I hope you all had a fabulous week and are continuing to enjoy the summer.

This week we had interviews, which is always something I love because Presidente trains us directly in a smaller group, so it´s more personal and fixe. He talked about the progress of the mission in the year since they´ve been here. It truly is miraculous to see how things can change with effort and with increased faith. There is a prophecy about Portugal, Chile, and Brasil, that they will be the lighthouses of the respective regions. We talk a lot of how we can make Protugal the ´´farol de Europa´´ and the fulfillment of this prophecy.It´s already happening in terms of bapisms in Lisbon...but Presidente talked about how we need to be the farol de Europa in regards to retention as well. I was reading in Chapter 13 in Preach My Gospel today, and there is a quote by President Hinckley about the importance of retention of new members. Retention after baptism is so vital, because while baptism is the gate to the path of eternal life, it is the ordinances of the temples that enable us to receive exaltation. We need to have a vision beyond just baptism, but of herding the children of God into the temple and helping them to make even more covenants. Missionary work and temple work are geared towards the same end, but one deals with the living and others with the deceased. But all need the ordinances of the temple! As a missionary it´s a little easy to focus solely on baptisms, a primary function of our calling, but really what is necessary is not only baptism, but also (obviously) the perseverance until the end...increasing in faith and making more covenants with our Heavenly Father. This seems totally and really obvious to me now, and you probably already knew, but when Presidente Torgan talked about the importance of retention, and the importance of temples it was really interesting to me.

So on Saturday it was my birthday! It was pretty much a day just like any other...but it´s nice to get a little recognition :P We had lunch with a member (Irmã Lídia) who is incrível, and the best cook I´ve ever met, so that was fun! I´ll try to send some pics. But basically, it was a normal day and week.

Well, another week has passed and we´re almost in the end of June...this week passed like most weeks, without any extraordinary events. Teaching, procura...the normal things ;) But it was good. We focus a lot on finding families, and one way to identify if there is a family in a house is by the clothes that are hanging out to dry. We´re (well, at least I´m ) always on the lookout for clothes of children. But now we´re in football season here, and all the houses hang out their flags to support their teams. So it´s easy to see where are the Portuguese and where are the Brazilians. So we´ve done procura in the houses that have brazilian flags! So far its been working for us :) We found a new investigator on Saturday, a woman from Brazil, that went to church on Sunday and is already progressing. We also found other Brazilians on Sunday through the ´´flag method´´! Normally football is annoying because no one wants to talk with us during the games, but now I´m a little more appreciative of football!! Funny how simple things make a difference.

This week I´ve been reading a lot of conference talks from 2008 and 2009...these talks are so inspired! This morning I read President Uchtdorf´s talk from May 2009 (I am doing a great work and cannot come down), where he talks about the importance of focusing on the right important things, and fulfill our purpose and work. This really applies to all of us. There are so many things to do in life, so many distractions that are ´necessary´, but that remove us from our real purpose. The greatest works that we will do are in the Kingdom of God and in our family. I thought it was interesting that he said that he had no doubt that any preisthood holder would be able to give a good talk about ´´things that matter most´´, but the hardest part is aligning our actions with our knowledge and beliefs. Even as a missionary serving full-time, there are distractions that threaten to bring us down from the great work we are doing. Our calling is to invite others to come unto Christ by receiving the gospel through the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the holy ghost. Even still, at times it is easy to be distracted by other good things that we can do in the mission field, but that move us away from this great work. But when we focus on the thigns that matter most, the great work we have been called to do, all of us will move forward the Kingdom of God (and our family within it) and receive the marvelous blessings that await us. I would recommend reading the talk to all of you.

I hope you all had a fabulous week! Things are good here in Almada...on Tuesday we had zone conference, which I always love. The zone leaders, assistants, Irmã Torgan, and Presidente Torgan all did training, and it was really good. What Presidente Torgan talked about was really interesting. He read Alma 42:30, in which he says (my translation from Português) to Corianton that he should not seek, even in the smallest things, to excuse his sins and deny the justice of God. Presidente Torgan talked about how one of the weapons that Satan uses against us is excuses- we give excuses for why things didn´t happen, or for the way things are, and for many things, instead of accepting responsibility and allowing the atonement to change us. When we use excuses for our behavior or circumstance, we deny the power of the atonement in our lives. It´s really interesting that I had read the same verse last week, and the same thing had stuck out to me. There are alot of times we when do things wrong, or don´t do things that we should, and give excuses (at least to ourselves) to justify that behavior (or lack of action). But it is true that when we use excuses, we deny the opportunity to change, to progress, and to apply the atonement in our lives to instigate a mighty change of heart. The first step of repentance (or change) is to recognize the error or omission, and excuses don´t permit this first step to occur. The conference was like a major faca for me...all the things that I need to change!

But, fortunately, change is possible for each of us. As I think a lot of you noted, my atitude and perspective here needed to change. I am grateful for the power of the atonement that we can access every day, to gain strength beyond our own, more faith and love, and to change our hearts and desires. And through the atonement of Jesus Christ, miracles can happen!

Last week we did quite a bit of procura to find new pesquisadors. We talked with one man outside his house, and it was a contact that was pretty normal. As missionaries we have pamphlets about the Restoration, the plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, for quite a while the mission office has been out of the First lesson pamphlets, which is really frustrating. So we´´ve been using pamphlets of the Joseph Smith history. We gave one of these to this man, and he said that he is lazy, but that he would read. We went back 3 days later when we had an appointment marked, and received a big surpise. He said that he had read the whole pamphlet, that he had prayed and felt good about it, and that also he had read in a small new testament bible that he has. He only read one verse, but it said something to the effect of ´´take this calice upon you...and be baptized´´. IT was in Marcos, but I don´t know where. But basically he said that he had recieved an answer and that he wanted to be baptized! We were both like...huh??!! He asked what he had to do to be baptized, and I almost didn´t know what to say, I was so surprised. It was like that moment in the Best Two Years when he says he wants to be baptized and they don´t know what to do...So, we taught him everything he needed to know to prepare to be baptized this week, and he was baptized yesterday! He is really different than anyone else that I´ve taught (of course they´re all different...but still). The other missionaries in the ward that meets in the same chapel had baptisms as well, so we did a joint batpsimal service. It was really neat. It is interesting all the people that the Lord places in our paths...

So, yep, that´s pretty much this week. I hope that you all have another fantastic week, remember I love ya, and enjoy the summer

So this last week went by pretty quickly, without any grand changes. On Thursday we went to the mission office in Lisboa to pick up my new companion, Irmã Alves. She is french, but her parents are Portuguese, so it´s been interesting living with two international companions! It´s different than when I was being trained, because now I´m the one in charge :P I feel a little like a mom with her kids, but it´s fun :) The mission is supposed to prep you for life, né?

So I have to admit that last week when I got the news that I would be staying in Almada for another transfer, I was really surprised. I felt ready to leave and get to know another area and different challengs. But, as things often happen in life, the Lord had other plans for me! So this week I´ve been thinking a lot about my attitude and about what I still need to learn and do in this area. At times I feel like I´ve walked every street and knocked every building...when I was studying Pregar Meu Evangelho, chapter 9, there was a citaçao that I really liked. I don´t remember it exactly (and it is in Portugues!), but the Lord is speaking and He says that we are where we are because it is convenient for Him for the salvation of souls. I felt like that line really applied to me now, that I am here because it is convenient for the Lord for the salvação of souls. But, this line applies to all of us, not just full-time missionaries!

We had a fireside yesterday that was a training for the members to help in missionary work and be more involved. One scripture that we read that I really like is in D&C 88: 81-82 (I think). The lord talks about how we have been warned, and it is our duty to warn our neighbor. He says ´´não tem disculpa`` e que se nós não advertimo-los, os pecados deles vão cair sobre as nossas cabeças´´. In other words, we have the responsibility to warn, we don´t have excuses, and if we don´t fulfill this responsibility, the sins of them will be upon us! It really is true that we don´t have any excuse for not sharing the gospel. We have been placed where we are, in our families, wards, neighbourhoods, work, and mais because it is convenient for the Lord to save souls. We may be saving the souls of our children, family members, or friends or colleges, but we have been placed by the Lord in our circumstances.

I hope that you all have a fabulous Memorial Day! It is so hard to believe that tomorrow is June...time continues to fly by. At times it feels like I´ve been here forever and that I will be here forever, but when I look at our wall (we have a ´´transfer board´´ on our wall where we have all the irmãs and their areas, and also the names of irmãs that have died), I really how quickly the time really goes. I am practically an ´´old´´ irmã agora, but I don´t feel like it! Anyways, I hope that you have a great holiday, and remember that I love you

Well, another day of stressful waitful for ´the call´ has come and gone. My and my companion live in a house with another dupla of irmãs, one of whom finished her mission today. The other was transfered as well, so they both went embora. We got a call that we would be staying together, and that another irmá would be coming, and as a tripla we would cover both of the areas. But about half an hour later we got another call, and my daughter (companion) was told that she has a new calling, to be the only sister in the other area (Miratejo). She doesn´t have a companion! She will have to do constant divisions com membros, and plan and teach by herself and with them, and this is her second transfer! She is really freaked out (I would be too!), but I´ve been trying to help keep her calm at least! Things never goes like you think they will in the mission (or life também!) I´ll still be serving in Almada, with irmã Alves, who is portuguese\french. At least my portuguese should keep improving! :D

Yesterday we had some different and interesting experiences. We have been working a lot with Monica, a less active that started going to church two weeks ago after 9 years of not going. She has a lot of desire to go to church, but due to health and other problems she hadn´t gone in forever. She has cancer in her head\brain, and takes a lot of medications. Yesterday she didn´t go to church because she was so tired, and so we asked two priesthood holders to go with us to give her a preisthood blessing. They gave her a blessing, and promised that she would be completely healed from the cancer. The power of the priesthood was so evident, it was really neat! I am so grateful for the priesthood and for worthy holders who can call on the powers of heaven. After we visited her, we went to visit our recent-converso, João. When we got there, the door was open, with the keys on the floor, and we could see João lying in the other room (that was dark), abd he didn´t respond to our knocks or calls (Irmã de Almeida was scared to enter, so we just called from the door!). So our noble priesthood brethren went with us, and it turned out that João (who has had problems with health), had pains so bad that he was in a deep sleep and couldn´t wake up and move. They gave him a blessing of healing too. He also was confirmed yesterday. It is so interesting to hear the blessing of those who are confirmed in sacrament meeting. Often the bispo doesn´t know all the problems or history the people that he confirms, but I can see how each blessing is individual and aplicable to each of them. I love the priesthood!! God truly does miracles and manifests his power through those he calls and ordains through the priesthood.

It was great to talk to you all yesterday!! (Sorry Debbie and RD!) I´m glad most things are going well for everyone at home. I´m not sure what to write about because we already talked yesterday, but things are good here. My companion and I have been working hard, and we´re enjoying the work. On Saturday the other ward that shares our chapel had a baptism that we went to with one of our investigators. The baptismal service was so good, and the spirit was really strong. I don´t know if there´s any other meeting that has the same spirit as a baptismal service. As Nephi said in 2 Néfi 31, baptism is the gate to life eternal, and the spirit manifests the truth of this at every baptism.

On Sunday we had a baptism as well- João de Silva (his real name is different, but apparantly it´s an African (Angolan) tradition that the patrão (like the owner of the household or business) can give the child a name, so the patrão gave him the name João while his parents named him Ernesto. So we didn´t know until a few days before the baptism that João isn´t his real name!) The baptism went well, and I was really grateful for the support of our ward. Lots of them stayed after church for the baptism, and afterwards we had a feast!! It was really good.

Last night President Torgan gave a fireside about ´´vida depois desta vida´´, or life after death. It was really interesting- he talked about a scientific inquiry that dealt with people who had died for some minutes and afterwards been resussciated and their experiences. The question isn´t so much- is there life after death?- but what kind of life will it be? He talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and how if we live the gospel, death is just another step, and it won´t separate us from what we love. However, if we do not live the gospel, life after death will be alone and not very pleasant! He is a good orador and it was a really interesting fireside.

Anyways, I hope that you all have a great week! Remember that I love you, and that I always like to receive pictures (snail mail or email)

Can you believe we´re already in May? Time just keeps flying...

This last week was good- we had Zone Conference, which I always love. We talked about a lot of stuff, but the scripture that was used the most was Alma 26:22 which talks about how they were able to baptized millions of souls. They repented, excercised faith, did good works, and prayed without ceasing; because of this they were able to learn the mysteries of the Lord, reveal things that had never before been revealed, and brought thousands unto repentance and baptism. Meanwhile, verse 30 talks about how they suffered all species of suffering as well...success never comes easily! I think when we read the stories about the great prophets and missionaries in the Book of Mormon (and the Bible) it is easy to see and remember the successes that they had, and forget about all that they suffered and endured before reaching that end or point. I´ve been reading in Alma, around chapter 12-15, when Alma and Amuleque are preaching to the people in the city of Amonia. They are an amazing example of continuing faith and trust in the Lord in the midst of trials...we really can learn so much from the Book of Mormon that helps us now, in our lives. I am so grateful for the second witness that we have that Jesus Christ is our redeemer, and that we have the plenitude of the gospel in this book.

Today being the first pday of the month, we had the chance to leave our zone. Our zone had a lunch and games day...we played basketball, frisbee, and football. The weather is beautiful here now, and it was so fun to just be able to play outside!

I hope that you all have a great week! Happy early mother´s day :D