Yep

Another great week here in the beautiful country of Portugal! We went to girls camp last Friday, oh and then yesterday we walked to an investigators house that just happened to be farther out of town than the camp site. It was pretty funny. Anyway, the camp was really good for the girls. They weren´t really roughing it very much and they only camped for two nights, but at least they were in tents and were together. This is the very first year they have done a girls camp in this stake and they still don't have much clue what it's all about, but we did teach them how to make a fire. They did roast marshmallows. They did learn camp songs and prepared a camp skit. They learned how to get along a little bit better with one another and with their leaders, and they all loved the experience so I would say it was a smashing success. The stake camp leader--stake young women's president Lynda Marinho lived through it and showed us all how amazing she really is. It was great!
Other great happenings of this week included the baptism of Luís Ribeiro. He is a great man (in size and in spirit) The two zone leaders both suited up in white and on the second try he was successfully baptized by immersion. He then received the Holy Ghost on Sunday and felt the burning in his bosom that was the Spirit's way of touching him. It was a great baptisimal service and a great opportunity to be able to teach a man so humble and just good. He'll be a great leader.
We have been teaching a couple of other great families as well and really we are seeing miracles here in this area. We are having a lot of opposition, but that is how we know that we're doing the right thing. It's pretty darn cool.
In my studies I'm in 1 Nephi 1:4 where I have been for the last couple of days. I am studying the Book of Mormon again and looking up every single reference in the footnotes. It is a really great experience and I am learning a whole lot. I also am in Ezekial in the Old Testament and have really developed a love of the Bible. It is my goal to read through all of the Standard Works during this brief time I have here as a missionary. I am on track to get it all done and am learning so much that helps during the teaching. In Preach my Gospel I am really focusing a lot on the lessons in chapter 3, especially because our ward encouraged the families to encorporate a study plan that starts by studying chapter 3. It is amazing how something written so simply can contain such profound truths and so I'm studying along with them and deepening my understanding of the basics. Oh, and one great exercise in Preach my Gospel Chapter 5 is in the Mission President section in the back where it says to compare 1 Nephi 1 with the experience of Joseph Smith. It was a good couple days of companion study there. One thing I like to do in companion study (or couple study as it applies to Mom and Dad) is to practice teaching each other just like you were teaching someone who knows nothing about the gospel. It helps me to understand better what i have learned because I have to put it into words...also it helps me speak better Portuguese...
Então o meu missionário...agora é o tempo de ti...Eu realmente estou a desfrutar esta experiência. Uma coisa que a minha zona está a fazer que acho que está a me ajudar é decorar os subtitilos, os compromissos, 2-3 frasas e 2 escrituras(local e tema) de cada subtítilo. Foi uma coisa que recebemos no início da missão, mas nem todos acabaram. Estou agora na 2ª lição e faz muito bem lembrar de todas dessas coisas. Vamos acabar antes de fim de Agosto então é uma meta que faz me crescer qual sempre é bom. Um, sim isto é tudo...Amo-te e porta-te bem!!
Love you all! Thanks for all your love and packages and letters and prayers and stuff like that! (até da minha sogra, wink!)

ellen