Me and Clara
Micaela and Crew
Sister Anderson and I
Us and Luis Carlos Sousa!
Madeeeiiiira
Our beach!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Good blood
Querida família,
So I got fleas.
Well more specifically, just one flea. But it bit me like, 100 times. Here´s what happened. Yesterday we had no compromissos, so we planned to try to find some old investigators (from a while back--when there were still elders in the branch). So we found the road, and were going up, and then it turned into this sketchy alley-way. But it was still light outside, so we decided to see what we could find. We saw an old lady and started to talk to her, when suddenly her cat thing started trying to rub itself against us. It did not look normal. It had like a crusty ear and a runny eye and its fur was all matted and dirty and I didn´t want it near me. So we left pretty quickly. A few minutes later though, I felt something bite my arm. When I looked I didn´t see anything, just some bites. Then awhile later, my back started getting really, really itchy. Sister Anderson looked and said I had a bunch of weird white dots. So we went to Micaela´s house, because she knows everything. She took one look and said "Looks like a pulga" (a flea). So right when we got home (probably should have waited until after planning but I wasn´t going to just sit there with a BUG CRAWLING ON ME), I went and took a shower. I inspected my clothes, and sure enough, there was one small black bug, a little smaller than a grain of rice. I squished it and it just exploded in blood--MY blood. Micaela said to put my clothes to soak in some cold water and that if there were more, they would float to the top. I left my clothes soaking overnight but no other bugs came up so, that was the only one. Now my back is still really itchy. I guess the members were right about me having "good blood"--every insect here treats me like a feast!
Besides the pulgas, we had some other adventures this week. We had interviews with Presidente Fluckiger--and it was kind of neat because there are only ten missionaries in our whole zone so we actually had some time to talk to him and Sister Fluckiger.
I got beijinhos from a man for the first time in my mission. I was SO CLOSE to making it through but no--Luis´s dad got me. I was trying to say we can´t, but it was too late. And after he got the first one, Luis said "Dad they can´t!" It was awkward.
We learned some Portuguese jokes from Sister Silva. I think Portugal humor is a lot different... For example:
Q: What is a lice (a louse?) doing on a bald man´s head?
A: Looking for shelter!
She would crack up and we would kind of laugh nervously...
We worked with Luis again every day. He is so awesome. Especially because he says things like: "Actually sisters are better than elders because they´re the ones who work".
Also, we had a HUGE miracle this week! I don´t know if I already told you about Joaquim? He is 22 years old and we contacted him a few weeks ago. He was going to the Igreja Universal. We had some lessons with him and he got answers to his prayers and said he knew the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but that he still felt like there was more than one true church of Christ on the earth. He also believed that he had already recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost. We were kind of at a dead end, not knowing how to help him more, so we were just praying that he would recieve an answer about the Church that he could not deny.
So on Saturday night, we were up working on the mountain. I don´t know where it came from, but we just got this FIRE and were working harder than I have ever worked in my life. We were knocking doors and just telling people "We are mensagers of God here to tell you that His Church is on earth again!" and we were talking to EVERYONE because we felt so much like something was there for us to do. But, nothing. Not a single person even would set up a return appointment. So finally, at 8 p.m. we gave up. We had a compromisso with Joaquim at the capela at 8:15 .So we went to catch the bus--and we had missed the last one. So we walked down the mountain. We finally got to the church at 9. (We had called to say why we were late.) When we got there, Joaquim was sitting in the sacrament meeting room, reading the Book of Mormon. He came out and he looked, different somehow. He told us, "I didn´t already recieve the confirmation of the Holy Ghost." And he said, "I´m going to come to church tomorrow" (he had never been before). We talked for awhile, and then he said "I feel like God thinks this Church would be perfect for me. But I still want to ponder some more". So we said to go home and pray, and we´ll talk at Church. We went to catch the bus. As we were waiting, he called. He said, "I have recieved an answer. God spoke to me in my heart. He said this: `My son, I am very happy for you--you have found the true church of God, where you should attend, and be baptized. It was not by chance that I put my daughters in your path. I love you all.´" Then Joaquim said, "That´s what Heavenly Father said to me. I am so happy. I recieved an answer." We were with tears in our eyes, because Heavenly Father didn´t just answer his prayer--He answered ours as well. We said, "Do you want to get baptized next Sunday?" And he said yes, of course. He came to church and stayed all three hours--actually when we left 30 minutes after church ended, he was still there talking to some members. It was incredible to see how his heart has been moved. Wow!
That was the news of the week. Heavenly Father is so incredible! When we just trust in Him, and let go of every single last tiny little doubt, He will give us marvelous miracles.
I know that He loves us so much! He just wants us to be happy. All of this--the Church and whatever else--is only for that reason, our happiness. This Church is true--it´s the only true one! God said so Himself!
I love you all tons! Have a wonderful week!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
So I got fleas.
Well more specifically, just one flea. But it bit me like, 100 times. Here´s what happened. Yesterday we had no compromissos, so we planned to try to find some old investigators (from a while back--when there were still elders in the branch). So we found the road, and were going up, and then it turned into this sketchy alley-way. But it was still light outside, so we decided to see what we could find. We saw an old lady and started to talk to her, when suddenly her cat thing started trying to rub itself against us. It did not look normal. It had like a crusty ear and a runny eye and its fur was all matted and dirty and I didn´t want it near me. So we left pretty quickly. A few minutes later though, I felt something bite my arm. When I looked I didn´t see anything, just some bites. Then awhile later, my back started getting really, really itchy. Sister Anderson looked and said I had a bunch of weird white dots. So we went to Micaela´s house, because she knows everything. She took one look and said "Looks like a pulga" (a flea). So right when we got home (probably should have waited until after planning but I wasn´t going to just sit there with a BUG CRAWLING ON ME), I went and took a shower. I inspected my clothes, and sure enough, there was one small black bug, a little smaller than a grain of rice. I squished it and it just exploded in blood--MY blood. Micaela said to put my clothes to soak in some cold water and that if there were more, they would float to the top. I left my clothes soaking overnight but no other bugs came up so, that was the only one. Now my back is still really itchy. I guess the members were right about me having "good blood"--every insect here treats me like a feast!
Besides the pulgas, we had some other adventures this week. We had interviews with Presidente Fluckiger--and it was kind of neat because there are only ten missionaries in our whole zone so we actually had some time to talk to him and Sister Fluckiger.
I got beijinhos from a man for the first time in my mission. I was SO CLOSE to making it through but no--Luis´s dad got me. I was trying to say we can´t, but it was too late. And after he got the first one, Luis said "Dad they can´t!" It was awkward.
We learned some Portuguese jokes from Sister Silva. I think Portugal humor is a lot different... For example:
Q: What is a lice (a louse?) doing on a bald man´s head?
A: Looking for shelter!
She would crack up and we would kind of laugh nervously...
We worked with Luis again every day. He is so awesome. Especially because he says things like: "Actually sisters are better than elders because they´re the ones who work".
Also, we had a HUGE miracle this week! I don´t know if I already told you about Joaquim? He is 22 years old and we contacted him a few weeks ago. He was going to the Igreja Universal. We had some lessons with him and he got answers to his prayers and said he knew the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but that he still felt like there was more than one true church of Christ on the earth. He also believed that he had already recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost. We were kind of at a dead end, not knowing how to help him more, so we were just praying that he would recieve an answer about the Church that he could not deny.
So on Saturday night, we were up working on the mountain. I don´t know where it came from, but we just got this FIRE and were working harder than I have ever worked in my life. We were knocking doors and just telling people "We are mensagers of God here to tell you that His Church is on earth again!" and we were talking to EVERYONE because we felt so much like something was there for us to do. But, nothing. Not a single person even would set up a return appointment. So finally, at 8 p.m. we gave up. We had a compromisso with Joaquim at the capela at 8:15 .So we went to catch the bus--and we had missed the last one. So we walked down the mountain. We finally got to the church at 9. (We had called to say why we were late.) When we got there, Joaquim was sitting in the sacrament meeting room, reading the Book of Mormon. He came out and he looked, different somehow. He told us, "I didn´t already recieve the confirmation of the Holy Ghost." And he said, "I´m going to come to church tomorrow" (he had never been before). We talked for awhile, and then he said "I feel like God thinks this Church would be perfect for me. But I still want to ponder some more". So we said to go home and pray, and we´ll talk at Church. We went to catch the bus. As we were waiting, he called. He said, "I have recieved an answer. God spoke to me in my heart. He said this: `My son, I am very happy for you--you have found the true church of God, where you should attend, and be baptized. It was not by chance that I put my daughters in your path. I love you all.´" Then Joaquim said, "That´s what Heavenly Father said to me. I am so happy. I recieved an answer." We were with tears in our eyes, because Heavenly Father didn´t just answer his prayer--He answered ours as well. We said, "Do you want to get baptized next Sunday?" And he said yes, of course. He came to church and stayed all three hours--actually when we left 30 minutes after church ended, he was still there talking to some members. It was incredible to see how his heart has been moved. Wow!
That was the news of the week. Heavenly Father is so incredible! When we just trust in Him, and let go of every single last tiny little doubt, He will give us marvelous miracles.
I know that He loves us so much! He just wants us to be happy. All of this--the Church and whatever else--is only for that reason, our happiness. This Church is true--it´s the only true one! God said so Himself!
I love you all tons! Have a wonderful week!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
Monday, September 8, 2014
They don't pay me to advertise
Querida família,
Another week passed so quickly! This week was really great! We have been finding some really great people, and also have been getting to know the members a lot better. I LOVE them. They are all so wonderful. Here is a little bit about some of them:
Micaela, José and their family. They were baptized a little over a year ago and have the missionaries over for dinner every Sunday night (at least). They treat us like their own daughters. They are SO funny. And also cook really well! Going to their house is like going home for an hour (at the top of some really sketchy stairs).
Luis Sousa. He also got baptized a little more than a year ago. He´s 20 and last transfer served a mini-mission on the other side of the island. He helps us 2 or 3 times every week. And never complains when plans fall through! On Saturday he went with us all afternoon. It started POURING rain and he didn´t complain at all that he was soaking wet. We just tried to hide in doorways and under trees during the worst bits (and luckily an old man gave us a piece of cardboard to use as an umbrella). He also encourages us if the day is hard. One of his pep talks: "Let´s go find some news."
Carlos. Also a recent convert. He helps us several times a week as well. He just finished reading the Book of Mormon all the way through, and right after started again. He walks a half hour to church, but is always at every meeting and activity 20 minutes early. He is like our brother here.
Rita and Paulo Vieira. The new branch president and his wife. They are wonderful. They have two awesome kids at home (and another in America). We went over for dinner on Friday and it was delicious and wonderful. They are pro-active about sharing the gospel with everyone and just have so much love. They are incredible.
Okay that´s all. Now some other events of the week.
On Tuesday Sister Cullimore had to go to Lisboa to do her residency, so we had an awkward tripla with Sister Silva all day. I kind of felt like we were in a gang because there were so many of us. And we would just go up to a person to talk to them and I think they felt like we were going to surround them and overtake them. I think everyone was scared of us.
Free ice cream! I got a free scoop of ice cream. At that Italian geladeria they have punch cards and when you buy 9 scoops you get one free. 10 scoops in 3 weeks? Not bad.
Our district is awesome. We made up a handshake and a cheer. The handshake goes: shake, C, slide, bump, thumb, pinky, M, link, snap, shake, F, snap, slide, bump, five. Our ward mission leader Joel asked if someone taught it to us or if we made it up. So it must look professional.
On Saturday we went with Joel to visit one of the first members of the church on Madeira! She is in a nursing home now. At first she didn´t know who we were or anything, but then we started singing hymns, and she started to remember. Then she started singing with us! She knew 5 or 6 by heart. And then she remembered almost everything. It was incredible to see the power of the hymns!
Our mission scripture of the month is D&C 11:8. I really like it. I know that if we really want it (and show that we really want it by our actions), we can help everyone around us to be happier!
I hope you all have a wonderful week in school! Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!!! I love you all tons!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
Another week passed so quickly! This week was really great! We have been finding some really great people, and also have been getting to know the members a lot better. I LOVE them. They are all so wonderful. Here is a little bit about some of them:
Micaela, José and their family. They were baptized a little over a year ago and have the missionaries over for dinner every Sunday night (at least). They treat us like their own daughters. They are SO funny. And also cook really well! Going to their house is like going home for an hour (at the top of some really sketchy stairs).
Luis Sousa. He also got baptized a little more than a year ago. He´s 20 and last transfer served a mini-mission on the other side of the island. He helps us 2 or 3 times every week. And never complains when plans fall through! On Saturday he went with us all afternoon. It started POURING rain and he didn´t complain at all that he was soaking wet. We just tried to hide in doorways and under trees during the worst bits (and luckily an old man gave us a piece of cardboard to use as an umbrella). He also encourages us if the day is hard. One of his pep talks: "Let´s go find some news."
Carlos. Also a recent convert. He helps us several times a week as well. He just finished reading the Book of Mormon all the way through, and right after started again. He walks a half hour to church, but is always at every meeting and activity 20 minutes early. He is like our brother here.
Rita and Paulo Vieira. The new branch president and his wife. They are wonderful. They have two awesome kids at home (and another in America). We went over for dinner on Friday and it was delicious and wonderful. They are pro-active about sharing the gospel with everyone and just have so much love. They are incredible.
Okay that´s all. Now some other events of the week.
On Tuesday Sister Cullimore had to go to Lisboa to do her residency, so we had an awkward tripla with Sister Silva all day. I kind of felt like we were in a gang because there were so many of us. And we would just go up to a person to talk to them and I think they felt like we were going to surround them and overtake them. I think everyone was scared of us.
Free ice cream! I got a free scoop of ice cream. At that Italian geladeria they have punch cards and when you buy 9 scoops you get one free. 10 scoops in 3 weeks? Not bad.
Our district is awesome. We made up a handshake and a cheer. The handshake goes: shake, C, slide, bump, thumb, pinky, M, link, snap, shake, F, snap, slide, bump, five. Our ward mission leader Joel asked if someone taught it to us or if we made it up. So it must look professional.
On Saturday we went with Joel to visit one of the first members of the church on Madeira! She is in a nursing home now. At first she didn´t know who we were or anything, but then we started singing hymns, and she started to remember. Then she started singing with us! She knew 5 or 6 by heart. And then she remembered almost everything. It was incredible to see the power of the hymns!
Our mission scripture of the month is D&C 11:8. I really like it. I know that if we really want it (and show that we really want it by our actions), we can help everyone around us to be happier!
I hope you all have a wonderful week in school! Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!!! I love you all tons!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
Monday, September 1, 2014
A tiny seed
Querida família,
This week was kind of hilarious. I love Sister Anderson so much. We just laugh all day long. Even when no one is interested and they just stare at us and then walk away, we just have fun anyways. We sing a little song about it: "A seed... a tiny seed..." It´s so wonderful.
Our first adventure: We had an appointment to teach a homeless man in the park (he is only homeless because he likes to sleep outside). We showed up and he was there with another person, but he had to leave for a minute, so we were just going to sit there and call some people while we waited. Suddenly, a man with a dog literally the size of a small cow showed up. It was un-leashed. It started walking towards us and Sister Anderson exclaimed, "It´s a baby cow! And it´s coming this way!" So we moved to the other side of the park, still waiting for our investigator to come back. I think it smelled our (her) fear, because it followed us. At one point it ran to its owner and bit his arm, so he hit it, and then we thought it would get mad, so as it ran back towards us, Sister Anderson was praying fervently in her head, until finally she cried, "Oh God, please help us!" After that, we left. Hopefully we´ll run into the investigator another day.
So there is this less-active member named Smith (pronounced Smeet) who works at a restaurant right below our house. Every night we shake his hand and he asks us to pray for him. This week he told me that I have a Portuguese smile (toothless??) and Sister Anderson that she looks like a grandma.
We had some member meals this week taht left their... footprints on our memory. One was chicken foot jardineira and the other was pig foot stew. With toenail and all.
We contacted a man stopped on his motorcycle. He didn´t want to give us any information, but called us the next day to say he´d gotten in a motorcycle crash and that he needed the number of a hospital. We called a member and got the phone number and gave it to him. But when we called back the next day he didn´t answer. So hopefully he is okay.
There is this Russian waiter that works in two restaurants, one right by the chapel and the other in our area. He always tries to teach us Russian words, but we can never remember them, so sometimes we just smile and shout a gibberish word across the street "Arribadoocha!" He always answers though. Gift of tongues?
We ran to catch a lot of buses this week. Some of them we missed. Some members told us at church they saw us running. Also the bus drivers here are REALLY good drivers. They can parallel park the buses!
On Saturday, we had lunch with our ward mission leader Joel, his less-active niece Joana, a recent convert Wang, and his investigator friend José. We ate some Portuguese rice and sausage and cabbage stuff, then for dessert had something called "burned eggs". It is literally scrambled eggs carmalized in sugar. It was interesting. But then we watched the Restoration video (it was Joel´s idea). He is awesome. He was talking about his baptism to José and how great it was. He also has like 4 callings, including ward secretary.
In Church yesterday we had the 5th Sunday lesson. For the first 40 minutes we "trained" two hymns with the regente (chorister?). He had music on his computer and would stop and say "No you´re not singing it right" and then teach everyone how it actually goes. It was so funny. I didn´t really understand why we were doing that but, now our branch knows a new hymn and will sing an old one on tune!
It was really hot this week. There was a weather forecast for the week: Every day--low 75 degrees. High 88 degrees. 60% humidity. More ice cream!
I liked this quote from Church: "The only thing that matters [in the work of the Lord] is that we do our part, and that we are willing to never give up." It doesn´t matter if the investigators aren´t interested, or if the people you home-teach never answer the door--it only matters if you do your part consistently and diligently. Then we will see miracles in our own lives, and in the lives of others as well :)
I hope that the first week of school was wonderful, and that it just gets better from here! I love you all TONS!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
P.s. Don´t send me any more mail after this weekend!
Also, Joaquim got baptized back in Miratejo!
This week was kind of hilarious. I love Sister Anderson so much. We just laugh all day long. Even when no one is interested and they just stare at us and then walk away, we just have fun anyways. We sing a little song about it: "A seed... a tiny seed..." It´s so wonderful.
Our first adventure: We had an appointment to teach a homeless man in the park (he is only homeless because he likes to sleep outside). We showed up and he was there with another person, but he had to leave for a minute, so we were just going to sit there and call some people while we waited. Suddenly, a man with a dog literally the size of a small cow showed up. It was un-leashed. It started walking towards us and Sister Anderson exclaimed, "It´s a baby cow! And it´s coming this way!" So we moved to the other side of the park, still waiting for our investigator to come back. I think it smelled our (her) fear, because it followed us. At one point it ran to its owner and bit his arm, so he hit it, and then we thought it would get mad, so as it ran back towards us, Sister Anderson was praying fervently in her head, until finally she cried, "Oh God, please help us!" After that, we left. Hopefully we´ll run into the investigator another day.
So there is this less-active member named Smith (pronounced Smeet) who works at a restaurant right below our house. Every night we shake his hand and he asks us to pray for him. This week he told me that I have a Portuguese smile (toothless??) and Sister Anderson that she looks like a grandma.
We had some member meals this week taht left their... footprints on our memory. One was chicken foot jardineira and the other was pig foot stew. With toenail and all.
We contacted a man stopped on his motorcycle. He didn´t want to give us any information, but called us the next day to say he´d gotten in a motorcycle crash and that he needed the number of a hospital. We called a member and got the phone number and gave it to him. But when we called back the next day he didn´t answer. So hopefully he is okay.
There is this Russian waiter that works in two restaurants, one right by the chapel and the other in our area. He always tries to teach us Russian words, but we can never remember them, so sometimes we just smile and shout a gibberish word across the street "Arribadoocha!" He always answers though. Gift of tongues?
We ran to catch a lot of buses this week. Some of them we missed. Some members told us at church they saw us running. Also the bus drivers here are REALLY good drivers. They can parallel park the buses!
On Saturday, we had lunch with our ward mission leader Joel, his less-active niece Joana, a recent convert Wang, and his investigator friend José. We ate some Portuguese rice and sausage and cabbage stuff, then for dessert had something called "burned eggs". It is literally scrambled eggs carmalized in sugar. It was interesting. But then we watched the Restoration video (it was Joel´s idea). He is awesome. He was talking about his baptism to José and how great it was. He also has like 4 callings, including ward secretary.
In Church yesterday we had the 5th Sunday lesson. For the first 40 minutes we "trained" two hymns with the regente (chorister?). He had music on his computer and would stop and say "No you´re not singing it right" and then teach everyone how it actually goes. It was so funny. I didn´t really understand why we were doing that but, now our branch knows a new hymn and will sing an old one on tune!
It was really hot this week. There was a weather forecast for the week: Every day--low 75 degrees. High 88 degrees. 60% humidity. More ice cream!
I liked this quote from Church: "The only thing that matters [in the work of the Lord] is that we do our part, and that we are willing to never give up." It doesn´t matter if the investigators aren´t interested, or if the people you home-teach never answer the door--it only matters if you do your part consistently and diligently. Then we will see miracles in our own lives, and in the lives of others as well :)
I hope that the first week of school was wonderful, and that it just gets better from here! I love you all TONS!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
P.s. Don´t send me any more mail after this weekend!
Also, Joaquim got baptized back in Miratejo!
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