WOW! this week has been amazing! i am just going to start from the beginning!
Monday morning we had to be at the travel office at 4:20 am. we took the front runner and trax to the airport and it
snowed! so that was exciting to see one last snow. we had time in the
slc airport and the Chicago airports to talk to our families! that was
great i loved talking to my family! the plane ride to Germany was so long
and there was some crazy turbulence. luckily sister kunz, sister mavy,
and i all got to sit by each other. we started giggling during the turbulence and one of the elders kept getting mad at us cuz he was so
scared! haha it was funny. then we flew to Porto! when we were walking on to the plane in Germany to get to our spots i could feel the spirit so strong.
all the people were looking at us and our name tags and i knew that
these are the people the Lord has been preparing for the gospel and for
us to teach! My eyes were filled with tears because i could feel the
spirit so strongly. we arrived in Portugal to a loving mission president
and wife. they are so nice! they drove us to this nice hotel and we
were able to sleep and eat. they gave us money to go to McDonalds. how
ironic. my first meal in Portugal was from McDonalds. haha. we had a
meeting that night at the mission presidents house and they fed us pizza
hut and ice cream. he talked to us and while he was talking his cute
wife tickled my back and played with my hair. I felt at home:) i am in
good hands mom!
Wednesday we had a training with some of the missionaries and the mission
president! it was helpful and prepared us for the field! then around 5
we were assigned our new companions! sister cook is mine! she is
incredible! she is so obedient, hardworking, and full of the spirit.
when we are with the investigators and ward members you can tell how
much love she has for them. seriously i have been sooo blessed to have
her as my trainer! and we get a long great! we are basically the same
person. it is crazy! i love her!
so we left with all of my
luggage and got on the metro. we were getting off at this one stop and
the doors started to close as sister cook was getting off and i was
still on the metro. we tried to get the doors to open, but it wasn't
working! we both had this look of panic on our faces. i mouthed to her
that i would get off at the next stop. then the metro started going
again. there i was by myself in a different country, i didn't know the
language, no way to communicate to anyone and i had these huge
suitcases. I got off at the next stop and waited. i was thinking to
myself i should be scared right now, but i wasn't one little bit. i could
feel that the lord was with me and he was protecting me and on the
bright side i got to see this beautiful river and bridge and the moon
was gorgeous! after awhile i started to get worried that she didn't see
what i said, but in the elevator before we got in the metro she gave me
the cards that we give to people and she was talking to a lady and
showed her that our number was on the back! wow what a miracle! the next
train showed up and she was on it. we gave each other big hugs and
started laughing and talked about how that was never going to happen
again!
miracle after miracle happened this
week. we were teaching one of our investigators Ana and while we were
teaching her, her sister who wasn't really interested told us that she
wants to stop smoking and be baptized on the 31st. we were like what???
of course! she also told us that her mom wants to too! and Ana wants to
get baptized as soon as possible! this is crazy because sister cook told
me the mom and sister weren't that interested before. so we invited them
to come to church this Sunday. we were having stake conference in Porto
which is an hour away and no one has cars. they agreed. then sister cook and i were like oh no... now we need
to find someone to drive us. right after we left we prayed telling Heavenly Father thank you and asking him to help us find a way to get
them to church. then we got a phone call that we have a car going! yay!
turns out a miracle happened and we got 7 investigators to church this Sunday! Ana, Mina (Ana's mom), Janet (Ana's sister), Laura (Ana's other
sister)! we got that family there and more! it was a miracle! they all
want to be baptized, but they have a lot to learn and pray that the mom
can stop drinking coffee and that Janet will be able to stop smoking.
they are an amazing family! they are all going to be baptized the first
week of January if everything goes well!
the stake conference was so
great and everything they needed to hear. Elder Kearon spoke about how
he was converted and how he learned that he needed to act on the things
that the missionaries were telling him to do! it was amazing! he also
talked about how all of our joy comes from Christ and how we can still
have joy even through hard times because we have the Savior. i loved it!
all of our investigators went up and shook his hand! he shook my hand
and asked if he could get my moms number so he could call her and tell
her that i am safe:) he is amazing and he spoke English and then had
someone translate it. I was so happy cuz i actually knew what was going
on. i wish i could tell you more, but i don't have a lot of time and so
much happens everyday i don't know how to condense it down! i see
miracles after miracles and i have only been here for not even a week!
i
love it here! the people are amazing and so nice! i stand out a lot!
they tell me that i look like a barbie haha. it is hilarious. they love
helping me with my Portuguese. i have learned that this is the Lords
work and he is preparing these people to hear this beautiful message. i
love this gospel and we are so blessed to have it in our lives! I love
you all!
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