2016.4.1- 2016! :D

Oddly enough, I was more "trunky" during New Years than I was with Christmas. Heck, I want even "trunky" during Christmas. My comp was worse. Remember, he is from Capo Verde, and all they do there is party. So imagine what it is like there during New Years. He says that it is like 3 days of party. The 30th, 31st, and the 1st. But somehow, he successfully rang in the New Year by sleeping. He said it was the first time he has done that. Hahah :)

Quick shout-out to the Burch Family! They sent me their lovely family Christmas card, and 20 american dollars! Haha, that was SO weird to see american money! I've decided that I will use this Money to buy me a meal when I get off the plane in the states. I'm assuming that I'll have a layover somewhere in the states when I am coming home. There is no way there is a direct Porto to Boise flight ;) Anyway, thank you Burch family!

New Years Eve was interesting. We tried passing by people, but every one was leaving, preparing for the festivities, or didnt want to talk to us ;) Whats new :) But towards the end of the night, the city started setting up a stage, and playing music, and etc. That is when the trunkiness came. I really wanted to party! :) We found ourselves heading up to the Castle, and when we got there, the inner part was closed off because of the fireworks! Haha! That was pretty legit to see a bunch of fireworks just waiting to be lit. Just a reminder, the Castle is like in the center of the city kind of, but it is on a Hill, so the whole town can basically see it :) A pretty good spot to do fireworks. So 930 approaches, and we head home. We plan for the next day, and go to bed. Except I couldnt sleep. I dont know. this day was prettyy tiring. So midnight approached, and the fireworks went off, and people were cheering, and etc. So I got out of bed to try and see the fireworks, but our apartment wasnt in a good position! :( So that wasnt fun. I crawled back into bed, and listened to the fireworks go off for the next 5ish minutes... uggh, that was hard. Then eventually fel asleep. I got up at 7 in the morning, and realized that Portugal is 7 hours ahead of Boise. So I am sure I was awake with you guys for a little bit! :D

Other than that, not much happened this week. It rained on and off. We tried passing by people, but nothing gave. We taught Maria and Luis one time this week, and marked them for church, but sadly they didnt make it. :( They were in Bragança (another city) with Luis' parents. This week we did pass by a lot of less actives, because our Branch Preseident gave us a challenge to pass by one less active every day. I think we achieved that challenge! And it paid off because we had three less actives in church this week, and they all shared their testimonies! One was a man named Walter who was baptized 5-7 years ago. Another was a Nadia, a mom, and her son, Flavio. Flavio is turning eight this year, so we are going to help them out, and the branch, by making sure they come to church more often this year. Flavio's dad is also a less active, named Jorge, and he works on Sundays :( And somehow, they both got baptized but they werent married, so we have to deal with that too. They both want the best for Flavio, so I am sure everything will work out!

Transfers are tomorrow morning. So y'all have to wait until next to learn where I'll be. I feel like my time is up here in Castelo Branco, I've been here for 4 months now :) Also, word on the street is that we are going to receive a bunch of new missionaries this week!! So I could be training! So if I am leaving, and training, it means I could be doing a white-wash! I would be pretty excited about!

I hope you all have made some goals for this year! I think loves this time of year, because there is a bunch of renewed hope in people that he is looking to destroy. Dont let him do this! Something that Presidente Amorim has taught over and over since he got here is that everyday is a new day on the mission. Every day, your mission "starts." And that is never too late to repente, and get better. So if your goal is to read the Book of Mormon everyday, and you miss one day, that doesnt mean to give up. Just do it tomorrow. Dont let one day ruin the entire year. If you read 365 days this year, instead of 366 (#leapyear), that is still flippin' awesome!

So my goals:

1.) Be a consacrated missionary

2.) Be a protagonista (be proactive with everything)

3.) Be humble (i.e. better preperation)

4.) Do the small things

5.) Live D&C 4

A you can see, all my goals feed into my first goal. Be a consacrated missionary :) I hope you all will set goals that will push and stretch your abilities, and make you a better person! Nothing is impossible with Jesus Christ!