The Craziest Week of my Mission and a Surprise BATISMO!!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." -1 Thessalonians 5:18

Dear Friends and Family!

Well, this probably was the craziest week of my life, I didn't think that being a Sister Training Leader had much responsibility, but aparently i was wrong! Haha but I am a person who likes to be stressed and busy, so it was one of the best weeks of my mission! 

We had a division this week with Sister Oliver and Sister Ditton! They are awesome! I really enjoyed serving with them. Sister Ditton and Sister Williams were serving together and while they were on their division, they invited Vicente to be baptized this weekend! So we had to run around a little bit trying to get everything prepared for his baptism, and in the end, everything went well and he had a great baptism! He even invited his friend to the baptism! He's already being a great missionary! :) I'm super excited for him.

We had ward conference yesterday, and I was asked to play the piano. One of the songs I had to play I had basically nothing to go off of except some notes on a page (without a time signature or key signature and you couldn't see the staff very well) and listening to a youtube video with some man singing a capella! haha the ending result was nothing spectacular, but I do like to think that my music teachers must be so proud of me using music theory on my mission! Yay! 

Ana is doing great! She didn't feel ready to be baptized this weekend, so we've pushed it off until next weekend, but she's doing really great and is really excited to learn! She had a great time at church yesterday and she also was able to come to the baptism on Saturday! I'm super excited for her!

Beatriz: We found her on our division and we realized so fast that she is so prepared to receive the gospel. She's 17 and she's from brasil and she has never been baptized in any other church! So we invited her to prepare to be baprized in the Church of Jesus Christ and she accepted. She is an amazing girl! I'm really glad we found her. More to come about her next week. 

I love being a missionary! I love helping so many people change their lives! I love growing! I love the gospel! I love you all!! Have a great week!

Sister Steagall

photos:

Divisions with Sister Oliver!

Vicente's Baptism!! :) 

The Book Of Mormon is True!!!!!

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" ~1 Peter 2:9

Dear Family and Friends!

This week has been great! We've been finding and teaching a lot of people! I absolutely love being a missionary and teaching the gospel. I cannot say that enough times, there's just so much joy from this work. If you don't have the opportunity to be a fultime missionary, be a missionary anyway! It makes you so much happier!!

Ana: She was a referral from a member and she is awesome! She was actually baptized a couple of months ago in an evangelical church, and is a pretty strong member of this other church. When we invited her to read the book of mormon, she had absolutely no intention of reading it, but God is a God of miracles. So she ended up leaving her bible at her other church one day and she came home and wanted to study the scriptures but had nothing! So she decided to pick up the Book of Mormon and read it until 3 a.m! She's already in 2 Nephi and she only started reading on Wednesday! How crazy! She also accepted the invite to be baptized by someone who holds priesthood authority. It is amazing how God is preparing people.

Ariana: We found her earlier this week as we tried to visit a former investigator. She's 15 and is eager to find the truth and her pathway in life. She has been accepting everything we've taught her really well. She also has accepted the invitation to be baptized. I'm really excited for her :)

We are still working with our other investigators, as always and they are doing great. I'm so grateful for the opportunity i have to be here. I love this work, I love my Savior and I know that this is His church.

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Being missionaries, walking along :)

Me in front of a cool wall

Sister Williams and I in front of an awesome house! We love the architecture of portual! :) 

Conferencia Gera!!!!

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." Moroni 7:33

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great! General Conference was absolutely wonderful! I am so grateful we have a prophet who leads and guides us in the world today. Something I've learned on the mission is that most of the world has no idea that we have a prophet, just like in the Bible. They also don't know that we can talk to God. But we can! He is there, He's our Father, He loves us unconditionally, and He wants to see us succeed, so He will help us. I'm so grateful that I have that knowledge and that I have the opportunity to be here sharing it with others.

Émerson: He is doing awesome! We taught him about the Book of Mormon this week and he accepted it really well, he also said he was going to watch conference yesterday, we haven't gotten in contact with him yet to see if he liked it. But he was super excited to watch it. He is someone who has so many questions and he's so open to everything. He will not throw any idea away without knowing everything about it. I have a feeling he'll be a solid member. 

Xana and Cristovo: They are doing really well, they started reading the Book of Mormon and praying as a family. Their kids tell us everytime they see us "we read!" It's so great that they are so excited to be reading and praying. I know this will help their family and I'm grateful that the kids are being such great examples for their parents.

Vicente: We started working with him a couple of weeks ago, he was actually baptized about 30 years ago, but never went back to church so he doesn't remember much. In the process of trying to reactivate him, we haven't had much luck finding his member record, so we might have a surprise baptism this weekend or next! He is such a solid guy, it's really awesome teaching him.

We have had the great blessing of finding a couple of families! It's kinda funny, between the Elders and us, we have like 4 or 5 really solid investigators that were found how? Because we helped them with their groceries. So what have I learned? Always offer to help with groceries! 

It's been a good week and a fantastic weekend! To repeat the words of Elder Holland, don't forget what you felt during conference. Apply it in your lives always!

I love you all!! :) 

Sister Steagall

Photos:

I got to see Sister Rubio at mission council!! She's a Sister Training Leader too! I'm so proud of her :) 

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"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father." D&C 18:15

Dear Family and Friends,

Sister Williams and I are staying in Cacém! Wahoo! I love this area! I'm really excited to be staying. This week has been an incredible one!! We found a lot of new people to teach, and we had a great easter! I am super excited for this next week.

Emerson: We contacted him on the street this week, he had already talked to the missionaries in the past, but didn't remember much. He said that his way of life is following the bible and living the 10 commandments! Perfect, that's what the church of Jesus Christ does too! He's accepted the date to be baptized for the10th of April, and he's super awesome. He'll bring a lot of friends to the church.

Xana and Cristovo: We found an amazing family that lives right below is in our apartment. They have 5 kids, and the kids got so excited when we introduced the Book of Mormon! They all started reading it and looking at the pictures before we even said the closing prayer! I'm so excited to be working with them, and they are super accepting of everything we've said so far. I'm so grateful for the opportunity we have to work with families. That's what this gospel is all about! Families! They'll be amazing members of the church :)

We are continuing working with our other investigators as well as our new ones. I know that this is the work of the Lord. He is always involved in everything. I am so grateful for my Savior and for His atoning sacrifice. I hope you all had a great Easter and found time to remember our Savior. I hope you all have a great week and prepare yourselves well to hear the prophets speak. 

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Iza, a girl we contacted 2 weeks ago was baptized! She lives in the Elder's area, so we didn't get to teach her, but we did find her. That was such a miracle!

Easter! Reese's!!

Easter with the Barbosas!!

"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." ~D&C 6:36

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was great! Finally we began to see more miracles! Mostly it was because I needed to have more faith, which is a constant work in progress. We all need to rely on the Lord just a little bit more and let Him help you.

Jolly: We finally got him a date set for baptism! May 7th! Which for this mission, is forever away! haha but at least he has a goal now. We had a really good lesson with him about goal setting and how we need to have a goal or we'll never get there. He is such a solid guy. I'm excited for him.

Edilson: Awesome story! We had taught him a couple weeks ago but after that he basically just stopped talking to us, so we thought he was a no go, but all of a sudden yesterday, as we were walking to church, he called us and said that he was in Cacém, but couldn't find the church. We basically started running like crazy to try to find where he was, but without success (it was out of our proselyting area, so we didn't know the area super well) so we finally decided to pray, and both of us felt that we should head to the church. He called us a few minutes later and said that he was with the elders on the way to the church! He ended up being super far away from the church and where we were looking, but he happened to run into the elders on their way to church with another investigator and he said "hey, do you guys know where your church is?" haha of course! So he came and had a great experience, we'll talk to him more this week.

Life is full of miracles, especially the work of the Lord, we just need to open our eyes and see the miracles in front of our face. God loves us perfectly, He knows us perfectly and He wants us to be happy. I'm so excited for this Easter Sundayand I hope you all find time to remember and focus on the Savior this week. Also, check out the new video the church put out! I think it's called Follow Him in English? haha I don't know for sure, but it's great! 

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos: 

From left to right: Renata, Sister Williams, me, Rodgerio (recent convert) and Jolly after an awesome lesson

Divisions with Sister Neves!

Pi day!!!!!!

"And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" ~Alma 5:26

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been good, but full of finding once again. We have been struggling in our area to find some solid investigators, but we have fun coming up with creative ideas to do better contacts in the road and get referrals from members. We are still smiling and we love working, that's all we know how to do, so we'll continue doing it! :) 

We found some new investigators this week that have a lot of potential. We decided to open up our area book and look at some former investigators and it turned out to be a great idea. While most of the people we found were no longer living in that address, it opened up a great opportunity to invite the current resident to hear a message about Christ and they have some real potential. We're excited to work with them.

Our other investigators that we have are doing well, but not progressing too much, so we're back to finding! But it's awesome :) I love talking to people, especially the older people, because part of the culture here is that if you don't know someone, you're not going to say hi to them. But when we say hi, even just in passing, they always have this look of "do i know that person?" it's always great! I love Portugal! haha :) 

We had a really fun Pday today! We went to Belém, a really popular tourist site, and played some American football, which I have no idea how to play! But it was fun to just run around! Haha

I hope you are all well and that you have a great week, continue in your faith, knowing that with Christ, everything is possible, but also remember that His will will always be greater than yours. Just follow His plan and trust in Him.

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

American football for pday! (I have no idea how to play that game..)

Belém!!

Belém pastries!! Literally the best in the world!!

BENFICA!! BENFICA!!!!

"For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round." ~1 Nephi 10:19

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was the big soccer game in Portugal against the big rivals, Benfica and Sporting. Obviously we didn't watch the game, but while the game was going on, the whole city was like a ghost town! haha no one was in the street, but all the cafes were absolutely full of people. At one point we were walking by a cafe, and all of a sudden, everyone in the cafe stood up at the same time and started shouting "BENFICA!! BENFICA!!" Benfica had scored, it was a great time :) haha it's fun to experience the culture of Portugal.

This week has been a little more tough in terms of investigators, we don't have many progressing, but we did have a greally good lesson last night with a girl named Rodna, her family was baptized in Cape Verde 15 years ago but she was never baptized. She hasn't been progressing at all and we have been praying to know how to help her. We talked to her yesterday about the love that God has for her. The Spirit was super strong and we finally got her to say a prayer thanking God for the love he had for her.

I'm so grateful to be here teaching the people of Portugal. I know that each one of them is a literal child of God and He has a plan for each and every one of us. He knows us perfectly and He knows what we need. That's why it's so important that we always teach by the Spirit, the One who really knows what's going on. I'm so grateful for the gospel and for the Love that I feel from my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I hope and pray that each of you will find someone to share the love of God with this week. Pray for the opportunities and they will come.

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

We went to Lisbon for pday and i found my "mom" (trainer) and my "sister" (the other sister she trained) and then my "daughter" (who i'm training) so we had a little family reunion! haha :)