Week 42 Letter

Monday, March 17, 2014

Famlee,

How is everybody doing? Are you all enjoying the start of spring? I sure am! We haven't had a cloud in the sky since the first day I was here, and I would like it to stay that way for a good 10 months or so =)

This week was an amazing week. It was a really hard week. We are going through a lot of rejection. The people up here in the North are a bit harder to get to. However, we just kept working hard and trusting in the Lord. It was reminding me a lot of the island, which honestly scared me a little bit because back on the island we worked like crazy for 3 transfers and didn't see a lot of success. However this week Heavenly Father was really gracious. Midway through the week we bumped into Ricardo, a teenager with 17 years that we had talked to and prayed with on the street a while ago but hadn't been able to find him again. We set up to meet in the hotel a couple days later to have a lesson. However, he didn't know his address, and his phone was dead, so he wasn't able to leave us with any contact information. 2 days later we showed up at the meeting spot with faith that he would show up even though normally it would be kind of a longshot. However, after a little while of waiting we saw Ricardo walking down the dark street towards us with a smile on his face. He made it.

First we got to know him a little better. He is from Venezuela where he had been living with his family until two years ago he moved here to Portugal with his Portuguese dad after his parents divorced. He had to learn Portuguese here, because before he only spoke Spanish. He is a great kid with a lot of struggles. We taught him the restoration of the gospel, it was so powerful, and he seemed to really like it and feel the spirit. At the end of the lesson we asked him if he would read the book of Mormon and pray to know if it were true, and if he would be baptized when he received an answer. He said yes. We invited him to come to church with us on Sunday, and he accepted that invitation as well.

Friday or Saturday we met a young man named Éder from Cabo Verde through some people we had played futesol with a while back. He seemed like a great kid, and he took us up on the invitation to attend church with us yesterday. We asked him if we could meet up outside the fire station with him on Sunday and walk to the Hotel together. He said that would be cool. Well, when we showed up Sunday at the fire station 10 minutes early, Éder was already there, and he had brought his friend Zé with him as well! We all walked to church together, and shortly after we arrived in walked Ricardo.

Church was awesome. We had our one family of 4 there, one other member, and then our three investigators. The spirit was incredibly strong during the meeting.

After the meeting we taught Éder and Zé an incredible first lesson. We offered them the same invite that we had offered Ricardo about the Book of Mormon and baptism, and they also both accepted.

Heavenly Father is so loving. He blesses us so much out here in the mission, and I hope my letters convey that to you all. Please pray for Ricardo (hee-car-doo), Éder (like Elder without the L) and Zé (Zay). Pray that they can read the Book of Mormon and pray to receive an answer of its validity.

I know that this is the work of the Lord.

Have a great week everybody, I love you all!

Elder Lee