WEEK 25-The Red Haired Nuira!

We are best friends. One night we sang the ENTIRE Bohemian Rhapsody before falling asleep. It was EPIC.

My new planner for this new transfer. A bit more practical and useful.

This is the view from our balcony. I am convinced that we have the most amazing apartment in the entire Lisbon mission!

 This is picture Paulo when he was younger! Haha! Nacho Libre anyone???!!!

Sister McChesney and Paulo's niece, Carin in their backyard. We were playing with their adorable kittens named Mickey and Minnie!

 Last prep-day when we went to the lake, a seagull dropped a gift on Alexandra's arm and here she is washing it off. Haha!!!

They say this lake is green because a princess with green eyes fell in love with a shepherd, and when her parents wouldn't let her marry him she cried green tears...enough to make a lake.  ='( Hehe

 This is a beach with BLACK sand....Mommy will be happy because I got some for her in a cup to add to her sand collection! =D

A cool looking rock formation pool with volcanic rock. There are lots of cliffs on these islands. It is really dramatic and pretty.

 This is called the tunnel of death. It is where all the water goes when the island get flooded. If you get stuck in there during a flood....you die.

We brought down the house!

My Letter Home:

Hey everyone! Greetings from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

We found this adorable family this week that we are teaching, and they all want to be baptised! They are really open people, they have a lot of faith and a desire to learn....but they have a big obstacle  that faith is mostly in images. A lot of people will pray to images here, whether it be statues of Jesus or Saints, and have trust that these inanimate objects will grant them their wishes. Sometimes it's kind of strange, because they believe these statues have power or are alive. Like they will believe that each year it's nails grow a little bit or that it's eyes cry real tears or stuff like that. Anyway, we have been tenderly trying to redirect this familys AMAZING faith onto our Savior Jesus Christ, who is in fact LIVING and has a body! They absolutely LOVEEE us, they will drop anything to come and talk to us about Jesus Christ. We are starting to help the father quit smoking. He is very nervous about quitting, he has been smoking for over 17 years. But he came to church this Sunday and he absolutely LOVED it! He was commenting in class and hearing things he has never heard before.  I even saw him swapping phone numbers with a member in our ward. That is when you know that Portuguese are friends! Having a friend in the church is so critical to whether or not a recent convert will stay active. They need emotional support! 

I love little Nuria. She is very cute, sweet and innocent at first, she has a wild head of red curly hair...=D she is soosos so adorable. (I gave her my last little bracelet.) But the more comfortable she has grown with us, the crazier she has become. Now, when we go over there with our friend and member, Paulo Jorge, one of us has to constantly be entertaining Nuria. She has bit me, scratched me, kissed me, pulled my hair, and ripped up my pamphlets. It is a serious test of patience. I am SO grateful for all my years of babysitting and being the oldest sibling. Out of us three, I definitely can keep her distracted long enough for the other two to teach something to her Mom. It is actually hilarious. We always leave those lessons exhausted. And laughing. But they are progressing so well. 

I realized this week that my testimony has changed. That it is being tested. I feel like my whole life my testimony has been easy...that from the moment I was born I have just accepted all of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as truth. It was like my testimony was a bright, happy balloon....full of air. But here on the mission our testimonies are tested. They are battered, beaten, denied, and laughed at. I feel like my happy little testimony was popped. I was feeling scared and alone. So I prayed really hard to my Father in Heaven. I asked him with all my heart for another confirmation. I followed Moroni's promise, just as I have done many times in my life. And this week at our ward Family Night I recieved an answer. We were watching the film of the Restoration. It was the scene when God the Father and Jesus Christ appear to Joseph Smith. The choir in the background sings. I felt the spirit so strongly. It feels like a tingly feeling in my heart, on my back, down my arms. I felt so happy. I started to cry. I knew I was feeling the spirit and I knew the spirit never lies. I could not deny it. I knew that it was true. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

I love you all and wish you a WONDERFULLLL week:) Good luck on school to those that are taking tests!

Sister Barron

WEEK 24- Eating Lots Of Octopus Over Here! (kinda chewy but good)

 I have been on the island for 6 weeks! 

One transfer. Sister McChesney and I are both staying here!!! Yay! I'M SO HAPPY, I DIDN'T WANT HER TO LEAVE ME!

A baby!

 She's the BEST!

This is a family who took us on a little trip today. Alexandra and Immanuel. Her daughter Priscilla is at BYUI right now! They are a great family and really strong in the gospel. She was the FIRST woman to serve a mission from the Azores. What a cool legacy!

The Sete Cidades is where we went today.

My Letter Home:

Good week everyone! 

I don't have a ton of time, but I just wanted to tell all of you I love you and I am doing sosososo great! 

This week I had to teach the family night in our branch. I taught about Daniel and the lions den. This is a story we all know but we don't really reflect on very often. I talked about how Daniel just completely trusted in the Lord. I want to learn that kind of trust. To just completely follow my Fathers counsel, and fall into faith and trust in Him.

Congrats to all my friends who are entering the mission field! It is an awesome adventure! It will not be all easy! (But it is all possible.) Don't ever lose your sight for how you want to return in the end. Do you want to return with regrets? OF COURSE NOT! Don't ever be disobedient. Sometimes it is really hard, but that feeling when you choose the right even when you don't think anyone is looking are the moments that matter the most.

I love you all so much! Sister Barron

PS. Today for p-day we went to a place called Sete Cidades. Basically it is a bunch of beautiful lakes and views. It was super foggy, but we still had a lot of fun. 
Fun Fact: it has rained ever single p-day since I came here, but not any other day! WHYYYYYYYYYYY

WEEK 23- I know Fabio!

We met the coolest young man this week. I might be jumping the gun to say that we have found a future Branch President. But hey, he really is that cool.

It all started out when we recieved this reference from the Elders in another part of the island (Ribeira Grande). What that means is that they ran into this kid on the street and started talking to him, he was really interested but he lived in our area, so they called us and gave us his name and phone number and address. Sometimes it is crazy to think how many times I have entered into a strangers house with no more information than this. =) But I know we are protected, and the scared feeling that I used to feel has worn off. Haha at this point I will just trust in the Spirit to know if a situation is dangerous. But when it comes to Fabio, that is not even an issue.

The Monday after we got the reference, I felt prompted to call this kid. It would be so easy to forget. We have sooo many numbers of different people and different things to remember that a lot of times people slip through the cracks. But I remembered and called him and he sounded really cool! (ps. The telephone is the worst! It is hard to understand Portuguese in person, let alone on a fuzzy phone! I avoid the phone at all costs haha. But luckily this time I bit the bullet and did it! And it ended up being so worth it) We set up a meeting with him the next day. We were really excited, even though we didn't really know what to expect. He could be an old man with a beard or a father with 3 children, we had no idea. When we showed up to his house the next day he opened the door before we could even knock! He is a really cool 19 year old kid, super smart. We all sat down and then the first words that come out of his mouth are a missionarys dream statement: I want to know more about the Book of Mormon. Well, whaddayaknow, we LOVE talking about the Book of Mormon! So we start explaining and he is just eating it up. He says that it makes so much SENSE that Jesus would appear to his other sheep in the Americas. He could not get enough. So for the next 5 days we meet with him, each time talking for an hour or more. He is full of questions, really smart questions that lead right into gospel principles. He had cards and pamphlets that missionaries had given him in the past. He said that he has met with missionaries in the  street before and invited them over, but they never showed up. (Ouch for those missionaries, they were so close to an elect!) At one point this week Fabio stayed up until 5 in the morning reading the Book of Mormon. When we ask him what he thinks about it, he always says ´´It is good!´´......ummm yeah, it is the "goodest" thing we can read my friend! =P

We have invited him to be baptised, so I will keep you all posted on that. One thing that he expressed to us is that he really wishes that he had friends that are as interested in Jesus Christ as he is. We were able to tell him about the amazing youth on our island and the amazing network of missionary work that is going on, full of young people just like him from all over the world. We have missionaries from Australia, Mozambique, Capo Verde, and Arkansas on this island! He was amazed to hear all of that. I sincerely hope and pray that he continues to search. He is so close to the gospel, all he has to do know is ACT on it!

We got to meet our new Mission President this week, President Tavares. He and his wife are from Brasil and don't know a lick of English haha. I totally love them though. Their story is so cute how they met! When President was a missionary in Brasil, his future wife was in his ward! And then she left on her mission to....lemme guess.....PORTUGAL! He waited for her and when she got back they were engaged like 3 weeks later. They kept saying over and over how this was a horrible example for the missionaries, haha but I thought it was cute. She loves this country so much and has a wonderful insight into the people here. I totally believe that they were sent here for a reason. I am excited to see what they will do with this new challenge!

Love you all! Go watch a movie for me! (haha Sister McChesney is a movie fanatic and has told me the plots of a few movies that I definitely plan on seeing...in a year haha. It is so nice to just relax and watch a movie! That is something I miss!)

Until next week folks~

Sister Barron