Happy Thanksgiving

So after years of spending at least the entire day before Thanksgiving in the kitchen I was looking forward to having Pizza or Pasta or whatever.  But, since we found this wonderful Talho (tal-yo) (Butcher) Dad decided we should have a turkey and the rest.  So since one of the Elders here is Americn we invited them too.  Then at District meeting one of the cute sisters asked what we were doing or Thanksgiving and I felt so bad that I invited the other missionaries from our district.  So we will be eight for Thanksgiving dinner and yes I spent the whole day in the kitchen.  That

being said I should tell you why.  Our apartment has electricity problems. You can't use the oven at the sametime as: the heater, the washer, the blender, the microwave, the hairdryer, OR the stove top.  So,it takes a long long time to cook dinner for eight one item at a time.  We will be having Turkey (cooking it at the Elders apartment across the street) (Couldn´t cook it in the Elders Apt as their stove had no markings on the knob for temperature) Mashed Potatoes, and gravy, Raspberry Jello salad, Rolls, Broccoli casserole, and pumpkin, lemon, pecan, and apple pie. But...I am not doing the dishes!

The neck came with the Turkey

GUESS WHO DID THE DISHES!

Me

Com Frio

We have a little problem with the main breaker. If we turn any two things on it trips. That means that if Dad is in the shower and tries to dry his hair while I am cooking breakfast it trips the breaker, and all the lights go out and Dad has to run to the living room in the dark and turn the breaker back on.  There are no central heaters in apartments and they are all heated with small plug in space heaters.  If we forget and try to use the Microwave to make hot cocoa because we´re cold it trips the breaker.  This morning I was cooking breakfast for the elders who stayed with us last night and the stove went off three times for different reasons.  I am very thankful that I brought two sets of long johns and wish I had more warm clothes.  This climate is crazy.  Hot like çDallas then Cold like Michigan.  I told your dad if you are looking longingly at snow boots and thinking that they would make good house slippers you are really cold.  When I first asked a lady from Loule how cold it gets in the winter she told me she wears t shirts all winter.  Last week at church she had on leggings, boots, a t shirt, a sweater and  then put on a coat!  There is no coat rack at church because everyone just leaves their coat on.  We don´t have to worry about the heat coming on in the summer or the air conditioning coming on in the winter, like at home,  cause we don´t have any air or heat.  As soon as we get some time we are going to shop for some warmer clothes.

Everyones Conversion is Different

Everyone conversion story is different but the common denominator is the testimony of the Holy Ghost.

When I was about 7 years old there appeared in my neighborhood a large banner advertising  Vacation Bible School.  It was presented by the Baptist Church and my mother let me go as she herself was a Baptist though I had never known that before.  I attended every Saturday morning for six weeks and was taught by a sweet young woman named Joyce.  She had a flannel board and told wonderful stories of Jesus and Moses and Adam and Eve.  My favorite was of Moses in the bulrushes with his sister watching him.  At the end of the six weeks Joyce gave me my own bible.  I have had it for years and because of that experience was awakened to the Lord and his love for us.  

   When my school offered a Release Time Program I went to the Episcopal Church a couple of times but it didn't give me the warm feeling I was seeking. Yes after learning about Jesus I was actually seeking Him.  My neighbor Elsie Galyon, Richards Mother, suggested I go to Primary and one of my friends Cheo Stroy invited me I went and started this wonderful journey.  

   My home was not always the most cheerful place and there was alot of fighting so to be in this wonderful atmosphere was so soothing. I really appreciated the way the husbands and wives loved each other and said so openly in praising words.  I felt the Holy Ghost though I didn't know what it was.  There was even an incident where one of the non member girls got in a physical fight with one of the member girls and as they pulled them apart her mother said, I don't know why we have to have these non members here anyway.  I was hurt to be lumped in with the violent girl but I loved Primary too much to quit.  So I finished Primary in my home ward then moved to the ward all my school friends attended.  They didn't keep records as accurately as they do now so no one knew that I wasn't a member.  I participated in all the Mutual activities and loved them.  My mother wouldn't let me go to seminary and I could only attend one meeting on Sunday but I still went when I could.
   It had always bothered me that anyone could start a church or that some men at colleges could say who could or couldn't preach the Gospel.  Who gave them the authority? Well, God gave Joseph Smith the authority and I knew it.
   When I was fifteen I asked my mom if I could be baptised and she told me that I was too young to make that kind of a decision.  So when I was sixteen I told her that I wanted to be baptised and if she wouldn't sign the consent that I would forge her name and do it secretly.  She relented and allowed me to be baptised.  I remember coming out of the water and seeing her scowl across the room but at least she was there.   Later in the dressing room I vowed to be so good and never sin again. hahaha
A couple of weeks later I remembered that and felt so bad because of course I had sinned.  I was really grateful to learn that every Sunday we can be forgiven of our sins and re do our baptism and be clean again   That God knew we would need alot of help to continue to be worthy.  I am so Grateful  for the teachings of the church and the wonderful life that I have had and the love I have had in my life by living the gospel

Olive harvest

Last week the Elders  Wilson , Sousa and I went out to a grove of olive trees with Sister Odelia to help her harvest olives. I have always wondered what the garden of Gethsemane might have looked like and this is what I pictured. As you can see from the photos below some of these trees are very old. Odelia said that some of them were over 300 years old and still producing olives. She said it was a shame but the new trees of today only produce for about 20 years.
We first picked up all the good olives under the tree that were on the ground and then laid these large mesh blankets out all around the tree. Then we took sticks with little children´s plastic rakes fastened to the end of them and hooked a branch and then shook it like crazy to knock all the olives out of it. Then we took the rakes and raked all the ones that didn´t come out one or two at a time until the bottom part of the tree was cleaned then I climbed up into the tree and shook and raked until we had all the  olives  onto the mesh blankets. then we sat down and proceeded to pick the olives from the leaves and stems that were mixed in with them and put them into buckets and then into sacks. Four of us worked for about 7 hours and  Odelia said she would get 5 liters of olive oil from what we had done that day. Harvesting olives is hard work.
    As I was working that day I kept thinking here I am I Portugal out in the middle of no where in a beautiful grove of olive trees. What a marvelous blessing and opportunity. And then I began to reflect, I wonder if this is anything like the garden of Gethsemane where the Lord and Savior suffer in such agony for the wrongs, the hurts, the injustices, the sickness and heart ache of the world for each of His brothers and sisters. I had the wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility that came over me and the spirit whispered it was much like this. So I bowed my head and in silent prayer gave thanks to my Father in Heaven for the sacred gift of the atonement. But today as we look around at the people of the world and try to talk to them about the gospel I find that they are like the children of Israel when they were infested with poisonous snakes and Moses lifted up a brass serpent and all they had to do was look upon it and many refused and perished from snake bite. As we work here in Portugal to try to bring people to just look and see, but just like the children of Israel they refuse to even let us talk to them. And then we find some one willing to listen and watch as the light of the gospel changes their life for the better.
Today is Sunday and we had district conference and after I had the privilege of ordaining of these those found souls to the Melchizedek Priesthood and have him give me a great big hug and say thank you. and then all the turn downs and leave me alone and I  don´t want anything from you are worth it. What a sacred blessing to be here and do this work. Love Elder / Sister Roberts

´´

Nanook strikes again!

For the past two or three weeks I have been really cold.  I have been going to bed in increasingly more clothes (long johns- top and bottoms socks a nightgown and a big fuzzy bathrobe) and waking up in the night with actual shivvers.  I thought that I was running a low grade fever but it kept coming back.  I had lots of sleepless nights where I had to take a hot shower to be able to get back to sleep.  One night I even went to bed in my big fleecy robe.  Dad said that it was like cuddling a bear.  We usually don't open our bedroom curtains as there are apartments right across from us and we like it dark but the other day as I was mopping the floor I moved the curtains and the window was open about 8 inches to accommodate the air conditioner that we were only using as fan noise. It came with a blocker that fits in the window but dad hadn't put it in in the rush of moving.  That night I moved to another bedroom with the small space heater and slept for the first time in a couple of weeks.  Needless to say Dad found the blocker and taped it in.  In the mean time we bought an electric mattress cover.  It was waiting for u s in Lisbon when we got there and last night I slept like an angel floating on a warm cloud.  Dad slept better too - go figure!

Albufeira (Al-boo-fay-ra) FLOOD

This beautiful little city was struck by a flood yesterday.  The water was up to the tops of cars and a river of mud came down the hill.  Several of our branch members live there and a couple of them own lojas (stores) that were hit by the mud.  One of these members is from Equador.  He comes here in the summer for festa (? party but not quite as it lasts all summer long) season.  He and some others play music at night.  When he opened his store others told him he would never make it unless he opened it on Sunday.  But being a very faithful member he kept it closed on Sunday.  These musicians sometimes don't finishwork until 3 or 4 in the morning but still make it to church every week. They call them Lemanitas (lamenites) So the church has mobelized and gathered all the missionaries from the Algarve (our district) to go today and help the members and any others they can.  Gale is there but  I stayed home because we didn't know what we would find.  I will cook a warm meal for our missionaries and any others who could stay with us.  If the situation is anything but shoveling mud I will go with hiim tomorrow. I truly enjoyed the beautiful rain as it turned everything here that was brown a beaiutiful green.  Like Idaho in the spring. But now I am hoping that we don't get any more in Albufeira.

 Just received these photos from Elder Sousa and thought it would be good to add them to the blog
so you could see what it was like and I could remember later.

 The above picture we helped these people who are not members in this store. First we had to pick up all the mucd covered items that were on the floor and we missed apicture of the 15 bags that are to my right. We then shovel about twenty five wheel barresl of mud and hauled it out to the middle of the street.

 The stock from this members store was in this basement and it was total flooded. We hauled all the items out of the there after they pumped the water. then we shoveled buckets of mud for a 5 hours the next day and then we bucketed the rest of the water that they couldnºt pump out. Iºm sure I walked up and down the theses stairs at least 100 times that day.

 These are Items that came out of the basement that were now trash and that was about 1-3 of all we took out.

I didnºt get quite as dirty as Elder Wilson as you can see.