40th birthday

Querida família,
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??
I hope you all have a fabulous week!! Love you tons!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney

Mother´s Day and a Baptism

Querida Família,
This week was great! We saw so many miracles! We went to the Açores for our divisions, so we were only in our area for P-day, Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday (including taking time out for district meeting, weekly planning, church, and calling YOU!), but we still had one of the best weeks since we arrived. Jorge got baptized!! It was one of the most touching baptisms I have ever attended. Jorge is from Capo Verde, and has kidney failure and diabetes. As a result, one of his legs had to be amputated below the knee, as well as the toes on his other foot. He has a prothsetic leg and walks with a crutch. For his baptism, however, he had to remove the prosthetic, and do the baptism on his knees (with the other foot wrapped in plastic wrap because it can´t get wet!). We also have a weird font. You have to climb some metal ladder-stair-thing, then clim back down another into the font. First he climbed up, sat on a chair to take off his leg, then kind of slid into the font with the help of three priesthood holders. Two stayed in for the baptism. They kneeled, supporting Jorge, said the prayer, and carefully lowered him into the water. We were all praying SO HARD that he would go all the way under, because I don´t know if he could handle a second time. It took about ten seconds, but they got him all the way under, and then he came back up looking more peaceful than I have ever seen. They hoisted him out of the font, his energy completely spent with the effort. Afterwards, he told us, "I am so grateful for Heavenly Father! Thank you for helping me understand the atonement".
We had our divisions in the Açores. It´s weird that we did a division in a different time zone. To get there, we had to come to Benfica the night before, stay with the sisters there, then leave at 5 a.m. to catch our flight. When we got to Angra, one of the sisters was in the clinic and so Sister Derrick and I just worked in their area together almost all day.... Eventually they came back and I went out to work with Sister Hayes while SIster Derrick stayed in with the ill sister. Sister Hayes is wonderful. Even though we only spent a few hours together, I saw how great of a missionary she is.
In Ponta Delgada, I worked with Sister Brand. Yep, the same Sister Brand from my MTC district! It was really fun to see how much she has changed. And to catch up with what has been happening! It was really fun. We also got a delicious hotdog from a stand by the ocean. We left to catch our 9 p.m. flight, only to arrive and find out it had been delayed 20 minutes. 20 minutes turned to 30, then 40, then an hour. We ended up arriving in the airport in LIsbon around 1:30 a.m. and getting home around 2:30. Still had to get up at 7 the next day. I am going to take a nap after I write this.
ALSO I got news that Natália (from Braga, Marta´s niece) is getting baptized!!!! Yesss. I am sooo happy for her. Also it is so fun when someone that you found and started teaching gets baptized, even if it´s after you leave.
It was so fun to talk to you all yesterday! Your voices sound the same mostly, just that Jeremy´s is deeper. Always. It was normal but also completely weird at the same time, but I enjoyed it. I can´t wait to talk to you in person! (four more months!)
I hope you had a fabulous mother´s day and that school and dance and everything keeps going well. Stay happy and healthy--I love you all tons!!
Com um coração cheio de amor,
Sister Gidney
P.s. Jorge´s baptism, Me with Sister Hayes and Sister Brand

dia dos trabalhadores

Querida família,

This week was another week! Some highlights:
-Mission council was on Tuesday. MIssion council is basically like a high-pressure zone conference with all the zone leaders and the assistants and Presidente. I like it though because we get to learn straight from Presidente Fluckiger.
-Sister Derrick got pooped on by a pigeon. It was all over her arm and on her bag and skirt.
-Maria do Carma (not Carmen. my bad) is loving church! She came again yesterday and brought her roommate.
-Jorge and the plastic wrap. So Jorge is preparign to be baptised this weekend. The only problem is, he got surgery on his foot and it can´t get wet. So Sister Derrick and I have been experimenting with plastic wrap in our tub. We think we´ve figured out a water-proof solution. We tested it on her foot (with a sock on to tell for sure).
-We were talking to a man on the street, and we asked if we could say a prayer with him. He refused, but offered us 5€ to go get some coffee. No thanks.
Some interesting math. Assuming there are 7 billion people in the world, 15 milion members, and 80 thousand missionaries. For every missionary in the world there are 87,500 other people. If the missionaries were to alone help every single person, at a rate of one per day, it would take 238 YEARS. However, for every MEMBER (including the missionaries), there are just 467. Ou seja,every member just helps one person per MONTH for their adult lifespan (40 years). So, as Presidente Monson says, "Now is the time for members and missionaries to unite and work together in the vineyard of the Lord". So our challenge for the month of May is to find one person to help come unto Christ before the end of the month. It can be a member or a non-member, someone active or someone struggling. But pray for the chance and then do what you can and you will have one of the most amazing experiences of your entire life. :)
A scripture that I found for the families of missionaries: D&C 124:76.

Let his [the missionary´s]  family rejoice and turn away their hearts fromaffliction; for I have chosen him and anointed him, and he shall behonored in the midst of his house, for I will forgive all his sins, saiththe Lord. Amen.

I really like this scripture because reminds us that we don´t need to be worried, for ourselves, or for our family, because everything we are going through right now is to help us become sanctified before the Lord.
This week we are going to the Açores, hopefully there will be a baptism, and then I will call home on Sunday! Be ready by the phone with a list of questions or comments :)
I hope that you all have a wonderful week! I love you all tons,
Com amor,
Sister Gidney
p.s. a picture of me and Sister Austin! and of the pancake party--the bakers, 200 pancakes later

looking up

Querida família,
This week was pretty great! We tripled our church attendance! (Not hard to do when you only have one in church... Then again if we had only had zero it would have been even easier to triple that!) But the whole week has been full of miracles. Two of our investigators are marked to be baptized in the coming weeks, and we have a few more with a lot of potential. If you want to pray for anyone: Jorge (marked for baptism but he is on kidney dialysis and he might not be able to put his foot in the water because of surgery), Amilton (also marked but he gets huge migraines), Maria do Céu (needs to quit smoking), and Maria do Carmen (she is awesome. She came to church yesterday. She just needs an answer about the book of Mormon).
We went on a division to Lapa again. I stayed with Sister Austin. She is really fun. I forgot my camera but I´ll send some pictures next week. We had a lesson with a recent convert Paula--which was awesome because on my last division in Lapa, Sister Call and I marked her for baptism. We also had a lesson with Luana, the girlfriend of a member. We marked her to get baptized! Lapa is a really fun area. And Sister Austin was so loving and taught with the Spirit really strong. I think I learn more from these divisions than the other sisters do.
On Saturday was our pancake party! I think we made more than 200 pancakes. We were in the kitchen for six hours... (that was kind of frustrating because everyone left hte missionaries to clean up alone and that took three hours). But I think it was a success. Everyone wanted the recipe! We had a few investigators and more than 10 recent converts there. But I never want to see another pancake again.
Yesterday in church teh first counselor in the bishopric gave a sweet talk. He talked about how a few years ago he got depression. He said it was a "hole so dark that no light could penetrate", but that finally, three things saved him. 1. The faith of his wife. 2. His home teachers who came by and asked what he needed. and 3. Seeing his sleeping baby at 3 a.m. I thought it was interesting that the most important things to help us face our future are our families, and our home and visiting teachers. Before my mission I never really understood why they were so important but now I am going to do it every month, even if I have to go alone. So if you didn´t go in April, go in May :)
Besides that, we cleaned out our house this week. There was so much random stuff left behind by the elders... Some things we found: A giant wooden spoon (3 feet), some underwear, a million plastic bags, boxes of magazines, painting supplies, a gutter replacement, lightbulbs, and an electric generator.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! And a great fast Sunday.
Love you tons!!
Sister Gidney

Odivelas Hotel

Ola família!
We didn´t email earlier today because we had interviews! (On P-day, yep. At least we still have email time). Anyway. This week was a pretty good start to the transfer. We didn´t have to much time to feel lonely in our "new" house, because the first four nights we had at least two sisters sleeping over. (We are the closest sister house to the mission office with space for visitors).Usually they called us about ten minutes before bed time to inform us. And a half hour later for directions. So we have lovingly re-named our apartment "Odivelas Hotel". Funcioning hours: any day, any time. Too bad we don´t have any of those little soaps...
Some of the highlights from this week:
Maria do Céu: We had a lesson with her and were talking about her quitting smoking (of course) and she ended up telling us her life story--how she used to be an alcoholic but she quit and she said "If I could do that, then I can quit smoking. Especially with the power of God. Because I know that this is what he wants me to do."
Jorge: We have this nice investigator who is getting kidney dialysis so we can´t meet with him very often. BUT we passed by on WEdnesday to see how he is doing and he had read the lesson pamphlet we gave him. He opened his door and said "Oh! I wanted to ask, can I start coming to church? I want to come every week. Also this pamphlet talked about a Book, can I have that too? Mormon or something?" We were like, ummm yes you can. And then we asked if he wanted to get baptized. He said "Yeah I would like that". Sooo now we just have to help him find a way to church because he got foot surgery.
Deep: We had a MEGA lesson and taught him ALL of the commandments--we had already taught the word of wisdom, but we taught the rest, because he said "I want to know all the rules". Before we left, he flushed his cigarettes down the toilet and said he was quitting. The only problem... He is moving to Belgium. Tomorrow. Well. Good reference for the missionaries there.

A scripture that I read during personal study and really liked: D&C 101:55,61-62. I really like that the servants are called "the warriors of the Lord". Not only are the missionaries the Lord´s warriors, but really ALL of the members of the church are. And the Lord has covenanted with us that if we are wise and faithful (notice it does NOT say perfect) then we will become rulers over many things ou seja joint heirs with Christ. THe other part I like is that the servant went STRAIGHTAWAY but the things were not fulfilled until AFTER MANY DAYS. Sometimes we are working and working and working and nothing is happening but as we stretch ourselves every single day to find new ways to show our faith and grow our faith, eventually the promise will be fulfilled. :)
I also liked today in my interview. I was talking to President about some of the difficulties we have been having and he said that our district is "four of the best missionaries our mission has to offer" and that he knows we can do the work that is here for us. So it was really nice how supportive he was.

Other stuff:
I got my first sunburn this week! In the morning I felt like I should find my sunscreen and use it but we were late so I just ignored it and then I got ROASTED. That´s the last time I don´t listen to the Spirit.

We saw a lady stealing flowers out of people´s front yards. She saw that we saw and said "God forgive me, I´m going to give them to mother Mary." How ironic.
An old man: "Ola vocês são bonitas! I love you!" (he said that part in english. then tried to kiss us.)
That´s about it for this week. Easter was wonderful (they gave us chocolate at church). I love you all bunches. Hang in there, Heavenly Father is preparing you for a great ending! Happy week!
Love you TONS,
Sister Gidney

transfer 8, check

Querida família,
Transfer news:
Sister Derrick and I are both staying!
The other sisters´ area is CLOSING. Now it will just be me and my comp in our house. Weird.
The elder who got emergency trasnferred out four weeks ago came back and is with the elder who got emergency transferred IN two weeks ago. Complicated.

So I am going to tell you about a couple of the people we are teaching.
Quen Ling Deep. He goes by Deep. He is half Chinese half Mozambiquan. He was one of the ones taught by the elders 20 years ago. We have been reteaching the lessons and he came to general conference and to church yesterday. The only problem is he smokes. So we are helping with that. But he really loves learning the gospel.
Maria do Céu (mary from heaven). She is this little old lady who was a reference from her neighbor. We have been helping her to quit smoking (everyone and their dog smokes here) and the elders gave her a blessing a few days ago. She really wants to improve her life and her daughter´s life. We were talking about the changes she has to make and she said "Yeah but no worries. It´s the will of God so I will succeed." We are hoping her health problems will ease up enough for her to come to church this week.

Funny events from the week:
Flying noodles: Yesterday we were walking down the street when some chinese noodles came FLYING out of a third floor window above us. We dodged out of the way and they splatted to the ground.
Members gone wild: We had a lesson with a very well-meaning member the other day who ended up walking home the same direction as our investigator. We didn´t know until church when the member told us the conversation they had... Basically the member told this investigator about temple sealings, baptisms for the dead, and the Douctrine and Covenants. And then said "but you two should probably pray for guidance on how to clear up his confusion about those things in your next lesson". ...Thanks. Please, if you are helping the missionaries, keep your teaching SIMPLE. Talk about the Book of Mormon before you go off about temple convenants.

My transfer scripture for this new transfer is D&C 84:81-84. I just really like it. Also it´s funny because basically it says "tomorrow will be bad enough for itself, just worry about today today and leave tomorrow for tomorrow." That´s one thing I have been working on--not worrying about the future, just taking it one day at a time. And it helps a lot! So there is my advice.
Yep so I am going to have at least six more weeks here in Odivelas. Three more transfers after this one!
Love you all tons---Happy Easter this Sunday!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney

Conference

Ola família,
I love General Conference! What was your favorite talk and why?
This week has been full of ups and downs.
The downs:
--My companion and I were told that we haven´t been working hard enough, because we haven´t had a baptism yet. That was sad because we are working our hardest but people kind of have to WANT to live the gospel.
--We were teaching this really really wonderful woman and we went over on Saturday to mark her to be batised but she said she can´t come anymoe because her husband is too Catholic to let her.
The ups:
--We had a lesson with this woman Maria who we met last week. We were teaching about the gospel of Christ. She said she would pray to confess her sins to God and ask forgiveness. Then when we talked about baptism, she said" I think my baptism was valid but... I think I´d like it to be MORE valid". We just said "God would like that as well".
--We met several people who met the elders 20 years ago. They have verse-less Book of Mormons and also remembered the name "Jospeh Smith". I guess those flip-charts were good for memory.
--We got McDonald´s and PIzza Hut (on different days)
--We got to watch a session of General Conference at the mission home! We also had a meal. There were about 18 missionaries there. It was fun. Also it was the first time I ahve walked on real carpet in a year.
The in-betweens:
--The elders had a baptism and he was too tall and he ended up having to repeat 4 times.
--I hit a year? I don´t know how I feel about that.
I really liked General Conference! Especially Elder Ballard´s about follow-up. So I´m goign to follow up with you if you are reading Preach My Gospel? Let me know how it goes :)
We had a bunch of meetings this week so not much else happened! I hope Emily had a great birthday :) and that you are all doing well.
Next general conference I´ll be sitting on our couch!
Love you all tons!
Com amor,
Sister Gidney