Hey there!
Well it has been a crazy week, full of up’s and down’s!
The language is starting to come a little better, and I’m starting to understand more. So that’s good. It’s just very hard to understand sometimes. Many people here slur their word’s together… making it very difficult to understand. It’s a slow process, but I’m still pushing forward. The Lord continues to bless me as I do as well.
On Friday I went on splits with one of the zone leaders (Elder Nixon). That was great, because he speaks English! ha. It was very refreshing. One of the ladies we taught that night is from England, so we taught in English! Oh it was nice to be able to say exactly what I wanted to say. It was a great time though, and I definitely needed it. I was in the city of Santarem. It is a cool city. It’s a very typical Portuguese city, unlike Carregado. I ate a bollo de nata there (translation- cake of cream?) and it was delicious. Like I said before though, the food here is a bit strange. One night, we ate at a families home… and it was sooo hard to keep it down, and keep eating haha. I made a vow that night… I will never ever complain about your food again mom. Oh how I miss the food in America, and the home cooked meals already.
So at church yesterday I had to help set up the Sacrament, pass the Sacrament, and give a talk. And nobody from the presidency was there either, so we had to preside over the meeting. Crazy stuff. There’s this little boy at church that is in love with me, it’s hilarious. He always sits by me, and just talks and talks. I don’t even know what he is saying most of time I just agree ha,ha. It’s kind of sad that I can’t even understand an 8 year old! Oh well, welcome to my life ha.
So yesterday we had 2 more baptisms. We baptized Anibol, and Carlos. I personally baptized Carlos, and Elder Fernandes (a zone leader) baptized Anibol. It was a great experience. Carregado is so ready for the gospel, it’s crazy. I already have 4 baptisms under my belt, and I have even been here a full 2 weeks yet! How crazy is that? Many missionaries are jealous. A few of them told me that they didn’t even have a baptism until their third transfer! So I am definitely being blessed in that area. I’m very thankful for that. We have at least one more baptism marked for this upcoming week as well.
We have taught many lessons this week. It is just a non-stop thing here. It’s crazy. One night, we were teaching in the church and were in the middle of a lesson… all the sudden someone just randomly walks into the church and we invited him to sit in on the lesson. We had no clue who he was, but he wanted to hear what we were talking about. He is now a progressing investigator of ours. Ha so the people just come to us. It truly makes no sense. That kind of stuff does not normally happen, especially here in Portugal. But the Lord prepares the elect, and sometimes He brings them right to us. If only it was always this easy. Trust me, this kind of thing is not normal here. I’m just in a special place.
I’m definitely in a different country ha,ha. I see some of the craziest things here. I am now keeping a list of all the unusual things I see. I think the list will be VERY long after two years.
But the work here is good. It can be tough, but it’s good. I think if things are easy, you aren’t doing something right. Missionary work is just that… work. It’s tough, but very rewarding. It’s an amazing thing though, and I’m being very blessed. I love it here, and I love the people here.
Thank you for all your letters, they are really encouraging.
