I'm convinced this is the most beautiful place on the earth (except for the temple!)

"Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith." ~Alma 44:4

This week has been great! We've been having a lot of rain, but we've been working hard! I actually really like rain! It feels really good and I'm always smiling for some reason! The only downside is that our pass-a-long cards get wet.. We need waterproof pass-a-long cards! haha

We've found a couple of people that have potential. Our investigator Ana entered into a clinic this week to help her with some Word of Wisdom problems, so we haven't had contact with her, but she gets out next week and she's preparing to be baptized on June 19! She'll be a solid member.

We also started teaching Silvana, she had received the missionaries about two years ago and was really close to being baptized, but no one really knows what happened. Anyway, she received us really well into her home and we'll start teaching her again this week.

I love serving here! The members are all really nice and so helpful! They have strong testimonies of our Savior. I'm so grateful that I could be here on a mission. There are so many things that I've learned that otherwise would have taken 10 years to learn! I love this gospel! I love this work!

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Me and Sister Luciano!!

A black sand beach, this place is absolutely beautiful!!

Elder Bednar answered MY Question!!!!

"But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." ~James 1:22

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was great! We had a great adventure that involved getting on the wrong bus and going all the way to the other side of the island! Haha we didn't really know what to do, because missionaries don't really work in that area, so we couldn't really make any return appointments. But we spread the gospel anyway until the next bus left to bring us back to our area! We actually found a lady that was obsessed with the Osmonds, so she actually knew a lot about the church. We invited her to attend sacrament meeting and she said she would one day! Who knows, one day when missionaries start working in that area, she'll be the first baptism.

Elder Bednar came to our Mission! Since we're on the islands we had to skype him, and due to connection problems, we only got to hear about 75% of it, but it was still awesome. He opened it up to questions about half way through, and a couple of us here on the islands had some questions, so we texted someone in the meeting so Elder Bednar could read the questions and respond, and he actually ended up responding to my question! He didn't even know if i was an Elder or a Sister! But it was still really cool! haha

So the question i asked him was how he applies the atonement in his life, which i thought would be kind of a stupid question, obvious answer, i was almost embarrassed to ask it, but i did, half hoping he wouldn't read it. But my question was the only one he read, and after reading it, he thanked me for asking that question, and answered me specifically! he first let elder johnson (some gen. authority that was travelling with him) answer and he said we apply the atonement by keeping our covenants. then Elder Bednar gave me a great answer. what he does, is that he gets a cheap copy of the book of mormon and finds wherever it says "strength in the Lord" or something similar to that, and studies it and marks it up. then when he's done, he writes a one page paper of what he learned about the atonement, then he puts the paper in the back of the book and along the spine of the book writes "atonement, strength I" then he does it again and compares his papers and writes on the second book "atonement, strength II" and he repeats it and repeats it, and he learns something different every time. and he invited ME to do the same thing :) so i will! it was so awesome!

I love being here! I love being a missionary! I'm super happy and I love sharing the Gospel! I hope you are all happy at home and sharing the gospel as well!!

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Neuza's Baptism! She was taught by the Elders

Welcome to the Azores! :)

"But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." ~Alma 17:3

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, the Azores are absolutely the most beautiful place on the entire planet. I've only been here a couple of days, but I have seen enough to decide that it is the most incredible place ever! I am so blessed to be here :) 

This week has been a little crazy for us, I flew over to the islands on Tuesday, just to fly right back to Lisbon on Wednesday for mission council and to do a division with some sisters. Then we flew back to the Islands on Friday. The branch here is so beautiful and I already love the members! 

We have a couple of investigators that we're teaching that have a lot of potential. This area has a lot of tourists, but it's still awesome! We're gonna baptize a ton! :) I'm so excited to be here! I'm so excited to be a missionary! I love the gospel! I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

The view from our Balcony, we are very blessed :) haha

Me and Sister Luciano in front of this really really pretty lake!

Some statue that we found. 

Transfers!!!!! I'm Going To The Islands!!!!!!

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." ~Romans 5:19

Dear Family and Friends,

Transfer week! I got a call last night from President Tavares telling me that I'M GOING TO THE AZORES!!! For those who don't know what that is, Portual has some Islands, and I will be serving on the Island of São Miguel, in the city of Ponta Delgada!! I am super excited!! We're gonna baptize a ton!!

An update on our investigators in Cacém:

Ana: She is doing awesome and preparing for her baptism at the end of May. She is probably one of the people that I got the closest to here and it was hard to say goodbye. She is absolutely amazing and her testimony is so strong! She is already planning to visit Salt Lake City next year! And I will be there with here for sure. I'm so glad that I got the chance to meet her and share the gospel with her.

We were blessed this week with a ton of new investigators! All of a sudden we were getting 3 or 4 everyday! Sister Williams reminded me that we had fasted to have new investigators the week before and it looks like it worked! I had totally forgotten! I guess that's pretty embarrassing on my part, but the Lord still blesses us! It's incredible! 

It was really great to talk to my family yesterday for Mother's Day, I know they are here for me and they love me. I'm so grateful that my family is eternal and that one day I will have the opportunity to be sealed in the temple and start an eternal family of my own. I'm so grateful for this gospel and for our Savior. I know that I'm doing His work here and I'm loving every moment of it! I love being a missionary!! I hope you all have a great week and a Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there! You are doing great work :) I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Saying goodbye to Ana :( 

The Lavinhas!! (One of the best families in Cacém!!)

My new favorite word in Portuguese :)

The Trunky Call. But I'm not trunky yet!

"I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day." -Alma 38:5

Dear Friends and Family!

This week was awesome! As is every week! Mission life is great! On one side, you don't have a care in the world because we aren't really "in the world" but at the same time, we have a million things to worry about! But I'm still just as happy as ever! :) 

We had a zone conference this week with President, where we learned that Elder Bednar will be coming to our mission this month! I'm super excited to have an Apostle visit the mission! We'll all be working extra hard to be worthy to receive extra revelation. It's gonna be a great month :)

Ana: Is doing really well! She came to church on Sunday and loved it, she's all set to be baptized at the end of this month when her mom will be here.

We are teaching a couple of other people with some potential, we found an awesome couple that are here until June from Angola. Practically her whole family was already baptized, so we're hoping to get her in the water! 

I know this church is true! And I know that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel. I'm so excited to be here sharing the gospel with the world! I love my Savior, I love my family, I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Some missionaries in the MTC with me!

Futeból for Pday!!

Preachin the Word :)