PORTUGAL PREACHIN': Leiria Week 1

Problems, predictions, and personal study

So we have a problem.... BIG problem... My companion.. doesn't think I'm funny. Like yeah I know my jokes have gotten a little lame since the mish (no more thats what she said) and yeah i know jake and brodis tried to give martis the funniest friend award... but really... can I get a few pity laughs? epa!

And she also does not enjoy my exaggeration.. literally after everything i say (and no thats not an exaggeration right there) after EVERYthing i say she says "life is hard" .... really? kills my jokes even more...

Welll this week was bem dificil. hardest week of the mish.. so far. I have worked soo hard this week, and not seeing much progress, where's the elects?? But I have seen the gift of tongues SO much this week. The first day I got to Leiria, I could understand every single street contact! Where did that come from? #giftoftongues and all of a sudden I don't have fear to talk to anyone! I'm still not fluent by any means, but all the sudden my ability to comprehend the people is so much better. The problem now is my comp doesn't know how to bro people.. If there is one thing I learned from Elder Perkins.. "You gotta bro them first. Make everyone think your bros." and I don't know enough portuguese to hold a full conversation and still be tight.. soo... that's been a challenge. I don't think Elder Perkins was meaning to bro them by asking people how old they are..

But after all this work, I can see how much of a better missionary I am, just in my first week here. Sister Blanco would kick my butt if she saw me now! but to be fair i couldn't understand anyyyy one in the street contacts in caldas! Probs cause no one had teeth there..

Well the other night, i was so tired of all our lessons falling through and seriously just wanted to cry. I was soo homesick for Caldas (is it weird I'm more homesick for Caldas than I ever have been for home?.... Imma freak) but then I got a phone call from Sister Blanco.. #perksofbeingasistertrainingleader obrigada paizinha!!! It seriously made my week so much better! And to top it off our whole conversation was in Portuguese!! (that has never happened with us before) she was a proud mama :) and we just laughed and laughed the whole time. it made everything so much better. and thennnn she told me that Antonio was getting baptized the next day!! AHH my 3rd baptism! I'm soo happy for him! I wish I could've been there, but I'm so excited for him and for the branch in Caldas to have another priesthood holder. It is so amazing to watch the work moving along all over Portugal!

Then sister Blanco told me she thinks I'll be the next sister training leader... I laughed in her face. but the problem is she is psychic about this kind of stuff... The day before the last transfers she told me she thinks she'd be the sister training leader, Elder Barton will be the next A.P. and Elder Carling will be transferred.... and that all happened. soooo. I better get working on my portuguese to prepare for that!

This morning in personal study I was studying a talk by Tad R. Callister from the Priesthood session of last general conference, and it said

"For the Son of Man is come to save that which is lost, -Matthew 18:11 If it is a priority for the Savior to rescue the lost, if it is a priority of President Thomas S. Monson to do so, as demonstrated by his entire life, should it not be the priority of every member in this church to do likewise? Go get the lost and bring them back!" Whether it's me out here in Portugal, Martis in the Phillies, Landolf down south or everyone at home, it needs to be all of our priorities to rescue the lost! Every member a missionary :)

Well I hope everything is going greeeatttt at home and that four of my favorite people have the best birthdays this week!! (makenna, carkon, kaci knight and papa dumas!) All of you expect letters comin your way pretty soon!

LOVE YOU ALL

beijinhos,

xoxo Sister Dumas