Fun All Over Portugal

Fun: We figure we have filled this blog with lots of serious stuff. Now time for some fun things to tickle your fancy. There is much that is beautiful to be seen here in Portugal and every once in a while something disrupts the beauty....

From our Hotel Window, Faro...practical, but will it withstand rain!

The morning after Casal Orsi arrived, sleepy but happy in Olhão.
Elder Feliciano and Jones with Nato and Claudia Freire, Pres.
Filipe, Orsi´s and Robson Silva

New Arrivals: We got some great news in June that a new missionary couple would be coming from Brasil in August. Wow! Hooray! Rene and Maria Cecilia Orsi are now in Olhão, Portugal; right in the middle of the Algarve and some 40 miles from Spain. We welcomed them with lots of hugs and the Olhão Branch was all smiles as you can see.

Jeff and I at Castelo de Beja

 
 When in Beja we couldn´t help but see the Castle, the wall runs right past the Beja Chapel. Jeff and Brittany (youngest son and beautiful bride) came to visit and Jeff and I posed beneath the tower.

Beja also has some really fun people like the Edson and Rosa Mello family. Just look at those miles of smiles.

Eileen, Sheila and Ruberval Sousa, Edson and Rosa Mello Family, Beja

 

Out of uniform: Elder Stanley takes a moment to write in his journal on Christmas day in our apartment, without his shoes. What, flip flops in December?

Elder Stanley, Dec. 25, 2010, Campo Pequeno, Lisboa

Famous People aren´t always great people but great people become famous to those they serve! Rosa Torgan had a birthday and we took advantage of the occassion to have some fun. Even President Torgan was smiling.

President Moroni and Sister Rosa Torgan on her Birthday

 Clog America showed up July 22. We loved the show. Two large audiences greeted them in a theater near the Rio Tejo. What a treat. They said it was the two best shows they had on tour. Nothing but standing ovations for them! Eileen smiles with Nate, an old companion to our son Bruce when he served in California as a missionary.

Nate and Eileen, July 22nd, Lisboa

 Portugal and Oceans go together, just like good friends do. We have made terrific friends from those that have joined us in Portugal as missionary couples, paying their own way and making a difference in so many lives. Thank you Lund´s and Forbush´s!

Lunds, Gales and Sister Forbush at Adraga Beach

Manuel, our fruit man cannot be left out when you talk about fun. He is always saying "Let´s go to the beach." I suspect he would like to do it but he loves selling us fruit too much.

Manuel, the fruit man, Avenida Berna, Lisboa

The Doctor and Wife arrive: Our daughter Emily and her husband, Jeff, arrived in June, just in time for a fun visit to the most beautiful parts of Portugal. They are moving to Sierra Vista, AZ to start a new life and a new job. Posing in front of Obidos Castle (now a hotel) is impressive.

Ma and Pa with Emily and Jeff, Sooooo fun!

Pena Palace, Sintra, Worth a Salute: Chayson and Kendon, two bright grandsons do the honors during a visit to Portugal in July. Dad and mom, Bruce and Chela, were in France for a month´s professor exchange and brought the kids for a visit.

Chayson and Kendon, Sintra

Grandkids rule: From a high Moorish Tower in Sintra the Grandkids wave. What a treat to have them around for a few days!

Bryn and Kendon waving atop Moorish Tower, Sintra

Grandchildren love the beach and the sand. Adraga Beach, the most beautiful in all of Portugal was the scene for a major distructive Tsunami that crushed the grandkids sand castle and wall. Great to have Leah, Bryn, Kendon and Chayson here with us in July.

Bruce and Chela Gale family at Adraga Beach

 The Waves: Yes, the waves can have their way with you as Eileen found out while wading knee deep with her back to the ocean. Her expression says it all.



Famous Eileen Gale takes an unexpected dip and loves it



Beautiful Portugal-Exploring the Land of World Explorers

Kent at Ponte de Piedade, Lagos..Where Portugal Navigators Trained

Cuba, Portugal, a small town in the Alentejo claims to be the early home of Columbus and just a few miles from here we encountered the burial vault of Vasco de Gama. What more can we say about the early Portuguese adventurers that proved the world was round and courageously crossed the forboding oceans. Today Portugal is crossing another great ocean, the ocean of debt as one of the European nations facing a "Crise" ...Crisis financially. It has a huge impact on the laborers (as in many countries worldwide including the US) with high unemployment. This puts Eileen and I in the path of many people desperate to find work; any work that will put food on their table. Our efforts span much more than getting a job today. We are focused on career development that brings about a plan for today and for the future. Our thoughts today will focus on what is actually happening as we try to help these wonderful people become productive and self sufficient with the added hope of having a career plan that integrates with their family and life plan.  The goal is always to teach a man to fish, and fish successfully. We offer several quick examples that might serve to put our volunteer efforts as part of the Church´s Portugal employment effort into perspective.

Céu teaches Portimão, Algarve, with 40+ hungry to learn

Travel barrier: The first challenge is getting the unemployed to the center for career planning, training and practical job hunting. Even though the cost might be as low as $3 to take the bus or train to the center that may be prohibitive. We have gotten creative in figuring out ways to help people make it to the center if they don´t have a local LDS church leader to help them. The first way is to take the center to the people (talk about that later). For a number of people we have personally set aside some coins to quietly pass along to those most desperate to make a trip to or from the center. For several we have come up with ways for them to earn there way (wash our car in the parking lot, clean the center, clean the grounds, clean our apartment, etc. all things we could do for ourselves but it seems practical to allow them a way to earn a little cash to help them along).
Low self esteem: Many arrive jobless and skill-less (if there is such a word). Skills are different than abilities. We carefully explore with them their abilities and then help them describe their abilities in such a way that they can demonstrate real value for the employer. We call these a personal commercial which includes a foto and some professional touches. We print up 10-20 and teach them how to deliver them to employers where they would like to work.  It works! They leave with more confidence and employers have a better new employee option. 

Two leaders (Stake Presidents-Porto) learn about networking

Exploring a network approach: 65% of new jobs are found through networking (talking to friends and friends of friends and going directly to desired employers). Such an effort requires great courage, commitment and hard work. Most unemployed opt for internet searches and periodically ask others if they know of work. Successful job hunters build and grow a list of people and companies that can help them in their search, continuously communicating with them until they find a good fit. This is by far OUR GREATEST CHALLENGE. Teaching and motivating unemployed to use their networks is the most difficult. Recently Costin nailed a job through his networking efforts, encountering a job through a contact at his boxing exercise club. We were so excited for him we took a party to his house to celebrate....including the announcement that his wife is expecting. Two great things at once.
The world is flat: After helping create a pristine Resumé and cover letter we see candidates send out old draft versions with lots of errors by mistake. Others show up at the center with virtually no PC skills. Emailing a CV to an employer with no intention of watching for an email response is a waste of time. 20% of those that come don´t have email addresses and even more have addresses and don´t know how or never check their email. Almost half are not skilled in searching for jobs on the internet. In these cases we work as coaches, sitting by them and walking them through each step.

Building a Personal Commercial can be of great help!

 Legal traveller, illegal worker: Many have come to Portugal legally but have no legal documents to get a job. This is a sensitive subject so we help point them at associations and their embassays that can be of the best help. Some get illegal work but the pay is poor with no pension or healthcare benefits. We have heard of many illegal schemes, some that are surprising like working in place of someone that is legal and then that person takes money off the top and gives the worker part of the pay. (The legal person gets all the benefits and some of the money for doing nothing). We are focused on abiding by the law of the land and encourage all to do the same. The most common way for a person legally in Portugal to become work-legal is to have a contract with a company for a significant period of time which would be cause to apply for legal papers. No one wants to sign a contract with a future employee if they are not already legal, a catch 22. One young man has been coming to the center for many months trying to overcome this obstacle....looking for a company that will contract with him. He has a degree as a teacher in mathematics and has a terrific CV.

Augusto and Celina Banza looking at farming options

Travelling workshop: At times the intensity of the unemployment is such that we do small groups of candidates (unemployed folks) in outlying cities. Sounds good until you plug in the Kent factor. I can speak somewhat but I cannot understand enough of the very fast native speakers and some of the folks from other places like Cabo Verde. For a great training session it is important to have good two way communication. I was trying to help a laboratory technician out of work and had a really tough time understanding some of the technical apsects of what she was looking for and wanted to do. That tends to be a roadblock as these candidates need real positive help and that means understanding what they are saying. Neither Eileen or I can overcome that hurdle at this time.

Beja folks at focused workshop in Alentejo

A final note on this edition of our Portugal voyage. A dynamic and very talented fellow from Angola, legal in portugal, was at a job interview and told the employer how badly he needed the job since he had been out of work for 5 months. After the interview he came by the center to pick up his "personal commercial". I asked him about the interview and if he had given specific ways that he could help the employer if he were hired. His response, "No, I just want them to know how badly I need the job." I asked him to practice an example of the value he would bring to the employer. After a few minutes the light went on in his head and he said, "Wow, this is what I should have said." That makes the center worth it, when we have that kind of response. Now we just hope Dinis gets a job on his next job interview with his new found strength.

Successful Machado family, Floréncio-Tile Layer to Licensed Security Guard

Multiplication and other Simple Math

Simon James Gale, March 5, Son of Adam/Jenn

When two people fall in love and make eternal commitments it opens the pathway for generations of peace, love and JOY! In our case it has been Great Joy with each added child, marriage and grandchild. We started out as two. Then with 6 children we became 8. Then with 6 spouses we jumped to 14. When we left in October we had 14 grandchildren (netos in Portuguese). That made a total of 28. We are now both proud and grateful to announce that Michael Alexander Jensen joined the crew in November 2010 followed soon thereafter by Simon James Gale born March 5, the same day and two years later than as his previous brother.

Kendon Gale, Baptized by Dad, Bruce

 

We hit the 30 mark on that blustery March day....Yahoooo! One more grandchild is due in about two weeks that will bring the total to 31. A number we expected to hold solid as we return next April. But no, Bruce and Chela surprised us all by announcing a projected December 6th arrival of family member #32. You can imagine how much we would love to see, kiss and hold these amazing new family members, fresh from their Father in Heaven. No frowns here, we knew this was a price we would pay for choosing to serve and help the people in Portugal. Do we feel misty about not being around them....of course. We will make up for it once we get back home....lots of hugs and kisses. Other major events are missed but the pictures make the missing much more bearable. Kendon´s baptism was one of those incredible events but as you can see, the picture is worth a thousand words.

President Gil and me with Douglas & Josefina Familia

Talking about families reminds us of the challenges the amazing Portuguese people have. With lots of apartment buildings, many people with no car and long work hours, family time suffers. What doesn´t seem to suffer is the love they have for their children and families. Strong bonds are created from early childhood as we see parents unafraid to selflessly support, love and care for their children. Today we were returning from Beja only to hear that one of our cherished friends in Beja was in the hospital with an apparent miscarriage. With no children and in her mid thirty´s this can be very disheartening. Encouragement helps yet recovery from a miscarriage takes time and time doesn´t seem to be a friend right now. We find great joy in becoming friends and family with the people in Portugal. We also find times of sadness as we see and hear of their hardships. The city of Beja is in the middle of farm country and has many unemployed with many more losing jobs or projects as each day goes by. Some are faced with leaving to find work in other regions and many in other countries. A number are looking at moving back to Brazil, finding work in other european countries like Fance and Switzerland and even going to Angola where there seems to be work. We are so grateful to be focused on helping these folks establish career plans and, at this time, just finding work to feed the family!

Eileen in front of field of Girasols (Sunflowers) WOW!

 Driving back from Beja today put a huge smile on our faces as we passed many fields of sunflowers. Yellow heads bobing as far as the eye could see. Eileen couldn´t help but stop and get a picture of one of her most favorite flowers that exemplifies meeting challenges and pushing through them. Sunflowers seem to personify joy, happiness and standing tall even when it is the hardest thing to do.

Making Friends and Watching Lives Change

Traveling to new cities is always a combination of fear and excitement. Fear, because we still struggle with speaking and understanding the native tongue so communication is always a challenge. Excitement, because as we get to know people, we start to love them and care about them and it makes life just a bit sweeter. Now that we have been to Beja (about 2 hours Southeast of Lisbon) many times we feel so comfortable and accepted by the people there. Last week we held a big training session in Portimão where 42 unemployed or underemployed people attended. We picked up 5 from Beja (the two hour first leg) and drove them the 90 minutes on to Portimão. Traveling with the Beja crew was a real treat as

Isabel, Manuela, Fernanda, Ruberval and Renato- Beja Team

we borrowed the mission van, a large 9 passenger vehicle with comfy seats and air conditioning. We had 3 members of the church and two that were not members but were unemployed and wanted to take advantage of the crash course in getting a new job. On the return trip at about 10pm they were chattering up a storm, talking about their lives, how important the gospel is to them and how some of them were so grateful for the Word of Wisdom with the guidance on avoiding things like smoking (a big deal in Portugal) and how hard it was for two of them to quit smoking and how hard it is for the other three that are trying so hard to quit. They ended up serenading us acapella for the last part of the ride by singing "O How Lovely Was the Morning."

Beja-Sheila and Ruberval surrounded by the Gale´s

Two weeks earlier we had our son Jeff and his beautiful bride Brittany come visit and we took them to Beja, the heart of the Alentejo. The Beja Branch put on quite a meal for us and showered Jeff and Britt with abraços (hugs) and beijinhos (tiny kisses).

Beja Branch Brunch with long table and Portuguese, Mozambique, Brasil, US and Açores all represented.

The meal consisted of great foods from the Alentejo (transates well into country cooking since the Alentejo is the country folk up in the hills that farm and fish) along with some basic Portuguese cooking. It was terrific with Branch President Gil cooking up his famous Pato (duck) dish. Eileen brought chocolate brownies, a rare thing for these folks since real sweet desserts are uncommon. They were all gobbled up. As we looked around the room we were very much aware of how different their lives are. We had people at the table from Brasil, Mozambique, Açores and São Thomas. Quite a delightsome group.

Assignment- Portugal Riviera



Portugal has a section of the country called the "Algarve" which is a vacation paradise for many Euopeans and others from around the globe. With wonderful beaches, wildlife and lots of sun the Algarve attracts most of the world´s largest resort companies to satisfy the appetites of vacationers.  

First time to the Algarve Eileen looks at Ocean from Faro

This environment creates a labor nightmare with seasonal jobs resulting in seasonal unemployment. Eileen and I have the privilege of working with the Lisboa team and our manager from Madrid to help those that find themselves unemployed in this environment. We have done some individual training and will do a mobile Employment Training Center in Faro and Portimão during May.
 
 Our main assignment is to help strengthen the church in Olhão, a beautiful city on the Portuguese south coast just a few miles from the Spanish Riviera. Our goal in Olhão is to help build leadership in this first generation of church members. We all have a lot to learn about loving each other as exemplified by Christ, our Savior. The world invites us to satisfy every appetite and passion. Christ teaches us to control our appetities and discipline ourselves as we become his disciples. Much of this discipline comes from participating in the weekly instruction and sharing that occurs at church (thus, The Church of Jesus Christ). We are helping establish a structure and discipline of regular learning and keeping commitments by attending church. We love getting to do this. 

Alberto and Cristina have their hands full with work plus 3



We are assigned to work with the wonderful people in the Olhão branch of the Church. Felipe Barros is the unpaid local branch president (or minister). He is a statistics professor during the week at the local university.  

Silvia loves speaking English with Eileen, especially when out to eat

His sweetheart passed away 9 months ago so he and his daughter Silvia make up the sum total of the family there in Olhão. On one trip down he prepared the most tasty meal we have had in Portugal with tender meat in a wonderful sauce wrapped around a filling. Wow! We all walked out 10 pounds or 5 kilos heavier. Silvia, his 15 year old daughter, plays the piano for church and is quite adept at English, reveling in her chance to speak it with Eileen. 

President Filipe made a masterful meal for Eileen/Kent & Elders Bauman and Sherman (just look at Silvia´s smile)



The Portugal Team Gets Together



Trip home from Ikea w/furniture, Linn on Gary´s lap



We live on the 5th floor of a commercial building in one of the business centers of Lisboa. In this 10 story building there are many businesses (consultants, lawyers, etc.) and 3 families (we are one of them). Our apartment is large including 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms (or library/offices), a wonderful kitchen, big dining room and large living room. We also have two enclosed porches for hanging laundry. Due to the size of the apartment we volunteered to share it with another couple (Casal) from Huntsville, Utah; Gary and Linn, Lund. We share the rent and expenses and it works out great.....as long as we don´t get tired of each other and try throwing each other off the enclosed porch to the roof below. Why are we telling you all of this....because the circumstances and experiences of the 200 missionaries in Portugal are so different and yet in many ways, so similar, that we decided to look more closely at the "Portugal Team".



Eileen next to Elder Rocha and Elder Caussé at mission conference in Miratejo

One of our favorite experiences has been getting together with the other missionaries and sharing experiences with each other. It is so fascinating to meet so many unselfish and motivated people that love to serve, love representing Jesus Christ and have a single goal of helping the Portuguese people enjoy more happy and peaceful lives. The single missioinaries live a spartan life with no TV, Wii, video games, radios, etc.and use all their spare change for travel and basic necessities. We have attended quite a few missionary conferences where training and instruction takes place. The single missionaries have until 5pm on Monday set aside to do laundry, cleaning, shopping and such (also fun things like volleyball, ultimate frisbee, basketball, etc.) The other six days are dedicated to missionary proselyting and/or service work. We work at the Employment Center on Monday´s so we do the non-missionary stuff at other times. Many nights we find ourselves working until 8:30 or 9:00pm working on projects, studying or visiting local families. Comparing notes with the other married couples, it averages just over $3,000 per month to live and travel here so paying for the mission requires each couple to have at least $55,000 set aside to pay for the 18 month mission. Working with so many people that pay there own way and smile every second about it is amazing. One of our special treats was a visit from Elder Gerald Caussé, originally from Paris, France but now living in Frankfurt, Germany with his family. He came for three days to instruct the missionaries from the Açores and Algarve to Lisboa. He was so kind, wise and loving that we enjoyed every minute of his visit.

 

Eileen with Sister Almeda and Perez

Sister missionaries have always been exceptionally fun to work with. It may be unique to Portugal but the Sister missioinaries smile all the time and lift everyone they are around. We helped two sisters move south of Lisbon into an apartment that had Elders (young men) living there. We hauled 4 large suitcases and some smaller cases and it filled the car along with the four of us (2 sisters and us). The Elders were transferred so fast that they decided to leave without really cleaning up. As a token of their embarrassment they left two large chocolate bars for the sisters. As is typical, Sister Perez and Sister McCrery just smiled and got to work cleaning up.  

Sister McCrery and Perez looking at food left by Elders





All Over the Map



Elder Barbosa and Noda outside Beja Chapel back door

February found us traveling across Portugal and doing about everything under the sun. Three times a month we travel to small branches of the church in far away places to help strengthen and support them in their efforts to follow the Savior´s example of love and determination to do what is right. We see in the world around us and especially here in europe that there is great pressure to forget personal values and just do what feels best. Commitment to personal integrity, moral values, family and financial responsibility suffer much. So on weekends we work with the church units in smaller towns to better understand what it means to learn about Jesus Christ and follow his example. Our first adventure was to Santarém just north of Lisboa. We made several trips to visit them. Then we started routine visits to Beja, about two hours southeast of Lisboa.

Beautiful Beja Members at 9 pm dinner

Then last week we had our first trip to the Algarve (border closest to Africa) and visited Faro and Olhão. It was terrific. What wonderful people we have encountered across the country. The branch president we visited in the Algarve is a professor of mathematics at the university there. He is doing a great job helping the branch members in their earthly sojourn and has a wonderful daughter that plays the piano for the branch.  He lost his wife eight months ago and now must traverse life without his companion. 

Our role during the week is to help our friends and neighbors here in Portugal set a career plan and then follow it. That is the best way to diminish and eliminate unemployment.



Paula Pereira and me helping coach an interview prep session



We have helped with several workshops and had a special training session we did for four adults in the same family...quite an amazing group. The mother runs her own cake making business. The father is in the military. The daughter-in-law is a teacher in secondary school and the son just returned from a mission and is looking for a job. All of them wanted to understand how to build a career plan and make the most of their lives at work since it is such a consuming part of life.

Some of our classes have been much larger. Paula Pereira organized a bigger one in Seixal, just across the Rio Tejo from Lisboa. We helped film the interview simulations on three different nights and we loved the opportunity to really help. 

We also had some normal encounters with the real world. We have not been able to pay bills with our bank account because the username and password inadvertently got left with an auto stop date which threw everything into a tizzy. We are only 3 months into getting it set up.
 

Eileen at the famous fountain on Praça Rossio


We also ran into some more pickpockets (carteristas) as we walked to the bank. The leader (man in black) was going about the praça working with young men about 20 years old in scoping out and following wealthy looking tourists. We stood and watched for a while. Quite interesting as we watched their hand signals.
 

Coach, Captain and Director of local 20 year old entrepreneurs

On another front, our cell phone was saying the SIM card was not inserted two or three times each day so we had to go get a new phone....now that phone says we are not in a service area (might be a problem with the SIM card). And finally, the apartment below us got flooded, apparently from a leak in our bathroom somewhere, not obvious. That has taken 5 days and still no specific resolution. We have decided that our test is one of patience right now. So, on this valentines day we have just had some good old laughs about the little blips in life and then tried to get fat eating some heart shaped cookies Eileen made to share with the neighbors.

LDS Chapel Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho 93, CRE in back

Today we had lots of rain after a week and a half of much sunshine and 55-60 degrees. This weather has made the location of our Centro de Recursos de Emprego (CRE) especially beautiful. It is snuggled behind the Gago Coutinho chapel shown above. It looks quite beautiful when seen from this angle.

Hitting The Road

The Center for Employment Services (CRE=Centro de Recursos de Emprego) is located near downtown Lisboa (7-8 miles from downtown). This center serves all of Portugal which is a country about the size of Indiana. To help some of the folks get more value from our services we have taken the center on the road in a mobile environment.  

Breaking the Ice with an activity

Our first attempt at this was in the area of Setúbal and the city of Seixal. On Saturday afternoon, January 8, 2011 we held a workshop that covered: 1. Understanding your strengths and abilities, 2. You in 30 seconds, 3. Power Statements in interviews, 4. Resume writing and 5. Getting value from LDSjobs.org.

We were expecting between 10-15 people and we ended up with 22. We were ecstatic.

The best part was that everyone was serious about being there. Some had travelled quite a distance to participate. Kent invited a young man named João from Beja (a city in the Alentejo) and he came.
 

Paula teaches ´Habilidades` = skills recognition



Kent and Paula teach interviewing skills



Eileen and Céu Cavaco helped folks get registered with LDSjobs.org and to understand basic resume set-up. Paula Pereira and I (Kent) taught the skills portion along with "Comercial em 30 segundos, Declarações de Poder, Brasão and Entrevistas".
 

Eileen in front of our CRE (Centro de Recurson de Emprego)


Eileen took some fotos (see them included here) and kept the physical items in place. I ran the camera as we filmed some practice interviews. All in all a very successful first run of our mobile CRE. Our next one is in Lisboa for the whole country and it happens the 5th of February.



A Pickpocket can change your whole day!

December 18, 2010 found Eileen and Kent heading down to Praça dos Restoradores to hear the Lisboa Stake Choir sing. After enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen in an old downtown area...especially at Christmas time we headed back home on the Metro. As we entered the blue line I (Kent) slipped past a fellow that was blocking my way and sat down. Eileen stayed behind him next to the door while others got on (4 other people). They surrounded her talking loudly with each other and then turning to her and asking her questions about the next stop. They then proceeded to jump off right as the doors closed at the next stop (which I thought was the second strange thing- the first being the fact that they blocked her way to the seat where I was sitting).  

Previous sign says, watch belongings!

As Eileen sat down next to me I immediately asked her to check her purse. She looked down and saw the outside pocket was unzipped but her glasses were still there so she felt nothing had been taken. I asked her to flip over the flap and look further. Yikes! Three other pockets had been unzipped and they had taken her cell phone, keys, address wallet, credit card and lip gloss (but missed the little pocket with the cash and the camera). Well we ended up getting locks changed on the house, credit card cancelled and grew a new set of antenna to watch out for future pickpockets. A week later we think we watched one that was attempting something similar but the lady turned away from him with her purse hugged to her chest. We are getting a real education on the metro system here. Worth every penny it cost us.
 

Irmãs leaving in our large elevator

The experience allowed us to teach a training session to the missionaries about how to be a dumb American and get pickpocketed though this can happen in any major city in the world. A picture is worth a thousand words and we now see what they mean when they say watch your belongings, especially upon entering and exiting the metro. These Irmãs got the full story and a lesson was learned as they joined us for a Christmas Party at Antonio Serpa. Merry Christmas to all and to all a pickpocket free night.


Christmas Season in Lisboa

The most wonderful of all seasons began with our local church Festa de Natal on December 7th at Gago Coutinho Chapel. We enjoyed all the food and dessert a person could handle starting with homemade soup. Santa even showed up in Portuguese style.



Eileen and Maria Rosaria

 The best thing about Christmas parties is you get to be with best friends, like Maria Rosaria, who wanted to make sure Eileen tasted her traditional Portuguese dessert. Each time Eileen sees Irmã Rosaria she is greeted with minha amiga (my friend).

The Mission Christmas Festa was the next major event. On December 21st over 100 missioinaries convened in the Oeiras chapel for both a spiritual and physical feast. President Torgan and his beautiful wife Rosa taught all of us about the love of the Saviour and how it helps us, especially during this time of year. The more we emulate the Saviour the more joy we will enjoy in this life and beyond. We had an incredible group of missionaries with great big smiles and lots of hugs.

Rosa Torgan and Eileen at Irmãs Table



Eileen ended up at the Irmãs table with Rosa Torgan and lots of big smiles. Irmã Howard behind Eileen was to be on an airplane on the way to Minnesota to be with her family (after 18 months away) but the flight was cancelled due to snow in Paris so she was on her way the next day.

Elder McLean (from Pleasant Grove and a Gale relative somewhere back there) and Elder Rodrigues (Cabo Verde) sat across from us during dinner, making the time extra special for us. The closeness of the group personified the gospel of Jesus Christ and the love we can and should have for each other.

No matter what country, skin color or language, everyone was a brother or sister at this event and made it a great success. We ended the day with a white elephant exchange that had everyone involved. The last hour we enjoyed some inspirational remarks from Elder Rocha and President Torgan. Some abraços and fond farewells and many were on buses back to their areas, some with 4-5 hour trips ahead of them.

President Moroni and Irmã Rosa Torgan

Irmã Torgan put it all together with Kent and Eileen packaging the 100+ gift bags for the missionaries. Eileen spent almost 5 hours making 200 plus peanut butter cookies (small oven meant lots of batches) to be combined with the Rosa Torgan cookies. Nothing like homemade cookies to warm the spirits on a cold winter´s night (come on, it was below 50 degrees!).

Christmas morning found 17 missionaries at our home to share Christmas with us. We had a wonderful feast as the Irmãs made a huge fruit salad while Elder Keller and Wohlman cooked the bacon. We added scones and eggs with lots of chocolate milk and peanut butter for a celestial style meal. It was an amazing day with incredilbly unselfish young men and young women.

Christmas wouldn´t be right without some great Christmas Carols. Elder Bezerra (Forteleza Brasil-front left) was enjoying his last Christmas in Portugal with a plane trip home coming in just two short months. The terrific thing was that these young men knew how to sing and sang in harmony. And....they loved singing. We just basked in it all and enjoyed the entire day with different missionaries, with Elder Stanley leaving at around 5pm after he had written about the whole event in his journal. This was a time worthy for our journals toooooo!