This week a lot of changes occurred. I think the biggest change was the fact that my old companion (Elder Nascimento) was transferred to the city of Coimbra, while I stayed in Abrantes with a new companion (Elder Santos).
Elder Santos is from Brazil as well, and has been on his mission for about a year and a half. Even though I have been with only Brazilian companions since I arrived in Portugal, Elder Santos is the first one that doesn´t speak English. So now, I have no choice but to get good at speaking Portuguese, right? I was nervous about serving with someone that didn´t speak english, but there have been very little problems so far.
Apparently I am able to speak more than I thought! Now that I have to speak Portuguese all of the time, I feel that I am learning a lot quicker. We had a District Meeting last thursday, and when some of the other missionaries started speaking to me in English, I would respond in Portuguese, haha.
I feel like I´ll probably only ever serve with Brazilians on my mission, even though they make up only about 25% of the missionaries here in Portugal, haha. I´ll be more Brazilian than american or Portuguese, lol.
This week some members of the branch invited us and the Roques over to see their house. (They live 30 minutes away by car, so I have never been before). Irmão Godinho, Irmã Arlete, Irmã Lina, and Irmão Fernando They live in a really nice house, with a sort of farm in the back (like with sheep and goats and turkeys and dogs, haha).
These members were the first in Abrantes ( I think 20 years ago), and some of the first to join the church in Portugal. They talk a lot, and their conversations between themselves are funny to watch (Godinho and Arlete are in their 70s and 80s), haha. I feel sad that I didn´t take any pictures with them.
Another one of our members had a birthday this week--Irmã Teresa! We planned a last minute surprise party with the Roques and Teresa´s daughter, and it went really well. I think she really appreciated it, because if we didn´t go, it would have just been her and her daughter eating a cake alone.
Yesterday, the mother of Jesualdo, Rosa, and Claudia (Geralda), asked us to accompany her and Jesualdo to the grocery store, to help carry everything back to the house (they live on the opposite side of the big hill from the supermercados). We said we would, because I could really tell that she needed help (she has a broken arm). Pretty soon after we started walking there, Geralda and Jesualdo started to fight, and not be very nice to each other.
Elder Santos walked ahead with Jesualdo, while I stayed behind with Geralda. In my head, I was praying to know what to say to her to help her see the good in her son, and to calm her down. Within a few minutes, she was happier, and I was having a nice conversation with her. I know that Heavenly Father put into my mouth the words that would be most effective in this manner. I´m glad that we had the opportunity to help Geralda with her groceries yesterday (even though it was a Sunday), because I know that she needed to her some of the things that I said, and also they wouldn´t have been able to carry all of those heavy groceries back to their home 45 minutes away alone (my fingers practically lost their feeling, but it was worth it).
On tuesday, I had to spend the whole day with Elder and Sister Roque alone (because E. Nascimento left at 9am, and E. Santos wasn´t going to arrive until 6pm). I was nervous for this, but it all worked out! I feel like they were able to gain a little bit more confidence in me, and I was able to gain a little bit more confidence in myself.
This week we also were able to start teaching a man named Fabio! He is 26, and seems to be interested in what we have to say. He really liked the message of the Restoration of the Church, and we marked another lesson with him this wednesday.
Even though I still feel some apprehension about being more of a leader, I really could feel your extra prayers this last week. There have been hard things, but not nearly as hard as I was anticipating. I just want to help this branch of the church, and I want to do my best. As I was sitting in sacrament meeting yesterday, I began to think about my last sunday here in Abrantes (because I will probably only stay here for 5 more weeks), and I started to get teary eyed because I realized how much I love the members here. I just want the best for them!
I´ll leave you guys with a scripture this week-- Romans 12:9-21. Paul is talking to the Roman members of the Church here, and he is talking about some of the attributes members should have. I really liked these verses, and I hope you all do as well!
Thanks for all of the support and love! I gain so much strength from all of you every week! I miss and love you all!
Com Amor,
Elder Barker
No comments:
Post a Comment