Ola Todos!

Olá todos!

 These past two weeks have been the same as most of the weeks in quarantine, but they are still good! I'm not in a trio anymore, so it's just me and my trainer now. Elder Bermudez and I have became really good friends over the past couple of weeks and I think being with him 24/7 in a little apartment for 53 days now is the reason why 😂. He is one of the hardest working missionaries I have ever seen and I’m super lucky to be able to learn from him! 

This week I really tried to put all of my focus and attention on service. I've noticed through out my mission so far that things are way easier when I’m focused on serving others and not my self. My comp and I made a goal to teach 7 people during this week, members or non members, and we had such good sucess! We ended up teaching 12 people and one of them was a new investigator named Artur! We met him right outside of our apartment! 

This new boy that we are teaching is super cool. He lives right next to us and he is 17 and just moved here from Angola. My comp and I were chilling in our little backyard area one day just getting some fresh air. I saw Artur and his little sister playing on the other side of our backyard. I was talking to my comp and then his little sister ran up to me and asked if I wanted to play. I said yes and we ran around for a little and then eventualy I was able to meet Artur. We got to know each other and my comp and I asked him if he had ever seen the missionaries before. He said he had in Angola a couple times, but dosent really know too much about the church. We then shared a little message about the church and our purpose here in life and gave him a Book of Mormon. He was really interested and we asked if we could teach him a lesson sometime. The next day we taught him the first lesson and two days ago we taught him the second lesson. He also started reading the book of Mormon on his own! It's so exciting to watch him progress and grow his faith! 

Also this week I have been studying about repentance and the Atonement a lot. Many people and including myself think that repenting is a bad thing or a punishment. I think the adversary has tried really hard to make it seem that way. But repentance is not that way at all. It's a gift and an oppurtunity that we all have. A scripture that explains reptenance really well is, D&C 18:10-13. It says:

 10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.

13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!

If we really understand what Christ did for us we will have more of the desire to use His Atonement in our lives and repent. I can promise all of you that you will feel the spirit more in your lives if you repent everyday! 

I'm so greatful to still be here serving in Portugal. No matter how hard serving a mission can be sometimes there is really nothing else I want to be doing right now in my life! Eu amo vocês muito e fica bem é seguro! Até a próxima, meus amigos! Tchauzinho! 😁🤙🏼🤓