Deritson was baptized!!!

Its so great to hear from you!!! This week was great, except I have bad news, Deritson wasn't baptized!! Just kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!! He was baptized yesterday and it was such an amazing day!! You should have seen him!!! He was so excited to be baptized!!!! Me and Elder Carter bought him a 2 dollar tie at the Chinese store and he was so excited!!! I didn't baptize him but as long as he is baptized I'm perfectly happy!! When the baptism was over he said he couldn't stop smiling and that he would never miss a day of church!!! Immediately after he came up out of the water his dad turned to me and firmly shook my hand and his friend did so as well. Everyone there had such a big smile on their face and Deritson gave me and E Carter a big hug!!! He is such a great kid!!!!

We are also going to have another baptism on Saturday too!!! How cool is that!!!!!!! Me, E. Carter and the two zone leaders have been teaming up in teaching her the lessons because she is in their area a lot but she will be a member of our ward!!! We have only two lessons to teach her and she already has a testimony and has committed to baptism!! E. Barreiros will do the baptism and then she will be confirmed in our church the next day!!! Her name is Francinee and she is from Brazil!!! She is so cool, ha she said its sad that we get transferred so much so she is going to get us all presents at the next transfer. She has a strong testimony and is ready to be baptized. I'm so excited!! Its amazing to see how the Lord has already prepared people for us!!!

So I received your candy package!!!! Thank you so much!!! It was delicious. I ate it probably faster than I should have!!! You don't need to worry about my diet here!!! Me and Elder Carter have started sharing groceries now and we each pay half and get the same groceries so its all good, and plus, we are fed by the members at least 3 times a week!

That's awesome to hear about the singing group!!!!! That really is cool!! I'm very thankful you had me take voice lessons even though I was very ungrateful at the time!!!! E Carter is a pretty good singer and the other night Deritson's family wanted us to sing for them so we sang them a hymn!!! It went very well!!!

Well, everything is going great here in Portugal!!!! The work is rapidly increasing!!! I love it so much!!!! The mission is truly such a great time!! I have a stronger testimony of this Gospel now than I ever have before!!! I'm so grateful for it and I'm so grateful for you!!! I love ya Momma!!!!!

Love Elder Willes

Hey how is everything??? Everything is going great here in Portugal!! This week was a great one but it had its disappointments as well. As you know, we were trying to get Deritson and his family baptized on Sunday. Well it started great. We committed them on Tuesday and they said yes and they were all ready and excited. However, when we talked to them on Thursday, we learned that Deritsons parents aren't married and their papers are back in Cape Verde, so we have to wait a while for them to get married. I probably won't get to see them get baptized, but I know they will. The good news is that their son, Deritson, will be baptized on the 24th of October and he is very excited!!!! We are so excited for him. We are close to Joao's marriage too, and then he can get baptized. Things are going great!!! I truly have been blessed by the Lord to be here in Portugal while the work is growing so much!!!!!

So on Christmas, I guess we can use the cell phone and talk for however long!! It will be here sooner than I know!!! I can't believe how fast time is flying!!! Can you believe it? 4 months!!! Wow!!!!

That's awesome to hear about Matt's farewell!!! Its cool to think that almost all of my friends are doing the same work that I'm doing!!! The Lords work!! Best work there is!!!!

Oh I have to thank you for the package!!! I loved it!! We are going to decorate our room with Halloween and the Monday after Halloween, is our zone pday and me and Elder Carter are going to be wearing our necklaces!!! haha so thank you so much!!!! Also!!!! I loved those pictures that you sent me!!! I have been showing them to my investigators!!! When I showed them to Deritson's parents, they were commenting on how beautiful they were. I have been bragging about my family hahaha!!!!

I sent you guys a package on Wednesday so be watching for that!!! Its just some small stuff from Sintra!!!!

Well, I have to hurry again!!! But you know my letters are longer and better!!! I'm so thankful for you and your love and support while I've been here!!! Its helped me so much!!! I'm loving my mission!! Jashon Bishop was right!! Its not too much of a sacrifice, it really is a privilege to be here!!! I love this Gospel, and I love you. I miss you so much. Tell me how everything goes.

Entao, ate proximo.

Elder Willes

New Baptisms on the horizon!!!

It's great to get another email from you!!! I love hearing about all that goes on at home with the family!!!

This week was a good week, we got a couple of new investigators that we taught the first lesson to!!!! So we are getting more numbers there!!! We are committing Derrikson and his family to baptism this week. I have really good feelings about it!! We took him to see a baptism with us in another area and he thought it was really cool and you could tell he wanted to be baptized. A sister came up to him and randomly asked him if he was getting baptized on Sunday and he said "No, but next Sunday I will". I was really excited when he said that because we haven't even committed him yet!!!!! Their family is so cool. During our last visit, me and Elder Carter took family pictures to show them because they are so curious about our lives. So I showed them the pictures of us at Cabellas!!!! ha. They liked them a lot!!!!!

Weather wise, this week was ridiculous. It has finally started raining here in Portugal and when I say raining, I mean RAINING!!!! It's not like Utah where it rains for an hour and stops. It has been raining here for the past 4 days straight without much clear sky at all!!!! It was ridiculous. Our area is really hilly too, so me and Elder Carter were literally walking up stream. The sidewalks had rivers flowing down them. The rain finally stopped, but I guess it's good to get me ready for the winter here haha. So last Pday, we went to Sintra and it was beautiful. It's amazing there!!!! I took lots of pictures of it so you guys can see!!!! At the bottom of the mountain, there is a really old tourist town with a bunch of souvenir shops and when you look up, a castle wall and the palace tower above the town on the top of the mountain. It's amazing. I bought you guys some stuff that I'll send home in a package too, so be looking for it!!!!

The work is going great here though!!! I'm a lot better of a missionary now than I was when I first got here too so that's good. I'm progressing everyday!!!! I know it is because of the Savior. I have really learned to put my trust in him through prayer. I'm so thankful for this Gospel and my family!!! I have been blessed SO much in my life. I love you so much and I miss you. Everything is going great though!!! Keep up the emails, I love hearing what happens at home even though I don't have time to comment about it on the computer, but I love getting the emails. Love ya momma.

Elder Willes

Hey Momma!!!!

Conference was great wasn't it!!!! Can you believe we are getting a TEMPLE in Lisbon Portugal!!!!! How cool is that!!!! and also one in Indianapolis!!!! Ah we are really lucky!!!

This week was a good week but challenging too. As you know, I have a new companion named Elder Carter. He is really cool by the way. We get along really well. But since he is new to the area, I had to take charge for a week and kind of take matters into my own hands. This is intimidating for a greeny such as myself, but I think I learned more this week than I have previously because of it!!!! Elder Carter has already caught on and we are working hard!!! We only have one more lesson to teach our Cape Verdian family and then we can prepare them for baptism!!! I'm so excited. I hope everything works with them.

Elder Carter is an amazing cook. His food is like a flippin' world class chef. It is great. Apparently his dad caters for weddings and parties and stuff so he is a really good cook. I'm super lucky ha!!! He is a great missionary too!! It's going to be a great transfer!!!!

My favorite talk was probably the prophet's talk about gratitude. He mentioned that even in our toughest times, we can have gratitude and when we do this, we will realize how blessed we truly are and have joy. He also said that often times, we take for granted the people that mean the most to us. When he said that I thought of you and the family. It's crazy. Being on the other side of the world on my own for two years really helps me realize just how much I love you and how much you mean to me!!! So I really liked that talk!!!! The only session of conference we didn't get to see was the morning one on Saturday. We had to travel about an hour to watch conference at the stake center, but it was great. The cool thing is, the missionaries were able to hear it in English in the Relief Society room. We actually watched the Sunday sessions live and me and Elder Carter didn't get home until one in the morning. It was worth it though!!!!!

I'm really glad to hear that you guys got my pictures!!! It's about time. As you can see, Portugal is beautiful. I love it here! Yes I also got your letter and I sent a letter back to you!!! Tell me when you get it. You didn't send me a second one did you? if so, I haven't yet received it, but I will soon!!!! OH and about that fish. Yes we actually ate it, and it was good except for there were little bones all through out the skin so you had to spit the bones out like sunflower seeds or they would stab your gums haha.

That's crazy to hear about Elder Bell!!! Wow, I didn't know that!!! I'm really sorry about your knee. I hope it gets better fast. Oh just so you know, it's zone pday today and I think we are going to beautiful Sintra. I'm so excited!!!!!

Well I have to hurry and wrap up. I love you mom!!!!! Your such a blessing and I'm so grateful to be a part of this family and a part of the only true Gospel. Until next time

Elder Willes

Catia got baptized!!!!

Ok I'll start off with the news.

I just finished your letter today with every detail in it and I'm about to send it home, but just so you know, I sent my pictures home too. They should be there very soon. Ok so I didn't get transferred so you can just write to the same address. Elder Kessler is going to Lisbon, and I have a companion named Elder Carter. I hope he is a good companion. We will see tomorrow. Now for the bad news. Last Monday, me and Elder Kessler ate some chestnuts from a street vendor, and they were poisoned or something. The next day, I threw up 4 times and Elder Kessler threw up 3 times. So we were in bed for both Tuesday and Wednesday. It was crazy. But on Thursday, we were ready to get up and work and our work paid off because yesterday, we baptized Catia!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so awesome and the Spirit was so strong. We are still working on Derrikson and his family, but they definitely seem way interested and they are moving right along. So the work is going great!!!!!

Hahaha that's really funny that you didn't know about the phone. I can't believe I forgot to tell you. Yes, each companionship gets to carry a cell phone and it makes it really easy to set up appointments and such!! Its very convenient.

About the music!!! yeah we listen to music everyday and we use my speaker!!!! It works so great!!! If you could, could you send some Disney music over? like from the show Brother Bear, and Lion King, and Mulan and such!! I know it sounds ridiculous, but Elder Kessler did that and it was a great idea!!!

So, yesterday was our stake conference, and the primary sang for the opening hymn!! They sang the song that goes "a long time ago in a beautiful place, children were gathered around Jesus" It reminded me of primary. I miss it a lot. The whole time I sat there and sang to myself the words in English while they sang!!! It was so cool!! The people in the stake of Oeires are all so loving and kind. In Utah it's like everyone is a Mormon so it's not such a big deal when you get together for stake conference ya know? But in Portugal, it's like every single member loves each other and everyone is friends with each other. It's really a great feeling!!!

I'm sending a 6 page letter in detail about my mission and the questions you asked in your letter, but until then, I have to keep being vague. I'm so glad to hear about things at home though!!!! That's awesome Karter plays soccer now!! I can't wait to play with him. And it's great to hear you're back in Weight Watchers. Never give up!!! You can do it!! We are going to run the Peach Days race as a family when I get back!! How cool would that be!! Just so you know, I think the beginning of my mission was the chubbiest I've ever been because of the MTC, but now, I have to wear my belt a hole tighter than I had to even at home. Haha I'm turning into a scrawny guy from all this walking!!!

Well I better go!! But my letter and pictures should get there soon. I'm so grateful to have you as my mom!! It's such a blessing!! I love you and I love our family!!! I'm thankful to be here doing the Lord's work. The Lord has been so good to me in my life. I'm not really sure why, but He has, and the mission is the least I can do for Him. I know He lives. I love you!!!!

Elder Willes

More baptisms coming up!!!

This last week has been great!!! Just so you know, I haven't gotten your letter yet, but I'm sure I'll get it very soon. I did however get the camera card, and I am ready to send it back to you!!! We had our first zone meeting this week and we got all our mail. I got to see a bunch of my MTC buddies so it was really cool. This week has been really great!!!! We committed our new investigator, named Catia, to be baptized on the 26th of September!!! She is golden. She said yes and as long as she comes to church on Sunday, we can baptize her that day!!! We also have a family of 3 that we are teaching and they are golden too. The mom is named Antonia, the dad is named Joaquim, and the son is named Derrikson. He is about Caitlin's age. They are from Angola and they are awesome. Derrikson is really into our message. He came to church with us on Sunday and we are going to commit him to be baptized on the 26th as well. I hope he says yes. Speaking of, the 26th is the last Sunday of the transfer. That's right... transfers are on the 28th and we figure out who is being transferred the day before so I'll let you know!!! The work is going great here though!!! I'm really enjoying it and I'm growing so much closer to the Lord everyday!!!! I love this gospel with all of my heart and I'm so blessed to be a part of this family!!!
I'm sorry to hear about your eyes!! That's no fun at all. It means a lot that you still emailed me though!!! I love getting your emails despite the limited time I have. Now I can write letters though so that's good!!! It's good to hear that everyone is getting ready for Halloween back at home. Unfortunately, the Elders here said that Halloween isn't really a big deal over here in Portugal, so I'll miss that.. ha. The trees are different here. They stay green but they are really weird. They are either palm trees, or super tall skinny trees with long lanky branches that hang down... so no fall colors, but it is beautiful here!!!!
Oh, just so you know, I spent from my account for the first time today. I took 40 Euros out of the ATM and got 2 ties and a Portugal soccer jersey. I have about 5 euros left from that. I don't remember how much one Euro is worth, but I know it's really close to a dollar. I hope it doesn't charge me when I go to the ATM. Apparently almost every place here doesn't take my card... ha. I'm really glad to hear that Grandloot is getting better. Tell her I love her and I'm praying for her. I love you all so much!!! You're everything to me. I pray for you all everyday. I can't wait to get your letter and finally start sending letters. I love you momma. Everything is going great here.

Love your son, Elder Willes

I'm so glad to hear that Peach Days was good. It sounds like it was the good ol' regular Peach Days to me. I would say I miss the candy and donuts, but we get fed so much sugar here I'm going to die!!!! ahahahaha. Anyway, it's so good to hear from you. I'm really sorry about Grandma. I pray for her every night as well as everyone else, so I hope she gets feeling better.

Well, I thought I'd let you know we didn't have any more baptisms this week, which is a bummer, but we are doing really well I think. We are trying to get about 4 of our investigators to commit to baptism. We also received 4 new investigators on
Saturday... a Brazilean girl and a small Cabo Verdian family. They seem golden, so me and Elder Kessler are really excited to teach them. We taught them the first lesson and they accepted everything about it.

Early this week, me and Elder Kessler were walking past the church, when this kid ran up to us asking us to help get his soccer ball out of the tree. So we decided we would help him!! First we tried climbing it, but that didn't work, so then we started throwing pine cones at it and after about 10 or 15 minutes of throwing pine cones, I finally got the soccer ball down. The kid started jumping and shouting and screaming for joy and laughing. He ran up to me and gave me a huge hug and thanked me. It was something so simple, but it made me feel great. We also helped out our donor this week. We woke up one morning and we cut down a tree for her that was taking over her yard and we hauled it off to the garbage. It was a lot of fun and she even rewarded us with lunch!!!! mmmmm!!! cod fish and potato chips. The people love fish here. So that was our little service for the week. Other than that, most of the rest of the week was spent knocking doors. Me and Elder Kessler are trying to find new investigators to teach so we have taken to knocking doors. It's tough because almost every time you are rejected by knocking doors. Elder Kessler also has me do the talking at every other door which is tough at first but I'm getting a lot better. The language is improving slowly but surely. I can understand most of what people say now as long as they don't mumble. The mission is going really well. We haven't had a baptism since the first week, but when we do get a baptism, there are going to be a lot because we are preparing a lot of people.

I'm so grateful I can be serving the Lord. I love this Gospel and the Lord has blessed me with so much. I'm so grateful for the wonderful mother you are and the amazing family I have. It is such a blessing to me. I know my savior lives and this truly is His work. I'm so happy I can share this joy with everyone. I love you and miss you so much. I pray for you always.

Elder Willes

P.S. I have a lot of pictures that I have labeled descriptions for on a piece of paper. Zone conference is this Wednesday so I should get that card. Then I can send them home to you.

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