I saw Adão!!!!!!! He was sooooooo excited to see me! It was the cutest thing! Haha. He went with us on the metro as far as he could that his pass would let him so he could talk with us. haha. I loved seeing him! Haha. (He is a little special. :)...)

 

Baptism of Vasil!

 Irmã made gorditas. .:) They were yummy. 

An inexpensive mexican food. :)

 Elder that finished and member we 

ran into on the way to the hospital!

us and Vasil!

Family!

This week was amazing! Vasil was baptized! It was a miracle baptism! The spirit was so strong! It was amazing! I can't tell you how happy we both were as we watched Vasil go under the water, and come back up completely clean! It was hard keeping back the tears. We call him our Bulgarian father. ha. And he calls us his daughters. It is actually really common for others to call us their daughters. it is just something they do when you have a close relationship with them. I think it is so cute. I am not sure if I ever told you that or not. But we call Vasil pai. ha. Also, we found that the essential oils really help Irmã! And a member in our ward gave her hers. She actually has the exact same thing that my comp has, and sadly, she told her it won't get better. But that the oils are what help her be able to function. We will see what happens. But starting this week we are going to hit the ground running! Even with my comp almost dying in bed. The Lord blessed us with a baptism!! Just think what will happen now that we both can go out and work! The Lord has big plans for Quinta do Conde. And we have high goals! And I am pretty darn sure that they are in line with what the Lord wants to happen! I am soooo excited!!!!!! I hope you all have a fabulous week! Don't forget to pray and talk to our Heavenly Father every single day! Many times per day! He is our closest dearest friend. Whether we know it now or not. It is only us that weakens that relationship. I love you all so much! Stay safe!

Love Always,

Sister Amanda Stokes 

Email to Dad :)

Dad!

Ha. Stinker. Killing two birds with one stone. Mom did the same thing. Haha. That is known as a little thing called, laziness! Ha. Jk!!! I loved the email! I am always really happy when I see I got an email from you. :) I love the quote Steff said. It truly is so true. That is why I am still out here, even amist all the hardships and trials that come with this work. Because of the happiness, and blessings that we are more than spoiled to be able to bring to our brothers and sisters. The light that the gospel brings out of people is just breathtaking and there simply aren't words to describe the joy that I am able to feel as a result of being an instrument in the Lord's hands in being able to bless these people. I can't thank you and mom enough for helping me and encoraging me to serve a mission. It truly is the most humbling work. There isn't anything else that can compare to the experiences we have on the mission. And it truly is the time where we can truly understand our Savior better than we ever have before. Because we are doing exactly what He did when he was here. Loving, helping, serving, sometimes shedding tears, but in and out of it all, experiencing a profound joy and learning how to love more than we ever thought was possible. I am so greatful to be a missionary. And I wish every member of the church had the opportunity to serve a mission, and see the Lord's hands in His work every single day. And in the end, see how the Lord wasn't only helping us to mold other people, but how the Lord was truly molding us, and helping us become the sons and daughters He needs. And one thing I am so excited about is that when the mission ends, it isn't even close to an ending. But it is a beginning. A beginning of true discipleship in the church. We are being trained to live the rest of our lives as member missionaries. And we can have just as much a part in the work here as in our normal lives. I am excited to be a member missionary! Though I still have loads of time as an actual full time missionary. I will be so sad when the time comes to a close! I will probably cry. But I will also shed tears of joy due to all the hearts I have been about to touch, and all the lives I have had the priviledge to change- as an instrument in the Lord's hands. I have learned for one thing that we truly are nothing. But with God and the Lord, we have everything. And the only way we have success is when we have the Lord on our side and when we are worthy to have the companionship of His spirit. That is the only way we will be able to touch hearts and change lives. I love you so much dad! I hope you know what a big example you are to me. I hope that this week goes well at home. Love you!

Love Always,

Sister Amanda Stokes

Family!!!!

So this past week was a little rough. My poor comp has been suffering with massive migrane´s. And she has been stuck in bed. And no pain killer has been helping, and even when she tries to take something, it comes right back up. She can't keep down food either. I feel so bad for her. Today she seems to be doing better. She still has pain, but it isn't as bad as earlier. She is a trooper! So our marcado (marked investigator) didn't make it to church.... We were soooo sad! So he can no longer be baptized on te 26th.... And what is even more sad is that he hasn't been answering our phone calls since sunday... We are so worried! Cause he is truly so amazing! He was so firm, and so excited! When we taught the Word of Wisdom. He accepted it promptly and was already working on stopping smoking. (And he only would smoke when his guy friends offered it to him) He said he would drop coffee and black tea and everything! Even the law of chastity. He said he has lived that his whole life! :) So I am not sure why we haven't heard from him. I hope everything is ok. Cause he is just the sweetest person! I love him so much! He is Bulgarian. But he speaks portuguese ok. It is really cool to hear him speak bulgarian. We also met a brazilian couple! They are amazing! The husband has already been taught almost everything (Luis) and his Girlfriend (they are living together and aren't currently married) Leir, hasn't been taught anything becaust of her work schedule. She was never home when the missionaries taught Luis. But they are literally perfect. The only thing right now that is keeping them from baptism is the fact that they aren't married. And it is super complicated. For they can't just go and get married because they don't have their documents.... So we are stuck unless they decide to separate. When we mentioned that option, they just looked at each other and then said that they will have to think about that. So we will see what happens. If they don't separate it could be a year or more till they are baptized. I know everything will work out the way it is supposed to though. So I told you that our goal was to make a branch. Actually, the goal that the stake president has is to make it a ward right away and skip the branch. So, no pressure! Ha. But I have faith that we can make that possible. My comp just has to get better so we can go out and find all those whom the Lord has prepared to start a ward here in Quinta do Conde. :) I am so excited!!! The Lord has big plans for my area. Well, I hope you are all doing well! Sounds like a lot is going on back home in regards to trips and changes! I am so happy for Cory! You guys have to send me pictures. :) know that I love you all and that I am soooo happy here! Stay safe!

Love Always,

Sister Amanda Stokes :)

 me Sister Cardoso, and Paloma! Our marked investigator. She will be baptized on sunday in the "ocean" the part where it will be is actually the river. But it continues out to the ocean. :) I will talk to president to see if I can go. I am sure he will say yes and Sister Decker (new comp) agreed to go with me! .:)

 me and paloma

Family!

So I am super happy! We got to see two baptisms yesterday!!! The Elderes baptized yesterday. He actually lives in our area. But there wasn't anyone in our area because it was closed. So they taught him. And also, Paloma was baptized!!!!!!!! Yes, she is the one that I taught! I got permission from President to go to her baptism. :) I was super happy! She was super happy to see me! She told me she was just so so sad when she saw that I wasn't wilth my comp the next time they went to her house. She clung to me during the whole thing. haha. It was cute. She is 15. She was actually baptized in the river! Emalidio baptized her (member) And they almost fell over. Ha. There were waves, and he said where they had gone in there were also rocks. (Cause where they entered wasn't where you usually go cause there were a lot of people at the beach. It was funny. So many people were looking over and staring as she was baptized. By the look of it they all thought that was the coolest thing. Haha. I just smiled. So I love my new area! Though we were really disappointed once we got here. The area book was like a bomb had exploded. There were investigators who had been made x-investigators in the progressing section. And there wasn't a single thing written about anyone since December of last year. Na verdade, I saw one that was from January. We weren't left with anything. We didn't know who had interest or who the missionaries had been talking to or anything. It was rough. And it took quite a bit of time to organize our area book. But at least the Lord is leading us to others who are ready for our message!  But we are truly super excited!!! So we share a church with Seixal. The members here in our area have been promised a branch for so long, and still nothing has happened. (Sadly we have heard some things from two guys here -who were best friends with the past Elders- about the Elders that have been here, basically they weren't doing their part and keeping mission rules. It broke my heart when we found that out.... But we have a goal to make Quinta do Conde a branch!!!! We are soooo excited! It is going to happen. I have 3 transfers left, including this one. And I have served 3 transfers in each area until now. So I am pretty sure I will end here. So my mission goal is to make a branch! I am so excited! I have actually always wanted to do that! So any prayers would be greatly greatly appreciated. :) So we have our investigator, Vaçil. He is absolutely amazing! If I have ever met anyone with real intent, it is him. He is marked for the 26th! Vaçil was definitely pre-prepared! We are so blessed to be able to be the instruments in the Lord´s hands to bring him to the knowledge of the gospel. Up to this point in my mission, I love looking back and seeing just how much trust the Lord puts in His missionaries. It truly is our responsibility to show the Lord that we are trustworthy. And when we do that. He puts those who are ready to hear the gospel in our path because He knows we will take care of them.We also have Janéti. She is super cool as well. She is catholic and was baptized there at 17. She is now 20. She was marked for the 20th. But she didn't make it to church because she got a fever.... We are going to call after this to see how she is doing today. It is gotter here. Ha. we definitly swett more here. Sister Decker (my comp) says it reminds her of her home town in California. Pretty much perfectly! But yeah, we are super excited! Oh and Sister Decker only has 2 transfers left! Counting this one. So she came in one transfer before me. (she was in the big group of missionaries that came into our mission- about 50 came in at the same time!) That is probably why I had to wait for so long to come out. ;P Well. I hope all is well at home! Don't forget the little things that keep us grounded for the difficult times that come. I love you all too much for satan - the little punk- to have any hold on anyone in our family. It seriously makes me so sad to see so many people get answers and feel the spirit and truly recognize it, and then turn away because of the difficulties that rise.... Anyways. I love you all! Stand tall! :)

Love Always,

Sister Amanda Stokes

 Oh our Elders.... hahaha

Our lunch at Helena´s

 Helena and Bruno

 Today! at our picnic 

"Dangerous. Do not take baths" hahaha

 So cute! All in a row!

 This is the back side of our church (half is the church the other the church office) The front has a bunch of windows just like this side. But I didn't take a pic. 

Our lunch today! Some members (young adults) wanted to make us lunch and have an activity today)

Family!~

This week was good and very sad. We marked Sebastião, He was sooo excited! He went from saying he won't go to church or do anything. To reading the Book of Mormon, saying he would go to church, and accepted to follow the example of Christ with tears in his eyes, to telling us not to pass by again. Apparently his brother told him that if he continues to study this religion, he will basically no longer be a part of his brother's life... And Sebastião, he is in a wheel chair because he lost his foot. And his brother is the one that helps him with everything... But it is sad and out of no where because Sebastiaõ told us that his brother isn't very religious. They are catholic, but they don't practice. It broke our hearts! Though he told us he would keep reading the BOM. We have been praying that the brother´s heart will soften and let him make his own decisions. Sebastiaõ even said that he knows everything we taught him is true. That makes me even sadder... For he is putting the fear of man above the fear of God (or in other words, the love of men, above the love of God) ... We will keep seeing how he is by phone calls. But he said very strictly not to pass by...So needless to say, he was unmarked for baptism... And Bruno, he is also no longer is marked for baptism... He gave us his word (again) that he would go to church. And we had to talk a while with him about putting God first. For he had a birthday party of one of his friends that he wanted to go to instead of church. But he had already told us he would go to church before he talked to his friend about going to his party. But sunday arrived, and he never walked through the doors... It is so sad, because there truly is only so much that we can do... And it makes me so sad to see that Heavenly Father gives all His children many many chances to accept Him, and put Him first in their lives; but many times we don't.... That must make Him so sad. Not angry with us, but sad. And making Our Father sad because of our personal choices is much worse than making him angry. I just wish everyone would recognize that this life is so short. And that if we don't use our time wisely and make good choices, the day will come where we won't have more sundays. We won't have a tomorrow. And we will look back and ask ourselves... "Why did I not choose to act when I knew I needed to." Anyways, with Bruno, we will try again with one of our members. He lives super long, and we have to walk, so it is hard to get members to go with us. But We think that is what is lacking. If not, we will have to drop him... It is so hard when we try to do everything in our power to help our investigators, but in the end, they have to make an effort. If not, nothing will avail... We also have Paloma! We re-marked her for the 13th. She didn't make it to church due to a miss-communication in giving her a ride. We had talked to her dad about driving her to the church and we would meet here there out front. But he remembered what we had said the week before. That we would arrange a ride and for her to wait in front of the hospital for animals. We were so sad when we found out that was why she didn't make it... But she will make it next week! This sunday was still a miracle! It has been so long since we have had investigators in church! It was making us truly depressed because we were trying so hard... And this sunday, we had a family! (4 sisters) And Patrícia has the most potential. She LOVED church! She said that our "misa" was beautiful. And she wanted to stay for the next class (They had planned to leave after because they are in the choir in the catholic church) But they all stayed. And she LOVED the gospel principles class. She said that she learned so much. And here they actually TEACH. She asked if the topic changes every week. When we said yes, she was awe struck. haha. She said we learn so much! And that in the Catholic church it is boring and nothing special. ha. She told us that she will come next week too. And that she wants her mom to see that this is what she truly wants.:) It was so sad... When we taught her about authority, she made the connection that no other church has the priesthood- because it was lost- then turned to us and said sadly... "Então nossos pastores não tem esse autoridade?"  "So our pastor´s don't have this authority?" She truly is amazing and super cute! She asks the perfect questions, and she feels the spirit really well. :) We are being so blessed! Yet at the same time We are seeing difficulties. I feel like satan has been truly fighting against us. So many problems came up out of no where with many I felt would for sure be baptized.... There are so many already that should have already been baptized that haven't been. It makes me so sad.... But I am so happy for those who have been able to make it to the waters of baptism! I love you all so much! Never forget just how blessed we are to have the restored gospel in our lives! I have never realized so strongly just how huge a blessing that is! Stay safe and have a great week!

Love Always,

Sister Amanda Stokes

Family!

This week was so good! Helena, our recent convert went with us on a division! :) Though all our appointments fell.... But she was excited to do so! Ha. And also, she has changed so much! Since her baptism. There truly is a light that shines from those who have received the gospel, and live according to its teachings. She is sooooo much happier! She used to be just so sad all the time. She would cry because of the death of her husband. But now she is always smiling. Also, she used to be one of those people the Book of Mormon talks about. Only the Bible and nothing else. Even after her baptism, she struggled with the concept, and said that the people who wrote the BOM read the Bible, and then wrote it in the BOM. Ha. But she has come to LOVE the Book of Mormon! She has been studying only from the BOM for the past few days! It is amazing! The Book of Mormon truly has a spiritual power when our investigators and recent converts truly read its pages with an open heart. We can know for sure when someone isn't reading the Book of Mormon because we won't see that change in their eyes, or in their heart. And they won't gain a testimony of the book. Also! We have a 15 yr old investigator, Paloma. She is super cute. She is also talking with the TJ´s. Though, she said she is learning a lot more with us than with them she said. We have taught her the first two lessons, and SHE IS MARKED FOR THE 6TH. In our last lesson, she asked lots of questions! And it was the first time anyone had ever asked, "Então, porque Deus colocou aquele ávore lá no jardim?" "So, why did God put that tree there in the garden?" Ah! She made the connection that it was all a part of the plan! All by herself. We hadn't explained anything yet! At the end. We knelt in prayer, and asked her to pray, and ask God if everything we have taught her is true. Me and Irmã each ended up saying a prayer before she would say one. But she prayed! (A really big deal for her- in front of us)  And she said she felt good. She said "Eu sei que esta igreja é verdadeira. Não sei como explicar como eu sei, mas eu sei que é." "I know that this church is true. I don't know how to explain how I know, but I know that it is." !!!!! We were soooo happy! In our district meeting last week. Elder Knight, (DL) told the story about when Joseph Fielding Smith went to England, and how he jumped out of the boat and when he landed on solid ground said (Something along the lines of) " I am the first missionary with the restored gospel!!!" And Elder Knight could barely tell the story! The spirit was so strong, and it  was just the cutest thing. It made us all excited to go out and preach the gospel with the excitement that Joseph Fielding Smith had! We also had divisions this past week. I got to go to Setúbal! It was fun. :) It is weird being in an area that isn't your own. But I liked it! Though I feel like all the areas in this zone look the same. Ha. We also had lunch at Helena´s! We ate grilled fish.... With the head, skin, and all.... I didn't eat the head. Yes, I chopped that off. And I peeled most of the skin off. But it was very fishy tasting. Ha. I wasn't a big fan. I ate mostly the potatoes. :) Bruno was also there. Our recent investigator who we are also teaching english. That is how we met him. Helena talked with him and told him we could teach him english. He was interested! So one day, when we were at Helena´s. She asked if she could go and get him. We said sure. She went out the door, then quickly peaked back in and said "Oh! And don't forget to talk about the gospel with him as well!" Hahahaha. It was super cute. Then she left and we watched her walk down the street in her sun dress and hat. :) We love her to pieces. So... Irmã has recently been telling me many times that I am a "lady." And she tells everyone else as well. Then she goes on to explain how. She then mimic´s  some of the things I have done that only "ladies" do. I was so embarrassed! Ah! José was baptized! I talked about him a long time ago! I found him on a division with our sister training leaders! He was the one with the perfect question. That already went to many different church's and basically didn't know which one was true. And then we told him that there was someone with this same exact question. In the end we invited him to church and he came! And it was fast sunday. So everyone was baring testimonies, and he got up and bore testimony!!!!!! It was the most precious thing! And he said he would like to be affiliated with us in his testimony. He was the perfect investigator and I just loved him right from the beginning in the road. Though we had to pass him over to the Elders because he didn't live in our area.... But he was baptized yesterday and I can't tell you how happy it made me!!!! I called him the Friday before (3 days before) to invite him to our activity as I always do. And he told me he would be baptized on sunday! And then went on to say how it will always be because of me that he found the church and how grateful he was. Oh it made me sooooo happy! I wasn't ever able to teach him, but I always felt that he was partly ours. :) And we always saw him in our english classes and friday activities. :) (Almost every week) Anyways, I am just loving the mission! Life is so good. And the Lord is just so good! I am one of the most spoiled missionaries in the whole world! I hope you all all doing well! I love you all sooo much! Stay safe! Till next week!

Love always,

Sister Amanda Stokes :)

 Fabrícia, Jesse, and me (I don't know what Jesse was doing with her eyes. haha. She complained about the sun... ) This is at a ward activity. It was a sardinhada. Which means basically a BBQ but with sardines. ha. 

The tree looked cool above our heads!

Irmã .... Ah! I can't remember her name! Sad.... One of our Elderly members. :) 

Family!!!!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!!!! I know it was yesterday, but I hope it was a good one! I also just wanted to thank you for everything you do for our family. I really couldn't ask for a better dad. I love you so much and I can't wait to be able to tell you that in person. Thank you for your testimony and for helping all of us gain our own. I am pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say that you had a big part in helping each of us gain our own testimonies. 

This week we found Sebastião. He is the sweetest man. He has so much faith in God, and it truly humble. He is stuck in a wheel chair because he doesnt have a right foot. After he showed us his foot, he went on and told about how much the Lord has blessed him and how him not having a foot, is nothing. That made us super happy. (Because so many people don't recognize the blessings that they already have!) He also has studied (Not sure if in depth) many religions. Including ours at one point. He has a Book of Mormon antigo! Ha. It was funny to see the difference in the font and pictures. We taught him the first lesson so far. And it went so well! We focused on asking lots of questions. Irmã asked a question mesmo inspired. She asked him "Quem deu os apostolos autoridade? -Ele repondeu, "Cristo." Depois ela perguntou, "E quem deu os homens quem criarem as igrejas autoridade?" - Ele pensou.... "Homens..." Translation; "Who gave the apostles authority? - He said, "Christ" After she asked, "And who gave authority to the men who created churches?" - He pondered.... "Men..." #Click! The spirit was so strong and he made the connection "for himself!" We are now focusing on teaching by asking questions. It truly helps the investigator understand what we are saying, and it makes it so we aren't talking and talking and they lose focus. Questions are key to helping our investigators truly understand our message and to help them realize that our message makes complete sense. For even THEY find the answer BEFORE we tell it to them. It was amazing! Kinita stopped smoking! She knows that the reason is because she has been reading in the Book of Mormon. But we are struggling trying to get her to church. She has depression, and recently has been getting headaches. She says that she needs to sleep and that she can't wake up early. We told her that the blessings she is receiving IS because she is reading, and gaining a testimony, however, that the blessings won't prolong for a lot longer if she doesn't continue to put her faith in practice, and go to church to sanctify the Sabbath day. For it is a commandment, and she is not keeping it. She still said that it was at a bad time.... So we will keep trying! Other than that we are in the state of finding new investigators! Anyways, stay strong! And happy! I love you all so much! Sometimes I feel like my heart will explode out of how much love I have for you all! Till next week.

Love Always,

Sister Amanda Stokes

oh its true. I took a picture of a bug. :) It is so strange! I have never seen a bug like this one before.

 It is quite interesting. Ha. So I took a picture!

Family

This week we found an amazing women named Ana. And Fernanda who we found last week is still amazing! I don't think I told her story yet? Fernanda lives in an area where you would not normally think to go. It looked as if no one lived there and was in a ways. But we had felt we should go there and see. The little area where she lives has 6 mailboxes next to the little gate you pass through. But the whole lot looks almost abandoned like no one lives there. But we saw one door that someone lived in for sure. Her door was the first one we knocked. And she answered! As we talked we came to find out that she has a friend who is a member of the church in Lisboa. She said she has already been thinking a lot about our church, and how she doesn't agree that their pastors' don't marry. (She is Catholic) Her friend had also left her a pamphlet to read. As we talked to her, she could feel our love for her and she started to cry. She said how she is having a hard time. She is alone and she works a lot. And she has a lot of questions and doubts. (Perfect! We have the answers!)  We left her with the first pamphlet. She said she would read it, and we then marked our next appointment with her. When we showed up for our appointment, she wasn't there! We were soooo sad! We just kept saying, there is no way it is because she isn't interrested. She was so excited to talk to us. She had cried and thanked us, and she had given me the biggest fluffiest hug! There is just no way. She must have forgotten. So we left a church invite card under her door. Then we left. Later. Around 6, we felt we should return to her house and see if she had returned home. We knocked.... And she opened the door! She said she literally got home a few minutes ago! She also said she got our card and that it made her happy! She said when she got the invite, she knew that she needed to go to church the next day. But she was a little nervous. Then, the fact that we showed up in person, she said it was for sure what she needed to do, and what God wanted her to do. She basically testified that we were truly sent from God. (We are seeing so many blessings since we started truly trying, with REAL INTENT, to be consecrated missionaries! Our investigators can truly FEEL the difference) It was the sweetest thing. We talked to her a little, and left her with a prayer.  She said she would go, but that it doesn't mean she is changing religions. Ha. We then said of course, and promised her she would feel a sweet spirit there. Sunday arrived.... and she didn't make it! We caught her just leaving her house later that afternoon, and she said she couldn't make it because her sister had fallen. So she went to her house all worried. The second is Ana! She is amazing. She felt abondoned by God. She is having problems with her family, and simply feels alone. And she said that she isn't quite so sure anymore that God is truly there. We read her a scripture using the Book of Mormon. She loved it! When we offered her the book, she asked how much it was. We told her it was free. As she took it, she held onto it like it was the most precious thing she had. When we use the scriptures in our contacts that apply directly to our potential investigators. They realize that this book has answers specifically for them, they can feel the power of the Book of Mormon in our first contact, and feel the spirit and truly recognize us as servants of the Lord. They will also have a much greater desire to receive and then read The Book of Mormon. She left with tears, and with a re-found belief that God is truly there, and with a knowledge of our love for her.And I left with an even greater love for others, missionary work, and for the Book of Mormon! Sometimes I think I will be so full of love my heart just won't be able to handle it anymore and it will explode. But there is always so much more room than I thought! I love being a missionary!!!! I love having the opportunity to show people how much I love them, and even more importantly, to show them just how much their Father in Heaven loves them! And I just love these people so much! This week was a rough week, but an amazingly blessed week as well. For the Lord has blessed us with Fernanda and Ana. :) Never forget how much the Lord loves you! I hope you have a fabulous week! (And don't forget to tell the ones you love that you love them! And then show that love through an act of kindness :)...) Till next week!

Love Always,

Sister Stokes

p.s. Sorry, this week I didn't take pictures. Well I took pictures of Irmã. Haha. But she doesn't want me to send those. :) Love you!

xoxoxo

 me, Sister King and all her other comp's. haha.  

 Jesse (recent convert) she turned 20!

 Mayara is the member behind her

manuel mayara and me :)

 my hair is growing! :) 

It is growing a lot slower than I thought it would.... hahaha

 Jumping at the beach (from Elder Mehl's camera)

 Haha. This is so funny because none of 

us three knew he was

 taking a picture and we are all looking different ways (distracted). Haha. 

 This was from a while ago. 

It is from Elder Tavares camera

Family!

This past week has been a little sad... Two of our marked investigators fell.... Kinita and Diomantino. Kinita didn't make it to church because she started getting a bunch of headaches and she didn't feel well. She said she will be going to the hospital this week. So we will be praying for her. Though we aren't too discouraged because we know she will still be baptized. Just that the date will be pushed back. Diomantino got a new job. And this job doesn't leave him a lot of time or days off on sundays..... We talked to him about talking to his boss to see if he can get sundays off. So we will try to get both of them ready for baptism as quickly as we can. :) João is marked for the 21st of June. He didn't make it to church, but he still has two sundays to make it to church both times. :) All three of them are amazing and I have no doubt that they will all be baptized. Just getting them ready for baptism and teaching them everything with the time they have is more complicated now... But thats ok! The Lord will prepare a way. Ha. So we have this family. Manuela and Nuno (the nephew), and Carlos (neighbor inactive). They haven't been keeping any invite we have been giving. They keep forgetting to read in the Book of Mormon, and they have a hard time praying with us. Though they say they pray alone. But irmã had a good/funny idea. We made contracts with them. :) It is a contract between them and Heavenly Father to better the relationship that they have with Him through prayer and reading. Then at the bottom we had them sign it! We are excited! Hopefully they will be better about reading and realize that reading and praying are critically important, and that without them we can't have a true relationship with our Father in Heaven. We met a women named Fernanda! She is amazing! She said one of her friends already is talking to her about our church and gave her a pamphlet. In the end she told us that we were sent from God as she had tears in her eyes. Then I just gave her a big hug. And she just held me. It was the most precious thing! I loved her so much instantly! We will be seeing her again on saturday. (big work schedule) We are excited! Ah. We met with a member and she basically told us her whole love story. :) Irmã Chaves. It was so cute because back then, (here in Portugal) they didn't even take each other by the hand before marriage. And the man she loved was a poor man who didn't have parents. And that was something that was a big deal back then. But she didn't care because he had already stolen her heart. It was just the cutest story! She is about 75 years old? I am not sure. She is older. She was converted and baptized about 40 years ago. Her husband to this day is not a member. But she knows he will accept the gospel one day. Even if it is after this life. :) Anyways, I have so much more to say, but I don't have time and my fingers hurt. Haha. I love you all so much! Stay safe! Oh! Do you have fun plans for the summer!? Love you!

Love Always,

Sister Amanda Stokes

xoxo

This was what I wanted to say that week when I didn't send an email cause I thought I had already sent it but I didn't... Then last week I forgot to send it. oops... :) So three weeks ago!

This past sunday we didn't have a single investigator in church... But we did see a miracle. One of our members, Emalídio, is a dedicated member mesmo. He always goes to church and our activities. His entire family are members. Though, they are all inactive except for him. We have talked with his mom several times before- because if she goes, the rest of the family will go. So when we visited with her this last time, we really focused on the sacrament, and on the blessings that she wasn't receiving because she hasn't been taking the sacrament or giving that time to the Lord. She is currently in a rough situation when it comes to finances. Our bishop is helping their family out. (through the church-financially) She is very open about her situation, and told us everything, and how hard it is to not have money sufficient enough to simply place food on the table for her family without additional help. And the fact that the church is supporting them so much is hard on her as well. But she said if it wasn't for that help, her whole family would be out on the streets. So as we talked to her about the sacrament, we applied the blessings to her personally. As a result, she realized that she hasn't been giving time to the Lord, and that she is missing out on many blessings that she currently desperately needs. So...This past sunday, she made it to church! We stopped by their house again sundaynight. Teresa (the mom), wasn´t home. But Jessica (Emalídio´s sister) was. So we talked with her. She said that next sunday, she will make it to church with her mom!!! We are soooo excited! Shortly, Emalídio will have his whole family in church with him! This is a huge blessing. For it has been years since they have all gone to church as a family. Sorry, this is already so long! But that was our biggest miracle this week. Which is an amazing one! We are excited to see Emalídio with his whole family together this next sunday in church!