Week 62 - December 3, 2018

Dear Family,

I'll start out with some pictures from our visit to Lisbon for training there.

A small branch about an hour out of Lisbon.

 A beautiful ward house in Lisbon.

Our wonderful AAA for the Portugal Lisbon Coordinating Council Area. 

 We stopped at a grocery store and saw some pretty unique items--woooo--octopus!

 Sergio said the tradition is to have salted fish for the holidays!

Sergio bought us some chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

I tried one--but, sorry, not a fan!

Since I was so slow getting last week's letter off and it was late getting to you, I can only talk about what we did for the last couple of days, plus our weekend.  Getting back from Cape Verde, we were swamped with work to catch up on.  With 29 AAAs and 10 Area Seventies, there are always questions and requests to take care of.  Plus, I have many financial reports to fill out for those 29 AAAs.   It really does keep us busy, and we are grateful for being able to help out in this way.

On Saturday, we met some other Senior couples down in Frankfurt after riding the train from the church--that way we didn't have to find a parking place for our car.  It worked out just great because there were literally hundreds of people in downtown Frankfurt.  It was the first big week of the Christmas market there, plus it is the day that ten churches in the area all combine together to ring their bells for a half hour.  It truly is magical to walk all around that square and hear bells literally on every side  of you!  Plus the Christmas booths are so fun--filled with German crafts, foods, and drink.  It is really a festive atmosphere.  It wasn't that cold, and we are continually reminded no matter what the temperature is--it is colder in Moscow!  We looked at the temperatures of Frankfurt and Moscow, and there was a 30 degrees difference!  Wow!  

On Sunday, we really enjoyed our church--just like we always do.  I felt like we worked hard to contribute to the Russian ward and branch we were assigned to.  So many times, the headphones wouldn't work, or we didn't even have a translator, and we were definitely just trying to keep busy during the three hours by reading the lesson on line or having what we said translated if we made a comment in class.  It was pretty difficult to really get a great deal out of some of the meetings most of the time--but here--with everything in English and fantastic teachers, we are getting so much out of church and classes, we almost feel guilty.  But, we really are enjoying our Sunday meetings now in a different way.  We still miss our wonderful Russian friends in our areas there, however.  The Mission President wrote us and asked us to send Christmas cards to some of the people that we felt very close to.  They said they would make sure they would be delivered, along with a treat and a Christmas carol.  That made us so happy because our card would have to be translated.  I put a picture of us in every card so they could remember who we are.  Hah!  After church, we had five of the Seniors over for dinner at our apartment.  It was a little cramped, but I had decorated a little Christmas tree and worked with the decorations that the couples before us had left in the "keller," German word for cellar.  It is in the bottom of the building, and it felt like we were going treasure hunting to have all the directions it took us to find our way down there--through the dark halls, and finding the right "cage" that was ours.  Then finding the proper keys that were left and trying them all in the padlock was just a joke, too.  But, finally we found a couple of boxes that said, "Christmas," which we brought up to our apartment, hoping there were no mice or spiders inside!  I think with what we had in the boxes, it turned out pretty nice, and we had a really fun time.   

I have thought many times about Connor's statement about when he first arrived in Nicaragua.  The first night, he was feeling lost and confused and as he was lying there in bed, he said to himself as he heard a plane go overhead, "Only 730 more days until I can be on that plane going home!"  I have to say, I felt the same way the first night we were in Moscow.  We got to our apartment, were dropped off in a country we knew practically nothing about, with  no car, no cell phones, and didn't even dare go outside our door because we had absolutely no idea of where we were in the city nor how to go anyplace else!  Then we started hearing a steady beep that we looked high and low where it was coming from.  We just decided to go to bed and see if we could sleep through it, but it was obvious that it was not going to stop and it was so annoying, even with the pillows over our heads, we could still hear it. Amazingly enough, as we knelt down to say our prayers with very heavy hearts wondering perhaps if we had the right decision by coming, Gpa George suddenly looked under the bed and saw that it was the carbon monoxide device which was getting low on the batteries.  We had never heard that sound before because it wasn't like a fire alarm.  We were so relieved that we had been helped by the Lord by kneeling to help calm us.  The next morning, things started falling into place a little more, and day by day, we knew that we could do it!  We had been given the example of our sons (and sons-in-law), plus our six grandsons who had definitely had it just as hard if not harder than what we were going through in Russia.  This mission has been one of highs and lows, but the experiences we have had, and the people we have met, have truly been a blessing in our lives--one we will never forget.  We feel very blessed by the Lord and thank him for trusting us with the callings we have.

It is always difficult during the holidays when we are missing our family so badly, but we feel so blessed to talk to you when we get the opportunity and appreciate your continual comments and encouragement.  It is funny that no matter what the age, you still appreciate encouragement in all that you do when you cause is just.  We love the "Light the World," Campaign.  We hope all of your will take the opportunity to minister to others and make others' lives easier and happier.  It is so important, also, for everyone to see our happy countenances and know the source of our happiness is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Never be afraid to stand up for it!  

We love you all so much,

Gma Laura

P.S  We were so sad to hear about Ella's horse, Vader, passing away.  It is so difficult to see family pets leave us, but with the passing of our dog, Lady, who was such a part of the family as our kids were growing up; Koda, who was the sweetest little dog in Kevin and Angie's family; and now Vader, in Kent and Natalie's family, I feel certain we will see them all again, too!  That's the beautiful part of the resurrection!