Monteiro Lobato

Monteiro Lobato, the most important Portuguese-language writer of books for children, was born in Taubaté.

Lobato is best known for a set of educational but entertaining children's books, which comprise about half of his production. The other half, consisting of a number of novels and short tales for adult readers, was less popular but marked a watershed in Brazilian literature. Most of his children books were set in the Sítio do Picapau Amarelo ("Yellow Woodpecker Ranch"), a small farm in the countryside, and featured the elderly ranch owner Dona Benta, her grandchildren Narizinho ("Little Nose") and Pedrinho ("Pete") and the colored servant and cook Tia Nastácia ("Aunt Nastácia"). These real characters were complemented by entities created or animated by the children's imagination: the irreverent ragdoll Emília and the aristocratic corncob puppet Viscount of Sabugosa, the pig Rabicó and the rhinoceros Quindim, Saci Pererê (a black, pipe-smoking, one-legged character of Brazilian folklore) and Cuca (a evil monster invoked by Brazilian mothers at night to convince their kids to go to bed). However the adventures mostly develop elsewhere: either in fantasy worlds invented by the children, or in stories told by Dona Benta in evening sessions. These three universes are deftly intertwined so that the stories or myths told by the grandmother naturally become the setting for make-believe play, punctuated by routine farm events.

My Mission - Such An Adventure

"My mission has been such an adventure. It seems like I'm surviving surgeries and car crashes, making contacts and baptizing and still have time to do email each P-Day. What a life I lead. I never knew the mission was gonna be so crazy. I just thought I was gonna leave O-Town for 2 years and teach people the gospel, but look how cool it's turning out. And I'm only halfway done. Isn't that cool to think about? I just hope this next year has less car crashes and surgeries and stuff of that nature. But if that's what's bound to happen to help me grow and learn, I say "bring it on". Like that cheerleading movie. Good one."

Growing Into The Priesthood

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor? Royce Jacobs ordained me when I got the Melchezidek Priesthood. Do you think you could give him a call and tell him to send me my "Line of Authority"? That would be quite sweet. And I think only he has it, maybe the bishop does too."

Priesthood is the power and authority delegated to man by our Heavenly Father. The authority and majesty of it are beyond our comprehension.

- Elder David B. Haight
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Priesthood Session 5 April 2003

The Purifying Power of Gethsemane

"I was reading the scriptures the other day and I read one in 1 John 1:7 that reminded me of a talk that Elder Bruce R. McConkie gave right before he died."

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Last Talk, General Conference, April 1985

I feel, and the Spirit seems to accord, that the most important doctrine I can declare, and the most powerful testimony I can bear, is one of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur from Creations dawn and through all the ages of a never-ending eternity. It was the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a God could perform. Through it all the terms and conditions of the Father's Plan of Salvation became operative. Through it was brought to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Through it, all men are saved from death, hell, the devil, and endless torment. Through it, all men who believe and obey the glorious gospel of God, those who are true and faithful and overcome the world, all who suffer for Christ and his word, all who are chastened and scourged in the Cause of his whose we are--all shall become as their maker and sit with him on his throne and reign with him forever in everlasting glory.

In speaking of these wondrous things I will use my own words, though you may think they are the words of scripture, words spoken by other Apostles and Prophets. True it is that they were first proclaimed by others, but they are now mine, for the Holy Spirit of God has borne witness to me that they are true and it is now as though the Lord had revealed them to me in the first instance. I have thereby heard his voice and know his word.

Read Elder McConkie's talk.

Hernia Surgery

"Have I got a story and a half for you guys this week. Just another thing to prove that my mission is more like a war than 2 years of teaching the gospel. But like my buddy Paul the Apostle taught, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life." We learn that without a fight we won't gain the ultimate prize."

"So about 2 weeks ago Elder Dias and I were lifting roof tiles up onto a roof in Taubate, and they were quite heavy. Afterwards I was feeling more sore than usual, and the next few days I kept waking up with stomach pains that I talked about in my last emails. So I called President Urry and he told me, first it could be a stomach virus, and after I found out it wasn't, he told me to go to the hospital in Taubate to get checked out. I went over there and it turned out that I had a hernia. I guess a hernia is when you have a hole in your body and your guts and stuff inside of you are moving around in ways they aren't supposed to. So now what does Elder Tonks do? Hold on to your seats."

"I call President Urry and tell him the good news. He tells me I need to come to Sao Paulo that night and get checked out by "better doctors" since those in Taubate aren't really the best. When I got there and got checked out, the results were the same. So I went to Dr. Claudio R. Deutsh, former president of Albert Einstein Hospital, who said, "Well, Courthis (that's how he prounounced my name) we are gonna have to operate." They called President Urry and stuff and that night I called my dad and told him and we marked the operation for the next day, which was last Tuesday."

"On Monday night, Elder Branco and Elder Ribeiro, the referral and house secrataries, respectively, and I went over to Albert Einstien Hospital, the nicest hospital in Latin America, which pretty much means, the nicest hospital outside of the United States. It was huge and pretty inside with doctors and rich people and a grand piano in the lobby and statues and stuff, but I was nervous for the upcoming surgery early the next morning."

"We slept that night and the next morning they woke me up and they were like, "Take this shot, it will make you drowsy". So I did, and seriously, the next thing that I remember was waking up after the surgery in the hospital room. The surgery was over. They just made three little cuts, really little, right below my left hip and stitched me back up. And we stayed there for 3 more days, eating lots of soft food, looking outside of the window at a soccer stadium called Morumbi where U2 will rock to a sold out crowd on Sunday and Monday nights, and just trying to pass the boredom that comes with sitting in a hospital room. Well, afterwards, we left and came back to the Mission Office, in a taxi, which was quite cool."

"But don't worry everyone, I'm fine, it's just another stage of the "good fight" that I'm fighting down here. Yeah, it's painful, kind of hurts to walk and sit down and stand up but I'm fine. Just gotta take it slow and heal and all that good stuff, take my medicines. But here in 2 weeks I will leave and go back to Taubate and continue working and healing. I'm gonna stay down here in Sao Paulo for the next few days and work in the mission office, mostly sitting around and looking up addresses and sending referrals to the correct area."

"It was a wierd experience, not really too painful. I think it will be just another cool story. I was talking to Elder Stephens about how when we get home he will have all the miracle baptism stories and i will have all the war survival stories, which are miracles in themselves. We joke quite a bit."

Jessica & Andre

Curtis had his picture taken in Brazil by some signs with his friends names on them.

Faith And The Book Of Ether

"You gotta show your Faith... We had some good training with our mission president on Monday and he talked about why faith is so important to missionary work. I was taking notes like mad. Then we read some stuff out of the Book of Mormon and it meant so much more to me. It was a part I had read like 50 times (Ether 12) but this time it made more sense and had more meaning. President Urry is the coolest. He said, "If you want to have faith to move mountains, you first have to pick up one stone at a time, moving if from one pile to the other to show your dedication then the Lord will do the rest". Oh my, it was great."

The Book Of Ether
The prophet Ether exhorts the people to believe in God--Moroni recounts the wonders and marvels done by faith--Faith enabled the brother of Jared to see Christ--The Lord gives men weaknesses that they may be humble--The brother of Jared moved Mount Zerin by faith--Faith, hope, and charity are essential to salvation--Moroni saw Jesus face to face. Ether Chapter 12

Faith
In order to come closer to Heavenly Father and receive all the blessings that He has for you, you must first develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter taught that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
But what is faith, and how can you develop it?

Faith in God is more than a theoretical belief in Him. To have faith in God is to trust Him, to have confidence in Him, and to be willing to act on your belief in Him. It is a principle of action and power.

To have faith is to “hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Book of Mormon, Alma 32:21). Each day you act upon things you hope for, even before you see the end result. This is similar to faith.

The Book of Mormon prophet Alma compared faith to a seed. If you plant a seed and nourish it, if it is a good seed it will grow and eventually bear fruit (Alma 32:28–43). It is the same with faith. If you are obedient to God’s commandments, study His word, and have a desire to believe in Christ, faith will grow inside of you.

--from Official information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)

"One down, one to go..."

Curtis has been on his mission for one year. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. He has been so positive and upbeat throughout his entire mission. He has sent an email every week telling me of his experiences in Brazil. I'm glad that he has shared his time spent on his mission with me. I asked him for some thoughts and comments now that he has reached the halfway point. This is what he wrote to me:

"Well, I think the highlights of last year were going through the temple right before the mission, my farewell with billions of people in attendance, the few nights before the mission, when I went to Classic Skating with Christian "the coolest man ever" Junk, Jordy La Forgy, Eraq, Z Man, Spence Wheeldizzle, Swifty and Daniel "The Maniel" Howard, doing the train and winning a stuffed Jets helmet at the Crane Game, that final pre-mission date with Taunie to Tepanyaki and bowling and Meet the Fockers, then I think we watched some old school movie, like Twister or something, then on Sunday we all watched Ray at our house, because remember, I found the DVD on sale two days before it was scheduled to come out at Smith's (a "tender mercy" according to Elder Bednar's Spring 2005 conference talk) and then going to the dermatologist the next day, hanging out with you the whole day at doctors appointments and around the house, then getting set apart, listening to Train In Vain by the Clash for my "last song" and that night hanging with friends, saying goodbyes and the next day eating a big waffle, saying bye to the Junks then going to the airport and saying goodbye to all the family in SLC International, then boarding an airplane to pure freedom...and the rest is history/contained in all my past emails."

"The mission has been fun. Getting hit by a car, the CTM and Elder Pieper are some of the cooler experiences. Also, making contacts and Wilson's baptism and things of that nature. It's been fun so far and I'm excited for the next year. Now that I think about it, that paragraph up there has nothing to do with the mission, but it's some of the pre-mission memories. Elder Hirschi and Pieper and Walker and Costa and Dias have all been pretty cool, it's weird being with the same person every second of the day all the time, but I adjusted to it. Weird waking up at 0630 and retiring at 1030, but I adjusted to it. The mission is really just one big learning experience/adjustment, but its been pretty pretty sweet thus far."