Madeira Islands: Week 37

My old district

Relief Society Activity in Madeira

Adelino's Baptism (He's on the far left)

Hey! 

Sorry I started emailing you guys earlier and then the Zone Leaders called and said there were people at the chapel with a bunch of boxes of Book of Mormons that didn't have a way in so long story short we didn't have our bus passes, keys, had to walk an hour and got locked out of our house. But at least we still have time to email! FINALLY! Sorry it's been a while since a normal P day haha.

RAYMOND Happy Birthday on Sunday!!! Hope it's a great day! :)

So this week has been crazy! I seriously can't even explain how beautiful Madeira is! I am serving in the Funchal 2 Branch so we have the chapel in our area! It is really nice. We can literally see the ocean everywhere we go it is crazy! The accent here is COMPLETELY different. I always heard that about Madeira before but now I know what they're talking about. It basically is like putting a really really strong Irish or Australian accent on Portuguese. I'm starting to get used to it. There are SO many tourists here. I have literally met people from EVERYWHERE! I sat next to an Englishman and some Germans on the plane by the way. But yeah all the people here look albino and tall to me. I'm not used to it yet! 

Oh Kristan my roommate Sister Hirschi is from Kansas and said her family is in the ward boundaries of the Independence Visitor Center. Do you know any Hirschi families from there? My other roommate is Portuguese. Sister Carvalo. She's so nice! 

My companion is Stephanie Lofgreen from Herriman, Utah. She grew up in Mesa, Arizona funny enough which is weird just like the Sharps! She said she kind of knows Aaron from school! Small world. She is really nice. She's short and has red hair so she makes me feel like a giant haha but I like her a lot! 

We actually had a baptism on Saturday! I was there for all the lessons but I still don't feel like I contributed at all haha he was already marked before I got here but his name is Adelino and he's a cool guy! He didn't have any addictions or problems with anything it was crazy! His friend Paulo who is a member invited him. It just shows how important members are! We are focusing a lot on working together with members and it TOTALLY is helping. So help the missionaries :)

We have an investigator named Margarita who is about 17 years old. Her mom was baptized about 30 years ago but when her son died she got really angry with God and went inactive. Margarita said every time she walked past our church or heard anything about it she felt like something was pulling her towards it so one day she asked her mom about the mormons and found out her mom is a member! She decided they were going to church and her and her mom showed up one Sunday! We have only taught her a couple of lessons but when we taught her yesterday it was literally the best lesson I've experienced on my mission. Seriously I've never felt the spirit so strong in my life. She said she didn't know how to get an answer because her mom felt warmth in her heart but when she prayed that's not what she felt. We explained that everyone gets an answer in their own way and she said when she prayed she felt butterflies in her stomach and she knew that was her answer. She said she wants to get baptized but needs to talk to her mom and then she said she wants to serve a mission! She already asked her mom about it and everything. Then at the end she said she had a weird question for us and said, "Can I take a picture with you guys? I really like you." Haha she is the cutest girl ever! I am so excited for her she is one of the coolest people I've ever met. 

Oh I haven't told you yet. Last Sunday in Miratejo Castro was asked by the Stake Presidency to bear his testimony at Stake Conference. I'm sad I didn't get to see it but I was SO excited to see how far he has progressed. He is so awesome!

Okay well that's about all that happened here that I can remember. I love everything here though! I have tried not to think about leaving Miratejo so I've been completely fine :) Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Carroll