Hello dear family! It's been a very eventful week, so this is going to be a poorly written email so I can include everything. Here we go...
So last p-day that Nelsons came up from the Algarve to go to Mafra with us! It was so amazing and I LOVED going back. When we were on the main highway just north of Lisbon heading to Mafra I got SO excited. We saw the convent and drove around. It's a bit different now, they are making it more touristy and it looks good. We also went to see the Esteves and that was my favorite part. We walked in and President Esteves greeted us very warmly, as always. But my favorite part was when little 8-year-old Emma lit up when she saw me. Not only is she young, but it's been a year since I've been there. She remembered me! That was so exciting. I am so grateful that I got to know that wonderful family. I saw pictures of Filipe on his mission in Mozambique and he looks so happy. It was a nice visit.
Then that night we taught Leide more about keeping the Sabbath day holy. I felt very guided as we taught her. I explained that all of us can do better to keep this commandment and I invited us all to do better and to keep the Sabbath day holy as best we can. I was about to close up the lesson, but I felt like I needed to share with her what my dad always did when he had to work on Sunday. That he would go into work really early so that he could get back in time for church. That next day we called her to see how she was doing and she told us that she was going to work it out with her boss so that she could go in early then leave for church and then go back and stay later if she needed to. I was touched at her desire to keep the commandments.
We returned on Friday and had a great lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We then invited her to be baptized on the 5th of August. She immediately accepted and said, Yeah, that sounds like a good day to me. It is certainly perfect for me too! That will be my last day in Setubal and will be the last real thing that I do as a missionary. She is the most amazing person. Truly humble and willing to change. It's been such a joy for me to see her change and become ever so much happier. So yay!
Friday night there was an activity in the other ward that we invited people to, so we went and were surprised to find out that it was an activity all about strengthening your marriage. We watched a film all about how to make your marriage better. It was a good film and very American. It was SOOO weird to see the American culture again and hear the different accents. I will have a shock when I go home. For sure. I couldn't stop laughing at the expressions that they used. Elder Valencia was laughing right along with me, so I'm not alone.
On Saturday we had a church cleaning project. I felt so Mormon as we cleaned. They really need to do more service projects here. Then right after we had a "Sardinhada," which is basically a sardine barbeque. Let me tell you what, sardines are not my favorite, but carapaus (horse mackerel)are AMAZING. What you do is put a piece of bread on your plate and then the grilled fish on top, then you peel off the skin and dive in with your fingers to eat the fish. It was SOOOO good. I ate four. Don't you worry. I am more Portuguese with every day. I LOVE fish. Who knew? We did smell like smokey fish the rest of the day though. But we're used to the smell. It's all the restaurants grill here.
The musical fireside is coming along quite well. We will be singing this Sunday and so it will be my last time with the choir on Sunday. I'm actually really sad about it. It's been my favorite service project that I've given on my mission. They very "subtley" asked me and Elder Wray to leave the room at the end of the practice...so they may be planning a party for us. We'll see.
Monday was a crazy day. President Torgan called Sunday afternoon and moved our interviews from Monday to Tuesday. It threw everything into chaos because we had eight elders in Setubal from other areas who then had to stay for an extra day and had nothing to do that whole Monday. But the zone leaders saved the day. We had our district meeting and then we took a lunch break and then we went back and played a "game" that Elder Wray made up. We had to go out and talk to as many people as possible and at the end we had to see who got the most points, based on a scale that we didn't know anything about when we set out. We got points for knowing how old an old lady was, for how many times and older man said that he was too old to change and how many times a business man said that he was in a hurry. It was so funny to hear the different points. At the end the companionship with the most points (we almost won) won "Companionship Night," which included a board game, popcorn, two ties and candy. We laughed so hard. The elders are so funny. Of course, you get a group of 19 and 20 year old boys togehter, what do you expect? They all really are like brothers to me.
Unfortunately, that whole day it was SCORTCHING hot. It hit 40ºC, which is 104ºF. Yes. It is hot here. Well, right now it's chilly and overcast...but that's beside the point.
Yesterday was a great day too. We had interviews. It was good, but very different. Then we went out with Sara Cordeiro, who is amazing. She went knocking with us and then went with us to teach Maria de Nascimento (Mary of the Birth). We had to HIKE up a HUGE hill to get there and then when we got there we walked into her house and saw that she had a shrine to the Holy Family. Really, very big. It was also very hot and this lady had makeup smeared all over her face. She kept rubbing her eyes and smudging it even worse. I don't know how I kept my composure, but I was really blessed. I hardly even cracked a smile. All I could think of was Iza from the Emperor's New Groove. Think of her and you will be able to picture this lady. I think by now I have pretty much seen it all.
Well, that's pretty much it. Phew! Today we're having a water balloon fight with a bunch of missionaries and pretty much all of the youth and young single adults of Setubal. It's going to be great! I love you all and have a great week!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Colombian Chili and American Cake...YUM!
Hello family! Thank you so much for the emails and support! I love hearing from you all every week.
It's been another ridiculously fast week. I don't know where the time goes. It's so interesting that when you want time to slow down it speeds up.
We've met with some of our members this past week and talked to them about who they know who would benefit from hearing about the gospel. We had a great experience with a couple in the ward, the Martins. They are amazing and they came up with some great ideas. We have been trying to meet with them for weeks, but it never worked out. We are trying to do the work differently here. The members need to do their part and find people for us to teach. Our best as missionaries is just not good enough, so we're working more through them members and teaching them their role in the work.
Sunday I had an interesting experience. We were sitting in Relief Society and the lesson was about the temple. The Portuguese are always talking about having a temple in Portugal and wanting a temple in Portugal. So the lesson just became a bit of a debate on why there's no temple in Portugal. The teacher did a great job of teaching about the temple and the lesson came back to where it needed to be for us to learn and be edified. But as the little discussion was going on I became a bit frustrated and sad at how they just didn't seem to "get it" about why the Church here isn't ready for a temple. As I pondered about it I realized that we can use this great passion that the members have for having a temple here to give them the motivation for doing missionary work. If they want a temple here, then the Church needs to be stronger, so they need to share the joy of the gospel with those around them that they know. I felt very strongly that we needed to change a good amount of things in the ward and set a goal for the number of people we want in the ward by the end of the year. I talked to the ward mission leader and he agreed completely. Since then, we have all been brainstorming ideas and tonight we will meet with the bishopric to make some changes here. The Church here is so ready for growth. We have laid the foundation and now it can really grow. I know that by the end of the year, there will be great growth here in our ward, if the members do their part. And, they are amazing, so they will. I am grateful that I am here to be able to get things started.
Monday we had our district meeting and before it started we had a great lunch. Elder Valencia made us some GREAT chili and it tasted SOOO good. Wow. It was also Elder Walker's birthday. So...I used the cake that Mom sent me and made a birthday cake for Elder Walker. Oh my. The elders were all soooo excited to see that cake. I got thank yous for the rest of the day from all of them.
Yesterday we had a great experience. I have been bugging one of the young men here in the ward, Pedro Caleira, about teaching his friends, because he's a great member missionary and talks to his friends all the time about the Church. So yesterday we finally taught his friends. It was a great lesson. I love teaching about the Restoration! I was so pleasantly surprised at how well his friends paid attention (there were five of them, all age 17 or 18) and listened and participated. Two of his friends were really excited to get the Book of Mormon and to read and pray about it. The Spirit was very strong as we taught and testified. I was so grateful for all of the preparation that Pedro did so that his friends would have the respect to listen to what we had to say. Some really good seeds were planted yesterday. I am excited to see what happens with them.
Other than that, nothing else really has happened. Leide continues to do really well. We invited her to find a new job before Friday so she can get baptized, so we'll be working hard so that can happen. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
It's been another ridiculously fast week. I don't know where the time goes. It's so interesting that when you want time to slow down it speeds up.
We've met with some of our members this past week and talked to them about who they know who would benefit from hearing about the gospel. We had a great experience with a couple in the ward, the Martins. They are amazing and they came up with some great ideas. We have been trying to meet with them for weeks, but it never worked out. We are trying to do the work differently here. The members need to do their part and find people for us to teach. Our best as missionaries is just not good enough, so we're working more through them members and teaching them their role in the work.
Sunday I had an interesting experience. We were sitting in Relief Society and the lesson was about the temple. The Portuguese are always talking about having a temple in Portugal and wanting a temple in Portugal. So the lesson just became a bit of a debate on why there's no temple in Portugal. The teacher did a great job of teaching about the temple and the lesson came back to where it needed to be for us to learn and be edified. But as the little discussion was going on I became a bit frustrated and sad at how they just didn't seem to "get it" about why the Church here isn't ready for a temple. As I pondered about it I realized that we can use this great passion that the members have for having a temple here to give them the motivation for doing missionary work. If they want a temple here, then the Church needs to be stronger, so they need to share the joy of the gospel with those around them that they know. I felt very strongly that we needed to change a good amount of things in the ward and set a goal for the number of people we want in the ward by the end of the year. I talked to the ward mission leader and he agreed completely. Since then, we have all been brainstorming ideas and tonight we will meet with the bishopric to make some changes here. The Church here is so ready for growth. We have laid the foundation and now it can really grow. I know that by the end of the year, there will be great growth here in our ward, if the members do their part. And, they are amazing, so they will. I am grateful that I am here to be able to get things started.
Monday we had our district meeting and before it started we had a great lunch. Elder Valencia made us some GREAT chili and it tasted SOOO good. Wow. It was also Elder Walker's birthday. So...I used the cake that Mom sent me and made a birthday cake for Elder Walker. Oh my. The elders were all soooo excited to see that cake. I got thank yous for the rest of the day from all of them.
Yesterday we had a great experience. I have been bugging one of the young men here in the ward, Pedro Caleira, about teaching his friends, because he's a great member missionary and talks to his friends all the time about the Church. So yesterday we finally taught his friends. It was a great lesson. I love teaching about the Restoration! I was so pleasantly surprised at how well his friends paid attention (there were five of them, all age 17 or 18) and listened and participated. Two of his friends were really excited to get the Book of Mormon and to read and pray about it. The Spirit was very strong as we taught and testified. I was so grateful for all of the preparation that Pedro did so that his friends would have the respect to listen to what we had to say. Some really good seeds were planted yesterday. I am excited to see what happens with them.
Other than that, nothing else really has happened. Leide continues to do really well. We invited her to find a new job before Friday so she can get baptized, so we'll be working hard so that can happen. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Yes, I CAN Sing All Parts
Hello family! First, I will not be emailing you all individually today. We had everything planned out, but then we had a little mishap with our money being left at home, so...we had to go back and that used up my other half hour of time to write you right now. I hope to be able to come back later today and respond. But, paciencia. I will be printing out your emails and reading them. Thank you!
Well, it's been a FAST FAST FAST week here. Really, time is FLYING by here and I am honestly starting to freak out a bit about it. Yesterday we had Zone Conference, my last one. :( It was great to meet President Torgan and Irma Torgan. They are wonderful people and will continue the work that President and Irma Terry started here. It was a bit of the "Irma Thomas Show" yesterday, to my dismay. I have already mentioned before that we have the chance to give a talk, at the choice of President Torgan, and guess who got chosen...ME! I was just a bit too smiley when they got here and kept making eye contact. I should know better than that. He went right up, pointed right to me and was like "Seester, you will speak on faith, Elder you will speak on charity." Bam Bam. He has such a thick accent. It's crazy and he's got a booming voice so it was just a little scary. It went okay...I could've prepared better...I also had the chance to give my "final testimony." No, I did not cry. Yes, I teared up and was very close to crying. It just has started to hit me that I'm leaving and will never come back here as Irma Thomas. It's very sad for me in that regard. But I feel a peace about what I've been able to accomplish and what we still have to accomplish. I have loved my mission and am so grateful that the Lord told me I needed to serve. It has changed me and my life. I also got called up by President Torgan to be used as an example. And they kept talking to me and Elder Wray. Actually, that was very nice. Irma Torgan went up to the pulpit and thanked me and Elder Wray for our service and wished us the best in our lives. I could feel her love for us and that was a tender mercy. Conference was very different, but very good. President Torgan will be changing a lot of things, but it will help the work grow here.
This week we had a couple of divisions with the young women in the area. We went first with Sara Cordeiro, who's actually a young single adult. Everything fell through, so we left the building we were at (after being chastised by an older lady--out her window on the 3rd floor, mind you--about how we shouldn't ring on her neighbor's door because no one was there, although someone showed up. Oh Portugal, the funny things people do here.) So I turned to Sara and asked her where we were going to go. She got a real panicky look on her face and said, no no no, Irma, I don't choose, you do. But we insisted and we ended up on this road. We knocked on the first several doors. Nothing. But then we knocked on the door of Heloneida, a lady from Cabo Verde whose sister is a member. She let us right in and we talked to her. It was a great experience and when we left, I turned to Sara and said, Wow! Look what you did! She got a big smile on her face and said that she didn't do anything at all.
Leide is doing great and we're still working on her papers and her job situation. We had a great lesson with her and she bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. She has such a faith and is very elect. I love working with her and seeing her change. What a miracle she is.
Last night after Conference everything had fallen through and I thought of where we should go. Immediately, Lindalva came to mind. She had not been progressing at all, but we needed to go by anyway, so we went. When we got there, her husband, Marcelis, informed us that Lindalva's sister had died that day in Brasil, very suddenly, of a heart attack. We talked to her and listened. I felt so strongly the love of our Heavely Father for her. She really needed to talk to us and hear what we said. I felt so guided. Every day I am more grateful for the help I receive.
Sunday we had choir. So I was helping them with "Beautiful Savior." I ended up first helping the sopranos, while the altos were in with the piano. The sopranos got it down. Then the altos were okayish, but we were changing the ending, so I went upstairs to see how the men were faring. It was not pretty. But, fortunately, I knew the bass line...so I helped the basses. Yes, it was funny. Then the tenors were lost, so I learned the tenor line and helped them. We all laughed a bit. My voice was so hoarse. I love serving through music.
That's all I've got time for!I love you!
Well, it's been a FAST FAST FAST week here. Really, time is FLYING by here and I am honestly starting to freak out a bit about it. Yesterday we had Zone Conference, my last one. :( It was great to meet President Torgan and Irma Torgan. They are wonderful people and will continue the work that President and Irma Terry started here. It was a bit of the "Irma Thomas Show" yesterday, to my dismay. I have already mentioned before that we have the chance to give a talk, at the choice of President Torgan, and guess who got chosen...ME! I was just a bit too smiley when they got here and kept making eye contact. I should know better than that. He went right up, pointed right to me and was like "Seester, you will speak on faith, Elder you will speak on charity." Bam Bam. He has such a thick accent. It's crazy and he's got a booming voice so it was just a little scary. It went okay...I could've prepared better...I also had the chance to give my "final testimony." No, I did not cry. Yes, I teared up and was very close to crying. It just has started to hit me that I'm leaving and will never come back here as Irma Thomas. It's very sad for me in that regard. But I feel a peace about what I've been able to accomplish and what we still have to accomplish. I have loved my mission and am so grateful that the Lord told me I needed to serve. It has changed me and my life. I also got called up by President Torgan to be used as an example. And they kept talking to me and Elder Wray. Actually, that was very nice. Irma Torgan went up to the pulpit and thanked me and Elder Wray for our service and wished us the best in our lives. I could feel her love for us and that was a tender mercy. Conference was very different, but very good. President Torgan will be changing a lot of things, but it will help the work grow here.
This week we had a couple of divisions with the young women in the area. We went first with Sara Cordeiro, who's actually a young single adult. Everything fell through, so we left the building we were at (after being chastised by an older lady--out her window on the 3rd floor, mind you--about how we shouldn't ring on her neighbor's door because no one was there, although someone showed up. Oh Portugal, the funny things people do here.) So I turned to Sara and asked her where we were going to go. She got a real panicky look on her face and said, no no no, Irma, I don't choose, you do. But we insisted and we ended up on this road. We knocked on the first several doors. Nothing. But then we knocked on the door of Heloneida, a lady from Cabo Verde whose sister is a member. She let us right in and we talked to her. It was a great experience and when we left, I turned to Sara and said, Wow! Look what you did! She got a big smile on her face and said that she didn't do anything at all.
Leide is doing great and we're still working on her papers and her job situation. We had a great lesson with her and she bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. She has such a faith and is very elect. I love working with her and seeing her change. What a miracle she is.
Last night after Conference everything had fallen through and I thought of where we should go. Immediately, Lindalva came to mind. She had not been progressing at all, but we needed to go by anyway, so we went. When we got there, her husband, Marcelis, informed us that Lindalva's sister had died that day in Brasil, very suddenly, of a heart attack. We talked to her and listened. I felt so strongly the love of our Heavely Father for her. She really needed to talk to us and hear what we said. I felt so guided. Every day I am more grateful for the help I receive.
Sunday we had choir. So I was helping them with "Beautiful Savior." I ended up first helping the sopranos, while the altos were in with the piano. The sopranos got it down. Then the altos were okayish, but we were changing the ending, so I went upstairs to see how the men were faring. It was not pretty. But, fortunately, I knew the bass line...so I helped the basses. Yes, it was funny. Then the tenors were lost, so I learned the tenor line and helped them. We all laughed a bit. My voice was so hoarse. I love serving through music.
That's all I've got time for!I love you!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
And I'm Once Again Brasilian!
Hello dear family, I will apologize in advance for my weird English. I'm struggling with any language today. My poor companion. The morning is rough for me to begin with....
Well, things are just going great here. Nothing super special happened this week, pretty much the norm, but it was a good week. I went to the office on Thursday for the first time since October and it was really nice to see some people that I'd not seen in a long time. It was great to see Irma Oliveira again. Apparently, she had felt that she was coming here too, and had even written to President Terry to ask to come here to be with me. Funny how that happens, isn't it? Things have been going great ever since. It's been weird for both of us to be with someone else with experience in the mission. She just finished training. But, we've been laughing a lot and laughing at our bodies' falling apart.
Irma Oliveira is from the northeast of Brasil, Fortaleza and is a convert to the Church. She's the only member in her family and joined when she was 11. She was studying accounting before the mission but will change and study human relations after. She also has two sisters and they live with her mom. She's super tall and thin. Seriously, she's taller than the elders. It's funny. We bought bottles of water yesterday and it was a very tall and skinny bottle, Irma Oliveira, we compared it against one of me, shorter and a bit wider. I got a good chuckle out of that one.
We've decided to be very adventurous with our cooking this transfer, since neither of us could really cook before the mission. We made rice pudding last night...it turned out surprisingly well, considering we had a wrong recipe. I really do enjoy cooking. I'm sure I will enjoy it more when I have a dish washer and a microwave. :)
Things are going okay with our investigators and less-actives and members. No one we are working with came to church, which was disappointing, but I feel confident that things will work out. We had a great lesson with Leide on Monday and I really felt like I needed to talk to her about either getting Sundays off or getting a new job. She was very humble and said that she would pray about it and would make a change in her life. She is incredible.
I gave my last talk (probably) on Sunday. I had prepared my remarks based on Elder Perry's talk from Conference, but as I sat on the stand, I felt like I needed to focus solely on retention. So I talked about the Prodigal Son and about the importance of home and visiting teaching. I really felt the Spirit testify through me as I spoke. I don't know why I needed to say that, but I think it went well.
So we are preparing a musical fireside for the last week in July focusing on the Savior. I have an arrangement of Beautiful Savior that we sang last year. Normally, people are pretty chatty during choir, but as Nuno played the music of this piece, a calm entered the room and no one spoke. It was amazing. We all really felt the Spirit testify of the divinity of Christ. I am super excited for this fireside. It will be great!
So...I have been speaking only Portuguese with Irma Oliveira, other than when I am helping her with her English. She's said some things grammatically that I've wondered about, so I asked. Every time I've asked, she's had to stop and think about it and then say that she'd picked up a bad habit from one of her other companions that was learning Portuguese. At the end of the day she told me that my Portuguese was better than hers. This is FAR from the truth, rest assured, but it was funny to see that we really do rub off on one another. My Brasilian accent is coming back a little bit. I have to make a concerted effort to stick to Continental Portuguese. It's amazing.
Oh! I forgot to mention our diverse district. Three Americans, a Brasilian, a Portuguese who lives in Belgium, and a Columbian. Last week Elder Fernandes taught us a little French and this week Elder Valencia (who now lives in New York) taught us some Spanish. I really want to learn more languages. I really love it.
Well, sorry, nothing really new here. It's been a good week. Sorry for the rambling. I hope that you are all doing well. I love you!
Well, things are just going great here. Nothing super special happened this week, pretty much the norm, but it was a good week. I went to the office on Thursday for the first time since October and it was really nice to see some people that I'd not seen in a long time. It was great to see Irma Oliveira again. Apparently, she had felt that she was coming here too, and had even written to President Terry to ask to come here to be with me. Funny how that happens, isn't it? Things have been going great ever since. It's been weird for both of us to be with someone else with experience in the mission. She just finished training. But, we've been laughing a lot and laughing at our bodies' falling apart.
Irma Oliveira is from the northeast of Brasil, Fortaleza and is a convert to the Church. She's the only member in her family and joined when she was 11. She was studying accounting before the mission but will change and study human relations after. She also has two sisters and they live with her mom. She's super tall and thin. Seriously, she's taller than the elders. It's funny. We bought bottles of water yesterday and it was a very tall and skinny bottle, Irma Oliveira, we compared it against one of me, shorter and a bit wider. I got a good chuckle out of that one.
We've decided to be very adventurous with our cooking this transfer, since neither of us could really cook before the mission. We made rice pudding last night...it turned out surprisingly well, considering we had a wrong recipe. I really do enjoy cooking. I'm sure I will enjoy it more when I have a dish washer and a microwave. :)
Things are going okay with our investigators and less-actives and members. No one we are working with came to church, which was disappointing, but I feel confident that things will work out. We had a great lesson with Leide on Monday and I really felt like I needed to talk to her about either getting Sundays off or getting a new job. She was very humble and said that she would pray about it and would make a change in her life. She is incredible.
I gave my last talk (probably) on Sunday. I had prepared my remarks based on Elder Perry's talk from Conference, but as I sat on the stand, I felt like I needed to focus solely on retention. So I talked about the Prodigal Son and about the importance of home and visiting teaching. I really felt the Spirit testify through me as I spoke. I don't know why I needed to say that, but I think it went well.
So we are preparing a musical fireside for the last week in July focusing on the Savior. I have an arrangement of Beautiful Savior that we sang last year. Normally, people are pretty chatty during choir, but as Nuno played the music of this piece, a calm entered the room and no one spoke. It was amazing. We all really felt the Spirit testify of the divinity of Christ. I am super excited for this fireside. It will be great!
So...I have been speaking only Portuguese with Irma Oliveira, other than when I am helping her with her English. She's said some things grammatically that I've wondered about, so I asked. Every time I've asked, she's had to stop and think about it and then say that she'd picked up a bad habit from one of her other companions that was learning Portuguese. At the end of the day she told me that my Portuguese was better than hers. This is FAR from the truth, rest assured, but it was funny to see that we really do rub off on one another. My Brasilian accent is coming back a little bit. I have to make a concerted effort to stick to Continental Portuguese. It's amazing.
Oh! I forgot to mention our diverse district. Three Americans, a Brasilian, a Portuguese who lives in Belgium, and a Columbian. Last week Elder Fernandes taught us a little French and this week Elder Valencia (who now lives in New York) taught us some Spanish. I really want to learn more languages. I really love it.
Well, sorry, nothing really new here. It's been a good week. Sorry for the rambling. I hope that you are all doing well. I love you!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me about the Card Convention?
Hey family! ~Thank you so much for the updates and love. I hope that things are still great. I write to you from yet a different locale, a video rental store. Who knew that you could find an internet cafe in a video rental place? Best computers I've found too.
Well, it's been another crazy week. The baptism of little Joana went well, I had a bit of a hard time because Leide cancelled at the last minute (she had fallen asleep and could get ready fast enough). That broke my heart a little bit, but things got remarkably better in the area starting that next day. There were two holidays in a row last week and Thursday we tried to stop by Vanessa Sousa's again, hoping that she would be home. We stopped by and tapped on the window. Her daughter answered and told us that we could go around and they would buzz us in. We got to the door and guess what! WE GOT IN THE DOOR! This was quite the feat. The elders had been stopping by and for one reason or another, Vanessa would make up excuses for them to not be able to come in, and she did the same with us a couple of times. So I was thrilled that we were finally in her house and could have a lesson with her. It went great. She was so receptive and we set it up to meet with her three times a week.
We then saw her on Saturday and all of her kids were there and she promised that she would go to church the next day. So church came around and she wasn't there for relief society, I tried calling and got no answer. So gospel principles started and to my delight, Elder Rissi said that Vanessa was downstairs and had just arrived with her kids! I was so excited! The whole ward greeted her so well and it was just great. He mom and brother bore their testimony and I think it was good for her to see. Hopefully, things continue to go well and she chooses to let us in. But I am excited about her progress.
This week we've also had more time to go out with the young single adults and we even have gone knocking with them. Let me tell you what, they get so excited to knock! Granted, they would never say a word petrified to open their mouths, but they love just being with us. I am still seeing a small and subtle change in Sara Santana. She is a great girl and keeps saying to us, I don't know why, but I just love going out with you two. I know it's because she's feeling the Spirit and is able to bear her testimony and strengthen her faith.
This past little while our ward has been struck with illness. A brother in the ward has been sick for about six weeks, he's older and we hope that he will be able to get better soon. On top of this our bishop was diagnosed with cancer and will be undergoing treatment (hopefully) this week. Another brother had a heart attack, but was up and bearing his testimony on Sunday. I am constantly amazed at the members here. They have such a love for one another and it is truly like family. They worry about one another and take care of one another. I have not seen a ward/branch that is like this in my whole mission. The members have such a love and it is so evident in all they do. They truly live the gospel.
Right now I am in Lisbon! We are doing a division with the Lapa Irmas, Irmas Andrus and Machado. It's been fun to see their area and help with the work. And of course, Irma Machado and I always love seeing eachother. Yesterday I was with Irma Andrus and we walked by a bit of a park. We saw about 70 old men playing cards at various tables. Don't worry, we walked right by so I could get a good look. It was like a tournament. It looked like a flock of pidgeons hovering around bread crumbs. So funny!
Setubal has turned into a tropical rainforest...except for the whole forest part. It is ridiculously hot and humid. It keeps raining on and off, which takes away the heat, but then it becomes so super humid that it's suffocating. I dare say that it's worse than Texas. Let's hope that it lets up a bit. I cannot live in heat like this again. At least I will probably have air conditioning wherever I live in the future. Be grateful for air conditioning and ceiling fans. They are like little miracles. I can sleep without covers on though. I take great pride in that.
Things are going well here, better each day. Doors are being opened and we are being greatly blessed. It's such a joy for me to be able to see this progress and I hope that we will be blessed to see even more. I love you all and have a great day!
Well, it's been another crazy week. The baptism of little Joana went well, I had a bit of a hard time because Leide cancelled at the last minute (she had fallen asleep and could get ready fast enough). That broke my heart a little bit, but things got remarkably better in the area starting that next day. There were two holidays in a row last week and Thursday we tried to stop by Vanessa Sousa's again, hoping that she would be home. We stopped by and tapped on the window. Her daughter answered and told us that we could go around and they would buzz us in. We got to the door and guess what! WE GOT IN THE DOOR! This was quite the feat. The elders had been stopping by and for one reason or another, Vanessa would make up excuses for them to not be able to come in, and she did the same with us a couple of times. So I was thrilled that we were finally in her house and could have a lesson with her. It went great. She was so receptive and we set it up to meet with her three times a week.
We then saw her on Saturday and all of her kids were there and she promised that she would go to church the next day. So church came around and she wasn't there for relief society, I tried calling and got no answer. So gospel principles started and to my delight, Elder Rissi said that Vanessa was downstairs and had just arrived with her kids! I was so excited! The whole ward greeted her so well and it was just great. He mom and brother bore their testimony and I think it was good for her to see. Hopefully, things continue to go well and she chooses to let us in. But I am excited about her progress.
This week we've also had more time to go out with the young single adults and we even have gone knocking with them. Let me tell you what, they get so excited to knock! Granted, they would never say a word petrified to open their mouths, but they love just being with us. I am still seeing a small and subtle change in Sara Santana. She is a great girl and keeps saying to us, I don't know why, but I just love going out with you two. I know it's because she's feeling the Spirit and is able to bear her testimony and strengthen her faith.
This past little while our ward has been struck with illness. A brother in the ward has been sick for about six weeks, he's older and we hope that he will be able to get better soon. On top of this our bishop was diagnosed with cancer and will be undergoing treatment (hopefully) this week. Another brother had a heart attack, but was up and bearing his testimony on Sunday. I am constantly amazed at the members here. They have such a love for one another and it is truly like family. They worry about one another and take care of one another. I have not seen a ward/branch that is like this in my whole mission. The members have such a love and it is so evident in all they do. They truly live the gospel.
Right now I am in Lisbon! We are doing a division with the Lapa Irmas, Irmas Andrus and Machado. It's been fun to see their area and help with the work. And of course, Irma Machado and I always love seeing eachother. Yesterday I was with Irma Andrus and we walked by a bit of a park. We saw about 70 old men playing cards at various tables. Don't worry, we walked right by so I could get a good look. It was like a tournament. It looked like a flock of pidgeons hovering around bread crumbs. So funny!
Setubal has turned into a tropical rainforest...except for the whole forest part. It is ridiculously hot and humid. It keeps raining on and off, which takes away the heat, but then it becomes so super humid that it's suffocating. I dare say that it's worse than Texas. Let's hope that it lets up a bit. I cannot live in heat like this again. At least I will probably have air conditioning wherever I live in the future. Be grateful for air conditioning and ceiling fans. They are like little miracles. I can sleep without covers on though. I take great pride in that.
Things are going well here, better each day. Doors are being opened and we are being greatly blessed. It's such a joy for me to be able to see this progress and I hope that we will be blessed to see even more. I love you all and have a great day!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A Patriarch Could Win a Marathon
Hello family! Thanks for the emails and the opportunity to choose a shirt color of my very own! Everyone was particularly funny today with their emails. I was having a good laugh.
Well, this week was a good one. I'll start with the highlight: interviews. I always love interviews. Recently, I have just enjoyed the time to sit and talk to Irma Terry. Before our interviews we had a zone meeting and all of the elders decided to take a picture of them without belts on. President never wears a belt and we all think it is so cute, so they took a picture. President took longer than usual this time as it was his last round of interviews with us, so it gave me a good bit of time to talk to Irma Terry. She has become such a dear friend and has taken good care of me while I've been here. It was good to just have time to talk to her as she mended an elder's pair of pants. (They were BAD.) The poor elder didn't bring a spare pair, so he stayed in the bathroom for a good half hour while she fixed them.
My interview with President was great. It was really like I was just talking to a friend. He never knew that I wasn't planning on serving a mission when we came here and ate with them. I felt so much his love for me and for the mission and it was much like my last interview. It was sad, but mostly a wonderful experience. We both have such good hopes and expectations for this great area. Things are really going to take off here with more hard work and getting the members even more involved.
We also had stake conference this past weekend, which was great. We got to go up for the Saturday session because the choir was singing. Elders Schutze and Caussé were at the conference and it was so good to see Elder Causse again. I got to talk to him a bit after the session and I sure hope that I get to see him again. I feel like I am really part of the Europe Area of the Church. It has been amazing to get to know such wonderful leaders.
At the Sunday session it was in an auditorium and as I was in the choir, we were on the stage. We could barely hear anything because of the acoustics in the room. But, afterward we sang a hymn and it sounded great. I got to see some of the members from Seixal (ps Jen, Carmen says hi!). It was great to see her and talk to the other members. I was shocked at how many remembered my name. Wow.
I had some funny things happen this week: I had a dream the other night that the Patriarch, Irmao Castro, was in a marathon for all of Europe and don't worry, he took first place. He smoked the competition. Funny what stake conference will do to your dreams. Yesterday we went over to the Caleiras to see the new baby. They have two dogs that roam around. Usually, they follow us home or down the street. Mind you, these are pretty good sized dogs. This time, one of their dogs followed us for literally a 25 minute walk until we got to another members' house and we had to shut her out of the building. The other dog followed us about half of the way, but probably got distracted and lost us. I felt strangely safe and like I was on Lassie.
Things are going really well with Leide still. She's looking into getting her papers processed and we have a girl getting baptized today and she can come because she has the day off. So we talked to her about baptism and what would happen. She then asked what she needed to do to be baptized. Wow. She is so amazing. The order of the lessons makes perfect sense for her. I know that she will get baptized some day and will bring her family into the Church in Brasil. It just may take a while, but she is one of the pure in heart.
More has happened, but time is short. I love you all and I hope that you have a great week!
Well, this week was a good one. I'll start with the highlight: interviews. I always love interviews. Recently, I have just enjoyed the time to sit and talk to Irma Terry. Before our interviews we had a zone meeting and all of the elders decided to take a picture of them without belts on. President never wears a belt and we all think it is so cute, so they took a picture. President took longer than usual this time as it was his last round of interviews with us, so it gave me a good bit of time to talk to Irma Terry. She has become such a dear friend and has taken good care of me while I've been here. It was good to just have time to talk to her as she mended an elder's pair of pants. (They were BAD.) The poor elder didn't bring a spare pair, so he stayed in the bathroom for a good half hour while she fixed them.
My interview with President was great. It was really like I was just talking to a friend. He never knew that I wasn't planning on serving a mission when we came here and ate with them. I felt so much his love for me and for the mission and it was much like my last interview. It was sad, but mostly a wonderful experience. We both have such good hopes and expectations for this great area. Things are really going to take off here with more hard work and getting the members even more involved.
We also had stake conference this past weekend, which was great. We got to go up for the Saturday session because the choir was singing. Elders Schutze and Caussé were at the conference and it was so good to see Elder Causse again. I got to talk to him a bit after the session and I sure hope that I get to see him again. I feel like I am really part of the Europe Area of the Church. It has been amazing to get to know such wonderful leaders.
At the Sunday session it was in an auditorium and as I was in the choir, we were on the stage. We could barely hear anything because of the acoustics in the room. But, afterward we sang a hymn and it sounded great. I got to see some of the members from Seixal (ps Jen, Carmen says hi!). It was great to see her and talk to the other members. I was shocked at how many remembered my name. Wow.
I had some funny things happen this week: I had a dream the other night that the Patriarch, Irmao Castro, was in a marathon for all of Europe and don't worry, he took first place. He smoked the competition. Funny what stake conference will do to your dreams. Yesterday we went over to the Caleiras to see the new baby. They have two dogs that roam around. Usually, they follow us home or down the street. Mind you, these are pretty good sized dogs. This time, one of their dogs followed us for literally a 25 minute walk until we got to another members' house and we had to shut her out of the building. The other dog followed us about half of the way, but probably got distracted and lost us. I felt strangely safe and like I was on Lassie.
Things are going really well with Leide still. She's looking into getting her papers processed and we have a girl getting baptized today and she can come because she has the day off. So we talked to her about baptism and what would happen. She then asked what she needed to do to be baptized. Wow. She is so amazing. The order of the lessons makes perfect sense for her. I know that she will get baptized some day and will bring her family into the Church in Brasil. It just may take a while, but she is one of the pure in heart.
More has happened, but time is short. I love you all and I hope that you have a great week!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A Little Bird Came to Visit
Hello dear family! I write to you once again from the lovely library of Seixal. How wonderful it has been to be back here! I'll start backwards, I suppose. We came up yesterday and had a great time. I went with Irma Watkins, who is wonderful. We've always secretly wanted to serve together, so it was nice to at least be able to do a division. It felt like I had never left Seixal when I came back. Nothing has changed! Everything still smells exactly the same. That killed me. The apartment was the same, the building was the same. It was so great to see what while we live in such a world of change, Number 21 Rua do Minho still had the same smell, or smells I should say. I got to see Salita and Silvino, who were a recent convert couple when I was here. They have changed in the best way. While they are still the same, they have put down their roots even deeper into the gospel. That was wonderful to see. We also found a couple of great people in the actual area of Seixal. It was great!
As for Setúbal, things are about the same as always. Leide is amazing. She is progressing really well and is so hungry to learn! We are working on getting her a new job so she can come to church and our wonderful ward mission leader, Irmao Miranda, has been very proactive in helping us. We hope that she will be able to get a new job soon! I'll keep you posted. Leide is so wonderful. She is such a gem and is always saying how she wants to learn more and to change and be better. That is the thing every missionary dreams of hearing! I hope we start finding more Leides soon!
Well, it's been a VERY hot week here for us. VERY hot. I think upper 90s and quite humid. I am not excited about the rest of the summer. I am already SUPER brown. You are all going to laugh at my ridiculous tanlines, but I love it. My feet are particularly funny. We got to avoid the heat on Friday as we had zone conference. How wonderful that was for me! President and Irma Terry will be leaving us in the very beginning of July, so they gave their last remarks. Don't worry, I was bawling along with them. They have truly been like parents to me and I could not have asked for better people to have watched over me. As they talked and shared their feelings about going home, I found my own feelings reflected in theirs. It's funny how time passes so quickly. Conference was a wonderful highlight for me and was a great boost as well. Next transfer will be the first for President Torgan. I'm curious to see how it will be different.
Saturday we got to give service! We had been called on Thursday and told not to plan anything, as we would be helping witht ehf ood bank. We had no idea what it would entail and no one gave us any information. All we knew as of Friday night was that we were goign out to Azeitao and would be going to the Intermarché (a grocery store). We ended up getting there and there was no one there to help us. It was all very poorly planned and it was only the four of us missionaries helping. It ended up all working out when Elder Wray saw a scout drive by. The scouts were in charge of the whole thing and so we handed out bags to people to go get food in the store and then they would bring them back full of food. It felt good to serve in the community and I got to talk to some great people about the gospel in the process. The scouts here have ridiculous uniforms and they all wear the short shorts. Even the grown men. It's so funny.
Well, Sunday night I got back home and went to the room and noticed that there was somehting brown sitting on my pants in the corner. I went closer and got a better look. It was a baby bird! I couldn't believe it! We shooed him out of the room and then he just stayed in the tiny veranda type thing. He couldn't clear the ledge to fly out, but he gathered the strength the next morning to fly over. That was really freaky for me though. You never think of having a bird in your apartment! Don't worry, I got a picture. :)
Well, I love you all! Things are going well. I'm out of time!
As for Setúbal, things are about the same as always. Leide is amazing. She is progressing really well and is so hungry to learn! We are working on getting her a new job so she can come to church and our wonderful ward mission leader, Irmao Miranda, has been very proactive in helping us. We hope that she will be able to get a new job soon! I'll keep you posted. Leide is so wonderful. She is such a gem and is always saying how she wants to learn more and to change and be better. That is the thing every missionary dreams of hearing! I hope we start finding more Leides soon!
Well, it's been a VERY hot week here for us. VERY hot. I think upper 90s and quite humid. I am not excited about the rest of the summer. I am already SUPER brown. You are all going to laugh at my ridiculous tanlines, but I love it. My feet are particularly funny. We got to avoid the heat on Friday as we had zone conference. How wonderful that was for me! President and Irma Terry will be leaving us in the very beginning of July, so they gave their last remarks. Don't worry, I was bawling along with them. They have truly been like parents to me and I could not have asked for better people to have watched over me. As they talked and shared their feelings about going home, I found my own feelings reflected in theirs. It's funny how time passes so quickly. Conference was a wonderful highlight for me and was a great boost as well. Next transfer will be the first for President Torgan. I'm curious to see how it will be different.
Saturday we got to give service! We had been called on Thursday and told not to plan anything, as we would be helping witht ehf ood bank. We had no idea what it would entail and no one gave us any information. All we knew as of Friday night was that we were goign out to Azeitao and would be going to the Intermarché (a grocery store). We ended up getting there and there was no one there to help us. It was all very poorly planned and it was only the four of us missionaries helping. It ended up all working out when Elder Wray saw a scout drive by. The scouts were in charge of the whole thing and so we handed out bags to people to go get food in the store and then they would bring them back full of food. It felt good to serve in the community and I got to talk to some great people about the gospel in the process. The scouts here have ridiculous uniforms and they all wear the short shorts. Even the grown men. It's so funny.
Well, Sunday night I got back home and went to the room and noticed that there was somehting brown sitting on my pants in the corner. I went closer and got a better look. It was a baby bird! I couldn't believe it! We shooed him out of the room and then he just stayed in the tiny veranda type thing. He couldn't clear the ledge to fly out, but he gathered the strength the next morning to fly over. That was really freaky for me though. You never think of having a bird in your apartment! Don't worry, I got a picture. :)
Well, I love you all! Things are going well. I'm out of time!
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