Portugal 7-29-07

Portugal produces something like 80 or 90% of the world's cork. Here is a truck carrying slabs of cork, harvested from the trees, each of which is a national treasure and is carefully numbered.







Here are some cork trees from which the slabs of cork have been recently harvested. See how red the trunks are. They will eventually turn brown and grow new bark/cork. I don't know if you can see the numbers painted in white on the trunks. I took this from quite far away and just blew it up, so I don't think the numbers show.

This is Elder Bills, zone leader, one of our favorites. He goes home this next transfer, along with Elders Jackson and Sanders. We will miss them all.














This is Elder Hibbert, zone leader, the one who wrote the book on visa renewal.











Here is Dad, waiting in line at the government building to get a paper that says we can wait in more lines to get our visas. Elder Bills is looking at me, and Elder Hibbert is looking at the monitor.