Email: August 29, 2016

Boa Tarde!!!

I don´t have much time today but thanks for all of your encouraging thoughts and prayers...

IT WAS A MIRACLE WEEK!!!

Last Monday we contacted a referral we received from the elders. We met with her and she is GOLDEN. She accepted baptism that night. We taught her the next day in the chapel and showed her the baptismal font and she said, “ I don´t know why but I think that I´m prepared....” Anyways we marked a date for 10 de september! That’s like 3 days before Sis Smith goes home. So we have faith everything will work out with her. She drinks coffee and alcohol and smokes but she has enough faith to get over those things. Her name is Rosa and she is 55. It was so funny because we taught her the plan of happiness and then she started singing Happiness by Bob Marley. It was so funny. She always sings Bob Marley.

We also found 2 other novos! One is from Angola (We LOVE teaching Africanos, they’re all so open and nice!) and we started teaching a Jehova´s Witness. His name is Joaquim and he is probably 50. We taught him the first lesson and it was really fun. He knows SO much about the Bible but he is very respectful about our religion so we will see how he progresses!

This week was just better. Me and Sis Smith are getting pretty close, and we are just good friends! (which isn´t the best because we talk and talk usually not in Portuguese whoops) and it will be sad to have her leave! My language...well it isn´t doing the best. I feel like I am understanding more but I really need to use is more. And study more. A lot of time we don´t have time for language study but we will see how this week goes.

Today for pday we went and saw this awesome castle and a really cute city called Quimaraes or something.

I am starting to feel a little more comfortable with the whole missionary life. It all clicked this week when we actually found someone truly prepared by the Lord. That is why I am here, to help others come unto Christ! I have been studying a lot about Christ in my personal studies and it just really strengthens my testimony of Him every time I read. If I don´t think about how much time I have left, and try to just focus on others, things go better! I just will take things one day at a time and things go well! I can´t believe how much my testimony has already been strengthened here in Portugal. Especially about the Sacrament. I have a new love for the Sacrament. I feel such a power when I partake!

Well I will try to send some pics soon, we will see! Good luck with another week of school! I pray for you guys all the time. Tell Gma I say hello and I love her. And Grandpa too. And all the family! (ps Alex Boye...heck yeah!) and please send me pics of Megan and hoco! Good luck with the pagaent!

Sorry this was very scattered! Just know I am happy and safe and I know the gospel is true!! Love you guys

Sister Hulsey

Email: August 22, 2016

Ola Querida Familia!

Thank you so much foryour email. On wednesday, i kind of just hit the lowest i have been, but the next day I decided to change my attitude! Things have been much better. My perspective is diferente. I know this has only happened through the Savior, he is strengthening me every day. I love what presidente Hinckley´s dad said to him. I have been TOTALLY selfish. i really was focusing too much on my anxieties, and all my problems instead of just trying to love the people. I try to talk to everyone, and a lot of people don´t understand me and I don´t understand them but i am starting to feel more love for them. ANYWAYS....

So this past tuesday I went with 2 other sisters because sis Smith was in a meeting. anyway it was really good because i talked with another sister who is in her 2nd transfer. She was just a really good exemple and very encouraging! And on thursday yes, it was my companions birthday!!! We had zone meeting in the morning which was awesome! i learned that i need to have more faith! if i focus more on faith i will recognize more miracles. So after zone meeting we had a very special birthday lunch at KFC (they had this GREAT deal it was 5 items for only 4 euros!!) then we shopped a little at the mal, then went and taught! Well, tried to. haha we were able to go teach one of our investigators Siderley. They were so cute. we ate pipocas and guarana and then taught about baptism. oh man Siderley was SO close to being marked for baptism but he was still just a little unsure. We are going to teach him tonight with a member so hopefully it goes well! His daughter taynara is a recent convert. On sunday we went over before church to try and get her to come but she wouldnt! We were sad but we have hope for her. They are awesome though. So we have siderley and olga who are progressing right now. We are really trying to widen our teaching pool because we have not been meeting our goals! we have found a really cool city called areosa that we feel good about. We contacted some people there last week and we are going back this week!

Some funny things that happened this week. Last night we tried really hard to get home on time. (our house is super far away and takes about na hour to get back from anywhere!) anyway we hopped on a bus and then had to switch and made it to the other bus just in time. Well after about 20 mins on that bus we realized we didn´t know where we were (well i pretty much never know where we are but sis Smith didn´t know either) yeah i don´t know where we ended up but we had to get onto another bus after that, go back to where we started and get back on another bus. oh man, we did eventually get home, so that´s all that mattered!!

Another funny story, we contacted this funny lady in the street. We chatted with her for a minute and then gave her bejzinhos. but she had this huge mole on her face that we ended up kissing! hahaha me and sister Smith just laughed it off.

I feel very blessed to be here. Portugal is absoluteley beautiful! i am always amazed by the new beauty i see every day. I am starting to gain more charity for the people which makes me want to serve them more. We have a pretty big ward here. The members are pretty funny. They don´t really like us ( i think because of some past missionaries) but we are trying to gain better relationships with them so we can get references and their help. So far so good with that. Oh which reminds me, last monday família de carvalho invited us over for dinner and guess what she served...NUGGS!! it was truly a blessing. haha their house was so special, you could totally feel the spirit there. He is in the stake presidency. they are just so awesome and i really appreciated them!

Well good luck with school starting. Change is hard and scary But what i have found works is learning to rely on the savior. This week and my personal studies i have been Reading in Matthew. I LOVE learning more about our Savior. It is what gives me the fuel to keep going. Because Christ is EVERYTHING. we have a message of salvation! I also read the verse about give us this day our daily bread. I have been trying to take things day by day to receive my daily bread of help with missionary work.

I love hearing the funny stories! poor grandma. man her and grandpa are so funny but honestly like so many of the old woman here are exactly like her so it just cracks me up. Best of luck with everything this week! I pray for you guys all the time. Also thanks for your prayers. The work must go on because it is people salvation we are talking about!!!

Love love love you guys!!

Love,

Sister Hulsey

Email: Aug 15, 2016

Bom dia energia!!!

It´s so good to hear from you guys! I love hearing all those funny stories. And I loved the my greenie package!! Thanks so much. 

wow this week has been crazy. I´m not going to lie, there has many ups and downs, but my trainer has been really good to help me and talk me through things. She is about to go home so she has tons of good advice for me. She is awesome and iºm very blessed! too bad i will have to get a new one in a few weeks! I know that the Lord is always with me and will help me be able to do this and learn the language and everything. I also know that i´m doing the right thing. I can feel your prayers so thank you! So i am starting to learn some of our investigators names. As far as Alberto goes, we had to pass him to the elders but he showed up after church yesterday and i think they had a lesson. He seems to have a lot of potential so hopefully all goes well with him. Also we have been teaching this hilarious lady. She has come to church the past 2 weeks. Her name is Olga. We have been trying to mark a date with her to be baptized but she just keeps saying she was baptized in the Catholic church so we are working with her. She has a lot of potential as well. We also are trying to mark a date for baptism with Siderley. His daughter Tainara was recently baptized but just these past 2 weeks he has started listening to our lessons so hopefully we will accept soon! 

Man every day is just crazy. Because our area is right by the office and mission home,we always get calls for random things we have to do (which isnºt bad) but our plans we had for the day aren't super possible! but the other day we got a call that a girl from madeira (the island off of Portugal) was coming to get set apart by president before her mission to England. So we got to go pick her up and take her with us. It was fun! The only problem is is we have to ride the metro to get anywhere and sometimes it is a really long wait. We felt like we have been spending so much time traveling that we don´t teach much so we are praying to know ways to use our time wiser and be able to accomplish our goals. We are going to try some this week so hopefully all goes well! 

Yesterday we hosted a devotional about joseph smith. There wasn´t a very good turn out but it was fun because i got to sing in the choir and meet some other missionaries in my mission! I am trying to find the positive in every day. I totally feel the Lord helping me with the language! I am slowly understanding a little bit more. I can actually distinguish words now, but i still don´t know the meaning! it will come though. I am going to try this week to just try and talk anyway. Its really funny though because i can speak a little bit but don´t understand people´s answers and then they ask me a question and i just smile.

Some funny things that happened this week were we were offered free puppies! the guy was trying to get rid of them and really wanted us to have them so we had to keep explaining to him that we couldn´t take them. We ended up just giving him an invite to our devotional instead. Also we were offered cigarettes but decided to turn those down too. Also on the metro this guy who i think had special needs started rubbing my hair.haha i guess it is soft. 

During my scripture study this week i was reading in alma 36. In one of the verses it talked about how we will suffer all manner of afflictions if it means we can be the means of saving some soul. I tried to always keep that in my mind. I also love what you guys said about elder holland, just stay in the boat! I also have been telling myself to faith it til i make it. I know that Lord is helping me and will contine to help me. I need to do my part in trying to help others to come unto Christ but also trust that where i lack the lord is going to cover that difference. 

I remember being super nervous to start 7th grade too. It will be hard but adam will grow to love it and find friends. I´m glad the police guy was cool about the situation. Poor eli but that story is kind of funny! A lot of the old women here remind me of grandma. I have been thinking about the missionaries that taught grandma and that motivates me to want to talk to everyone. Thanks for all the prayers!! I love you guys so much! Portugal really is a beautiful country! i am lucky to be in my area too with such beautiful scenery. The roads and tiles on the buildings are amazing. Sometimes i have to just step back and realize that i am actually in a different country and enjoy how lucky and blessed i am. The people here are pretty crazy. They all talk really loud and kind of get offended easily. But they are also pretty nice. My favorite are all the africans. African love them. They are so nice and so willing to listen! We don´t eat a ton with members so i haven´t tried anything too crazy yet. WE just eat a lot of cereal haha and sis smith is a really good cook and always makes yummy stuff. We walk SO much but it is good. the weather has been a bit cooler so that´s a bencao. I still sometimes wonder why the lord sent me here, so i am letting that motivate to find out why. I really strive for the moments to find out why i am here. Being a missionary is such a sacred calling. I love it. I love you guys! 

Love, 

sister Hulsey

Email: Aug 8, 2016

Familia!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy my moly what a week it has been. SOOOO first of all travelling was fine. It was a long couple of days but i was able to sleep a little bit on the plane. I was not able to see any of Chicago or germany but it was fine. A cool thing happened on our flight from germany to Porto though. I was sitting next to this man. We got to talking, He spoke great english so we (me and a girl from my zone in the mtc) taught him about the gospel and got his contact info and he promised to read the book of mórmon! Heºs catholic but i donºt think he really practices it. What a great way to start my mission! Anyways presidente Amorim picked us up from the airport and we went to a hotel for the night. He told us we all just had one interview with him, had time to rest, and then have pizza at the mission house later. It was sooo nice to be able to rest and the next day we got to sleep in until 9!! President and his wife are super nice. He speaks great english but siser amorim is trying to learn. He is ALL about obedience. which is great because obedience is very importante! So on wednesday we had a meeting and received my companion! Her name is sister Smith and she is in her last transfer!!! so i will get a new trainer in 6 weeks. But she isnºt trunky or anything and she is super nice and patient with me and i love her! Oh and itºs hilarious because she went to homecoming with travis maddox. hahaha For this past week too sister sousa has been with us (she is brazillian) but she leaves tomorrow to become a travelling sister. She is hilarious but doesnºt speak hardly any english so we have been teaching each other.

Oh my Portugal is SO diferente from what I expected. I donºt really know what i was expecting but itºs cool. Everything is supes old. But itºs beautiful. I am in the área Porto um. So we are kind of just outside the city. We have taught a few lessons but most the time when we go to someoneºs house they arenºt home! Or they say they are too busy! But i have loved the people we have been able to teach so far, and at this point i donºt really remember their names.... but i still pray for them and do my best to study for them!! Everyone is pretty nice here! They always give you bejzinhos (little kisses on the cheek) . like always!!! Itºs fun. I pray for more charity so i can really grow to love the people. ~

OH MY GOODNESS i do not understand hardly anything anyone says!!! they have such a diferente accent from the mtc and also everyone talks so fast! However, from the first day to now i feel like i understand just a little bit more. In my nightly prayers i just pray to be able to understand just a few more words than the day before. Everyone is so nice and tells me i speak well but it is hard when i just have to sit there, smile, and say "sim!". but i am trying and thatºs all i can do! The Lord has blessed me so much already and i totally have faith in the gift of tongues.

Something way cool that happened this week was we were at the metro (ok we ride the metro at least 5 times a day) and our train wasnºt going to be there for like another 12 minutes. So my trainer looked at me and asked who i wanted to contact. I had seen a guy just sit down and i knew we had to go talk to him. So in my broken portuguese i went and talked with him and we ended up talking to him for the next 12 minutes! We gave him our info and a pamphlet and didnºt think much after that. (We do hand those out all day and usually nothing comes of it). So then we were sitting in church the next day and we got a phone call. Sister Smith answered and i didnºt know what she was saying but then she got off the phone and gave me a high five and a hug. She explained that it was Alberto, the guy from the metro and he said he cleared his Schedule because he really wanted to come to church!!! What a miracle!! She told me that never happens so i was pretty dang excited. We ran and found him by the metro and he made it for testimony meeting. We are going to meet with him tonight also so hopefully it goes well. I think he has great potential!!

I am trying every day to be better and think more positively. This week has had many ups and downs. It has been really hard for me to not understand or say the things I want to. Also i just feel so lost all the time!! But every day has sweet moments and iºm really trying to focus on those. I am blessed with a great trainer as well. She really just wants me to have the best mission ever. Some random things i have learned about Portugal.

1. Everyone smokes. Everyone. Especially while youºre talking to them. HAHAHA itºs awesome

2. It is HOT. i am just a pool of sweat all the time

3. They drive kind of crazy. I just always try to avoid getting hit by cars

It has been so so adventurous! Today for pday we went to the super touristy part of the city. I will send pics in  a little bit but sister sousa still needs to email. It was beautiful!! i understand why it was so touristy!!!

Tchau Thcau e beijzinhos~

Sister Hulsey