IMPRISIONED!!!

how do you like that blaring title???

So, not really, but Sister Landro and I felt a little bit imprisioned this week. Just to be on the safe side, our mission president had us stay inside unless we were with members or had set appointments with investigators. He just wanted to make sure that the people who gave our description to the police were not doing it out of dislike for missionaries or Americans, or anything like that. It turns out that we just happened to be in that area and, as we stick out like a sore thumb, they gave our discription. However, we did find things to do with the members this week and that was good. We didn´t really spend too much time in the apartment at all. The time that we did spend was very productive and we are implementing a new program to help the members give references in our area. It is a program of revelation, where the members have a sheet with 10 names of people/families that would like to hear the gospel and pray about which one the Lord is preparing. We coupled this program with my favorite four indicators that the Lord really has some people prepared: Birth/death, marriage, recently moved, rebellious children. Then, this week when we have a bit more time to spend with members, we presented basically the restoration section of the first lesson to invite the Spirit and then extended the invitation to make a goal when they will invite one of these people to their home for us to teach. It was really neat to watch the results. One family, we had only a short amount of time and the part about the restoration was cut short. The difference in the Spirit was apparent when they were reluctant to share. We are going back to follow-up with that family next week and will strengthen their efforts with the Spirit. It was a testimony to me that it really isn´t me that is doing the teaching, even with members. I don´t have any skills of my own. Even the few little statistics that we included on the sheet did nothing to convince them. Goes to show that we cannot even convince the members. The only thing we can do is invite the Spirit and that will have more influence than we ever can. I am just so greatful for the opportunity we have had to really put this plan into action. We also with some of the families tied it to the war chapters in Alma. (62: 3-5,14,33,38) and the influence Moroni (missionaries) and Pahoran (members) had when they joined forces. We´re really excited about it, and already we have teaching dates with three families (each with specific friends in mind). It really is neat.

Mom, I don´t really need anything, I´m just fishing for mail. It was a ploy, but if anyone would like to send anything, I wóuldn´t be sad, I promise. No, I´m really doing well and I love my time to study each morning. I´m also going to be done with the Book of Mormon again this week and that is always fun. Then I get to start over!!! I start getting anxious to read it some mornings and sometimes make a few minutes to read during lunch and dinner. What a great blessing we have in a textbook for life that is so small and compact, but so packed with counsel and wisdom from our Heavenly Father. I´m thankful that the prophets wrote down their revelations for my benefit.

Oh, happy birthday last week Nephi... I will sing you your song:
parabens a você, esta data quierida
muitas felicidades, muitos anos a vida
hoje é o dia de festa, canta as nossas almas
para menino o Néfi, uma salva das palmas

Also, happy anniversary Aaron and Bethany two weeks ago (time flies when you´re working hard). We are all amazed that one person could put up with him for that long. No, he´s nice, really, don´t know how we could live without him...

Love you all, keep up the great work Samuel. I couldn´t be prouder of a little brother.

ellen

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a tough week

We had a really tough week this week. Our great investigators, actually our only investigators, Vasyl Paula e Cleber stopped taking the lessons this week and asked that we don´t return. This just after finally making a goal for baptism. I won´t tell you that I didn´t cry and I won´t say that it didn´t rip our hearts out. They said that they felt a difference in the spirit of their home as a result of the message that we brought, and yet Vasyl is fighting the urge to believe. It is almost like he is scared to have faith. We still pray for them every day that they will choose the road with more light and hope. Paula really wants an eternal family and all of the blessings that the gospel brings, but doesn´t want to do it without Vasyl, so we´ll see. We still have hope that when their home returns to the place it was with all of the fighting and unhappiness that was in it before we started teaching them the lessons, they will see the difference that the gosple can make in their lives and return. I think the Lord just has a different time table than we had and maybe Vasyl isn´t quite ready. Anyway, we still hope and pray, at least there is a seed there if nothing else, and all of them have expressed at one time or another their little baby testimonies.

The Lord really is merciful unto His missionaries. We lost our only investigators, but He didn´t leave us without hope. We encontered another investigator Elisabete that we hadn´t been able to get a hold of that same night and we are now teaching her and her friend. Funny little story about her friend. A couple of years ago were really hard for her and who should show up to her door, but two young elders from the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. She didn´t have time to listen to their message, or didn´t have the disposition, but they left a pass-along card with a picture of the Savior on it and this started her search for God. She has been studying the Bible with different faiths and I think being prepared for the fullness. She was excited about having a Book of Mormon of her own, having read the parts that we marked for Elisabete. We have a lot of hope for these two. Elisabete reminds me of you Martha in a lot of ways. She´s cool. Anyway, we have a lot of hope for these two.

Oh, another big happening this week, this one a bit strange, and kind of funny. We got arrested yesterday. Actually we weren´t really arrested, but apparently someone gave our discriptions to the police as people that were in or near a predio that had been robbed. We, only just arriving to our area to proselyte, were asked by a couple of officers to accompany them to their car, and from thence to the police station to be searched. To our relief, and surprise ;) we didn´t have anything of earthly value on our persons, although we did have a bible, triple combination, and two copies of the book of mormon in our bags. They then took us back to where they had picked us up with apologies and everything. We had sent a message to our mission president when these things began to happen (he was in a zone conference with the general authorities in London) and we got all sorts of calls from his counsellors and the assistants to the president that afternoon, as well as one from him and his wife as soon as they got out of their meeting with Elder Uchtdorf. The bishop of the ward here was outraged for us and basically I´m very sure that we will not have to worry about anything as the Lord, through His servants will fight our battles for us. They said that there would not be anything to worry about and I´m excited to be able to tell my children in the future that I am in the same class of missionaries as those greats: Paul, Ammon, Aaron, Alma, Amuleque, Omner, Himni, etc. No prison could hold us.

Actually, this week has been good despite all of the hard things that have happened. It was really great, my testimony has grown in leaps and bounds. I know for sure that I can really trust in my Savior with my all and He will direct me for good in every aspect of my life. I know with all of my heart and soul that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness and joy into the lives of ANY person who will let it, and the sorrow that comes from watching others choices is just a small taste of Gethsemane that enables us to love even deeper, to feel even more the love of Christ in our lives. I am so greatful for the prophet that we have here on the earth today, for that link with God here on the earth to help guide and direct us in our day-to-day.

Now, on a different note. We saw some pretty gardens in porto today during our quick preparation day trip. I also love the tiling on all the buildings here. It is absolutely gorgeous! There are also quaint little chaples everywhere with beautiful tiles and beautiful statues and artwork all around. The human mind can come up with the most beautiful things and has the capacity to tame and interact with nature in amazing ways. I can´t wait to show you all these pictures that I have taken, of course many of them will bore you, but trust me, you will get to see each and every one of them, like it or not. So, it would be better to like it and be excited about it.

Oh, Mom, thanks for the programs for Grandpa´s funeral and Keturah´s baptism. I really enjoyed them, I got them today.

Oh, another note, just in case anyone would like to send a letter... which I´m sure is just about everyone in the world... We just had transfers and apparently I´m going to be in this area for at least another 6 weeks, so, now would be a great time to send that package or letter that you´ve been thinking about:

Rua Teixeira de Pascoais Nº139-5
4450 Matosinhos PORTUGAL

Love you all, and especially you Samuel, I couldn´t ask for a better little brother. You´re my favorite little brother, and my favorite missionary in Brasil. Tchau!
ellen

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yahoo

Thanks for the transcript of the funeral. It was awesome to be able to read. I´ve got a great family for sure. I´m glad it was a good service and that many people were able to attend.

Congratulations Keturah on your baptism. I´m so excited that you are starting out on the road. I know that this is the road that leads to happiness here and forever. I have seen first hand the happiness that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings to everyone it touches.

Congratulations Naomi on being able to go to school. I know how excited you have been, and congratulations Bethany on keeping it together. I´m so excited to hear how big all of my kids are getting. I think of them often. Oh, and I think of their dad whenever I´m at the grocery store. For some reason they really like to play Beatles songs without the lyrics in the Pingo Doce and it always makes me smile. We are usually there for a couple of minutes each day to buy yogurt and fruit for a small dinner on the run. It´s much cheaper and faster and more heathy than trying to find some restaurant or going all the way back to the apartment. So I think of Aaron and just laugh every day.

I also think a lot about Dad because the wiring in my apartment is bordering on scary. Knowing what little I know about wiring I am amazed that the missionaries before me haven´t burnt the place down with the little things they´ve rigged up. I have been doing my part to make it a more safe environment. Oh, the joys of living in an apartment that has held elders.

So, this week has flown by, and has been hard at the same time. We have been doing a lot of knocking and not so much teaching, but we must find the people before we can teach them. Sometimes the knocking serves as a reminder to me that this is the Lord´s work and will work on His timing and not mine. Also, I´m always struck with the Lord´s grace in enabling me to keep going when I feel like I can´t even get out of bed in the morning, and not only to keep going, but with a smile and everything. It is true as it says in Mosiah about the people of Alma that their burdens weren´t lifted, but the Lord strengthened them to be able to bear their burdens. I am an unworthy vessel, but the Lord can even work through me to help His work go forward. I love this gospel, and I love the amazing plan that He has for each of us His children. I am so greatful for the power of the priesthood, the true authority of God on the earth that enables families to be sealed for eternity. I love teaching that to those who are aching. The power of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ has the power to heal all wounds and dry all tears. I am so greatful for the Lord´s power in my life.

Mom, I´m so glad you and Dad have been reading Preach My Gospel. It is so amazing, it is truly the work of apostles and prophets in our day. It is exciting to read that and the Book of Mormon on a daily basis. It just makes you excited to be alive and to be even better than you were the day before. I´m also glad that Dad enjoyed the tractor pull. It made my day to read about that. Oh, and thanks for the pictures of Priscilla and the random squirrel. I must have the greatest family ever from beautiful Madison to Grandpa Thompson, I´m not sure what I did right to be part of this family, but I try to live my life in a way that will bring more honor to an already great family name.

Love you all, thanks Samuel for the address and for the exciting missionary spirit. It´s wonderful to be a part of the pioneers of another country is it not.

ellen

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suçesso!

olá família!

First of all, I´m greatful to hear that Grandpa can finally rest for a time. He´s a funny guy! I really do love that set of pants that looked "like a mexican family moved out the back end" and his excited smile whenever we slipped him a tasty treat. I really loved the look on his face when we all were there for his birthday. He was so thankful I think to be praised in such a manner. I couldn´t have asked for a better grandpa.

Now, for my week... We finally had some success after such a long time of not seeing any fruits beside Cleber, vasyl e Paula. By Tuesday night, we already had taught four new lessons to new investigators. It was so exciting to see the fruits of our almost 4 weeks of knocking without seeing any. We have Elisabete, Giorgina, Sophia, and Veronica that we left books of mormon with and unlike some other times when the first lesson was taught, these ladies really have been searching. They are intelligent women with a desire to know. The thing that makes the work here in Portugal different than in some other places is that we are finding the pioneers of Portugal. The church has only been here for less than 30 years and so we are not just looking for converts, but for leaders. We therefore have an area of esforças that is in more of the well-to-do area and the going is tougher, but I think it is so worth it because we are building the strong foundation of leaders that this country needs for it´s prophecied future. It is to be the lighthouse of Europe. It needs leaders like Vasyl. He has been really investigating, searching until 3am sometimes on the good and bad of the church. He has said that once he knows that the book of mormon is true then he will know that everything else is true, that Joseph Smith was God´s prophet of the restoration, and that this church is the Kingdom of God on the earth. It is so exciting to see his progress. He and Paula are so good. We were there last night and taught them the importance of families and unity. Then we helped to clear up some of his doubts about different things he had read. He afterward said a prayer so humble that he would know that the Book of Mormon was true, and to know the will of God for him in his life. I know he will get a response. It was beautiful. Oh, and cute little Cleber, he is going to make an awesome missionary in about ten years. (he´s 10) He is probably the most reverent child in the ward already, and it was so great on Sunday he came up to us and was so excited that he had seen us on the street one day this week. Paula is one of those quiet observers and has been taking notes in the meetings and also she watches things all the time and then applies them. Their family has been listening to the Children´s Songbook CDs in their home at nights. I think they might memorize them before I do, but then again they already speak Portuguese.

Another awesome thing this week was our new missionary meeting that we had yesterday. President said just what I needed to hear and also some things to help me with the doubts that our new investigators will have. At the very end of the meeting we watched Ensign to the Nations, a must see for all who wish to have the fire for missionary work rekindled in their soul. All of us left just about bursting ready to go gung-ho de novo.

Oh, and I got three letters from Samuel yesterday when I went by the office for the meeting. It was kind of fun to read and I´ve decided that I´ve got an awesome missionary for a brother. It inspires me to work harder to read his letters, what a good Elder he is already, and what an amazing Elder he will become.

Don´t despair because you´re companion isn´t native, you´ve still got an apostolic promise from Elder Scott that if you try you´re hardest every day to continue to learn, you will be able to teach clearly and convincingly in Portuguese. He should know, he already knows Spanish and is learning Portuguese right now so as to be better able to communicate with the saints in those areas. Isn´t that awesome. Also, it is awesome to be selecting and cutting foundation stones. They are harder to find, but oh, so worth it, Sabe. É verdade. The church is for everyone of every culture, of every age, of every economic background. I love that we are in the final gathering of the elect, and we get to hunt for them as well as fish. Here at times I´m more of a hunter for the big game. We need both in the kingdom of God. Oh, do you have a different address than the one you gave me at first?

Hope things aren´t too busy for you all, and especially hope that all of you are spreading the gospel and the happiness and peace that it brings to everyone around you, regardless of if they are already baptized or not. The kingdom of God is again on the earth and I am a part of helping it grow!!

Love you all, bejinhos para todos! (kisses on both cheeks) (she has dimples on her cheeks--she´s nice)

ellen

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