Down to Two

So, our tripla is now a dupla. Sister Schneiber and I are staying in São João da Madeira and Sister Medeiros is off to Gaia. So for all of you who wanted to send letters, packages, ect and didn´t know where to send them:
Avenida Dr. Renato Araujo Nº369-3ºfte
3700-244 S. João da Madeira
I´ll try to stay out of trouble so I will be at this address for the next 6 weeks at least (hopefully) We´ll have to see.

PARABENS to the entire crew there in Kaysville! I´m so excited for our little Charles Nathan. Thank you so much for the pictures. I am struck by how much he looks like his sisters. Great looking family for sure! I also like that he came in the middle of the afternoon and a nice big healthy baby too. Congratulations and all of my love!

Mom, I think the key to prioritization is found in yourr recent study of Preach My Gospel. It´s all about following the Spirit. Also when doing one thing, devote all of your thoughts to that one thing and accomplish it in the scheduled time (or if it doesn´t get done, plan to schedule more time the next day) and then move on. It also helps here in the mission field to schedule every activity and then to have a backup plan in case the original doesn´t work. Then use the Spirit to help you decide in the moment and at the end of the day make plans for the next day. It helps to make the day run more smoothly and to help you feel more satisfied with the work you accomplished in the day. Communication between the people with which you are working is also essential.

So, I´m having a great time here in Portugal, we have been teaching some great investigators and are trying to help them through the trials that they have in their lives. The more I see of life, the more I am sure that it is only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we can find happiness and peace. I am so grateful for my Savior´s love for me. I am also so greatful for the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it´s application in the day-to-day. I know this is true gospel because it is true with the laws of nature, physics, mathematics, history, music, and every aspect of life. Everyone can gain a testimony of Jesus Christ in Book of Mormon according to their passion in life. Those who love language will gain a testimony through it´s syntax. Those who have a love for history will recognize trends alike in all civilizations. Those with an eye for numbers will find that it all adds up. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God through His holy prophets.

Love all of you and give all of those darling children kisses for me. That is probably the hardest thing for me, not being able to run around and visit you all and spoil all of your beautiful children. Keep on keeping on down there in the opposite side of the world Samuel. You´re a great example for me. Love and my prayers.

ellen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message may contain confidential information, and is
intended only for the use of the individual(s) to whom it
is addressed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Great week!

Well, got to tell you there is power in a tripla. We teach so well together and we´re having a great time. At times it is hard, but we get along very well together. I have advanced in my language skills. I am only corrected every 5 words instead of every other, so that is improvement. We are kind of anxious for next week to find out who will go where for this transfer. At least one of us will be leaving for sure.
This week we have been practicing to be senior companions because both Sister Medieros and I are of that "age" where we could be training someone or at least be seniors. I complete my "training" at the end of this transfer, although the last three weeks haven´t been very much training. I really had a good day of leading yesterday. We had a very productive day and my very first contact of the day was absolutely golden. She really was searching and when she heard the truth it all made sense to her. The only bad thing is that she is in the Elders area and so we don´t get to teach her. I really like her and she has a lot of potential. We have had a really great week as far as numbers and quality of numbers are concerned. On Monday we only taught 4 lessons, but they were strong and we have 4 new investigators who have mounds of promise. It is really exciting. The end of the summer vaction is a welcome friend. We also got to brighten an investigators day yesterday. He is a man who lives alone with his 16 year-old daughter and he struggles with depression. We had bought a sunflower to give to his daughter, but she wasn´t home, and it really must have been meant for him in the first place. I love that I was able to hear the Spirit and follow it´s promptings. We really made his day and were able to teach a great lesson with the flower and it´s following of the SON. Anyway, it was good.

Sister Schneiber and I have decided that we are going to be really good for each other. We get along famously. Sister Medieros is also growing a lot. She struggles with self-esteem at times, but is improving amazingly on a daily basis. It is amazing the progress that we can have here on a mission when the Spirit is able to magnify our efforts 24/7.

Oh, I almost forgot our fun experience of the week.... I got to practice my nursing skills on Sister Medieros. She was doing chin-ups on a bar that was wedged between the doorposts when it ceased to be suspended. She fell and sprained her thumb and broke open her chin. The hospitals here aren´t especially adept at doing things in a rapid fashion, and seeing as we didn´t want to lose time working I played doctor, doing surgery on her chin and thumb. The cut on her chin was about 3cm wide and at least 1cm deep and bled sufficiently. It was nearly impossible for her refrain from talking so we eventually cleaned it up really well and superglued it shut (NOTE: don´t do this at home) Anyway, now it looks beautiful and isn´t bothering her at all. The thumb we splinted a bit and now we´re icing it daily and she does exercises in warm water at night to make sure it retains it´s movement. Then we wrap it to take down the swelling and it is healing beautifully. Sometimes it´s fun to be a nurse, but it is a bit stressful to have President and Sister Greene trust me with the health of another of my fellow servants. It is quite a responsibility.

Anyhow, I think that is about all that is happining here. I do want to thank Bethany for the cute picture of our little Ethan. Anyone who feels the urge to follow her example and send pictures would be welcome. I have been feeling a bit cut off from the world because I wasn´t sure how long I´d be here in São João and I´m a little farther away from the office so I don´t get my mail from the mission office as often as I did in Matosinhos. Anyway, that picture was just what I needed to feel part of the world again.

Also, I´m so glad that everywhere in the world my family is helping to make it a better place. Thanks for your example Aaron in helping the people affected from the hurricane. It´s a good feeling to help brighten someone´s life.

So, the Book of Mormon is great. We gave a couple of lessons this week in enjoying the Book of Mormon. It really feels like it was written for me in my life from day to day. When ever I start feeling overdramatic I like to read the dramatic words of Jacob and Lehi as they are about to "lay down in the cold and silent grave from whence no traveller can return" and I have to laugh at myself. It´s the best literature I have ever read. It makes you laugh, makes you cry, and changes your life for the better. I can´t think of any book I´d rather read every day for the rest of my life. For a taste of it´s literary power read Mosiah 25:7-10. Try and tell me that these aren´t truly the words of God and I´ll bear my testimony of the happiness and consolation that I´ve found on a daily basis that helps me continue to do my best. I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book of scripture. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and I´m where the Lord wants me to be, as much as the advesary would like to dissuade me, and maybe especially because of it.

Love you all! Next week I´ll let you know where I´ll be for the next 6 weeks, unless something unpresedented happens, which isn´t unpresedented. Stay tuned to the drama of.....Portugal--a mission-- impossible??? Never!

ellen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message may contain confidential information, and is
intended only for the use of the individual(s) to whom it
is addressed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where in the world is Sister Thompson???

Mom had a very good question in her last letter. (Ellen--where are you?) My companions and I got a good laugh. Yes, you heard right, my companions. They needed two sisters to keep track of me because obviously one wasn´t enough to keep me out of trouble. I am now in São João da Madeira, a cute little city in the middle of the hills about an hour and a half south of Porto. We were transfered on Saturday from Matosinhos, just to be safe and to make sure we could work without the police looking twice at us whenever we walk down the street. At first I was really worried about all of our people and how they would progress, but then I realized that really the Lord is more worried about them than I am and that helps a lot. I do have some great stories to tell my grandchildren.

So, my companions are: Sister Medieros from Angola (yep! a native speaker who speaks in Portuguese all the time) and Sister Schneiber from Connecticut who speaks probably the best Portuguese of the sisters, having spoken French fluently before learning Portuguese. I feel really blessed to have the opportunity to learn correctly this language so early on. This time with them will be short, but we do speak 24/7, and that helps. I really like being in a tripla, it´s really fun and we can enter anywhere. The very first door we knocked on Saturday was the house of two young men of about 20 years and the marvelous thing is, with three sisters, we can enter, which we did, and teach, which we also did, with power and it was great. We do teach very well together and we get along smashingly. Sister Schnieber is fun, we joke around a lot, and another cool thing is that she wants to learn how to quilt by hand, having loved machine quilting. She is also a great teacher and I love that every door that is opened to us, we teach. We end up teaching a lot of people who don´t want to hear, but they at least have a little idea about what they are rejecting. I am excited to learn all that I can from her. Sister Medieros is very good at teaching simply and at keeping me humble, which I always need. She also will have my language perfected if it kills me, but I really am enjoying our companionship.

On Tuesday we had a zone conference and got all pumped up again. Our new goal is to do even 10 contacts more per person than we would have otherwise so that we can really talk to everyone and teach at every single opportunity. Yesterday we contacted this girl Carla in the city center. She was just sitting on the park bench and we went and talked to her and the message of hope and faith that we shared with her made her cry and really was an answer to her prayers and to ours. It was yet another testimony to me that this is the Lord´s work, that He is really gathering His sheep here in the last days and those who are really seeking with hear His voice.

This area is one of the only ones in the mission that only has a branch. I get to play the piano for sacrament meeting on Sunday and that is always fun. We will be spending a lot of time with the members helping to strenghen and fortify their testimonies and knowledge of the gospel as well as working with our great investigators, of which there are many. I´m not sure if I will still be here in three weeks, but I really do love it here and am so thankful for the opportunity to be here, even if it did mean that I had to be arrested twice to get here. This really is the Lord´s work and His kingdom on the earth. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have and for my testimony. I know that God is really my Father and that He loves us in the same way that He loved His children in the past and for this reason has blessed us again in these the last days with a prophet, as was profecied by Christ and all of the other prophets of ancient times. A prophet always receives the gospel by revelation and then teaches this gospel to others and also bears testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord in this manner, to be part of the gathering of Israel for this the last time. There is a great work going on here in Portugal, it will go on with or without me, but I am trying to be better every day so that I can help it go forward.

Happy Birthday little Ethan! Parabens to Emily Palmer and also minha sogra LeAnn Halgren (I think this makes 50--chuckle--) Love you all, thanks for your support, and Samuel, thanks so much for your testimony, it really helps in those hard days.

Oh, my address is: Avenida Dr. Renato Arujo Nº 369-3º Fte
3700-244 São João da Madeira
ellen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message may contain confidential information, and is
intended only for the use of the individual(s) to whom it
is addressed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

guess what...

So, my life is like a comedy show sometimes I think. Sister Landro and I were doing contacts in an apartment building. We have had a hard time of it lately and were finally seeing little glimmers of hope and we finally contacted people for the second time after teaching them a first lesson and then they went away on ferias. So, we finally had some teaching appointments and it looked like things were really turning around (and probably still are) So, we are here talking to a woman in the door who is really excited about us returning and bringing her a Book of Mormon and she can´t believe that we´re giving them away for free when all of a sudden... Her neighbors come home and find out that they were robbed. Not wanting to bring suspicion to ourselves by running away from the scene (which is precisely what we wanted to do) we stayed for a bit to se if there was anything we could do to help. As we were backing out slowly..the police arrived and we took yet another trip to the esquadro where they took copies of our passport copies and let us go. They really don´t think we are the ones that are robbing people, but they are starting to think that maybe we might be in a ring or something. Anyway, I am certain that we´re doing a lot of good in this area or we wouldn´t have so much opposition. I love the scripture in 2 Nephi 31:20 where it uses the word press. That means to me that there will be opposition and as is says in 2 ne 2 there must be opposition in all things, it is a law of nature, of science, and of God. Anyway, it is a sure sign that you´re doing something right if you have opposition. The other road is much slicker and easier. I also really like the next verse that talkes about the only way and name that is given to Eternal Life in the presence of our Father. There are a lot of people here that are very confused and disillusioned about religion because when this country opened to other religions 30 years ago, there were a lot that took advantage of the neitivity (spelling) and did wrong in the sight of the Lord. I am so glad that I have the unshakable knowledge that it is through Jesus Christ and only through Him and His proper ordinances and convenents that we can gain this reward.

Anyway, I might be transfered from this area...we´ll have to see. President Greene is working on it with prayer and fasting and he should be talking to Sister Landro today, we have to be down in Porto to renew her visa.. So, I don´t exactly know what I´ll be doing in the next little bit, but I have no doubts that it will be according to the will of the Lord. Thank goodness for revelation over stewardships! So.. that´s my funny story for this week. A funny thing about this time at the police station, we preached to the guards. Well, the officers asked us about what our function was here in Portugal and we basically shared the sacrifices that we make to be here and threw in what our beliefs were and the restoration of the Church that Jesus Christ organized on the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith, and that we have a prophet today. Oh, for a step by step analysis of the role of a prophet...Jacob 1:5-7, 17-19 great stuff. I love the Book of Mormon!!

I´m so glad that everyone is doing well there. It is great to see the spiritual growth of my great little missionary example and my parents. I will send pictures to Nephi soon that he can post on the blog for anyone who care to see them. Love you all! Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and my friend more and more each day.

ellen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message may contain confidential information, and is
intended only for the use of the individual(s) to whom it
is addressed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

September

So, it´s already September, hard to believe isn´t it? It´s been a quick little month August has, and a hard one. We got to go back to work on the streets again on Tuesday, and it´s kind of like opening a new area. It´s going to take a little bit of time to get it going again, but I feel good about the work we´re doing here.

So, in response to Mom´s question: My companion is Sister Landro from unincorporated Salt Lake. She is great for me. She and I both like to sing and we know many of the same musicals which can be good and bad at the same time. We have similar tastes in music and movies and similar desires for the future. She is going into speech therapy. It seems wierd to me, but I´m older than her and she is my trainer. I am older than her in some ways, but not in others. She will go home in December. We have already made plans to hang out after I get home. She´s great!

The town I´m in is Matosinhos. It is right next to the ocean and just a smidgen north of Porto. It is and has been a fishing town for a long long time, but is a fairly modern city compared to Porto. The downtown is only about 10 blocks by 3 and this is our principle area to work. At the moment we don´t have tons of investigators, but we have some great contacts that have a lot of potential. Our little ward has a goal to separate in December, so we are working on strengthening the ward in addition to adding new members. The cities of Senhora da Hora and Matosinhos split this ward, and most of the leadership lives in Senhora da Hora, so it is our job to help reactivate and bring souls to Christ in our area that can help to strengthen the ward when it splits.

Fun things that happened this week include:
Our water was almost turned off this morning, but through a series of little miracles and tender mercies, we were able to get it all worked out and we still get to take showers. Yipee! ( you should see me after our half hour of exercise in the morning...we run for most of it and I am dripping afterward) Anyhow, I am getting quite the calves with our runs and 12 hours on my feet on cobblestones. Truly a sight to see underneath my skirt and nylons!

Monday was zone conference which kind of boosts your spirits everytime. We set some great goals and received strength from one another. Anyone who says you don´t need a church to worship the Lord is missing out. Daily life is a battle and gets tiring, it is so nice to get reinforcements as often as possible. Scripture study and prayers are great, but sometimes it is just wonderful to have someone share new insight. Anyhow, it was a great meeting.

Also, I got 15 letters which was very nice (4 from Samuel, what a great brother I´ve got!) Thanks so very much. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers through other people and He knew that it would be a little hard to go back to a clean slate and so sent some reinforcements. Thank you thank you thank you!! It really meant a lot. Oh, Samuel, Janie says hello and the Halgrens really liked your letter and are sending one in return. Bejinhos to all! Tchau!

ellen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message may contain confidential information, and is
intended only for the use of the individual(s) to whom it
is addressed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------