Divisions!!!!

Family and Friends! 

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! I love preaching the gospel! Even if people don't accept it, I know that we touched their hearts, and maybe in the future they will choose to accept the gospel.

We had an awesome week! We had a division this week with the Sister Training Leaders. I got to spend the day with Sister Cardoso! She is a native from Lisbon! So I had to speak Portuguese the whole time! Haha for me, the speaking part isn't too hard, but I struggle understanding people. I've gotten really good at looking like I know exactly what they're saying and that I'm so interested, when I really have no idea what's going on. Haha but I was able to understand Sister Cardoso really well and we had a great division. 

Our investigators are still doing really well! We are really close to having baptismal dates for so many!! Next transfer we will have quite a few baptisms I think :)

Ana and Antonio: Our favorite couple! They are getting married this Friday!!! Ana is still all set to be baptized on June 7th, but Antonio is second guessing himself. He says that he doesn't want to have responsibility in the church, that he just wants to be a visitor for now, but I think he will still be baptized on the 7th with Ana. They have such strong testimonies and will be amazing members of the church.

Cristina: We didn't have a chance to meet with her this week, but she is still reading and praying, so that's good! We're hoping to have a baptismal date for her this Saturday.

Rodolfo: Rodolfo walked into the chapel in the middle of our District meetingon Tuesday to pick up a "Restauração" pamphlet. He apparently walked in the other day and picked up a "Plano de Salvação" pamphlet, and he liked it. So he came to return the plan of salvation packet and pick up the restoration pamphlet. WOW! Talk about elect! Haha So Sister Bakker and I are teaching him, he is searching for the truth and exploring many churches. I know that if he has an open heart and he is earnestly seeking for an answer to his prayer, he will come to know that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ.

This week we contacted a guy in the road who said he was a member and lived in Lisbon, but he was down here for work. We asked if he still attended church and he said no because he had started to smoke again and he was afraid to go back. He said that he wanted to stop smoking, he just didn't know how. We told him that the missionaries could help him! We made a goal with him right then that he would only smoke 6 cigarettes the next day. So we took his pack of cigarettes and left 6 in the package and took the rest and ripped them up and threw them away! It was the first time I had every even held a cigarette! Haha but it was awesome to know that we were helping him! 

This Sunday was awesome! We had a lot of people in church! 2 people walked in our of the blue because they had been invited by one of our members,so they decided to come! And they said they would come next week too! What a blessing! We also had 3 less active families come to church for the first time since I've been in Portimão! I knew that the Lord had touched many hearts this week. 

Pictures:

1.We bought hippie dresses with the Sister Training Leaders... It's just something you have to do here in the Algarve :)

2. We went to Lagos today for P-day and there was this awesome little band playing some jazz music!! It was just great to hear again :)

Another wonderful week in Portugal Lisbon Mission!!!

Family and Friends!!

We had a great week! Full of the spirit and full of wonderful people!! I also went to Sagres today for P Day, which is the very Southwestern tip of Portugal and it was incredible!! Photos below :)

Ana and Antonio: We finished teaching them everything they need to be taught for baptism and they finally have a wedding date!! They will be married on May 29 and their baptism will be on June 7th!! I am so excited for them!! They are loving the church more and more and cannot wait to be a part of it! What an amazing couple they are! :)

Cristina: We finally got her to say a pray from her heart and not a memorized prayer! It was a really awesome experience! Her prayers are so sincere, she asked God if this church was true, if the Book of Mormon was true, and if our message was true. And afterwards she said she felt really great! So we asked her if she would prepare to be baptized on June 7, she said she wanted to be baptized then, but still had some questions that she wants to be answered. So we will see if she'll be baptized soon. She has an incredible desire to learn and has a huge amount of faith! I'm really excited for her!

Americo and Mauna: They are still wonderful! Progressing slowly, but they know that our message is true. We are doing the best we can to help them have a desire to act on it, but we know that they have their agency to choose what they want. I really hope they choose to follow the example of Jesus Christ. 

Manuel: We started teaching an older man named Manuel, who wants to know the truth. His wife recently passed away, so we're hoping that we can teach him about temples and eternal families and that he will have a desire to be with his family for eternity. He's a super awesome guy! He even invited us to his funeral! 

We also had District (Stake) Conference this weekend and it was fantastic! Our branch and the branch in Lagos all road a bus to Faro to attend the conference and it was awesome. Even though I still only understand about half of what people say, I can still feel the spirit. That's the amazing thing about the Holy Ghost - you don't have to understand a different language to be able to feel it. 

This week we had interviews with our mission president and I wanted to share some advice that I received about the Atonement. He said that sometimes, no matter how much we study, we can't fully understand or appreciate something until we experience it ourselves. This is true concerning the atonement. We learn to appreciate the atonement and have a deeper love for our Savior as we go through trials and learn to rely on Him. That is why we can choose to be grateful in any and all circumstances, because the hard times are where we get to know our Savior better. 

That's it for this week! I love being a missionary and I love this gospel! I know my Savior lives and He loves each and every one of us. I know that when we turn to Him, we will feel His love.

I love you all!! 

Sister Steagall

Feliz Dia das Mães!! Happy Mother's Day!!

Family and Friends!

What a great week we had! And I got to talk to my family yesterday which was really great! Here is an update on our investigators that we've been teaching. The work is getting better and better every day!

Ana and Antonio: We taught them about the Word of Wisdom this week and they both committed to live it! Ana at one point had been so addicted to coffee, she had 20 cups a day! The doctor told her that she needed to quit, so she had been drinking less and less and she was down to 4 cups a day when we taught her about the Word of Wisdom, so she decided to stop completely and she hasn't had coffee for 4 days now! They also came to church yesterday and they are getting all of the papers they need to get married and baptized soon after!

Americo and Mauna: They are still doing great! We taught them the commandments this week and they committed to start obeying the commandments! The only problem they had was that sometimes they have to work on Sundays, but they're going to try the best they can to keep the Sabbath day Holy.

Cristina: She has a ton of questions about the gospel, so she is learning a little more slowly than others, but for the most part, she is accepting a lot. We asked her if she would be baptized when she received an answer to her prayers and she said that she would! She has a lot of faith in Christ and really wants to find the truth.

Wilson: A Brasiliano that we met on the street and invited to church and he came! We hadn't taught him a lesson and he knew nothing about the church, so the church meeting yesterday for him was a bit different for him, but he wants to know more! We're going to try to teach him sometime this week.

I absolutely love being a missionary here in Portugal! Our members are awesome and our investigators feel so loved here! I know that what I'm teaching is true. I know without a doubt that I will always be able to turn towards Christ whenever I need help. I love being able to share this message with others! :)

Have a great week! Remember to read your scriptures and pray every day! That is how we receive blessings! I love you all!

Sister Steagall

I love Portugal!

Dear Family and Friends,

Awesome week! Our investigators are really coming along great and baptism is in their future!!

Ana and Antonio: What an elect couple!! They are so excited to get married and baptized! This week we taught them about tithing and fasting. At first they were hesitant and nervous about tithing, but we bore testimony and in the end they were asking "can we pay our tithing now? Or do we have to wait until after baptism?" WOW!!! They came to church this Sunday fasting!! They aren't even baptized yet! And they paid their fast offerings! They are so excited to be a part of the Lord's church.

Americo and Mauna: An awesome family who are progressing towards baptism! They are taking it a little slower and they too need to be married first even though they already have 2 kids, Edi (11) and Ariana (8). But I guess marriage can be complicated in Cape Verde, which is where they are originally from. But they know that our message has made a difference in their lives and they know that they need to join this church.

Cristina: A lady that Sister Bakker contacted before I got to Portugal that finally decided she wanted to start taking lessons from us! She has some different ideas about things, but she has a lot of faith in Christ. 

Paula: The 17 year old daughter of one of our ward members who is really excited to meet with us. She is awesome! She came to church yesterday and loved it!! Her mom is so happy that we're teaching her! I hope she gets baptized soon!! :) 

Yesterday we found Mathew in the road!! That guy that I talked about a few weeks ago who was so ready to accept the gospel and then disappeared? We finally found him!! He told us that with all due respect, he thinks the Mormon church is too serious for him, so he decided it wasn't for him. We were pretty sad, but hopefully one day he'll find that this is the only pathway back to our Heavenly Father. I love this gospel and I'm still ever so excited to be a missionary here! :) 

Thank you for all your prayers and support! :)

Sister Steagall

Pictures:

My house!! We live on the very top floor :)

A really awesome car we found :)