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

....for all you missionaries out there....

ASHLEY YOU HAVE YOUR MISSION CALLLLLLLL OMG!!! THAT IS SO AWESOME!!! my family told me where youre going... i cant remember (arkansa or kentucky or something) spanish speaking thats so awesome! i am so happy for you and kaity too!!!! you guys go in the same day and you could be in the same district how awesome and crazy!

okay... so advice i have for you now that you have your call....

first off use the i will not be still song. its amazing! its totally how i feel out here! and i cry and think of you when i hear it.

second... get a pmg in spanish and borrow (dont buy cause you will get them in the mtc) scriptures or just a bom in spanish and start reading and studying them along with the english... side by side... it will be hard and boring and you will not like it at first but it will help. also, start learning the conjugations in spanish!!!!!!! and every day choose a few spanish words to learn. listen to stuff in spanish and try and understand it. just use as much spanish as you can! haha... depending on how much time you have... but most importantly, study the doctrine and the gospel... gain a stronger testimony and learn to recognize the spirit!! the spiritual stuff is so much more important and the spanish will come i promise. dont get frustrated with in in the mtc just breathe and have fun. you can do it!

also, start preparing your ipod now... talks, conference, church music in english and spanish... the works!!! make different play lists haha.

ash i am so proud of you!! you are such an example to everyone! you will be an AMAZING missionary i am so jealous that i wont get to be there to help you prepare and also there to watch you in action out in the field! always remember to trust in the Lord... in EVERYTHING. thats one of the hardest things for me... to have complete trust in him with everything... and the fact that no matter hard i try to do things on my own, i will fall short. all of us will... but thats one reason that the atonement is so incredible! Jesus will make up for where we lack... He will help us up when we cant continue on... already on my mission I have felt Him pick me up and carry me until I have the strength to continue on... The mission is hard... it will be difficult, very difficult but it is SO worth it. when you get to see how the gospel is changing the lives of your investigators and the joy that they are finding through the gospel... it is amazing! all of the problems you had, or all of the worries that you had about things are gone... the feeling that you get when you see how you have been an instrument in the hands of the Lord is something that i dont even know how to explain. its just... AMAZING!

stay close to the Lord in these next few months... they will be hard... mine were... satan will be working on you. but stay strong! and also, go to the temple as much as you can! the temple is.... wow... another thing that I cant describe... its just amazing.

i love you!

com amor (with love)
irmã graf

I'mma baptizing FOOL!

yo fam! it was sooooo great to talk to YOU!!!!!! it was so weird to hear your voices!! and seriously the hour was way too short! anyways....

so we had a baptism this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Carlos got baptized! There is so much that I want to say... but it would take a million years to write! we have seriously seen Gods hand and so many miracles with Carlos and his family it is crazy! Every day we see a new thing and we always say, ah! we need to write this in our journals!!! haha. but... the baptism was awesome! he is in a wheel chair so it was interesting baptizing him, but we did it! (well the elders and members w the priesthood did it haha) He was so scared about it all but it ran smooth haha. Carlos is amazing! He wants to serve a mission!!!! (hes 19)

His cousin is getting baptized this weekend and we are so excited for her too! She is 13 and awesome! Seriously they are so prepared for this gospel its crazy!

This week... I cant even remember what happened because its been a long week... but basically we are just working super hard to find new people to work with and to weed out our investigators and stick with those that really want to follow the example of Christ and be baptized.

The mission is great!! Im loving it and the loving the people! Im ready for it to get warm though! its been cold this week... with rain... and humidity... ew. but its all good!

Well, have a great week! I love you all and thank you so much for your support!

com amor
irmã graf


pictures- all from the baptism!

the elders in our ward (we share a ward w the zone leaders) had a baptism too... the girl (shayla). and then to baptize Carlos we needed two people.
carlos in his chair...
carlos, andré and adonis... with bishop in the background (he is freaking awesome!)
and then me (yeah i look gross whatever... the humidity and rain was really bad and we had been running around like crazy all day long...) irmã west, carlos, his aunt and Nayama (she will be baptized next week)