TGIPDAY (Sep 20)

Dear Everyone,

Thank Goodness It's P-Day! It's been a while! The office has been busy and I haven't been able to get emails out! 

Update - I'm still here in the office with Elder Yoder; Elder Karthigeyan left and went back to Gaia close to our old area. Our ward is one of the biggest in the mission and has a lot of wonderfully old members. We have a recent convert here who is preparing to serve a mission named José. He is 25 and used to be a Jehova's Witness, so he knows a lot about the bible! He's awesome because he loves helping the missionaries find people to teach! It's also been very hot here. And when you are taking the public bus which has no air conditioner and is full of Europeans who don't like deodorant, it's just a splendid game of "lets see who can hold their breath for the longest!" 

We have been teaching a young guy from Cabo Verde named Alberto lately. He is a student at a university here in Porto. He believes in God, but doesn't have a super strong foundation in religion. He likes the Book of Mormon but more as like a "study help" for the Bible, but we'll change his mind! 

One thing I love about the Gospel is that we have so much material about the Savior. I am pretty sure there isn't a page in the Book of Mormon that doesn't mention the Lord in some way. It makes it so easy to learn about him! I have been thinking about faith in Christ lately, and I have a stronger testimony of why it is so important to have that faith. . Faith is believing that the Christ is the Savior and that through Him we can receive the glory of our Heavenly Father, and Faith is following Christ's example. That's, like, it! So no wonder that we need to teach Faith to the whole world; no one really knows exactly who Christ is! He is our Savior, but we need to really know what that means to have real Faith in Him. We need to know that he wants us to be perfect like Him! And so the times that I feel like I have the most faith in Christ are when I am following His example. Serving a mission shows my faith in Christ and grows that faith in me, but it works for everyone! If you want to know the Savior more and have more faith in Him, be more like Him through service and love, and you'll know Him better! I love the simplicity of the gospel.

That's a rap, folks. 

- Elder Valentine!