Interfaith

We recently were invited to attend an interfaith event in Porto, which included short prestations by leaders from these faith communities: Jewish, Buddhist, Islam, Catholic, Bahai, Latter-day Saint, and HIndu.

This was the first time such a broad array of Porto's religious leaders have met together in and interfaith setting.

After the event, we have the opportunity to speak with several of these wonderful people. It was so fun to connect with these wonderful people!

Father/Daughter

This Buddhist leader (Antonio) and his daughter shared a beautiful story. Antonio and his wife had tried unsuccessfully to have children for many years. On a trip to India, he attended an event with a prominent Buddhist monk. After the event, he, along with the rest of the attendees, had the opportunity to shake hands with the monk. He was very surprised (and honored) when soon thereafter, one of the monk's aids invited Antonio to join the monk for private lunch.

After getting acquainted, the monk asked if there was anything he could do for him. Antonio shared his desire to have children. The monk handed him a small jewell and said "when you have a daughter, please give her this jewel".

At that point in our conversation, Antonio's daughter, who radiated goodness, showed me the ring on her finger containing a beautiful jewel and exclaimed: "I am here because of the faith of my father and that wonderful monk."

I truly believe that faith does in fact have an influence on the future. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I have seen the results of faith too many times in my life and in the lives of others to attribute the result to chance.

Kadoorie Synagogue Tour

We also met two wonderful Jews at the interfaith event, Hugo and Michael (see top left photo below). Michael invited us to tour their synagogue in Porto, the largest on the Iberian Peninsula. Two weeks later we met up at the Kadoorie Synagogue and Michael (a retired mathematics professor) spent over two hours leading us through this incredibly beautiful structure, sharing fascinating details about architecture, Jewish history in Portugal, and religious practices of this orthodox synagogue.

Loved the Portuguese elements, including the gorgeous tile work in the foyer.

Wow, these individualized wooden benches are gorgeous!

What looks to me an awfully lot like a baptismal font is actually a font for ritual baths (called "mikvahs"). These ritual baths are symbolic of purification and renewal, of transforming the everyday into the sacred. Any member of the Jewish faith can participate in mikvahs (there are separate hours reserved for men and women), but it is expected of new members and women (following their monthly menstruation cycle).

The new MLS senior couple in the mission, the Johnsons, joined us on the tour. They are wonderful - he served in the US Embassy, and they have lived in at least 8 different countries!

The sanctuary, built in the 1930s, incorporates an art-deco style.

This is one of the many beautiful paintings in the Library. Many Jews converted to Christianity during the Inquisition - forcibly or otherwise. Yet even after their conversion, they were considered second-class christians: they were labeled "New Christians" and were regularly suspected of heresy. During the nearly 300 years of the inquisition in Portugal, over 800 Jews living in Porto were killed.

Teaching English

We hold an English Class every Saturday morning at the Barcelos Chapel. (We separately hold an on-line session weekly for people in outlying areas.) Our curriculum is "English Connect", a wonderful program created by the church that focuses on dialogue - students learn simple phrase patterns and then substitute alternate vocabulary into the phrase. We split up into small groups (normally two people) for these practices. It's super fun!

Everyone seems to want to learn English, but few demonstrate the commitment required to make real progress. Over the past 6 months, of the 40 people have attended at least one of our classes, only about a dozen have stuck with it - but we are very proud of the progress of these students!

Monthly, we have a pot-luck meal following our class. Anax (closest to the camera) prepares feijuada for these meals - black beans with a variety of pork/sausage cuts, including pig ears and stomach. Everyone loves it, including Chris - even though she turns her nose up at some of the more interesting cuts of meat!

A quick note about Anax: he is Brazilian and speaks English fluently. His wife recently joined the church. Anax is agnostic, but loves the teachings of Jesus, so he is very supportive of his wife's participation in the church. I invited Anax to help teach the class and he has proved to be an outstanding teacher!

Hanging out with our friends after the class ended. I'm speaking with Luiza, the wife of our branch president, and who is also one of our wonderful teachers!

At the close of all our classes, Angelo pulls out his ukelele and leads us in an English song - normally "You Are My Sunshine".

And sometimes, we celebrate birthdays of class members - Marcos recently celebrated his 33rd birthday!

Braganca Castle

One of our administrative tasks is to regularly take other missionaries and AIMA office for their emigration"interview". All of us missionaries have an appointment set within a few months of arriving, where we show documentation of our role as missionaries. Soon afterwards, we receive our "residency cards", which allow us to stay in Portugal for up to two years. The AIMA offices are scattered throughout the country, and the office assigned to each missionary is random.

Recently we took one of our young women missionaries, Sister Olsen to the AIMA office in Bragança - the most easterly city in our mission. We arrived in the afternoon, after a three-hour drive. Unfortunately, it was all for naught, as an emigration official informed us that her appointment had been rescheduled for a later date. This wasn't the first (or the last) time this has happened. So I put on my auditor hat and began asking questions:

"Why didn't you inform us?"

"Because we didn't have an email on file."

"How do we get an email on file?"

"I don't know."

We Americans make jokes about the inefficiency of the DMV, but they don't hold a candle to AIMA! Our mission secretary is working with our European Area Office to try to figure out how we can get our email into their systems... but he just can't seem to get a clear answer.

But back to the story line. The Braganca Castle is just down the road from AIMA - and since we had a little time on our hands, we toured the picturesque castle. Simply gorgeous! Visiting this castle was the silver lining of our trip.

Don't worry - she's still alive and kicking!

Another Birthday Celebration

This one was for Kênia, Morgana's mother. She is pictured with her two granddaughters and also with her sister Kaila. Morgana is very blessed to have bother her mother and aunt live with them to help care for her autistic son Levi.

Birthdays are a real big deal here - seems like everyone has a party. It really is a delight to be included!

Supporting our Members

As mentioned previously, we visit people who we think can benefit from our friendship and encouragement. These friendships seem to blossom quickly - our hearts are quick to feel love and empathy.

Jorge & Raquel navigated a recent move from Brazil with very little extra cash. There were some hairy moments, but they are over the hump now!

A'neel moved from Pakistan several years ago. He is a great cook - and recently began attending a chef's school. Chris loves that he speaks English!

There is a lot of love in this unique family. Stephan is an American - but has lived in Europe for 15+ years. He speaks French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and German fluently, and is learning Chinese and Russian. Clarisse is French and speaks Portuguese and English well. French is the dominant language in their home, but the children are all becoming fluent in Portuguese and English. We love playing board games with Clarisse, who has over 100 board games on her shelf!

We enjoyed lunch with Solange, who serves as a counselor in the Viana Relief Society presidency. She is full of life! Because her English is impecable, we invited her to serve with us as a teacher in our on-line English Connect class.

This beautful woman was a surprise visitor at the Viana branch one Sunday. When we learned that she is from Beira, Mozambique, we asked if she happened to know our dear friends Brian and Kim Snelson who served a mission there. Sure enough, they are dear friends - another "small world" experience!

We visit Joaquim and his two sons weekly. The boys are quiet/introverted and very smart. Joaquim moved from Cape Verde 6 years ago when he divorced. His wife sent the kids to live with him about 18 months ago. He's doing great raising these boy! Works at a factory and supplements this income by running a barber shop in the late afternoons in his home.

Cruz, from Venezuela, lives in apartment directly above the chapel - he takes the cake for the shortest walk to church! He joined the church two months ago and just radiates goodness!

Ju (from São Tomé) joined our church two months ago. We host her for lunch every Friday, and enjoy reading scriptures together. She is very bright and motivated - and has an upbeat, positive spirit. We just love her!!

Abrão ("Abraham" in English) and Solange have a beautiful family! They moved to Portugal a few years ago, and recently moved into the Viana branch. Their son Bruno was home briefly from his mission in Brazil to fulfill some Portuguese emigration requirements. Abrao is an experienced martial arts fighter - he loves full body contact!

Dinner at Ceica and Bartolomeu's home with the missionaries and our dear friends Anax and Idelolinda.

We hosted a dinner at our home for fluent English speakers - an opportunity for everyone to practice their English. Deborah, Ideolinda, Anax and Gabriel.

Laudeceia is Brazilian - divorced about 6 years ago and then moved to Portugal with her boys. She started dating Filipie a year ago and they are very happy together.

"Laude" grew up in the church, but left at age 19. She recently felt a strong desire to return and began participating. Her two boys were recently baptised - and they are really fine boys! They are all real jokesters, so it's just a delight to be in their home!

Halloween Party

Luca and Mayara hosted a wonderful Halloween Party in their home. They invited all their friends that regularly attend the weekly family home evening in Moncão.

The decorations were amazing! They made a "Wanted" sign for each person that attended (see photo to the left). My favorite was for 4-year old Luca (who is a handfull). His alleged crime: Fake that he's a baby when he has plans to take over the world. Punishment: Receive kisses and scoldings in equal measure!

Because Luca and Mayara know I love vegetables, they prepared "ghost" cucumbers and carrots especially for me!

Closing Comments

We recently reached the half-way point of our 18-month mission. Time is flying by! There's not enough time to do everything that our hearts prompt us to do, including more frequent blog posts!

There is definitely something to Jesus' teaching that when we lose ourselves in the service of others, we find ourselves. Perhaps we "find ourselves" because service opens our hearts to feelings of love - love from God, love for others, and love from others. And all of us crave love! Our hearts are full of love for these wonderful people here in Portugal, and we feel their love too.

We appreciate the flexibility of our mission - we are entirely free to choose our daily activities. It's hard to choose between competing priorities - many times we wish we could be in two places at once!

We miss our family and friends back in the US. But we are so immersed in our service here that we don't think about home very much. Several friends and family members plan go visit us in coming months, and we are thrilled for that - we will carve whatever time you have! We welcome additional visitors!

Blessings to all of you. Sending our love from Portugal,

Elder & Sister Longhurst

Interfaith, English, and More!