Division one, check

Hey there família,
It was a good week! We ate some ice cream and a fartura, so there is no way it wasn´t good. We had a division with the sisters who we live with. I went with Sister Anderson. We had a really fun day getting to know each other better and making some goals for our work. And I learned SO much! More than I have ever learned in any other division. I realized some things I can do to improve, and it was really fun too :)
What else happened this week... oh one of our elders got emergency transferred. He was here one day and the next he was just gone. I guess it was kind of like what it will be like at the second coming. It will just, happen.
We had a huge combined zone conference on wednesday! I saw everyone! Sister Cutler and Sister Bollinger and a bunch of elders from the MTC or other districts. It was really fun and also a really good meeting. AND they gave us lunch.
So a lot of our investigators have kids with autism. Not a lot, but 2. We went over to one on Saturday, and their boy, who is twelve, is in this give-everyone-massages phase. UNfortunately, that is very much against mission rules, so we had a fun game of cat-and-massage-mouse while we taught.
Last night we visited one of our Cabo Verdian investigators. Her name is Dulce and she is wonderful. She was cooking dinner for her and her son, and she invited us to stay and eat. We tried to refuse because they didn´t have much food but she insisted. She served us first, leaving less for herself. It was one of the most... selfless things I have ever seen. I was so grateful the whole time. It is amazing how these people have so little physically, but give SO much. And in return, will recieve even more blessings. She has a lot of qualities I want to develop.
Besides that, it was a normal week. No one showed up to church, s today and tomorrow we´re gonig to visit the 15 people who said they would come and see what´s going on. Hopefully we can help them.
I hope you all have a wonderful st patrick´s day!! I love you tons :)
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
pictures-me with Sisters Cutler Bollinger and Anderson

 

first week in odivelas

Ola família,
Well, I made it through the first week! Here I am in the heart of Lisbon. I´m still a bit lost as to a lot of what is going on... It´s a bit weird going to a new area. Everything looks completely new but also strangely familiar.
The Lisbon Situation:
Alright so. My area is Lisboa 5A, otherwise known as Odivelas. There are 3 duplas in the ward here, two of sisters and one of elders. The elders are Elder Seeley and Elder Bluemel. Us sisters all live together. The other dupla is Sister Salies (Brazilian) and Sister Anderson (Coloradian). My companion is Sister Derrick from Kaysville. She´s been on her mission about 8 months, so just a little less than me. She´s the youngest child in her family. Pretty short, so I feel like a super giant around the little portuguese people. But luckily most of the ward here is african young men who are all pretty tall, so that helps.
The ward has about 100 people, including a bunch of kids so we have a pretty good Primary. Church was very interesting. It starts at 9:30 and sacrament meeting is last.
Big events of the week:
-One morning during studies some Jehovah´s Witnesses knocked on our door. They saw our nametags and said "Oh" and left.
-I had a terrible dream that all my teeth were breaking and falling out. All of them, starting in the back. All I had left were little nubs. And I just had all these pieces of teeth in my hand. And Mom just said "Don´t worry we´ll just put a sealant on it". I kept saying "A sealant is not going to fix this!" But then I woke up and my teeth were still in my mouth so that was a huge relief.
-It was "Dia das Mulheres" yesterday (woman´s day). Nothing happened.
-Mostly this week I just realized how hard it is going to be to leave Portugal. Just leaving an area was hard enough. Even though sometimes it´s super rough, I like it here.
I am feeling a little better than last week, but it´s still kind of hard. My companion and I are getting along well, but I still don´t really know her. Also, our area is HILLS. Just hills. We walk uphill bothways everywhere. I don´t understand the physics of it.
Also, one interesting thing. When a new transfer starts, you get a boost of energy, that helps you work and just live. In the beginning of the mission, the new-transfer-energy lasted me about 5 and a half weeks of the six. a couple of trasnfers ago, it lasted till about week three or four. This transfer it lasted until Thursday. Haha. I don´t know what it is about a mission that just wears you out but I am SO tired. And every day you are the most tired you have ever been in your life, but you know tomorrow you will set a new record. It is actually pretty incredible that anyone even survives their mission :) But that is where rgrace comes into play. I don´t know why it´s called "serving" a mission like you´re giving some sort of service or something because I am not giving anything. Heavenly Father is doing all of it, literally. Because I am just too worn out. And so He helps me get up and walk around and talk to people. So really He is just helping me. The whole time. And I´m not doing anything. It´s like Mosiah 2:21.
There is a family here that we´re working with. The dad is a member, for about two years, but the mom and two kids aren´t yet. They want to get baptized so have the "remission of sins", but they don´t seem to understand that there is a requirement part beforehand, to learn everything and start living everything. I think they think baptism just changes who you are. And it does, but only if you have prepared for that change. ANy ideas on how to help them?
Not much else happened this week. I still don´t really know where anything is or who anyone is so, no big news yet.
Thanks for all the emails and prayers. I love you all tons,
com amor,
Sister Gidney
P.s. Pictures of Marta´s baptism, and the district in Braga.

I hate transfers

Hi,
I will tell you about the week better. On Monday morning I got a phone call "Hey you need to come to Lisbon tomorrow". "What we have a baptism tomorrow" "Oh shoot are you serious?". But all the detail were worked out. We left Braga 5 pm and got to Lisbon around 11. We went to the meeting in the morning, but after lunch, I left with another sister from Porto. We took the train back up and made it back to Braga at 6 p.m. We went to the capela and... the font was empty! The elders were there running around freaking out. Sister Warburton and I said a prayer that the hot water would work and it started filling up. The elders were trying to attach a hose to the sink in the cleaning room so it would fillup faster but everything eventually worked out. The font filled up, and Marta got baptised!!! It was a really nice service. There were a lot of ward members there (including one who we had visited with her visiting teacher last week, so that was really nice).
On of the most wonderful parts about Marta´s baptism was not until Thursday. We always walk with her to English class and things like that. She used to walk pretty slowly, kind of like she was weighed down. And turns out she was--by sin. Because on thursday, after her baptism, we were walking with her to english class and she was walking quickly and bouncing and skipping like a new spring chicken. She was literally lighter and happier to the point that anyone would notice. Baptism. It really works.
Yesterday in Church Marta bore her testimony. She was the first one up. She said basically, when she first moved to portugal in november, she didn´t believe in God anymore because of all the bad things that had happened in her life. But then two girls showed up at her door, on her birthday, and started talking to her about a church. She started going and reading the BOok of Mormon and slowly, the stone that was her heart began to soften. She said, "I know they may leave, but they will always be in my heart. Friends forever. I believe in this church and I believe in the Book of Mormon". And she bore a wnoderful testimony, and even finished "In the name of Jesus Christ amen". It was so wnoderful. The spirit was so strong and it really set the tone for the rest of the meeting.
Last night we were ahving a barbecue for the end of the trasnfer at Marta´s when Sister Fluckiger called. "Sister Gidney you are leaving tomorrow". Then I started crying. I was in Braga for 3 transfers and with Sister Warburton for 2 and even though sometimes it was the hardest thing in the world it was also so wonderful and I didn´t want it to end. I am going to miss her and there and them so much. I already do. I think when I come home I am going to have an emotional breakdown because I can´t even get trasnferred without bawling my eyes out.
I miss you all and love you all tons.
Com amor,
Sister Gidney

7 more days

Ola família!
So not much happened this week. It was one of those crawling weeks. Mostly we just met with Marta. But a couple of fun things happened.
Turns out one of the less active members is in the mental hospital, so we visited her. It was not as weird as I expected. We sang some hymns with her and said a little prayer. And then the nurse asked if he could come to church. And as we were leaving the Spirit was like "Good job sisters". It was wonderful.
The other night we had a dinner with one of the members, Suzanah. She is from Finland, and speaks English but only a little bit of Portuguese so church is hard for her. But we are her friends now. Anyway, she made the best dinner I have had in Portugal--tacos! We were started the meal and realized the salsa jar wasn´t opened. It was jsut us three, since her husband was at work. But we thought we could open it. We tried and tried. Sister Warburton and I tried together. We used a towel. We ran it under hot water. We peeled off the label. And, nothing. The lid wouldn´t budge, even after 10 minutes. We were, of course, slightly crestfallen at the thought of salsa-less tacos, so we decided to give it one more crack. Sister Warburton said a quick prayer first, "Heavenly Father, we are going to try to open this salsa jar, but we really need your help. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen". And so we gave it one more try. We grabbed the lid, twisted, and... pop! It came off as easy as anything! "Ask, and it shall be opened unto you...."
Also: Deal of the week at Pingo Doce: Buy one pig foot and get a free umbrella!
Besides that, the only things exciting that have been happening are in our digestive system. We´ve had some strange meals given to us... If you were wondering, your instestines CAN do backflips.
Yep. That´s about it. Sister Warburton and I really love this video https://www.lds.org/youth/theme/2014?lang=eng
I hope you are all having good weeks. I love you lots and pray for you too!
Love,
Sister Gidney

Tea with a millionaire

Olaaaa,
This week was ridiculous!
So GUESS WHAT. MARTA IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! She finally finally said yes! We went over on wednesday morning, planning to read 3 Nephi 27. We read it with her and asked, so which side do you want to be on? The side that endures to the end or the one that´s lanced into the inferno? And she said, "Obviously I want to be on the side that perseveres to the end". So we used some other scriptures to explain that the way to ENTER onto the road of enduring to the end is by the door of baptism, and that we don´t have to ahve a perfect knowledge beforehand because the Holy Ghost will guide us. We invited her to be baptized on the 25th. She avoided answering and started asking a bunch of questions about what do you wear, who baptizes you, do you have to have a lot of people there, etc. After we answered, we sat in silence for about 30 seconds and she just looked down, thinking. Then she looked up at us, smiled, and said "Okay. The 25th then." So obviously we freaked out a little bit. We told her we were really happy and she said she is too :) I am so excited.
Almost as equally exciting, we met the ex-boyfriend of a less active member this week and he also wants to get baptized! Sergio. If you could keep both him and Marta in your prayers we would appreciate it!
On Thursday morning we contacted a mute lady. Either that or she was a very good actress. It was confusing. Maybe I´ll learn Portuguese sign language.
Last week we met this lady named Clementina (like the fruit). We had our first lesson with her this week and, turns out she´s a millionaire. She gave us some lemon juice-tea stuff and some delicious cookies. It was probably the most expensive snack I´ve ever had. We sat in a half-a-million-dollar apartment teaching a millionaire about Jesus! But it was actually a really wonderful lesson--she is one of the most genuine, sincere moms I have met here. She retired so she could be a stay-at-home mom, and she basically would make a wonderful LDS mom. We are really excited to keep teaching her (and not just for her tithing).
I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine´s day! I love you all tons!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
p.s. a picture from Bom Jesus at sunset, and a codfish store. bacalhau....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Querida família,
Hurricane Stephanie has hit Braga!
Okay that is a bit melodramatic. It wasn´t a hurricane, but there was a huge storm warning yesterday afternoon (and it really was named Stephanie). It was a Code Red so we had to go home a couple of hours early. We went around and shut all the shutters and blinds and gathered up flashlights and candles and charged our phone, preparing for the worst. The rain began to pound against the windows, and the wind howled, but besides that nothing happened. But it looks like your fast for rain worked!
This week we had some fun adventures! On Tuesday we had zone conference in Porto, so we took the opportunity to get lunch there as well. We got the best francesinhas in Portugal (we know because one of the elders who works in Porto has tried them ALL). And it was delicious. A francesinha is basically a heart attack sandwich. It has two pieces of toast. In between the toast is about 6 big pieces of meat, including sausage, bacon, steak, and who knows what else. Then 3 slices of cheese are melted over the top, and it is all covered in a creamy red sauce. It´s served in a giant bowl, and eaten with a knife and a fork. It was delicious.
On the way home from zone conference, we got to the train station about 1 minute before our train left. We had paid for a round trip before leaving, but we didn´t have time to tap our little cards on the machine to validate them before hopping on the train. Normally there is a ticket man that you can have do that, but when we got on, there wasn´t one. We spent the next few stops standing in the door to see if there was a machine close enough for us to hop off, vlaidate, and hop back on. It was kind of stressful. But finally a ticket man appeared so we just had him do it.
On Thursday, all of our plans fell through before we even left the house, so we decided to pass by the members in our area. We made a list of a few of them, and started to pass by. Almost no one was home. Finally we got to the house of Catia, who is completely active. We were a bit confused why we had felt to visit her, but we knocked anyway. She was home and let us in. we began talking, and long story short, we were sent there by the Lord. She had really been needing someone to talk to and was feeling a bit lost. Because of that a bunch of doubts were attacking her. But she said because we visited, she knows God loves her and she knows that she is doing the right thing to continue in the Church.
Thursday night we had our first English class. The students wanted to learn a basic get-to-know-you converstaion, but it seems they knew more English than we assumed, because in the practices we heard conversations such as: "Hi how are you? I love you. Let´s go to Mcdonald´s:"
On Friday, we had an amazing lesson with a menos ativa member, Rosa. She one of the first members in portugal, baptized in 1976, but hasn´t been to church for about a year. We had passed by the day before and set up an appointment. We went back and began to just talk. She is 65 and has recently gone back to university, so we helped her with her english homework. We then gave her the first lesson pamphlet--In english. She read and translated the first paragraph, which says basically "God is your Heavenly Father. He loves you and wants you to be happy". She began to cry a little and shared that on Wednesday night, she had had a dream that she hadn´t understood until that moment. She dreamed in English, for the first time ever. The dream was that she had a ring, and she knew it meant she had made a promise. Someone came to take away the ring because she wasn´t keeping her part, but two people showed up and were helping her, in English. She said that after we gave her the english pamphlet she understood, and she interpretted her dream to mean that we, the sisters, were sent by God to remind her of her baptism promise and to help her return, to keep that ring. She has a surgery this weekend, but wants to come to church as soon as she recovers. As she was explaining her dream, I just felt the Spirit so strongly and God´s acceptance and love. "As Sisters in Zion" came into my head, the second verse where it says "the errand of angels is given to [sisters]". It was really, really... wonderful!
Saturday night we went over to Ana and Margarita´s house for dinner and their dog ate off my plate.
We are also trying to try all of the Bolo de Berlim flavors. There are 18. We have had 8.
I hope you all have a wonderful week. It sounds like you are having a bunch of adventures as well. Have a good Valentine´s day! Do and be good!
And also happy birthday Dad!
Love you all tons!
Sister Gidney

Worcestershire sauce

Ola queridinha família,
I can´t figure out what to say in this first paragraph, so here is what we did this week!
On Tuesday we were heading to district meeting and we ended up being late because we ran into every little old lady ever. I think we know them all. One of them is Maria. She lives down the road from us. We keep trying to teach her but every time we do she goes off on a story about her liver, or the livers of her children.
On Thursday, we had an appointment in Center. We arrived a few minutes early so we tried to contact. We started talking to this little old lady, who said she would be willing to talk to us again another day. We asked her for some contact information so we could pass by her house or call her, and she started lying. She was saying "I don´t know where my house is. I am very old. I don´t know my phone number. Actually I don´t have a phone." and then she realized how ridiculous she sounded, so she just started laughing. She was laughing so hard that she almost fell over. Then she made this weird little noise trying to breathe, so then Sister Warburton and I started laughing. We said "You shouldn´t lie to us" and then we all just laughed harder. It was really weird. We didn´t get her contact.
We´re still teaching Marta. She´s been to church about 10 times now, but still says she isn´t ready to get baptized. We are trying to figure out exactly why, so on Friday we asked her the bapstim interview questions. She answered them all and testified, too. When we asked if she believes that we have a living prophet, she said "Of course! I didn´t know before but I am glad I do now because I think it is really awesome!" So basically now we are praying for a miracle because we don´t have any control anymore. We´ve taught her everything, now it´s just up to her.
I am still super tired. Yesterday we went out to visit Ana and Margarita and when we sat on their couch I could feel my heartbeat in the back of my legs.
Yesterday we had stake conference. I didn´t know before but turns out it was a huge joint conference for all of Spain, Portugal, and Cabo Verde, and it was broadcasted all over. Elder M Russell Ballard spoke, as well as the area seventies. It was really wonderful. Elder Ballard talked about 10 "small and simple things" we can do daily to make a big difference in our life. A few that stood out ot me were to share the gospel in a simple way each day, and also to make personal goals for the future. If we don´t set and evaluate goals for ourselves, we will fall short of our potential. (So I made a goal to eat more ice cream :) ). He then said he felt impressed to talk about 3 Nephi 11, which was an answer to mine and Sister Warburton´s prayers because it was like he was talking dirrectly to Marta. "We must look to Christ, and then we will be made whole. We must have faith, repent, and", then he emphasized, "be baptized! And then we must persevere to the end, and we will be sanctified." All in all it was perfect. Except it was a little silly, because Elder Ballard was talking in English, but we were watching with a Portuguese translation over the top, but then Sister Warburton and I were translating it back into English for Michael.
Braga is still being Braga. We are having a hard time finding new people who are interested, but we keep on keeping on. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I love you all tons!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
We defrosted our freezer! Well we scraped some of the ice into the sink.
The view from a random street