Preachin' in Portugal: February 2014

Hello everyone!!!!

So we stayed in a hotel again this week. Monday was pday, Tuesday sister Prieto went to the hospital with sister Brooks to get her blood exams read and they found nothing. so they had to go back the next day and try to set up an endoscopy, where they put the camera down your throat... you know. So tuesday and wednesday i worked with sister hayes in our area. Thursday i stayed home with sister brooks, friday we went to the hospital with a member to try to get her the help she needed and they just did the exact same blood tests again, gave her some fluids and let her leave. We had to move out of the hotel on saturday and spent the rest of the day moving back in and cleaning. Finally, saturday night, president and sister F came up and took sister brooks to the hospital herself, she stayed there over night, and then today we went and visited her and then sister flukiger took her down to lisboa to stay in the hospital there because sister f needed to be there.

they put in the the hospital for two nights, and the second day she got an endoscopy. I was in a tripla with the other sisters. We visited her sunday and monday. Then monday night sister flukiger took her back to lisboa to take care of her in the mission home. Wednesday i got a mini missionary. shes portuguese, but her dad is brasilian. shes 20 and was way cool.

So im in a tripla right now with sister hayes and prieto, im not sure whats gonna happen, were just playing it by ear. we saw some miracles this week and working in my area again felt good, but the work is just slow because i dont have a comp thatts gonna stay and we just havent been able to work. i have faith though.

speaking of faith, im gonna exercise it right now and ask all of you to say one little prayer this week for Rosa Sousa and for her to change her heart and accept the gospel. pray with real intent. ill tell you the story next week.

We had lunch after church at a members home from my ward, but the other sisters were with me. the coolest thing happened. When the member saw sister prietos name tag, she asked if she had a dad that served here, and sister p´s dad indeed served here 40 years ago, right here in porto. it was her dad that baptized that woman who is now our relief society president 40 years ago who is now married to another member, in the temple, has 2 daughters that were born in the covenant and one of those daugthers is also now married in the temple. MIRACLES BEFORE MY EYES. oh if i could baptize just one person like that, who i knew would become that kind of person, i could not ask for more. but seriously, how cool is that? sister prieto took a pic with the fam to send to her dad.

Also, the daughter of this lady was one of the people that went with us to the hospital, and we spend a solid hour in a waiting room just talking. cool things about this? one, i was talking about lots of things with a really cool lady IN PORTUGUESE for an hour, and two, she was so cool!

Hey! i got a call from the office elder, ill get things taken care of with my card, thanks for the help! and shoot, i cant believe you talked to an office elder that i know and love! hahah crazy. Also i got your package mom, thanks! and letters. i love them all so much. oh also, mary and emily, your birthday presents probs wont come until march because of the whole money situation. sorry about that.

This week was good. Sister Brooks is still kind of sick so its been going a little slow, but its still going. Weve have an investigator, a 60 ish year old man named Manuel, hes been going to church for the past three months with out missing a sunday, stake conferences and all. Hes just scared about baptism because hes already been baptized in other churches and knows the importance of it, and wants to make sure the church is true before he gets baptized again. Im like, thats fine with me, thats what werre here for! Hes really incredible.

We also taught this lady named silvia. her sister died when she was younger, and as we were teaching about the plan of salvation, she was like, yeah, that makes sense, thats what i thought too. of course it does. now we just gotta get her to chruch.

Also, im doing well. Even though the work is hard, ive really learned to trust in the lord and recognize this is His work, and will go forward no matter how slowly we think its going or how hard it apprears to be. Just the fact that the church is still here in portugal, and growing, is such a testament to me. I have the great opportunity and pleasure to serve Him for a year and a half, do His work, but i go home, it still continues. Its just amazing to me, and its made the work so much sweeter for me.

Heres a thing about the portuguese that kills me. If you dont eat ALL their food, they think it wasnt good enough for you. They serve your plate full of what they made, and when your done with that, they give you more. We had lunch with a member who is super cool, so i just ate one serving and called it good and she looked over at me and was like, your done?!?! I got a little scared, but stuck to my stuff. Oh the portuguese. Theyre gonna kill me.

Thats about all i have to report for now. if you guys have questions, you should email me them and ill respond to them next week. I love you all so much!!! Seriously!!!! thanks for being such an awesome family and loving me so much.

Paz, amor, casamento do templo,

Sister Kelly Briggs