These past few weeks have felt very unfocused.  The life of a missionary changes from day to day and we have found our circumstances to be the same.  We still are in Beja and love this little town.  Our travels to support the Branch Presidents and our District Presidency continue to take us to the southern coast of Portugal for at least a day or two each week.  We also continue to travel into the Lisbon area frequently for administrative things.  Things that we used to see as unique and exciting enough to take pictures of now seem commonplace.  Isn’t it interesting that our lives are like that?  How many things do we have in our own backyard and in our own family and our own ward that we take for granted?  How often do we miss the little things that happen all around us because we are too busy or too preoccupied?  Sometimes we “can’t see the forest for the trees”.  That is enough reflecting!

 

Hey, another baptism.  This one is Daniel.  He is a bright young man.  He lives alone as do so many people here in Portugal.  He has been looking for work for the past several months and found a good job just a couple of days after his baptism.  Paula sat in on a couple of lessons with him, bore her testimony and served as a great example for him.  He likes to practice his English on us and Paula practices her Portuguese on him!  He is already making friends with a few members of our Branch here.  Ironically, two of these new-found friends are recent converts themselves, Bruno and Francisco.  They are already practicing the importance of friend-shipping!  It is awesome to see.  And then we have our constant ward members like President Ruberval (Branch President) and Simao (Branch Mission Leader).  There are others as well that do their best to keep the church alive and bless and convert their own families.  We sure hope that the Beja Branch will flourish and qualify to become a ward while we are still here on our mission.  What a blessing that would be.  Almost all of the members down here are “first generation” and we can’t wait to see what transpires over the next twenty years as we get more experience, stronger conversions, more temple sealings, more missionaries going out, stronger youth programs, etc.

We have also experienced more transfers.  We have two brand-new elders, Elder Palmer from Texas and Elder Fonseca from Cape Verde.  We will have to tell you about the incredible number of missionaries from Cape Verde later, and the spirit they bring to Portugal.  We also had Sister Nelson transfer out and Sister Palmer from South Jordan transfer in.  We are not sure we can stay up on all of the transferring that goes on constantly in the mission field.  Every one of them bring new spirits and new testimonies and it is incredible to see how the Lord works through these young people.  One interesting thing right now:  Here in our area of the Algarve, we now have more “foreign” missionaries than “home-grown” missionaries.  We have them from Cape Verde, England, Belgium, France, Bolivia, Ecuador, Texas, Idaho and Utah.  Get this:  We have four from Utah and four from Cape Verde!  Here is a photo of one of our Cape Verde Elders that is serving as a Branch President in Tavira.  This is his second time as a Branch President.  His first go-around as a Branch President was in Cape Verde when he was 18.  Amazing young man.  Very quiet, very friendly, and a smile that just warms the room.  Here he is with his companion, Elder Hatch, who is heading home.  Also a great missionary and wonderful young man.

 

Besides our own District Presidency we have also been working long-distance with the Presidents in the Madeira District and the Azores District.  Right now, between our four districts (including Santarem) we have three new chapels in process and working on two (and maybe three) others.  We are also looking at organizing a new Branch in Madeira and a new Group in Peniche.  Both Larry and Paula are hoping not to do all of these long-distance, but to be able to travel to Madeira and the Azores to see them in person.   Two of the chapels in our Algarve area (Olhao and Loule) could possibly be done by May.  We are excited to see the progress of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Portugal.



Francisco Serra

Another awesome experience to report. Seems like they just keep coming! A few days ago Larry was asked to interview a man for baptism. He had special permission because those that would normally have done the interview could not come to our area. The sisters had been teaching him the Gospel and we had seen him at church several times. His name is Francisco Serra. He is about the same age as we are. Larry had been sitting by him in Priesthood Meeting so they were somewhat acquainted already. During the interview, Francisco asked Larry if he would baptize him. What an honor! We certainly didn’t think we would have the opportunity to have this wonderful experience. When Francisco arrived at the chapel for his baptism he had on a suit jacket, a white shirt and a tie.  He looked so happy.   Larry had learned the baptism prayer in Portuguese and he did a great job!! Paula hasn’t seen him baptize anyone since Mike and that’s been quite a few years ago. We truly love this gentle, humble man and know that he will be an awesome member of the church and will help strengthen this branch. We felt so privileged to be a part of this wonderful event in his life. It is one we will never forget.

Simao, Sheila and President Ruberval, Francisco, Larry, Rosalina, Maria, Paula, Sister Nelson, Bruno

 

And today, just before we posted, we went to Francisco's elderly parents' home and had a nice visit with them as well.  The sisters have been there a couple of times.  It is hard to tell right now what their level of interest is, but they listened carefully and were very gracious.  His mom appears bed-ridden and his father just fell down some stairs and broke his arm.  We hope to be able to do some more visits to them along with Francisco.  Another opportunity to help!



Happy Halloween Everyone! Halloween over here isn’t celebrated over here in the same way it is at home. Our little Branch here in Beja worked really hard to have a party like they do in America.  They decorated everything and it turned out really great. Their “treat” table looked just like it would at home! Some of the members even dressed up. We dressed up as missionaries and we were pretty scary!! It was a fun time for all who came.

 

 

We also had a Branch service project this past week. We cleaned, trimmed, and weeded around the church and also in a large fruit orchard next to the church. The orchard is a part of the Church’s property. We actually ate several ripe oranges off of one of the trees. It was a beautiful and sunny day and just the right temperature to be working hard. Here are a few pics so that you will  believe that we really do work here on our mission!! Of course, like all church events, there was lunch afterward.

 

 

Hi everyone,

Special announcement for all of you. We have a new granddaughter!! That’s right. And because it’s so important and exciting for us, we wanted to share it with you on our blog.

Katherine, Jon’s wife, gave birth to a beautiful little girl on Monday, October 29^th, 2012. She was born by C-section and had to have oxygen for awhile but mom and baby are doing well now.. She was born at 1:30 pm and weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and is 20” long. We are so thrilled for them!!! And for us!  Her birth has been the highlight of the week!

Of course we were sad to miss this grand event but we were so lucky to see her on Skype  just a few hours after her birth. What a blessing that is.

 

 

Isn't she a doll!

                                                                                                                  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ieqFmUc-c&feature=youtu.be

Just a quick little ride to church on Sunday.  Enjoy.

We had a wonderful baptism in our little Branch here in Beja a couple of weeks ago.  A young man named Bruno was baptized.  If you want the details to his story just email me and I can send you a copy of our perspective of his conversion.  It is a classic story of the power of the Book of Mormon and the power and ability of the gospel to change peoples’ lives.  Over a period of five weeks or so we saw an incredible transformation and we are so glad we were here to observe it first-hand.  As of this writing he has been baptized, confirmed, received the Aaronic Priesthood, and today bore his testimony in church as well as blessed the sacrament.  His countenance has truly changed and his joy brings a smile to our faces and to those around him.

The day of Bruno’s baptism we had a couples’ dinner that we were able to attend.  We went with three couples from our Branch including Bruno and Rosalina, Branch President Ruberval and his wife Sheila, and Joao and his wife Sandra.  We had a great time and it felt like a couples’ ward dinner at home except for the fact that there was a lot of Portuguese-speaking going on!

                                      

 

Sometimes it is difficult writing a blog and making it interesting!  We have to chuckle at the end of one or two weeks of work and realize that the only photos we have make it look like we are on vacation.  We really are not, but we are fortunate that our work is in such a pretty and interesting place. 

This past week or so has been spent down along the southern coast of Portugal.  It is called the Argarve.  Most of our responsibility lies in this area where we have branches of the church and missionaries in Tavira, Olhao, Faro, Loule, Portimao and Lagos.  We spent most of our time in the first four areas.

 

In Tavira we spent much of the day doing an apartment check and a branch assessment.  We would show you pictures of the missionary apartments, but it is probably best not to do that!  Overall they were pretty clean since they knew we were coming, but you know how 19-year-old Elders can be.  The chapels in some of these branches are small, but we felt the spirit in every dedicated building.  The nice thing about the “chapel checks” is that we frequently got to meet with branch presidents or other local members.  Much of our time spent in interviews and visits included finding out what the needs of each branch are.  Because of how new to the gospel many members and leaders are, there is  great need for priesthood training, auxiliary training and activation and retention help.  But, what the members lack in knowledge and training, they make up for in enthusiasm.  Tavira has one of our Elders as their branch president, but we are working with 4 prospective elders that will receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in November.  One of them will become the new branch president….probably the one we met with who has been a member for about 8 months.  I believe he is actually from Cape Verde but living now in Tavira.  During the day, Paula and I went down to the river front/ocean front for an hour while the Elders had an appointment and I guess left the front door open.  When we returned to the chapel, we found out that while the front door to the chapel was open that a young man had walked in, asked if he could have “one of those Book Of Mormons” and set an appointment to be taught.  He said that he was looking into what church to join.  We are thinking that maybe we should always leave our doors open and a table set up with scriptures, Liahona’s, pamphlets, pass-along-cards and especially an appointment book!  J

 

 

In Olhao we met with two of our great sister missionaries.  What wonderful spirits they have.  And, their apartment was clean!  So, we gave them extra cookies.  Just kidding.  Paula can’t resist making sure all of our missionaries are well fed.  The Olhao Branch President was wonderful.  He is from somewhere in Africa.  He has been a member for 2 years.  He just returned from the Madrid temple where he was endowed.  He is so incredibly enthusiastic about the church that he and his small branch completely fill up the appointment schedules for the missionaries.  He even goes out into the streets and finds people to teach.  What a fun spirit.  Missionary work is definitely picking up in Olhao.  Olhao is on the ocean as well, and has an incredible fish market.  We spent a bit of time checking out fish and vegetables. 

Loule was next.  The apartment was pretty clean and one of the Elders likes to bake.  They did admit that Paula’s cookies were better. They are sleeping on two mattresses on the floor, so we will make sure they have two beds sent to them by next week.  The branch in Loule needs some help in reactivating about 5 Melchizedek Priesthood holders and in training 1 prospective elder who will be ordained in November.  We will be doing most of our work in Loule through the Algarve District presidency, so time was spent going over details with them.  These brethren are sharp.  All are second generation church members, returned missionaries and are well-versed in the gospel and in church administration.  The Handbooks of the Church are well utilized down here and the members recognize them as the words of our modern-day prophets.  Although few in numbers, many members are incredibly strong.

 

We retuned to Beja for a day before we were asked to go on an out-of-area assignment.  We went north (inland) to an incredible town called Evora.  It is ancient.  We admit we did spend part of the day sight-seeing.  Old castles, old churches, old Roman temple ruins.  The entire city is surrounded by a huge city wall made of stone.  It wraps the entire city with a circumference of about 3 miles or so.  It was definitely a tourist attraction because downtown everyone was speaking pretty much every language you could think of.  For once, our English worked just fine.  The Elders’ apartment was “new”.  The inside had been entirely remodeled, but had been left with some of the old stone and brick arches and walls on the inside.  It was cool.  And, only 200 years old!  Some of these buildings from the outside really don’t tell the story of the inside and how nice they can be with new tile and marble floors, walls, appliances, etc.  We wish we had pictures of this one.  Our greatest need in Evora is local leadership.  The branch leaders are great, but live more than an hour away.  We also need 2 additional missionaries here.  The chapel is also in an ancient part of town but incredible on the inside.  Again, you could just feel the spirit when you walked in off of the old cobblestone streets.

 

 

 

 

We spent another day with all of our missionaries in a Zone Conference in Faro…yep, back to the coast again!  It was great to be with all of these young men and women and feel the power and the spirit that they have.  It was fun to spend the day speaking Portuguese all day long and understanding a bit more than when the Portuguese people get into their cadence!  It is such a beautiful language to listen to.  It would be even better if we could understand it all!  We are slowly getting better but have a long way to go.  On the way back to Beja we needed to stop in Loule for an interview that a member of the mission presidency had to conduct.  While Larry went to the interview our 4 Beja missionaries went out street contacting.  In less than 45 minutes one companionship had a lady for the Loule Elders to teach and the other companionship had an entire family who had heard the lessons many years ago and now want to hear them again.  Amazing!

 

 

And did we mention the pomegranites down in the Algarve? Incredible. And they are HUGE and so red and juicy and sweet.  Paula is an expert at pomegranites with all of the time she has spent in St. George with Clairene and Curtis harvesting their fair share. She is thrilled and we are eating them like candy!  And pomegranite salads, here we come.  You pomegranite lovers are just going to have to pony up the bucks and fly over to enjoy this one.

 

 

 

And, another two baptisms in Beja.  Two brothers, Pedro and Juao, 9 and 14 years-old.  We have been a frequent driver getting them to and from meetings.  Their mom and older brother are progressing and we hope they will be baptized soon.