Well First of all... Vila Real rain has been replaced by the blazing heat! Sometimes I feel like I am in Idaho the weather changes so fast.
But time to get real. We went to meet a former investigator we had seen in our area book. So we didn´t know what he looked like or anything. We talked to him on the phone, so he knew we were meeting. We got to where we had said we were going to meet and saw an older gentleman sitting on the steps nearby. We walked up and were like "Hey are you Manuel?" and he said he was. We talked about the restoration and the importance of religion and a belief in Christ in our lives. After we had closed we asked when we could meet again. We were like "oh, so you already have our number." But then he said "No?". We were so confused! It turns out that his name was infact Manuel, he had met with missionaries before, but he wasn´t the Manuel we had an appointment with. It was seriously so cool! He invited us to come back to talk again as well!
I know that sometimes situations change for reasons we don´t understand, but the Lord always has a plan for us and the rest of his children!
We had been trying to meet all week with our investigator, Cindy, but hadn´t been able too. We finally caught her at a good time. She told us that she would get baptized if she had her Mom´s permission. We were kind of dissapointed to hear that her mom had discouraged baptism and said "NO" when Cindy asked. But we continue to teach her and she still wants to be. Our patience was definatly tested this week because we want so bad for her mom to give permission!
We had a break through with our investigator David also! David has a problem with smoking, but he wants to quit! We talked about baptism and he wanted to be baptized! So we set a baptismal date and talked about what it is going to take to be baptized. We helped set up a plan for him to stop smoking. He is being very faithful in trying to quit so he can make those covenants with the Lord and be baptized.
We recieved a reference from one of the members of our Branch, and we took some of the members to help us teach. We told them the name and they said that he was already a member, but less active. We met with Victor that night and he said that he had thrown the Book of Mormon and the Bible in the trash. After Talking with the members and recieving some harsh words, he said he would be in church the next day. And he was! The members were excited to see him back and welcomed him in with loving arms! We met with him later that night again and that Sunday was the first time he had gone to chruch in 6 YEARS! We talked about what he felt when he first took the missionary lessons, and how he felt after his baptism. He has a powerful testimony of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. Christ is always here to welcome us back when we go astray!
Bemfica played in the National Championships and won, so yesterday there was so much confusion! I think all of Vila Real was out in the streets partying! Soccer is so big here! People go crazy and I felt like I was in NY city during New years eve haha!
I am Loving the work! I loved an email I recieved this week with a scripture that can be the motivation for my mission, but also for our lives as well!
"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety, hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of Faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being let to glorify God" Ether 12:4
Have a wonderful week!
Com amor, Sister Jarnagin
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