Ficando fixe forçando fubecas fazer ... trabalho (Apr 25 Group Email)

Dear Everyone,

I decided that it is easier to alliterate in portuguese! But I still can't end them right. I'll work on it. I said "staying cool making lazy people do their work" But that's not actually true - my district is super hard working and I am way grateful to be here! Did I already say that I have a sister training leader and the Zone Leaders in my district? So basically I have no power. Haha! 

Well, this is gonna be short because today is basically Portugal´s labor day, and there isn't a shop open in the whole city! So elder Bortolo and I are trading off in our chapel. :) But! We marked the friend of a recent convert for baptism! His name is José (please don't pronounce that like a spanish person - we make the "j" sound) and he is way cool! He used to be a fire fighter, and (ironically) smokes a lot, but we already taught the Word of Wisdom and he accepted so we are just excited to help him get baptized! We marked him for next week, so in a couple of weeks I'll tell you about his baptism!

I read the story of the good samaritan in Luke 10 a little while ago, and I love the principles behind this parable that the Savior teaches to the tempting lawyer. It's also a good example of teaching because the Savior uses lots of questions and applies principles to stories, but that's besides the point. The priest and the Levite, who should have helped the injured man, "passed by on the other side," while the samaritan, who had nothing to with the man (probably he was a Jew according to James E. Talmage in Jesus the Christ) helped the man and gave him money and a room to be cared for. I thought a lot about how we sometimes treat people who aren't like us - maybe non members, members who we don't get along with, etc. - and how the Savior uses this story to explain that we should love our neighbor as we love God. It's hard sometimes to be forgiving or have a good attitude with people we don't like, but we are taught by Christ to love everyone, which is more than just tolerating, it's serving them as The Savior would. I hope this all makes sense! I love the teachings of our Savior, and I know they are true! I know that Christ is the way we can achieve perfection, and we can do it by seeking, asking, and knocking. :)

Love ya'll! Have a super fantastic week! I guess I lied when I said it would be short! :)

- Elder Valentine!