Another Father-Son Message about Stephen's Birthday! - April 11

Haha aw man! I wanted to surprise you with a big Happy Birthday thing at the end of my letter today to make you think I had forgotten about it! I totally have "Dad's Birthday!" Written in big letters in my planner on the 14th! You 44 year old fart you! So I feel better now... I think?... about not sending you some cool stolen artifact - I thought about stealing one of the books in the library back in Coimbra, but I wasn't in the mood to get, you know, arrested that day. You are traveling so much! Do you enjoy it? Is it hard to be away from home so much? I know how ya feel! Haha just kidding I don't even think about you guys that much. In the best way possible! I would LOVE it if you guys could come and pick me up - it is not like a super realistic thing probably, but it would be cool! I shared some stories about Valentine Valentinsen with a lady we met and showed her my booklet, and it was way harder than it should have been in Portuguese, but she said she wanted to look into it! We are going to visit her this week and see if we can help her out. I didn't see a link for the video, but I'll look for it on lds.org or something! I will try and write a letter for Lansen - I will work on it this week and next and hopefully send it to you next week! I have less time today than I would like, but I'll get it going. I just wrote in my planner to yell "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD YOU 44 YEAR OLD FART!” on the 14th. :) Love ya dad! 

On Mon, Apr 11, 2016 at 6:06 AM, Stephen Valentine <ValentineSJ@familysearch.org> wrote:

Dear Elder Son,

So this week is sort of a big deal. I mean, it should be the focus of all of your thinking and energies. You should have spent weeks—no, months!—planning and worrying and obsessing about it. You know exactly what I’m talking about here . . . MY BIRTHDAY!

Yes, it’s my 44th birthday on Thursday. So . . . you’re showing up for my party, right? You’ll be there to give me your present in person. Oh, no, wait a minute. You’re in PORTUGAL! Okay, no problem. So you’re sending me like some amazing historical artifact, right? Something you “borrowed” out of one of the art museums?? NO? REALLY? You’re sending me nothing!!??

Okay, hold on, stop feeling guilty. Just because you’re like 3,000 miles away or whatever gives you a SMALL excuse for not being at my party. And I suppose since you have no money because your cheapskate parents keep forgetting to add money into your bank account gives you the EXCUSE again to avoid sending me a present! So I’ll guess you’ll have to make it up to me when I get home by going to see Star Wars Episode 8 like four or five times. Deal? That’s the birthday present I want, so I’m making a rain check!

I’ve had a busy weekend doing yard work. Aren’t you jealous? Don’t you wish you were here to dig trampoline pits and weed the garden and plant shrubs? Liar. But I’m making some good progress. I’m hoping to get a big swing set next Saturday. On Friday I planted nine shrubs and a tree. I spent like $250 on it. Expensive stuff. See, that’s why I don’t have the money to put in YOUR bank account so you can buy ME and birthday present! Stupid yard anyway! Where’s my priorities? 

Work is super crazy, but that’s not new. Oh, I just learned I’ll be going to London and Israel again this year, this time in October. I’m going to Florida in about three weeks (yes, it’s a sacrifice, but someone has to do it!). Maybe I’ll earn up enough frequent flier miles to fly over to Portugal and see you in July of 2017. That would be cool, right?

Were you able to try sharing a message about family history? There’s a really cool video that was produced at our RootsTech conference. Here is the link below. It’s about 6 minutes. Hopefully you have time and the ability to watch it. This teaches why family history, missionary, and temple work all fit together. You should share it with your mission president! I’d be happy to answer any questions he may have, or help in any way.

I’m helping Lanson Lappin get himself ready to submit his papers. He’s a good young man. He’ll make a powerful missionary, just like you! If you get a chance, send him an email. You can just send it to me and I’ll print it and give it to him. I know he’d appreciate it, and it would help him prepare to submit his papers and become fully worthy to serve.

I expect you to honor me on Thursday with a moment of silence in my behalf. Or, even better, scream “HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD YOU 44 YEAR OLD FART!” at the top of your lungs, and maybe I’ll hear it (by the way, can you imagine what a 44 year old fart would smell like?? Yikes!)

Okay, I gotta go. Have a wonderful week! Can’t wait to hear from you tomorrow. Love you!

Dad

"These title get harder to find names for . . . " April 11 Group Email

Heyya familia! 

Wow! So conference was like way good! Well, mostly! It's like REALLY hard to listen to portugal portuguese translators because their accents are SO STRONG and so yeah I actually want to download a bunch of the talks so I can really get something out of them. Mom told me that people were making noise when Elder Holland was announced and that made me laugh. :) I really really loved Paul V Johnson for some reason! So powerful for me! And Mervin B Arnolds was good too. And The Prophet! It's sad that he is getting older. I love his talks. Also I learned a lot of trunky family stuff from M Russell Ballard, and Ronald A Rasbands talk was way good too! Not a lot of time to talk about all of these talks, but those were some I liked from the ones I understood. :) Wow. Yesterday at 10 we watched the Saturday Afternoon session, then at 1 the priesthood session, then at 5 the Sunday morning, then at 9 PM the sunday evening. A whole day of conference! So good! We watched it in our chapel here in Gaia. Elder Bortolo and I had three investigators at different sessions! Ohh and I liked Stephen W Owens talk too. 

Gaia is big! Big area! I don't know ANYTHING about the area because Elder Bortolo is new to the whole missionary thing... haha it's gonna be a party. We live in this crazy tall predio (apartment building) which totally towers over everything else in the area. It reminds me of the great and spacious building except that missionaries live in it! and we live next to the BIGGEST PASTRY SHOP I'VE EVER SEEN! And Elder Bortolo likes to eat even more than Elder Barrett. Except Elder Barrett liked eating carrots, and Elder Bortolo likes eating donuts... fat Elder Valentine here we come. 

You guys went go karting? Way fun! Ethan! Happy birthday again homie! You stud! I want some more info about your birthday! 

I hope Ryleigh gets better! It sounds like she's been sick! 

Kimber said something about journal writing. I want to actually invite the fam to write in your journals tonight if you haven't! I know dad does a good job, and I know now being on the mission how important it is and how much of a blessing it can be!

Well, I hope you guys stay safe! Love you lots! 

Love, Elder Valentine!

Photos from April 4

Photos from Gaia and Elder Bortolo, the New Comp

Living Room in the New Apartment - Nice!

Elder Bortolo

Elder Bortolo Again

Elder Bortolo and Elder V with Cool Glasses

Gaia Apartment Bedroom

Study

Training Elder Bortolo to Read English!

View from their 16th Floor Apartment

Another View

Family Email - April 4 2016

Heyya familia! 

Wow! So conference was like way good! Well, mostly! It's like REALLY hard to listen to portugal portuguese translators because their accents are SO STRONG and so yeah I actually want to download a bunch of the talks so I can really get something out of them. Mom told me that people were making noise when Elder Holland was announced and that made me laugh. :) I really really loved Paul V Johnson for some reason! So powerful for me! And Mervin B Arnolds was good too. And The Prophet! It's sad that he is getting older. I love his talks. Also I learned a lot of trunky family stuff from M Russell Ballard, and Ronald A Rasbands talk was way good too! Not a lot of time to talk about all of these talks, but those were some I liked from the ones I understood. :) Wow. Yesterday at 10 we watched the Saturday Afternoon session, then at 1 the priesthood session, then at 5 the Sunday morning, then at 9 PM the sunday evening. A whole day of conference! So good! We watched it in our chapel here in Gaia. Elder Bortolo and I had three investigators at different sessions! Ohh and I liked Stephen W Owens talk too. 

Gaia is big! Big area! I don't know ANYTHING about the area because Elder Bortolo is new to the whole missionary thing... haha it's gonna be a party. We live in this crazy tall predio (apartment building) which totally towers over everything else in the area. It reminds me of the great and spacious building except that missionaries live in it! and we live next to the BIGGEST PASTRY SHOP I'VE EVER SEEN! And Elder Bortolo likes to eat even more than Elder Barrett. Except Elder Barrett liked eating carrots, and Elder Bortolo likes eating donuts... fat Elder Valentine here we come. 

You guys went go karting? Way fun! Ethan! Happy birthday again homie! You stud! I want some more info about your birthday! 

I hope Ryleigh gets better! It sounds like she's been sick! 

Kimber said something about journal writing. I want to actually invite the fam to write in your journals tonight if you haven't! I know dad does a good job, and I know now being on the mission how important it is and how much of a blessing it can be!

Well, I hope you guys stay safe! Love you lots! 

Love, Elder Valentine!

Transfer to Gaia - April 4 2016

Dear Everyone,

I really wanted that whole title to illiterate, but alas, I am not talented enough to make baptisms fit into the illiteration. Plus cut me some slack - I'm not even speaking English anymore!

So some pretty exciting stuff happened this week. I got moved out of Coimbra, and I am now serving in Gaia, which is this city on the other side of Porto where I started my mission here in portugal! I can like totally see my old house from the top of our 16 story tall apartment building! My new companion is Elder Bortolo. He is my first native comp! He is from São Paulo Brazil and speaks just about zero english, so this last week has been a lot of fun forgetting my native language. :) It's actually a way cool experience to talk in portuguese ALL OF THE TIME because normally, we speak Portuguese stuff related to missionary work, but now I have to do it with everything! I'm hoping for my Portuguese to get a lot better really quick! Elder Bortolo is in his second transfer, so I am training this transfer, and I am STILL on the training schedule! Let me explain. The training schedule has an hour and a half more studies during the day, one hour for missionary training material, and an extra half hour of language study. Let me tell ya, four hours of study a day is quite a lot. Especially when you've had that same schedule since you started your mission. :) But I'm way excited about it! Gaia is another bigger city, with another really big area, but I'm pretty excited for it! Elder Bortolo is super dedicated and likes to talk to like the whole world, so it makes training easy! Also, I'm a district leader this transfer, so I get to give four hour district meetings every tuesday and call the sisters every night. Yay. :)

Well that happened! Also Elder Bortolo and I totally marked a nine year old boy Emanuel for baptism at the end of this month, so we are pretty excited about that! He is the son of a less active sister who we will also be reactivating. I'm way excited about this transfer!

Quick spiritual message - obviously general conference happened, and was way good! Well, I hope it was. I watched it all in portuguese, which is funny with the translators, but I enjoyed it a lot! One talk I was particularly touched by was Paul V. Johnson, who related the story of his daughter passing away to his testimony of the power of the resurrection. I know along with him that we will gain our perfect bodies because of the love of God - and to apply President Monsons short talk on choices, I know along with the Prophet that our choices really do affect our destinies as God's children. The Savior performed both parts of the Atonement - the Resurrection and His suffering in Gethsemane, for us to be eternally happy! Paul Johnson testified about that resurrection that is given freely to overcome physical death. The Prophet talked about our choices and repentance, which will lead us to overcome spiritual death. Both of these gifts come because of the Atonement of Christ. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for sending His Beloved Son to allow us to partake of ALL of His blessings! President Monson talked about the chinese cat in Alice and Wonderland, and how Alice didn't know where she wanted to go. Well, we do! We KNOW our destinies, and can make choices and use the Atonement because we know we are children of god. I love the gospel! So good!

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Talk to you later!

- Elder Valentine!

Easter Email to Family - March 28 2016

Hey family! 

So yeah. Elder Barrett and I were feeling a lack of Easter fun, so we went and bought the biggest kinder egg you have ever seen! It was enormous! And I get to keep the captain america toy. :) I'm glad that the fam got the package I sent! I thought it would take way longer to get to you guys! Sorry Ethan that the giant milka bar was all broken... I had to improvise to get it into that little box! But it probably tasted the same. :)

Transfers didn't happen yet, but we will know tomorrow after district meeting! Should be good! 

What's going on with politics right now? I know just about zero about the candidates, or really anything that is going on! The only thing I have heard was about the bombing in Brussels where four missionaries were injured. So sad! The world is kind of turning upside down right now - how grateful I am to be a member of God's true church! I've thought about that recently - we make up a total of .2% of all the people living on earth, and probably an even smaller amount of the Lord's covenant people who have already accepted the gospel. We are so blessed to be a part of that small number! Everyone will get the chance to hear the gospel, certainly, but how great it is that we have the gospel NOW in the midst of the stuff that goes on in the world!

Happy birthday this week, Ethan! And Robert too! Dang! Our family(ies) are getting so old! 

Our two investigators are difficult to meet with, but that will just make it all the more satisfying to baptize them. :) 

So yeah! Elder Barrett is now officially not a greenie. It's already been that long! Holy moly the time just flies! Well, I love ya family! Talk to you all later! And in little individual emails! Peaceth!

Love, Elder Valentine!

Group Email - March 28 2016

Hey everyone!

So this week, we talked to Susana again, but just over the telephone because she lives far away from us, and she said she had read the book of Mormon and wanted to know how to get an answer if it was true! She is so ready to be baptized! Elder Barrett and I want to invite her for baptism the next time we talk to her, which we hope we can do this week. Unfortunately, Afonso left town for a month, so we won't be able to talk to him for a little while. A month is a long time for a missionary! We could be on the other side of the country in that time! Haha when we mark appointments more than a week in advance it feels like an eternity before we have the lesson. 

Dear sisters of the church - how was the women's conference? I totally forgot it was happening! 

We had a fun little Easter party at our chapel this last Saturday, where we hid some chocolate eggs for the people to find because they don't do that here in Portugal, and showed "the lamb of god" and talked about the Resurrection of the Savior. It was a lot of fun! And the talks this Sunday were all centered on the Savior, as they should be. I love Easter time! The Resurrection is truly the "good news" of the gospel, and I am so grateful to be a part in sharing that message with the people here in Portugal! 

This week, I would like to share a scripture we talked about with our Bishop this last week. 1 Nephi 17:2-3 - 

 2 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

 3 And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them;wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.

This scripture was written during a time of great strife for Nephi and his family. They could have been worried about their families, how they would get to the promised land, how they would survive in the wilderness, but, at least Nephi, was grateful to God for strengthening their wives and their children, as they kept God's commandments. It is my testimony that as we do God's will, He will bless us! Just as it says in D&C 82 :10 .-  10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

I know that times are hard, and that sometimes we feel like we can't go on, but I also know that as we keep God's commandments, He WILL bless us and "provide means whereby we can accomplish the thing which He has commanded us." 

I hope you all have a fantastic week! See ya'll later!

- Elder Valentine! 

Pictures from March 21

Captions are all at the end.

These are some pictures that Elder Barrett took! 

1. My 6 month tie burning

2. A broken stopsign that no one bothered to fix. Also it's funny that all of the stop signs are in english and not portuguese!

3. a pretty typical european style house!

4. we found peanut butter!!!! Too bad it's four euros for like two scoops.

5. the pizza guys all drive these little mopeds all over the city! 

6. a river

7. and a bridge on the way to a far out little town called Ceira

8. lots of buildings here are broken down - this probably used to be a catholic church like forever ago!

A Discussion Between Dad and Son - March 21

I haven't posted all of the private emails between me (Dad) and Elder Valentine (son). But this is one that I want to share, because it speaks so well about Spencer's progress and growth:

Hey dad! I can't believe that it has been a year since I opened my call! I totally didn't even think about it until you told me! The ward is growing so much! It's strange to hear about changes back home! I think that your face to face sounds like an awesome activity. I'm not joking when I say that you are like the most amazing bishop ever! The whole ward just loves you to bits and you do such a good job magnifying your calling. Your trip sounds super fun - are you going to be traveling more because of your new position? I'm also happy that Anna gets to drive a car with two back lights! Haha I know she wasn't excited to drive it with the broken one, but I'm sure she's happier now. 

To answer your question - I think first off it's a really funny change to make, because I looked forward to my mission my whole life, and didn't really know what to expect besides preaching the gospel, and then it just kind of happens, and suddenly I'm a missionary! Still me, just in a different country speaking portuguese teaching people about the gospel - but still me! It's a strange feeling! It's probably harder than I thought it would be, but in different ways than I would have thought. It's all directed by God, unlike just about any other time in my life, in the sense that nothing will progress if He isn't the one leading the way through the spirit. It's hard sometimes to know if I'm following what God wants me to do or be where I should or say what someone needs to hear. It's also hard to be with companions who have different levels of wanting to work! The food is better than I thought, thankfully - I am definitely going to need a "six months to sexy" missionary diet. You know, I feel kind of stuck right now. It is so fulfilling when you find someone who wants to listen or have a cool spiritual experience, but right now, I just know I could be having more. I kind of get frustrated with myself for not knowing what to do sometimes. It's hard, honestly! I want to do what is right but I don't always know how. And sometimes I don't know how to feel the spirit, and I get scared to go on because I don't know how. But I really do know that God is at the head of this work, and I know that I just need to keep being obedient and learning as much as I can. I really do love being out here. Some missionaries get trunky and want to go home, even if just a little bit, but I don't feel that way. I really just want to do my best, and that's where it's hard. Because I don't know sometimes how to do that. Remember what my patriarchal blessing says? It says that I will baptize many people who will become great leaders of the church. Well, that hasn't happened yet. But I know it will. I know it will because I love God and I want to do what's right! So yeah. That's just kind of the feeling. But I love it here! Don't think that this was like a "oh no, Elder Valentine is sad and doesn't want to be a missionary!" So not true! It's just a different kind of hard. Yup! That's all.

Thanks for being an awesome dad! Saturday was actually the portuguese Father's Day, so I wanted to say thank you for being such an amazing example to me. There isn't a person on Earth that I would rather be like than you. You are so inspiring and close to the spirit and working to do God's will, and I am so incredibly grateful to call you my Dad! I love you, home slice! I'm bawling here! Stop it! 

Well, as I wipe the tears off my face, I say goodbye! Love ya dad! 

Love, Elder Valentine!

Not Having a Car is a Blessing - March 21st

Dear everyone, 

This last Sunday, we had a new investigator in church named Afonzo, who we found on the street. Or rather, he found us! We were walking on the other side of the road and he came across to come talk to us. He said that he had a lot of faith in God, but that his life seemed to have been going backwards and he needed to go to a church. So he came with us to church! And we invited him to see a baptism that some missionaries in our zone had, and he asked if he could be baptized with them! Haha we told him that we couldn't baptize him just yet, but that he would be baptized soon. It was a really neat experience that gave us a new investigator who already wants to be baptized, which we wouldn't have had unless we were walking! He still has to get over, like, every commandment still, but those are just little things compared to the blessings he'll get for keeping them! 

Speaking of walking, we got our first reference from the church headquarters this Saturday! Talk about easy work! Her name is Susana, and she lives about 45 minute drive from where we normally work in a little town called Miranda do Corvo, but is still in our area, so we found a bus, walked like 7 kilometers, and found her on this little dinky middle-of-nowhere road, but she is so ready to hear the gospel!  She had asked for a portuguese book of mormon through mormon.org, and when we talked to her, she told us she wanted to feel god's love more for her and know why there were so many churches and lots of other questions very applicable to the Restoration. She was the sweetest lady! She's driving all the way from her house to Coimbra to talk to us tomorrow. We are super excited!

Since I won't be able to write until after, Happy Easter! I hope that everyone has a wonderful day remembering the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lives! He died on the cross, but more importantly, he lived again for us! Because of him, we can live again too. His sacrifice and resurrection is so essential to God's plan, and I am eternally grateful for my Savior.

The church has this cool thing they are doing with Easter which you can find on this site: FollowHim.mormon.org

I love my savior, and I love this work! Have a wonderful Easter! Talk to you next week!

- Elder Valentine!

"Progress, Finally!" March 14 Group Email

Dear everyone, 

This week, Elder Barrett and I had a family come to church! We were so so happy to see them there! Their names are Luis, Priscilla, and Beatriz is the daughter. They were some former investigators that we found the record for, passed by their house Saturday night, and had a good lesson with Luis. He likes the elders a lot, but he was having a hard time keeping the word of wisdom and law of chastity, kind of like all of the other people here in Portugal! Haha oh boy. I hope I didn't already tell this story, but a game that is kind of fun to play here is to count how many cigarette butts you can before you get to your next appointment. Record so far is over 300 in 15 minutes. Really funny. But anyways! Luis and his family are really nice, and we pray that they will have the desire to come back to church and keep commitments! We also found a house of 6 college girls who all were super nice and interested in hearing more, which is a nice change from most of the college kids here! The people here in Coimbra are either really old or students at the University of Coimbra, and not a lot of in between, so Elder Barrett and I crash a lot of college parties on the weekends. It's actually really fun! I  love teaching kids that are more or less my age - it makes me think about how the gospel is blessing me right now, being on a mission rather than partying, and about how I can better teach for young people. Unfortunately all those girls live outside of Coimbra, but we invited them to church in their respective cities, so other elders will teach them. A really awesome thing that I have been learning here is how much that this work is NOT about me. We give lots of references to other people by talking to people who pass through our area, and we have seen some really neat success from the other missionaries from our references. It made me really happy to see those people being taught even though it wasn't me and my companion, and helped me see how important it is that we just work for the salvation of these people, and not just to get numbers for our area. 

This week, I would just like to share one of my favorite scriptures with you guys. it's D&C 84:88 -

 88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

I really love this scripture. It really makes missionary work seem a lot easier! And it is a real blessing for you in your life right now. As we do God's will, he will send His angels to give us strength! How sweet is that? And it's real. So if you need some heavenly help, say a nice little prayer and let Heavenly Father bless you with His angels. That's all! 

Have a great week! I love you all! I love being a missionary! 

- Elder Valentine!

More Photos! March 14

Spencer is doing a good job of keeping us updated with pictures! Great job, Spence!

Back of Elder Barrett's Head 

Elder Garcia

 Portugues River

Zombie Dog

Pictures from February 29 Email

Latest Photos!

BEST IDEA EVER. I took out the core of a Pink Lady apple (one of the greatest apples I have ever tasted) and filled it with PEANUT BUTTER! I used the peanut butter that my family so wonderfully sent to me. :) I took it on the road and didn't have to worry about a spoon or a knife or the jar. 

We totally saw a camel!!! There was a little carnival thing going on and the camel was just roaming the streets!

 Portuguese architectural ingenuity. A door that opens up to a wall. 

There are these gypsies (ceganos) who have a big selling fair every saturday morning right by our house! THis one is actually super small compared to normal. There are normally like a couple hundred people all couped up in this little area.

So I already finished the Reeses Puffs... they were so good. I died.

This is a creepy picture of a picture of our Bishop (Bispo Luis Pitarma) and his wife Irmã Ana Claudia Pitarma. They are so great! Best Bishop ever!

"Weekly Letter to Beloved Family" from March 7 2016

Heyya there, family! Wow! I really do love you guys so much. I am so incredibly grateful to be blessed with parents who are amazing church members, are talented and smart and loving, and for siblings who support their brother on the mission and who are also super talented and wearing braces and building houses and leaving their little baby girl to work and living the gospel, and for aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins who are just so supportive and send me testimonies and work everyday for their families and for the Lord. Seriously! I am so blessed for all of you! My family, near and far, is such a big motivation and support for me out here. I love you guys!

Haha yeah so the zombie dog was fun! I'll a scary picture of it next week. We showed up to this lonely house out in the woods in our area and the house is all run down and has beer bottles everywhere and that dog tied to a suspiciously unsturdy looking stump and it we found paulo! He is open to us, we just hope that he will be able to stop drinking and smoking and come to church. Regular investigator problems! He is not really all "there," in the head, so we will see how we can help him. New provo temple! So amazing looking! 

Well, that's about all for a bit. I'll email you individually for now. Love you, family! Have a super fantastic week! GOOD LUCK ANNA with the musical! I'm so excited for you! 

Love, Elder Valentine!

"David and Goliath" March 7 Group Email

Dear everyone,

Hello there! Wow, it's already March! It doesn't feel like it here - all winter it has been a pretty mild temperature with a ton of rain, so March just kind of sprung up on us here. It has been a good week! Elder Barrett got sick this time, so he's been fighting through that, but we DID teach a crazy hobo man named Paulo with his terrifying zombie dog. It was terrifying. But Paulo is nice! He has lots of faith in God, and is so far receiving us well! We taught José, the husband of Liliana about the plan of salvation, and he had a lot of really good questions about what happens after this life. It seems that most people here believe in God, but don't believe that He plays any real role in their lives. Almost everyone is Catholic and believes in Christ, but don't let Him bless their lives because they don't have the desire to act or change to follow Him. A lot of people also don't believe that God can really make a difference for them - they don't see the blessings that they can receive from Him. THey don't believe that God really has the power to make that difference. Because of that, I really like the story of David in 1 Samuel 17, when he goes up against Goliath- 

 45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

 46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand...

 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.

I know that God is at our front, and that this battle really is the Lord's! The Lord will deliver us from the hands of our "enemies." We have our burdens, temptations, hard relationships, times when we feel alone, times when we don't know if we can go on - and the Lord will deliver us from all of these things. I hope that this week I can help someone understand that the Lord is on their side. He wants nothing more than for us to turn to Him in faith, and when we do, we will be delivered. I hope you all have a super good week, and remember that the Lord is on your side. 

- Elder Valentine!

P.S. We contacted a guy Antonio who, after accepting our invitation to learn about the gospel, quizzed me on the biggest and smallest bones in the body - thank you Medical Anatomy and Physiology for helping me remember. :) 

Super Big Blessings - Elder V Feb 29 Family Email

Dear everyone, 

whew! We almost died this week! Well, kind of almost. One of the elders in my house left the gas stove on all night and so I woke up with a headache to a really weird smell, and normally I make eggs in the morning and just about lit the stove when I realized that like the whole house was filled with gas. It was pretty exciting! I might have a few less braincells now, but it's all good. :)

Super amazing story of the week - this last Saturday, our zone of 24 missionaries had a big activity in our area to find new investigators and invite people to be baptized. If you haven't noticed, I haven't really written about a lot of investigators lately, because we haven't really had any! It's been hard for Elder Barrett and I have felt really lame about it. So our AP's, one of whom was one of my trainers so he knows me well, set up this activity for 2 hours on Saturday, and the zone helped us get 10 new investigators and 46 references, all just in our area!!! We are so incredibly grateful for the missionaries who helped us out. We now have a lot of work to do to contact and teach these people, and we are so so excited for this opportunity! I would just like to announce to you all that I love being a member of this church. In the Book of Mormon, the nephites and lamanites were at war with one another almost constantly, and the basic reason was a lack of charity and love. People would get caught up in their prosperity and riches and wealth, and forget about God and start to fight. There are countless accounts of that. On the other hand, the times of prosperity came when they were all one-  

 15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

 16 And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happierpeople among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.

 17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were inone, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

 18 And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the land. (4 Nephi 1:15-18)

And these times were the greatest times! I share this because this is the kind of love that I have felt this last week, and the love I have felt as a member of this church. I am so grateful for the loving people that make up the Lord's church, and it is because we are all one in Christ! I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to share God's love with the people here. 

Hopefully next week I will have some exciting stories to share about all of these references, but until then, fiquem bem, não se esquecem do seu Salvador e tudo que Ele fez para si, e até a próxima semana! Amo vocês! Tchau! 

Com amor, Elder Valentine!

"Elder . . What's that Smell?" - Feb 22 Group Email

Dear everyone, 

whew! We almost died this week! Well, kind of almost. One of the elders in my house left the gas stove on all night and so I woke up with a headache to a really weird smell, and normally I make eggs in the morning and just about lit the stove when I realized that like the whole house was filled with gas. It was pretty exciting! I might have a few less braincells now, but it's all good. :)

Super amazing story of the week - this last Saturday, our zone of 24 missionaries had a big activity in our area to find new investigators and invite people to be baptized. If you haven't noticed, I haven't really written about a lot of investigators lately, because we haven't really had any! It's been hard for Elder Barrett and I have felt really lame about it. So our AP's, one of whom was one of my trainers so he knows me well, set up this activity for 2 hours on Saturday, and the zone helped us get 10 new investigators and 46 references, all just in our area!!! We are so incredibly grateful for the missionaries who helped us out. We now have a lot of work to do to contact and teach these people, and we are so so excited for this opportunity! I would just like to announce to you all that I love being a member of this church. In the Book of Mormon, the nephites and lamanites were at war with one another almost constantly, and the basic reason was a lack of charity and love. People would get caught up in their prosperity and riches and wealth, and forget about God and start to fight. There are countless accounts of that. On the other hand, the times of prosperity came when they were all one-  

 15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

 16 And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happierpeople among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.

 17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were inone, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

 18 And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the land. (4 Nephi 1:15-18)

And these times were the greatest times! I share this because this is the kind of love that I have felt this last week, and the love I have felt as a member of this church. I am so grateful for the loving people that make up the Lord's church, and it is because we are all one in Christ! I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to share God's love with the people here. 

Hopefully next week I will have some exciting stories to share about all of these references, but until then, fiquem bem, não se esquecem do seu Salvador e tudo que Ele fez para si, e até a próxima semana! Amo vocês! Tchau! 

Com amor, Elder Valentine!