December 15, 2013

On Monday we attended our last devotional with the church office employees.  It is sad to say goodbye to such wonderful people.  We will really miss our association with these dear friends.  We stayed to see if Elder and Sister Markham had any last-minute questions, then went to our apartment to complete the final weighing of our luggage and preparations for leaving.  We also had to return our Vodafone equipment and pay our final bill with them for our internet and phone service.

In the evening we were invited to dinner and a testimony meeting with President and Sister Fluckiger and the six young Elders who had completed their missions and were returning home the next day.  We had a wonderful meal and the testimony meeting was very special.  All of us bore our testimonies and shared our love for our Savior, His Gospel, and the wonderful experience of serving Him as missionaries.

Tuesday, December 10^th, we arose at 5:00 AM, got ready, and traveled to the mission office where we turned in our car and phone and traveled with two young Elders to the airport to begin our long journey home.  We had a short flight from Lisbon to London of about three hours.  Elder Grover, from Arizona, was on the flight with us and also spent some time with us in London until we had to separate for our long flights to the US. 

Our flight from London to Los Angeles was an 11-hour flight in cramped quarters.  We managed to relax and enjoy the travel, but my legs and feet swelled to the point that I was unable to put my shoes back on when we landed and had to wear the sandals that were in my carry-on bag.  In LA we had to wait for our luggage and then clear customs before we made the last flight to Sacramento.  Unfortunately, our last flight was delayed about an hour, so our already late-night arrival became even later for those who were meeting us in Sacramento.  Due to the lateness of the hour, some of our youngest grandchildren were not able to come to the airport.  But, we did get to meet our newest granddaughter, Lacy, who was born while we were on our mission.  What a joy that was!  One of Elder Henry’s suitcases didn’t arrive with the others, even though there were all checked in together.  They brought it to us late the next day.  We arrived home at about 2:00 AM, so our travel time was about 29 hours.

On Wednesday night we met with President Yates so that we could be released from our calling as missionaries.  The next night we reported to the Stake High Council and Brad and Suzie arrived from Salt Lake City to spend a few days with us.

We were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the 15^th to report on our mission.  It was great to be back in our home ward and to see all of our friends and family again.  Myrna and Naomi came to hear us speak and to eat with us.  We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for the blessings of serving Him as missionaries.  We have many precious memories and friendships to hold dear to our hearts.

Our last night in Portugal at the Mission Home.

What a nice greeting by Gregg and children.  His lovely wife was taking the photo.

Elder Henry arrived first.  Sister Henry missed the train and came later.

Hugs for Kade.

Grandpa snuggling Lacy for the first time.

Greeting Brett--Lexi in the background.

Meeting Lacy for the first time.

December 8, 2013

This has been a week of training, goodbyes and tears.  Elder and Sister Markham are also covering the bases for employment in this area, so they came half days most of the week and all day on Friday.

Tuesday at lunchtime we were invited to a restaurant with the church employees for a goodbye luncheon.  It was very nice.  Mike and I had our favorite salmon meal that we had enjoyed at Alentejo several times previously.

Mike was busy doing interviews and making as many contacts as possible before we leave.  I sent a goodbye message to most of our participants.  Their response was very gratifying,  as many of them  responded to our message and thanked us for our service and our love. 

Wednesday morning we drove out to the mission office to take care of some last-minute questions and arrangements.  We were able to visit with Elder and Sister Rose, who were working at the office that day.  We will really miss the senior missionary couples that we have served with and grown to love.

On Thursday the gas service was being changed at our apartment building and it was requested that we be here from 9:00AM to 6:00PM.  We were fortunate to have two young Sister missionaries that have foot problems and are serving at the office who were willing to spend most of the day here as we still had so much to do at the office and also Paco was coming from Spain to meet with the Markhams and us and to take us to lunch.  Paco has been so kind to us when we have visited Spain and when he has come to Portugal for meetings and training.  He not only took us to lunch, but he brought us a replica of the Madrid Spain Temple. 

On Friday we worked for a few hours and then had the annual Christmas party at the office.  They actually moved it up a week so that we would be there for it.  We had a spiritual program, which was very nice; ate a nice lunch, visited, played a game where we acted out scriptures, and then we sang “God Be With You Til We Meet Again” .  Many people bore testimony or had kind words to say to us.  A few tears were shed.

Saturday was our day to pack up our suitcases and weigh them to see what we need to leave behind and what we are able to take home.  Then, of course, we have to use some of the clothing in the meantime and  the suitcases will have to be weighed again.  We thought there was a baptism in Caparica and drove there about 5:00PM to find that it wasn’t going to happen yet.

Mike and I both spoke in Sacrament Meeting today and afterward it was an emotional time saying goodbye to our dear friends there.  We also took a group picture, along with a few others.  We have grown to love the people in this small ward and will really miss them.  When you say goodbye to friends in a foreign country you never know if you will have a chance to see them again.

We will return to our home in two days.  We have had such a wonderful experience serving in Portugal for the past 18 months.  What a joy it is to serve the Lord in any capacity, but I would have to say that missions rank right up at the top.  How we loved serving here in Portugal.  Our testimonies and our love for the Lord have grown and we have made many wonderful new friends that we will never forget.   

With Paco Serrano and the Madrid Temple he gave us as a going-away gift.

Simon Dias, Elder Henry, Sister Henry, Francisco Costa, and Bishop Jose Ribeiro.

Elder & Sister Henry with members of the Costa de Caparica Ward.

Lunch with our Church office co-workers at Alentejo.

December 1, 2013

Last Monday I finally felt decent enough to go back to the office.  I had lots of apologizing to do to the participants who had birthdays while I was out sick, but I did get caught up.  There are two young Sister missionaries who are having problems doing much walking.  Rather than send them home, they are going to be helping out at the office with different assignments each day.  We met them there on Monday and gave them and their luggage a ride to their apartment.  It is cold here now and they were going to be without warm blankets on their beds, so we gave them a ride to the mall to buy some.

On Tuesday Elder and Sister Markham came to the office and we began our training with them.  They are anxious to learn and Sister Markham is asking me for lists of procedures which we have been working on for them.  That evening our apartment manager came by because we were having a problem with our toilet.  We were thrilled because he brought us a DVD of himself playing the accordion.  He is quite good and we had no idea that he played.

On Thanksgiving Day (in the US) the Markhams, Roses and Mike and I got together and went to a fun little restaurant in the old part of Lisbon.  We all had a wonderful fish lunch.  The other two couples went on to see some sights, but it was cold and I was a little tired.  So, we went by the Rio Sul Mall to buy a few groceries and returned home.  After putting away our groceries, I noticed that my wallet was missing from my purse.  After looking around the apartment to make sure I didn’t have it, we said a prayer and then returned to the mall to see if anyone had found it.  We talked with security and several different people, but returned home very disappointed and without my wallet.

After we had been home a short time, Mike received a called from Elder Fontes, who had received a called from Maria Lourdes, who had received a call from Sonia, who had received a call from Fernanda Reis.  Mike called Fernanda, who had found my wallet under a bench where I sat while Mike went to buy me some more cough drops.  She asked him lots of questions to be certain that she had the proper owner of the wallet and then arranged to meet us later at the same mall where she was going to have dinner with her son, Paulo.  When we met her, we offered her the 50 euros which were in the wallet as a reward because we were just so grateful to get the wallet and its contents back.  But she and her son were adamant that they would not accept a reward and wouldn’t even let us pay for their dinner.  We enjoyed a nice visit with them—what lovely, honest, people!  She said that she didn’t want to turn my wallet in to the police because they would have kept the money and it may have been more difficult for me to get it back.  We felt that the Spirit definitely was involved in those steps leading to the return of my wallet.  It could have been a very difficult return home with no way to pay the extra luggage fees the airports love to charge.   FEELING SO VERY BLESSED!

On Friday the Markhams came to the office again and we did more training.  We had them over to our apartment for Creamy Chicken Lasagna, fruit salad and rolls.

Mike and I both bore our testimonies during Fast and Testimony Meeting today, thinking that it would be our last chance to do so in the Caparica Ward.  Then Bishop Ribeiro asked us, as we were getting in our car, if we would both talk next Sunday.  I’m planning on recycling one I gave in Chapeco.  Mike gave a very nice training for the ward council after our block of meetings.

Luanne and Don Markham, our new Senior Couple

I know it's blurry, but this is the only group picture we got.  It was taken by our elderly waiter.

A view inside the Adega de S. Roque Restaurant.  What a fun place!