Email: July 24, 2017

Ola Familia!! 

 This week was fantastic! We went to Porto and did a division with the sisters there, it was a blast. Then on Friday we for some reason set a goal to find 5 new investigators. Somehow we were able to do it! We found this really nice family that lives in our building. Then after our correlation meeting we ran to another area and found this woman standing outside and we started talking to her but realized that she couldn´t speak! So we made motions to tell her that Jesus loves her but then we realized that she could understand. SO she invited us in and we were able to share the first lesson with her and her husband. We showed her a picture in the pamphlet of this happy family and we explained how the gospel blesses families...but this picture is of a black family. The lady started shaking her head and making noises and then her husband explained that she´s super racist hahaha 

We had a really powerful lesson with Marta yesterday and the spirit was so strong that we invited her to pray to know if she should get baptized so we left the room and let her pray. She came out of the room and asked how she could know the answer so we testified of the spirit and... SHE STILL DOESN´T WANT TO BE BAPTIZTED. We found out some of her fears but man sometimes agency is annoying! But I know it is essential. 

Then last night we were out knocking doors and we ended up in this spot with a huge hill. We questioned whether or not we wanted to walk back up it after but we went for it anyways and found this AWESOME family! We taught them about Joseph Smith and it was awesome! We started teaching the first lesson with candles to explain the priesthood and it has been really cool. 

Sorry- don´t have a lot of time today but I LOVE Oortugal and LOVE my mission. I am so grateful to be able to get to know so many of God´s children here. I'm so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and for Heavenly Father´s plan! 

Love 

Sister Hulsey

The members in this branch are the CUTEST!!  

We had another piquenique activity! was fun and we found 3 new people to teach!

Others from the activity.

Email: July 17, 2017

Ola familia!! 

The days all just seem to be getting mixed up and I don´t even remember what happened yesterday but I know this week was great!  Sister Griffin and I are truly trying to give our all to this work and I am seeing the ways that the Lord is able to change us as we come unto Him. We had a wonderful zone conference this week! I got to see some of my old comps who are going home this transfer so that was a blessing. I am so grateful for all of the friends I am making here. The mission is just so good. This week there were some days it rained and some days it was really hot. The weather just always changes! 

We had a super cool experience this weekend. We went to an appointment but they didn´t answer so we felt prompted to go visit a different investigator and went over there and nothing. So we decided to head back to the apartment for lunch but on the way back in the distance we saw someone on the other side of the street talking on the phone. Next thing we knew we were over there talking with him. He hung up the phone to talk with us! He name is Valoi and he is from Mozambique. He gave us his phone number and said to meet up with us to walk to church. So, the next morning we went to the spot and he was there waiting for us, all ready to go to church. He walked 45 minutes with us to church. He was telling us "I don´t know if it was the spirit of the Lord or what that told you to come talk to me but I am glad you did" . He walked into church, greeted everyone and sat down with his new friends haha other thing... he directs gospel choirs!! Only bummer... he lives alone so the elders are going to teach him. 

On Saturday night it was almost time to go back home and we hadn´t really taught anyone but then we found this really old woman on her porch. She couldn´t really hear that well but she said she really liked us so she let us in and we were able to teach her the 1st lesson. She loved it and said she believed all of it . She is probably 100. 

We started doing "perfect" contacts. Whatever excuse people give we respond with "perfect" and then come up with a response. We stopped this lady and she told us she had to make dinner for her daughter so we said " perfect, the message of the gospel is for families! or someone says "I'm in a hurry" and we say "perfect! the gospel is for stressed people! It´s fun to come up with things haha!

I just love the Portuguese people. They really crack me up. The example of the members here is amazing to me. We are trying to really work with them to be able to find new investigators. I am so grateful for our Savior and that through Him we are healed and saved. I am grateful that God called a prophet to restore his gospel. My MTC teacher sent me this thought this week and I really liked it so I thought I would share: 

(Mosiah 3:5-6):

“For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.”Christ is the great Physician. If He can heal the sick, He can heal you; if He can help the blind see, He can help you see through His eyes; if He can help the deaf hear, He can help you hear the whisperings of His Spirit; if He can cure diseases, He can cure your weaknesses and shortcomings; If He can cast out evil spirits, He can help you overcome your temptations. He can do all of these things and more for you and for your investigators. Our part is to have faith and reach out to Him, following His instructions. Draw near unto Him and He will draw near unto you.

Christ is truly the answer to all of our problems.He is the one that makes our weaknesses strong. I always have the words "charity never faileth" in my mind. I love all of you so much. I pray for you all the time. I hope all of Eli´s upcoming appointments go well. I understand more the significance of the resurrection and my testimony of it is stronger because of Eli. I'm doing good on contacts and everything so don´t worry. I'm so excited for Braxton!! The mission is the best!!

Love,

Sister Emma Hulsey

Me and sis B´s last days together. 

Portugal is beautiful! even in the ghettos

We were both wearing our flower dresses and a drunk woman told us we looked like a garden. She wasn´t wrong.

Email: July 10, 2017

Hey family!! 

Sounds like you guys had a fabulous 4th of July! que bom. My fourth ofJjuly was spent pulling bags on and off of metros and buses and cobblestone roads but in the end we ended up finding a churro stand so we still were able to celebrate! My new comp is Sister Griffin and she is from Draper. SHE IS AMAZING!! i love her so much and we work really well together. She looks like Hannah Montana. This week was wonderful. We studied a talk called the Fourth Missionary. I have read it before but I read it this week and it came alive! It has changed my life. It talked about how even if we are doing all the right things and being obedient, if our heart or desires are still our own, it basically means nothing. We have to give our everything to the Lord. 

We have found some cool people to teach! We have taught the first lesson multiple times and each time was a little different but so spiritual. I love the way my testimony of the Restoration grows each time I teach it. Also we were able to teach Marta after church yesterday. She is an investigator that has been taught and coming to church on and off for a year now. We decided to teach her the first lesson yesterday and it went really well! She asked about how Heavenly Father can answer our prayers and we testified that the peace she said she felt in church was the spirit and was God answering her prayers. 

We also were talking with this one lady outside of her house and we just tried to keep getting closer to her door so we could go inside. Then she let us say a prayer with her and then let us in and we were able to teach her! 

The work is going wonderfully. I am learning so much about the gospel  and how perfect it is. Of course investigators always bring confusion and sometime hearteach but it is all swallowed up in the joy of the Atonement. The situation with Ana still isn´t totally resolved but we still love her and will continue to teach her how the gospel will bless her life. 

My comp showed me in Preach my Gospel a line that says "the understanding of your investigators will be influenced by your personal worthiness". We must strive to be pure. I also read a talk about how we need to teach in the Savior's way, not just how he taught but WHY he taught. Really it is because this is a matter of salvation for God´s children. Outward appearances may be good but what matters is our heart. 

Love you guys! 

Sister Emma Hulsey

Email: July 3, 2017

Hey Family and amigos! 

This week was interesting. It felt like it lasted forever but also flew by. We had some very cool experiences with the spirit where we marked Ana for baptism. And she was supposed to be baptized today but on Saturday and yesterday me and Sister Bushman just didn´t have a good feeling. We had to confront A na about a few things and prayed a lot and in the end we postponed the baptism. Ana still wants to get baptized, but we are just going to give her a little bit more time. It was so neat though to have the spirit guide us! It was kind of awkward though because today we went over to tell her we needed to postpone her baptism, but all is well! We called a bunch of the members yesterday too to tell them it was canceled, and they were all super supportive. Like 3 members yesterday bore their testimony and thanked the missionaries and gave us lots of love and care. man, I love this branch!  The elders and us were all in tears. 

Sorry, it seems like it was a depressing week but really it was good! Still filled with lots of fun and laughter. 

We went to go teach Aldina this week and when we got there she had a friend with her. We taught her the first lesson and right before we told the about the First Vision, Aldina asked "Are you guys going to tell the part about the vision???!" haha We have actually gotten a lot of new investigators through Aldina. But that dang woman won´t come to church! This week we also taught her a special lesson about faith. We brought a plum and plum seeds and told her " Pretend you have never tried a plum before" (because then we were going to compare the yummy plum to the wonderful blessings we have from going to church but she has to plant the seeds and experiment it for herself...it was going to be awesome) But as soon as we asked her to pretend she never tried a plum she lost it. She thought it was so funny! Then she explained how she had a bunch of plums in her fridge and her neighbors have a tree and all this stuff. Anyways, it was a very Portuguese thing to do. In the end we read Alma 32:28 with her and testified and called her out to repentance. And she still didn´t come to church! We are going to leave her for a little but one day she will come! 

Sounds like the hizzle is a sizzlin`. HAVE A GREAT 4TH OF JULY!!! I am getting a new companion tomorrow, but she is American so we will def. celebrate. I will miss Sister Bushman but change is always good too.  Also, I don´t remember if I already told you but the gypsies were expelled from their house. We didn´t get to say goodbye but we sure miss them! 

I love being a missionary and can´t believe I only have 4 transfers left. This week I was reading in 4th Nefi and Mormon and learned a lot about how much our sins, pride, and doubt can hold us back from the wonderful things Heavenly Father has in store for us. I also learned a lot about the hope and faith we can have in our Savior Jesus Christ. I have never felt more close to him in my whole life and that is something I wouldn´t trade for the world! 

Love you all!

Sister Emma Hulsey

Email: June 26, 2017

Ola Familia! 

Thanks for the letter. I didn´t even remember that all those people are pregnant and going to have babies soon. That´s exciting! Glad your week went well! 

This week started off great. We did this huge like conference skype thing with all the districts in the mission and President gave us counsel and stuff. Something he explained is that we need to pray more. He talked about the way Christ prayed in the scriptures. I have been thinking about that as I have been reading in 3rd Nephi. Christ has so much love for us and the Father, and truly he is our way to the Father. Anyways, President said whenever we are feeling sad, lonely, or anything that we need to pray and ask Heavenly Father for comfort, and I promise, it works! 

We have been teaching Ana a lot, and she is progressing nicely. She loves church and stuff but just says she isn´t ready to be baptized. Also she doesn´t want to pay tithing but we are working with her and I know here soon enough she will be baptized. Her kids are so darn cute too and I just want to pick them up all the time. But I don´t. haha The branch has been really good to her and help her out in church and everything. 

We got to do service this week. We helped Lurdes prepare her carnival truck. We dusted all the lamps they put up. We are kind of sad though because she is leaving for the summer to do her carnival thing. We love Lurdes! 

Here in Portugal this week has been a big party! Everyone has been celebrating Dia do Sao Joao so they have this fair thing in the center so one night we went there and contacted tons of people. And got hit in the head with plastic hammers because apparently that is the tradition here ! Then on Saturday we had a church activity that was super fun! We had a Festa de Sao Joao where we ate sardines and rice and had karoke. We were able to get 16 investigators there! Our branch president was super happy and the members were too. We talked about John the Baptist and sang the baptism song. I kept wanting to say " in the river Jesus floats" (because of the way little Caleb used to sing it!). It was super fun and I absolutely LOVE this branch and this area and our investigators! Aldina even came to this activity and a member showed her around the church and she loved it! She said it is super different from what she thought (of course, we aren´t Catholic or Jehova´s Witness ). 

I cannot believe a year has already gone by and that I only have so little time left. I love being a missionary. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I love the scriptures. This week I have been reading a lot in the Bible and I love the example the apostles set for us. They preached fearlessly about Christ. 

Love you all and hope you have a fabulous week! 

Sister Emma Hulsey