Water, Water, and more Water!

Dear Family and Friends!

I have almost no time to email today due to our apartment problems! Haha it's been all good, we've just been coming home to a flood in our apartment almost every day and today the men came to fix it, so Sister Landbeck had to be in our house while they were trying to work out the problem, and now we are very short on time to email! Quick updates on our friends!

Joel: He wasn't able to show up for church yesterday to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, but he'll be able to get it next week. He's doing really well with his scripture study and he always has lot's of questions!

Rafael: We are planning his baptism for this weekend, and his mom and other sister are soon to come. They are a wonderful family who are ready to accept this gospel. They all came to church yesterday, which was a miracle! I'm so happy for them!

Ivo and family: They have their papers for their wedding in process! So we will have a wedding soon and a baptism shortly after! I'm really excited for them to have an eternal family! They have 3 beautiful daughters and one son who's only a month or so old! They are awesome!

That's about all that happened. We had a good week despite the flooding problems! I love serving a mission here and I'm so excited for General Conference this week! 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Cleaning up the flood!! Every day...

Dragging the mops that we borrowed from the chapel through the field next to our house, looking real fancy ;) 

Costa Rica District party!!

Dear Family and Friends!

We had a very interesting week!! It started out with an overflowing kitchen sink, causing a huge flood in our apartment which we spent a couple of hours cleaning up! I got a good video of Sister Landbeck freaking out! It was hilarious!! Welcome to Setúbal! Haha but we did see a lot of good things happen as well :)

Joel: Joel was baptized yesterday which was awesome!! We ended up having the baptism later at night because he had somewhere he needed to be in the afternoon, but he was still baptized and it was incredible! He is awesome! It's really amazing to be here to be able to teach people like Joel. He will be a great member.

Ivo and family: They are doing great! They have a meeting this week with the bishop to plan for the wedding so they can get baptized! Ivo also received a blessing yesterday to help him quit smoking. They are doing really well!

Rafael: He's the brother of a recent convert and he's only 8 years old, so it's a little different teaching him but he is so excited to get baptized! We're planning his baptism for the week and we're hoping we can baptize his sister this week as well, Margarita.

Marlene: We started teaching her this week, she was taught 2 or 3 transfers ago and actually had a baptismal date, but then she disappeared. So we are teaching her again, she doens't remember a whole lot, so we're starting from the Restoration with her. She is awesome! She said that she wants to be baptized, so we'll talk about a date this week. I'm excited to continue working with her, she is wonderful!

That's about it for this week! We had a grand adventure with our plumbing problems in our apartment, but it's still great! I'm having so much fun with Sister Landbeck here in Setúbal! We're going to have a great transfer! I love being a missionary here and I love Portugal!

I love you all!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Baptism of Joel!!

Setúbal!

Someone tied their door shut from the outside.. so they can't open it from the inside.. not really sure about that one.. welcome to Setúbal! :) haha

Dear Family and Friends!

I am absolutely loving Setúbal still! The people we are teaching are doing well and I'm learning a lot with Sister Landbeck! We are both still pretty new in the mission, but we never stop smiling because we love what we're doing and we know the Lord is with us! 

Joel and Romario: Joel was taught everything and he passed is interview! He is so ready to be baptized, but he has to go to church at least 2 times and he slept in yesterday, so we'll have his baptism next week and he's hoping that we'll be able to teach Romario so he will want to get baptized this weekend as well. They are awesome and I'm so happy to be teaching them!

Vanda and Rafael: Vanda has decided that she's content with her religion right now and doesn't want to change, but she is still willing to let us teach Rafael (her 8-year-old son) and he is very excited to be baptized. I'm excited to teach them! 

Ivo and Marlene: They are doing great! They came to church yesterday and had a really great time, they're 11-year-old daughter learned about missionary work in primary and she got a "future missionary" nametag. She was so excited to show us! They are a wonderful family and they're progressing really well! 

Carlos: He is awesome! He gave us some African Cachupa this week, it was awesome! He accepts everything we teach him really well. He is having some trouble seeing why baptism is important because he was already baptized in the Catholic church, so we'll continue to work with him. He let us come over and play his organ this week, which was super fun! He rocks!

Sister Landbeck and I are learning a lot together, especially with speaking the language. But our testimonies are growing so much stronger. There are times when I walk away from lessons having no idea what I just said, I knew that it was the Spirit speaking, not me. This work is amazing and I know that the Lord is always with us. We are putting forth our best efforts here and I'm having amazing experiences. I absolutely love serving a mission!! 

I love you all!! 

Sister Steagall

Photos: 

I'm currently living in a house with 3 other sisters, it's always a party! The other sister's investigator took us to see a castle and an old Catholic temple right on the edge of a cliff today! It was beautiful!!

African food!! And.. McDonald's

Dear Family and Friends!!

Setúbal is awesome!! I absolutely love serving here! The ward is huge with lot's of families! We have so many less active members as well! It seems like we meet at least 2 or 3 people on the street every day that have already been baptized! It's crazy! So we have a lot of people to work with! We also have a lot of people who are interested in the gospel here as well! And a lot of part member families! I love this area!

Joel and Romario: He is the cousin of a recent convert and he's from Cape Verde. We invited them both to be baptized this Sunday and they both accepted! They are super cool and they ask a lot of questions which is always great when we're teaching!

Vanda and Rafael: The mom and brother of a recent convert. They are super cool! Rafael is 8 and he really wants to get baptized. They both accepted a baptismal date of September 20th, so we're really excited for them too!

Ivo and Marlene: This amazing family with 4 beautiful children. They have super strong testimonies and they've already been taught everything and they really want to be baptized but they have to wait for some papers so they can get married. I'm really excited to work with them, they have a strong testimony about modern day prophets and they accept everything we teach them really well! 

Gerson: We found him on the road this week, he is super excited about the gospel! We taught him about the restoration and invited him to be baptized when he knows these things are true and he said yes! He came to church yesterday as well, so i'm really excited to start working with him :)

Carlos: He is awesome! He's been to church twice now, but we still haven't really taught him anything, but he has a beautiful family and we're hoping to talk to him more this week.

This area is awesome and I'm so excited to be here! We have a lot of work to do and a lot of people who are ready to receive this gospel. I love being a missionary and I love being here! 

I love you all!!

Sister Steagall

Photos:

Sister Lanbeck and I!!

Our Chapel!

Setúbal!!

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 :)