Today´s email will basically just be a tribute to the youth of Alverca. They are awesome. The young men are always willing to help us, go out with us, and even do practices and street contacts with us. They invite their friends, and they fellowship the investigators we bring without reserve. Last Saturday we got to baptize Luis, a great young man, and the other youth of the ward have already brought him into the fold. One rapaz, Arthur, went to Luis´s house just to play Fifa18 with him. It was great. And then, yesterday, the young men were all gathered together at the bishop´s house, and they brought one less active and one non-member. We taught them all the about the Restoration (and they new so many scriptures and stories and all sorts of stuff) and we marked the non-member, Breno, for baptism this Saturday! And once again, he´s already completely welcomed into the ward by the young men. Really, it´s just the greatest. They youth of the church are so powerful and can do so much. The primary, too. The adults help tons, as well, and basically missionary work is about a gazillion times better when the members help. And what is the best way for a member to help. The best thing they can do is bring people to church. That is the hardest roadblock to overcome. Our mission president said that we need to tell all the members this: "Everyone you know should know that you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that you want them to come to church with you and they are always invited and welcome." So I invite everyone to invite someone to church. If you don´t feel comfortable doing that, then practice! I´ve probably practiced teaching more than I have actually taught, and that´s because practicing lets you get used to something, and get all the bad tries out of the way before the real thing. And then just do it! You could be the one who changes someone´s life and gets them on the path to exaltation. Think about everything Christ did so that you could return to God. Is it really so hard to invite someone else to enjoy those same blessings?
Okay, I´m done laying into you. Some other cool things happened this week. We did divisions with Póvoa and Vila Franca de Xira, and when I was in Vila Franca, I got to see the Portugal Porto Mission, and the mountains that are between Portugal and Spain. Portugal is really small. It´s about the same length north to south as Utah. Everything is close. Except the Azores. They´re a group of islands that are part of our mission, and the one furthest away from Portugal is about halfway between here and America.
I added some more pictures to my folder for you all. Enjoy!
I love you all! Have a fantastic week!
Elder Lofthouse
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