Dear Family and Friends!

We got the transfer call last night, I'll be going to Setubal later today and I'll be serving with Sister Landbeck! I am more than excited to get to see more of Portugal! Here's an update on Portimão!

Sara: She is still doing great, she's getting a stronger testimony of the gospel. I absolutely love her! And I'm looking forward to getting an email in the near future saying she'll be baptized.

Janaina: We started teaching her this week, she's from Brasil and has a 2-year-old son. She is absolutely awesome! She has a lot of questions about the gospel and she always reads what we give her! I'll be excited to hear about her progression as well.

Fred: We started talking to him again, his family is back in England so he has more time now. He came to church yesterday and he says he feels the spirit every time he's with us and when he comes to church. He is awesome!

That's about it for this week! It was a great last week in Portimão and I'm excited to hear about what happens here. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, He is here to help us in everything we need. I love this gospel with my whole heart and I know I'm doing the work of the Lord here, His hand is in everything we do.

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos: Riding Bruno's bike!! I wish this mission had bikes.. haha but walking is always great!

Sister Silva and I in Parchal! :)

Last week in Portimao!

Dear Family and Friends!

Next week we have transfers, I've reached my limit for how long I can stay in one area, so I will be leaving next week, where? Who knows? But It's going to be a great last week here, it's been good to serve in an area with great members and a great people.

Kirsten: She returned to Denmark this week, she's doing really well! I'm so happy for her! She'll come back to Portimão in September, but I won't be here. But she's doing well :)

Sara: She is a friend of our recent convert, Bruno. She is doing really well! She'll come to church even when she worked until 2am! She rocks! She really likes the principles that we're teaching her, but she doesn't want to quit smoking or drinking. We have plans to work really well with her and show her that she can find real peace through this gospel.

Sister Silva and I set a goal to have 4 baptisms in the month of August. We've had 2 so far and we don't have anyone lined up to be baptized this weeked, but after what happened with Kirsten, I believe everything is possible. We're gonna work hard and find those people the God has prepared for baptism. I know that when we work with the Lord, everything is possible. I love this gospel and I testify of it's truthfulness. I have never felt my Savior's love more than I do right now. I know He lives and loves me. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here in Portugal. I hope all is well with you guys! Love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

We had lunch at Bruno's garden this week, where he grows figs and a bunch of other stuff! He also has 4 huge dogs and a huge pig! He rocks!

We get the best fish here in the Algarve :) 

Coolest Baptism Ever!

Family and Friends,

This week I saw one of the coolest miracles I'll probably ever see on my mission. I have truly come to know that this is The Lord's work and His hand is in everything we do as missionaries.

On Friday we had Zone Conference with President Tavares and Sister Silva and I were feeling very inspired to baptize someone this weekend. We didn't have anyone lined up for baptism, but we decided to go forth with faith and we knew we would see miracles. Saturday morning during companionship study we thought about who we could baptize this weekend. Sister Silva suggested the wife of a member who was visiting from Denmark, Kirsten. She would be returning to Denmark on Tuesday, so we would have to baptize her the next day right after church and get special permission for her to receive the Holy Ghost, or we could baptize her before church at 7 am! We kind of laughed at the idea, but acknowledged that it was possible and we continued on. That night at 8:30 pm, we had a lesson with Kirsten. She has been taking lessons from the missionaries for 20 years and still has not been baptized. We explained to her why baptism was important and invited her to be baptized the next day. She was very hesitant at first, but then we testified and the Spirit was so strong. We told her that we knew she was prepared to be baptized. We could see it in her eyes. And then she agreed to be baptized. It was about 9:30pm at this time, so we called her husband, Paulo to come down to the chapel so we could tell him the news! He got there and we started planning. We learned that Kirsten wanted to be baptized in the ocean! But it had to be super early in the morning so that the beach wouldn't be too crowded. So we quickly called our mission president and got permission to have a baptism the next morning in the ocean at about 5 am. He said yes, we agreed with Kirsten and Paulo to meet the next morning at 5 am in the chapel and we would take care of getting enough cars to take us to the beach and the interview and everything. Sister Silva and I ran home and started calling people! We called the Elders and told them, they were so shocked! But so excited!! Our branch president was out of town so we called his only counselor who said he would be working all night and couldn't attend. So we called the leader of the missionary work here and he said he'd be at the chapel at 5 am. So we had one car with 5 seats and we needed at least one more! So we called our recent convert, Bruno! He rocks! He said he'd be there with his friend Sara so they could have enough space for everyone! He is the best! The next morning we woke up at about 3:45 am to get everything ready, we met at the chapel at 5 am and as we were waiting in the chapel for Kirsten to have her interview, in walked the District (Stake) President of the Algarve!! We were shocked!! He said that President Tavares told him what was going on and he was not going to let his missionaries do anything alone. I was so grateful to have his support!! We qucikly made a baptismal program and started the service at 5:45 in the morning! Then we all drove to the beach and saw the coolest baptism ever! It was absolutely beautiful! Paulo was so happy for her, the spirit was so stong. I wish you all could have been there!! We didn't have many people, it wasn't the most organized baptism in the world, but the important thing was that it was exactly how Kirsten wanted it to be. I am so happy for her :)

I know this gospel is true. Everything is possible in the Lord's hands, this is His work, and when we are obedient and consecrated missionaries we will see miracles like this. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here and I know the Lord is always here to help me. Give me 7 hours to plan a baptism, 5 of which were spent sleeping, and I know I can do it with the help of the Lord.

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Baptism at the beach!! 6:00am!!

We play zone games sometimes, and we won a peach cobbler.. ya.. i was pretty excited :)

BATISMO!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was fantastic!! I love being a missionary here and being able to help people come to know their Savior. 

Bruno: Bruno was baptized this Saturday and he recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. I am so happy for him and I know he will be a really great member. I really came to know this week as we taught him all of the commandments that he truly was prepared to receive this gospel. He understands the law of sacrifice really well and he is willing to give everything to his Savior. He is an amazing man and I'm so happy for him! He also gave us the reference of his friend Sara and her children. Sara came to the baptism and you could tell that she was touched by the spirit. I'm excited to start working with her.

Gabi: She was a reference from one of our members and she is awesome! She wants to have the same happiness that she can see in us but she's afraid she's not ready to be baptized. I'm really excited to work with her :)

This week was a really great one for me. I really can feel the Spirit in lessons and when we testify of the Savior. I know this gospel is true and I'm so excited to share it here! Missions are worth it. 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Bruno's baptism!!

Portugal Lisboa Mission

Dear Family and Friends!!

This week has been incredible! We have received many blessings and seen many miracles! I absolutely love serving here with Sister Silva! We are working hard and seeing results!

Fred: Fred has been busy with his family so we haven't progressed with him too much, but he came to the Branch activity last Friday with his fiancé and they had a great time! I don't know if we'll be able to baptize him before he moves to England, but we'll try our best! He is really ready for this gospel.

Rui: Rui will be visiting his family in Northern Portugal so we left him the Book of Mormon and we'll talk to him when he gets back. 

Bruno: Bruno has been to church the last couple of weeks and we had been teaching him a little bit, but this week we taught him about the Plan of Salvation and he accepted it really well. We invited him to be baptized thisSaturday, August 8, and he accepted! We were able to teach him all of the commandments and he accepted them all. He has great faith and he understands sacrifice really well! He is ready to be baptized and i'm so excited for him! He understands sacrifice really well and he is willing to sacrifice everything for the Lord. 

I am so happy to be serving here. Sometimes the mission can be hard and discouraging, but I have never felt closer to my Savior. I'm so grateful to have a knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and for the opportunity I have to share this message with the people of Portugal! If any of you have any thoughts about serving a mission, do it!! I promise it is so worth it! 

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

One of our members works in the ship yard, so we visited him and saw some cool ships! I love Portimão! It is so beautiful!!