From Portugal With Love: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Since today is Father’s Day, I would like to say how grateful I am for a wonderful father, father-in-law and husband. What a wonderful influence they have all been in my life. What more can we ask for than righteous husbands and fathers who honor the priesthood of God and bless the lives of their families. It is also a great blessing to watch our sons and son-in-law with their children and we appreciate the example they are setting for future generations. Hope all of you fathers have a special day! We love you!

Today is also Natalie Poff’s 15^th birthday and we hope that she has a wonderful day.

We did as much work as we could the early part of the week because we had a meeting in Portimao in the southern part of Portugal on Thursday. Mike met Paco Serrano (from Spain) at the airport, returned home to fetch me and we were off to our meeting. It is about 2-1/2 hours away. The freeway is very nice and the drive was easy. We had a wonderful lunch of salad, bread, barbequed chicken and French fries (almost every restaurant serves French fries here) and dessert with Paco, the two young interns from BYU, the Johnsons and a family of four from Lisbon. Our meeting was a workshop for those without jobs or seeking to find better employment. We were not officially involved with the meeting, but since it closely coordinates with what we do and Paco needed a ride, it was a good experience for us.

We spent the night in Albufeira at a very nice hotel. It only cost 45 euros and also included a nice breakfast. The Johnsons and Paco also stayed there. In the morning we took Paco to the bus station as he had another meeting and he didn’t want us to have to leave early.

The Sommers (who serve in a branch about an hour away) met us and we traveled to Lagos, where we were able to visit Ponta de Piedade. I have included a group of pictures on my facebook site for those who are interested. This was a gorgeous site and the ocean was extremely blue. When we went back to our cars, the Johnson’s battery was dead. We found someone with a cable and got it started, then headed for Lagos. The battery died again and another person actually took the battery out of his own car to get the car going. This time we headed straight for a motor parts store, where Elder Johnson purchased a new battery. In the meantime, the Johnsons ate at a nearby restaurant waiting for the shop to reopen after lunch. The Sommers were with us and we went downtown and ate at a wonderful restaurant, enjoyed some great ice cream, and walked around the quaint little city. It was fun to get acquainted with Elder and Sister Sommer, as we had only met them once before.

Today the three young girls who were baptized last week were confirmed. We also had two ladies at church who are being taught by the missionaries. It is good to see them having some success in this area. The gospel is such a blessing in our lives; we wish that everyone could enjoy the same blessings.