SPRING IS HERE!!

It is sunny! Spring is here! Or at least here in Portugal! The weather has been so great the past few days! Complete opposite to two weeks ago when it was raining cats and dogs! :)
Today while the sun shines i think is the title o the hymn in english... we sing it every p-day because the chorus talks about o dia de preparação!
Então, this past week was another amazing week in the mission of Irmã Michael! Every week it is difficult to write all the things that happened during the week, but i will start wih Sunday, yesterday:
Sundays are always full of things to do, and yesterday, Irma Thayer and I left our house to go help her investigator get her kids ready to go to church with us. She has a 3 yr old, a 19 month old and a 9 month old, and when we arrived there, they had just got out of bed so we helped them get dressed and out the door, Irmao de Jesus, from the ward, picked them up and took them to the chapel. Then, Irma Thayer and I walked to Deboraºs house to walk with her to the metro to get to church. We were late with the family, so by the time we got to Deboras house, it was already 10am and thats when church starts :) so we thought, well we will make it to church in time to take the sacrament in the other ward. Somehow Heavenly Father was watching over us, and we made it to the chapel by 10:35, but they were in the middle of sacrament so we were able to partake right away. ( the ward had started late...) that was a blessing.
Debora is a 13 year old girl whose dad is a menos ativo, hasnt been to church for 16 years but every time Debora visits her grandma (near Porto) she has gone to church. We have been teaching her for a while, and about 2 weeks ago we invited her to be baptized. She said she wants to but she doesnt feel ready. Honestly, she is so ready! She already knows that everything is true. This week we worked with her, we were at her house often this week to help her know that she is prepared. It was a neat experience because Tuesday night we prayed with her about baptism, them invited her to pray at night, to ask Heavenly Father if she is ready. We returned ~Wednesday night and she said she received an answer! She said that after she prayed she opened the scriptures and the page fell open to Doctrine and Covenants, a verse about baptism and the Holy Ghost! She said she felt that was a clear answer that she should get baptized! YAY!! So we filled out her baptismal form with her, and left it with her so she could have her dad sign it. (the mom doesnt want anything to do with religion, but she is supportive of whatever Debora wants) We called the grandma to ask her ot come to the baptism (this past weekend) but she said she couldnºt come. we tried everythign we could to help provide a way for the grandma to come, but in the end she couldnt come so we postponed the baptism to the 12th of March. Debora is excited and we are excited for her too!
Other things taht happened this week, we had a zone Conference on Tuesday, to talk about some of the things we learned at sone conference last week with President Torgan. I dont think i mentioned much about that last week, because i never have enough time to write but today i have more time yay!
About conference last week: it was incredible! We watched a film, the quest, then we compared it to our missions. the man in the film received injuries from WW2 but he was seeking a job. he started his day with a good attitiude and them he tried his very best to do everything to be worthy of a position in the job. We compared that to our mission here. we have to do everything that we can to fulfill teh will of the Lord. I felt that way this week. I learned too that people still have their agency and they are not always going to choose to follow the Savior, even when they have felt that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
As dad wrote in his letter this week, i am in the moment now of this mission, but a few years from now i will be looking back, and really it is so difficult to discribe everything about a mission. The most important thing i am learning is how much the Savior means to me. He came to this earth to sacrifice everything for each of us, so that we, although completely imperfect, can return to live with our Father in Heaven again. Only through His grace and mercy we can return. As a mission we are reading Doctrine and Covenants as part of our studies and it is so neat to read it from a missionaryºs perspective. HEavenly Father has called me to serve here in Almada. Although i have so many weaknesses, he has called me to share His love with the people here. iT IS incredible!
Eu sei que Deus ama nos. Ele é nosso Pai Celestial. Ele enviou seu Filho Amado porque ele ama nos. O Livro de Mormon é um livro de poder. Joseph Smith realmente viu Deus e Jesus Cristo e atravez ele, Cristo restaurou a plentitude do evangelho! Nos somos irmãos e nosso proposito é para voltar e viver com Deus para sempre!
Eu amo vocés!!
Have a wonderful week, and remember who you are as a child of God!!

Love, Irma Michael