The day that only comes once every 4 years!

"And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth." ~3 Nephi 11:38, 41

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been good! We are still doing a lot of finding and trying to pick the work back up after we had a couple of investigators drop us. Sister Williams is doing great though and I love working with  her.

Jolly: He is doing awesome! He's praying and he's doing good with the commandments, he finally has recieved the answer that he needs to be baptized, but he still doesn't feel ready. We'll keep working with him :) 

Edilson: We knocked on his door this week and it turns out, he's very prepared and available to receive the gospel. He moved from Guinea a year ago to start working, he was raised a christian and has a strong desire to follow Christ. He had to work this Sunday, so he wasn't able to make it to church, but he wants to go. More to come about Edilson.

This weekend we had stake conference and it was fantastic! We had the president of the Europe area come and he said that there was a sacred spirit that was unusual for such a large group of people. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here and participate in such spiritual experiences. I love this gospel and I know the Spirit is with me. 

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

LOOK! THERE'S SNOW IN PORTUGAL!!! or.. just hail... we love the weather here.

Me and Sister Williams!

The beautiful view of Belas :) 

New Companion!!!

"Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear." Moroni 8:16

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great! We lost contact with a couple of people because I had to wait in another area for a couple days until my new companion arrived, but we'll pick the work back up this week. Sister Williams is awesome! She's straight from the MTC, and she speaks portuguese pretty well, but she's a hard worker and a fast learner. 

Teddy: He dissapeared this week unfortunately.. we got a message saying that he had to go to work in Setubal and wouldn't be back for 2 weeks. We were ready to hop in the car with the Assistants to the President and go get him, but he stopped answering his phone, so we didn't know where he was. We're hoping we'll get in contact with him again.

Jolly: He's doing super awesome, he says he's not quite ready for baptism yet, but we'll continue to work with him, it's easier to teach him now that i have a companion that speaks english, our lessons are going good with him :) 

We are always finding here, and we know we have the Spirit with us when we're finding. We have a great ward that passes on every referal they have. They are really involved with the missionary work. I'm so grateful to be here in Portugal, I know that God is with us in our work. I'm so grateful I can share this message with people here. I love this gospel, I know this is the true church of Christ here on the earth. I know that we have prophets that are literally servents of God that receive revelation for us. I know that each and every one of you can know these things as well if you pray and ask God. I know He answers our prayers. 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Hanging out with the other Sisters while we waited for our new companions, I was getting my hair done :)

Sister Williams and I and Renata, one of the members :) 

TRANSFERS!!!! New Companion!

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." -1 John 3:1-2

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great! We got the transfer call last night, Sister Rubio will be leaving and I'll be staying in Cacém and training again! Sister Williams will get here on Wednesday or Thursday this week, I'm super excited to meet her! I still don't know anything about her though, but it'll be an adventure!

Teddy: Talk about opposition! He was all set up to be interviewed on Saturdayand Baptized on Sunday, but all of a sudden he got really sick on Saturday and had to go to the hospital! He left his phone at home or else we would have called and gone to the hospital to have his interview. But he's doing a lot better now and he'll be baptized this weekend.

Jolly: We had an awesome lesson with him this week, he's someone who has a lot of questions and i love answering him! Finally in the middle of the lesson, he wanted to know in a basic summary all that we believed in. I was super grateful that my parents had made me memorize the articles of faith when i was 10 years old and I was able to recite them to him. He said "you should have told me these things when you first met me." Haha we also invited him to pray to know if these things were true and he got the answer that he needed to follow this church. He's thinking about returning to Nigeria so he can understand better (he doesn't speak much portuguese). He still isn't quite sure that he needs to be baptized again, but he'll continue to pray, and we'll see if he can be baptized this weekend too :) 

Adriana: She is doing great! She's reading and praying and accepted a baptismal date of March 5th. She has a real desire to come closer to Christ. She still hasn't been to church yet, so we're working with her on that. But she has real intent, she is awesome!

I also received great news this week! I had a super elect investigator in Portimão, named Matthew who completely disappeared. Well, the sisters in the Acores found him and he was baptized yesterday! I was glad that I got to participate in planting that seed for him :) 

This week we also had a conference with Elder Dyches of the 70, and it was really awesome! I learned a lot about how I want to plan better and how to be a better trainor and mentor. I'm really excited to train again and I know it'll be a great experience for me. 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos: 

Rain..

And.. wind! 

(I love this weather :) 

Matthew's baptism

"And now, I Moroni, would speak somwhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." ~Ether 12:6

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great! We had Zone Conference with President Tavares and we had Divisions in Mem Martins, which was really fun! We've also been working hard here and it's been going great! I love being a missionary!! We have so many great adventures!! 

Teddy: He is awesome! He went to church yesterday and loved it. He said that he couldn't explain how he felt, just that he had been to a lot of churches before, but this was so different. He said it was "maravilhoso!" (Sorry, forgot how to spell that word in english) He is progressing really well, reading, and praying. He is a little hesitant on getting baptized next week, but we shared our testimony that the Lord had prepared this date for him, we'll continue in faith!

Jolly: He is also doing well, he's opening up more to new ideas and is coming to understand authority better. It's really fun to teach him in English, but it is so hard! I can't remember how to say anything! haha but it's good.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be her in Portugal, i have loved the time i've spent here and the people i've come to know. I know that the Spirit truly does testify the truth to us and we can know that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ through study and prayer. I have seen so many miracles on my mission and I'm so grateful for the time i've had here. I'm so grateful for my family and all that they do for me, it is wonderful to know that my family is eternal. 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

They have Dominos in Portugal!!

Divisions with Sister Barron!! Who was in my MTC district!!

1 year down! 

It's February already!

"If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, though shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation." D&C 6:13

Dear Family and Friends,

Is it already February!! Time passes sooo fast!!! This week was really great! the work is finally starting to progress here in Cacém and we are happy as ever! 

Teddy: He was our miracle this week! We were walking along the road in front of a grocery store where people were walking in all directions, we walked passed a guy and felt immediately impressed to turn around and talk to him. We started up a conversation asking about his religious background and all that stuff. He had never heard of the Church of Jesus Christ before, but he accepted the invite to talk to us more. We talked to him last night in a park bench and the Spirit was incredible!!! He accepted the invite to be baptized on February 14th. I loved teaching him, and he was super accepting of everything, he said that what we were teaching made sense to him, which is one of the feelings that the Spirit brings: clarity. I'm so grateful we followed the prompting to talk to him. 

Jolly: He's doing really great! He didn't go to Spain this week thankfully! So we'll talk to him more this week and we'll see if we can get him baptized this weekend! Miracles!

Thank you so much for all the support that i have from home, you are all incredible! I know that this is the work of the Lord and I'm so glad I'm here. 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Sister Rubio and I!

A cool alleyway we found!

Sister Rubio was really upset that the loaf of bread had an uneven amount of slices. I love this Sister! Hahaha