Okay Familia.
Where to begin. Well I am in an area called Almada. It isn´t a huge area but there are a TON of people. There is so much that we have to do! One family at a time :) (this keyboard is crazy). Okay so it is beautiful! Everything is sooo green. And we are right on the river, that leads out to the ocean. I love it so much. It is taking time to adjust, this are very different. The time zone for example. The language is also pretty different. We eat a lot of rice and beans. The grocery stores... and pretty much everything else smells like fish. Meals are really good, it is just random. We have eaten at a members house once, and we had chicken, and rice, and french fries, and broccoli, and salad, and eggs pretty much everything in the fridge on rice. Every meal is just like that. Just a bunch of random things. I get around both by walking and the metro, which is sweet. Lots of oppourtuinities to talk to people on the metro. I will say hi.. then my companions end up having to take over. OH MY COMPANIONS! So. Here we call them our colega becuase companiera also means like my "partner" like in a uncommited relationship or a same gender relationship. So my colleges. Yes I am in another trio. This "two by two" thing isn´t seeming to real. Haha but they are great. I have one companion who is from Brazil. From forteleza (alexs mission) and she is the cutest thing in the world. She is a convert and speaks no english. She tries and it is soo cute. Literally love he to death. She has such a strong testimony and is just the cutest. We can´t really communicate to well... but I try and she laughes and we bond that way. We also practice lots by me asking a question in portuguese and her responding in english. It helps both of us learn, and that way we know if the other understood what we said. It is wonderful, and I learn a ton from her. Even though I am started to get a brazilian accent instead of the Protugal accent.
My second companion is AMAZING she is also a convert and she is from Hawaii. She is almost done her mission and her portuguese is really good but she is forgetting english.. to the point where it is also a little hard to communicate. Yet she translate for us most of the time and can understand what I am saying or trying to say. She is amazing as well. Just a solid testimony and she is super nice. She likes to cook so I just kinda eat what she gives me. I am pretty sure I have already lost weight since I have been in the field. Dinner has become slightly non existant. People here don´t really eat dinner. So it is an ideal time to teach. So we are out and about and have little crackers but lunch is always really good. Don´t worry about anything all is well. I am well looked after by the mission pres my comps and the Lord.
I have never felt so blessed! Which makes me feel like I must be doing something right :) I am working really hard and trying to open my mouth as much as possible. I haven´t recieved any letters or anything because I haven´t been around the mission office. So I will get them eventually. My adress... (lets see if I can figure out how to type this)
Rua José Fontana
nº 4 1ºA
2800-122
Almada
Portugal
WRITE ME! I feel like I only get dear elders once a month or something like that i dont know. It seems like emails are better than dear elders now. but Letters are wonderful too!
We are teaching a few people right now. One that I really really want to work out is Sergio. He just has such amazing faith and seems to understand everything that we teach (even me ;) ) We where teaching about the three degrees of glory, which I feel like was way to much for that lesson and he was getting confused. So I explained that All three are beautiful because God loves us and wants all of his children to be happy. But it is only in the Celestial kingdom that we can be with him. I tried to simplify it and I could feel the spirit so strong. It was amzing how much you can teach without speaking the language. I mean I was speaking portuguese but like 4 days in the field you can´t say much. but it just sooo isn´t about what I say, or what I do, it is about being willing to follow the promptings of the spirit and just open your mouth in complete 100% faith, and know that thats all you have to do and that the Holy Ghost takes over the moment you act in faith. It is not easy to have that kind of faith. Yet it is soo rewarding when you do.
There is a lady in the ward (that i still haven´t gone to yet becuase of general conference) that got hit by a car and can´t really clean so we cleaned her house. It was not untill that moment that I realized how important what I am doing here is. Serving others is such a blessing! She was so sweet. (she was the one who fed us lunch) Eating customs are kind of different to. You are not aloud to finish your food before the host. So you have to eat really slow or keep taking more and more untill the finish. But they talk and talk and talk. People are so friendly and talkative that they take a really long time to eat. It is next to impossible to eat as slow as they do with my limited vocabulary.
Well... Not sure what else to say. There is a sister in our ward that is like Janelle bly at 16 to a T. She is hillarious and speaks fluent english. (which like nobody does) people know a few words. Because we are in a trio we will split and work with her sometimes. I will not be the one with her. but it will be good. She is great.
We are baptizing a man named Paulo next weekend so that is super exciting! I haven´t taught him or anything so I do not feel like I have much to do with it but, we went to a baptism on sunday of the elders close by and paulo came to watch and he smelt like smoke, so hopefully that is becuase he is in portugal and everything smells liek fish or smoke. But we will have to go over the word of wisdom. Everyone smoked and drinks. It just is what they do. But is is so amazing how willing they are to stop when they understand that it is becuase of Gods love us and it is both a commandment from him as well as for their benifit. The members are so kind and loving, as well as the people here. Even if they really do not want to they will pretend they are intrested becuase they don´t want to be rude.
I am going to stop. I have 12 ish more minutes on the computer and have a couple people to write. I love you all so much and can´t wait to hear from you.
Sister Mullen
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