This Christmas was a REALLY good one. On Christmas eve we arranged with another pair of Elders to sing Christmas songs in the street by the train station, and we were joined by a couple of recent converts (and one soon-to-be). We sang in the street for about 45 minutes. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive to just start singing in the middle of the street, but when we started it was soo fun. Some people stopped or at least slowed down when they passed, and it was good to be able to smile and sing joyfully of the birth of Christ!! After that, we went around and sang at the house of some investgators and did some door contacts singing. It was fun even in the cold rain without umbrellas :P

On Christmas we woke up early (like always!) and traded our presents, and then we read in the scriptures about the birth of Christ (the traditional scriptures that Dad always leads us in). After that we opened presents and made a table of presents :) Thanks for all the love and thoughts- I loved everything that I got. Then I made homemade hot chocolate like Debbie!! I finally found evaporated milk here because of the holiday- they don´t normally have it. We had lunch with a member family and than went to the chapel to prep for the baptism and talk with family!!

The baptism went really well. We had about 12 people there, which considering it was Christmas, wasn´t too bad. Because of what happened last week with the freezing water and the cold outside, we only used hot water to fill the font. At the end it was really warm!! They complained about it being too hot, but hey, its better than getting hypothermia!! It was a really good day :)

Feliz Natal! I can´t believe that Santa Claus is coming this week :D Are you all prepared and excited?!

This last week was a good one. On pday after writing we went to Sinta and visited Castelo dos Mouros- it was really neat and has a great view of Sintra and Mem Martins. I´ll send photos in another email :)

This week we worked a lot with Orlando to prepare him for his baptism on Sunday. Everything went well except for the fact that we didn´t have hot water. For some reason, both of the heaters for the baptismal font weren´t working. So we asked him if he wanted to postpone for another day to fix the heaters or be baptized in COLD water- he was really brave and said that he didn´t want to delay his baptism. So we went ahead and had the baptism. An elder in our ward baptised him, and oh, the look on his face when he entered the water! I hadn´t thought until than that we asked Orlando if he wanted to be baptized, but we didn´t ask the elder if he was willing to baptize in the freezing water! :) But he courageously fulfilled his duty. When Orlando came up out of the water he gave a huge gasp of shock....I thought we had killed our investigator!!! But afterwards Orlando was really happy and said it was a good experience (in spite of the cold!)

We also have another investigator that´s going to be baptized on Christmas!He´s an awesome investigator who reads, studies, goes to church, and is really serious to understand the gospel. He´s been praying and received his answer that this is what is right for him to do, which is so awesome! He´s the brother of a recent convert, and it´s been so neat to see how excited he is for his brother to be learning and accepting the gospel. Especially considering that their parents are JWs, they are really firm.

On Friday we had our ward Christmas party. The ward mission leader was also doing the decorations and asked the misionaries to help him paint a sleigh and reindeer that he made from styrafoam. We spent 5 HOURS painting the thing!! Then we had to leave the party before it came out because the party went really late. Then when we saw it the next day, and had been torn! That´s a little frustrating considering how much time we spent painting it, but, service is service. The ward party was fun- dinner and then a concert by the youth who are learning piano in the ward.

We had a lesson the other day with a recent convert about repentance that was interesting. He understands the concepts of repentance, but feels that he hasn´t felt the change of repentance, or the ´´sorrow´´ or weight of repentance. It made me think of a talk I read recently by Elder Eyring, where he talked about repentance and conversion, and how they are implicit in one another. It was interesting to talk with him about the reason of repentance- sometimes we repent or regret something just becuase of the consequences that it brought, and not necessarily that we disobeyed or displeased God. One is an external force that may change our actions, but doesn´t change our heart or desires. They other is a change that starts from the inside- our love of God and desire to obey and please him. As we feel the weight of acting contrary to this, our heart and our desires will change, which will thus bring a permanent change in our behaviour. Repentance is something that I am constantly learning more and more about, and I am so grateful for the opporutinity that we have to repent!

On a less serious note, I hope that you all have a great week until Christmas!

Well, we´re officially in the holiday season, with less than 3 weeks
until Christmas :D

This last week flew by, as has been the custom lately. We had two
baptisms planned for Satruday that didn´t happen, but I think
everything happened for the best.
The cousin of our most recent-convert, has been progressing bastante
(I don´t know how to convey that meaning in english). He is 60+, and
lives alone. He went to the baptism and confirmation of Mizé, and
liked it a lot. One big problem was smoking- he´s smokedaround 12
cigarretes a day for 39 years. We talked about the WoW this week ( and
he already knew he needed to stop). But it was amazing for me to talk
with him about this problem and addiciton that he knows and wants to
stop. He even started to cry during our lesson, talking about how hard
it is. I had never comprehended well until that moment truly the
anguish and suffering that an addicition can cause. But I know that
the gospel of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice can relieve that
suffering. That very night, Orlando stopped smoking, and he hasn´t
smoked since!!! It´s been amazing to see the difference in his life
and countenance.

This week was pretty mcuh full of normal stuff. Yesterday it rained
like nothing else. It was pretty mcuh pointless to have an umbrella!
The streets turn into rivers here, and both my coat and skirt were
literally dripping water when we got home, and my shoes full of mud.
But it was a good day! I love missionary work and I love being here!

wow, another week has flown by and now we´re almost in december! Christmas is definately in the air here! This week was a good one :)

We finally had a zone conference with President Torgan. They came out with a new curriculum for all the missions in September, I think, and in the new curriculum we only have interviews and zone conference every three months, instead of every transfer. So it feels like forever since we had had a zone conference with President. He talked about how we can open our eyes (spiritually of course) and gave us a step by step process of conversion- for us and also for our inveestigators. Desire, which comes from our testimony, leads to obedience. From that comes faith and repentance- feeling the remorse of sin and changing. As we make and keep convenants, we have the company of the spirit, which gives us spiritual power. As we act with power and open our hearts we will be able to open our eyes as well, and be truly converted. It was really interesting everything that we talked about, and the scriptures he shared. I don´t have my notes with me to give the scriptural references, but you can study them out and find them :) But the conference was good.

On Thursday was Thanksgiving! Our ward is all brasileiros that don´t do anything for thanksgiving, so we didn´t have any invites to eat with members. So, us and the elders in our ward had our own thanksgiving lunch. They actually made (and bought) almost everything, which was really impressive! We had chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing (it was real homemade stuffing!) and rolls...not too shabby! It was fun to celebrate, even if it was just us. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well.

On Saturday we had a baptism- Maria José, who´s an older Portuguesa. She started to learn about the church a year ago, but decided not to be baptised. The irmãs had just started teaching her again right before I got here. Whats neat is that one of the elders who started teaching her a year ago returned to this area for his last transfer right now before he goes home. So he got to baptize her. She was really excited when he returned, and it is so neat to see that really each of us has a purpose in being where we are! We´re teaching another friend of her´s that will be baptized this next Saturday, and also her cousin. She´s really great :) The baptism was really special and had a sweet spirit.

So, those are the highlights of the week...I can´t believe that we´re almost in December, before you know it Christmas will have already passed! So we just have to take advantage of every day that we have :D Hope you all have a great week and remember I love you!

Love,

Irmã Geiger

ps- to any who are planning to send packages\cards or something- the mission christmas party is on December 21 and is when we will get all the stuff that is sent to the mission office. It normally takes 8-10 days for things to get here, so it would be a good idea to send items in the next two weeks :D

Wow, I can honestly not believe that I´m already writing again! Time
is flying by so quickly.

This last week nothing unusual really happened. The ward members here
like to feed us, which is nice of them, but I feel that we lose a LOT
of time by having a lunch with members every day. It´s hard to be
charitable and grateful sometimes! But I just need to get better...

This week we continued to work with two women who are preparing to be
baptized this Saturday. One of them has been investigating the church
for a year, and finally decided to act and get baptized. The other
lady is her friend, that has a lot of drama in her life (divorce,
daughter with depression...) a lot of problems in the family. Trying
to help them both with their problems has made me so grateful for my
relative problem-free life!! Also there is an investigator and a
member here who are both facing the problems and drama caused by
breaking the law of chastity. I am so grateful for the commandments!!!
It is soo obvious why they are so important when you see the suffering
and problems caused in the lives of those who break them. Truly they
make us free.

So, are you all looking forward to Thanksgiving? There´s no
thanksgiving here- just another normal day. Everyone is already
getting ready for Christmas! There are lights in the streets and all
the holiday decorations in the stores :) It almost makes it worth
being cold...

Not really much that is noteworthy has happened...I finished the Book
of Mormon again today :) It´s interesting that I never noticed how
much it talks about the ministery of angels at the end...In Morôni 7
he talks about the ministry of angels to men- that they manifest them
to those who have a vigorous faith and a mind firm in sanctity (vs
30), and of the importance of this ministry to prepare the way and
fulfill the covenants of the Lord. I had never noticed before that one
gift of the spirit is to see angels and ministrating spirits (10:14).
How neat! I decided that I would like to develop this spritual
gift...so we´ll see how that goes! But it was just something that
stuck out that I have never really thought before.

I hope you all have a great week and a great Thanksgiving! Eats lots
of turkey for me, and cornmeal rolls :D

Wow, another week has already flown by, and we´re in the middle of November! I arrived in my new area, Mem Martins on Monday (well, technically at 1am Tuesday morning). The executive secretaries were asked to give all the Irmãs rides to the new areas, but as all of the areas changed, it took a while for all of us to arrive. But, eventually we all arrived :)

Mem Martins is close to Sintra, which is supposedly a big tourist spot...hopefully I´ll get there on a pday soon. There´s a big castle on a mountain that we can see from where we live. It´s a lot different from Lisboa- there´s green! There aren´t as many people in the streets, which is a little sad, but I like it so far.

My companion is Irmã Reis, this is her second transfer in the mish. She´s originally from Angolda but has been in Portugal for about 10 years. She´s fun to work with and so far everything is going well!

On Sunday at church, I felt like I was in Brasil! Almost all of the members here are Brasileiro, which is a change but is neat. The ward is really strong and has a good missionary focus, so I think it will be great to work with the members here. They like to feed the missionaries..which is a bad thing for me! We have lunch almost every day of the week, and sometimes two meals in one day....yesterday we had lunch with a member after chuch, an investigator wanted to have a ´´lanche´´ (a snack or small meal), and at the end of the night another investigator gave us food to take home...aaaghh!!!

Apparently there´s no one in the ward that plays the piano, so I got to acompany the ward in Sacrament Meeting..the primary also asked me to help with the ward primary program that they´re having in two weeks...I think I´ll be playing a lot! But I really like to play, so I´m all right with having the chace to serve :) I´m grateful to be able to help.

Things are going all right with the work here. There have been a lot of recent converts, but the inctivity rate is high too, sadly. So we´re trying to bring them back while finding new people as well. We marked two women this week to be baptized in a few weeks...they´re friends, and older Portugues women, and they´re sweet. Hopefully they continue to progress!

Yeah, not really much new to say (well, everything is new, but I´m not sure what´s the most interesting). Christmas is already coming in ful force, in stores, at home...I´m excited!

So, today is transer day :( I´ve been praying all week that I wouldn´t leave, but as usual, Heavenly Father knows better than I do! I´m being transfered to Mem Martins, which is close to Oeiras, but I don´t really know where...I´ll be greenie-breaking a native! It´ll be nice to serve with a native again, my Portugues could use a little polishing :P (or a lot!)

But this last week was really good. Everything went well with Cesaltina´s baptism. Well, at least in the end everything worked out... the baptismal font in our chapel in ´´under construction´´ and locked to our access, which has been really frustrating. So we have to go to Gago Coutinho, which is about 40 minutes away, to have baptisms. Last week for Jorge´s baptism, we missed the bus to get there by 30 seconds, which was soo frustrating!!! Luckily the Bishop was kind enough to come pick us up. So, this week we got to the stop at plenty of time before the bus would come by. However, there was a protest going on in the same area (its by a big roundabout- Marquês de Pombal). Little did we know that the bus stop was closed off to vehicle access. So we watched the bus come, pass the area where it would enter the bus stop, and continue on around the round about! We started running after it, hoping it would stop for a few minutes at the next stop, but it was gone. So we had to wait another 40 minutes for another bus to get there!! There is always ´´drama´´ when there is a baptism. But, the elders helped us get everything ready and the members were great, and it was a really good service. Her boyfriend baptised Cesaltina, and it was really cute, although she had to go under 3 times to get everything covered! But it was awesome to see her and Jorge confirmed during church on Sunday. The chapel was full, and also the gospel principles for new members class, so its really rewarding to see how the ward is growing.

I have really LOVED Lapa- I love the members here, the new converts, and working in the city. I really didn´t (and don´t!) want to go becuase my heart is here, but I know that I´ll love Mem Martins too, in time. It just shows that time really is moving when changes come...

We had a cool experience this week with a less-active. I had in my mind for a few days the name ``Ribeiro Santos´´ like a streetname. I looked in our index of streets, and saw a rua that was ´´Ribeiro Sanches´´. So we went there and knocked the predios there. In one of the first few predios we knocked, we found a woman named Joy from the Filipines. She works in a house there and has been here for 3 months. She was baptized in 1987 and even went to the temple, but becuase of family opposition eventually fell into inactivity. But she was so happy to see us, and she really wanted to go to church and become active again. Just so happens that we have a single mom in our ward who is from the Filipines. We saw her the next day, so we told her about this woman we had found. She called her, and it turns out they are from the same island of the Filipines! Joy came to church on Sunday, and it was soo awesome to see her and Elsa together. Elsa has really needed a friend, and it is so good for her to have found Joy. They were both blessed!! It´s great to see them both so happy and have the chance to mutually strengthen each other. IT´s interesting how we were led to find her, and was really a testimony to me that Heavenly FAther knows and watches out for each of his children.

I hope you all had a great Halloween and are ready to settle into the holiday season! We busted out the Christmas music last night, and I´m officially excited :D But it´s crazy to believe how fast time is flying...

This week had its ups and downs, like always. We did a lot of procura but didn´t find as many new investigators as we would have liked. Its weird that at times it seems to easy to find new people, and at other times it´s such a struggle. It really doesn´t depend on us, but we just have to continue to seek direction and work, and the results will come. But, we did still see miracles :)

Yesterday Jorge was finally baptized! We´ve been working with him all this month. He´s from CaboVerde and came here for a leg operation and is recovering\ receiving treatment. These last couple weeks his family has invited him to spend the weekend with them, which is good, but meant that he couldn´t go to church. He finally made the decision that church is more important, talked to his family that he wanted to stay here for the weekends, which was the only thing he was lacking to be baptized! It´s been interesting teaching him- he doesn´t talk Portugues really, just criole, that isn´t all that understandable. But we´ve all learned a lot of patience in the last month ;) It´s been neat to see the changes in him over the last couple weeks, and so good to see him finally ready to be baptized. Our chapel is ´´in obras´´ and the baptismal font is locked, so we had to go to another chapel, which was a pain and a hassle. But, everything is worth it in the end!

We also had a surprising miracle yesterday. There´s a young woman who is dating a boy in our ward that has been coming consistently for a few months. I had tried in the past to set up appointments to teach her, but they fell through and I didn´t think that she really had that much interest, but just came because of her boyfriend. BUT, yesterday she came up to me at church and asked if we could teach her the last two lessons that shes lacking (she was taught like 4 months ago the first lessons). Of course I said yes, and we set up an appointment for yesterday afternoon. We taught her, which was the first time I had had a prolonged conversation with her, and it was really good. She know so much and she has a strong testimony that the church is true. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ- the five basic steps. She said that she had already thought about baptism, and had wanted to be baptized before her birthday in the summer, but with holidays and other things, it didn´t work out. We committed her to be baptized, and she said ´´yes, as soon as possible...I've already waited months´´!!!!! So we´ll be having her baptism this Saturday. It was totally a surprise, but as we talked with her, she is so ready, and has such a strong desire. She talked about about how so many things have already changed as she´s gotten to know the church, and I know that she´ll be even more blessed by the decision to be baptized. Bençãos!!!!!!!!

So despite the work being hard or discouraging at times, Heavenly Father really gives us so many tender mercies and we see so many miracles. I love it!

Bem. Lots of random things happened this week, and I just wanted to give you a taste of what is missionary work in Portugal....

There is the ´´Portugues finger´´. When you´re doing something wrong, or somebody doesn´t want to talk with you, they give you the ´´Portugues finger´´, where they wave their pointer finger definitively in the air. The finger is the final rejection! ...there´s also ´´the hand´´ where you greet someone thats passing and they raise their hand, almost as if to greet you with a wave, but really it´s saying ´´don´t talk to me´´. When this happens we say to each other ´´you got the hand!!´´. It´s interesting talking with strangers all day.

All of the predios, or buildings, have a doorbell pad (I don´t know what you call it in English), ou seja, campainhas. You ring for each apartment, and they always say ´´Quem é?!´´ to ask who it is. If the pad doesn´t have an intercom system, they like to open their windows and yell to talk. This may work when they´re on the bottom floor, but when they´re on the 3rd or higher floor, it gets complicated! There´s no way that there going to hear or understand us, and we´re just there on the street yelling that we´re disciples of Jesus Christ! Not exactly the way I pictured contacting :P They also ask ´´quem é´´ when you knock on their doors. People here are afraid of opening their doors, and refuse to open it until they know who it is (and even then they don´t...) But when they can´t understand what you´re saying because there´s a door in the way, it can be frustrating!! It´s happened several times where someone came to the door and couldn´t hear or understand us because of other noise. They went back inside to turn off the tv or tell someone to be quiet instead of just opening the door and solving the problem!!! it´s interesting ;)

I always knew about the supposed discord between missionaries and dogs, but really never appreciated how annoying dogs can be :P There are so many dogs here...the streets are covered in dog poo! But they´re always inside the houses. It´s happened several times that someone said they could not open the door or talk to us at the door because of the dogs. The other week a dog bit me for the first time! Luckily it didn´t draw blood, but was a little scary....suffice it to say that the mission has sealed a solid dislike of dogs in me...

Other quirk of Portugues culture- when we try to talk to people who are in their house, they say that they came answer and that there busy, or whatever other excuse. Then when we go on to talk to more people in the same area, they decide to help us, saying at every house we go to ´´não há ninguém´´, or no ones home. This has happened many times that someone says that at the same time that someone answers the door at that house....interesting how they suddenly want to ´´help´´ us. The other week we contacted a lady that was in her window (they all like to stay at the window and watch the street) and she didn´t want anything. Then when we were contacting people on the other side of the street, she started yelling at them about who we are when they came to the window to talk to us (see two paragraphs above for an explanation of this behavior!) So they gave us the ´´Portugues finger´´ and went back inside. aahh, life is interesting in Portugal!!

I really do love it, sorry if these descriptions seem a little negative. It´s really not, just oddly absurd and at times I can´t believe that whats happening really is happening. But, you never know whats going to happen when you´re a missionary! We passed this potentials house last week and there was another couple there from Romania that didn´t really speak Portugues. We sang and prayed with them, and then tried to watch a dvd. She put in the film and then started asking us if we would give them money, because they´re behind on rent. Obviously we said that we couldn´t give them money. She wrenched the dvd from the machine, and they practically kicked us out of the house, all the while speaking things that I had no idea what she was saying....we just laughed about it afterward...so absurd.

But, it is awesome to get to know Heavenly Father´s children, of all varieties. I know that He loves each and every one of us individually, and that He has a plan. I hope that you all have a great week and remember that I love you!

Well, another week has already gone by...next week we´ll be in November! crazy. But things are good.

Yesterday at church was the primary program here- it was so good! There are about 10 kids in the primary here, and the program they put on was actually really amazing...there were a lot of prayers offered by the primary leaders! But the spirit was good, and they bore a simple but powerful testimony. It´s good that it went well especially because there were a few jornalists there yesterday. I don´t know what journal they were with, but they asked us several questions, and talked with other ward leaders....I think they had a good impression of what they saw and heard, which is always good!

This week we had some interesting experiences, but I learned a lot. We´ve been working with one woman who was scheduled to be baptized last week but was out of town for work. She remained out of town for most of the week, and we didn´t know when or if she would come back this week. So pretty much the only thing we could do was pray and fast for her, which we did, that she would come back and would have the opportunity to be baptized.We called her friday morning, and she said she would be coming back on Saturday, which was great! We called her on saturday to arrange something, but she didn´t answer. We stopped by in the afternoon and caught her right before she left to go shoopping. (coincidence?!) So we went by later and talked a lot with her. She had doubts about being ready to be baptised, and we talked a lot about what it means and the blessings we receive. The spirit was really strong, and I knew I was being guided in what I was saying. I know that she felt the spirit and knew what was the right thing to do. But in the end, she said that she wanted to know more, even though she doesn´t have any doubts about the truthfulness of the gospel, and refused baptism for the present. On Sunday she didn´t even end up coming to church, which made us supersad. But in all of this I learned a lot as well, despite of the frustration and sadness...I learned even more that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, and that fasting is a powerful tool to call on the powers of heaven. I know that He helped us to meet Carmen at exactly the right time. I know that our prayers were answered by the spirit that we all felt, by the words which were given us to teach her. But in spite of everything, God also gives us agency, and no one will be compelled to righteosness or wickedness, but it will be granted unto us according to our desires. I just hope that eventually she will be able to receive the blessings that I know are waiting for her. We claim blessings by our obedience, and Heavenly Father cannot fully bless us when we fail to cumply with the commandments that He has given us...

So in this and other things, it was a week of learning. I´m grateful for these experiences that I´m having, for the people that I meet here...so, so grateful.

Wow, I can´t believe that another week has already come and gone! We´re already approaching the middle\end of October...

This last week was good- lots of work. Unfortunately we didn´t see as many fruits as I would have liked. Last weekend we had two people marked for this last Sunday (dia 17). On Wednesday we taught another fairly new investigator and marked him for dia 30...so everything seemed great! Then Wednesday night when we taught someone that was marked, he said that he had to go out of town for family...In our mission there is a big focus on receiving revelation for the exact day that someone should be baptized, and that that particular day is the will of God for that individual. So to say that you´ll be out of town on the day that you´re marked for baptism is a big thing...we tried to explain this to him, to talk about what God wants him to do, but in the end he felt that it would be okay to be baptized this next weekend...we´ll see how things pan out. But that was a little (lot!) frustrating.

The next day we got a call from our other marked investigator, saying that she has to be out of town for work this weekend.....talk about frustrating! We still have hope for them, but its frustrating when everything is being thrown in the way of baptism..but thats the way this work is. It really is a guerra (war)...and we are on the front lines!

So besides the frustrating of cancellations, it was a good week. We had a Zone Meeting where we talked more about the focus of the new mission curriculum, which was good. Yesterday we had stake conference, which was good. President Torgan talked, and I loved his talk (obviously...) He talked about the importance of baptism to access the power of the atonement, and about the blessings that we receive immediately depois baptism...principally the gifts of the spirit. He speaks really well (since he´s a politician), but speaks with the spirit that gives so much power to his words...its incredible!

I´ve been reading recently in Alma, about the missions of Alma, Amuluque, and the sons of Mosias. They are such incredible examples, I love reading about their experiences. I read today about when the sons of mosias left on their mission, praying and fasting in the wilderness on the way to the Lamanites. The spirit filled them with courage, which I thought interesting. All of us are asked to do hard things, but when we seek the assistance of the Lord, He will give us the courage and power that we need to fulfill what is asked of us. The Lord really qualifies whom He calls! Which is always a big reassurance :)

For last PD we went to the aquariam, it was cool, but not awesome. By the River Tejo in Vasco de Gama; Irmã Perez e eu

Thanks to those of you who sent pictures...the wedding looks like it was beautiful and happy, as it should be :D But that sure is sad that Dave and Liz got stuck in Chicago!

This week was good here- a lot of work. But we saw miracles happen, which is always gratifying! On Monday night we got a call from other missionaries with a reference from a member. We called her that night, and it just happened that the next day was her day off. She is amazing and is looking for the truth- another person prepared by God to receive the restored gospel! The lesson with her was great, with such a strong spirit. We taught her again a couple times during the week, and she has been amazing. She went to church yesterday and loved it, and is marked for baptism. I feel so blessed in the people that I have gotten to know here- there are so many people that have had different experiences that have prepared them to recognize and receive the truth, and their lives change and improve so much- I love it!!!!!!!!!!!! We also found some other investigators this week that have progressed that I would never have thought the first time that we met them that they would even be interested. That just shows me how we really can never judge the heart of a person, but only God knows who has been prepared. But it was a good week :)

You can tell that winter is coming here- it rained every day this week! I still need to buy a new unbrella (mine broke with the wind and rain last winter), but it´s weird to see that the time and season really is changing...but it´s nice when more people stay at home during the winter and the rain, so its easier to find them :P

Wasn´t conference incredible?! I couldn´t believe it when I heard that a temple had been announced. We were in the mission office trying to get the internet to work so we could watch it in English, when one of the assistants got a call, started to go crazy and ran to the chapel next door. When we got there, we heard that there will be a temple built in Portugal Lisboa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The members were all going crazy- calling people, laughing, crying....it was amazing to be here. We talk a lot in the mission about how our goal is to prepare Portugal so that one day it will have a temple, and now we know that day has come! It was a lot of emotions as a missionary, and incredible to see the reactions of the members- the people here have longed for a temple, and they became so grateful when the announcement came. After that session of conference there was an impromptu testimony and prayer of gratitude in the name of all, and it was really special. Especially because I am in the Lisboa stake, which was the first in Portugal and where the temple will be built (well, in Lisboa somewhere). But there will be a temple here!!!!! It made be even more grateful for the blessings of the fulness of the gospel that are becoming more available to all.

So besides conference, this week was good. We had a baptism on Sunday right after the Preisthood Session was shown here! He went to temple square a year ago, visited all the sites and heard ´´Music and the Spoken Word´´ and was really touched. He spent the next year trying to call the church here, but never succeeded in making contact. He returned to temple square about a month ago, and gave his information as a reference. When we got it a couple weeks ago, we knew that he was golden! It has been a really great experience teaching him- it´s interesting to see how someone can know its true without even knowing what it is or exactly what it means! But as he came to better understand the doctrine of the gospel, everything made even more sense. It really is a privilege to know and be able to teach him. He asked me on Saturday what the best experience of my life has been (thats not a difficult or loaded question!). But what I answered is really how I feel- the mission. It´s not always (or ever!) easy and not always ´fun´, but it has definately been the best experience- to deepen my own testimony and understanding of God, His love for me, and the gospel, and to be able to share that with others, and seeing the huge changes that the gospel can make in all of our lives. I just want the time to stop speeding by!

I really liked conference- I can´t wait for the conference ensign to come out! I really liked a lot of talks, but one that I especially liked was by Elder Eyring on Sunday, about trusting in the Lord. As I reviewed my notes from conference today, I was thinking about this talk, and what we can gain or how we can be~benefitted by trusting in the Lord. Clearly there are an infinity of ways that we are blessed, but in my studies I found a couple scriptures that I really liked. In Mosiah 23:22, it says that those who trust in the Lord will be lifted up in the last day- what better eternal promise can we have than this? But, there are also more immediate ways that we are blessed- I love a few verses from Alma, who talks about the experiences f his life. In Alma 36 when he is talking to his son, he says how trust in the Lord has helped him- in verse 3 that those who trust in the Lord will be helped in their tribulations, trials, and difficulties...I love that promise. He also talks about the difficulties in his missions, and that although he was cast into prison and worse, he always put his trust in the Lord and the Lord continually freed him. I know there are a myriad of examples, but I love the promised blessings that we receive when we trust in the Lord. To trust Him we have to know Him, and how can a man know the master who is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart? (Mosiah5:13) There is a direct link between our thoughts and desires, our actions, and our trust in the Lord...I´m sure you can all think on a level far deeper than me, so I´ll leave my thoughts there!

Wow, thanks for all the pics and updates of the wedding- it looks like you all had a great time! I hope you had some wonderful days together, and congrats again Dave and Liz!!

The week was good here too, though I don´t think it quite compares! Our amazing investigator Linda was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday, and everything is great with her. She really is sooo incredible; I am so glad I have the chance to know her! Her baptism was at 9am on Saturday, and we didn´t fill up the font on Friday, so we had to get up at 5am on Saturday and walk (there isn´t transport that early!) to the chapel so the font could fill up for three hours. But it was a really good service, and she was so happy. It´s amazing to see the changes that the gospel can make in peoples lives- she´s already starting to see the miracles :) So that was an awesome part of the week.

This week our mission also had a special ´´Irmãs Conference´´ just for all the Irmãs in the mission. We talked about the new curriculum for missions, and then Presidente Torgan talked for a bit. It was really good to talk about the new emphasis and to also be with the other irmãs :P

Because they flew in the Irmãs from the Açores (islands), we had some transfers early. I have a new companion- Irmã Perez. IT´s funny that I already know her from BYU- we were in the same ward freshman year. What are the chances?! We´ve already been together4 days, and I think it´s going to be a good transfer :)

I hope you´re all doing great!! This last week was good, although we actually didn´t have much time to work (at least compared to normal). My companion had to renew her visa, which took all day on Tuesday and Wednesday to do....but at least she can stay in the country!!

We were really blessed to have another baptism yesterday. A couple weeks ago we contacted a man in a bus stop that was waiting with a little girl. We´ve been teaching him ever since, and about 10 days ago we invited him to be baptized. So yesterday was his baptism! He is really incredible. He is from Sáo Tomé, which is an island off of Africa, but I honestly don´t know where exactly it is! I´ve discovered there are a lot of countries in Africa that I never even knew existed, but that have great people. He can´t read, which made it harder to include and hit hard the Book of Mormon with him, but he has a lot of faith, and is also willing to act on that faith! He accepted everything that we have taught him, and really has a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. It has been such a blessing to find and teach him. He also has a little girl who is sooo adorable. She has learned how to pray and sing (well, she can´t read but she makes noise!) with us...it is so awesome to see the changes in everyone in a home when they accept the gospel.

Also yesterday Vitor (who was baptized last week) was confirmed, which is always special. He already seems so different from when we found him, and is already fitting into our ward. I love that there is a power to change lives in the gospel! To see those changes makes everything worth it.

I also learned even more that God really hears and answers prayers, and when we pray for specific things, we get specific responses. In district meeting on Thursday, we were talking with our Elders about missionary work (pois!). One of them talked about specific prayers, and how we can ask for ´´rediculous´´ things in our prayers. He had known an elder in Porto who had prayed with his companion to find a ´´King Lamoni´- someone that would open the way for many more to hear the gospel. Eventually they found a radio host, who talked a lot on his program about the gospel and through whom they received many references. We also talked about the scripture Alma 29:6- that the Lord grants unto us according to our desires, whether for good or bad! So my companion and I decided to pray specifically, and we wanted to find a ´´rei Lamoni´´.

Well, yesterday we went to a big park where we like to do procura, and we´ve already had success from people there. Right when we walked in I noticed a man sitting alone on a bench. I immediately moved to go in that direction, and my companion knew exactly what I was thinking at the same time. As we approached, he got up and greeted us! (não é normal!) we didn´t know if we knew him or not (I didn´t know him!), but he said he was going to get some water. So we said chão and kept walking. About 2 minutes later my companion said, we need to go back to him now, so we went back and found him. Turns out, he went to church a lot 10 years ago (but wasn´t baptized) but then with work and other things lost contact. But he still has a Book of Mormon and reads in it regularly. He knows that the Book and the church are true, and while we were talking to him, he said that he would bring ALL his friends and everyone he knew to the church. While we were talking with him, I had to keep myself from laughing in amazement, because here was our Rei Lamoni!!!!!! We´re going to teach him tonight and invite him to be baptized...so we´ll see what happens this week!! But really, Heavenly Father is amazing. I know that he knows each of us individually, and when we pray specifically, we are opening the door to specific blessings. All we have to do is ASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I hope that you all have a great week! Remember I love you, and pray for miracles in your life, because God grants unto us according to our desires- if we desire and ask for miracles in faith, they WILL happen!!

Happy Labor Day!! Does that mark the unofficial end of summer? I hope everything goes well with schools starting this week!

This week was really good- we were so blessed by the Lord. IT´s funny that I´ve noticed in the mission that after you have a hard day or week, you pray a lot more sincerely, and you´re a lot more blessed! We had a reunião de zona at the beginning of this week, and it was really inspiring to move and change some things. Apparently the brethren have started a new curriclum for the missions, and this meeting was the beginning of changes according to the new curriculum. We talked a lot about teaching- teahing better and with more power. We made goals and I really felt that there are some things we need to change. So me and my companion, we talked, decided some changes to make, and are already seeing the blessings!

We prayed to know what should be our goal for baptisms this week, and really felt that there is someone in our area ready to be baptized this week. During the week we contacted a potential that we had contacted last week- Vitor. He said that he had already visited the church in Benfica, which is in another area of Lisboa. When we started teaching him, he was really open, and really prepared! HE understood and agreed with everything, and really had a desire to follow Christ and be baptized! So we worked with him a lot this week and he was baptized yesterday! It really is amazing that the Lord is the one that prepares people, and then He just puts them in our path! I am so grateful that he answers prayers according to our faith, desires, and works.

We´ve also been blessed with other investigators that we found in the last week- we basically just have men! Our leaders have said to focus on the preisthood holders, and we are finding lots of dads! We had (for us) several investogators at church yesterday, one is marked for baptism next week, and things are improving. We also have a new ward mission leader that is completely gung-ho for missionary work, and we´re really excited to start working with him and the new ward missionaries. For now, everything seems to be going well. But, it´s easy to think that we are doing it, and not recognize the tremendous blessings that the Lord gives us. Honestly, there is no way to do this work without Him, becuase it is His work, and HE is the one the prepares and touches people to lead them to make convenants with Him through baptism.

Besides getting to know and teach great people, there are a lot of lighter moments in the mission, and some interesting things happened this week....

The saga of the pigeons continues...while we were walking in the rua, a pigeon that was in the road suddenly flew RIGHT INTO my face, it almost hit me! My companion was behind me, and couldn´t even see the pigeon because I was blocking it from view because it was so close...This is the revenge for running after them and making them take flight while we walk down the road... :D

On the way to an investogator´s house, we passed an area where kids were playing. As a passed, a ball came towards me. I picked up the ball, and lugged it to the kid (that was quite a distance away). It was actually an awesome through, hard, fast, and straight at him. (it was luck!) But the old guys that were outside a cafe started clapping for me...we laughed about that for a while.

We went to visit a potential investigator whose house is in an alley with just one exit- he wasn´t home but a relative answered the door, said she was taking a shower but that would return. While we waited, a woman left another house and left the alley, closing the alley gate behind her. We waited about 5-10 minutes, then decided to leave. When we got to the gate, we discovered that the only way to open it was with the keys! So we knocked on the door of our potential´s house, but she didn´t come to the door. Then we knocked on the doors of other houses, but no one was home! We were literally locked in an alley! We banged on the potential´s door incessantly, becuase we knew someone was home, but no one ever came to the door! Finally, after being stuck for half an hour, my companion managed to wedge open the lock using our keys as a lever...what an adventure! Not sure if there´s a lesson to learn from that, or maybe just to be more careful about the gates that we use!

But life is always interesting here! I am grateful for the blessings and miracles that we see every day. I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

I hope you are all enjoying the last weeks of summer...this week will take us into Setembro! You can see a visable difference here in the number of tourists as the summer winds down; things aren´t quite so crowded here.

This week was a little bit rough as far as the work goes...not much progress on the part of pesquisadors that we are teaching, and searching for the elect, which can be rough when you feel you´re having difficulties finding them! But it´s interesting its always said that you grow through trials...because its true! I feel that I made a lot of progress this week personally (and now I need to pass it on to our investigators!). Something that we talk a lot about is the power and authority of our calling, and the power of the spirit needed for conversion. We had some really powerful, spiritual lessons this week where I knew that I was being led by the spirit, which was really neat. I was reminded of something from the first chapter in PMG- that we know we are successful missionaries (and people!) when we can feel the influence of the spirit and know that we are following it. So although those powerful lessons didn´t bear fruit that is apparant now, it is good to still have hope that what I am doing is acceptable to the Lord!

Today I finished the Book of Mormon (I read it all in Português!); I love the last couple chapters of Moroni. One verse that really struck me due to circumstances, was in Moroni 9, versiculo 6 (acho eu)- Mormon wrote to Moroni about the hardness of hearts and wickedness of the people, but then he wrote (parafrazed) nevertheless we will continue to work diligently, or else we will be under condemnation- and he spoke about the importance of continuing to work, trust in the Lord, and have hope for life eternal. So, even when it seems that we are not making forward progress, we need to continue to trabalhar diligentement! It also reminded me fo the talk by PResident Uchtdorf about pacience- that pacience is continuing to work diligently when the desired results don´t come immediately...so basically I just need more pacience and persaverance :) (easy to say, harder to do!)

But, I am really grateful for the spirit that I felt this week. I am so grateful to be here, even though it is hard work. I read an article today entitled `Member for Life´ or something similar, and there was a paragraph about the blessing of serving a mission. I have already received so many, and I know that I (and we :) ) will yet receive many blessings. After all ``sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven!!``

Sorry there aren´t any comical stories that I can remember from this last week. Last night we got on the same bus as the slightly crazy lady who yelled at us on a bus last Sunday...we didn´t hide, but I was praying that she wouldn´t notice us! Thank goodness that God answers prayers :D

This last week (as usual!) flew by...nothing major happened, but a lot of little things and miracles, né, that show the hand of God. We finally managed to find one of our new investigators at home a couple times this week...she is Brazilian, a mom with two (and 8\9ths) kids. (the 8\9 means that she is extremely pregnant!). The other sisters met her a few months ago, but never managed to meet with her. We passed by and finally found her in the beginning of this week. She said that the night before, she had prayed to God to give her a sign, or help her to know how to help her family (they are having some struggles). Then the next day we unexpectedly appeared! She is so open, and likes to read the Book of Mormon. The only difficulty is that she is 9 months pregnant (I think she may have given birth this weekend!), so there are things a little more pressing in her life :) But I really feel that we can help this whole family, so I hope things continue to go well with them.

We also randomly met an inactive member in the street; he contacted us and said he had been baptized 20 years ago, but wandered long from the church. He said that when he was studying to be a catholic priest, he found a BoM on the ground and started teaching the doctrines in it. The other catholics wanted him to destroy the book, but he refused. (Does this sound familiar?) I´m not sure exactly what is his story, but I can tell that he has a sincere testimony of the restoration, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. We met with him a couple times and he came to church this week! Something that has really brought me joy that I didn´t expect (because I didn´t really think about it) is working with less-active members, helping them to rekindle their testimonies and receive the blessings from the gospel. Seeing them change their lives again brings the same measure of happiness as seeing others come for the first time.

Every other week we have an activity in our ward (put on by the missionaries, basically- there´s no activity committee!!). This last week we had a ´´Pancake Night´´ where I used my pancake making skills. All the pancake breakfasts that I did in our Relief Society at BYU came in handy! I think that all that came enjoyed the night, and one of our investigators even brought her sister ,so it was good :) Unfortunately I was so busy making pancakes that I didn´t get to eat any :\ But that´s alright.

I know that I usually preach a lot in my emails, but really, a lot of interesting and random things happen in missionary life. I wanted to just share a couple things that happened yesterday to give an idea of what happens in our day-to-day life.

Well, after church and lunch at a members house, we went to pass a less-active family that hadn´t come to church. While we were ringing the bell, a pigeon dropped a bomb on my companions head! Later, when we were on the bus, we started talking to one lady, who (speaking english) said that she prays every night for peace, and starting ``uhmm``ing there on the bus. When I told that we know that God restored His church and that we have a living prophet, she asked his name and I told her. She got really mad, started saying that we were crazy and wasting our time, swore in English, and got off the bus (all within 3 minutes). It was a little abrupt and shocking, but these things do happen.

Later, we were in a square and contacted a man who lives in France, but had been in Angola for a year and was stuck here in Portugal for a few days. Before he had left for Angola, he had talked to missionaries, so we talked with him for a while. While we were talking to him (and he was golden!), an ex-pesquisador that we haven´t seen for months came up (drunk and high on drugs), pinched my companion, and started talking about how I had lied, that we didn´t like him, and worse things. It was so weird and random! Luckily, the guy with whom we were talking defended us and got the high-ex-pesquisador to leave. So while we were talking with a golden contact from France about baptism, we were accosted this wild man. And that was the end of our day...so, life is always interesting here! We meet the elect, not-so-elect, and very un-elect! but all the while we have the assurance of the spirit that we are on the Lord´s errand and in His hands. So everything is worth it :D

Wow, time just keeps on flying. I can´t believe its already another pday! Last pday being the first of the month, we went to the Lisbon Zoo. It was pretty cool. The best part was that they had a dolphin and seal show that was really good. I got ´´kissed´´ by a seal! More of a head-butt, but it was neat :) I always get a little depressed at zoos becuase the animals are jsut stuck in cages, but it was still good. They had elephants, white tigers, rhinoceras, and lots more. IT´s interesting to see Lisboa from the perspective of a tourist and the things that are here to do.

This week was good, but went really quick and I can´t really think of anything spectacular to write about. We saw a lot of littles miracles here, which is always gratifying. We marked one of our pesquisadors, Pedro, to be baptized next week, so I hope that everything continues to go well with him. What else..? I can´t really remember much. We made a BOATLOAD of chocolate chip cookies because we made cookies for practically the whole ward; we made little goodie things with cookies and a note to show our love and appreciation, hopefully to help unite the ward!

Really nothing huge happened, just lots of small miracles. A less-active member contacted us in the rua, and we passed by his house. Another less-active that has recently started to return decided that she wants to quit smoking, a man contacted us on the bus, we found a family of 5 siblings from Guiné that are really neat, and lots of other small things that really are miracles to me. I am so grateful for the mercy of God! It is really easy to miss everything that He gives us, but if we just stay with eyes open and searching, the evidence is everywhere of the love and concern that he had for us.

I know that God loves me and you! He wants us to be happy and successful here, and most improtantly have united and happy families that will be eternal. This is His plan!!! And He already marked the way for us to follow....

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

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

I hope that this week passed well for you all! Spring has almost officially arrived here, and the weather is beautiful!! It always makes me happy to leave the house when the sun is shining with a bright blue sky.

This last week went by really fast, I can´t really remember all that happened. We worked a lot, talked with a lot of people, and did a lot of procura. It was a good week :)

This week I´ve been reading in Alma in the Book of Mormon. It is really interesting to read about the missionaries in the Book of Mormon; I never noticed how much of the Book of Mormon talks about missionary work until I got to the mission! Alma and Amuleque are such a great example of how to preach with power and authority, and how to work in a companionship. I love the scriptures Alma 7:15-16, when Alma exhorts the people of Gideon to `come and fear not´, to leave the sins that easily ensnare us, and to show God that we have a desire to repent.Really, it is this desire that is the most important thing that we need...our desires are what motivate us to action and determine what we will do. Our desires and goals will determine the shape that our lives will take.

This last Sunday Luis, a recent convert, gave his first talk, about honesty. We talked with him during the week to give support and help him prepare. IT was really interesting to talk with him about honesty- honesty with others, ourselves, and the Lord. Something that he said reminded me of repentance. The first step of repentance is to recognize that we have done something wrong, or that we need to begin to do something good that we are lacking. In this first step of repentance, honesty with ourselves is essencial. Without honesty, we can never change our behaviors, repent, and change our lives. Sometimes we are blinded by ourselves, and it is only with the help of the Lord that we can honestly evaluate ourselves and our lives.

Also about honesty, I shared with him the story of Ananias and Safira (? not sure of the name in english) in Acts chapter 4 or 5. They kept back a portion of what they gave to the church, and then lied to the apostles about it. They both died on the same spot. While this may seem like an extreme example, it represents what happens to us when we lie. When we try to decieve the Lord or others, we distance or remove ourselves from the Lord. This is a spiritual death. So although we may not die physically on the spot, we are doing the same thing to our spirits that happened to them... Just some thoughts I had from talking with him.

This week was great! I am so grateful for the blessings that the Lord gives us and the miracles we see every day (when we´re looking for them!). My greenie, Irmã de Almeida, arrived on Tuesday. We had to return her to the mission office on Wednesday, and pick her up again on Friday, so we spent a lot of time in transport this week! But Lisboa is cool, so it was neat to get to spend a little time in the city.

This week was so good :) I don´t know if I can really pinpoint or explain why, but becuase we had a lot less time to work (becuase of traveling), it felt like the Lord was blessing us to be really productive in the time that we had. We found some incredible new investigators this week: one is a 50yr old lady that lives and takes care of a senhora with 95 yrs; she is incredible and is ready to accept the gospel. The only challenge with her is that she cannot leave the senhora alone to be able to go to church...so this week we need to find someone or someway that she can go to church...But she is amazing- when we invited her to be baptized on May 1, she didn´t say yes or no, but just asked, á que horas? (at what time?); the other is a man from São Tomé, Luzú, that is really neat. I am really excited to keep working with them.

Training has been really fun and really good for me (all 6 days already :P ) Minha filha is incrível, and is already an example to me. I always heard about the ´greenie fire´, and it is neat to get to see and work with fogo! When President Torgan was talking to the treinadors, he talked about the importance of teaching by example. The quote ´´your actions speak so loud that I can´t hear your words´´ definately applies. So as I have been trying to teach by example, I have become better as well...I am definately already learning a lot.

I was reading in D&C this morning in section 95, and there was a verse that I really like. The Lord is talking about how the saints sinned because they were not building. He says that it is His will that they build a temple, and that if they keep the commandments they will have the force or power necessary to do so. Here in the mission we are always seeking the will of God, to know what we should do. But, we also have to be keeping the commandments and living worthily to be able to receive his help to be able to accomplish His will. We know that He always fulfills His part, we just need to do our part to be able to do milagres!

I am so thankful and happy to be here...I gave a talk this last Sunday about the two great commandments, to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. I know that God loves us and that we are here because of this love. Have we not reason to rejoice because of the goodness of our God?!