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