Dear Everyone,
Ola! Portugal has been so amazing! It has been raining a lot here, the storms get pretty crazy! But it´s so good!!! Sorry again for any mistakes in my emails - portuguese computers think all english words are spelled wrong so spellcheck isn´t a thing for me.
Anyways! This week has been so good! Elder LeBaron and the other AP Elder McGhee have comp studies with President Amorim twice a week, but since they have companions, I get to go and have studies with him too! It has been a huge blessing to see President teach the missionaries how to be better, even if I don´t understand very much. Haha! We have 6 progressing investigators right now, and I don´t remember who I have talked about, so sorry for any repeats.
Anibal and Conceção are set for baptism on the 22nd of November! They have been working so hard to get over smoking and to get married so that they can be baptized - it´s just so awesome! Conceção loves that I can´t speak very well, and she tells everyone that comes to her house about the elder who can´t speak. haha! They are so awesome. They started investigating because their son was baptized and it created a HUGE change in their home, so they decided to meet with us, and now they are going to be baptized! Boo Yeah! WE also have Paula and Angela, a mother and a daughter, who both have really loved coming to church and learning especially about the plan of salvation. The spirit has been so strong in our lessons and I love it! Maria Deceu (fun portuguese fact: probably half of the women here are named Maria, so they shorten it to Mª and have their second name with it so it becomes Mª Deceu) has been progressing SO well - she is the only one that I have started with, the other ones were already being taught before I got here, so it has been so cool to see how the gospel changes someone! She talks about how happy she is and she invited her brother to take lessons with her so we are working with him and everyone I´ve talked about has accepted baptismal dates and the gospel is just so awesome!!!!! I love being a missionary! My favorite thing in the whole world is seeing someone change and find the happiness that this gospel brings. And I have the best opportunity to help! I LOVE it.
Portugal is beautiful. We live right in porto, and there are these big catholic churches all over the place, and pastry shops, and lots of rain, and cobblestone/paralalapipido, and it´s just great. Best country ever. Only problem is having seven elders in one apartment sharing a little portuguese bathroom... Especially when Elder McGhee makes spicy food. Oh, man.
So this week I have been reading a lot about the plan of salvation and we have had some pretty cool deep doctrine conversations in the house about eternal life and God and lots of stuff - let me just say, I am so happy that we have the true gospel, and that God is in charge. There is so much that we don´t know or can´t comprehend about God and our eternal lives, but the most important thing is that through God´s plan and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can live forever with our familes! Paula and Angela started crying when we asked them if they wanted to be together forever, and it was so sweet to see the spirit testify that God´s plan is perfect, and is all about our happiness. Christ Atoned for our sins and died so that we could live again. All He asks in return is that we desire to be like Him and partake of the ordinances of the gospel. I love this church! It´s so perfect, because God really is in charge.
Well, that´s about all for this week. I love it here on my mission! Thanks everyone!
-Elder Valentine!
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