4-8-13
I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!! FOGO!!
What a spiritual feast!! I wrote down a couple of
questions/concerns and they were answered. I testify that Heavenly Father
answers prayers and truly speaks through His servants. The Portugal
mission scripture of the month is Amos 3:7. The Lord ALWAYS uses His
servants, the prophets, to help us. Heavenly Father loves us SOO much and
if you aren´t feeling his love, get on your knees and ask to feel it because He
does and I know that that will help everyone have much more happiness and peace
in their lives. Conference is proof of that love. I loved Elder Ellis´s
comment ´you milk the cow when it needs to be milked, not when you want to milk
it.´ The Lord has HIS way of doing things and our lives are so much happier and
easier when we do things HIS way. I LOVED the comments about the African
people. I LOVE AFRICANS!!! I have worked with a ton here on my
mission and what a delightful people they are. So humble. There is
a joke in our mission that if someone is black they are elect. If someone
is Brazilian they are elect. If someone is brazilin and black they are
SUPER elect. We joke that when we are walking in a crowd of people and
see a black person we go running to the black person because we know they will
be more likely to accept the gospel. I guess it isn´t really a joke-
because that is really what everyone does. hahahaha. And with the couple
of talks that mentioned the members in Africa one of the Elders said ´It´s
official! It was mentioned in Conference! Africans are elect!!´ I loved
all the talks on obedience- when we are obedient, we see miracles. And of
course they had to talk about marriage a bunch. my last conference before
going home. claro. i knew it. hahahahaha. I loved Elder
Holland´s talk about being true to the faith you have and then fanning your
flame to grow. ah. I just love Conference. I was truly really sad
when it ended. But I am SUPER excited to read print out the talks and
read and study them more!!! I am SOO grateful that we have a living prophet and
12 apostles. I know they are truly called of God! And that they
truly have authority. We got to stay in Funchal (the stake center where
we all watched conference) for the last session which here they played from
9-11 and we stayed over with the Sisters in Funchal and then came back to
Machico this morning. I LOVE THE MISSION!!!!
Okay, Madeira!!!! WOW. this place is
incredible. The flight was only about 1 hour and 45 minutes. (side
note- I got to go to the mission office before my flight and got to pick up all
the Liahona´s we hadn´t received yet and I found Elise Osorio in one of them!
I think it was from January or February! cool! ) Our beautiful area
is surrounded by mountains- except for one part is open to the sea. it is
absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! It is a natural stair master. The hills are
pretty steep- I am pretty sure everyone here must have legs of steel.
There are tropical flowers everywhere with fruit trees and lots of
gardens and cute houses painted different colours. Our apartment has an
incredible view of the ocean- we sit in front of the windows during studies and
you would think it would distract me from my studies but it actually adds a
really nice spirit. The water is so calming. Our area is country.
country. country. country. chickens and goats along the roads, little streets
and paths...I was going through a bit of a cultural shock- leaving the big city
of Braga and coming to this country side. But of course I LOVE it. The
people are so wonderful! And they have an extremely thick accent! Oh my
goodness my first day here I felt like it was my first transfer on the mission
all over again- I could barely understand. I actually could only
understand 1 sentence out of every 7 sentences. I couldn´t believe they
were speaking Portuguese. Sometimes it sounds like an Irish accent with
the Portuguese, but now I understand a lot better and I like the accent- it is
endearing. We had a lesson with this sweet old woman named Maria and she
set a basket full of bread and told us to eat it all. She also gave us
hot chocolate and bananas and then packed us a bag of food to take home.
there goes my diet. There is a wonderful family that we are working
a lot with, with 3 people already baptized but they had become in-active and we
are working to activate them again and to help more of their family be baptized
and active! They have TONS of animals- rabbits, pigeons, more birds, lots
of dogs and cats and chickens, rats, and lots lots more. They are
HILARIOUS and I LOVE THEM!!! I love this area so much already. We have a
small branch here- about 13 regular members. My companion is Sister
Olson- she is SO cute and fun and has lots of love for the people here.
Her mom is Philippine but Sister Olson is from Utah. I told the
Lord that I will lift where I stand and to send me where He wants me and I know
that I am here for a reason. I am working to continue to demand
excellence every day. I love this work and the Lord deserves the best of
me. I know this church is true. Let´s continue to fan our faith!
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!
com muito amor,
Síster Tingey!
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