2021- Week 47(Nov 22- Nov 28)

 Thanksgiving was this week so we did a lot of prep for it. I made place cards that are pretty generic so we could use them again. I had already bought paper goods when they were on sale but it turned out that Tom and Sharon also bought some so we grabbed there's and I guess great minds think alike because they bought the same ones we did. I had to finish fixing my charcuterie board. When we bought it it had a small crack so we got it for a huge discount. I filled the crack with wood glue, sanded it down and then oiled it with cutting board oil and it looks good as new. Whitney and I went to Trader Joes to get some things for the charcuterie. I made little turkey favors. The night before we set up the tables so we didn't have to do much the day of besides make our food. I bought these darling butter turkeys from Harmons. 

Thanksgiving day we hosted and had it with the Shaw's this year. That morning I  finished our Jello salad. I did the Six Sisters Strawberry Fluff recipe. We laid out the charcuterie. I made apple crisp. I made pecan pie bites- that were so dang good. Then we set the tables and watched the Macy's Day Parade. It was so low stress which was nice. The meal was amazing. Tom and Sharon did the turkey, potatoes and stuffing. Kellie brought her dad's famous yams, Kristy did corn and egg nog and Scott and Malia made the most delicious pies- chocolate, banana cream and Oreo. We also had pumpkin pie. After dinner Scott, Malia, Miles, Whitney and I went on a walk and then we came back and we all sat around chatting. I had set up a station for everyone to write notes to Jen and Ashtyn.

We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. We also turned on the outside Christmas lights for the first time this year. We didn't put up the tree but will do that later.

Friday night we took Tom and Sharon to dinner for his 70th birthday which was the week before but they were in Branson. Tom requested The Asian Star. Scott and Malia came too. We got him some balloons and a card. I don't think he loved the balloons ha ha. He seemed to not know what to do with them so I just tied them to his chair. The waitress saw them and at the end of the meal they brought him a piece of cake with a candle which I thought was so nice. The food was so good. I got the honey pork which was a bit sweet for my liking but I tried Scott's orange chicken and it was great and Whitney's sweet and sour pork and Malia's sesame chicken and they were yummy. It's hard to know what to get Tom and Sharon so we thought we would just get them the gift of time instead. 

My friend mentioned to me that she has stopped buying from Amazon. We are huge Amazon shoppers for the convenience but she pointed out that it hurts small businesses because Amazon charges them a crazy percentage to be on their site as a seller. So many of them feel like they have to because people go there first. So I have been trying to buy small instead. Small businesses often include personalized thank you notes or extra little treats that are such a great personal touch. It's taken more effort but I'd rather be supporting real people instead of huge corporations or foreign countries.

Melissa and I went to breakfast with Claudia to catch up with her and to give Ally her birthday present. We miss them! We went to Kneaders. I saw this pillow and just had to buy it. I love Christmas pillows and I want to get more of them.

Melissa and Brian Barney invited us to go do sealings with them on the 27th for her birthday. That makes twice that we have gone to the temple this month. It was so nice. We took some names that Claudia gave us of her grandparents and were able to seal them. There were two other couples in the session and the sealer ended up being Matt Daw's dad who was our old neighbor. 

After we went to dinner 

2021- Week 46(Nov 15- Nov 21)

 Ethan had to make a movie in Chinese for a class assignment. This week they held a film festival to debut all the movies. His group made a movie about the Chinese who worked on the Transcontinental Railroad. It was called Vengeance Railway. It was about a Chinese man whose friend was killed and he vows to avenge his death but in the end his life is spared and he realizes that all lives have value. They did a great job. There were over 20 films shown that night and Ethan's group won the awards for Best Director and Best Short Film. Now I know what it was like when he first started taking Chinese and couldn't understand a word his teacher was saying- it was exhausting. I was so tired by the end from having to try and read subtitles and hearing nothing but Chinese for two hours. I was very impressed with all the movies because they were only filmed on phones and they were awesome. 

This week we held Activity Days. We made Thanksgiving placemats for the Beehive rest home in our ward. I also gave the boys a challenge that I would donate money for every basket they made while playing basketball. They made 95 baskets so I donated $100 to the Salt Lake City Mission to help provide Thanksgiving meals to those in need. 

Saturday was Melinda's birthday and we were going to watch the kids while they went hunting but then they all got sick so instead I dropped off lunch and a cake. She loves Nothing Bundt Cakes. 

My Gastro doctor called me three times straight in a row so I was super worried that my results were going to be bad news. I answered on the third call. He told me that the biopsy of the polyp they found in my colon showed it was adenomatous which means that it is the precancerous type so I need to repeat the colonoscopy in five years. If your results show benign polyps you can wait ten years before repeating. The biopsy of the polyps they found in my stomach showed that one of them was concerning and it is not clear if there is a potential for cancer from this particular type of polyp so he wants me to repeat my EGD in three years. I have had very few symptoms since the colonoscopy so part of me wonders if all my stomach issues the last few months were a blessing in disguise because I am only 43 and never would have considered having a colonoscopy at this point if I hadn't been so sick and maybe by 45 the polyps they removed could have progressed to full on cancer by that point. I guess I won't ever know but I am glad that I can now stay on top of monitoring them. 

Whitney went on a date with a boy Porter set her up with. He turned out to be our old neighbors son Gavin Hiller. We lived in the same ward in Taylorsville and we knew him when he was a little boy. What a small world it is. 

Saturday night the church did a Latin broadcast called Luz De Las Naciones. There was singing, dancing and speaking in Spanish. It was wonderful. I tried to make sopapillas to celebrate but ended up not having time so we just made scones instead- close enough right?

I got to sub in Primary for the CTR 6 class. We played a gratitude dice game and each child got to answer one question. One little boy named Jackson got the question What is the most valuable lesson you have learned this year? He said he hadn't learned anything this year and I said "Not even in school?" "What is something you have learned that is new from school?" to which he replied- Nothing, I am really smart and already know all the answers we are learning"- HA HA HA

Ashtyn Letter:

Olá! Tudo bem! Okay weekly emails are getting so tough to write as time goes on haha. So we will get right into it 

•I got transferred!! I loved Faro so much but I think it was time for a change. I got moved up to Linda-A-Velha which is close to Lisbon and I am with the cutest sister, Sister Hammond! She only has 4 weeks left on her mission and will be the 5th comp that I've sent home😮 my Comp in Faro, sister Fernandes, also got transferred so they whitewashed (when both missionaries leave an area) Faro! Kinda of crazy and I spent our last night writing down a bunch of notes for the new sisters!

•we've had lots of fun experiences here already like visiting a less actives members house and him telling us we can't wear nail polish because it isn't natural and asking what race Jesus is haha. 

•I met our cute ward and now get to be the pianist since the members don't have one! My first Sunday it was also a members birthday and so the ward made this big lunch with cake and everything! 

•for p day we went to Sintra, a city close by and walked around this garden place which was really fun and pretty! I already can tell that pdays here are going to be a lot more exciting than Faro! 

•can't really give too many updates with people we're teaching because I hardly know them but we've been having some cool experiences with street contacting! We met a guy named Walter the other day and he is so cool. We passed by him and said boa noite and he responded with "hello". After hearing his response in English we decided to turn around and talk to him. He had lots of questions about what we do as missionaries and even the classics like "where do we come from?" "Why are we here?" So cool that I know the answers to these questions!! 

•honestly I think that's about all the updates I have! Thanksgiving is this week so stay grateful and eat lots of good food! It's obviously not a holiday in Portugal so who knows if we'll do anything but have the best week ever!!

GOD LOVES YOU.

-Sister Shaw

P.s about the title: Shaw has the same sound as the Portuguese word chá which means tea, so I got called sister tea this week by a member! 

I'm the worst and have like no pictures! 

2021- Week 45(Nov 8- Nov 14)

 DUP was this week. I gave the history on my third great grandfather Alexander Barron. We had pumpkin pie for dessert.

The headstone I have been working on replacing for Luke Shaw and Nancy Westwood finally got installed. It made me so happy. I started thinking about this back in 2017 but like all of my projects, my intentions were bigger than my actual effort so it's taken a few years to really make it happen. I give a lot of the credit to Aunt Elaine who when she heard about it wanted to be a part and has gone with me to the cemetery and the monument place more times than I can count. When I found out how expensive it would be to do what I really wanted I almost gave up on the idea- but then I decided that Luke and Nancy wouldn't care one bit what it looked like but would care so much that they were not forgotten. After all it is largely in part to them that the Shaw family resides in Utah today. I added the medallion at the last minute and it cost an additional $80 but now there is no denying they are pioneers. 

I had to get a colonoscopy and EGD this week to further investigate my IBS issues I have been having. Of course as soon as I saw my gastro doctor and set up the test my symptoms went back to how they usually are. But I have lost almost 20 lbs since May so I went ahead with the test anyways. It was torture for me. Maybe I am being over dramatic because I know lots of people who have had a colonoscopy done and they seemed like it was a piece of cake- but I was so so so sick for three days doing the prep. Of course it really cleans you out and that was not the problem- it was the extreme nausea. I could barely keep anything down and felt so dizzy and terrible. I knew I had to drink more than just the prep if I was going to be hydrated enough for the IV. I have never been so happy to have a procedure over in all my life. I had polyps in my colon and my stomach that he removed and sent off to be biopsied so we'll see what he says. He didn't see anything super concerning or that might have been causing my months of diarrhea but he did prescribe me a few drugs to try so we'll see. 

My cute neighbor Emma-who is 8 wrote me a letter and left it in my mailbox. It was a picture she drew of Daisy. I love it and she brought it over when I was so sick and she didn't know I was sick but it made my day. 

Whitney and I got our first of many peppermint shakes.

Whitney's hair has really grown out. It is so crazy to me to see blond roots instead of dark which is what you usually see when hair grows out. 

I finished my book. It was so so good. I want to buy it now so I can reread it soon.

Sunday was Sydney Evans homecoming. She is one of Ashtyn's good friends who left on a mission just before Ashtyn in May. It was like getting a hug from Ashtyn when I hugged her. Her talk was so good. She must have mentioned Jesus over fifty times which is what I love to hear. She told the story of the woman caught in adultry and how the savior took the attention off of her and put it onto himself. He doesn't want the focus to be on our guilt and shame and instead on Him and His atonement. I loved that. I had to leave right after to go and teach relief society. My lesson was on Elder Uchtodorfs talk about a Daily Restoration. 

Something wonderful happened on Sunday. Jeff got to talk to Maria- the woman he baptized in Portugal. The Elders surprised her with a Messanger call to Jeff. She totally remembered him and the first thing she said was "You are bald" ha ha. They were able to communicate just fine. Jeff was a little worried since his Portuguese is rusty. They had a nice visit and now she has our family photo hanging on her fridge. I think we will send her a Christmas card and try to stay in touch. She is 84 years old so she doesn't have social media or email. 

Ashtyn's Letter:

Olá!! Como vocês estão?? Ok don't have too many things to update on because my last p day was only 4 days ago but here are some exciting things that happened this week!

Our zone conference was INCREDIBLE!! Definitely needed this spiritual nourishment! We had Sister Corden and Sister Porter, two general authorities, speak to our mission. Basically the gist was that God knows us and is so aware of us, he is in every SINGLE detail and the people of Portugal are prepared to receive the gospel! Sister Corden actually served her mission here in Portugal and told us a story about when she was in the MTC. She was in a group of 10 missionaries, 8 of which were going to Brazil. She told us that her MTC teachers looked at them and said "you guys going to Brazil will have many baptisms. And you guys going to Portugal, well you will plant a lot of seeds." Europe is tough, but their are 100% people here who have been prepared all these years to accept our message. I got a fire in me and my desire to share this message grew! I am so so grateful God assigned me to labor in Portugal. I love this country so much. 

Oh also another cool little thing, my dad got to talk to Maria Teodora on Sunday! So so cool how we were able to make this connection! God is in the details! Also our friend Douglas came to church on Sunday and I could've cried tears I was so happy! He hasn't come to church ever since I've been here! (a little over three months)

I really don't know what else to say haha. We have Transfers this week and I will probably leave since I only have 2 Transfers left! WHAT?? But I hope everyone has an amazing week! Always read your scriptures and say your prayers. God loves you!!

-Sister Shaw 

1. Dessert!

2. Edite! I used to teach this cute lady before our area got split

3. Our entire mission at Cabo da rocha!

4. All 5 of us Washington DC North sisters hit 15 months!

2021- Week 44(Nov 1- Nov 7)

 Ashtyn has exactly 100 days left on her mission! She will be home in three months and we can hardly wait to see her.

Regan asked me to come and babysit Archer and Stevie for a few hours on Monday because she had to go into work- I went but her network was down so I wasn't there for very long. I went back on Tuesday so she could try again. Greg is very protective of Archer and so he kept coming down "for things" He ended up putting Archer down for a nap so Miss Stevie and I went up to their room and hung out while Archer slept. Stevie is the tiniest little thing. She is four months old and so darn cute. When Archer woke up Greg fixed him lunch and we sat and chatted for a while until Regan got home- so I really didn't do much babysitting but it was fun to be there. Archer is a very polite little guy. He says "Please Please" when he wants something and he really really loves Greg. It's fun to see my brother as a grandfather. I can't wait to be a grandparent one day.

Jeff had a conference for work in Miami beach this week and they let the wives come for the weekend. I flew out on Thursday morning. I met up with Julie Larsen Jeff's coworker Leif's wife and our good friend. It was so fun traveling with them. I didn't feel nearly as stressed as I normally do because they were there and could help us if we needed anything. We flew into Fort Lauderdale so we had to take an Uber to Miami. Our Uber driver was named Gil. He was from Argentina and only spoke a little English but he was so awesome. I told him how much I love Latin music and he turned some on for us. I used the Say Hi app to communicate with him. He even payed for our tolls. He helped us with our luggage and the car was nice inside and it was cool. I ended up giving him a $50 tip. I love to tip big- but don't often because we can't afford it- but hey when you are on vacation you should live it up! It was dark by the time we got settled so we just ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was called the Belle Mare. The hotel was the Cadillac Hotel. Julie got the burger and I got the pizza. The burger was so good and she ended up getting it three times during our stay. I shared it with her one of the times and it was pretty awesome. It had a red onion jam that was to die for. Friday morning we grabbed breakfast from a little cafe across the street called Primo. They had a counter service and tables out side. It was raining so we just brought the food back to my hotel room. The French toast was so good but Julie had an egg bagel that looked awesome and we all got that the few other times we ate there. We wanted to get manicures but couldn't find an appointment so we decided to try and navigate the free trolley. We took it to the Lincoln Road Mall. It was a massive outdoor mall with tons of shops and restaurants. I got some souvenirs from one of the shops and we grabbed lunch at Paul's Cafe which was a little French bistro. I had a turkey croque madame and it was so so good. When we finished at the mall we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We were invited to the BRG dinner. It was at the Loews hotel in their restaurant. We were picked up on a big tour bus. The first hour was a cocktail hour. I am so not use to how the other half lives- Jeff said there was a cocktail hour every night. Then we were seated for dinner. They mixed everyone up so they could get to know the other employees so we sat at a table with people I didn't know. They were all very nice and from the sound of it very rich. They all talked about having au pairs, house cleaners, trips all over the place for kid activities and vacations and I felt like I did not fit in. Everyone was drinking wine the whole meal. It was a family style meal and each course they brought out four to five dishes. There were four courses although our table didn't get the sushi course. Jeff was sad because he loves sushi. It was a mix of seafood, chicken and beef. Most everything was divine. I didn't try any of the fish. There was a woman at the table named Olga from Russia whose children fence. I mentioned that I did that in college but when she started asking me specifics and I told her it was just a club she seemed to lose interest and I got the feeling she didn't think I knew what I was talking about ha ha. She wasn't rude about it just again someone I do not fit in with. I sat on the end so that the employees could talk and the man next to me was really nice. His name was Dan and he was from Chicago. He told me how he had four children and when they were small they went though nine au pairs in twelve years because his wife just couldn't manage the morning routine without help and he had to work. I told him we had three under three, no au pair and Jeff was gone all year when our youngest was born and he just couldn't fathom how I survived- ha ha me neither. 

Saturday we all went along with Vernon another coworker who's wife can't fly, to the Gator Park for an airboat ride and alligator show. That was super fun. We got a Groupon to do it. Now is the perfect time to go because when it gets cooler the alligators come out more to find the sun. We saw a few and the guide was great. The man who did the show was so nonchalant about going into the enclosure and the alligators seemed like it was no big deal to do what he wanted them to do. When we got back we went and had lunch at the beach side restaurant at the hotel and then down to the beach for a while and then back to the mall for a delicious Cuban dinner at Havan 1957. The last day we talked about going to church but it would have been too far and we had to go to the airport so we just went back and sat on the beach until it was time to go. We had asked for a late check out the night before but when we checked on that again they didn't show us down for one so we had to fight with the clerk to let us have one. He finally relented and said one of our rooms could be a late check out so we had to share the room and Leif and Julie brought their things down. While we were sitting on the beach a man came up on his bike and started singing songs about God and Jesus in Spanish. South Beach is awesome. The water temperature is very mild and not too cold. The waves are small and you can walk out quite far into the ocean. We collected lots of tiny shells to take home. It felt so good to lay in the warm sun and read a book. I have been reading The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine and it is so good. I wanted to read it every second. The flight home was uneventful but oh so cramped. I had a middle seat and airplanes are not designed for tall people. My knees hit the seat in front of me so I was so uncomfortable. I did watch a pretty cool documentary on 100 foot waves with Garrett McNamara. Turns out some of the biggest waves on earth are found in Portugal. It was such a fun trip and went by way too fast. 

Plantain chips from Havana 1957

The amazing egg bagels from Primo

Loved these chandeliers at the hotel

Cuban dinner- Me, Vernon, Leif, Julie and Jeff

Ashtyn's letter:

Olá!! Ok so my pday got switched to today because we went and visited a lighthouse! And of course I didn't write last week so I feel like I have so much to say but also can't remember anything! 

But a couple things from these past two weeks:

•Went to Lagos again and saw the Ponte da piedade! 

•our area finally split and sister Seube moved to her new apartment in Olhão!

• we put our friend Guto on date for baptism! We hadn't met with him in a little bit and then met with him and he told us that he loves the church and believes in the things we tell him. We set a goal with him for Nov. 27. But please pray for him because we had a lesson the other night and he said he doesn't know if he wants to be baptized anymore:( 

• we've had some really amazing lessons with our friends Douglas and Taninder. Right now we are helping both of them with word of wisdom goals. It's so cool to see the effort and strength that they are both putting in to accomplish these goals! 

• we played soccer with the youth in our ward and had 2 non members join!

• ate with and received some food from members!

• did lots of street contacting to try and find new people. Went fairly well. One funny thing about Portugal is generally everyone is willing to give you their number haha! We had a few awesome conversations this week one of which was a Joven (young person) named Bruno. He was so sweet and so open to hearing our message. There are people here who are willing to let God prevail! 

• had our interviews with President this week which is always one of my favorite things! In this interview he asked me if my parents served and I told him my Dad served in the Portugal Lisbon mission. I listed off a few of the areas he served in and my President said ok we will have to see! With Transfers coming up next week we will see. Would seriously be so cool to serve in the same area my dad served! 

•I will hit 15 months on the mission tomorrow! Crazy crazy. Time FLIES. 

But I think that's about it! Before I sign off I  wanted to share this quote that I found and loved!

"God's no is not a rejection, but a redirection." God knows what's best, always trust in him and expect miracles:) boa semana!

Tchau tchau

-Sister Shaw