Week 2 in Matosinhos!

Matosinhos just keeps on getting better and better!! I love it! The members are cinco estrelas and the area is literally perfect!! And we're getting some great tans out here next to the ocean!

We met this amazing lady, Manuela. We knocked on her door and she let us in and we taught her the first lesson. She's probably in her 70s but she is soo smart and still 100% there, which is sometimes hard to find in the old people here. We invited her to read and pray about what we had taught her and then we asked her what she thought her answer would be. And you know what she said? "I think my answer will be that it's true!" We are sooo excited to go back and visit her!!

Also, the elders had to give us their family that was marked for baptism. The father is never home so they can never go there and teach them. They were so sad... But we're going to work really hard so that they can be baptized!! Pray for them! Mónica e Francisco!

This week included the weirdest day of my mission. Here are just SOME of the things that happened--all on the same day:

1. It rained
2. We ate four pastries
3. One of our investigators was kinda drunk and insisted that we heal him
4. We almost got flashed
5. We knocked the same door twice within 5 minutes
6. A lady opened the door we knocked with the biggest smile and then slowly shut the door in our faces while still smiling
7. We touched the ocean
8. We knocked a door, a dog ran out, the owner ran out to chase the dog, and it took him 30 minutes to chase down that dog.. Sorry!!

Yeah, weird day... The cool thing was though that that day, we had no success. Whatsoever. So we were getting kind of down until we realized that all of the funny things that had happened, happened for a reason: To help us see how fun and crazy like is. Heavenly Father was helping us see the bright side and funny things that are part of life. At the end of that day, we were just laughing as we went home, happy to be in Portugal serving missions. I love Portugal!!

Love ya'll!

Sister Hillam

District P-Day!! Mini golf, turns out we're not the best of golfers BUT I did get a whole in one in the driving range part! But that was it..

O Distrito de Matosinhos e Foz de Douro!

MATOSINHOS: The Promised Land

Okay Matosinhos is AMAZING! We're right next to the beach (we go running by it every morning) and almost the whole metro line goes through our area. The capela is in our area, the metro stop is on our street along with every single store we could ever need. Oh and we have carpet in our house! What more could a girl ask for?? We have a giant ward! Around 90 people! And the members are totally down for doing missionary work with us! We've already been working a ton with the members which is awesome!! AND Sister Griffin, man she's amazing! I don't even know why I'm training her. She's from Draper, Utah and went to Utah State before the mission. We're literally the same person so it'll be a great few transfers with her!

And there are soo many elect people here! We've been working with some less actives and some new investigators and they're all so ready to come to church! As we've been doing planning, we've been trying to figure out what they need and the first thing that comes to our minds is The Book of Mormon. I don't know if it's because of President Monson's talk at General Conference but I've really come to recognize the importance of it in our lives. It was actually really cool this week. For training, we had to learn about the importance of the Book of Mormon. When we visited members, we were always talking about how important it is. We were always talking about it with our investigators. I feel like I've been surrounded by it all week long! No matter where we are in our lives or who we are, we can always find help in The Book of Mormon. I love that!!

Funny story: We were catching the metro to the capela and this old lady got on who seemed to know us but neither of us knew her so we were just talking and we asked what she was doing today and out of the blue she screams, "NADA!" And then just started laughing her head off. She later said that she was going to go home, relax, grill up a good chicken, and just sleep. Oh what I would give to do that ;) 

Last district meeting, one of the senior couple missionaries came and the husband shared with us a quote that he would tell his kids all the time. "Which way are you facing?" Think about it. If we're right at the doors of heaven but looking in the opposite direction or if we're a million miles away but with our sights set on those doors, what's better? We need to make sure we are always facing the right way which our sights set on the things that matter. I LOVE THAT!

Love you all (and Portugal)!

Sister Hillam

Happy Easter from Sister Bushman and me :)

Minha OITAVA Transferência! (My Eighth Transfer) And I still don't know what to think about that..

Last pic with Sister Bushman :(

Matosinhos

Well.. I GOT TRANSFERED! I'm going to MATOSINHOS and I'll be second transfer training Sister Griffin! But man.. After 6 months here in São João da Madeira, I'm really going to miss the members and the area.. I have like all the street names memorized and everything!! But I've only heard great things about Matosinhos so I'm excited for this new area!! 

We went to get Sister Bushman's root canal! Not.. We got there and they said that she needed to see a specialist. So I'm super bummed that I won't get to watch a root canal :( 

So we went to this one area the other day to knock some doors and NO ONE was answering! So as we're leaving to go to the branch activity, we see everyone leaving the catholic church. THEY WERE ALL AT MASS.. Well now we know not to go there around 5pm on Saturdays..

We were knocking doors (again...) and we ended up talking to this really cool guy for a good amount of time. He said that he had studied about lots of different churches and had even read parts of the Book of Mormon. I asked him if he had ever prayed about it and he said nope. Then he continued to say that he studies about different religion not to become converted but to just gain a lot of knowledge. That made me think a lot about the scripture in the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:4, how we need to have a sincere heart and real intent if we want to find out if something is true. He didn't have either of those things. This is something that I want to focus on even more, more my investigators and for myself. I love this Gospel and the opportunity we have to learn more about God and Christ! Ahhh I love it!!

Love ya'll!
Sister Hillam

I found my first daughter at zone conference!!

Finally threw away my grandma sandals and got some good ones. They're probably still sitting in that trashcan in Porto.

Our puppy we found!

This blurry picture describes our district pretty well

Half a Score and Two Years Ago

Twelve years ago from today, I was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so grateful for that. I'm so grateful for the blessings I am continually receiving because of that choice. And now, I have the amazing opportunity to invite others to follow the example of Christ by being baptized like Him. I love this work and being a missionary!!!

Alright, funny story. So to get to one part of São João, we have to go over some train tracks. Well, there are three ways over them. Option Number 1: Go over the bridge and walk super far around tons of buildings. Option Number 2: Go over the bridge and go down some stairs and then walk a little less around some natural obstacles. Option Number 3: Cut through the graveyard, walk over the train tracks, and then follow the train tracks until you get to a pool thing where the old Portuguese ladies wash their clothes, and then go up some stairs. So which option do we take? Option Number 3, pois! So we're walking with a member, Miguel, and he was telling us that we were going to get run over by the train. We tell him that the chances are very low. But as we're walking on the tracks, we hear some lady screaming, "COMBOIO!!!" or in other words, "TRAIN!" So then we scream and start booking it up the hill next to the tracks and then Miguel just laughs and now every time we see him, he yells COMBOIO! It was a lot more exciting if ya'll were there but olha, paciência...

This week we had divisions in Gaia with the STLs which was a load of fun! But then the next day, we had to go back up to the Porto area so Sister Bushman could go to the hospital for this crazy tooth pain she was having. Turns out she has to get a root canal next Monday, for which I'm really excited for because I want to see how they do it!! But I'm also sad for Sister Bushman, pois. She's been in a lot of pain :/ But after the hospital appointment, we had interviews with Presidente Amorim. He is so amazing! He's definitely been called by God to be our mission president! 

Well, we had to drop one of the families we were teaching. They really didn't have much interest but it was super sad because they're 5-year-old daughter, Solange, is amazing and adorable. She always gets so excited when we come over. But we had to tell her we wouldn't be coming anymore so I gave her one of our pass-along cards and told her to never lose it. She said that she keeps everything that we give her hidden away and that she wouldn't ever forget us. Afterward, Sister Bushman and I imagined Solange finding the missionaries when she's older and it just made us so happy! 

ALSO! GENERAL CONFERENCE!! It was SO good!!! I can't wait to get to study all of the talks! AHH, it was great!! Also, this might be my last week in Sâo João da Madeira! I'm probably getting transferred next week.. SCARY!

Love ya'll!!
Sister Hillam

Me and Solange!!!

Some Sweet Graffiti with Scriptures

Sister Bushman jumping into the gross algae-filled pool where the Portuguese women wash their clothes.