SEMANA DE "SIM"

 

Bom dia malta 

I hit 16 months on the mission this week I have successfully made it through my WHOLE mission without falling asleep during personal study. Until this week. I am so tired. Tired but also happy  The Elders in the office this week sent me a message saying "URGENTE " and then an audio that was the song "I'll Be Home for Christmas." And it's true I'm SO excited to be home, but listening to that audio literally made me so sad  ok I need to chill with the emojis. 

Last p-day we had zone pday and we all played and ate and it was fun and then as a zone we started our "Semana de SIM" or our "week of yes"! Lol. Every week on Sunday we fill out this paper doing an evaluation of the companionship and we have to put either yes, sometimes, or never, according to how obedient we were to all of the mission standards that week. And as a zone we made a goal to this week only put SIM in all of the boxes. We have seen MIRACLES mesmo here in Zona Porto!!

Remember miracle man Samuel that Sister Nielson flirted with kinda to find and now has a baptismal date? Well, he lives not in our area  We had to send him away which was sad but the work goes on!! The Sisters in Porto will baptize him!! That was not so much a miracle, but what was a miracle is that the day we sent him away, some Elders in our zone gave us one of their friends who is an eleito that "wants a new life" and that already accepted the word of wisdom and then he came to church with us! I'm excited. 

I had an exchange with Sister Lezcano in Porto and uau it was so good. Sister Lezcano goes home in 3 weeks and I spent the whole day just learning from her and hearing her conversion story and hearing her miracles. I cried a total of 8 times that day I'm not kidding. Every time she told me a miracle or anything a tear was shed. She is a great example to me of diligence. At the end of the day she told me that our exchange was "the most fun and hard-working division of her whole mission" and that was just the most kindest tenderest thing anyone has ever said to me and it's so nice of her to tell me 

I also had an exchange with Sister Thioravant this week! A cutie Brazilian that is in her 4th transfer! Her and her comp are the Sisters we share an area and ward and apartment with! During the division, we really focused on helping the Sisters remember their divine natures as daughters of a Heavenly Father and how that has everything to do with our divine calling as we serve as full-time representatives of Jesus Christ. 

During the exchange we were outside a members apartment building, and we really wanted to go inside and heart attack their door because the father of the family just past away this week. And we had rang the whole building but no one let us in. And so I said that we should pray and let the Lord know how important it was to us getting inside the building. We prayed and Sister Nielson rang one of the doors again and immediately they buzzed us in. Not only was that an immediate answer to prayer, but I can also remember 3 other times where that exact same thing has happened over the course of my mission. We really wanted to get into a building to leave a Book of Mormon with someone who asked for one, couldn't get in, we prayed, and then someone would let us in, or magically someone was leaving the building at that time and let us in. God is our loving Heavenly Father who loves us and is so aware of us! He could've just had someone open the door for us and that would have been equally a miracle. But I love that we had to first humble ourselves and pray to the Father expressing our feelings and intents before we could see the miracle. 

Moses 1

12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me. 13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?

“Wow, look at me! I am awesome! I am a child of God! He knows me! He loves me! I am gifted—gifted with the Holy Ghost as my constant companion!” (Elder Stevenson) 

"Brothers and sisters, I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other." (Elder Holland)

My birthday is on Wednesday everyone!! 21!! I'm literally so old!! No one is allowed to forget!!  Sister Nielson asked me what I want to do for my birthday and my genuine answer was I just that I want to work!!! Its gonna be the best birthday ever 

Sister Menden

Pics!

- Zone pday!!!

- exchange with Sister Lezcano!!

- this cute different old Portuguese man that we are teaching that was a prisoner of war in a war that I had never heard of. 

- exchange with Sister Thioravant!

- THIS CUTE FAMILY  I LOVE THEM. They found out that my birthday is on the next Wednesday and they made all my favorite things and completely surprised me with it  they made stroganoff and bought coke and bought balloons with some of my fav colors that don't really go together at all but it's still SO TENDER. I'm so blessed