August 2nd
Hello there!
It has been a crazy awesome week!
We had a zone conference this week in Lisboa with Elder Texeira of the first quorum of the seventy. It was an all day thing. It lasted from 10am-4pm. It was awesome. I didn’t understand it all though, because it was in Portuguese ha,ha. He also served here in Portugal. He talked about his mission and how it changed his life. He was very emotional when recalling his mission stories. I hope I’ll be the same way in two years! He talked about the importance of baptism, and how we always need to be working hard and never stop. It was an awesome conference. We heard from his wife as well. As well and Elder and Sister Torgan. Very spiritual. I was able to see Elder McClellan, Elder Kofford, and Elder Peck too. They were in my district in the MTC for two months. So we all grew really close there. It was awesome to see them and see how they were doing!
So this week we had the opportunity to do some service and help move a family into a new apartment. They had a lot of stuff! And moving here is definitely nowhere near as easy as it is in the US. Nobody has trucks here. Everyone has tiny hatchback cars. So just imagine that. It was a lot of work. The best part? Elder Barbosa and I got to carry um frigorífico (refrigerator, cool word huh haha) up 7 flights of stairs. That was quite the task. Carrying a refigerator anywhere is a task. But try doing it up 7 flights of narrow stairs. We managed somehow. But I think my arms were ready to fall off near the end.
So let me tell you about one of our investigators. His name is Leonardo, but most people just call him Leo. He turns 19 tomorrow (August 3rd). He has been an investigator the entire time I’ve been here. He was marked to get baptized a couple of weeks ago… but a couple of days before he decided he didn’t want to be. He decided he didn’t want to be part of the church, and just didn’t find it too important. This really upset me. I love the kid! But I knew if he wasn’t ready, he wasn’t ready. We can’t push these things. But we started teaching him again last week! He had a total change in heart. His buddy René, asked him if he truly thought this was the true church. It got Leo thinking. And the more he thought about the more he realized it was! So we started teaching him again. A few days ago he told us that he wants to be baptized and he wants to do it on his birthday, which is tomorrow! I’m so excited. Oh and get this! He has already paid tithing! And he isn’t even a member yet! We told him he didn’t have to pay tithing until he was a member. But he told us he wanted to. He said, “it’s a commandment of God, so I need to do it.” How amazing is that?! He doesn’t have very much money at all, but he is willing to pay because he knows that he will be blessed. Yesterday in fast and testimony meeting he got up and bore an AMAZING testimony! This brought tears to my eyes. He talked about how he KNOWS this church is true. He even said he can’t wait for the day he will have his own family, and they can be a part of this gospel. He said he knew that one day soon that the chapel in Carregado is going to be completely full of people. I know he’s right about that as well. Seriously this made me so happy! He’s not even a member yet, but he has such a strong testimony. This gospel is so amazing! I can’t even put into words how excited this made me. So tomorrow is going to be a very special day. Please keep Leo in your prayers!
Yesterday as we were waiting for a meeting to start, we had two people randomly walk into the church. They were two boys of 11, 14 years of age. We began teaching them. The 11 year doesn’t seem too interested. But the 14 year old is completely interested. The second we finished our lesson with him, he asked when we could talk again. I have a feeling he will be getting baptized here soon! This is the second time someone has wandered into the chapel. Oh, and the first person that wandered in, Sergio, is still doing great! We meet with him about 3 times a week and he has kept every commitment so far. Everything makes sense for him. I think we are going to try and mark him for baptism this week.
So as you can tell, the work here is wonderful! I absolutely love it. This mission is amazing. I am going to have so many stories when I get home. Some of them I am not able to share over e-mail, but I have seen so many wonderful things. I have seen some very heartbreaking things as well. But nothing brings me more joy than this gospel. The fact that I can spend the rest of my life with my family means everything to me. The more I teach families, the more I teach little kids and joke/play around with the little kids around here, the more I realize how much you (my family) mean to me. I’m beyond grateful for you all. Love isn’t even the word to describe my feelings for you! Thank you so much for your amazing examples and always being here for me. I’m so glad we can be together forever. I want every family I meet/see here to have that same opportunity!
Oh so the elevators in our apartment building is broke right now. So that means every time we leave/come back to our building we walk up/down 176 stairs. We live on the top floor of an 11 floor building. haha it sucks! Earlier we brought groceries, and a lot of them! That was not a fun trip up.
Things here are great though. The weather has been very hot. I have 2 weeks left of this transfer. I don’t know if I will end up staying here next transfer, or if I will get moved somewhere else. We will have to wait and see. Transfers are on the 17th, and we find out on the 16th what we will be doing. I can’t believe how quickly a month went by!
I love you all. I’m doing great. The work here is great. I would love to hear from a few friends. If you have the time, write me!
Love you!
Elder Porter
