Brothers & Sisters, Bon Dia!
If I had to describe this week in one word, it would be this: Portuguese. I swear, everywhere I went and everything I did was with Portuguese people. You might say "Elder Thomas, you have a Portuguese companion so of course that's the case." But even despite my companion, I was still surrounded by Portuguese people. We served them, we ate with them, we taught them, and we even got our haircuts from them. I'm not sure if this week has just been that way or if it's been that way all along, but if you were to get off the plane on this island and look around you would never think you were in Great Britain. It's nuts! The awesome thing about all this is that where there are Portuguese people there is Portuguese food, which is delicioso. My favorite is called pastel de nata. It's a small, creamy pie and it's to die for. If you don't get a chance to try one in this life, don't worry because they will be there in heaven.
It's been a week full of highs and lows, folks! First of all, the transfers plague was active this week but none of us were hit. All four of the Jersey missionaries will be sticking around for at least 6 more weeks! Me and Elder Ferreira will most likely be finishing our missions here together. We look forward to many more bike rides, ice creams, and baptisms. Hopefully there will be a few pastel de batas there as well. I'm also happy to report that we were not attacked by anybody this week! The only thing that tried to attack was a duck, but only because we got too close to the babies. Can't call the police on ducks though.
So with less than 3 months to go, Elder Ferreira and I are bent on getting the most out of the remainder of our missions. Our bodies and minds get weaker as each day goes by, but with God's help we wake up the next morning ready to rock and roll. But by the time 9:00 rolls
around, I'm absolutely shattered.
We've seen some fruits from our labours this week! We currently have one investigator who has some potential. His name is Gary. To give you a visual of what he looks like, imagine Joe Jonas, only Portuguese and with darker skin. Anyways, he's awesome and he's on date for June 10! We're excited to work with him. Apart from Gary, the finding grind still continues. We have a few solid potential families that we found while knocking some doors so we look forward to teaching them this week. They are also all Portuguese.
I started the Book of Mormon again at the beginning of the month, and I've been reading about the journey of Lehi's family. The story of Nephi building the boat resonated with me as I read. As I thought about it, Nephi's experience building the boat is not unlike my experience in this area. Nephi was called by the Lord to build a boat. I've been called by the Lord to build an area. The Lord gave Nephi tools to accomplish the tasks. He's also given our mission some tools in order to move His work forward and to work more effectively. Nephi encountered some real opposition from his older brethren. We encounter opposition every single day wherever we go, it seems. But the Lord prepared the way for Nephi to accomplish His will, so He will also prepare a way for us to build this area and save some souls here. This i am sure of, even though time is short in supply. I think it just goes to show that the things that are most important in life are not easy. They take hard work and they require everything our bodies and
souls have to render. This doesn't just apply to missionary work, but every other situation in life! The Book of Mormon was written for our day!
Have an awesome week you guys. Happy Star Wars Day, Happy Cinco de Mayo, and happy Liberation Day!
Love, Elder Thomas
ELSM
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