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

Letter #2 from 5/26/2014

Hey everyone! Happy Memorial Day! (I hope it´s memorial day...I´m actually not really sure...but happy day anyway!)

This week was kind of disappointing, one of those weeks where no one decided to keep appointments...so that was annoying. But we had the opportunity to make a lot of new investigators, and we´re learning to be more persistent. So that was a blessing. :)

The power here in Barcarena likes to go out city-wide...a LOT. So we were at our final lesson of the day on the other side of town, it was already past 9 so we needed to basically run home, and the lights went out...toootal darkness. So that was awful...There was no way to run because we couldn´t even see our hands in front of our faces, and the roads here are more pothole than road. So we were lost in the middle of the road on the opposite side of town, about to miss curfew. So...we walked super slowly, trying to guess which way our house was, and then we decided (later than we probably should have) to say a prayer. We asked for a way to be able to make it home on time safely. Right when we said amen, out of no where a guy on a motorcycle stopped and said he´d ride slowly next to us and be our light. And we made it home like a minute before 9:30. So, this might sound like a really small thing to you guys, but it truly was a miracle to us, and a good learning experience. Heavenly Father is aware of us in every single situation, especially in the dark. If we just turn to Him, He will provide a way for us to get home when we´re supposed to.

But yeah, that doesn´t change how annoying it is to have inconsistent power, haha. But oh well. :D

Oh, another cultural thing for this week, people here point with their lips...it´s actually really hilarious. At first I thought that everyone was just super twitchy, but no, they´re POINTING at stuff. hahah, I love it. And when something is really far away, they´ll purse their lips and inhale really deeply. It cracks me up every time, I love it :D

So I was reading in 2 Nephi 28, and the last verse hit me pretty hard. Heavenly Father LOVES US, guys! I won´t quote it, you can look it up, (v. 32) But seriously, it blew my mind. Heavenly Father talks about how he knows that His people will reject Him...which we do every time we sin...but He says that if we will just repent and follow Christ, His arms are ALWAYS extended. He is just waiting for us to act. I´m so thankful for my loving Savior who made all of this possible, and I´m thankful for my Father in Heaven.

Tchau for now, have a good week!

Sister Neal

Letter #1 from 5/26/2014

So for some reason, this week the words ´diligence´ and ´leadership´ wouldn´t leave my mind. And that really freaked me out, because I do NOT wanna be a leader. Nonononot at alllll. But, because the words wouldn´t leave me alone, I decided to study. So I looked up lead, leader, and leadership in the TG, and I wrote down and read EVERY single scripture, and then wrote down attributes of a leader that I found. This was definitely inspired guys, because I would NEVER do that on my own. But the verse that I found and learned from the most was Jacob 1:19 and it says,

And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads IF we did not teach them the word of God with ALL diligence, wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments, otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.´

So, obviously, that´s super duper powerful, and it really hit me hard. We are ALL leaders. Every single missionary is one...and you guys too. But mostly me because it´s my calling, haha. I am here as a representative of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He was a shepherd, a guide, and that is my job. If I don´t work with ALL diligence teach these people, the guilt is MINE. So, This really opened up my eyes, and I´m working harder than ever to serve, teach with the spirit, and to really love these people. I´m learning to be more direct with them too. I am learning so much.

Also, this was the first time I received revelation without asking for it, haha. It was great.

But you guys too!! I heard a story in sacrament meeting this week. It is a boy relating a dream that he had about the premortal life right before he got his mission call.

So he was up there with his friend in the premortal life, and they were waiting for their calls to the earth. A messenger came and gave a call to each of them. The boy telling the story opened it first, and it said basically ´you will be born in the fulness of the Gospel, and you will have freedom and happiness. You will live in the United States.´ The boys cried with joy and were super happy for him. Then it was the other one´s turn. He opened his call, and it said basically, ´you will not be born in the gospel. You will live in a place that is very corrupted, and you will not have freedom. your life will be very difficult, and you won´t have the truth. you will live in Costa Rica.´

The boys cried and cried. The one who was going to live in Costa Rica said tearfully, Please find and help me.

So, the boy who went to live in the united states (the one telling this story) was waiting for his mission call. The call came in the mail, and it said that he would be going to Costa Rica.

While he was on his mission, he sent a letter back home. It only had four words on it. It said ´I found my friend.´

It is OUR job to be lights and to spread this wonderful Gospel. Our friends that we knew before this life are waiting for us to give it to them. It is a joyful thing! And this work is NOT done for ANYONE until we are all resting peacefully in Zion.

So, do your member missionary work! Who wouldn´t want this beautiful Gospel? It is a gospel of change. Everyone we know chose to come here before, and it is our job to help them remember. We´ll be their guides back home, and how great will be our joy.

Love you all!

Sister Neal

Letter from 5/19/14

Hey everyone!

This week has been cool!

There´s a lady in the ward who´s house we LOVE to go to because it´s surrounded by huge trees and MONKEYS LIVE THERE. And they jump around to all the different trees and it´s so cute! One day we ate there and the sister told me that I was eating her pet monkey...and I believed her and got really sad, and a little confused because the ´monkey´ tasted exactly like nasty horse meat...which it was. People here just love playing jokes on Americans. :P

Also, the dogs here are crazy. There are so many of them, it´s like they have their own civilization. They leave us alone and they just...live. It´s weird.

We taught an unmarried couple about the law of chastity...and in the end, my companion told them that they needed to get married or separate...so he proposed right then and there and they´re planning on getting married at the end of this month, so that was cool! And pretty hilarious because it was so unexpected...but yay!

A MIRACLE happened this week! Remember Glory? Well her mom and brother did not like us at all. They didn´t like us teaching Glory or anything about the church. But after Glory was baptized, her mom wanted us to teach her. We were kinda scared, because she´s scary...but we did it. And really guys, she taught US the lesson. She told us that she´d already read and taken notes on the entire Book of Mormon, she´s studied all the pamplets, and she´s had her whole vision of life changed because of the Book of Mormon. It was AWESOME. And Glory´s brother came to church with us and adored it. So we´re working with them this week, and hope to have the baptism this Saturday. 

The Gospel really changes lives. Glory was an example to her family. They saw her light, and wanted it. Now they can all work together and be happy! I love this Gospel, and the miracles I see every week. 

Remember to be examples, keep the commandments and keep the faith!

Tchau!

Sister Neal