A Long Journey

Carmen and Carlos Fanese

Over eight years ago, Carlos Fanese had a dream.  In his dream, his great, great grandfather appeared to him and told him that he was the one to "save" the family.  He spoke to Carlos in Italian and Carlos answered him in Italian, but Carlos was Brazilian and only spoke Portuguese.  He had never given his ancestors much thought and up to that moment didn't even realize that he was of Italian descent.  Carmen and Carlos had 6 homes, 3 expensive cars, 3 businesses.  They sold everything except for one home that they could return to, left Brazil and 3 married children and grandchildren and moved to Italy to find the names of his ancestors.  At this point, Carmen was not a member of the church. 

They moved to the town in Italy where the Fanese family was originally from, they had success and found 8 generations of Fanese names. Carmen joined the church in Italy. They were running out of money and needed to find work.  There was none for them in Italy so they moved to England where he became a chef.  It was a great job and financially they were doing much better, but they were inactive because he had to work on Sundays.  They had an impression that they should move to  Portugal and so they did. 

They moved to Caldas da Rainha, Portugal...the town where we are working.  They moved here about a month after we arrived .  We quickly became friends and their story started to unfold.  Elder Sommer took Carlos under his wing.  He taught Carlos the about the Melchezidek priesthood, and in June he became an Elder.  Then we began teaching them the temple prep classes.  We set a goal for them to go to the temple by the end of August.  We taught them how to enter and submit their ancestors' names for temple work. We contacted the temple in Madrid, Spain and made the arrangements for them to receive their own endowments, to be sealed for time and all eternity and to have their youngest daughter, who is 13, sealed to them. Imagine the wonderful feeling that we had to witness such a moment when those ancestors who came before finally had all the blessings that they had desired for so long.

 

Some things that I will miss about Portugal

Dawn over Caldas

Big sky and empty, beautiful beaches

Sunset from our balcony in Caldas da Rainha

Beautiful storms with a front row seat

Decorating the Mission Home

Sr. Fluckiger, our Mission President's wife asked me to help her decorate the upstairs bedrooms at the mission home in Lisbon.  So for a few days here and there we worked together to bring a fresh look to the bedrooms that haven't been changed in 20 years.  What Fun!!

Guest Room, before.

After

Guest Room before

After.  There was really no budget for this room, so I bought an area rug and pillows from IKEA. The red blankets are also new.

Master Bedroom after

  The master bedroom is not finished.  We have to paint the walls, get new side tables for the bed and 2 new lamps.  There is a small area rug that I found downstairs is shown in this picture, but a larger one with brighter colors is needed and a couple of toss pillows or small bolster for the bed.  Sr. Fluckiger loves brown.  We were going for restful. 

The rooms need more accessorizing, but that takes more money and time and we have neither right now.  There are no stores here like Home Goods, Tai Pan Traders, Pottery Barn, or even Target etc. to just go and pick up stuff.  We also need LDS art but that is a big expense and costs too much to ship.  There is a hefty tariff on everything that is sent by mail. We will figure it out! 

Master bedroom before.

The Hardys in Portugal

This beautiful family, the Hardys (Michelle Munson Hardy) visited us in May.  We were so delighted to see them.  Their children are adorable, and their baby was laughing all the time.  We spent a fun evening with them.  Her husband was a missionary in Portugal.  They were able to visit the site where Portugal was dedicated for the gospel by President Monson. That night Michelle's husband got to see the 40th anniversary extravaganza in Oeiras Stake Center that night.  Great fun.  Thanks Michelle!

Couple missionaries

In August we welcomed a new couple to our mission.  Sr. And Elder Stucki with President and Sr. Fluckiger

At the end of June, we said farewell to Larry and Paula Rose, a wonderful couple from Bountiful, Utah who taught us so much when we first got here.

Our District June 2014

We have served with some wonderful Elders and Sisters.  It occurred to me that I should be taking more pictures of these dear people so that we can always remember them. These are the missionaries that we have served with since coming to Caldas da Rainha.

Sr. Rosemann, Sr. and Elder Sommer

Sr. Anderson

Elder Rigby, Oliveira, Sr. DeCarvalho, Sr. Santos, Elder  Fonts and Elder Tyler at a branch activity, April 2014.

Sr. DeCarvalho and Sr. Santos.  Sr. Santos was 31 when she went on her mission.  She had a boyfriend in Brazil, who introduced her to the the gospel, and she had a very good job, but she felt that she had to serve a mission before they got married.  She finished her mission in April and they married in June.  Sr. DeCarvalho finished her mission in August 2014.  Both were excellent missionaries and they loved serving together in Caldas da Rainha

Elder Rigby and Elder Knight. March 2014

The day before transfers. Sr. Anderson and Rosemann.  Sr. Anderson went to Madeira.  Sr. Anderson was fun because she somehow always had the scoop on what was happening around the mission and because she liked to figure out people and what made them tick.  She had many theories that were great to listen to.

The day before transfers.  Elders Rigby and Mel.  Elder Rigby went to the Azores

The Fourth of July with our District.  L to R.  Elder Mel from Salt Lake City, Oliveira, Brazil Sr. Anderson, Boulder Colorado, Sr. Rosemann, Centerville, Elder Rigby from Layton area and Elder Denney from Kaysville

Lark and Parker in Portugal

Parker and Lark in Belem on day-one of their trip to Portugal

Lark and Parker arrive in Lisbon on  July 6, happy to be off the plane after a very long flight.

The dining room of the Ajuda Palace

The throne room at the Ajuda Palace, Lisbon

In the grottoes of Lagos for a wonderful boat ride

Lagos, Portugal where Parker served a few months of his mission

Tavira. 

Portemao, Algarve, Portugal