November!!

Lisbon

Dear family and all of my many loved ones,

Another great week in Lisbon! Can anyone else not believe that it is already November! Man, transfers are NEXT WEEK! And I feel like I just got here yesterday...

First the questions:
1. Did you get your birthday box?
Yes I did and it was AWESOME! I loved everything! Thank you Adam for the journal, thank you Summer for the sweater, thank you poppy for the pillowcase and poco feo (I had a good laugh with that one!) and mom for everything. Also, a special shout out to Kim and Lynda--my best friends in the whole wide world who sent me a package! I love you both so much! I am so touched that you remembered me. I hope everything is great with you both. :) OH, and the snickerdoodles were gone within like 2 days. They were amazing.

2. What would you like for Christmas (special requests—we already have a few ideas).
Nothing in particular. A couple of pairs of garments would be nice. But my clothes are fine. My shoes are awesome, I don't need a new pair. The ones you sent are doing really well and I am using my awesome boots now because of the rain and they are holding up great!

3. How are you doing on medications? Have you been sick at all? What about headaches?
I haven't gotten sick once. Miracles, I know. I still have everything I need. Whenever I get headaches I just pray and drink water and they go away :) But they don't happen with frequency. I can only remember maybe a couple of times.

4. Is there anything we can do to help any families that you know?
One of our recent converts--Linda--just ended her job and needs a new one. We are praying for her to be able to find a job quickly because she has to pay her rent and take care of her daughter, Daniela. So just praying for her would be very helpful.

5. Are you doing anything special on Thanksgiving?
As of now, no, but our ward mission leader is American, so we might do something with him. We'll see...

6. Do you have a missionary couple in your area like you did in the Azores? If so, what is their function?
No missionary couple here, but I hear the mission is receiving a new couple maybe at Christmas time and I don't know what they would be doing, but that would be cool. Mission couples are awesome!

As for the rest of my week, it was great! One of our investigators, Jorge, was baptized. He is from Cape Verde and is here for treatments on his leg. We met him probably my first week here and we have invited him for baptism and we marked him several times but he could never be baptized because he always went out of town on the weekends to his family. But, this past weekend, he was baptized! It is really funny because he doesn't speak Portuguese really--he only speaks Creól, which is a language rooted in Portuguese, but at the same time very different. I do not believe it is a written language--only spoken, therefore you have to learn it by speaking. It was very hard to understand him in the beginning, but with time and the gift of tongues, we have learned to come to understand each other. He has really progressed these past couple of weeks, and it was a great baptism.

Another miracle that happened yesterday was that the girlfriend of a member came up to us and said she wanted to take the lessons. We taught her (apparently her boyfriend had already taught her pretty much everything), so we invited her to be baptized and she accepted. Her name is Cesaltina and will be baptized on Saturday. Such a great girl who has a great desire to learn more about the church and become part of the ward family. It was really great getting to know her and sharing that experience with her. Apparently she is an old investigator, but right now is the time that she is ready. She even told us in our lesson that as soon as possible would be best for her! Man, has anyone ever had an experience like that where someone wanted to be baptized, so they asked for the lessons and then said they want to be baptized as soon as possible? Yes, we are very blessed. :)

We are teaching a Brazilian family: The mom is Nilma and she has three children, Dara (14), Junior (12), and Úgo (1). Nilma has already come to church but yesterday she brought Dara who absolutely loved it! Dara told her mom she wants to be baptized because they talked about baptisms for the dead in church that can be performed in the temple. Dara was very interested and said she already wants to do the baptisms of her grandparents who passed away. Nilma has had some doubts about being baptized so quickly and knowing if this is really the church she wants for her family, but she asked us last night about baptism preparation, so we're pretty excited...

Also, Junior at first was very skeptical of our message and church. (I have never met so many skeptical youth as I have on the mission! Pretty interesting...) He would usually run away from us and not participate, but I was usually persistent with him. It was his birthday last Friday. We visited them on Saturday and I asked how his birthday went. He said he didn't get any presents (they are a poor family). I smiled and said that I had a present for him. He looked at me in wide-eyed disbelief and I reached over and handed him a Book of Mormon (it was a rainy day and the copy was pretty wet). I said that it was for him to read and that it was the best thing I could ever give him. I said that I knew the book was true and that he could know too. Even though the book was wet and the pages were wrinkled he cradled the book and just said, "Thank you!" He then ran back to his room and started to read and has been reading ever since. He even invited us back to have cake with him from his birthday. So, I think the gospel is growing on him. We're excited for this family (even for Ugo who is the most well-behaved child ever): He´s been to church twice and never cries. Just sleeps and laughs. And he loves music. Pretty enchanting.

Well, to answer poppy's questions:
1. How strong is the ward that you belong to?
It is a small ward, but very lovely. We have all of the auxiliaries, but none of the fluff.

2. How large is your missionary district?
Four elders and us, so that makes three areas. The area of Benfica, Pontinho, and Lapa. I don't really know how big that is, but it is two wards (the elders share a ward).

3. How many stakes are in Lisbon?
Just one

4. Have you heard anything more about the construction of the temple in Lisbon?
I think it is going to happen in Vasco de Gama somewhere, but I don't really recognize names when people say them because I have never been there so I am not exactly sure where. But, it is at least four or five years away.

Well, other than that, I hope everything and everyone is great! I love you all!
Thank you for your prayers and support. I really do feel them.

Love,

Irmã Pérez