Sao Paulo Mission Reunions, October 2019

We had two mission reunions in October.  The first was the Friday night before General Conference for the missionaries from President and Sister Thomas' Sao Paulo West Mission.  It was held at a chapel in American Fork so it was easy for us to go to.  Our senior couple friends, Kim and Carol Passey and Ray and Marilyn Anderson were there and we knew a couple of the young missionaries and the Thomases of course.  We made some new friends too, the Copa's, and the Sherman's, who came to Brazil shortly after we left.

Mike was there, but somehow missed the picture.  Fun group!

 General Conference was wonderful and some new changes were made and new temples announced, including ones in Orem and Taylorsville, Utah!  Violet was upstairs playing with some of her toys and the choir started singing and she was so drawn to the TV to watch and listen to them sing. Music is a powerful tool for conveying the Spirit.

Monday, October 7, we drove to Pine Valley, Utah, where we had a wonderful senior missionary reunion for the Sao Paulo West Mission which was the mission that covered the area office missionaries of which most of us were a part.  There were I think 13 couples who came and stayed in three different homes, Reva and Ralph Brooks home (they planned the reunion), the large log home below and a little cottage where we stayed with Diane and Rex Shumway.

Ralph and Reva Brooks

My best buddies from Brazil, Marilyn Anderson and Ruth Barrett

Mike talking with Rex Shumway and me getting to know Roger and Linda Ketcheson

Terry Olsen, Ruth Barrett, Robyn Barney, me, Marilyn Anderson, Roxanne Salisbury-Sister Olsen was so sweet to me.  She told me I was the famous Susan Moore and she had heard so much about me from Marilyn and Ruth and was so excited to meet me.  I was so happy to hear that!!

Marjean Harris (with husband Tom in the background) and I.  We adore the Harris's.  They were so much fun and such great planners.  They were in charge of travel and were so helpful with Visa's and keeping people going in the right direction.

This was our cute cottage!  We loved it and were super comfortable there.  We spent most of the time with the large group at the log house, but it was nice to have this place to come sleep at.

There was plenty of wildlife around Pine Valley.  The cattle are free range and we saw them just wandering down the streets and sleeping in people's yards.  Most everyone had fences and gates to keep them out.  There were also a lot of deer and wild turkey's all over.

Tuesday, we explored the town and area of Pine Valley.  This old church is where the Pine Valley Branch still meets.  This is a very small town and it doesn't have any stores or conveniences.  It is a summer vacation spot and a hunting stayover town so sometimes they can have several hundred visitors at church on Sunday.  Pine Valley is located about 45 minutes northwest of St. George and about an hour southwest of Cedar City.

Ralph filling us in on some history of their church building

We had a nice hike to see the Pine Valley Reservoir.  It was very lovely!

We drove a few miles out of town to visit the site of the Meadow Mountain Massacre.  It's a very sad and somber part of the history in that area.  Many families were murdered there and the site is a sacred burial ground and memorial to those families.

Tuesday evening, we drove to St. George and went to see "When You Wish" at Tuacahn.  It's an amazing amphitheater in the canyon and the production was fabulous.  It was a collection of a lot of favorite Disney songs.

Cute gals, Carol Passey and Diane Shumway

Wednesday, we all went back to St. George and attended an endowment session at the St. George Temple.  It was very special to be with all of these wonderful, faithful Latter-day Saints.  We love these people so much!

Our matching "missionary" dresses

Ellen and Thomas Thomas, our wonderful mission president and wife

We all helped with meals and in the evening we played games.  One morning we shared pictures of our families and favorite memories from Sao Paulo.  It was a wonderful reunion and we hope to do it again in a couple of years!

I learned a new game called Codenames with Rex and Diane Shumway, Roxanne and David Salisbury and Kim Passey

Mike learned Dirty Rook with Ruth and Brett Barrett, Craig Sherman, and Robyn and Dennis Barney

 We want to give a big shoutout and THANK YOU to Reva and Ralph!  They did a fabulous job organizing and planning this amazing reunion.  Until next time......