"You can make difference in someone's life and sometimes even in someone's eternity!

So this week has been great full of fun, work, and BURNING HOT WEATHER.  Man it is getting really hot here.  I am not really sure how it compares to the heat of Utah seeing has I have never been a missionary in Utah.  Back home I could espcape the heat whenever I wanted by going inside!  Now it is my duty to talk with all of the people crazy enough to go outside and share with them the restored gospel!  It is great!

WE started the week off on Monday with a call that all of our missionaries needed to travel to Coimbra for a zone conference the following day.  WE got the call pretty surprisingly and we had to call a bunch a missionaries to end p day early to catch a train or a bus.  It was super short notice but we got everyone there. 

The conference was great we all felt full of the spirit to hear our President Fluckiger speak one last time and also pyhsically full when Mcdonalds catered our lunch (Soooooo goood):).  But my favorite part was when me and Elder Gomes had the opportunity to address some issues with the Zone and I was inspired to help the missionaries realize how the MEMBERS are a good source to help investigators with doubts and concerns.  

I shared with them the Story of Beatriz (recent convert from Póvoa de Varzim)  how she was filled with doubt three days before here baptism because of some material she had found on the internet and almost gave up... but we took a member, the member bore his solemn testimony of the Church and how it blesses families and the power of his tesimony took all of Beatriz's doubts away withouy saying a single word of what see saw on the internet.  I told them that Beatriz was baptized and because of her example the rest of her family (husband and daughter) are now also active members in the church.  The feeling that I got as I shared this with them was undescribable.  I was filled with pure love and joy.  The Spirit seemed to fill every bit of my body, not just the burning in the bosom, but a burning that spread from head to toe.  It hit me that that moment could have made the difference in the eternal destination of Beatriz's family.  That simple yet powerful testimony from that member (Antonio Oliveira) changed that families destination in the eternities.  What a wonderful experience that was for me to be there with that family and see real conversion happen.  I know that members of this church have a power and responsability to share the gospel, not just full time missionaries.  Many times it lies in the hands of the members to find and invite and then hand them off to the missionaries to teach and help them accept the gospel.

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You make a difference.  No matter who you are, in what ward you are in, or you status in life, you can and should make a difference in the lives around you.  It can start with just the little things, for by "small acts of kindness and love, we keep the darkness at bay."  I know that each one of you can help the work of God's kingdom go forth.  You can make a diference in someones life and sometimes even in someone's eternity.

  

With much love in Christ

Elder Eldredge:)