Last Week in Portugal

New Area, Different Challenges

Caldas da Rainha hahah is different hah. Its probably the most

challenging area I have served in. The people are different. Everyone

has the same job which is picking fruit. They are very poor and they believe in

energy, not God.  We only had one

investigator at the start and no one would listen to us on the street,

so we started door knocking (still my favorite thing to do:) ). We

have found some really cool people.

People are Wonderful Everywhere

We found Sandra and her cute family. She is pregnant with twins and

 has so much faith in God and a wonderful family!! We were able to

mark her and her daughter for baptism for the 13th of September. We

just need to help her and her husband get married.

Also this week we found Lita. She is from Brazil and is amazing, I 

lover her!! :) I am really excited to start teaching her.

More Ward Activities

We are in a tiny branch and we had a great pancake party! :)

We have a senior sister and elder Sommers in our branch...

 ohhh i love them!! :) The pancake party went great

we had a member bring three friends it was wonderful!! :)

We also had interviews with president Fluckiger. mine was really short

because he was behind and I will be having one with him next week. :)

For pday we went to a gypsy fair... haha it was like a farmers market

but gypsys were running it. It was great. We also ate at this

really cool sushi restaurant  that was all you can eat and it come on a

conveyer belt and it was so fun :)

Last Week in Portugal

I cant believe that this my last week on the mission and that I will

see all of you next week. hah I feel like it was literately yesterday

that I arrived in Portugal and I had no idea what I was doing and I didnt speak a

word of Portuguese! Ahh I cant believe I am coming home! :) I have

mixed feelings.I am really excited to see all of you but I will

definatly miss being a missionary! I feel like the girl on the movie Tangled, one day I am soooo excited to come home and then the next moment I am nervious then I am

excited then I am sad hahah its crazy!! I cant believe it!

I  am going to take advantage of this last week and try and see all

 the wonderful miracles!! I love you all!!! :)

Last Transfers

Last Transfers

We got transfers and I will be leaving Madeira.. :(!!! But I will be

going to Caldas da Rainha and serving with sister Roseman. She is from

Utah! and it will be great :) I am excited to get to know new people and a

new area.

However, I am sad to leave Madeira and all these people that I love

sooo much! Madeira is my favorite area!

Quick Miracle

So Rita (our recent convert) friends from Venezela are amazing!!!

They are a family of 5. My whole mission I have wanted to help

families accept the gospel. I love families and I know they are

central to Gods plan. The family came to church and the wife felt the

spirit so strong durring sacrament meeting. She was crying and after

 asked us to come over and teach her family. She said that her

family is so focused on the things of the world and material things.

She wants us to help her family spiritually. I am so grateful that

I was able to meet this family.I know they will be baptized.

Our other investigators have progessed and Sister Silva will do great

here with her next companion! :)

The Worldwide Church Continues to Spread

FHE

We had a wonderful family night with Zita and Eduardas

family! They made this huge power point about the plan of salvation

and then we had a huge dinner! :) They are so wonderful.

Lisbon

This week I had to go to Lisbon to renew my residency. I traveled by

myself..It was so weird not having a companion with me. The best

part was that I was able to see some former companions and Sister Beard!!!!

:) I love her!!! It was soo fun to talk to her. After taking care of the  residency, we

went to this little American Diner... it was sooo cute. I got a yummy

milk shake. It was fun!! :)  On the ride back to Madeira,  I got to sit in

1st class! It was so nice. They treated me like a princess and fed me

this nice little dinner. I sat by this man that was from England that

owned a airplane company and has traveled the world. He said

that Madeira is his favorite place. He said that he has already heard

about our church and said I didnt have enough time on the plane to

convert him hahah... I invited him to church and to pray. He was a

really funny guy. It was quite the adventure :)

Zita

Zita has been doing well. We helped make a plan to help her

recognize a answer. She is going to pray, read the scriptures, and quit

drinking coffee. Unfortunately, because I have been in Lisbon its been

hard to keep in contact with her...  she didnt show up to church but

we are going there today.

Divisions

On our division with our stls and I went with Sister Mullen (my trainer)!!

:) it was soo great to see her too!! It was so fun teaching with her

now that we both know how to speak.. haha. We taught our

investigators Christana and Alexandre who are amazing!!!!! We marked

them to be baptized. It was such a powerful lesson. They woke up sick

this week and were not able to to come to church but we will remark

them for baptism this week! :) they are so great.

Other New Investigators

We also marked another investigator for baptism, but she didnt come to

church either because her uncle died but, we will try and mark her this week

again. I just feel so blessed!!! sooo many miracles!!  I hope I get to stay here and

be here for these baptisms.  I probably will be transferred back to Portugal

till I come home and be in a threesome.

Also Rita our recent convert gave us a reference of this family from

Venezuela. They are sooo great!! They only speak in Spanish..

haha but I understand almost everything.  We are going to pass by

there again this week.

Yesterday at church Ritas husband always drops her off for church and then

leaves but I went out and grabbed him.  He stayed and came to church with us..

:) haha he is so funny!

A Worldwide Activity

We also had our Activity this week. Our members did so much, it was a

great activity. We have sooo many members from different countries so

we had everyone talk about the history and music and food of their countries. It was so

fun! Everyone had sooo much pride for their country. We

had lots of food!! Next time we need to help more people come! I made

American cookies and Elder Porter did the history and music! It was a

great activity and we just have a great branch.

We are Seeing Miracles Everywhere

Investigators’ Progress

Zita is doing great :). The only thing that is holding her back is

that she doesnt feel like she has recieved an answer. We are going to

help her recognize answers from God. We have a family night

tonight with her and I am so excited. ( Yesterday we got a text from a

member that we could have a family night at their house and I got

sooooo happy :)!!! My comp asked, "what happened?Who texted?" and I

said we have family night!!! :) she said, "oh my goodness you looked

like someone proposed to you..." hahah I love family nights with

members. :)

We haven't been able to see Diaogo  this week.

We found this cute lady named Maria. She is so great. She has had sooo

many hard relationships. This made me sad  I know that what she has been

 missing was the gospel of Christ. I know that a Christ centered Family(home) are the families

that are happy and will stay together forever. I am so grateful for

the gospel.

We found another really cute oldish lady who does daycare in her

house and we invited her to be baptized in the first contact and she

said yes!! :)

We also had zone meeting this week. We talked about how to help people

get to church and how we can have the spirit with us always!! The

spirit is sooo important when sharring the gospel!

Too Busy to Write too Much!

Plenty to Do as a Missionary and Teaching Madieran Soccer Players

This week has been wonderful!!  We ran from one appointment to another and then would sprint

to get home on time!! :) The Lord blessed us with so many

people that wanted to hear the gospel.

Zita is doing great and came to church. This week we focused on the principle of

when we make promises or convenents with God he will bless us. That He

will help her to be happier and help her lift her challenges. We also

had her read Elder Bednars talk about this. We marked her to be

baptized on the 2nd but then she told us the next day that she had too

many doubts and that she felt like God has forgotten her. I can just

feel so much love for her! I know that God loves her. I know that with the

power of Christ's atonement Christ, He will heal her hurting heart.

We are trying to help our investigator Diogo quit

smoking and drinking. He owns-lives in a hotel next to us.

We have started to teach some young adults that are from Mozambique.

They play on the Madeira soccer team! :) We are finding the most

interesting people,  its great! :)

Miracles and a Leaping Lizard

Miracles in the Lord’s work

Wow this week was great! :) we have  been seeing so many

miracles!!!!!!!!!!! This week 4 people came to church. :) Heavenly

Father has been blessing us so much with finding people, having

members that help, less actives who came to church and investigators that came

to church. This week our branch was so full of people.

We found a lady named Zita and she is soooo ready. Both of her

parents died and she is still kind of mad at God, but she willing to

listen to us. She went to Church with us and I think she really liked

it. I really love her she is so great.

Then one of our investigators Diago who we met on the street and invited him

to come to church  and he CAME! Miracle!

Then the other two who came to church are named Irmalinda and Rui. We

contacted them in the street also. They are both really nice, doctors and

married. They really enjoyed church and we are excited to start

teaching them :)

Learning to Save Money but Give Love (Lizardless J)

Our ward did a great activity of how to save money. Everyone had

to bring a plate of food that only cost 3 euros or less that would

feed at least 4 people, it was great :)!

My comp is great. I am learning so much from her. She is just so

full of Christ like love.

On Sunday while we were waiting for the bus my companion

 suddenly jumped up and squeled

because a lizard had climbed on her. Then I felt something slimmy on

my leg... yup she flung the lizard onto my leg.. I freaked out!!

Today I was reading the general congerence talks and I just love

general conference!!! I am so grateful for living prophets and

apostles. I read Elder Ballards talk today and it talked about members

studying preach my gospel! I challenge you to study it.  I would love to hear all that you learn

from studing it :) It will help you to share the gospel and I know

that there is nothing better than helping someone coming to closer to

Christ. :)

Fantastic Companion!

Amazing Companion

Wow this week was wonderful!! I just can't tell you how wonderful my

companion is!! I prayed for a loving companion and I have the most loving person

in the world as my comp :)! Her name is Sister Silva, she is from

Portugal. She has been a member for three years. Her family is

currently living in Ipswitch right now :)! She is so happy and wants

to be a good missionary sooo bad. She is great! The other two sisters in

the Apt are from France and Brazil, so four countries represented.  I love them all.

I was able to go on divisions with the sisters in Amadora for three

days and it was so much fun :)! We went shopping on pday and then we

had a great family home evening. The next day we visited a recent

convert that painted our nails :). We also were able to mark 3 people

to baptized in those two days of working there. The people there are

so humble and nice and ready! It was a lot hotter there than here.

Training - Really Getting it and Loving it

The training was great. As I was sitting there I was just thinking

about how I wish I could start all over again! I just love being a

missionary so much. I hope I can help Sister Silva just love her

mission :).

After the meeting we went straight to the airport and our flight was

canceled again!! We didnt end up leaving until 12:30 am and we didnt get

home until 3:00 am.. But, we got really yummy food again. :)

This week we didnt have anyone come to church. We don't have any

progressing investigators. But. we are going to do a lot of finding this

week! I am so excited for this transfer and all the wonderful miracles

we are going to see! :)

Grateful to be a Missionary

Transfer Calls and Finishing Training

This week was good :). We got our transfer calls and I am going to

stay in madeira and finish the training of a sister named sister

silva. I think that she is from Capo verde! It will be fun I am really

excited :) I am staying here in Lisboa until Wednesday and then we will fly

back.

Traveling

Our flight got canceled so we all got 16 euros to spend on

dinner. We went to a fancy restaurant which was fun.  But we

didnt get to Portugal until 3 am.  I am kind of tired. But On the

flight I Sat by myself in the very back of the plane with a lady

and I taught her the first lesson. She was soo cute.

This week we had a zone meeting and we talked about inviting people to

be baptized in the first contact.  Sister Briggs and I did it

this week and it was great! It helps them to know right away our

purpose. :) also our mission standard went up to 4 baptisms for the

month,12 new investigators,  6 in church and 25 lessons! I want to reach

it so bad.

Also this week a member in our ward got married. We only stayed for

the ceremony but it was cute.

Also we found some really cool people this week, that I am really

excited to start teaching! Also we went and talked to that family that

hid from us and we are going to keep teaching them! Sonia is not really

progressing anymore but we are going to try one more time and talk

about Joseph Smith.

I am so grateful that I am a missionary and I am able to help people

everyday learn about our Savoir Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that we

have a prophet called of God to lead and guide us today. I am so

grateful for the scriptures and that we can pray to a loving Heavenly

Father. I am so grateful that we can change and repent everyday. I am

so grateful for the gospel and the knowelge that I can be with my

wonderful family forever :) We are soo blessed.

Picture of fancy meal

picture of Madiera on way to Portugal to pick up my trainee

District in Madiera

Best ice cream

Our Responsibility to do Missionary Work

Divisions and Great People Who Want to be Baptized

We started the week with divisions. Our stl´s are Sister Call and

Sister Dumas. They are sooo cute and it was soo much fun. I really

loved how they just tried to have fun and they were super positive. On

my division we marked 5 people to be baptized. We taught that really

big family and almost all of them excepted and it went really well.

but on Sunday we went to pick them up for church and they were all

sleeping except for one. Marcio went with us to church and he really

liked it. Our branch is really good at helping make people feel

welcome. After church we were on our way to visit Marcios family and

they saw us in the street and ran a hid from us. Haha, it was crazy

even the mom did! I went over there and talked to them anyway. Its sad

because I thought they really wanted to be baptized, we will

maybe pass by in a week and try again with them.

We have another investigator named Sonia who is in love with the Bible

and she doesnt really have any church. She came to church and I think

she liked it. She has so many questions.

This week we also decided to drop one of our investigators named

Tereaza. It was so sad because she really wants to be baptized, but she

just cant quit smoking or drinking cofee.

This week we had Zone meeting. It was wonderful. I felt the spirit so

strong. We learned how to invite people to church better and practiced

how to invite people to be baptized. We also talked about why

covenants are so important and how they bless our lifes. I am so

grateful for covenants that help keep us close to God.

Also this week I spoke in church about missionary work. I hope that

every member there understands that it is our responsibility and

opportunity as members to be missionaries. It is so wonderful to

help someone come closer to christ.

Sister Prank and World Cup

Prank

okay so after a long night me and my comp. came home and opened the

door and when we opened the door our little dresser in front of us was

a mess... i took one look to the right and our house was a disaster...

and it looked like a murder scence~. my stumich dropped... my comp

said what i was thinking in that very moment. that we had been robbed.

I took three steps inside our house and saw that my bed was up against

the wall and that all of my clothes drawers had been messed with ( the

place that i would hide my money). I was so freaked out and my eyes

started to water. i told my comp we needed to leave. We went outside

and called sis fluckiger and she told us to call the police. We first

called the others sisters. They came home and we went in together. We

noticed that a window was left open. We went around the house to see

what was stolen. To our surprise nothing was stolen. We could not

figure it out. I wanted to call the police but the sisters said that

if nothing was stolen they you need to pay so we did what we always do

haha we called the elders. The elders came over and said a prayer and

checked around the house. After I was trying to figure it out... it

didnt make sense... someone came in but left all the cameras and money

and passports... so i thought ohhh maybe it was the sisters i asked

them if they did it and they said no. Then i was thinking maybe

someone was looking for something or it was a threat... Anyway that

night I was soooo scared and I went to bed with a stumich ache

thinking at any minute a crazy man would jump out of the closet....

the next morning i was still a little freaked out but we kept working.

When we got back for lunch we got a text from the other sisters saying

"hey we were the ones that did it last night... can we still be

friends..?" ohhhhhh I was sooo mad hahaha but dont worry we will get

them back! ;)! I am just grateful that no crazy man came into our

house.

World Cup and Ward Activity

Also this week we had a great ward activity!! We had a game night. We

played a few min it to win it games and some chocolate games and ping

pong. It was sooo fun. I think that the members really enjoyed it as

well. Not alot of members came but it was still fun.

hahah the world cup... the portugues people love watching it! I think

they are pretty upset with how they have been playing. Its all they

talk about and do here haha. Also we tried to do a family night with a

brazilian family while brazil was playing and they couldnt even talk

to us they were just screaming and watching the game hahah it was sooo

funny!

Also we have got a great branch i love them! about 40 people come to

church each week. Lately we have been doing alot of finding.

Also this week we started teaching this family. They are soooo

elect!!! They are so ready! its just hard to have them all in the

house and to get them to church. But this week we will walk there and

wake them up :). They are a family of 8 and they  just great and i am

soo excited to teach them :)

Also today we went on a island tour! We have a less active member

named sasha who is from demark that is a tour guide and she gave us a

tour of part of the island today!! it was soo much fun!!!! :)

Also I just know how much heavenly father loves us and is listening to

our prayers.

Life on the lovely island

Madeira

This week was good. :) It was a little challenging. We were rejected a lot. But it was still

great haha I cant be sad for too long I just look outside and I

remember, oh yeah I am on an island... :) It really is the best thing

ever!!!!!! :) It is the prettiest place that I have ever seen!!  I just need to work

harder and be positive.

Family Night

This week we had a family night at irma Eduarda´s house with Rita.

It was soooo great!!! We watched the Joseph Smith film. I love it. I

feel the spirit soo strong every time. Ahe fed us a really yummy

dinner and I made cookies. Portuguese people love cookies. But I

just love Rita sooooo much. This week she invited us over to meet her

family. Her family is soo great. She has three daughters that dont believe

in God and a husband that is Catholic. It was sooo much fun!!

They are all really nice. They talk really fast and basically it was

only in Spanish (from Venezuela). I understood 90% of it haha. But they had so much

energy and I love them :). They also made us some Venezuelan food-- it

was alright.. haha. But Rita is great and she will be batized this

Saturday. (She atually found the sisters

and asked them what time church started and she had been looking into

the church for about a year.)

Beach Baptism

The other sisters had a baptism on the beach.. well it was like a big rock

beach... and  it was windy and they kept getting knocked into the

rocks... hah the man getting baptized was determined to get batized

there. It took a long time. :)

I know that God loves us. I know that the church is true. I know

that through Christ we can change and can change the lives of others.

I know that God listens to our prayers. I am grateful to share this knowledge with others.

Hike

Today is Sister Briggs Bday and a member took us on the prettiest

hike. Pico Ruivo, its the highest peak in madeira, 6,200 ft. We

were like on top of the clouds. IT was the coolest thing that I have

done on my mission.

Madeira

Adventures on the Island

The airplane ride was a lot of fun. I was kind of nervious because I

didnt know how it would be but...I LOVE MADEIRA!!! It is soooo beautiful!!

it is probable one of the prettiest places I have ever been!!! :) It is soo green,

I can see the ocean from every part in my area and has beautiful flowers.

They even have a flower that smells like popcorn!! It is not too hot

and not too cold, it’s perfect weather :) Everything is uphill so we use

the buses alot. Also in our area there are a lot of tourists. They say

that Madeira is like the Hawaii of Europe. Its fun to see people from

different parts of the world and hear them talk. I love talking to

anyone that is from England hah :) But we dont usually work where the

torrists go.

We live in a beuatiful house. We share it with 2 other sisters

Sister Cardoso (Portuguese) and Sister Prieto ( Brazilian). It has been

really fun to have other sisters in the house. Ha the first night I

woke up to go running and there was a giant cock roach on the floor...

ew... also we might have bed bugs!!! But its okay hahah I am on an

island :)

I love our little branch :) We meet in a pink church building and the

members our great. The accent here is a little weird... hahah Some

things I dont even understand!

This week we also had zone conference. We practiced on

inviting someone to be baptized and we also practiced following up. We

have a very small zone.

We have an Investigator that is ELECT!!!!! She has been

investigating the church for about 11 years and the sisters stopped

and talked to her in the street and she is marked to be baptized on

the 13th. She is from Venezuela. She is soo sweet and talks and

laughs alot :)

We went to visit someone that we had contacted in the

street.  When we opened the little gate and went to ring the door

bell three dogs come around the corner and start barking. I

carefully slipped out and my comp came right behind me. But the dog

bit her!!!! It wasnt huge, but it bit her ankle.

But it has been great!! :) Today we went to a castle :)

I have always wanted to go into a casle. :)

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Transferred To an Island off the Coast of Africa

Transferred

Guess what?!!! I AM GOING TO SERVE ON

Madeira!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM SOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) it will be great! I

got the transfer call yesterday at like 2 and they said that I had one

hour to pack and to get to the train station. I ran home and me and

Sister Caldwell were frantically throwing everything into my bag... we missed the

train by 4 minutes. But it all worked out! I was able to stay see my

old comp Sis Carroll and we stayed up talking sooo late... I LOVE

HER!! It was so fun! My plane will leave in a few hours I will be

serving with sister Briggs.  I can only take one suitcase weighing less than

23 pounds.   I am going to miss this area and the

ward and Sister Caldwell, but I know that they are in good Hands :)

International Party and Zone Conference

This last week was wonderful. We had a huge ward activity. It was an

international party :) Everyone brought food from different countries

and we mad a really fun jepordy game that they loved and we played

musical chairs :) It turned out to be a great activity. We have 6

investigators there and about 50 people. I made an apple pie :) it was

soo much fun.

We had a really great conference ,Elder Kearon came from the 70

and he spoke to us. It was amazing the spirit was very strong.

I am soo happy that I am a missionary an I am able to have all these

cool experiences. It was also great to see everyone at the conference.

okay sorry it's short, but my I have to catch my plane... :)  I love you all

so much!! have a great week!!!

Teaching the Truth and Sometimes Indiana Jones... :)

Vera, Nilda, Ishmel, and Chritane

Our investigator Vera is doing good. She loves everything and

especially the Book of Mormon. This week she was sick and was in the

hospital so we were not able to see her. Nilda right now is kind of

avoiding us, but we are going to try and visit her by surprise. We

found a new investigator name Ismel who came to church. He is 17 and I

am excited to teach him. We also are going to be able to teach

Christane this week she was out of town all last week.

An Unfunny Movie Night

This week we had a ward activity. We had another movie night. We

watched Mega mind.  Sister Caldwell and I sat outside and made sugared

popcorn. They said that Portugues people only like sugary popcorn.

It was a great activity we had about 40 people there. Haha I guess

that none of them thought that it was funny. No one in there laughed. hahah

Portuguese Indiana Jones

We were invited to a members house to eat for lunch.

His name is Joaquim and he is really cool. He reminds me of Indana

Jones. He has been all over the world and been on so many cool

adventures. He makes the stones for grave sites and also he

paints sculptures. He works in a graveyard. In Portugal you can only

be buried for a certain amount of time and  after that certain amount

of time they dig the graves up. So that is his job. He kinda lives in a

house,  but I dont know if i would call it a house. I felt like we were

camping. We ate soup and pork and soda. Next time we go over there I

will bring my camera.

Member Missionary Work

In church this week they announced that they want to split our ward.

It  will  be a really good thing. They announced

that the month of June is going to be a month for the members to

invite at least one friend to church. It was perfect because this

week we made a ward plan for how the members can invite their friends

to church and give them to the missionaries.

I am so grateful for the gospel and that I am a missionary. I have

been studying in Preach my Gospel about how I can improve my personal

studies. Personal study everyday is sooo important. I am grateful for

that time to learn, recieve revelation, and grow closer to our Savoir.

I hope you all have a great week. I love you alll soooo much!!!

Easter in Portugal

Sick Companion                          

This week sister Cawldwell was sick. She had the same exact flu that I

had like two weeks ago. So we have been in our house all week. I

made her chicken noodle soup and she had lots of Vitamin C, just like

I did. Sister Cawldwell is great! She loves to talk and she is nice

and a great missionary! :)

Christina                    

But we also finally contacted this reference that we got from the

elders. Her name is Christana and she is soooo sweet and so amazing.

We taught her the first lesson and it went great. She prayed about the

Book of Mormon and feels like it is true. She came to church and loved

it. She is so ready.

Easter

In Portugal they do not really do anything special to celebrate

Easter. They just eat chocolate covered almonds, they

dont color eggs or have easter egg hunts.   On Easter Sunday

it was wonderful to go to church. I am just so

grateful for our Savior and that we will all have the opportunity to

live again.

Nilda and Divisions

Divisions

This week we had divisions and it was a great division. I went with

sister Swasey. She is so cute and speaks the language so well!! It was

fun to have the sisters over and I felt like we got alot done that day

:)! This week we also had to get sister Parkers residency and that took a while.

Nilda

We also have been working alot with Nilda. We had a great lesson with

her and her family. Oooooh I just love them sooo much!! So we taught

them what a testimony is and the steps to gaining a testimony and then

had a mini testimony meeting. The spirit was there so strong. It was

so great to have Nildas mom and sisters bear testimony to her. You

could just tell how much her mom loves Nilda. Nilda was like balling

and she also bore her testimony and it was just great! :)

Also this week Sister Parkers grandma came to church and I think that

she liked it. I love her family too :). We spent sis Parkers last

night in their house. Her grandma taught us how to make some

Portuguese food :).

PMG Christlike Characteristics Test

This week I took the Christ like attribute test in pmg and it was

great. I am so grateful for the example of Christ and that everyday we

can work to be more like him! You all should take that test its great.

:) I love you all so much! I know that this is the one and only true

church.

Balls, Pancakes, and Conferences Galore!

Zone Conference and Having a Ball

This week we had zone conference. It was one of my

favorites, we talked about repentance and how to better plan for our

investigators and that we need to study the nature of God. I

have loved studying about the nature of God. I feel that as I learn

more about Him, I am learning how much love He has for us and I have

felt alot closer to Him this week.

Also this week I recieved a wonderful surprise in the mail :) haha a

pink ball!! Thank you, It was soo cute and sweet!! :) ohhh you should

have seen the mail mans face.... hahhahahhahahahhah it was so funny!!!

:)

Hanging out with Family

Also this week I hit my one year mark... what?! It was great. We were

able to go and visit Sister Parkers family again. They fed us fish.

Sister Parker is doing family history with them.

We had such an amazing lesson with Nilda!!! It was so

powerful. She really opened up to us. I felt the spirit so strong. She

has been through sooooo much and I just felt that Heavenly father

loved her sooo much and wanted her to know that.

Pancake Party

Also, my companion and I planned a ward activity.  It was a

pancake party :)! It was great hahh they all loved the pancakes.

 It was so much fun. The elders started with the message and

game and then we made 200 pancakes!!

One of our investigators Anna Rita had her baby so we

went and visited her in the hospital. There were soo many pregant

ladies who looked in a lot of pain (freaked me out)  hahah it did not look fun.. but the babies were sooo cute :)

General Conference and Inspired Prophets

Also the huge highlight of my week was of course

conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!

wow it was just sooo amazing! I think that my favorite talk was from

our Prophet Thomas s Monson. I am just so grateful that we have a

prophet that leads our church today. Also Maria came back from France

and was able to come to conference and she loved it! :) I am happy

that she is back.

The Kingdom of God Rolls Forward Like a Stone Cut Out of the Mountain

FHE

We had a family night with Nilda and familia Cruz last Monday night.

It was good we talked about charity and then we played uno. Nilda is

progressing!! :) We had a great lesson with a member on the plan of

salvation. We taught with a recent convert and she did so great. She

testified and the spirit was there so strong.

New Members of the Kingdom

This week we found two new investigators. Treaza and Ana Rita.

They both have had really hard lives and they love learning about the

gospel. Treaza is marked to be baptized on the 29th but Treaza

smokes... but she wants to quit and I know that everything is possible

with the Lord. Treaza went to church this week and really liked it.

She said that she felt more at peace.

Also this week we had a member's mom who is not a member show up in

church! It was a miracle! I am so excited to start teaching her. Her

name is Ana Rita she is so sweet and she loved church :).

A Bimbi and Family

This week a member was trying to sell a Bimbi to my companion. My

companion really wanted to buy it. Its a kitchen machine thing. It

does like everything. It wieghs things, steams things, chops and mixes

things, and like everything else. hahha I wanted one. He made us a whole

dinner in it. He made juice, soup, fish casserole, bread sandwhich roll

thing, and ice cream!! It was great ha.

Today we went and visited Sister Parker's grandparents and

family. It was great! They were so so so cute!! :) They fed us and

showed us photos. We will be going back and visit them another

time.

Testimony

I know that this is the true church. It is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo important that we read the scriptures EVERY night and pray EVERY day

and go to church EVERY Sunday. It is protection from the bad things in

the world and helps us to be happy and helps us one day to return

to God. Dont forget to read and pray!

Celebrations and a New Companion

New Companion

But my new comp is great!! I am just trying to learn as as much as I

possibly can from her. She is such a great missionary. Also She is

sooooo funny! I like die of laughter all day. She also is so

great with people and has so much love for everyone. She is great!

Also she has a way fancy juice machine so we have been making lots of

yummy juices! Oh and her grandparents live here in Gaia so we are

going to go visit them next pday. We are also going to see if they are

interested in the Gospel and if they are we will be teaching them :)!!

With the march madness competion idk if we won or not but me and my

comp asked every person if they knew someone that would be interested

in hearing the gospel and we got more references then I have gotten in

my whole mission!! :)

Learning Something New

This week I learned that its not good to write in red pen here...?

I didnt know!! Ahh I have been writing in red pen like my whole

mission! Woops!!

Also Carnival was this week. Basically its like a 3 day holiday were

people dress up in halloween outfits and go to parties and walk in the

streets. I didnt see anyone in the streets-- it was raining.

We had our house checked by some members that live in Porto.

They said that we live in one of the nicest houses. Then they made

lunch with us. It  was a spaghetti with a ton of meat in it. The member

was so excited to teach us how to make it. She was so cute and sweet :)

International Women’s Day

Also this week was a holliday for all the girls in portugal. :) The

ward did a activity where they had a make up person come tell us how

to do our make up. Haha it was so fun! I actually learned alot.

Our investigator Nilda is doing good. She has been coming to church

and reading the Book of Mormon. She still doesnt believe in God but I

know that she secretly does. We have lots of plans to help build her

faith in God.

Pig Intestine

Also a member fed us this week and it was Pig intestines stuffed with

I dont know what.... lets just say it was nasty. I was dying!!!!!!

Never let anyone trick you into eating a pig intestine it does not

taste good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The elders caught us doing a contact in the street (this is with my companion last transfer)

Power of Singing

Transferred

So this transfer/week flew by!!!! I had so much fun with Sister

Bollinger! I am going to miss her! But I got a new comp named Sister

Parker. She is from the US and she is on her last transfer. She is

super nice and outgoing :). Her mom is Portuguese so speaks really

well. I am excited :) I will learn so much from her and I love this

area so I am glad that I am staying. We have such a great ward.

This week we did a family night with one of the Elders Recent converts

and it was so fun. I LOVE her, she is 23 and she is so cute :)!

March Madness

We had zone conference this week. We learned how to do better contacts

in the street and how to we need to talk to everyone!! I loved it! It

was a great zone meeting!!! :) This month we are doing a march madness

with our mission :) a compatition with who can get the most references

and teach the biggest group of people!! :) (I am going to win) haha

Also this week we visited Sonas family with the elders. They helped us

teach Sonas oldest daughter Nilda who was the only one not baptized

because she has had a really hard life and doesnt believe in God. But

she promised us that she would read the book of mormon every day and

pray and go to church for a month and if she felt like there was a God then

she would be baptized on the 29 of March. I know that if she does this

she will recieve an answer.

Karaoke & Menos Activos & More Singing

Also this week we had a ward activity and sang kareokee!! :) it was

alot of fun :)! It turned out great and we had some investigators show

up and also 2 menos activos families. It also was a party for an elder in our

ward. He turned 27!

This week we visited a lot of menos activos. We first visited this

really rich lady who was so sad. She fell away from the church and she

doesnt feel like she can go back because her family will not go with her.

Then we visited a really poor menos activio and she was super sad.

After visiting them both in one day, I was spiritually exausted!! It was

just so sad. I know that there is not enough money in the world to

make someone happy. Happiness comes from living the gospel. It is

sooooo important that we ALWAYS remember Christ and have Him in the

center of our lives. I am just so grateful for our family and this

gospel.

We also finnally were able to talk to a menos activo that we have been

trying to talk to for this whole transfer. At first she was mad and

didnt want to talk to us. We started talking and then she let us in.

We talked a little and she told us her problems. She had so much anger

and hate inside of her she was shaking when she was talking. My comp

was freaked out so we were like lets sing a hymn!! We didnt have our

hymn books so we asked her if we could sing I am a Child of God in

English for her. After we sang it, she was smiling. the Spirit was

there. Then we met her grandchildren and they are sooo cute!!! :) She

said that she wants us to teach them :)!!! I am so excited!! Their

parents are Menos Activios too but I have never met them.

Also in church this week we had 3 investigators there!! :) We started

teaching this mom and daughter named Beatrice and Treaza and they are

searching for the truth and they liked church!! :) It was great! Also

a member family from Aveiro came up and surprised me!! I was giving my

testimony and then in walks their daughter and I couldnt even

concentrate!! I was so happy to see them!! :) They made lunch for us

and we talked about my last area. The little girls that we started

teaching in my last area got baptized last week!!! :) I am so happy!! I love this

gospel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Love Stories and a Lot of Food

Hard Farewells

We taught Maria almost everyday this week because she left this Friday

for France. She will be there for 2 months. We found a church that is

kinda far away from her house... but we sent her information over to

the missionaries there. She was crying when she gave us a hug goodbye.

Interviews

We had interviews this week. It was good we learned how to teach

about tithing and how to invite people to church. In my interview

President asked how I was doing and I said great but the language is

still hard for me and then he asked me if I have had a native comp

yet. I said no. Then he wrote something on a peice of paper... AHHH!

Less Active Love

Also this week we have been passing by a lot of less actives. A less

active member named Maria invited us over for lunch. Her friend from

England came too. His name is Sam. He is in love with Maria and was

visiting for the week. Haha he kept wanting me to translate all of

these really cheesey love lines to her... like... "Maria I dont care

where we go as long as I am with you..." or "Maria you dont have a

price you are priceless..." hahah!!! She was not interested in him at

all. But he said that he would talk with the missionarys in England so

we gave his info to the missioarys there. Hahah it was a really

interesting lunch.

Member Missionary Activity

Also this week we made cookies and brownies with our members. It was

my first brownie in 10 months! :)! We also had an activity with them

this week, where they had to be missionarys. With the elders we

pretended to be people in the street and they had to contact us and

invited us to church. It was fun because they got to see a little bit

of what it is like :).

Lots more Dinners

One of the elder's investigators named Gloria (from Italy) invited us

over for dinner this week. Haha, she was soo fun and nice!! She loves

the missionaries! She was so full of energy and loud and loving hahah I

love her. Its really diff because people here are not like that at all. She

has been an investigator for a long time and wants to get

baptized but she still has to prepare.

Also our stake president had us over for dinner this week. We have just been

fed so much this week! Yeah!  Also today we went and explored in Porto it was

so much fun :)  I will include pictures.