February 1, 2016 Boas!!

OK hello everyone!  Hope you all had a great week and a great sunday yesterday!  We had a great training on the sacrament and how to keep it a spiritual and not just a habitual or traditional experience.  We head the words of Jeffery R. Holland testifying of the sacredness of the ordinance and how the sacrament is the Saviors invitiation for us to "watch with him"  the same invitation he gave to the Apostles on the night of his atoning sacrifice.  Great thoughts to keep our mind focused on the Sabbath day but especially during the sacrament!

In other news this week we have been working hard to tell everyone about the restored gospel and the Lord has definately blessed us!  We were able to find a good number of people to start working with!  We haven't seen too much progress in them yet but we are just in the beginning!  We are hoping to see some good fruits!

This week we also had a giant mission leadership conference!  It was all the district zone and sister leaders of the mission in one conference!  It was a great time:)  We learned a lot and we all left feeling more determined to work harder and be better!  One thing that was different about this conference was the fact that me and my companion Elder João were asked by President to give a training on planning!  We were a little anxious but not too bad!  We planned it all out well with a story from the book of mormon that everyone who has been through primary knows!  To introduce the topice we talked about Nephi and his brothers various attempts to go get the plates from Laban's house and the importance of have goals that you are comitted to, having good planning, not giving up, and how the Lord will help.  I felt like it went well and we got many complimnets from the missionaries and President sent me a letter telling me that the training was great!  So that was fun to do!  

Also during this training, we heard from the area seventy of Portugal Elder Moreira.  He spoke to us about the power of prayer showing various examples from the scriptures and offered some new thoughts that I will share with you:)

During the Savior's atonement in mark's gospel in english we read "

And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

 36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

In english the phrase is fell on the ground but in many other latin translations versions of the phrase "lay prostrate" are used.  Prostrate is the position of laying belly down on the ground with arms and legs out to the sides.  This postion is also known as the position of a slave.  Slave in the sense of obeying without fail every command that comes from his master.  Jesus was showing God that even though He wanted to quit, just as a slave He would obey and see it to the end if it were necessary.  And it was necessary, Jesus saw it to the end and gained the victory.

Elder Moreira counseled us that every night in our personal prayers we need to have that mighty "wrestle" with God, combatting our natural man, "lay prostrate" to the will of God.  When we can do that and pray with that attitude we will know what to pray for.  Our prayers will change and have a more powerful infulence on our lives and enpower us.  

Well this letter is kind of long now but I wish you all a well and happy week!  Always be on the lookout for missionary opportunities!  

Eu os amo!

Elder Eldredge

January 18, 2016

Hey everyone!  here is another hi from a misionary in Portugal!  This week was pretty great, we saw a bit more success which was motviating.  I am really learning to make goals and then fight to achieve them.  that is something President Amorim has really focused on and I know I will be able to apply all of this to the rest of my life to achieve great things!  How I am so grateful for this mission to be a school for life.  How to overcome challenges, keep your head up, and work hard!  Now as many of you know and have mentioned to me in cards my time as a full time missionary is in the final straight away till the finish line.  Any athlete knows that it is the last stretch where you give it your all so that is what I am promissing to do.  I know it will not be easy but to go home from a mission feeling happy and you did you best you NEED to have at least a great finish.  These next few weeks I will really work to putting my heart and soul in to this work.  I know that by doing this I will do what I was sent here to do and the Lord will be happy with my efforts.  Somtimes thinking now I get discouraged looking at other missionaries that came in at the same time as me, that appear to be having more success and more results.  These past weeks I have been working hard with the attitud, well now I need to work hard so I can beat them!  I am glad for the companionship of the Holy ghost that soon corrected my prideful behavior.  I was working hard with the wrong attitude.  In my personal studies this week I came across the scriprure in Romans 12 where the apostle paul is teaching trough and epistle about this subject that touched my heart very personally. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.  4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:  5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.  6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;  7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Like a body has many parts all with very diferent but yet imporant functions we also are all part of the body of Christ.  We all play different roles and all have different capacities.  There is no glory or happiness or peace in comparing there is only pride, that is what I learned.  There is no reason to compare and eye with and ear because they were made wiht completely diferent purposes and comparison between the two would only bring argument and disagreement.  True happiness in living in a world surrounded by people who look like us is to compare our selves to no one but ourself.  Are you better today than yesterday? If not, why?  That is how we find true happiness and how we can realize true progression that truly only God can measure. This week I tried to take into account this message of Paul and it opened my eyes. I felt real happiness even when I wasn't succeeding and those around me were.  It is hard to do but being Christlike never really was easy.  Don't worry about how you measure up, this life isn't a race of who can get the the tree of life the fastest, strongest, best looking, or with the greatest house or car.  What matters is that we get there and we help those struggling get there as well.  Play your part the best you can and don't worry about how you measure up to the parts of others.  In the end, just like in the parable of the talents, the reward will be the same if we magnify our gifts and talents int he service of the Lord regardless of whether you brought back 10 talents or 6.   SOrry kind of long!  But I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!! Elder Eldredge

Pictures

January 25, 2016

This is me and Elder Archibald

This is a super nice member named Maria de Jesus

She made us a really good lunch

Hey there!  Well this week flew by I feel like I was just here writing to you all yesterday!  It is how they say, slow days, fast weeks!  But anywho this week was a rough one as far as results in the work go.  We weren't able to teach as many lessons as we would have liked too nor did we find as many new people.  Something I did see better this week though was my faith.  I will confess with the past few weeks I have been going through some trials and dificulties that I haven't gone through yet before on the mission.  During this time really without me realizing it I had kind of lost a bit of faith.  Faith that we could find prepared people, faith that the people we found would progress and accept and keep committments.  But this week I saw a scripture be fulfilled right before my eyes.  On tuesday I did a division with a new Elder that has been in Portugal for 2 weeks.  Brand new kid reminded me of when I was training again.  His name is Elder Archibald from Pleasant grove Utah!  Anywho on the division we got together and started planning out our day and I asked him about some of his goals.  While he was talking I could feel that greenie fire with in him!  Not only that but I felt in me a desire to be a good example for this young missionary and try harder that day in my work.  We went out with high hopes and burning faith!  It was a great time and we were able to talk to a lot of people and have a really great lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Elder Archibald did his best to talk to people with his broken portuguese, but he didn't let that stop him, he kept going, contact after contact, rejection after rejection.  Now this story doesn't end like a typical missionary miracle with someone accepting baptism or meeting someone that has been praying for us to come to their door, but it does end with a miracle.  The faith that I saw in that new missionary touched my heart.  It inspired me.  It strengthened me.  My whole week was changed and blessed, I felt the flame of faith once again burning with in me, the desire to work and share what I know.  We didn't have the best results, it didn't make the week easier, but it did make a difference in me.

   "D&C 135:59 And by the weak things of the earth the Lord shall thresh the nations by the power of his Spirit."

I was definitely strenghtened this week it was a very humbling and sweet experience.  I still feel that faith and know it is growing by day.  It is so easy to loose faith even without noticing but I am thankful to Heavenly Father for the way that He humbled me through what some might call a "weak thing".  I love my Saviour and I love my mission, I am learning so much about faith.

I love you all!

Elder Eldredge

Pictures!

Fun pictures from the river Douro

Bom Dia!! January 11, 2016

Hey friends and family!  This week will be short.  But it was a good week to start of the new transfer!  I will be staying here in Gaia with Elder João again!  Things are going alright.  Kind of slow with the results of getting people to church and baptisms.  Not just in our area but the whole zone!  We have to figure out how to change that this week.  But we have a bunch of ideas and I know that the Lord will  add his power to our efforts to help more of his children come unto Christ through His church.   The more I am out here the more I come to know and deepen my testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement and the truthfulness of this work.  The work of the restoration is happening today!  This is the Lord's work in these last days.  I know that the mission is molding me, the more I am obedient the more I allow the Atonement to change who I am.  I am getting closer to the end but I am going to work hard to be a better missionary every single day until the end!  I love this work!  And I love all of you! Elder Eldredge

Pictures from. Christmas!

Caroling at the hospital

GLORIA! :)

Last week of. 2015!!

Hey everyone just wanted to say a quick hi! This week went well and we had an awesome Chirstmas!  It is funny here in Portugal the 24th seems to be more celebrated than the 25th!  But anywho this week went by super fast we did a division on tuesday, on wednesday we had our mission chirstmas conference, on thursday it was the 24th and we went with the men of the ward to sing to the people in the hospital,  we would enter into each room sing to hyms and leave pcitures of the savior with everyone in the room.  It was awesome and it filled my heart to see tears stream as we sang to these sick people and their visiting family members were stuck in the hospital rather thatn being at home eating a good meal celebrating the holidays.  There I truly felt the spirit of Christmas, that is what it is all about.  I will always seek every christmas to do fill the heart of another, to help out in whatever way I can, to serve as He would serve.  That is what Christmas is all about.  It was a sweet experience.  

then Friday was Christmas day, we ate lunch with some investigatores here and then had th opportunity to call home on Skype to see the fam!!  Last time I will see them until the Salt Lake airport!  Pretty crazy to think about!

Saturday was a normal day of work, lots of door knocking and contacting ya knowt the usual:)  Then all of a sudden it was Sunday and here we are!  One more week gone by!  Now we are in the last week of the transfer and about to start a new year!  I hope all of you can make some good reasonable goals for this next year of how you will be a better person, how you will be a better example to your family and your neighbor, what more can you do?  What lack I yet... a great talk to read as we go into the new year!  I love you all so much and hope that you can find ways to serve others, that is the way you find real happiness.  

I love you all so much!:)

Elder Eldredge