The power of the calling

Odivelas

Dear family,

Good news: I got my fingerprints done. After a long battle of trying to figure that out, I finally got it done. (Just a tip for everyone: Never try to do something complicated such as taking fingerprints in Portugal. Fingerprints may sound uncomplicated because, in reality, they are, but something about the Portuguese culture that I just might never get used to is how they complicate things...) But, it is done. I might just buy myself a treat to congratulate myself. So, don't worry, mom, it is all under control--I am the good daughter :).

Anyway, I love the quilt [Summer's]. Super cute. You should send me a picture of the quilt that Maggie made for you. It would be anticlimactic if I couldn't see that one too.

Portugal is still Portugal and we are still seeing miracles. I love the mission. Never again will I have the power and authority that I have now to do some of the crazy things that I do from day to day. I was thinking about it the other day--It must have been so exhilarating when Moses parted the Red Sea, when Peter cured the person outside of the temple for the first time, when Phillip baptized the eunuch and then was carried away in the Spirit, when Brigham Young saw the promised land that he recognized from his dream, and many other miracles that happened to regular men who had a lot of power.

That's how I feel sometimes. A regular girl that just so happens to have an amazing calling. Thank goodness there are so many missionaries in the world. And, oh, how we need more! There are too many people out there looking for the truth and there is not enough time to find them all, teach them all, baptize them all, and help them all! It pains me to think sometimes that I will leave this reality (don't get me wrong, I do not want to do this forever--yes, eventually I would like to go home...) and that someday this will just be a dream and faded memories.

But, you never really know how far your influence ripples. Irma Lima called me again this week to tell me that a family that we found and taught together is getting baptized next week. The couple is getting married and then baptized. Super exciting. There were some days when I thought that nothing was going right and that no one was progressing, but I am seeing now that most of the people that we brought to church are being baptized. I love stories with happy endings :).

But as for this week, we found a couple of promising people: Amelia, who is a member reference. She cried during our first lesson with her where we talked about the plan of salvation. She is suffering from depression since her son died four years ago and both her parents had died as well. She accepted to be baptized and should be baptized soon...

Also, we got to finally teach a man named David who we had found a couple of weeks ago. He is from Angola and moved to Portugal by himself when he was young and the war was going on in Angola, Since then, he has felt directed from God because he was practically a child and lived by himself. He also accepted to be baptized and loved the Joseph Smith story. He says he already feels it is all true. We also marked another girl who is the girlfriend of a recent convert from another area. Apparently her boyfriend got so excited that he asked her to be baptized after explaining the church to her and she said yes. Wow, talk about members being on fire! I love it when they do most of the work--it makes our job a lot easier.

Anyway, it was a good week and we are ready for more. Thanks for your prayers and support I love you all.

Love,

Irma Perez