Dear Everyone,

 

This week was pretty good! We had Mission Council on Tuesday, which meant that we had 6 Sister Training Leaders from the North to come spend the night. It was fun because Sister Gidney and I set up our aparment like a hotel, calling it `Hotel Odivelas.´ We had left over pancakes from the Pancake Party last week for a continental breakfast. Guess who was there? Sister Giberson! She is now in Matosinhos, one of the highest in the north areas (I am not sure how to say that right, but you know what I mean!) Mission Council was intense, but fantastic. As a mission we are/will be focusing on marking people for baptism and helping the Recent Converts continue to progress. I am really excited because in our area we have both to work on! I love the recent converts here and we are making a big effort to focus more on them.

 

One thing that really touched me from Mission Council was when President Fluckiger gave a talk on the Atonement. One thing that he said that really stuck with me is: If you understand the Atonement, you will have nothing to fear. I really found that intruiging. Knowing that the Lord has a plan for me and for my investigators makes trust the Lord more. I am currently reading the New Testiment cover to cover in Portuguese (I highly recommend reading the Bible in a Latin language-- it makes so much more sense!) and I found a verse that I already heard but this time really stuck with me.

 

Luke 9:23 ¶And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, lethim deny himself, and take up his across daily, and bfollow me.

 24 aFor whosoever will save his life shall blose it: but whosoeverwill lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

It reminded me of my farewell talk. I remember that I said that the reason I was going on a mission was to help others hear and gain a testimony of the Restored Gospel. But now that I have a little bit more hindsight I have noticed something amazing. The more I try to help others understand and use the Atonement to repent, get answers about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, the more I see the Atonement work in my life. I have come to understand things and change more than ever before and I am so grateful. I am so glad that I have this calling as a Sister missionary and I am so glad that I still have so much time left to serve the Lord.

 

Jorge and Maria de Carma are marked for baptism this Sunday. PRAY FOR THEM, PLEASE! Sister Gidney and I will be on our divisions in the Azores, so we will be gone for 3 days. Luckily we have great ward missionaries and Elders, but we will need all the help we can get to strengthen them and help them enter the waters of baptism! 

 

I love you all. Thank you so, so, so much for supporting me!

 

Sister Derrick