portugal experiences

We love you and thank you for the photos, videos, and visits this week during our family reunion.  Although never a secret since your first baby breath against my cheek, but our hearts find that the love we have for each of you continues to grow and again, we find our greatest joy and treasure in family. Thank you for being Wonderful!  We missed those who could not attend this time, but so glad for those who could... and thankful for the technology that makes so very far away seem a tiny bit closer.  Because we love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we want to tell the whole world about Heavenly Father's Plan for Families!  We spent time at the Archives in Moura this week trying to find ancestor information for a family in Evora.   Our friend, Paula, helped me with my Relief Society lesson by printing copies of Elder Uchtdorf's conference talk for the sisters.  She came to church with us also; it was so nice to have her there.   Julia Abreu lives n...

Elise was baptized by her Father, (President Samuel) of our Evora Branch. Our font in Evora is a plastic material stretched over a styrofoam type base...like a hot tub really. We love this sweet family and all of the work they do to help the Evora Branch. Sister Barcellos gave a wonderful talk about Angels (She definitely is one!) at our Zone Conference in Setubel on Tuesday.  She has a wonderful way of inspiring all of us! President Barcellos is a dynamic leader and makes us all want to work even more to teach with our hearts as we share the Great News of the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ. We can feel their great love for Our Savior.   President and Sister Barcellos and their family are loved by all the missionaries...including us. We were able to go to the Temple in Lisbon the next day for a Sisters' Conference and a Session at the Temple (with the couple missionairies in Portugal and on the Azores).  So fun to meet some of the new couples that we haven...

We had the wonderful opportunity to interview Brother and Sister Rocha on behalf of Brother Doug Holt...a former Mission President here in Portugal and gatherer of Historical records for the Church.  What another delightful visit we spent with these two members of our Evora Branch!  We went with an outline but with their friendship we often laughed and had to get back on track...so after quasi 6 hours of recording their story, we also had lunch with them.  We made a lunch for them and they for us, so we put ours in their fridge for them to enjoy later.   Antonio Rocha was the first Portuguese Missionary.  He had a part in introducing the Church to Portugal and has had so many experiences along the way.  As each convert, his story is both amazing and unique.  For Antonio, his struggles, the travels, the sacrifices, the funny times, temptations, and trying times all tied together formed a firm testimony of The Gospel of Jesus Christ in his heart....

Ricardo chose to be baptized on the 29th of June at 8 pm. The Beja Branch came to support Ricardo and his wife, Sheila. What a special evening for all of us! Presidente Paulo (in the black shirt) asked us to put 'special musical number' on the program.  What a sweet surprise for all of us when he sang a beautiful solo of 'I heard Him Come' (in Portuguese). The speakers were well prepared and the program was just right. Ricardo invited his brother to come and after the program, Moisés, told me that he felt something he had not felt before.  He tried to describe his feeling but he said he could not tell us what it was, he was just happy and felt much love.  He came back to the Church on Sunday for the Confirmation of Ricardo.  We have two missionaries in the Beja branch that will be happy to teach Moises if he wants to know more. I asked him to let us know.  Last night when we got home, I saw that he had friended us on facebook.  We love this family.   J...