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!