"Called To Serve & Assigned To Labor"

After weeks of anxious waiting, Carson's call from the Lord to serve a full-time mission came in the mailbox yesterday afternoon (it looked a little worse for wear):

He is very excited for this new chapter in his life.  As his family we support him in his decision to serve 100% and know that the people of João Pessoa, Brasil will be blessed to have Elder Sork among them.  We know this experience will bless Carson in just as many ways, if not more.

Following the Priesthood session of conference last night we went as a family into Portland to a Brazilian Food Truck to give Carson a taste of his upcoming mission.  We had some really good authentic Brazilian food and met several Brazilians.  Carson was able to hear conversations in Portuguese and ask them how to pronounce the mission name—he has been practicing it ever since.  What a great way to celebrate his call.

Pictures of the Region:

Mission Area Map:

Here are some fun facts about the João Pessoa, Brasil mission (as of Sept 2016):

• Address:  Rua João Amorim, 429, Centro, João Pessoa, Paraiba 
• Statistical Region :  Paraiba, Brazil 
• Unit Creation Date:  July 1, 1998 
• Number of  LDS Congregations:  1 District, 1 Mission Branch 
• Congregations:  Mamanguape Brazil District  & Brazil João Pessoa Mission Branch 

Here are some fun facts about the area in general found on Wikipedia:  

João Pessoa (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒʊˈɐ̃w peˈsoɐ]) is the capital of the state of Paraíba in Brazil. It was founded in 1585 and it is also known as the city where the sun rises first, because it is the easternmost city in the Americas at 34° 47′ 38″ W, 7° 9′ 28″ S. Its easternmost point is known as Ponta do Seixas. 

The city is considered "the second greenest in the world", with more than 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) of forested land, second only to Paris, France.

It is the state's largest city, with a estimated population of 801,718 of inhabitants. Its metropolitan area comprises eight other satellite cities (Bayeux, Cabedelo, Conde, Lucena, Santa Rita, and others), totalling 1,223,000 of inhabitants.

Joao Pessoa has a tropical rainforest climate with very warm temperatures all year long and strong rainfall in most of the months. October to December have a rather low rainfall, which means the city has characteristics of a tropical savannah climate.  The average high is 84.7*F and the average low is 72.5*F.  The average rainfall in a year is 84.5" on average over 149 days.  The average humidity level is 77.7.

According to Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics as of 2009, there were 702,000 people residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 45.72% White, 38.72% Pardo (two or more races), 2.77% Black, and 0.25% Asian or Amerindian.

Religion
Religion  Percentage  Number
Catholic     74.06%     442,841
Protestant   15.92%       95,191
No religion   7.41%       44,332
Spiritist        1.10%         6,571