Monday August 22, 2011

Dear family and friends;

It is true . . . Perfect love casteth out all fears. This week has been a week of Miracles and blessings. It all started on Terça. Elder Searle and I decided to skip lunch right after District meeting so that we could have some more time in our area. If we didn't we would lose 2 hours, not 2 because of the train schedules and such (it also helps that I am District Leader and told my district that we were starting District meeting 15 minutes early, we were all there at 9h45 anyways, because of buses and trains, so why not?) So we went back and had a lesson with a lady named Laura. She was an old investigator that sent us a text saying that she has doubts and she wanted us to answer them. We had never met her before, and it was a pretty big surprise. So we got there and her doubt was "How can I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God?" It was a good question. We explained it and were way excited about it. Now we can't get a hold of her, but it was way cool. So after that we did our Prayer of Thanks, and we felt we needed to pass a potencial named Shana. She wasn't there. So we thought maybe god was just sending us to that specific area. So, we started knocking and the last door we knocked, we found a lady named Terzinha. Terzinha is from Africa and is way cool. She said  "I was waiting for god to help me." It was an amazing lesson, she accepted the basic baptismal convite (without a date). She really wants to talk to us, but her son is in the hospital right now, and she has been really tired and exhausted at our other lessons. We just give her words of encouragement, pray with her, and mark another time to come. Right after that we had a dinner appointment. (Here we only get dinner appointments if the members want something) So we went to the area and were early and so we started to knock the area. Elder Searle accidently knocked the door of our dinner appointment, and tried to contact the member (it was through the Quem é Box). Here in Portugal the Quem é box is an intercom system. There is an apartment complex and to get in you ring the person's doorbell. The box generally has 3 to 30 different houses for the same system, so we can stand in one place and knock 30 doors without taking a step . . . it just hasn't been super effective. Anyways, we call it the Quem é box because people answer ºQuem éº, which means who is it. It is sort of rude in the states, but here it isn't. Well we found out the reason that she wanted us there was to teach her sons girlfriend, who has turned out to be probably one of our best investigators. It was amazing.

We also had another really cool experience yesterday. To preface, I was studying how to respond to the question, why is there so much suffering in the world if god loves us so much. It is a hard question if the next question is where are you from, we respond that we are americans, and people tell us we are from the worst country in the world because we are fighting in Afganistan, and the war is 100 percent over oil (when I want to ask how much oil is in afganistan, but I don't because I am a disciple of Christ) So I was studying that and I came up with an answer. My question would be do you really want to know? It gets people thinking. Because people will ask us that just to throw us off, so we throw them back off. When they say yes, I tell them that I have an answer for them, but I have to explain a little more first to have everything make sense. This is where I find out if they have real intent, So I pull out a book of Mormon and explain why it is true, and we bear a short testimony about the book. Then we open it, and read them the promise that it is true. I then give them a short answer that because god loves us men have their agency, and the suffering is the fault of men, not of god, but then I say, That is really a short answer. If you will read this chapter, study it, and pray about it, you will find your answer, and then we will come by again to answer any more questions. (Generally I leave 2 Nephi 2, or MAYBE Alma 14 (I haven't done that one yet)) So the next day, we had a girl ask me that same question sort of arrogantly, so I responded in the manner above. Because of that, we now have 3 new investigators, and 2 of the 3 are pretty cool. They like us and we found one in the street later that ran up to us asked us where our chappell is. (To bad they couldn't go to sacrament meeting)

The last story is about my family. Marta and Arlindo. They are so sweet and have told us probably 4 times that they don't want to join our church. So Elder Searle and I prayed and asked god if we should continue to teach them. We felt like we should, so we went back. Taught a lesson, and they told us they don't want to join our church, but we still invited them to church and told them where they could meet us to catch the bus up to church. They showed up!! They went to church with us, and we found that they are keeping most of their committments. They agreeded to have an FHE tonight with us at our branch president's home, but they remain the fact that they will not join our church. We went back to their house last night to see how they liked church, and Arlindo wasn't home, but marta asked us a lot of questions about church and stuff and said that the reason they don't want to join is because Arlindo doesn't want to make the commitment to be a faithful member in the church, but she does, but she said that she wants to be baptized with her husband. . . understandable. So, we are way excited for them. We have an interesting FHE planned, I'll keep you posted on what happens if it all works out. It was sort of funny, we have only taught the 1st lesson, and at church the Priesthood and Relief society was about the Law of chastity . . . which is interesting. Marta found out all about garments from our branch. She asked us about them, and it was sort of strange . . . I told her it will make more sense as we teach more.

With Love

Elder Hope

Monday August 15, 2011

Family:

Ok, so I only have a few minutes because it is a holiday and we lose time for that . . . I donºt understand that.

Here in Portugal there have been a ton of Arson Fires. They have been reported in areas around Porto (my area) as well as in Viseu and Viana do Castelo (my old stomping grounds) It is so sad that the kids are revolting here. We were confronted by some teenagers, and they told us that they like to rob the missionaries. So, I started a contact telling them that we were disciples of Christ and such and they left frustrated . . . they never robbed us, but they confronted another guy and I don't know exactly what was said but the guy went to punch the 2 teenagers that confronted us, missed, and the one teenager threw a bottle at the kid, breaking it and ending up his eye while the other one picked up a chair and threw it at him, and then they ran away. I don't know if his eye is ok, I think it hit a little high, but he had some bad cuts. . . . This was another example of why socialist health care is not a good idea. It took the ambulance 15 minutes or so to show up . . . I could walk to the station in less time than that, and there wasn't much traffic. It was sad. We get mail once a transfer now. Our branch president loves the maple. a bottle that size you can only really find in Porto and Lisbon and costs about €19 (which is about $25 give or take)

I had the opportunity to do another Baptismal interview and got permission to tell one of the answers of the person. I asked him Do you want to be baptized. He said yes, so I asked him why, and his response was Porque val o pena, which means, it is so worth it. It is a phrase that is hard to translate, but dad might remember it, or it might just be a portugal thing, I don't know. I thought that was cool.

We had a lesson with a member and the member told her that she didn't need to come to church . . . fun stuff!!!

Anyways we had one other thing, dad will really like it, jessica might be able to use it in Spanish, i don't know if it works in spanish or not, but it doesn't work in English.

Anyways what is a offspring of a dog ( cão (dog) cãozinho (hot dog or puppy))

offspring of cat ( gato (cat) gatinho (kitten))

offspring of god (Deus (god) deuszinho (us))

it just sort of shows our divine heritige and how we really can grow and be like our heavenly father.

got to go

Elder Hope

Monday August 8, 2011

Family and Friends,

So we found a way awesome guy that agreed to pray, and study the first lesson pamphlet (I thought that was interesting, but he did), and then his friend came into his house and kicked us out because we were TJ's. I still don't understand how a friend can kick us out of a house that isn't his. His name is Julio, we will see, he left us with "Até Próximo"

So here in Ermezinde is another story and a half. Everyone got really pumped up because we whitewashed the area and we have received more references than i have ever recieved because of it. By the way, members like it when you follow up and tell them how it worked out when you passed their friends.

So my biggest problem is getting people to come to chruch. We call everyone on Saturday night to invite them, and they all seem to have excuses, so we started passing by every single one on saturday to deliver an invitation for church, and we had a lady say she wanted to come but her husband is in the hospital. (which doesn't mean much in Portugal, people go to the hospital for a bruise because we don't have doctors offices like we do in the States, just Hospital. And by the way, socialized health care . . . not a good idea, it doesn't work and people take advantage of it and miss missionary appointments because of the Hospital.)

So we took the train to go to an apointment, and we took the wrong train, so we missed our appointment. We learned it is better to ask where the train is stopping rather than just looking at the direction . . . but in our defense, we didn't know the track splits before the stop at Travagem. We have passes, so I am glad we didn't lose money from it, just a lot of really precious time.

So we are starting to teach a lady named Roberta. She is from Forteleza, Brasil . . . If i haven't mentioned, I love the brazillians because they already know that the church is true, or they want to know more about the church. We have to see if she can get baptized, we are having promblems with her desire to search, but she is way cool. She speaks in a really high pitched voice, and it is always a fun time trying to understand her, but she loves the missionaries and our lessons. It will be hard if we drop her this week because she doesn't want to get baptized. we will give her until sunday, and see if she comes to church or not.

Being district leader brings many blessings and many tears at the same time. As you know you grow to love the people you serve. This last week we had a missionary burn their arm on the oven, and the companion called a few days later saying that the missionary that got burned had fainted and was in the hospital and needed surgery. Long story short, it was all a joke and the missionary really did burn their arm, but never went to the hospital. The missionary was chastized by the mission President, and then i was called as the District leader and given "Orders" to follow the instruction in Doctrine and Coventents 121 that says at times "reprove with sharpness, then show an increase in love" more or less. To tell you the truth I didn't want to, and so I ended up having a long chat with the zone leaders on what I should say, do, and such. To tell you the truth that was the hardest phone call to make ever. To tell the missionary that we are here for them and we need to follow Christ, and endure to the end, that is not in the character of the missionary to do these things. Luckily they called me, because they have to every night to report on their day, and then I began talking about the day. It is hard to do those things, but during the next day when we talked, the missionary was still sort of depressed, but at the same time I knew that they had taken it to heart. The day after, they were happy again, and were working harder than ever to correct their wrongs. since that instance, this dupla of missionaries has marked 2 people for baptism, and I will go and interview them this week!! All in all, I have to say that as a leader we are sometimes asked to be a leader, not just an administrator, but we can also be best friends. I love my district. I love the missionaries I get to serve, My companion is my right hand man and a friend. I love this work, I love the lord, and I know we are blessed for the work we do.

Story for the week: We were exausted. We were ready for sucess, and we were ready to talk with people that wanted to listen. We found a lady named Marta with 3 young kids that wants to know which church is true. Her mom is a TJ, her Husband used to be a part of the Reino de Deus, and so they are a little family that we are excited to teach. We talked with her about god, the need for a church and baptism. I don't know how to explain love, but i could just picture her in white as we were talking, preparing to be baptized and recieve all the blessings god has prepared for her. I know my savior lives.

I have to go (I lost time, because some guy had to tell me that I am not authorized to use the computer because I am an American, and am not employed here in Portugal, I hope church counts as employment because I gave him the church as the company I work for, and the name of our Branch President as our employer . . . I should have given him Thomas S. Monson . . . .that would have been interesting,. . . oh well next Monday!),


Love y'all
Elder Hope

Monday August 1, 2011

Dear Family and friends:

I absolutely love Elder Searle, it is such a great transfer already!!

Mom, i am trying to keep a good journal, I am better here than I was at home, but it is still lacking some things. I also write notes in my planner to help me remember. In the past, my nights were used to write in my journal, but now thye are used to call all the members in the district and encourage, support, and uplift them, as well as get their numbers. The mornings are used for calling the zone leaders and getting ready for the day, so I don't have much time, but I am trying.

There also won't be any pictures today because we are in a hurry, it is the first PDay of the month and so we can travel anywhere in our Zone with permission from the ZL's or anywhere in the District, with permission from the DL. So, we are going to Guimerães today. There is an actual castle there. I am way excited to go, I have only been to forts, but this one is an actual castle, if you want you can look it up on the internet. . . and by the way google translate doesn't work very good for big things. I seem to have a curse that every time that I am emailing, the ZL's call me and ask me questions and stuff. Today was a lot longer, and Elder Searle has been nice and has made some calls for me so that I can type more of an email to you.

The best thing about district leader is the Baptismal interviews. They are so spiritual. I never quite realized what The Spirit of Discernment was before I got this call. It is real. It is something that can't be described. I have only done 2 since my calling, and the first was Alberto. I knew he was ready from the beginning. The second was Paula, it was interesting because I didn't have the same feeling, but felt like I should ask another question. It turned out that she didn't understand a principle that was taught. And after explaining this principle to her she said, alright, I will do that, then after that, and only after that did I feel like she was ready.

I will just give 4 quick stories

So a lot of our time has been walking this last week because we had a few appointments in the middle of nowhere, but that is fixed since this month we got permission to buy bus passes!!! We were teaching a lady named Deolinda 2 (there is another one, so she is #2) and she asked us if we wanted Candy. We said, alright, and she came back and gave us candy. it was a sort of clear hard greenish candy, and she popped one in her mouth and told us how good they were, so elder Searle and I said, alright, we will try. Well, long story short, they were cough drops. . .

We were were helping a family move. He lives on the 8th floor and we put stuff in the elevator, it would go down, and then we would call it back, and had 2 groups of people. Well, the mattress didn't fit, so we had to carry it down the stairs. He told us to use the rail so we don't hurt our backs. It is one of the kinds of stairways that is in the form of a rectangle and goes up in a square shape. (sort of like ours in home, but keeps going up) So, we were on the 5th floor and the matress caught the rail wrong, and I lost grip, and Elder searle grabbed onto the plastic, but the plastic ripped, so the mattress went flying down 5 stories of stairs, and we got all the way down stairs the people said it is a lot quicker that way.

Also, yesterday we were praying and I felt like I should call Felipe. He was a name in the phone that none of us know and we didn't know anything about him, but we called him, and set up an appointment for an hour and a half later than when we called. He was cool, but there will be a lot of work for him. He is an atheist . . . even though we think that he really has some belief, and he said the purpose of life is Music. . . We will see, but it got us a new investigator!!

We were going to mark Deolinda 1 for baptism during chruch. We told our Branch President about it, and he was on board, and he offered to challenge her since she doesn't like us . . . she was just too attached to old missionaries. So he gave a lesson on eternal families, and then asked Deolinda if she wanted an eternal family. . . Her response was I don't know. He then asked if that would bring her happiness. She was saying how it is hard to answer. Our Branch president took us aside and in English (so no one else could understand. Here they understand English if we speak really slow) he said she knows it is true, but she is refusing to recognize the holy ghost in her life. The last hour we were all combined because it was the 5th sunday. Our branch President changed his entire lesson plans on the dime and gave one of the most powerful lessons ever about Recognizing the Holy Ghost. It was so cool, that he did that just for us. Long story short, she is still not marked . . . yet!

I must go now, but stay strong, I love you all,

Elder Hope

Monday July 25, 2011

Family and Friends:

We had a baptism on Saturday!! We didnt teach everything, but I tought enough to count it. His name was Alberto.

So Elder Searle and I have had a really fun week this week in the new area of Ermizinde. The old elders didn't leave a note and didn't fill out Progress Records, so we don't know what they were doing here. We asked the Ward, and they don't have any of the records, so we said "BEM" and started from Ground zero this week. Jessica, make this a note to you, the teaching records are very important.

We got to our apartment and we were excited because we have a District Leaders Apartment, meaning that is big enough for 8 elders to sleep uncomfortably, but it can happen if necessary, and we are the only two there. We were so excited to find 2 bathrooms and a table to eat at. I was also way excited to find that we both get beds on the ground, and not a bunk bed! I am also really happy that Elder Searle doesn't snore. I found that it is nice to have counter space too. All in all the apartment is really big and nice.~

So I arrived in Ermizinde 1 hour before Elder Searle. So I was told to wait in the Station for him, but to go downstairs into a store called Tujour to find a guy named Jaime and ask him for the phone. I said Ok. So I got there and got the phone and keys. Jaime is our Branch President. He is way cool. He is unlike any man that I have ever seen. He found out that I would be District Leader, so he talked to me for the hour before Elder Searle Arrived. (He is the owner of the store so I didn't have to worry about him getting fired, well, it is actually almost impossible for someone to get fired in Portugal) So he told me 5 things that made me fall in love with him to begin with. 1) He knew I was coming from Viana do Castelo, and told me that he would always support the missionaries infront of the Branch Counsel. He said that if something looks fishy or wierd, we would talk in a private meeting, but he will always support me infront of the Branch Counsel. He said if necessary, he will chastize the Counsel for us, and then told me stories in where this happened. 2) He said he will support us 100% for baptisms. He only asks 2 things. one, that he has a chance to meet the guy or gal we are baptising, and second, that the person comes to church at least one time . . . understandable. 3) He said that we don't have to worry about hypocrital things in the Branch Leadership, such as an Elder's Quorum President not living within the commandments. It was later that I found out that he led the counsel to disfellowship his mom, for actions that were not in harmony with the gospel. 4) He said that in return that we fill out and give a copy of our reports to him (we are supposed to anyways) and also trust him that things will get done. 5) he invited us over for dinner that night to meet his family. He is way cool. We got to our apartment and found that we didn't have electricity, so we told him, and the next day, he had made at least 5 phone calls to lisbon, or some electricity company thing, and got our electricity back on within 24 hours. We asked him how we could thank him, and he said in English "Just count me as another teammate" He is way cool, and I pray that he will be blessed for his work.

We had 4 lessons this week, and that is low, but I don't think it is too bad for starting at ground zero and losing 3 days: Monday (Viana do Castelo), Tuesday (Transfers, we got home around 6:30), Saturday (I was in Braga most of the day for a bapstimal interview that didn't happen)

It is fun being district leader, and i think I have learned more about being a missionary from this experience in 1 week then the rest of my mission. We have 3 duplas in my district, Braga Irmãs, they are workers and in terms of work, us elders have some things to learn from them. We have Guimerães, they have a legit castle in their city that I am going to go and see on Tuesday (Division), and again next monday to go and tour the castle, I am way excited.

Story for the week: I prayed for a family, and felt like I would find a family with a stroller going for a walk this last week. This last week, I didn't find a single family until sunday night at 8:30 pm. they were way cool. They said they didn't have time, but then said can you guys pass my house quarta as 8:00. We got their address and then tried to say goodbye because people get really ticked off if you try and talk to them for a lot of time when they are in a hurry. He then said, wait, do you want my phone number?, we said, yeah, and i cannot wait for our meeting. He seemed like a guy that was actually wanting to hear the gospel.

Sometimes we do things because of men, but when we do things for the Lord, is better

Elder Hope

Monday July 18, 2011

Dear family and friends,

1st off, we have a few fun stories, and I have a few things to write, but we don't have much time because I got a call right in the middle of my time from Sister Torgan, so I will try and get through it all.

First off, Jessica, the word is transferência, for transfer, or trocas, for changes . . . in the Lord's language (just kidding)

Jessica, also one more thing. As missionaries, we ask ourselves a lot, What can I do to be better? Well the answer is simple, do all the things we have been asked to do. I have been going through Preach my Gospel and looking for invites of things that the prophets have asked us to do. I have filled up almost 3 pages front and back and have realized, that if we just do those things, we never have to ask that question, because it has already been revealed (that is the doing our part of the searching for revelation) and then we pray to confirm the answer. . . I hope it doesn't sound like I am preaching to you, because that is not my intent at all, it is something that I think will help all of us be better missionaries today than we were yesterday.

Ok, where to begin, we got our transfer call today, and I will tell you about that at the end.

Story of the Week: We passed a potencial investigator and we met her husband. It turns out he had been praying for the lord to come to him to help him quit drugs and smoking and drinking. . . it was great!!! we were so excited because we knew we could challenge him for baptism and he would accept . . . but it turns out he is an inactive member that is not on our records (that makes the 2nd one that we have found during this transfer.) His name is Miguel, he is from Peru and speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and English . . . well, really a strange language because when he speaks he uses all 3 languages in the same sentence to practice, but it was sort of strange, but really fun at the same time. It is so weird to hear Spanish from Latin America now. Because here, I have met a lot of people from Spain, and they speak with the lisp, I am starting to develop the (shhhh) in my language.

We had a division and I was with Elder Park in Póvoa de Varzim. Elder Packard was with Elder Vrooman in Viana do Castelo. So, Elder Packard has ( or had ) vanilla ice cream a 1 kg container. . . So, Elder Park and I ate all of his ice cream and bought Strawberry and put the strawberry ice cream in the vanilla container so that Elder Packard could still have ice cream. . . it's ok, because Elder Vrooman and Packard finished off our ice cream in Viana.

So we also have a less active named Karin. She is from Norway. I have taken a liking to teaching her (probably because of English, she doesn't speak portugueese) So she is about 65 yrs old and hasn't come to church in the last several years. The last 2 transfers elder Vrooman and Elder Passey worked hard with her, and now I and Elder Vrooman have been working hard with her. She is way cool. In Preach My Gospel it says that we need to make daily contact with our investigators if possible. I don't see why Less actives are any different. So I have been calling her 5 or 6 times a week and we have been visiting her once or twice a week, to try and keep it up. Her and I have grown a pretty strong relationship, and it was to the point that she thought something was wrong if we didn't call to check in. Well, she showed up to church last sunday . . . With a friend!!!! but the friend has long black hair, 4 legs, and barks. It was so much fun seeing her there. I sat in the back and TRIED to translate for her, it didn't work to well, but it was fun trying.

So about transfers, I will be getting transfered to an area called Ermesinde. It is just north of Porto, so I get to stay in the North for the Summer!!! I will be with my companion from the MTC, Elder Searle. I was also called to be the District Leader there. That was an interesting phone call, that threw me off guard. The Lord has confidence in me.

With love,

Elder Hope

Monday July 11, 2011

Dear family and friends:

You know sometimes the hard times are the times when you have to prove who you are and what you want to become. We lost every single investigator this week, except 3. Everyone left for one reason or another. The thing to remember is that we are still working through, and seems like we walk through the refiner's fire every day.

We had probably 4 or 5 wildfires this week, what a bummer. No one is interested in the Gospel during a wildfire . . . go figure.

I have 2 questions that I want answered, 1) If all of these nuns are married to Jesus, why does the Cathloc chruch disapprove of Polygomy? 2) Why does everyone say they don't worship Fátima, but they have shrines for her in their churches and a city named after her?

Rui Pinheiro is now a Priest! and is engaged to his girlfriend for the 5th of August

Ok so for our 3 investigators, because I know you are curious.
We have Melissa, she is now scheduled for the 23rd of July (right after transfers . . . dang), She is 9 years old, and elder Vrooman and I have taught her every step of the way. She is way cool, and the child of members. The reason her date of baptism was changed is because our branch counsel changed it on us because it didn't work with their schedule. (I personally don't like that answer, but it is what it is)

We have David. He will get baptized once we get permission from his Dad. He is 12 years old and is really cool.

The last one is João. He is 18 years old and his only doubt is that the book of mormon was written to persuade us to think in one manner of thinking. (which if you think about it, it was, but the way to think in the mind of the Lord). We will see what happens. He is way cool, and once he overcomes that I am sure he will be baptized.

Jessica, about your investigator. The best thing that we can do read from Chapter 5 in Preach my Gospel, and help him with the book of mormon. The cool thing is that the Book of Mormon will respond to any doubt the investigator has. Sometimes the best thing to do is read Moroni 10:5 and tell them they can pray about it. But, my advice is useless, I don't know your area, investigator, or all the situation. Make it a matter of prayer and study. Remember as you read and you study the Spirit can speak from the pulpit of our memories. (I don't remember who said that). I have planned lessons with Elder Vrooman where all we talk about is the importance of the Book of Mormon. (A few things we use are 1 Nephi 6, the Title Page, the Introduction, Moroni 10, and 1 Nephi 1.

Oh, a guy i gave a book of mormon too in Viseu that dropped us, got back in touch with the missionaries and is getting baptized on the 16th of this month!!!

Story for the week (they are all contatcting stories): We were talking to 2 young girls, both of them about 9 years old. They are children of a less active family and love the Elders. We were talking with them, and all of a sudden a guy came up to us and said "A caminha é esta direção, continue a andar" The road (or way) is this direction, continue walking. We were sort of taken aback and then I said "tudo bem, só queremos continuar a falar por mais dois minutos" to mean, alright, we just want to finish talking with these people for 2 more minutes. He then went off and was telling us how rude it is to talk to children, how we should be ashamed of ourselves because we are talking to children. We explained to him that we are disciples of christ and we talk with everyone. He then told us how it wasn't christ-like to talk to children. We told him that christ loves everyone, and that is why he blessed both children and adult. He then stopped Then all of a sudden, our less active that won't talk with us, came out of the house and told the guy that we are friends and we don't mean any harm. He was sort of taken aback by that and then started saying how we shouldn't be talking with strangers, and we explained how we weren't strangers. All in all, this was a guy that wanted to cause conflict, but the thing funny about is we said we are disciples of christ going about the same way that christ sent out his apostles. He said "Christ não mandou nada." and the very next sentence he said "Ele mandou-nos a fazer sua vontade" Which means "Christ did not send anything.He caommanded us to do His will." So, we knew he was just trying to argue with us.

Funny Portugese Story"

We passed an old investigator and talked through an intercom.

Nós: Nos somos os missionários. Lembra de nós?
Ela: Sim, sim, que querem?
Nós: Queremos falar com Salvato. Ele está?
Ela: Ele faleceu.
Eu: Quando ele vai voltar?
disconnected

translation
Us. We are the missionaries, remember us?
Lady: yeah, what do you want?
Us: We want to talk with Salvato, is he there?
Lady: He passed away. (I didn't know what faleceu meant)
Me: When will he return?
disconnected

I hope everything goes well.

Elder Hope

New Mission President

Moroni Bing Torgan, 52, and Rosa Christina De Caldas Torgan, two children, Portugal Lisbon Mission; Brasilia Norte Ward, Brasilia Brazil North Stake. Brother Torgan is a counselor in the Brazil Brasilia Mission presidency and a former counselor in a stake presidency, high councilor, high priests group leader, bishop and missionary in the Brazil Sao Paulo North Mission. Consultant to Federal Senate, Brazilian Federal Police. Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, to Joao and Wilma Bing Torgan.

Sister Torgan is a stake Relief Society president and a former stake Young Women president, counselor in a stake Primary presidency, ward Relief Society and Primary president and missionary in the Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission.

Wednesday July 6, 2011

Well, well, well,

I am now in the Portugal Lisbon Mission officially, and wasn't able to email on Monday because of a conference we had in Porto to meet the New mission President. His name is President Torgan, and things are going to change dramatically this upcoming year. He changed some rules on us, but it is all good, we will figure out how to make it work. He said he wants the name of the mission to be the Portugal Mission, not the Portugal Lisbon Mission, so officially it is Portugal Lisbon Mission, but we will call it the Portugal Mission (I think this is a way to make us people in the Portugal Porto Mission happier and more willing to serve)

So I finally set my goal for baptisms I believe I can acheive in my mission. I know it is high, but it will be well worth it. The Baptsim of Rui was priceless. I can't explain the joy that is there at baptisms. We might have a baptism on Sunday. We still don't know, but will know on Saturday if we will have it or not. It is a baptism of a boy named David. His mom is a member, his dad isn't and they are divorced. He isn't baptized because his dad won't let him. It is all over the fight that his dad won't let him. As Elder Vrooman and I were praying, we felt like we need to call the dad and ask him. He asked why the Elders are so persistant, and Elder Vrooman said because we ware talking about Salvation. He then set up a time for us to meet him on Saturday and he said he will decide then whether or not David will be baptized. Melissa is set and is going strong. She will be baptized the 16th.

President Torgan is very different. He loves us a lot, and is very supportive of us. We talked to him about the difficulties with the baptism of Rui and how the Branch counsel was against the baptism. He looked at us and asked if he passed the interview, and we said yes. He said, well, the Mission has the Keys of Baptism and Confirmation, not the branch. We are greatful for their concerns, but the mission has the keys, and the mission has the right of revelation.

President Torgan is huge on the Vontade do Senhor. When he first started, it sounded as if he was calling us to repentence, but then he just started speaking to us in a foreign language (Brazilian Protugeuse).

By the way, you do loose service of the cell phone if you are in a train and going through a tunnel.

Story of the week:

We went to teach Harry and while we were going to his house, we found a Pre-roman village. It was sort of cool, but you couldn't even tell it was a village. There were just a ton of rocks, but the wall was still there, and it was sort of cool. Harry is our guy from England from last week. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and said goodbye. The cool thing is that he said he will look up the church in Spain (we got his contact info too . . . just in case to give as a reference), but he was genuinely searching for the truth. I have never seen anyone that just soaked up the gospel like him. A lot of the time it seems like an uphill battle, but for him, he was searching. I told him not to believe me, because I am a guy that can lie, but I also told him that god can't lie, and god will tell him the truth. He told us that he feels like we are telling him the truth (and we were happy). We left him with an English Book of Mormon and asked him what he wants to study (after death, plan of salvation, ect . . .), he said Everything. We left him a lot to read because he is going to spain, but we left him 2 Nephi 2, 31, Mosiah 2-5, Alma 11-12, Alma 40-42, 3 Nephi 11-24, and Moroni 10. He thanked us and said he would read what he could on the train. We showed him the website of the church, and it was a sorry goodbye, I didn't want to leave him because he would have been baptized. He agrees that baptism is essential (that was interesting. we explained that our bodies need to do certain things, ex. breathe, heart needs to beat, ect . . . and to survive we need to eat, our spirits need to be born, and this is possible through baptism and the other ordinances. The food is the scriptures, but the breath and the heart are in the ordinances, and that is why ordinances have to take place . . . makes sense to me)

Have to go, I didn't get as much time as normal today

Elder Hope