“Today was transfer day … I hugged Elder L. Oliveira and he wouldn’t let me go. He must be about 6’ 2” tall and probably weighs about 240 pounds. He gave me this giant bear hug, wept like a baby, and said, ‘I love you’ in English over and over again. If I live to be 100 years old, I will never forget Elder Oliveira.”
These heartfelt sentiments were written by Elder Thomas Pratt, who serves a senior couple mission with his wife, Ruth, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Pratts, who are nearing the end of their mission and who had previously never lived abroad, have experienced the typical emotions of many missionaries called outside their comfort zones to foreign countries.
They had diligently studied Portuguese, only to discover, like so many others, that they couldn’t understand a word upon their arrival. The driving, shopping, and dealing with multitudes of people in the world’s third largest city, which of course includes noise, dirt, and poverty, as well as amazing affluence, was a daunting adventure that they have weathered.
Now, at the end of their adventure, they fondly exclaim, “We love Brazil!” This miracle is thrilling as it is fervently repeated by missionaries, young and old, throughout the entire world.
As the transition is made from feeling utterly bewildered, discouraged and overwhelmed to feeling joy, competence and gratitude, Elder Pratt observes that, “One of the great blessings of a mission is that it causes one to be so incredibly aware of how dependent upon the Lord each of us is from day to day.”
“Bishop” Pratt, as I fondly knew him as my bishop in Bountiful, Utah, became “Elder” Pratt, and is now “President” Pratt after being called to lead an American Branch at the Sao Paulo CTM, or MTC as we know it. He worked the last 25 years with the FAA, the last 11 of which as manager of the Salt Lake Flight Standards District Office and the SkyWest Certificate Management Office. Ruth is an interior designer who owned her own business.
The Pratts were recruited by the mission president, President Chris Jackson and his wife, Becky (also members of our stake in Bountiful). Occasionally, seniors can receive missions through this type of networking, although the call still must be approved and come through the proper channels.
Just like all missionaries, the Pratts wear many hats on their mission, working in the mission office, submitting baptisms and filling various assignments. The challenges often come not with the assignments, but in getting the equipment to work properly.
They also travel extensively with President Jackson. While he interviews missionaries, the Pratts teach English to the Brazilian elders and sisters, whose future opportunities in their post-mission lives are greatly enhanced by knowing English. They have worked hard adapting the teaching materials into a more user-friendly format so that the missionaries can easily learn it.
They love this assignment, which has brought them so close to the individual missionaries. “We see in their countenance not only a fervent love for the Lord, but also the future of the Church in Brazil,” says Elder Pratt.
Elder Pratt was previously a counselor in a CTM branch presidency, and the current assignment of being the CTM branch president keeps the Pratts busy because there are many missionaries to interview and teach and weekly letters to be read. It has also been difficult when visas to Brazil are held up and few or no new missionaries arrive. However, the Pratts exclaim constantly, “Have we told you lately how much we love the CTM?”
Transfers in the mission occur every six weeks, and that generates a whirlwind of preparation and activities. Elder Pratt talks of their relationship with the missionaries, saying, “I feel that our friendship was formed before the foundation of this earth and will likely continue long after this earth has become new again.”
The Pratts almost weekly give sacrament meeting talks, and/or teach Relief Society, Priesthood and leadership meetings in the branch. Sister Pratt also bakes enormous amount of cookies weekly to “sweeten” the meetings with the elders. While Elder Pratt is busy teaching the Brazilian missionaries English, occasionally Sister Pratt and Sister Jackson repair and mend missionary pants, shirts and ties. According to them, the supply appears to be limitless.
Ruth Pratt repairs missionary pants, shirts, and ties.
Every senior couple knows that despite all other difficulties, the hardest thing about a mission is to be away from children and grandchildren. To help solve this difficulty, a system such as Skype can be used to see visual pictures of each other while conversing in real time on the internet.
The Pratts have greatly appreciated this technology — and in more ways than one. A granddaughter was being baptized and their daughter was unable to find the location. When she couldn’t reach her brothers, she called her parents in Brazil to see if they could help. Sure enough, the Skype program had been set up, the Pratts flagged down their sons who unmuted their parents. The Pratts watched and listened as Emily was given directions to the stake center. Elder Pratt reported that there are advantages to living in the digital age.
Another amusing experience for Elder Pratt, but less so for his wife, is that as they ride buses in Sao Paolo, there are discounts for senior citizens. However, all is not equal: a woman qualifies at the age of 60, but a man at the age of 65. So, in order to sit together, President Pratt greatly enjoys asking the question required by the authorities: “My wife is an old person, so may I ride in the front with her?” I must add, knowing Ruth, that the bus driver may not believe Elder Pratt.
There is much sociality among the senior couples in Sao Paulo. The Pratts and one other couple are the only ones presently called to a specific mission, while the rest of the couples’ assignments include welfare, Perpetual Education Fund, Church Educational System, and medical advisors whose responsibilities cross mission lines. They enjoy the occasional lunch and dinner with each other and all gather for a weekly Family Home Evening. The Pratts say that this group provides a wonderful support system where amazing friends are made for life.
The Pratts live across the street from the Sao Paulo Temple, and are able to attend a weekly temple session, usually with their branch from the CTM.
The Pratts, though baptized at age eight, were both “converted” to the Church shortly after they were married. So they especially appreciated the conversion story by the Carvalho family of Petropolis, a town northwest of Rio de Janeiro. The first conversion in the family was Nuan, a son converted at age 14.
One by one, Nuan’s four sisters were converted, followed by their mother. The father held out, however, until one day his youngest daughter asked him, “Dad, wouldn’t you like to know what your daughters are doing every Sunday?” The father agreed to go to church with them, and is now in the Stake Presidency. Nuan served a mission, all the Carvalho children have been married in the temple and all their grandchildren have been born in the covenant.
The Carvalhos’ story touched Elder and Sister Pratt’s hearts because they also rejoice in their four children’s temple marriages, their sons’ missions, and the 12 grandchildren born in the covenant with more on the way. As Elder Pratt is a descendant of Parley P. Pratt, there is probably rejoicing on the other side of the veil among that family line where a link, once broken, is now re-forged.
Many of the Brazilian missionaries have remarkable conversion stories. Elder T. Silva related how when he was 12 years old his father noted his amazing love for the Bible and suggested that perhaps he should study to become a Catholic priest. The boy was excited and began avidly reading the Bible from cover to cover until he had read it seven times in the next couple of years.
As he read, he wrote down questions about scriptures that he couldn’t understand or that didn’t seem to reconcile with Catholic theology. He met a few times with his priest, asking questions, but the priest could not answer them.
Soon after this, he met the missionaries who told him about The Book of Mormon. As Elder Silva read this book, it answered all the questions that he had recorded and he knew that the book was true. After this remarkable series of events, he was baptized.
A sweet experience occurred to Elder Pratt when President Jackson asked him to put together a directory of all the missionaries who had served during his time as mission president — more than 400 to date. Elder Pratt completed the forms containing pertinent information and then started putting each missionary’s picture into the record.
He had thought that this would be a boring and tedious task, but as he began transferring the photos of each missionary into the individual data, he records, “I had a very reverent and emotional feeling come over me. It was as if the Lord were giving me a little vision of what these wonderful young men and women meant to Him. It became a very sacred experience as I considered the sacrifice represented by each of them and their families. In all, they represented nearly 800 missionary years of service and literally thousands of people brought to a living and saving knowledge of the Savior and his restored Gospel. Amazing!”
The Pratts say, “To us (these missionaries) symbolize the Lord’s army in these last days. Each of them selflessly goes about doing the Lord’s work day after day, month after month without complaint and with a smile on their faces. It is impossible to express how much we have grown to love them.”
Elder and Sister Pratt leave their testimony as to their decision to serve a mission: “We would have our posterity know that any effort made in the service of our Lord is rewarded an hundred-fold … We have gained a new appreciation for the difficulties our own children faced on their missions; for our pioneer ancestors, their missions and sacrifice; for the servants of God down through all the ages …
“We are humble and unprofitable servants to be sure, but we strive day by day to do what we are called to do. Sometimes the results are wonderful, sometimes not; but to feel the love of our Savior through it all makes everything worthwhile. We love Him with all our hearts … He is our King, our Lord, our Savior and Redeemer.”
