Leading two Branches

On December 13th 2015 Elder Broderick was sustained as the branch president of the Praia da Vitória Branch. Since then we have been serving two branches, attempting to build them both up and prepare them to be more self-sustaining. 

In the photo above members and family of Elder Pedro Ávila have gathered at the Lajes airport to welcome him home from his mission to Madrid Spain. His return injected a lot of new energy into a struggling branch.

This group of priesthood holders and leaders from the Angra Branch participated in the ordination of Carlos Sozinho (the brother without a sweater or jacket) to the Melchizedek priesthood. The difference in the priesthood base between the two branches is enormous. 

The Praia Branch has depended on outside priesthood for leadership for a number of years. Unfortunately that condition is likely to continue, even with returned missionary Pedro.

What is it like to try to lead two branches? There have been, and continue to be a number of challenges, but there is also weekly evidence of God’s sustaining power over and around those who are called.

At the Annual Christmas party members
of both branches mixed very well:
Marisa and Teresa Mendonça from Praia
with Ana Nunes from Angra

Sundays were the first challenge. We had to change the Praia Branch meetings to 3 PM so that we could finish up our service to the Angra Branch and make the 20 minute drive to Praia. That didn’t create a big challenge for Praia Branch members in general. It opened up the opportunity for Angra Branch members to participate in Praia as support. We have one couple who go there every third Sunday and help as asked.

We began with the full three hour block in Praia, but after a few weeks, decided to shorten the schedule to 2 hours. We just didn’t have enough people to staff Sunday school and keep the other meetings going. The second hour is for Relief Society, Priesthood, Young Women, and Primary. We also found that by reducing the number of chairs in the chapel we all felt closer to each other and we had more of a sense of a full group. 

Eric Leman, American serviceman
at the base, served as counselor in
the branch presidency and helped with
rides to events like the Christmas party

Because of the importance of the sacrament time, Dennis found that with two brethren to pass the sacrament it went too quickly. By reducing to one brother, we had more time to contemplate the meaning of the ordinance. Each of these changes improved the spirit of the sacrament meeting experience.

Angra Branch is a much larger group of saints with average sacrament meeting attendance of 60. We have enough children for a primary, about 10 on a good day. We have up to four young women, but only 1 or 2 young men at the most. That will change this fall as the older primary boys turn 12. We have a healthy group in our adult Sunday school classes, including Gospel Principles for newer members.

This branch is sort of split between newer and younger members who support many of the extra activities, and older, longer term members who prefer just coming to Sunday meetings. We have struggled getting a weekday youth program going, but currently have one or two young women activities per month.

Angra Mutual activity, a too rare event

Encouraging Branch Councils

In Angra I have tried to establish a strong council program with branch council and PEC meetings. In these meetings we talk about people who need our support. For PEC we look at prospective elders and those who we can help prepare for the temple. We sponsored one priesthood prep class for Paulo Jorge and Carlos Sozinho. Others were invited, but only these two participated in the end. José Pamplona and I taught the lessons and we had some good discussions. 

The photo at the beginning highlights the fruits of this effort with Carlos' ordination.

Praia Young Men Activity led by their
Branch President

It was very gratifying when we were able to start some youth activities. There are many road blocks for leaders to overcome to establish regular activities, transportation, youth and adult schedules, lack of planning experience, lack of follow through. 

Girl's Camp

In the summer our Angra Young Women's president was ready for a real girls camp experience. This event was a boost to the leaders and youth, and involved time and effort by many. It took a YW leader, Nisa Cabral, with support from her husband Paulo and father Luís to get this off the ground. Making sure the young women were there was another challenge for the leaders. It was good for the young men leaders to see this activity come to fruition.

Girls camp was three days of great activities: first aid, plants, fire building,
group unity building, hiking with an expert guide, lava tube exploring, and testimony sharing

Young women were invited from both branches, but we were unsuccessful in making that happen. In the end we had three young women from Angra and more than 10 adults who helped in one way or another.

Praia Branch Activities

Praia Branch council saw the need for regular branch activities, and they went right to work to organize them. We had game nights, cook-offs, beach parties, a 24th of July pioneer trek, and of course a celebration of our returned missionary. Here is a collage of photos from these activities:

Many of our activities were outdoors at the beach,
or on the grounds of the chapel. Regardless we liked to
eat together and play games, like the chocolate bar game top right.

Angra Branch Activities

Angra Branch didn't have as many activities, but when they did, with support from the branch council, they were big. Like Carnaval... with games, a special cake from Frank's mother, and lots of other food.

or Independence Day, April 25th, for a barbecue and a hike on Monte Brasil...

The saints in our branches loved to do things together just as they do all over the world. In Angra it was mostly the younger, new members who participated most actively in these events. Christmas was one exception as noted in a previous post.

For Easter the Angra Branch council was deliberating on what to do for a special program. Nisa, our Young Women's president had some ideas and we decided to put our heads together. I remembered how powerful the annual Bay Area production of The Lamb of God had been and wondered if this was something we could share with our branch in some way. Janet and I discussed some options using branch members to perform some parts in Portuguese but settled on a video presentation. I presented it to Nisa and finally to the branch council. They approved and offered help with the translation and production of sub-titles.

The idea was to combine the CD soundtrack that we had purchased a few years ago with appropriate video segments and slides along with the lyrics and narration presented with Portuguese sub-titles. It was a mammoth undertaking, which I didn't fully appreciate at first, but one I felt inspired was worth the effort for the blessing of the members.

I first had to purchase the musical and lyrical score for the production, place all the lyrics into documents our translators could use, then recruit branch members to help. I had two or three who helped a lot and Janet and I tried our hand using the Portuguese Bible and Google translate. I then collected digital artwork of the Savior and began looking at the Bible videos for appropriate sequences. I also consulted with Rob Gardner's web site which had some video segments that looked interesting.

I first worked on putting slides and videos to the music and narration using Microsoft Movie Maker. With that accomplished, I then had Nisa bless the translation and began adding sub-titles. 

It was tedious to say the least, but with diligence the work progressed and I was able to finish it before Easter weekend. I was not able to provide a preview to anyone but Janet. The video segments of the last supper, the garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal, trial, and denial together with the music turned out very powerful to me, and left me amazed and in tears. 

We announced a showing to the Angra Branch on Easter Evening. I had to make sure the projector and sound system worked properly before hand, but was pleased with the results. The production lasted an hour and a half.

I then decided that we should offer it to the Praia Branch as well. We had to do it for them on Saturday night. The video projection was off for this presentation, but it was adequate and the handful of members who attended were moved by it.

In Angra we had a very large crowd the night of the presentation. I had prepared an introduction, but got distracted and forgot to do it in Angra. The video went smoothly and was a better picture in Angra. The only mishap was when Spencer tried to Skype us in the middle. I had forgotten to turn off the WiFi.

Nisa was quick to praise the work and saw potential for improving it and sharing it more broadly in the Portuguese community. I had to agree, but we have yet to make any changes.
Besides these two showings, we had a few who had missed the presentation so we repeated it for the Pamplonas, Fátima Silveira and I seem to think there was another member or two who we showed it to. The inspiration that led to this production was certainly linked to the message and uplift given to those who viewed it, even given its length.

Later I shared the video with other senior couples in the Lisbon area. They too appreciated the message and shared it with others they worked with.

I would like to introduce just a few of the people who played an important part in our two branches, either as leaders, new members, missionaries, or just faithful members. I will start with Angra Branch.

Angra Branch Members

Luís and Nair Álves

This couple represent the patriarch and matriarch of the church on Terceira if not in the Azores. Luis was serving as a counselor in the Angra Branch presidency when I arrived, but was soon called as counselor in the District Presidency. He was the one who presented me for sustaining to the membership of the Praia Branch.

Nair was a good friend to Janet and us from the moment we arrived. Right before we left the island, she was called as branch Relief Society President replacing the president that was going to have a baby.

They are the parents of Herberto, Paulo, and Nisa. Herberto is married to Sonia, a non-member, Paulo is married to Tânia, and Nisa is married to Paulo Cabral. The latter two are strong members and leaders as described below.

Father and Son, Paulo and Luís Alves

I counseled with Luís on nearly everything in the branches and he readily shared his advice and experience. He also counseled me on specific members who were or might be having issues that needed a branch president to address.

He was almost always available to teach a lesson, give a talk, or assist in other ways. He loved the temple, served with Nair as ordinance workers in the Madrid Temple and readily served Heavenly Father where ever he was called.

Paulo and Tânia Alves

We met this couple our first day in Angra with help from the Le Sueurs. Paulo grew up in the Alves family just described,  but had to reconvert as an adult. He shows great depth in his testimony, great people skills, and love for his family, especially Samuel their son.

Tânia is a convert from northern Portugal. She met Paulo while he was in nursing school in Viseu. She shows great knowledge of the gospel, is a very capable communicator, and is lots of fun to visit with, in English. Here they are with their son Samuel and Steve and Pat Le Sueur. 

For the first few months on Terceira Paulo and Tânia served in the Praia Branch with Paulo as branch president. When he was released, Dennis was called as the new president and within a few weeks, Paulo was called as a counselor in the Angra Branch Presidency. When we were finally transferred from Terceira, Paulo was called as Angra Branch President.

Paulo and Nisa Cabral

This great couple have two children, Madalena is the older one who turned 8 while we were in the branch, and Julia is 6. We met them the first week in Angra and quickly gained great love and confidence in them. Paulo was serving as branch president when we arrived, and Nisa was Primary President. We soon called Paulo to teach institute and later to serve as secretary to both branches. He was so easy to work with, and spoke near perfect English. Nisa was right behind him with her English. We later called Nisa to serve as Young Women's President where she worked with some of our new members, Fátima Ponte and Lúcia Matos, and put together the girls camp highlighted earlier. She had the advantage of growing up in the church and experiencing such events first hand as a young woman. Paulo helped with anything and everything we asked of him.

While we were in the branch Paulo and Nisa's eldest daughter, Magdalena, had her 8th birthday, was interviewed, and baptized.

Tiago and Cátia Resendes

In the photo above are two families, Lurdes Ourique and the two active children living with her, Hélder and Eduarda, and her son Tiago and his wife Cátia. Let's introduce them separately. Tiago and Cátia were married in the temple and are one of the strongest couples in the branch. Tiago has served as branch president. He and Cátia like to travel, so when we first arrived they were off the island. Soon after they returned Tiago was called to serve as a counselor in the branch presidency. Cátia was serving as Young Women's president. She speaks rather good English and dresses very nicely. She really worked in behalf of the young women, but there had been some alienation between her mother-in-law Lurdes and the main family of young women that spilled over to Cátia. Tiago is full of fun, like a big happy puppy. He has plenty of natural leadership ability, and was a great counselor. Before we left Angra, Cátia had finally become pregnant, and then they were off traveling again and taking care of her at-risk pregnancy, leading to their release from their callings.

Ourique Family

Lurdes was one of the long-term strengths of the branch. She was an early member and had raised her family in the church. An older son had moved to Canada some years before and was active in the church there. Tiago had been preparing to serve a mission, but made it his mission to fellowship Cátia through her conversion and then to marry his sweetheart. When we first arrived Eduarda was just turning 18 and moving from young womens to Relief Society. She expressed a great desire to serve a mission, so we worked with her to prepare. When we left the branch she was stalling on the mission and has since decided not to serve. Hélder is Lurdes Autistic son. He has very limited speech ability, loves to hug the girls and women, even when they are leading the music or giving a talk, and roams freely during the meetings. He is mostly lovable, but at times detracts from the reverence.

Nunes Family

We met the Nunes family, Francisco, Ana, Guilherme, Gabriel, and Francisca, the first week in Angra, and immediately fell in love with them. They lived in Porto Judeu, quite some distance from the chapel in Angra, but they had a car. During our service in the branch we called Ana to serve as seminary teacher and in young womens. Francisco served as Young Men's President, and was privileged to baptize Francisca when she turned 8. Guilherme was our only active Aaronic Priesthood holder for some months. Gabriel turned 12 and was finally ordained to join his brother.

José and Ana Felipe

This couple played a big part in our service in the branch of Angra. They had been called, prior to our arrival, to help with the Addiction Recovery program. Janet and I worked extensively with them in that capacity as they learned to run the weekly meetings. José had an addiction that he was fighting and I met with him regularly to help him in that battle. He made great progress, and Ana was an important support. Later José was called as a counselor in the branch presidency and served faithfully there. His mother Maria Sebastião was also a member and José brought her to church. His teenage daughter Magarida was also a member and would come with the family when she was not traveling to participate in track events all over the world. Ana served in the Relief Society, as Gospel Principles teacher, and with José in Addiction Recovery. One of their goals was to prepare for the temple, but they just kept putting off the commitment to make the final push. I feel a great love for this couple, and was very sadden when I learned that as soon as we moved from the island they left the church.

Carlos Sozinho 

I have already written of Carlos' progress in receiving the Melchizedek priesthood during our service in Angra. There were many steps of improvement that Carlos took that reflect his determination to rise up from a very fallen condition to grow towards a much happier and fulfilling life following the gospel plan. He was enrolled in the equivalent of a high school completion program linked to preparing for a job in the tourist industry. Before the first year was out he had graduated, landed a job, and was working towards his commercial drivers license. He was a bundle of muscle and energy with plenty of trials through his broken marriage and two teenage kids. He had also learned a lot of English which he used with the tourists he served, and never stopped adding to his language ability.

Marco Amaral

The brother on the left in this photo is Marco Amaral. On the right is João Filipe, brother of José Filipe above. Marco impressed me the first week in Angra when he and Verónica Silva stopped by our apartment. He is a recovering drug addict who shows a lot of passion for the gospel, but always seems to be fighting a battle against someone or something. He was a great asset to our Addiction Recovery program where he served as facilitator. He supported the self-reliance program and showed the example of getting a job apply the principles he learned. Yet he runs hot and cold. When he is hot, there is nothing to limit him. We called him to serve with the Young Men and we had a few good activities. I counseled with him on several occasions and showed continued support even when many in the branch were criticizing him for being back on drugs or hanging out with the drug users. I encouraged him to be in church without fail and to assist with priesthood duties. We had some wonderful experiences together.

João Filipe 

João also participated in Addiction Recovery as he struggled to put alcohol and tobacco  behind him. He wanted to so bad and had streaks when he was always at church doing everything he could. Then he would fall off the wagon. But he would come back and we would encourage him again. He was one of four to make it through the Finding a Job self-reliance program. He was very dedicated to that group and proudly received a certificate for his efforts. He was always on the verge of getting a good paying job, but while we were there he never did. Soon after we left he went into a rehab program, but we have not heard more about how he is doing.

Susana Teófilo

Susana is the sister on the far left of this photo. Her husband 

Sérgio is in the center and her sister Marta on the right. Susana worked with both Dennis and Janet as the Relief Society President for most of the time we were in the branch. Her family lived in São Sebantião, about the most far removed village in the branch. They had been working on building their own home there for a number of years, beginning when she was not active in the church. Since that time she has returned to the church and is now a very strong, contributing member. Sérgio is not a member, but they have a daughter Mariana who loves the church and attends weekly with her mom. At the time we left the branch Susana was pregnant, and since arriving home she has given birth to Tiago, their son. This is a wonderful development for the family. Janet served for much of the year as Susana's second counselor responsible for special activities. We loved working with Susana and look forward to hearing of her progress towards the temple, probably in 2018 or when the Lisbon temple opens up.

Marta was active most of the time we were in the branch, but was much more reserved concerning her availability to serve.

In this photo we see Susana with her daughter Mariana, Marta, and her parents, Avelino and Maria Maia. 

Fátima Ponte

This good sister was baptized the first Sunday we were in Angra. Dennis went with Steve Le Sueur and the Elders to interview her prior to her baptism because of a situation with her ex-husband. As branch president Dennis called her to begin her family history, which she did. She inspired us to learn to help her and in the end Janet learned much about Portuguese family history research. It was exciting to learn to use the local library and records center, and then eventually the online resources. We loved hearing Fátima speak of her testimony of the Book of Mormon which she read completely the first six to nine months as a member. She continued to read and study and to accept other callings. She served as Young Women secretary and supported their girls camp experience.

José and Fátima Pamplona

The Pamplonas are about our age with which we shared a number of common interests, principally the gospel and family history. José was very active in the branch, teaching many lessons and helping in that regard, but would not accept a leadership role due to bad experiences from the past. Fátima was Janet's tutor in family history and was the acknowledge branch expert in the area, but she had stopped going to church several years back, for reasons similar to José's. We shared dinners and other visits. She did a lot of work on Dave Viera's family history. Dave made it a point to visit this good couple to thank her personally. We hope to keep in touch with them via facebook and telephone.

I would love to include more members of the Angra Branch, but want to finish with two new converts we served extensively, Lúcia Matos and Frank Lopes.

Lúcia Matos

Lúcia was found by the Elders tracting on her street not far from the chapel at Christmas time in 2015. She was at a point of need in her life and felt great empathy for the Elders on a cold December night. She was busy at the time, but accepted their invitation to return at a later date. Here in this photo she has just been baptized and is sharing some social time with the branch and her daughter who came to support her baptism. Dennis participated in most of the teaching sessions prior to her baptism, then provided much

support afterwards as she dealt with family and health issues. We loved getting to know Lúcia, feeling the strength of her love for her family and the gospel, and watching her grow and develop in the gospel through her callings and always enthusiastic participation, such as in the photo to the right: 

Frank Lopes

Frank is a California born Açoreano who prefers speaking in English and is anything but conventional. Sisters Doman and Harper met him in a bar/restaurant in his home village of Ribeirinha. He was so impressed with the deportment and spirit of these two American girls that he was quickly drawn to their church and message. Frank is very traditional in his approach to life and found a great match in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Frank also represents the dairy industry of the islands. He and his father have run their small dairy farm for ever. Right now he is a mostly one man show, but loves the work in spite of the long hours, often difficult conditions without a barn to do his milking, and the pranks of those who try to take advantage of this honest man.

Joining the church was not an easy decision as he is very much into the island's traditions and his work schedule does not make it easy to get to church on Sundays. We helped him prepare to receive the priesthood, and made it an option for him to attend the afternoon church in Praia which was a better fit to his Sunday work schedule. We develop a great love and admiration for this remarkable dairy farmer who kept us updated on things back in the US, a place near and dear to his heart.

Praia da Vitória Branch Members

Manuela Marques

We see in this photo Manuela Marques on the far right with her daughter Liliana on the left in front of Elder Le Sueur. Sister Le Sueur is hugging her two dear friends. Manuela is the pillar and glue of the Praia Branch. As a returned missionary, she stands tall in her knowledge of the gospel and dedication to God's work. She raised her two daughters, Liliana and Elise, to be strong LDS young women, and now temple married brides.

She is from an LDS family with her mother, Rosa, her two sisters, Sandra and Elsa, at least two brothers, Márcio and one who's name I don't remember, and Elsa's and Márcio's families all members of the church. Of all these, Manuela is by far the strongest, and she is such a blessing to the rest and to all who show any interest, especially Elsa's three daughters, and now granddaughter.

Manuela was serving as Relief Society President and did all she could to support the sisters in the branch through visits and service. Right away she took us to visit less active members. Over the months we worked together with the death of a brother, helping a young family move to a new apartment, holding branch council meetings, and organizing various branch activities. 

Liliana was living at home when we first arrived on Terceira, but she was preparing to leave to attend BYU Hawaii like her older "sister" Elise had done. We only learned after leaving Terceira that Liliana was actually the granddaughter of another member, Teresa Medeiros (see below), who was basically adopted and raised by Manuela. Elise was at BYU Hawaii when she received a mission call to serve in Boston among the Portuguese speaking people. She did not return home but went directly to her mission after the MTC. The Le Sueurs arranged for Manuela to fly to Boston to meet her daughter there while she was still serving. After her mission, Elise reported to her home branch in Praia via Skype as they did not have the funds for her to return home.

When we returned home following our mission, we were able to attend the temple sealing of Liliana and Cameron Williams, who had served on Terceira during his mission, in the Gilbert AZ temple. There we also met for the first time Elise and her husband Tiago, who had been sealed a few days prior in the Draper UT temple. Manuela was able to make the trip to attend both these temple weddings.

Here are the two newly wed couples with their mother Manuela Marques.

Manuela's husband, Fernando, is handicapped as a stroke victim who demands at times a lot of her attention. He can come to church some of the time, but is not able to contribute in any significant way.

Teresa Mendonça

Teresa Mendonça was a convert of about 4 years when we met her and her family. By the time we were assigned to their branch, Brother Mendonça had left to find work in Ireland. Teresa lived with Marisa, her daughter on the left in the photo to the left, and her son Alexandre (Alex, see photo below). She was a good friend of Ana Nunes, as seen in this photo, and had a very strong testimony of the gospel. She was serving as a counselor in the Relief Society Presidency when we arrived in the branch, and a Sunday School teacher. Before too long we had to release her from Sunday School as we decided to shorten the meeting schedule to just two hours. With some other changes we eventually called her as Young Woman President to work with our one active young woman, Jenny, daughter of Elsa, and try to reach out to other young women. 

Her son Alex was our only priest age young man, and the main part of our young men's program. We eventually baptized another young man and had some participation by one or two others over the months. Alex is shown here with his girl friend Ana Rita Franco from the Angra Branch, and Patrícia, another young woman from the Angra Branch.

I gained a lot of respect for Teresa's testimony and commitment to the gospel. She had difficulties with other members of the branch and was often at odds, but she would always attend sacrament meeting, as long as her car was working, and she worked hard to keep her family strong. We hope it works out for her to join her husband in Ireland when their financial situation allows it.

Valdemiro and Oriana Moniz

Valdemiro was one determined guy with an indomitable spirit. Life for he and Oriana, his much older wife with some serious health challenges, was not easy. Valdemiro struggled to live the word of wisdom, but in his simple way, he did the best he could. 

There were Sundays when he would push Oriana in her wheelchair the 2 km from their home to the chapel. He might then ask for a ride back up the hill if it were available. If the weather was not good, he might walk alone to church.

He, like many Portuguese, had his right way of doing things that often rubbed other people the wrong way. Many people complained that he had driven them from the church, but I quickly determined that was more of an excuse than anything else.

He had had a calling in the past but ran into some problems. We carefully prepared him for a second try and he did pretty good. 

He loved to invite the missionaries over for family night or dinner. Here he is so happy to have a house full with four missionaries and a new member and her son, Sandra and Samuel.

Teresa Medeiros

This good sister wanted so much to enjoy all the blessings of the gospel. She was willing to walk the mile or so to get to church most Sundays if there was not a ride available. Her family had been involved with the church for decades, but she was the only faithful one when we were there. Her husband José, shown here with Teresa, enjoyed our visits and spoke of wanting to return to church, but could never quite build up the determination to do so.

Teresa was called to serve in the Relief Society Presidency during our time there and she participated fully in all branch activities, gave talks when asked, and was at church each week. She was a little rough around the edges at times, but was full of fun too.

Sandra and Samuel

This fine sister and her son Samuel were a very special part of our experience serving in Praia. These two Elders, Osborn and Thomas, tracted them out in Fontinhas and Sandra immediately responded to their message and friendship. Samuel, age 12, also responded to their message with joy and they progressed together towards baptism. Sandra's husband Rui was supportive but not interested. Her older son Alexandre, age 14, was super nice to us in our visits, but likewise showed no interest in this new religion. Sandra had a challenge with smoking, but she managed to lay it aside to get baptized. We immediately called her to serve with Manuela in the Relief Society. Samuel received the priesthood and began passing the sacrament. They brought some new energy and blood into the branch, which it needed. We enjoyed having them participate in our branch activities and holding FHE with them, either in their home or in the homes of other members.

We certainly came to love so many people in these two branches, and hope we were able to help them love and serve each other a little better. 

I felt honored to serve as their branch president and rejoiced in those able to make some significant progress temporally and spiritually during our service in the branches. 

That service came to a close in October 2016 when President Tavares asked us to transfer to Évora for the remaining months of our mission. I was released as Branch President and Paulo Alves was called as Angra Branch President and Rick Vermillion, an American serviceman, was called to preside over Praia, with the charge to the members to make sure they supported the branch in its growth as Rick would be leaving in 9 months or so.

Cromeleque

In Portugal, you do get a feel for the very old. Castles were built in the 12th century. Churches were began before 1000 A.D.

Then, for one of our branch activities in December, we had a guest lecturer come and talk about the ruins in the area that date back to 5000 B.C.!! So, we located a few on the map and stumbled on another and went in search of ancient history of the Neolithic era!!

First, This is part of an information sign and is a general map of the area with some of the major finds in the area. We did not go to all of them. They were not necessarily easy to get to -- or to find. We dedicated one P-day to find whatever we could.

Our first find was a large Cromeleque.  This is a large Prehistoric monument -- similar to Stonehenge in England. But the stones are much smaller. This was easy to find and the road signs were good. The road took us along a large cork tree forest with the black pigs foraging for acorns. It was a lovely January day -- cool, but not rainy! We enjoyed the short hike from the parking lot to the monument.

Black pork and cork tree along road to the megalith

Here is a panoramic view of the whole place. It is one of the largest megalithic enclosure on the Iberian peninsula with about 100 monoliths. Built around 5000 B.C., its use is not known, but appears to have something to do with the sun and moon marking the solstices and equinoxes. When it was discovered in the 1960's, most of the stones had fallen. With research, most have been stood up and placed in what appears to be the proper place.

This is one of the larger stones in the complex.











It was a quiet place -- mostly because there were few people there! It made me wonder who had built this place that I was wandering through. Why? What were they like?

Nice to have someone else there to take a picture of us together.














On our way out from this monument, we stopped at another sign pointing to another site -- this time a menhir, the large stone like the other stones cromeleque. We had quite a little walk to find it. This one was a single one, and though was some distance from the larger monument, had some connection directionally with it.

This is the information on the sign:

The menhir of Almendres, an elongated ovoid in shape, is a characteristic example of menhirs in the Évora Region. Dating from the Early/Middle Neolithic period, it reveals, on the upper part, a crook engraved in low relief... Its location appears to be related to the megalithic enclosure of Almendres given that it corresponds to an elementary astronomic direction: the alignment of the two monuments coincides with the sunrise on the summer solstice.

It is getting a little late in the day as you can see the shadow starting up the stone.

Do we have enough time to find the next one?

Using maps and the road signs, we managed to find our way to the next place. The adventure for this one was the small, dirt road leading up to it. Although it wasn't raining that day, it had rained a few days previous. The dirt road had many deep dips the width of the road that were filled with water. I was sure we were going to stall out as we drove through the puddles. With fences on both sides of the road there was no way to drive around them. We drove through farm land, past barns and finally found our destination.

This is an Anta -- a burial place.









This is a large one. It had smaller stones set upright making a corridor into the anta itself.

This is looking at the 'corridor' from the side.










Below is the anta itself. Those stones are at least 10 feet tall!! But it is not complete because....

you need the cap stone -- or tabletop as they sometimes call it.


I can't imagine how you would get those huge stone in place and standing up right --- let alone top them with an equally large stone just using man power and I would assume ropes.

It is quite amazing!

The light was fading -- we had made it just in time. We only had to return by the puddle ridden road and back to the smooth paved roads.

It has been known for some time that these monuments were sacred places for those ancient people. Recognizing that, modern people tried to capture that feeling by turning one of them into a church.

The door was locked so we couldn't see what it was like inside. You can see the outside of the anta stones

Below is the back of the church.


As you travel along the roads in the Alentejo (the region where Évora is located), you often see signs pointing to the various prehistoric sites. We were traveling south with a member to make some visits in Borba when we saw such a sign. We decided to follow it and went on a dirt road a couple of miles until we saw a small anta on the side of a sheep pasture.

It was walled off from the surrounding fields. The picture at the beginning of the blog is a solo picture of it.

You could walk around and into it. Again, I wondered about the people who built it. Who? Why? HOW?

We brought the Robert's to see it when they came to visit in mid-December.

This gives an interesting view of the tabletop supported by 3 remaining upright stones!















I find it interesting that people of all times feel the need to create sacred places. I am grateful for the sacred places in my life -- my home, the church buildings and the temple. In these places I can worship  and meditate on the meaning of my life and seek inspiration on how to live worthy to return to live with Heavenly Father again and to feel the comfort when challenges come -- including death of a loved one. It affirms to me our eternal nature and sacred purpose of life.