This past month we had a once-in-a-mission four solid days of training. All our trainers, district leaders and zone leaders and assistants and office elders came to learn the new missionary program that was taught to us in the MTC. On P-day Wednesday all fifty-seven of us met at the beautiful white Campinas temple to attend a session together. The day was perfect, clear and warm and the temple grounds were beautiful. The courtyard outside of the temple was full of our shining missionaries wanting pictures with Marsh and me in front of the temple. I felt like a celebrity with flashbulbs going off from every direction. The elders filled up every seat in the endowment room and extra chairs lined the aisle and front of the room. I and one other woman were the only sisters there. Marsh and I stood at the door as each elder came into the Celestial room, and Marsh wrapped him in a big abraço.
After the session we ate lunch in the downstairs cafeteria. Marsh picked up the tab for the meal with a prearranged charge for each plate. Cost is determined by weight and a plate usually runs about $R5 or $R6. For us the temple charged a set rate of $R10 per plate which seemed high until the elders began to fill up their plates. They were mounded up and spilling over. Those elder can eat. We left the cafeteria sure that we had gotten the better deal.
This stately white granite temple is built on one of the highest spots in the city with a broad grassy lawn that slopes unobstructed down to the freeway. It's just several miles from the mission home so it is easily seen from where we are. It’s there on its hill in the distance when I shop at the nearby mall. It's there when we return home late at night tuckered out from one of our long road trip. We round the bend in the freeway and see it is softly lit against the inky sky and it means we’re almost home. Serene and constant, it calms me and anchors me. I feel as though it is watching over this city and gently blessing and protecting us.
Five years ago when Marsh and I had just been in São Paulo for only a few weeks we visited the Campinas temple one Monday afternoon. We were very much missing our own Newport Beach temple which was in the midst of its open house and about to be dedicated. We had been so involved in the construction and preparations for its dedication that it was hard to leave for Brazil just weeks before that marvelous event took place. Every email we received from friends talked about the wonderful experiences they were having and we were missing it all.
That afternoon we pulled up to the gates of the Campinas temple knowing it was closed but just wanting to be near a temple. A young man came over to us and introduced himself as the temple engineer. We walked around the temple grounds with him and then he invited us to go inside. No one else was there. It was just us three in that still and peaceful place. This young man had great love for ‘his’ temple and obviously took such pride in caring for it. He took us through the laundry room and explained the special system that kept the towels snowy white. He ran his finger along the top of the door frame. No dust. He showed us the dressing rooms and the gleaming bathrooms, everything perfect and spotlessly clean. He mentioned that many of the patrons came from simple homes that did not have flush toilets and had to be shown how to use the modern restroom facilities. I thought to myself that I had never seen a more beautiful temple. From the molded ceilings to the cut carpet nothing had been spared in creating this magnificent building. The people who came to it would have been absolutely delighted with something much less, but it is the House of the Lord and it is for Him that we build with such care and perfection. It was a sweet experience to walk through that beautiful quiet peaceful place and it became my substitute temple, so it feels good to be near it again and to see it every day.
Brazilians love the temple. I saw that first hand when I served in the Sao Paulo temple. I worked on Tuesdays and it so happened that Brazil’s Independence Day fell on one. The Church Offices next door to the temple were closed for the holiday so Marsh had the day off. I was surprised that the temple was going to be open. I figured that at best there would be light attendance because Brazilians love their holidays and this was a big one. Not so. The temple was crowded with patrons. Every single session was filled to capacity and folding chairs were brought in to utilize every spare inch of room. The baptistery was overflowing with teenagers. The U.S. fire marshal would have had a fit. Many people had come long distances by bus and train, including a very special and severely handicapped young man who moved spastically and with great difficulty using braces and metal canes. He began his journey before dawn and took two trains and a several buses to get to the temple. This wonderful young man came every Tuesday for the three years that I was there. I saw this over and over again.
