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.
Actually
most of the rebuilding was overseen by the
prime minister, Sebastiao
Jose de Carvalho e Melo, the 1st
Marquis of Pombal, a controversial figure in his own time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake
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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