Milagres ❤️‍🔥

 

I'M GOING TO REMEMBER THIS WEEK LITERALLY FOR FOREVER. 

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAXY POO!!  15 is so old 

Things I've Learned This Week:

- The mission veil is freaking real. I heard Message in a Bottle by Taylor Swift this week (milagre) and I CAN NOT REMEMBER what album it is from!!! I'm such a fake fan. Someone please tell me. 

- I am not a fan of European tampons. 

- I'm literally not a good singer I do not know why people keep asking me to be in musical numbers lowkey embarrassing. 

- I accidentally ate tons of pig ears in this feijoada we ate and then Sister Smith slid hers onto my plate and they really weren't that bad until I realized how much cartilage I was eating 

Things I've Learned This Week That Are Actually Important:

- Faith and hard work results in miracles!!!! But also those miracles come on the Lord's time!

- Presidente and Sister Barcellos are the most amazing, generous people in the whole world. 

- I want to be a hard working missionary. I don't want to finish my mission with regrets. 

- Communication is sooo important. 

- God hears and answers our prayers guys. Ugh!

Last monday we had zone p-day in Coimbra which was so fun I miss soccer. And then we stayed in Coimbra that night to have our zone conference the next day. I have never left a zone conference more excited and ready to work than I did on Tuesday. It was soooo good and very much needed. The past couple of weeks it's been hard for me to want to get up in the morning and be motivated to work. It's been hard for me to get out of bed when I know the next time I'll have another few minutes to relax and chill will really just be at 9:30pm. (And also because now I'm on the top bunk and bro once you come down you never go back up) But this zone conference was just so focused on how our hard-work and sacrifice, brings miracles. The scriptures and stories Presidente shared helped me remember why I'm here and why I want to work hard. Yeah I'm tired and don't want to get out of bed right now, but what I want literally doesn't matter!! This isn't my time!! 18 months is not a very long time at all and I want to work hard!!

After zone conference, we had a videocall with a new reference, named Hugo, we had received from online, from the come unto Christ page, (the come unto Christ page is sooo cool with all of their videos and recourses for people to come into contact with the missionaries you guys should go look at it.) while we were waiting for our interviews with Presidente. This reference was for the Book of Mormon and we were excited!! Recently, I've been thinking a lot about how sometimes missionaries, make these big promises to their friends (like "you will receive an answer tonight about this church" or "you won't have the desire to smoke ever again" etc etc) and as representatives of Christ, we have His authority to make those kinds of promises but of course, only as directed by the Spirit. And so recently, I have been praying really hard to be led by the Spirit, and to know with a surety of the things we need to invite them to do and the things we need to promise them. We had this videocall with Hugo and he told us he has problems with drugs and drinking and that he wants to change his life and he wants to follow Jesus Christ. In the middle of the lesson I suddenly had the strongest impression to invite him to be baptized. I immediately started trying to rationalize that thought away in my head. Like what no way we just met this man. But I recognized what I was doing, and I recognized that that feeling was an answer to my prayers. We had a powerful lesson on the Savior's Atonement and then we invited him to be baptized on March 4th and he said yes!!! It was literally one of the coolest experiences ever. I have never felt the Spirit so strongly prompt me to do something!! It was and is a strong testament to me that our Heavenly Father really is listening and responding to our prayers. 

I had my interview with President and I love him so much!! I hope President and Sister Barcellos know that like half of Portugal is fan girling over them. Not just the missionaries but all the members know them and love them too. I told President about Hugo and he told me to continue acting on the very first prompting/thought that comes into my mind. That's the Spirit!! 

Guys after our interview President drove us 4 sisters an hour out of his way to take us home  so we didn't have to take the train  and then it was Sister Adib's 1 year mark so he took us 4 out to dinner  It was literally the best thing ever. More of the Dad side came out of him it was so fun. 

Do you guys remember my super Facebook miracle from last week? The one who's messages I sent as screenshots? WELL this guy is PERFECT. We met with Vitor on Wednesay and he loooved learning about the restoration of the church. And then we met on Friday and he literally invited HIMSELF to be baptized.  He said he had been thinking a lot about the church and that he wanted to learn more about being baptized.  We marked a baptismal date for dia 25 de Fevereiro!!

On Friday we received a reference from some Elders in France of this man they had been teaching that suddenly needed to move to Aveiro for work. This man literally already had a baptismal date!!!! We called him and he is soo excited to get baptized and so we remarked his baptismal date for February 25th!!! Guys what!! He came to church and even bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting and the whole ward literally loves him!! Some members invited him over for lunch after church too even without us there 

Guys if you remember Gilson is on date for this Saturday!! The last Saturday of the transfer!! and you guyssss I had a whole paragraph written about how things have gone this week for him and how it's been a hard week helping him prepare and live the word of wisdom. Everything has been going well, the whole ward is prepping for the baptism, we don't have a baptismal font so everyone has been preparing to do it in the literal ocean which is super sick, it's been awesome! BUT! Literally just now we were walking back from the store with our groceries and we see him at the pastelaria next to our house and he's with his colleagues and he was smoking. My heart. It was impossible for him not to see us. We walked right in front of him and he was avoiding us hard core. And the worst part about it is I think he might have been lying to us about how many cigarettes he has been smoking. I can only imagine how he must feel right now. Because he knows!! He was supposed to have his baptismal interview tomorrow but now we will have to see. Missionary work is so hard. I know that he will still get baptized, it just won't be this weekend. But it still is so heart breaking because you are so invested in the well-being of your friends. 

We have all of these friends with baptismal dates, and we also have quite a few more friends who are so close to being ready for baptism. Which is insane!! I'm really excited for them!! Pray for them!! All week I've been really in awe of the Lord's plan and how I can see Him at work and how His plan and His time-table are perfect. Even with Gilson, I know that the Lord's ways are higher than my ways, and I know everything will work out. My mission scripture that I chose to put on my plaque was Alma 26:11-12 and I looove this scripture. But I really really don't think I ever fully understood it until this week.

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. 

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

I've had this hymn stuck in my head literally all week and I think it is just one of the happiest hymns!! 

1. Hark, all ye nations! Hear heaven’s voice

Thru ev’ry land that all may rejoice!

Angels of glory shout the refrain:

Truth is restored again!!!!!

2. Searching in darkness, nations have wept;

Watching for dawn, their vigil they’ve kept.

All now rejoice; the long night is o’er.

Truth is on earth once more!!!!

3. Chosen by God to serve him below,

To ev’ry land and people we’ll go!

Standing for truth with fervent accord,

Teaching his holy word!!!!

Oh, how glorious from the throne above

Shines the gospel light of truth and love!

Bright as the sun, this heavenly ray

Lights ev’ry land today.

What a blessing is it to have this gospel of truth and love being taught in every land!! I never really understood just how the gospel really is so full of truth and love until my mission, where I've been able to see others, right before my eyes, discover that for themselves. I feel so blessed to be here in Portugal! 

 Sister Menden

Pics

- zone conference!! That's supposed to be my pic on that cookie lol!

- President and us at dinner  

- the best acai ever

- some member meals  

- Sister adib and Sister nielson running outside to talk to "bicycle tricycle man"

- we made valentines for all the relief society!!!! 

- ward council with the cutest member in the whole world he's so tender 

- We're teaching this family right now and the mom really wanted to go shopping with us! So she came and we went thrift shopping together it was so cute!!! 

- Lucy