Sete de Setembro

This week Brazil celebrated Independence Day (Dia da Indedenpência).

It is commonly called Sete de Setembro (Seventh of September). 

Besides giving the country a four-day holiday, they honor the day with parades. The parade of Sete de Setembro in Curitiba had about two thousand participants, between civilians and military, and began at 9:00 am. It drew about 40,000 spectators. 

 The parade began with schools, colleges, civic, social, cultural and service clubs. 

The Mormon "Helping Hands" were among the participants.

(The bottom left picture is of the two Curitiba mission presidents with the mayor of Curitiba.)

Next came the Brazilian military forces - navy, army and aeronautics.

And...that was it. No gatherings at the park. No BBQs. No fireworks. 

However, there were a lot of flags flying!

If I taught school in Brazil, I would tell the kids all about their flag, because it is really cool.

Brazil’s iconic flag holds a little surprise. In the center of the bright green and yellow flag is a brilliant blue night sky with the motto “Ordem e Progresso,” or “Order and progress,” written across it. Strewn across this sky are 27 stars, representing each Brazilian state, plus the federal district.  

If you look closely, you’ll see that the stars form 9 constellations - the exact position of the stars that shone over Rio de Janeiro on November 15, 1889, the day Brazil first became a Republic.

Happy Independence Day, Brazil!

We, however, were not among the celebrants. We were working in the temple where many patrons felt that temple attendance was a much better way to celebrate Independence Day.

When Morganite Aaron Rose was down here on his mission, he met Alisson Pereora Santos de Carvalho. Alisson brought his family to the temple on Saturday - Sabrina, Luiz, and Bernardo. How fun it was to get to meet them! 

I guess you could say that we celebrated the holiday weekend by going to the...

 I know...we were the oldest people there...but the desserts were delicious!

It was a great weekend to be outside, too.

Things are blooming on the temple grounds. 

Our exciting family news is that all three grandsons are now on their missions.

Christian (AKA Elder McClellan) arrived safely in Canada.

Seth (AKA Elder McClellan) has entered the CCM in Mexico City where he has already survived his first earthquake.

Alex (AKA Elder Gillespie) entered the Provo MTC one day after his cousin left.

Can I say how proud we are of these three young men!? They are setting a great example for the cousins following them. We already love receiving their emails and pictures. 

"We will be the Lord's missionaries to bring the world His truth."