Sister Selk: Miracle upon miracle!

Well. I can honestly say I have not had a week like this on the mission thus far. It was a week that I think every missionary hopes to have at least once during the mission, and I got to experience it! We experienced miracle upon miracle!

The miracles started with the melo family! They are actually a member family from Lagos that I met when I spent that one day with Sister Ventura in Lagos my very first transfer in Portugal, but they came to visit Sister Ventura in Mafra on Tuesday, and Tuesday just happened to be the day that our oven, and washing machine broke and the water in our apartment decided to shut off....so basically we were left with nothing, but this amazing family came and helped us with everything! They bought us water and even stocked our fridge full of food for the week, which is really a blessing because here in Mafra we spend all of our money on Transport and we usually don't have much left for food, so all in all it was a blessing!

Contacting this week was absolute Gold!!! We had some amazing experiences that happened while we were contacting so I will try to explain a few:

1. Fillipe

We met Fillipe on the street while we were contacting #claro and he told us that he didn't really believe in God, but he was really nice and continued to talk to us. Eventually we asked if we could say a prayer with him before he left. He said sure, and then we continued to ask if there was anything he needed or wanted us to ask for in the prayer. He just stopped and didn't say anything for a moment, but it was clear that he was thinking of something. His response to us however was "No, the worst has already past." In that moment he began to tear up and explain to us that his brother had passed away 2 years ago. We were able to bear strong testimony that we would see his brother again and explained to him a little bit about the plan of salvation. The spirit was so strong, and I myself was trying to hold back the tears. It was one of the most powerful experiences I have had contacting.

3. Sandra

Our experience with Sandra was very similar to our experience with Fillipe. We contacted her, and at first she didn't seem too interested, but after introducing ourselves as representatives of Jesus Cristo she completely changed! She said that she needed God in her life, and explained to us some of the problems she was having in her life at that moment. We again were able to pray with her, and she too broke down in tears! I couldn't believe it! 2 days in a row with some solid contacts! I don't know what is happening with these Portuguese people but they seem to be softening up! hahah

3. Tina e Silvio

MIRACLE COUPLE! Prepare yourself, because this story just blows me away every time!

Less than 5 minutes after we contacted Fillipe we were heading to our apartment for the night when we ran into Tina and Silvio in the street. We introduced ourselves to them and when we finished Tina said that she recognized the name of our church. She read our name tags again and then soon realized where she had heard of us before. She began to explain to us that 40 plus years ago-when she was our age- she was working for a company in Lisbon, and the owner of the company was an LDS woman from the United States. At that time they had very few members of the church and what members they did have met together in this woman's home. Tina had actually gone to church with this lady several times. She had a book of Mormon, said she loved our church and felt a special connection to Joseph Smith, but eventually this company shut down, and she lost touch with our church!

We talked with this couple for about an hour on the street, and I could hardly contain my excitement! We set up an appointment to visit them the next day, and it turns out that they live only about a block away from us! And we have visited them every day since then. They came to church with us Yesterday, loved it, and now we just need to get them baptized! I have no doubt in my mind that they will be baptized shortly! They are absolutely incredible fam! I just love them soooooo much! It is incredible how strangers can turn into family in such a short amount of time! They are definitely a miracle story.

Another miracle of the week! We have 3 people marked for baptism next week! The part member family that I talked a little bit about last week, well, Sebastiana, Kamila, and Luana will be baptized next Sunday! Sebastiana is the mom and is so nice, Kamila is the 18 year old daughter that I think would make an amazing missionary, and their other Daughter Luana. They have been taught by numerous missionaries for some time now, but last night we were able to go to their house and have an awesome lesson with them and mark them for baptism!!!

So family, now we need all your prayers to make sure all these dates and fantastic things happen!!

The work in Mafra is progressing, and we can feel the Lord helping us and guiding us everyday! I can't express the joy and love I feel as a missionary, it is absolutely incredible and I feel extremely blessed to get to experience all these miracles everyday.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and all your support fam! VOCÊS SÃO INCRIVEIS! Love you tons! Paz e Bençãos

-Sister Selk