Letter from 9/29/2014

This week was full of learning again. S. Nascimento and I have been seeing that when we study something in Preach my Gospel in the morning, we ALWAYS get to apply it during the day. We were studying about really listening to people the other day...and that same day I think we found ALL of the hard hearted people who live here in Castanhal. No one wanted to hear our message, the just wanted to talk about the doctrine THEY wanted. So we listened. And a part of listening is to NOT form answers while they´re talking, but to really listen, and then wait for the spirit to give you words. And it was incredible! I bore my testimony so much this week, and it grew. I was able to teach with the spirit and really touch their hearts. It was an awesome learning experience.

Also, there´s one family here in our ward who basically makes up the entire ward. There´s only one brother who´s not a member, and his name is Paulo. His problem is that he knows that the church is true and has a wonderful testimony...but can´t stop drinking or smoking. Every single time we talk to him, he starts crying, testifying of the truth...and so broken and sad because he says he can´t stop and follow Christ. We just started crying with him, because we could just feel his spirit struggling, and wanting to leave drinking and smoking. We had an awesome experience talking to him. We invited him to say a prayer, and he was scared because he hadn´t prayed in a long time. But he did it, and it was the sweetest and most sincere prayer I´d heard in a long time. He felt a lot better after, and more motivated, knowing the love God has for him. It´s going to be awesome to see the repentance process in his life, and see him change into the man he wants to be.

I love this mission and seeing people´s lives change! It´s the best feeling ever, I am so blessed. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Sister Neal

A Picture Someone From Brazil Posted Sister Neal's Facebook Messages

I wish I had more details about the picture. It was sent from a sister in the ward in Castanhal where Sister Neal serves. She says she is a great person and hopes she doesn't have to leave soon.

Letter From 9/22/2014

Oi gente!!

This week was great, and full of lessons to learn. My companion and I have been studying more about Christlike attributes, and we´ve been seeing tests every day about the attribute we study. One that really hit me this week was hope. 

Hope is AWESOME, and actually really hard to have sometimes. We had a member make visits with us after lunch...and we walked and walked and for 5 hours, ALL of our appointments fell through. Every single one. That´s just not normal...and I was kinda freaking out, because it was getting late and we were in a bad part of town. So we decided to head back, and we were super stressed out. The member decided to leave because nothing was happening...tchau, lessons with a member...and we were alone, with 0 lessons and the day almost ending. It wasn´t very good. But then I´d remembered that we´d studied about hope...and hope includes that you know that trials are for your good, and you stay optimistic in every situation. So, we did that. Right as we remembered that, we saw someone in the road that we had taught 2 months ago and wanted absolutely nothing. She said that our message hadn´t left her head, and she wanted to talk to us again. She said she wouldn´t be able to go to church because she was travelling somewhere, but we marked for this week. THEN we saw a Less active person that I talked about a few months ago...and she invited us in and said she´d be going to church the next day. Then we knocked on doors (or clapped, really) (which is really super ineffective) and made the new investigators that we needed.

Church was awesome, we had 3 investigators there and they all loved it. Sacrament meeting was absolutely inspired for the less active person...her and her husband absolutely loved it, and we´re started to teach them and helping them get a testimony of the Book of Mormon. 

We can´t ever lose hope! We can´t forget that God has an eternal perspective and knows exactly where we need to be, when we need to be, and why! We gotta trust in Him and just really be instruments in His hands. I´m so thankful for the lessons I´m learning here, and for the work and miracles that are happening. 

I love you all, have a fantastic week!

Sister Neal

Letter From 9/15/14

I loved this week, it was incredible! My companion and I saw that as we did our very best, God did the rest. This week we found this man who was absolutely horrible. He invited us into his house, and instantly started getting angry. We said ´can we start with a prayer´ and he was already upset. He started yelling and telling us that Joseph Smith wasn´t  a prophet and started getting pretty violent and hitting stuff...so we ended up just walking out. But the feeling I got when he said that Joseph Smith was a false prophet was indescribable. My companion and I felt really strange and then we were able to bear our testimonies, and we actually felt powerful. It was actually really cool. Of course he didn´t hear any of it, but it really strengthened our testimonies. I know that Joseph was called as a prophet and restored this Gospel, and it is the only true and complete gospel on the earth!

But anyway, right after that we walked into a wonderful little family. They were so perfect, and we´d actually talked to the dad in the street the week before. They loved the lesson, and they have baptismal dates.

On Saturday, we had so many people from the passed weeks confirm that they´d be at church on Sunday...but that always happens, so we went to go pick them up. And guesssss whatttt. EVERY ONE of our old investigators said no. All of them. Just flaked out and said no. So, we were super disappointed, and we went to catch the bus because we were late to church. When we got on the bus, we saw one of our investigators from that week was sitting there with a huge smile on his way to church too! That´s so crazy, because Castanhal is really big! And he was there! Then we went and picked up that family that I talked about earlier, and they were all dressed and ready to go! And THEN we were in Gospel Principles and one of our investigators (Neide) from the day before walked in! It was a huge miracle! None of our investigators from the passed week went, but our new ones from this week did. That never happens! It was a miracle, and Neide is getting ready to be baptized this Saturday. Woohoo! If you guys could pray for her, that would be lovely!

So it was amazing. Oh, and the reason Neide walked in late was my fault...I´d called her that morning, and I understood completely incorrectly...I thought she said she wouldn´t be able to go...but she actually said something like `yeah I´ll be there, just pass by so I know where it is!´ HAHA. Language barriers. Oh well, she figured it out and absolutely loved it :D

Have a wonderful week!!

Sister Neal

Letter From 9/8/14

This week was fantastic, and I really gained a huge testimony of service and how extra service projects really help the work. 

We baptized Talison, and he has a friend named Klebson who just wanted to get baptized with all he had. He wouldn´t drop the topic. The only problem was that his mom wasn´t having it. This poor kid´s family lives in a bar and he´s seen things that no one should ever see. He doen´t even sleep at his house, he spends all of his time at Antonio´s house ( He´s a recent convert) And Antonio teaches him about the Gospel and what he should and shouldn´t do. He´d been going to church, but his mom didn´t want him baptized. So we went and talked to her again at her bar. And we have a lesson about the Gospel and the importance of baptism..and the bar was all ears. Everyone was looking at us and participating, and the Spirit was incredibly strong. They loved it. Then some one there, (Maria) said something about having to work in her yard and how it was really difficult. So we said we´d be there the next morning to help out. No one believed us. So we left and went to her house the next day. When we got there, 3 people who were at the bar were there to help too. So we did A BUNCH of work in her hard (they don´t have any electrical stuff...so it was interesting...and reallllly really burning hot...) but we helped! And then Klebson´s mom called and asked if we were actually there...and when she heard that we were, she got emotional and said that her son could be baptized.

We stopped by her house, and she said ´our life is like this (gesturing to the bar) but we can and will change. we just need your help.´ WHAT. This was a huge change! I know that service and really showing that we care opens people´s hearts. Through the example of her son, she is being changed. We´re so excited to work with her.. Miracles are real!

Also, I really love 1 Nephi 17:51. Nephi has so much faith in God´s power. If He can do so many miracles, why can´t he help me build a boat? If God wants something done, He´ll help us...we just have to be diligent and do our part. 

Love you all!!!

Sister Neal

Klebson, who was baptized on Saturday

Letter From 9/1/14

This week was just one huge miracle! Our district of 4 sisters had a goal to baptize 9 people this month, and we DID IT! We only had 8 until the night of the baptism! Andre showed up and said he wanted to be baptized! It was beautiful. We had 4 people baptized on Saturday. Lindalva´s kids and André and an old woman (78 years) named Isabel. It was so spiritual. They were all confirmed yesterday. The ward is really growing now, and the members are helping so much. There´s one man in our ward who´s goal is to baptize his whole street, and he´s getting there! He´s already got 5! So we´re getting a lot of referrals from him, and they´re all helping out. I love this work, and I see Father´s hand in every part of it! We worked very hard this month and were very blessed for it. WOO HOO!

I was also reading D&C 58, and it was super good. I learned a lot about how we have our agency, and we choose to do good! We need to use our angency and choose to serve our God! Let´s show him that we´re willing to do His will in all things! I love you all!

 

Sister Neal