I am weak, but He is strong

Hello everyone!

  I know that I say that every week is crazy, but this week was the craziest of my mission as of now. I don´t think I've felt emotions so strong as I have this week.

  Lots of things happened this week, but basically, my companion was in the hospital this week due to a couple of seizures that she had. But now everything is ok, Sister Cardoso is ok, and we´re both in Lisbon today for mission counsel! Lisbon is beautiful and great stress relief!

  But, due to everything that has happened this week, it has caused me to reflect a lot on our human weakness and the part that Grace plays in all this.

  As humans, we are weak. We have weaknesses and strengths, and that is part of our human condition living on this earth. Even though they may be different, everyone has them. And that is

 

 

 

why the Grace of God is so important.

  Grace is the enabling power from God to do what we can´t do on our own. When we physically can´t, that is when Grace comes into our lives. I learned that this week. When my companion was lying on the floor from the first seizure, I was lost and frantic. I don´t know what to do. I said a prayer and started crying. At that moment, I know that the Lord helped to do what I couldn´t do- He helped me to overcome my weaknesses and help my companion, and that is what I learned this week from all this. I´m so grateful for Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice, and for God´s amazing Grace.

  The church is true, and so is the Gospel! I love all of you and hope you have a good week! Love you all!

  Love,

Sister Mancuso

One more transfer in Faro!

Hey y´all!

  How was your week?

  Mine was CRAZY. but I guess, as a missionary, there´s never really a normal week (all you RM´s know what i´m talkin´about!). Let´s see:

  New transfer! I´m staying in Faro with my companion, Sister Cardoso! This is her last transfer, and we´re stil STL´s for the Algarve, so this´ll be fun! Usually, Zone leaders are the ones to do transfers, but since ours were busy, they asked us to call everyone, so that was great one and only experience i´ll never do again!

  We had a baptism this week: Lucas! He´s only 12, but he such a big example for all of us! He was so excited to be baptized, and so was his family! We´re still teaching them and we brought some members to have a lesson with them this week: it ended up being so spiritual. We brought the Prado family to talk with Leo and Sol (Lucas´ grandparents. BTW, don´t know if I mentioned this, but Sol is lamanite- she´s form the amazons!) and we started talking about the Restoration of the gospel and the Book of Mormon, and sister Prado shared her conversion story, which was truly remarkable (she bought the BOM at a used book fair, read it and knew it was true, and traveled all the way to Peru to try to find the `Mormon` church, which ended up being right here in Portugal!) Lots of people were crying, and then sister Prado also said that she´d had a dream with Leo and Sol the night before, and afterward, Leo said that when they hugged, he felt like it was not a woman hugging him, but someone bigger and more loving and basically, he said it felt like the Savior was hugging him.

  Sigh. Gotta love the mission. So many spiritual experiences! I just love how the Lord places us right where we need to be in order to do His will. It´s mind-boggling, really. He loves us so much and He genuinely helps us all the time as we strive to bring His children closer to feeling His love. 

  I LOVE THE MISSION!

  We also did divisions in Olhão this week with the sister there, Sister Selk and Sister Andrade. I´ve already done divisions with Sister Andrade, so I thought it was great that we got to be together again! Then the next day my comp had a doctor´s appointment, so we didn´t get a rest this week! SO MUCH WORK. SO TIRED. BUT SO HAPPY.

Well, I think that´s all the news i´ve got this week! Hope everyone has a blessed week! Love you all!

love,

Sister Mancuso

 

 

 

 

Lisboa, Menina, e Moҫa

Hello!

How was everyone´s week?

Mine was SO AMAZING! 

Where to start?

  I am now a year old on the mission. That´s new. I also happened to have the best 1 year anniversary ever because it was Mission Counsel and it was the most powerful one yet!

But i´m getting ahead of myself.

Let´s start with tuesday.

  I met my new mission president and his wife on tuesday night! Then on wednesday we had the Algarve Zone Conference with President Tavares! It was super spiritual and amazing! Before coming to Portugal, they received special instruction from all of the apostles for 5 days! There is no other training like that in the church, so, man, was he inspired!

  President Tavares has been working for CES for most of his life and so he´s very instructed an dintelligent. He has this Fogo (fire) for the new mission and for Portugal, and it´s incredible to be able to witness it. Sister Tavares is so sweet! She is always feeding us and she is so ready to be here and help out with the work! She served a mission here in portugal before she got married, so it´s great that she´s back!

  And since the Tavares´ were going back to lisbon that day, we decided to hitch a ride with them instead of take a really long bus... 3 hours with the new mission president... But it actually ended up being really awesome and we all felt very inspired and uplifted afterwards! Since mission cousel was going to be in the mission home the next day, we stayed there and hung out with Sister Tavares (who is such a sweetheart and I already love her so much!) and their daughter, Karen. We laughed and talked a lot, and they told me all about Brazil (they´re from Curitiba) which makes me really wanna go there one day, especially since I can speak the language now!

  Me and Sister Cardoso spent the night in the mission home... in the General Authority room! It was so funny to think that lots of Apostles slept where we were sleeping...

  And then the next day: MISSION COUNSEL.

  2 words: Blown away. The most spiritual MC yet. We all gathered in the living room and President and Sister Texeira (he´s part of the seventy and he is in charge over ALL of europe) who both also served in Portugal as well. We learned a lot about making goals. We learned the importance of setting, making, and keeping them. This work is full of goals. We´re ALWAYS making goals. Even in life, goal-making is essential. But when we align our will with the Lord´s will and work on reaching inspired goals, we will witness miracles. Not just in the mission, but in LIFE! I love how the mission really is preparing me for what comes next: life! MC was incredible and everyone was crying and we all heard inspiring stories and all of us left with so much FOGO and were so ready to go out and talk to everyone! 

  After those amazing 2 days in Lisbon, we had to go back to Faro by Bus. I kinda missed riding with the Tavares´ because it was cheaper and shorter and with better company. But this time we went with the Elders, and that was also great because the Elders can be such goofballs and make us laugh on long bus rides!

  We also had this great lesson on Friday with this elect family of 2 grandparents and their grandson. Lucas, the grandson, is so excited to be baptized. He was the example for his family, and now his grandma is also preparing to be baptized and we had such a spiritual lesson with them. They are from the amazon in Brazil (aka Lamanites!) and they know that these things are true! The Grandpa, Leo, had a dream that someone was telling him about the church and its beliefs before we ever even got there and ever since then, he´s been wanting to be baptized! So, we´ll update next week!

  Hope everyone has a great week!

  Amo Vocês!

-Sister Mancuso

 

 

 

The law of opposition is TRUE

Hey everyone!

  This week was... interesting. Wow. Where do I start?

  Well, like I said last week, we had the amazing baptism of our investigator André. Man, he is gonna be a big leader in the church one day. I can feel it. But just as I can feel it, the enemy (Satan) can also feel it, and he was working hard last week to make that not happen. I see this a lot on my mission. We missionaries call it "A lei de opposição"- the law of opposition. I know that it truly exists because i´ve seen it time and time and time again on my mission, and in my own life as well. Every time we make a decision to do good, Satan is right there behind us trying to steer us away from that.

  Long story short, André was definitely feeling that opposition this week. Without going into too much detail, lots of strange things were happening and we decided to have a lesson with André and the elders, and the Elders gave him a blessing of comfort and peace. We spent a lot of time with André, Joana (she´s 7 and getting ready to be baptized too), and Elisabete (their mom). They are starting to see the difference of living the Gospel in their home, even though it´s not easy. But it´s worth it. 

  And we felt so proud of them when we all went to McDonald´s and Joana traded her iced tea for a juice box. *sniff sniff wipe off a tear* AND He was confirmed yesterday at church! He now has the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is super important!

  We also had our very last Zone conference with the Fluckigers. They are leaving Portugal next week and we´re gonna get new mission presidents! It was super spiritual and we all cried, and me and Sister Cardoso made SO MANY COOKIES for our sisters here in the Algarve.

  Fun Fact: Portugal doesn´t sell chocolate chips, so we have to cut up chocolate bars every time we make cookies.

  So that was my week. I´ll finish off with my favroite quote of the week! Love you all!

“No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

-Joseph Smith

Love,

Sister Mancuso

Batismo em Praia de Faro

Hello!

This week was great!

  André, our investigator, got baptized yesterday at the beach! Another Jovem (youth) baptized him and he was really happy. The opposition for him was so strong, but he did enter the waters of Baptism and he loved it and now, life is good! He´s only 14, but he was such a bright future ahead of him! I have a feeling he is going to serve a mission one day :)

  His mom was a less active for most of her life, butnow they are all coming to church, and they make me so happy! Sometimes I get scared when i think of the future, but then I think of the scripture that says "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

  Needless to say, yesterday was one of the best days ever.

  What else?

  We did a division in my old area of PORTIMÃO!!!!!! It was so great to be there again and to see everyone! it was also strange because last time I was there was when I was in my 3rd transfer, and now I came back as an STL and in my 8th! It was surreal, but so worth it. I did a division with Sister Marinho (YES, Sister Marinho (mother), I know you´re reading this!!!) and with Sister Steagall, both of which are stunning sisters. They teach with the spirit and I just love divisions because they teach me so much!

  I know that this church is true, and I know that the Lord loves us!

 

 

Hello Everyone!!!!

HELLO EVERYONE!

Shout-out to my little sister SARAH! Sarah got her mission call to serve in the ECUADOR QUAYAQUIL WEST MISSION! I´m so proud of her and so happy that she´s going to serve the Lord in Ecuador for a year and a half!

WOW. The rest of my week is gonna seem boring compared to that news.

  

   But i´ll tell you anyway. SSSOOOO on sunday night, I got THE CALL from Sister Fluckiger (the one that means that SOMEONE in the house is gonna be sister training leader next transfer) and it turns out... I got transferred to Faro! After only 2 transfers in Braga! Sister Gutierrez is staying in Braga one more transfer. I have to admit, I predicted it, but my predictions never come true, so that´s why I was surprised it actually did this time. During my last week in Braga, I got REALLY bad allergies and my lip and half of my face swole up! It was crazy, so we finally reported it and sent pictures to a doctor. I think that might´ve been a factor in my being transfered to Faro. But now i´m going to be STL in the Algarve and I get to visit 2 of my old areas- Lagos and Portimão! I´m stoked because this was my dream! Not to mention, I´m gonna stay in my mission! I was preparing myself to be in Porto, but here I am in Lisbon! AAHH!!! 

So that was a major plot twist.

Anyway, I stayed up late packing, and we left early in the morning to go to Lisboa. 6 hours and a bus ride later, I got there! And I met my new companion, Sister Cardoso. She´s portuguese, but she also speaks really good english, so we speak both english and portuguese. We stayed in Lisbon on monday so we could go to Conselho de Missão (some Elders like to call it Jedi Counsel...). IT WAS AWESOME!

Conselho da missão was amazing! We recieved amazing instructions and recieved tons of revelation, and I felt so happy and grateful to be a missionary! It was President´s last one, and the spirit was so strong! It just got us all ready to go out and do our best and keep on trying hard!

After that, came the difficult part: lugging my suitcases all the way to the Algarve... ! It was a nightmare, but thankfully everything turned out fine. After another 3 1/2 hour bus ride, we finally got to Faro, and had to run home because it was already super late! The Faro house is so pretty, and so close to the Chapel! We have blue tiles on the walls and There´s also this giant wardrobe that reminds me of The Lion, the Witch, And the Wardrobe. It happens to be where I put all of my clothes...

And so began the first few days of my transfer in a new area with a new companion and pretty much a new everything. The first few days are always awkward... But now it´s fine. I´m adjusting and getting to know everyone!

The north and the south are so different from one another. It´s like the difference between NYC and New Orleans. So different! But beautiful, nonetheless. 

My Quote of the week: "Everytime we reach out, however feebly for Him, we discover He has been anxiously trying to reach us." I testify that this is true! I have seen this so many times on my mission. God loves us so much, and anytime we do our best to achieve what we wanta nd use the power of prayer, we will achieve it if it´s His will. I love my mission and i´m so excited to take on Faro and grow and help others grow even more!

I love all of you!

love,

Sister Mancuso

Bracara Augusta

FUN FACT: Braga has been around for thousands of years, and was the capital of the roman state of Galecia, and it was called Bracara Augusta. Pretty legit. So this week there was this big festival in the city center and there were lots of people dressed in togas and street vendors and random roman bands playing music. It was really neat! Obviously we did´t participate, we just walked through to get to places, and it was still interesting.

  This week was... stunning. But definitely a roller coaster. We went to Matosinhos (Pronounced Matosiños), just outside of Porto, AND IT´S SO BEAUTIFUL THERE! Even though, it´s an hour by train, and then by metro, it´s great! I like to look at the portuguese countryside, even though I get a little anxious when we travel. Don´t know why. 

  But... We did a division with the sisters there and I LOVED IT. I went with Sister Hillam, who is amazing! She is so happy and bubbly, and she was praying that this division would be miraculous, AND IT WAS. It was literally one miracle after the other! We met so many families who were willing to listen to our message, and we also ran into a couple of less actives and had great lessons with them! I know that that day, the Lord placed us where we had to be exactly at the right place and time, and the best part was that it kept happening again and again! We talked a lot about how important obedience is in our lives and if we´re obedient, we will see the blessings of it. Sometimes it won´t be immediately, sometimes it´ll take awhile, and (as Jeffrey R. Holland once said), some don´t come until after this life, but they do come! Obedience is the first law of heaven! Never forget that!

  Oh, And... In the morning, we all went running to the beach, and we decided to go sword fighting with the Elders!

  Oh. let me tell you all a little something about Portuguese Pastries. Most of the time, we abstain from eating them simply by not walking into the confeitarias, But in Matosinhos, we cracked... And it was so good. Pasteis de Nata. Uma maravilha... :)

  On monday, we went ot visit this family whose son (his name is Kelvin. He´s awesome!) really likes church and goes with us almost every sunday. There are 3 other little sisters at home, and they are so cute! The youngest one is 7, and we decided to pray with them, and she wanted to say the prayer. After I helped her, she just looked at me and said "I can feel it. A warmth in my chest." and she just pointed up. The feeling in the room was so strong and everyone was quiet because the Spirit was there, testifying to all of us! It was amazing.

  Also, we have this investigator from spain and she only speaks spanish, and she went back to Cadiz this week, but she loves the Sisters and she feels the spirit so strong everytime she´s with us! I gave her the only spanish Book of Mormon I had, and she said she´s gonna read it and find the church in Cadiz. I love her!

  Well, that´s all for this week! Hope you all have a great week! Here´s a picture of me sword fighting an Elder!

love,

Sister Mancuso