"leaving paradise"

well, its happened... Im leaving paradise! I love this area... but i got the call today... Im being transferred. I am leavin Mem Martins and going back over to the other side of the river, to Almada. It is in the same building as Miratejo, which is where i started my mission. Im excited to see all the people that i got to know in Miratejo, and to help strengthen the Almada ward a little bit. I will be serving with Irmã Greco. Shes from Arizona and has been here for about 4 months. Im super excited. Shes a super cute and nice irmã. We are doing a whitewash... (ah!!!!) which means that the irmãs that were there before are both leaving and two new irmãs that dont know anything about the area are coming in. It will be a good transfer Im sure.

As far as this week goes... we had an amazing week and i definately learned so much about faith and the power of prayer. So, this week started out with a phone call from our Zone Leaders telling us that we needed to baptize this past weekend. (in their normal pushy way) And our dear Maria that was lined up for baptism had fallen and drank coffee again so we didnt feel like she was ready for baptism and she hadnt been to church that week... so we unmarked her and our goal baptism was going to be a miracle, in other words it was a goal that we had of faith. They didnt like that and said we needed to pray and go through our area book until we felt someone. so, we went to work praying, fasting and looking for someone. We pulled about 10 people from the book and prayed for them by name. At the end of the prayer irmã reis asked me who i felt... I said Maria, but not the Maria that we had been working with. She was like uh, i didnt say the name Maria in the prayer. So we went through the book again and pulled all the marias (its portugal, theres TONS of Marias!) We called all of them to try and pass by... not one answered. so we decided to try and pass by their homes. the first one we tried her record was a year old and so we went to her house and the whole building was vacant and abandoned (sp?). So on the record it had the address of her sons house... so we went there... noone answered there too. We were about to leave and i said no, we need to call her. so we did. she said that she needed a prayer so we met with her 10 minutes later in the chapel. When we were there with her, oh my goodness, the spirit was so strond durning the prayer and the lesson that we had with her. She is so elect! She gave us a ton of references of family and friends that needed to hear the gospel. When then invited her to pray about baptism. (she had been to church tons of times and had all the lessons... she even had a baptism date marked and was interviewed and then just fell off the face of the earth.) later that week we met with her and a friend of hers that she said needed the gospel too. They both said they want to be baptized and want to be baptized the same day. How cute. Really, this experience strengthened my testimony so much of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. It was such a surreal experience to sit and talk with these two ladies who were really and are, passing some really really hard times and how much they just need to know that Heavenly Father is here for them and has a plan especially for them. It also fortified my testimony that I know what I am doing is the Lords work and will here in Portugal. I can see and feel how we are really the tools in the Lords hands. I hope that Im being a power tool. (thanks dad! loved that analogy!) I know that this gospel is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that with the authority and power of God he restored the gospel here on the earth. I know that the book of mormon is the word of God and that it really contains the "secrets" of happiness. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, that He lived and died for me, for all of us. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have for a year and a half to share my testimony and this gospel with the people here in Portugal. I love them. I love Portugal. I love this work.

irmã graf

Hip hip horrayy for Butterfingers!!!!

super dilligent journal writer!

this is going to be super short im super sorry... and i know dads gonna write me and tell me i need to write more or i will forget it all. but dont worry dad, im a dilligent writer in my journal :)

so this week we had a really really hard week. all of our lessons fell through... k, not all but close. it was horrible. noone wanted to hear us this week. we had tons of doors slammed in our faces and people yell at us and tell us no... BUT, we had an amazing baptism of tito miguel. hes an awesome kid! 15 and super fun.

other than that, this transfer is at the end! only one more week! lets see if my pattern stays the same... i always serve 2 transfers in the same area and then im switched out.

well, just to end the email. despite the hard week, i know that this church is true. have a tough week just makes me bugged and makes me more determined to find those people that really need and are looking for the gospel in their lives right now. i know that joseph smith was a prophet and that it was through him that Heavenly Father restored the true chruch, and the plentitude of the gospel. i know that this work that i am doing is the work or God. There really isnt any other place i would rather be right now.

have a great week! love you all!

irmã graf

Happy Happy birthday, Irma Graf!!!!

so. not much this week but some pictures from my birthday... um the elders that im serving with in my ward suprized me with brownies... which really are cake stuff doesnt cook the same here... haha. and it was still warm when they put the candles in so they melted into the cake haha. it was so funny but everyone at church still ate it! wax and all. um... the other pictures... a cool house in our area that i LOVE! a traditional portuguese-ish house thats not old and in the city... the cool road signs that are done in tile... um... what else did i include... a random picture of me on my birthday... im 22!!! and my hair is attroshish! ( i have no clue how to spell that... but my hair is that... nice and wavy and gross... but its growing... so im not complaining too much... um... then that night after planning we had an ice cream cake in our house and had a mini celebration... it was a great day. nothing special, but over all it was just want i wanted in the mission... a day that was just like any other. and thats what i got :)

dont worry, i celebrated last pday and bought a cute pair of boots and a super cute pair of gray shoes that i LOVE. the boots really are a necessity here because of the rain and the shoes... well, they go with my gray skirt! :) thanks daddy! youre the bestest ever! (dont worry this was the first time i bought something like this... promise).

okay... so this week... i have a cool story... last transfer we were contacting, knocking some doors and this guy answered and when we asked if we could offer a prayer (prayer contacting... i think i talked about it when i first got out in the field...) he was like i have to ask my wife... irma howard and i looked at eachother and thought okay what a weirdo... who does that... hes the man of the house... he came back and said she said no not now. so we asked when we could come back and talk to them he went back and asked his wife... at this time we really thought he was weird. he came back a second time and said he didnt know. she didnt want us to come back. so we just thought whatever, and we gave him a card, one of those offers for the finding faith in christ dvds with our number on it and left. later, like a week later we ran into him on the train. he looked at us like he knew us... (its normal for people to look at us... two giant americans in dresses...come on. its not normal.) and so i smiled and said hello and asked if we knew him from somewhere... he took the card out of his pocket and said yep and asked when we would pass by. i told him in the next week. well, that week irma howard was transferred, i got a greenie and it was super hectic and, honestly, i forgot about the guy. then, 2 weeks ago, we ran into him on the street when we were with an investigator... i said hello as he passed by and then he turned around and said hey! ive been waiting for you and you never came to by my house! I apologized, got his number and marked an appointment... i really honestly still know who he was... i had forgotten about him again. so, we met with him and he was receptive. i called him the day after to see if he had read and prayed, he had and he wanted us to come over to his house and talk to his wife about it too. well, we did but it was irma reis and a member because we were on division. he helped to teach the lesson to his wife. then they came to church and it was good. then we passed by last tuesday and i asked him how the reading was and the prayer to ask if the book of mormon is true. it was the most amazing thing to me when i asked his face lit up and he started talking about how he felt when he read. he is so ready for baptism! its crazy! they only thing is that they arent married and the wife is a little bit slower with the whole thing... ill give it to her... she recently had a baby and has her hands full with the 3 week old baby... but still... we are working with them and they are doing great! i learned so much from this experience... that really, its not our place to judge who can and cant accept the gospel, who does and doesnt need it. i learned just a little bit more really how much our heavenly father loves us and how he will prepare our paths, our lives... everything that happens to us, in our lives, happens for a reason.

i am so glad to be here in the mission learning and growning... but also, i know that this was a part of my life that heavenly father prepared for me specifically to help others, but also to prepare me for later in my life. i love this gospel and i know that it is true and that if we follow it, we can have eternal life. I know that this church, is the true chruch, the same church that Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth, and that through joseph smith, a prophet of god, it was restored to the earth.

have a fabulous week!

love,
irmã graf

7-up and soda crackers

um... this week... was a good week... just working hard and trying our best to do what the Lord wants here in Mem Martins... and of course loving every minute of it.

this week it rained for 3 days straight... its so weird here... it rains and its windy but it really isnt that cold right now... so i had an umbrella for the rain and then just a cardigan... i got sick... it was lame. but it was fun because we did a divison and i stayed in the house of Sonia (the recent convert that had the wedding and i sent the pictures) she says shes my mom here in portugal and she let me rest in her bed and she fed me soup and 7 up and crackers and i watched legacy in portuguese... it was so funny. but it was only for a couple hours... because i almost fainted in the street... fabulous. but im all good now, ive learned that here even if it isnt super cold if you arent dressed properly you will die. haha.

my filha (daughter) is learning a lot and so am i and its awesome. i love training! oh, also, we found the coolest and most elect couple ever!!! they are golden! We stared teaching them this week and they are so open and receptive... they just need to get married... freakin people here... noone is ever married!!

well, thats about it for this week... thanks for everything! i love you all!!!

irmã graf

Miracles in Portugal

Alright family, Im going to try and write a really long email... because i have been slacking lately and really, there has been so much happening that i should be writing about its ridiculous!

as you can see that ive titled this email week of miracles... really it has been... and i want to tell you about all of them, but i want to start off with the last miracle that happened, that is the biggest and most important to me.
Big miracle, i want to talk about the AMAZING conference that we had this past weekend... not only were the talks excellent, the spirit extrememly strong, but the most incredible thing was announced... WE, HERE IN LISBON PORTUGAL, ARE GETTING A TEMPLE!!! let me just tell you about my day saturday... we were late to conference because to watch it we have to go to a different chapel... well, we had a family of investigators that really didnt want to go to church that finally agreed to go to the first session on saturday with us... so we were late because of them... as we were walking to the chapel my district leader called me and says i have some really good news to tell you... we are getting a temple. I cant even explain how i felt... at first it was unbelief because he likes to joke with me. But then it sunk in and wow... the amount of gratitude that i felt right in that moment is indescribable. I imediately wanted to kneel down on the sidewalk and just offer up a pray of gratitude to Heavenly Father... but i was already acting really wierd and the investigators were already staring at me really funny, so i refrained myself. but when we got to the chapel i knelt down and just poured out my gratitude. You all probably think im crazy, but in the past 7 months that ive been here in the country working towards a temple has been our focus... to have the saving ordinances available to all these wonderful people here. I am sooooo grateful for everything that i have been apart of here in Lisbon. I KNOW that this work that we are doing is the most important thing ever. I KNOW that i was called here for a reason, to learn this language and love this culture... to serve the nobel people here. After the first session was over the stake president got up and talked. with tears falling from his face and everyone elses in the room, he bore an amazing testimony and then we all knelt down and the oldest member in the room offered a pray. it was the most amazing experience for me, to see the love and gratitude of all the members there. Really, talking about it now i can still feel and remember just how strong the spirit was in that room. What a miracle, what a day of miracles saturday was.

okay, to back track... the week started out and i got my tansfer call... that i was going to be training... i was excited but super nervous. I started a fast to help me to be the best i could be. I started praying a ton! the first full day of work we had, was amazing. we found tons of people that are interested and we even taught a few of them.

then, friday, we decided to do some finding in the area book... basically to look and see if anyone that had already been taught jumped out to us... as we were doing that a tiny thought came into my head that we needed to leave the house. and really, to be honest i wasnt sure if it was the spirit or me... but i thought, where would we even go... we dont have much time. and the thought came to me, go to the building right next to yours and start knocking. so i told my comp to put her shoes on, we were going out to work. she looked at me like i was retarded. so we started buzzing the little box thing outside the apartment building... the 4 one we touched let us in. it was a whole family!!! they are amazing! they and super nice and want to learn more. we talked a little and taught them and right as we were about to leave the oldest brother, hes like 35, said to us, "i know you were inspired by God to come and find us. I can feel something different about you girls when you are here in our house. Thank you so much for finding us." um, hello elect person. i really know that Heavenly Father is with us doing this work. I also know that every time we follow him and do what he asks of us it is that much easier to know his will and do it the next time.

I am out of time to tell stories, but there were tons more miracles that happened this week! really, i love this work! I am learning so much! it so awesome! I love portugal! I love the people!!!

com amor
irmã graf

my own greenie??

okay really fast... just an fyi heads up... IM TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i recieved my greenie, irma reis (yeah sister kings) today. we are staying in mem martins... um... yeah. thats about it. shes from Porto... up north. shes awesome love her. this transfer is gonna be awesome. lots of learning by the spirit. until next week love you all!

irma graf

"IT'S SOOOO GOOD!"

so this will be fast. long story but basically we dont have a full hour to do email...

um... so this past week... um, the work is moving along... slowly but surely. this is our last week of the transfers and i donno if im staying or going... duh. i will be fine with either. um... this past week was zone conference so i got a TON of letters thank you everyone that sent me stuff!!!! youre awesome i LOVE getting letters and updates about your lives :) keep em coming. i am working on writing back... it will take a while, but dont worry i WILL.

um...this week we marked a guy for baptism for this coming friday. im pretty excited other than the fact that hes kinda a jumpy fidgety guy, so im praying and hoping that he wont be like that with the baptism. um... weve just been working. nothing super exciting or interesting. sorry this email is lame... partically because we dont have much time and because i hate the keyboard because its really hard to type.

anyways, zone conference was AMAZING i learned so much and the spirit was so strong!!! i love zone conferences its like general conference but just for us! its SOOOOO GOOD!!!

this week i have been studying about desires... (sounds weird i know) but how when we desire something and we exercise our faith and work to make our desires reality thats exactly what will happen. it sounds really weird, but it is so awesome. i have been evaluating my desires and making sure they are in line with the Lord and His work here and then this week i am studying faith in accordance with this whole topic... its really weird to explain and doesnt make much sense when i try to explain it but ITS SO GOOD. i am learning so much and i can feel it changing the way im working. it is also strengthening my testimony so much! right now as im sitting here typing there are just so manything s that i want to write you about! cool things that i learned ways that i have grown and ways that my testimony has grown and been strengthened! I know that Heavenly Father loves us, really honestly this tiny fact makes such a difference in my life and the lives of others. Because He loves us so much He sent His Son to DIE for us. What a sacrifice... what an act of love. This week I have also thought a ton about the atonement as well... I am so grateful for the atonement. I am understanding just how important it is to use the atonement in everything in our lives especially the small and simple things. As a mission we are reading the BOM in portuguese in 60 days. it is amazing. i was reading in 2 nephi 4 just a couple days ago... where Nephi is talking about how he is a sinner and everything and his gratitude for the Savior and atonement... i LOVE that part in the book of mormon. its amazing! anyways, have to go. I know that this church is the church of Jesus Christ. I know that He is our Savior, our Brother. I know that Heavenly Father knows and loves us and wants us to return to live with HIm.

thank you for everything. i love you all so much.

irmã graf

Ms. Wedding Planner!!!!

this week has been amazing!!! so i got to play wedding photographer, decorator, planner, baker, bridesmaid, maid of honor and EVERYTHING. it was so fun. i attached some pictures from the wedding and baptism of Sonia... she is the most amazing lady in the world no joke. she really is such a strong and has such strong faith. they have no money, but they took a leap of faith to pay for the civil wedding and once they did EVERYTHING feel into place... well, Heavenly Father laid it gently into place actually. Luis, her bf, now husband, didnt have a job and she has a health problem so she cant work... but after she decided to get baptized and married (duh first things first... marriage) he got a job. then someone in the ward let her borrow a wedding dress and shoes, someone else GAVE them the wedding rings... which are like 250- 300 euros here. then the whole ward helped with the food and decorations. someone else who owns a salon here got her ready... hair (colored it too) make up, nails... everything! and then someone else was the chafeur (however you spell it)... and then someone else bought them a hotel package thing for their honeymoon. it was so amazing to see how much Heavenly Father really helps when people make the right choices.


the work is going, its hard... of course. but its all good i didnt expect it to be a peice of cake. I dont really like cake anyways. Something that always help me have a better perspective when things fall through or it seems like we are working super hard and getting nowhere is about Jesus Christ and His atonement. Something that an elder always said and it has stuck with me is this... the atonement wasnt easy... for that matter the life of Christ wasnt easy either... why do we think that ours should be? when in comparison with the life of Christ, my trials look ridiculous and pewny (haha donno how to spell anything anymore). I am so grateful for His sacrifice for me; for all of us.


um... so the pics... some from the wedding... some with some cool people that are in the ward that i love. and then the last one (i think... thats if it went through) is from where we went this pday... its part of my area! sweet huh? Sintra (my area) is soooooooo gorgeous and has soooo much to see its awesome!!! we also took some pictures last pday... we went with our whole zone to belem... but we im almost out of time and i dont want to have to find that camera card... seeing as i took about a bazillion pictures this week... but i am sending some camera cards home this week or next week so you will see them!


well, i love you all and thank you for your support love and especially prayers! :)


have a fabulous week!


irmã graf

Beautiful Belem!

so fast email... because it just deleted the email i was writing to you guys with tons of pictures and everything... lame and annoying... anyways...




some pics from Sintra, its part of our area. its AMAZING. you can look it up to find out more about it. but it was gorgeous. tons of caves and cool buildings. it was someones summer house.


the area here is so awesome and beautiful! today we are going to Belem... so im excited!


i think that as long as im here in Mem Martins I wont be writing much and written letters... theres soooo much to do here on pdays! its awesome!


well, the work is going great. we have a baptism/ wedding this weekend so its gonna be pretty busy and awesome! and other than that we just really need to work on building this area up!


the work is slow but good and im definately learning and growing a ton.


well, love you all! have a great week! be safe! im sick of hearing about people being hurt, dying or doing dangerous stuff! :)


love,


irmã graf

An e-mail from Chauntelle's old companion/trainer....

haha oh irma west! i love getting mail from you!


so, mem martins is great... i think that the lord is trying to tell me something... every area that ive been in (besides miratejo) its right after theyve had a ton of success, but they havent built it up... maybe heavenly father is trying to tell me to better my contacts and finding skills... anyways, the work is slow and irma howard is struggling with stuff right now... shes really depressed and doesnt have much faith in herself and in turn the work... so its kinda hard, but its strengthening me for sure. i have been so grateful for heavenly fathers help and i can see how i have been prepared for this transfer and how this transfer will help me in other transfers... the mission is so crazy how it all works.


we have a baptism this weekend and a wedding too! (she has to get married before she can get baptized...) its been a ton of work but shes one of those elietos! its awesome!


the miracles that i have seen over the last week... i had gotten out of the habit of contacting with nkutxi and so i decided that i needed to get better. i was back to square one like i was with you... but i told irma howard that we were going to the chapel (on a main road here) and she was going to make calls and i was going to stand outside the chapel and contact everyone that walked by. it was INCREDIBLE! i could really feel my faith and trust in the Lord grow as words began leaving my mouth that i didnt have previously planned. Also, another miracle, well a lot of miracles has to do with our companionship... i have had more faith, strength, love and patience with her and i have really seen how the lord has helped me step up to the plate to carry the burdens of the work, but also her burdens a little more.


i havent kept up running.... sadly, i really wanted to... but its all good. ive still lost weight... like 5- 10 pounds. woo hoo!


youre teaching seminary? how fun!!! thats got to be awesome! and a guy?!?!?! what do tell me more! haha. i hope it goes well!


the other irmas are doing great! de almeida is in oeiras, geiger is in lapa, morrison and perez are in the açores, and coelho is in odivelas.


i saw bishop from miratejo 2 transfers ago for a second... he said everyone is doing well. next week we have conference in miratejo so im hoping to run into some people. i havent heard about anyone else... other than helder that one guy... hes a golden investigator and has helped tons of people find the gospel... thats a miracle in and of itself... remember him?


other than that everything is going great! well, gotta go write the fam! i love ya have a great week!


irmã graf



On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 10:29 AM, Rebecca West wrote:

Ola minha querida Irma Graf,
Well another Pday is here, can you believe it!
So, how are things in Mem Martins and with Irma Howard? What miracles have you seen over the last week? How is the running going too... hope you are keeping that up! You know that running is not my thing but I am walking every day!
Well, life is good for me, I started teaching seminary today, feels like I have been up for hours already!!! They are a good class though, I know we are going to have a lot of fun :o)
I am busy with job hunting too, went for a job interview last week so will see what happens with that.
I met a guy aswell last week at the conference, I was meant to have lunch with him last week but he was sick so am hopefully meeting up with him tomorrow.... we will see! He seems really nice, a normal guy for once, so fingers crossed that he will not cancel tomorrow!
How are the other Irmas? Where are they all serving now?
Have you seen or heard anything of anyone in Miratejo?
Well, hope you know that I love you.
Ps I am so sooooo sorry for the delay with your memory card, it is in the post.
Love you
Irma Bex West!!!

developing PURE christ-like love

so.... now that ive been saving up for the past little while all the good stories and everything... hopefully this email will be good haha.


so... first off, remember the lady that was deaf that i baptized in Odivelas? well, shes been having a really hard life lately and everything has been falling down around her in her life. she felt really alone and like heavenly father wasnt there for her. so like the end of my time in Odivelas this was all happening so we went over to her house to talk to her... and help her. basically to make a really long story short she was really resistant and didnt want anything... but finally she gave in and broke down crying and talking about how she felt like heavenly father had abandoned her. it was the hardest thing for me to see her in so much pain... i was bawling... but i specifically remember that i was just praying that heavenly father could take it all away and just give it to me. and two thoughts entered my head... one was that story about me, mitch, ashely and the rose thorn... for those that dont know it or dont remember it...


so when i was probably 8 or so and ashley was 6ish... we were over at our cousins house and we would always play pioneer and house in the front yard. well, one day we were playing by the rose bushes, i think we were playing pioneers and mitch was the bad guy or something stupid. (i dont really remember all the details.) but he picked a thorn off the rose bush and started walking towards ashley and grabbed her and started to try and prick her with the thorn... she started crying and screaming so i came running to see what was wrong with my little sister. i started yelling at mitch to stop and of course, he didnt. so finally i said, mitch prick me with the thorn! i cant remember if he ended up pricking me or not, probably he did haha.


but this story came into my head. i just wanted to do the same for Ilidia... i just wanted to take the pain away... the second story that came into my head was Jesus Christ and how He suffered in the garden for us and on the cross... i thought about how He had really take the pain upon Himself because of His love for each one of us...


the reason that this entered my head again this week is because i have been studying about charity... the pure love of Christ. And how we always need to have it for everyone in our lives... i had felt it for my sister... and i always have it for her. i would do anything for ashley, i love her so much and always will no matter what she will do. and i felt it for Ilidia... i love her and wanted to do all that i could plus a little more just so that she can be happy.


this is my goal for my mission... not to baptize a million people, but to love, really truly love these people that i come into contact with. i want to do all that i can to help them be happy.


i am so grateful that i have this opportunity to serve these people here. it is so hard at times, but really, it is what we need to do. love those that hate us... serve them and help them have happiness... eternal, lasting happiness that we can only get through the gospel of Jesus Christ.


Have a great week everyone! I love you all!


com amor
irmã graf


ps- so, what happened with Gary? is he going to be okay? can anyone please give me more details? I really hope he will be okay. Ill pray for him.

Wedding Planner....

so... im here in mem martins. its a lot colder here... it even was raining here! its really pretty though!! in my area we have castles and stuff thats really awesome... we will be going next pday. my comp is irma howard from mn. she goes home in dec, shes cool and im looking forward to working with her. in this picture w all the irmas shes the one closest to me.


we are planning the wedding of a investigator right now so its kinda fun. today we did the pictures for the invite and i made an invite... it was frustrating because i dont have a good camera and dont have photoshop. but its all good



the ward is great. they are basically all brazilians... so its cool.


the work is good. dont have much time again today...


this transfer i am really trying to just perfect all the areas of the work and for this past week it has been going great. im loving my time here!


just want to say good luck to kaity and ashley, congrats to kelsi and good luck, miss you love you and remember who you are to my lil sis that is now living on her own!!! weird!!


well, lame email again... sorry... maybe next week will be better.


irma graf

A greja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Ultimos Dias

cheesy.... but true.

this week has really been a week of reflection... cheesy but its true and its been a really good week. so this week i had the worst numbers that ive had so far in my mission and the worst that i will have for the rest of my mission too. i dont care about the numbers but more how i felt this week and the numbers just solidified it for me last night when we had to turn them in. i really would like to blame this week and how unfocused i was on other people and situations that have happened, but i cant i know that it is only because of me and that i have a ton of things i need to change and fix to be a better missionary and to feel that i am doing my all to be the best that i can and follow the Lord.

i sat down last night and made a ton of goals for this week that will help me to be better and to feel like i am giving my all. this morning while i was eating breakfast i was reading some conference talks and found a talk that i really love. its called finding strength in challenging times by elder allan f. packer. in it he quotes elder dallan h. oaks about testimonies... "a testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to become." then he used another quote from elder oaks that says, "testimony is to know and feel, conversion is to do and to become." wow. when i read this a wave of inspiration and a little bit like Heavenly Father was hitting me upside the head to say hello chauntelle, you need to apply this! this is why you arent having the success you would like and know you can have here!... it is such a basic concept (hello, welcome to the gospel of Jesus Christ) and yet its so difficult to really apply and live it! I know i have a testimony of missionary work and how much it can change and help people in their lives! ive seen it happen many, many times before my mission and during. i have a testimony and i need to be converted to this work! i need to really truly be converted to the point that i cant afford to not open my mouth about the gospel, that i cant afford to think about something else thats not involved in this work. its the same for all of us... maybe directly with the gospel or maybe with a specific principle, like missionary work, we all know that its true and we have all felt the spirit testify about it one time or another... but we still doubt, we still hesitate... we havent recieved a true conversion.

well, onto the lighter stuff that happened this week... um... actually maybe isnt too much lighter... but last week ( i forgot to write about it last week) we were teaching Ilidia (the deaf lady we baptized) and Irma Nkutxi was trying to teach her and Ilidia couldnt understand her. It happens all the time... Ilidia cant understand people, she couldnt understand speigle very well also... but for some reason she can understand me when i speak. always. I know that she is the reason (or one of the reasons) that i was sent here to odivelas. when i was told that i was to leave miratejo back in may i was really sad and kinda bitter to be here in odivelas, to leave my investigators and recent converts that i had grown to love, but really i love it here. i love ilidia and i know that Heavenly Father sent me here to help her, to answer her prayers. it is such a great feeling to know that Heavenly Father used me to help one of his children. I was thinking about this yesterday when we were climbing a mountain in the hot sticky heat and i sarted to think... freak, i wish i was sitting in my pool right now... a thought came into my head that what am i saying. i dont want to be in my pool i want to be right here on this mountain in a long thick nasty skirt carrying books and pamphlets and water like a pack mule, yeah its not the funnest situation but it is SOOO worth it. I had the thought the worth of ONE soul is great in the sight of God. Heavenly Father loves each of us individually that he would two missionaries to search for days maybe weeks talking to tons of people teaching tons of people, and most of them dont want anything... but then we find that ONE that is looking and praying for the gospel. That one then makes all that work soooo worth it! Yeah, ive had some hard times on the mish, ive been sick and i started to complain and think about why i was really here in portugal and not at home doing other stuff... but then i think about the people that ive helped, the people that have accepted the gospel and how it has changed their lives... how it has helped them so much... and then all those stupid thoughts of the stuff that i went through (which really arent anything at all) seem like nothing. this work is so rewarding to be apart of! I love this work and i love all the people that i have come in contact with. there are people that didnt accept the gospel and it breaks my heart, but i know that i planted a seed... i know that right now thats all they could handle... thats all i needed to do for that person, but i still love them just as much as the people that accepted and entered into the fold.

i know this gospel is true. i know that i am where i am for a reason, as are all of us. remember, the worth of one soul is great in the sight of God.

love you all,

irma graf

God bless america!

we hit our 6 month mark!!! we had pastels da natas (amazing!!!) that same thing that sister stevens made for us when i got my call. and we burt a pair of nylons (hate them and dont use them but speigle does) and wore our sweet zone t shirts that an elder drew. and then gypsy pants... they are super comfy and really not flattering i know. today we went to chilis w our zone and found out all of our transfers. i will be staying here in odivelas and irma nicutxi (donno how to spell it) from angola will come here to serve w me. she only has a transfer and a half left. we are both sr comps haha. im excited for this next transfer it will be awesome!

so... i dont have much time sorry speigle has to pack. but i had the most humbling week, especially (sp...i cant spell anymore) yesterday. we have 3 people that we are teaching from angola and they told us about the wars that they were in and how they fled their homes and came here to be safe. one lady had to hide her children under the bed and then watched her husband die infront of her. the other was just a kid and he watched his brothers die. the other she was little too and her house was bombed while her and her mom and little brother and sister huddled together in a cabinet. it made me feel so grateful for how i grew up and the luxuries that i had. also, we have a recently baptized family here in our ward from brasil they are AMAZING and they literally have nothing... but they are always having us over for dinner and they have a piece of junk car (becuase the husband is a machanic) and they are always giving us rides... tons of these people have nothing and yet they give so much. we taught all of these people that i just mentioned yesterday and i thought it was ironic because yesterday was the 4th of july. but seriously, it was such a humbling experience. I love these people so much and just want to help all of them to have what i had... its hard to see people you love go through difficult times but at the same time i know that they are growing and learning to rely on the Lord so much.

so funny story really fast... we were at lunch w a member family and they love america... they practially are american... but anyways... so the dad asked us if we liked portuguese food and we said yes. then he asked if we liked american food. speigle said its okay but it has a lot of perservatives... well, she was speaking portuguese and didnt know what the word was for perservatives... so like usual she just guessed and said perservativos... the kids looked up from their food and the dads face just froze. we thought oh crap what did we say...how did we offend them... so then he was like (in english) uh, yeah i wouldnt want to eat food with condoms either! haha. it was soooooooooo funny!!!! gotta love that you can put an a or o at the end and have it be a word... its even better when its a word completely wrong! hahaa

anyways, i love you all and have more to write... but that will have to be next week! haha.
have a great week!
love irmã graf

CHURCH DANCES= universally l-a-m-e.

so today we had to go get our residency renewed... it was lame but we got to see our district from the mtc... and that was awesome! they are great and ive missed them... seeing as we are all over the place now... tomorrow we have to go back and do some more stuff woo hoo... imagine the dmv... but worse and with people that dont think bathing is necessary... yea.

anyways, this week... uh... really... i cant remember much.... ive been sick (wow, big news... not... im always sick ive decided... something about a mission... maybe its the combination of stress and the wacky climate here... one day it will be super hot and humid then the next it will rain and be super windy...)

we have been working hard to really follow the spirit and do the Lords will here in our area... but honestly, its really difficult when we both are just learning how to do this all... But, I have definately seen my faith grow so much in this past week and I am learning to recognize the spirit in ways that I havent had to do before... It is such a humbling experience to be serving a mission and yet I am so grateful to have this opportunity. This week the Lord blessed us by finding 2 families and the husbands are less actives and they both have a wife and a son... so we are trying to work with these families to get them back in the church and get the rest of them baptized and then in a year, to the temple to be sealed! Also, we found a family (sort of) a mom and her 25 yr old son and then their family friend (20 yr old) and the boys are incredible! We have only taught them once... it was when we found them knocking doors and it was just a prayer and then talked about church a little and invited them to church and they all said yes! and then the next day our ward had a dance and we invited the 2 boys so they could meet people and just get involved and omg... lets just say the dances here are just like the ones we have in vegas... LAME. maybe even worse..... hahaa. but they still came to church the next day haha.

anyways, really I dont have any cool or funny stories this week... but I am so grateful for my mission... I know that I am where I need to be right now and I know that what I am teaching is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Being on a mission and teaching all the basic principles really has strengthened my testimony so much! Its amazing!

well love you all! have a great week! Até o proximo!

com amor
irmã graf



ps photos.... today with the irmãs... well half of the irmãs in the mission... and then our district waiting for our metro! ;) good old elder dalton haaha.

Where in the world did Irma Graf go??

okay... so... this week... man... um... its been good. Okay, really its been the toughest week Ive ever had in my life I think. And no, Im not being dramatic here. We got lost... outside of our zone in the middle of a field... because our map was PRINTED wrong and so our busdriver dropped us off in the middle of nowhere... (dont worry i will photocopy my journal entry about this and send it. its great.) We have had tons of various problems but I am not here to complain about any of them because I learned to keep the faith... to stay strong and to really just turn to the Lord in everything ESPECIALLY when times are difficult... every single thing that went wrong we learned from and I feel that they were blessing in disguise... Heavenly Father is definately using our weaknesses to help us learn and also to encontrar (dad, i cant remember the english word...please change to english for me) other people to teach that need the gospel.

one cool thing this week was that some people from the US came to film recent converts about their stories for the new website... we got to have some of our converts talk... and I GOT TO HELP WITH THE PRODUCTION!!! it was so cooll... and guess what camera they had... oh yeah, thats right, a Canon 5 D, Mark 2... oh man... I was in heaven!!! It was like holding my camera all over again... I really really really miss photography and ahhhh to hold the camera... freak, it was amazing. (yeah, whatever... im strange) ps- how is my camera?

um... also another funny thing about this week... we have an investigator... Edith, and she decided that I look like Barbie (yeah, I donno... dont ask... she said its because of my eyes) and so she calls me irma barbie... its ridiculous. people here think my eyes are so cool... i always thought that my eyes were normal... but supposedly i have "big beautiful eyes... like Barbie"... yeah. shes crazy (love her) but I look gross here... seriously... no make up (just mascara and a little eye liner)... and dont really do my hair... shes crazy. the end... but it was funny... so you all can laugh at her comment because I did.

also, last night we had a lesson w this cool couple from capo verde and come to find out the wife is a member already... (it is so common to have this happen its ridiculous!) any ways, they had a friend w them... he was CRAZY!!! irma speigle asked him to say the first prayer because he liked to talk alot... uh, BAD IDEA... he started praying and seriously it was the strangest thing every!!!!! like baptist, halleiluha (sp) type stuff but scary... it was so hard to not laugh... (we did a little)

well, I am doing great learning a ton and enjoying every second of it!!!! have a great week and thank you for everything!!!!

irma graf

PICTURESSSSS