Trip to Lisbon 2 -- Taught and Inspired

It was Friday morning and President Alves called to invite us to attend the Priesthood leadership training by Elder David A. Bednar on Saturday, May 21 -- 8 days away. It was for all Presidents of stakes and district, bishops and branch presidents and Dennis qualified doubly!!

At first we asked if it would be better for a local member to attend, but President Tavares felt it best for Dennis to attend. We had known about Elder Bednar's trip as on Friday, May 20, there was a missionary training session for the whole mission -- at least the whole mission except those serving in the Azores!! It is just too expensive to fly everyone to Lisbon for a 3 hour meeting! We decided that if we were going for Saturday, we might as well go one day earlier and attend the missionary training as well! We managed to get a flight! So, on Thursday, we abandoned our missionaries on Terceira and flew to Lisbon!!

Sister Tavares told us there was plenty of room in the Mission home for us to stay. Elder and Sister Roberts were coming up from the Algarve bringing with them 6 missionaries. We all fit in the mission home and it was a fun party!! We enjoyed renewing our friendship with the Robert's. They arrived just about a year previous and then they went down to the Algarve and we went to the Azores.

Friday morning, we all went to the Benfica Chapel where all the missionaries were gathering.

First order of business was preparing for the mission photo with Elder Bednar. We had to make sure that every person's face could be seen. It was quite a job, but I think our practice photo came out pretty good! However, Elder Bednar's flight was delayed from Porto and he arrived after we had started the meeting with the song and prayer. And, because it was late when the meeting ended, he and all with him left while we were singing the closing song. So, this IS the mission picture!! These are some of the finest young people in the world!! We love our missionaries.

 

We were so glad to meet Elder and Sister Hoffman!! (on left) They had just arrived in Portugal the day before and were still dealing with jet lag! They are working in the office -- SOOOO needed!!


And it was great to spend time with the Roberts again.

 Another blessing was reconnecting with missionaries we had served with both in Alverca and the Azores. Sister Doman, sitting next to me, had just been transferred from the Azores. After working together for 6 months, it was wonderful to see her again.

Also, I talk to lots of missionaries with medical needs and references and it was fun to actually see them in person! I think they were also interested to see the person they talked to as well!

All the missionaries gathered in the chapel -- about 150 or so of them!! They wanted us to be quiet and reverent in preparation for the meeting. It was hard for them because they enjoy see former companions, trainers, trainees, etc.

Elder Foutz, another of our Azores missionaries who was transferred back to the continente, is an excellent pianist and brought a reverent atmosphere!

Sister Tavares and the assistants are conferring about the program.







We were very grateful when Elder Bednar entered the chapel. We were taught, not just by words, but by example. He is a master teacher and I need to ponder on how he taught and how I can follow that example.

He then opened up the time for questions from the missionaries. They asked very insightful questions -- and again, we were taught by word and example.

Elder Bednar was accompanied by his wife, Elder Johnson one of the Seventy and his wife, and Elder Morreia, the area seventy with responsibility for Portugal and his wife.

Often, when a question was asked, Elder Bednar would invite one of his companions to give their answer. Here is Elder Johnson teaching us!

Sister Bednar shared some wonderful insights -- she is truly a helpmeet for Elder Bednar.

The brother on the right is the translator for the speakers. It is a lot of work to translate, and he did a very good job. I actually enjoy that. I hear it in English and then hear how they say the same thing in Portuguese.


The Saturday morning training began at 10:00. The brethren went into the chapel and the sisters into a large classroom. Elder Bednar came into our session for a short amount of time and I appreciate his counsel and his answers to questions posed by the sisters. Sister Bednar and Sister Johnson talked and then we adjourned for lunch.

We were completely done eating when the brethren were adjourned for lunch. Elder Broderick hardly had time to eat before the call to return to the chapel was sounded!! Part of the problem was we met several of our friends from Alverca -- the new bishop who was a counselor in the bishopric when we were there, the new Primary president who we enjoyed a family home evening with and is such a wonderful person. Unfortunately, Elder Broderick was so busy talking and then trying to eat as much as he could before going back to the training, that we didn't get any pictures!! But they were there!!

The sisters were free for the rest of the day, but the brethren had 2 more hours of training. One thing I noticed is that Elder Bednar (and I assume all the other apostles and seventies) don't waste any time. I sometimes wondered when he ate or slept! After the missionary training on Friday, he left  a little early so they could get to Oeiras for a meeting with all the adult members. There was another meeting that evening after the 4-5 hour training on Saturday. And there was another general membership meeting Sunday morning for the Lisbon area stakes. Their example of untiring work to teach and inspire the saints is a good one to follow.

We returned to the mission home, got our bags and the executive secretaries took us to the airport. They were in a little hurry as they had to pick someone up and then get to the evening meeting. They didn't want to miss a moment being taught by an apostle!!

An interesting ending of our trip. To get to your gate in the Lisbon airport, you HAVE to wind through the duty free stores. We were interested in the warning label on the cigarette packages. Fumar mata (Smoking kills).

or: Fumar prejudica gravemente a sua sáude e a dos que o rodeiam. (Smoking seriously harms your health and the health of those around you)

or: Fumar provoca o envelhecimento da pele (Smoking causes aging of the skin).

I wish the people would realize the damage they do to their body and to their spirits when they smoke.

I wish they would heed the warning labels!!



Our spirits were lifted and inspired with the words of a prophet!! We are so grateful for the wonderful privilege to be members of a church that has Christ as it head and has prophets who listen and then teach. I know that is true!! If we would listen and act according to the words of the prophets, that is the only warning voice we would need!!

Igreja da Miscericórdia

The Igreja da Miscericórdia (the Church of Mercy) is about a 5 minute walk from our house. We often walk past it on our morning exercise walk and since the renovation of the roads leading to it and around it have been completed, we drive past it daily as a way to avoid the busy traffic and pedestrians on Rua da Sé. In the past few weeks, the church itself has had a face lift with a new coat of blue and white paint. It looks the same, but there is no peeling paint!!!

First a history lesson, thanks to Wikipedia! The site first housed the first hospital that was founded in 1492. The current building was began in 1728 and finally dedicated in 1746, It is currently owned by the Santa Casa da Miscercordia da Angra do Heróismo.

It is open on Mondays and the sisters wanted to see it. It was a perfect small, close by P-day activity.

Here is the coat of arms. The crown on the top is VERY Terceirean!! It represents the Holy Ghost and is found every where on building, in displays and in people's houses.

They have a 7 week long Holy Ghost festival, from Easter to Pentecost with very prescribed activities, parties, food etc.

We are not sure what the rest of the symbols mean.









Entering the church, below is the apse.

One of the niches!

Front and corner -- obviously around Christmas time or after. 

A close up of the nativity scene.









 

Some ceilings!!





Pretty much all the walls, ceilings and columns are painted. They are very good at simulating marble and other stone features.

We had total freedom to go and explore throughout the church.

Sisters Doman and Harper climbed the steep stairs to this place, looking down on the congregation and pews.





We were able to find the stairs that lead up to the upper rooms where there were some fun views of Angra and our local neighborhood. It was a very different perspective!

First, looking directly down to the street. 

Skimming across the tops of the buildings (our apartment is probably not in the picture, but would be just to the right if we moved the camera a bit. You can see the Chruch of Sé, the other large church in the area. Both Churches have their hourly bells, 1 bell for quarter hour, 2 for the half hour, 3 for the 3/4 hour and finally 4 for the hour that is then followed by a lower toned bell tolling the hour.  Somehow they coordinate which church rings the hourly bells as usually you do not hear them both at the same hour.

Looking out the opposite side, we see the houses on the hill going down to the ocean! We often walk in that area for our morning walks. Lots of good hills to climb!!

We enjoyed visiting the church closest to us.

Recently, we saw an announcement of a choir concert in the church. It was close. It was free. Perfect!! We enjoyed again the church and this time appreciated the wonderful acoustics these churches have. No need for microphones!! The first choir did several cultural songs. The second, a little more polished, did many songs we recognized that the Mormon Tabernacle did --- and in English. An added treat for me.

Trip to Lisbon -- Keeping legal and Having Fun!

We returned to Lisbon 2 times within a month for various reasons. Each trip was wonderful. I couldn't come up with a single picture to represent this post, the first trip, so decided to use the Cristo Rei (Christ the King). He should be the center of our lives.

Trip 1 -- Mission and medical needs

When we arrived in Portugal, our visa was good only for 90 days. During that time you need to get a temporary residency card, which we did. However, that card is only valid for one year and thus, in April we needed to go back to Lisbon to renew it. Elder Broderick also needed to renew his driver's license as the law in Portugal is you HAVE to renew your driver's license when you turn 65! Sister Broderick's license is good until her magic 65 birthday next March and we will be in the USA by then. Dennis also had an eye appointment with an eye doctor to make sure all was well!

The good news: We had an appointment Wedensday morning for SEF (residency card) and it went pretty quickly -- not the very long waits that could happen. Good!!

Dennis had his mandatory doctor's appointment to make sure he was breathing, alive and could see well enough. Once we found the office (again), it was a quick in and out. Which was helpful as I was sitting in the car in maybe not so good place to park. That way, I could move the car if needed, which it wasn't. Very Good.

At that point, we were near the DMV equivalent in Portugal where you can't make an appointment. Last time we were there for 4 hours! We decided to take the chance and go even though it was later in the afternoon. We finally found a parking space nearby. It was a pay spot, but I stayed in the car to pay if needed and he went in to see how long the line was. He came out about 30 minutes later and was DONE!!! Very, Very Good!!  Or Óptimo!! as they would say in Portuguese.

We now had ALL day Thursday to play until his doctor's appointment Friday morning. We were flying out late Friday afternoon. (And his eye is just fine!!! VERY, VERY, VERY, Good!)

So here is the fun!!

We arrived Tuesday afternoon and the office elders picked us up and took us to the Anderton's apartment/Self Reliant Center in the center of Lisbon. They were in the first day of a meeting of the various self-reliant leaders in several countries. We were so pleased that the countries included Cape Verde and renewed our friendship with 2 well-known friends!

James, on the left, lives on São Vicente and was in our branch in Mindelo.

Lucilino Mendonça lives in Praia and we worked with him in our humanitarian work.


It was wonderful to see them and catch up on their lives.



Here are our Cape Verde friends with the missionary couples who are the Self-Reliant specialists for the entire country of Portugal. They basically divide up the country in two and travel to the various wards and branches to help set up self-reliance groups. The Church has a wonderful programs to help members (or anyone who wants to attend) find/better employment, set up their own business, or get more schooling. The Education workshop is a requirement to get a PEF loan. In the middle of the group is Elder and Sister Anderton and the Neisweinder's are on the right. They have been in Portugal since November and February. They were very kind and generous to us, going on outings in the city and taking us where we needed to go. Thank you So Much, Elders and Sisters!!

Tuesday night was a quiet one for us. The Self-Reliance meeting group went to the aquarium and to dinner. We decided to stay at the apartment and relax. We took a late afternoon stroll along the busy Lisbon streets!

Lisbon, like most of Europe, uses roundabouts for cars to make their turns. (There are street lights, but the big intersections are roundabouts.)

And there is always some kind of decorations. Many of the big roundabouts have a sculpture, like on the right.

This is the statue of the Marquis of Pomball, a famous nobleman from the 1700's who was both hated for his power-grabbing atrocities and venerated for his great service to the Lisbon area after the 1755 earthquake that devastated the city.

Very near the apartment is the indoor bull-fighting arena. It is like most sporting places with stores and things around the outer corridor. The inside arena was very plush and beautiful, hardly what you would think a bull fight arena would look like. We could only see it peeking through the windows in the doors. But the building is a big landmark in the area.








 
Thursday was a completely open day! Elder and Sister Neiswender picked us up at the Anderton's apartment and we were off. We first tried to find parking in the big tourist place in Lisbon, but tourist season was just starting to heat up and where there was normally parking, everything was full. So, we decided to cross the 25th of April bridge. It is named for the day Portugal declared independence from the dictator, the same day we were married in 1974! It is also almost a carbon copy of the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge!

On the top of the hill above the southern anchorage, is the Cristo Rei monument. The above picture of the bridge is taken from the top of the monument.

At the base of the statue, looking up.

View looking down from the top of the monument!!

View of Lisbon across the river.

Proof we were both there!! It is nice to be with someone else to take a picture.

At the base of the monument was a sanctuary lined with very modern pictures, much different from the paintings in the older churches.





We drove back to Lisbon and this time went to the metro station, Marquis of Pombal, very close to the statue and took the Metro into the central city.


Once there, there are 3 main ways for a tourist to get around to the sites:

These 3-wheeled cars, called Tuks, are everywhere. To find a tourist to give a tour of the city, they drive around, looking for someone who looks like they would like a ride! You can also get one from the company 'store'. Some have room for only 2 customers, or like the one on the right, they can fit in more, if available.

Tuk Tuk is one of the companies.

You can walk or you can take the trolley, which was our choice. Much less expensive and much more adventuresome.

I enjoyed riding the trolley, looking at the shops as we past.

At one place, we were passing some trolleys stopped on the other side of the road. Unfortunately, there was a line of cars behind them and because of parked cars in their lane, they couldn't go around the other trolleys because we were there. We couldn't continue because the cars were in our lane. A real Trolley jam! Finally, some of the cars pulled over onto the sidewalk and the last 2 cars backed out of the narrow part and went on another road. We were free to move forward.

Go Portugal!!


We were on our way to the São Jorge castle way up on the hill. (Another fun part of the trolley -- reminded me somewhat of San Francisco!). We got off the trolley where you continued to walk up the hill to the castle. But first we were hungry. We found a little cafe near the stop and enjoyed lunch.

  Castelo de São Jorge -- São Jorge Castle

 OK, here is the history lesson, thank you again Widipedia. First, there is so much history to this place it is impossible to tell it all here. In brief: 60 BC, first fortifications probably built -- by Romans. 10th Century: Moors build a wall around it. 12th Century: the castle and the city of Lisbon were freed from Moorish rule in 1147 by Alfonso Henriques and northern European knights in the Siege of Lisbon during the Second Crusade. Then there were lots of renovations, wall building, and fortifications built. In 1498, King Manuel received Vasco da Gama when he returned from finding the route to India. The castle was damaged in the 1755 earthquake and basically was left to decay. It continued to house garrisons of soldiers, etc. In 1947, Salisar began some restoration and the work of preservation continued to today. So, very short, missing LOTS of details of kings and wars, and building this and that. but you get the general idea!!

View of Lisbon and the Tagus river from the walls of the castle.

 One of the outer courtyards.

There is a walkway around the walls of the castle which gives you views of inside and out!

 More walkway.

 Looking down on an inside courtyard

Window in the wall looking over Lisbon.

Inside one of the complete buildings is a museum chronicling the many years -- really centuries -- of the castle's history.

Some of the original tile work.

Down near the restaurant where we had lunch was a church of the Maltese Christians with their Maltese Cross.

Across the street from the restaurant was a tile wall picture of Lisbon.

Thank you, Elder and Sister Neiswender for a very fun day!!!!

Eating is always a fun experience with friends. The Andertons and the Neiswenders are wonderful people and are doing a marvelous work despite many challenges. We love our fellow missionaries. They are truly the salt of the earth!

Friday -- the fun is not over yet!!!

After a longer than expected eye doctor's appointment (an hour or more to dilate an eye??), we didn't have a lot of time to sight see before our 6:00 flight that afternoon. With Lisbon a much larger and busier airport, I wanted to be there no later than 4:15.

When Dennis and Elder Anderton returned from the doctor's, it was basically lunch time so we found a nearby cafe to eat lunch and then launched out into the Lisbon streets. The Andertons have been here since November and during the low tourist time, it was easy to get from one place to another. But this Friday afternoon was a different story -- the tourists were arriving!!

First we went to a huge cemetery, one like I had never seen before. It was literally a little village of crypt houses. The windows and doors had curtains. You could look inside some of the windows and see the shelf-lined wall, sometimes each shelf with a casket, some with an empty shelf or two. At the end of the room, where you could see it from the window, was often a picture of the people whose caskets were on the shelves on a small table with flowers (assume fake) and other decorations. There was often a stained glass window letting in some light. It was quite the place. You almost expected someone to come out the doors or answer if you knocked.

A crypt and tree lined street

A mansion crypt!!

À

Memoria

dos

Bombeiros Municipais

de

Lisbon

1875

To the

Memory

of the

Municipal firefighters

of

Lisbon

1875

I can't find any particular event in 1875 with firefighters. So, don't know what this is about other than a general monument to firefighters.

At a Crossroad!

View of Lisbon from the walls of the cemetery.

We had just enough time to visit a church near the cemetery.

Here is modern, but very beautiful one.
















We didn't take a photo of the one we visited, but here are some inside photos:

Time to go!! Slow traffic!!! But we get to the busy airport in enough time but not much to spare.

And home again to our peaceful, quiet island!