"For whosoever will save his life shall loose it: and whosoever will loose his life for my sake shall find it." ~Matthew 16:25

Dear Family and Friends!

This week has been truly fantastic! I find myself truly amazed as I work harder and harder and see the hand of God more and more in this amazing work. I am amazed at how much my testimony of the gospel has grown over the past 9 months or so. I love being here in Portugal and I love being a missionary. We have found a couple of new families to teach and we're really excited!

Saturnina and Nadina: A mother and daughter that have a lot of potential. They have a lot of faith and are very friendly. We're excited to start sharing the gospel with them.

Paulo: We met him, his wife, and his daughter outside their house last week, and we just left a card with them, We didn't even ask if we could come by and share a message or anything, we just told them to call if they needed anything. Then that same night Paulo called us and said he was interested in meeting with us! We met with him in the chapel and had a quick lesson with him, he has a lot of faith and already has a good relationship with God. He's married and has 3 kids! I'm excited to start working with him as well.

Ivo and Milene: Unfortunately we didn't get their marriage papers done in time, so they probably won't be baptized this Saturday, but we're hoping for next! They are such an amazing family and I'm so glad they foudn the gospel. They will stay firm :)

I'm happy to be here as a missionary bringing many souls to the knowledge of their Redeemer. I know I'm changing here and coming closer to Christ, I know that the more I loose my life for Christ's sake, I will find it. I hope I can continue loosing my life for the gospel throughout my whole life. I'm coming to know that missionary work is the most important thing anybody can be doing with their time, not just the missionaries. I want to encourage you all to pray for missionary experiences and then do all you can to have them, talk with EVERYONE about the gospel and always be an example of Christ.

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall 

Photos: 

Breakfast in the Sister household of Setubal!

We made Brasilian Pasteis with some Brasilian members! They were sooo yummy!!!

Batismo!!!

"Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." ~Alma 36:24

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was amazing! My mind is blown at how much I'm growing and learning, a mission really is incredible. 

Juliana: She was baptized on Saturday! It was quite a miracle because when we had passed by her house on friday, she said she wanted to wait one more week to get baptized. We invited her to pray that night and ask God if this was the right decision. Sister Landbeck and I also prayed and the next morning, we both felt that she should be baptized on Saturday, it will only bring blessings and why would we want to wait to receive blessings, right? Fortunately, the Elders had already planned a baptism for Saturday afternoon, so all we had to do was invite Juliana to be baptized! We went over to her house about an hour before the baptismal service was supposed to start and told her how we felt, and she accepted the baptismal invitation without hesitation! So she had a quick interview and was baptized! She was confirmed and recieved the Gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday and she looks so happy! She's passing through a lot of trials, but you can see the light of Christ just glowing in her eyes. I'm so happy she has found the truth.

Ivo and Milene: They are still strong! We started a quit smoking program with Ivo this week. We had a great lesson with them and the Zone Leaders this week and it was awesome! We testified that only with the help of God that he would be able to quit smoking before his baptism and he agreed with us completely and committed to quit smoking by the 14th. He has a lot of faith that he can do it and we're working with him. This family will be such strong members.

I love the mission! I love Setúbal! I really am happy, even though it's hard sometimes. But Salvation never was and never will be easy, it's something we have to work for. But I'm finding that the harder I work, the happier I am. Go read the Book of Mormon and go serve everyone around you!

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Our's and the Elder's Baptism! 

Sister Landbeck and I and Juliana!

The missionaries and our Ward Mission Leader! 

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face, I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and minde angels round about you, to bear you up." ~D&C 84:88

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great! We had divisions with the Sister Training Leaders, I got to serve with Sister Ventura! She was in my zone when I was in Portimão, so it was really great to serve with her! We also had a huge ward/stake halloween dance on Saturday and we had a great turnout of investigators! It's good to show others that we like to have fun :) We also visited a cemetary yesterday for "Dia das Almas" (day of the souls - it's sorta like memorial day) we were able to hand out a couple of Family History pamphlets and Plan of Salvation pamphlets, it was a good day :) 

Paula: She is still doing really well, unfortunately she had to help out with a family thing yesterday and was unable to attend church, so she won't be getting baptized this saturday, but we're hoping for the next! 

Miguel: He is also doing good! Sister Ventura and I taught him on divisions, and it went really well. He has a lot of really deep questions and ideas that are generally correct, which is really awesome! He has trouble sleeping at night, so so far he hasn't been able to attend church, but we're working with him.

Juliana: We started teaching her last week and she is doing great! She has a baptismal date for this saturday and she's really solid. She's been going through a hard time recently so she really needed the help of the Lord and I'm so glad she found us. She is a really sweet older lady and has a lot of faith.

This week was really fun! We're working in new areas and finding new people! I love working here in Setubal and I know I'm doing the right thing. 

I truly love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos: 

Divisions with Sister Ventura!

Happy Halloween!! I went as Sister Landbeck :) 

We visited a beautiful castle last P-day! The view was absolutely incredible!!

Templo!!!!!

"We believe in God because of things we know with our heart and mind, not because of the things we do not know." ~Pres. Uchtdorf, 'Be Not Afraid, Only Believe'

Dear Family and Friends!

We had the most wonderful announcement this week! The long-waited groundbreaking for the Portugal Lisbon Temple has been announced!! December 5th!! We are all so excited!! I hope the missionaries will at least get the opportunity to watch a transmition or something, the temple was announced 5 years ago and finally they are starting to build! I'm beyond excited! I hope I can return for the dedication, or at least to visit the temple here :) We had a week full of miracles!

Ivo and Milene: They have finally got their papers ready to get married and they have a date set for November 14th! So their baptism will be on November 21! We are so excited for them! They will be such a wonderful family!

Miguel: We started working with him this week and he was so prepared to receive the gospel! He has a lot of faith and just wants to know the truth! He has confidence that this is the true church of God. He says he's finally found a church that does what the bible says - preach the gospel to the world. He also told us how much he wants to serve a mission, he thinks that he'll be ready to serve in about a year, which is perfect because he'd have to wait a year after his baptism anyway! He is set for the 14th of November!

Paula: We are working with her as well, she is a sweet lady with 2 cute daughters and has a huge heart. She has a great desire to help others. She has a baptism date set for November 7th and we're excited for her!

I've had a great week and I love serving here in Setúbal! I know that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ, I know we have a prophet who leads and directs us in the world today. 

I love you all! 

Sister Steagall

P.S. I learned a new Portuguese phrase this week: "És um pão!" which directly translates to: "You are a bread!" And apparently it's used to say something like "you are hot/you are a beast/you are strong!" or something like that. Isn't that funny? I thought it was hilarious! You are a bread! I think I might start using it in english.

Photos:

Cutting Sister Landbeck's hair! We have fun adventures :) haha

A gypsy horse and wagon, we see a couple here :)

Our breakfast this morning.. we didn't have any food.. but it was enjoyable!

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." ~2 Peter 1:4&8

Dear Family and Friends! 

This week was really great! A couple of very interesting things happened as they always do on the mission :)

1. We were walking along the street and we saw a man carrying a large picture frame, so of course we offer to help him like any missionary would and he accepted! Which is not a common thing in Portugal! So we followed him in this door underneath a large apartment building, where there were a couple little offices there. We asked him if he had every visited the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he responded with "have you ever visited my paper factory?" We were a little confused, but he opened up the door next to him and it lead to this huge underground paper factory!! We had no idea it was there! There's a huge paper factory underneath setubal! That no one would ever know was there! But we do now! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.. so we didn't get a picture! But it was still a great adventure!

2. We had the opportunity to visit a gypsy camp this week! Gypsies don't really exist in America as far as I'm aware, but they are all over Europe. Some actually have houses, but most of them live in little man-mad shacks in fields right next to buildings! So that was a fun adventure we had! They are very nice people :)

Ivo and Milene: They are working on their marriage papers still, but they are still doing great! They don't want a big wedding, so we probably won't have a big party, but their baptism will be great.

Romario: We started working with Romario, Joel's friend, again and he is showing some real desire to be baptized. We learned that his sister and his mom are actually members in Cape Verde, so we're working with him. It should be great!

Paula: Paula was a reference from our member, Idalina, she's super cute! She has two daughters and doesn't know much about religion or the bible, so it's a good experience teaching her. She's very inviting to the missionaries and recognizes that there is something different about us, which is really great to hear. 

We had a good week, Sister Landbeck and I are always smiling and laughing together. We talk to a lot of people in the road and we always meet very neat people! I love this work!

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos: 

Sushi with the setubal 1 and 2 ward missionaries! 

Me with one of our sweet members, Idalina! 

We taught some less actives in their gypsy house! They live in the middle of a field in a little man made shelter. It's a very interesting lifestyle :)

Dear Family and Friends,

We got the call last night, Sister Landbeck and I will be staying in Setúbal! Which is awesome! I love it here! The elders that were serving in our ward with us had a whitewash, which means they both left, so now we have two new elders that will also be our zone leaders! It's gonna be a great transfer!

We finally finished watching all of general conference this week and I loved it once again! I especially liked the idea of "Ponderizing" it's definitely something i'm going to apply for the rest of my life! I think it will help a ton. If you guys need some motivation to start "ponderizing" a scripture each week, I'd love it if everyone would send me an email each week with a new scripture! It'd be great!

Ivo and Milene: They are doing great! Still coming to church, we finished their teaching record this week and now we're just waiting for their wedding to be official so they can be baptized! I love going over to their house to teach them. They are so humble and so willing to learn everything. They truly do want to follow the Savior, I have a feeling they will be very strong members.

Joel: Is still doing ok! We're working with him as well!

Marlene: The Sisters started teaching her 2 transfers ago, but they lost contact. We found her again and started teaching her and she has a great desire to change her life and do what's right. She lost her phone this week though, so we haven't had great contact with her, but we keep running into her in the road, which is a huge blessing! The other day we saw her and she pulled out her Book of Mormon from her bag (she had been carrying around her Book of Mormon!!) And showed us what she found in the reading we gave her. She is awesome!

That's about it for this week! I absolutely love being here on the mission, forgetting about myself and my worries and focusing on what others need. I know that I'm where God wants me to be and that He is with me when I'm doing what's right. Sister Landbeck and I are going to have a great transfer! 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos: 

It's starting to rain here in the beautiful Portugal!

District photo!

Dear family and friends!

We had an amazing and very busy week! Which is great! We went on divisions with the Sister Training Leaders and had a really great experience. We also had interviews with President Tavares, which were also really great, he is a very inspired man. 

We also had a wedding on Saturday for some recent converts, it was absolutely beautiful! I had the opportunity to sing as the bride walked down the isle, which was a neat experience. I also sang a special musical number in the middle of the wedding, which was also really fun! I feel really blessed to be able to sing. 

Conference this weekend was amazing!! I absolutely love hearing the words of the prophet and apostles. We were all really excited to hear about the new apostles as well, they seem like really inspired men. I'm excited to know them more and hear their words. 

Joel is doing good, he's going to finally be able to receive the Holy Ghost this next Sunday after several weeks of waiting! We're excited for him!

Rafael: His mom is having doubts about baptism again, so we will continue to work with them. They are an amazing family who really needs the gospel, we'll continue to work with them, and hopefully they can all enter the waters of baptism together. 

I love this work and I'm having a great time in Portugal. I know that this is the true church, I know that this is the work of the Lord. I love being a missionary and I love sharing the gospel!

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Divisions with the sisters!! They are awesome!!

Wedding of Silvana and Lucas!!

My district at the wedding!