lynne Twitchell 83-86
