We had several opportunities to do service this week!
One of our members (Irmã Lurdes) ordered a bunch of new cabinents for her new kitchen, and she asked us if we could help unload them from the delivery truck. When we got there, we found out that they are the type of cabinet that you have to completely put together, instead of the ones that come in one piece, haha.
We carried the boxes that they came in into the kitchen, and Irmã Lurdes asked if we could come on by the next day to help her son-in-law put them together, and then afterwards she would give us lunch! We came the next morning around 10am, and we didn´t end up leaving until 6pm, haha! It took awhile to put them together, and then to hang them on the wall correctly.
We actually finished around 4pm, but then her son-in-law needed help with putting his heavy cabinets up in his kitchen,haha. But it all was worth it in the end because they were all appreciative, and we were able to get to know Irmã Lurdes daughter (less active) and son-in-law (non-member).
The other piece of service that we did this week was when we were able to help the friend of one of our members (Irmão Reinaldo) move into a new apartment. She was also really appreciative! It was fun to be able to talk to Irmão Reinaldo, because he is usually in Spain on the weekends so he doesn´t get to go to church all that often. I was able to learn that he served in Portugal as a missionary four years after the Church was introduced in the country.
But even cooler is that I learned that he "opened" Leiria (my first area)! As in, he and his companion were the first two missionaries to ever set foot in Leiria, and he baptized the first three members there!
We brought one of our members (Zacharias) to a lesson with Djara this week, and it went really well! Zacharias is an older man that has been feeling kind of down lately, and he said that after the lesson that we taught with him, he felt so much more peace and less negativity in his mind! I was glad that we could bring him to a place where he could feel the spirit strongly. After our lesson Djara said that she would come to church on Sunday, but ended up not being able to go. Next week she will!
Yesterday we were able to teach two new investigators! Pedro and Susana. They are a young couple and are so great! As we were teaching them, we found out that they had gotten married a year ago (something uncommon among young portuguese couples--marriage)! They really enjoyed the message of the Restoration and have great potential to help out the branch here in Castelo Branco. During the lesson I felt strongly to bear my testimony about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the spirit was very strong in their home afterwards. I felt my testimony grow a bit as well.
These past few weeks have been a little difficult for me, and so this week as I was studying the scriptures, I was really looking for something to give me comfort. And I found it in a verse that I have read hundreds of times already:
Matthew 26:39. "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
This is when Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane, paying the price of our pains, sadnesses, and sins. But as I read it this time, I realized that we all will have to pass through our own Gardens of Gethsemane in life. They´ll be difficult, and we will want to have them "pass from us." But what will make all the difference is if we will accept the Father´s will for our lives. There have been a few things that have made me want to ask the Father to "pass from me," but this week I think I finally have learned what it means to accept the Father´s will. It´s so wonderful to know that God has a perfect, individual plan for each one of us, and that we are exactly where we need to be! We can gain so much peace from this knowledge!
I´m grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission for my Savior! I know that I am where he needs and wants me to be. I love being able to testify to the people that I teach about the love that Christ has for us!
I love you all, and hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Barker
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