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!