Agosto is already here! It is really hard to believe how time flies... While the days may seem long, the week goes by quickly, and I have to come up with something new to write! :P

This last week we had a conference with Elder Texeira, who is in the area presidency here. It was a really interesting zone conference. General Authorities tell a lot of stories, so I can´t really relate much of what he said without just telling a lot of stories, but I can share what I felt and learned!

He talked about a time when He was mission president and he challenged the missionaries to teach 21 lessons a week at a time when the average was 6-7 lessons, and how most missionaries were incredulous. But he had one in particular who worked hard and met the challenge, just saying `President, it is possible`. I thought of the many times that we are asked to do a myriad of things, that in all appearances seem impossible. How much faith does it take to not believe that it is possible, but to do EVERYTHING in our power to make it happen. Something that has stuck out so clearly to me here is that having faith and knowledge is so much more the just words. There are so many people who have ´faith´, but do nothing, or know what they should do but still lack the action. This supposed ´faith´ values nada if we don´t act! Real faith is believeing, not just in our hearts but in our lives and actions- we show our faith (and increase it) by esforçar-nos (don´t know exactly how to translate in english) and obedience.

He also talked about his son who served in NY, and how he had promised his father to teach 21 lessons the first week in the field (little did he know that the average was 4-5!). But, when he got there and told his trainer, they changed their approach in many ways and reached the goal, eventually having a lot of success. I felt that change realize is possible, and not just possible but that we should pursue change and improvement. It is really easy to stay put with the things that are comfortable, and to be satisfied with the statis-quo. But, thanks to our divine nature and the infinite power of the atonement, we have endless potential and improvements to make! Although its easy to be satisfies and think ´´all is well in Zion´´, we not only need to watch, but we need to be better! We´ll never be good enough in this life, but we can be closer to our eventual goal of perfection.

So, the conference was really good. I felt the spirit, and felt motivated that I need to continue to change (now I just need to keep that motivation every day!). Other than this, the week was good too. I really like the ward here, despite the challenges that every ward has. The members seem that they are starting to trust more in us, and we want to involve them even more. But two families brought friends to church yesterday! That was honestly the first time that has happened here in my mission, and it was really a miracle, even if a small one. I know that miracles happen every day, but sometimes it is really easy to miss them.

On Saturday afternoon, right after we had started our fast, everything seemed to be going wrong. Compromissos that we had marked and confirmed fell through, and I was starting to get really frustrated. We left the predio where some pesquisadores (em potential) live and were walking up the road when a woman ran up to us. We talked to here 2 or 3 weeks ago when we were looking for someone else, and she hadn´t shown the least interest, but we left a panphlet with her. She said that she had read the pamplet and became interesting in the BoM, and wanted to know where she could buy one. She was really surprised when we handed her one and said she could keep it! She is married with a 5yrold boy. She was such a blessing (and miracle!) to us on Saturday. Many timed when we are trying to do even better we face opposition and disappointments that seem even more devastating, but I know that the Lord is mindful of us, that he watches every struggle and sacrifice, and helps and rewards us abundantly.

I hope everything went well this last week. Can you believe we´re already in the middle of July? I can´t believe that I´ve already passed my hump day! The downhill slide has begun!

Anyways, this last week was good. We taught more lessons with our investigator thats marked for baptism, and we taught with members, and it was so good. I am so grateful for members! Last sunday, in RS I saw a woman and felt that she should go with us to visit Aguida. I didn´t know who she was or anything about her. Turns out, she´s an RM, lives about 10 minutes from Aguida, and has a daughter the same age as the daughter of Aguida (and they´re both from Cabo Verde!). They hit it off perfectly, she helped Aguida get to church, accompanied her, and all ran splendidly. Did I mention that I love members?!

I´ve been realizing even more recently the necessity and importance of members. Really, we cannot do this work alone as missionaries, and if we try to we are not using the Lord´s time effectively. I am really excited about the ward here because they seem to be open to helping us and following suggestions. For example, Sunday we had a meeting with the leaders and suggested that we wanted to start having activities (low-scale activities) to bring friends, investigators, and increase ward unity. They agreed and started a plan to have activities every other week with the ward. Also, there are three youth who have the calling of ward missionaries, but they haven~t really been doing anything. YEsterday we had a meeting with them and takled about what is their calling, what they can do, and how we can help them. It went really well, and I am excited to work with them. The missionaries shouldn´t just be people that we see in church...It´s been really hard at times when I feel like the only interaction we have with the ward is during the church meetings! So I (we) are determined to work better with our ward, involve all the members and share the joy!!!

I read a talk yesterday that was given in 2000, or sometime around then. It was addressed to return missionaries, a call for them to return to the zeal and spirit of sharing the gospel. Whether be. a returned missionary or not, all of us have the sacred duties as members of the church to share the gospel. IF you don´t know how to start, just make friends!!! It´s a simple enough thing....

Sorry if I went off on a soapbox. It´s just that I see how important that members are, and that many times this potential isn´t met. I know that you are all amazing people with a strong love of the Lord, so just shine your light!! (´3 Néfi 18:24)

Sorry that last week was so short- we got back from Setúbal late, and we only had 10 minutes to write emails! But, it was a good pday and exciting day of transfers. So last Monday night, the APs (who have a car) picked up and moved all the Irmãs that were moving. Usually we arrange it ourselves on Tuesday, but PResident wanted them to do it on Monday. It was a little annoying becuase we didn´t get to our house in Lapa until almost midnight, but, oh well.

So, now I´m in the middle of Lisboa! It is a big city. I am serving with Irmã Joslin, and this is her second transfer (thus, I´m greenie~breaking). She doesn´t know the area very well, and I am the worst at directions, so it´s been interesting! We have a map (which we´ve used a LOT) but even then we don´t always make it to where we plan. So, it´s been an adventure and I am having to learn patience and to not sweat the small stuff.

Lisboa is really neat. There are houses and shops every, and lots of tourists on vacation. We use the metro, buses, and they also have electric trams. Our house is not ideal, but we manage. My bed is in the living room, and basically there are two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. We don´t have desks to study, so Irmã Joslin studies on her bed and I study at the kitchen table. We also live on a road in between two gay bars...and we have cobbestone INSIDE of our apartment (the same cobblestone they use for all the streets here). There´s a constant stink because the pipes at the back of our house are sewage (I think). So, there´s the adventure in the housing! I went from living in a family´s house to a stereotypical missionary apartment. Tudo bem!

There are constantly people in the street here. In Almada I didn´t do a ton of street contacting because there weren´t that many people. But here we´ve already talked (and prayed!) with several people on the street. So it´s interesting how different techniques work in different areas.

The ward here is a little bit bigger than in Almada...I still got to play the piano in Relief Society and Sacrament meeting! But I could actually hear the ward singing, which is an improvement! We have meetings with the bishop and leaders every sunday, which is good, and the ward mission leader already taught a lesson with us. We still have a lot to improve to work better with the ward, but I´m optimistic about it.

We found a lot of new people this week, and one of them is an increadible woman. We taught her the restoration on Wednesday, and the spirit was SO strong during the lesson. She was taught by the missionaries about 5 years ago, I don´t know why she stopped and she didn´t remember a ton, but she is really neat. We taught her again on Friday, and it was a really good lesson. We followed up on the reading we left- 3 Néfi 11, and she gave a summary of the chapter almost better than I could do, and said taht she thought she understood ´´mais ou menos´´- it was incredible! we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized on July 25, and she accepted. She said that she had already thought about it and was curious to know how we do baptism. It was another great lesson where the spirit was so strong. I love finding the elect becuase they truly have a different spirit! We had a lesson with another pesquisador that was marked for baptism, but it was strangest lesson I´ve ever been in. I didn~t feel the spirit at all, to the contrary I felt uncomfortable. I think he was high, and it was all just weird. It´s interesting to note the strong impact that pesquisadors have on the spirit in the lesson- they can bring and be very receptive to the spirit, or they can block it out completely...the two were complete opposites for me.

Greenie-breaking has been interesting as well. IT´s actaully the first time that I´ve been the one who speaks better Portuguese! I´ve always had senior or native companions. But it´s nice to know that I really can get along. Irmã Joslin says everything that she knows how to, and then I just pick up the rest. I talk the majority of lessons and contacts, but I´m also trying to help her stay invlvoed and improve as well, without getting discouraged. It´s a change for me, but it´s good.

The chapel here is soo cool! IT used to be a house, and then they converted it. IT has a couple stories, and the architecture is really neat. There are a ton of bathrooms in it...I almost wish we could live in the chapel! IT would be better than our house...:P

What else...I can´t really think of anything else that is really different to share...

Our president this last weekend gave us several scriptures to read and think about how and why we invite people to be baptized. There were many taht said taht we should believe in Christ and be baptized so that we can be saved, and if we don´t we´ll be condemned. It made me really reflect on our role here, really the eternal importance of the covenant of baptism. In Almada last week we had a lady marked for baptism, and everything seemed perfect and ready. Then the day of the interview and baptism she wasn´t at home and didn´t answer the phone. I still don´t have any idea what happened...but it made me so sad becuase I really love her, and I know what is God´s will and plan for her. I know that baptism and the gospel will bless her life, and that she needs these things not only know, but for eternity. When I read the scriptures I thought of her, and that if she didn´t get baptized, she may be condemned and not able to enter the kingdom of God. I want to help her and others so much to receive the blessings available. When things fall through like that, and there´s nothing you can do but place them in God´s hands becuase they used their agency...it can be so hard. Então, por isso we need to find the elect!! Because there really are people prepared and ready, that justn need to be found.

Happy day of Transfers!

Today being the first pday of the month, we got to leave our area. Our zone got together in Setubal and played sports etc. Today was the day of phone calls for transfer, so it was a good opportunity to know what was going on with everyone. I got a phone call from Irmã Torgan- I´ll be moving to Lapa, which is right in the city of Lisbon, so it should be interesting! I´m greenie-breaking an american, so it´ll be a little weird to be with an american again!!

We´re really late getting back, so I don´t really have time to write, but I just want to wish you all a good week! Happy late fourth of July, I hope you all enjoyed the holiday!

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