WEEK 63 Car-less

March 04, 2019

WEEK 63 Car-less

March 4, 2019

Hey everyone! The week freakin flew by, that's probably cause we had a pretty killer week over here in Sines. Seriously though we found so many new people to teach and it really was just an unreal time. First of all, we had to give our car to a repair shop and because of that, we were "car-less" this week. But it was better that way, got a go retro missionary style and we went beast mode. Elder Cloes was super excited and kept talking about how excited he was to talk to his family and tell them about the week that we had! Man the mission is great and there's always people waiting to hear the message of the restored gospel. Let's dive in.

26 de Fevereiro, we got up in the morning and got ready to leave to go to Setúbal, we had to drop off our car at 1:30 there. So we went there and then walked to the church where we had district counsel with the sisters and elders. It was a good, after that we stayed in Setúbal on a division, Elder Cloes went with Elder Mansfield, my last comp, and I went with Elder White. Super dope dude. Anyways, we got to work there and then later in the night we had dinner at some member's house. It was awesome, their house used to be a bar, so it was pretty cool on the inside. Also, they made some crazy good Brazilian food, so it was a good night. That was basically the day!

27 de Fevereiro, We finished off our division and it was dope. Elder White and I just went to go walk around outside and make some contacts and see who we could find. We went walking quiet a bit, making some decent contacts on the way. As we headed towards his apartment, we helped a 98 year old man carry his groceries home... they were actually pretty heavy and I don't know how he was carrying them in the first place! Anyways, we took them to his house which was far and because of that, we were able to meet two guys sitting on a bench. We sat down and talked about and taught them about the Book of Mormon. That was great, we also marked to come back and they even agreed to come to English classes later that night. We then we home and Elder Cloes and I got ready to go to the bus. Before we left though, we went to McDonald's. It was unreal because we felt we had to sit at a certain table which had 4 open seats beside some teenagers. Halfway through our meal, they started talking to us. They were asking where we were from, and what we were doing here. We basically explained our missionary purpose and they all actually seemed interested. There was about 10 of them just asking us stuff and listening to us. They were in shock that we can't have a girlfriend or stuff like that for two years Haha! But they were for sure interested, they said they believed in God and wanted to know more. I shared my testimony on how church and the Book of Mormon can change lives. They didn't seem like the group of kids who would ever want to talk to us or about God, but they really opened up and showed interest. They said they wanted to go to English classes and hear more about our message. Sooo the Elders in Setúbal, are set up!! The division was killed and they actually went back to the first guys that me and Elder White taught, and taught 3 more of their friends. One of which wants to watch one of the upcoming baptisms in Setúbal! Man great times. We then took the bus back home and yeah!

28 de Fevereiro, In the morning, we were just walking around trying to contact people and we met a man named Fransisco dos Anjos on the street. He was with his dog and we started talking to him and that eventually led to us teaching the message of the restoration. It was great. We then, after working in Sines in the morning went to Santo André, getting a ride from our Português grandma Irmã Germana. We later, in Santo André, went to Irmã Catarina's house and taught a lesson to one of her daughters and some of her nieces and nephews that just arrived here in the country. The lesson went great and one of the little girls even cried a little bit. So I'm really expecting some great things to happen there with that great family! We got a ride home from them and then continued our work here. We made a contact with a Cuban woman named Ariana who only spoke Spanish... I did my best in Spanish but I really would just speak Portuguese and then throw in Spanish words I knew. She seemed to be interested though and gave us her "WhatsApp" number and as soon as March 6th comes we can start talking to her with it!

1 de Março, So in the morning we went over to go see Fransisco dos Anjos again. On the way there, we met a woman named Umbelina outside of her house and we stopped and taught her the message of the restoration. It was awesome. Then we went down the street, found our 85 year old man Fransisco and taught him the restoration again because he was on a bench with his friend Julia. At the end, I invited Julia to be baptized and she said, "I'm too old now, that probably can't save me", and it was a great opportunity to talk about how everyone is all equal and will get their own opportunities in the right time. In the afternoon, we got some street Kebabs for lunch which was killer! It's "Carnival" season here and it's starting to look kinda lit. I know it's not like Brazil but there's a bunch of lights, music through giant speakers on the streets, mini food stands, and lots of stuff like that. There's a hardest punching/kicking machine with a punching bag and a soccer ball attached and all the kids are loving it! My comp wants to do it really badly! But yeah, it's pretty cool around here. Anyways, after that we passed by Irmã Lodovina, she's been a little bit less active the past year, but she likes talking with us. We always go there with the legendary Irmã Germana. They're pretty good friends. Anyways we went there just to get her going to church again and invite her. Her grandson was also there, he's 13 and named João. I've talked with him before and he really wants to come to church with us. He'll be outta town this week but the next week he'll be here and come to church. He told me that he'd never been baptized and that he wants that to happen! So we should see that coming up here pretty soon! He's awesome, we even went outside and threw around an American football with him and some of his friends. Ending that lesson, they gave us a bag of lemons from their lemon tree and we went home. We then had to do our weekly planning because we hadn't had time all day for that!

2 de Março, It was kinda just a full day of walking back and forth throughout the city Haha. We had some appointments that didn't end up working out in the morning but we also had a list of less actives who live here in Sines that we needed to get done by Sunday. We went around walking from place to place, it was especially tough because we couldn't use Google Maps because we can't use our phones yet! But we found mostly all of the house and basically everyone doesn't live there anymore! We found and talked with one and he said he's busy this this week but in the next week he'll try to come. It's just tough cause he doesn't have a car and Santo André is 15 minutes from Sines by car. Honestly, that was basically our day, we didn't really get accepted by too many people but we did our best!

3 de Março,

Story of the week: I basically already explained but it's been "Carnival" this whole week and it's been pretty cool. There's this big signs with lights on them saying "Carnival de Sines" and lots of stuff like that. There was this huge parade and the music is just blaring. It really started on Sunday though and should at its craziest point during Monday and Tuesday! Should be interesting for some missionary work!

Scripture of the week: In the Book of Mormon, Helaman Ch12 V3.

"E assim vemos que se o Senhor não castiga seu povo com numerosas aflições, sim, se não o fere com morte e com terror e come fome e com toda sorte de pestilências, dele não se lembram."

Helaman 12:3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.

Really this verse stood out to me in my personal study, it's as if it was marked before I even marked it! But it really does explain why we need to go through times of difficulty. We need to be humbled and remember God is all powerful.

Challenge of the week: o desafio da semana é para traduzir esta mensagem aqui, e depois manda-me uma mensagem em Português. Que bom né?

Elder out.

Mamba out.

parks.layton@missionary.org

Great Dinner