Now on to things that happen overseas!

These things change, as do the questions, depending on what country your parents minister in and it is fun to share stories with people who have had similar experiences.

#1- My parents had to have permission to name me Alyssa!

I was born in Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. In Portugal there is a book of names a couple has to choose out of when they have a child. If the name’s not in the book, the baby can’t have it! Well, Alyssa isn’t exactly a Portuguese name, so according to Portuguese laws I couldn’t be named Alyssa. But if the American Embassy said it was ok, then we were good to go. My parents literally had to get a document from the Government stating that Alyssa was a legal name in the US.   

#2- My sister was scared to death of Portuguese

My little sister, Annette, was 5 months old when we got to Portugal after Deputation. My parents were helping in two churches in small cities close to where we are living now. The ladies in those churches offered to take Annette to the nursery so that Mom could visit during lunch. Annette didn’t like being held by other people so being held by complete strangers who were speaking a completely new language scared her. She started crying, and instead of taking her back to Mom, they started bouncing her up and down and talking to her louder. She started screaming and kept screaming until Mom finally heard her. When she went to get her the ladies told Mom that she needed to leave her there so that she could get used to being left with other people. Mom took her anyway, but Annette was traumatized… and until she was around 2 years old, every time she heard a woman speaking Portuguese… she would start screaming!     

Alyssa Smith, MK to Portugal