CONTA AS BENCAOS

COUNT YOUR MANY BLESSINGS

They are many!!!

What a joyful time of year!!! I am so grateful to be in the full-time service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Irmã Walker is so awesome!! She came in with Irmã Young and has been in the azores so everything here on the continent is new for her again! She reminds me of Rachel Cannon, a roommate i had when i lived in the german house. it is so great!!

So, 14 years ago tomorrow, I was baptized a member of the church! WOW! I am so grateful for the great blessings that Heavenly Father has always been pouring out upon me and my family! Yesterday, Jessica Perreira was baptized. She is a darling 8 year old whose parents have been less active for some time, but with the baptism of marta a few weeks ago, they started coming back. her dad baptized her, and it was such a sweet sweet moment!! He worked hard to quit smoking and make some changes so he could baptize his daughter! it was a really sweet service!

At church there were these super cute 4 girls: Daniela (brother and sister are recent converts), Ana Catarina (neighbor of Daniela) and Beatrice and Inês (twins, cousins of Ana). We have been teaching them this past week, and last night was the best when we were teaching all the girls and the spirit was way strong, and then the dad of the twins walked in as started to say that God doesn´t exist, and blah blah, and Beatrice said with all confidence, "Deus existe!" The dad couldn´t really respond to that! it is so true!! If we all were as humble and meek as children, what a wonderful world this would be!!!!

I love you so much and i am so grateful for our eternal family! I am grateful for the loving sacrifice of our Savior, and Redeemer. He knows us, everyone, and everything about us!!

Be cheerful!!

love

Irma Michael

FRIENDS

I love these people

Doce é o trabalho!

Dearest Familia!!
Can i just say wow! to Jacob´s letter!!  It really is surreal, seriously wow!   The experiences he is having! but i can just see him, with everything he does, he does it with that grand smile!!!  

Well, it is transfers again.  The time passes so fast!!  I will be staying here in Setubal but Irma Brown will be transfered!  She is going toPorto with Irma Thayer!!!!!  I am super excited for her to serve where I was!!! Also she was originally called to serve there(porto) so now she is going!!  she is super super sad to leave this ward! this is her first time being transfered so it is a little hard, but she is also excited to get to know another part of the country!  Tonight i will be staying with Irma Greco in Almada!!!!!!!!!  she has been in the azores for 3 transfers then went to madeira!!!  then she will finish her mission here in 3 weeks!!  i talked to irma young today and irma reis they were serving together in LAV and they will both be leaving!  lots of exciting things happening with transfers. elder teixeira will leave but elder knuth will stay.  i am so excited to serve with irma walker who was serving in the azores her first 3 transfers!  she came in with irma walker and i met her once!  her brother is also serving a mission in angola!!!!  wow! 
The work here has been slower this past week, there was a kid, Andre who was gonna be baptized but then he plays soccer on sundays and couldn´t give it up.  
Dad, sounds like you just keep going with the flow of the things Heavenly Father has in store for you! 
I love you all so much! have a happy thanksgiving! i love being here as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ!  he is the reason i am aqui!  he knows everything and he is my friend and my savior!  
i received a letter from Brianna Forman and, yeah i was just so super overwhelmed with gratitude and, what a marvelous blessing!! how awesome that she has done the work for her family!!!!   I just love the gospel and i know that it changes lives!!!!  

have a fabulous week!  This is God´s work!!!  And it must go forth!!!

all my love, 
xoxo
Irma Michael

PS mom, i haven´t got the package yet but it will probably come this week!  I love you sooo much!!!!  i will keep praying for Jacob!!!!!  

PRAISE TO THE MAN

*We were at Marta´s house and asked what song they wanted to sing, and they chose praise to the man... we haven´t sung it much in Portuguese so it was a bit rocky, well really rocky, and we started laughing in the middle, it was kind of embarrassing but we all laughed about it afterwards. Then we sang that song during the baptism, and it was way better with the piano and lots of people instead of just irmã brown and i. Well, you all sound great!!! Thanks for the news, crazy that Roxy is already home, and super great that she had such a great experience! Mom, dad explained the talk that you gave, it sounds so great! i am sure all the girls really loved it! can you send me a copy of your talk? Also, thank you mom for the scarfs and the other package that is on the way. Every time we see the youth here, they say, "did you ask your mom yet for those gummies and m&ms?" That was the first thing they asked about when i arrived here, but then i forgot for a few weeks to ask you... thank you!!! Dad, i emailed uncle Dave last week about Elder Weatley, as i couldn't´t remember who he was. But then during the week, i asked some elders and it turns out that he is in the Porto north zone. I met him at general conference, but i can´t remember really talking to him. I also asked uncle David some advice of what it was like for him as an investigator and a recent convert. I am grateful for the advice he sent. Another week full of miracles!! Monday night we were praying about where to go, then decided to go visit a less active family that had been in church the day before. I didn't´t even talk to them during church, but sat next to the dad during gospel principles class. After church, he talked to Elder Knuth (DL, we have elders in our ward) and said he wanted the missionaries to teach and baptize his daughter. We didn't´t know anything more about the situation. So after praying we felt we needed to go to their house, so we called and said we could visit. We taught them about the restoration and learned that the dad had been a member since he was 9 just that he had been on and off active all this time. the mom was baptized 4 years ago and same story. Marta, is the sister of the mom (Patricia) and she is 18 and hadn't´t been baptized yet! We felt really good about here and wanted to invite her to be baptized. we invited her to pray about Joseph smith and about baptism and she said she would! we were invited back on Tuesday night for the birthday of Jessica (daughter who turned 8) after singing parabens we taught them a lesson about baptism and invited Marta to be baptized on Sunday Nov 13 yesterday. she accepted and said she would read and pray about it too!! basically she just fell into our hands and was already ready to be baptized!!!! we passed by every day and taught her all the lessons, she was so super ready, and after her interview, Elder Knuth said she was `bem preparada!` She was baptized Sunday night it was such a great experience for this family! and the dad is preparing to baptize Jessica next weekend!!! Well, time is short as always... We had interviews with President Torgan, it was soooo good!!! President said i need to focus more, he said he and the lord have a lot of trust in me, and that i am always focused in good things, but that i need to focus more in Jesus Christ and come closer to Him. He suggested reading 3 Nephii 11-28 so i am working on that. also i have been reading the book of Mormon a lot more, i am so grateful for the powerful spirit that testifies that Jesus is our Savior and really I am here to help others feel of the redeeming love that comes as we let Christ into our lives! also, i am learning of the sweet sweet power of the atonement working in my life each day! i love you all and i know that the greatest love that we can give is the restored gospel! i am so happy to be a missionary!!! xoxo Irma Michael

Miracles

It´s true!  we are all children of a God who loves us so much!!

 

Mom, this week i was thinking so much about your questions and want to share what happened. This whole week, we were trying to get a hold of this young man, Miguel, who was baptized here last transfer. He is 18. Last sunday, we asked him to help us in a lesson with Dino, the brother of Elma, and son of Emanuel. (Dino was baptized this week!! on elma´s birthday!!!!)

And so, we were talking to Miguel after church and he said, he didn´t feel spiritually ready to help us. We thought, uh oh, did something really wrong happen? he didn´t want to talk about it in the moment so we tried to set up an appointment with him during the week, but it never worked. he wasnt answering our calls all week, it was unusual. Wethought something was really wrong. Finally, we got to meet with him saturday night. He explained to us that really he just has been feeling down lately, like he doesn´t have that much faith and he is going through lots of decisions about what he is going to do in life right now, mission navy, futbol, etc.  We just testified that he is a son of God, the son of a king, and that so many times in our lives we see ourselves as unworthy creatures to receive any of the blessings that He has prepared for us. During that lesson i realized that really all these people that we teach have so much potential and we need to help them see themselves the way that God sees us!!

 

This week, we saw miracles as Dino entered the waters of baptism!  Families that is what it is all about!!

 

2 Nephi 31:18-21

 18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

 19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

Love,

Irma Michael

 

Dad, thank you!