"Out Of Small Things..."

"Out of small Things proceedeth that which is great."  (D&C 64:33)

This week we experienced a small thing.  But it didn't feel small. It felt large. We were in a small carport-like structure of a rented house having a sacrament meeting in a small branch that was becoming part of a large stake. The Stake Presidency came to welcome the little branch of Santo Estévão into their fold. We were just a small group of people but the Spirit was great.

When I visit small meetings like this I can't help but imagine what that meeting must have been like at the small home of Peter Whitmer where the Church was first organized with only six members.

Here's a picture of the small bulletin board where this little Brazilian branch meets to post about big things.

A small table they use to prepare the great covenant-renewing ordinance of the Sacrament.

The small group of people in that branch who are making a big difference. The young woman's small unaccompanied clear voice singing Savior Redeemer Of My Soul was as powerful as a big chorus of angels.

After Church we went with the elders to the branch president's small home where we had a big lunch.

 We ate on a small table and had a large watermelon.

We had a nice visit talking and laughing. I even made a couple of small jokes in Portuguese and got some big laughs.  And for me that's no small feat!  (see jokes at the end of this blog :)

And speaking of small and large things, here's a small elder assigned to train a large elder who arrived with 15 other new missionaries we received this week. (President Lisonbee didn't really think about the difference in their height when he assigned them to be together.) Oh well, my companion and I are used to being small and big also.

Here's the small jokes I made in Portuguese that got some big laughs. You must understand that this is a big deal for me and so I have to document these jokes because they represent a huge historic moment for me with regards to my language progress because for the most part I'm still pretty much a big idiot when it comes to speaking Portuguese.

Joke #1.
As we were eating lunch at the branch president's house we could hear their rooster crowing in the yard right outside the window. I made the comment that the rooster had a Brazilian accent.  (Many words in Portuguese end with an ão sound which sounds like "OUN" that rhymes with NOUN or GROUND (sort of).  When they asked me what I meant about their rooster having a Brazilian accent I demonstrated for them the difference in what an American rooster says, "Er er er er oh" and their Brazilian rooster, "Er er er er oun". Just then their rooster crowed and illustrated perfectly the difference I had just pointed out.  We all laughed so hard.  Up until that point the dinner had been pretty serious consisting of some nice small talk but after my joke it became quite festive. :)

"Er er er er oh"

"Er er er er oun"

Joke #2.
During the dinner we also started talking about funny language mistakes missionaries sometimes make. The mom told about an elder who said he did not want any more food "because he was pregnant." Later in the meal when she offered me some dessert I told I just couldn't eat any more because I was pregnant. We all agreed that would have been a big miracle. (ok, so maybe you had to have been there to appreciate that one. :)

So the moral of this blog post: Sometimes going big can also mean going small because happiness and joy truly are often comprised of the small but great things.

"Out of small things proceedeth that which is great." (D&C 64:33)

Onward, ever onward.