Sister Selk: Tears or sweat.....can't tell?

Olá! Tudo Bem Família?!

Before I write about the week, I am going to give myself about 2 minutes to rant about the BLAZING heat. Ready. Set. Go! O my goodness fam! It is a freaking furnace here in Olhão! The +35 degree weather is absolutely destroying my soul! We work all day in the sun, and then come home to our apartment that feels like a sauna! Sleep really doesn't happen because of the heat- now I know why they gave us queen size beds here......white ninjas in starfish position..that's all I am going to say about that. And then in the morning, I wake up and feel like I have been beat up by some gang here in Olhão. Throughout the day I really don't know if its tears streaming down my face or sweat. #soattractive I think the heat is getting to everyone here, because the work here has been a serious struggle. We have not had much success this past week, and have had a difficult time finding anyone who will even stop and talk to us in the street. It is definitely not all rainbows and unicorns at the moment, but at the same time, it is so worth it and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Last Monday we went to a beach near Taveira with the Crossman's for our P-day. It was amazing! I have never seen so many seashells in my life! So many Seashells, it was incredible!

Like I said before, this week was a bit of a struggle. I thought a lot about myself as a missionary and the work here. I have to be completely honest and say I was a bit depressed. The heat makes it incredibly hard for me to feel like I am working as hard as I should be, because most of the time I just feel half dead. And the other half of the story is that Portuguese is still a struggle for me. I don't think it comes naturally for me. It is especially difficult when Sister Andrade is amazing with words and can say everything she wants, and I am stuck with a very limited vocabulary. And even though I know that the spirit will still speak to the people I teach despite my horrid Portuguese, it is hard not to think that I would be such a better missionary if I could only speak the language. But don't worry, there is an upside to this story! Before going out to work on this particularly hard day, I just kept having the thought come to my head: "All you need to do when you walk out this door is smile and talk to everyone and you will have an incredible day." This really was the last think I wanted to do, but I did it anyways, and it really was an awesome day! We talked to sooo many people, and the heat had nothing on us because we were on fire! It was incredible, so hopefully we can keep that fogo for the rest of the summer. I absolutely love being a missionary! Every night as I write in my journal I am OVERWHELMED with how blessed I am. I cannot even comprehend it.

Other events of the week:

I attemped to make José Carlos´s chocolate cake this week.....fogo. SO difficult! We have absolutely no kitchen tools so I have to HAND BEAT egg whites until stiff. Never again. It was 20 minutes of pure arm workouts. But in the end it ended up being edible and all the people at aula de englais liked it.

We had zone conference this week. It was way good, and definitely got me pumped up to do some solid missionary work! It was our last time seeing the Fluckiger's which was so sad. They are just incredible, and I respect them a lot. I learn so much every time I am around them.

Otilia came to church yesterday! Whoo! So hopefully everything is on track for her to get baptized by the end of this transfer, but they are still trying to earn money for their wedding. I have faith though!

We still visit Nuno and Rosalia almost everyday. Nuno is still having an extremely difficult time giving up smoking, so yesterday I made a challenge with him. As of tomorrow I am going to give up sugar, and he will give up smoking. It will be a bit of a competition, and I hope that this will help him. I am also hoping it gives me a bit more of an understanding about what it is like to have an addiction and how hard it is to quit, because I know with this hot weather about the only thing I want to eat is gelado, so this is going to be a struggle for me too.

I am super excited to find some new, incredible people here in Olhão. I know without a doubt that there are people here that are prepared. We just have to find them, because like the scriptures say, "they know not where to find it" It is like one big treasure hunt to find the elect, and I just know we are gonna catch em' all!

You guys are the best! Thanks for all your love and support every week. It really means the world to me! Hope you all have an incredible week. Amo Vocês! Ficam Bem.

-Sister Selk