Letter from me to stake President Jake Sowby of the Sammammish River Stake. This was a letter that my companions and I wrote when it seemed like all of our efforts with the Portuguese group were going to be in vain.
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We have some new information in regards to the members for the Portuguese group.
We were at Eric and Vanessa Santo's house this last Sunday. They told us that there is a good chance that they will not be able to come to any more of the group meetings. Vanessa is about to be called to the primary presidency in their english ward this Sunday.
We talked with them a lot about everything going on with the group. The sense that we got from them is that all of the members are just kind of confused and one foot in and one foot out because they have no idea what is going on.
Eric and Vanessa are super awesome and are super willing to help out. She told us that when they extended the call to her, she almost said that she is going to the Portuguese group right now and that they were committed there, but she didn't say anything because they weren't sure if it was ever going to turn into a branch. We think that they would possibly be willing to still help out if a call were to be extended to Eric. However, now with Vanessa having that call extended to her, it would probably require coordination with their ward to see if there is anything that could be done as soon as possible.
Eric is basically the only option for a group leader in this mission. He is the only Brazilian Melchizedek Priesthood in this mission. If there was any way to figure out a way to call him, we really believe we could get the number of people at church up to above 40 consistently to be able to form a branch. However, if this were to happen, it has to be as soon as possible.
Now that Covid restrictions are loosening and many wards are beginning to have primary and other classes again, if things don't get figured out soon, it is very probable that many of the other members will have a harder and harder time coming to the group meetings if it is still unclear as to what is going to happen. If they knew that there was a group leader and if they knew how we could turn it into a branch, we believe they would really get behind it.
Looking at the list of people below, if a group leader were to be called, we believe that we could definitely sustain a consistent number of about 40 people at church each Sunday, excluding missionaries. There is also definitely a large possibility of others of the members that currently have callings in other wards participating in the future if this becomes a branch. This would basically all be conditional on the situation with the Santos family being worked out, as there is no other viable option for group leader besides people in the Lynnwood stake. We would also need the Santos family to be all in if this was to turn into a branch.
If this does not happen now, this is all going to die very quickly as soon as we all leave this summer, or possibly sooner as more of the members get callings in their other wards. As long as they have uncertainty as to what is going on, they will be one foot in, and one foot out.
We do not want all of the efforts from the last 9+ months to be in vain. Obviously, it could never be in vain, many miracles have happened, including several of God's children entering the covenant path. We have also been able to make a huge impact on the entire Brazilian community here. However, we truly believe that this could, should, and will become a branch, and that in particular is one of the big reasons this all happened. If there is a branch here, then there will always be missionaries that speak Portuguese here, and they will continue to have great success in teaching the Portuguese speaking community here. There are plenty of members for this to work. But for any of this to happen, we have to have a group leader before any of this. Without immediate action, calling a group leader might be made impossible after the window of the next few days.
We don't know if Eric is even still a feasible option, that would require talking to his bishop and additionally his wife and himself to see how they would feel. Regardless of the feasibility, he really is the only option that we can see. Even if an American from this mission or a Brazilian from the Lynnwood stake were to be called, it would be hard to sustain numbers without the Santos family. We have been feeling for the last few weeks that we have reached a critical point of this either becoming a permanent thing and even growing, or crumbling. Considering the fact that a call to serve in their ward's primary presidency has been extended to Vanessa, if a decision is reached to still try and call Eric, it would have to be made before she is set apart this weekend.
We do believe that if you were to talk with the Santos family about how crucial their help is, they would be on board.
With all this being said, we also want to apologize if we have overstepped our bounds at all with this email. We recognize your priesthood authority and leadership as the priesthood leaders that hold the keys to make calls and all decisions in these matters. We will respect and support whatever decision is made. This email is not intended to pressure or try to overstep our authority. We are merely trying to supply you with the information about the situation that we feel is necessary for you to follow a correct course of action. As President Nelson said, "good inspiration comes from good information."
Thank you so much for all of your support over the last few months. We have seen so many miracles, and we believe we are on the verge of something even greater. We love and appreciate you!!
Elders Dudley, Ward, and Ludgate
Lynwood
- Mario and Roselene Costa (Totally committed to being a part of things)
- Kiria and Tyler Carlton +2-3 kids (Kiria is Mario and Roselene's daughter. They were super committed at the beginning and really wanted to be part of it. They stopped coming after a while after he got called as Elder's Quorom president in their ward. If things got solidified and their support was needed to make the branch, we think it is extremely likely that they would start coming again)
- Guilherme and Rebecca Castro + 4 kids (Have been extremely dedicated and come almost every single week)
- Elisangela and Curtis Marshall + 2 kids (Have been extremely dedicated and come almost every single week)
- Peter Pereira and family (only been one time. He is serving in the bishopric in the same ward that Guilherme goes to. If this were to ever become a branch, we wonder if the Branch President wouldn't be able to convince him to come)
- Andre and Cristina Lima (Kind of less active due to covid)
Everrett
- Andre and Aline Brandao + 3 kids (We just got in contact with them, they came the week that we started talking with them. They seem super solid and likely to participate if things were closer to them)
Bothell
- Eric and Vanessa Santos + 2 kids (amazing, but if things don't change this week, she will be in the primary presidency for her ward and they won't be coming anymore)
- Rosi Apovian (Recent Convert, is definitely always going to come)
- Fatima and Donald Rachels (we just met them. They are not likely to commit fully, but they would definitely come sometimes. They still need to be sealed)
- Joseli (Super less active, but is coming back to church. We have been working with her and using members to minister to her)
Kirkland
- Rita, Liv, and Luiza da Silva (Recent Converts and will definitely always come)
- Janaina and Raymond Fowkes (Awesome and will definitely do what is necessary to get the group to a branch)
Bellevue
- Trenton and Thiffany Hyers + baby (haven't been in a long time because they were scared of Covid with their new baby)
Renton
- Patricia and Robert Berrier + 2 kids (would definitely do what it takes to get this to become a branch)
- Alvanira (Patricia's mom) she is the reason they drive up often.
Kent
- Catia and Wesley Nobles + 2 kids (Super committed and definitely will do what it takes to get this to become a branch)
Response from President Sowby
Elder Dudley, we love you. We are on this and rolling.
Thank you!
My response to his response
Sorry about the long email Looking back that probably wasn't necessary. Thanks for all that you do
President Sowby’s second response to me
It was 100% appreciated!
I have a hand written note to give you the next time I see you and it is so highly complimentary it even made me blush a little! :-)
Thanks for being you!
JS
