So I guess I´m 21 or something. That´s weird.
I am really learning so much on the mission. This week I learned the definition of "gluttony". It´s when you´re at your third unplanned dinner in a row and they pile your plate to overflowing and you have to eat it, because if you don´t eat they´ll get offended. And the food is good, it´s just that you literally can´t eat any more. Not just your stomach, but your entire esophagus is full of food. The food starts to become tasteless and you are just trying to shovel it down, but every bite you try to swallow just makes you gag and you throw up a little but can´t do anything about it. So you smile, with tears in your eyes, thanking the host for the delicious dinner, as you try to sneak your salsicha to the cat. And then they bring out the dessert, which is probably mostly sweetened condensced milk or cream. You roll yourself out the door and try not to get seasick with the motion of walking.
So we got fed 11 times this week. And then a lady at church gave us a bag with bread and yogurt. I guess they are really starting to feel the spirit of missionary work!
I also learned the Portuguese national anthem this week. It is wonderful because it doesn´t really sound like a song--just a bunch of snippets of music all squished together. Very Portuguese.
One of the miracles this week was seeing how people are beginning to recognize our calling as messengers of God. (Four of them cried). For example. On Wednesday night we had an appointment fall through and we felt prompted to go visit a recent convert, even though we had an appointment with her the next day. We went over, only having about 20 minutes before we had to go home. Her Bible was on the table, and I thought of a verse I had read that morning in the New Testament. I opened and was trying to find it but I couldn´t, so I just read a random verse and then we said 3 or 4 sentances about it. I don´t even remmeber what we said, but she started crying and said that those words were mesmo from Heavenly Father from her in that moment, "That wasn´t you but Him. It was exactly what I needed. Thank you." It was really incredible.
Another instance was one of our street contacts. We started talking to this woman and about 5 minutes later she was crying for she had "met two angels of God".
Saturday was a pretty great day. President and Sister Fluckiger were in Porto and, since they are looking for new apartments for the Braga missionaries, Sister Fluckiger came up to check out some of the apartments. Since it was my birthday, she ended up taking us to lunch at this really nice Brazilian restaurant. I love her so much. She is the best little mission mom ever. We also got letters, so that was exciting.
On Saturday night, we had the best noite de integração that I´ve ever been to. We had planned to watch The Testaments, so we got some popcorn. About 20 people were there, including the bishopric, recent converts, and investigators. During the whole filme, the Spirit was SO strong, but especially when Christ is visiting the people in America after He ressurects. When He heals the dad of his blindness, He first calls him by name. I had never noticed before, but we had English subtitles on for Michael. I thought that was so wonderful and so... true. Christ knows each of us by name and knows where we are and what are problems are and will come to us even if we don´t have the resources to reach Him ourselves. Because He loves us a lot :)
Speaking of English subtitles, I am learning a lot from Michael. He is the elders´ American recent convert and he doesn´t know any portuguese, but he comes faithfully to every meeting and the activities and just sits patiently. Sister Warburton and I translate for him in some meetings, but we can´t in all of them. Yesterday in sacrament meeting I was conducting the songs and so I was looking around at everyone during the talks. I thought it was so interesting because Michael was sitting in the back, not understanding anything. Everyone else looked bored or was playing on their phone or asleep, but he was looking intently at the speaker and looked like he was understanding more than everyone else who were understanding everything.
One of the best (and creepiest) parts of being a missionary is realizing how thin the veil is. We can feel the forces, both good and bad, working around us every day. One of the most comforting things is feeling the angels that are around us to protect us and walk by our side. Thank you all for your prayers-- I can feel their power!
If you haven´t seen it recently, you should watch The Testaments this week. It is a powerful testimony of our Saviour :)
I love you all tons! Thank you for the birthday wishes. The cake was also delicious :)
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
P.s. Look at this tiny car.
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