Faith and Miracles

 Olá Meus Queridos!! I don't know when was the last time I've written to all of you 😅. If any of you still read these posts I just wanna say thanks for being patient with me! 

A lot has changed recently in our mission...

We received a new mission President and his family. A bunch of new missionaries from the states are starting to arrive. I have served most of my mission close to Lisbon and in the central part of Portugal. But this last transfer I was sent all the way up to the northern part of the country in a little town outside of Porto called São João da Maderia. It's such a cool little area with a lot of trees and a good view of the ocean. The northern part of Portugal is completely different from the central and southern part. The people are very hard to talk to and the culture is different. I was a little nervous when I got here, but I was excited to see what this new area and zone had to offer! 

This last transfer I had a very special experience with one of our investigators named Òscar. When I first got to São João da Maderia my comp at the time (Elder Taylor) told me about this guy named Òscar. He was a Facebook reference that they received and they just started teaching him. Just a little context about Òscar is that when he first got in contact with the missionaries he was not in a good place in his life. He told the missionaries that his life was hell. He was drinking everyday, smoking 30 cigarettes a day, not working, and in his own words, "destroying his family". He was just searching for the tiniest hope he could find anywhere and he was led to the missionaries. When my comp and I first started teaching him he was immediately interested and most importantly willing to do exactly what we invited him to do. A cool thing about being a missionary is that you literally have the power and the authority to promise miracles and blessings in the name of Jesus Christ to people you teach. This is what we did with our friend Òscar. We felt his faith and his desire to come unto Christ and be healed. We promised him if he would do every thing we told him to do, his life would change. Òscar then started reading the Book of Mormon every day, praying, and going to church with us every Sunday. He put in so much effort to keep the commandments the best he could and was always praying for help and strength. After 3 weeks of teaching Òscar- he stopped drinking in a week, completely stopped drinking coffee in a day, and was able to quit smoking. He was even able to find a new job and he was still willing to pay tithing with the little money he had. We marked him for baptism and on the 10th of July he was baptized and the following day confirmed a member of the church. I was able to confirm him as a member and give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He told me after the sacrament meeting that he felt the power of the spirit when I said the words, "receive the Holy Ghost". He is completely different from when I first met him. He's happy, peaceful, and has a new desire in life to help others. He is already helping our branch here and is constantly sharing his testimony. I feel so grateful that I was able to witness this miracle of Òscars conversion. 

To all of my family and friends reading this. I would like to share my testimony of faith and desire- God loves all of his children and He gave us the ability to choose for ourselves. If we want to be happy we can choose happiness, if we want to be miserable we can choose misery. God has given us the way to everlasting happiness through his Son Jesus Christ and his Gospel. I hope we can all be like my friend Òscar and have this desire and faith to let God prevail in our lives and receive his blessings. I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father  and all of the people he has put in my life! 

I only have 5 months left of the mission so I'm trying to enjoy every moment until it's over! I miss you all so much and I hope everyone is happy and safe! Eu amo vocês! Tchauzinhos!! ❤😄🙏