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
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| 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."
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| 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).
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| 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.
