Gaia 5/8/17

Boa tarde Família!

Elders Kim, Andrade, Whetten, & Wanlass

Well this week was "buckwild". Buckwild is my new favorite word for now, and just describes how our week has been, haha.

We get a call from Bishop to help this Brazilian couple whose moving houses to help them get to the chapel with the few things they have, as a temporary fix. As we explain who we are and what we do, and as we teach them the first lesson, a member randomly walks in and is like "hey I got this friend who wants to know more". I'm like wow, ok, so I look over at Elder Wanlass and I'm like "bro take um right over there and teach um" so we like wrangle these lessons and everyone is taught the boas novas do evangelho (good news of the gospel) haha.

We did a division with the elderes of Bragança, and I went with Elder Whetten who actually replaced me in Coimbra 2 when I left, and we had a great division. He's from Arizona, and is 2m tall! We went and wrecked some doors together hahaha. Nah but, we taught this guy me and Wanlass had contacted and turns out he's a cop! Long story short, we didn't go to jail, he liked the message, and we're going back!

We had stake conference and was really cool to see the conference center fill up! We had a 70 visiting from Spain, who spoke straight Spanish, but went really good. Presidente Amorim was also there. Presidente talked about having eyes of light for everyone, and how the way we treat them and think of them, influences their progress. The 70 spoke about putting the things of God first. Both were good. I'm doing my best to apply those things to my life and be a better missionary and leader.

Also after church we had the opportunity to give the Melchezidek Priesthood to some recent converts of our ward, and it just makes me so grateful for the time I have to serve in Portugal, and really be the hands of God here in these peoples' lives.

Happy to hear that everyone survived pule puka kula! Iona, hoʻomaikaʻi!!!! You are now one of the bros. Also hoʻomaikaʻi with seminary! Seminary is definitely good for you! haha go do it!!! Family, I love you guys! Keep up the great work, and I guess I'll see you guys next week Sunday at 18h my time. I love you guys!

com amor,

Élder Kim

What I got to wake up to this AM

The recyclers dropped by. It is taken very seriously here in Portugal.  

These are community bins where everything is sorted.

The bins are HUGE!! You can fit a lot of stuff in there. They are collecting the glass this morning.

Gaia 5/1/17

Aloha Família!

So yeah this week was pretty crazy. I’m pretty sure I say that every week, but this one was pretty nuts.

Elder Wanless, Sister McNabb, Sister Nance, Elder Kim
setting up for zone conference

We had a zone meeting we ran on quarta-feira (Wednesday). We talked a lot about planning, and how we need to plan in such a way that we "garantee" our success. Basically, how we can do everything in our power to reach the goal, making sure that nothing goes thru the cracks. The meeting was super smooth, and the majority, if not everyone liked it. #VivaGaia

Divisions with the elderes from Vila Real B. They aren’t the district leaders so normally we wouldn’t do a division with them, but they had some stuff to do the next day in Porto, so they stayed with us. Was nice to have 2 duplas (sets of missionaries) working in our area. I went with Elder Hilton, who was trained by Elder Wanlass, and we had a great time working hard.

Our zone conference 

Our activity about the tree of life. We based our activity around the tree of life dream, and we had like 35 people there, including some of our investigators. We read the dream, as described in the Book of Mormon, then one by one everyone went thru a tree of life replication we made, in the dark and stuff, ending at the tree of life, while those who waited watched some Mormon messages (videos). After we read the explanations of the symbolisms and stuff, was really good. The Spirit was strong during the whole thing, and many thanked us for the activity after saying tat it was great. Some even cried during the activity. I was very happy with how it turned out.

The sisteres baptism that turned into a noite de cinema (movie night). Sadly the sisters baptism was supposed to happen this past Saturday, but in the end, last minute, it couldn’t happen.... Except we still had people coming to it!!! So, we like put together a movie night thing and we watched “17 Miracles”, and everyone who came loved it!!! God is good!!! 

I know that it is because of Him that we can accomplish all that we accomplish. He guides us, He prepares the way, we are but tools in His hands.

#iatepaint

Paintball today. Yeah so the Matosinhos district had planned to do paintball but they needed two more people to play with them to get the deal they wanted, so they called us!!! haha. Never played before in my life, so got demolished the first few games, but by the end was doing better, doing those baseball slides to save myself, and take some people out while I did. #getwrecked #eatpaint #iatepaint kkkkk (side note: “kkkkk” is Portuguese shorthand for “hahahahaha”)

Anyway, that’s about it for this week. Sounds like everyone’s doing pretty good. Have a good Kaʻi Moʻokūʻauhau today!!! Stay safe!!! Boa semana de graduação para vocês (Have a good graduation week)!! I love you guys and keep up the great work!!!

Com amor,

Elder Kim

My Birthday Package! Yay!

ps. I did get the package, and I have been wearing the ties. Thank you, sooooo much!!!

Elder Kim, Elder Hilton, Elder Mireless, Elder Hammer

Planning to "garantee"success

Ready for action

Elder Kim

Ready for fun times

"Bring it on!"

Gaia 4/24/17

Aloha Família!

Don’t have a lot of time this week, but heres’ how this week went.

Got interviewed by Presidente Amorim. It was good, and not too long. Got less faca (knife) this time, haha. But the counsel he gave me is just so important for all of us. He counseled me to always look to get better at planning. Plan to "garantee" that your goal will be met. As we plan better, we are better able to do our part, and therefore God is better able to do His part.

We had mission council, and was cool to see the other leaders and stuff. Got to catch up with Elder Bortolo, and Elder Casper. Sounds like everyone is doing good. Also, we’ll be doing a zone meeting this week, so small kine stressful, but on the bright side, Presidente said we’d have 1 hour for Mother’s Day. 

Logistically wise, it’s been pretty crazy here. We’ve been running all over the place to get stuff done for other people and what not, and it’s just made working in our area hard. We were, however, able to find this cool Brasilian family(one of the sons is a beach vb player) and also this 18 year old MMA fighter who like is really good (took 2nd in this big tournament in Dubai). Every day is an adventure, haha. It’s also looking like we’re going to be teaching this family from Syria soon. They’re super nice!!!

A cool experience was we had this visit with a member. He’s had a super crazy life, and has suffered with his mental health, but he still serves in the ward. He’s super cool. So, we had this visit, and we shared this message of the Atonement, and what that means and stuff, and then we left, telling him to call us if he ever needed anything at all. So, we walk away, and like 2 mins later he calls us asking for a blessing. It had been a while since I’d given a blessing, but really, it was so refreshing and nice for us to be able to give him that blessing, to feel the love and support that God has for him. I know that God loves ALL of His children. I know that the Priesthood is the ability to bless the lives of others in His name. I know that He blesses us, and answers our prayers, often, thru the good actions of others.

Nice to hear from everyone!!! Thank you, primary girls, for the letters!!! Jonah, força (power thru) with puka kula (graduation)! I mua! Also, good job on your talk! Hahaha! Sam, feel better! Seta and Haili, I commend you guys and am so proud of you guys for reading your scriptures! Mom, you awesome! Sounds like you’re doing everything at once, and I’m soo grateful for your great example.

Family, I love you guys and keep up the great work!!! Vos amo!

com amor,

Élder Kim