WEEK 56 Whatta RAMO

WEEK 56 Whatta RAMO

 January 14, 2019

 Hey everyone! Second week here in the books and I'm really starting to enjoy this branch, like legit I've really been feeling such a strong love for the people here and I'm excited for my time here. Although the work is way different! I'll just just start you off with my week tho!

8 de Jan, So it started with our district meeting in Setubal, classic times. We then had to rip back to the town of Sines to teach a lesson with Irma Germana, that sadly didn't work out. Then we just ate lunch with Irma Germana, and it was killer good! In the night, we had dinner at Presidente Inacio's house! He's awesome, and an awesome branch President, funny dude. His wife, Sined, is so cool as well. They have three daughters, Joana, Laura, and Stella. I've already really began to love this family! Sined's sister, Flavia, was also there from Brazil, it's too bad she's not a member here! We ate some awesome food and then we gave a spiritual thought, in which we all basically read our favourite scriptures, it was awesome to see everyone so excited as they shared their fav scripture. It was also funny because Laura was going around her house in Heelies, and then I was able to convince Joana to go put on her heelies hahah. Classic times.

9 de Jan, We tried passing by some people who we had talked to in the past but they weren't there. On the way, we made some pretty effective contacts which we'll try to pass by in the future. And we basically didn't get anything of importance done until the night where we had dinner with Miguel and Marcia. They're member who live far from the church so they can't usually make it, so they at least want visits from the missionaries weekly so they aren't completly cut off from the church, that's the beauty of finally having a car ahah. But they're awesome, and Miguel isn't actually a member yet, but when everything works out right, he'll be baptized and join the church. He wants to, and knows that some day he will. It was awesome to hear his testimony!

10 de Jan, We went contacting in the morning... and nothin really! But later in the day we went to a member, Irmao Jeorge's house and shared a message with his dad! We invited him to church but for now he can't make it. We'll keep passing by though. We then passed by Irma Gloria's house, her husband just came back from Holland, he's a cool dude from Africa who only has one eye because of an accident when he was young. But he's a cool dude, he was reppin a nice Jordan hat and a Versace belt... that coulda been fake but still siickk. Following that we picked up a member, Irma Tatiana, and we stopped by a recent convert Irma Katerina and her husband (who's a member) Carlos. We shared the Mormon message by Gordon B Hinckley about the two boys putting the silver dollars in the worker man's shoes. It was an awesome video and they loved it! gordon-hinckley-lessons-i-learned-as-a-boy-1  Then following that, we passed by a girl named Vanda who's also in our branch!! It was legit a day full of contacting and sharing messages with members and less active members! 

11 de Jan, Started our day off with weekly planning, and then we later had to go to Irma Germana's house to help her figure out how to use her tablet hahah. My comp, Elder Mansfield, fell asleep on her couch and so I just figured it out with her hahah, I shoulda got a pic with him sleeping. We tried passing by some of our appointments that we had set up but they weren't there until the night when we went to our compromisso with Valemir. It was awesome, he's already read to Chapter 17 in the Book of Mormon and he's understanding it super well. His wife was actually there that time, so we taught her as well. She started by telling us she was Catholic and that she wouldn't go to church with us but that Valemir could. We then proceeded to teach the Plan of Salvation, as well as the Restoration and the Spirit there was strong. In the end, she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. And she also accepted to come with us to church the following week because this week wouldn't work for her! It was crazy to see her attitude change and to watch Valemir talk about the stories from the Book of Mormon with confidence! They're both from Brazil and about 40-50 years old! That was an awesome lesson and was exactly what I was needing that day. I know the Lord looks out for his children.

12 de Jan, We had to go to the church so that I could figure out my family history account because we have some big Fam history event coming up. It was actually awesome, I was able to see (Because of the work some of my other family members did back home) up to the year 610 and saw a bunch of kings and royal people and such! It was super cool! Maybe I could've gotten even further back but I didn't have any more time. It was actually cool though. Then we went to Irma Luzia and Irmao Alcidio's house and talked about the family history project we'll be doing together! They live on a huge farm so I saw a bunch of their GOATS, hens, rabbits and such! You can see a pic of me and the GOATS included below. In the night, we went to Irmao Jorge and Irma Valkeria's house, as we do every Saturday night. They always make great food, and we left them with the message of the Restoration. 

13 de Jan, Church in the morning! I had the priviledge of giving a talk! I was given the topic of "Missionary Work"... whatta surprise. But it was awesome, I didn't prepare anything and I went up there with a couple of interesting facts about the Book of Mormon. I had about 25 minutes and I used them all haha! My main point that I stressed was that, We, as members, shouldn't be afraid to share our religion because it really is a miracle that our church is here and that we have the Book of Mormon. It was awesome, I could feel the Spirit directing my words! After church, we had a branch counsel which was great, and Irma Germana made us sandwiches to eat after! I love the members here haha! In the night we visted a less active member, Irma Odette, with another member, Irma Tatiana. It overall went pretty well and hopefully she'll come to church next week! That was basically it, besides having a super long talk with a man that we contacted on the street. He just went off about some random stuff. Classic.

Cool story, So here's what's going on. There used to be a bunch of branches in our area but now there's only one... so that means there's a bunch of less actives all over the place because they don't have transport to get to church. We've received an assignment to start multiple "Groups". So basically, we are going to try and set up all these small groups which would only be 1hr church. So we've got the plans to open the first one up in Sines (Where we live right now). And if anyone wants to attened a second hour they just need to find a ride to Santo Andre after the 1hr in Sines. Soon we'll open a couple other groups up in other cities... gonna be crazy!

Scripture of the week, 
2 Nephi Ch1 V20
Honestly a pretty straight-forward scripture! If you wanna prosper heed to the words of Nephi in that verse! 

20 And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.

Challenge, Share your favourite scripture with someone this week! There's a special spirit that comes with sharing our favourite scriptures.

It was a killer week, I know I'm doing exactly what I need to right now. I wouldn't trade it for anything else, I know there's work here for me to do. Thanks for the emails, have a great week back home. 

Jesus Christ put the cross on his shoulders so we don't have to carry the past on our ours.

Elder out.

Mamba out.

parks.layton@myldsmail.net


 GOATS

A cool view of Sines

Splash (Stay hydrated)

Unreal Fam






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