Week 32 August 4 - 10, 2019

Aug 4 Sunday Played the piano for church.   Next Sunday will be a special meeting "invite your friends” to church with a missionary focus.  The youth have been asked to prepare two songs so we practiced after our meetings today.  They will be singing “Deixa a Luz do Sol Entrar"  and “Um Missionario Ja Eu Quero Ser.”  I think there were about 20 in attendance today.




This afternoon was the baptism for Nina Sayuri Penafiel Albarran, the eight year old daughter of Jorge and Bianca Penafiel.  They are a wonderful Ecuadorian family that lives in Albufeira.  It is always a party when they get together.  There was a great turn out in support of the family.  I played for the meeting  and accompanied the youth group who sang "Quando Eu For Batizado."  A full dinner was provided with a beautiful cake for dessert.

As we drove to Faro for the baptism, traffic was backed up more than we had ever seen before.  It became evident that there was a big socceer game in the stadium.  The game was still going when we returned so we had no problem getting hom.  When we arrived back in Loule, we found a huge crowd gathered around the plaza watching the game on a huge screen.  I confinced Merl to take a walk with me to check it out.

The game was between two Lisbon area teams, the S.L. Benfica team score three goals beating the S.C.P Sporting team from Lisbon 5-0. It was fun to be out with the crowd as they cheered their team on – Benfica. After the game, a music concert took place in the outside convent court. Don’t know how late the concert went this time, we went to bed.  Restless night. . . resorted to reciting articles of faith and Missionary Purpose Statement – mixing them up in my head. . . then I couldn’t sleep at all.

Aug 5 Monday  Catch up P-Day today.  We will have Elder and Sister Powers’ family here for lunch next Sunday so I have a lot of things to get done before we start cooking.  Today was laundry and  mopping floors.

Sister Breinholdt called concerned about itching and rashes on her face, neck, and arms.  We sent her to a pharmacist for an opinion -  allergic to a new face cream was the diagnosis.  They gave her some allergy pills and an anti-itch cream which seemed to help immediately.

Today was the first piano lessons at 4:00 for Karina Evora (college student) and Risiane Santos (14 yrs) in Albufeira.  They are cousins from Cabo Verde and living now in Albufeira.  Ermilinda Santos is the mom in the house - a good member of the branch who takes in anyone in need.  We oft times get fed dinner while visiting them.  The house is always full of extra kids.

We arrived back home tonight, ate dinner, and then went grocery shopping.  I decided to make fruit kabobs for District Council tomorrow  I also made a menu and shopping list for possible quick foods to prpare for the Powers family on Sunday.  There will be eleven of us. 

Aug 6 Tues   This morning I cut up fruit before getting ready to go to Faro for District Council.  Our meeting today focused on goals for the District and reviewing  President Fillmore's newsletter.  We watched a video on the temple and discussed how to share message of the temple with invetigators.

 Merl message to the missionaries today:It has never been easier to identify the True Church of Jesus Christ than this present day.

• ·         Beginning with the name of the Church, It will bear His name and the members will be called Saints.
• ·         It will be a world-wide church. The Doctrine of Christ in its fullness will be taught to every nation, kindred, tongue and people in their own tongues.
• ·         The word of Christ will be established by two or more witness (records) according to the prophecies.
• ·         There will be a lay ministry.
• ·         It will have and maintain The Holy Priesthood of God received through the ministering of Angels, Peter, James, and John who received it from Jesus Christ.
• ·         A Prophet will lead His people.
• ·         It will fulfill the covenant of Abraham. All the nations of the earth will be blessed and Israel will be gathered in these last days from both sides of the veil. (October 2006 Nelson)
• ·         One may know it by its fruits. There is likely not another religious entity on this earth that blesses more people in more countries in more ways than HIs church. .

Everyone enjoyed the fruit kabobs as they continued the discussion. Took a scenic route home. Went to Elder apt to “borrow” a fan for the Sisters.  Couldn’t get in parking garage – parked on the outside. Found that the door opened from the inside but not the outside. Fixed lunch – last of the cabbage soup and taco meat along with Merl’s concoction: Chicken sticks covered in a cream of chicken sauce with peas and oions. Reviewed bus routes – trying to coordinate trips to outlying cities with the Sisters to better utilize time and resources. Followed up with Sis Breinholt

Aug. 7 Wednesday  I wanted some fresh fruit this morning, so I walked over to Nice Mercado for pears, plums, figs.  As I passed a little lunch place, I saw Jorge Reis at sitting in front, pulling out a cigarette  and sipping on his shot of coffee.  He saw me, so I stopped and talked to him for a few minutes.  He is struggling again and is traveling back and forth to Lisbon to meet with psychiatric doctors. He tends to fall back on his old habits when he has these episodes.  He said he doesn't feel like he should be at church when he is smoking again.  Jairo called and wants to have lunch with us on Friday with the Sisters.

Aug 8 Thursday morning we had piano lessons at 2:00 with Tomas.  After the lesson, I talked Merl into driving further up into the hills to Benafim and Alte; both small typical Portuguese towns.  We found a pottery place in Alte that we will probably return to when time gets closer to going home.  We have talked about incorporating a few Portguese tile items into our "new" apartment at home.  We had to walk down a narrow street to check out a cement sunbather in a cement pool - amazingly lifelike!

On the way back down the mountain, we passed a little park with a giant cork tree that was most worthy of a picture.  A large tiled plaque was posted in front of the tree:


Tree Prayer

You who pass and lift your arm to me…

before you hurt me, look at me well.

I am the warmth of your home on cold winter nights

or I am the frienly shadow that you find when you

walk in the sunshine of August.

My fruit are appetizing freshness

that quenches thirst on your path.

I am the beam of your house,

the oar from your tale, the be on whih you rest,

and the wood of your boat.

I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your dwelling,

the wood of your cradle and the shell of your coffin.

I am the bread of goodness and the flower of beauty

You who pass, look at me well and do me no harm.

.

We received a phone call informing us that the mission is closing the sisters’ apartment in Olhao – after we got all the work done. . . The landlady was recently divorced and wants to move back in.   At least we will be giving back an apartment that is probably in better shape than when we rented it.


Aug 9 Fri  Jairo and the sister missionaries came over for lunch – pizza, spaghetti, salad, and ice cream bars for dessert.  Didn't take the time to fix a big meal - but it was welcome and sufficient.
We had piano lessons in Salir with our three students. Beatrice has decided she is ready for lessons - she will be 7 soon, so she has plenty of time.  The boys (Daniel and Felipe) are doing incredibly well.  Emily is lagging a little behind, but I don't think she practices as much.   The moms always prepare a nice snack for all of us after the lessons.

Call from Sister Breinholt – Sister George hit her head on a street sign – thinks she has a concussion.  She is 6 feet tall - and needs to pay more attention than the shorter missionaries.  We gave our recommendations and calle Sister Fillmore to report – have her rest and check for signs.

Aug 10 Sat Sister Fillmore called early this morning.  She couldn't rest after my phone call yesterday. At midnight she sent the Faro Sisters to the hospital for a check up.  The Doctor couldn’t find anything. . . but Sis. Fillmore is sure she has a concussion.  We checked on her frequently throughout the day.

Saturday is always one of my favorite days - Farmers Market and frequently a  stop at Q Ice (today had salted carmel and a\Algarve tangarine).  Also, Sister Moulton requested a blessing – she has
emotional/mental ups and downs which require attention on our part. (Sisters Moulton and Hales)

Merl:  I gave Sister Moulton a blessing. Though I have given many blessings, I am never comfortable or confident going into them. I pray and dress appropriately before I give blessings. As I sealed the anointing, I felt a presence come upon me before I spoke, which is unusual. Usually it is during the blessing I receive thoughts, and so usually I begin slowly, waiting for inspiration, then I will express those thoughts more rapidly as they come. I know she received both blessing and counsel from the Lord, as was needed. I do not remember what I said – which is often the case. I do know that I was emotionally overcome a bit more than is normal. I asked her to write down in her journal the things that she heard, or the feelings she had during the bless ing. She said she would.  Spent most of the day preparing different finger foods for lunch tomorrow. Elder and Sister Powers with their daughter and familyof 5  kids.  She served a mission in Loule 15 years ago and will be attending our Branch tomorrow.

Another combustable fuel truck driver strike scheduled on Monday. We received instructions to purchase extra food and keep our gas tank full.  We took the sisters grocery shopping baby gift  shopping.  We then stopped at the gas station by the church.  It was already out of gas.  Went to another station and found some for a fill up.  Rushed home to get ready for the baby shower - picked up the sisters for the party.

Baby shower for Olinda Pacheco. . . and daughter (to be) Saria). Slow getting started but turned out nice.

Fun games and plenty of treats makes for a good party.  I purchased diapers and wipes (can't have enough of those).  She received lots of diapers and a few other needed items. Merl and Joao (Olinda's husband) spent the time visiting in the chapel and were included when it was time for the food.

Finished up some food prep for tomorrow– went to bed really tired tonight.