A Happy New Year to all of you out there in my readerland! This last week was a little different, but it was great! We helped the people in São João da Madeira get the spirit of Christmas by singing at every single opportunity. In fact we got a lot more lessons in than usual because at every door we asked to sing to them, and then we taught them after that. Hardly anyone will say no to a Christmas hymn. It was awesome. We also got an opportunity to sing for the patients in our local hospital on Christmas Eve. The first floor we went to, the nurse and security guard weren´t too overly excited about our proposal to sing to the patients, so we asked to sing to them. They then got the spirit and we sang to many other patients. On another floor, the nursing staff was really excited to have us sing to them and they gave us chocolates. It was a wonderful feeling to be spreading good cheer. The patients really lit up and so did the nurses (which has an even longer lasting effect on the patients) So we felt pretty good. Christmas eve we spent in the house of a member with the Elders in our branch. We have a brand new one from the states who doesn´t understand very much at all and so he was struggling a bit. We had bacelhau (traditional codfish) and potatoes and rice and finished it up with all sorts of sweets...Bolo de Rei (traditional fruitcake that everyone except the missionaries likes), puddings, and brownies (that we brought to spice up the party a bit). Then we enjoyed a few rousing hands of UNO. Everyone was cheating unashamedly and it made for a very enjoyable game. The winner couldn´t really take any credit because he/she had inevitably been hiding cards up the sleeves or practicing some other type of deceit. It was really quite enjoyable. Then we taught them how to play speed with Barbie cards. They were really cute and reminded me of all of my little princesses.
Christmas day was also great. We had some great talks on the Savior and it is always wonderful to sing Christmas hymns. I really love it. I also really appreciated being able to partake of the sacrament and think about the Savior on the day the world is celebrating His birth. I felt really bad for all of the people who missed out by sleeping in and forgetting the real meaning of His life and sacrifice. We then had an amazing lunch in the house of Isabel and Joaquim Moreira. I have decided that Isabel is the best Portuguese cook I know, and there are a lot of good cooks here. She made the only bacelhau that I have ever asked for seconds (This makes sense to all of those who know of my extreme distaste for things that come out of the water--or all types of fish and sea food) It was wonderful, as was the rice(I haven´t yet gotten the recipie, so I don´t know how you can make rice different, but it was great) the potatoes and even the meat. Then she brought out the deserts, rebanados, cake, pudding, everything was not only beautiful to the eye, but also to the mouth. I´m really excited for Sunday when she has promised to give me all of these recipies.
After lunch we taught a couple of lessons and then got to talk to our families. This conversation with our families almost didn´t happen, as we have been experiencing difficulties with our phone. A couple of weeks ago we arrived home and discovered that we had no idea where our cell phone had gone. We then spent an eventful night and later discovered that the phone had been in my jacket pocket the whole time (sheepish grin) I felt pretty dumb. However, this was by no means the end of our telephone adventures...On Thursday, we went to Porto for transfers and Sister Schneiber who had been treating an issue with customs about a package sent to her forgot to return the phone and so took it with her to Viseu. She sent it in the mail to us and luckily it arrived on Friday as that was the number we had given to our families to call and the mail isn´t delivered on Saturday. Then that night, in an added moment of stupidity, I dropped the phone and it hit the heater on the way to the floor, making it unfit for use. We were sufficiently worried that we would not be able to talk to our families, but a kind youth in our ward lent us his phone and we transfered the SIM memory card from ours to his and luckily were able to complete the transaction. We then got to take an extra trip to Porto to arrange a new phone which we are treating with the utmost care and caution. Bit of excitement there, but in the end we were able to have great conversations with our family and to feel of their love. THANKS!!
So, things are going well here. I am teaching a lot more in our contacts because I know the area better than my companion, so it is a different feeling. You feel a responsibility and a weight and more involvement in the work in that way. My language has been improving a lot because of this extra exercise. I was reading the Ensign the other day and I am just struck sometimes with the Global nature of the Church. This really is the kingdom of God on the earth. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that this is His church that I am representing. You may ask, how is it that she know these things. I have received a witness of the truthfulness through the Spirit after much prayer and fasting and now I can say for a surety that I do know. It´s a great feeling. Love you all! Keep up the good work!
Beijinhos!!(the only ones Samuel is allowed to receive from a Sister missionary)
ellen
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