3-31
Sunday: MERL:
Daylight Savings Time – we lost an hour of sleep. Sister Egbert put
the almost finishing touches on lunch before getting ready for church. Because
of the city painting the crosswalks, we had to go a different way
today.
Questions were asked about missing
books in the Bible. So we had a discussion about the plain and
precious truths taken out of the Bible, not only by the apostate churches, but
by the Jews themselves concerning the prophecies that they would be
the ones that would crucify the Savior. They were therefore expecting
a Savior to come to save them from the nations of the world – a
conquering Savior. The Savior that Daniel spoke of, not the one that
Isaiah and many other prophets told of, but much information was
removed by the Jews to hide that truth.
I then asked them, How do you preserve a record in its purity from those who would change it? Answer: You bury it in the earth until it was time to
come forth as was the Book of Mormon -according to the prophecies of both Ezekiel and Isaiah. Then we
discussed the law of witnesses – All truth must be established by 2 or more witnesses! The Bible was never intended to stand alone; and history has shown, it cannot stand
alone, espeially because of many "plain and precious truths" being removed from it. It is only one witness! The second witness is the Book of Mormon. And now the modern day revelations and prophecies stand as a third witness from a third nation testifying of Christ's dealings with us. They all testify of each other and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the World.
We took a
walk to and through the park, taking some pictures of new flowers
coming into bloom. After coming home, we took a nap; and then later
did some reading, studying and blogging.
1-April The main thing on today’s agenda (hopefully) was to get the Elder’s car finished and paid for. We walked over the the mechanic’s shop three times. We were pleasantly surprised that on the third visit, the car was ready – the second visit had us feeling we were going to be towing the car to the Toyota dealership in Faro – another expense. It took forever to get the payment from the Lisbon office processed through a bank transfer.
Merl worked on the Sisters’ apartment, patching and removing mold remnants. He also sanded rust off of the washing machine and repainted. I cleaned the balcony and sanded the metal shelves and spray painted them. Things are looking a lot better – even if it is mostly cosmetic.
Through
Facebook, we learned that today was Nestor’s birthday. He has been
such a blessing to us so we wanted to surprise him with a pan of
cinnamon rolls. We got the missionaries and traveled to Nestor’s
house in Tor – only to be surprised ourselves. Apparently,
tradition has it that well-wishers stop by and bring food to share –
and everyone has dinner together. Dinner was just getting underway
at 9:00 p.m. - we had all had dinner previously, but that never stops
the missionaries! Merl and I joined for dessert – and the table
was full of them. We had a great time visiting with Branch members
and sharing the happy day. We finally gathered up our missionaries
and headed for home at 10:30.
4-3
Wednesday: Merl filled the car with gas as we drove to Leroy Merlin’s
to get more wall patch stuff. We were going to meet Elder and Sister
Anderson at the apartment of the Portimao Elders – Vidal and
Terron. They have the ceilings that need lots of work. Sister
Anderson and I worked on some apartment de-greasing projects
(cabinets, stove, walls, and floors) while the young Elders scraped
peeling paint off of the bathroom and hallway ceilings. (Elder Vidal in photo) Merl and
Elder Anderson then filled all the depressions with patch compound.
About 6:00 we drove home and rested a bit before going over to the Loule Sisters’ apartment. I varnished the kitchen cabinets while while Merl read to me. Just before the Sisters came home, we finally left at 9:00. Blog and some study.
4-4
Thursday: We were called over to to visit with the Sisters. I sat
with Sister Call and talked about how she was feeling. She has had
some difficulty adjusting to missionary life and has not been well
since she arrived. Finally got her up and moving – with a smile on
her face. Sister Brown has been very patient with the situation .
We worked with the Loule Elders most of the morning. Elder Nichols helped scrape off the peeling and loose paint and plaster from the ceiling. Then Merl put a layer of patch compound on top to smooth the ceiling. We noticed some mold returning. We will return to sand and paint, hopefully next week.
4-6 Saturday Had a
restless night and had a hard time getting going. Today is the
Saturday sessions of General Conference. We have been so looking
forward to hearing from our church leaders. We went to Faro for the
morning session of conference at 5:00 p.m. Seems strange to join the
morning session so late in the day. We were strengthened and
received needed counsel today – a blessing to us.
Daylight Savings Time – we lost an hour of sleep. Sister Egbert put
the almost finishing touches on lunch before getting ready for church. Because
of the city painting the crosswalks, we had to go a different way
today.
Today was the 5th Sunday lesson in the chapel. I still don’t know much of what it i said, but I do follow by reading the book in English. After church, we finished preparing for the Elders and Sisters, Jared, and Jairo for lunch. Delicious! We had pressure cooked porkchops in gravy over
mashed potatoes, home-made bread, mixed steamed carrots and peas, and strawberry spinach salad with sweet sauces (home-made).
Mango sweet sticky rice for dessert.
Questions were asked about missing
books in the Bible. So we had a discussion about the plain and
precious truths taken out of the Bible, not only by the apostate churches, but
by the Jews themselves concerning the prophecies that they would be
the ones that would crucify the Savior. They were therefore expecting
a Savior to come to save them from the nations of the world – a
conquering Savior. The Savior that Daniel spoke of, not the one that
Isaiah and many other prophets told of, but much information was
removed by the Jews to hide that truth. 
I then asked them, How do you preserve a record in its purity from those who would change it? Answer: You bury it in the earth until it was time to
come forth as was the Book of Mormon -according to the prophecies of both Ezekiel and Isaiah. Then we
discussed the law of witnesses – All truth must be established by 2 or more witnesses! The Bible was never intended to stand alone; and history has shown, it cannot stand
alone, espeially because of many "plain and precious truths" being removed from it. It is only one witness! The second witness is the Book of Mormon. And now the modern day revelations and prophecies stand as a third witness from a third nation testifying of Christ's dealings with us. They all testify of each other and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the World.
1-April The main thing on today’s agenda (hopefully) was to get the Elder’s car finished and paid for. We walked over the the mechanic’s shop three times. We were pleasantly surprised that on the third visit, the car was ready – the second visit had us feeling we were going to be towing the car to the Toyota dealership in Faro – another expense. It took forever to get the payment from the Lisbon office processed through a bank transfer.
Being April
Fools day today, Merl called the Elders and told them that they were
going to be without their car for some time, and maybe not at all.
He waited awhile before calling them back and saying “April Fools.”
We were concerned that they would start canceling appointments and
changing their work schedule. Their relief was audible.
Merl worked on the Sisters’ apartment, patching and removing mold remnants. He also sanded rust off of the washing machine and repainted. I cleaned the balcony and sanded the metal shelves and spray painted them. Things are looking a lot better – even if it is mostly cosmetic.
Through
Facebook, we learned that today was Nestor’s birthday. He has been
such a blessing to us so we wanted to surprise him with a pan of
cinnamon rolls. We got the missionaries and traveled to Nestor’s
house in Tor – only to be surprised ourselves. Apparently,
tradition has it that well-wishers stop by and bring food to share –
and everyone has dinner together. Dinner was just getting underway
at 9:00 p.m. - we had all had dinner previously, but that never stops
the missionaries! Merl and I joined for dessert – and the table
was full of them. We had a great time visiting with Branch members
and sharing the happy day. We finally gathered up our missionaries
and headed for home at 10:30.
4-2
Tuesday: Recently we picked lots of lemons from Alice’s garden. I
love using fresh lemons. Today I decided to make lemon bars for the
treat after District meeting. They were okay. . . but I need to get
Angela’s recipe which I think is much better (or at least hers are
much better).
After the meeting, Elder Ribeiro fixed lunch for us in
the church kitchen. He made the typical Brazilian meal – beans and
rice with fried greens. He loves cooking, and I love eating his
food.
After the meeting, Elder Ribeiro fixed lunch for us in
the church kitchen. He made the typical Brazilian meal – beans and
rice with fried greens. He loves cooking, and I love eating his
food.
We did some
grocery shopping at Continente, ad Merl fixed a saucepan for the
sisters. The screw holding the handle on had been stripped.
Merl’s Nexis has been giving him lots of trouble the past few months – he would never know if it would charge when he plugged it in. Sometimes it would charge, and other times it would drain it to nothing. We had talked about buying a new one, and then I looked on line. I found lots of people who had a similar issue and just replaced the charging port. We decided to walk around town to see if there would be someplace that worked on computer things. We were
amazed that
right across the street was a store that looked promising. It was
run by an Indian man wearing a turbin. He said he could fix it for
€20. . . and if he couldn’t fix it, he wouldn't charge us. That
sounded safe, and a couple of hours later Merl had his Nexis back
charging. Miracles !
Merl’s Nexis has been giving him lots of trouble the past few months – he would never know if it would charge when he plugged it in. Sometimes it would charge, and other times it would drain it to nothing. We had talked about buying a new one, and then I looked on line. I found lots of people who had a similar issue and just replaced the charging port. We decided to walk around town to see if there would be someplace that worked on computer things. We were
A little
studying and dinner followed. I had seen a message from a Branch
member saying that the Aurora Borealis was going to be visible in
southern Portugal tonight after 9:00. I really wanted to see this.
We drove up high above the city and out on a dirt road that had views
on all four horizons. We watched for a couple of hours and saw
nothing, not even another car. I reluctantly gave up on the
possibility of seeing something, and we drove home disappointed.
Never heard another word about it.
4-3
Wednesday: Merl filled the car with gas as we drove to Leroy Merlin’s
to get more wall patch stuff. We were going to meet Elder and Sister
Anderson at the apartment of the Portimao Elders – Vidal and
Terron. They have the ceilings that need lots of work. Sister
Anderson and I worked on some apartment de-greasing projects
(cabinets, stove, walls, and floors) while the young Elders scraped
peeling paint off of the bathroom and hallway ceilings. (Elder Vidal in photo) Merl and
Elder Anderson then filled all the depressions with patch compound. 
About 6:00 we drove home and rested a bit before going over to the Loule Sisters’ apartment. I varnished the kitchen cabinets while while Merl read to me. Just before the Sisters came home, we finally left at 9:00. Blog and some study.
4-4
Thursday: We were called over to to visit with the Sisters. I sat
with Sister Call and talked about how she was feeling. She has had
some difficulty adjusting to missionary life and has not been well
since she arrived. Finally got her up and moving – with a smile on
her face. Sister Brown has been very patient with the situation .
We worked with the Loule Elders most of the morning. Elder Nichols helped scrape off the peeling and loose paint and plaster from the ceiling. Then Merl put a layer of patch compound on top to smooth the ceiling. We noticed some mold returning. We will return to sand and paint, hopefully next week.
We offered
to take the Sisters to Almancil for a teaching appointment. We were
going that direction to pick up some things at LeRoy Merlin where we
picked up more ceiling mud and paint - $130 worth of supplies. We
stopped back to pick up the sisters and dropped them off at the
church on our way home. I picked up a frame for a picture for Sister
Call. I talked with Sister Fillmore concerning Sister Call.
4-5 Friday: Today is Jacob’s Birthday - 8 years old already. . . growing up too fast! He's such a CUTE kid!!
4-5 Friday: Today is Jacob’s Birthday - 8 years old already. . . growing up too fast! He's such a CUTE kid!!
Merl:
Morning activities at home. Sister Egbert made banana muffins and
took some over to the sisters to check in on Sister Call. She seems
to be doing a little better. The Sisters said they were taking cold
showers because they couldn’t light their gas water heater. I checked the gas on the stove elements, and they worked. I really don't understand these water heaters here.
Sister Call said she had a phone appointment with a mental health counselor at noon.We went home and later received call
from President Fillmore concerning Sister Call. The counselor's recommendation was to send her home immediately so she could receive treatment. I read section 20 of D&C with Sister
Egbert.
We took the Sisters to the Chapel for English and Portuguese lessons
with the Elders. We informed the Sisters that Sister Call would be going home. While there, we received a phone call from Pres. Fillmore who wanted to talk to Sister Call. Arrangements were made for us to take the two Sisters to Lisbon on Sunday afternoon. Seldom a dull moment.
We attended the Portuguese class taught by Elder Ribeiro. Elder Nichols and Sister Brown taught the English class. We enjoyed a chocolate cake made by Elder Ribeiro.
Tonight we received some devastating news from home – don’t know what to do.
We took the Sisters to the Chapel for English and Portuguese lessons
with the Elders. We informed the Sisters that Sister Call would be going home. While there, we received a phone call from Pres. Fillmore who wanted to talk to Sister Call. Arrangements were made for us to take the two Sisters to Lisbon on Sunday afternoon. Seldom a dull moment. We attended the Portuguese class taught by Elder Ribeiro. Elder Nichols and Sister Brown taught the English class. We enjoyed a chocolate cake made by Elder Ribeiro.
Tonight we received some devastating news from home – don’t know what to do.
4-6 Saturday Had a
restless night and had a hard time getting going. Today is the
Saturday sessions of General Conference. We have been so looking
forward to hearing from our church leaders. We went to Faro for the
morning session of conference at 5:00 p.m. Seems strange to join the
morning session so late in the day. We were strengthened and
received needed counsel today – a blessing to us.
With
the changed schedule, we didn’t plan lunch for the missionaries
today. The sisters came over before the evening session, and we offered them a cup of tomato soup
and grilled cheese sandwiches. Later, the Elders
joined us for the evening session ( 9:00 – 11:00 p.m.). Again, the speakers and choir numbers brought comfort to us. As the four missionaries walked left the apartment and passed along the street below, we dropped ice cream bars from the window to them. It was a wonderful day!
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