Our time here is fast fading - only two weeks until our mission ends. We are feeling very sad about parting with our many new-found friends here in Portugal. But also very excited to be with our family and long-time friends.
This post covers the period from mid June until early July. I will soon make another post to cover the rest of July - so much to share!
My Venezuelan Friend
Cruz Guzman and his wife Maria fled Venezuela in 2016 two weeks after he participated in an anti-Maduro demonstration, which was followed by mass-arrests. During the next two weeks, they traveled through Columbia, Equador, and Peru, mostly by bus, until they arrived in Chile, where they reunited with their two adult children. (Their children had previously "seen the writing on the wall" and emigrated to Chile two year eariler.)
After six years of feeling that the were treated as second-class citizens by Chileans, Maria obtained EU citizenship (her mother is Portuguese) and they decided to move to Portugal.
Cruz joined the church about six months ago. He was in the midst of fighting cancer at the time, and was very discouraged. He appreciated hearing a message of love and hope. "The gospel of Jesus Christ is the very best therapist," he says.
He's a wonderful guy. I took this photo on the day that I recorded his experience as a new member for our Church historical archives.
We invite Ana Andrade and her grandaughter Valentina to join us for lunch regularly on Saturday. Valentina's mother works in Belgium, where she can make enough money to support the household. The entire family misses her imensley! Valentina was thrilled with the YoYo, a belated birthday gift.
Festa Junina
The Barcelos Ward activities leaders organized a wonderful activity in late June, celebrating Festa Junina. This is both a Brazilian and a Portuguese tradition, historically rooted in the Catholic tradition of honoring Saint Anthony, Saint John, and Saint Peter. In Brazil, this tradition has been blended with rural culture and indigenous influences, espectially in northeaster Brazil, the home of the activities leaders (Jorge and Rachel Mendoca).
Rachel is quite the artist - and put here heart into decorating our chapel! She recruited her husband and a friend (Luis) to help set up, which took about 8 hours! They were very grateful for the lunch that we shared with them.
Marcos and Mariana are the life of the party! Gotta love the "hillbilly" makeup, including Marcos' black tooth!
Our former relief society President Laila, complete with beautiful braids in her hair.
The celebration also commemorates matchmaking. Thus, Juara is dawning a wedding veil.
Our Relief Society presiddent (Soraya) with Joana, one of our new members.
Many of the women painted black freckles on their face and added special celebratory decals to their clothing.
Games for the children and youth included a fish pond and this pie-in-the face activity. Love it! And so did the kids!!
We had a an outstanding turnout - simply a wonderful activity!
Baby Shower
The Viana do Castelo Relief Society president organized a baby shower (in Portuguese "cha de bebé", literally translated as "tea for the baby") for our dear friends Mayara and Luca Vital. You will notice that Portugues tradition is more egalitarian than in the US - men are invited and even welcomed!
The entire Vital family. Laila and Theu are from Mayara's previous marriage. So Luca is especially thrilled to experience all that accompanies childbirth!
Cecilia and Mayara
Bruno Lima just arrived home from a mission in Londrina, Brazil.
Our wonderful Relief Society president, Ines Neiva (who has a real artistic touch!), with new members Joao and Mariana.
The baby shower activities were consistent with the US traditions., We all enjoyed the race to see who could first diaper a doll while blindfolded. Guess who won? And of course, the opening gifts for all to "ooh" and "aah" over.
So Many Wonderful Gatherings!
Here we were celebrating Brian's birthday who isn't in the picture because he hates posing for photos. On the right is Lucca and Rafaela - new friends of Marco and Marian who seem to be enjoying our church community. The families became friends after meeting at a park in Barcelos, where Emily(striped dress) befriended Auora (purple shirt) and invited her to come to church with her! (At this morment, Emily wasn't very happy about being called away from playing with her friends!)
About a week later, Brian finally let me take a photo of him wearing the t-shirt we gave for his birthday.
New member Clarisse with Marius, whose tooth came out during our visit. Pure joy in those eyes!
We were thrilled to finally meet Maria Soares's son Gustav, who is in the Army training to be a paratrooper. He's bright and articulate. He shared some of his experiences - he is put through the mill! Maybe not quite as bad as Navy Seals, but something similar.
We asked about his spiritual life. He shared that he found God about three years ago through the Islamic faith. He credits his faith in God to being able to overcome a 5-year daily marijuana usage habit, cold turkey. Kudoos to him!
We dearly love Jose, (high counselor) Jaqueline (primary president), and their two boys Guilherme and Vinicius.
We were thrilled to connect with this wonderful family on the left - Helen Oliveira and here children Jasmine and Moroni. Our Relief Society president (Soraya) and her husband (Jared, who is the stake executive secretary) joined us on this visit.
Helen is a physical therapist. She joined the church in 2004 in Brazil, but stopped attending after her divorce in 2020. The family moved to Portugal about three years ago. Moroni has an unusual problem - his blood is so thick that it restricts circulation to his feet, gives him headaches, and overworks his heart. He is waiting for a surgery at the public hospital to correct the problem - unfortunately, they will probably need to wait another 8-10 months. A private hospital would take him much sooner, but that's beyond the family means.
Angolan Dinner
We met Elizete about two months ago. We share a love for cooking. I invited her (and her two friends) to dinner at our home, and she offered to cook typical foods from Angola. We had a lovely evening together!
Here, Elizete is making a side dish out of cassava flour. She first boiled water (with a bit of salt), then beat in the flour with a big wooden paddle until it was smooth and creamy.
And her is the entire spread (from bottom to top): flavorful beans, something made of corn (similar to polenta), the cassava dish, rice, and a salted beef dish (that was to die for!). A delicious meal!
The group consisted of Magarida and Junior (friends of Elizete), Elders Durado and Haslam, and Ceica/Bartholmeu Souza and their two children.
More Rewarding Interactions
We invited the stake president (Ricardo Costa Lima) and his wife Elisabete to our home for dinner to thank them for their inspired leadership. I captured Elizabete when she was sharing a wonderful story (in English!). But our delightful conversation captured my focus, I failed to get a photo of President Lima!
I probably have shared more photo of the Santos family than any other - that's probably because we have spent more time with them! Here, we hosted them for dinner after our Sunday church meetings.
I'm always amazed at the natural curl in Maria Clara's long hair. Anms you can see, it extends well below here waist - she has cut it only once in her life. We're thrilled that she plans to leave on a mission in about a year after she graduates from high school.
We hosted Sueli (flower dress) the week after he baptism - together with Lucian (counselor in RS) and her daughter Isabel, and the Elders.
This was a special occasion when three recent converts were ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood - Kamaraj (Indian), Carlos (Portuguese) and Cruz (Venezuelano). It is a blessing to be part of each of their lives - all say that their life better after connecting with God more deeply. They each have shared that they are happier, more hopeful and energetic, and their life has more purpose.
Carlos shared that before being part of our Barcelos Ward, he had not received a hug in many years. Now he regularly basks in this way of connecting with people and feeling loved. "It is just wonderful," he says. "When I receive these hugs, I feel like my heart is going to explode!"
Another of our weekly lunches with new members - Cruz and his wife Maria, Porfirio, and Goreti. After lunch, we enjoy reading from the Book of Mormon. The discussion that follows is normally lively and heartfelt - they share their joys and sorrows, their learnings/progress and their challenges.
Closing Thoughts
As a teenager, I remember driving in our family car with my mother. She shared with me that prior to the birth my older brother John (her second child) she was worried that with divided attention, she wouldn't be able to love him as much as she loved Jeanann (her first child). But after he was born, she felt her love expand so that she had enough for both of them. That pattern continued with the subsequent six children that she brought into the world, including me.
I have relearned this principle during our time in Portugal -- you can never give so much love that you run out. In the Hebrew Bible, 2 Kings 4, a widow has only a small jar of oil. The prophet Elisha tells her to pour it into as many large containers as she can muster. Miraculously, the oil never runs out until every vessel is full. That is, the oil multiplies as it is poured out. Love is just like that -- it increases as you pour it out. The more you give, the more you have.
Sending love from Portugal,
Elder and Sister Longhurst
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