Christmas Week

Pictures!

1. Our Starbucks trip on Christmas Eve

2. How we spent Christmas! In the hospital ha-ha visiting a bunch of members and investigators.

3. An awesome part of our area.

Ok first, I’m really sorry Brooke, Stu, and Katie that I didn’t get to talk to you guys on Christmas. We had some emergencies come up. I was only able to talk to Mom and Dad for the hour before I had to be in the house. I only saw Colin and Jen for like a minute. But it was really great to see you guys!

This week was crazy! It went by so fast.

Christmas Eve was awesome and it fell on our p-day so we basically just stayed downtown and went shopping and did touristy stuff. Then we had a ward Christmas thing for people who don’t have family here.

Christmas day we did studies and then went to visit some people. We had to go to the hospital and visit people and we really didn’t do all that much, but everything took forever because of transport. It was a really awesome day though and talking to Mom and Dad was way fun. I was glad that it didn’t make me homesick! Yay! Ha-ha.

On Thursday we had a conference with the Europe area president and it was really amazing. They showed this video and we were all a mess. I think the missionaries in our mission have really been struggling but the video definitely helped.


After the conference I realized I need to be studying a lot more effectively in order to stay focused in this area so I’ve been reading the conference Ensign like every second we are in the house and I just can’t get over how incredible this session was.

After working really hard to stay focused and be exactly obedient, my companion and I were so blessed to have six investigators in church. All of which were not even the people we had been calling or planning with. They just showed up! It was really great and I know Heavenly Father blesses us when we are really trying our hardest.

Sorry I’m short on time today because we needed naps. Like, really badly ha-ha. But I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and thanks to everyone in the Westminster ward for the Christmas cards!

I love you guys so much!

Stay strong, the Church is true! I love you!

Irmã Dean

It's Christmas!

12-24-12

It’s Christmas!

Sorry, today has been kind of crazy and we've been running all over the place so this will not be the most coherent email of my mission. peço desculpa. (I ask forgiveness...yeah it just means sorry.)

1. FYI I live with a caveman. When my companion is frustrated or tired or angry or annoyed or basically any emotion other than happy, she makes this caveman grunt noise and she has officially started rubbing off on me. Please don’t disown me when I get back.

2. I saw Pedro this week! (My physical therapist). I had to go in for a checkup and it was super fun to see him. He was all, "you have to come back! I need to practice English! It’s getting worse!" It was really cute. I go back one last time in another three weeks and then I guess if I don’t run into him later on the mission (when he decides he’s ready to be baptized) then I will just have to wait for the celestial kingdom. Sad, but also kind of cool. Because I really wanted to take advantage of one of the last times I would see him and like really testify about the Book of Mormon or invite him to church or something.

So at the beginning of the appointment I just said a prayer to ask Heavenly Father to guide me and to help me know what I should say to him and the spirit just said, "No, he’s not ready yet. You accomplished your purpose with him. Now you stay his friend and leave him with these good feelings about the church." It was kind of shocking but I felt so peaceful about it and I have no doubt that I needed to be in physical therapy for a reason.

3. Irma Olson and I are Heavenly Father's favorite daughters in the Lisbon mission.

I’m serious. This is the best area in the entire mission to be in for Christmas. I can’t even comprehend how beautiful it is. Last night we went with our Stake Choir to go caroling in the heart of historical Lisbon. There were huge crowds of people gathering to hear us sing and people were recording it and there were people crying. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. We handed out tons of cards and pamphlets and “Joy to the World” DVDs and it was so fun to spread the joy of Christmas like that. We were so lucky we got to be there because it’s in our area! This place is magical!

Well I still have to email president, but I love you all so much. Mom and dad I’m so excited to talk to you tomorrow! And everyone else in the family I will try to Skype with you if you’re on! I will be online probably between 1 and 2pm Lisbon time. I love you guys so much!

Merry Christmas!

Remember that the reason we celebrate the birth of Christ is because He was born to die for us. I know He is our savior and that He loves and care for every one of us. I know He is always by our side and that you can really feel Him with you tomorrow.

I love you all!

Boas festas e feliz natal!

Alma 7:10-13

Irma Dean

Santa I know Him!

12-17-12

Well hello.

This week is going to be a little shorter because I sent a bunch of pictures and those are worth a thousand words, right?

I honestly don’t really remember what happened this week. It went by so fast.

All I know is…

We had Christmas conference! Yay! And my camera stopped working the day before so that’s awesome. So, I have to bum pictures off of other people and send them later. Sorry. But the conference was seriously amazing. AMAZING. The spirit was so incredible and we had such a great time. President and Irma Fluckiger did so many nice things for us and the food was awesome. We got to see all our friends! It was pretty much just awesome. Also, one of the members from Mem Martins, my first area was there. Her name is Joelma and she was like a mom for me there. I ran and gave her a hug and burst into tears. It was like the biggest tender mercy ever. I love her so much. She said they had been talking about me the other day and didn’t know where I was but that they all miss me a lot, which is like a missionary's dream to hear from members. Well, mine at least.

Also, it’s been raining a ton and our house is so humid that our paper is moist. And I can see my breath inside the house.

Umm... yeah I really can’t think of anything else ha-ha. We had to push back the baptism date of the two girls in Família Pico because in a lesson with the dad we felt it was too fast. So just keep them in your prayers.

Other than that I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been writing me! I keep getting so many letters and I love you all so much and I’m so grateful! I’m sorry I haven’t had time to write most of you back but I’m praying for you guys and it always makes my day to get letters from you guys, especially from the ward! Thank you!

Ok, well, I love you guys! Next email from me will be on Christmas Eve! Woo!

Have a great week!

Irma Dean

Pictures!

This is  an Elder who is finishing his mission and came to Lisbon to meet with a recent convert who is now inactive and introduce us to her.  

  In a really cool part of our area with said recent convert, Ana.  

  Irma Olson and I at a members house decorating the tree.  

 Yuri (baptized three weeks ago), Hernani (our ward mission leader who was baptized just over a year ago), Aguida (basically our favorite member) and her daughter Marcia, Irma Olson

Irma Olson, Irma nelson, me, and Irma joão at the Christmas conference

Ana, me, and Christina (our gospel principles teacher) at the ward Christmas party.  

Preggo

9 months on the mission, pregnant pictures.

Lapa

12/10/12

Lapa!

Well I had my first week here in Lapa! It was great.

This area is the heart of Lisbon, in the historical district with all the awesome architecture and tourist attractions. It's decorated so beautifully for Christmas and I am so excited to be here for the holidays!

My new companion, Irma Olson, is from Utah and she's really great. We get along really well. If for no other reason, because she is also obsessed with Jersey Shore and movies. Basically we quote Jersey Shore every single day and we have a lot of laughs.

Our house is just about the smallest thing I've ever seen but it’s in a really cool old European building, so it's part of the experience.

The week went really well. We've been working mostly with two guys, Fernando and Yuri, who were both baptized last week. We taught them throughout the week and they both received the Holy Ghost on Sunday. They are awesome! Especially Fernando. He is the boyfriend of a member whose family, Família Pico, is part-member/part-active. He had no interest in talking to the missionaries but always came to activities and stuff and then started to read the Book of Mormon and talked to the missionaries and said he knew he needed to be baptized. This was two weeks ago, and today he is almost done with the book of Mosiah! He has been highlighting and making notes in the margin of his Book of Mormon and asked for one in English to start reading. He also brought his mom to church on Sunday to see him confirmed, and has already given her a Book of Mormon. What a rock star. He's so legit. He needs to serve a mission.

We've also been working a lot with that family, Família Pico, because they were baptized a few years ago but when they moved to Lisbon they went inactive. Now the parents are still inactive, but the two oldest girls are back in church (girlfriend of Fernando and another one) and the two youngest daughters haven't been baptized yet. They are nine and twelve and are always at church, the dad is just keeps saying it's too fast and they need to wait a little longer. They read and pray every day though and that whole family is awesome. The bishop came to a lesson with us and said that he would talk to the dad Joaquim, and that he should be the one to baptize the little girls. Bishop is on board and we are hoping to get Joaquim's permission to baptize them this Sunday. So pray for us and the family! Our President and the area presidency want us to complete families so we know the Lord is rooting for us on this one.

Tomorrow is our mission Christmas Conference! We are so excited!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it's Christmas! Yay!

Whelp, I love you guys. Go watch the following.

Home alone

Elf

The Family Stone

The Holiday

Just Friends

The Santa Clause

It’s a Wonderful Life

And then drink hot chocolate with a candy cane in it.

Love you!

Irma... I mean Sister Dean... yeah they switched our tags. I don’t want to talk about it.

The Downhill Slope

12/04/12

The Downhill Slope

This Friday is nine months on the mission!!

I’m already reaching my half way! Can you guys believe that? Its blowing my mind I can’t even process it.

Sadly, next week I won’t be including my pregnant pictures because we have Christmas conference which means we don’t get a p-day that week and I’m not sure if we will be able to email the next day.

But guess what!!!

We had transfers!!

I got moved from Quinta do Conde to an area called Lapa. It’s right in Lisbon, and is amazing! Look it up ha-ha it’s exactly what you have in your mind when you picture Europe. We live across the street from the national art museum ha-ha. My new comps name is Irma Olson and she’s super nice and I think we're going to get along really well. Everyone says we are a lot alike so it’s either going to be fantastic or awful. Let’s pray for fantastic. Also, there is a Starbucks in this area. Tender mercy. We live like right on The Rive Tejo and we can see Cristo Rei (a giant Christ like the one in Brazil) from our window. The house is crazy small but its fun. I am already so in love with this area.

President wrote me back this past week and said that he feels that the Lord has more for me to do here and that "The Lord is sending you to one of the strongest wards in the country with a wonderful companion who will be a great help to you. He is giving you an area and counting on you to make it better than it is today because of your unselfish service. We love you"

No pressure.

I was really scared of coming here at first because my heart literally broke at having to leave our district and that ward, and I was so nervous to get here. Lapa has a reputation for being one of the best areas in the mission, let alone Irma area. So it’s a little intimidating but I feel so lucky and excited to be here.

Before we got the transfer call I was reading the scriptures to distract myself because I was so nervous. I read in D&C 103, which talks about how the saints received chastisement for a while and the Lord promised them that blessing would come after tribulation. Then it goes on to say that the time of the Lord’s blessing has arrived and they will be delivered. I felt so strongly that whatever was about to happen was going to be Heavenly Father giving me the blessing I’ve been needing and my reward for having stuck out the last two transfers that were pretty much an emotional and physical crap-storm. Everything I find out about this area is proving to me that the Lord knows me and he wants to bless me. I’m so grateful he’s given me this area and that I can learn a lot here.

Oh, also, our district is us and the four office elders... that part should be interesting ha-ha but they’re all pretty cool.

But yeah, I’m so excited to start the second half of my mission in this area and get back to feeling like I’m really here and really doing the Lord’s work.

Thank you all for the prayers and support! Have a great week and sing Christmas songs and stay happy! Because I’m happy. And the Lord wants us happy!

2 Nephi 2:25 Here’s my new address for letters

Rua do Olival Nº116 2º anda, Porta 5 1200- Prazeres Portugal

And don’t forget packages can only go to

Irma Erin Dean a/c Igreja de Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Ulitmos Dias Rua Jorge Barradas Nº14C 1500-370 Lisboa Portugal

Love you guys!

Milagres

11/26/12

Milagres

Did you eat the piece of pumpkin pie?

You better have.

Well helloooooooooo familia! It’s been a wonderful week. Hard, but wonderful.

Primeira, Our Thanksgiving celebration was the most legit thing ever. Irma Patterson made turkey legs that were enormous and we had pretty much everything but the stuffing. And pumpkin pie. But we had so much fun and it was definitely what we’ve needed as a district. Irma Patterson and I basically just talked the entire day and got to spend time together so it was really great. It was also Elder Herycz's birthday so we had cake for him and everything. That kid is spoiled. Well, ok, both of our Elders are spoiled because they have a district of four Irma’s. They get way more baked goods than they deserve at meetings. But after our Thanksgiving celebration we had all been invited to a member’s house for dinner and they also had cake for Elder Herycz ha-ha so we ate a lot that day. It was really nice to feel a little bit like home for this time of year and we’ve been listening to a bunch of Christmas music too.

Segunda, We had interviews with President Fluckiger. It was.... interesting. It was hard medicine that I definitely needed. I got put into my place and then some. But, I really needed it. I didn’t realize how discouraged I’d gotten because of the work and my physical therapy but it’s had a really big impact on me, my companion, and the work here. So we talked for a while and at the beginning he was not very happy with me. And then some things were said and then he felt really bad for me (I think) because he just kind of looked at me FOREVER and then asked, "Sister Dean, Would you like me to give you a blessing?" I was kind of like, “Uh... Yes President, that would be wonderful.” Even though, in my head I was like, “Why in the world did he feel prompted to ask me that?” Then he talked a lot about his responsibility as our leader but mostly as a priesthood holder in general and said, "You know, it’s hard sometimes to know if you’re fulfilling your priesthood responsibility.” “ I’ve never walked on water or raised someone from the dead, so sometimes I have moments of questioning if I do enough" and then he read a scripture about priesthood calling being that of "doing good" and said that he found comfort that as long as he was doing good things to help then he could know the Lord is happy with him. And then he said "let's find out what the Lord has to say." Poor thing, I think he genuinely just doesn’t know how to help me and its worrying him. Because I’ve been really blessed to be out here for so long with the back condition I have. The fact that I’m still here and haven’t been sent home or reassigned yet is HUGE. The fact that I’m allowed to travel outside of my area for half of the day, three times a week and do physical therapy while on the mission is not normal. It puts him in a hard position and I know he wants so much to do what is right, so after our interview I’ve been trying a lot harder to show President, but most importantly, the Lord that I appreciate this blessing and that I still want to be here. Our leaders are definitely called of God because they are exactly who we need!

Terceira, After said interview and change in my effort level, we have seen so many miracles! We found ten new investigators the next day and are so excited to work with them. We kept finding more people all through the week and we had a ward activity that the missionaries were in charge of and it went so much better than we expected. Also, in church there were so many lessons and talks on missionary work and afterward we got so many invitations for meals. Almost every single day this coming week we have lunch and dinner with members! That is huge! Last transfer we ate with a member twice the entire six weeks!

Quarta, Are you aware that fasting works? You should all try it and have a lot of faith and gain a testimony of it, because mine was definitely strengthened this week. On Friday during our planning, we prayed and felt really strongly that we needed to have this one man, Simões in church on Sunday. Like it was vital. Only problem, that’s the only thing we know about him. We’ve seen him at the train station and bus stops a bunch and he’s always saying hi to us and asking about church but EVERY TIME we try to get his contact his bus comes and he doesn’t have time to give it to us. We had no way of getting a hold of him. The only way we were going to be able to invite him to church was to have miracle and happen to see him somewhere on the street between Friday afternoon and Sunday night.

I started a fast immediately after physical therapy that afternoon and I prayed so hard the whole time that we could see him on the street for two minutes, invite him to church, give him the address, and remind him what time it starts.

Then Saturday after I broke my fast, the day was getting really hard and frustrating and it was pouring and my boots broke. Both of them. So I was walking with puddles in my shoes and just saying over and over in my head, "I love my mission". I ran around like a crazy trying to find a pair of shoes that I could use and couldn’t so I finally had to go buy super glue and just try to do the best I could until I can buy some new shoes today. I was getting really stressed because with the shoe issue, we were going to miss our bus and be later than expected to prepare for the activity. When we could finally go to the bus stop to leave for the chapel, we sat down on the bench to wait, and thirty seconds later Simões came walking across behind us and said hello to us. I freaked out. I was so excited. We invited him to church and he committed to coming and literally shouted “Yes! I want to come! I will see you tomorrow!” As he ran across the street to get on his bus that was arriving. So we still didn’t have his contact, and I’ll be honest, he didn’t show up to church, but that’s not what I fasted for. I fasted and prayed for a chance to speak with him long enough to invite him and I got it! It was amazing. We’ve seen him around before but seldom long enough that we really needed a miracle for it to happen. I have no doubt that the Lord constructed that and he answered my prayers and he will answer yours as well.

I love you all, hope your Thanksgiving and Black Fridays were great. Have a great time in Hawaii Mom and Dad, go to Haleiwa Eats for me and get some yellow curry and papaya salad.

Love you all!!!

Irma Dean

Happy Thanksgiving

11/19/12

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear everyone, Please eat a slice of pumpkin pie for me. Thanksgiving obviously doesn’t exist here, but, today we get to have a district p-day and have a Thanksgiving celebration!

We’re excited.

This week went alright, physical therapy has gotten a lot more intense so I’ve been crazy sore all week but I’ve also been able to do more work. We’ve had a ton of tender mercies this week and I know that Heavenly Father is helping us get a little happier. Next week we have interviews with President and I’m really looking forward to it. The work is still hard but we have some people who are starting to progress and I really feel like there are people who are ready to be baptized in this area before the end of the transfer. We are going to do a lot of finding this week!

Pray for the pure in heart to be guided to us and for us to recognize them! Gosh, I’m sorry I never really tell you guys anything about how it’s going lately but I don’t have a ton of time because I had to write my mission president in Portuguese and it took me like half an hour to type it. Writing in Portuguese is hard!

But really I just wanted to take the little time I do have right now and tell you all how grateful I am for you. You are so incredible and I love you so much. On my mission I have realized that one of the biggest blessings in my life has been the family and friends I have.

I’m so grateful to have an eternal family and even though holidays are a mess and we fight, we love each other. I want you guys to know, Mom, Dad, Colin, Jen, Ryan, Evan, Stuart, Brooke, Ocean, Maple, and Katie that I love you all so much. I miss you something awful this time of year but I love telling my investigators members and other missionaries about you guys. Thank you so much for the support, letters, emails, pictures, packages, prayers and EVERYTHING you guys have done for me in my life and right now during the mission. Thank you for the example you all are and for loving me even though I’m the annoying spoiled brat youngest sibling. You guys are the best part of my life and I’m so grateful for you and so sorry I take you for granted so often.

And to any friends reading this I want you to know that every single one of you have touched my life. Otherwise I don’t think you’d be reading this. Ha-ha but really, the blessing if having such incredible friends in my life is amazing! Thank you for your letters, emails, packages and love and prayers. I pray for you guys just as much and I miss you so much! I’m so grateful that Heavenly Father has placed you in my life and for the influence you’ve all had on me.

I’m sorry but I really do have to go. I promise next week I will have good mission stuff to tell you!!!

Please remember you’re grateful for me and therefore forgive how short this email is.

Here we go again....

This week's scripture is Alma 41:10
Because being disobedient kicks you in the face.
Not worth it.

It’s been a little bit of a rough week.
We found out Bruno is only 8, so he is a ward baptism and not a missionary baptism. I’m not upset that he won’t count for our numbers or anything. Because of the situation with his mom being inactive, she is now having some doubts, and we have to schedule an interview with the bishop for him to be baptized. So it’s been pushed back at least two weeks. We just really don’t want it to keep getting delayed and then him slip through the cracks.
Also we are just really sad with the ward because Sunday was the primary program and they wouldn’t let Bruno participate because he hadn’t been at all of the practices. He sat with us in the congregation and sang along to every song and it broke my heart. It really made his mom upset and she thinks it’s because the ward thinks he behaves badly and therefore doesn’t think he’s acting well enough to be baptized.
I had my consult on Wednesday and I was really stressed about it so I got a blessing (those are pretty frequent if you hadn't caught on yet) and in it the Elder said I needed to be 100 percent honest with the doctor and that he would know what I needed and it is what Heavenly Father wants for me.
So I went to the consult and he asked some stuff and checked out some pain points in my back and legs and suggested I do ten more sessions. So I’m not done yet, and I’m working on being ok with it. It’s just really frustrating. But I’m glad my physical therapist is so nice. Today he asked me very seriously about the difference between the words "inclusive" and "included" as though it had been bothering him FOREVER and he could finally have it answered. It was cute. I always seem to go into the appointment stressed and frustrated and just a little discouraged but I always, always leave laughing. So I’m really grateful for that. Irma Palmer is always commenting on how she’s out in the hall and can hear us cracking up in the back.
Then last night we had a companion inventory because I thought something was bothering Irma Palmer and instead it turned into a therapy session for Irma Dean. It’s fine. Whatever. Apparently I’m holding onto a lot of sadness and discouragement form our lack of success in my last area. Then my companion told me that three days ago she received revelation that I needed to talk to President about what’s going on and that she didn’t have anything else to say to me until I called him. Awesome. She’s bold that’s for sure. But I’d kind of been feeling the same thing all week so I called him and he and I talk for half an hour and it was really helpful. I need to apply the Atonement better and not be mad at myself for things I can’t control, like not being able to work as long or as hard outside of the house as other missionaries can. I felt a lot better after talking to him though.
And really, here’s the cherry on top of a crap sundae.
Our nametags are being switched to Sister instead of Irma.
STUPID. I’m not happy.
But you know what works for every moment of anything bad in our whole lives? The scriptures.
This week's real scripture is D&C 84:88
He lives and He is by our side, and He sends our family and friends to help us out so we can better feel His love.
Dad I got your letter in the mail today and it was just what I needed. Thank you!!
I love you guys, have a great week, and know I love you and I'm praying for you guys!

Keep Praying for me

Keep praying for me
Apparently I will need it...

This week was so great you guys!

First, on Wednesday I went to my last physical therapy appointment and he said that I would have a week with no treatments to see how that goes. I will come back in on Wednesday and see if I still need more treatments or not. But, he said he’s really happy with my progress. and I’m so glad because I just need it to be over. I know without a doubt there was purpose in me meeting Pedro and introducing him to the Church and me getting my back better, but I’m ready for a miracle and to get back to work. I’m so sick of having to travel there and take so much time away from the area. And all this week my back has been doing so well! I only had pain on Sunday and it went away in a few hours. That is some serious progress.

Second, we committed Bruno to be baptized this Sunday! He’s nine, and the son of a less active recent convert, and he is so excited to be baptized. His mom just wants to make sure he really knows what he’s doing with it because she felt like she was baptized too quickly, but pray for them! He is so smart and knows so much about baptism and why we need it!
Third, I’m sorry family; we are literally at the last like ten minutes of p-day so I have zero time. We had to bake a cake at the church because it’s Bruno’s mom's birthday! We are showing love to let her know God loves her and she should come back to church and let her son be baptized.
Fourth, I got a blessing from an Elder in my district this week even though I was feeling fine. My companion needed one and the spirit prompted me to get one too so I asked for one after and apparently God had A LOT to say to me. That blessing was the longest I’ve received on the mission and maybe ever in my life. But he said multiple times that the Lord wants me to be an example for my companion and my future companions and be a strength to them, and that the Lord wants me to put myself in situations that are out of my nature and will stretch me. He wants me to "place yourself out of your comfort zone" and be willing to show faith and learn how to do more things. I think the Lord is trying to prepare me for something and I don’t like the sound of it.
Pray for me.
Really.

I love you guys tons I hope everyone is safe and sound. The Church is true!
Also, my companion and I are writing a song about all the creepy men on the mission that say things like, "Irma, quero um beijo seu."
Look it up.
Love you guys!

Forget yourself and go to work

Aloha Todos!

It's a beautiful freezing rainy cloudy day today. It's 14ºC. I don't know what that is in America. But its cold!

Happy Halloween in advance, eat some candy for me. Halloween doesn't exist here.

First of all, I gave my physical therapist a Book of Mormon! I gave it to him on Monday and I had written a dedicatory in it. There was also a dedicatory from a member in the ward here who recommended I go to Pedro for physical therapy in the first place. Apparently their family is really close with him because he treated their grandmother right before she died and they just became really close. So the girl who wrote the dedicatory is a returned missionary and pretty much did my job for me and told him to read and pray about Moroni 10:3-5. However, I felt like I should write in it too. First of all, I gave my physical therapist a Book of Mormon! I gave it to him on Monday and I had written a dedicatory in it. There was also a dedicatory from a member in the ward here who recommended I go to Pedro for physical therapy in the first place. Apparently their family is really close with him because he treated their grandmother right before she died and they just became really close. So the girl who wrote the dedicatory is a returned missionary and pretty much did my job for me and told him to read and pray about Moroni 10:3-5. However, I felt like I should write in it too.

So I thanked him for the work he's doing and told him that without it I wouldn't be able to stay here in Portugal and finish my mission. I wanted him to know why it is I'm here and why it's the best part of my life. He seemed really grateful for it.

 So I came back for my next treatment on Wednesday and he walked in and the first thing he said was, "Thank you so much for that book! I loved it!" "What you wrote meant a lot to me and it really touched my heart." So I asked if he had read some and he said, "yes!" and that he started to read it a little more after had some time to ponder what he had read and then continued reading little by little and really loves it! You guys hes so elect I can't even handle it. He couldn't come to church because he was visiting his parents this weekend but he asked if he could come later! He's gonna get in the water. Pray for him. His name is Pedro. And he's awesome.

I've just been trying to really evaluate myself as a missionary lately and figure out what changes I need to make and how to do it. So it's been a pensive week. Our new district leader and Elder Herycz have helped out a lot. The priesthood is awesome. I got a blessing last night that was such an answer to prayer. You guys, I just love the mission. But I'm trying to really work harder this transfer so that I can be the missionary I thought I would be by this point in my mission.

The work has also started to get a little better this week because we've been able to do more of it. We've met some really great people and we are so excited to work with them. Hopefully we will have a baptism soon of a recent converts son. I'll keep you updated on that. We've been working hard to make our spirits stronger than our physical bodies so we can really accomplish as much as possible.

But yeah, things are looking up for this transfer and we're both really excited about it. Also, our district is legit. Irma Patterson (from my district in the MTC) is still here, and shes with Irma Rojo who I also knew in the MTC. Elder Herycz is from England and he stayed with us and his new companion, our district leader is Elder Guanuna and he's really fun. I'm excited for our first district meeting tomorrow. I feel like this transfer is going to be one of my favorites actually.I'm excited! But keep praying for me ha ha

love you guys!

Irmã Dean

Alohaaa: Brownies & Street Contacting

10/15

Hello fam!

How are you?

Mom, you will be happy to know that my physical therapist, Pedro, likes to use Asian medicine influence so the other day he gave me a foot massage.  He gave me an explanation on how oriental medicine says that everything in your body can be tied to your feet. And then he rubbed the part that has to do with the lumbar spine. And it hurt so badly I almost screamed and cried.  He had to have me teach him English words that they don’t have in Portuguese to keep me distracted. He’s a good guy that one, you’d like him. He’s kind of a hippy also. Like feels things very deeply and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does tai chi and yoga. He’s a very tranquil person. And very like emotionally in-tune. It’s interesting but he’s way fun. His broken but actually very impressive English is my favorite thing ever. Like the first week he was speaking to me in English and then gets all excited and says, "my English is from movies and television." so I’m actually really impressed with him.

Anyway, things are good. I don’t really have anything to write about. Life is pretty much the same. Studies, physical therapy, rest in the house some, teach some appointments, and come back to the house. Pedro said I should be sleeping ten hours a night. Craziness. So we come back to the house and I try to go to bed an hour earlier. It’s not easy. Irma Palmer and I always talk at night so I’m staying up later anyway. We gotta get better about that one.

Other than that though, I went on a division this past week. The coordinating sister for our area is actually companions with Irma Quebbeman, my mom! So the other sister came here to Quinta do Conde to be with Irma Palmer and I went to a place called Setubal to be reunited with my mama. It was really good to see her and catch up.  I got to teach some really great lessons with her.

They have a bull-fighting ring in their area. Jealous.

Ok so this week we had a really great miracle. This is the kind of thing that used to happen like five times a day in my first few transfers but hasn’t happened at all this transfer because the circumstances don’t allow for a lot of time just doing street contacting. We are always going to a planned lesson or physical therapy.

This one afternoon, Irma Palmer wanted to make the brownie mix Sommer had sent me. Sad day though, our oven is crap. The top burnt and underneath was still batter. She got so sad that she ruined my brownie mix and said we had to go to the store so she could buy me something to replace it. I really didn’t care but she was like distressed over it ha-ha so I said ok. Plus, I was super sick of being in the house so I was like yeah, I can go to the store. And then I remembered that I was being dumb, and if I can go to the store, I can be out working. So I repented really quickly for that thought and then prayed for a little and decided that I really could go out and work. So I promised heavenly father that I was going to find an elect first thing when we walked outside.

So we prayed to leave the house, and I prayed that Heavenly Father would guide us to someone he had already been preparing to receive the message of the Restored Gospel of Christ. We went outside and I turned in the opposite direction of the store and my companion was really confused but I just kept walking because that’s the direction I felt. I looked at the very end of our street and saw the little park thing there and knew that we would meet someone in that exact spot.

So I started walking over there and there was NO ONE outside. And finally we saw this one lady and we followed her down this other street like creepers because I felt like she wasn’t the elect lady but we needed to break the ice with her and then really be ready for the right person. So we talk to her and she only speaks Russian. But tudo bem, we went back around to the original place I had felt and right was we arrived, a woman and her two daughters were walking down the stairs and crossed the street to the spot I had seen. We walked over and talked to them for a minute. Her name is Lilliana and we talked to her about the Plan of Salvation and she was reading the pamphlet before we even explained what it was. And then we invited her to be baptized into the church of Christ when she knew that the things we taught were true. And she said yes!

I’ve had other street contacts accept convite suave before but not the same way. It’s always like; well yeah if someday it turns out this church is right then maybe I'd follow Christ. But she just looked at us and said yes, I want to. So we have an appointment with her today and we're really excited. And even if it turns into nothing, the spirit was there in our contact and it felt so great. It had just been a really down day and then something as simple as asking Heavenly Father to help us find someone works out so perfectly. We walked out of the house; I saw a spot, felt "that’s it. Someone is there" and we went and found her. It was really what we needed that day.

In other news, Irma Palmer also got sick and I’m talking, really, really sick. So the Elders had to come over to our house to give her a blessing. It was WEIRD. They just like knew where we lived and walked up and were banging on our windows. So we let them in and they're like, "oh it looks different in here." it was really strange. And they ate that whole pan of brownies that were burnt and not cooked all at the same time. And then 40 minutes later we were like, yeah this is strange, I mean... cool, and all but are you guys going to give her that blessing or what?
It was a strange night.
Anyway, I love you guys! It’s the last week of the transfer! Next email I’ll let you know if I get moved! Pray for us ha-ha we need it!

Forgiveness... is more than saying sorry

10/22

I’m so grateful for your emails. I love hearing about what's going on. I remember when President Monson announced the age change for missionaries, the sisters we all just dropped our jaws and started freaking out. It’s so true though. We talked after about how they said not one word about "if you’re not dating" or anything about that but just that they welcome and anticipate the service of more sisters. I loved that! That was what really testified to me that things are going to get crazy soon and Heavenly Father really is sending his army with this next generation because marriage is being pushed aside. The gospel needs to be spread urgently!

I love it!

Last week I got a letter from a friend serving in India and they are getting sisters in their mission for the first time ever! Awesome!

I love you guys a ton, I’ll try and write an email to everyone even though there’s not much to say other than I’m staying in the same area with the same companion again! One more transfer together, I’m excited.

But I love you guys a ton!!!

Props to anyone who got the pop culture reference in the subject line.

There is nothing to say this week. I’m so sorry. I’ve been a bad friend/ family member. We had an amazing lesson with Galea, the woman that I told about a few weeks ago. But she said her husband won’t give her permission to be baptized. She asked if she could lie to her husband and say she was going to work and instead come to church and be baptized. I was really upset that I had to say no... That won’t fly with God. Being honest is a commandment and we aren’t trying to cause marital problems. After that one lesson we couldn’t even get a hold of her and yeah obviously things are getting harder for her. Satan doesn’t want her baptized. It was a really hard week but honestly, she wasn’t baptized because I didn’t do everything I should have. I had a lot of repenting to do.
I was praying and the spirit just said, "you’re right, you let her get away, but don’t worry. Someone else will baptize her next transfer."
Don’t worry, knife in my heart. And I was 100 convinced that meant I was being transferred.
But we got transfer calls and Irma Palmer and I are staying here in Quinta do Conde.
I got really confused and heavenly father said, "You need to be someone else this transfer. You can’t stay the same person anymore."
Pray for me.
I’ve got some changes to make and it’s not going to be easy.
Anyway, I love you guys! The atonement is real, and thank goodness.
PS: I’m giving my physical therapist a Book of Mormon today. Should be interesting.

Post-Conference Thoughts

10/8
Well let’s just get right to it shall we?
Did anyone else's brain explode with that announcement about missionaries?
Mine did.
I know everyone is already saying it, but it's true. Things are going to get crazy, because if Heavenly Father needs that many missionaries right now, it's because so many more people are ready to be baptized before Christ comes.
It didn’t hurt that my companion and I were sitting in a separate room with half of the other missionaries in our zone to watch conference in English when they announced it and we all just looked around at each other and started screaming and going crazy. We all had chills and were so excited. Irma Palmer and I will still look at each other and just be like ohhhh my goodness. I can’t believe it.
Really exciting though, our native speaking Cabo Verdian District Leader was doing accompanhimento (I don’t know what that is in English) at the end of the day and asked us in Portuguese (which translated is a lot more harsh) "Are you guys upset that all the nineteen year old women will come on missions and you guys will be really old when you go home? I think it will be harder for you guys to get married." It's fine. Thanks Elder Ribeiro.
But! Caroline Bliss, I am so proud of you! I heard about your Facebook status and I felt when they announced that, that I needed to write you and tell you to go NOW.
Other than that, Conference was just amazing all around.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

I prayed and fasted and listened to the Spirit and its official, looks like I’m going back to BYU Hawaii after my mission. During conference we watched all of the sessions except one in English. We watched one in Portuguese because we were sitting with our investigators, and let me tell you, I did not understand anything. It’s fine. My Portuguese is getting a lot worse. But when I heard that one speaker start talking about the Laie Hawaii temple, all I knew was he was telling some story about the importance of details, I have no idea what happened in the story though, but the spirit said I need to go back. So I’m doing it! I’m.... praying to be happy about it. It will be good though. And there were tons of talks about being happy to accept the Lords will so that’s absolutely what I needed to learn.

Also, Elder Holland's talk had all us missionaries SILENT. We pretty much got whipped into shape with that one.

But basically I've just been geeking out about Conference.

Also, fun fact:
My Zone Leader reminds me of Seth Cohen on the O.C.

I remembered that because I just want to tell you guys, the Priesthood is real and POWERFUL. I know all those men who spoke in Conference were called of God, especially our prophet Thomas S. Monson.

This past week was a huge testimony to me that the Priesthood is real. If you know me well, you know I don't like to show when I need help. Spending almost an entire transfer basically in the house is not easy as a missionary and it has not been easy on my companion. I've felt like a huge burden to her and to our district and zone because we are really struggling. Satan was definitely taking advantage of the situation with physical therapy to make me feel like a huge burden and thinking things like it would be better for the mission/area/my companion if I just went home to deal with this. THOSE ARE NOT GOOD FEELING/THOUGHTS. So I got a blessing from Elder Twede and it was one of the most powerful and monumental experiences I've ever had with the Priesthood and just spiritually in general. I know that the men in our church really do hold the power of God. All you priesthood holders honor it. Find ways to use it more and help those around you.
I know the church is true, I love you guys!
Also, there was some drama with the people running conference not wanting to let the missionaries watch it in English, so this week’s scripture was D&C 90:11.
Ha-ha, I’m still working on being humble and not as contentious.

One more thing and I say it because I LOVE YOU. Mom you really need to get healthy. I felt like I should tell you that while I was listening to conference. The age change only tells us that the Lord needs the gospel to spread even faster and chain opening is right around the corner. Elder Perkins who is the area president over Asia or whatever, his daughter was in this mission and went home like two months ago, and he told her and my current companion that they are so close to getting into China. I feel like its coming and you and dad need to be ready to go there the minute it does! If I could request a mission call I would go again and go with you guys! But mom really. The election, the change in missionary age, everything is adding up to the fact that Heavenly Father needs more people to get the gospel known. You and Dad can be the leaders for it in China. You need to be ready! I can’t wait for it! I’m so excited!!

There is a circus. I want to go so badly. But we are being good missionaries and resisting the temptations of Satan.

Irma Nelson, Irma Patterson (from my MTC District!), Me, and Irma Palmer after Conference

Letter to President Fluckiger

10/2
Ola!

Alright, can we just discuss that it’s already October? What the what??

I didn’t even realize until we had a zone conference and President Fluckiger gave us a challenge to read all four gospels and study the life of Christ until Christmas. Christmas! IT'S SO SOON! THIS YEAR WENT BY TOO FAST. When it’s Christmas I will be half way through my mission. I’m not ready for that nonsense yet.
But my companion and I are so excited for conference! Yes. I feel a little bit like a drug addict because we have a countdown and everything. We will just turn to each other randomly and say IRM. (Yes without the “A”, idk, it’s just what she calls me) TEN DAYS. NINE DAYS. EIGHT DAYS. FOUR DAYS!!!!!! We are excited!
Life is pretty much the same, we haven’t been able to teach a whole lot because of my back and staying in the house but I’ll copy what I wrote to President about one of our investigators Galia.

Ola President!
This week was really great. I would love to share a story about our compremetido, Galia. She wasn't baptized and insisted that she had to go to work yesterday, but we had an amazing experience with her. We had a lesson with her earlier in the week and when we arrived she was talking on Skype to a woman that she knew in Bulgaria who was like her daughter. She said, "She’s from America, talk to her!" So we spoke to the woman and her husband for a little bit and Irma Palmer basically taught them the first lesson and about the Restoration.  We invited them to go to Mormon.org and they said they would try and contact the missionaries there in Germany where they are living. Then Galia talked with us after we finished Skyping and she told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is true and she loves it.  She said that it explains things for her really simply. We wanted to commit her to be baptized but her husband was being really destructive to the Spirit so we felt we should leave it how it was for the time being.
We came back on Saturday night and were able to talk to Galia and her daughter-in-law who is also really receptive. Galia told us that the woman we had spoken to on Skype offered her a job as a nanny to come live with them and have money to send home. Galia had been really struggling with the decision because she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her family here even though all of her children are adults.  She has always taken care of them and they don't know how to do anything for themselves. She asked how she could know if she was making a decision because of what she wanted or because of what God wanted. 
We testified about the power of the Holy Ghost and that God uses the Holy Ghost to help us understand his will for our lives. We shared a few scriptures and some personal experiences and we could see in Galia such a strong desire to do what was right. She eventually told us that she felt really strongly that God had sent us to her right now because she needed the Spirit we brought to make her decision and she felt like God was giving her an answer right then. She said, God sent me Jennifer (the woman with whom we skipped) and He sent the first Irmas who talked to me on the street (Irma Brown and Irma Walker) who helped Galia reconnect with Jennifer, and now He had sent us to help her understand what she needed to do to follow Him and have the joy of being with Jennifer again.
President, I felt so strongly in that moment that Galia is why I'm here in Quinta do Conde. I feel it right now. During my first transfer, Irma Brown was in the Mem Martins ward with me and told me about how Quinta do Conde had been really hard for her but she talked about Galia and how much she meant to her. When Irma Brown was here with us the first day she practically begged us to pass by Galia and help her. I've already felt such a love for Irma Brown because she is really the reason I made it through my first transfer, and in the lesson with Galia the Spirit said, "You’re here to finish what your dear friend started. Help them both."
I know that none of the friendships or relationships we make here on the mission is a coincidence. I've learned so much from Irma Brown and I'm so grateful for the help she gave me and I feel so honored to be in the area where she worked to help with someone she loves so much. Thank you so much for this opportunity to serve here and to serve with Irma Palmer. She is teaching me so much as well and I feel as though Heavenly Father is really expecting a lot from us.
Thank you so much for everything, sorry this was really long!
Love
Irma Dean


So yeah, she’s really our big focus right now and she’s wonderful and she’s coming to conference! I’m so excited! I love her and she feels like my adoptive Portugal/Bulgarian mother here in Quinta do Conde.

In other news, I started physical therapy yesterday! It was interesting. It was normal and everything and my doctor is so great.  Its going well though and President Fluckiger gave me a blessing last week and my back has already started to improve a ton!

Well I have to go and sorry it’s a day late, but I love you guys so much!

The scripture for this week is 1 Nephi 21:15-16 and replace "House of Israel" with your name, okay?
Christ loves you and is always with you!
I love you too and I’m praying for you guys!

Keep the Commandments

Ola familia e amigos! Dude, I have no idea what to write about this week, so this might be a little random.

First, Thank You Sommer for the birthday package! It was sent to my old house and there was all kinds of craziness about how I had to send a copy of my ID and wait to receive a package slip, sign it, and send it back.  Even then those poor Irmas who are in Mem Martins now had to argue with the mail guy to get him to break some kind of Portuguese law and give them my package to send to me. But, thanks so much! I'll get it in like two weeks; once they drop it off in Lisbon.

This week was really good! I turned 22! Weird. So freakin' weird. I'm getting old and becoming a grown up; kind of. Irma Palmer keeps me nice and young. We laugh too much. Seriously, I love my companion. She is amazing and I will be best friends with her forever!

We taught some really great lessons this week, but here's one that I really enjoyed. Carlos has been an investigator for a really long time and hasn't really progressed even though he prayed and received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. This is because he is addicted to smoking, and also really really enjoys marijuana and coffee. Those are all no-goes.

So we've been working with him on stopping all of those habits but he still hadn't been taught about the law of chastity. Yay! So in order to make sure his addictive tendencies didn't also translate into a problem with pornography, we taught him the law of chastity. It went a lot better than expected. I actually felt really bad for him because he told us about how he's not dating anyone right now because his girlfriend of seven years broke up with him and started dating one of his best friends. Sad freaking day. You could just see the pain when he talked about it. so we testified that in order to avoid getting ourselves that hurt we can maintain healthier relationships and make better choices that have more to do with respect than with following the natural man.

We watched that video Together Forever that I think is horribly cheesy but, hey, what can you do? Turns out, he LOVED IT. Seriously. He was going on and on about how much he liked it.  He told us he felt like that's what relationships are supposed to be like. Then we committed him to live the law of chastity and it was good. So we were about to leave and I was like. "Oh, wait, just one thing.. we're taking away this pornographic calendar.  Because when you look at her you have no respect for her and you don't see her as a daughter of God even though she is." And he got up and took it off the wall himself and handed it to us! I was so proud of him! Then we had a good time ripping it up and putting it in the dumpster.

And so, to go along with the theme of the fact that we should all keep the commandments, especially the law of chastity, and word of wisdom, here's a fun story for you guys! Today was p-day and we needed to go shopping so we went to this mall in part of our area. We went to go get lunch in the mall after right, and so I go to this place and I get some pasta and the guy's like, "What do you want to drink?"
I say, "lemonade".  Just lemonade. That's it. I said one word, "limonada" and then I go to my seat and I start eating and I get halfway through this lemonade and then all of the sudden the spirit is like, "pay attention, something's not right" So I smelled my lemonade. Don't worry, it was definitely alcoholic. I have NO IDEA how I didn't notice that for half the glass. I really couldn't even taste it, it was only when I smelled it that I recognized it. Craziness. So I have already repented for that accident and that I didn't just get water instead because Europe is sketchy like that. But there ya go, I turned 22 and I accidentally broke the word of wisdom this week! Yay! but the word of wisdom is true. Don't drink.

I have a strong testimony that it will make your life a lot happier. I'm still a good missionary. The church is true! I love you guys!! Go read 1 Nephi chapter 8. It's really rockin' my world this week.
Love you!

a few pictures

A bunch of us during transfers. There were so many Irmas all together at that train station switching companions. It was a little crazy and a lot distracting because we all wanted to talk and catch up with each other.

 My new comp hit her hump day! She's been on the mission nine months! So we made her a nice baby out of my snuggie and took lots of pictures. It was a good time.

  My new comp Irma Palmer and me.

  This is the chapel here in our new area.

This is us after entering said chapel for the first time and not knowing about the alarm. It was really stressful.


Sorry fam bam, not much to say this week so I sent some pictures. Things have mostly just been crazy trying to adjust to the new area. I loooooove my new comp. We are the same person. It's going to be a funny transfer haha. The ward members are super nice and were really welcoming and the elders in our ward are cool. Our district leader is a native speaker and his comp is one transfer younger than I am and from England. Cool stuff. Well yeah, sorry haha not a lot to say. It's been confusing a little but not that stressful actually and were just trying to get settled and we are having a lot of fun already and meeting really great people. We're really excited about the people we are starting to teach.

I love you guys a ton and I love being here on the mission! Stay happy and I keep praying for you! I love you guys!

hospitals, conferences, transfers & a new address

Oh my gracious!  This week has been insane. Legit, insane.
First, my back has not been doing well so, like I said last week, I've been talking to Irma Fluckiger a lot about it. The mission doctor called and told me he would set up a consult and some exams for me here to see what we could do to keep me working.  So on Tuesday, Irma Fluckiger called and said I needed to come into Lisbon to go to the hospital with her and make an appointment. The next day we went in and I was able to schedule a consult on Thursday.

The consult went ok, and the doctor told me I needed to have an MRI to see what was going on, to see if my back is getting worse, and to begin physical therapy.  We scheduled an MRI for Friday. As we were waiting for the train, my companion goes, "It's your six month mark today! What do you want to do?" I just kind of looked at her funny and said, "Get an MRI...?" because it was going to take pretty much all of the afternoon. So yeah, we are now really close with Irma Fluckiger who is hilarious. And I'm very familiar with the hosital CUF in downtown Lisbon. Good times.

But, the Lisbon trips don't end there! This past weekend was a special stake conference for the three stakes surrounding Lisbon. Elder Nelson, Elder Terxeira and Elder Rasband came to speak to the stakes here. On Saturday morning, their wives spoke at a Relief Society conference which was amazing. Seriously so, so wonderful.

Directly after that conference we had to leave to go to a mission conference! All the missionaries in Portugal got to come except the ones who were out on the islands. I go to see tons of people from the mtc and the first couple transfers. that conference was so incredible. Elder Rasband did a question answer session with us and it was so so amazing to feel the power of all us missinaries sitting in that one tiny, incredibly hot chapel together. The counsel given was so so great. The conferences felt like a breath of fresh air and helped put a lot of things back into perspective for me about how to approach the work.

This past week was really great. On Sunday there was the actual stake conference and Elder Rasband talked a ton about the temple! It was really cool and the people here are so excited to be getting a temple! They all have such strong testimonies of temple work! I love it! Everyone go to the temple as much as you can! In fact, this whole past transfer has been really great.

And, speaking of which, today is transfers! I'm being transferred! I can't even like process it right now. I have so many mixed emotions. I'm going to some place called Quinta de Conde. It's on the other side of the Tejo River or something? I'm not sure. It gets better though, I'm doing yet another white wash! My companion's name is Irma Palmer. She came in two transfers before me so, same as Irma Quebbeman. Three areas and three white washes!  Ha ha ha,  goodness gracious.

I've heard some cool stories about that area though, and about my companion, so it should be good. I'm so nervous about leaving here though. It's so true what everyone says that as soon as you love an area you have to leave. When we sat in sacrament meeting two weeks ago, after Dania gave her testimony, I just looked around and was overwhelmed with how much I love the people of this ward. Mom and Dad, I will definitely bring you here when you pick me up. After that feeling of love, I kind of felt like peace and just a hint of knowledge that I was going to have to leave.

When I heard about transfers, I was actually doing alright until I had to call a few members to tell them and they made me cry. I'm gonna miss them so much! This ward is amazing! I'm also really sad to leave Irma Quebbeman. She's also being transferred so there's been a lot of craziness and confusion, and packing. She and I are both kind of at peace with it, but it's going to be really hard being with a different companion. She and I are so close it's weird. We legit read each other's minds and know so much about how the other works. It's definitely going to be tough getting used to another companion and trying to have that same level of bond. I'm not sure it will happen as much as with her though, like other missionaries have commented on how it's a little weird and unusual how close we are. Overall, I'm not freaking out anymore though. It's what the Lord wants for me; so I'm gonna just go with it.

Last night we were at a baptism of some other missionaries in our district and my district leader said that he felt like he should tel me a few things. He gave some really good advice on deciding what kind of a missionary and person I'm going to be.  He told me to start working at it right now and on how to really accomplish my potential as a missionary. It was just a lot of stuff I really needed to hear, and I feel like today the Lord is telling me to put it into practice.

Everyone pray that my new companion and I will get along.  I hope that we will be able to figure out where the heck anything is! As soon as I have my new address, I'll let you guys know. I love you all so much. I'm so excited to be out here and to have lasted six months and to keep working toward a seventh. I'm excited for the new start and another opportunity to share my testimony with a companion, a ward, and new investigators. Don't forget that God loves you and that He wants to help and comfort you at every second. All you have to do is get on your knees and the peace will come. I love this gospel, and I love the mission and I love you guys!

Here is my new address fools!

Urbanizaçao Cova dos Vidros
Alameda Salguiera Maia Lote 82 R/C-C
2975-100 Quinta do Conde, Portugal

So anyway, I'm here in our new area! I'm just sending a quick email because my new companion Irma Palmer didn't get to do email yesterday. The area seems cool and its actually really great, we have a miracle already!

As you know, we are white washing so neither of us know the area at all or anything.  However, because so many places were having a white wash, like ten Irmas had to come meet at a train/bus/metro station in Lisbon and trade companions and keys and phones. One of those Irmas was Irma Brown! She was in the other companionship of the Mem Martins ward during my first transfer.  She and I are really close and she used to serve here in Quinta do Conde. Well, her new companion is having some health problems and is at the hospital for a few days.  So she had to come stay with us and now she is showing us around all over the place.  She is going to introduce us to people for the next few days! Hurrah! White washing is super stressful. So hallelujah.

Also, Irma Palmer, my new companion is from South Jordan, Utah.  She is super funny and we are basically a lot alike. I can already tell it's gonna be a great transfer. I was so nervous to leave Irma Quebbeman and Mem Martins but I already feel so happy and at peace about it.

I love you guys a ton.

Do me a huge favor and update my address.  Don't forget that this address is only for letters.

Packages go to:
Irma Erin Dean
Rua Jorge Barradas
Nº14C 1500-370
Lisbon, Portugal 

Thanks! Have a great week!

Six Months!!!

Yep,  that's right.  On Friday I have officially been on a mission for six months!
It's already going by so fast I can't even believe it. Well this past week was mais o menos. My back has been getting worse so I've had to talk to Irma Fluckiger and the mission doctor a bunch but we're taking care of it. The only thing was I had to spend a few days in the house. It was booooring. It made me miss having a laptop.  We couldn't do very much missionary work becuase we were stuck inside.  I did, however, get to go to Lisbon on Thursday to apply for my residency card! It was fun.  I got to spend the day with Irma Barlow and Irma Davis and some elders.  We had a really great time catching up.I'm gonna have to keep this weeks' letter a little short though because I don't have a ton of time.

I just wanna tell a story real quick. So, I don't know if any of you will remember but, in my first transfer I told about when we baptized this little girl named Dania. If you look on the blog it's under the post titled, "Not this past week but the one before"

Dania was baptized pretty quickly but she had already been attending church with the entire family for months.  She was so so sweet and wanted to be baptized but with the confusion of the pink-wash no one had followed up and we didn't realize what was going on. Well, we prayed during weekly planning about which of our investigators should be invited to be baptized.  I felt so strongly that we needed to ask about Dania. When we asked her to be baptized, she accepted and was baptized on a Wednesday so she could get the Holy Ghost that Sunday during church. We pushed for her to be baptized THAT WEEK because the next week she would be leaving to go live with her mom in France.

When we first asked the bishop about baptizing her that week, he and a lot of other people in the ward were not happy.  They said that we were just baptizing her right before she left so we could get the numbers and that we didn't actually care about her.  Because we were going to baptize her and then send her to live without any support in going to church.

We were so sad about the situation because for months we felt guilty, like maybe we had done something wrong in baptizing her.  We didn't know if her mom would let her go to church there in France. But, she wanted to be baptized so badly so we proceded.  For MONTHS it got brought up in ward council as an example of how we need to be better and not try to baptize kids without their parents too.  Or as examples of how baptisms were only numbers to us.

Well, yesterday at chruch, we noticed that she had come and was sitting in church with the family she used to live with! We were so excited and figured she must have come back to visit, or decided that she wanted to keep attending school here in Portugal. Well, yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. Amid all the adults getting up and talking, while I was writing something in my planner, I didn't see who was standing at the pulpit next. All of the sudden, I heard a little girl start talking.  I looked up to see who it was.

Dania stood up and bore her testimony.  The first thing she said was, "I know the Church is true". She said she loved the church and was so grateful for her baptism. She said that the past three months with her mom in France were really hard because her mom didn't want to come to church with her, and she missed going. She said that the longer she was with her mom, the worse she felt because she knew she should be at church.  She knew that she wanted to be with a family who kept the standards of the church. So, she decided to tell her mom she wanted to move back to Portugal so she could live with that family again.  She knew they would help her go to church and she felt happier when they all read scriptures together and prayed together. This girl is ten!

The bishop was crying. I was a mess. It was amazing. This ten year old girl decided she would rather live in a home that had the gospel than live with her own mother. I had some repenting to do for EVER doubting how hard we pushed her baptism. If she hadn't received the Holy Ghost and been able to feel the spirit, and notice when it was missing in her home, she might not have ever made the decision to come back and be active in the church.

I know the Lord used me as an instrument in his hands in that instance. I am so grteful that I was able to stay in this area long enough to see how this turned out. I am so grateful for prayer and revelation and this opportunity to help people, like precious ten year old Dania, be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. This Church is TRUE!

EVERYONE can know that it's true if they pray about it and realy ask God if it's right. I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father and I freaking love Dania!

And I love you guys too!


Irma Dean

I LOVE MY MISSION!

heeeeeeey yoouuuuuuu guuuuyyyysssss

Ten points if you know that movie!

This week was AWESOME. Soooo good!

The first day and a half of this week were like awful, really awful. But, on Tuesday we had a zone meeting which helped a ton! Our zone leaders did interviews for some of us and mine was with Elder Ca. He asked how things were going.  We talked for a while, and he said that he had been praying about how he could help me with the things he already knew I was struggling with. He said that he felt like he needed to share his favorite scripture, Alma 17:10-11. We read it together and he said that he felt like the Lord is testing my patience right now.  He said that if I handle the circumstances of this transfer well, I can be an example to other missionaries as well as to investigators.  That is the way the Lord wants to make me an instrument in His hands. It was a really good conversation, and patience is definitely something I'm trying to have more of. That and humility. I'm learning a lot about the fact that I'm a really prideful person. Like, I kind of knew that before because I'm stubborn and mean and competitive.  But, I didn't realize how extreme it was or how badly I needed to change it. Everyone go read the talk "Beware of Pride" by Ezra Taft Benson. It's a great one. Well, it also cuts kinda deep, but its REALLY good!

The next day we did a division for 24 hours! It was awesome. Our new president called a coordinating sister for the mission and so she and her companion are doing divisions with like all of the sisters in the mission! The coordinatin sister, Irma Boshard, is hilarious. Like, I want to be her. She's amazing. She's seriously a  great missionary. She came over here to Mem Martins with Irma Quebbeman and I went to her area with her companion, Irma Baer. Irma Baer and I were in Odivelas. It's a really pretty area, closer to Lisbon. It's the area where the temple is going to be built! Crazy! We had such a great time during the division. It was EXACTLY what I needed. Irma Baer is pretty new on the mission too, she got here the same time as Irma Quebbeman.  So two transfers before me. She had pretty much exactly the same feelings about her first three transfers that I've been having. We had a really great talk and the whole day was awesome. We quoted movies together and laughed hysterically and taught some awesome lessons!

She gave me some advice that has helped me a TON.  She especially talked to me about when she finally changed her attitude about the mission. She said that for the first three months, whenever things got frustrating, she would say to herself  "It's only 18 months. It's only 18 months." But she then realized she was going to reach the end of her mission and have hated the whole thing.  So, she changed her frustration mantra to "I LOVE MY MISSION!" and after a little while she wasn't convincing herself of it anymore, it became true. She is such an excited missionary!

I didn't really believe her when she said she didn't like the first few months. So, I'm doing the same thing. I've just started repeating in my head, " I love my mission".  It's helping a lot.  I already feel ten times happier and excited to be here doing the Lords work. She also reread her call letter with me and we had a long talk about how we made the decision to serve and what the process was like.  It reminded me of how amazing it is that I'm on a mission! The call letter says, "you have been recommended as one worthy to represent Christ" How incredible is that?! Christ is the Savior of the world! Every one of us in the world that's walking around wearing this tag has been given the right to be his representative!

I remembered that really no one, myself included, expected me to serve a mission or wanted me to do this.  The fact that I'm doing it is so crazy, but in the best way possible. I love it! I feel like a completely different person now that I remembered that I'm lucky to be here and that this is going to be the thing of the most worth in my life! The Lord said so himself.

If you're getting ready for a mission,  or thinking you maybe don't want to go, read D&C15:6. The Lord will tell you what's right.  Also, tell EVERY SINGLE person, you know who is about to serve a mission to make a copy of their call letter and take it with them! THEY WILL NEED IT! AND IT WILL HELP SO MUCH! So yeah, Mom, if you wanna make me a copy and send it, that would be awesome. Really though, I only have 11 days left until my six month mark. I'M ALMOST A THIRD DONE WITH MY MISSION. That is ludicrous, I'm actually sad that I wasted so much of it being whiny and sad about being here. What an idiot. But, this next year and 11 days will be amazing! HARD, but AMAZING.

I know this church is true and I know there is absolutely nothing else in the entire world that I should be doing or want to be doing. I love it! Sometimes I still have to remind myself of that, but it's still true! I love you guys, have a great week! Read the Book of Mormon!

Tracting for the first time

This week was pretty normal.

Here are a few highlights though.  Elder Franco's mom got baptized! It was a reallllly beautiful baptism. Like, a lot. I loved it, and shes amazing. We decided to be daring and go do some Procura (tracting i guess...?) in the half of our area where there are literally NO INVESTIGATORS not even from way back when.  This area is really far and full of tourists. But,  that new family, the Nielsons, moved in there and it makes sense that someone has to live there to run the businesses for the tourists. Yeah, we didn't meet very many people.  Even if the people weren't tourists they were way meaner than the people here in the city area. Boooo. But, it wasan adventure!

Our ward really loves us, and we love them. It was kinda hard to tell there for a while but in the past few weeks, everyone in the ward has just been so incredibly nice to us and helped us so much. They will just come up to us on Sunday now and say, "We are so glad you've stayed here, we really love you two." That's a relief because we really like don't know how to interact with the ward sometimes. So yeah, everyone go tell your missionaries that they're awesome and that you appreciate them being in your ward.  Even if you don't know them. They will love it. Other than that, there's not a ton to write. Our district leader (who has already said he's jealous of the friendship Irma Quebbeman and I have) is trying really hard to become besties with us. He does things like ask us to bake for him. And he tells us he's going to play pranks on us. And he says that he really likes to irritate us for laughs. Yeah, he's making a ton of headway on that one.....

But, having the elders here is really fun.  So we have enjoyed hanging out with them too. It's really funny watching a greenie eat at members homes sometimes.  He takes it like a champ.

I love and miss you guys!!
Happy early Birthday Mom!
Love you and I'm recording a tape for you! I'll send it as soon as its done!

ai ai ai

You guys, I’m really bad at taking pictures.  I’m sorry, I don’t have anything fun to send you yet.
Next week. As to the title of this email, I’m beginning to pick up a really bad habit of saying, "ai ai ai",  just like the Portuguese people. I’m going to go home and people will think I’m even more of a kook. I don’t need that stress. Sometimes I get to P. Day and then I think wait, already? Because we do pretty much the same stuff all the time just with different people so unless I have some really epic cool story to tell you guys I feel like I’m going to bore you to death.

However! Two really cool things did happen this week. First! an American family moved into our ward! FROM UTAH!. They are Nichols family, from Alpine. They are awesome. Seriously. The mom is Mozambique and she grew up in Portugal but moved to Utah 20 years ago for school, fell in love with a whitey (he’s super cool though) and stayed in Utah. They have five kids and their only daughter is hilarious and loves us. She’s 11. So we get to church last week and we see brother Nichols walk in and we knew instantly that he wasn’t from here but that he was a member. They sit the kids down, he walks right over to us and says "I’m brother Nichols, we just moved in. When can we start working?"

Holy lantah!  Thank you, Heavenly Father. I felt more excited than the people in the desert with Moses who finally got to the milk and honey. Yes, I did just botch that bible story. I’m a good missionary. So anyway, his wife is the only one who speaks Portuguese.  But, her husband got up in testimony meeting and bore the most broken but beautiful Portuguese testimony I’ve ever heard. Their family is so awesome! They had us over for lunch this week and had to come pick us up because they live waaaaaay out in Sintra by the ocean.  They're literally the only LDS family.  So we're going to be doing a lot of work with them! I didn’t realize just how different an American family is until we had lunch with them. It’s a totally different family vibe and I forgot what it felt like! I wanted to cry when we left because we had such a good time!

Another cool thing that happened this week was zone conference! They did it a little different this time though because they had it in the area of our zone leaders and not in Lisbon.  It was only our zone instead of two zones. BECAUSE... we had interviews with President!

I don’t remember if I’ve already talked about our new mission president and his wife yet but I can just tell you I freaking love them. They speak Portuguese with a Texas accent and are hilarious people but such amazing spiritual people. They are so nice I can’t even handle it. When we divided for lunch, Sister Fluckiger walked right up to me and said, without even looking at my tag, "Sister Dean, How's that back doing?"
"I’ve been worried about you".
Yeah, I’ve spoken to her once. I love her. Then she may have come up three times throughout the rest of the day while we were eating and during practices and smelled me and told the people around me that I smelled fantastic. She’s a kook. And precious as anything. The APs were like, "Okay, as soon as you pick up your requests from the office, if you’ve already been interviewed you need to leave immediately for you area."  She goes "Oh, but I have pictures of my new grandson!"

Ha ha ha.  It is a HUGE difference from the strictness of President Torgan. It’s so amazing how Presidents can be so different and their wives as well.  I still feel so much love from them no matter their style. Like when President Torgan told us he was our father on the mission and if we have a bad dream or have a problem we need to call him directly and not our leaders. My interview with President was great and he was really encouraging and so happy. I was expecting it to feel like a bishop interview or something but it was so fun and he joked around and forgot to start it with a prayer and goes, "Oh well, we can just close, you’re doing great Sister Dean." Ha ha ha I love it.

Anyway, yeah. two weeks down, four more in this transfer and then I’ve officially hit six months/one third of the mission over. CRAZY. I’m not sure how I feel about it honestly, but I’m really glad that the first third at least, has been with two companions that I’ve adored.  I also had an amazing MTC district and an amazing ward here in Mem Martins.

Love you all, the church is true!
A Jehovah’s Witness tried to outsmart me yesterday but knowing scripture references doesn’t trump personal revelation and receiving answers directly from God when you have a question!

Love you, ficam bem!