Monday, September 26, 2011

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

Monday, September 19, 2011

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