week 70 - Starting my mission in Natal and ending my mission in Natal

12/12/16

This week was good!! I´ll send a little message of an experience that happened yesterday!!!

So yesterday at church is was a little different, we had a transition of a program only for people in Brazil! But guess what happened when the video started to play...it was in English!!! without subtitles!! PRONTO!!! everyone started to just look around and some of the leaders got up to see what they could do to help out! Then all of a sudden people started to look at me...hahah I am the only American in Caicó..kkk..so they were like Sister go up there and translate for us!!! At first I was like no way, just wait it out it will be okay! But they I was like no I´ll go and help!!!

So I went up there and they got me a microphone so that I could start to translate a little bit. I said a prayer about a billion times so that The Lord could help me with this little task!

It was really cool to feel the spirit helping me...I would listen and then I knew exactly what I had to say. Maybe I didn´t translate it 100% but I knew what I could say to get the point across! I had to translate for about 10-15 and then they got it all set up. I was so relieved cause they said the Elder Holland would talk too...can you imagine!! haha Translating Elder Hollands words...Nossa haha a lot of pressure!! But it was just a little spiritual experience that I had yesterday that I wanted to share! It was really cool to feel and recognize the gift of tongues that I have been able to develop in this short time that I have been here in Brazil!!

 I love it here!! I will miss it so much!! I am starting to feel that it is coming to an end, I can´t believe it!

#7semanas I will give it my all to end my mission with my head held high and with a ton of Spirit :)

I love this gospel! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

yeah...I’m super happy to end my mission there, but I will miss everyone here!! I spent 6 months in caicó..haha I love the members here!!  but I´m happy that I won’t have one more transfer here because it´s physically and emotionally challenging here. but it´s good cause I feel that my faith has grown because of the hard area!

but yeah...Started my mission in Natal, and now I’m going to end my mission in Natal! :) 

Week 68 - Pray for water

11/27/16

So this week was great! we had a miracle happen. So last week was rough. We had fasted to have a miracle happen, or someone go to church and to have a baptism. So we got to church last week and I was like of course Heavenly Father will give us what we asked for, we even fasted. But when we got to church no one was there and everyone that we passed by to take to church had an excuse. So this week we were like alright, what are we going to do to have a baptism this week, to have more success here. So we were just like let´s start working in the Area Book and see what miracle will happen with the people that have already gone to church and have already marked their baptisms. So we found some names and we planned to pass by in some names that we felt good about. So we started on Wednesday and one of the first people that we planned to go and visit was a little girl. Her name is Gyselle. WE got to her house and she was there and she came out and greeted us. She is soooo sweet. She´s a little timid but really sweet. We started to talk to here and we wanted to start talking about the gospel with her. So we started to talk about baptism too, and we invited her to be baptized that Sunday and she accepted. She was a little shy about it but we knew that she would start to warm up and be excited. the next couple of days we went back and visited her and we had to talk to the parents. WE found out that her parents are less active...the mom started to talk and give excuses to why she doesn’t go to church anymore blah blah blah.so Sister Nunes and I started to get a little nervous about talking about the baptism. But when we started to explain to her about the baptism, the young woman program and all that she started to be all relaxed. and in the end it all turned out great. Sunday was the baptism of Gyselle and she was all nervous and embarrassed of the white overalls but it all worked out! she´s solo cute!

I know this was a miracle of the Fast that we did. If we wouldn’t have done our part, and continues to work hard and look actively for the miracles to happen, Gyselle wouldn´t have been found and baptized. 

the Lord wants that we exercise our Faith and work towards deserving these miracles, and to find them. It´s all in The Lord´s timing, but I know that The Lord is always watching over us, and that he wants us to keep pushing through the difficulties and the hard times, so that when we get to the light and all the good times, we can look back and say that Through Him and because of Him we made it to the light again.

I love this gospel! I love being a missionary! I get to see and feel the miracles each day that our Heavenly Father bestows upon us.

Here in Caicó no one has water in their homes...literally no one! Everyone is buying water, but now the reserves are running out of water too! It´s a water crisis. Everyone pray for the people here and pray so that it can rain here...it´s REALLY hard living without water! trust me. I know!

But yeah! I love all of you, Thank you so much for supporting me!!

ate daqui a pouco!!

Sister Talentino

week 67 We got to shake the hand of an Apostle!

11/21/16

So this past week was great! We had such a great opportunity to hear the Apostle Elder Renlund on Wednesday. On Tuesday we had our mission counsel so Sister Nunes and I got to Natal one day before to spend our pday in Natal! it was great to be in the city again!!

The counsel that we had with President Colleoni was great...but he burned all of us! Called us all out and told us all to repent! it was like ouch...haha but it was necessary!

It was great because the next day the Apostle, Elder Renlund talked about just that. Repentance. His message was just so spiritual and it was exactly what I needed in that moment! I even sang in the Choir! Mom you will be so proud hahah!

I have a certeza that he is a man called of God and that he really is an Apostle of Jesus Christ. I know that President Colleoni and sister Colleoni are also called of God to be our mission President!

It was just such a great experience, spiritually!

WE GOT TO SHAKE HAND WITH AN APOSTLE!!!! it was just so amazing!

But yeah when we got back to our area it was like a race to get our numbers closed and done. Sunday morning, we walked for miles and no one came to church. I think I heard about every excuse in the book...it is really hard to keep up the excitement to work when every week we have people that only progress for about a week or a couple of days and then when Sunday comes around it´s like the enemy is working twice as hard so people won’t go with us to church. And missionary work is hard when no one goes to church.

but I have faith that it will get better and I know I am doing my part so Heavenly Father will grant me my righteous desires to help and love the people here in Caicó!

I know that my mission is coming to an end, but I am so ready to keep working my butt off to help these people!!

I love all of you! have a great week!!!

Remember that every day we need to be humble and repent and r3ecognize our weaknesses so that our Savior can help up be strong and overcome our laziness or our other weaknesses.

´There is no such thing as Faith with laziness...we don´t want lazy faith!!´

get up and do something, to serve, to help, and to be more like our Savior Jesus Christ!

I love you!1

Sister Talentino