Unto whom much is given, much is required

Lisbon

Dear family and friends,

Much happy greetings from Lisbon! I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy. Sounds fun that family pictures are happening once again. I'll see what I can do about the picture...it might be a couple of weeks before it gets to you because I have to take the picture, print it, and then send it and since we are in lovely Portugal and without access to a computer, these things take time...so I'll get on that.

Questions:

1. What is your apartment like? How many bedrooms, what floor, furniture, etc. How well equipped is the kitchen? Do you have a stove, a microwave, a fridge, etc.?

I don't think I'll go too much into detail about our house here because it is not that great and I don't want you to be worried...just know that it is sufficient for my needs and that it used to be an elder's house. Yeah, that is pretty much all you need to know. :) As mom would say, it is a "dump", but it is growing on me because it has a lot of character. :)

2. Did you say your area is in downtown Lisbon? Why is it called Lapa? Is that the name of a major street or a monument? What is the area of your sector (in miles or city blocks).

Yes, our area is in downtown Lisbon. It is called Lapa because that is the area in which our chapel is located. There are lots of names of lots of areas here. I don't know how big in size our area is--I just know that it includes about 15 stops on the metro of downtown Lisbon, so I don't know if that puts anything in perspective. It used to be three areas and now it is just one.

3. How do the Portuguese people dress? Is it the more formal European looking kind of dress or do they dress more like Americans—casual and comfortable?

They dress more European formal most of the time. There are certain neighborhoods of Africans, Brazilians and Portuguese people. The Portuguese people usually dress the best (and are usually the most proud). The Africans dress more African style of bright colors and mix matched prints. The Brazilians dress like South American style. But, overall the styles are pretty chic here in Europe. I can't wait until the end of winter when I can buy a cute pair of boots for really cheap!

4. Are there any businesses in your area or is it mostly residential? Any monuments or cemeteries? We used to have an activity in the cemeteries on November 1 (the Day of the Dead) that was a display about the Plan of Salvation (a big poster on an easel) and we would talk to people and hand out pamphlets with our name and address so people could contact us. Many people are open to discussions about the Plan of Salvation on a day they remember their loved ones. Would something like that work for you?

There are so many businesses in our area, but there are residential neighborhoods too. So, we mostly try to work in residential areas (sometimes out in the boonies), but it has been great. I have been knocking lots of buildings (which there weren't in the Açores), so it has been cool to get used to a different kind of work. Also, we do lots of contacts on the street. It is fun. I like working in the city because every day is so completely different and you never know the kind of people that you will run into. Also, there is a lot of diversity of people. So, I can basically pick who I want to contact. I think there are monuments and cemeteries. Actually, funny that you say because Irma Geiger had the idea of going to the cemetery the other day and contacting the people inside and talking about the Plan of Salvation. We'll see if we ever get bored of knocking doors, we might resort to more creative ways of finding...:)

5. Are you helping the choir prepare for a Christmas musical program? That might be a good thing to invite people to as well and you could put flyers on peoples door handles announcing it. Alex said the missionaries in Ukraine used to hand out 1/8 sheet flyers in the street about church meetings and try to talk to people that way. Maybe your ward mission leader could prepare them and you could get them copied and cut.

Our ward is really small and there is not a choir (it is basically a step up from a branch). Basically, the Relief society sings an intermediate hymn every week. It's cute. I don't know about street meetings. I have never done one, but I have heard of other missionaries doing them around Christmas time. We'll see what happens...

6. Is your companion new to your area as well? Did you both start there at the same time? Were there sisters there before you or were there elders in that area? How does that work with apartments? Do sisters stay in the same apartments elders have lived in before or are there “sister apartments” and “elder apartments”?

My comp knows the area really well. She has been here for two transfers (3 months). There used to be three pairs of missionaries in this area, but it got downsized to one when the mission got downsized (which is now getting upsized again because we are leading the missions in Europe in baptisms) There used to be two sets of elders and one set of irmas. Now there is just us.

7. Where do you do your grocery shopping? At a supermarket or a small corner neighborhood store (like our New Year’s Eve purchases when we were in Chile).

Usually a street corner store, or we can take a bus to a bigger grocery store, but there is one just down the street from us. It is convenient.

As for the rest of the week, it was really good. We found an amazing woman this week named Carmen. On Monday night the Zone Leaders called us and said they had received a reference for us from a member who lived in another area, but the reference lives in our area. So, we got in contact with the reference (Carmen) and made an appointment to teach her the next day. We went and taught her and had an amazing lesson about the restoration. She didn't know very much about the church, but said that she had always been looking for the truth and had always been impressed by her friend in the church. She really felt the spirit as we spoke with her and wanted to know if the Book of Mormon was true. I asked her to say the closing prayer. She hesitated, but then said a beautiful prayer asking to know the truth for herself and which path was right for her. After the prayer, I looked up and she was crying. I love seeing the joy in people's faces when they can recognize the spirit and the truth. In that moment, I remember looking into her eyes and feeling that she knew that what we were saying was true. I reached over and touched her hand and asked her how she felt. She said she felt really good and happy. I told her it was the spirit and asked her if she wanted to be baptized. She said yes. So, she is going to be baptized next week. We are so excited for her. She is such an incredible woman with such faith. She was prepared to hear the gospel by her good dear friend, a member of the church. So, I guess the lesson is that there are ALWAYS people that are being prepared, and who knows? You probably know one of them. So, don't be afraid to give references. When we talked to the member about Carmen being baptized, she was so happy and wants her to be prepared to go to the temple when the temple for Portugal is built here. Wow. Miracles really do happen. I am astounded every time they do. I guess I shouldn't be because I know that this is the Lord's work, but even still--the gospel is quite amazing.

Jose, who got baptized last week got confirmed yesterday and even brought his mother to church with him. He wants her and his father to participate in the meetings and one day be baptized too. Wow, recent converts have such fire it is amazing! He also wants to help in every way that he can. He told us that he feels like he has a "mission" to do here. He is going to be a future leader one day, I just know it. He is already a light to the people around him. What a great guy.

Beyond that, we are just looking for the elect and being immensely blessed. Just know that I am really enjoying the fruits of sharing the gospel and I am so happy to do it. But, like all of you have said that life is going fast (it is already October!) Who knew that the mission would go this fast! Bah! Well, I am loving it--even though the fall weather here is downpour rain--I still love it. I am even getting used to the area. (all of the metros, buses, trains, tram, trolleys, cars, etc.) It's coming--slowly but surely.

Well, I love you all!

Have a great week,

Your Irmã Pérez