Temple moments: `Like a dream'
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The first five members of the Church in Campinas, Brazil, took particular interest in President Gordon B. Hinckley's conference announcement last April that a temple would be built in that city. Campinas is located in southern Brazil, about 50 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.
These members, Rute Mendes, Alfredo Lima Vaz, Remo Roselli, Walter Carmona and Flavia Garcia Erbolato, were teenagers when they met the missionaries in 1939, before there were any members living in Campinas. Another member of that group, Wilson Carmona, died a few years ago."Our parents got us signed up in English classes," said Sister Erbolato, retired manager of translation for the Church in Brazil, now living in Provo, Utah. The teens took English classes for three years and were baptized June 4, 1942, the first members in Campinas.
"The missionaries were so clean and so nice that everybody liked them, and we believed what they told us.
"At our sacrament meetings, there were about 10 to 14 people in attendance, including four to six missionaries."
Shortly after the Brazilian teens were baptized, the missionaries were withdrawn because of World War II.
Sister Erbolato and the others carried on "the best we could" during the war. Although not an organist, she played the organ. Whole families came to MIA, and the teens supported their branch and helped others. The young members were often involved in service projects that started a tradition and established a good reputation for the Church. After the war, more conversions came, and in the mid-1950s, the Church began to grow rapidly in Campinas.
The city's first stake was created in 1973, and today, Campinas has three stakes. The temple district is comprised of 60,000 members in 20 stakes.
Sister Erbolato was at home watching conference on television when a temple was announced for her home city.
"I screamed when the temple was announced," she said. "It was exciting. The old missionaries called and everyone was so happy, it was like a dream.
"Then I called Alfredo in Brazil, and he cried."
