We're just about to hit our three-month mark here in Portugal. We love it here - and time is flying by! In this post, we want to share some our daily life - the people we meet with, the places we go,
Atlantic Coast
Jaqueline and José (center of the photo - from Brazil) invited us to their home within walking distance to the Atlantic Ocean. They have two very sharp boys who thoroughly enjoy each other. Jared (our Elders Quorum President) and Soraya (both from Argentina) joined us for a wonderful evening!
So lovely
I love art, but nothing compares with "God's artistry". I view Him as the master gardener/scientist, cultivating an environment where beauty can break forth. And beauty regularly breaks forth in weather, animals, and in plants. Not to mention the beauty in people all around us.
The sunset to the left reminds me of one of our Latter-day scriptures that I love: "All things...of the earth...are made to...please the eye and to gladden the heart". And indeed, they do!!
José de Faria
José, a long-time Portuguese member, speaks quietly with a heavy Portuguese accent. I often ask him to repeat himself. I knew he was an artist, but I was blown away with the quantity and variety and beauty of paintings in his home/work space. And it isn't just me who appreciates his work - the painting to the right (which features the Bible and Book of Mormon) was recently on display at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.
Portuguese History
José incorporates a nautical theme into many of his paintings. The painting above incorporates a compass theme. And the painting to the left highlights one of Portugal's violent battles at sea during the Age of Exploration. I love how he used water to communicate a felling of turbulence.
New Friends
We meet so many wonderful people - below is just a sampling.
Here, we are with Leandro and Sandra (from Brazil). Leandro serves as Branch President of the Viana do Castelo Branch (we are supporting this branch in addition to Barcelos.). They have a daughter on a mission in Brazil and a son preparing to leave on a mission.
Rodrigo and Alexsandra (from Brazil) and their two girls are just beautiful people. Sandra recently had a stroke, so Rodrigo has taken a leave of absence (from his construction job in Germany or Spain) to be with her.
My Mother
A little over a month ago we learned that my dear mother passed away. At 96 years old, with her mind and body failing, she was ready to pass to the other side. She lived a full, productive, and inspiring life. So we view her death as a blessing - she is together again with dad and her parents, grandparent, and other loved ones.
Still, we miss her dearly! She was an incredible influence for good in my childhood/youth, and a sustaining influence throughout my adult life. There was something about just being with her, even in recent years when she could hardly talk, that brought deep feelings of peace and belonging.
Brothers and Sisters
So we booked a flight to Spokane, WA to be with family and to celebrate a life well lived. To the left is a photo of my seven brothers and sisters, together with our foster sister Linda who lived with us for three years as part of the "Indian Placement Program back in the 70s. As is evident from the photo, she is beloved to our family.
We all shared a warm spirit as we reflected on the many ways that mom blessed our lives. What a joy to be part of a loving family!
Our family inherited an amazing legacy of missionary service. To the left are name tags my parents wore while serving together: Indianapolis as leader support missionaries; the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center in San Diego as tour guides; and the Latter-day Saint Employment Office in Spokane. After dad passed away, mom served as a Family History Worker in Salt Lake City. They also served as temple workers in the Seattle and Spokane Latter-day Sant temples. Dad served as a full-time missionary in Hawaii as young man and as a 70/stake missionary during many of my formative years.
Above, the funeral chapel was adorned with some of the many, many gorgeous and meaningful quilts mom made and gifted to her family.
I loved being with many nieces and nephews, including another Elder Longhurst; Thomas ("Tommy") is serving as a service missionary in Spokane.
Our daughter Rachel and her four children stayed with us in our AirBnB rental. So good to spend time with her and our beloved grandchildren!
Returning to Portugal
As much as I loved being with family, we missed our many new friends in Portugal, so we were happy to be on our way to Portugal a week later. Because of weather delays, we missed our connecting flight to Paris. We rebooked through Frankfurt Germany. With a 6 hour layover, we enough time take the metro to "old town" and wander around the center of this lovely city!
Frankfurt
As you can see from the photo to the left, downtown Frankfurt was devastated during the WWII allied bombing campaign. It seems almost miraculous that no errant bomb struck the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew. The outside of this beautiful cathedral reminds me of Notre Dame - smaller, but similar gothic feel. Inside was spectacular.
The downtown area is now filled with new buildings. Fortunately, many new buildings, including all of the buildings surrounding the center square, have a very vintage look - they really are gorgeous!
Adam and Paolo
We were thrilled that our son Adam and his partner Paolo came to visit us. We met up in with them Porto the day after our crazy 30+ hour travel day returning to Portugal. Porto is lovely (first set of photos). The next day we drove to Viana do Castelo, a small city on the northwest coast of Portugal (second set of photos). Two wonderful days with two wonderful people!
Welcoming New Members into our Community
Baptism by immersion is a symbol of a person arising out of the grave to a new life. It's also symbolic of entering a room where they are embraced as brothers and sisters in our community.
One of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon describes the characteristics expected of a person entering the waters of baptism: ..."willing to bear one another's burdens, they they may be light,....willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as a witness to God at all times and in all places..." (Mosiah 18:8-9).
Since our chapel does not have a baptismal font, we drive to a relatively secluded spot on the nearby river (the Cávado). I find these outdoor baptisms simply marvelous - they are celebratory events where we feel a spirit of committment and support!
Just last week, Porfirio and Maria Conceição (both Portuguese) were baptised. Maria Zua (the black woman) is a recent convert and friend of Maria Conceição.
Raul (Portugusese) is steady and solid - he seems to just naturally fit in to the culture in our branch.
We have become fast friends with Porfirio over the last few weeks, and I was thrilled that he asked me to perform the baptism! Such a gorgeous setting. After the baptism, Porfirio and I swam back to shore. :)
Laurindo (from Angola) is relatively shy. But once you get to know him, he has a wonderful sense of humor!
Aravind (from India) speaks English but not Portuguese. After serving as his translator for one of our meetings, I have renewed respect for people who can translate on the fly! Aravind has had a challenging life and is so grateful for the support of branch members.
Idiolinda (from Brazil) is with her husband Anax and daughter Deborah. To their right is Idiolinda's sister Lena and husband Helio (their son Pedro somewhat hidden in the back - he plans to be baptised soon!). To their left is their friends from our branch, Ceiça and Bartolomeu and their two autistic children. We love them all!
This photo precedes the baptism of Valentina, the nine-year-old girl in the middle dressed in pink. Her mother Renata is behind her, and her grandmother is dressed in brown. They are from Jabaquara, a suburb of São Paulo, where I served as a young missionary. I was thrilled that they are friends with several of the wonderful people I remember from that ward - such a small world!
Elder Bezerra (on the left), is a wonderful missionary who recently went home to Fortaleza. Leila (on the right, blue dress) is our beloved Relief Society President. Rafael (in white, performed the baptism) is our capable and thoughtful branch president. His wife Luiza is holding her "princess" up front.
Barcelos Municipal Buildings
As I'm still dealing with achilles issues, I'm very thankful that Barcelos has a beautiful municipal pool nearby. I walk there (in a cam boot) three days a week to swim. It's a gorgeous indoor pool, with 8 lanes - normally on 3 or 4 are being used. With this much pool time, my stroke is improving - I'm almost able to keep up with some of the "regulars"!
Security
The first thing I noticed about the locker rooms is that there are no locks. Truly, no one locks their lockers! I used a lock the first couple visits, but since then I've adopted their ways. It's never been a problem, even when I leave money and/or my cell phone in the locker.
The second thing I noticed: one afternoon after showering, when I was buck naked, I heard a loud feminine voice say "Ok to enter?". I yelled back, "please give me a minute!". After dressing, I gave her the green light and she entered to clean/polish the floors. No closing the locker room, no signs preventing others from entering - just an informal "ask". Love the informality of it all!
Pavilion
Just block away from our house is this beautiful municipal arena that they call the "Pavilhão" (ie, large pavilion). One day I caught a bocce ball tournament.
The arena is home to the Barcelos rink hockey team (hockey played on roller skates). The team is always competitive, but this year extremely so: they recently beat a team from Porto to win the European-wide championship! On game nights, we could hear the crowd screaming when a goal was scored. (I tried to get tickets, but they were not to be had!).
Our Young Missionaries
We love supporting the work of the young missionaries in our area. They are so very dedicated, working hard to lift and bless. I sense their deep desire to grow spiritually - to connect deeply to God so that they can share his love with others. I'm uplifted being around them. Also, the skills they are learning (e.g., working in a partnership, planning, listening, effective communication skills) prepare them for success in family life and in their careers.
Top left: these are the Viana do Castelo Elders. Two wonderful missionaries, Elders Wooten and Tanner (seated closest to the camera on the right), finish their mission in two weeks. After inspecting their apartment (very clean!), we went to a restaurant they recommended and enjoyed a "Francesinha", an iconic and indulgent sandwich. It's made with several layers of meat, including steak, sausage, cheese, with a fried egg perched on top. Then it's covered with a tangy sauce. It absolutely lived up to its billing!
Above is Elder Mead carrying Elder Bittencourt to the bathroom so that he didn't soil the floors with his trousers dirtied after performing a baptism.
To the left is a shot from a pot luck lunch that was held after our church services in honor of Elders Gamboa (Argentina) and Bezerra (Brazil) when they completed their mission. We will miss Elder Gamboa's amazing violin skills (plays in a professional orchestra in Argentina) and Elder Bezerra's wonderful sense of humor and natural ability to connect with people.
Loving our Service
It's a joy to be serving here in Portugal. Final story of this blog post: Earlier this week we invited Kevin (from Cape Verde) and his girlfriend Claudia (native of Barcelos) to dinner. Kevin participates regularly in our Saturday morning English class. He has a ready smile and loves to laugh - and we bonded quickly. More than once, he called me "fixe", which means "cool", as in "cool dude" (only in Portugal!). I think he senses how much we are enjoying ourselves here. At one point in the conversation, he said to us, "I don't want you to go home. Why don't you just stay and buy a home here in Barcelos? :)
We love these people and it's such a beautiful feeling to feel their love in return!
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What wonderful people you are meeting and what a fabulous service you are so blessed to be involved with. I miss you both. Keep us the great work.