"And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my Gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength as is not known among men."

-D&C 24:12

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Good news, bad news

Well, this week has been full of ups and downs.
Good news first or bad?
  Good: We had divisions this week with the Sister Training leaders and as usual, SO MANY MIRACLES. We met so many people interested in the gospel and we also had so many small miracles that day. It was amazing and a testimony that I really am doing the Lord´s work. We also had Zone conference and I got to sing AND play violin!
  Bad: One of our investigators died two days ago. His name was Daniel. He´d been in the hospital but we couldn´t visit him because it was too far away. He´s a fisherman and slipped and hit his head on a rock. He was in a coma and died within the week. It was such a shock. he had a baptismal date and was ready to start changing his life. We found out yesterday.
   Despite everything, I know I need to keep going. Missionary work isn´t easy, but it´s worth it. It really is astounding how much the Lord blesses us when we keep his commandments.
   Love everyone and hope everything is going good back home!
P.S. Here´s a picture of a Lagos sunrise.




Beautiful views of the sunrise in the marina.





me and sister Hirschi.


Group selfie.

Monday, October 6, 2014

GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND

Hello, Everyone!
Thanks for all your letters!
What´s new this week?
   Well, we visited this little old lady this week! She´s been a member for over 30 years! She was also baptized by Elder Moreira of the Quorum of the 70! She is SO COOL. And it´s so funny because she´s so old (well, 79) that she is so honest about everything, I love it! She also reminds me of my grandma ( I love you, Abuelita!) because she´s so independent and loves to do everything herself. But unfortunately, her health doesn´t permit her, so she´s been kind of sad lately.
   This weekend was General Conference! It was so good! For all of you who don´t know what that is, every six months, we get to hear from our Prohpet, Thomas S. Monson, and from the 12 apostles and other general authorites of the Church. It was so amazing. Of course, it´s always amazing, but this time i´m only assuming it´s amazing because I actually couldn´t understand most of it (there´s just something about the dubbing that is just really hard to process in my brain).
   Also, I´ve been speaking nothing but Portuguese since I got my new companion, Sister Da Luz. She´s from Cape Verde (off the coast of Africa). I´m definitely learning a lot!!!
   It´s been 2 years since the age change was announced! I was rereading the introduction to General Conference two years ago when they announced that Sister Missionaries were allowed to serve at age 19, and I felt the spirit testify to me SO strongly that I was doing the right thing. These past few weeks have been hard, but that was a needed reminder of how much Heavenly father loves me to have reminded me. I know this Gospel is true! I KNOW that God has restored the whole truth to the earth once more. I know that we have a living prophet today on the earth and I know this gospel can bless everyone´s lives!
  Sister Mancuso


   Victoria's new companion Sister Da Luz from Cape Verde


In the streets of Lagos

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Greetings from Portugal!!!

Hello!
How is everyone?
  This week has been pretty good. Lagos is Lagos, nothing much has changed. Except Sister Echeverria is gone back home now! I'm getting a new companion today, and she's from Cape Verde, so I will probably not be speaking english for a while!
   This week was full of tiny miracles! We had some really good lessons with one of our investigators, Eliseu, this week. He got a better grasp on things, but he's still struggling. We also had good lessons with our other investigator, Jinilda, this week! She's awesome! She even went to church and liked it!
  Also, the Casal (senior couple) in Lagos are leaving! We got so sad. Now we have a different branch president, and only us, one pair of sisters!
  I also found out the district president (like a stake president, but for the district) is from Venezuela!!!! He told me where I can find harina Pan to make some arepas (a venezuelan food)!!!! I got SO HAPPY!
 Who's excited for general conference this week? I totally am!
  Bezinhos!
Sister Mancuso





Selfies at Ponte de Piedade (A city close to Lagos)



                                         
 A beautiful view of the sea at Ponte de Piedade