Week #2 in Portimao

Dear Friends and Family,

What an adventerous week!! It's been really great and I still love being a missionary! Here are some people that we've been working with:

Oak: A 20-year-old man who wants to believe in God but feels that God could not exist with life being so terrible all the time. He keeps meeting with us and he's willing to pray. He makes our work easy for us because he asks a lot of questions and usually we have answers. I know that as soon as he knows how to recognize and answer to a prayer, he'll probably get baptized. The best thing about him is that he's trying to get better at english. So he will only speak English with us, which is great for me!

Ju: A 20-year-old woman who is really curious and interested in the church. She is also super willing to pray and do her part to receive and answer. But she also has a lot of pride in her current religion, so we'll see what will happen with her.

Elida: A women in her 50's from Argentina, she is super sweet and loves learning about the gospel. She is super amazing and as soon as we can get her at church, I'm sure she'll be baptized.

We also talk to a lot of less actives here and we're trying to get them to come back to church. The work here is hard and most of our appointments fall through quite often. But I know that if we are obedient and have faith, the Lord will lead us to the people who are ready to recieve the gospel. 

I love this work and I love this gospel! What a blessing it is to be here on a great mission! 

Sister Steagall

I'm finally here!!

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm finally here!! In the most beautiful place in the world!!! I absolutely love it here and I can't wait to spend the next 16 months in this beautiful country.

Tuesday: We were supposed to leave to go to Portugal today, but the MTC travel office switched our flights and didn't tell any of us! Haha so we had to wait another day to leave, but we had an awesome fireside and I'm glad I'm here now.

Wednesday: We spent all day traveling! I got to go to the New York airport and the Spain Airport! So that was pretty cool! We didn't go outside, but we got to look out the window and it was still beautiful!

Thursday: We made it to Portugal!!! My trainer is Sister Bakker from Draper UT, and we both swim and our dad's are both beekeepers! So that's two super random things we have in common! Haha I don't know how that happened! But she is an awesome trainer and I'm so excited to work with her! We are currently serving in Portimão, in the Algarve District.

Friday: My first day as a missionary on the streeets! We walked around a lot and none of our investigators were home, so we only talked to people on the street. Which was still great! I talked to 2 people! And all I said was "Hi! We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." And then Sister Bakker took over from there because I couldn't understand anything.. haha

Saturday: We talked to one of our investigators named Elida today for a little bit, but she's working towards baptism and I'm super excited for her! I also talked to 10 people on the street today! Haha I'm making progress! But I still have a ways to go.

Sunday: Sacrament meeting was great! I couldn't understand hardly anything! Haha but I did get to play the piano for Sacrament, so that was awesome! After the Sacrement, the Branch President got up and announced the program and he said my name. I thought he was thanking me for playing the piano, but then I looked down at the congregation and saw Sister Bakker laughing at me, and Elder Jones giving me a thumbs up. And I knew that the Branch President had just asked me to speak to the congregation. So basically I was terrified! Haha but I just bore my testimony really quick and sat down! Haha it was great! Most of the branch can speak some english, so that was really nice for me.

I'm so excited to be a missionary and I love talking to everyone, even if I can't understand them! I love Portugal and I know the church is true. :)

Sister Steagall

Good bye MTC!

Dear Friends and Family! What a fantastic week it has been! My last week in the MTC has been absolutely terrific and I can't wait to leave for Portugaltomorrow!!

Tuesday: I went to the temple for the last time in 18 months! Sister Miller and I didn't want to leave! It was so beautiful! What a blessing it has been to have grown up so close to a temple. We also had a devotional by Quinton L. Cook which was amazing! He explained how they assign mission calls and he made it very clear how personal they are. And then he told us that the Lord called you to your mission for a reason, have faith and go preach. So amazing!

Wednesday: I got to be a new missionary host today! So I got to show the new missionaries around and see all their cute families, it was so fun! I also had the opportunity to sing at the new missionary devotional with Elder Cervantes from the other Portugal district. Sister Miller and I also practiced teaching Elder Tobler and Elder Reed about the importance of keeping the Word of Wisdom, it was absolutely incredible how the spirit guided me and I knew exactly how to answer their questions. What an incredible feeling it is to know that the Spirit will always be with me as long as I'm obedient.

Thursday: We had in-field orientation today and it was really long! But it was still good! We learned about the importance of involving the members in missionary work and using them to find new investigators. It was super great! I can't wait to go to Portugal!!

Friday: Sister Miller and I were coached by our teacher a little and he told us to ask lot's of questions in lessons, make them think, so that the spirit can tell them what's right. We also got to skype with a Brasilian girl from São Paulo who served her mission in Campinas! It was super awesome!

Saturday: Today I learned how important it is to be exactly obedient. I once heard that obedient missionaries receive blessings, and exactly obedient missionaries witness miracles, but today my teacher told us that that is wrong. There is no difference between exactly obedient missionaries and obedient missionaries. You are either obedient, or you aren't. If  you are almost exactly obedient, you aren't obedient. It is so important to be obedient in everything, especially on a mission, even if you think the rule is dumb. Sometimes it's not really about the rule, it's about being obedient so you can receive blessings and witness miracles.

Sunday: My last Sunday in the MTC! It was an amazing day! The two Portugal districts sang "God be With you 'Til we Meet again" for sacrament meeting. We also had some really great devotionals. That is definitely something I'll miss about the MTC, no more Sunday/Tuesday Devos! Haha but missionary work is great and I can't wait to get out there in the field!

Next week I'll be in Portugal! Thank you all for the love and support. God loves you, I know He does because I have felt His love in my life more in the past 6 weeks than ever before. This work is truly amazing and I feel so blessed to be a part of it!

Sister Steagall

Almost to Portugal

Friends and Family!! 

What a great week this has been!! I'm almost in Portugal and I can hardly wait!

Tuesday: I had an awesome time at the temple! Sister Barron had 4 family names and they were all sisters! So Sister Miller, Sister Barron, Sister Dixon, and I all went through at the same time for these 4 sisters. What an awesome experience!

Wednesday: I got to go on another temporary companion exchange with Sister Runyan! She was having a hard time, so I got to be her companion today! She is such a wonderful girl and full of the Spirit, we taught an awesome lesson to my investigator and she said some really inspired things. I love getting to work with the other Sisters :)

Thursday: We taught our investigator and she committed to be baptized! Even though it's not real, I love the feeling of seeing people change. It's amazing! 

Friday: We got our flight plans today!! We're getting out of here!! Haha I love the MTC, but I can't wait to be in Portugal! :) We also got to skype with a member in Brasil today! We could hardly understand her because of a bad connection, but it was still really awesome! :)

Saturday: Not much happened today, we learned a lot of new Portuguese and taught our investigators about repentance.

Sunday: I love Sundays, the Spirit is so strong. We had an awesome relief society taught by Sister Mckonkie about the importance of faith. I was also released as Sister Training leader after 5 weeks! Usually they only keep you in for 3! So that was interesting! And they called my companion, Sister Miller as the new Sister Training leader, she will be so amazing. 

Monday: English Fast today! Our district went almost all day speaking only Portuguese. I thought I was going to die, but it actually wasn't that bad! I was able to say most of what I wanted in Portuguese! So that was really fun! We also practiced teaching another district and we focused on making sure the investigator knows what they're committing to do. It was a really neat experience!

Tomorrow my district gets to host the new missionaries! I'm really excited!! I will also be performing in the musical number for the new missionary fireside which should be really neat! I love the gospel and I'm so happy to be a missionary! :)

Sister Steagall

Hello Friends and Family!

This week has been a great one! It finally snowed in Utah! Now that it's March.. I love Utah.. Haha but I've had a really fun week full of adventures!

Tuesday: I had my endoscopy today, and I got to get out of the gates of the MTC! It was awesome! Haha the results showed that everything was normal! So that's great! The rest of the day was a total blur and I don't remember hardly anything, but my companion tells me I was pretty funny! But I'm glad I'm ok! :)

Wednesday! Our teacher made a new rule today! When she catches any of us speaking English she puts a tally mark on the board and when we get to 10 tally marks, we all have to do 10 push-ups! Suddenly we can all speak a ton more Portuguese than we thought. We have had to do some push-ups, but our language has improved a ton!

Thursday: We taught our investigator and he seemed really interested. We also got to know him a little more and his needs which is super important - we need to teach people not lessons.

Friday: Today my teacher assigned a temporary companion exchange! So until Sunday morning, my temporary companion was Sister Barron! It was way weird at first because since Sister Miller and I have met, we haven't been apart at all.. But it was a really great experience! I love Sister Barron! She has such good insights and loves the missionary work! :)

Saturday! Sister Barron and I taught a really great lesson to her investigator. It was way Spiritual and amazing! We also completed the tower challenge at dinner! We emptied an entire tube of Frosted Flakes between some people from the two Portugal districts! There were so many bowls of cereal, but it was worth it! Haha super fun!

Sunday: Today we had a mission conference! Probably the biggest mission conference I'll ever have! It was really great! Our Sunday night devotional was also really awesome! It was about the Book of Mormon. I'm coming to realize just how important this book is. If you haven't read it, read it! 

Monday: Great day today! The language is really coming along! We learned about the different tenses, there's like 8 in Portuguese. There's 2 different past tenses too! Actually possibly 3! I'm still way confused about it! So confused that I accidentally stabbed myself in my eye with my pen! But I'm ok!! Haha I'll get it eventually! My district also made a new goal this week to help us be on time. If we're late to class, we have to do 10 push-ups! Everyone has been on time lately! 

It's been a wonderful week and I love being a missionary more and more every day! Thank you for all your love and support! You are all amazing! :)

Sister Steagall

Half way point in MTC!

Hello Friends and Family!

What a week this has been! Due to some recent chest pain I will be having an endoscopy today, I will be put to sleep for a while, but I'm expecting everything to be just fine and I got a priesthood blessing last night, so I know I'll be just fine. I have had this test done before, except the first time I woke up with a feeding tube in my nose, so as long as I don't wake up with a feeding tube, I'll be a happy missionary! Haha I'll be happy either way, I know things will be just fine!

Tuesday: We had a really great devotional about faith in God. There are people who don't understand that God is an actual being or that He loves us or that He hears and answers our prayers.I don't know what I would do without that knowledge and that's why I can't wait to serve the people of Portugal and share this amazing message.

Wednesday: Every Wednesday at 6:15 A.M. we get up and do service! I actually really like the mornings we get to do service. I feel like I'm more awake throughout the day. This morning they had hardly anything for us to do, so we spend 15 minutes dusting vents and then we got to go back to our residency! So that was nice! Haha I also had an almost normal conversation in Portuguese! I'm understanding more and more every day!

Thursday: The days here are so long, but the weeks go by really fast! We taught our "investigator" about God today and he seemed more interested, so that was great! :)

Friday: The fire alarm went off during gym today and no one knew if it was real or not! I don't think it was, because no one was in a real hurry to get out of the building, but it was still an adventure! We also had TRCs today! (Teaching Resource Center) members come and volunteer and we teach them more about the gospel in Portuguese! They're my favorites! We taught two sisters who just got back from the Portugal Lisbon mission, so that was really awesome!

Saturday: We were able to teach a lesson today without using any notes! I feel like I'm getting better and better every day! Language is hard, but it's amazing how fast we're learning. I love it!

Sunday: Sundays are awesome! So full of the Spirit! I also got to play the piano for sacrament meeting and I loved it! I miss music so much.. The Sisters get to watch Music and the Spoken Word every Sunday and it's the highlight of my week! I love it! We also had a great devotional about knowing the adversary and what the Doctrine of Christ is. We also get to watch a movie every Sunday and this time we watched "Legacy" in honor of my sister, Martha. That's an old time favorite of ours ;)

Monday: I spent most of the morning at the Doctor today because of some chest pain, all is well and I will be having an endoscopy today. I got a blessing so I know all will be well :) Take advantage of the Priesthood, it is amazing.

That's all for this week! It's been a really great one! And we hit our halfway mark today! Wow! Time flies! I love you all! 

Sister Steagall

P.S. Here are pictures of my district and our Branch President!

there's some of the elders from my district and the other portugal district sitting on each other, so the sisters decided to do the same thing. 

Then there's a picture of most of our district minus sister Runyan and Sister Elliott - i don't know where they were when we took that.. haha

Then there's me and my companion with Brother Coffman - funniest guy ever! And also some other random elder we had to have in the picture. 

Week 2

I can't believe I'm almost on my 3rd week! Time really flies!

Tuesday: P-day! Super great! We had an awesome devotional about how crucial the book of Mormon is to helping an investigator. We need to read with thte investigator/new member so they can understand what the scriptures say. We also got to go to the temple today. It was a really nice break from the business here at the MTC

Wednesday: New missionaries came! Wow! It feels like I just got here! The best part about Wendesdays is that we get Ice Cream! 

Thursday: Today was great! Our teacher didn't show up, so our district had a big group study and shared some awesome scriptures! I love my district, we have some really amazing people here.

Friday: Thank you all for the Valentine's presents and cards! They are so very much appreciated! I never realized how exciting it was to get mail and packages! Please feel free to send me a letter or write to me any time! I would love to hear about what's going on in the world!

Saturday: Happy Valentine's day! My teacher showed us a demonstration on how to teach a lesson and how to  fullfill our missionary purpose as we teach. I got to be the "investigator" for the whole hour, so my job was pretty easy! When I had no idea what my teacher was saying, I could just say "Eu nao sei (I don't know) and it worked! I also heard an awesome quote by Elder Holland that I wanted to share: "The Lord does not ask about our ability or inability, but of our availability and if we prove our dependability, the Lord will take care of our capability."

Sunday: I love Sundays! We had a great devotional by Elder Stephen Allen, an area 70 and I think the assistant MTC director? Something like that.. anyway! He talked about the importance of companions and how we should always be loving and show charity towards them, no matter how annoying they might be. I'm really glad Sister Miller is the most amazing person ever! We get along really great! :) 

Monday: We taught a new "investigator" today, he's really just our teahcer pretending. And we also practiced street contacts with another district. It was really fun and I think I'm making progress with Portuguese. I've learned that the most important thing is to not compare yourself to others, if you do that, you'll get really depressed. 

That's all for this week! I love you all! Thanks for the letters!

Sister Steagall