Parabéms Benjamin!!!!

11/19/12

Parabéms Benjamin!!!!  You are so awesome!!!! I miss sharing my birthday with you, but I am glad Jackie and Ian are keeping you company. :)  Hope you got my card!  LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU!!!!!

Okay, I haven´t read any of the e-mails yet because I wanted to make sure that I wrote a good letter this week- but I saw all of them and my mouth dropped!!! Thank you for all the e-mails and the cards!!! I have the best family EVER!!!!!  So yes, it was my birthday yesterday.  And seriously I kind of forgot about it the whole week until Saturday night and then I thought Óh, I turn 22 tomorrow... woohoo!!´ hahaha.  But Everyone in church was so sweet- I hadn´t told anyone except one family and my comp. but throughout all of church the word spread like wild fire and everyone wished me a Feliz Anniversario!  I felt very loved.  For lunch we ate at the ex-Bishops house and we ate cheesecake!  yum!  And at night we went to Jorge and Carina’s house- our family here- like our older brother and sister and they made me cake and the elders came (we have the zone leaders serving in our ward)  And they sang a birthday song which i guess is from the Simpsons and it was hilarious.  I opened my presents and they were WONDERFUL!!! I felt sooo loved and I was soooo happy!!!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!  My birthday was quite a special one that I will never forget!

This week was full of miracles!!!  One night me and Irmã Peterson were sitting in the church- our appointment that we were going to meet there had just fallen through and we were really sad and frustrated but then someone called us- Alice- and she asked if she could talk to us. (no one EVER calls us!)  And we said how about right now?!  And she said tão bem.  And so we went over there and she is so ready for the gospel it is insane- she started crying and saying how she wants to have faith.  She doesn´t really believe in God, she doesn´t believe in Christ or the Bible and at first I was like uh....where do we start?  How do we help her get that testimony?!  But the spirit told us what to say.  A different day we were walking trying to find someone from the area book and we passed an apartment building with the main door wide open- unusual, and Irmã Peterson said it’s a sign!  So we went in, I picked floor number 2 and when we got there we said a prayer to find someone ready for the gospel.  Irmã Peterson choose the door and we met Allan.  Let’s just say he is golden.  The spirit told me EXACTLY what to say to him and it was incredible!!!  One thing he asked us was, why a mission?  And I explained that we don´t receive any money, we leave our families, school, friends, everything behind, and all this because we know for ourselves that these things are true and we want to share this message of happiness with the whole world!!!!  And he said tão bem, I need Jesus and happiness right now in my life.  YES!!!!!!  Another experience this week was with a member who was having a hard time and a scripture came to my mind and it made the biggest difference for her.  I am so grateful to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands!!! It is the best feeling in the world and I am SOOO GRATEFUL to be doing this work.  I LOVE being a missionary!!!  i love the Lord´s work so much and I am so happy to be here.  Something that we are always striving to do is become like Jesus Christ, is it not?  And in PMG it has this great section about the attributes of Christ.  At the end of the chapter it has a quiz you can take to see how you are doing with each attribute.  This time when I did it, I decided to star all the ones where I rated myself as a 3 or lower and I wrote one of those on each day of my planner.  I invite you to someone do this- work on one of these steps to gain these attributes everyday and I promise you will see a difference in your life and the Lord will help you and bless you to better in these areas.  Another adventure this week- we went to a recent converts house for lunch (she is from Angola) and she fed us chicken and rice.  HOLD UP!!!- the rice was cooked in chickens blood and she put a chickens foot on me and Elder Goviers plate- we were the lucky ones.  The rice was actually pretty good, but I was totally wigged out with the chicken foot and couldn´t eat more than a little bit.  The mission is just full of awesome adventures!!!!  We just had a Thanksgiving celebration with our district in our church building- so fun!  The cooking was not like mom´s, but we did our best.  We also had a ward party on Saturday night- a magusto- a Portugal tradition fiesta where they eat chestnuts.  It was a huge success!  We had 5 investigators there!  I had the impression at the beginning of the party to call one of our investigators (who by the way is AMAZING!!!  They will be baptized soon!  Cristina is the mom and Catarina is the daughter) and I went on a division with a member and we went and picked them up from their house and brought them to the chapel and the members talked to them a ton and at one point I was talking to Cristina and she asked me the same question as Allan- why a mission?  And I told her and she started to cry and told me what a difference we are making for her and her daughter and how she feels so good in the church and how this is the right path.  I was all HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!  I was SOOO happy!!! I was just walking on air after that party with all the members that talked to our investigators- everyone I introduced someone too were such great friends to them and now they had such a great support system and people that will help look after them!  Members are SOOO important!!!  I have really started focusing on working a lot with the members. It is the best way to go.

Well folks, now I am going to read your e-mails and I am so excited!!!  I love you all with my whole heart!!! Seriously I do.  And I do miss you more esp. around the holidays, but I really love it here on my mission.  There is no better place I could be.  I fit here.  This is what I should be doing.  Alice is another one of those special, rare people that I feel like I promised in the pre-existence that I would help her get the gospel in her life.  I am so blessed.  Jesus Christ LIVES!!! His church has been restored!!!!  We have a living prophet!!!  This gospel is SOO WONDERFUL!!!  The book of Mormon is true.  LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU!!! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!

Irmã Tingey

The God of Israel Leads the Camp

11/12/12

Hey Family- I am sorry, I feel like I failed you guys- I won´t be able to write hardly anything, but I’ll do my best with the time I have left!- next time I’ll write my e-mail for everyone first!

Okay please pray for Maria, Joaquim, Daniela, Catarina, Cristina, Rassura and her family, Adão

It has been a great but rough week of wonderful missionary work!!  We are getting more and more progressing investigators- we have talked to some wonderful people on the street!  Before I forget- Mom can you send me a family tree chart?  Okay, yesterday we had a neat experience- a member gave us a reference to a woman that is really struggling and that is searching for Christ right now.  We taught her and her daughter and there were lots of tears- I felt such a strong and wonderful connection with her and her daughter- they are so humble and ready for the gospel and I am soooo happy and grateful to teach them!!!!  We had a Porto North stake conference with Elder Teixiera and he talked about the satellites- 2 ways we feel the Holy Ghost- One is personal and one is through the Priesthood. The Lord is really blessing ad strengthening us here in Braga.  I love you so much!!!! and I read Elder Nelsons talk ´Ask the Missionaries! ´and if you have any questions please ask me- it would b e a privilege for me to study and pray for you more personally.  Jesus Christ LIVES!!! His church has been restored.  Read D and C 4 again.  LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YO!!!! Hurrah for Israel!! And always remember that the God of Israel leads the camp.

Irmã Tingey

We are changing to Sisters soon
We might move apartments- but keep sending to the same address unless I tell ya
LOVEYOU!!!

Birthday Month!

11/5/12

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALI AND B-RAN STEWART THIS WEEK!!!!!  I LOVE YOU BOTH SO VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!  I hope my package gets to you in a timely manner, but chances are it won’t seeing that it got sent back to me this week....sorry about that. :)  But it should get there soon!

Congrats to Ben and Jackie and Ian for the opportunity in North Carolina!!! That is so cool!!!  And Ali and B-Ran in Florida- yeehaw!!! So exciting!!!  What blessings!  And mom, those articles you showed me- do you think there is going to be a global conflict?  It is good to hear about that side of the world-  I think about Israel ALL the time.  But those articles are pretty crazy!  Hopefully everything works out.  Well, the huge force of missionaries will be moving out so it is close to the second coming....

I am learning SOOO much.  Lots of challenges have hit me in the face over and over and over again, but I am learning A TON.  My prayers are becoming more sincere and genuine and focused.  I am learning to keep pressing forward no matter what and to keep doing exactly what the Lord expects of me NO MATTER WHAT.  We had a huge miracle happen this week.  Here in Braga we are struggling to even have progressing investigators, but one day we felt prompted to look in the Area Book and we felt impressed to call and visit some people.  One of the people we went to visit is a recent conver/menos ativo named Rafael.  So we went to his apartment and a man named Joaquim opened the door and as soon as he saw us he had a huge grin on his face.  He said that Rafael moved and he doesn’t nowhere, but he said to wait there and he ran to another room and came back with a book of mormon!!!!  And went to a Religion fair that happened last week and talked to some of our members about the church- one member gave him a Book of Mormon and the elders number (we share the ward with the Zone leaders- our areas get mixed up sometimes).  He was SO excited to talk to us!  i explained the first lesson really quickly, then my companion showed him a pic of Christ being baptized and talked about baptism and then I invited him to be baptized when he knows it is true and then my comp asked him about a specific date (MY BIRTHDAY!!! Nov 18th) and we prayed about it and he accepted!!!!!!  He is so golden it is insane!!!  We taught him the first lesson more in depth a diff day with the member that gave him the BoM and he came to church and a lot of members talked with him and he is just SO psyched and he is amazing!!! He is about 50 years old and knows a lot about the Bible and everything we talk about he is like yes I agree with that- that’s what it says in the bible...  I am SO grateful for the privilege that I have to get to know and teach Joaquim.

Please pray for Joaquim, Marinella, Monica and her family, Vivian and her family, Fatima and her family, Rassura and her family, and Adão.

Well Abs and Redford- for me the time before my mission was really hard also.  Satan works extremely hard because he knows the effect you will have on the world.  The advice I will give is to get on your knees and pray your heart out.  Talk to the Lord about everything.  To get your mind on good things- memorize scriptures- that is what I have been doing here- I write scriptures in English and Portuguese on a sticky note and I memorize them while we walk.  Sing a hymn, but keep the fire.  Read Preach My Gospel.  Read the scriptures.  The mission is worth everything.  Don´t get discouraged, just have faith.  yes, it is hard.  very hard.  But it is the best thing that has yet happened to you.  You will learn and grow SO much- if you allow yourself.  So chin up charlies!!!!  You both will be amazing missionaries!!!  The misssion is So FUN and so INCREDIBLE!!!!!  I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!!!  

Family, I love you so very very very very much.  Thank you for helping me become who I need to be.  I have got such a long way to go to be that person, but you all have had quite important influences on me.  Thank you for your examples and your prayers.  This week I have learned more to hand my will over to the Lord.  I am learning more to stand firm- to be the missionary the Lord expects even with the storms.  I am learning a ton that I can´t really talk to you about until after the mish, but I really appreciate your prayers and your support.  Thank you Grandma for the Halloween pillowcase!!! so cute!!!  I love you all with my whole heart.  I am so sorry I am really bad at writing back personal e-mails, but I love you all and thank you so much for writing me!!!  Me and my comp. bought amazing footie pjs today. heehee.  so fun.  I love this work.  i love the Lord with my whole heart.  I want to be who He would have me be.  I am working on the Attributes of Christ- I tested myself (PMG ch. 6) and the ones that I got low scores on- I am going to work on one every day.  Our weaknesses CAN become strengths.  I know that our Redeemer lives and loves us.  LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU!!!!  Parabéms mais uma vez para Ali e B-Ran.  Eu amo-vos!!!  HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!

Irmã Tingey

Livin' On a Prayer

10/28/12

OOH We´re HALF way there, oh oh!!! Livin´ on a Prayer!  Take my hand, we´ll make it I swear, oh oh!  Livin´ on a Prayer!!!

I thought of that song on Thursday...  I bet you can figure out why :)  I thought it was quite perfect actually.

BRAGA!!!!  Wow it is SOOOO different in the north of the country than the south.  Everyone told me that the north is totally different but wow.  I love it!!!  I do miss seeing the ocean and smelling the salty water like I have been for 3 transfers (Setubal and Olhão) but Braga is gorgeous!!!  I still feel a bit like a country girl in the middle of a big city, but the city is really nice and clean and there are stores everywhere and big malls and big apartment buildings and lots of things I haven´t seen in a long time!  The weather is more crisp here- it is actually fall- and the leaves are turning and there is moss in between the cobblestones.  Even though I am in a bigger city, the work is a lot more difficult to find people that are humble enough to hear the gospel.  But I am up for the challenge- my game plan is to meet with all the members and get references!!!  Each area in Portugal has a different accent but in the north it is a whole lot different than Lisboa or the Algarve.  The v´s are b´s here.  So instead of ´Vamos´ (let´s go) its ´Bamos´ I can´t stop giggling about it.  On my train ride up here I looked out the window and just felt at home.  I don´t know- I just have a connection with this land- the beautiful old architecture, the seaside the train passed, the big rivers...  It reminds me a lot of England and Montreal maybe that is why I feel at home.  But the universities here have uniforms like harry potter!!  It is so cool!

The work has been exceptionally slow- but we have contacted some amazing people on the street that I am excited to visit another time- 2 Brazilian women and 1 women from Vietnam!  Bamos ver! hahaha.  The members here are INCREDIBLE!!!!  They are so much fun and so welcoming.  They have parties all the times and night of integration and family nights and I love them so much!!!  

In my personal study this morning I studied about works- how small the gate is that we need to get through and how our desires and obedience is the way.  But it is not only that- it is doing the will of the Father.  It is a slight difference, but at the same time a big difference.  Not only doing good works, but doing the Father´s will.  Usually they go hand in hand, but sometimes it is a little different at certain times- better priorities for example.  I read a talk from Elder Oaks from the Nov. 2011 G.C. and he said he talked to a women that they were trying to help get back to church and to help her he asked her isn´t it easier to come back when you think of all that Jesus Christ has done for you?  And she replied ´What has He done for me?´ What a crushing answer.  Elder Oaks later asks everyone ´What think ye of Christ?´ and to ´Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.´ So I invite all of you to do the same.  I love Jesus Christ for blessing me with a latter-day prophet, the blessings of the priesthood, scriptures, comfort, love, for His example, the Holy Ghost, His commandments, the possibility of Eternal life and Eternal families, and most importantly suffering for my personal sins and making it so I can be clean and return to my Father in Heaven.  I am so grateful for the Sacrament every week- I am so excited to take it again in 6 more days!!! i look forward to it so much!!!  I cannot comprehend all the Savior has done for me.  But I am trying to and it is staggering to feel of His love and grace and mercy.  I testify that He lives and He loves each and every one of us.  In my study of His life with the mission, I am also studying ´Jesus the Christ´ and boy that book is incredible and life changing.  I am so grateful for His example of love.  Love is the key.

I love this mission.  I love this people.  I love my companion.  Her name is Irmã Peterson and she is from Utah.  She is tall, has blonde hair and is just a bundle of fun and laughs.  I am so excited to learn so much from her!!!  I love this gospel!  I love our Savior!  I love His work and I am so privileged to be a part of it.  HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Irmã Tingey

PS- MUM!!!  Thank you thank you thank you for the letter!!!  The flower is on my desk with that wonderful message!!!  You are the best!!!

OH AND I CAN`T BELIEVE YOU MET IRMA ALCIONE AND IRMAO VALDMIR!!!! THEY ARE SO AWESOME!!!!!  They were in Odivelas- my first area!  Tell them hi and I miss them and they are my heroes!!!

Eat Pray Love

10-15-12

I realized that this title also applies to my mission. haha

Another hard, but AWESOME week on the mission!  I have never felt-in my ENTIRE life- Satan´s influence (right word?) so strong as I have this week.  He is just working on us and this area to the max.  The beginning of the week was suave.  We taught Paulo everyday- getting him ready for baptism.  Everything was going smooth- he was so happy, every lesson was a Spiritual high amazingness and he was filled with the desire to repent and change his life through the Atonement.  Then came Friday- the day for his interview with the elders- and he simplesmente disappeared.  He is normally always in his house and he wasn´t and his family said he didnt come home that night until 11.  We thought he might have found some work, but then Saturday he wasn´t there and sunday he was gone too.  It was heartbreaking.  We have no idea what happened.  Definately opposition.  So Friday I was so sad and then Satan creeped in and I let him take me down and I was just feeling awful about myself- about the work that I am doing, etc. and I almost had a nervous/depressed breakdown.  Then Saturday morning Heavenly Father loving showed me that I was being silly and to snap out of it and be happy and positive!  I felt a lot of peace and comfort and joy.  And my mind set totally switched and I became so happy and positive and I was able to help my companion- who the same thing that happened to me Friday, happened to her Saturday.  We just need to trust in the Lord and do our part.  We need to keep fighting and enduring to the end happily- because this work IS happiness.  It is pure happiness.  There are just sad choices that we or others make along the way that puts us down, but we always have hope through Jesus Christ.  Something I was taught here on the mission is to always start off a prayer with thanks and repentance.  to ALWAYS repent.  We as missionaries need to do everything possible we can to help others except the gospel.  If we are just a little disobedient, we won´t receive the blessings that we and others need,.  We need to be repenting consistently consistently consistently.  To always be worthy.  So then came the question in my mind of well when I am really positive, sometimes I don´t push myself the way I need to to demand excellence of myself- so where do you find that balance?  In personal study today I read in Alma 32- the first part of that chapter is about humility, the second part is about faith.  The secret to this question is sufficient humility.  We need to be humble all the time instead of being compelled to be humble.  To be humble we must believe in the word of God, and not be stubborn to do His will, and to realize that we are nothing, but that we are special because we are real sons and daughters of Him.  If we are humble all the time, we will not have to be compelled to be humble- that doesn’t mean that we wont have trials- but that in our trials we will be happy because we are already humble and we trust in the Lord´s will.  So we can demand excellence out of ourselves with humility and be positive and happy all the time.  I don’t know if I am explaining this to understanding, but hopefully you can get something out of it. :)

We taught a FAMILY this week!  A real family!  They really really need the gospel in their lives!  They are very humble but think that we are here on the earth to suffer. Nem Quase! (not even close!) I am so excited to see this gospel bless and change their lives forever!  One of our investigators named Patricia is SO cute and so fun and we LOVE talking to her so much!  She made us dinner the other day and we taught the first lesson and she had already read a lot about Joseph Smith on the internet and said a lot of people write really bad things about it but she knows they are wrong and she knows he was right.  And she already knows the church is true because she felt different in church- a feeling she never felt in any other church!  YEA!!!!!  WOOHOOO!!!  AND another miracle- one of our investigators(from the other sisters before) named Nuno is really hard to get a hold of and we had an appointment marked with him that night, but he said he wouldn´t be able to make it, but we asked if we could talk with him for a couple of minutes right there and we taught him a little about the Plan of Salvation and invited him to be baptized and he said that is what he really wants.  I LOVE THIS WORK!!!  We taught him the first lesson a couple of days later with his mom and he accepted everything.  The work is moving forward.

Theme of this week: Be happy and humble!  Have faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement and repent SEMPRE!!! (ALWAYS!!!!)  I sure love you all a ton and can´t thank you enough for all that you have done for me.  The more time I have on the mission, the more I realize how imperfect I am, but the more I repent and change and come unto Christ.  I am so grateful to be here.  I am so grateful to bring this knowledge unto others.  Every challenge is worth it.  I wouldn´t trade this for anything.  I know that this is the true and only church of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I testify that He lives.  I know that He suffered every little and big thing that we suffer.  I love Him with my whole heart and am so grateful.  I know the Book of Mormon is true.  Hurrah for Israel!!!

Welcome home Isaac!  And welcome home Amy Brown on Wednesday!!!  write me some letters in Portuguese! :)

com muito amor,
Irmã Tingey

The Second Coming is so Close

10-8-12

My heart is absolutely full.  I am just sitting here in this little internet cafe with a feeling of peace and calm and gratitude.  Yes, I am crying.  Conference was just more than I could have asked for.  I keep thinking of the missionary announcement and Elder Holland´s talk- `Do. you. love me.?´ I hope that the Lord doesn´t doubt for one moment that I love Him.  I was absolutely freaking out at the missionary announcement.  This week my companion and I were talking about how close the second coming is and how we thought the leaders would make some big announcement that proved it.  Well they did.  And I could not sit still- I was crying, laughing, squealing, you name it.  And all I could think of was the Lord needs more missionaries NOW.  I can just imagine the forces- the battalions of missionaries that are going to hit the world.  And I just get goose bumps all over and I am just OVER JOYED!!!  And I couldn´t stop thinking about my Abby.  Abby just do it!  Dad said you feel that you should go in the Spring and I don´t want you to think twice about it.  Yes, I am sad that I won´t see you, but it is worth it!  Go when the Lord tells you to and do not delay.  You are so special- you have been held for this time- this moment when the gospel is going to hit the world like it has never before.  I have no doubt that you volunteered for this before you came here.  The Lord needs your talents and your testimony- you have been prepared for this your whole life!  I dreamed -just in my head- that you would be called to the Portugal Mission and that I would be your trainer.  THAT WOULD BE INCREDIBLE!!!  Well I know we can dream, but I know that you will be called to where you need to be.  Keep me up dated on EVERYTHING- when your papers go in, and your feelings and everything.  I will do my best to help prepare you- as I am sure Ali, B-ran, Ben, Jackie and Dad will.  And as for you, Jack.  I know you have been preparing your whole life too.  Keep going. prepare prepare prepare.  Every scripture mastery you master will bless you and your future investigators.  Everything you learn- read Preach My Gospel NOW!!! I am SOOOO EXTREMELY EXCITED, STOKED for the missionary work!!!  I am so excited to see this work hit like a tidal wave!!!  I expect TONS more missionaries and I am so excited for the Second Coming that is SO CLOSE!!!  I just want Him to come!!!  I AM SO EXCITED!!!!  This is a chosen generation.  You can bet your bottom dollar that BYU is going to lose A LOT of its students next semester!!!  OH MY GOODNESS!!!  Was that Savannah who already has her interviews set up?  WAY TO GO!!!  The Lord needs us.  He needs every effort.  Every soul who has a desire to serve.  If you have a desire to serve- you are called to the work!!!  Don´t walk, RUN!!!

Okay, this week was truly incredible.  We are finally seeing the success of our labors!  The first three weeks were super hard, but the fruit and the miracles are coming!!!  So a couple of weeks ago I stopped this woman on the street because I swore I had already known her.  Well, I probably knew her in the pre-existence because she is from Hungary and hardly speaks any Portuguese!!  (and no English)  We saw her again and her husband on the street and they told us where there house is.  So we visited them one night and the spirit was just so sweet and so strong!!!  One of their friends speaks broken Portuguese so she was able to translate a bit.  But even though we couldn´t communicate very well, we all felt the Spirit immensely.  I felt so much love for them that I started to cry a bit!  They are So special and so humble.  We gave them the Finding Faith in Christ DVD that doesn´t even have Hungarian, but they watched it on  their own in Portuguese and said they loved it!  We were able to get Hungarian copies of the Book of Mormon and we printed some talks for them.  Every time we go over there are more friends and family from Hungary or Romania.  I just LOVE these people and I know I was supposed to find them here in Portugal!  Oh and Isolta -the woman- has one year here in Portugal.  I was filled with gratitude for the gift of tongues.  I only have six months in Portugal and I can speak and understand a lot- thanks to the Lord and my calling.  What miracles. The weather here is still like Summer- HOT.  Does not feel like October at all.

Another amazing miracle.  The Lord´s timing is just so perfect!!  One of our appointments fell and we walked through this  more dangerous neighborhood and heard a man call out the window ´Meninas!´´or ´Girls!´ And usually when this happens we don´t really pay attention because usually the last thing they want is the gospel, but then he called out ´Mormons!´  And so we turned back and talked to him from his window.  His name is Paulo and he is so golden.  We talked about the gospel, about Jesus Christ and the Atonement in just a few phrases and he said he has a desire to change his life, he needs help, he wants to change and he would ´adore´ to be baptized.  We felt the spirit so strongly with his sincerity so we prayed right there and marked him for baptism for this coming Sunday!!!  He is soooo awesome!!!  He told us that he smokes 6 PACKS of cigarettes a day- that is 120 cigarettes.  The next day he had only smoked 8.  And yesterday he only smoked 2 and he said he wouldn´t smoke any today!!!  The Atonement is amazing!!!  I LOVE this work!!!  He is so ready- so prepared by the Lord.  We just have the privilege to find and teach him. 

There is a mormon message that is in Portugal called ´Blessings of the Temple.´ You should watch it!  Irmã Fluckiger showed us.  We had Zone conference on Friday and it was so awesome.  I have had some trouble with what me and my comp. call ´The Fluckigan´complex- applying what we learned from Pres. Torgan but doing what President Fluckiger asks now.  They are SOO different, but I have been figuring it out and putting it together and have been blessed.  I love both of those men with all my heart and have the highest respect from them.  We were challenged by Pres. Fluckiger to read the gospels before Christmas- to save the scriptures of when Christ was born until Christmas time and to also read parts of ´Jesus the Christ´ in our studies- to really get to know the Savior and learn from His example.  So far it has been INCREDIBLE and I am so grateful for this challenge!  I invite you all to do it to- I really believe it will make this Christmas a Christmas never to be forgotten as we constantly focus on the Savior starting now- and then continue on even afterward!

I am so grateful for Conference- my questions and concerns were answered and I received so much strength, love, and yes, faca from the Lord.  It was amazing and I cannot wait to read all the talks!!!  I love you all so much.  I have no doubts that this church is Christ´s church- he is literally the head of this church.  We need to have faith with the revelations we receive and go forward with them, doubting nothing- that is something Pres. Torgan taught me.  IF you feel someone will be baptized a certain day- you do not doubt and you do everything you can to help/make it happen.  Let´s apply that- to have faith and trust in the Lord with our personal revelations and ACT NOW.  You are all amazing examples to me.  I have no doubts that the Book of Mormon is true and that President Monson is the prophet of God.  HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!  Let´s prepare for the Second coming with joy and anticipation and think of how we will arrive at the judgement bar of God.  We must prepare today.  LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU!!!!

Irmã Tingey

P.S. I’m a missionary.  Ask me!!

12 days until Conference

9-24-12

I am SOOO excited for General Conference!!!  We have a countdown in our planners!  WOOHOO!!!!!  I am so excited to hear what the Lord wants us to do at this time!  We also listen to MoTab a lot to get even more excited!  Start preparing your questions- but chances are they will get answered before hand in church or something because the spirit is amazing and Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to live in confusion.

When does Isaac get home?  And what mission is he serving in Brasil and where did Andrew serve?  I know a little more about Brasil now, so I can imagine what it was like more.

White washes are hard.  But I feel the strength of the Lord and we feel like the work is finally moving a bit more again.  This has really made me appreciate the work the missionaries before do in each area.  The Lord and my companion are teaching me to be patient and to love and be grateful for every minute.  One night during planning I was frustrated and felt like we hadn´t made any difference.  My comp. said hold up! and went through every hour of the day and talked about each person we talked with, each card we handed out, each invitation we made, and how we made people feel the love of the Lord.  I am learning that if we focus on the big things we miss the small, happy moments.  Elder Uchtdorf talked about that in his talk ´forget me not´.  When we don’t have baptisms every week I get anxious and down on myself because I know that it is possible in every single area to have a baptism every week and I know that Heavenly Father is sad when no one is baptized.  But I also know that He is happy when we do our best and when we plant seeds and help the members and less actives and when we follow the spirit and when we try our best to be 100% obedient.  But we can’t get lost in the big stuff.  We need to enjoy every small, happy moment.

We visited and got to know most of the members this week and we feel their love.  I have never been in a ward/branch where the members love the missionaries so much.  We had a sweet experience with a member named Paulo.  He is SO cool!!!  He is a DJ and was baptized a couple of years ago.  We went to his house and he made a list of people we can talk to, of people he thinks are interested.  So we made plans for him to talk to them and introduce us.  And Nato, the first counselor reminded him to pray about the list and I suggested we pray right then and there and we felt the same people to focus on and it was so awesome because Paulo received personal revelation and freaked out with excitement when others felt the same thing and he was SO EXCITED!!!!!  he called the people right then and we marked some compromissos.  It was such a good experience- I will do this with all the members.  Well, the ones who are willing and will make a list of friends.  So much of it is in the members hands.  I am so grateful to be serving with willing members- who have the missionary fire!  Paulo was incredulous when we told him this is what we do each week in weekly planning- praying to know specifically the people we should focus on for baptism and other things and I realized I have been taking this revelation and experiences for granted.  Missionary work is amazing and we receive so much power and strength and direction from the Lord.  This is His work.

A young girl in the ward, Isabela, said that she wants us to teach her friend- her friend has already expressed she wants to be baptized! As we planned with Isabela what we wanted to teach her she got so excited and was filled with the spirit of missionary work- she wants to share the gospel with more friends and she said she wants the branch full of young people!!!

We talked to this women smoking out of her window one night and promised her that if she would continue to listen to us and search for herself the truth of our message her husband would find a job.  We saw her again the other night and she was so excited to tell us that her husband found a job and she thought of us as soon as she found out.

We visited a menos ativo family- Familia Moreno.  they talked to us for a long time about how they were treated badly by ward members in Faro and why they fell away.  It broke my heart.  They should know better, but those members also did wrong.  I am not pointing fingers at anyone, but it broke my heart how the enemy uses people in the church for bad.  I almost cried when he told us that the missionaries do amazing work but the members destroy everything we do.  I know that isn’t true all the time, but I have seen it many times in my mission and it breaks my heart.  The devil is so good at what he does.  And we all just need to be careful and strengthen our personal testimonies so he doesn´t use us to bring down the church.  We are not perfect, and we need to understand that no one is, but Satan is real and we need to protect and fight.

Yesterday we taught primary and principios do evangelho.  I love small branches.  it reminds me of our experiences as a family serving in the church with areas without lots of members.  I love my mission.

Elder Holland gave a talk in Priesthood session 2 conferences ago and he talked about what happened before the first vision.  Joseph said he felt his tongue was bound.  And Elder Holland said (talking about the devil) ´But apparently his effort to s top the work will be reasonably well served if he can just bind the tongue of the faithful.´ Powerful.  We just need to open our mouths!  And the enemy wins when we don’t.

I love you all SOO much!!!  With my whole heart!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jack!!!!  I love you so much!!!  You deserve the best.  Just look through my telescope I made you and think of me saying Tender!  Love you love you love you!!!!

Irmã Tingey