Beginning at Juiz de Fora as their base of operations, they called on the chief of police and were assured full freedom to carry on their work. However, the bishop protested, and from the loudspeaker of the main church he kept on shouting his accusations against the brothers and against Brother Rutherford. Many people there did not agree with him, however, and they obtained over 300 books and 2,000 booklets.

When they moved on to Santos Dumont, they found that conditions were not favorable there. The town priest had them arrested and thrown into a prison cell. The policeman in charge, under strong Catholic influence, said that the literature was pro-Communist and that the brothers were subversives. Finally, when nothing could be done against them, all their documents as aliens being in order, they were set free.

This truly pioneer family had full trust in Jehovah. They had left the comforts of São Paulo, turning over their home for the use of other pioneers who could not travel, and moved into areas where there was real need for the Kingdom witness to be given. When they would arrive in a city they would get accommodations in a reasonably cheap pensão (a middle-class boardinghouse). They would work from door to door first in the commercial area and then on the farms and in little villages nearby. One can easily imagine how difficult this was in the rainy season when mud was everywhere. After working eight to ten hours in the field they would return, often walking ten miles, to the pensão for a bath and a good night’s rest. Their literature bags would be full of oranges, bananas and the fruits of the season, which they had received in exchange for literature.

The two younger girls of the family, Zina and Zenaide, were fearless and bold despite their tender years. In Garça, a Japanese colonization center, these young girls were working in the town while their father and brother went to work in the rural area. After working for four hours in the morning, they sat down in the shade to eat their lunch. A police investigator came and asked to see what they had in their bags. When he saw the Japanese Riches books, he took the girls to the police station. All the literature was taken from them, and they were told to quit preaching. The police thought their threats would be enough for these young girls. However, when they left the station they just went back to their pensão, filled their bags with literature, and went on to work in another part of town. Next morning they went to the police station to recover their literature. The chief of police, who had already examined it, returned all except for one copy, which he insisted on keeping for himself.