News from "Heaven's Diaper!"

Here is the latest and greatest from Miss Sarah Ray over in Portugal - After her general email I posted a quote she sent in MY latest letter with some scriptures she suggests for the tough times... Enjoy and remember to write!!! :) *muah* - Ridiculouslygoodlooking

"OLA!
So once again we have made it to Monday in the wonderful world of Portugal. This week has been LONG, but we are really excited to start a new one. It seems that Satan has decided my honeymoon period of my mission is over. No more appointments for us, and we were pretty much told to take a hike by two investigators. I think we were stood up on appointments every time except for one in three days...BLAST! The good news however, is that means we will now have to opportunity to find new investigators, and I get to practice Portuguese with people who don´t know that I am just learning. Well, at least until I open my mouth, then it is pretty obvious I think. Although, everyone seems to think I am English and not American...go figure!
Well, something that I learned this week is that Braga has another nickname....yes I know, this makes a lot. Unfortunately this one is a bit less flattering. The Bishop enlightened us to the fact that Braga is fondly referred to as "Heaven´s Diaper" because pretty much all it does here is rain. I´m not sure I really like the mental image you get with that name when it is raining.
Lesson number two of the week: NEVER get married in Portugal. We had a wedding in our ward this week, but in Portugal you have to be married civilly before you can go to the temple in Spain. SO, the whole ward has been knocking themselves out to pull this thing together and Saturday was the day. Everyone arrived on Portuguese standard time, combined with Mormon standard time, so we started about 45 minutes late. Then they realized that not everyone was there...the government official that has to be present had decided that it was not on her priority list for the day. So, while the families were running around trying to get a hold of her, they started to program from the back to the front, with the family all giving advice and such. Well, that was all finished, and still no official...so then we took pictures, then we did the reception....still no Portuguese government lady. I´m pretty sure that I would have been a mess by then if it had been me, but Daniela was very composed. Not to worry, they finally found a replacement and the happy couple was married 5 hours late, but didn't have to reschedule for another day- which apparently is common. CRAZY!
Anyway, the work moves forward, the missionaries freeze, but hey we will thaw out in April. We are hoping to have one of our investigators marked this week for Baptism, so hopefully that will be a bright spot this week! Other than that, we just keep on working, come what may. I´m thinking if the rain keeps up like this, we can just let the streets flood and baptize the whole city! The church is true, the gospel is worth everything that happens, and I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to share the message with others. Happy New Year to everyone!

Love

Irmã Ray"

"Alma 7:11-13 and Section 121 are two things that have really helped me during the tough times here..." - I really appreciated this, so feel free to feed from these words as well! :)


The following are the options for writing Sarah. Here is what to do:

1) You can use the dearelder.com website. This requires Postage to Portugal (94 cents). You will need to set up an account with money in it and then it will subtract the correct postage from it each time you send a letter .
2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Portugal Porto and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.
3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.
4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.
5) Again, this requires postage so you have to set up an account and put money into it and then it will substract each time you write.

OR

2) The alternate way for sending anything (i.e. letters, packages, etc) through the mail is below. This is her address in her current area (Braga):

Sister Sarah Ray
Rua Padre Antonio Vieira
Nº91 5º Tras
Braga 4710-374
Portugal

Get your letter on! :)