December 15, 2014

Linda família,

This has been quite a week, but so far I haven´t lost my mind yet and the Lord keeps sending angels of every kind to help me this week.  Training is definitely hard, but Sister Bunch is so great and has such a desire to learn fast.  She had a little moment of feeling overwhelmed by the culture shock but got over it fast.  We´ve been running in between appointments on the two farthest sides of the two areas that are now all ours,  I have to remember everything all by myself for the first time without a senior companion or two other sisters in the house, and all the while explain everything to my companion and make sure she´s doing okay.  But like I said, a lot of angels were on my side this week, and I´d like to name a few:

Fabio, a less active who gave us Laércio´s reference.  He´s been teaching with us and doing an amazing job of it, also following up with Laércio when we couldn´t this week.  He even asked what tomorrow´s lesson would be so he could study.  Laércio was baptized at the District Conference on Sunday, and was so happy.  He has so much faith.  He has been a smoker since age eight and just decided to stop because he had the desire to be baptized.  At the baptism he was all smiles and he said he almost cried from happiness.  He´s so awesome and humble.  

Felipe, my recent convert.  Thursday, it wasn´t even in our plans but I felt like we should visit him.  He answered the door with the saddest face I´d ever seen and had started growing a beard and just looked depressed.  He told us he had been feeling bad about his life and he had no desire to even leave his house or pray or read the scriptures.  I got so worried about him, he said he hadn´t felt that way in two years and the feeling lasted 6 months.  In that moment I told him he had ten minutes to get ready to go teaching with us and Larissa.  So he got up, came back all dressed and shaved and smiling, and we went to visit other recent converts.  He helped so much in teaching and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon.  He said he didn´t even know if he would be alive right now if we hadn´t shown up in his hour of need.  I just wanted to cry it was so spiritual seeing him teach for the first time and gain a desire to help everyone.  He´s such a great guy.  

 

Nino, a recent covert from my new area.  He and his best friend David who was baptized with him call each other Elder and help a lot in that area.  They used to be punks, and still kind of look like it but a I gave Nino the pamphlets of tithing and the law of chastity. They are changing a lot.  They´ve been the only way I´ve been able to keep up with the two areas.  I could not find Ariano, who was supposed to be baptized Domingo.  He ended up not going to church, but they´ve been taking care of everyone when I can´t.

Anderson, our ward mission leader who is super young and has been really going the extra mile to help me.  He´s the only one in his family who works which makes it hard for him to go on a mission, but he still finds time to help us.  Because of him the investigators and recent converts from the vila went to church Sunday.

Larissa, who´s come a really long way in her testimony from teaching with us a lot in the last transfer.  She´s 13 and has a tough family situation and stays with us because it´s better than her house or any other thing she could be getting into.  Sunday morning my companion woke up super sick so Larissa passed in everyone´s house who we couldn´t. 

There are a lot more, like our Zone Leaders, the Branch President and his wife and the Sister Training Leaders but everyone´s been helping a ton and it´s been amazing.  Pray for Ariano, Danilo and Douglas, our possible baptisms who have been to church several times.  

I love you all so much!  Make the last weeks count!  Remember how much God loves you and wants to help and just wants you to be happy.  Training has made me understand God´s love so much in just one week and I can´t even imagine the love I´ll have one day for my actual children.  Can´t wait to talk to guys and can´t believe how fast time flies.  Have an awesome week! 

Beijos,

Sister Moore

December 10, 2014

Querida família,

I´m training the first American Sister to arrive in this mission since MY group arrived!!  Her name is Sister Bunch, she´s from Parker Colorado and served for 6 weeks in Oregon, so she´s still very new. It´s really different not having someone who already knows how to speak Portuguese, but she´s awesome and has a lot of desire to learn fast.  I already love her like my own daughter.  She´s very deer in the headlights still, who wouldn´t be, but I know she´s gonna help me a lot. I knew right away I would train her when I saw her :)

So it was a perfect day, I was so excited for this transfer, then a bomb got dropped on us:  Rio Tinto II closed, Sister Cameron´s leaving and I have to take care of both areas and the whole branch ALONE.  I have never had to do so many things I don´t feel prepared to do at the same time.  Our areas are very far away from each other and I still don´t know how I´m gonna do it and teach with someone who can´t speak the language yet..  Just pray for me a lot.  

Ronaldo was baptized!!  He is totally crazy but he has the ten commandments memorized,keeps all his commitments, comes to church by himself and is always early.  Sunday was such a miracle.  11 investigators were at church!  A lot of them have to get married, aren´t old enough to be baptized the next week or don´t want to get baptized, but we have one solid investigator who wants to be baptized Sunday, Laércio!  He was a referral from Fabio, a less active who was also a miracle.  The sisters that were here before just found him by chance one day and he was baptized a long time ago in Natal.  Now he´s returning and helping us teach and everything.  We´re also teaching his niece Grazi.  Pray for Laércio to be able to completely stop smoking, he´s already cut down A LOT. He´s so elect!

Raul went to church with his friend Lucas, and just doesn´t want to get baptized still.  His day will come..  like so many others.  We have a really great family as well who came to church, Juliana and her sons Ikaro and Isaac.  Her husband studies theology and is a tough nut to crack, but Juliana loved church on Sunday so he at least needs to marry her legally for her sake and for their kids.  Isaac already asked his mom to buy church clothes for him and wants to keep going every Sunday.  So cute! :) 

This transfer will for sure be a challenge, but I just need to rely more than I ever have in my life on the Lord and my leaders and the members.  Also my companion, she read to me last night the scripture in D&C that says ´´look to me in every thought, doubt not, fear not´´ that Sciammarella always read to people.  She´s so full of that new missionary spirit and I know it´ll help me a lot.  My priority is just to help her do all the things I wish I had done better and for her to have the best mission ever.  

I love you all so much and am excited to see you again, but very sad that this is the last transfer. Have an awesome week!

Um abraço bem forte,

Sister Moore

December 1, 2014

Querida Família!

WOAH.. That´s so awesome that your mission baptized 100!!!  Especially because it was because everyone was doing it the way of the Lord, not just to baptize.  That´s so inspiring... and I feel a little lame now... haha

I tried to send pictures and I hope you can open them and that they don´t infect the computers you´re using..  The first is Iasmmy from Santa Rita then Leandro and then me and Vitória.  Felipe got baptized yesterday and I´m sending his picture in this email.. he is so awesome.  He likes to read the Book of Mormon just opening to random pages and he marks everything he likes.. even when it doesn´t make sense like circling the Zoramite prayer in Alma 31... he knows that´s not how you pray haha..  He´s 28 but gets along more with the youth.  One big miracle in this branch is how suddenly we have young men.  They´re all investigators, recent converts and less actives that are returning, but there were basically 0 and now there´s a classroom full.  Felipe can be the new YM pres :)  He came to the activity on Tuesday and participated more than anyone!  We played the newspaper game, charades and mafia and everyone loved it.  Best by far.  

The other visitor at the activity that was a huge miracle was Jean, who´s visiting from São Paulo to get some things his recently deceased father left him.  His little cousin, Bianca, 10, has been coming to church every week and brought him with her.  We talked to him afterwards and he had gone to the Mormon church for 3 years as a teenager but was never baptized.  10 years later he has a family and has changed a lot and basically asked to be baptized.  We wanted to just baptize him here, but he´s not quite ready yet so we´re sending him to the missionaries where he lives to teach his whole family.  Sister Marschall will keep in contact with him when she goes home and he knows where the church is.  Some lucky missionaries have been fasting A LOT... :)  I can´t wait to see what happens.  He leaves Tuesday.

It´s hard to not be trunky in a house where everyone is ending their mission.. but I´m trying to take advantage of the time I still have and the things I´ve learned in these 16 months.  Miracles are going to happen still!!  It´s Christmas time! Right now our possible baptism is Ronaldo, an old man who we did not expect to come to church.. haha he likes to burst into song when we teach.. pray for him.  Every child of God needs to be baptized!  Vitórias doing great, she wants to be baptized so bad.  

Doing everything the Lord´s way is worth it.  He knows where the families are in this area who want to be baptized.  I´m so grateful for His love in my life and for being able to do a little to help His children feel that love.  

I love you all so much and I hope December brings even bigger miracles!  Remember that gratitude breaks the pride cycle.  Keep working!  

Beijos!

Sister Moore

November 24, 2014

Querida Família,

That is amazing that your mission is baptizing so much.  We have the same number of missionaries and only 29 baptisms until now.. I think we´ve been adjusting to a new way of working and new rules that make it harder to baptize fast but will have more retention.  But if we baptize families and have faith, we should still be baptizing a lot!  I loved dad as Noah.. I want to hear more about what that training was about!

João is a tough cookie.  He wants to go to the temple, wants to pay tithing, would even be confirmed a member if he could, but he just does not want to get baptized.  There´s something in his head that, every time he agrees with what we´re saying, just takes him back to the same thing: ``but I´ve already been baptized´´..  He even went to the interview and when we got to the chapel, our investigator Vitória was there CLEANING THE CHAPEL with just the branch President and one other young woman.  She wants to be baptized so bad.. and the only investigator who can´t be baptized.  Isn´t that just life?  She awesome though.

We found a lot of really awesome people last week, none of which came to church except for Raul who we´ve been teaching together with his uncle and his friend who know EVERYTHING about the church. He came to one of our lessons and just pulls out the teachings of Brigham Young manual..  what the heck??  It´s a little frustrating because he´s a little misinformed and isn´t as interested or open as Raul, so he´s kind of there just to get the lesson off track talking about random things from the church´s history..  But Raul went to church and didn´t seem to love it.. but he needs to pray about the Book of Mormon still.  Pray for him!  

Also... his uncle, Ronoldo, really really wants me to make pumpkin pie so could you send me a recipe? haha thanks

The biggest miracle for last.. Felipe!!  He lives so close to our house and we found an unfinished... Í don´t remember the english word for ficha.. the paperwork you fill out to baptize someone.... but we found that paper in our house and we went over to his house.  Turns our he´d been taught twice already, once in Natal, found the missionaries here again, but never was baptized.  We talked to him and taught the first lesson and he said he wasn´t ready before but this time his heart is open and he wants to be baptized.. Sunday!!  WOOHOO!!  He is so solid and so great!  

It was a great week and the next will be better!  A lot more happened but I think I covered the most important.. The Book of Mormon is true!  I know the Savior loves me and all of us.  I love you all so much!

Com carinho,

Sister Moore

November 17, 2014

Oi família!!

Everything is going good in Rio Tinto.. we´ve got some good investigators and the Lord will always bless our best efforts.  I´ve been learning a lot about how to trust the spirit to know how to say the right thing at the right time, with investigators and companions.  We have authority from God, but it can only be exersized if we are obedient, if we know the scriptures and if we love the Lord and other people.  I´ve been reading the 12 week training to get ready to teach, and there´s a lot of things I wish I had known when I had started my mission.  I feel like if I can successfully teach my filha these things, everything I´ve learned on my mission is worth it.  

It´s awesome to hear that your mission is doing so well!  Wow. How many companionships are there in your mission? I´ve been praying for your investigators and goals.  Our mission is hitting kind of a low, so you can know that your mission is surpassing what was one of the highest baptizing missions in the world.  Pray for Missão João Pessoa and President Nogueira.  He is a very inspired man that as a temple President really has a vision of bringing every convert to the temple and helping the missionaries stay active.  I know this calling has been incredibly stressful for him as someone who has never served a full time mission, but I know he really cares about us a lot, and his wife too.  

The miracle yesterday was a man, João, who has been to church a few times and came again yesterday by himself.  He was already baptized in his church and his family is really against it, but he loves the church and knows he wants to stay there.  Have you guys ever read ´´Member Missionary Work and Finding the Elect of God´´?  It´s really awesome and talks about helping people who think they don´t need to be baptized again.  It´s all just talking about prayer and not doctrine.  We were miraculously able to teach him without his family spoiling the lesson and marked his baptism for this Sunday and gave him the Book of Mormon, which before his family had rejected, but this time didn´t say anything.  Pray for João!

The other miracle is Vitória, who really wants to get baptized, but the area rule is that she has to wait 3 months because she´s only fourteen.  Or she has to be baptized with her mom, so we´re going to try to teach her but we already know she´s very catholic and doesn´t want to go to church.. But her brother, Reginaldo, is a less active member and is 19, so MAYBE we can reactivate him and get permission from Pres to baptize her before my mission ends.. She´s so cute and wants to bring everyone to church next week and go to the activities.  Isn´t that just life?  She´ll for sure be baptized though. 

Well, the church is still true and the book is blue.  I hope you all have an awesome week.  Does anyone have ideas for simple games to play at a branch family night?  Most of the people who go are the recent converts. We need ideas.  Also, does anyone have any requests of what they want me to bring home from Brazil with me?  Havaianas?  Chocolate? Cuscuzeiro?  Does cuscuz exist in the united states? It´s a staple of life here.  

I love you all so much!  

Beijos,

Sister Moore

November 10, 2014, "It's A Girl"

Querida família,

Let´s start with the crazy news!  So last night we get a random phone call from President, who NEVER calls Sunday night for anything, and he told us that I had been moved to senior companion to prepare me to TRAIN in my last transfer!  Generally you only find that out the day before transfers, but for whatever reason President was inspired to tell me now.  I didn´t really talk about this, but Sister Cavalcanti received the phone call last transfer that she would train and I was happy for her but really heart broken because training is 12 weeks and I thought it was my last chance.  I was really tempted to doubt my abilities and just hang back, but I´ve been praying more than ever for the Lord to help me find my purpose and progress while still being junior.  The phone call from president just came in exactly the right moment and was really a moment of my knowing that the Lord does everything in His timing and He´s aware of our desires and what´s best for us.  I thought of Elder Bednar´s talk on tender mercies, that nothing is coincidence and His timing helps us recognize His tender mercies.  I´m so excited to end my mission with my own little filhinha :)  

We are still in search of the super elect people here in Rio Tinto, but I know they´re out there.  We have one couple, G and G, who want to get married and get baptized so it´s just organizing all the complicated details with that, and helping G gain a stronger testimony.  He used to be a pastor and he was a little drunk in one of our lesson just trying to show how much he knew about the Bible.. but it´s my dream to marry and baptize a family so of course it´s gonna happen :)

I do love your emails, mom, I love emails from EVERYONE (hint) and love hearing how everyone´s doing.  Being a missionary´s the best, our house is really funny and everyone knows how to sing Adele.. Miracles are gonna happen this week, I know it!  Love you all!  The church is true! 

Beijos,

Sister Moore

November 3, 2014

Querida família,

The transfer did start out with a baptism.  I kind of just arrived to baptize but he is a very cool guy named Leandro.  Rio Tinto is a very small branch so it´s awesome to baptize a future priesthood holder, who owns his own business and has a lot of potential to be a leader.  He was a reference from the District President who just had to open his mouth and share his testimony with a man he saw all the time at work.  Leandro already studies conference talks on lds.org and has great questions.  The only problem is his wife, who can´t understand still why he wants to leave the catholic church and they´ve been having some issues, but she´ll come around when she sees the blessings of her husband having the gospel.  

Last night we went to a fireside by President Carbone, who directs the institutes in all northeast Brazil and is one of President Nogueira´s counselors.  He literally knows everything about the scriptures and it was an awesome fireside.  He talked about how there can´t be iniquity in a branch or it won´t grow.  Members who don´t understand the doctrine keep the church from growing.  It was pretty much calling the district to repentance but afterwards he did question and answer.  What I got out of it was really that there exists a big connection between the temple and missionary work.  The key to success is just to keep and honor your covenants.  I read a talk this morning by Elder Nelson called ´´covenants´´ and he say the best compliment you can receive is to be called a covenant keeper.  When the Lord talks about covenants, he is usually reminding his people to lift up their heads and rejoice, because he always remembers his promises.  That´s the source of our strength that binds us to God and no other church has authority to make these covenants.  

My companion is very different from any other I´ve had but she is super dedicated.  She´s from Florianopolis, in the south.  It´s been a little hard finding my niche in our relationship; we´re both ending our missions and have a lot of ideas that are very different.  But she´s a great missionary and I know we need each other and the Lord will help us.  The other Sisters we live with are from Argentina and Australia.  Yep, the first Austalian to serve in Brasil.  We´re trying to teach our companions English, both already know a lot, but it´s always a fight between the two accents.. Speaking English is really hard these days haha.

Our house has horses, cats and monkeys.  It´s everything I´ve ever dreamed.  Someday you´ll see pictures... but it is not this day.

The church is true!  I love you all a lot.  I´m praying for your goals!  Make it rain!!! :)

Com amor e carinho,

Sister Moore

October 29, 2014, Rock n Roll in Rio Tinto!

Família minha!

Well it looks like I´ll be dying in the area with the same name as the stadium where I saw Paul McCartney, Rio Tinto. It was destiny.  It´s beautiful here, out in the middle of the jungle.  People baptize like crazy in this zone, Zona Mamanguape. People call this area the city of Enoch, so I guess it´s gotta be good haha.. My companion is another Brazilian, Sister Marshall, and this is her last transfer.  She´s from Santa Catarina. I´m sad to leave Santa Rita but I feel particularly good about the work I did there and feel the Lord is happy too.

I´m having trouble sending pictures again, but I was baptized!  She was so happy and excited to do personal progress, go to seminary and everything.  She already wants to go on a mission.  All of our recent converts in that area are doing so good, being taken care of and giving referrals and growing their testimonies.  We also planted a lot of seeds there.  Sister Cavalcanti got to stay and is training her new filhinha.  I knew all week I was leaving which was the worst thing ever, President told me at interviews.  

It´s been a great month for the Moore missionaries!  I love Andrea´s story.  She´s so brave to go against everything her family´s taught her to follow the truth.  I wish everyone had that courage.  We just have to teach in a way that we add to the truths they already believe and not take anything away from them.  

A lot happened this week.. but after transfers my mind goes a little blank.  The church is still true.  One of my favorite conference talks that´s helped me on my mission is ´´Accepted by the Lord´´ from April 2013, by a seventy who´s name I never can remember.  Always seek the Lord´s acceptance above everything else.  I have been focusing a lot more lately on really what the Lord expects of me, and I´ve been really grateful to see that a lot of promises in my patriarchal blessing and my setting apart blessing have already happened.  I don´t always understand the Lord´s mind, but every experience I´ve had has helped me to be a better peacemaker, be able to boldly share my testimony, and prepared me for the future things I´ll face in life.  

I love you all so much!  Have an awesome week!

Com amor,

Sister Moore

October 20, 2014

Querida Família!

This week was a roller coaster, but all ended really well and we baptized C and her three youngest kids, R, R and R.  Her husband R has some issue with baptism that we still can´t figure out because he won´t really talk to us other than to say ´´I don´t want to be baptized.  That church is different than the other ones´´.  He even agreed to go to the interview and talked to our zone leader for two whole hours.  He still just doesn´t want to, even though he read the Book of Mormon, prayed, got an answer, prayed about the baptism, God told him he was ready.  We´ll just have to figure him out this week and throw him in the water.. But other than that going to the interview with them was a great experience.  While he was in the interview, we stayed outside and kicked around a soccer ball with C and her kids.  When we got tired we just sat talking with her about her interview and I just felt like a part of her family in that moment, just having a calm moment in front of the church.  The baptism was great and the ward is receiving them really well.  

On the way back we ran into A and L AGAIN who had disappeared so we hadn´t even gotten to talk to them that week.  It was a miracle because if we hadn´t run into them they wouldn´t have gone to church the next day.  They loved the meetings and the baptism and payed attention to everything.  Afterwards we went to answer their questions about church and follow up.  They have actually been reading the scriptures and praying and have decided to live the law of chastity!  They still aren´t super decided yet but we marked their baptism for this Sunday.  I seriously love them, I feel like they´re a brother and sister to me and one of the only investigators I´ve had that I just want to stay in their house chatting.  It´s so good to really have trust like that with your investigators and to see that they´ve been changing.  I can see A as an Elder´s Quorum President and Bishop someday.  Pray for them!!

As for I and K, some drama went down with the youth and K´s mad at everyone and says she wants to stay in the church she was in before.  It´s so sad because she really did receive an answer that the Book of Mormon is true and was more excited than I to be baptized, but when you´re 13, you forget all that really quickly.  I at least still wants to be baptized but there was also some drama there and in the end she wasn´t baptized yesterday because she was SLEEPING.  Kids these days.  

Pray for these people and for us to find some more of the Lord´s elect this week.  But things are going great which means I´ll probably be transferred.  Transfers are indeed next week.  Time goes by so fast it doesn´t make sense.  

Sounds like you always get to do really cool things on your mission.  I want to hear Elder Holland talk in the Sacred Grove.  I´ve always wanted an apostle to come to this mission.. Have you guys seen the video the church made about missionary work in Brazil that has Elder Anderson and Elder Nelson in it?  They´re in Fortaleza which is really similar to here and I think you can find that video on the church website.

You knew I sang ´´I Come to Him?´´ in the MTC with two other sisters in my district right?  I love that song.  I sang ´´This is the Christ´´ at the baptism yesterday, which I found in portuguese this week in an old Liahona.  

Have a great week!  Make miracles happen!  The church is true!! I love you all so much.

Abraços e beijinhos,

Sister Moore

October 13, 2014

Querida família!

Parabéns for the baptism!  That family looks so happy.  I love that you went to lake Winnepesaukee.. I was actually thinking about that movie this week.  A lot of people need to untie their emotional knots.  Did you strap dad to the boat? haha

The Lord has been answering our prayers.  If we have righteous desires, He will always grant them to us, in His time and His way.  We brought a family to church, a completely crazy but totally elect family.  So C and R are a married (actually married!) couple who look like mother and son and go to different churches to visit almost every day.  Just let me tell you about the first lesson with them.. I finish telling the first vision and I ask them if they believe that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and C responds:  I believe, I saw Jesus once too... then she goes on to explain for 30 minutes (I counted) about her experience when she was completely awake and had this crazy vision being lifted up in the clouds in an elevator and seeing Jesus but his face was invisible and all this other stuff.  Here in Brazil, these kinds of things are pretty normal.  So the story of the first vision lost a little effect.. but hey.. she told us she knows we´re messengers from God and she wants to be baptized.

The miracle was in church.  It was testimony meeting and we had joked about how she was probably going to get up and tell everyone her 30-minute overcome-by-the-holy-ghost story.  Well, she got up, but it was to say that in 41 years of being Evangelical she had never felt so good inside any church.  She said she prayed for God to show her that this was the true church and felt immediately that it was and now knows for certain that this is Christ´s church.  Pray for this family!  She, R and three of their kids can be baptized this Sunday.  She is positive she wants to get baptize, now it´s just helping everyone else be just as secure.  

But it doesn´t stop there; the other miracle this week was I and K, two sisters who are also going to be baptized on Sunday!  I had already gone to church for a long time and almost was baptized, but she felt pressured and didn´t want to anymore.  A member gave the referral to us, and instead of her we found her younger sister, who we taught and afterwards she had a dream about being baptized.  When we finally taught both of them together, I told us she still wanted to be baptized, and she remembers EVERYTHING the elders taught her.  These girls are so cute and are already friends with the youth in the ward.  They are so solid, they already picked out what kind of cake they want at the baptism :)

We just need to have patience, and the Lord will bless us and answer our prayers.  I know this isn´t just an answer to mine and my companion´s prayers, but to everyone´s prayers in this ward and everyone who prays for the missionaries.  Thanks :)  The church is true.  

About A and L, they´re making things a little more complicated than they are, but still want to get married and get baptized. Keep praying for them to make the right decisions and just stay in their own houses at night... sheesh...  But they are still our friends and the spirit is always there so strong when we teach them.  Everything is so much simpler when you just keep the commandments.

I love you all so much!  Have the best week ever!  The church is true!

Com amor e carinho,

Sister Moore

Monday, October 6, 2014

Querida Família,

General Conference was so great.  I´m definitely going to be in the MoTab at some point in my life.  I made another list of things to do better in the next 6 months after conference, but left it at our house... basically we all just need to use the Atonement a little more in our life to help us do the things the Lord expects of us.  It was cool hearing one speaker without a weird voiceover, and I loved his talk and the question if we´re living so that the promises in our patriarchal blessing will be fulfilled.  We don´t have excuses to not know what the Lord expects of us and we need to be prepared to do it.  

The women´s conference, in April and this last one, have just made me cry the whole time and I have no idea why.  The mission just makes you so emotional and things like that just bring an overwhelming spirit.  The temple is one of the things I miss the most.  I´ll never forget the feeling of love I had the last time I went in Campinas, it was literally like a hug from the Lord sending me out on my mission.  His promises are sure.  I´m so grateful for our covenants. When the scriptures tell us to lift up our heads and rejoice, they are usually talking about our covenants.  After this conference I want to make the sacrament more of a concious act of keeping covenants and repenting. 

Our AP´s really want us to focus on our personal study and memorizing scriptures, that went really well with this conference.  We need to become familiar with the scriptures to recognize the shepherd´s voice.  I´ve memorized on my mission all of 2 Nephi 31 and I´m working on all of the scripture mastery verses.  It really is worth it and the Lord helps.  

 The Lord´s been blessing us a lot and helping us find complete families to teach.  Right now our progressing investigators are A, 20, and L,16, a couple who live separate but already have a daughter. A lives with his parents, who are very interested and want to get baptized (like, really badly) but aren´t married.  They need to clear up a few things financially but they´ll get married soon... But man.  THIS FAMILY IS ELECT.  The Lord wants these people in his church. We found A in August and he gave us the wrong address so we dropped him, but ran into him again, then a third time when he talked to the other sisters in another area and they passed his name as a referral.  So we went and taught him and his family the restoration and they understood and accepted everything SO well.  These are people who were waiting specifically for me and Sister Cavalcanti to teach them.  Several other churches have told A he needs to get married but he told us we´re the only people who have actually listened and tried to help them instead of condemning them.  Teaching them has been such a testimony to me of how the gospel blesses families.  They came to conference and said they will continue to pray to see if they will be baptized next week.  They just need to really understand the law of chastity and L needs to really have her own solid testimony to not just get baptized for her boyfriend, but pray for these people!!  

Pray for us to baptize a family this month!  I know God hears our prayers and if our desires are righteous, He´ll grant them to us!

You guys have some amazing stories, especially Andrea.  You are amazing missionaries and I hope you´re cherishing every minute.  Life´s good here in Santa Rita.  We´re gonna go to a members house today and I´m gonna teach them how to make cookies :) I know how to make them by memory, and if I can make them in Brazil with our match-lit ovens, I can cook anything in the US haha..  

I know God is aware of us and knows us by name.  Christ paid for our sins and our sorrows.  I know Joseph Smith saw the father and the son and that Thomas S. Monson is God´s prophet today.  Family is always first in the gospel.

I love you all so much and hope you have an incredible week!  Believe in miracles!

Com amor e carinho,

Sister Moore

September 29, 2014

Querida família,

This morning we shared our personal studies with everyone in the house and it was really spiritual.  Sister Sales has been having a hard week, being sick and also stressed.  We all talked about what the Lord expects of us on our missions and the progress we´ve made and we all hugged in the end.  They´re all amazing missionaries.  

I think a virus is spreading through all of Santa Rita, it didn´t hit me hard enough to stay home but it hit Sister C and we stayed home for a couple days.  At least we really had some time to talk and laugh and share a little bit more about our lives.  Sister C has never really had parents and her life has made her seem a little cold to some people.  At the beginning of her mission she thought a companion was just someone to walk by your side.  She´s come so far in every aspect as a missionary since we lived together in Prossind. I´ve been a little stressed because sometimes I blame the results of our work on my companion and feel like it´s just my job to correct her because I ´´should be´´ the senior companion by now.  I think we´ve both learned that your companion is everything and you have to be a team in absolutely everything.  I´ve learned a lot about finding the best in people.  Helping them see the good in themselves and sincerely appreciating people for who they are makes all the difference.  If you only see the bad, it´s probably a reflection of how you see yourself.  Always hug your companion and tell her you love her before going to bed!

J is still dragging his feet a little but says he will get baptized and will continue to go to church.  He has a testimony but there´s something else going on we feel..  Keep praying for him and for Joyce.  Joyce´s been going to church FOREVER but her mom won´t sign the papers and now we feel it also be the influence of her aunt, an active member, who´s keeping her from signing it...

General Conference is coming once again!!  The General RS meeting won´t be shown here until Sunday between the two sessions, but thanks for the spoilers ;)  I´ve been preparing for this conference by reading the last conference, especially the prophet´s last talk.  President Monson is indeed a prophet of God and I love that he always chooses to uplift us and talk about loving each other more.  Nothing else we do matters if we don´t stop to notice the people around us who need our service.  Sometimes it´s not in the way we necessarily want or think we need to serve, but the Lord is always showing us opportunities to show love to people every day.  

I love you all so much!  Have an awesome week and an awesome General Conference!  Follow the prophet!!  The church is true! 

Com amor e carinho,

Sister Moore

Monday, September 22, 2014

Sister Cavalcani and Sister Moore, Santa Rita, Brazil

 Querida família!

I´m so glad Dad got to baptize someone.  That´s so awesome :)  I brag about you guys all the time you know.  Thanks for the emails everyone.  I think Elder Holland said once that we need to be the missionaries that our moms think we are.. haha.  I think you can just google Santa Rita, Paraiba, Brasil and it should come up.  Centro is the coolest part with the fountain and the parks with mosaiacs and the old catholic church.  We already have another roomate, Sister Alves left and now we have Sister Pinna from Argentina.  Sister Sales is the pequeninha from Fortaleza.  My release date is Jan 21, this month they´ll call me to ask what airport I´ll go home to.  AHH

So Anderson got baptized, it´s just his mom we need to catch.  Running away from missionaries runs in that family, but afterwards they become superstar members.  Everything went smoothly and he was really happy to be baptized (even though he doesn´t really look that happy..)  In the picture with him are his cousins, Alice and Claudio and the bishop´s son who wanted to be in the picture.

 

 

A huge miracle yesterday was J coming to church.  Some stuff happened with his daughter and ex wife that really threw him off-track and he didn´t want to be baptized with bitterness in his heart against anyone, and to add to it, he started smoking again because of the stress.  But he really is hanging in there with his testimony.  He´s told us several times he knows it´s all true.  We passed by his house Sunday morning and he wasn´t there so we had basically given up that he still really has interest.  But when we got to church, there was J, already there.  He came to watch the baptism to see how it is.  Pray for him!  He just needs a little more faith to stop smoking!

I´ve been learning a lot about the importance of gratitude, again.  I´ve been feeling lately like I´ll never be one of those missionaries that all the members remember, or who baptized a ton or who was a great leader.  But I know without a single doubt that God is aware of me, and always has been.  If we trust Him we will be able to do all things for our own good and the good of others.  I think ever since the Brown family in New York, I´ve had a deep-set preocupation for the eternal souls of everyone, including my own.  But the Lord tells us to not let our hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid, and that in this life we´ll have affliction, but we can still be of good cheer.  He has overcome the world.  Above all the little miracles that have kept me going each day, I´m so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I´m grateful that the path isn´t always easy, mentally, physically or spiritually.  Sometimes when we suffer a little, that can help us to help other people, not because we know how they feel, but because we know someone else who knows everything about their sorrows.  

Remember to be grateful and trust in the Lord!  Remember to love and forgive yourself.  Remember to remember!  

I love you all so much and am so grateful for all you´ve done for me in my life. Have an awesome week!

Beijos,

Sister Moore

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Sister Cavalcanti and Sister Moore in Santa Rita, Brazil

Querida família,

I get to stay in Santa Rita with Sister Cavalcanti and the majority of my companions are going home tomorrow; Sister Seal, Sciammarella and Sister Johnson.  Three awesome missionaries.

The biggest tender mercy this week was for sure getting to work with Sister Sciammarella again for one day in her area in her last week.  She is so full of the Spirit and loves beings a missionary.  We really became like actual sisters, and I forgot how great it was to just laugh and quote movies in English and talk about some normal people things.  Being best friends with your companion is EVERYTHING.  I really needed to remember how that was and realize that I need to learn to relax and have balance in all things.  It was just a great day, talking about everything and teaching together again!

A is going to bet baptized on Sunday!  We´re still working with his mom who hasn´t gone to church yet, and it seems a little like she might be running from us now... just gotta grab my running shoes and baptize these families.  But A is reading the Book of Mormon and circling things he doesn´t understand.  We explained the restoration in terms of soccer; God is the coach, the prophet is the captain, the players are the apostles and the ball is the priesthood.  It´s working out great and the analogy is even working for explaining the commandments. 

I lost my voice this week which was awful and EVERYONE is telling me all the different things I need to do and medicine I need to take and how I can´t work in the sun and I need to go home and not to go in the rain.  It´s a Brasilian thing... But I can talk again, it´s just a little like a boy going through puberty.  Crying repentance is hard on the voice I guess ;)

Keep praying for J... we´re not quite sure what happened yet with him but he didn´t go to church and might not be telling the truth.  His sister is a pastor and lives on the same street but that didn´t seem to be making a difference. 

But it´s all good.  The church is true.  When people choose to stop progressing, you don´t lose anything, only they do.  I know Jesus Christ is at the center of missionary work.  He goes before us and shows us the way.  Just remember Him.  I know the atonement is real whether we accept it fully or not.  I love my Savior.

I love you all so much!  Have a great week!

Com todo meu coração,
Sister Moore

September 8, 2014

Querida família,

I´m so glad to hear about the progress of your investigators.  I´ve been praying for them.  That´s so awesome that you are all using your talents to do the Lord´s work.  Mom, the Lord always blesses you with those little things like the piñata.  You´re such an example of faith and gratitude :)

The Lord has really been preparing these people and answering our prayers, even if the fruits aren´t quite showing yet.  I don´t think I´ve ever heard so many people say they´ve received an answer to prayer that these things are true in my whole mission than in the past two weeks!  Just one example was AC, who didn´t seem that interested but we talked to her because her 11-year-old son is going to church (even though he´s literally running away from us because he´s afraid of baptism).  She´s the sister of a recent convert who´s kids are super active in the church and seminary and help us a lot.  We left the pamphlet of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for her to read.  It turned out she did read and prayed and that it helped her in a really hard moment after she fought with her boyfriend.  She wants to get baptized!  It was awesome and I know so many more people in that family will follow her, including her son A. 

José came to church with us yesterday, and told us after sacrament meeting that he prayed and got an answer that baptism is the right thing to do :)  He lives with his thirteen year old son and his mom and his niece, and we´re gonna work with all of them.  Pray for his baptism this Sunday!!  This all probably means I´ll get transferred next week :P

We have another new rule in our mission that we have to introduce all of the fifth lesson before baptism.  The vision is to really focus on all aspects of the work of salvation and help people go to the temple and do work for their ancestors and missionary work.  It seems like a lot of information, but the people here really do seem to connect more to the idea of baptisms for their relatives who´ve passed on than the idea of apostasy and authority and prophets etc..  It´s really amazing.  

P who was baptized last week shared something incredible with us.  We reviewed the plan of salvation with her and talked about baptisms for the dead.  This woman doesn´t know how to read and doesn´t seem to understand a lot about the restoration, but when we explained this to her she told us about a dream she had 5 months ago.  In the dream, her son who died 8 years ago at the age of 16 was telling her get on a bus with him.  The bus took them to the most beautiful church she´d ever seen that had a garden in front.  Everyone there was dressed in white and her son said to her, ´´Mom, this is where I live.´´

The church is true.  Families are forever.  The work is hastening on both sides of the veil and the Lord is preparing many people to hear who only need to be invited.  Open your mouth and invite them.  Remember what it is you are actually offering them.  

I love you all so much and I hope you continue to recognize all the miracles in missionary work and feel God´s love for all His children.  Have an awesome week!

Com muito amor,

Sister Moore

September 1, 2014, Hurrah for Israel!

Querida família!

This week was a LOT better.  The whole thing with P was just confusion, she left her cell phone at her sister´s house and was waiting for us at her house to come get her.  Oh well.. she ended up getting baptized on Saturday and worked out great having a little more time to make it special and introduce her to the ward better.  Quite a few people came to the baptism and they liked our cake so I´m hoping there´ll be more references.  More baptisms, more baptism cakes!  That´s why everyone likes sisters more ;)

P is just so elect.  She has 7 kids, two of them are inactive members who live here and others live in Rio and are active in the church!  It was cool to hear how she called her kids in Rio and they´re all so excited for her!  With her, all we had to do was show up and invite her to be baptized and she never had any doubts.  It was an awesome baptism :)

We have A LOT of people to work with that it´s hard to know who to focus on.  So many people feel the spirit and have the desire to change but just won´t keep commitments.  But the Lord always puts the right people in our path.  Sometimes if we try too hard to just be the reapers, we end up running after goals and we miss real opportunities to help people.  The miracles happen if you just trust the Lord, and all in His own time.  

We´ve been really meticulous this week with working 50% with less actives, which seems kind of hard when you have so much to do and so many less actives are just like investigators who don´t want ANYTHING.  But this week it really did bring some miracles.  I felt personally that the Lord had heard my prayers.  I had been praying to be able to complete the families of the less-actives we planned to visit and for the Lord to open the hearts of the people scheduled to meet with us.  

D has a son on a mission but wasn´t interested at all in baptism because she never had a dream in response to her prayer and she´s catholic and her neighbors all talk bad about the church etc etc etc... All she does really is cry and talk about her son.  The first time we visited her she didn´t let us finish ONE sentence which makes me lose my patience really fast.  Later we talked to her husband J outside of their house and he said he´d go to church so we marked another appointment, however badly I didn´t want to.  But D told us about an email from her son and a miracle that happened that helped her feel the spirit and she knows the church is true and that what he´s doing is right.  She wants to wait for her son to return to get baptized (he´s only been gone two months.. ugh) but the important thing is she wants to get baptized!!  They didn´t come to church in the end, but it´s progress.

We´re working with a lot of people who have less active members in the family and the Lord really has opened their hearts and they are feeling and recognizing the spirit.  Even if they don´t progress super fast, I have a testimony of following the guidance of your leaders and the worth of souls in the sight of God.  

It sounds like you guys are doing great work in Boston.  Living the dream!   I tried again to send pictures but all it did was waste 20 minutes of my internet time... sigh.  Someday.  I´ll probably just send you my memory card sometime.  We do have two couple missionaries but we never see them haha.. 

Keep planting seeds, believe in miracles and care for your own testimony!  I love you all so much.  ´´Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved´´ Thomas S Monson

Com muito amor e carinho,

Sister Moore

We are Sowing, Daily Sowing...8/25/2014

Querida Família,

This has definitely been one of the hardest weeks of my mission, especially yesterday.  But looking back on really all that happened it could also be the best.  Family, the church is true.  Maybe people just simply disappear and leave you waiting for three hours at their baptism and they never come.  Maybe some people who were super sure about baptism break a commandment and aren´t ready that week.  Maybe some people tell you right after all that, that they won´t continue to investigate the church because of YOU and only you and invite YOU to pray and rethink if what you´re doing here is right.  And maybe you strike out again while the time you have left gets smaller and smaller.  Maybe you go to sleep crying and wake up still crying.  

But man do I have a testimony of this church, of what a 14-year-old boy saw in the sacred grove, and of my being called to preach repentance by a prophet of God.  

A miracle happened this week that was unlike anything on my mission.  We went to talk to a girl who had been to church a few times and set an appointment with us even though her interest was so-so and her family is very against the church.  We ended up talking to M, her sister who is also a mom to her own two kids, all her 7 sisters who live there and to her own mom with serious mental problems.  She began by telling us all of the things she didn´t agree with about our church and said all of the usual things that usually just make me want to leave the situation.  We calmly explained the things she had doubts about and bore testimony of the restoration.  Then we just listened.  After telling us about how the Elders had turned her off with their straightforwardness, she told us something that made our jaws drop.  She had thought about what the Elders had said and wanted another chance to hear our message.  She had prayed that very day for us to come, and we came and answered her questions.  We asked her to pray and she said she already knew it was true.  Unfortunately we haven´t been able to find her at home since then and she also needs to get married.  But wow.  

These seeds really matter.  We can only know if the Lord is accepting our work if we ask him.  And he will let us know.  This life is a test.  A test to see if we´ll obey no matter what, love no matter what, be grateful no matter what.  This week I fasted personally for miracles and I came to understand a little more the mind of God, which we will never understand completely.  My mission in this life has nothing to do with numbers, but with sanctifying myself.  I know now that Christ is the only friend we can always count on.  If I had never had to beg the Lord for comfort until it came, I would never feel true peace in my heart.  If I didn´t have to cry, I would never understand his love for me completely.  

It´s a new week and I hope you take advantage of every minute of life the Lord gives you.  Be a little kinder, hope a little bigger.  V, C and L have a few difficulties but we are still working with them.  Yesterday P was almost baptized and today we´ll found out why she never came.  She is the mom of a less-active member who is really wonderful and has a lot of desire to be baptized.  She has no problems with the commandments, just with remembering when she has to be at certain important events... like her baptism.  

I´m so glad you are experiencing the miracles and frustrations of being a missionary.  Write 3 miracles in your  journal every day.  The church is true.  I love you all so much!  

Com muito amor,

Sister Moore

August 18, 2014

Querida Família,

It sounds like you guys are doing great work and living the dream on your mission!  I love your pictures. Sorry I don´t take that many pictures, I don´t walk around with my camera and I also don´t look that cute when I´m working haha... just sweaty
.

So we´re still going through a little bit of a trial of patience and faith... but the miracles are going to happen.  Arriving in the area was a whole lot of excitement, and the pool of ´´eternigators´´ in the ward made it look like we had a lot more progressing investigators than we really did, just because everything´s new to us.  But that doesn´t mean the miracles aren´t going to happen.

I gave a training on setting goals on Tuesday for the Sisters in our zone.  It was really fun to do and preparing helped me think a lot about faith and our expectations.  I asked them why we lower our expectations and goals on the mission.  In PMG in the part in Chapter 1 ´´A successful missionary´´ it says that when we lower our expectations, our faith will weaken and our effectiveness will diminish.

The reasons we lower our expectation usually come from dissapointment, pessimism, discouragement.  I know I´ve done this before: you don´t succeed in your goals for the month and so you just lower the goal for the next month so that maybe you´ll reach it.  But is that the kind of missionary and person we want to be?  Change the plan, pray for direction, try again and be patient, but keep hoping for the best results.
 

I was feeling pretty cool with our 3 baptisms that were super solid this week and our other possible baptisms.  But, what I gave my training on was unfortunately tested.  V is progressing really well, reads everything, is super excited about the baptism, but suddenly her family had to travel on Sunday.  L´s grandma yelled at us and told her her grandson didn´t know anything and wasn´t going to get baptized when we went to take him to the interview.  When he didn´t go, we thought C was going to give up too, but he told us he´d go on his bike and meet us at the chapel.
 

Sitting in front of the chapel, we were sure he wasn´t coming.  But we just decided to read Hebrews 11 while we waiting, you know, to keep our faith strong.  The second we finished, he arrived on his bike like he said and passed the interview.  That was a miracle.  Sunday, he arrived at church with a towel in hand and everything ready to be baptized, but then told us he was hungry and left to buy food.  Never came back.  Someone assaulted him and took his bike, and he ran home scared.  So.. not exactly a cool ending, and who knows if he was just running from the baptism.  But we marked his baptism for next week and we´ll have more time to see if he´s really ready.

People like this are stressful to work with but I also love it.  He is like a little kid, life has never really given him the chance to succeed, but he is so humble and even though he can´t read, he´s learned how to pray.  In his own way, he understands the things we teach him.  The coolest thing is how L was helping him.  These guys are over 20 years old, but people have only told them their whole lives that they can´t do anything.  We´re going to keep working with them and let them show that they can make a promise with God, but we´ll see if they can endure to the end of this week.
 

Sunday night we went to a farewell party of a missionary leaving from the ward and a bunch of returned missionaries bore their testimonies and shared experiences.  I felt a little bit lacking in experiences of finding and baptizing families like they had, and I left a little sad.  But this morning I was reflecting on my mission and I wouldn´t regret it if I had to leave today.  But like Alma said to Amuleque, they can´t kill us because we still have work to do.  I need to build my faith and trust a lot still, but I know my mission has been so far exactly what I need it to be.
 

I´ve found that you can´t decide how people will use their free will, but God put them in your path for a reason.  We also have the agency the choose if our missions and our lives will be successful.  If we´ll work hard or be lazy, if we´ll be happy or discouraged, if we´ll be agents to act or objects to be acted upon.  Don´t ever give up!
 

I always pray for all of you and for your missions.  Enjoy every second.  I love you all so much! 

Santa Rita is still the best area.  The church is still true.  The Book of Mormon will help you draw close and stay close to Christ more than any other book.  Have an awesome week!

Com muito amor,

Sister Moore

August 11, 2014

Querida Família,

This is the best area in the world.  Other than the house, which we call Castelo de Greyskull, the Elders did some great work here.  On Saturday Sister Alves and Sister Sales baptized 4 people, a family and another mission-age man.  We brought ten people to church yesterday, 6 investigators and 4 less-actives, and we have about eight people who potentially can be baptized this week.  I don´t even know where to start..

The first day here, a 14-year-old boy, Jefferson, who was baptized just a few weeks ago was waiting on our street because he wanted to meet us and show us around.  That day we ended up just following him and then meeting another member and they just led us to all these people and we never even had to look at our plans or think about the time.  There are a lot of Young Women in this ward who I already love so much who are preparing to serve missions and are helping us so much.  

Mili, one of the Young Women, has a mom, Cristina who has already been to church many times but just won´t commit to be baptized and live the word of wisdom.  When we met her she liked us right away and I just told her straight up that we were going to baptize her and she just laughed and said she´s a sinner but set an appointment.  We taught her and Mili and it was very led by the Spirit. Mili doesn´t want to get her hopes up again but she bore her testimony and expressed how her mom´s baptism is the thing she wants to see more than anything.  Cristina accepted baptism for the 17th, but didn´t go to church yesterday because she was sleeping. We are just praying for a miracle that the spirit can really touch her heart and convert her.  Sometimes you just need Sisters ;)

We met Vanessa, a 16-year-old, while contacting her less-active friend.  She is just super elect, read the pamphlet we gave her, went to church, loved it and wants to be baptized.  We even saw her later on Sunday during a contact and she told the guy we were contacting to go to church because it´s awesome. (We marked that guy´s baptism and he´s bringing his nephew to church too next Sunday :)

Carlos, same thing.  Super prepared and willing to keep the commandments, but doesn´t read and understands a little more slowly.  He was very happy at church and went with Luiz, a less active recent convert.  We might have to baptize Luiz again because the Elders didn´t leave records.  Think the Other Side of Heaven when they tell him none of his work counts. 

Other than that we have two other teenagers who have been going to church, Joyce and Joelington, whose parents won´t sign their papers.  But we already talked with Joelington´s mom who is hard hearted but became much more open after we talked to her, and especially after her son said the last prayer.  

A lot of other miracles happened, but those were just a few highlights.  I have so much faith that this is going to be a transfer of reaping what other missionaries have planted instead of just planting planting planting.  The ward is really good, the bishop has really good goals for the ward´s growth and wants us to baptize every day.  I am loving it so much here.  It´s the hilliest area I´ve ever had, but it´s very beautiful here.  There are a lot of 300+ year-old restored buildings and we have views of just GREEN.  Santa Rita is just a little more inland than João Pessoa.  We walk everywhere and take the bus to meetings and things outside the area.  

Sister Cavalcanti is an amazing companion.  She´s from São Paulo Capital.  She was baptized at 15 and was raised just with her grandma, who is over 80 years old and writes her letters, not emails.  She was the only member in her family until right before her mission when her grandma, who at first didn´t even want to let her get baptized, was baptized.  It was really hard for her to leave her grandma alone, and sometimes she doesn´t receive any emails.  Her email address is alana.cavalcanti@myldsmail.net if you want to write her.  I think it´d be cool.  She is such an example to me and is an amazing missionary.  I lived with her in Prossind when she was new and now she´s super confident and the Sister Training Leader of our zone.  I love her!

It´s so great to hear such great things from you guys! I love the ´´Jesus, Others, Yourself´´.   Being a missionary is the best isn´t it? Heavenly Father loves us so much and He hears our prayers and always answers.  If you want answers to your prayers, read Alma 34.  We have to do EVERYTHING we can after praying, because God won´t do things for us that we can do for ourselves.  

I love you all so much!

Sister Moore

August 6, 2014

Lindíssima família!

I love your pictures.  Haha it really looks like kind of a vacation, but obviously not because you´re already doing amazing things!  One Sister here who waited for her visa thinks that the church in the US will start to grow faster than Brasil because the members are getting involved.  Who can say if that´s true, but it´s so great to here about so many miracles!  It inspires me a lot.

ANYWAY... the reason I´m writing so late is that I got TRANSFERRED.  Already!  It was kind of sad because I felt like I was just getting to really know and love the members there.  But now I´m here in Santa Rita with Sister Cavalcanti and two other Brasilians.  One is like a foot shorter than me and it´s awesome.  I don´t know anything about this area because we´re opening it and it´s the first time they´ve ever had sisters.  Yes, that means we were left with an elder´s house.  Oh my gosh.  It´s horrible.  I feel like a homeless person invading an abandoned factory.  But that´s okay, opening areas that have never had sisters is the best.  We´ve spent the day walking around looking for a place to email.

It was a good, way to short, transfer in Ipes, and as always, we had a lot of good things happen right before I left.  We were going to mark the date of a wedding and baptism of a super elect couple, baptize A who´s been investigating the church forever and now doesn´t have to work on Sundays, and I was just getting to know the members.  It was a really cool week but it´s all left me now and I can´t think of anything but this new area.  

I´m in the same zone as Sister Sciammarella. All of my companions are dying. It´s her, Sister Seal and Sister Johnson´s last transfer.  I´ll get to see Sister Sciamm every week and that´s just a blessing for me.  Time is flying but now I feel like my mission´s just started again.

The biggest miracle for me this week was a personal experience with prayer.  I feel like the whole transfer I was just carrying this stress that I didn´t know the source of or how to get rid of it.  I just never felt like I was at peace with myself or my work, always doubting if I was doing things right.  I had already prayed about it, but I really just came to the point I had to know if I was trying enough or too hard.  I prayed with that kind of sincerity that you always tell your investigators to do.  The words of scriptures I knew just came to my head and I asked if I was just trying to comfort myself or if it was the comforter.  It was obvious in my head the answer, but a feeling of true peace just overcame me.  Like I never wanted to move from that spot.  Then I just told Heavenly Father everything I was worried about, the way I would to my own parents.  My answer was just to trust in the Lord and not in myself, and He will bring out my true best self.  And also that the things I want to change in myself won´t just change immediately.  

The next day was Sunday, when everyone loses their mind.  No one came to church.  A was sick and didn´t come to his baptism.  But I just kept thinking about that answer I received and nothing seemed to bother me.  I did all I could and people made their choices.  I just enjoyed taking the sacrament, listening to the testimonies of the members.  Our district sang at the Elder´s baptism and it was beautiful.  Afterward I also got to comfort two different less actives going through horrible things, people with no peace in their lives.  We sang hymns and listened to them.  It seems like it had been a long time since I´d just enjoyed the spirit like that, without thinking about what me or my companion is doing wrong, without thinking about our numbers, or when we have to leave for our next appointment.  

Never lose sight of the ´´why´´ of the Gospel, and your testimony will be that much more powerful, your work will be that much more efficient.  I know my Savior lives and loves me.  He died for me.  I don´t have any doubts.  If you feel like you´ve wasted time, or like your best efforts aren´t enough, or you´ve messed up, or you´ll try when a change happens, just STOP.  Right where you are is the perfect place to begin being the person the Lord wants you to be.  

I love you all so much!  I hope you have tons of success and miracles big and small!  Make it an awesome week!

Um abraço,

Sister Moore

July 28, 2014, One Year!

Querida Família,

As I complete a year on the mission, I´ve thought a lot about my mission as a whole.  I can´t say I never did things wrong or that I was exceptional.  But what really matters in the end is who I´ll be when my mission´s over, because it does end like anything else.  I´ve spent a lot of my life comparing myself to others and my mission as well, but as I´ve really looked at everything, God has given me so much.  These are just a few things I´ve learned and am still learning:

1. God knows where he wants us, more importantly, who he wants us with

2.  How to work and stop making excuses

3.  You need to have faith in the right things

4.  People you think are perfect are not

5.  Everyone has potential to be perfect, look for the good in everyone

6.  It´s not such a sin to be raised in Utah (my awesome companions :)

7.  I do in fact want to get married after the mission

8.  It´s better to pray for strength than for change

9.  I have an amazing family

10.  I still think too much about what others think

11.  Laziness in the end will probably be the worst sin

12.  You have to love yourself to love others

13.  If you don´t love someone perfectly, you just don´t know them perfectly

14.  The gospel IS in fact the solution to everything

15.  How to study the scriptures

16.  How to listen

17.  Always think about how you say things

18.  Laugh at yourself 

These are a lot of things that came directly from the mouths of my companions or other missionaries, but things I´ll always keep with me.  I realized this week what my life was before the mission.  A LOT of hours of doing absolutely nothing.  I´ve never even done anything in my life for a year and a half without a break or without giving up.  The difference a mission will make for the rest of my life is immeasurable.  Not all of it is fun, but it´s important.  I know that the Lord is aware of me when no one else is.  He has provided all I need to become like Him.  

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week.  It sounds like you are doing great things.  Be as kind to yourself as you would be with others.  I expect the next 6 months to be the most life changing!  

Com muito amor, 

Sister Moore

July 21, 2014

Linda família!!

Itainá, the girl who was a referall from the Elders AND members last Sunday, was baptized!  It really was the most smooth baptism of my life.. she is just that elect.  It´s always the youth whoa re like that.  When we followed up with her after teaching the restoration, she just said ´´I don´t usually like to read a lot, but after reading that pamphlet you left, I just wanted to read it again and know everything.´´  She´s pretty shy, but she told us with a big smile she wanted to be baptized.  The spirit was so strong in every lesson and she was just so prepared.  She even went to a YW activity.  I think one of the biggest miracles was that the ward did EVERYTHING at the baptism.  The YW sang, someone made brownies, they had all the talks and messages lined up, usually things the missionaries have to do themselves.  I´m just very grateful for the whole thing.  The church is true!  Her mom came to the baptism and I hope she´ll have the desire to come to church and be taught too, and her older sister too.  

Another miracle this week was finding an elect less-active, Diego.  It turns out a different Diego who was also baptized used to live in that house, so this Diego was just confused as to how we found him when he was baptized in another ward.. LONG ago.  We just taught him from the beginning because he didn´t remember anything.  He even asked us if he could be baptized again.. just a reminder that our success isn´t always in our numbers.  Did I mention he´s in a wheelchair?  He was mistaken for someone else and was shot several times, leaving him without use of his legs.  He wheeled himself to church alone.  So cool!  The Lord really wanted us to find him.

Miracles happen every day, and looking for them really is a skill that you have to practice.  If you just write the good things that happen each day and realize God´s hand in all things, it can change everything.  This week, I´m not sure who we´re gonna baptize.  We finally got a hold of A again and marked and appointment with him 6:00 tonight.  Running into him in the street again was a miracle.  He´s still curious about everything but I think he may have problems with commandments so he´s not really too committed about baptism.  But that´ll change ;)

It´s so fun to hear about your mission, mom and dad.  Mom, you are so enthusiastic in your letters.  I bet the Sisters love spending time with you guys :)  I loved the things you said about companions.  You can´t build zion if zion doesn´t exist first in your home and with your companion!  I´m learning a LOT of things about that, and I hope it at least helps me someday with my future husband.  Something Sister Seal taught me is that ANY problem with your companion is just a problem with yourself.  

That´s so sad to hear about Uncle Lars.  I know dad had a very special relationship with him and I´ll always remember good things about him.  

I love you all so much! The church is true and Heavenly Father loves us. He wants us to enjoy the journey, so remember to laugh!  If you can only be good at one thing, be good at smiling :)

Abraços,

Sister Moore  

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July 14, 2014

Querida Familia:

Here´s a picture of me and Sister Christensen in our area.  Can you find the church?  :)  

Please send my love to ALL the family.  Claire Olivia is so cute and those pictures were really good.  Ali still looks so pretty after having a baby!  Mom and Dad, I hope you are already loving the mission in this first week.  I want to hear about all the little miracles and cool experience that you´ll have as representatives of the Lord!

It´s been basically the same thing here, we had an investigator at church, 20-year-old D who just doesn´t seem that interested.  She was a referral from a member, which is a miracle in and of itself, and seemed like she was in the perfect situation to be looking for God in her life.   From what we already knew about her life, the meetings were all perfect for her situation, but she just had no reaction, to church or to the first lesson.  It´s just kind of driving us crazy, she was making every excuse for us to not pass by and teach any more and didn´t even accept a copy of the Book of Mormon because she wouldn´t have time to read it.  After church our leaders who share the same chapel asked about her and just told us to go find someone who had already been to church who will be our baptism for next week.  Elder Gomes gave us a reference of a girl who had been visiting the church with her cousin who he had taught.

Now here´s the miracle, we didn´t know how to find this girl, but we decided to contact another reference from the same member who introduced us to D.  The reference she gave wasn´t interested in going to church and lived with her boyfriend, but before leaving we asked who else lived there and she said her younger sister.  It turned out her sister WAS the reference the Elders gave, a 17-year-old named I.  We marked 2 Nephi 31 for her to read and marked her baptism for this Sunday!  Today we´ll pass by and follow up.  It was a good way to end the week.

Besides that, the week was a little frustrating but at the end of each day I feel something good had been done.  We are working with T, an 18-year-old who is basically a member but her mom won´t allow her to be baptized.  She´s been going to church in another ward with her cousins for months.  Just meeting her has been awesome, and she´s going to help us teach her neighbor R, who didn´t go to church because of a death in the family but really is interested.  

Another miracle I think was just last night when we went to a member´s house.  The dad used to be a bishop but now they´re starting to go inactive.  Getting to know them a little better, we ended up just talking about hymns.  They had a keyboard and they let me play hymns and we all just sang together and felt the spirit fill the house through music.  For me it really was special.  I have such a strong testimony of hymns now on the mission and the power they have to bring the spirit and worship God.  The habit of singing a hymn when your thoughts aren´t where they should be really works.  We should never overlook them, God ordained the hymnal to be made three months after the church was restored.  Christ and the apostles sang a hymn before He performed the atonement for us.

It´s funny you should mention J, I had the feeling to write her a letter this week.  I don´t think she´s doing very well.  I always remember her in my prayers specifically.

Missions are hard, they always will be hard.  You never really figure it out, and I think it´s meant to be that way.  Once you think you know what you´re doing, God puts you back at square one.  

I´m just grateful for my Savior and for His church.  He gives us so many blessings and is always there for us.  I made a list this week of promises from the Lord and things I merely want.  It really gave perspective to my desires and focus.  Our biggest goal should always be to return to live with our Hevenly Father and to love one another.  I know this church is true, the Book of Mormon will help any one who reads to feel closer to the Savior.  

I love you all so much!!  Seja feliz!

Com amor,

Sister Moore

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July 7, 2014

Queridos Elderes e Sisteres :)

It´s so fun to see you guys as missionaries and to imagine you doing TRC and all that..  I still am not completely sure how to explain exactly what it is you´ll be doing on your mission but I know you´ll bless many lives!  I´m sad that Nick wasn´t baptized.  I´ll keep praying that he works it out.  

Our people last week all turned out to be not so great.  We´ll continue to try to talk to Alexandro, but he´s just been at his girlfriend´s house the whole week after he had surgery.  N and V are a part of some intellectual, non-religion group and they just wanted information to bring to their group and talk about us.  It was really irritating... not the first time someone has faked interest just to turn our words against us in the end.  You can always tell the difference in the spirit of those lessons and you just have to leave.  

We´ve been working really hard this week and it´s been really hard but one of those weeks I feel I´ve learned a lot.  Sometimes you just have to be in a situation you think you can´t handle so you can learn to trust the Lord.  And it´s been going a lot better than I thought already!  I´m learning so much about how to communicate with others and make them feel I care about them, and how sometimes it´s up to you to make a situation funny or less tense.

The miracle came at the end of the week when our zone fasted for everyone to have someone at church to be baptized the next week.  They came late, but all at once four investigators arrived together, three are friends and another we did NOT expect.  A is a 20-year-old who Sister Christensen was working with before but we dropped him because he didn´t seem interested. But we saw him on the street with his friends last week and invited them to come and all three came.  R kind of follows the crowd but accepted baptism, I is more committed than all of them and the most interested but doesn´t technically live in our area, just spends all of his time here. A's been looking up things on the internet about the church so he at least is thinking about it a lot, enough to come to church.  Today we´re going to talk about the Book of Mormon with them and get them pumped about the truth!!

J was the other guy who came.  We had taught him the first lesson  and I think he has problems expressing himself and is a little bit of a scorpion (someone who just wants to talk to sisters)...  so we´re going to teach him with some men from the church to see what he really wants.  He really did seem to like church a lot and he was all happy afterwards when we talked to him and said he had prayed after the first lesson and already feels God is blessing him.  He was really excited to read the Book of Mormon.  We´re trying something new where we only have our investigators read a few verses and we give them a specific question that the verses will answer.  Sometimes we don´t think about the fact that people don´t really know how to read the scriptures.  

I have such a strong testimony about the Book of Mormon. I was reading in PMG today about the reasons why each writer wrote their part in the Book of Mormon.  They really saw our days and this Book is for us to teach us how to live to return to God!  When we carry this book and present it to people, we really need to remember how valuable of a treasure it really is to us and for the world. 

Pray for us to be able to really baptize. Usually the hard part is getting people to church, but here that´s not the problem.  But this is a great ward and the Lord is trusting it with SUPER elect people.  The members here really have a focus on sending each new convert to the temple and they really take care of each other.  

 I have just one more bit of sad news this week, that Antonio, my recent convert, passed away last week.  Sister Johnson called me and they're going to keep working with his wife Joselia.  I´m grateful to at least have given him the gospel at the end of his life.  His health problems kept him from doing many things, but he always wanted to be at church and in the end he did stop smoking.  Now his spirit is happy and resting and he doesn´t have to suffer with his weak heart any more.  

I love you all so much and I´m so grateful for all the things the mission is teaching me and the person God is making me.  I love my Savior and the peace and hope He can give us in our lives. I´m thankful for his love.  I hope your week is awesome and that you face all the challenges and heartbreak of the mission with patience and hope.  We´re on the winning side!

Com todo meu coração,

Sister Moore