December 30, 2013

Família!!!

It was so great to see your faces and hear your voices!!  Here are some pictures from Christmas morning when we went to Cabo Branco, where the sun rises first.  We definitely went full tourist for a few hours, bought hats and leite de coco and everything, but hey, it was Christmas :)  Don´t get too jealous, but I have the best mission in the world.  This place is in my AREA. 

So for the second week in a row we didn´t have anyone at church, but it turned out to be exactly what we needed to change what we needed to change.  I came into this mission being what we call a ´´Golera´´ or goalee who doesn´t believe in baptizing as quickly as possible as many people as possible.  I tried really hard to just be obedient, do what my leaders say and try to understand and one day it just clicked with me and I had the desire to be a ´´Batizadora´´. I still am 100% a believer in baptizing, but I just think it went to far and along the way I forgot exactly what I´m here to do.  We did 100 contacts on Monday just to acheive and hit a goal.  Out of those 100, not one was elect.  It was because we weren´t even looking for elects, we were just looking to hit a number.  The way we´ve been doing things, I don´t even know anything about anyone we teach.  It made me feel really sick.  We were sitting there in sacrament meeting and I just felt so guilty for my lack of charity.  So I took a piece of paper, wrote my sins down and after taking the sacrament I ripped it up. 

Right after that experience Sister Seal and I talked about what is going wrong and we just recieved a TON of ideas all at once.  The Lord really just started helping us again and we decided that instead of telling people why our church is the only true church, we are going to focus more on what they really will get if they go to church.  I never stayed in the church because of Joseph Smith, I stayed in it because I know how it has blessed my life and my family.  It is true, and I know it by it´s fruits.  Everyone needs this gospel in their life, the gospel can help them with anything that they´re struggling with.  I can´t believe I´ve lost sight of that.  Either way, the reason no one came to church of the 300 we invited was because we had to learn this.  And we had to learn this for someone who was waiting for us.  That night we went contacting and met Alcicleia, a true elect.  We almost abandoned the contact because she wasn´t very firm about going to church this Sunday but then we stayed a little longer and listened.  She got married at 15 and suffered a lot in that marriage.  She has four kids and her house burned down so she recently moved and left her husband.  She spent Christmas without her kids and just wanted someone to listen to her, and was very grateful for us.  She says she only wants to look to the future now, she doesn´t have a church but she´s looking for direction in her life.  It was seriously the coolest day of my mission.  Sometimes God just needs to land you on your bum to tell you that you need to learn something.  He does His own work.  I´ve been really lost on New Years Resolutions, but now I know the missionary I want to be. 

The mission is flying, and I have a feeling that the second I learn how to be a missionary will be the day I go home.  Presidente Nogueira just sent an email that we all need a reserve of R$100 for travel so I think tons of people are getting transferred.  I still love this area and I love Sister Seal.  Our companionship just keeps getting easier and we´re always laughing.  It is going to be sooo hard when we get separated, but we both feel it´s coming.  I really want to stay here in Prossind.  I love my ward, my leaders are like big brothers to me (which it seems I can never get enought of) and I will be devastated when I have to say goodbye to Jaqueline.  She is a better missionary that me and Seal combined and really has taught me a lot about loving the people we contact on the street and who we teach.  I truly believe she is an angel, and she deserves much happier of a life than she has. 

I love you all so much!! Feliz novo ano!!

Sister Moore

 

 

Olá e Feliz Natal meus bonitinhos!

I´m not going to lie, I´m crying about Molly but I´m glad you told me before Christmas because I would´ve asked to see her.  You made the right decision, she was definitely suffering.  I just never really thought she was actually going to die.  She was a very sweet dog and was always my little friend at my side.  I´m sad I wasn´t with her in her last days but I´m sure I´ll be fine.  I hope she´s sitting on Jesus´lap with Max and Daisy.

Lais finally got baptized!  She´s the skinny tall one next to me and the others are Mayan, who baptized her, and Jennifer her friend in the ward.  I already told you about the phone call we got from her that was one of the biggest miracles that ever happened on my mission.  Here, after a baptism falls it almost NEVER will happen.  This restored a lot ofhope and this week for Christmas we are going to leave passalong cards with our old investigators who really liked us but didn´t keep commitments, just as a second chance.  It´s the season of miracles after all!  

Yesterday was the first Sunday in a long time where we didn´t have a single investigator in church, and almost none of our recent converts came, including Matheus and Neto who were supposed to be confirmed.  The worst was that we made more contacts last week than we ever have any other week, invited more people, called them all the night before to confirm and showed up at their houses Sunday morning.  No one.  I almost cried in church but then I realized that I don´t want to be the missionary who is always stressed out.  Our ward needs to help the missionary work.  If everyone just tried to bring one friend to church, we wouldn´t have this problem.  But gaining the trust of members doesn´t mean making a martyr of yourself.  No one wants to do missionary work if the missionaries always show up to church looking miserable.  It´s our job to stand as examples and represent Jesus Christ.  We can spread the gospel by who we are.  In the end of my mission, the decisions of other people won´t define how good it was, but how I reacted to every bad situation and the things I learned.

I´m super excited to talk to you guys in three days!!!  I have 40 minutes to talk and I plan to call at 11 your time.  I got both packages, and if you can´t tell from the photos, I got a little impatient with the presents... the paper was already ripped open a little bit.. :) We´re going to skype with a member´s laptop and the rest of the day is p-day.  I think we´re going to spend most of the day with Jaqueline.  She really is not well and is starting to talk about her death again.  Please pray for her.  She is going to Rio because it´s her home and also so that Hercules can play soccer there.  Her life has not been an easy one but I´m grateful to have been a guardian angel for her these last months.  She is one of the few people I´ve met in my whole life who was truly consecrated herself and her time to the Lord.  

This Christmas I hope you all have the chance share the joy you have with someone who is alone or doesn´t have what we have.  Make someone feel important who never felt important.  Let the Spirit of Christ work through you to bring great tidings of good joy.  Even though we can´t understand everyone´s struggles, the Savior does and we understand that.  Share Nephi 11 and Alma 7 with someone and think about what the birth of Christ really means for this suffering world.  

Que seu Natal seja cheio de amor e cantar!  Amo voces muito!

Sister Moore    

December 16, 2013

Oi família!

 

 

 

We baptized Neto and Matheus!! Batizadoras!  Haha just ignore Matheus´tiny jumpsuit and my upside down nametag and it´s an okay picture.  Neto studied theology and has already been baptized in many churches, so he was having serious doubts all week.  This week was Stake Conference, with Elder Ballard and others speaking from Brasilia (did you know Sister Marriot of the YW Presidency speaks Portuguese??) and Neto showed up with no intention of being baptized.  He told Jaqueline that he had prayed all week and didn´t get an answer, then she told him to pray during the meeting and he would get an answer right there.  So he did just that, bowing his head and whispering through the whole meeting then he got his answer!  He said that conference was exactly his answer and he was baptized literally 15 minutes after that with his nephew.  Miracle #1.

Miracle #2 was that we got a phone call from Lais out of nowhere and she wanted to talk to us.  She told us she wasn´t sure if she could go back to church or not but she talked to some of our youth and they told her to come back.  She looked so suprised when we came back to her house to bring her to church.  Right there she told us her birthday is Saturday and she wants to be baptized.  I don´t like to count my chickens, because her parents still have to sign the paper but WOW.  I was freaking out.

Miracle #3 is our investigator Socorro, and for some reason I´ve just been talking about her all the time last week, saying `I am going to baptize Socorro on day 22 of December`` I just love her because she´s just a crazy animal lady but when she says things she means it.  She also recognizes what the spirit is.  When she was watching stake conference, she felt an electric shock out of nowhere and she told us it meant to her that she was in the right place.  She´s getting baptized Sunday!  Season of miracles!!

I have really learned so much about faith and so much about planning.  If you plan and have faith in your plans, God will always help you.  If someone isn´t home, you just keep going and expect that God will put an elect in your path, and it ALWAYS happens.  I challenge all of you to make a plan each day to find someone who wants to be baptized, and it will happen.  

Yesterday was a really cool day.  Well, every day is a really cool day, but we went with a member to give two priesthood blessings.  One was Luzia, who accepted the blessing on her eyes tearfully.  She is the one who was shocked that we found her again who just had eye surgury.  She accepted our help to help her feel ready to be baptized and take away her doubts.  The other blessing was a woman who isn´t even an investigator but we pass her road every day.  Her son was killed last week and I don´t think I have seen anyone wailing like that in my life.  A week later she was still standing in her doorway sobbing uncontrolably.  The blessing was very sweet and she became much calmer.  We sat and listened to her for a long time and played with her son´s 3-year-old daughter who watched him die.  This was the only week where we didn´t come home with all of our number that we can control, but it was the week I felt I was doing was Christ would do if He were here.

The spirit of Christmas is just as alive in Brasil and it just such a great time to renew our faith and love of the Savior.  His way is the easiest, His is the only way of happiness.  He is just waiting us to let go of any rebellion we´re holding on to so that he can help with our weaknesses.  The atonement is real.  Christ lives and is working miracles just as always, always wrought by faith.  We can say that we might have believed more firmly if we had seen Him for ourselves, but the majority of the people then didn´t even believe.  Only through faith and living the Gospel can we know that He lives, that He is there.  One day we will meet Him face to face, and it´s up to us how we will feel in that moment.

I got your package, I LOVE these sandals and the CD!  I am waiting anxiously to open the rest but so far so great!!  I actually wanted to get these sandals when I worked at DSW.  I also freaked out at getting the New Era and Ensign, no one has gotten it yet here so everyone´s pretty jealous.  I love Elder Uchtdorf´s talk in the Priesthood session haha  Good job :)  I will probably call around 11 your time, and I think I´ll send an email before that.  

Oh yeah I almost forgot about Conferencia de Natal!  It ended way too fast but was pretty fun.  I didn´t get very many pictures but I liked these ones with me and Sister Seal.  I would take more pictures of what Brasil looks like but I can´t really walk around with my camera. 

 

 

Talk you you guys in a week!! Merry Christmas!!  

Com muito muito MUITO amor,

Sister Moore

 

 

December 9, 2013

Olá lá acima nos Estados Unidos!

It definitely does not feel like Christmas because it´s just the dry season, but everyone has their pisca-pisca (lights) up for the holidays so they do celebrate :)  I still don´t know anything about talking on Christmas but tomorrow is Conferencia de Natal so hopefully I´ll know then.  We haven´t gotten mail yet but I´m guessing that´s tomorrow too.  Know one really knows anything because Presidente Nogueira changes a lot of things.  I´m so excited though for tomorrow, I get to wear jeans and everything.  I´ll for sure send pictures! :)  Our new Brasilian is a little shy but she gave a very cool lunch message about how we need our families to gain exaltation, and her own family isn´t a part of the church, so it was kind of sad.  She´s from São Paulo and has a strong interior accent.  People from the northeast confuse Paulistas with Americans which is really funny.. it´s mostly because they have almost American ``r´s`` as in Porrrta.  Is that how dad speaks Portuguese?    

No baptisms this week but we did mark the baptism for next week for two of the coolest people I´ve met here!  Matheus is a 14-year-old who looks 20 who was a street contact, but was seriously the most direct person ever.  It was so refreshing to see after seeing so many flakey people who say they´ll go to church but don´t mean it.  Then we met his uncle, Neto, who is just like him and they both came to church, had great questions and we taught the first lesson afterwards.  I´ve been waiting this whole time for someone to really understand what the Restoration means, and these guys get it.  When we asked Neto if he will be baptized this Sunday he said, ``if this is true, then of course I will``  Then Matheus said he´d do the same thing and find out if the Book of Mormon is true.  It was just the coolest lesson ever.  I want Jaqueline to finally divorce her rotten husband who is living in Rio with his other woman and baby and marry Neto!  The funny thing is that he actually is kind of flirting with her.  YES!  Pray that nothing goes wrong with this baptism.  We need good strong priesthood holders!  

That´s so great that everyone´s so sad to come home from their missions!  You should look up a talk called ``The Fourth Missionary``  It changed the way I look at missions.  Basically it says that you can be completely obiedient, baptize a lot of people, do everything you´re supposed to, but if you haven´t completely and thoroughly turned your will to the Lord your mission will not profit you anything.  It was kind of a wake-up call.  The first missionary is the one who breaks rules, goes home and lives with regret.  The second breaks some rules, finishes, and lives with regret.  The third is obedient but is seeking more for the things HE wants and not the Lord´s will.  He expects a reward in the end of all his work.  The fourth missionary understands that the work IS the reward.  The mission really should be about changing who you are.  The fourth missionary is the only one who benefits.  Like the apostle Paul said more or less, I can work miracles, have all the spiritual gifts in the world, prophesy, preach repentance, but if I have not Charity it profiteth me nothing.  Don´t be weary in well doing!!  My expectations for my mission have nothing to do with the number of people I baptize, but the person I become.  If I go back home and forget everything, my mission was a failure.  Alma 27 says, ``What manner of men ought you to be?  Even as I am``  It´s not what you do, but who you are.

I think one of the miracles of this season is that we actually have done some service.  Sister Seal was inspired to visit an old investigator that Elders taught a long time ago who went to church many times but never was baptized.  It turned out she had just had eye surgery and needed help cleaning her house.  She was dumbfounded that we found her again and that knows we´re sent from god.  She told us our church is the only one who really seems to do what we preach.  My favorite thing she said was ``se chama oração,  ora premiero, depois faz ação``  Dad can explain :)  Our area book says that she only lacked reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know it´s true.  I believe we might be the missionaries that were meant to baptize her!  Our other service has been cleaning the chapel and helping Jaqueline get ready to move to Rio.  She gave a talk on Sunday on faith!  You really do need to meet her.  I think she sent mom a friend request on Facebook haha

Can´t wait to hear your voices and see our cute house at Christmas!  Never give up just because people reject you!  Remember it´s you that has something they need, they´re the ones lacking.  Testify of what you know with power.  More importantly, LIVE IT!  

Com muito amor,

Sister Moore

Joao Pessoa Mission Sisters Training Meeting

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December 4, 2013

Oi minhas bençãos! These pictures look really weird on this computer so hopefully they look normal when I send them... this week was AWESOME and I´m looking forward to an even better transfer ahead! WE BAPTIZED JAQULINE´S DAD. Sister Seal found Jaqueline through contacting her dad, who always sits in the same chair all day drinking and we never thought he would ever want to be baptized. But just out of nowhere one day he told us that he stopped drinking and he would be baptized if the water wasn´t cold. He is very immobile, he needs a cane and one arm doesn´t work. When he said that though we just freaked out and told him we would do ANYTHING. So as you can see, we boiled water to fill the font and he was baptized by two people, sitting down in the water. I´ve never seen that many people cry in a baptism, but for Jaqueline it was very very special. He told her before that she is the daughter who he treated the worst but now she´s the one who´s brought him to the gospel. You can just see how much his eyes are smiling. Don´t give up on anyone!! This was a very special baptism. The first picture is of us eating pizza on thanksgiving. Definitely is not a thing here but we kind of celebrated :) The pizza place is called D´Napoli´s so it reminds me of Wellsville. We had transfers again and only Sister Willette left so we have a new Brasilian in our house and I´m still Sister Seal´s companion. It´s so weird.. our relationship is actually getting better with time and not worse. My mission is just a series of things I don´t deserve. We have SO many ideas this transfer to get member excited about missionary work. We´re going to visit less actives with other members, have family nights, go caroling, and have integration activities every week! I feel like we´ve just been learning this whole time, but now Sister Seal and I are a dream team and I´m expecting BIG things this transfer. JUST THREE MORE WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!! I´m going to get all my letters for the month again next week so I´ll know about the card and everything. I´m so excited to talk to you all! I know that we get to skype and I think we choose our times.. I´ll probably know everything after our Zone meeting tomorrow. I always have cool people to talk about but then when they don´t get baptized I regret it.. so hopefully we´ll baptize a lot this week. We´re going to teach a crazy cat lady! DREAM INVESTIGATOR!! I don´t know why my mission revolves so much around cats.. but there are just so many distressed kittens that I have to save. One time I actually did and they´re living with a recent convert so basically they´re mine :) One kitten actually ran to me and followed me all the way to our house. Pick your sins :) Just kidding. I´m probably going to die of rabies. I´m recommitting AGAIN to just speak portuguese so I´ll probably forget English by Christmas! I´m so excited to talk with dad! Every transfer I pick a Christlike atribute to focus on. This month is faith because it´s the season of miracles. Faith seems like such an obvious one but really we are always lacking. I need to believe more in myself and my calling and my ability to do big thing here. I finished my training. Serving and inspiring the members is the other focus. It sounds like everyone is doing great! I´m so glad people are coming for Christmas, I´ve actually been praying about that specifically. God really is answering my prayers lately! I mean He always does, but I´ve really learned how to ask for specific things, according to His will, of course. But I did pray for specific weather one day and it happened.. weather children, remember mom? :) The ultimate goal in life really is just to have faith and trust in God like a little child. Never assume you konw enough about faith, or about the Savior! Everything really is awesome and I´m so happy it´s the season of miracles! Use this season to show people the love that God has for them through the Gospel! I love you guys so much! Three weeks! Beijinhos, Sister Moore

November 25, 2013

Oi Família! Another AWESOME week! We baptized 10-year-old Lucas yesterday, and the best part is that everyone in these photos wants to be baptized now too!! We wanted to baptize his whole family, but Marcela and William didn´t want to get married, in fact they were separating. Marcela is the woman in purple. She was just hanging back the whole day and didn´t really say anything as we taught Lucas so we assumed she had no interest. But then our angel, Jaqueline (this is another baptism that lives on her road) talked to her and apparently she does want to get baptized now. And not only that, William moved out three days ago and she actually can!!!! MIRACLES. All those other boys are his neighbors who we contacted the day before and they all want to get baptized, Washington, Gabriel and Lucas. They all call me Tia and Gabriel wants me to teach him piano lessons. I told him I can´t promise anything... do you guys have any ideas of how I could make this a really productive opportunity? I LOVE when kids are the examples. Every week lots of good things happen but so do a lot of bad things. We drop A LOT of investigators because they don´t understand our purpose and won´t change their lives. Lais was the worst this week. She completely denied in front of us and her dad that she had a dream. When we asked if she prayed she said no. I don´t understand her, but we´ve done all we can for her. I hope she gets another chance. We only can offer. Christ wants to know who is willing to follow him and leave everything else behind. Something is always required of ourselves. If you haven´t found it yet, you should try and look again for The Atonement and Missionary Work with Elder Holland and President Eyring. Yesterday was one of the funnest days on the mission. We had lunch with Rodrigo and Èlen, which is the BEST lunch. I feel like I´m in one of the brother´s houses when I´m there, they have that kind of humor and are just a cute young couple. I told Rodrigo if he ate a dog treat, I would. Unfortunately he did, and I had to. I told him I´d write my parents that the members are feeding me dog food here :) Sundays on the mission really are a result of the week you´ve had and how hard you´ve worked. If you didn´t work, you have to run to get all of your numbers in for the day, which is SO hard. Everyone is either at a different church or drinking. But this week we had our goals, had a baptism, so we went back to Elen´s for dinner. I feel like our house is finally fun again, and transfers are coming in just one week! Sister de Paula is so sweet, she´s like a little disney princess. She does this really funny little kid voice that just kills me. She´s also just a really good missionary. I really wanted to work with less actives, but she really has a plan. Yesterday we talked with the bishop about people we can visit and he gave us each a blessing. It was all her idea and she got it from reading about the Zoramites as the inactive members. I want her to come stay at our house and visit Colorado someday! She´s already been to Salt Lake, Las Vegas and both disney parks. I´m still living with Sister Willette and I just showed her that picture. It is a small world! That´s so cool that you went to New York and that the Jefferies are living so close to there! I hope Madison is doing well, all good missionaries have a hard time coming home. Did a tornado happen in New York?? I saw that on the news in someone´s house but haven´t heard anything more about it.. it looks really bad. What part of New York was it? Sister Seal´s companion in the MTC was reassigned to Rochester but just got her visa and is here now. We still make tons of street contacts, but they pretty much all lie about going to church then we start from scratch. Really all of our success is coming from Jaqueline´s street. She honestly does more than we do and I will use her as an example of member missionary work for all other members. It´s incredible. She spends all day talking to our investigators, bringing them to church, calling them, calling us when someone´s home and we can teach them. It´s unbelievable. She doesn´t even know each day if she´ll live another day, and this is how she spends her life. She cries when things go wrong, cries at baptisms, and learns things rapidly about missionary work. This woman was baptized FOUR MONTHS AGO. She really gets it. One thing I´ve really learned this week is how the Lord provides when you do your part. If we just keep doing contacts with our whole heart in the work and without complaining, amazing things happen even if you contact 60 people in a day and none of them go to church. People just come out of the woodwork. We still needed to find 7 new investigators Saturday, and they all just came out of the woodwork after a week of contacting EVERYONE. We recieved a family as a reference, Lucas´friends and one really good street contact whose family we´re going to teach tomorrow. Now that this week ended so well, it´s time to get right back to work. After Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemany and on the cross, he didn´t take a break. For those three days he did missionary work in the Spirit World, and after he never stopped working the wonderful work of salvation. I love you all so much!! I´m almost certain I´ll get to Skype, but I don´t know how we´ll be able to work out talking at the same time. It would be amazing but I think maybe I get a certain time and then we just keep working like usual. CHRISTMAS!! WOOO! Everyones putting up their pisca-pisca (lights) Keep doing the work of Salvation! Um abração, Sister Moore

November 18, 2013

Oi Familia! Our baptisms all fell this week but we´ve still got quite a few possibles for this week. Lais´dad didn´t sign the paperwork because of her ``behavior`` but we´re going to talk to him again this week. It´s funny, for every single parent who has signed the paperwork, their kid backed down in the end. And conversely, all of the teenagers who still want to be baptized have parents who won´t give permission. We´re making slow progress with Oridette, and I´m starting to not think she is such a Bruxa. She actually likes us now, but she still isn´t letting Sandrielle go to church. We offer every day to clean her yard, do her laundry, cut her toenails, ANYTHING. No one ever lets us do service here :( It´s actually really funny sometimes. Asking to help with dishes after lunch is basically a joke now because the answer is always no. Brasilians are funny. They tell you to eat more then right after they tell you you´re getting fat. I love the honesty haha This transfer is FLYING. I can´t even believe it. It seems like Sister De Paula just got here. I am still praying to stay here. Jaqueline is probably the biggest miracle of this area. She deserves a little more written about her. I already talked a little bit about her but she´s a recent convert with two teenage kids, Bia and Hercules, and she´s shorter than I am. She has cancer and some days she can´t even get out of bed, but she is honestly doing more work than us at this point. She brings almost all of our investigators to church, talks to the parents of all the teenagers, calls everyone to remind them of church, even the people who don´t live on her block. We really need to be careful now because she was so upset about the last baptism that fell that she got really sick and didn´t go to church. Most, okay, all of our success right now is because of her. And she keeps insisting that she doesn´t do enough. I think she needs to be an example to our other members who have cars and won´t even pick people up to go to church. Jaqueline is an angel. Absolutely the craziest, feistiest woman I´ve ever met, but she´s an angel. This week has just been about staying animated and happy, even when things are going wrong. Losing energy ALWAYS has to do with one of the Christlike atributes in PMG. If you aren´t sleeping enough or excersizing, that´s obedience. Otherwise it´s faith, hope, patience, diligence, charity or something else that´s missing. Be of good cheer! God´s work can´t be frustrated, His plan has already won. The problem is always yourself. We definitely have some awesome cooks in our ward, especially desserts. Every meal has rice, beans, and spaghetti. EVERY MEAL. My favorite thing here is Lasagna. Before I go home I´m going to buy little metal desert bowls so I can make Mouse and other delicias :) Mouse is the best thing on the planet. Mouse de Maracuja and Mouse de Limão. I love you guys! Keep smiling! When in doubt, just break into song! Com abraçãos, Sister Moore

November 11, 2013

Querida Familia, This was probably the coolest week of my whole mission so far. Just as I thought, Venis was the first to be baptized and it was everything a baptism should be. Well, except for the fact that she didn´t go to sacrament because of a family conflict and we had to get a ride from a member to go to another ward fifteen minutes before the baptism.. but all´s well that ends well. The seminary teacher gave us a ride and she is pretty much my favorite person in the ward. The difference in this baptism really was the help of the ward. Everyone did their part. She was a reference from Jaqueline, who really has gone through a rapid change. What started as manipulative has ended with her really wanting to give references, even to the other Sisters, for the sake of the people being taught, not to make us visit her. Her daughter Bia too, who didn´t know what a prophet was in her baptism interview, is actually helping us teach and find people. She´s only 13. It´s so awesome. The baptism had everyone who needed to be there, investigators, the young women´s president, Jefersone the seminary teacher, just everything was perfect. The spirit was so beautiful. And yes, I sang. Not sure the name of the song but it´s number 65 in the Portuguese Hino so you can probably look it up. After the baptism, Amanda told us she wants to be baptised but her mom won´t let her. This is a huge problem with everyone right now so we´re really praying about parents. The saddest case is Sandrielle, who is literally locked in her house by her Grandma Oridette. Praying for a miracle! I want to be the good fairy who saves her :( She was crying one day when her Grandma didn´t let her go to seminary. I hardly ever her see her now. A MIRACLE happened with Lais. The day after she told us she wanted to wait, she had a dream. A DREAM. This is the kind of thing missionaries joke about happening. An angel literally came to her and said that what those two girls are telling you is true, and you need to follow this path. WOW. We were all crying. God really loves his children and WILL answer in a way that we will understand. Lais is so special. She is only 13 but looks and acts 20. Luckily her parents are cool, but they still want her to wait which is frustrating. Satan is so ready to snatch up the good ones... she already told us she wants to wait until December because she has tests this month but we talked her out of it. Next week!! Prayers please!! Ah, so many cool lessons. Dagna is no longer progressing even though she comes to church. She knows the church is true, but she needs to come follow the savior and stop putting off baptism. The coolest thing about her is her 6 year old son. He loves church more than anyone I´ve ever met and he doesn´t even go to primary. Dagna told us that he never was like that in the catholic church, that he always wanted to leave. He´s even inviting friends, telling them we have a little snack (the sacrament). SO CUTE. They came to the baptism but Dagna didn´t seem too affected. It´s really these little kids that know. We have another, Joao Paulo, who just LOVES me and Sister Seal. We´re teaching his whole family but he´s the coolest. The only thing is that he tries to hug us constantly and we can´t.. ugh worst rule ever. Hopefully soon I´ll have pictures of these two little amiginhos.. at their family´s baptism.. Now to explain the pictures. We had an activity with mostly, okay, only youth about the tree of life. They had to follow the rod and we had some people leading them astray. Almost everyone let go but it was really funny, we gave everyone another chance, or 4 chances, and they all made it to the tree of life :) See the beautiful fruit bowl we made? I cut my own hair this week! Haha The one picture was supposed to be us jumping but it went too early.. I thought it was funnier that way. The other people in the last picture are Jaqueline, Bia and Amanda. OH YEAH! Bia and Amanda, who isn´t even a member, wanted to go contacting with us last night after the baptism and they literally took us to everyone´s house that they knew. I couldn´t even believe it. We didn´t even have to do anything but follow them and mark a day to come teach. SO COOL. Now we just need some cool young men. The men of this world need to step it up a bit ;) Joao Pessoa.. I don´t really know how to describe. It gets more beautiful every day to me. We have two baixos that we work in, Mangabeira and Bancarios. Bancarios has the supermarket and the high end apartments. In general, Brasil is still not as rich as America, but it seems like it in comparison with Mangabeira. We have two principal roads with lots of clothing shops, salons, churches, bars, and other things. Everything is pretty open. The houses are squished together in Mangabeira with walls or gates in front of each one. There are lots of beautiful flowers and trees. It´s poor, but I´ve never seen a dirt floor. A lot of people have tiny houses with a huge TV and everyone, even the poor people have at least 3 cell phones. Not sure why. The mission home is close by, we take a bus. The farthest area I think is an hour away from it. We´re right in Joao Pessoa. I´m literally praying to stay in this area because I love it so much. My name tag says Sister so that people don´t think I´m Catholic haha here it´s pronounced seeshteh. Dad is gonna love my nordestina accent, it´s almost a different language. I got your letter! We really only get mail once a month or if we have to go to the mission office for some other reason. I really want sandals, there are some here that I think will work for R$80 (about 40 dollars), but without my card I´m a little stuck. Wells Fargo does not exist here, Bradesco is all we are allowed to use. Hopefully I can get letters before December, but we´ll see. If you want to still get me Sandals, just compare them with shoes I already have for size. I´m definitely closer to a 7 than a 6. Anything neutral. It´s all better than my other options haha I really am reading the things you say, but I´m already out of time! It´s sounds like everythings great! Praying for you all. I love you so much! Christmas is just around the bend! Beijinhos e abraços, Sister Moore

November 4, 2013

Oh my gosh since when are your Halloween costumes that legit? Jealous. Know what I did for Halloween? Fasted with my zone.. But seriously this week was infinitely better than the last!! The biggest miracle is the group of teenagers that are ALL getting baptized. Now I have some pride issues telling this story, Mom, because it has to do with seminary. So we have a recent convert, Jaqueline, who is completely obsessed with my companion and calls all the time. I haven´t talked much about her because I think we waste way too much time at her house and she is very, VERY manipulative. Even though I think it´s mostly to get us to come visit her, she spends all day calling everyone she knows to see who wants to hear our lessons and come to church. At first I was super irritated because I thought her references were all out of nowhere and that no one was interested and we were just spending all day talking to super noncommittal teenagers. Which was the case for a while. But then we taught this really cool 15-year-old girl Venis, and I was shocked at how much she actually understood and the questions she asked. Because of her, we have now been personally bringing 4 girls to seminary and counting. This really is a miracle situation. Everyone wants to go to seminary, like it´s the cool thing to do now. We participated in one class and it´s just so cool I don´t even understand it. We marked the baptism of Venis, Lais and Paula and I just know the rest are going to follow. Another cool thing is that they are starting to dress modest and no one even told them to. It´s the cutest thing ever. Venis gave me a sticker from her notebook (all notebooks here have stickers) to keep on the back of my name tag to always remember her. She really is something special and I know this is the start of something huge. One girl has already brought her whole family to church. FUTURE MISSIONARIES. Last night we also marked the baptism of a 16 and 18 year old, both boys. Man, the men in this church need to step it up because the girls are sure excelling ;) Also, I have this horrible feeling I´m going to be seminary teacher someday. It´s finally Christmas! Haha not really but it´s always Christmas in our apartment, and our ward apparently too because we´ve been singing Christmas hymns since September. So funny. The power went out at Jaqueline´s house one time and she lit candles and I started singing silent night in Portuguese and everyone joined in, even her crazy dad who sits in the same spot outside all day. It´s so hard to tell funny stories in emails.. I have a few nicknames that I think especially Dad would enjoy; Pequenina, Pequena Sereia, Bebezinha and my favorite, Ovelinha. One of our investigators called me Ovelinha and Sister Seal is Cabritona, which means little lamb and big goat. We were laughing so hard. Sister Seal does have a really intense and forcive way of teaching, which is good most of the time. I think she could breath a little more often haha and I think she knows that. Dad, I appreciated your letter a lot and those pictures. You´re gonna make me cry! I love you lots! You´d be sad to know I haven´t heard Bossa Nova here even once, it´s been replaced by either American or Brazilian pop :( There´s one member, Izaira, who loves classical music and jazz. I wish you could see how cool the members are here and how much the church has grown. It´s just like any other ward, but a little noisier :) Testimony meeting is the best, and everyone always says the most perfect things. I promise I´ll have pictures next time! Pray for the baptism of Leonice, Anderson, Fernando, Eliane, Dagna, Lais, Juliana and Venis this week. I know it´s always a ton of possibles and I think the ones who really are going to be baptized are Leonice, Lais and Venis. Cleonice was finally confirmed and I can breath a little! So much reason for rejoicing this week!! The Lord´s work is amazing, because it´s HIS work. All we really need is to be humble and obiedient! Well I´ve gotta go but I hope you all have an awesome week! I love you so much! Beijinhos, Sister Moore

October 28, 2013

Querida Família!

I can already tell this is going to be a very hard transfer, but I´m just trying to stay positive.  If you lose the excitement in missionary work here, it will just get worse and worse.  One day was particularly bad, every appointment fell through and we one street contact that was so lackluster that we just had to laugh or else we would´ve cried.  Jesus Christ never had an off-day where he just didn´t feel like talking to anyone.  He gave everything, even for the people who wouldn´t give Him the time of day.

Dagna is pretty much just staying in place, she stood us up twice and didn´t come to church Sunday.  Eduarda´s family didn´t come either, the dad is the only one who is really interested, so I´m still hoping for him to keep commitments and find an answer.  Right now we are having the most success working on the street of two recent converts, Jaqueline and Eduardo.  They know everyone and just keep giving us references.  The only problem is that they´re almost all teenagers and kids and we have to talk to their parents.  

I really am still doing well and am not complaining, I just think there´s something to be learned from every hard situation.  I know Brasil is the place where I´m meant to learn certain things.  Here, if you aren´t baptizing weekly, you know something is going wrong.  There´s always a mountain of problems but the challenge is finding solutions that are doable and will help you slowly improve each day.  I´m kind of an idealist, and this month I´m praying for patience.  Awful thing to pray for haha.. but just because things aren´t immediately better doesn´t mean they aren´t improving.  Sister Seal says I have a gift for finding problems, which can be good, but without solutions or patience it can definitely add up to tons and tons of problems.  The thing that keeps me going is knowing that there is something I need to learn, that I need to change and DO in order to learn it.  That´s why we have so many commitments and programs in the church that call for action; covenants, personal progress, priesthood.  

In John 7:17, Christ gives the ultimate test to know if anything is true: DO IT.  No one can know this Gospel is true through thinking about it, only through living it!

I don´t really have anything to take pictures of, I don´t carry my camera around.  I do have some favorite scriptures that I´ve found on the mission!  The beginning of Romans 5 is my favorite about patience.  I guess the Romans were impatient people, because that book has a lot on patience.  Also I love in the last chapter of Timothy II where Paul says ``I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith``.  That verse just stays in my head all the time.

Finally, I love in Ether 6 when the Jaredites are crossing the waters for almost a year and they never stop singing and praising day and night.  Being in that little boat for a whole year doesn´t really sound fun, but the wind never stopped blowing towards the promised land and the lights never went out.  The symbolism of that whole story is so beautiful.

I love you all so much and am so glad you are doing missionary work!  Dad, sometimes I can just see you here talking with these Brasilians.  I really like your stories and your advice, so you should keep giving them.  I can see now how this country has become a part of you and how it´s becoming a part of me.  I love you!  

Mom, I knew you were going to think I died when I wrote two days late ;) haha you are so crazy.  But I love you and miss your hugs.  Thank you for giving me this gospel! 

Don´t be weary in well-doing! 

Sister Moore

October 23, 2013

Oi familia!

Transfer weeks we have p-day on Wednesday, sorry I forgot to tell you!  It feels like a lifetime since  I wrote last.  I´m in the same area with the same companion which is really a  good thing just a little anticlimactic..  haha but really this a great area and we still have TONS of work to do and things we need to change.  I´m also glad I don´t have to train, it really only happened as a last resort because more Sisters were coming in than were in the field and able to train.  I´m really sad that Sister Johnson got transferred, but she got her dying wish and got transferred.  Her area and companion were NOT working for her at all and something had to give.  Sister Willette is getting a new trainer which is crazy  and we´ll meet her today.  I think she´ll be Brasilian.                  

  

Dagna didn´t get baptized because she doesn't want to have any doubts.  It´s so frustrating because she KNOWS it´s true and is SO ready.  Her son Gustavo is feeling better now.    At least she still says she wants to go to church and live the commandments, so I believe she´ll get there.  We´re going to watch  the longer Joseph Smith movie with her because that really makes it click for people .  The lesson we learned is to listen to our leaders,  they told us to remark the baptism immediately because once a baptism falls once it´s really hard to get back.  We were thrilled to see her back in church through.. and she brought her Sister!! 

Speaking of... we had EIGHT investigators in church!!!  That is a huge deal.  We have one family, but the parents need to get married.  Then we had Paulo, this super cool guy from Portugal, Dson who we didn´t even remember inviting to church, and Eduarda, a 15-year girl who came with a recent convert!  The awesome thing about Eduarda is that we found her family yesterday. It was insane finding a normal family, all together at home, and the one who was the most interested was the DAD!!  We are praying that he will lead his whole family in being baptised together.  They have three teenage daughters.  It is amazing how much I´ve come to appreciate the ideal home, because you never see it here.  Now all that home needs is the gospel and the priesthood!  We´re going to read the Family Proc and I´m so pumped.  Praying with them altogether gave me such a good feeling.  It´s something  I don´t think many missionaries think about in the rush to get people baptized in two weeks,  but I really want to invite everyone to pray and read scriptures as a family, to receive an answer together as well as individually.  Teaching the gospel to your children I think is the most important duty we have in this life.  Or one of them.. converts are amazing but the way children just trust and believe and love makes the home the ideal place to learn.  

I am still feeling sick to my stomach about our converts who aren´t confirmed.  Cleonice is coming home tonight and I´m just praying she doesn´t have a mountain of work to do that will stop her from coming to church.  She is really firm though, but I´m glad we get to see her again. Antonio is another story.. by far the worst thing that happened this week.   Long story short, he doesn´t want to keep the law of chastity and doesn´t want to be confirmed.  All I can think is that I´m grateful God is in charge.  I was just reading in doctrine in covenants about someone who willingly broke their covenants because  they fell to the pressure of the world and Satan tempted them right away.  But God will do what is good for all of His children.   It definitely was a sickening experience that I hope I never have to repeat.                       

I´m praying for Aunt Nancy!  I almost had a heart attack reading that but I´m glad they caught it early!  Mom, you are an awesome missionary.  I´m not sure if it works in the states like it works here, but with catholics you could always  just pull out a picture of Christ´s baptism and explain immersion, age of account ability and priesthood authority  :)  Haha I don´t think I´d be able to teach in English.  It´s just so different here.  If they don´t accept baptism the first contact, they aren´t a new investigator. 

So everything´s  pretty good , I´m happy to be staying and finishing my training.  This ward is really special and I am excited to start a new transfer.  I´ve survived the 7 plagues of our apartment, mosquitos, ants, lizards, frogs, cockroaches,  wasps and SHOWER WORMS.  Other than that.. we´re surviving.  

There just is never a boring day in a place where everyone wants to stop you in the street and tell you their life story.   One couple rejected the invitation to go to church but still fed us cake.. people are so insane here haha It´s a lot of fun though.  Sometimes at night I feel like I live in Tortuga with bars on every street but encounters with drunks have only been funny.  We do avoid it though so don´t worry  :)  It´s just a different world.  

It is a blessing to be here and every day I´m learning what it means to be your own best convert.    As you become the kind of missionary the Lord wants, that will change who you are forever, and baptisms are just a consequence.  The Gospel has to become a part of every fiber of your being, every word reflecting in your actions.

I love you all so much!  Have a fun Halloween!  Send me pictures of the dinner!

Sister Moore  

October 14, 2013

Oi abencoados!!

This was kind of a tougher week for the work.  We received a list of inactives from the bishop the other day and it was just the saddest thing in the world sitting there as he went through all of the names individually and it took SO long and we just can tell he is so tired.  I think he´s been bishop a long time and he really is tired of the acummilating membros afastados.  Mostly it made me think about President Monson telling us to rescue, so that´s gonna be my new word for the next transfer: RESGATAR!  President Costa of the 70 specifically promised our mission that for every reactivation we´ll have a baptism.  It´ll definitely be hard and a lot of people will waste our time, but I know that´s what Brasil needs.

The best part of this week was seeing some of Sister Seal´s recent converts REALLY change, especially Eduardo.  He is so funny and I was really annoyed with him the first time we met because he started drinking again and stopped going to church right fter baptism.  But he saw the bishop finally and since then he actually has repented and it´s the coolest thing in the world.  He even brought a friend to church and gives us the best references.  He even did street contacts with us a couple of times all decked out like a missionary with his book of mormon, bible and pamphlets.  It´s so funny and adorable.  He´s one of the ones with no teeth who I just assumed was crazy but he really gives me hope for all the people here.  One day we´ll meet everyone as resurrected children of God and in that sense we´re all equal.  I always try to remember that now before I pass someone by.

The worst thing this week is that both of my baptisms still aren´t confirmed..  Cleonice is traveling because her son is very sick but Antonio suddenly has to work every Sunday after telling us he doesn´t work.  It is just so stressful feeling like you´ve baptized someone who won´t even come long enough to get confirmed.  Cleonice is very strong and I´m not as worried but I just don´t know if Antonio was ever telling us the truth.  I guess that´s just agency.  The other thing that happened this week is that Dagna´s baptism fell through.  It was because her son has Denge but it was still really sad, we had the font all ready and she didn´t call us or anything.  She is still my favorite investigator that we have.  She feels the spirit so strongly and is so willing to change to follow the church.  She even brought her son to an activity and was actively trying to make friends.  Hopefully her baptism isn´t postponed for too long.  Satan has a way of getting to people.  I´m just praying for her son, he´s only 6 and the thought of him with Denge is the saddest thing ever.

Time is FLYING.  I can´t believe my first tranfer is almost over. There is a good chance I´ll be training next week.  No one knows!  Here they don´t tell you about tranfers until 9 the night before.  I´m really good no matter what happens, I would like to finish my own training, but if I have to train it will a great learning experience.  I would really love to have a Brasilian companion.  The language really is coming well though.  I love talking to all the members.  There really are some special families.  One couple just seems like they could be a part of our family, the way their little house is decorated and their sense of humor.  That picture I sent was from Sister Seal´s birthday where our ward pretty much threw a surprise party.  It was so funny.  I just love them.

I still don´t understand exactly how to use family history to do missionary work but that sounds really interesting.  We teach people so fast I think the temple might overwhelm them, but it would be great to teach the recent converts.  I think when I get home I really want to get more into family history.  I can for sure take a class at BYU on it.  WOO HOO!!!  I haven´t thought about it too much, but I still think history is what I´m supposed to do.  

That´s funny that Michael works at a pretzel shop.  Tell him he needs to go on a mission :)

Bishop Glenn really was a special bishop.  Keep helping the missionaries!!  They need it!!  I´m so glad we are a missionary family.  We´ve been talking a lot about the second coming in our apartment, and how we think the prophet at some point will make an announcement to move all the saints to the mountains.  It´s not doctrine, but I´ve just been thinking a lot about how I wouldn´t be suprised if the faithful had a test like that in the last days.  If the prophet one day made an announcement to leave everything behind and go somewhere, would we do it?  The second coming is just the most interesting thing in the world to study, and we´re told to be watchful right?  

I love you all so much!!  Time is going by too fast here!  Christmas is only in like 10 more weeks!  Haha trunky moment.  

Feliz Anniversario Pai!  Eu mandou uma carta, mas nao recebera no tempo certo :(  Nao temos um correio em nossa area.  Mas, eu espero que tenha um dia MARVILHOSA!!!  Eu sinto saldades de voce! Mesmo que voce e um pouco doido a veces.  Amo voce!

Com besos e abracos,

Sister Moore

October 7, 2013

Sister Johnson and Sister Moore with Brazilian Kittens

No baptisms but here´s some kittens!!  

"Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." Elder Uchtdorf  That quote was the same one  me and my companion decided was the quote of the conference. I don´t know what it is, but I can see Elder Scott being the next prophet.  I just feel a lot of love in his voice when he speaks.   Conference just makes me realize how important families are in the plan of salvation and how the world cannot change eternal truths.  It is so evident here in Brasil where almost every home doesn´t has a father figure or people are just living together.  Marriage is just not valued here because it is expensive. 

One of the speakers said something along the lines of ``how would you feel if someone made a committment every week and never kept it?" and I just started laughing because that is  my life every day.  We are a covenant making people and that is where our blessings come from.  We have to hold up our part and LIVE our beliefs.

Natal means Christmas,  I´ll give you my Anniversario list later ;)  I could buy a watch,  but we only use our little allowance from the mission  that pretty much covers food bus and email..   it´s all good though.  Comfortable, durable shoes aren´t really a thing here.  Just stilettos and flip flops.

A couple of families asked me to sing during lessons, but I don´t have a lot of Portuguese hymns memorized.  I guess I could carry around my little Hino.  Transfers are coming  up so maybe I´ll sing in church again.  Music really does invite the Spirit.  I really do want to be in the MoTab choir someday if I can.  They really make conference what it is.

My President is Presidente Nogueira.  We didn´t find anyone to baptize that day but Sister Johnson and Willette did which was funny and awesome because they had been struggling a lot.  He was a pretty crazy guy but at least he was at conference.    We have a washing machine and we hang our clothes outside on our little caged in patio thing.  P-days we pretty much email, shop and sleep.  Nothing really great.  But some members got us two pizzas  so it´s gonna be a party!  We make no-bakes pretty much every day.  For conference I made french toast for everyone. 

I´m making it a life goal to make my kids look forward to conference like Christmas.   As a missionary it really is like Christmas.  Two whole days of sitting down and four opportunities to have people in church.  We had Dagna at the first session. She is one of my favorites but she´s progressing slowly because she´s actually sane.  She has a really cute 6-year-old son  who pays attention to every meeting and is really smart.  That really is rare..  Brasilian children are generally not well behaved.  You can hear it from outside the schools. Another one of our investigators does nothing but stay home all day with three awful grandchildren, like I´m not going to lie, they are so annoying.  They don´t wear clothes and they just scream  in all our lessons and I feel so bad for their poor Grandma. Another reason the traditional family is so important.  Those parents are never there.

I definitely don´t have time to talk about all our people because there are SO many and you never know who will actually keep commitments.  Things are still going great!  I love Brasil and I will try not to come home on a mobility scooter from being too fat.     I think we walk enough that it won´t happen :)  I am just so glad I am here learning all the things I´m learning. A mission is the biggest blessing in the world.

I love you and am praying for Longmont!  Keep being good missionaries!  You are doing exactly what all members should be doing and it´s so awesome!!!

Muito amor,

Sister Moore

September 30, 2013

Oi Querida Familia!

Well here´s another baptism picture!!  Haha I think you will see a lot but here you literally can´t count on any baptism until they´re in the water.  This is Antonio, we met him a week ago and he had already been to church and was just the most prepared man I´ve ever seen.  What really impressed me was that he was ALWAYS waiting for us outside which no one ever does.  In his first prayer out loud, he said he already knows he´s on the right path.  Baptisms here are really interesting.  A member of the bishopric chewed us out literally right before the baptism about baptising too fast.  But this is literally how it works here and our district leader, who is the coolest guy ever, was really the one who marked the baptism for us in church. I´m just trying still to understand how this mission works but I know it´s supposed to be this way.  I just really want the ward to trust us.  A lot of Sister Seal´s converts haven´t been coming to church.  We visit them and feel bad about it, but it´s the wards job to fellowship, reactivate and GIVE US REFERENCES.  

Right now we really want to find ways to serve the ward, but people won´t even let us wash dishes.  I´ve found that people only like you when you eat so much you want to puke, which Sister Johnson can do.  So everyone loves her.  So I guess the missionary work here boils down to just praying for an appetite haha

I really do love our ward though, we had a really great testimony meeting and the youth here are unbelievable.  All the girls want to serve missions and I just want to cry every time I see them because I love them so much.  We also have some great RM´s.  Don´t worry, I´m not going to bring home a Brasilian ;)

I did meet the President and his wife the first day and we took a picture.  They are very nice.  I had my interview last week and all he told me was be obedient and everything else follows.  They don´t speak any English, but that´s okay.  I´m understanding Portuguese a lot more, especially with people my age and people who have teeth.  People understand me when I speak unless they choose not to, which is interesting and sometimes annoying.  Like people see I have an accent and stop trying to listen.

I didn´t see the Conferencia Sociadade do Soccorro, but we will definitely see Conferencia Geral, hopefully in English.  I am SOOO pumped!!!  

This morning was really really strange.  Our zone leader called and told us the President is making an exception today and we need to go out and find anyone who´s been to church once and ask them to be baptized today so we can make our goal.  Sister Seal and I just tried not to murmur, but I´m trying SOO hard to understand this mission.  We may or may not have a baptism to go to for one of Sister Johnson´s investigators and it sounds like he doesn´t know anything and is just out of his mind.  Luckily our district leader who does the interview has the gift of discernment.  I just don´t understand it, but I´m trying to have faith.  The only thing we can do to help these people is baptize them, and they have agency about what happens after.  

I´m praying so hard to find families.  We have a couple but they won´t come to church.  The goal in the end for me is to find the future bishops, relief society presidents and above all, missionaries.  The thing that amazes me is how a lot of the people you find here have already talked to missionaries and weren´t ready then but are now.  So everytime someone falls through, they´ll be taught again in the future and be more prepared to hear the lessons and be baptized.  Planting seeds is so important.  This week we taught another older woman who told us she had a dream about us then saw us on the street.  She has already been taught and has gone to church and feels we are her second chance.  She wasn´t at church yesterday but she wants to wait and be baptized with her daughter which is fine by me.  

Well my mind is just spinning, but I´ve realized that this mission is definitely not about me.  I may not feel wonderful about everything my leaders say or about how well the investigators understand, but I´m just here to be the Lord´s servant.  The best thing I can do for my mission is be obedient.  

So I have no ideas about how to get Chacos except sending them one at a time.  It takes a really long time for packages to get here, so I think it may be time to start thinking about Natal :) haha  I´m really not concerned about it but I do need a watch.  All I really want for Christmas is the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert from last year with Alfie Boe and a CD of the MoTab doing show tunes.  The music rules here are only church hymns and primary songs by the MoTob or the church webstie, and on p-day, anything by the MoTab, anything from the church website or efy music.  Also, you should send maple flavoring so I can make syrup for pancakes, and ready to make cookies.

I love you all so much and am praying for Longmont.  I´m glad you are all being such good missionaries and serving others.  I need to do the same!  Time is flying!!  Just so you know, both Sister Johnson and Seal have said I´m the least trunky missionary they´ve ever seen.  I love my family, but my heart really is 100% in my mission.  Not to say that seeing you again won´t be the best day ever, but I only get 18 months to be a missionary. And it´s only 16 months now!!  WHAT??

Com MUITO MUITO amor,

Sister Moore 

 

September 23, 2013

Sister Moore's First Baptism!

Sister Moore is in Joao Pessoa!

Ola!!!

Sorry this computer  is awful and I don´t have time to figure out how to upload more photos but here´s my first  baptism!!  Haha I don´t really feel that responsible for it  but Cleonice is really cool and right now we are really really hoping her family will be baptized.  None of them were at the baptism which was really sad.  They all know the church is true but there´s always an excuse to not come to church.  

This lady on my first Sunday who had never met me just asked me out of nowhere if I  knew Àlma Tem Paz (Be Still My Soul) and if I would sing it.  So this week I did, as a prelude and it really helped people  be quieter at the beginning of the sacrament meeting.. the week before EVERYONE was still talking all the way through the bishop´s announcements.  I don´t know why that has been my theme song but it´s sure a great one.  It´s also not in the Portuguese hymnal so I just happened to still  have the music from the CTM.

 My clothes have been working out okay but I really wish we hadn´t bought all that stuff at target.  Everything I need I can easily buy here and transfers will be really hard with more than two heavy bags.  Just advice for anyone who´s preparing to serve.  Also... CHACOS EVERYBODY HAS CHACOS.   My shoes have been okay and comfortable which really is a blessing because Sister Willette and  Johnson have been in the house not working for almost a whole week because of Sister Willette´s blisters.   But they are definitely allowed and recommended.  I don´t know how I can get some, because shoes will get stolen if you don´t send them one at a time. and I would want them to fit.  Also my watch is going to  rip in half in few weeks  haha.. but you can always find a watch.  White is also a bad idea.  

I am still very happy and am learning SO fast.   It´s still really hard to understand people, but when that comes everything will be easier.   I have a story that I´ll save until after my mission about not understanding  what someone is saying.... it´s a good one.  Pray for my safety :)

The mission just really hasn´t gotten hard yet, a lot of people say training is the hardest so I´m really worried about whether I´ll have to train in six weeks or not.  But I've just been counting my blessings and if nothing else I am already realizing how hard  I've made my life for myself.  I know after my mission  I will be a much better student, friend, and most importantly wife and mother. I just have nothing but hope, hope in happiness that is PROMISED to me, in a happiness that is forever.  Everything in life can let you down, people let you down, you can walk miles across Joao Pessoa until your feet bleed just to be blown off again by an investigator, but the Savior will always keep his promises to us.  Life is a lot simpler  with Jesus Christ and  He makes it a lot easier.

You should try to find the video for missionaries about the atonement with President Eyring and Elder Holland.  It has been a central thought to me so far in my mission.  Elder Hollands words are always in my head when he says ´´Salvation was NEVER easy, because Salvation is NOT a cheap experience´´  It is just such a huge thing to remember for myself and investigators.  Faithfulness in the church is not easy, many times things will get harder for the investigators after baptism.  But I´m praying to find the ELECT so that they will endure and really know what the gospel means and raise their children that way. 

I love you all and am praying for you!   Be good member missionaries :)  Just open your mouth. 

Com muito amor

Sister Moore