Week 52 - One Year Down, One to GO!!!

Hey family,

This week was a long one. Me and Elder Jones worked pretty hard and we had very little success, it seems like the people want less and less each day but maybe it is just me haha. I was getting a little discouraged so I asked Elder Jones for a comfort blessing and it was like the spirit punched me in the face and told me that I should still give it my all. It was a great blessing. I then came across a story during personal study in the book "Our Heritage" about Zions camp. The camp was put together to go help the saints in Missouri. Many of the saints were ready to fight and help their brothers. They marched for 45 days and when they got there they were no longer needed. Some of the soldiers rebelled and left the church. Joseph smith said to the saints, "God did not want you to fight. He could not organize his kingdom with twelve men to open the gospel door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men under their direction to follow in their tracks, unless he took them from a body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as great a sacrifice as did Abraham.”

When organizing the church after with the quorum of the 12 and the seventy, 82 of the men were enlisted in Zions camp! I am not saying that the Lord doesn't want me to baptize. I just think that the Lord is preparing me for my life.

The Lord wants me to endure to the end, and that is what we did this week. It was hard not having anyone to teach but The Lord always blesses those who endure. At the end of the week we talked to 2 young guys from Angola and they stopped to talk to us which is more than most people have been doing. They agreed to meet us at the church on Sunday and we had a lesson with them and they seemed really cool and they liked the message. We have another lesson with them this Tuesday and I hope they read. They seem to have a lot of potential. 

Roberto, the guy with McDonalds, told us that he does not want to quit smoking after we talked to him about the word of wisdom. Maybe we can change his mind but he said he wants to be baptized one day. But like I said earlier in the letter.....Patience haha.

I love you guys and I know that this church is true. I know that Viseu is where I am supposed to be and I trust in the Lord. I know that the priesthood was restored and is the power of God! Thanks for all the love and support family.

Love, 

-Elder Ruggles

Saw a space car!

Week 51 - McDonalds Brings Miracles

Hey Family,

This week was pretty good! We have had more opportunities to teach lately which is making staying here in Viseu a little easier. The ward has an on going joke that I am part of the ward now, president forgot about me, and I will be the next bishop... The problem is that it apparently gets funnier every week because it just means I have been there longer. They have had someone stay this long but it was a long time ago and no one really remembers. 

This week we had zone meeting and the office still hasn't gotten their act together since the mission split so we didn't get any of the things we needed to get like pamphlets and stuff so we are a little short on cards. Especially because president Amorim made it a goal to do 50 contacts a day, which is a lot of cards. Another thing that president did for the zone meeting was he made a rule that lessons in the street do not count. He was tired of people getting lessons in the street to have pretty numbers. I totally agree with him, being a district leader, I see all the numbers and it doesn't make sense to be teaching a ton of people in the street to get a lot of lessons but at the end of the week to have 1-2 people in church, we aren't really helping those people to come unto Christ. I don't know how much the sisters liked this rule change considering how easy it is for them to get lessons in the street but oh well.

I got to see all of my buds from the zone and they changed up some people, everyone except me of course. Everyone who was in the zone when I got here is gone so I am the oldest in the zone haha! It was really cool to be in Coimbra and I love seeing other areas. I didn't take as many pictures this time but we had to leave really quick to catch our bus.

Recently we have been teaching a man named Roberto. Elder Reni and I contacted him during Reni´s first week here. It was 9 and we were heading home and I saw a man with a McDonald's bag and I contacted him because of his excellent choice in food. Anyway, Reni and I taught him a little but he didn't have a lot of time. We saw him the other day at the grocery store and we taught him twice this week and he really is loving the lessons. He didn't come to church but he said that he believes that this church is true. We invited him to be baptized and he said no he didn't want to be a member but he would live the doctrine. We found out that he thought that after baptism he had to be an elder and preach like the Jehovah's Witnesses and we explained that he could live a normal life. He accepted and we will be planning a date for him this week. We just have to get him to church this week. And to think all of this because of a McDonald's bag! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Love all of you guys and all the support you give me!

Love,

Elder Ruggles

McDonalds after the Zone meeting of course!

Week 50 - The Man Who Can't be Moved

Well family,

I don't have a lot of time this week because I am playing soccer with the youth which should be dope. The big news for this week is I stayed in Viseu for a 5th transfer. Apparently I did not learn what I was supposed to learn here and at the end of this transfer I will have 7 months in an area. That is more than a fourth of my mission but I love the ward. I feel like I have seen a little too much of the area but we are working harder than ever to find new people so maybe this transfer will go by fast.

In other news, I come home 1 year from today on August 3rd, 2016! See you all in a year haha and I will hit my year mark in 17 days. Looks like I am no longer the young buck in the mission.

We are still working with Wilson to see if we can help him feel the spirit but in the mean time he is coming to all the activities and stuff and we will do our best to make him read. He is just super lazy so if all of you could pray for him that would be great. That is all for this week, sorry it is short.

Love You all!!! 

Elder Ruggles

Week 49 - Parties with President

Hey Family,

This week was pretty awesome, we ended last P-day with a family night over at the Tabaios with the sisters! It was so much fun, while the girls were getting the food ready all the guys were downstairs playing pool and foosball. The boy in the family is a year younger than me and is super dope and way funny. We all just made jokes during dinner, usually at my comps expense, and it was really good food. They asked us what we wanted to do and my comp says he wants to be the President of the United States to everyone who asks that and they laugh but he is not joking. He knows a lot about politics and government and he wants to run when he grows up but now the ward is calling him Mr. President. The sisters had the spiritual message and they made cookies and we all ate one but my comps cookie had a ton of salt in it. They likened it unto the devil tricking us with good looking things that have a bad after taste. Needless to say, my comp did not love that family night.

On Wednesday we went to Coimbra because we had a zone conference with the new president early Thursday morning. We got to Coimbra and spent some time at the church and went to the zone leaders house but ended up walking to the other elders house in Coimbra. It was a way fun night, we chilled and told stories with Elder Peterson and Erickson and they are some of my favorite elders. Early the next morning we had a meeting with president where he told us what he expects of the mission and all the stuff he did before in the church. He seems really cool and he is awesome. I had the opportunity to be interviewed by him and he is awesome and cares a lot about us and the work. During the interview I even snuck in that I want to serve with Elder Bianucci and he said I will note it!

We didn't have a ton of time to teach this week but we did get a good lesson in with Elsa, unfortunately she doesn't want to investigate the church anymore. She says she doesn't agree with some stuff including missionary work... She says she thinks that we should wait for people to come to the church and let them find out for themselves which I am all for but people don't do that in this world. I mean, she didn't, we found her knocking doors and she said it was awesome to get to know us so she is contradicting herself but anyway, we won't be teaching her anymore which was sad because she was really cool and nice.

Then, on Saturday, the other ward had a party dedicated to the letter C which I didn't fully understand but you had to bring things that started with the letter C. It was way fun! They had some fun games and prizes and a lot of good food. This week was just a party week.
On Sunday we went to pancakes again and I was pretty sure this was my last one but the Silva family said they are tired of saying goodbye to me so they just said see you next Sunday but we will see. Wednesday is transfers so I will let you know where I am at next Monday. Anyway, Love you guys and miss you all!

Love,

Ruggie D

Week 48

Well family,

This week was good, we did a lot of finding activities and didn't have a ton of success but we keep working. Although it is hard to stay in an area for a long time, Viseu feels like my home and it will be hard to leave this area. I especially love the ward here and how awesome the youth here are even though they are super lazy and just play video games, they have become some of my best friends.

In other news, my mission president finally got here, only 2 weeks late and like I said in the last letter, he delayed transfers for another few weeks. I will be meeting him this week and having an interview with him, which should be cool but it is a little nerve racking. Elder Bianucci said he is cool so that is worth something. He also said that our new mission president will be buying the mission a roller coaster so I don't know what to believe.

Not much else happened this week so I will tell you all a story of love, laughter and straight up apostasy.

About a year ago, one of our members in this ward passed away which was very sad but with the knowledge we have of the plan of salvation the ward was not heartbroken. This particular member was the only member in his family and most of them were Catholic. The family members told the ward they would be doing a Catholic funeral and the ward was invited. They respected the wishes of the family and humbly attended the funeral in loving support. During a part in the funeral, I am not sure what or when but a little dispute in doctrine which should not have been a big deal but the Portuguese tend to be a proud people. Anyway, a couple of our more outspoken members started to argue a bit with this family and the bishop was trying to calm them down but was quickly losing control. It became an all out religious war, each party was bashing the other with scriptures and profound ideas about how the other religion would be going to hell. This small funeral home in a Catholic chapel became a war zone of religious debate. It escalated to the point of screaming as many of the members became enraged when suddenly our Elders Quorum president raised his arm to the square and commanded the lady he was arguing with to shut up in the name of Jesus Christ... I for sure have never heard of the priesthood ordinance that he attempted to preform and I have done a lot of research on the subject and have found no scriptural evidence of it being a real priesthood act but I could be wrong. Nevertheless having later been asked about the event, the Elders Quorum president said after he did that he could no longer hear the woman... 

There you have it! Your weekly apostate story hope you all enjoyed it! Stay safe out there!
Love,

Elder Ruggles