Dear Everyone,

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!! This week was surprisingly great! I was expecting a refiner´s fire, but we´ve been working through things really well. At the beginning of the week we were told we would open a new area, so we had all brand new resources and everything, but on Tuesday we received a phone call from President Fluckiger saying that two of the Sisters would be leaving on an emergency transfer and that Sister Thornley and I would take over their area. So we have an area book and people preparing for baptism! We are working mainly in the burough Odivelas and Ramada, but we also have other buroughs assigned to our area that we have yet to explore.

 

Wanderley spoke to the Sisters two weeks ago, and we had a lesson with him about the Restoration. He´s got some crazy ideas about the nature of God. For instance, he thinks that since man was made in God´s image there must be a God for every continent because there are so many races. Anyway, we told him how to get answers from his prayers and to know what is true and false from God, Himself, instead of relying on our own ideas or the ideas of others. After discussing a little he said, `I want to be a member! What do I need to join to church?´ So... We marked him for baptism and he came to Church yesterday! We´ll see how things turn out.

 

Being in a white wash has been tricky because every area is different and it is hard to know what to do when all of the appointments fall through and we´ve done all of our back up plans. So on Fridaywewere walking by the Metro station, where we thought lots of people would be in the evening.(Sorry for the type-o but something is wrong with my computer!) Turns out that idea was a dead end. So we decided to pray about where to go and what to do. After the prayer I had a thought to walk up the hill that we just came from and see if anyone was there to talk to. Honestly I doubted that there would be anyone because we just walked over there a minute prior, but we didn´t have anything better to do, so we went! We ended up talking to Jorge, whose car battery had died and was waiting for a friend to come help him jump start the car. We talked for a few minutes, left a Restoration Pamphlet and asked him if he was interested in another appointment with us. he not only said, `yes´ but he pulled out his own planner and we had a little planning session together of when and where we could meet again! I really, really hope that things work out with Jorge! But most of all I hope that we can follow the Spirit like we did that night to find the people that are prepared to change for the better.

 

We are serving in the Lisboa 5 ward, which is nicknamed the `temple ward´ due to the fact that the land the Church bought for the new Portuguese Temple is within the ward boundaries. The Church leadership is also very strong here and as we were looking through the teaching records of the ward´s recent converts, almost all of the men have the Melquezidek Priesthood (sorry I can´t remember how to spell that in English anymore!) and many of the youth are preparing themselves for missions! I can see why they chose this ward to be the direct support for the temple.

 

Sister Thornley is such a cutie! It is her third transfer, so both of us have a lot to learn. Literally our companionship was sooooooo inspired from the Lord because she is the queen of stress management and I am the queen of hard work and organization. We balance each other out very nicely. I am so excited about this transfer. I am so grateful for your prayers--I have felt their influence a lot lately. I love you all and i pray for you as well.

 

Sister Derrick

 

 

Dear Everyone,

 

This week was wonderful. Ana Maria was baptized yesterday, and her daughter came to see the baptism! I think it was the best baptismal service we´ve have so far in our area. Things are going to be great for Ana Maria and our recent converts. It was a HUGE priviledge to see the Lord, Jesus Christ, change the lives of so many people. All of our recent converts have difficulties and weaknesses, but they all have added strength and hope in their lives:

 

Adriano: 3 years ago he was infamous for getting mad at his girlfriend and throwing a washing machine out his window... which is on the 6th floor! Ever since he received the answer that the Book of Mormon is true, he completely changed and has direction in his life. Since he was baptized he´s only missed one Sunday!

 

Ana: She´s realized that even though things don´t work out the way we want, you can still have God supporting you.

 

Corina: She has found a new love of the scriptures and sharing what she knows with other people. She has also shown ME that age and background has nothing to do with eternal life and the gospel of Christ.

 

Maria Augusta: She prove to everyone that through true repentance and the Atonement of Christ, anything is possible. She overcame illegal drugs and every single vice mentioned in the Word of Wisdom.

 

Silvia: The devil worked so stinking hard on her, but she came through with the determination of her testimony. She is one of the most knowledgable recent converts I know and the Bishop already want to give her a leadership calling.

 

Stella, Leandro and Cristiana: They are so sensitive to the Spirit. Literally it was so easy for the Lord to touch their hearts. I think they are more suceptible to the Holy Ghost than I am!

 

Ana Maria: She is a huge example of optimism and she shows her desire to get involved in the ward by making friends and involving herself even before we try to help out!

 

Some good things have to come to an end. I was honestly hoping that Sister Giberson and I would be like Alma and Amulek and stay together baptizing a whole nation for the rest of our missions! But sometimes we need a good change. I was transfered to Lisbon in the burough Oldivelas. So far I have only heard good things about the ward, so I am excited! Within the ward boundaries is the temple lot, and evidently the Sacrament frequency is so high that they have 2 sacrament meetings for one ward.

 

My new collegue is Sister Thornley from Syracuse, Utah. She just finished her training last transfer, so this will be a whole new adventure for the two of us! We are opening a new area, which means we are starting everything from scratch. We are going to need a lot of prayers and faith in order to do this! Seriously we have a spanky brand new cell phone and opened the Area Book and there were 5 papers inside it... FIVE! We are going to do a lot of finding and working in this area to leave it prepared for the next companionship to reap the fruits of the labor.

 

I love you all,

 

Sister Derrick

Dear Everybody,

 

This week we had some highs and lows. Stella, Leandro and Cristiana were baptized this weekend! Oh my goodness I think they are our strongest yet. Their whole family showed up to the baptism to support! What really threw me through a loop was that right after the baptism, Cristiana found a tithing slip and envelope and paid a full tithe while her hair was still wet. I am so excited to teach them the rest of the lessons after baptism (about the temple, missionary work, and the priesthood). 

 

On the other side of the spectrum we caught Júlio (recent convert Sílvia´s husband) drunk this week so we´ve had to postpone the baptism another week, which was frustrating for him. The District leader and his companion came with us in the lesson as a protection because the last time we remarked him he threw a tantrum... But it all worked out. I really hope that he´s going to make it!

 

This upcoming week we are focusing on Ana Maria, who is marked for baptism this Saturday. Basically she rocks! After we marked her for baptism (a week and a half ago) she prayed to have a supportive friend in the Church to help her out. Last weekend we called up Paula Marques, a recent convert, to help us with a lesson with Ana Maria. Honestly we just asked her because she was available at the same time as our appointment. When Ana Maria opened the door she was shocked to see that her good friend from years past was at her doorstep! She didn´t explain about her prayer until this week. It was truly a tender mercy of the Lord. She came to Church yesterday with Paula and really enjoyed it. What is funny about Ana Maria is that she is even shorter than I am... Truly great things come in small packages!

 

This week was rainy, so both Sister Giberson and I are sick again, but we are pushing through. We can´t afford to let these precious souls slip through the cracks! 

 

I love you all and I am so grateful for your loving prayers.

 

Sister Derrick

 

P.S. This next Monday is transfers, and there is no way that Sister Giberson and I are staying together. Please don´t send any mail to my Setúbal address this week because I am not sure if I will be staying in this area.

Bom Ano Novo!

 

We saw lots of miracles this week. First of all, we finished teaching all of the lessons to Sílvia and Júlio (scheduled for baptism on the 4th), so we arranged the baptismal interviews with our district leader. To our unpleasant surprise, Júlio did not pass the baptismal interview because he wasn´t honest with us. Basically his only reason for joining the Church was because he´s in love with Sílvia, and not because he truly wants to follow Christ. This ended up being a huge stumbling block because Júlio was really bitter and caused a lot of contention in their relationship together. However Sílvia is rock solid and she declared that she has waited and searched long enough to find the right path, and that she would wait no longer. So we arranged everything for Saturday, but there was just one problem: New Year´s. We didn´t have ward council and there was a party on Wednesday. Things were a mess on Saturday morning! What was even worse was that the door to the room with the baptismal font was locked-- and there was no key! But after many phonecalls and help from the ward leaders we got things cleaned up and organized. That afternoon we got everything ready to go, the font filled, the program ready... and Sílvia still hadn´t showed up. After even more phonecalls we discovered that she had taken a nap and her phone was off, but Júlio woke her up and she got out the door. She was a half and hour late, but hey! She got baptized anyway. Boy, Satan was working through every nook and cranny to get us to fail!

 

This week we´ve been focusing on Ana Maria, a woman we met as we went caroling at her aunt´s house. She is amazing, already knows that the Book of Mormon is true and is preparing for baptism on the 19th. She normally works on Sundays and only has one day off, so we decided to fast for her to have the ability to change her work schedule. On Saturday we had a lesson and brought Paula, a recent convert. After Ana Maria opened the door, her jaw dropped. Turns out Paula and Ana Maria are great friends from the past, but lost contact with each other. It was perfect! Right away she gained an awesome connection. At the end of the lesson we taught her about the commandment of keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. Right as we begun she said, `Guess what?! My boss let me change my day off to Sunday!´ What was even better was that Paula sat with her in all of the Church meetings. Oh, I am sooooooooooo excited for her!

 

So with the New Year I have made some personal goals. One of which is to be happier and more positive, and the other is to more bold and confident in my proselyting. So I began by praying to be happier, and it worked! Consequently I prayed for help to be more bold... Uh... God has a sense of humor because he´s been helping me out with that by making Sister Giberson get a sore throat and lose her voice! So I´ve been doing more than normal, which has been good.

 

Yesterday 13 people showed up to Church. MIRACLE!!!!!!! We received a phonecall from one of President Fluckiger Assistants (I answered, obviously), asking us what we were doing to get so many people at church. At the time I didn´t really have a good answer for him, but after Sister Giberson and I thought about it for awhile we came to the realization that it really has nothing to do with our talents, skills, abilities, etc. The only thing that we have been doing differently is that we´ve been applying all of the things that we are asked in our meetings and in the President´s letters, using Preach My Gospel for ideas/answers, and we´re trying to be obedient even when we don´t like the rules. AND IT HAS MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. Isn´t the Lord interesting? By the simple, small things like talking to 10 people a day and keeping things organized, we´ve been seeing results. Sometimes I wish that the less active members of the Church that we meet could understand that. By the simple, small things like praying, reading the scriptures and going to Church, the Lord supports us and gives us what we need.

 

Thank you, everyone! I love you so much and I wish you all a Happy New Year of 2014!

 

Sister Derrick