1 week until transfers 😱

Hello!!

Stats for the Week: 

- Number of times I drooled on my Book of Mormon during personal study: 4 (I was wide awake, might I add, just mouth gaping in awe, and I didn't realize until it was too late. I'm literally 6 years old.)

- Number of times I woke up and checked the time exactly at 6:24am: 3 (Nothing makes me more upset I do not know why I do this.)

- Number of times I listened to the song "Don't You Know" from the Best 2 Years: 24

- Number of Pão de Deus consumed: too many I can tell you that 

Wednesday: 

- Pday! 

- We went to the temple and I just love the temple so much. It was sooo cool to do a session in Portuguese! The few months before my mission, me and my mom went to the temple every week and that was such a blessing and made the session in Portuguese an even better experience for me. 

- Exchanges! With my STL Sister Grow! Ok it has been so awesome to work with her. She only has a few months left and seeing how she handles calls and asks questions and shares scriptures makes me excited and gives me something to work toward!!

Thursday: 

- Mals birthday!!!!! 

- The church is so so new here in Portugal it's crazy!! Everyone is either a convert, or their parents are, and the conversion stories are very recent and still fresh in their minds. I love asking to hear members conversion stories because it always is such a powerful experience and invites the Spirit. Both of the members we met with today had a picture of them and the missionaries that taught them framed in their house and they cherish the relationships they have with them. One member cried talking about the Elders and said, "If it weren't for them, I don't know where I'd be." And of course, it's not the missionaries that convert, but her sharing her experience finding the church just helped me remember how important this work is. There isn't any other work taking place on earth today that's as important as missionary work!!! Think about that for a second!!! I'm so lucky to be able to talk and preach of Jesus Christ everyday. 

- Got to talk to Mal today 

Friday:

- We meet a lot of people from Africa that moved to Portugal for a better life and don't speak Portuguese. So that's kind of crazy and we are able to speak English quite a bit.

- Our STL hit one year in Portugal, so we went over to their apartment (just a 5 minute walk from ours) and surprised her with ice cream and we made brownies and we slept over!!! It was so fun

Saturday:

- First time doing service!! All of the missionaries said it was their first time doing service in Portugal. Even the guy who's been out 22 months. No one has yards or ever wants help haha we tried asking people this week if they needed help as they moved houses but they left us on read 

- You guys know that one scene from Errand of Angels where it's raining and sad music is playing and all of their lessons fall through and no one wants to talk to them? That's kind of how the rest of our day was HAHA. We were so excited for the rest of the day. The other sisters had a baptism at the chapel, and our friends said they'd come, and we had so many lessons, and all of them fell through and no one made it to the baptism. :/// 

Sunday: 

- Guys, I don't know why I do this to myself. A couple days ago the office elders sent a message to the missionary group chat asking for people who did choir in high school.   We have a mission conference next with Elder Soares!! and knowing this and hoping that they were somehow related, I decided to respond which was so silly of me. And they asked me to send a literal voice audio of me singing. And I did, and somehow I made the cut and now I'm singing in a musical number for the WHOLE mission and Elder Soares!!  Luckily there's a group of us singing but pray for me and those high notes bro. I'll try to sneak a video but guys I'm terrified I literally can't sing. 

- We had a lesson with São and it's actually such a cool story. About 3 weeks ago we met and stopped this girl on the sidewalk and she wasn't having it. We were sure she just took the Book of Mormon and our number to get rid of us because she refused to give us her number. And then last week we get this call and it was her! And she said she'd been reading our book! And wanted to meet with us!! We had no idea who she was when she called lol but we figured out it was the Pingo Doce lady and we set up a time to meet with her!! At our lesson last night she told us that her boyfriend (who still lives in capo verde) is a member but she never was interested. A couple years ago she met sisters on the metro who gave her a Book of Mormon but she threw it away. And then recently she was listening to a podcast that said that God would put people in your path to help you. And then she met us!!! She said that now this was the 2nd time she had found this book and that it must be a sign.  A miracle!! So many miracles!!! We taught her last night and it was amazing. I'm excited for her!

Last week my family shared with me the words to "Lead, Kindly Light" and I love them so much.

"Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom;

Lead thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home;

Lead thou me on!

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene—one step enough for me."

This last part especially is bomb. My feet are His to guide. I truly don't need to see the distant scene before me!! Even if it's hard to admit, I know that one step is enough for me. The Lord said, "Therefore, continue your journey and let your hearts rejoice; for behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end" (D&C 100:12). In all of our journeys and hardships, we can find reason to rejoice!! Because the Lord is with us. We just need to take one step at a time. (Whenever I say the word journey I can't help but think about the Bachelor and the Bachelorette pls forgive me.) 

In addition to what I wrote last pday, I want to share this scripture, Alma 37:6-7, a classic. "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." Like Elder Maxwell said, sometimes good things need to be persisted not for days, or months, but years. And those good things, are small and simple things. It's the small and simple things that I'm doing as a missionary that will bring about the great and eternal purposes of God, that will bring about, even, the salvation of souls!!! That's incredible! And is very comforting to me, and takes a lot of weight off of my shoulders. 

I love you! Email me! Or Facebook messenger me! 

 Sister Menden