Eleanor's Mission

  This week is my dads birthdays. Ive learned a lot from my dad. My dad is an amazing teacher. He takes every opportunity to learn and when he learns something, he loves to share it. I am one of the many benefactors of my dads greats lessons. Today I wanted to share some that have meant a lot to me on my mission:)  The law of the harvest,  or as my dad says: "If you plant tomatoes you are going to get tomatoes" You get out what you put in. On my mission, I have seen how true this is. When I plant the good seeds of obedience, diligence and patience, I see the fruits of those seeds.  "Expand your horizons"  I heard a lot of this one when I was in my picky eating phase. But really this principle of action has been very present with me on the mission. We don't settle. We try new things. When I am feeling comfortable with the missionary life, I know that its time to expand because we don't grow if we stay we are. We need new horizons. And that leads to the next o...

  On the byu speech grind and I found this cute story from a talk by Wendy Watson(Nelson) "A children’s story tells of a caterpillar named Yellow who is trying to find out what she should be doing with her life. In her wanderings she discovers another caterpillar seemingly caught in some gauzy, hairy filament. Concerned, she asks if she can help. He explains that this is all part of the process of becoming a butterfly. When she hears the word butterfly, her whole insides leap. “But what is a butterfly?” she asks. The cocooned caterpillar explains: “It’s what you are meant to become.” Yellow is intrigued but a bit defiant. “How can I believe there’s a butterfly inside you or me when all I see is a fuzzy worm?” On further reflection she pensively asks, “How does one become a butterfly?” And the answer? “You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” The caterpillar life is appealing at times. I can convince myself that becoming a butterfly is too muc...

Moved to Santarém! Sad not to be a patinho de oerias anymore but I love it here! Trying to think of important things. My new companion is Sister Houghton and she is super sweet! She has one transfer more than me in Portugal so we've definitely had some language fails together but somehow we are still able to teach. God 100% qualifies whoever he calls.  Oh Our apartment is at the top of a hill. And we live on the 4th floor. The hike up there is hard at the end of a long day but olha. The harder the hike, the better the view!!  Actually I think that works for hills in Santarém but also for life.  When it feels like I've been on an uphill hike I can trust that it will be worth it. God has a plan. And that plan is going to leave me a better and happier person than I was.  With transfers this last week, Ive been doing some reflecting. I am a different person and missionary than I was a transfer ago. I am so grateful for all the hard days that have helped me arrive where I...

  The biggest miracle of this week is that i FINALLY learned how to whistle  Just kidding. Not the biggest. The biggest bestest grandest miracle was that Yola was baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I got to be there!!!!  Yola's baptism this Saturday was probably the happiest day of my mission so far. I was so excited that I had a hard time falling asleep the night before. And then the actual baptism was so beautiful. A lot didnt go quite as we planned but the building was full of the Spirit. Yola was just so incredibly happy. Ahhh guys to watch her recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost was the best thing ever. Her journey has been hard and its going to continue to be hard but now she has a covenant with God to give her extra strength and guidance!!! That was by far the highest light of the week but some other news for ya  - i was whisked away to Queluz Thursday night and wow it is SO different than Oerias. I was definitely blessed. When we walk down the street here in Queluz, we...