Sanjoaninas!!!

Rua da Sé -- all decked out with lights and the Angra do Heroísmo city emblem handing from the arch.When it was time for the parades, the street was  turned it into a pedestrian mall with thousands of people walked up and down waiting for the fun to begin..

Festas -- Parties -- are a way of life in the Açores. And for Angra, the BIG festa is Sanjoaninas! It is always in June, around the 3rd week or so. The party lasts 10 days -- almost 24/7. We were warned about it soon after we arrived -- loud music until 4:00 a.m., no parking, lots of people. And it was pretty much true. To sleep at night, we closed the windows AND the inside wood shutter/doors. Dennis used ear plugs. Sometimes, we didn't even try to drive to our house, but parked the car in the church parking lot and walked the 15 minutes home. By 7:00 the next morning, there were lots of parking on our street when everyone was home in bed, sleeping.

First, Preparation!

The town spent weeks sprucing up, painting buildings, putting out the flower baskets on the light poles.

This is the building next to the Customs office and right in the center of all the festivities. This year it was repainted and new pictures were put in the closed up doors and windows.

It is an empty building, but they got it looking good!!!












Then as the time drew closer, the more specific decorations came out.

Apparently, if you have a balcony along the parade route, you MUST decorate it. Many used flowers like below.

Another option was to hang quilts over the balcony. There were some beautiful, handmade quilts. That was a great show in and of itself!

I suspect each house had its quilt ready for whatever festa was happening! Sometimes we saw hand crocheted quilts which were equally amazing. Here you can also see the light post with the flowers. They lasted to the end of August, to decorate the town through most of the tourist season.

Decorations were placed in any available space. We particularly liked this one. I went to this store a lot -- plastic table covering, t-shirts for grandkids, ribbon for my projects, souvenir aprons, Dad's hat, and sewing machine oil for the hair clippers. It had quite a variety of things!!

The opening day was Friday, June  17 with a big parade. Around 5:00 p.m. they closed Rua da Sé to traffic and laid out the red carpet!! It was fun to walk the street looking at the quilts and enjoying the celebration.

Some people put out chairs to save their place, similar to the Danville parade. But there was room for all. Most of the chairs stayed, chained together, for the whole time. This was not the only parade.

The festa includes many booths spread throughout the city. Most were food places where the popular things seemed to be hamburgers, hotdogs, grilled snails, and ethnic foods from the continent.

There was one big tent with artisan treasures. This was one we particularly liked. The wooden vases, all hand made, were very beautiful. The hand bags on the wall were fun (and homemade). We enjoyed wandering through waiting for the parade to start.

The shoes are something like Dutch wooden shoes -- they have wooden soles with the fabric top and are a traditional shoe to wear in the garden.


The parades don't start until 9-9:30. They have to wait for it to be dark, and everything starts at that time all year round (like concerts). But, if you want a good seat you have to come early!

The Igreja da Sé is set up above the street and has 12-15 steps leading up to it -- perfect for watching a parade on the street below. In fact, that is a main part of the parade route where the TV stations have their cameras and extra lights are set up.


Here the steps are beginning to fill up and it is still quite light outside!

Paulo and his daughter, Julia, had seats on the stairs, but Julia (age 4) needed to find a bathroom and when they returned, the stairs were full and their empty place gone!

We were looking for a place to set our red chairs up to watch the parade and found them at a good place on the route.

It was fun to share the parade with the Cabrals. Their older daughter, Madalena, was in a dance group in the parade. Being here, they could see her better and she could see them!!

The parade begins. The costuming is quite impressive!! These are some dance groups that have a routine as they walk down the street.

And, every group stops in front of the Igreja da Sé to perform.





The theme of the festa is about the ocean, so all the floats had a deep sea theme.

The person on the left with a walkie-talkie is a parade official. They are stationed along the route, communicating with each other to keep things moving along.

Every float and group has a band following that provides music for the dance or whatever.

We were surprised to see this band from Livingston, California, USA!! There are TONS of Acoreanos in the US and especially in Central Valley of California. This band traveled just for this festa!!

Interestingly, 3 members of the band came to church the next Sunday being members of the Church.

We watched the whole parade this night! The next major parade a week later, would last nearly all night. But we were still a little late for missionaries.

And every night there were major music concerts. There was a large stage that you had to pay to enter that had at least 2 concerts (with different artists) every night and sometimes 3. Thus the music until 4 a.m.!  There was a smaller stage near the customs office which is just around the corner from our apartment. That was the source of most of the noise during the night for us. We didn't really hear the big one, and managed to sleep through the smaller one.

The daytime did have some activities as well!! The food venues always opened up at 10:00 a.m.! There was a regatta and the marina was chock full of boats. Some even were anchored in the bay beyond the beach.

Praça Velha was always busy with some activity going on (and that is true most of the year). Here is a band concert on the stage in front of the Cámara Municipal building.









The next major event (for us) was the big all night parade. We didn't stay up all night, though most do. We found an hour and a half, going home around 11 p.m. was sufficient!! This was a fun assortment of many groups, a lot from Terceira, but many from other islands and the continente, who would dance down the street to the music of their own band. There was NO pre-recorded music! It took awhile for all the groups to pass by as they had to keep their distance so as not to mix the sound of the bands. And they always stopped in front of the Igreja da Sé for a performance!

This is a community event and most, if not all, of the groups included children. This was a fun group where the children re-enacted a tourada -- the bull on a rope -- that is very much a cultural reality every summer!! They were all dressed in authentic costumes and and their own 'bull' running the streets!

Another group of children.

Notice, this parade did not warrant the red carpet. They only put it down on the first night.











Below is a video of a few of the groups. The music for each group is provided by their own personal band. And everyone dances and sings!! In the second group (purple costuming), the handsome man in the front on the other side of the street (and then moves closer to us, 2nd in line) is Marco from our branch. He smiles in our direction as he knows we are taking the video!!

Several members were in the parades. It truly is a whole community event.

The last parade was the Children's parade. This wasn't necessarily the children IN the parade, but the parade was for their interest and fun. The deep sea theme continued!!

We are at the beginning of the parade and so all the floats were close together. But what made it fun for the children was the deep sea fish that posed for pictures with the children and generally interacted with them. The costumes were amazing!

We met Fátima sitting on the stairs. She lives near by and enjoys the parade and always sits at the beginning so she doesn't have to stay out too long.

It was fun to share with a friend as Dennis had a home teaching visit. We still are missionaries!!!





Only one more thing to do. Eat at one of the food venues.

We wandered around the 'food court' by the Customs office, and chose some delicious food.








 







We enjoyed the festa, what little we participated in. Admittedly, we were glad to have it end and the more quiet atmosphere of Angra return. It wasn't as crazy as we were warned. I am glad we were there.

New Members!!

Lúcia (on right) and her daughter, Mariana

Although our blog may not give the impression that we are on a mission, we are very busy daily with visits, meetings, lessons, whatever it takes to strengthen a branch and help the missionaries. One great blessing is seeing people accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and see their joy as they follow the example of Jesus Christ and are baptized. Portugal is not a high baptizing mission and every one is precious to us!!!

Lúcia

Above is a photo the first baptism of 2016 in Angra, Lúcia Matos.  She has had many difficulties in her life with health issues and depression. It was December 24, 2015 when Elder Crawford and Lowry knocked on her door. For her, it was a door that opened to a new hope and light that she had not had!! Dennis was able to go with them for several lessons and Janet attended a couple as well.

She was baptized  on February 21 and I have never seen such radiant light in a face before. She savored the wonderful feeling of being clean after the baptism. She has brought a sense of joy to our branch.

She continues to have health problems, but finds strength and comfort in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. She loves her pequeninos (means little children), the missionaries who taught her, though Elder Crawford was at least 6' 6" tall and Elder Lowry fairly tall as well. It was hard to have Elder Lowry transferred and then the next transfer, Elder Crawford went back to the continent. She still loves to have the missionaries around, but misses the pair that taught her the gospel.

She is serving in the Young Women's program as a counselor. (Not as big a calling as in a full ward. There are only 3 young women!) She loves to cook and loves to serve others. Her main sorrow is her daughter and husband are not interested in learning more about the gospel. We appreciate that they support her in her activities in the Church and do not keep her from participating fully. In fact, her daughter was very supportive of her being baptized when her husband had some concerns. Mariana took the lessons, but wasn't ready to make some changes in her life. Some day.

After Lúcia's baptism.

We always have some kind of social gathering (with food, of course). For her baptism, Lúcia made some pretty delicious dishes.

Laura

Our next baptism was Lara Amaral. She is the sister of Marco, one of our active members in the branch. So, she has known about the church for some time. I am not exactly sure what happened, but she suddenly decided it was time to listen to the missionaries. She was taught by the sisters and was baptized in March by her brother. She and Lúcia have become good friends, being the newbies in the branch. They are very different. Lúcia is very energetic and shows her emotions. Laura is much quieter (and calmer) and isn't quite so open. I really enjoy being around Laura. She keeps things on an even keel!!

Laura with her brother, Marco and her missionaries, Sisters Doman and Hart

Janet worked with her on the Relief Society Activity committee and she had lots of good ideas. Her challenge is influence of friends that sow seeds of doubt. She loves the gospel and the scriptures, but is having a bit of a challenge with church. But, I think she is missing the feeling of belonging to a group of good people and serving. 

Isabel

We will now jump over to Praia for our next baptism, Isabel. Isabel had been an investigator some time before but didn't get baptized. Then, one Sunday, she came to church with her daughter, age 2 years old. The missionaries began teaching her again and she decided to get baptized.

Isabel has had a very difficult life. She had a head injury as a teenager and still has great difficulty reading. She is in the process of getting a divorce and was living in a home for mothers with children. She didn't really like it there, but that was the only place she could go to have housing. She told us that when she came to church, she felt something different, something good. And she wanted to have it in her life. 

Isabel on her baptism day with her branch president (Dennis), her missionaries Elders Thomas and Haroldson and her daughter.

She has since moved to the continent near Évora as her boyfriend needed work and her uncle has a farm there with employment. We worry about her and her daughter. We hope the light she has felt as she learned about the gospel will continue to guide her in the true path.

Frank

It was a cold, rainy night  in January and Frank was sitting in a cafe/bar watching the end of a professional soccer game. Two young women came in and he thinks he acknowledged them, but isn't completely sure. However, after the game was over (and his team won), he went over to them and said Hi and offered to buy them a beer. "No, thank you!!" the sisters missionaries answered. They talked some and then he offered to take them home. "No, thank you" they answered. They got his contact information and then they left, going out into the cold and rain. Frank was so impressed that they would come here to teach about Christ and endure such difficult conditions. He thought there must be something to this church!

He started taking the lesson, meeting the sisters at 9:00 at night after milking his 30+ cows. Frank was actually born in California, but moved to the Açores with his family when he was 12-13 years old. So, he actually likes talking in English and it was a real change for the sisters to teach in English!! We were able to join for many lessons (the sisters had to have another woman in the building) and Frank was determined to learn everything before making the decision to be baptized. And Sister Doman was equally determined to help him see that baptism was only the first step to take and he would learn about the gospel for the rest of his life. He was finally baptized the end of April about a week before Sister Doman was transferred back to the continent at the end of the normal 6 months on the islands. 

Frank with his missionaries, Sisters Hart and Doman, and his branch president who also baptized him.

Frank commented that he had seen the elders walking around many times, but they never stopped to talk to him. With his full beard and long hair, he probably doesn't appear to be one who is interested in religious things. However, he has always lived his life in an ethical and honest way, serves others continually and works hard on his family's dairy farm. Never judge who is ready to hear the good news of the gospel.

Frank has a calling as a counselor in the Young Men's presidency (we just got our 2nd active Aaronic priesthood youth who just turned 12 to join his older brother). He enjoys the various activities of the branch, but often is late as he can't come until the cows are taken care of. That is his main challenge -- finishing milking the cows for 10:00 church. Sometimes he will come to the Praia branch which meets at 3:00 in the afternoon. He loves to talk and tells the funniest stories about the crazy things that have happened to him.

Sandra and Samuel

Sandra was on the street when she was contacted by the elders in Praia. She accepted the invitation to have them visit. She is married to Rui, a very hard working father -- 6 days a week, probably 10-12 hours every day. He doesn't get home until 9:30 or later at night. She has 2 sons, Alexandre age 14 and Samuel, age 12 (he has since turned 13!). Sandra is lots of fun to talk to and Elder Thomas and Haroldson were a great fit for her. We joined them in several lessons since her husband was not home for the lessons.

She really wanted to be baptized, but she smoked cigarettes, only 1-2 a day. But it was an addiction and an important social time with her friends and was very difficult to let go.  She had to have her baptism pushed back one week when she finally was able to do the 10 consecutive days without smoking. 

Samuel was a strong support for her and also was taught and wanted to be baptized. He waited for his mom and they were baptized on July 3. 

Sandra and Samuel with their missionaries, Elders Osborne and Thomas

Sandra is a joy to have in the branch and she is quite the animated talker. She is serving as a counselor in the Relief Society and is getting good training from Manuela, the RS president. Samuel, being 12 years old, has received the Aaronic priesthood and, as a deacon, passes the sacrament every week. He is the only active Aaronic priesthood holder in the branch right now. He is very reverent and respectful as he distributes the sacrament to our small branch. 

Their main challenge is getting to church. They live in Fontinhas, which is about a 10-15 minute drive to the church and their car is not working. The bus schedule on Sunday is pretty sparse and doesn't work well for their needs. She is hoping that in a few months they can afford to get their car on the road, but for now, that is not an option. We often pick them up for church and Manuela gives them rides as well. They don't live that far from Manuela and she is so glad to have a happy, strong member coming to church. She also recognizes that these first few months (and easily up to a year), are so vital in giving support and encouragement to new converts. They have both given their first talks in Sacrament Meeting and participate fully in the activities of the branch.

We are very grateful for our precious converts. It is a life-changing process, becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!! Your whole view of life changes as you come to know the great plan of happiness that God has given us and the central role that Jesus Christ plays in that plan. It brings joy, light and purpose into their lives.

It is also life-changing as you lay aside the cultural activities and beliefs that you grew up with and are still surrounded by. Sometimes, that takes time. We appreciate that our new members work to stay in the church and as they keep coming to church and keep learning and keep deepening their understanding, the things of the world that don't belong in the church will be left behind. 

Our hope is always in Christ. May we always keep Him central in our lives.

 

The Dragoeiro Tree

When we were in Cape Verde, we saw this tree on the island of São Nicolau and were told that it was a very rare tree in Cape Verde and only on that island.

So, we were surprised and pleased to find the tree here in Portugal. There are various trees growing around Angra on Terceira.

So what is the Dragoeira Tree. The translation is "dragon tree". Dracaena draco is a monocot with a tree-like growth habit currently placed in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoidae). When young it has a single stem. At about 10–15 years of age the stem stops growing and produces a first flower spike with white, lily-like perfumed flowers, followed by coral berries. Soon a crown of terminal buds appears and the plant starts branching. Each branch grows for about 10–15 years and re-branches, so a mature plant has an umbrella-like habit. It grows slowly, requiring about ten years to reach 1.2 metres (4 ft) in height but can grow much faster. (Thank you, Wikipedia)

When the limbs are cut, it secretes a red resin -- Dragon Blood!!

I had gathered some of the coral berries last Fall and even tried to get one to grow. But it didn't.

Here is a new plant, relatively speaking. Given the information it is probably about 10 years old!!!


You can see the flower stems.

A closer up view of the many branching limbs. It makes quite a dense tree. They try to estimate the age by figuring out how many branching limbs there are before you get to the canopy.

And there are lots of flower stems on this one!

They apparently do not need a lot of soil to grow.





















You usually see them as a single tree. This tree has a wonderful view!!

The tree is a tropical plant and the Açores are the most northern area that they grow. The southernmost point is Victoria Australia. I doubt that we could grow one in Danville. So we will enjoy our Dragon tree here in Angra!!!

Santa Casa da Misericórdia

The sister missionaries asked us one day if we would like to go with them to Santa Casa -- a home for the elderly (lar de idosos) -- and help them in their weekly volunteer service. It was a fun hour -- we helped the residents play UNO on a huge table. All the cards were face up in front of them and we would help them choose what to play. There wasn't much strategy going on and no matching or stacking!! Then they went to help feed lunch to the bedridden patients and we went home.

We talked about it and decided that was something we could do -- 2 hours, once a week. So, we put in our application. The director was a little unsure about me and my apparent lack of fluent Portuguese. But they accepted us anyway!!

This is the main building. There is an L-wing in the back. If you walk past the building you will come to a rotunda and our Angra church building is on the opposite side of the rotunda. On rainy days or days we are late, we can drive the car, park for free in the church parking lot and walk to the nursing home.

Santa Casa da Misericórdia has been in existence almost from the beginnings of settlement on Terceira.


Obviously, the current building is not an original building, but the crumbling walls and buildings of the more ancient buildings surround the block.

This is the view from the  second story into the vegetable garden. This is early in the Spring and the plants are just starting to grow.









This view is to the right of the above. You can see the remains of an old hospital. The Misericórdia organization is associated with the original Angra hospital and this old one behind Santa Casa. This hospital was replaced by the one across the street from our chapel, very close to Santa Casa, which has since been shut down and replaced by the new hospital way up the hill. We were told that this old hospital was severely damaged in the earthquake of 1980 (not so long ago!!) but was already on it's way out of service.

We had to wait several weeks for our request to be approved and us cleared for service, but finally began volunteering in January going on Friday mornings from 10-12.

All the employees and volunteers wear  color coded uniforms. This is the beginner volunteer's blue bata. Soon after this photo was taken, we received our badges with name and picture. We are official!!

The yellow batas are for the more experienced volunteers.

The batas are kept in a locked 'closet' for the volunteers. That gives us a place to put our own coats, purses, bags etc. where it is safe.


We spend the first hour helping the full-time care or bedridden patients to drink a small cup of herbal tea. That is challenging because they don't swallow well and if you give it to them too fast, using a little sippy cup, they begin to choke and cough. We have a thickener to mix with the tea to help them swallow easier.

Lúcia (on left) and Deolinda are our mentors and fellow workers. The older woman is a resident that can get out of bed and sit in a chair. We offer the tea to everyone -- She probably will drink it herself!

Here we are, in our batas and with the 'tea cart'. We usually get 2 pitchers of hopefully not too hot herbal tea. Sometimes it is hotter than the patients would like, and we pour tea from one glass to another until it is cool enough.

About half way through the patients!! We serve tea in 2 hallways. Sometimes the residents are so asleep, we can't wake them up. Others don't want any or don't drink all that is in the cup (The cups on the lower shelf are the used ones)

Most don't say anything. Sometimes it is just a nod yes or a nod no when we ask if they want some tea. Occasionally, there is 1-2 who like to -- and can -- converse.

Ana is a member of our Angra Branch and works at the Santa Casa as an aide. We usually see her every Friday as the enfermaria (the wing that needs constant nursing care) where we volunteer is her assigned area.

She is also a mother of 3 children, their family has been to the temple and sealed. She is currently a counselor in the Young Women organization. Her youngest daughter just got baptized at 8 years old.









 During the second hour, we go around visiting the many residents in the corridors and sitting rooms. They like to talk, and I try to carry on some sort of conversation. Dennis does much better. We decided they just like to have someone interested in them.

The transport bus. It has many seats which can be taken out for wheelchair residents.

They also have a van that seats 9 or so people. One day, we were asked to go to the day adult center in São Bartolemeu to help with a musical rhythm program that was going to be presented. There were about 6 of us plus the volunteer director who went in the van.




They provide many such activities. On Fridays when we finish helping with the tea cart, there is an exercise class, just helping them to keep some mobility. The exercises are done sitting in the chairs, which for some is still a challenge! Or last week, it was a group playing bingo (black-out). We stayed to help, though most of them were fine.

They have a small computer lab -- about 8-9 computers. Some have keyboard with LARGE keys that make it easier for them to see the letters. Many come to listen to music and/or watch music videos, or sports. One woman is active on Facebook, keeping in touch with her family.

Growing old, while inevitable, is not easy!! We appreciate the care and concern that the patients get from the workers. Every soul is precious!!

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!!