Sunday, August 30, 2015

Portugal through the eyes of Kings and Friars

On Friday, August 14, we made our first trip together inside of Europe, to Portugal.  We had a productive day with our Self-Reliance Services manager, Antonio Paulo and have more meetings planned with Self-Reliance groups, facilitators and priesthood leaders on Sunday and Monday.  However, on Saturday we had some open time and Antonio Paulo and his wife and daughter took the day to give us a personal tour of Lisbon and Sintra, Portugal.  We share just a little of this below, to give you an idea of the wonderful things we have seen and learned with these special friends.

It focused on a historic city about 45 minutes out of Lisbon, named Sintra, which has long been the home to Portuguese monarchs, dating back prior to 1500.  We are were able to see how the summer palace of the king and queen of Portugal and were  also able to see a significant contrast as we visited a monastery where 8 monks lived far from the comforts of home, all during the same epoch.  Comments and photos follow:

This is a view of the Palace of Sinatra, which was the summer retreat for the royalty of Portugal.  The palace had origins in the 10th century bust most of what we were able to see dates to the 15th century.  The coned shape "spires" are chimneys from their kitchen:

     
Debbie and I are in the formal meeting room with ornate wall tiles and ceiling decor.  This is where many of the important treaties of the day were signed and probably where Christopher Columbus met with Queen Isabel.

Another photo from another location in the palace:


View from the front of the place of the remains of a castle and fort that is on the top of the mountain:


Afterwards we went to visit The Capuchos Convent.  The convent is made into the rock and you get a real feeling of the hardships the eight monks who lived there had to endure.  This was established in 1560, similar time to the palace that we visited.



Small living accommodations, the doors only go up to Debbie's neck:


Many of the doors are covered with cork which comes from the tress in the location.  The following shows some of the cork covering and then one of the trees where the cork comes from.  Portugal is the major producer of cork in the world:




We finished the day visiting the coast of Portugal which is the most western location in continental Europe:




Sunday, August 16, 2015

Absence makes the heart grow fonder or missionaries without companions

Debbie and I have talked about serving a mission together for years.  Once we actually got our mission call in May, those talks started becoming a reality.  Things were changing so fast for us, no one understood the full picture of all that was going on except Debbie and I.  With our pre-mission opportunity in Frankfurt, we truly and emotionally started this mission way back on June 1 when we got on the plane for our first experience in Frankfurt, Germany.  This occurred only two days after we moved out of our home and into our condominium with Grandma Rueckert.  Every step of the way has been an adventure, but much more than that, it has been something that Debbie and I have done totally together and that has brought some very special feelings between us. As we made our final preparations to officially move on July 20th, our life was full of preparations and decisions, including adjusting to a new lifestyle and responsibilities and trying to begin learning a new language.  Of course, it also included our bittersweet feelings with our children and grandchildren, loving them and leaving them to the care of our Heavenly Father while we are away.

The experiences of these past few months have brought us much closer together, increasing the closeness that we have felt for such a long time.  It is hard to explain to someone who has not experienced it, but it has been so very special!  Add to that our conviction that we are doing what our Heavenly Father wants us to do and the strong guidance of the Holy Ghost that we have been feeling individually and together.  As we arrived in our apartment in Frankfurt on July 21, 2015, it was the first time in our married life that we had ever lived alone in our own home, without children or Grandma Rueckert.

So three days later, when we heard about Shawn's untimely passing we just stepped up for one more change in our life and we did the right thing, allowing Debbie to quickly return to Utah to help Kari and others during the funeral and adjustments.  We never did doubt if this should happen, I was able to carry out the planned travels and activities while we divided and conquered, we had done this many times in our married lives.

What was surprising to both of us, was how hard this separation was.  We both were busy and doing good, but we were not together and we both felt this incredible void.  I have traveled much more than I would have liked to over the past few years and we have adjusted to those times, but this was so much different.  I guess it was like being a missionary without a companion and it certainly felt different.  After 12 days, we were back together and we are now continuing on in this wonderful experience TOGETHER!  This experience of serving our Heavenly Father together 24/7 is much better than either of us ever expected.  We are finding special ways to offer all of the talents and blessings that we have each received and have found a satisfaction and peace that has exceeded all of our expectations.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Tender Mercies

 In a time of tragedy and loss, God showered down tender mercies on me and my daughter Kari Parker. Recently Kari lost her husband and best friend to an untimely death.

The first tender mercy given us was that Shawn was able to pass peacefully through the veil minutes before the doctors and nurses removed life support.

Mike Murray provided the second tender mercy when he gave Tom the go-ahead to make arrangements for me to fly home from Germany the day after Shawn's passing.

I was blessed with another tender mercy with the companionship of the Holy Ghost as I flew home without my husband. Everything went smoothly and I was filled with great calm and peace.

The support and love that was shown to Kari by her siblings was another tender mercy. They all stepped up in a big way. It was truly amazing!

Shawn's family's caring acts of kindness and love were a tender mercy that helped Kari to make it through the most difficult experience of her life. They pledged their continuing love, help and support in the days, weeks, months and years that lie ahead.

Little Serenity Grace is another tender mercy. She is the part of Shawn that lives on in this mortal life. She looks so much like her daddy that it will help to keep the memory of Shawn alive. What a great gift and blessing from a loving Heavenly Father.

The outpouring of love and service from ward members was another tender mercy that blessed Kari's life. She was amazed to come home from the funeral to find a complete landscaping make-over of her front yard. All she asked for was for lawn to be mowed and watered. This is just one example of the service given to Kari by ward members.

Kari received several monetary  donations from family and friends which turned out to be another tender mercy as Kari tries to figure out how to make ends meet financially.

Being able to bless Serenity before I had to return to Germany was a sweet tender mercy. Shawn's dad was able to give his little grand-daughter a name and a blessing.

Serenity was amazing during the viewing, funeral and blessing.She was calm and peaceful as many hands lovingly took care of her. What a tender mercy.

The fact that both Kari and Beckie have felt Shawn's presence in prompting them to do things, has been a tender mercy.

Last but not least, I was able to travel home and be reunited with my wonderful husband safely and without any problems. This was the final tender mercy given me to close this very difficult chapter in my life.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

While Debbie was away . . . Tom didn't stay in Frankfurt


While Debbie was back in Utah for Shawn's funeral and to support Kari, Tom was busy visiting with some of our Self-Reliance Service managers.  He spent two full days in Spain (July 29-31) and four full days in Albania (August 1-5).

Spain - July 29-31

Spain, time spent with SRS manager, full-time missionary couple, visiting self-reliance center and priesthood leaders.  Time was very well spent, relationships were strengthened and understanding increased.  During spare moments, Tom was also able to participate in an endowment session in the Madrid Temple and see a few sights in the evening time.  People just begin coming out after the sun goes down, due to the extreme heat this time of the year, so the city plazas come alive and become very crowded after 10:00 pm.

The hotel was in the city of Alcalá, just outside of Madrid. This city is noted for a few things, Rome first conquered the area and built the city in the first century B.C.  It was also the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes in 1547, the author of Man of La Mancha.  I spent an evening walking through the town square with our manager and his wife.  The following photos are some of the highlights of that evening:

This photo is of a university that was first built in the 1500s under the direction of Ximenez de Cicneros, a Catholic Cardinal.  The uniqueness of the building is how light is portrayed.  As students begin learning they are on the first floor where the windows are small and they begin receiving light.  By the second year, on the second floor the windows are larger (more light).  The third floor is full of many windows, signifying more enlightenment.   In the final and fourth year they arrive to the roof, which is full of light, but the true light comes from above.   On the roof is several torches, which symbolically are lighted by the Holy Ghost.  What a wonderful concept of learning and receiving light, especially from the Creator of Light and the Holy Ghost.


This photo shows me with a statue of Miguel de Cervantes, creator of Man of La Mancha.  Much of the parts of the story are shown on the base of the statue (fighting windmills, etc.).  We saw much more of this throughout the town, including statues of Don Quixote and Sancho.  Every year around Miguel de Cervantes' birthday (Oct. 9), they have a medieval week, which is full of many people dressed up and apparently quite an experience.


The next night we spent the evening on the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain, truly a gathering place for many people in Madrid.  The photo below shows the spot near the plaza where all road measurements (kilometer markings) originate for Spain, all are measured from this spot, which is near the center of the country.


The plaza is full of varied attractions and many residents come to walk and watch.  The photo below is form a street dancer (acrobat) and his team that were performing on the square in an impromptu act.



Albania - August 1 to August 5

I traveled to the country of Albania on Saturday, August 1.  The primary focus of this trip was to meet with the first participants of the PEF loan program which had just been approved in this country.  We also met with the Stake President (his stake covers the entire country), many of the bishops, the mission president and a few Senior missionary couples who serve in different capacities in the country.  I learned a lot about a country that had been communist just 25 years ago and was now trying to overcome their communist past.  The Church is growing well in this country, but it is still in it's infancy.  We feel that the Self-Reliance initiative is just what the members need, it will help the Church and its members to grow.

On Monday we traveled to a city three hours south of Tirana.  While we were waiting for a meeting with the Bishop and some young adults, we were able to visit an old fort that dates back to the Greek and Roman eras.  It is on top of the mountain above the city:










Thursday, August 6, 2015

Temples and Tongues



My first visit to the Madrid, Spain temple was the culmination of three temple experiences with four different languages in the same week!  This is a special part of the Europe experience.

  • It started on Saturday, July 25, after dropping Debbie off at the airport to return to Utah.  I was able to do some initiatory work in the Frankfurt Temple for some of our "family names".  There were two temple officiators, one who did not speak English.  So they alternated the washings and anointings in English and German.
  • The next Tuesday evening, was the weekly temple night at the Frankfurt temple with the other senior missionaries.  I was able to participate in an English session in a German temple.
  • Finally, on Thursday morning, while in Madrid, Spain (more about that later) I was able to go through a temple session that was held in Spanish.  I used headsets to facilitate my experience in English and then went through the veil using my Portuguese.  This is a temple that accommodates various different languages for members from several countries.
Although multiple languages were involved in these wonderful experiences, the most important language was present in each of the situations, that of the Holy Ghost.   I love being in any of the temples, for while I am doing work for my ancestors and their families, I feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost and receive guidance and strength in my own life.