Week 1 January 2019

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

 Happy Birthday to Rachel – Hope this day in this new year is the beginning of many good things!

This morning we actually slept in and lazied around most of the morning.  We sent the Elders off to do their work - and then we went to work.  
I bet we are the only people who can say that they celebrated the New Year by destroying mold all day. . . and we did a good job at it. 

 I am still fighting a nasty cold – coughed so hard during the night that I think I did some damage to my diaphragm. Sharp pain when I move or cough now. . . Guess I will just have to sleep.

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Wednesday, January 2, 2019

I must be a martyr – nothing is going to keep me away from finishing our mold-busting job! We spent most of the day finishing the walls and ceilings and scrubbing black marks off all the walls (shoes, suit cases, whatever else hits walls). I organized all the mission materials and supplies while Merl finished the last room. Now, with a clean and organized apartment, the current Elders and future Elders in Loule will be accountable for the condition – can’t blame it on someone before them.

It is a mystery as to where the new apartment contract is for the Faro Elders. We had hoped to move the new Zone Leaders straight into the new apartment tomorrow, but the contract is in limbo. The Office Elders think it was lost in the mail during the holidays – but aren’t sure if they sent it to the property manager or us. We keep checking our mail. When at home, I sleep or try to study some. . . Merl took a long walk around the park studying verbs.

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Thursday, January 3, 2019

Sometimes I need to insert in the blog that we do read scriptures, study Portuguese, assist and support the missionaries, interact and serve with branch members as well as fix meals, do dishes and laundry, keep up on finances – same things as at home. It is nice that we can do all of this and more in such a beautiful place serving with wonderful people. We have our struggles, especially understanding a lot of the spoken language. . . but we continue to work at it.

Because we still cannot get keys to the new Faro apartment (contract not signed), we needed to assist the new Elders (Zone Leaders Mortensen and Bailey) in moving into the old apartment. All missionaries are instructed to leave their apartment clean when they are transferred. . . this was not what we found as we entered today. Things were a mess – in every room and in every way. I felt so bad for these new missionaries walking into such disarray. They were good sports and pitched in to make it possible to sleep there tonight. We told them not to unpack. . . we will get them moved soon.

We couldn’t stay long as we needed to return to the train station to pick up the new Elders and take them to Portimao (Ribeiro and Barrios). They had not eaten since morning, so after we delivered their bags to their apartment, we took them to McDonalds (their choice). These boys can eat! Then – another late drive back home. I am living on cough drops!

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Friday, January 4

We woke up early – I didn’t have a good night. I decided the best time to read morning scriptures is sitting up in bed where it is warm. Once we are up, things start cropping up to monopolize the time. This morning, I needed to make cinnamon rolls to celebrate Sister Warner’s birthday. She is the new Sister Trainer assigned to work with Sister Larson in Faro. 

 We picked up our Sisters and drove to Faro for the District meeting. New District: Elder Mortensen, Elder Bailey, Elder Payne, Elder Howard, Sister Ngalu, Sister Prado, Sister Larson, and Sister Warner. The other new missionary in our Algarve Zone is Elder Webber assigned to work with Elder Pugh in Olhao. We have not met him yet.

We received word that the property manager (Paula) in Faro received the contract and wanted us to come sign everything this morning. We were excited to do so. We picked up the new missionaries and took them to our appointment at the new apartment. They loved it! Merl had received a document giving him authority to sign for the church. Merl signed what he needed and took the electric, gas, 
and water meter readings. We followed Paula to the Municipal Mall to change the water service over to the Mission.

We spent the entire rest of the day (until 8:30 p.m.) helping the missionaries sort and pack up the old apartment and transport everything that belonged to the mission to the new apartment. We did some cleaning, but it needs a lot more. On the last trip of the night, Merl noticed that he was totally out of gas with 00 miles in reserve. It was a panic to go the right direction to hopefully find a gas station in an area we were not familiar with. Another of many tender mercies is that we coasted into a station and were able to fill up and deliver the last load. We will definitely need to go back and clean out the rest of the apartment tomorrow.

We were very glad to get home tonight and fixed a big bowl of vegetable soup before going to bed.

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Saturday, January 5

Today started out a little better – what could be better than going shopping at IKEA for furniture and supplies. We purchased two desks, set of bookshelves, two chests of drawers, pillows, garbagae cans, etc. The furniture will need to be assembled; the bookshelt just barely fit into the car sliding from the back and between the front seats to the front window. Good thing Merl is a good packer. 

We called ahead and had the Elders meet us downstairs to help carry the boxes up to the apartment. They pitched right in and started working on the desks first and had one of the dressers put together before we left. We came home tired. We have closed two apartments and are helping with a third in Lagos. 

This is our first apartment to open – and it is nice, clean, in a desirable location, and now well furnished. Add this to our duties as missionaries along with inspections, fixing anything that’s broken, supporting the missionaries with love, comfort, health concerns, instructions, teaching, travel, moving in and out, transportation to and from train stations, bus stations, and hospitals.  

Got to love it!

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