January 27, 2013

On Tuesday this week we headed for the office and it started raining about halfway there.  The wind was whipping our umbrellas and actually turned Mike’s umbrella inside out twice.  The worst thing is that there isn’t much of a place to find cover between here and there.  With all of the rain that we have had, it’s surprising that this hasn’t happened more often.    Most of our rainy days we have been able to walk without getting too wet.

We made a trip to the mission office on Wednesday to take care of our car rental expenses and get a receipt for our tax return.  We had an appointment for 11:30, but the Elder who was to meet with us had been called out on other business.  We waited quite a while and then decided to go to lunch.  When we got back, he was there and we were able to take care of business.  But then he needed us to help get the president’s car to the shop and we had to wait a while to do that, so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the office.  We enjoyed visiting with the Elders, though, and some Sisters who stopped by with a new member.  One of the Elders in the office is from El Dorado Hills, CA, and Mike had assisted him on the day he went to the temple in Sacramento to be endowed before his mission.

On Friday we had a call from Elder Staples in Costa de Caparica that there would be a baptism that night.  After we got home I hurried and made a pan of Congo Squares, which were a big hit after the baptism.  It was another wait, because at first Jessica Pereira (the baptizee) didn’t have a ride to get to the church for her interview and baptism.  The baptism scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM finally began at 8:30 PM.  We find this typical here, as it also was in Brazil.

We had a wonderful email from the District President Clovis Gauer in Chapeco this week.  The area is really growing.  They have reopened the church in two areas in the district and the branches are all growing.  The Church has gone from a frequency of 390 members to 624 in the last trimester.  They had 35 new Elders ordained in 2012.  There are 16 serving missions, with 7 more leaving in the next few months.  He said that the mission president has submitted the paperwork for them to become a stake.   This news gives us great cause to rejoice, as we love the people there so much.

We are invited to the Johnson’s tonight for a going-away dinner for the Orsis. They leave the mission for their home in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday.  We will miss them, even though we have seen them only occasionally as they have been serving in another area of Portugal.  We will receive another couple in  March.  We are hoping that someone is applying for a mission who can replace us in December.  Couple missionaries are in great demand everywhere.  It is such a blessing to serve and a wonderful opportunity to take part in this great and important work.  Obviously we love serving missions or we wouldn't have come a second time!

How I love the Book of Mormon!  As it says in D&C 17:6, in which the Savior was talking about Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon:  “And he has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true.”  This I believe with all of my heart.

Elder Oliveira, Jessica Pereira and Elder Staples

Interesting Building

Roundabout with beautiful rock formation.

January 20, 2013

This week brought some successes with our PEF participants.  We had a young man named Franklin who had lived in El Salvador, then Spain, and he now resides in Sweden.  Because of his moves, we didn’t have the information necessary to contact him, so I made contact with his bishop in Sweden.  When we finally had his phone number, Elder Henry called him.  After communicating with him several times, this week he paid his entire loan in full.  He had only made one small payment in 2006 prior to this time.  Another young lady originally from Brazil (Adriana) who now lives in Portugal paid 1,000 euros this week, which is about half the amount she owes.  We seldom mention to the participants that they even have loans to repay; we just call them and ask how they are doing and if there is anything we can do to help them.  I called two young women from the United Kingdom this week to see if they wanted their loans transferred and really enjoyed my visits with them.

 We also had the opportunity to meet a district president from Cape Verde this week named Cesar Fortes.  He and his wife have both been PEF participants.  We find that so many of the bishops and district and stake presidents here are quite young.  The same thing was true in Brazil.  He thanked me for the text messages that I have been sending to him, his wife, and the other participants in Cape Verde.  I send inspirational messages, birthday greetings, and thank you messages when they make payments.  He made me feel that what I am doing is worthwhile.  Some of the others have responded and said how much they appreciate the messages also.

I took a fall on the way to the office on Tuesday morning.  The interesting thing is that it happened in the smoothest spot between here and there.  My right ankle twisted for some reason and I fell hard on my left hip.  Fortunately I am well- padded and didn’t break any bones.  My ankle hurt for a couple of days and I have several small bruises and was sore for a few days, but doing great now.  I was very blessed.

Elder Staples has a brand new companion from Brazil-- Elder Oliveira, who has only been a member of the Church for a year and a half.  We really like Elder Staples, so we are glad that he didn’t get transferred.   They had a few investigators at church again today.  The papers are ready now so that the one couple can get married soon.

The Coito family from Brazil was sealed in the temple on the 12^th—We are so happy!  Their daughter Jessica wrote that she is in the process of submitting her papers to serve a mission as she will turn 19 in April.  I would be so thrilled if she were sent to Portugal, but that probably won’t happen.

We send our love to each of you.  We are so grateful for our opportunity to serve this mission.  We are so blessed to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Older section of Cachilas

So much colorful graffiti here everywhere!

Love this roundabout!

Helder and his family--investigators

 “Life’s journey is not traveled on a freeway devoid of obstacles, pitfalls, and snares.  Rather, it is a pathway marked by forks and turnings.  Decisions are constantly before us.  To make them wisely, courage is needed:  the courage to say, ‘No,’ the courage to say, ‘Yes.’  Decisions do determine destiny.  The call for courage comes constantly to each of us.  It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be.”  Thomas S. Monson

January 13, 2013

After two weeks with holidays we finally had a full week at the office.  We were able to get a good start on our contacts for the month.  It looks like sometime during the year there will be some changes coming with the Church employees.  A few of them may get transferred to Germany.  We will be sad to lose any of them, as we have enjoyed our association with each one.  We are really hoping that they don’t move Miguel, as he is the person with whom we work most closely.  But, they have all been very kind to us and as far as we are concerned, the more the merrier.

I had broken our blender jar when I made zucchini soup a while back by using it to blend the soup when it was too hot, but this week we were able to get a replacement.  Thanks to the Church employee who purchased it,   it was under warranty and was replaced without charge.  But, I will definitely be more careful in the future.

We will be getting a new group of missionaries in this week.  Five are delayed because of Visas, but we are starting to receive more Sister missionaries along with the Elders.  We have heard that the numbers of missionaries has really increased since the age requirements were lowered for both Elders and Sisters.  I think that this was to be expected.  I probably would have served a mission if I could have gone at 19 years of age.  Speaking of age, a lady investigator was sitting by us in church today and she asked me my age.  When I told her 70, she said that I didn’t look it and that I was very well conserved.  I thought it was a funny choice of words. 

We are hoping that our Elders in Caparica don’t get transferred this week, but we always feel that way.  We start thinking that they are part of our ward and don’t want to see them leave.  We are starting to get a few more investigators at our meetings, which is wonderful.  We will be waiting for a couple of marriages before some of the baptisms can happen.  Sometimes we are saddened by our new members.  Rui, who was baptized recently and then married to a wonderful member, has decided not to come to church except occasionally to support his wife.  This is really sad as he came for quite a while before he was baptized and seemed to be progressing well.  Our stake president, who has such a wonderful way with people, is working with him.   His wife, Ana, has come without him the last two weeks.  We are praying that he will realize what he is missing.
We received some wonderful news this week from Jessica Coito, one of the Coito daughters we taught and baptized when we were on our mission in Chapeco, Brazil.  Their family is going on the next caravan to the temple to be sealed.  They were at the temple recently to do baptisms, but this will be a very special day for their family and something we have wanted for them since we first met them.  We are thrilled.

Jared and Lisa have moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, where he will begin his new job with Walmart on January 28^th.   He will be working in their main office in the Information Systems department.  Their new address is:  4100 Chasestone Ave. #1, Bentonville, AR 72710.  They found a nice duplex with three bedrooms, two baths and a double-car garage.  It is not too far from his work.  We wish them the best.

Remember that each of you are precious in God’s sight and we love you all—family and friends!  We didn’t every get our flu shots this year, so we are glad it hasn’t found us here in Portugal.   Our wish for each of you--Health and  Happiness.

Portugal has lots of statues!

Stake President Amaro Graca and his wife, Fatima.  

Christmas Eve at the Gracas' home.

Funny sign to see on a van in Caparica, Portugal.

January 6, 2013

A Very Happy New Near to everyone.  We worked half a day on New Year’s Eve and spent a quiet evening together.   We did have a bit of entertainment during the evening when a musical group started playing loudly outside in the parking lot next to ours.  It was actually beautiful, lively music, which we really enjoyed.  They moved on down the street and we continued to hear them as they serenaded in other locations.  We were disappointed they didn’t hang out here longer.

On New Year’s Day we took a walk, stayed at home for a while, then went to visit the Cristo Rei statue which was way better than I had supposed.  I posted a set of pictures on facebook for those who may want to see them.  I wasn’t sure I would want to go to the top viewing area because it was so high, but it wasn’t as scary as I had imagined.  There was an inside elevator for part of the distance, then several flights of stairs to climb.

It was another short work week for us at the office, but we were able to accomplish some things.  Our percentage of high-priority contacts was 98.7 this month, so we felt pretty good about that.  It is pretty difficult to reach everyone even if you try a number of times.

Elder and Sister Johnson invited us to go with them for a P-Day visit to a few areas yesterday.  We arrived at their apartment before 9:00 AM and drove to Batalha where we visited the Monastery  “The Church of our Lady of Victory”. This was built to celebrate an important Portuguese victory (in 1385) over the Spanish which kept Portugal divided from them.  Seven thousand Portuguese defeated 30,000 Spaniards with the assistance of 400 English archers.    We also looked in some gift shops before traveling on to Nazare.  Here we found a restaurant famous for their fish stew and had it for lunch.  It was good, but nothing extraordinary.  We were very close to a beautiful beach on the Atlantic Ocean, where we walked out and watched some amateur surfers.  We looked in several gift shops and drove around the area, seeing a nice group of deer at one point.  From there we traveled to Alcobaca, where we visited the Cistercian Monastery of Santa Maria.  It is Portugal’s largest church.  The grandeur of these two monasteries was amazing.   I don’t know the height of the ceilings, but they were very high in both monasteries.  I can’t imagine how they were constructed.  Only prisoners condemned to death were allowed to work on the construction in one large room because it was considered so dangerous.

I will post some pictures of the sights we visited this week, with more on Facebook for those who are interested.

May the New Year be filled with growth, health, happiness, and success, with an eye singled to the Glory of God.  May you qualify for His choicest blessings.

Cristo Rei

Monastery at Batalha

Beach at Nazare

Monastery at Alcobaca