Day 33:

I remember when we first told people that we were heading to Europe. There were so many comments about being careful and all the stories about things that happen in the crowded European cities. Then to find out that Portugal is considered a third world country, according to European standards, I guess we shouldn't have been surprised by the events of today.

It started out like any other day- I had plans with my good friend, Beatrize to do search work and cover her territory as well as check on a few calls. I like Beatriz a lot. She is like a walking encyclopedia and knows more about perfume, movies, and random facts like who designed a certain chair or where this tiny door leads to... she's just amazing. As we went on about our day, she taught me a lot of interesting things. For instance- the lady in the convenience store wasn't a lady, there are Portuguese phrases that parallel some that we have in English, cultural differences when it comes to eating habits between "Americans" and the Portuguese, etc. The most important thing that I learned from Beatrize, however, was not anything that she told me today but something that I observed her do. Today, Beatriz taught me that it is the little gestures that mean the most. As we visited with her return visits and bible students, Beatrize would make sure that she let them know that she cared for them- she gave one teenaged girl that she had been studying with a notebook so she could take notes at the meetings and in the front page Beatrize put contact information to some of the friends for her to call while she was gone on vacation, she also gave special perfume to her study so she could wear it to the meeting (perfume is a huge deal here) which made the girl so happy and excited to go this weekend. I admired the way Beatrize knew and felt for the people she visited. She reminded me that this is one of the reasons why we are here- to help people and to let them know that we care about them and taught me that little things can make a big difference in someone's life.

Fast forward to this evening. I was headed out for evening service before the meeting when I ran into a group of distressed girls. Unfortunately, these were the girls I live with and love so dearly. Turns out, somebody had stolen everything that one of them had- creating a diversion while his friend snatched her bag from her side. Phone, cards, books, money- all of it was gone. As happy as we are that nobody w's hurt, it still makes us so sad that someone would actually do such a thing. We will be spending tomorrow trying to get information and looking at surveillance videos and speaking with the police to file reports and get documents. Despite the fact that she was robbed- this girl is still smiling, and here we are all helping her through this and trying to stay as positive as we possibly can. Somehow, things will work out and be okay. We all have faith in that. Even if her stuff is never returned- though we hope it will be- at least we are all safe and here to support and help each other.

Today's Positives:

Had a wonderful, long day out in service

Spent some time with Beatriz and had a lovely lunch with two other sister's whose company I am so happy to have been in

Enjoyed a long walk in the sunshine and watched the flowers bloom

Spoke with a couple on vacation from New York and left them magazines

We are all happy and safe and closer than ever here in our apartment, plotting all the ways we can help each other through any bumps in the road that we might face

 

 

(hacked by Audry mwahahaha hi!!!)