Entao Queridos Amigos!

Well this week was a good week.  Started off a little sad when we had to say bye to a family from Angola that we were teaching that looked to have a lot of potencial but decided they wanted to move back to Angola.  So that was sad but then I did a division with Elder Pitcher in Almada and we had a really good and inspired day.  One more testimony builder to me of the power of prayer.  Thorughout the day we said many prayer to be guided and inspired in our steps and our words and we taught 5 lessons (4 of which were unplanned)  And also found two new families for them to teach.  They were having a really rough time in Almada before but we gave them a good foundation to start building on so it was really good.  

Then the weekend was really slow and hard but I have learned well from many examples in my life that we cannot get our heads down.  You have to keep smiling and keep going.  Sometimes it is the hardest thing to do because of the circumstances we are in and the lack of results around us and even sometimes our own pride.  But I always want to be happy in my circumstances be whatever they be.  When I was in Povoa I got a lot of comments about how I was always smiling and always cheerful.  That made me feel really good when I heard that and it is something that I always want to have for the rest of my life.  Our lesson in priesthood this week was also about this subject and I quite liked our discussion that we had and like the scripture from Mosiah 2:41 talks about the happy and blessed state of those that keep the commandments.  It really is true.  God the Father sent us here to be tried tested and refined by our trials and struggles into something that He wants us to become.  The refiners fire is not always the funnest place to be but everyone needs it.  But God gave us the commandments so that we could have happiness during every stage of our lives.  The commandments are trulys the guide to happiness.  God knows everything and is loving enough to tell us what we need to do and how we need to live if we want true happiness.  So conclusion if you want to be happy keep the commandments.  Plain and simple:)  If you want to know just test it out and see how things go:)

LOve you all so much!

Elder Eldredge