portugal experiences

This past week has been amazing and full of every emotion.  Monday we returned home from The Dedication of the Cape Verde Temple. On Tuesday our Ashley had surgery and our hearts were right there with her. She is such a blessing and has tried to assure us how good she is doing even when she was in so much pain. (Such faith, encouragement, and love from her this week, when normally that is our part to do for her).  We are thankful for family who have helped her all week. We sent the 'First Vision' Video to the taxi driver in Cape Verde as he had texted us on Messenger.   The first photo here was taken by Rodrigo but it explains the happiness of Ricardo and Sheila as they were married on Wednesday.  We went to the city building for their wedding and also to their reception that evening at the restaurant where Sheila works.  Inbetween the wedding and the reception, we spent the day finding people who may be interested in the wonderful message of the Plan of Ha...

What Joy to hear an Apostle this past weekend as Elder and Sister Neil L. Andersen came to share their hearts in Cape Verde and to dedicate the Cape Verde Temple in Praia.  President and Sister Roberto Oliveira, serving as the President and Directora of the New Cape Verde Temple invited us to attend the dedication and to stay in their home with them for 3 marvelous  days that will last in our hearts forever.  What an experience to see some of the behind the scenes preparations  and wonderment of the Miracle of a Temple in Cabo Verde.  President and Sister Oliveira are much loved by the Cabo Verdianos and as we walked with them we saw that they are much loved by the woman doing laundry, a man in the store, the apartment security guy, the scheduler at the Temple, and everyone in their path...including us. Such Joy to visit with them again!  They treat us like royalty.  We laugh and cry together...as family and best friends. So many of our young frie...

An appointment fell through...while we were in transit...always the difficult part of a mission, but we had a Book of Mormon referral in a nearby town, so that opened up time to also attend a performance of Ana Janeiro on our way back home.  Ana is the wife of the Director of the Archives in Evora.  It was delightful and I loved it as much as the children did! It was held in the Montemor-O-Novo Community Library, (while waiting for the program to begin, grandpa noticed that the library needed a Book of Mormon in the Religion section. We just happened to have one and they seemed happy to receive it).  Before we left, the thoughtful librarian brought us pamphlets about the town, library, and also a map of Montemor-o-Novo.  Later that evening, Ana wrote us a sweet thank you for coming.   President Santos of the Beja Branch cooking up a feast on Portugal Day!  The activity also included a karioke part and so of course, you know that Grandpa sang:  "An...

Hercinio's first visit to The Temple.  This was Vadinho's second visit. We loved both visits so much! Best friends from Guinea-Bissau.  Both getting their Master's Degrees in The Medical Field. Both are new members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.   What a Marvelous Blessing to attend the Lisbon, Temple together.   Words cannot describe the feelings we had as we witnessed Hercinio and Vadinho baptize each other on behalf of their grandfathers and others.  They know well that the proxy baptisms are an invitation for their ancestors to accept or reject the baptism.  No one makes such an important decision for another, especially one that affects eternity.  Guinea-Bissau doesn't have the Church or it's missionaries yet, but these strong and humble men know the importance of doing this work for their family members; those who have passed away not knowing about sacred ordinances and the Priesthood Authority available on earth to...