week 25 Three investigators at church - miracles do happen

                                          Family Home Evening!

Crying cause my friends are getting married without me...but sooo happy for them

 (Megan and syd)!! I missed the snow this year...especially during Christmas, but I’m soo happy to be a missionary in hot weather haha!!  Tell my baby G that I got the videos but the sound isn’t working, but I was laughing really hard cause I remember the music that was with that one!!! ugh my baby is growing up too fast!!! The presentations that she sent I can’t open them, but I’m sure they´re just so good!! Tell baby g tambem the her Portuguese is SOOO GOOD, only a couple of errors, but I understood everything!!! using subjunctive too...minha nossa, muito bem hhhahah!! WAHHOOO BEN IS SET FREE...always praying for them!!

So this week was good, we had our district meeting Tuesday, and the treinemento that our district leader gave Elder Troncoso, was soooooo good!!! talking about how as missionaries we need to have faith, obedience, diligence, and love. when we have these attributes or characteristics, we can keep moving forward even when times are tough, we can baptize, we can find the people that are ready to accept the message of the restored gospel....it was just really good cause I’ve been feeling a little bit down with the area and the work that we´re doing here, (sister leal and I) but anyway it was just really good!! I met someone from Morocco this week...we talked with him in the street and his Portuguese was really strange! He´s lived here for 8 months but he´s gonna go back this week to morocco! but the crazy thing is is that my Portuguese was better than his, and I’ve only been in brazil 5 months!!! CRAZZYY...DOM DAS LÍNGUAS!!!!!!! Wednesday we had a treinamento for ALL THE MISSIONARIES in the world, so we all met in alecrim again to listen to this treinemento...SOOOOO GOOD!!!! We basically talked about everything that we all know that we need to do...but now we got to do it and in a better and efficient way to do it! but yeah it was really good!!!

We are starting to have some people that are progressing and really doing the compromissos that we give them to do; like prayer, read the book of Mormon, go to church.... but a lot of people this week have been running away from us or just giving us excuses!!! Sometimes I’m just like `I know that this will bless my life and that I will receive blessings when I do this, but all right if you don’t want blessing in your life tudo bem, Chau.` ugh its just hard sometimes ya know hahah!! BUT I HAVE FAITH!!!

Neai...the mom to Mathues who is serving a mission. She said this week `someone that complains doesn’t have god in Portuguese...`Àlguem que reclama não tem Deus`hahaha I was like hahaha that sounds like my grandmother when she says no whining and no crying....hahah I just started to laugh when she said that..especially since she was complaining about some of the mission rules a little bit before hand!! hahah people are just sooo funny sometimes! This week we planned on baptizing Jessica, but she was never in her house when we passed by, just her mom who is a menos ativa, Vera!! She is sooo awesome, I love her, she keeps saying that she will go back to church and that she will return with her family and everything will be good (her husband isn’t a member) but the past 2 weeks she bailed on going to church!! She´s progregindo, she´s reading the book of Mormon and saying her prayers, but now she needs to come back to church...be an example for her family!! She´s so proud of her son that is serving in Curitiba (remember the elder that met Scott in the CTM) and that she really has the desire to do good and start living the gospel again...MILAGRES DO FILHO NA MISSÂO!!!!!

Friday we had a Family Home Evening with Abraâo and Marilene..we talked about fé and we watched the video of Christ that has all the miracles and curas that he did and I think it´s peter that is telling the story! It really made me think and question my faith!! because Peter has seen the miracles and the power that Christ had, but he doubted when he heard that Christ ressuscitou!! He has SEEN all the things that Christ could do, but yet he doubted here!!! I think Faith is something fragile but at the same time really strong!! Elder Uchtdorf has a quote that I think of often...doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith...something like that!!! JUST something to think about!

Saturday we were just running around trying to get everyone firme to go to church...some people were like no no I don’t think so, but after our message it was like okay okay ill go (3 nefi 18 8-13) but Sunday came and literally no one wanted to go to church...seriously something happened to everyone so they couldn’t go!! I WAS REALLY STRESSED OUT GOING TO CHRUCH!!! because we need to have at least 3 people in church to cumprir/fechar our goals of the week!! I was praying and praying and praying, please heavenly father let there be 3 investigators in church today...GUESS WHAT HAPPENED!!!! We get to church, and I walk in;...guess who´s sitting there...Jonailson and Rose...a couple that´s not married and that are our ex-investigators!!! I WAS LIKE THANK YOU HEAVENLY FATHER I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THESE 2 WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT CAME TO CHURCH ON THEIR OWN!!!!! I was still upset that we wouldn’t have closed our numbers for the week, but I was so happy that they came to church! but wait for it...another miracle happened.... after awhile I see NICOLAS outside waiting to enter (he´s the boyfriend to a member and he´s been coming to church and investigating for some time now) WAHOOOO  INVESTIGATORS IN CHURCH!!!!! WAHHOOOOO miracles happen...it´s serious! sometimes I just don’t feel worthy to receive these little miracles or blessings because I know that I can work harder or do that much more (there´s always more that I can do, I feel like that), but I know that my heavenly Father is looking out not only for me but for his other children too like Rose and Jonailson and Nicolas!! 

WE also had a phrase that was said in church today, `the scriptures are a map to return to live with God`

it´s so true...I’m always finding more and more scriptures each day in the Bible and the Book of Mormon that are just so perfect for me in my life and my trials as a missionary but also for our investigators!!! I’m so grateful to be a missionary now in brazil! I feel more and more closer to my Savior each day!!

Transfers are this week...I will be sad to leave (if I leave) but I’m just praying to be happy with whatever is going to happen! I just want to do the will of my Heavenly Father!!!

I LOVE ALL OF YOU...sorry my emails aren’t that great, but just know that I’m praying for everyone!!! I got all the letters and packages that everyone sent for Christmas!!! I’m just so blessed to have such an amazing family...thanks for everything!!!

FICA FELIZ!!!

beijo

-Sister Talentino

Elder Troncoso (far left) Elder Sales, Elder Church and Elder S. Martins

Sister Alarcón, Sister Leal (minha comp.) Sister Lemos, and I

 Elder Tavares....our AP..he´s from Recife and he goes home this week

Week 24 1/18/16 The snow is lookin good!

Eating Veggies for my Dad!

The snow is lookin good!! Have fun!! Its been raining a lot here!! It rains for about 10-15 minutes and then it stops!! It´s a little more humid too, but still hot and more hot!! This week I hit my 5-month mark.... crazy time is flying by a little bit faster now! We had our interviews with Presidente Soares this week, and he gave me some great advice for some duvidas and insecurities that I had/have! I can tell how much my language has improved and my conhecimento of the gospel has grown too...I still have so much more to learn com certeza but I’m just so happy that my Heavenly Father is helping develop more talents through my mission and the work that I am doing here!!

I´m trying to have more patience and hope...cause Sister Leal and I have not had a lot of investigators that are progegindo that fast or they need to get married which will demora (I forget this word in ingles) 1-3 months or they have other problems with some other commandments! Or they just don´t do what we ask them to do, read the book of Mormon, pray, live the commandments!!

I think this transfer I have learned a lot about patience, hope, and how to cut people! not cut people literally but to stop teaching them hahah!!

There are some things that happened this week that we just a little rough emotionally...I wont go into detail because it´s personal to some of the people that were involved! After the mish, remind me to talk about it haha!! But yeah, I´m just really grateful for the power of prayer! There´s a scripture that says something like Always pray so that you don´t fall to temptation...I think it´s in Mosias but I don´t remember right now!! ALWAYS pray...always pray, so that we can receive blessings from our heavenly father, so that we can receive strength, comfort, peace, love...whatever we need!!

Something funny that happened this week was that we were teaching a lesson to this moça, Wandala, and it was just not going great haha! While Sister Leal was talking, a galhina (chicken I think) started to come closer and closer...I was like get away please please please just get away, haha but it just kept getting closer and closer lol!! The chicken ended up straight chillin in the middle of our lesson between all of us...haha straight chillin!! hahaha like seriously, just so funny!! Looking around at everyone, like you got food for me or what?! haha

Sunday we had an experience really spiritual!! We were on our way to teach Jean, our pesquisador (19 years old) and we knocked on his door and we heard a small voice asking who’s there! we were like SISTERS, then she opened the door!! t was Maria, the mom to Jean! WE already met her from trying to get in contact with Jean, but we haven’t taught her anything yet! She was half sleeping in the hammock, relaxing but she said she was in pain! She had a headache and her mouth hurt! But she was saying also that she was really grateful for our work and that we our helping her son (he´s working on quitting smoking cigarettes and marijuana.and he´s succeeding WAHHOOO) but em fim, I just felt like we needed to say a prayer with her...Sister Leal said the prayer and it was just so powerful and I felt the spirit!!! It was a spirit of comfort!! The prayer ended and she gave a hug to Sister Leal and she started to cry...she gave me a hug and it was one of the tighter hugs I´ve ever received...It was full of love and appreciation!! It was one of the more grateful moments of my mission because I could see that through the message that we are bringing, and the small changes that are happening in the lives of others, they can feel that love and happiness too!! I could see the sadness and pain that she had, but when we left it was like the pain diminished a little bit! Enough so that she could feel the Love of her Heavenly Father in her life at that time, through the power of the Holy Ghost!

It was just a great experience for me, because we haven´t baptized in a while. but through that experience I really felt that I was fulfilling part of my purpose as a missionary, helping her be that much closer to her Heavenly Father and that much closer to being on the right path, following Jesus Christ´s example!!

I´m so grateful for my mission and all the things that I´ve been learning and all the experiences that bring me that much closer to my Savior Jesus Christ!!

Pray for Jean and Maria, Neia and Marcio, and Jessica, Vera and José....two of theses families that we are working with that have sons that are serving missions (Jerfeson(the elder that Scott met in the ctm) and matheus)! We are working to complete their families so that they can be an eternal family!!

mosias 2:22.... this scripture is so PERFECT!!! it says to keep the commandments and we will be blessed 3 times in a row in the same versiculo!! THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IS SOOOO SIMPLE!!!! just do it!!

-Love Sister Talentino

 Selling Crabs

 Sister Leal and I

Ponta Negra