Farewell President Mathews

Leadership Change

This week a new mission president arrived, Presidente de Amo.  He is from Brazil and has a military background, indeed, he retired as a three star general from the Brazilian Air Force.  We are so very happy he accepted the call to serve as mission president, a three year calling for which, just as the young missionaries who labor here, he is not paid.  President Amo shared with us that he and his wife are from Compinas, Brazil, and they had retired to the mountains where they had a strawberry and honey farm.  In his own words, he said he was "hiding from the Lord, if the Lord wanted me to serve a mission He would have to find me."  And I guess find him He did.

On LDS.org this week there were quotes from the speakers at the mission president training seminar last week in Provo.  One of the speakers said something to the effect that the new mission presidents "did not ask for this calling and it represents a significant sacrifice".  It does.  President Amo and his wife have two daughters, one lives in Brazil and one in Houston, whom they will likely not see much during their tenure here.  They have our complete love and respect.

Prior to President Amo's arrival we said goodbye to dear President and Sister Mathews (First Couple on the right) at a farewell dinner on the Alvarez's patio overlooking the sea.  The Mathews have now returned to their family in the US after five years of service here.  Five grandchildren were born during that time, whom they had not yet met.  We pray that they, and their family, will be greatly blessed because of their work here.

Humility of the Sincerest Kind

So it's embarrassing to confess that the Lord's most reliable tool for humbling me, personally, is with our food supply.  Yes, it comes down to that, what's for dinner is what I care about the most.   Maybe it was obvious when I whined--on the blog, no less-- the first time there was no peanut butter on the island.  This time, when we realized our situation, we ate our last jar slowly and decided to "Let it Go".  It was time to worry about more important things.

And then this morning in the grocery store it happened......... whether angels delivered it or Danish ships, there is peanut butter again.  We have grateful hearts tonight.