It is one week before Christmas. This Christmas season has felt a bit different, for several reasons. The first is that Anabelle isn't here. While we are used to being without her in our day to day lives, having her gone for our favorite part of the year is a new experience. Her missing presence is keenly felt, as is her laugh, and her company. In the same moment I feel that, I'm also absolutely delighted about where she is and thrilled for her to be experiencing the growth that she is. We got to talk to her on Monday-after her first week in the mission field. She is doing well, all things considered. You could see the courage and the grit at work in her, in full operational force. She was fighting tears as she admitted how hard it's been, how completely frustrating to not be able to understand anything. She is a person who likes to be in on the conversation, she wants to understand where people are coming from, hear their experiences and their perspectives, and be able to share on a personal level. The inability to participate in conversations and discussions is really difficult for her. When she told me this my heart erupted with empathy. That's been one of the most difficult aspects of being here in Portugal for me. I feel confident that she will progress quickly, especially considering that she got the native trainer that she prayed to have. I'd say she's right on track. Still, it tugs at my Mom heart to know she's struggling. But I also know Anabelle, and I know she will struggle well.
The other thing that sets this Christmas season apart from others, is that in the past, it has been our habit to try to fill our Christmas season with giving, charity, and service as much as possible. It has oftentimes been a bit of a task to try to find people who need help. My frustration in those times has always been that I know there are people struggling all around us, it was just hard to identify them. We now find ourselves in opposite circumstances where the requests for help roll in almost daily, if not several times a week. The majority of ward members here in Leiria 1 & 2 are recent immigrants. They mostly have temporary factory work for employment, earning wages that are wholly insufficient. Many of them can make ends meet, but just barely- a car repair or unexpected dental procedure is out of the question. I have spent enough of my life living in this category and I feel deeply for them, and want to help ease burdens. We are just about the only ones in either ward who has the resources to help. Whenever there is any need, we are the first place our ward members come. I believe also that the stake president has funds also, but he is a bit unapproachable. Our generous friends from Colorado (the Miles), have given us a fund to use for these situations. Watching them first turn their vacation here last year into a week long service project was incredible. But they didn't go home and move on with their lives. They kept sending money and praying for the people here. It's been perhaps one of the most charitable examples I have ever seen. Although we absorb plenty of costs along the way, they have contributed the lion's share of funding. We get the fun part (and also it's a lot of time and effort), of meeting the needs. It's quite consuming, and I've found that we struggle to balance meeting the needs of our ward members and meeting the needs of our own family.
Just before Thanhksgiving, our dear our friends the Davis's were scheduled to come for an 8 day visit. At the same time, we learned of a convert (of two weeks), with a four month old baby who was facing some tough circumstances.
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