At the beginning of last week, I had to travel up to Porto to become legal in the country again, haha. The visa that we use as missionaries at the beginning of our missions only last about 4 or five months, and then after that we have to renew it for a longer-lasting one. Apparently our (the missionaries that were in the MTC with me) visas had expired in January, but the mission office hadn´t been able to get us an appointment to renew them until last week, haha.
Because one of the elders in my district was in the MTC with me, he had to go up to Porto as well, so we went together while our companions stayed in Tomar. Before our train left, we were able to go and do some service for an older lady in their branch--cutting down big weeds. You all know how much I love picking weeds,lol, but it was fun and the member really appreciated it.
After that we took the train for Porto, which took almost four hours to get there. We stayed over night at the office-elders old home, and then in the morning we went to do our visa stuff. It was fun to be able to see the other missionaries that came to Portugal from the MTC with me--Elder Pratt, Elder Ozuna, and Sister Shephard. (the other elder that came with us went home early because he broke his foot...). It took maybe an hour, but now I´m officially legal to be in Portugal (until next year at this time.)
Our train back to our area wouldn´t leave until 12:52, but we finished our visa around 9:30 or 10. So instead of sitting in the train station for two or three hours, me and ElderPratt went to the super fancy mcdonalds that was close by--it had chandeliers and everything! After that we sat in the train station, waiting another 1 1/2 hours for our train to arrive.
However, with about 20 minutes till our train left, we noticed that we were in the wrong station! We were in the Porto São Bento station, but our tickets said that the train would leave in the Porto-Campanhã station. We quickly got up and tried to think of what to do, and how to get to the right station. I honestly had no idea, because I´m not to used to using the train system.
While we were standing there in the station, with 15 minutes left before our train left (feeling helpless), a man walked up to us and said "Olá Elderes! Sou um membro da Igreja!" which means "Hello Elders! I´m a member of the Church!" He then somehow new that we were in the wrong station, and told us exactly what to do to get to the right one. He took us to the train board, and helped us find which train that would pass through Porto-Campanhã. He then walked us over to that train and wished us luck.
This experience showed me that our Heavenly Father is watching over his missionaries, and will answer our unspoken prayers. That member literally showed up out of nowhere, and new exactly what we needed and where we needed to go. As we were on the train to get to the correct station, I realized that the time was going to be tight, so I quickly said a prayer to ask that our time would be expanded just enough to let us get onto the train. As we stopped, we literally ran to find the right place (how many times have I ran on my mission?), and got on. Twenty seconds later the train started moving.
If that member hadn´t of showed up at the time he did, we most likely would have missed our train. This was a day full of tender mercies from the Lord.
Yesterday we attended a baptism! It was the baptism of a lady who was taught by the missionaries in Tomar (our district). Even though we had never met her before, we went to support her and our fellow missionaries. I always love baptismal services! They are always full of the spirit and good feelings.
Winter in Abrantes has long departed. For the past week, it has felt like the middle of summer. Apparently it´s supposed to get even hotter when summer arrives, and the heat now isn´t even close to its peak. I have to wash my white shirts a lot more often now, because they get so sweaty, haha. But I am starting to get tanner, so I guess it is worth it :).
Our mission presidente has been sending us challenges for us to do during our proselyting. Yesterday (since it was Father´s Day in Portugal), he challenged us to find a home with a dad, and offer to say a prayer in his behalf. Because of the baptism, we didn´t receive the message until almost 8:30pm. But we continued to search and knock on the doors to find that family. One man that we found said that he didn´t have time for us, and another man rudely kicked us out of the apartment building.
But finally at 9:25 (five minutes before we had to be home), we knocked on a door and a little kid answered! This was the house! The dad soon came, and we told him that we didn´t want to take up too much of his time, but that we just wanted to say a prayer to bless him and his family because it was Father´s Day. He said we could, so I offered it. At the end, I looked up and I could tell that he felt touched, and that he felt the spirit. He said we could come back another day in the week. I´m so grateful that I can be a missionary and that I can help bring the spirit into people´s homes simply by saying a prayer.
I know that our Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives, and knows the desires of our hearts. He watches out for us and will answer our prayers through various means. Why? Simply because he cares for us.
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Com Amor,
Elder Barker
PS (I will send pictures in another email)
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