This week we had a lot more success!
First off, Emídio is progressing very well!! He told me on sunday that he really liked the talk that somebody gave, especially when they said that they loved the gospel. He told me that he also loves the gospel :). He went to a family home evening in the chapel this week, and told us that this was the most fun and the most he has laughed in such a long time. He said that he felt like he was surrounded by family.
Also, he is super excited about his baptism! He has been telling lots of people that he is looking forward to April 7th, because that is the day that he will be baptized. His only problem is that he is finding it difficult to stop smoking and drinking coffee, so pray that he will be able to find the strength to stop!
I am so grateful that we were able to find Emídio a few weeks ago. He keeps telling us that he knows that God put us in his path, and that we are truly helping him.
He is one of the most humble people that I have met. He literally has nothing, but in his prayers that he says with us, he asks that those less fortunate than him will be blessed. He prays for those that are blind or deaf or are missing limbs, and says that he is so grateful for all that he has (which in material possessions is almost nothing)!
He also asked us how long we would be in Portugal, and when we told him that we would be leaving in June and July, he started to cry.
Being able to meet and teach people like Emídio makes all the difficult times worth it!
Even though we had had so much success with Emídio this week, by the time it hit Saturday night, we still hadn´t been able to find or teach anyone new. This was a little discouraging because I am happiest when we are finding and teaching new people. At 7:15 pm, I suggested that before we started knocking on doors in a neighborhood, that we say a prayer. In this prayer, I asked Heavenly Father that we be led to at least one person that we could teach. That we could find just one person this week.
About 15 minutes later our prayer was answered. We prayed for one person, and the Lord gave us 6!
We rang the doorbell of one apartment building, and introduced ourselves as missionaries (over the intercom). We asked if they would be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ. She went and asked the others in the house, and then invited us to come on up! It turns out that in this apartment lived six people from Angola, who just love God and Jesus Christ! They were all family and are studying here in Portugal. We shared our message of the Restoration, and then gave them the two Books of Mormon that we had. The next day we promised to bring 4 more Books of Mormon, and they were excited about that. They are all really open, and are excited to keep talking to us.
Because of this experience, my testimony of asking God in prayer has really strengthened. I know that Heavenly Father will lead us to where we need to go, and sometimes we just need to humbly ask him for his help!
One more thing that I almost forgot about was that as we were crossing the crosswalk, we were almost hit by a car. It had been raining nonstop all day (actually all week), and it was nightime. The roads were really slippery. As we were halfway across the crosswalk, a car turned the corner really fast, and then stopped on a dime about six inches from us. It wasn´t until later that I realized how blessed and watched over we were. Because the road was so slippery, it seems kind of strange that the car was able to stop so quickly. I know that God watches over his missionaries!
I love and miss you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Barker
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