Letter from 6/23/2014

Hey everyone! I am absolutely loving this new area!

My new companion is Sister Cardosa, and I´m living with 2 other sisters. Sister Sender, and Sister G. Cardoso. I love them all, and we´re getting a ton of work done. 

Now that I´ve grown up and finished training, I actually feel like I have responsibility as a missionary, and it rocks. I speak more, and I make tons of contancts. It´s so awesome to be a representative of Christ and help people understand that there is more, and they need to be baptized. One of my favorite things to do is teach in big groups of people. Everyone pays attention, and they all participate. The coolest part is that I don´t make mistakes when I´m teaching. The spirit is definitely helping me, and I´m developing a greater hope in my Savior. 

Something else I´m seeing is that Satan doesn´t like baptisms at all. Haha, we had a baptism this week for a 13 year old kid named William. Our District leader told us that he had 6 firm baptisms for Saturday, so we didn´t worry about preparing anything. When we got to the chaple, (about an hour late because the dumb bus took forever) nothing was ready, and we were informed that Elder Galvão´s 6 baptisms ALL fell through. So then we had to hurry up and call him and get everything set up while everyone was waiting only to find that there were no baptism clothes to be found in the chaple. So we had to call the OTHER elders to bring white pants. (sorry this story is hard to understand, it´s hard to type fast in English, I´m translating from Portuguese to English...COOL, RIGHT) But anyway, so they all came, and we finally had the baptism about 2 hours late. But we forgot a towel....but one of the other Elders randomly had one in his bag. I REALLY hope that made sense...but seriously, the baptism was a miracle. And William is as happy as can be.

Also, you should all read Our Heritage, and all of those cool little books. I love them. 

Love you all, and keep the faith!

Sister Neal

Letter from 6/16/14

This week was pretty hectic!

My companion was immensely sick the entire week, and we had no one to go on splits with us...so a lot of work was left undone. She was so frustrated that she couldn´t leave the house. But she´s feeling a little bit better now.

Transfers were this week! My companion and I both left the area. She went to another state in the Macapá zone, and I´m in Castanhal in an area called Nova Linda II. It´s awesome already, and I love my new companion. But I never knew that transfers would be so difficult. Betânia was my first area, and leaving those wonderful members was harder than leaving home, because they became my family, and I might not see them again. Pains of a mission.

More miracles will happen in this area, I can feel it! I´m excited to be out of training and grow more as a desciple of Jesus Christ.

Also, the world cup is INSANE.

Amo vocês!!

Sister Neal

P.S. from Mom: She said she would love real letters if you are able to write.

Letter from 6/9/14

Hey guys!

This was a great week full of progression. I´m growing to really love the people here. I´m learning a lot about enduring to the end, and pushing on through sun, rain, soreness, and people not committing to anything! Because we know that when annoying stuff happens, a miracle is close. And this is true! 

We were just walking around one night, looking for someone to teach, and we decided to talk to this woman, Rosalia. She loved the lesson, and then at the end, she told us that she knows God answers her prayers. She said that a while ago she was praying for the truth, and then she had a dream where two young women, one Brazilian and one blonde, curly haired American came to her house and told her about God. GUYS. That is so awesome! God really does prepare people to receive this true gospel. That one visit was worth all of the annoying stuff this week!

But anyway, THE WORLD CUP. WOW. Brazil is insane right now. People are going crazy, I´m praying that the US and Argentina will just lose everything, because Brazilians get CRAZY when they lose. We have to stay in our house on the days that Brazil plays. Ugh. I can´t even imagine how crazy it is in the cities where the cup is being held. JEeeeez. Haha.

But I love you all!! Keep the faith!

Sister Neal

Letter from 6/2/2014

This week was pretty good guys! Growing every day!

Around here, the horses are just like dogs. They just hang out outside everywhere. So sometimes when I see one one day and not the other, I get concerned that I ate it, because, you know, horse meat. I expressed my concerns to my companion and she just laaaauuuughed. Because APPARENTLY, charque isn´t even horse meat. It´s bull belly. IT´S STILL REALLY NASTY BUT DANG I can´t trust anyone around here, haha! So I´ve decided to never ask anyone what I´m eating and just eat it because they all LIE. So. But, according to my trustworthy Brazilian friends, I´ve eaten bull intestine and foot too. I don´t recommend it, it was gross. But really, I don´t know how I´m gonna live without rice and beans. It´s so good, and my day feels empty when I don´t have it.

My favorite name here is Wanderson. It´s so silly, hahaa. Also, my tan lines are insane. INSANE. I´m so DARK now.

A lot improved in the work this week. We had an investigating family come to church, and a couple more investigators. They all adored it, and we´re excited to see them progress. Please give references to the missionaries. Imagine how awesome it would be to have all of your friends at church. This is a Gospel of change, and we need to share it. 

One of the most fulfilling things about being a missionary is hearing the testimonies of our recent converts. The refer to us, with tears in their eyes as angels.  I love hearing them say that they know the church is true. It is amazing, and I know the work we are doing is worth all of the sacrifice. 

Everyone told me while I was in the CTM that one day the language would just click, and I didn´t believe them, because it seemed too hard at the time. But guys, it HAPPENED. This week, I woke up and I understood every single thing that everyone was saying. It´s incredible! I still obviously make mistakes, but I am understandable, and I can effectively have conversations and teach. It´s AWESOME. So keep the faith, miracles happen!

Scripture I loved this week: Mosiah 7:33

I LOVE reading the scriptures in Portuguese. It gives me more insight, and a different way to look at things, because the translation isn´t exact. In English it says, ´Turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart...He will deliver you out of bondage.´ In Portuguese it says, ´Voltardes para o Senhor com todo o coração´ The word voltardes means REturn. Heavenly Father KNOWS we're not perfect, and He knows we always fall. But He´s asking us to return to Him. It is never to late. LOVED IT. :)

That´s all for this week, TCHAU!!

Sister Neo