Olá!
So this week has brought a lot of changes!
I left Castelo Branco at 10am on Tuesday morning, and didn´t get to Machico until about 1am, haha. I had to take a train to Porto to get my passport, and then take the metro to the airport. I was a little bit worried about carrying all of my bags with me through the metro,so I said a prayer that I would be able to have help along the way. And it was answered! It seemed like at everystop, another companionship of Elderes would show up out of nowhere and offer to help me with my suitcases, and then disapear just as quickly . It was also nice to have another missionary going to madeira as well, so we didn´t have to be alone. The planeride was about an hour and a half long.
As for my new area: I love it! The city of Machico is pretty spread out, but I think the population is less than in Castelo Branco. Their is no branch in Machico, so the chapel that we go to on Sundays is in Caniço, about a 45 minute bus ride (or a 15 minute car ride). So because of that, my area is known to be a "difficult area."
But I won´t believe that, because so far, we have been having a lot of success!
The other day, we had stopped in the road to pray for guidance in where we should go. We started walking, and a man was walking with his two dogs down the road. I decided to stop him and ask if I could pet his dog, haha.
We ended up talking with him and he said that we could come with him to his house to share our message. As we entered his home, we both realized that this was a very poor and humble man. He said that he was sorry that there wasn´t any furniture for us to sit on or any food to offer us. The lesson that followed was one of the most spiritual that I have had on my mission so far.
Elder Burt and I talked afterwards, and we both agreed that we were relying completely on the Spirit to guide us. We taught several things to this man, and everything seemed to flow. There was a point where all three of us were in tears. This man truly wants to be forgiven of his mistakes from his past, and he is willing to meet with us to learn more. He is even willing to take the bus ride all the way over to Caniço for church!
There was another time this week where we also prayed for guidance, and then we found a man and his wife who had talked to the missionaries in the past, but then the missionaries stopped passing by. The man literally pulled us into his home (I think he might have been a little bit drunk, haha).
Then we taught a lady who feels so desperate for peace, and it was another lesson that we both feel like it was guided completely by the spirit.
I´m really enjoying my new companion, Elder Burt (from Draper, Utah). He´s my first American companion, and has been out about 9 months. We work pretty well together, and every day is lots of fun with him. We have decided that at the end of each day, we are going to write down the tender mercies that we have seen in that day. Because of this, we have really been able to see the hand of the Lord in the work here!
Madeira is beautiful! As we are walking around during the day, I am constantly amazed at the beauty that is all around me. We have such a cool view of the ocean from our window! There are tiny lizards everywhere! Banana trees just growing randomly; goats in fields in the middle of a modern neighboorhood; etc.
We went to General Conference in Funchal (the capital of the island) and were able to watch all of the sessions (in Portuguese). The last one ended at 11pm, so we just stayed with the Elders in Funchal, and we had our P-day here today! I will send some pictures a little bit later. (It appears that I will probably not have as much time to write emails here as in Castelo Branco, because we have to use a library instead of the chapel...)
I´m so grateful that I can serve a mission! I am grateful that I can serve the people here in Machico,and I know that if I continue to rely on the Lord, we will continue to see His blessings and miracles in our area!
I love and miss you all!
Love,
Elder Barker
No comments:
Post a Comment