Letter from 7/27/2015

Hey guys! It´s been an amazing week, full of wonderful things!! I am SO EXCITED to be a missionary! SO happy and so thankful for the experiences I´ve had! It´s the greatest thing in the whole entire world!! This week we had Rayane´s baptism, (my last baptism) and it was absolutely gorgeous. She´s super excited and happy and we were so blessed to be able to find and teach her. Also, Sister Campos´ mom was BAPTIZED!!! Presidente let her call home as a surprise and it was amazing!!! Her dad watched the baptism and LOVED it and everyone was crying and everyone is HAPPPPPY!!!!! And she´s going to the temple! And her husband is taking the lessons and is thinking about baptism too!! We are so happy!! But, I´ll talk to you guys next week!! Haha, and see you guys next week too!!!!

Love, 

Sister Neal

This is Nicole's travel plan for leaving her mission. She leaves THIS Friday, July 31st.

My airplane from Santarém to Belém is on Sunday night. BUT the boat doesn´t go from Oriximiná to Santarém on Saturday...so I´ll be LEAVING Oriximiná FOR Santarém on FRIDAY. Certo? There, S. Campos and I will stay with the sisters until my flight on SUNDAY. Certo? Then I´ll stay with some sisters in Belém. And MONDAY is my interview to go home. I´ll more than probably have a chance to email you guys next week. :) Entendeu? 

Haha yeah mom, I´ll totally call ya. :) 

A GIANT BANANA. We made a smoothie with it.

Our dinner, pudim and popcorn.

Messing around before the baptism.

and BAPTISM!!

A gorgeous park in our area that helps us see that we really work in the middle of the forest.

Letter from 7/21/2015

Hi guys!! This week was reallly really really awesome. We had such a good time!! Oriximiná is the greatest place in the world. We love it so much here!! 

So we were visiting Kevellem, who was recently baptized...and her sister, Ketely was there. When we got here, Ketely said that she didn´t want to be baptized. And we said, alright, fine. Haha. But out of nowhere, we were talkig to Kevellem and Ketely came up and said, hey guys, when´s the next baptism? God answered my prayer and I need to be baptized. WOOOHOOO!!!So we marked it for that Saturday! And her cousin went and watched it and then went to church on Sunday and said that she wanted to be baptized too!! Pray for Raiane, please! :D Ketely is a wonderful young woman. She´s 13...and already has a baby...but she´s ready to change her life and be good and follow the right path.

Yesterday we had a zone pday at a place called Alter do chão...IT WAS SO FUN! We played tons of games and ate tons of meat and it was just super fun. That´s why I didn´t write yesterday...hehe. Forgive me. Love you guys so much!!

Sister Neal

HAHAH MOM I forgot to put in the group email that we had a super awesome experience!!!

This week we´ve been reading a lot about Ammon and Aaron and how they were able to baptized nations...and we decided that because we´re at the end of the world in Oriximiná that we wanted to find a tribe of Indians. So, Sister Campos actually prayed to find one, and we honestly thought that it was  really funny....but then we actually found some!!! We passed by a house and they smiled really big, and so we went to say hi. Then they started speaking in this crazy language, but managed to say that they were from a tribe!! HAHAHA IT WAS SO COOL! So we taught them SUPER simply the restoration, and they LOVED it. Man it was exactly what we asked for! They accepted baptism, but they can´t be baptized because they´ll be going back to their tribe and we can´t go there. But still, our prayer was answered! Haha it was just a really cool experience to have. Love you guys!

ALSO! Sister Campos´ mom WILL BE BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY!!! WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDD

Letter from 7/13/2015

My companion has only been a member for 2 years, and her parents aren´t members...AND HER MOM JUST EMAILED HER TELLING HER THAT SHE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That´s why we´re staying longer than just one hour...HER MOM´S GETTING SAVED!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Also, Sister Campos says that she loves you!! Haha she´s crying like crazy because she can have an eternal family now!!! WOOOHOO!! And she wants to visit us in the states!!

The rest of her family´s not a member! She´s the only one! And they FINALLY her mom took the missionary lessons and decided that she wanted to be baptized! And her dad and brother (who´s 25) are still deciding.

But seriously, these days I´ve been crying because i don´t wanna leave the mission...man...it´s the saddest, weirdest feeling ever. Like I wanna leave...but it´s tearing me apart....aw....you made me cry again....ugh...momma i don´t wanna leave! but i want to!! It hurts really bad. :(

Like I feel like dirt for wanting to leave because the Savior has done so much for me...and I should devote my entire life to him...but i have other stuff to do...and...UGH. I love Jesus Christ!! I love Him and I know HIm!! awww :(((( :DDDD 

Letter from 7/7/2015

Sorry I wasn´t able to tell you! On Sunday at the last minute, they told us that we´d have to go to Santarém to get to know our new mission president, so we left on Sunday night and only got home this (Tuesday) morning! I LOOOVE YOUUUU!!

Aw mom you guys look great! You have such a little family! haha. Glad you guys made it safely! Looks like everyone had a blast! We did too, it was awesome getting to know our new mission pres. 

2 people were baptized! Flavio and luzimara! woohoo!! And we have a potential baptism for this Saturday...Americo...pray for him please! 

Pictures of the baptisms and the gorgeous Amazon river!! the Elders who are with us stop at a different city called Obidos...and we continue on. Woohoo!! love ya tons!!!!

Letter from 6/29/2015

Guys this week was fantastic!! We got on the plane on Wednesday at 4:30 PM and we got into Oriximiná on Thursday, 6:30 AM and it was fantastic! The boat ride was gorgeous, it was a boat with 3 floors FILLED with hammocks and we went on the 3rd floor and were able to see TONS of stars. The only annoying thing is that it was hard to sleep...the hammocks aren´t very spread apart and we kept bumping into everyone...but it´s okay. It was fun. :) 

This area is amazing! When we got here, the other Sisters had left prepared 5 people to be baptized...and it happened! Haha it was super fun because we got lost a lot...but they were baptized, and they are so happy. 

MORE miracles happened for us too! I mean, it was awesome that 5 people were baptized, but they weren´t OUR baptisms. So...we went crazy trying to find people for this Saturday. As we were walking, we found a man reading the Gospel Principle´s manual. So we started talking to him, and he told us that he´d be at church on Sunday. Awesome. So, he went. We went to visit him on Sunday afternoon, and we asked him if he liked the church. He said, yep, I love it, and I´m gonna get baptized there. When´s the next baptism? WOOHOO! His name´s Flavio. So, we told him the next baptism would be this Saturday. And so we taught him the commandments. He loved the word of wisdom. He used to drink, smoke, and do drugs...and 2 weeks ago he decided to stop and look for a church! Gosh what a miracle!

Also, a member gave a referral of a man named Alencar. He´s SUPER awesome. He works with a member, and he started asking the member questions about the church. The member (Dário) answered him and gave him the Book of Mormon to read. So, he left a part marked for him. As he was starting to read, the pages turned and he felt that he needed to read the part that was opened. So...he did! And he felt that it was God talking to him and telling him to follow and be baptized...so he will be! We just need to help him get married! Woohoo!

And Luzimara also. She will be baptized this week. The rest of her family was baptized the last transfer, and so we invited her for this week. And she said, ´yeah, I´ll be baptized. What time will it start?´ 

We´re so happy here and excited to see more miracles happen! And these miracles are happening because of the MEMBERS. They are working with us, and the ward is growing and progressing. We´re doing a thing called the 40 day fast...and one member of the ward everyday of the week is fasting. It´s really changing the work. I love you guys, and I know this is the work of God! Keep the faith!

Sister Neal

Letter from 6/22/2015

This week was AWESOME!! This week passed by so fast but so much happened that it felt like a month.

So since February, we´ve been teaching this young man named Richard. (Here it´s said like heesharge...it´s super ugly :P) And he was FIIINALLLY baptized! He´d been going to seminary for months and loved it, but NEVER went on Sundays. He finally went this last Sunday and said, ´wow, I thought it would be super boring, but I loved it! Can I be baptized this Saturday?´ Gosh we went crazy with joy.

BUT our Zone Leaders ALSO had baptisms. They baptized 5 people, and it was awesome because we were involved in it too!!

One husband and wife that were baptized had already met our LZs in another area, and he´d contacted them but they didn´t want anything. Then they moved here. Elder Viana (LZ) found them AGAIN. And this family gave a referral of the OTHER husband and wife that was baptized. And the awesome thing was that Sister Gusmão and I had already contacted them, so we knew them already. It was so awesome to see them at church.

The woman who was baptized was also a contact S. Gusmão and I made! We found her in the street with her member friend and invited to church and she went! 

GUYS, make contacts! Talk to everyone!! They truly make miracles! This Saturday we were able to see many people earn the keys to enter into the Celestial kingdom, just because we decided to open our mouths. I hope you guys understood the story, it´s a little confusing.

ALSO, I started my last transfer today. And, instead of staying in Satélite, I was transferred to Oriximiná...a SUPER far away area. We´ll have to take a plane, and then travel on a boat for 8 hours and sleep in hammocks...and it´ll be super fun! I´m so excited! It´ll definitely be an adventure! Love you guys, have a wonderful week!!

Also, look at these kitties...we finally found someone to take them. woohoo! THEY´RE SO CUTE.