April 22, 2013
I forgot to tell ya´ll but an investigator that I
was working with in Braga was baptized the week after I left- Amarildo!
woohoo!!! At one point this week I was again feeling down about my
follies- my weaknesses and I was really sad that I can´t just do things right-
or be perfect, but I read in Nephi- ´Nephi´s lamentations´ and was surprised
that even Nephi felt that way. Nephi- prob. one of the most faithful people
ever felt super down about his weaknesses and sins and follies. I am not
happy that Nephi felt bad or had weaknesses, but I am glad to be reminded that
I am not the only one that feels that way and that even a Prophet of God felt
this way and that this is why we have the Atonement!!! I can´t be the
perfect missionary, but I can do my best every day and rely on the Lord to
compensate for my weaknesses. Isn´t the Atonement awesome?! Isn´t
Christ so merciful?! I gave a talk at church yesterday. I decided to talk
about the Restoration to light the fire of missionary work here. I am so
grateful for the Restoration of the gospel!! I love In D and C 128 I
think it is verse 22- Shall we not go on in so great a cause? I want to
do ALL I can to help this area grow. Sometimes I feel like I am doing
handstands and crazy things with no results but I know that no effort is
wasted. Me and my comp. had a long chat last night about what our plan is
going to be. In my personal prayer I felt to focus on Accompanhemento
with the members. Follow up. We found this young man named Mario this
week and we taught him the first lesson and he came to church yesterday!!!
He is really timid and very humble and I am so grateful that he has a
desire to learn more. As we were walking to church we saw him ahead of
us. He walked into the door and then walked out and started walking away-
I yelled his name and he stopped and turned back and entered with us. phew.
I know we were there at the right time to help him feel comfortable and
enter the church. On Friday we went to Caniçal- a little town on the
other side of the mountains. All of our compromissos that we had fell
through and we were ready to catch a bus back to Machico but I felt like there
was a reason that we were there and we needed to find out who needs us.
So we were standing outside of the house that we just knocked- some
people from the area book, not knowing where we needed to go so we said a
prayer to know who needs us and as we were standing there the door opens and
the mom of the family comes out and says she was at a neighbors house and we
can come in. We entered and found a FAMILY!!! A mom, dad, and 3
kids. The dad has already gone to church! I think it was about a
year ago. It was so exciting!!! I am so glad we listened to the
spirit and waited. It is a bit tough for them getting from Caniçal to the
church in Machico, but we will work with them and with lots of prayers comes
miracles. When the dad is on board, it makes a huge difference for the
whole family. Familia Gouveia invited us over for a chicken dinner and I
was a bit worried that they were going to kill their own chickens for us, but
no, they bought it from the store. They are so awesome and fun! We
are really helping them be activated and we really want to help the rest of the
family be baptized! Thanks for your prayers in their behalf! Little
steps in the right direction are better than no steps at all, or steps in the
opposite direction. I love these people and I love this area. I am
so grateful to be a missionary. I am so grateful to be able to focus on
others all the time- the more I do that, the happier I am. I am so
grateful for the fullness of the gospel that we have and I want to share it
with the whole world!!! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, I know
that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real, I know that this is truly His church.
Continue to read the Book of Mormon every single day. Say your
prayers. the Little things make the difference. Be obedient. Pray
for charity. Love others. God loves us. I love you all.
I am so happy to be here. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! HURRAH FOR
ISRAEL!!!
Sister Tingey
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