This week was pretty miraculous. And also super awesome. On Tuesday, there was a HUGE celebration because it was the 40th birthday of the Church in Portugal! The youth put on this huge presentation, kind of like the ones they do at temple dedications. And WE GOT TO GO. I was so excited. It started out with Portugal in 1400´s, when they were exploring and discovering the world. There was a caravela ship and an adventurer. It continued to show some of the cultural aspects of Portugal, including some songs and dances! There were 8 dances, and then they sang Fado. Then, there was a movie about independence day--when Portugal rebelled and came out of the dictatorship. I didn´t know about it exactly--turns out it was a peaceful rebellion, with the soldiers marching with flowers on their guns. There was no bloodshed at all! Less than a month later, the Church entered! A mission president and 4 elders transferred from Brazil (talk about an emergency transfer..) arrived and began to teach. They had two "elders" (A couple of RMs who actually served here last year) do a little skit. Then there was a video interview with the first mission president, Presidente Bangerter, and a few of the very first converts. There was a flag presentation and some hymns and then the grande finale and then it was over. It was sooo cool! At the end I just wanted to stand up and say "Yeah! Portugal!"
Some other fun events:
Sister Derrick got the stomach flu or something on Thursday so we had to stay inside all day. It was actually super boring. I was kind of half expecting it to be a nice little break but I was sooo happy to leave the house again the next day.
Had to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. It was "missionary Sunday". Sister Derrick spoke on perservering to the end, Elder Bluemel spoke on "this is Christ´s Church" and I spoke about "The importance of all of us serving together in love". The topics were assigned. I mostly spoke about how we can be united through service and love.
Some fun people:
I´m not really sure why this happens, but we have this one investigator who whenever we visit her in house, she seems to not be wearing clothes. We went over on Saturday and she was wearing this towel-shirt-thing? and that was it. All I know is I am NEVER sitting on the chair she was in.
There is this recent convert named Gutinha who we visited. She is 13 years old, but looks like she is about 9, and acts like she´s 25. She was asking us a lot of really weird questions like "How did Satan get into the garden of Eden to tempt Adam and Eve?" "Are the giants in the Bible the children of humans and seraphim?" I was like, I don´t even know what a seraphim is. Read the Pearl of Great Price. But if anyone knows... Let me know. We´re seeing her again tonight.
Jorge! He got confirmed yesterday! He walked to the front of the room without his cane or anything! We also taught him about the priesthood and he asked, "So what would my duties in the priesthood be? How can I be prepared to recieve it?" He thinks he doesn´t know a lot, but he is learning so quickly.
Elvis: Yes, that is really his name. He is the boyfriend of the mom of two recent converts. The mom is a member too, for like 16 years, but she was inactive until recently. They want to get married so he can be baptized. They have been working on getting their papers (they´re brazilian) for MONTHS. Last night we went over and they said, "We will have all the paperwork ready for us to be married by the end of June!" I hope I stay here so I can see the wedding!
Tavares. So we met this guy named Tavares like... 5 weeks ago and have been trying to get a lesson with him ever since, but every time we set something up, something happens and it falls through. He randomly showed up to church last week though and so we have been praying really hard to meet with him to teach him. Last night, our plans fell through and we started heading down the street, to an area we don´t visit a lot. All the sudden, there he was! We taught him the first lesson right there and he said "Hey I really need to talk to you to get some help from God. Can we set up a time to meet every day this week?" Umm... Yes. We set up a time and he said, "Perfect. Now every day I can drop what I´m doing and learn about God". It was a miracle.
It was a pretty busy week. This week is the last week of the transfer so we´re going to work super hard. We´ll see what happens with trasnfers?? Sister Derrick got the stomach flu or something on Thursday so we had to stay inside all day. It was actually super boring. I was kind of half expecting it to be a nice little break but I was sooo happy to leave the house again the next day.
Had to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. It was "missionary Sunday". Sister Derrick spoke on perservering to the end, Elder Bluemel spoke on "this is Christ´s Church" and I spoke about "The importance of all of us serving together in love". The topics were assigned. I mostly spoke about how we can be united through service and love.
I´m not really sure why this happens, but we have this one investigator who whenever we visit her in house, she seems to not be wearing clothes. We went over on Saturday and she was wearing this towel-shirt-thing? and that was it. All I know is I am NEVER sitting on the chair she was in.
There is this recent convert named Gutinha who we visited. She is 13 years old, but looks like she is about 9, and acts like she´s 25. She was asking us a lot of really weird questions like "How did Satan get into the garden of Eden to tempt Adam and Eve?" "Are the giants in the Bible the children of humans and seraphim?" I was like, I don´t even know what a seraphim is. Read the Pearl of Great Price. But if anyone knows... Let me know. We´re seeing her again tonight.
Jorge! He got confirmed yesterday! He walked to the front of the room without his cane or anything! We also taught him about the priesthood and he asked, "So what would my duties in the priesthood be? How can I be prepared to recieve it?" He thinks he doesn´t know a lot, but he is learning so quickly.
Elvis: Yes, that is really his name. He is the boyfriend of the mom of two recent converts. The mom is a member too, for like 16 years, but she was inactive until recently. They want to get married so he can be baptized. They have been working on getting their papers (they´re brazilian) for MONTHS. Last night we went over and they said, "We will have all the paperwork ready for us to be married by the end of June!" I hope I stay here so I can see the wedding!
Tavares. So we met this guy named Tavares like... 5 weeks ago and have been trying to get a lesson with him ever since, but every time we set something up, something happens and it falls through. He randomly showed up to church last week though and so we have been praying really hard to meet with him to teach him. Last night, our plans fell through and we started heading down the street, to an area we don´t visit a lot. All the sudden, there he was! We taught him the first lesson right there and he said "Hey I really need to talk to you to get some help from God. Can we set up a time to meet every day this week?" Umm... Yes. We set up a time and he said, "Perfect. Now every day I can drop what I´m doing and learn about God". It was a miracle.
I hope you all have a fabulous week!! Love you tons!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
No comments:
Post a Comment