Dressing up the Town!!
Christmas is a wonderful season and that is no exception here. The City Center is full of lights and Praça Velha has booths to sell foods and Christmas crafts. They have a play house and after this picture was taken, there is a big Christmas tree with a little house for Santa Claus to greet the children.
Every weekend - Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, the praça is full of activity and people.
Here is Santa's chair. We would occasionally see a Santa sitting, but since we weren't there during the activity time, we didn't see the children talking to him.
Each street has its own style of light decoration!
The white poles holding up the lights are removable and are placed in receptacles built into the cobblestone sidewalk.
The poles are used many times during the year -- often, when a street has a 'festa' or party, they put the poles up with the decorations for that weekend.
This is the Church on Rua Sé, one of the main churches in the city. You don't see a lot of nativities around the town (Praça Velha doesn't have one). We would drive past this one every time we went home.
And inside the first doors, before actually entering the church they had this nativity set out.
This is the inside decoration in our Church building -- and VERY traditional.
Every family makes a Christmas scene (and it usually doesn't have 'snow') at the base of the Christmas tree.
After putting down a plastic protection cover, they cover it with sand and put small green plant branches or rocks around the outside. Then the inside is what you want. Some have nativity scenes. Some have trains.
This scene was hand made by a member of the branch. Admittedly it doesn't have a nativity scene, but the houses and churches are all from Angra! The detail was really incredible!!
One day we were surprised to find 8-10 small Christmas trees 'planted' in the cobblestone pedestrian walkway that is the continuation of our street. We walk that every day and wondered what was going on. They had to take up some of the cobblestones and dig a hold and put the tree in.
And then another day, just at the right time, we were going to the church and lo and behold, each tree was surrounded by a group of school children, all decorating their tree with handmade ornaments. It was a fun, talking and busy walkway!!! I do not know if each class in one school had a tree or if each school had one tree. There were ages from pre-school age to 8-9 years old. And parents and teachers taking pictures. It was very fun to watch!!!
The children putting up their decorations.
Here are some examples of the ornaments.
All were handmade and used common household items -- often what would have become garbage: toilet paper rolls, yogurt cups, egg cartons, etc.
Under one tree was a nativity with Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus made out of different colors of plastic grocery bags. They would often fall down in the wind, and I always made sure they were still standing.
All were made to be waterproof in case of rain and securely placed in case of wind.
That same day, as I was walking home alone from the church, another surprise at the same place.
Santa Claus had come and it looks like his reindeer did too!
And had a lively band playing music!!
Fortunately I had my tablet with a camera!
Christmas Zone Conference
Every Christmas there is a zone conference -- and complete with a dinner and gift exchange. The missionaries love getting together. We had hoped to join all the missionaries on the continent for the mission conference, but it was not approved for the Azore missionaries to go. So, we had a wonderful time together as the special Azores zone!
The zone includes missionaries from 2 islands -- Terceira and São Miguel. For the Christmas zone conference, the Terceira missionaries took a plane to Ponta Delgada, São Miguel. This is what normally happens and we usually do it in one day. Catch the 7:00 a.m. flight on Terceira and come home on the 7:40 p.m. flight from São Miguel. It makes for an early morning. The Angra elders go to Praia the night before and stay with the elders there. We pick up the sisters in Angra at 5:30 a.m. Dennis drops me and the sisters off at the airport and goes to pick up the Praia and Angra elders. I will take muffins or cinnamon rolls (the 2 times we have gone!) to share for breakfast. We get to the church in Ponta Delgada about 1 1/2 hours early, but that is the only choice of flights.
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| Waiting for the meeting to start! |
Lunch time and it was time to climb into the bus ordered just for us to travel from the church building to the São Miguel branch of Quinta dos Açores, a local restaurant specializing in hamburgers that the missionaries love!!
Ready to eat. There were so many of us it took some time to get everyone served.
But it is good food!
Meet Quieta, the Quinta dos Açores cow. She is at the entrance of both Quinta's (one in Angra, one in Ponta Delgada), welcoming all to the restaurant.
You always need a picture standing next to Quieta!!! Right, Sisters Doman and Harper???
The Açores Zone.
The zone leaders are playing hookie in the tree house!!
After lunch, we returned to the church for the annual gift exchange!!
Sister Landbeck is thrilled with her gift! The Assistants are proud owners of aprons from the Azores. Sister Mills and I exchanged gifts -- even though it was a random drawing!!
Then it was over and time to go to the airport for the 35 minute flight home. It had been a long day and our Angra missionaries were taking advantage of every minute of the flight!
We love being with the missionaries!!
Celebrating Christmas with the Angra Branch.
One activity sponsored by the missionaries was a "Give the Gift of the Book of Mormon" program. We took pictures of each person/family and made copies for them to put in the Book of Mormon.
We had 2 nights that the members could come and write a testimony in a Book of Mormon and glue in their picture. They then wrapped it with ribbon and a bow.
It was a good activity and one nice benefit is we have some pictures of some very special people in our lives now. The Sisters liked my snowflakes as a background and asked me to make some. That was easy!! But they had to tape them up!!
Every branch and ward has a Christmas party and celebration!!! The brethren spent every night the week before the party getting things ready.
This mural was painted the year before. It just needed to be on the wall!
To hang it up, they got large cane stalks, hooked together for the whole width. Then the picture was attached to the cane and hung with fishing line from the ceiling. It was quite a project. They then 'built' a small stable, covered with tree fronds and complete with a manger, ready to re-enact the birth of Christ.
The Angra Branch Primary all ready for the Nativity Play!!
After the children were in place, the program focused on the gifts we receive -- and can give. There were 10 narrators and between each a song. As the branch music chairman, I was in charge of the music. Our choir sang its inaugural song, "With Wondering Awe", (in Portuguese, of course). That was a new hymn for them and it sounded very good. We even had the Tabernacle Choir help us with 2 songs!!
And as music chairman, I joined with Inez for 'Away in a Manger'.
Just after the dinner, I was at Continente Hipermercado (the big grocery store here) and they were just putting out bunches of the leaves. They were so green and fresh looking, I had to buy some. I tried to make the soup and learned a lot!! I have made it a couple of time since and it is so good!!
Here we are, waiting for the dinner to be served. Come meet some of our friends in the branch!
Top left corner and clockwise:
Johnny, (who is from Cape Verde!) is the Elder's quorum president, Paulina is a good friend and helped me get a stain out of my coat that I wear every where and everyone noticed it
The Arruda family: Letícia loves to help lead the music in Sacrament Meeting (she is 3 years old)
Mariana, my piano student and Julia.
Bro. Lemen, our American serviceman, and Bernardo, who was baptized just 2 months before
Fátima, on left, baptized in September and is working on her family history in Terceira (great records online!!) and Maria who loves to come to church, but depends on her daughter's schedule for a ride
Teresa & her daughter Marisa (the FHC director), Ana, my first VT companion,
Nair, Paulo and Eduarda, our choir director and ME (Janet)!!
Tradition!!!
How can we have Christmas without our traditional Cookie Decorating Party!!
We are all very intently working on our cookie creations.
It is serious business!!!
Hmmm. What do I need now???
The cookies are very decorated.
But I think Lara is cuter!!!
Some good looking cookies. Every one had a fun time!!
The Cabral girls had cute Christmas hats that had twinkling lights.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year for children!
Milene and her children, Junio and Lara.
Christmas Eve
We were invited to join the Alves family (with 2 of their children and families, including Paulo and Nisa Cabral from the cookie party). It was in Paulo and Tania Alves home and we followed Luis and Nair (the grandparents) to it. I am not sure I could ever find it again!! It was like a maze. Fortunately, we marked it on the GPS, but have not had the need to go there yet.
We were joined (and also followed by) Eric Lemen, an American stationed on the base.
Fortunately, all the Alves family speak English so he was very much a part of the group!
And Eric brought the elders from Praia as well.
They are working on the 1st course of the dinner, a delicious Portuguese soup (after the appetizers).
Just to prove we WERE there!!
Enjoying the soup as well.
Portuguese soups are very light, but very flavorful in a natural way.
We like them very much.
Father and Son.
And they knew something we didn't. There were at least 4 courses in the dinner.
We were hungry and started enjoying the appetizer,
and the soup
and the salad
and the 3-4 kinds of main dishes, including roast turkey, fresh, raw cod fish (Tania's favorite), potatoes, etc. etc. etc. and all very good
and finally, dessert - at least 5 different choices. I was absolutely stuffed!! Even more than after Thanksgiving dinner. It was all amazingly good. Thank you Nair, Nisa and Tania!!
It was fun, during the time between dinner and the program, to watch grandpa play with his grandkids.
Christmas is certainly about families being together. We loved being in a family setting and thought of our children, gathering in their families for this special night and day.
The Christmas Eve group. Eric and the Missionaries had to leave earlier -- time curfew for the missionaries and Eric was making Christmas breakfast for some of the fellows in his group who didn't have families here (actually, his family is also in the States). He didn't want to be too late as there was a lot of cooking the next morning!
Thank you to the Alves Family for a wonderful evening of talk, laughter, feeling the Spirit and rejoicing together over the birth of our Savior!
Christmas Morning!!
The Praia missionaries and the Angra sisters came over for a Strueselkuchen breakfast. It was a good way to celebrate!
We are all ready to eat!! Or, as it seems, Elder Stevenson and Puertes have already begun!!
The sisters are Christmas happy and enjoying a cup of hot chocolate!
They found matching sweaters to wear and keep warm.
A happy Senior missionary couple!!
I couldn't let Sister Harper go home (in 2 months from Christmas) without a Terceira cow apron. And might as well make sure all the missionaries have one!!
We also gave them some dry chicken soup packages.
Many times, when a missionary is sick with the stomach flu or a bad cold, they just want to stay in bed and sleep. The last thing they want to do is go out to the store to buy food to help them get better.
The companion can't go alone and so whatever they have in the apartment is all they can use. The soup packages gives the companion something to make for the sick missionary.
A Terceira tradition: go visiting on Christmas Day. Conceição prepared lots of food for the drop in visitors!! After cleaning up after breakfast, we took a Christmas morning walk up to her house to wish her a Merry Christmas. The sisters beat us there!!
Hiking Mount Brasil
For the P-day between Christmas and the New Year, the missionaries wanted to do a hike. They would have like to have done one of the further out hikes, but since we didn't have room in the car for everyone, it was too complicated to go so far. So, we chose the hike on Mount Brasil, closest to home, meeting at our apartment. Marco, a local member, went with us. He had been in the military (who controls a fair amount of Mount Brasil and those areas are off limits to tourists.) He had done many night training maneuvers and had tromped all over the mountain. He was a good guide!!
Here we are on the lower road/path that gives a great view of Angra and the ocean.
And here is the view. Because it is winter, the trees are bare and we get even more of a view of the city. You can see the curve into our beach -- and our apartment is just above it. So, we look at the reverse view every day!!
And you always need a group jump. Thank goodness for senior missionaries who don't jump!!
We cannot go any lower as it is a restricted military zone. Marco was telling us of the mock battles there that he participated in.
On top of the world!! The sky and ocean are fascinating to watch!!
Looking down into the military base.
You go past the entrance of the base when you begin your hike on the mountain.
Well the holiday season is almost over. Just have New Year's Eve. We celebrated this night with the Alves family as well, but this time at the Cabral's. But, after Christmas I was aware that there would be several courses of the meal and not to eat so much at the first.
I did well, enjoying everything, but trying to stay in control. I think it was the 4th course which was chicken, and other main dishes. They were delicious. I was comfortably full.
And then the REAL main dish came -- Alcantra, a dish only on Terceira. It is meat that is cooked in a special sauce, very slowly, and in a clay pot that is made here on the island. It is tender, and so good!! You eat it with bread, by dipping the bread in the meat juice/sauce. I was more than stuffed!!! (Again. Sigh.)
I hardly ate any of the most delicious desserts (at least 5 -- I did contribute to this part, lemon bars and coconut oaties cookies).
The sister get a big hug from Nair. The missionaries had a no-excuse, do-not-be-late-under-any- circumstances curfew of 10:00. So, they had to leave a little early.
Our missionaries are obedient!
Dennis took them home and then he came back for fun!!
We introduced the Chocolate Game (opening a chocolate bar only using knives. And you only get a chance when you roll doubles in dice). It was fun watching the 3-year old carefully placing the 2 dice so that each had the same number on top and running to get the chocolate pan. Or another daughter would take one of the dice pans into the corner and roll many times to get that double.
Passing the dice plates. Hurry up, Pedro. Madelena has another one!
We find it works faster to have 2 plates of dice going around the circle. Even then, sometimes a person has a lot of time to get some chocolate.
And often you just get the chocolate pan and have to give it up immediately! Boa Sorte! (Good Luck)
Paulo's turn to get some chocolate. Looks like that bar of chocolate is just about gone!
Samuel, you will get some chocolate. Keep working!!
João Pedro, you almost have some and just a few pieces left. Everyone was good to cut into small pieces before eating!!
Maria Paula, you have to give up the chocolate pan when someone else gets doubles!!!
At midnight, there were fireworks over Mount Brasil. You didn't get much of a view from the Cabral's home. But we sure had fun!!
We knew the season was over when the Christmas trees on the pedestrian way began to turn brown and soon were removed and the stones replaced so you couldn't even tell a tree had been there. The lights and pole went down. Most of the booths on Praça Velha, the play house and Santa's house disappeared. And the window displays were changed.
But one thing stayed the same -- Our celebration that Jesus Was Born. He came to earth with a difficult mission to perform. And because of his love for us, and his desire to obey His Father, we can have our sins forgiven and return to our Heavenly Father's presence. That should be our celebration every day of the year and especially when we go to church and partake of the Sacrament in remembrance of his marvelous atonement.
He lives!
