Week 53 ZONA CAICÓ....i´m sitting next to L.Gomes...haha small world

August 8, 2016

Natalie’s email

Week 53 August 8, 2016

Interesting your dream mom. I’m so happy that you got my letter! I wrote it a couple months ago and never sent it...and finally I did 2 weeks ago!! The Lord works in mysterious ways!!

So this week was good! We had our Zone Meeting and it was really helpful, to get that spiritual and emotionally charge! animation too!!!

There is a new rule in our mission now...we can’t baptize anyone with the age of 8-11 without an adult member of the family being baptized too! It was like uhhhh wooahhhh...haha It was really an eye opener of how much we need to focus on families and the temple!! our goal here in the mission is to have a temple in NATAL!!! and to do that we need more men with The Priesthood and more families!! so we are all excited and animated to see the miracles that will happen with this new rule! 

what´s funny is that this Sunday we had 9 people come to church...of which 6 were primaria haha!! now we got a lot of work to do to try and help these families get married and then a year from now get sealed in the temple!

There was a miracle that happened this week, at church. Church already started, about 15 minutes, and all of a sudden we hear the door behind us open and there he was, Paulo, a contact that we made about 2 weeks ago. He was drunk and high but he was like you guys are sent from God, you guys aren’t here without a reason...and then at the end of the contact he bailed out and said he wasn’t going to go to church...so we forgot about him. So when he showed up at church I was like NO WAY!!!!! after the meeting we went up and talked to him and he was like. ´oh last week I came and I was looking for the church but it was like 4 in the afternoon... (it starts at 9) and I couldn’t find it.so I decided today I would look for the church again and I was asking everyone in the street where is the church of the Mormons and I came! ´ MIRACLES HAPPEN!!!

we also had another great miracle!

so do you remember me talking about Fabison and Virginia...yeah so they don’t want to know more about the church! one night we stopped by their house and Fabison was close to the window and we started to talk to him and he said that he didn’t want to know more and that he wasn’t interested, so we said okay, can you give us your Book of Mormon we gave you...when he got it and gave it to us his older brother, Fabio showed up and started talking to us. He asked if he could have the book and that if there still will be church in Sunday...YESSSS!!!! He went to church and he loved it!! he was like I loved the school of gospel principles. It was just so great!! He has a lot of questions about life and stuff and so it will be nice to teach someone that understands and that wants to search the truth.

WE also had a rapaz come to church, Kauan, he has 12 years and he has always promised the Elders and us that he would go to church, but he just never went. But Sister Sigaran and I had a feeling that we should pass by. When we got to his house he was sleeping in the hammock, his little sister woke him up and he was like ´oh yeah, let me just get ready and I’ll go with you guys to church´haha what. His parents were surprised too!!! as we were leaving his dad was like, if he gives you any trouble let me know...haha I Was like this young boy just needs a good example and a little love in his life!!!

The Lord never lets us down. All these trials are for our good! I had a good talk with the President and also our LZ´s, L.Gomes and Bonetti, and thank your mom and dad for your counsel. I knew that the hard times are the times where I would feel closer to my Savior and to my Heavenly Father, so every day I tried to just be positive, like you say dad, take a deep breath, relax and let it go!! I really focused on that these past couple of weeks!! and it´s been great! I´ve been reading and studying the scriptures, the conference talks and praying and fasting a lot so that we can have success here in Caicó!!!

Mom and Dad and family and friends! I know this church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is a word of God, and that the Priesthood Power of God was restored on this Earth today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God...God loves us; we need to choose to be happy!! :)

moronic 8:3

have a great week!!
-Sister Talentino

ZONA CAICÓ....i´m sitting next to L.Gomes...haha small world -( El Gomes is from Rio and was in Cynthia's ward )

Week 52 Shout out to Virginia!

August 1, 2016 Week 52

This whole week was ridiculous because here in Caicó there has been a party/holiday for about 2 weeks called Sant´Ana! everyone is celebrating this Saint by drinking and having parties and all that good stuff...so que não!!

So yeah it was hard this week cause no one wanted to listen and no one wanted to go to church because there would be parties and no one wanted to wake up early with a hangover to go to church!!

it was ruff.... but I know that it will all work out!

we have one investigator named Fabison! We met him in the street this week and we marked his baptism right then and there! he said yeah, and that is mom would love that because she keeps telling him to go to church but he doesn’t like to go to Mass (? it´s called that, in the catholic church?) so yeah we went and visited him the next day and we met his older Sister...guess what her name is ....VIRGINIA!!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS!!! haha (shout out to my bff Virginia) and i was like sister, it´s a sign...and we started to talking to us, she gave us lime cake (so good) and then a little bit after we marked her baptism too and she accepted!!! I was like LET´S GOOOO!!!! this was Thursday I think! The next couple of days though were rough! Fabison started to say that he´s going to give up on it cause all of his family is Catholic, and that his sister Virginia said the same thing!! But you know what, we kept teaching him, gave him the book of Mormon and I KNOW that the Holy Ghost will touch his heart and that he already knows that he should keep following that feeling and that Spirit!! I know that he will be baptized! and so will Virginia!! I have faith!!  So yeah. every time we meet someone who is like in tune with the spirit and shows potential, there is always opposition to fight with us! (SATAN WORK)

 we had a mission conference on Wednesday with President Mazzagardi! It was sooo good!! There was a part that I like a lot. It was in the end of the conference and an Elder asked about profound Doctrine and he responded, ´The Sacrament’. I was like uhhhhhh really? and He started to explain that the things that are repeated are the doctrines more profound than whatever other thing (sorry that my grammar is terrible I’m translating Portuguese to English) and I was like it is sooo true!! the simplest things in the gospel are the most profound and important and meaningful!! There are so many things that we can learn from the Sacrament if we study and we learn and look at the details!!! It was like ´boom big ol explosion` (can you guess the movies quote mom??) but yeah it was really cool!! I got to talk to President MAzzagardi for a little bit! We started to talk about the East Coast because he lived in New Jersey for a long time!! HAHA I guess you can say we are Buddy buddies now...jk!!! It was great to see all the missionaries again and to get the spiritual alimento (?) 

it was awesome!!

Sunday night we had a family night with a family in our ward...I love this Family so much!!! I taught them how to make cookies :) It was sooo good!!! Elder L. Gomes made the cookies, and they turned out really good!!...I guess I’m kind of famous for my cookies in the mission haha!

I love every part of being a missionary...some parts better than others, but I just know that my sufferimento doesn’t even compare to the sufferement of my Savior for me!!

I love you all!! Alma 37:30-37

-Sister Talentino

Week 51 - What out for cats!

July 25, 2016

So this week was rough...I won’t go into details but I´m just going to say that when I get down I always end up being grateful that I am having these difficulties because I know that they will help me be closer to my Heavenly Father and to my Savior...so yeah it really is a blessing!!

but yeah, just keep praying for me and for my area and the people in Seridó to have their hearts a little bit more open to receive the message of the Restored gospel!!!:)

I sent dad a little message too just venting about how I feel...the sadness the anger and then afterward, the hope that I have that everything will work out because of the promises that my Heavenly Father gave me and because of the Atonement in my life!! Maybe that person wasn’t ready to hear about the gospel, but I did my part and I planted that seed!! :)

I know that this Church is true. I don’t have any doubts! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that we have a prophet today! I am so grateful for the power of the Priesthood in my life and the blessing that it brings to me, and to everyone! 

The gospel is so simple!! 

The power of prayer is a gift that I am so happy to have in my life too! I comfort that I can receive because of My Savior is just amazing!!

I love you all!! have a great week!! :)

Funny thing that happened this week:

so we were walking in the street heading back home at the end of the day and I say a dead cat in the street and I was like ´ewwww sister look a dead cat´ people, it was like really dead, squished and everything haha and right after that I stepped to the side to not step on the cat and I stepped a little awkwardly on a rock and I feel...I seriously BIFFED it haha I cut my hand and it was bleeding and my leg too! hahah my Book of Mormon flew into the street and my Planner haha it was just like all over the place, with cars passing by too!! haha I just started laughing! Sister Sigaran was drinking at the time and she started to choke on her drink because she started laughing too!! haha it was just a mess people!!

all because of a stupid dead cat on the side of the road!! lol

moroni 8:3

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

The church is true