This past Saturday, our whole zone did something kind of different, but really cool: all of the missionaries in the zone (about 25-30) went to one area to help the missionary work there. The Elders of Carregado (the name of the city) had been preparing for this activity for more than a month, so I knew that it would be pretty organized.
But I was surprised at just how organized it turned out to be. They had worked with the members of the branch to receive lots of references (about 100!), they had found out the addresses of many of the less-actives, and they had each of us a list of names to visit (with a map and everything). We met in their chapel in the morning, and it was fun to talk to all of the other missionaries and to eat waffles. After a few of the members arrived, we had a skype call from our mission presidente, and a spiritual thought given by one of the members.
We were then given our assignments and put to work. Our assignment was to go with one of the members to visit some of his references. He got back from his mission a few months ago, and he was a really good example of contacting people. I think because of him we were able to mark about 10 appointments for the missionaries of Carregado. We also visited a less-active couple, and they let us in and talked to us!
Overall, I was happy that we had this opportunity to work together as a zone of missionaries to help the Carregado Branch.
In church yesterday, one of our members (Soraia) brought a friend! Soraia is 18 years old, and her friend is around the same age. She seemed to be enjoying church yesterday, and said that she will come next week as well. This made me so excited! I was looking around the chapel yesterday, and I realized that our branch really does have a lot of youth!
Diamantino, Celso, Jesualdo, Rosa, Claudia, Ana, and Soraia.
Maybe compared to a bigger ward, it might seem like we don´t have that many, but in a tiny branch of basically 16 active members, 7 is a lot! I am very happy with our youth here, and I´m always grateful to see the progress that our recent-converts are making. I was talking with one of them yesterday, and she was talking about how she is planning on being a missionary! The youth of Abrantes are so wonderful!
(we had 23 people in church yesterday!)
Yesterday I was hit with such a strong feeling of love of being a missionary. I can´t really put the experience that I had into words (I just tried a few minutes ago), but I am so grateful that I can be here on a mission, serving my Portuguese brothers and sisters. The reason that I´m on a mission is because I want to help others feel the happiness that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have been blessed enough to be able to grow up in this church, and now it is my time to share what I have. I want to help non-members AND members.
There are so many members of the church that have gone out of activity, and I have such a strong desire to help them come home. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Luke 15. It talks about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prodigal´s Son. All of Heavenly Father´s children are important, and He loves them all. He wants them all to come home to them, and I hope to be the best instrument that I can be for him.
I love you all, and I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Com Amor,
Elder Barker
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