Week 3 (cont) January 16

Wednesday, January 16

As if we hadn’t been on the road a lot lately. . . we needed to go to Beja today to hang the last of the cupboard doors and turn over the apartment keys to the Powers. With the realignment of apartments, they will now be inspecting Beja.

We met the Powers and decided to do a little sightseeing and get some lunch. They knew of a place they wanted to try – Bushid – a Japanese restaurant that serves anything and everything you want to order from their menu. . . you write down the numbers on a paper and hand it to them as you eat one plate after another (small portions that we shared – including sushi). We all ate more than we should have, and Sister Powers then ordered dessert. . . which happened to be fresh pineapple, melon, and something else. We ate like kings.

We walked around the historical center of Beja and enjoyed the sunshine and sights. I also bought some fresh bread at Seara de Pao, a little store run by an elderly lady who makes all the breads the old way – no leavening and in a stone oven. It was a fun place.

We headed for home around 4:00 and took a quick nap when we returned. That evening we were confronted with some sad Sisters who are having some struggles with each other. I had Sister Prado in one area while Merl talked with Sister Ngalu in another. They are so totally different from each other, and this is Sister Ngalu’s last transfer in the mission. Hopefully they can tough it out a few more weeks – and we hope some of our listening and counseling will help.

Thursday, January 17

Today was our District Conference, rescheduled because we were not in town earlier in the week. I made a big pan of oatmeal chocolate chip bars this morning before heading to Faro. After the meeting we checked the progress on the Faro apartment. . . the toilet is torn apart, but the wall has been painted. . . we think that is progress. We drove to Olhao to deliver blankets, sheets, and heaters to each apartment. Merl was unable to fix one of the toilets in Olhao and will have Pres. Azevedo call a plumber. Toilets here are crazy!

We returned to Loule and checked out a couple of used furniture stores to check availability and prices of chairs that might be suitable to the Faro landlady. We had dinner and took care of some paperwork and studied. Sister Prado has been complaining about not sleeping because the middle of her bed is sagging. We went to the Sisters’ apartment to check out the frame – which had been bent (IKEA). Merl turned it upside down to force it back into shape – making some noise on the tile floor. It wasn’t long before the tenant in the apartment below was upstairs complaining about the noise (it was 10:30 p.m.) Hopefully Sister Prado will sleep better tonight.

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Friday, January 18, 2019

The contract on our apartment is being renewed with the “real” owner of it and not his mother. The Mission office staff asked us to take photos of everything in the apartment and identify what belongs to the landlord and the mission. Some of that request is easy, but we have no idea who owns some of the small household items. Our “new” landlord’s father is in our Branch Presidency, so I have requested someone meet with us to identify ownership. I went through each room – cleaning and organizing before taking photos.

We went to Faro again and did some touch-up cleaning and repairs. We purchased a can of white spray paint to use on the bath cabinet and priced a piece of particle board for a bed frame at AKI. We made repairs and painted the bath cabinet and metal bed frames. We went to Wortens to purchase a toaster and two magic wands for the Olhao apartments and delivered them.

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Saturday, January 19, 2019

We met with Paula (Faro landlady) this morning, and things went better than I expected. We have worked hard to make the apartment as good as we can. Four items were identified (which we expected): Fix the toilet (new plumber coming on Monday to correct the installation), put a lens on the bathroom light fixture, install a bed board, and arrange the payment for damage to her chairs and to replace the mattress. We had Elders Mortensen and Bailey with us to interpret as needed. We have felt badly that the missionaries have been exposed to this negative experience; but maybe on the other hand, they will learn from the results of previous negligent behavior of missionaries. One thing for sure, we are going to raise the bar of taking care of apartments and furnishings.

To thank these good Elders for their assistance today, we invited them to lunch – they choose the place. They chose to go to the Forum (no surprise), and they picked a chinese buffet – with lots of sushi. We had a good meal together and took them to their teaching appointment.

 I did some Sunday dinner prep before meeting our Loule missionaries at Andreia’s home for dinner. I helped her in the kitchen and learned how to clean and cook big shrimp. We also had rice with a peanut butter, spicy sauced chicken – all was very good. We were even home on time tonight.

Week 3 January 13, 2019

Sunday, January 13, 2019

We were up early to make final preparations for lunch with the missionaries after church.The new church schedulee is not quite together yet.  Priesthood didn’t start until about 11:20. The members are so used to visiting and “eating breakfast” between the meetings (particularly the Ecuadorians) that the ten minute break isn't long enough.  Things will work out eventually. 

After the meeting, we hurried home to get lunch on the table for our usual guests, the Elders and Sisters, Miguel with his daughter Yara, and Jairo. Vera stopped in for just a bit. Everyone loved the dinner (enchiladas, spicy sweet potato salad, Mexican cole slaw); but they especially liked the home-made Tres Leches cake with strawberries. We celebrated Sister Prado’s birthday a little early (1/15). In Equador the custom is to push the birthday person’s face into the cake as they try to eat it. Sister Prado did get a face full.

Four pieces of cake were left when the group left. Merl and I pieced on them the rest of afternoon. Early in the evening, we received a phone call fromvthe Elders asking if the Sisters had come back to eat the leftovers  (they said, yes). Then the Sisters called and asked if the Elders had called to see if the cake had been eaten (which it had by us). Kinda corky! They both wanted the left overs.

We studied and packed our bags so we could leave early in the morning – a trip to Lisbon to obtain our SEF cards (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras. . .English: Foreigners and Borders Service). We understand it is a lengthy process of extending our visa to stay in Portugal for another year.  Our appointment is on Tuesday, but we are going up on Monday to spend our P-Day with the Powers who live in Almada - just across the river from Lisbon.  Should be fun!

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Monday, January 14, 2019

Today we were up very early and in the car at 6:50 a.m. for our trip to Setubal (later discovered we were goint to Almada – another 30 km further). We watched the sun come up and drove through a lot of fog and temperatures dippping to 27 degrees in some areas. The grass and underbrush in the cork forest were covered in frost.

We arrived at the Powers’ apartment at 9:30 a.m. and had a nice breakfast prepared by Elder Powers – pancakes with bacon/ham strips. We talked about what we wanted to do together today (our P-Day) and came up with a plan. We took our car to the the docks by the river and parked it for the day. We then took a ferry from Almada to Lisbon. It was a beautiful morning, a bit hazy but nicer than we thought it would be.

As I was trying to tie together places we visited and things we learned on this day, I started to do a google search. I was captivated by all the information and history in the 1700s of this tiny country (about half the size of Utah). One link led to another. . . and I spent my free time for two days browsing site after site. I now want to go back to the same places with new eyes and understanding.

From the docks, we walked to a large open praça dedicated to King Joseph 1. He was king of Portugal in the mid 1700s and had the task of rebuilding Lisbon after the great earthquake, fires, and tsunami of 1755.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_I_of_Portugal

Actually most of the rebuilding was overseen by the prime minister, Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho e Melo, the 1^st Marquis of Pombal, a controversial figure in his own time. 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake

From the plaza, it was a long, uphill walk, but we wanted to see the Castle of Saint Jorge. It was worth every step. We spent a couple of hours walking around the grounds and structures and looking beyond the walls to see the beautiful city of Lisbon spread for miles in every direction.  Others will need to come visit to experience the magnitude and history of this place.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Jorge_Castle

It was starting to get dark, so we caught a bus back to the city where we first stopped at a fish cannery shop, Comur. There goal is to delve back into history to create a collection of fish and other seafood reminiscent of the Portuguese sea-going heroes. The selection was extensive and amazing. . . some of it was even rather tasty, but very expensive.

When the city was reconstructed in the late 1700s, many of the streets were widened and now shops of all kinds line the cobblestone roads/walkways.  We stopped for a very nice dinner at Sao Nicolau, one of Powers' favorites.

 Then to Amorino Gelado Al Naturale where cones were made to look like flowers. One of the flavors I picked for my cup was lime-basil. . . amazing!

 It was a chilly night, but we we enjoyed the walk back to the ferry through the busy night-life filled streets of old town Lisbon. We crossed the river again o Almada and were fortunate to find our car. We gave the Powers a ride back to their apartment (Sister Powers did the driving).  We said goodbye and "see you tomorrow."  They will also be in Lisbon to get their SEF cards.  We had a full day of adventure and sight-seeing, so we were happy to finally reach our hotel back in Lisbon – after taking two wrong turns. But we finally made it to our new, clean and modern hotel accommodation.  So sad we were too late to enjoy the indoor, heated pool before bed.  We had a great night’s sleep.

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Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Merl had his alarm set for 6:00 a.m. He didn’t want to take a chance of not getting to the Mission Office by 8:00 (only 10 minutes away). He doesn’t like driving in the congested city traffic so he wants plenty of time. We were dressed in our Sunday best as we enjoyed a very nice breakfast buffet before heading to the office.

We actually arrived 15 minutes early and waiting in the parking lot until the doorsof the mission office were opened. We unloaded materials we were bringing back to the office and picked up some supplies for the Faro apartment. There were eight of us this morning that were scheduled to receive our SEF cars. We took the Office Elders with us in our car, and the others went in the Blizzard (the white van). We arrived at our destination at 9:00. The government offices were on the upper floors of a big shopping mall. Our paperwork was delivered, and everyone went downstairs to get something to eat. We (and the Powers) picked up some mandarins to take home with us (they were on a good sale). After breakfast, we went to a photo shop for official pictures.  "Smile but don't show your teeth"  Then we waited for our names to be called. 

Merl and I were first on the list because we had a car and they needed us to take a missionary (Elder Harper) back to the airport. He was here from the Acores also getting his SEf card. One of the Office Elders actually did the driving as he was familiar with the route. One more thing on our schedule was to meet with Elder Santos from the Europe Housing Management Office. We discussed the next steps pertaining to the Faro apartment closure. We were instructed to try to negotiate with Paula “Monster”  as best as we can; identify and document agreements along with costs.

We loaded up our supplies, sheets, heaters, etc. and drove back to the Powers apartment to pick up some blankets.  I know I slept most of the way back Faro where we dropped of items to both the Elders and Sisters. We returned to Loule and delivered a package to Elder Payne. Then home at about 8:30. Finally! Time to reorganize and regroup. . . and go to bed.

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Week 2 - January 6, 2019

Sunday, January 6, 2019

I was up at 8:00 (not a good night), dressed and had prayer. Kathlyn still not feeling good, but, a better night. Gave her a blessing today with the Elders. Elder Howard anointing. . Kathlyn stayed home from church today, Fast Sunday. An elderly gentleman stood first and told of a vision he had where he saw the Joseph’s coat of many colors, of its beauty. And since he had seen the coat, now he only had the authority to be the head of the church here in Loulé. He usually bears his testimony, but not like this. He always ends in the name of Jesus Christ. But not today. He just said his peace, hit his fist to the podium (not too hard) and then sat down. Kind of strange! Then others quickly got up and gently covered his footsteps, I think. I don’t know much of what they said. I had to ask Elder Howard what the brother had said. That’s how I know the story. Several asked where Sister Egbert was. Etc.

Came home and had a quiet afternoon until the Elders brought over some peanut butter bars they made. This was their way of thanking us for removing the mold from their apartment. We had a lively discussion on some doctrine, questions, and scriptures. I fixed me some dinner (pork chop smothered with fresh pineapple, onions and celery cooked in apple juice. Steamed cabbage and broccoli. Yes, it was good.

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Monday, January 7, 2019

Had a better night, still have a tickly cough with sharp pain if I am not careful. I was up early (5:00 a.m.) hoping to catch up on things – couldn’t sleep. You know things are bad when there are dishes to do that early in the morning.

Today is Missionary P-Day. We took the Sisters to the Mar Mall on our way to Faro. Each Sister had been given an extra $80 in their monthly allocation from the missionary budget to purchase slacks.

We dropped off clean linens (items I took home last Saturday from the Faro apartment) and checked out the new apartment – all the IKEA furniture had been put together. We found black marks on the walls already – will need to address this with the new Elders.

Merl dropped me off at the old apartment and went to the Foram Mall to pick up the missionaries. They came to the old apartment to help remove the last of the missionary supplies and belongings. They filled the car again. After sorting through all the paper stuff everywhere, I started cleaning the rooms – kitchen first. We made a lot of progress today. By the end of the day, everything that didnt belong to the landlady had been removed, floor and walls cleaned, and trash gathered. It is really a nice apartment – too bad there were so many landlady issues.

The new apartment is newer, more modern, but smaller (good and bad). We came home exhausted. . . the Sisters had a situation develop with rides to and from Albufeira today. Some issues need to be resolved between the Sisters and Elders.

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Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Looking back at Merl’s notes, it appears that most of the day was taken up with phone calls between the Mission office Elders, Bro. Santos from the FM group, the Faro landlady. .. we will be so happy to get this apartment closed. Merl was also alerted that a fraudulent charge had been made on his new gas card (someone at a CD/DVD store). The card will be canceled and a new one issued.

We have an appointment on January 15 to receive our SEF card – not exactly sure what that is, but is required by the government after three months. We received instructions of what to bring with us. We will stay in a hotel somewhere in Lisbon on Monday night to ensure we are at the office at 8:00 to go with the group to get our cards. We have been warned that it is a long, slow process.

Early evening we went for a walk and remembered that we had not paid our Vodafone recharge yet. . . fortunately we arrived before they closed at 7:00.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Still dealing with this crazy cough. I am really tired of it.

We met Bro. Teixeira (in the Olhao Branch Presidency) at the Faro apartment. He works in construction related things with Pres. Azevedo. We had contracted with him to do the previous painting and repairs of this Faro apartment. We gave him a new list of things that needed done before turning the keys back to Paula, the landlady. Included in the contract will be the deep cleaning to be done by his wife (they clean the Olhao chapel). He said he could have it finished on Saturday.

Returned home early in the afternoon. Merl finished gluing the cabinet door from the Beja apartment. It turned out very well. We went grocery shopping and spent the evening studying. Tomorrow is District meeting, so I mixed up the dough to make Snickerdoodles in the morning.

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Thursday, January 10, 2019

I pulled the Snickerdoodle dough out of the fridge to soften a little while I got dressed and ready to go the District Meeting this morning. I pulled out the last batch just as it was time to pick up the Sisters and head to Faro. It was a good meeting today with instruction to work with the leadership in the Branches to host the YSA conference.

We received a phone call from Bro. Santos requesting that we get the Faro apartment fixed the best we can – even if it takes a little longer. We will be glad when this project is behind us.

Scriptures, Come Follow Me, Portuguese studies.

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Friday, January 11, 2019

I fixed french toast for breakfast this morning. . . Merl is usually on his own for breakfast, so the day started off well. I then swept and mopped all the floors in the apartment – amazing the difference that makes.

It went down hill when we arrived at the Faro apartment to check on progress. Nothing has been done since we were there last – and only one more day to go (based on the original agreement). We hung new curtains and did some minor repairs and cleaning. Merl doesn’t want to “offend” our contractor by trying to do his job. He just needs to get here and do it!

We found a few more missionary things (hidden inside the couch), so we dropped them off to the missionaries. Then to Aldi to pick up some groceries for dinner on Sunday. I am planning to make chicken enchiladas with a couple of Mexican side dishes.

We took a walk to the park to enjoy the last hour of daylight. We stopped by the Municipal pool there



to get information on swim passes to use the pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and turkish bath (not sure what that really is). As seniors, it is 1€ each per visit of 1 ½ hours. I think we need to at least try it - and swimming is allowed for Senior Missionaries here.

After dinner, we studied from the Come Follow Me manual and a book that was left here by the previous couple, Comfort My Soul in Christ.

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

Up early to get a headstart on lunch for the missionaries tomorrow. Sunday is not the most convenient day to “entertain,” but seems to work best for them. I am trying some new things, and we will see how well it turns out. Menu for tomorrow is white chicken enchiladas, cilantro lime rice, spicy sweet potato salad, and mexican cole slaw. Dessert is tres leite bolo (three milk cake) to celebrate Sister Prado’s birthday a couple of days early. We will be out of town for the real day (Jan 15).

We went to Faro to again check on progress on the apartment. This time the contractor’s wife was there cleaning; it appeared that he had been there and did a couple of minor things, but the big jobs are still not done. We may have to make a trip back Sunday afternoon to see how today ended up. We will be out of town Monday and Tuesday – next chance to followup is Wednesday.

We purchased a microwave and magic wand for the Elders. They are loving their apartment – the put their clothes in the washing machine when they went to bed; and they were dry and ready to put away in the morning. Yes, they have a washer/dryer combo machine. I told them we would trade them for the microwave. . . they didn’t take us up on that one.

Finished meal prep this evening and took a short walk to find strawberries for the cake tomorrow. It is so nice having everything so close – at least the basics. . . and yes, even strawberries tonight. All the Christmas decorations and lights have been removed; but when I looked up, there was something new on the horizon – flower buds opening up on the trees. . .with the moon in the background.W

Kitchen clean up, blog entry, study, and bed. I am more than ready tonight.