LET ME TAKE YOU TO RIO, RIO!!!!

I can´t get that song out of my head- prob. not the best for a missionary, but I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!
RIO DE JANIERO!!!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! OH MY LANTA!!!!!!!!  ESTOU TÃO FELIZ E ANIMADA E EU NÃO POSSO PARAR A DANSAR E FALAR SOBRE SEU CHAMADO!!!!!!  FOGO PA!!!!!!!!!!!!  Eu acho Abby vai ter difficuldades a entender meu sotaque mas eu vou conseguir entender ela!!! muahhahahahah!!!!  Abby will probs. have problems understanding my accent but I will be able to understand her!!! heeheehee!!!!  OH MY GOSH.  I AM SO HAPPY!!!!  A wonderful member here e-mailed mom and mom told her Abby´s call and then she called me and I FLIPPED OUT!!!!  BRASIL!!!!!!  I spazzed as you can imagine!  João- the guy who was baptized last week is from Rio!!!!  OH ABBY YOU ARE GOING TO ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!!  FOGO!!!!  fixe!  Abby, the Brazilian people are incredible.  They are SO happy and so energetic.  Some say they are the happiest people on earth.  When we talk to Brazilians on the street they are so open and friendly and become your best friend for life in about 5 mins.  They are so FUN!!!  You are going to have so much success!!!  And the world cup!!!!  WOW!!!!  I wanted to visit my Brazilian comp. in Rio during the world cup but I guess now we will have to see. hahaha.  Irmã dos Santos- my Brazilian comp., said she will take you to cool places for P-day! hahaha.  you will love her!!!  And the food!!!  I LOVE Brazilian food!!!  You are going to eat rice and beans A LOT- but it is soooo good the way they make it.  And carne, french fries, salads, fried bananas, hmmmm.  Oh my goodness. SOOO excited for you Abs!!! You will do amazing!!!!  Your new name is ´Sees-ter Ching-ay´- that is how the Brazilians have pronounced my name. heehee.  I am so excited to be on the mission at the same time as you!!  It will be really special.  Although it is said we miss each other by a month, but tudo bem!  Someone needs you.  The weather will be amazing.  I bet you can wear chacos.  I´ve heard awesome stuff about the Brazil MTC- (funny story actually Irmã Lynda Marinho first told me that you were called to São Paulo, but then later in the day I saw her husband and daughter and they both said Rio de Janiero and later she called and said yes, its rio de janiero. hahaha.  She was so sweet- she called me early in the morning and just confused it. haha)  You will get cool scripture covers that you can put your mission and name on the front.  You are just going to be thrown in the country and culture right away and that is the best way to do it I say!  Forget English and just go for it.  You will love it, abs.  I am SOO excited for you.  

Wow.  My heart is bursting with joy!!! Such amazing news!!!  I LOVE missionary work!!!!  Oh thank you so much for my Valentines package!!!  I LOVED it!!! I love the things from England and I FLIPPED over the chocolate frog!!! It made me so happy and excited.  And the pencil case is perfect- I needed one!  You are the best Mum!!!  Well family, I just love you all so very very very very much.  And I love the Lord.  When we make our will in line with His will we are happier and able to do HIS work better.  We just need to trust in Him- it is as simple as that.  We have really been working on getting references from members and this week we finally got some and they are amazing- lots of potential!  Esperança and her daughter Joanna were references and they came to church for the first time yesterday and really liked it!  Cristina- the recent convert- gave her first talk in Sacrament meeting!!!  She did great- she spoke about the power of prayer and how before she talked to the missionaries she would pray from her heart all the time and just talk to God and would ask Him for help.  When we came and when we prayed with her she was so excited that we pray the same way she does- from the heart and she knew that God sent us to help her.  After her baptism one day she was praying for help because she and her daughter didn´t have any food and then 10 mins later a member of the bishopric called her and asked if she needed help with food and she was so surprised that Heavenly Father answered her prayer so fast!  Prayers are powerful and are always answered when we have faith and show our faith.  A lot of times me and my companions pray to find the right people- the people the Lord would have us find and it is amazing how He just puts them in our path, or we feel a building to knock, etc.  When we ASK, we will receive.  I and Sister Layton have noticed that a lot of the work we are doing here is with the members- helping the hands that hang down and the feeble knees and the ones that just need a friend.  Members that have been members for many years still need support and visits- that is why home teaching and visiting teaching are SO important.  My testimony of those two organizations have grown a ton on the mission- not that I didn´t have a testimony before, but now I really see the NECESSITY of it.  It is really a NEED.  I am so grateful to stay here in Braga!!!  We had transfers and I and Sister Layton are staying!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!!  I am SOO happy.  I LOVE this area and I LOVE my comp. and we are pumped for another awesome transfer to build the Kingdom of God among these good people.  I am so blessed to be here.  This is really paradise for me.  Oh and about last week’s e-mail- I realized that because you all don´t know João and the whole story some things might seem weird- but his conversion was a total team effort that was so amazing and we only had the opportunity to teach him and prepare him for baptism because he lives in our area.  I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us.  I know that He cares about even the small things in our lives.  I know that we are really nothing without Him and the more we trust in Him and follow Him the happier we will be.  I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that President Monson is the Prophet of God.  I am so grateful to be  a part of this marvelous work!!  HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!

com muito amor e um caração cheio de agradecimento,
Síster Tingey 

2/18/13

Se Tendes um desejo de servir o Senhor, vos sois chamados ao trabalho

OOOOHHHHH MYYYYy GOOODNESSSSSSS!!!!!!  WHAT A WEEK!!!!  I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!!

João Carlos Ribeiro Marcelino promised the Lord he would keep the commandments and do all he can to follow him yesterday through the beautiful covenant of BAPTISM!!!

We really tried to make the Baptismal meeting as spirit filled as possible- and it was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! (I also realized one of my mission dreams- to sing at a baptism- I usually have plans to, but something always happens that stops me, but yesterday I would not be stopped!  I wanted the meeting to be as special for João as I could make it and so when we got the news that a member couldn´t come that could play the piano and that Sister Layton would have to instead and so she couldn´t sing with me, I asked everyone who wanted to sing and finally the Bishop said he likes to sing and would do it with me and it was great!!!  We sang ´Mais Perto Quero Estar` - I forgot what it is in English.  My dream came true!!!)  ANYWAYS we invited João beforehand to bear his testimony after his baptism and he did and I want to relate everything he said that I can remember because I think you will really feel the spirit and those who are thinking about serving missions, waiting for their calls (ABBY!!), serving, fresh off the mish, and all those interested in missionary work can feel the fire of this work and how wonderful it is to be a tool in the hands of the Lord!!!  this is what missions are ALL about:

I will obviously rephrase and do my best to translate into English- by the way he is Brazilian and HilArious and awesome.  ´My first experience with the missionaries was with the Elders- I stopped them on the street somewhere over there (pointing..) and asked them if they were of the church Mormon.  They said no that they were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They gave me a pamphlet and I gave them my phone number.  I went home and read the pamphlet and thought ´they are lying to me!  They ARE Mormons!´ and I was really annoyed and decided I didn´t want to talk to them.  But they kept calling me- they are so annoying!  And they kept persisting and calling and finally I decided to just talk to them and show them how they are wrong and get them to leave me alone.  So we met here in the church and I talked to them and they were interesting and tried to give me a Book of Mormon but I wouldn´t take it.  After I talked to Nelson (a member) and got to know him and we talked a bit about the church.  He invited me to come over again to the church to talk another day so I came again and was sitting in that room when the Sisters walked by the door.  I saw them and I got goose bumps all over- you know, when you take all the feathers off a chicken and but the body in hot water- those bumps that come up on the skin?  Yea that is what I felt- I am feeling them right now!  They came walking in the room with lots of energy and brought a light and I felt that they had something to offer me.  The part of me that was closed before was opened a little bit and we talked and they said to take a Book of Mormon and I took it. I thought I knew what the Book of Mormon was- just writings taken out of the Bible and I decided I would talk to them and read the book and find all the errors and then fight with them and show them how they are wrong.  I tried to get them with questions but they kept answering them and I read and talked and realized that everything was true.  That this church must be true.  (He got emotional here)  Before I would wake up every day and wonder where I would be- I would have fear of the future (by the way he is 59 and without a job and not living in the best conditions) but now that fear is gone.  I have a purpose and joy and happiness in my life- I have found the right road and no one can take me from this road.  In this short period of time the Lord has changed my life- I feel light- the heaviness has gone.  This is the truth.  These young people- the elders and sisters- they are annoying.  But they (got emotional again) they give from the heart.  They give and teach with charity and love.  They leave everything behind to give us all light and this knowledge that changes our lives.  They bring a light that just gets transmitted inside of us.  They give up everything- their homes and families to help people like me.  (great, now I am crying) I am so grateful for these young people.  I know this is the true church and the true road to follow and I will walk in front.´´ 

It was such a privilege and a joy to serve and teach João and watch the atonement and the spirit work within him and change him.  The gospel takes good men and makes them better.  I am forever grateful for this experience- this opportunity.  This privilege.  Everything is worth it.  Everything is worth experiences like this.  Every slammed door in the face, every no in the street, every disappointment, challenge, frustration with the language, stress, unkind words- everything everything everything doesn´t matter if it all means I get to experience things like this.  I don´t even remember those bad experiences anymore in the light of these incredible experiences.  This is real happiness and joy- to bring people to Christ.  To help people on their way to exaltation and joy.  I AM SO HAPPY!!!!  I LOVE the Lord.  I don´t know what I did to be blessed with this blessing to serve here.  To serve at all.  When we have a desire to serve God, we are called to the work.  And what a marvelous work it is!!!  This is why we serve missions.  This is why I am here- to serve the Lord e então my fellow men.  

Other joys this week:  Rosa Afonso, a menos ativo we have been working with came to church yesterday!!!  She told us last week that she would come only if it didn´t rain.  So we prayed that it wouldn´t rain and it didn´t but she still didn´t come.  This week we told her we prayed that it wouldn’t rain and she didn´t come, so she has to come this week.  She said again that she would come only if it didn´t rain.  Well it was sunny all week except for yesterday for Sunday.  Well, the Lord´s will be done.  We thought this must be a test of her and or our faith.  So she called and said it was raining and before she could give up or give another excuse I told her a member was going to come pick her up.  Her visiting teacher came and she had a great experience!  At first she was a bit annoyed that we had her come in the cold, but then her heart was softened and she said it was like the first time she came to church.  I love re-activation!!!  We are having her read the Book of Mormon all over again- starting at the beginning and she is loving it.  That book is the most powerful book on earth- miracles happen when we read it.  We taught this man named Rashed from Yemen and he is legit.  Even though he has a Muslim background he has an open heart and is truly searching.  I know he will find what he is looking for. :)  i truly love this work and thank Heavenly Father everyday for letting me be here.  I love being a missionary.  I am so grateful to be an instrument in the hand so the Master.  I know this is truly His church.  I have no doubts at all.  if you have doubts, talk to me to about it.  I love you all!!1 Hurrah for Israel!!!

with a heart full of love and gratitude,
Síster Tingey

2/11/13

Fogo!!!

I am feeling so much FOGO (fire) for the work and for the Lord!!!  This message is rolling through the earth like a storm and I am so grateful to be a part of it!!!  President is really training us and pushing us all to be better.  To step it up and be leaders- because with all the new missionaries coming in we all need to be leaders- we will all pretty much be trainers and leaders!  President gave us a challenge to memorize all the points (and invites) of the lessons and a scripture with each one before the end of March.  We have already started and I have already seen a big difference in the work!  We are blessed when we listen and act on the words of our leaders.

Cristina was called to be in the Primary presidency!!! woohoo!!! And Catarina bore her first testimony yesterday during Sacrament meeting and it was so sweet!  They are doing soo well!!! I am SO happy!!!  It has been such a privilege being a part of their conversion.  I think back of when we first spoke with Cristina- she was truly depressed and crying and had no light in her eyes.  Now she smiles and laughs all the time and is so happy!!!  The gospel changes people- the atonement changes people.  I am so grateful to be able to witness this and be an instrument in the hands of the Lord!  I have a testimony of simply asking.  The Lord is so ready to bless us with answers and other things we need if we just ASK specifically.  We have been asking specifically to find families and receive references and we have been praying very specifically for our investigators and WOW.  miracles miracles miracles.  A menos ativo and a couple of investigators said they wouldn´t come to church if it was raining. oh brother.  so what did we do?  We prayed for there not to be rain and guess what?  blue skies all day!!!  That has happened a couple of times for me on my mission- we prayed the rain would stop and it did.  I know that Christ truly created this earth and commands it.  And we have the power to call down the powers of heaven in our favor with this calling.  I am so grateful to be working together on the same team with the Lord. :)  This week I have been reading a lot ABOUT and in the Book of Mormon and have once again felt how true and powerful it is.  And I am again, focusing all my teaching and contacting with the Book of Mormon and the Restoration- because that is our unique message to the world and I have seen a huge difference in the work!  The Book of Mormon is the key.  It is either true or false.  There is no grey area.  And I testify that it is TRUE.  And therefore Joseph was a Prophet of God and this is he true church of Jesus Christ on the earth.  I know this without a doubt.  I am so grateful to be here.  We are teaching this man named João- the guy that tells everyone how hard I am- but in a funny, teasing way- we have a fun relationship, every time I call him to ask if he read the Book of Mormon yet that day he laughs his head off.  I don´t know why.  Anyways, he is just eating the gospel up. He is reading the BoM each day- I am making sure of that- it is the key to his conversion- but he still doesn´t think he knows it is true.  Pray for him and Amarildo- that he will stop drinking and smoking, and pray for us to find the elect!!  LOVEYOU ALL!!!! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!

Sister Tingey :)                                      2/4/13

Eu AMO a missão!!!

I LOVE the MISSION!!!!  SOSOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

Wow.  What a great life.  I studied Helaman 5 this morning: have you ever felt like you are stuck in a dark spiritual cloud?  Remember the talk on putting pavilions in between ourselves and the Lord?  Well, what do we do when we feel that way?  We turn to the Book of Mormon- the book of answers.  Hel. 5:40-47 is an incredible story full of the spirit and it explains what we need to do when we feel like we are stuck in a dark cloud and we feel like light or revelation can´t penetrate- the answer is this: repent.  Have faith and pray until the cloud leaves or the pavilion breaks.  Simple yet effective.  i LOVE repentance!!!  i am so happy and grateful to cry repentance unto this people.  The Atonement is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  For our zone conference last week I came with the question ´I have 6 months left on my mission.  What goals should I have to finish strong and the way the Lord wants me to?´ And the answer came: study and focus on the Atonement.  Again- simple and effective.  One of the major things we as missionaries learn on the mission is how to use the Atonement- and it is basically the fundamental thing we are teaching everyone- how to use the Atonement.  We must ALWAYS be repenting- because unfortunately we are always sinning, but the faster we repent and change; the faster we get back on track, have the spirit and we can progress.  repent repent repent.  It is the best!   When we repent we are not only changing our behavior, but our NATURES.  We are repenting for good.  So I invite all of you to study more about the Atonement and Repent!  Being completely clean and pure ALL the time is the BEST!!!!

Random thoughts and stories:  Remember the currant bush and remember who the gardener is and trust in Him.  He might have to cut you done a lot to build you back up to who He wants you to be.  We need to be completely consecrated to the Lord.  It is not what we are giving, but HOW that makes the difference.  I don´t know if I already talked about this- but something that I really learned with my experience of reading the 4 gospels before Christmas was that we can read and read and study about Christ and learn a lot about Him, but we won´t REALLY get to know Him until we do act like Him and do His works- what He would do.  Things start to happen when we are willing to sacrifice.  This week we found this man in the church one night and turns out he had talked to the Elders on the street and he came to talk with another member.  Anyways we have seen him a couple times since then and we always get into awesome gospel discussions.  He told me that he feels like I have answers for him and he was disputing with me about the Book of Mormon and I asked him if he had read any of it and he hadn´t and so I told him too and he kind of chuckled and said ´you are right I need to read it first.  I am hard.´ and I said ´I am hard too.´ which made him chuckle harder and now he tells everyone how I am pushing him and annoying him but in a good way. hahahahahahaha  just a funny story.  One day we were knocking doors and we knocked this one door and a short petite woman answered from Brazil and immediately invited us in and then called her friend from the kitchen and her son from his room to come listen to us!!!  It was sooo awesome!!!  We taught about the Book of Mormon- turns out this lady had picked up a Book of Mormon from someone’s trash pile and had read a bit of it and said she would NEVER through that book away!!!  saweeeeet.  We felt to go find this old investigator from the area book named Fatima and she is SO cool and she said ever since the elders had talked to her she has been reading the book of Mormon!!!!  WOOHOO!!!  That is a sure sign that she is ready.  I have a huge testimony of the Apostasy and the Restoration.  The Bishopric gave us some names to look up and so we went and visited this one menos ativo named Rosa and she pretty much gave us a huge list of reasons why she doesn´t want to come to church anymore but we helped her see that the base question that she really has is are our prophets truly called of God which actually is reflecting on her testimony of the BOok of Mormon.  The BoM is the answer to everything- any doubt is based on that testimony.  I LOVE the Book of Mormon and I KNOw it is true.  We taught this really sweet lady named Fernanda (we first talked to her on the street earlier in the week) and she is super humble and also ready for the gospel.  Every time we teach about Joseph Smith and the Restoration the Spirit fills the room and every person in it.  At the zone conference this past week I talked to one of my old comps.- Irmã Suzarte- I served with her in Setubal- well she just recently left that area and she said that one girl we found knocking doors will soon be baptized!!! YEA!!!!  I know this church is TRUE1!!!

I love this gospel.  I love this work.  I love the Lord.  I know the Atonement is real.  I love Braga and my comp. and my mission.  I love all of you and pray for you!!!  HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!

com muito amor,
Síster Tingey                                                     1/28/13

Well, it has happened- I now am wearing my Sister tags

What a week!!!  I spent Monday and the beginning of Tuesday in Villa Real with the other Sisters there waiting for my companion.  Me and my comp. Irmã Layton returned to Braga Tuesday afternoon and we hit the ground running!  Watch out Braga because we are putting all we have into this work.  President Fluckiger had us all read ´A Consecrated Missionary´by Elder Callister this week and it has really helped me.  I already had the talk, but it was good to read it again.  Me and Irmã Layton are trying to do all we can to put all we have on the sacrificial altar- to give everything to the Lord.  The more we give our will over to the Lord´s will the more happy we will be and the more success we will have- in lots of ways!

This week has really been incredible.  I have had so many amazing conversations with the Lord that has made such a big difference for me.  I will reach my year mark this week and I am really trying to give everything I have for the rest of my mission.  It seems like I have only been here for a couple months- time FLIES.  I am still hoping for an announcement in General Conference that says sisters can serve for 2 years.  When we pray and ask the Lord for miracles and help, comfort and peace, or whatever we need He will respond.  I know it for a fact.  Try it.  I testify that the Lord knows us perfectly.  He has a purpose for us and He will help us reach it- if we let Him.  I am really learning to give everything to Him- esp. my will.  Sometimes I think I can do it myself and I don´t know why I keep falling into that trap- but we can only do it with the Lord´s help.  At the beginning of the year in Ward counsel we made goals for the ward.  We really stressed references from members because that is really gets the work going in the ward.  And yesterday the Bishop stood at the podium and told everyone to give us references and he talked a bit about missionary work and I WAS SO HAPPY!!!!!   This is a big deal.  And the Bishop said that this is really what the Lord has said He wants.  WOOHOO!!!  This week I have thought about the story in the Book of Mormon where the recent converts bury their swords and how the whole purpose of repentance is not returning to our sins and relying on the Lord.  I love the story of Abinadi- we really gave everything and he didn´t even know if had any converts- he just did what the Lord had him do to the end of his life.  But his one convert later baptized thousands and changed nations and generations.  All because of the testimony and spirit of Abinadi and him not having fear and just doing what the Lord asked.  wow.  what an example.  A little funny story- me and my companion both woke up at 1:30 one night this week and both thought the alarm went off so we got up and said our prayers.  We thought it was hilarious that we are so tired that it felt the same when we woke up at 1:30 as when we wake up the normal time every morning.  I translated in Relief Society for a woman from England and it made me miss the Brits so much- such awesome expressions!  ´A chappie´meaning a man, and ´brilliant´- my personal favorite.  We had TONS of rain and wind this week and still haven´t really dried out- the city was on red alert.  An old wall that was by our house fell over because of the wind- we think that might have been what woke us up at 1:30! haha

The church is true.  This work is incredible.  We had experiences everyday talking to tons of people we felt we needed to and making a difference in their life.  This is the best work ever!!!  i love Jesus Christ.  I love this mission.  I love you all.  HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!


Síster Tingey!!!                            1/21/13