Lizzie's Homecoming

Dear family and friends of Lizzie,

Stepper here. I know you are all as excited as I am - well, no. Strike that. There's no way any of you could be as excited as I am, sorry. But I know you are all excited, because...

...it's time.

Lizzie has served a faithful mission, and her service is now complete! Lizzie will be returning to the states tomorrow evening (Tuesday), when we will pick her up from the airport, bring her to our home, and once again indulge in person in the force-for-awesomeness that is Lizzie McCrery.

Lizzie will be speaking in church about her experiences on her mission on Sunday, October 30th. She will give her homecoming talk in our ward here in Highland. The meeting begins at 12:00 noon and lasts approximately an hour. They usually have missionaries speak last. After the meeting, EVERYONE is invited to come to our home for lunch and a chance to mingle.

The deets, should you care to join us:

Church address (Close to Mt. Timpanogos Temple and across from Lone Peak High School):
10494 N. 4720 W.
Highland UT, 84003

Please message me if you would like the house address (stepperthemighty at gmail dot com).

We are very excited for Lizzie to come home! Like, kinda beside ourselves excited . You will all join us in the excitement, yes?

Stepper

Like the Temple...

Hello Stepper and all,  

First I want to say thank you thank you Stepper for the package which you sent SO promptly! The dress and shirts fit Liliana perfectly! She wore it to church yesterday and loved it. Today we are baking the second and third batch of cupcakes to share with people, they are a serious hit especially with my comp. Irmã João. She loves them! So basically the package was PERFECT! Also I already ate ALL of the pringles and we are snacking on the chex mix. You´re the best. You will see the pictures of the dress here in a couple weeks....weird.

 

OK let me just write a tidbit of the miracles we saw this weekend. Anabela(Liliana´s mom), Anita(Liliana´s little sister), and Rita(An incredible woman I will tell you about later) were all baptized!!!!!!!! It was amazing. We found out on Friday that they would not be able to be confirmed and receive the gift of the holy ghost until the 9th of October because of general conference. So we prayed and prayed and prayed some more to know what we should do. We had already felt so strongly that the three of them needed to be baptized on Sunday and not Saturday, we couldn´t explain why, but we knew it was the will of the lord. So we prayed about whether they should be baptized before church on Sunday so that they could receive the gift of the holy ghost in sacrament meeting. After lots of pondering and praying it became crystal clear that they should be baptized before church on Sunday. Did I already mention that church starts at 9:30 in the morning....ya that's early for people here. But we knew it needed to be done in the Lord´s way and he told us it was His will. So we planned called, worried, prayed, doubled checked our plans. triple checked our plans. Because the problem is that Baptisms should never interfere with church meetings, and if things ended late, it would be bad news.

 

Needless to say, we woke up very early that morning. We went to the chapel when it was still dark and the sun was just about to rise and we started to fill the font with water. I have never had an experience that went so well with a baptism. Usually SOMETHING happens to make things harder, like the water isn´t hot or people show up late or people don´t show up or someone forgot a towel. But nothing went wrong...it went so smoothly and it was one of the most spiritual baptisms I have been to. It was so peaceful and reverent. The three of them were beaming with pure joy and excitement. They were truly converted and ready to start their lives again. After the baptism our bishop commented how special the baptism was and how he truly felt as though we were in the temple. And it was so true! I felt like I was in the temple.

 

Well it´s not long before I see you all again. I sure do miss you all! But now I have to get back to work! Love you!

 

Lizzie

Hello Home!

Hello home!

To my dear loved ones. It feels like it´s been a while since I wrote an email with the intent to post on the blog. But here it is. As most of you know I come home in about 3 weeks. It´s crazy talk I know, but it´s true. I miss you all a lot and I´m very excited to see everyone again. It feels like this time has passed like a blink of an eye and at the same time 25 years here in Portugal. But the fun is not over. We are seeing miracles here in our area. I wanted to tell you about a dear friend Liliana.

Liliana is 14 years old. We found Liliana and her mom and sister while we were walking to an appointment one night. We stopped them to help them with their groceries. We talked with them and said a prayer with them. We passed by later in the week and after explaining about our message of the restored Gospel, they whole heartedly accepted the invite to read a little bit in the book of Mormon and to pray to know if it is true. When we invited them to do this, Anabela(the mom) cheerfully said ``I already know its true! I already know because that night when you found us on the stairs with our groceries, after you left and we kept walking we talked the whole way home about how we knew that Jesus Christ was in that church, we felt a peace like nothing we ever felt....so, I already know!´´. And it was the same feeling with Liliana.

As we began to teach the family, Liliana gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith through reading and prayer, she has a faith that is unshakable. She is something special. I knew it was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father to be able to meet and teach Liliana. Because there was another girl like her, who was 14 years old when she learned of the Gospel, and lived in a home with only one parent, a  girl who understood the pressures of the world around her, but something inside told her there was something more. That girl was me. As we taught Liliana I thanked my Heavenly Father each night for the chance I had to learn of the Gospel at the age Liliana is in. And I´m so happy and grateful to say that Liliana was baptized yesterday! As she left the water and we met her on the other side of the door, she said `´I feel so light!, what is this??!?``. I thought to myself, she has no idea the blessing Heavenly Father has in store for her, she has no idea the love the Heavenly Father has always had for her and how He will help her through her deepest darkest moments and will rejoice with her as she does those things which I right and true. When she enters the Temple someday she will have the same feeling...that she feels light and she will know that it is the Spirit comforting her. Liliana´s mom Anabela will be baptized this Sunday along with her little sister!

The Restored Gospel in true. It is perfectly simple and true. God loves us, always has and always will. 

Love,

Lizzie

Old Bananas, a Matter of Priorities

I love banana bread. It smells so good, and tastes even better. It´s the best when it is warm with butter. The best recipe is aunt shirley´s (something I forgot to write down). Banana bread is so satisfying to make because you take something that is no longer desirable (black bananas) and turn it into a delicious comfort food. I always feel like I´m being so thrifty when I make banana bread, even if the cost of other supplies outweighs the price lost if the bananas went unused.

This last week we had 4 bananas that had reached their ripeness and when they passed the eatable ripeness they passed right into the banana bread-able ripeness. These four bananas were ready for banana bread last Monday, but I was too lazy to make banana bread on p-day, I figured I would wait until a night that week to ´´whip up´´ some banana bread, really quick, it wouldn´t even get in the way of anything...But this was a lesson I learned before, but forgot along the way.

There those bananas sat on the counter, each day I would look at those bananas and in my head I would think, ´´Oh I have got to make that banana bread, Maybe right before studies in the morning.....`` and then I would think ´´ NO! It will take much longer than I think, and I will be late starting my studies and I won´t get all the studying in that I need´´ So I put off making the banana bread for the moment, but during studies I would every once and while glance over at the bananas and think ´´Ya, but it has been so long since I have baked something and I love to bake, I should just cut my personal study early and ´´whip up´´ a quick batch of banana bread. But I would yet again resist the urge, remembering how important it was to study so I could be ready for the day. The days went on and the same thought process happened, until Friday morning. I was determined to use those old bananas, because it would be so thrifty and I really wanted to bake! So I woke up, said my prayers took quick a shower and went strait to the kitchen to do what I had been dying to do all week, make banana bread. And you´ll never guess what happened....I did it. It took the whole morning right up until studies, and I was only a few minutes late for studies. But the whole time during my studies I was getting up and walking over to the kitchen to check my banana bread. In the middle of studies it was done. It smelled like heaven and it looked perfect! What pride I had in my banana bread! I´m so thrifty, and still good at baking stuff, I thought to myself. Well I set the bread out to cool and went back to my studies, now interrupted 5 times.

As we ended our hour of personal scripture study, I got up to check my banana bread only to find that my light fluffy banana bread sank in the middle, and looked rather disappointing, but determined that it must still taste delicious I flipped it over on the a plate. The bottom was burnt. Black. In the end it turned out to be one of the worst batches of banana bread and one of the worst hours of personal study.

It was a matter of priorities.

Those old bananas were ready to be used on Monday, it was a blessing, I had all the time in the world to ´´whip up´´ some banana bread on my p-day, but I got lazy a took a nap instead. So then later in the week my priorities were all muddled. I chose the banana bread over doing what I knew would be better for me. In the end I wasn´t thrifty or good at baking, or good at focusing on the more important task at hand. That day I was reminded of my three options ``good, better, and best``, Old bananas didn´t make the cut at ´´best´´ that morning.

And as Bil would say at the end of a introspective story like this, ´´Sometimes I don´t know why I write you what I do, but glean what you can from this story, lizzie´´

In other news... Gino and Beatriz were baptized yesterday!!!! Two of the coolest, smartest, most humble kids I´ve ever met. Gino is 9 and Beatriz is 8, we will invite their mom to be baptized this weekend, and in two weeks they will be moving to Denmark! It was a week of miracles.

Also we have a new investigator her name is Archna. She is from India. Our first real lesson at her house, she made us Indian food. It was divine, but also the spiciest food I have ever eaten in my life. She doesn´t know very much about Jesus Christ so teaching her was really different and exciting. Because I got to strip down all of the fluff that comes with a habit of teaching and tell her exactly who He is. After the lesson with her, I realized that is how I should teach everyone. It was a tender mercy.

Side note: Does everyone know that I no longer have access to my ldsmail account? All emails that have been sent in the past 2 months I have not received in mylsdmail, so send ´em to this email please (lizzie.mccrery@gmail.com)!

Ok well that's all for now. Transfers are in a week. I think I´ll be stickin around Hogwarts for another term. Hopefully my cloak comes in the mail soon.....

Love,

Sister Liz

How did I get here? This is not my beautiful house....

Bil (and Stepper and everyone),

Great update, Bil! My favorite emails are the ones where you start ranting about the uselessness of subject lines, and then the email ends up describing the type of poop your children had this week. Truly a Bil email classic move. But I´m not being sarcastic when I say it never gets old. Really it never gets old, I love it. I love hearing about your little family. Sounds like a little bundle of joyful trials and growing moments that will echo in your memory forever Bil. You are a Dad, did you know? Do you keep a journal? Because one day you will forget about that Nerf fight, and you will want to remember.

Speaking of throwing up I forgot to tell you about a funny story. One night a couple weeks ago we had a lesson that was super important (you know one of those make it or break it, they are on the line deciding if they really should be baptized that weekend or not) and we brought a member with us. We taught a lesson about the Plan of Salvation(my personal favorite), and the spirit was so strong, we had explained up until the three degrees of glory and as the member was bearing her testimony I glanced over at Irma De Sousa, she mouthed the words ´´EU VOU VOMITAR!´´ with out making a sound. That translates to ´´I WILL THROW UP!´´. And boy did she start to look like it. So I slid my water bottle over to her ever so casually as to not disturb the strong spirit. But that girl could not hide it. She quickly asked ´´Can I use your bathroom?`` and scurried off to the other room. We all pretended like nothing happened. She came back sat back down and tried to be normal....she ended up being so not normal, she still looked so sick. We quickly finished the lesson and got out of there. REASON WHY SHE THREW UP #1: She is companions with Irmã McCrery who can eat anything, so went we had gone home for dinner and I grabbed some bread with some nutella slathered on, so did she...and then she decided she wanted another and another. She ended up eating 3 nutella sandwiches before the lesson... duh, who wouldn´t throw up? (I only ate one for the record). But I am a bad influence.

OK somehow I always get distracted in my emails and write things that are probably not very interesting or important.

But this week we had interviews with the Presidente Torgan. It was great as always. Now that all of Portugal is one mission we are seeing miracles in full force here. I don´t know if you have heard anything about the prophesies about Portugal from years past, but on various occasions church leaders have prophesied that Portugal would become the ´´lighthouse´´ of Europe, that it would be an example for the rest of Europe. Our President stood before our zone and informed us that in the month of July, 115 of Heavenly Father´s Children entered the waters of baptism. That's big. Really big. He then stated very clearly and powerfully that last month the prophesy was 100% fulfilled. The prophecy that Portugal would be the light house of Europe, was fulfilled.

It was a humbling and powerful moment. To know that in spite of our weaknesses and inadequacy that the Lord has allowed us to be instruments in his hands. It was a moment I will never forget. As I had my personal interview with Presidente Trogan we talked a bit more about the miracles happening in the mission, and he explained very humbly and gratefully that he had prayed at the beginning of the month to know how many of Heavenly Father´s children would enter the waters of baptism. He felt a goal of 100 people, and with tears welling up he looked at me and said ´´But he gave us more... he gave us more.´´ It was a seriously tender moment.

Do you realize where I am right now? Portugal.

How did I get here? And how I have I lived here for over a year? How is it almost over?

Let me tell you about a funny story from the other day, can I?

Irmã De Sousa and I were walking down a street called Rua de Brasil, it´s a busy street with old architecture mixed with the new. But there just so happened to be a house that I had seen a few days earlier and wanted to return to knock the door. As we approached the house, the door bell looked a bit old and almost like it didn´t function, but we rang it anyway and waited patiently. While waiting we looked around, and all of a sudden I saw an old man across the busy road leaning out of his vintage balcony. He was signing to us something, he was trying to explain something, but because of the traffic we couldn´t hear him. But as we kept looking, we realized he was telling us to go around back and then up some stairs. We looked at each other


Normally old people just tell us that no one lives in their neighbor´s house. But our guardian seemed to have a heart of gold.

Also the other day I saw a wild pack of stray dogs, none of them had milkshakes, neither was it a pack of family dogs, but as we rounded a corner we were surprised to see about 7 dogs of all shapes and sizes meandering down the street. It was classic. It reminded me of one time in the Azores when Irma Morrison and I were walking through a little poor neighborhood and we said hi to a group of kids playing in the street, and slowly but surely we looked back and the kids had started to follow us with curiosity, and slowly but surely, there accumulated more kids, a couple here and a couple there, until we had a serious fan club following us through the street, but as soon as we rounded the corner to get out to the main road, like and good kids they turned back toward home. Wild pack of azorian kids.

Did I tell you that I talked to Pres. Resendes (The old branch president from my branch in the Azores) on the phone the other day? It was a real treat. But the funniest part was that I couldn´t understand what the heck he was saying because of the wonky azorian accent. I couldn´t believe it´s been so long that I had a hard time understanding him! Isn´t that nuts?

Well, here is to another week, in the wonderful world of a mission. I sure do love it. The work is sweet and time is short. October is coming quicker than I expected. I miss you and love you.

~Lizzie

P.S. This one is for the blog,please.

tear drops on the keyboard...

To all:

 

Ok did you like my emotional subject line? Well as you could probably have guessed at this point, my email account is still locked, and I have never had such a let down coming to the computer ready to hear from my family, dying to hear whats going on because it´s been two weeks...and its locked. Did you get my email from last week? Can you re-send your email from last week, today and from now on to this email address too (lizzie.mccrery@gmail.com), just in case? OK well I just quickly chatted with eric taylor and told him to call you so that this probelm could be fixed. That was a desparate move.

 

Ok but let me get the news from these parts. Basically its like this....

 

I live in Coimbra, Portugal. I live on the other side of the city than the University. But I can practically smell Harry Potter from here. The University is actually in the Elder´s area which means I don´t get to see it everyday.

 

I love this city. It was like coming home when I pulled in last monday. The sky was overcast and the city is tucked in rolling hills of greenery, but full of tall apartment buildings. It is so famiiar here but at the same time completely different and unique. It turns out that I didn´t end up taking the train to Hogwarts, but the bus. A little less epic. But I will say that I have had the Harry Potter theme song stuck in my head everyday without fail. It is so diverse here. There are parts of the city that are 800 yers old, mixed with buildings from the 70´s and then totally modern architecture around the corner. The weather is nice, breezy. We don´t live too far from the grocery store and barely 5 minutes from the chapel! Ok do you have a vision of where I am living now? There is a river that borders one side of the city. Ok now you know.

 

This Saturday a guy nmed Delcides was baptized! He is awesome. 22 years old and from Brazil he is studying at the university. He was seriously prepared for the Gospel, by the time I got here we just had to teach a few more things before his baptism. But basically it was such a blessing to be here for his baptism, also he is already starting to prepare for his mission. He is so excited to serve a mission. He will start teaching lessons with us and the elders.

 

Also.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLINTON!

 

The ward here is really very small, about 42 people attend each week, is what they are telling me. But lots of people are gone on vacation right now, so there were not very many people this sunday. But let me tell you about the Bishop here....

 

Bishop Pitarma and his wife Irmã Ana. From the fist 10 minutes of being in bishop´s home, I felt 100% at home. Do you know why? because Bishop Pitarma and Ana are Bil and Stepper´s Portuguese-personality-twins! It was like walking into Bil and steppers house. Bishop is 31 and Ana has got to be like 26. They have two sons Guilherme is 2 years old and will turn 3 in a few months (aka Portugese-twin for Wyatt) But seriously, even the way that Guilherme look s reminds me of Wy Guy. And then, the baby Salvador is probably like 1 year more or less. Basically, if Bil and Stepper were Portuguese, this would be their life. I will have to take a picture with them. Bishop Pitarma is awesome. He got back from his mission like 3 years ago. So misionary work is a priority in this ward, HOW REFRESHING! Irmã De Sousa (my comp) says that he´s got our back, that he will always defend us if there are problems in the ward. Right on. Talk about tender mercy from the Lord, after my refiner´s fire experience from my last area.

 

Ok also I just found out that Eric Talyor is getting married on wednesday. Cool!

 

Did you get my address from last week?

 

Irmã McCrery

Escadas Praceta Pedro Alvares

Nº5 1ºC

3030 Coimbra

 

We live super close to the mail office, so any packages sent here will be super easy for me to pick up...wink wink nudge nudge.

 

Also one more fun fact. Supposedly there is a place here that is like a little park filled with miniature versions of buildings and monuments in portugal. I´m dying to go there. They will be novetly size. Novelty size Portugal. What more could I ask for?

 

Peanut BUtter. Thats somethign I could ask for. Apparently northern Portugal has never even heard of skippy.

 

Also, the work is going great so far. Lots of changes with my new comp who has been playing by a different rule book with a different mission president.... but forward ever forward, we will whip this area into shape!

 

I actually really love being  a missionary. I love the work. Have I told you that lately? I do. I can feel it slipping through my fingers and I don´t want to miss a moment. Next week maybe I will go a bit deeper and talk about more than the weather and Harry Potter.

 

Please don´t forget to send me the emails from last week and this week to this email.

 

I love you all!

2 Letters...

EMAIL NOT WORKING!!!

My LDS mail is not working! I´m so frustrated! I have such exciting news, but now I´m breaking the rules to write and I can´t even read the emails that you guys sent me this week!

But get this...... I´m going to COIMBRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!

That is the northern part of Portugal, a part that I never would have served in if the missions hadn´t combined a couple weeks ago!!! This place has the university Coimbra which JK Rowling based Hogwarts off of.... so basically today I ´m getting on the train to Hogwarts and I will probably stay there for the rest of my mission!! Cool! Ok let me try my LDS mail account again. I don´t know what happened.

ate ja!

 

University of Coimbra, Coimbra Portugal. Very Hogwarts-like!

 

 

One of the libraries at University.

Is this reminding anyone else of the Great Hall in Hogwarts?

 

 

 

OK, I'm Back and Bitter

Dear Stepper and gang,

So basically I just wasted 15 precious Internet minutes trying to figure out why ldsmail won´t let me sign in. But I just have a feeling that I have some gem emails waiting for me there, but like I already told Stepper I have big news! I´m going to Coimbra! In the northern part of Portugal. It will be such a treat. I´m going to serve with a Brazilian Irma. It should be good. She has been in the mission for the same amount of time as Irma Lima (my old comp rom cabo verde) they came to the mission at the same time. So she is a younger irma in the mission. I´m so excited. I also found out that my dear old friend irmã De Almeida (my favorite Portuguese companion) will being going out the Azores for her last two transfers...It will be incredible to meet back up with her at the end of our missions, and talk about our experiences!

This last week in quinta do Conde was awesome. We were reminded that there are no weak areas in a mission, only weak missionaries. I had been a bit weak these past few weeks or so. A little bit burnt out of being in the same area for so long, and over all just a downer. My poor comp irma thayer got me on the tail end of a rocky road. But after these few weeks with irma thayer, I have grown to love her. As we really got to work, and stepped up our game, we started to see miracles together. This past week we found some people that I won´t ever forget. One of them is Eliseu (translated is Elijah, like the Prophet). On Thursday as we were getting ready to leave we prayed to know where we should go to find those who are prepared to hear the Gospel. After our prayer irmã Thayer said that she felt like we should go to a certain road right on the outskirts of Quinta do Conde, as we trekked our there, I felt a comforting feeling of faith that we would truly find someone up on that road that was waiting for us. As we knocked that street either people weren´t home or couldn´t care less. but we kept going until the end, when we reached the end we got the the cross street and saw a house that looked abandoned and didn´t think much of it, we turned the corner and kept going, but as we round the side of this ´´abandoned´´ house we saw towels drying on the clothes line and realized that the house in fact was not abandoned. So we turned around to find the front door and saw a man with a hard hat digging around the side of the house. We politely called his attention........ TO BE CONTINUED... our ride just got here.... see you at Hogwarts....



address:
Escadas praceta pedro alveres cabral Nº5 1ºC
3030 Coimbra
Portugal

Hello!

Big changes here in my neck of the woods.

 

This last week was a week of twists. Tuesday afternoon we received a phone call from the mission presidente´s wife informing us that Imra Perkins needed to pack her bags because she would be leaving to go to Setubal to serve with Irma De Almeida and Irma thayre would be coming to serve with me in quinta do conde. SHOCKER! We are in the middle of a transfer, did i mention that? we don´t move in the middle of transfers. But the reason it happened is because there were two irma´s whose time it was to go home, and it just happens to fall in the middle of the transfers, so they were going home last week and instead of giving us warning, they called the day before and gave us a good ole surprise.

 

Needless to say...I was devastated. Irma Perkins has become one of my best friends. So I got off the phone with Irma torgan and told Irma perkins. We were in shock for the rest of the day. But we know that Heavenly Father has purposes in everything He does and that there is a reason we were split and moved around. I hope Irma Perkins is doing great. I´m sure she is. She is serving with my other favorite companion of my mission, so basically it will be a real treat.

 

My new comp is Irma Thayer. We´re getting along well!

 

We´ve had a rough couple weeks here in the area. But I know that these are the moments that the Lords shapes us and molds us to be who He needs us to be.

 

So we have been teaching our favorite Brazilian family with Barbara and Josefina, When Irma Perkins had to say goodbye, our dear little Josefina (88 years old and still sharp as a tack) started to get teary eyed and told us how much she appreciated this time learning of the Gospel and having us in her home and she one the most tender things, as she described our travelling missionary lifestyle she said that when we leave we.. ´´deixa saudade onde passa´´, doesn´t translate as profoundly, but basically it means that as we missionaries pass through these homes and towns we leave a feeling of missing when we leave, there is an impression made where we pass through. It meant a lot. She is so ready for the Gospel, she just has to get past little hang ups. I wish you could all meet this woman. She is really something else. She is an incredible example of Christlike love and integrity. I will have to take a picture next time we are over there to show you how short she is. She has got to be like 4 feet tall or something.

 

Today we will be going to a place called Cristo Rei. It´s that giant statue of Jesus that sits looking out across the river from Lisboa. Neat.

 

I sure do miss you all. I hope all is well back there. More next week!

 

Lizzie

Explosion!

OK first some pictures before I forget... we tried to go to a castle last p-day, we got off on the wrong bus stop and ended up in this great little town called sesimbra. also remember when I left and Daphne looked like that last picture?

Wait...sorry about that last picture. Got the wrong number. That's not Daphne, that's Elder Blair.

Hello!

The subject line has nothing to do with this e-mail, just wanted to get your attention. This week was full of ups and full of downs. Do I say that every week? I feel like I do. The pictures included are from last week´s p-day. We spent the day in a town called sesimbra. It was too charming for it´s own good. If you are wondering if  Irmã Perkins and I are wearing coordinating shirts...we are, because we can do that. Well first things first. Yesterday it was 98 degrees outside and more humid than ever before. We realized that it felt exactly like a sauna, as we walked to and from our appointments. We ended up getting lost in a vast pine field, with lost of back roads in the blistering heat ( I thought we should try a short cut) Turns out it wasn´t a short cut, but also was not a long cut. It took the same amount of time as our normal route, it was just a lot more work. My legs are all scratched up from the stickery bushes we waded through in our skirts....Oh the adventures we have!

Well let me give you the highlights of the week....

Friday morning as we were studying in the morning, I gazed out the window ( As I often do because our neighborhood is always bustling) and saw I Mom and a Dad walking with a stroller. The people looked awfully familiar, as a did a double take I realized who it was a jumped out of my chair. Irmã Perkins later described my facial expression as nothing she had before seen. My face was a mess of emotions included but not limited to: confusion, excitement, joy, and shock. As I pointed out the window I exclaimed.... ´´WILLIAM IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!´´. Do you remember our recent convert William? he read 50 pages in the Book of Mormon the first night he got it? Well he has been gone for over 6 weeks working on the ocean with underwater robots (cool I know), and he finally came back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We didn´t know if he would ever be able to enter the country again because he does not yet have residency here in Portugal. He is from Africa. As we jumped up and down with joy we quickly threw our shoes on and grabbed our missionary tags, and ran outside to the street to track him down. We stopped in the parking lot of the nearby grocery store and talked a bit with him. He was still just as excited about the Book of Mormon, he said he is almost done, and has begun reading the pearl of great price! Well basically it was the best miracle that happened! He is an incredible missionary and will help lots of people learn of the Gospel. Neat!

Also we had Zone conference with 3 zones this last week. It was intense. It was awesome. I got to see the majority of my old companions there, it was a real trip.

Well I sure do love you all and miss you! Don´t forget to wear sunscreen.

Love, Lizzie

P.S. Evan I got your letter. Corinne I got your letters too! All of my other friends, all of you MANY letters must have gotten lost in the mail because I haven´t received them yet.......

Famous Last Words....

One more week has pasted and we are working working working hard. Irmã Perkins and I get along so well. We will be going to China after she gets home from her mission so she can show me around and be my translator. Also did I mention that in her last weeks e-mail her parents casually informed her that they would be spending a week with Elder Holland in India and then the following week with Elder Bednar in Vietnam....  then they all would go back to Hong Kong....where her parents live. Ya, I know. We laugh about it all the time. I tease her all the time about her crazy life, and she is just super humble and laughs about it too. But we get cool inside insights from Elder Holland through her Dad´s e-mails. Neat.

OK so this week was rough, but in the ´´We really worked`` kind of rough. We really worked at finding new people that are ready to accept the Gospel, and really worked at overcoming the natural man (AKA trying not to think about how hungry we were during the day, and refraining from speaking English with each other for 24 hour periods of time....) over all it was a good week. We have two new elders in our ward. It is a real blessing. One is a solid oldy in the mission and he is training a SUPER greenie. This new missionary is great, he was talking up a storm in Portuguese at church, just doing the  best he could for being in the country for three days. It will be awesome to be in the same district and ward as them so that we can fortify this ward enough to open a new branch.

Also important note: We have two extra mattresses now because are all by our selves in our apartment without Irma Lima or Irma Perez..... So we will be building a fort today.

Last night we had a really cool lesson with a family that is progressing and we hope that the Grandmother ,Josefina(88 years old) and Granddaughter, Barbara(30 years old) will be baptized this weekend. They are a Brazilian family and are very warm and welcoming. Last night when we went over there, we planned to teach about the plan of salvation and invite the two of them to be baptized this weekend. As we knocked the door, I looked at Irmã Perkins and said.... ´´Let´s make this brief.´´ she agreed. Let me just say those were some famous last words. We spent almost 3 HOURS there with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But in the end the spirit was there and testified of our Heavenly Father´s plan. Barbara´s husband was there and accepted to start reading the book of Mormon! And right when we finally thought we were getting out of there, they insisted that we stay to eat carrot cake and juice (classic Brazilian move, feeding us at every visit) we tried to resist but she gave us the death glare. The cakes was awesome and while we ate they asked us about our missions and if we missed our families, I responded that sometimes we miss our families, but that it´s worth it. I explained how it is worth it to leave our family to help other families. They were really taken aback. But it´s true, you know? 

For now, I´m where I´m suppose to be, doing what I´m suppose to be doing. This is the work of the Lord to proclaim the Gospel so that all may learn that Jesus is the Christ and because of  him we can all return to live with our Heavenly Father and our families forever. All we must do is follow Him, and He has already shown the way.

I really do miss you all and would love to hear from your side of the world....

My address is still:

Rua Salgueiro Alameda
Lote 82 R/C-C
2975-333 Quinta do Conde
Portugal

Love,
Lizzie

P.S. Thank you Emily Mickle for the package!!!!!!!!!!!! Emily Mickle, is your last name different from the last time I saw you? I know you Emily, but how?

Thick of it...

Bil,

I was busting up laughing about my terrible English. Let´s be honest I never thought I would get to the day when I couldn´t speak right. Because I always thought that it was a stupid thing that happens to other missionaries, something  I would be able to control. But I find myself in the street thinking in English sometimes and I can´t find the words I want. Or I will be talking to some elder telling a story and mix up the order of my words. Cool.

Bil. You know how you say I´m in the thick of it? And then you get all nostalgic and I can basically see the dreamy flash back that is happening in your brain of your mission. Thanks. Every time I remember that phrase (Lizzie,You're in the thick of it), I just kind of step back and see the knee deep goop of happy missionary work that  I am in the thick of, and I realize that I like it. I don´t like being stressed, but that feeling after being stressed and everything goes fine, that's a pretty good feeling. Worth it, one might say. I read my journal last night from one year ago. The entry was from the 26th of May. My entry was from my night staying in the Mission President´s house when I got into the country. I was so nervous, and I had no idea what was coming. It was such a trip to flip through my journal and read some things I have written. I realized how much I have learned, and how many pages I still have to fill up. Last night as I said my prayer, I spaced out for a moment, and when I snapped back, it all became very clear to me, that I was kneeling at the side of a bed, at 11:00pm, in a room with a girl from Africa and a girl who grew up in china, in an apartment located in a place called Quinta do Conde, in a country far far away from anywhere I know, having been a missionary for over a year. When that all became clear I thought... I really am in the thick of it.

Bil this week was thick. Real thick. On Thursday Teresa and Rui were MARRIED....and then 5 hours later........BAPTIZED!!! The ward threw a party of all parties. This is the second wedding party that I have seen for recent converts and it was the better of the two. There was lots of good food. They threw a bouquet (flowers taken from outside the chapel, picked on the spot). One of the members is like Alex Wood´s status piano player and he filled the chapel with beautiful music the whole night. It was an incredible day, real joy, you know?

Then Friday we had out interviews with Presidente Torgan. It´s an all day event. It was the most incredible interview I have had in my mission. Normally Preisdente Torgan is a man of few words with me, because I am a woman of few words and questions with him...But this time was different. I know I already described the last interview from a few months ago, and I described how President Torgan is a great big bear of a man, well he just fills the room with the spirit. He´s got this big smile and tells it like it is. Well he told me like it is in our interview, but instead of it being a harsh critique (that for some reason I always expect and never happens) Presidente Torgan looked me square in the eyes and told me that he could feel how much trust the Lord has in me. His words were powerful and the spirit filled the room. I believed him. I knew he really felt that. I also know that Heavenly Father had heard my prayers and my prayers were answered, just in that one comment alone. The whole interview was an incredibly personal and uplifting moment of my mission that I will never forget. In the end of our interviews we kneel down and Presidente Torgan offers a prayer. He pleaded for me to our Heavenly Father. As he pleaded for me and my well being, he affirmed my abilities and the things that Lord will require of me in the future of my mission. It was like receiving a blessing of comfort. Did you remember powerful spiritual experiences around your mission president Bil?

While we sat in our zone during the trainings we receive in between interviews, I looked around and realized that there were only two missionaries in the room with more time in the mission than me. Which means, I am close to the end. I am ´´old´´ in my mission as they say. I still have 3 transfers, or 4 months. But I feel like this time is slipping through my fingers, all of a sudden I realized the thick of it one day will get thinner, and before i know it I will be walking up the escalator at the airport to find wy guy at the top, standing at a whopping 5 foot, and everyone else will be there too. And this will be a memory.

But for now Bil, I´m in the thick of it. There is nothing in the world like this. There is nothing in my life that will be just like this. I am so thankful to realize it, because that means that I can enjoy it, bask in the challenges, and see the miracles that come. Thanks for everything.

-Lizzie

P.S. just put this one on the blog will ya?

Beautiful are the Feet...

I came across a scripture the other day that made me laugh..

``And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!``
- Romans 10:15

Let´s talk about my beautiful feet...

Also I forgot to tell you about a little thing called Mexican week at the grocery store....when they sell the basic Mexican food necessities for anyone who has been craving Mexican food for a year...

well lost control.....

This week flew by quickly. We just went to the court house again this morning to schedule the marriage for this Thursday for Rui and Teresa. They will be baptized Thursday night after the marriage! What a miracle. We will be the witnesses. What a trip.

Also...My zone P-day a few weeks ago.... Costa de Caprika. Did I mention that Portugal is beautiful?

OK this email is not well organized...but here is an inspiring miracle that happened on Saturday Night...

Long day, not a lot happened. We had spent the day walking to our appointments only to find that they were not home. We were walking to pass by a reference that the elders had given us, as were crossing a street we hear ever so clearly from across the street on the second floor...``Elders! Elders!!!`` We looked at each other a little bit confused, kind of laughed and then turned our attention back to the woman hanging out the window calling to us. We crossed the street and climbed up the stairs. The young woman opened her door and said... ``Come in, I'm Mormon too!`` we stepped into her apartment and sat down to talk with her. We asked how long ago she had been baptized and she informed us that, she never got to the pass of baptism, that she used to live a couple cities over in a place called Corroios and there she met the Elders and they taught her and her boyfriend. She had gone to church for about a year in Corroios but had not yet been baptized because her and her boyfriend live together with their son and are not married. She said that the elders were trying to help them with the paper work for marriage, but then all of a sudden they had to move for the work of the boyfriend and came here, not knowing how to find the elders, or the nearest chapel. That was about 2 years ago..... So she called our attention, and because of that we got her a ride to church and on Sunday she went back to church for the first time in a long time. It was awesome. Her son loved it, and she felt right at home. What a huge blessing that Heavenly Father puts these people in our path, sometimes at the end of a long day with little success, and when we think about turning back for the day, we hear the simple ``Elder, Elder!!`` from a second story window, and we have one more family to invite to come unto Christ.

That's the stuff, you know?

Well, more next week. I hope all is well.

You can ALWAYS write me a letter.......

Love,
Lizzie

A Week of Firsts...

This week was a week of firsts. Let me tell you about a few of them...

1. First time talking to an old friend while still on my mission...

I received a phone call this week from my old companion Irmã De Almeida. She is serving in the next area over (different zone). She was calling to inform me that Gustavo was leaving Portugal to go to Brazil the following day. Can I please have a Waynes World style flashback moment....... A little less than one year ago Irmã De Almeida and I found Gustavo while knocking doors. It was the last door of a very loooooooooooooong day. Within a week he was fully integrated into the ward and was baptized. He was prepared by the Lord to receive the gospel. He was the most prepared person I have met on my mission to this day, he still goes down in my history book as the most elect investigator (refer to blog from July of last year)....flash forward to this week. So She gives me his number and I give the big lug a call. After many attempts, he finally answered. I Got to talk to my good friend Gustavo! It was such a blast. He said he couldn´t even recognize my voice because my Portuguese was perfect! What a treat to hear that maybe my Portuguese is getting better not worse. We talked for a few minutes and I expressed my love for him and my testimony of Heavenly Father´s plan for Gustavo. It was incredible to hear from him and hear about his plans to go to the Temple in Brazil. Pure Joy.

2.First time going to the Court house in Portugal...

We have a family that is preparing for baptism. Teresa and Rui and their son Ruben. Teresa and Rui are not married, but have been together for over 10 years and have their 6 year old son Ruben. They are humble people who have recently had a lot of financial hardships that rocked their previously comfortable world. They are hurting, both spiritually and materially. But as they have come to accept the Gospel they have found renewed hope and have found the infinite blessings that come through obedience to God´s commandments. We have taught and invited them to live all of God´s commandments, including the law of chastity. They are not married....yet. But they have a house that has a completely separate annex, so they have started sleeping under different roofs as they prepare for marriage...They have not been able to afford the the cost of getting married (even just at the local courthouse). We knew that something could be done, money wasn´t gonna stop them from keeping God´s commandments. So we made a plan with the cost.. we´ll figure it out. But we didn´t know how long it would take for them to be married and we felt strongly that it needed to be sooner rather than later. So we hopped on a train and then a bus to get the nearest courthouse, about an hour away from our area using public transport. And there we were. Three sister missionaries, waiting in line at the courthouse in the line relating to marriage. We just had to laugh. Never thought I would be sitting at the courthouse in Portugal waiting to find out how to get married. In the end, if all works out, they will be getting married on the 26th of this month and they have asked us to be the witnesses. What an honor.

3. An investigator informs us that they will be baptized...without us even asking....

We walk into Maria Rosária´s store. She is one of our investigators (friends with the above mentioned Teresa). Normally we teach her inside of her store that she and her husband own. She has gone to church a few times and she loves it. Her husband appears to be severely oppressive, and she has never told us where she lives and has explained that her husband does not approve of these kind of things (church). But this day we only stopped into the store because we needed water because it was like 6 billion degrees outside and we needed to hurry and catch our bus. So we walk in and say hello, dripping with sweat and grab a big bottle of water to share. We ask her how she is doing as we set the bottle on the counter and she rings it up, she says she is doing great. We asked her if she would be going to Church this week. She said she might have to do something else, but that she wanted to go...Then as if it were nothing she said, ´´But next week I will go because I want to be baptized....not this weekend, but next weekend....´´ I can just imagine what our three little faces looked like when she said that....eyes big and surprised. All of a sudden it seemed so insignificant to be buying water and rushing to the bus. But we said...great! Ok well.....we´ll call tonight and pray that you can come to church tomorrow! She happily agreed, and we took our water and rushed off to the bus stop. We were so shocked we couldn´t help but giggle the whole time. ´´What just happened?´´ I asked..... ´´I think she just marked herself for baptism´´ Irmã Perkins responded.

4. We became regulars.....

When we go to the other side of our area we have to use the bus and train. Sometimes we have to wait a bit for our bus to come after our train arrives in the station. Its hot outside, did I mention that? Ok so in the station there is an ice cream stand that has ice cream bars. So a few times this past week we have stopped to grab a quick ice cream to cool down. Well it´s always the same guy, and on Saturday when we stopped at the station, he just looked at us and told us what we would be ordering. He knew.... Just then we became regulars.

5.I rode the train alone....

Irmã Reis called on Saturday and asked if we could split up our tripla and do a division with their dupla. Her companion Irmã Egbert was sick and they had been in the house for days, and she wanted to do a division. So we planned it out just right, got permission from Presidente and did the division. I told me comps that they were 100% capable of doing everything by themselves and that I would leave and go on the division and they would hold down the fort. It was great! With permission, I was allowed to ride the train alone to get to the area of the other Irmãs. So my comps sent me off on the train, a 5 minute ride to the other area... It was the strangest 5 solitary minutes of my mission. There I was, alone. Completely alone. On a train. Without companions. Then I tried to help a lady off the train with her stroller and kid and one of her bags ended up falling in between the platform and the train...whoops! I let other people help and got the heck out of there... I WAS ALONE! Someone could have thought i was trying to throw helpless women´s bags under trains, and I didn´t have my comp to back me up! But seriously it was an adventure.

Ok I´m out of time love you!!!!!!

Lizzie

(no subject)

The end of one more transfer... how is it already over?

Today is transfer day, and we had a big change in our neck of the
woods. Remember how this past transfer I trained? OK well we have been
living in our house with us four sisters. When my Irma Perkins came
half way through the last transfer we split up our area and Irma Lima
and Irma Perez traveled pretty far to work in their area everyday and
we stayed in Quinta do Conde. Irma Perez trained Irma Lima this past
transfer too.

Well we got the call last night that Irmã Perez would be leaving and
instead of another Irma coming to take her place and be with Irma
Lima, we would just become a triple companionship. So that means that I
have two comps who both have 1 transfer in the mission...... WHAT!?!?!?

And if that's not crazy enough, we will re-absorb that area that we
just split last transfer. So we will have to figure out how to work in
quinta do conde and in the other part of our area that is about 1 hour
away on bus and train....

Heavenly Father must have a plan but I have not yet received the memo
on this one.

I am excited for this new challenge. I have not quite figured out how
it will all work out, but I´m learning that worrying too much just is
not as effective as I used to think. When I worry I get distracted by
the little things. When I have faith I have the capacity to catch
Heavenly Father´s vision and become an instrument in His hands.

This past week we met William and Sonia. They are incredible. We have
met with them every single night since last Monday night. They went to
church and LOVED it. It just so happens that they were married just
two weeks ago. They have a beautiful 7 month old baby named Raim.

Since we gave them the Book of Mormon to read and pray about last
Monday, William has read almost the entire Book of Mormon. As of last
night he was in Words of Mormon, which means he has probably completed
the Book of Mormon by our appointment tonight. He took a binder full
of Liahona magazines from the Chapel to borrow and read, and when we
showed up last night he had lots of commentary about Brigham Young
University, and Joseph Smith, John Taylor, Temples, the organization
of the church and so on. He had already read several magazines since
church earlier in the day.

Turns out he has a photographic memory and remembers almost perfectly
what he reads. So as he explained to me what was going on in the Book
of Mormon, and remember every name and each part of the storyline, I
was blown away.

He prayed about the Book of Mormon and knows that it is true. Sonia is
reading and has such a humble heart. She says that she reads and then
she just can´t put it down, she says she just has the desire to keep
reading. She has also prayed and felt that the Book of Mormon is true.

We have invited them to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be
baptized by someone who holds the Holy Priesthood. We have a lesson
with them tonight and will find out what the response to their prayer
was.

There are people that have been prepared to receive the Gospel. They
just know not where to find the truth.

We taught about the word of wisdom and after a long and spiritually
intense lesson we invited William to pour out any and all alcohol that
he had in the house. Words can not sufficiently describe the feelings
I felt as I watched William and Sonia (with Raim in her arms) stand
beside their bathtub and pour out the last remaining bottle of beer in
the house. Sonia giggling with joy, William shaking his head with a
smile, knowing full well that THIS was the will of the Lord. As he
frees himself of these bonds of addiction (no matter how small they
seem) I know that Heavenly Father will pour out blessings that they
won´t even be able to count them all.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ allows us to make changes in our life, be
they big or small. I am grateful to know these people and to see them
turn their hearts and follow the Savior´s example.

I hope I can do the same everyday.

There are bound to be some rough patches with our companionship
switcharoo, with one companion that doesn´t speak English and one
companion that doesn´t yet speak Portuguese...I know that we will have
our patience tested and our our faith tried, but the Lord trusts us
with His children here, so we will work hard and His miracles will
come.

Thank you for all of your love and support. I miss you all and think
of you often.

-Sister Liz

A Week

Dear loved ones,

What a week. I am here now working with my companion Irma Perkins. We get along really really well. We are having a good time learning how to be missionaries together. Turns out that training a new missionary is incredible (so far). I can with full confidence say that I have never worked harder in one week of my mission than this past week. 

 

        We received a call from our leaders at the beginning of the week with a challenge from our mission president. He prayed and felt that each companionship in our mission could find 29 new investigators. (side note explanation: new investigators are people with whom we have a lesson or at least pray with them and they accept to receive us and make an appointment with us to meet again.) This challenge was big. I don´t need to tell you that NOT every week are we just running into 29 people that become interested enough to become ´´new investigators´´.

 

        So Irma Perkins and I gladly accepted the challenge with the sure knowledge that there were 29 of Heavenly Father´s children that we were meant to find and help introduce to the Gospel.....

 

       We got to work, we stepped out of our apartment complex and the first person we saw we talked to, no waiting around to get the courage up, no sir... 29 people that want to hear the Gospel are waiting, what if we miss them!!??!?! So we talked to everyone, really I would say talked to almost everyone in the street this week. We prayed to know where we should search, we prayed during the day to keep up our energy. We introduced ourselves, we shared he message of the Gospel, we got rejected, we kept going. Then, someone would accept. We would try to help them feel the spirit, and make an appointment to share more. We followed this pattern through out the week. Every moment was filled with a true desire to talk to the people that were ready and waiting. 

 

        Irmã Perkins understands Portuguese extremely well. She understands what is going on when we talk to people on the street and almost everything that happens in our lessons. She is positive and easy going. She has a really upbeat way of just being herself. She has only been in the country a week and I was already making her start the street contacts and say the prayers with people during our lessons. She happily and willingly accepts every new challenge. Each day I have been trying to give her more and more responsibility, and she is getting along just fine. Her mere presence has open my vision and helped me see the miracles again. The Lord has blessed me with this chance to serve with her and to have her teach me what it means to be a missionary, and what it means to be Christlike. 

 

        Our week was tiring, but ever so sweet. As we reached the final hours of our night yesterday we were closing in on our goal of finding those 29 new investigators that the Lord had prepared. We were still hopeful and worked diligently to find them. We had a terrible lesson with an old investigator, and we had only 20 minutes left to find 8 more investigators ...we didn´t stop. We walked through the park by our house and contacted everyone---- that old man over there, that grumpy looking lady with the dog, and even that group of rambunctious teenagers. Turns out that old man really does believe in God and would love to hear more, and that grumpy lady with the dog wasn´t grumpy at all she was just tired and in need of something more in her life, and that group of teenagers laughed in our faces, all but one of them whose eyes told us that indeed she was searching for the truth. So we found 3 more of God´s children who wanted to hear more. 

 

       As we walked up to our doorstep we knew that we had worked hard to find and help God´s children this week, but that if we had done the math right in our heads...we were short a few to reach our goal. As went sat down to plan and add up the weekly goals and numbers, we found that indeed we had come up short by 5. We found 24 new investigators. We felt that little drop of disappointment, but within moments a feeling of comfort. We realized that although we did not reach our goal, we really worked hard and I told Irma Perkins that I had never been so exhausted in my mission. We realized how many people we had met and talked to during the week, how many lessons and prayers we had with people. By the end of the week we had taught 45 lessons....more than any other week in my mission. We had filled every moment with dedicated service to the Lord. It blew my mind. 

 

      The thing is, numbers don´t mean much. As my mission president says ´´We are not saviors of numbers, we are saviors of men´´. We are here to do the work of the Lord, which is ´´to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men´´(Moses 1:39) But as we prayerfully set goals and achieve them, we find greater joy in knowing that we are doing the Lord´s will. Oh how sweet is the peace that comes from doing the will of our Heavenly Father. He knows everything. He understands exactly how things should go.

 

 

          I love all of you, my friends and my family. I think of you everyday. I pray for you.

Love,

Lizzie

Thank You for Loving Me Enough to Cut Me Down

Dear Stepper and everyone,

Thank you for your words of encouragement Stepper, I sure do love you. Conference really was something special. We weren´t able to see the first Saturday session, so that's kind of sad, but I think I will print it out after this email. 

Well you´ll never guessed who arrived on Saturday..... Irma Perkins!!! My greenie!!!! She finally came! Woo hoo! OK so do you want to know all about her? Her name is Irma Perkins and she is 20 years old. that's right 20 not 21..why you might ask? Because her Dad is a member of the quorum of the seventy... Yup he was sitting in those red chairs yesterday. When you have a Dad that is a mission president or a member of the seventy you are allowed to go on missions earlier than 21 (for girls) and earlier than 19(for boys). So she is here. She is 20, and she grew up in China. She is blonde with Blue eyes and speaks Chinese. She is super sweet and funny, and while she waited for her visa she served an exciting two weeks in Montana, she has some funny experiences from that. Basically she is kinda of awesome. She already understands Portuguese really well. I´m impressed. I try my best to speak only Portuguese with her so that she can learn fast. Basically I´m super excited to work with her. 

I´m still feeling super inadequate, but at the same time when our mission president gave us trainers a training( a meeting about how to be trainers) he reminded us that the Lord has called us to be trainers of these greenies. He knows what He is doing. President Torgan explained that being a trainer is THE most important position in the mission, more than assistant, more than a mission president, because we are not just training these missionaries how to be missionaries, but we are training them for life........ OK NO PRESSURE! 

As I listened to conference yesterday, I felt the spirit so strong. Do you know that story in the bible of that rich man? Mark 10:17-22 (link?) Well I read that story the other day, and thought ´´what is it that I am lacking? What is the Lord asking me to sacrifice to take up the cross and follow Him? I kept that question in my mind during the week in preparation for conference. Each and every talk came alive to me. Spoke to my heart. I was taught through the Spirit, each hymn caught me up into tears and my faith was fortified and my concern was answered in many talks. 

One talk that really touched my heart was D. Todd Christofferson, he spoke about divine correction. His inspired words pierced my heart and the message was received. He told a story about a current bush and the gardener.(get ready for a really terrible summary)

 When the gardener went to prune the current bush he cut off all the branches, the bush was sad because he didn´t want to be smaller than the other trees and bushes in the garden. He was mad at the gardener, but the gardener knew better. The Gardener didn´t want the bush to be like the big trees or other bushes in the garden, he knew that he wanted a current bush. When the current bush later grew and flourished, the current bush thanked the gardener for loving him enough to cut him down.

What a true principle. Sometimes we do not understand what the Lord has in store for us, and when we he asks us to do something hard or when we are disciplined by the Lord, we can become frustrated, and sometimes overwhelmed with the thought. Here in the mission I feel like I´m in over my head most of the time. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to cut me down. He shows me my weakness in a variety of ways...and therefore gives me the option to either, trust in the Atonement and change and become who He needs me to be, or get frustrated, scared, and reject His help and rely solely on my own weak little efforts. Sometimes I think I would rather just grow without being pruned, try and then everything will be fine. But the Lord knows what he needs me to be, he knows when I need to be cut down, proved and tried, so that I can truly blossom. I am grateful that He really loves me enough to cut me down. 

So here I am sitting next to Irma Perkins, 3 weeks ago I was comfortably serving with my senior companion, finally getting the hang of this whole mission thing, and then I got the call that I would train a new companion, whitewash(all new missionaries in the area), and be partly responsible for helping to open a branch in my future area. 

I know that Elder Christofferson´s talk was more about being divinely corrected, than having heaps of responsibility loaded on your back..but to me this call has been a divine wake up call, to be better, work harder, pray more, do my best, be the trainer that Irma Perkin´s deserves and trust that the Lord knows who he needs me to be. 

Out of time. Love you all.

Irma McCrery

New Area

HellO! 

 

Don´t have much time, turns out our internet place is closed on P-Day so we had to come today and we have an appointment in just a bit. 

 

My new area! Is great. Talk about huge change. My greenie still has not come. The hope is that within the next few weeks. I can´t wait to meet her. Right now she is serving in Montana while she waits. Cool! One time I had a flat tire in montana, so I´m sure we will have lots in common.

 

As for now I´m in a tripla. Irma Perez and her Greenie irma lima. Irma Lima is from Cabo Verde. She is really sweet, totally willing to work and get things done. It´s awesome. We all get along pretty well, with a couple cultural bumps along the way we are getting to know each otehr and already seeing miracles. Our ward is gigantic. I mean gigantic. like 110 people every sunday. Here is the scoop.... There will be a new branch in our neck of the woods, thats why they sent our two companionships here, to help open a new branch closer to our area. Right now the chapel is faaaaaaar away from us. We have to catch the bus, and then the train, and then walk to get to church....ya, I thought the chapel was far in my last area.

 

Anywho, I can´t believe that the Lord trusts us with this huge change. But listen, He really is in control (Bil reminded of that).

 

I´m having the time of my life. I feel like I started my mission again. Coming back to the continent has been so neat. I saw some old friends from past disticts and it was like the sons of mosiah meeting again after a long time and rejoicing because they were still strong itn the faith. Neat.

 

I miss the island, but not enough to worry about it. I have a work to do, it is the Lord´s work. He has called me to this area in this time and time is flying. This week makes 1 year in the mission. Now is the time to kick it in to high gear.

 

Maybe next week I will already have started working with my greenie and we will have split up our area. who knows.

 

Here is my address:

Alameda Salgueiro Maia, Lote 82 RC-C

2975-333 Quinta do Conde

Portugal

 

write me a line. I´m out of time!

 

Love Lizzie

Last Week on the Island...

Dear family and friends,

Well my internet was interrupted, and now I don´t have much time. This was my last week here on the island. I will miss this island like nothing else. I will miss these people. I will miss the accent. I will miss the ocean. This place has become my home. Today we got transfer calls. Last week we already found out who was leaving the islands, we just didn´t know where to. Today I received a lot of ´´Through the grape vine´´ calls as to where everyone is going. The most shocking call was for me. I found out where I will go, and who I will serve with...

I will be a trainer. I will train a new sister missionary coming from Holiday, Utah. Her name is Irmã Perkins. They are pulling the elders out of the area where I will be serving and we will move in and start working there. I am opening and area and training. Probably the two scariest things that could happen. But it wont happen all at once, I will serve in a group of three sisters for the first part of the transfer, because my ´´greenie´´ is waiting for her visa I think. It´s all a bit hazy. Everyone has received an official call except me. What an adventure. 

I will live in a house with a total of four sisters by the time my greenie comes. What a treat! Sleep over!

I feel inadequate and a little surprised that the Lord trusts me to train a brand new missionary. I feel humbled. That's just how it should be I suppose. I know that this is the will of the Lord. 

So here I go, leaving the island embarking on another chapter of this wild ride. I have about 6 months left and its flying by. Before you know it I will be back there, showing you my battle wounds and tell you old war stories, but for now I´ve gotta get back to work, this is a new start, fresh slate....I´m going back to the continent! I´m moving time zones!

Love Irmã McCrery

PLEASE NOTE!

Hi, friends!


Stepper here. 


Lizzie asked me to let you all know that she will be transferring from the Azores area within the next few weeks. To avoid any lost mail, if you are planning to send her anything going forward, please use the Mission Office address (now posted to the right). 

THANKSMUCH!

Some Pictures from Lizzie

Baptism of Daniela a couple of weeks ago.

Down our street and up on a hill

Morning sky outside our back window

One For the Blog

This week was great, thanks for asking! Diogo was baptized! He is Daniela´s friend. Daniela was baptized two weeks ago and this weekend Diogo was baptized.He is 20 years old. It was a miracle. He was so prepared to accept the Gospel before we entered the scene. It has been awesome to see him completely grasp the Gospel. We talked with him the night before his baptism and he expressed his desire to serve a mission, how cool is that?

I´m am trying to soak up my last few weeks in this area. I will be leaving the island within the next two weeks, and I´m getting those nervous little butterflies in my stomach, because I love this place. I love these people and I don´t know if I will be ready to say goodbye. But, life keeps moving, a new sister missionary will come here and I will go back to the continent. I will meet new members, new investigators, and love my new area. But what will life be like without the Açores?

Also, one day I will be home from this mission. I will leave Portugal and a new sister will come here and I will go back home. I have 7 months left on my mission. Time is flying. The clock is ticking and I am trying my best. The Lord has called me to do His work for a short season. I hope I can do what He needs me to do and be who He needs me to be. 

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is the reason I wake up in the morning. It is the reason I can get out of bed at 7am. The Gospel gives everyone the chance to change, to be better, to reach our potential. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He redeemed us from death, and only asks us to follow Him and trust Him. So I´m going do that.

Here´s to another week! 

-Irmã McCrery

Top o' the evening to you

Last Sunday(1 week ago) was fast and testimony meeting. A member named Claudia bore her testimony. Claudia has been a member for about one year. She was introduced to the church through her younger sister Daniela. Daniela met with the missionaries and learned everything, but in the end her Dad wouldn´t let her be baptized (she is only 17). But Claudia was baptised, so was her boyfriend, then they got married, and now Claudia is the Young woman´s president(jsut got released from relief society president last month). Claudia is so firm. As she bore her testimony the tears streamed down her cheaks as she related her morning struggle to get out of bed and get to church. For the first time since her baptism, she didn´t want to go to church. She was angy and frustrated with God for the things that were happening in her life. But in the end of her tesitmony, she said that she finally decided to just come to Church, and that she already knew that it was the biggest blessing. It was a powerful testimony.

 I didn´t know what Claudia would have to be frustrated with God about. But Irmã Speigle (my comp) with her gift of discernment knew. Claudia´s sister Daniela who introduced her to the church, but was not yet baptized, had been struggling the past year with lots of personal issues. In the past Daniela had tried to take her own life, and that weekend before testimony meeting, Daniela had tried to take her own life again. Claudia did not say any of this in her testimony, but Irmã Speigle knew from past conversations with Claudia that her sister had struggled with this. 

We knew that there was something we could do. Something that the Lord had planned. We didn´t know how, and we didn´t know when the time would be right, but we knew we had to help Daniela. 

This experience came at a strange week for me. The week of the aniversary of my dad´s passing four years ago. I had no idea how personal things could really become, until this week. 

Sunday after Church we went to Daniela´s house to see if she would receive our visit. She let us in and was there with her friend Diogo, we talked. We expressed Heavenly Father´s love for her. We followed the spirit, and we scheduled another appoinment the next day. We had prayed as a companionship and knew that she needed to be baptized this weekend, that that was the will of the Lord.

As we studied each day for our lessons with her we knew that this weekend was her date of baptism, we knew it was the will of the Lord, we knew that the way would be prepared and that everything would fall into place so that she could start a new life. 

Wednesday was a rough day for me, I felt the weight of the situation on our shoulders. We didn´t seem to be getting through to her the reality of the blessings that Heavenly Father had waiting for her. She wanted to be baptized but didn´t feel like she had received a response to her prayer about baptism. As we had personal study in the morning I read Alma 36:17-21(can you insert the scripture here) . As I read I felt sorrow for Daniela, I felt pain for her pains that she was suffering, and that no one but Jesus Christ could understand. But at the same time I felt hope for Daniela, I knew that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ she could be healed of EVERY SINGLE PAIN.

I thought of my Dad. How he hurt. How he must have felt alone. How he didn´t really know of that Jesus Christ who came to save us all. It hurt to think about. But like Daniela, I felt that hope. That real true hope. That my Dad has had and will have the oppurtunity to accept Jesus Christ as his savior and enjoy the unexplainable relief that comes through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us.

Sometimes we suffer and feel like there is nothing more, no hope, and no one that understands. But here is the good news, Jesus Christ Lives. He lives! He knows us. He knows Daniela, and he knows my Dad. Although I felt like I didn´t know how to help Daniela, I knew that Jesus Christ does. I am weak and know nothing of her pains and sorrows, but He does.

So we taught her that day, and for the rest of the week. And after many many miracles, including the permisison of her father, daniela was baptized yesterday, february 13th.

It was a joyous day in my mission that I will never forget. had the privilege of being an instrument in the hands of God, to help one of His children find access to the relief, peace and joy that comes through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

There is hope, and that´s the truth.

I love you all.

-Lizzie

One For All...

Hello everyone,

This week was just plain good. This Saturday we had a party for Placido and Manuela. They got married on Thursday and moved back in with each other! HOORAY FOR FAMILIES! So we had a party in the chapel on Saturday, just a little something with delicious treats and good friends. It was really awesome. To see these two transform in a matter of less than 2 months. They heard the Gospel, accepted it, obeyed the commandments, got baptized, and got married. What faith. Now they are set on going to the Temple in one year to be sealed together for time and all eternity. I will try to send a picture . I made deviled eggs for the party, it is totally something the Portuguese people would love. Turns out, they do!

Carla was baptized yesterday! She is incredible. She just gets it, you know? She agreed to having us over to talk to her about the Gospel and the Church, but she said from the beginning ´´I´m catholic, I´m not changing, but I will listen...`` But as time went on we invited her to find out for her self, to talk with Heavenly Father about the things she was learning and to read the book of Mormon to know for herself. She changed. She really came to know her relationship with Him. Within three weeks she accepted and was baptized yesterday. She is firm in her conversion. It is a powerful thing to see. 

I have tons more to say, but not enough time. I love you all...

Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT FOR THE WEEK GOES TO MY ONE AND ONLY 

CLAIRE BEAUMONT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday!

Pictures: wedding party, baptism of Placido and Manuela.