There is so much to report on - I have trouble keeping up with all the people and activities we are involved with. But let's just jump right in!
São João Festival
They certainly know how to do celebrations here in Portugal - seems like there's at least one big celebration each month! For the festival of Saint John (John the Baptist), we drove to the nearby city of Braga.
We met up with two other missionary couples - the Lovells (on the right) serve in the mission office (they handle finances, housing, and automobiles) and the Broadbents, who serve in a humanitarian (they identify/qualify local nonprofits to receive church grants).
We love how the city is "dress up" with gorgeous lights for these celebrations. The main event that evening was the parade of gigantes (giants) and cabeçudos (big heads). The these figures (see below), often representing local or mythical figures, are made with a wooden frame and are covered with cloth.
The head is normally made with paper machete. The person inside the frame often is carrying a lot of weight - periodically during the parade a helper would bring out a chair for the person to rest for a moment.
The gigantes and Cabeçudos dance in the street, to the tune of a small band accompanying them playing traditional music. It was fun watching them interacting with spectators - the entire experience is whimsical and just plain fun for children and adults alike.
Lovely Families
One of the great blessings of being a missionary is that people normally trust us enough to invite us into their homes and share their life experiences, including their joys and their sorrows. It's a joy to connect more deeply than is normal in day-to-day interactions.
The family to right - Charles, Morgana, their three children and Morgana's aunt - are wonderful. They emigrated from Brazil several years ago. They are doing a marvellous job raising their autistic son.
Challenging Work Hours
Ana and George both work at a slaughter house, weekdays, from 5:30 AM until 2 PM. For the last year or so, George has held a second job, working Wednesday through Sunday evenings, from 4 PM until 1 AM. Thus, on most nights, he was getting only three hours of sleep! What resilience!
He recently cut back his second job to two days a week on weekends - still challenging, but much more sustainable.
Our incredibly talented young missionaries are patiently teaching their 9-year old autistic son. He is very bright, but easily distracted. :)
Hosting Dinner
We regularly host friends for dinner at our home. Kevin (from Cape Verde) and his girlfriend Claudia (Portuguese) are both wonderful! Kevin asked how long we are going to stay in Portugal. When we responded "a year", he said something like "we don't want you to leave. It's clear that you love it here. Why don't you just buy a house and stay here?"
Tempting! (But no!)
Sunday Afternoons
We are often invited by friends to join them for a lunch/dinner after church. This lunch featured two young Brazilian families living in Viana do Castelo. Both families have two beautiful children. Their parents all serve in leadership positions in the branch.
(We recently began supporting the members and leaders in the Latter-day Saint branch of Viana do Castelo. We are enjoying getting acquainted with the families there. We attending church meetings there every other Sunday.)
Traditional Outfits
Museum in Viana do Castelo
We recently visited a museum in Viana do Castelo, a similarly-sized city as Barcelos.
Dresses
These beautiful traditional hand-embroidered dresses are worn when attending church or on other special occasions.
Wedding Attire
Interestingly, black is the preferred color for wedding dresses - it communicates solemnity and shows off their traditional gold jewellery.
Game Nights
We volunteered to organize a "Noite de Jogos" (Game Night) in Barcelos. It was super fun! Here, we are playing Gorilla Basketball, where each team passes back tennis balls tot he person at the end of the line, who attempts to throw the ball into a basket in the front of the room. Balls are flying everywhere!
When we mentioned that we had organised a Game Night in Barcelos, the branch leadership of Viana do Castelo asked if we could organize one for them too. It turned out great!
Here we are playing a dice game called Bunko.
These game nights are going to be recurring events, at least monthly. Very simple, but a wonderful way to strengthen relationships.
Beautiful Children
We have become dear friends with Morgana/Carlos and their lovely children. Their youngest is has one of the most beautiful smiles ever!
We participated in a family home evening recently in Moncao, a little over an hour north right on the border with Spain. The kids from several families just were in a state of pure joy playing together, especially these two!
For a young boy with a gorgeous head of hair, it doesn't get any better than this. Love the smile on Chris' face in the background!
Several of these shots were taken a a pot luck lunch following our church meetings in Viana do Castelo. The boy in this photo seemed brings to mind memories of working with tired boy (not to name any names!).
This young man is an expert at "grape catching" - he rarely missed!
And this cute young boy was delighted to dig into some yummy cake!
This little guy just loves his dad, Val, who serves as 1st Counselor in the branch presidency.
Here he is again. Their parents lovingly refer to him as the "hippo" because of the way his first four baby teeth are coming in!
Visits From US Interfaith Friends
Nancy, my Christian Scientist friend from Walnut Creek, was on a tour here in Portugal and suggested we meet up for lunch in Porto. Loved catching up with her!
Siamak and Irina, my Bahai friends from Livermore) recently bought a condo in Porto, right next to the soccer stadium! They plan to retire here in a year or so. I was very pleased that they reached out to me. They were here for only a week, but plan to return again near the end of the year. We hope to attend a soccer game with them then!
Siamak is from Iran and Irina is from Russia. Loved hearing their story of how they met - neither spoke the other's language, but they both almost immediately knew they were meant to be partners. And these many years later they seem to have just a beautiful relationship!
We attended a picnic near Viana do Castelo, where we played a a wonderfully competitive game of Dominoes. So fun! The woman on the right in the group photo (in blue) recently lost her husband to cancer. The love/support she felt at our gathering was especially meaningful to her.
Keith and LynnAnne
We were thrilled to host my brother Keith and sister-in-law LynnAnne at our home in Barcelos for two days. As a young man, Keith served a mission in Northeastern Brazil (Rio and Forteleza Missions) - arriving in Brazil soon after I finished my mission in the São Paulo South Mission. We've long shared our common love for the Brazilian people and Portuguese language, but this was our first opportunity to be with each other in a Portuguese-speaking country. Frankly, I was impressed with his fluency!
We drove straight from the airport to a Barcelos Branch party at a member's home. Several people took double takes, then asked, "is he your twin?".
On Sunday night, we invited our Barcelos friends who are from Northeast Brazil to join us at the municipal park for a potluck picnic of traditional "Nordestino" food. Keith enjoyed chatting with wonderful people, make connections, and sharing memories.
On Monday, we our friend Anax lead us on a tour of Barcelos.
In the afternoon, our friend Hélio (Professor of Engineering) gave us a tour of the Polytecnical Institute of Porto. So fun, especially for my engineer brother!
Then we walked around the gorgeous city of porto. Here we are walking across the Ponte de Lima bridge over the Duro River.
The wall in the background is what remains of a wall that surrounded the city during the middle ages.
Baptism of Pedro
Pedro is an incredibly sweet, active, and likeable boy. His smile is completely uninhibited and joyous. Both his aunt (blue dress - see photo below) and sister (red dress - her boyfriend is wearing the dark glasses) recently joined the church. We love both of these two families!
Trailing Thoughts
Our mission experience is exceeding our expectations. Our hearts are full. We love the people here and feel like we are making a positive impact. We hear story after story of how the gospel of Jesus Christ provides hope and meaning to life's experiences. We listen and affirm these people, many of whom are living through very challenging circumstances. Our goal is to lift the spirits of everyone we meet, to bless them with "the pleasing word of god". It's a joyful work.
Notwithstanding their challenges, many of the people in our faith communities live their lives in such a joyful manner that I am uplifted and strengthened. This recently reminded of a talk given many years ago by Elder Joseph B. Worthlin entitled "Come What May, and Love It". He encouraged us to not resist what life/God gives us, to embrace whatever comes. Some things may be difficult, but when we embrace all that comes our way with an attitude of "what can I learn from this", life is more fulfilling, and ultimately more joyful.
We appreciate our many dear friends who are interested in our journey/experiences a missionaries. We love and appreciate you! May you recognize God's hand in your life and feel his love!
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Comments
Wonderful week! We love reading your adventures, and seeing what your service brings about in the lives of others … As well as how their lives bless you! ❤️🙏🏻❤️
You guys are doing such a great work.
Hello Chris and Dave, fellowship workers in Portugal. I really enjoy reading and viewing your incredible experiences there. May the Lord continue to bless you in your joyous work. I feel your loving engagements.
Thanks for sharing - looks like some wonderful experiences you are having. Thats so cool your friends from the Bay Area interfaith group have been able to visit you. Keep up the great work you are doing .
Dave, it looks like you are having a great experience. Portugal seems like a very pleasant place to be. You're not missing anything by not being in the United States. Our country is becoming corrupt, degenerate, and something to be very ashamed of. We have a dictator as President. This was a failure of the people, and I pray that we will have an opportunity to recover. "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." (deTocqueville)
Spence
I love the photos of all the families whose lives you're touching. What great experiences! You are most certainly making a difference in many people's lives.
So fun to see to get to experience your mission with you. What a great blog. Thanks so much! Much love from the Hesslers