Week 83 - Happy Fathers' Day!

Well family,

This week was good, it has been raining a little bit in Madeira which I guess is usual here but the other day it rained so hard it almost knocked me and my comp off the road. Despite the weird weather I have had a pretty good week, we are still on the search for the elects as always and they always show themselves at the end of the transfer haha. The other night we were walking through the center of town and we saw an old investigator I haven't taught in a while but we talked to her for a little and she is doing well. It was the end of the week and we have a goal to do a baptismal invite every week so my comp invited her to be baptized and she accepted! Granted she doesn't know anything about the church still but last time we talked we taught her how to pray and she has been praying ever since and she said it made a difference in her life. We will have to pass her because she lives in another area but I just hope she accepts everything.

In other news, some of the other areas have been having baptisms which is always good to see especially the smaller areas. We have been able to get some of our investigators to the baptisms and they really liked them. Hopefully they will take the plunge in a little bit. They were really spiritual meetings and I always love being in a baptismal service whether it is mine or not. One of the baptismal services was pretty stressful because last minute the font started to drain and wouldn't fill back up but they fixed it and the man was dunked in cold fresh water but the colder the water the more sins it cleans haha just kidding, that is not doctrine.

Next week is transfers so I will let you guys know who stays and who goes. Also this week we worked a lot on a piñata that we are making for a cultural activity that we are having! It should be fun and we had fun making the piñata. We named him Pépe!

It was Father's day this week (at least in Portugal) and it just reminded me how great of a Father I have. I love you so much dad, I miss playing catch in the front yard and I am so glad that you raised me in this gospel. I am grateful for your loving example and all that you do for the family. I also love my Heavenly Father who gave me everything I have. I have the best example in the world!

Week 82 - Floats my Boat

Hey Family,

This week was pretty good, I feel like I always gauge how good the week was on our numbers so I will not be talking about numbers anymore. I am sick of numbers haha. We have been passing by our investigators and getting some appointments but the problem is the appointments are so spaced out that we just contact in between and sometimes the appointments fall through so I am just going to pass whenever I feel like it and pray that they have time to talk to us haha.

We have been working more with Alexandra and her family (a family of eternigators who come to church every week). We got her to the sisters' baptism this Saturday and she really liked it. We have invited her to be baptized numerous times but her excuse every time is that she has already been baptized with authority but that is the least of her crazy ideas. She thinks she has been called to be a prophet and that her name is Zion! So folks, if you ever read about Zion in the bible or Book of Mormon, you are reading about a woman here on the island of Madeira! She is a really cool lady in all honesty and is just a little confused, she would be a great member if she would take the plunge.

If you are wondering about the title of my email it is because this week we saw the nicest yacht of all time. Usually there are cruise liners at the dock here but the other day there was a beautiful private boat that could only belong to a very rich man probably with a powerful business empire whose name is like Gregory or Stephan. I was pretty much breaking the commandment to not covet things and my comp did everything in his power to keep me from swimming out and hijacking the boat. The thing that kept me on shore is the thought that my dad recently bought one just like it haha... kind of.

We had 3 investigators in church and unfortunately our investigator with the most potential, Rita, couldn't make it. We did have Sergio there (Alexandra's brother) who hasn't come in months, granted he came drunk, was smoking, and left early to go get coffee but he came haha. We have been working hard with his family and hopefully one day they will all be baptized, they have a lot of potential but they lack something we still haven't found.

Thanks for all the support guys, it was cool to see that Maddy got married and also that Mckay took that big step too. It makes me think about marriage a little but not too much. I am still planning on staying single my whole life and getting my wings as an angel of God! I was a little upset not to get an invite, I would have said no to the R.S.V.P but it is the thought that counts! Love you guys so much!

Love,

Elder Ruggles

Week 81 - Confessions of an Evangelical

Hey Family,

Well another P-day is here and it has been another week of the mission life. It was a pretty good week, not super great number wise but I still feel like we did a good job. We worked hard and found some cool people, I feel like even on the worst weeks of my mission I have never gone a week without having a good conversation with someone or being blessed by something small. It is really those tender mercies of the Lord that help me through.

This week we tried to teach the investigator that the sisters gave us but he won't talk to us. He was marked for this Sunday to be baptized but now that he won't talk to us I don't know how we are going to tell him what time to be at the church to get in the water haha just kidding. He basically unmarked himself and told us that it is too hard and he has been avoiding us ever since. We will still try to pass by him but I guess that is why president wants us teaching single men, to make sure they have a real desire.

We had zone meeting this week which was nice especially because it gives everyone a break from the district meetings. Our zone is all stuck on the same island so we see each other all the time so it takes away from the fun of seeing everyone in the same place for zone meeting especially because 10 of the 14 missionaries here go to church in the same building but we still had a fun time. The zone leaders gave a training on how we need to mark more people for baptism and they talked a lot about president's goal to baptize 35 people this month. Hopefully a few of those baptisms will be ours haha.

Speaking of baptisms, we have been teaching this really awesome couple, they are really receptive and nice. At first they pulled the whole "we are Catholic" routine, crosses and all, but we talked to them a little and they let us come back. We taught the first lesson and it brought the wife to tears and then she told us how she never felt the spirit in the Catholic church. We asked her a little bit about her life and asked her when she did feel the spirit and she told us that about 2 years ago she went to an Evangelical church for a couple weeks without her husband knowing and she said she felt the spirit and was baptized. She said "You are the first people I have told, not even my husband knew, he is hearing it for the first time like you guys". We were a little shocked that she had just confessed to her family and us for the first time that she hated the church she attended and was baptized into another one. Her husband raised one eyebrow and stared at his wife but when she looked over at him with tears in her eyes he looked back down at the pamphlet we gave him indifferently acting as if he didn't hear it. We laughed about it for a long time after the lesson but they accepted to be baptized when they knew the message was true and they really like the Book of Mormon so hopefully they will keep investigating and not confess too much to us.

Other than that it was a normal week, we are doing a lot of planning for an activity that the sisters are doing about cultures. We are a little confused on the plans but we have decided to help if needed but we are not going to stress about it. Gotta love sisters, amiright? Thank you for all your love and support. I especially liked what mom said about blessings. How we always have stuff to complain about but we also have blessings that always outweigh the hardships, we just have to decide what we want to focus on! I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Ruggles

Week 80 - Staying

Hey family,

If you haven't already deducted by the title of this email, I am staying here in Funchal. My comp stayed with me so we are entering our 3rd transfer together which is rare, usually you only stay with a comp for 2 transfers but obviously there is something I still need to learn here haha but I will learn this transfer, don't worry everyone!

This week was good, we found a couple new people but they keep telling us they are Catholic so what more can you do haha. The sisters passed us an investigator named João (pronounced Jo-wow). He is marked for baptism for the 12th of March. It was really hard for the sisters to pass him and normally they wouldn't have to but president made a new rule that elders teach all the men and sisters teach all the females, so we have done our fair share of passing investigators as well and I'm not complaining with free baptisms he just has to quit smoking and he is good to go.

The whole island kind of stayed the same which has good and bad to it but we got a new zone leader to fill the space that Brown left (impossible) but his name is Elder João and he came in with me. He is from Angola and he is super dope. We got to do an emergency division with them because of a problem in our area so I went with Elder Wilkes. It was really awesome to serve with Wilkes because we were in the MTC together so we just talked about all the stuff we did in the MTC.

We had pretty good numbers this week which is good. Elder Garcia and I are slowly getting better at working together and we are being the best missionaries we can be. Something I have been learning a lot these past couple transfers is patience and to keep an eternal perspective. Everything that we struggle with in our lives is temporary, things that really matter in this life like family are eternal. That is pretty much what keeps me going but it is a really nice thought to remember that our suffering is not forever. Love you guys!

Love,

Elder Ruggles

A couple from Ireland I translated for this Sunday who met Elder Quinn last year!

Week 79 - Cold Fronts and Conferences

Hey Family,

Still no news on transfers because president extended the transfers yet again, who knows why he likes doing that but he does it all too often. I will know on Tuesday what will be happening with the island and the mission. I am getting the island madness but I will be happy with whatever because happiness is a choice.

This week we had an awesome opportunity to have a conference with Elder Kearon, he is the president over all of Europe and he is the one who dedicated the Temple in Lisbon. He talked to us on Madeira and then went to Porto and had a conference with the whole mission. Although I was sad that I did not get to go to the big mission conference to see all my buds it was nice to be in a group of 12 instead of 115 to talk to Elder Kearon, it was much more personal. Kearon talked a lot about being the message, how our message is one of happiness and joy and that we have to show it. He showed a lot of love which I don't know if the mission was used to seeing from President Amorim so it was really strange how personal and loving it all was. I also enjoyed the lunch of McDonalds.

This week our zone leader had to go to Porto for a meeting and since the other zone leader left (Elder Brown), Elder Wilkes left his comp in a tripanionship with us and it was pretty fun. The week was very very cold but we still got some work done. It rained almost 3 days straight and snowed, that's right, I said SNOWED on the top of the mountain... This is supposed to be a tropical island and I left all my sweaters in Porto. Oh well, when it warmed up this week I definitely was more grateful for the warmth here. 

Yesterday after church at 6 we had an activity for the ward and any investigators. We did a movie night and it was a pretty good success. We had 3 investigators there and we found 2 new ones. We watched "The Other Side of Heaven" which I really liked. It was nice to just have a chill Sunday after a long transfer. 

Well that is all I have for you guys this week, our investigators are doing well but not really progressing so I guess it is time to find new ones. Thanks for all your prayers. I love you guys and I will let you know about transfers next week! 

Love,

Elder Ruggles

Week 78 - Death of Brown

Hey Family,

This week was another slow one, this transfer has kind of dragged on a little but time always passes right? I think it is because we haven't had a lot of people plus president extended the transfer again. I don't know why he likes to do that but I will be here another week at least.

This week we visited that less active family again and they were happy to see us. They loved church and came this week without a phone call so we are hoping that they are here to stay this time. We worked in their garden again and then they made us the best lunch I have ever had. They made like a steak shish kebab for us and there was a lot of really good meat, which my comp didn't eat so more for me and the zone leaders!

Speaking of zone leaders, one of my zone leaders finished his mission this week. President asked him to extend his mission for a week because the transfer was extended but Elder Brown said, "I'm out of here" and decided to leave on time. It was a hard goodbye. Me and Elder Brown became really close on this island and we had a funeral for him and everything. We even made him a shirt. Really sad to see him go.

In other news, we have been passing by Manuel less, he seems to think that he is doing enough as it is and doesn't need to go to church. I like him a lot but he is really stubborn. The other day we found a cool family who wanted us to come back today so we will pass by them but in the mean time we are all just trying to find new people to teach. 

Lately I have learned to trust in the Lord more than ever. Everything I do I have been trying to think how would the Savior respond to this situation and I know that he lives. I love you guys and I will pray for you guys this week. Next week I will let you know if I am transferred or not

Love,

Elder Ruggles

The funeral for Elder Brown

Week 77

Hey family,

This week we didn't really have much happen, it wasn't like a trip to Porto or anything special. We have been visiting our investigator Manuel a lot and he was supposed to come to church this week to be baptized in 2 weeks but he didn't show up so he can't be baptized until a later date. I think he just lacks decision making skills. Everyone in Portugal always tries to make excuses before they even miss something. They set themselves up to not go. We invite people to church and then they say, "If I'm not there I am probably sick"...

Anyway we have been working a lot with some less actives in our ward and it has been very successful! We have helped to reactivate 4 people and they are really cool members. We have been working with the members list a lot and last week Garcia and I went to a less actives' house. This less active got offended by something at church 2 years ago and hasn't let the missionaries back in her house since. We knocked her door with faith to see if we could help with anything. She opened the door and had a very surprised look on her face and immediately invited us in. Apparently, Garcia and I look just like the 2 elders who baptized her and her husband so she let us talk with her. She talked with us for a long time and was happy to see us and told us we could come back for a service project on her farm. We came back this week with the zone leaders and had a ton of fun weeding her garden. This Sunday her and her husband came to church for the first time in 2 years and we have another service project tomorrow with her. I guess I figured out why I am serving with this comp.

Nothing else has been going on really. I have just been a little stressed with the work and other things but something that I learned in the mission is that everything is temporary. Everything except families and the gospel comes and it goes. I am glad to have the gospel in my life. Love you guys!

Love,

Elder Ruggles