Chamados ao Servir

*the title is part of the chorus to Chamados ao Servir (Called to Serve) (fighting for a celestial cause!)

Sounds like lots of things are happening at home! That is so great that Russell made the trip down for the weekend and that you all will go to the cemetary together!! Jacob sounds like he is having the time of his life! He sounds so enthusiastic and I am sure the people just love him!! That is so funny that the bisop called the president to see if he could stay another transfer!! :) Do you know if he got the little "Andrew" that i sent a few weeks ago?? I hope so... have fun together today!!!

Well, another week here in Linda-a-Velha! Remember Ana from last week, who we helped get to church? Well, the Lord was working with us as He helped us participatein lots of miracles during this week!! First a little background on her life...
She is 19 and has a super cute 1 year-old daughter, Diana, who is just starting to walk on her own, and we met Ana at a bus stop as we were waiting for our bus after church (i think on the 8th) we received her contact and marked to go back later that day. Well, when we went by she wasnt there, but irma graf later realizd that we ahd been on the wrong street... So we finally met with her in her house and here is here story...
Her mom is portuguese and her dad is from Cabo Verde. Her dad died several years ago, and about a year ago or so, her mom left the kids in the house and moved up north with her boyfriend. Her younger brother is in a colegio, which is kind of like boarding school, but run by the catholic shurch for people who don´t have housing. Her other brother is a drug dealer, and her older sister, well we´re not sure what she does. Anyway, basically it is just a really sad situation, but we started teaching her and we invited her to be baptized and she accepted!! This week, it was kind of rough to get a hold of her, but we would just be walking around in her bairro and find her. It was kind of like Heavenly Father kept putting her in our path, saying dont give up on this girl!
I have been recognizing more and more that Satan is really working super hard against all that is good. Last Sunday President and Irmã Torgan gave a fireside for our ward, and they both talked about how we all fought in the war in heaven and we have to keep on fighting here on earth. Especially, now as we prepare for the temple! President Torgan said that the temple is probably only going to be 20 minutes away from this area, which means we have to prepare the people here to enter the temple and continue the work of the Lord.
Well, we are here to fight the good fight! Pai Celestial is our Father and He knows what is best! In church on Sunday roght before Ana´s baptism, a man from the stake talked about gratitude, and he talked about how he visited Cabo Verde, were it is a very poor country, and he came away with more gratitude for what he has. I was crying throughout the whole talk, because he was talking about people who dont have very much. and i was thinking about the kind of life that Ana has. Yesterday morning, we went to get Ana to bring her to church, but she had to sign some paperwork so that she and her siblings could get their monthly supply of food, like a government program they have here, like welfare, because they dont have money and dont have work. So many people here in Portugal are in similar situations, it is hard to get jobs and just is crazy. Anyway, so the man was talking about how poor some people are, and there i was sitting next to Ana, who is living in that kind of situation!! It hit me really hard!! But, at the foundation of it all is the gospel of Jesus Christ! And Ana made the decision to be baptized, what a marvelous day it was! We had taught her the lessons rather quickly, but she felt that it was something that she wanted to do, and she will continue to learn and see the difference that the gospel makes in our lives. Oh, and the man that baptized her was only baptized about 2 months ago!! What a great experience for him!!!! TI was so neat!!!

SO to explain the pictures...
we ate SNAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Uhhh, it was an adventure that Irma Graf wanted to try before she goes home next week! We were at Bishop´s house! YUM!!! hahaha.... :)

THis is the work of the Lord! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the People here in Portugal! I love the people, and I love the Lord! Joseph Smith nade so many sacrifices for us hoje em dia!
Love, Irma Michael