District Meeting and Beach Time (finally)

Tuesday, August 21

Late last night, our internet stopped working. Merl was in the middle of a Duolingo lesson, and I was adding pictures to a blog post.  We were both in a panic.  We checked everything we could think of and turned everything off and went to bed – slept restlessly. 

Tuesday morning 10:30 is our weekly District meeting in Faro.  We need 30 minutes to get there.  We got ready so we could go to Vodofone (which opens at 9:30) for some help.  We were the first customers of the day.  It only took a minute for our favorite Vodofone lady to fix the problem – reset the modem.  Don’t know why it went off, but so happy it was an easy fix.

The Sisters were ready when we returned, and we made the drive to Faro.  Elder Buarque energetically welcomed everyone to the meeting that focused on extending an invitation to be baptized after the first discussion on the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We divided into two groups and practiced the presentation.  Elders Rogers and Vigne (Zone leaders) came towards the end of the meeting and gave a message from President Fillmore.

(Foto:  There are very few street signs where you can see them .  They are either written high on the side of a building or placed on tile plaques on a cement wall or fence.  This is the name of the street bordering the church, blue tiles laid on concrete.

After the meeting, we walked to the Faro Elders apartment (Rogers and Vigne) to do an inspection.  We then returned home with the Sisters.  After lunch, we did an apartment inspection for Elders Buarque and Heiner.  Instead of heading west to come back home, we took a left turn and went east just to see what was there.  We traveled through an area with more individual homes than we have seen before.  The road wound around the foothills, and I finally got close enough to a plant that we occasionally see along the highway so I could get a picture.  It grows kind of like a giant yucca plant, sending up a tall stalk from spiky foliage.  Some of these stalks are 15-20 feet tall.

Yesterday on our walk around the castle in Lagos, we were able to get close enough to a tree that we have seen many times from a distance; shaped like a pine tree, but instead of needles, the “leaves” are like a juniper stem that is waxed over.  It felt just like plastic. 

We took care of some personal paperwork and coordination with our home ward to ensure the funds we put in our mission account are being withdrawn properly (housing and car).  Worked on some Duolingo and blog before going to bed.

Wednesday, August 22

I finally decided that today was the day we were going to discover a local beach.  We have been instructed to take walks, eat healthy, and be an example to the younger missionaries.   We were up early and had breakfast before we headed for Quarteira Beach – about 15 km away in the city of Quarteira. 

The settlement of the region dates back to, at least, the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. Some suggest that settlement of the region may have remoted to the period of Phoenician or Carthaginian traders.^[4]

For several centuries, Quarteira was a modest fishing village, situated on the edge of a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) beach, encircled by pines. King Denis authorized a charter for the settlement on 15 November 1297.

In the 15th century, King John I of Portugal ordered the first cultivation of sugar cane in continental Portugal.  Created in 1916, the civil parish quickly became known for its beaches, fishing, and its forests of pine.

As we drove towards the coast, the landscape changed.  The trees were more plentiful and a lot taller.  There were tree-lined streets, a golf course, and lots of grass around houses – much different than in Loulé.  It was still early, but the area was busy with other walkers, bikers, and swimmers.  I do love the sound of waves crashing into the beach; and I must confess I got caught by a few as I jumped out of the way.  We had a nice walk along the beach looking for shells and taking a few pictures.  It was getting hot early and we headed back to the car for our short ride home.

We changed clothes and headed out to purchase fire extinguishers and a few other items for the apartments we had inspected.  We gathered all our things together and went to Faro to deliver our goods and pick up a package for Sister Madsen.  While at the Zone Leaders apartment, we learned of some upcoming meeting and conferences that will keep us busy for the next month.  August 30 is District Council; September 4 is a “workshop” zone conference; September 18 is a zone conference in Lisbon with Area President Johnson; September 22-23 is Algarve District Conference; and we will be added to the every Friday evening “Miracles Experienced” conference call with all the missionaries in the district. 

h.We did some grocery shopping and had been home for only long enough to make a sandwich when the Sisters rang the bell.  They had been “doing service” in an orchard all afternoon picking carob pods off trees for the Branch Elders Quorum President.  They were hot and exhausted – and still reminded us of the English class tonight at the church.  So everybody got ready for our trip to the church.

We worked with a young man named Jared, tall 21 year old of Angolan descent.  His younger brother, Jairo, is the Branch Mission Leader.  Jared was baptized three months ago and speaks decent English.  He wants to move to London to pursue schooling and a career in dance.  His mother moved to Portugal where the two boys were born, but then returned to Angola to work for a better future for them.  The boys stayed in Portugal with a relative (situation didn’t last long); then the boys were on their own.  Life can be pretty tough. . . but they are now new members of the church working for a better future.

Home again – had a full day.  All is well.