Leading in Tiangua

Date: Jun 25, 2014
Subject: Leading Tianguá 1.....

Phewff!! This week was quite the compacted crazy like of a missionary kind of week!

Que Bençãos!  [What blessings!}

To start off, pretty much every day so far has had some special event or something that takes us away from full studies or full time proselyting--conferencia de zona [zone conference], reuniao de distrito [district meeting], aula de ingles [English class], igreja [church], planejamentos [planning],etc. so I´ve really been feeling the lack of that (full time teaching) ... but really all these meetings and conferencias have been soooo great. Wow!  Presidente Siedshlag is soooo inspired. He’s really such a teddy bear of a presidente haha., but we learn sooo much from him every time.  [Note: missionaries work with companions.  Two or three companionships are grouped into teams called districts.  Several districts are grouped into zones.  There are typically 4 to 8 zones in a mission.]

This conference Presidente Siedschlag was talking a lot about us oldies in the mission. I seriously felt like he was talking just to me.  He was talking about change. about bettering ourselves.  He said if we are waiting for something in the future to be a reason to change, we will wait forever and always be the same.  If we are waiting for when we’re a district leader, or assistente [assistant], or treinadora [trainer], or etc. to change and apply the trainings or become more organized, we’ll never get there. and we will return home the same person as before----this has been one of my biggest fears of the mission--- but what he said really struck home ^:

In my mind, I always thought wow, this mission will change me so much.  I will go home a completely different person in all the best ways!  It will be so great! Painful, but great!  And in some ways this is true, but what president said really made me think ...  It’s really not the mission that changes me. but me who changes me.  It’s the situations that the mission puts me in and the way I use the Atonement to change myself and what I learn from the mission that changes me.   But this doesn’t just happen because I’m on a mission.  The idea that it is so very possivel [possible] to return home unchanged is so scary to me but so real.  After a year I feel that really, it is so easy to get burnt out and just go through the motions - -wait it out until I go home -- but if I truly want to change, truly want to be better, be more Christlike, be a missionary, representant de Christ [representative of Christ], I have to make the change.  I have to put in all my effort and truly change me.  Change my nature. not  just my behavior like they always say.  This -- and this opportunity to train -- is exactly what I need.  I only have mais or menos [more or less] 6 months left to overcome my weaknesses, to become the me I want to be.

But also, this made me think about after the mission... for all of us, not just missionaries of full time service, but now is the time to change.  The talk “Your 4 Minutes,” from the last general conferencia [conference].  Wow.   Sooooo powerful.  Really truly, we have only 4 short minutes of eternity that is this life. What are we doing to make the best of it.  These short 4 minutes we prepared for milenias antes [millennia – thousands of years before] and will reflect on for the rest of eternity.  Will we wait for some future event in this life to come before we decide to change, to better ourselves, to work on overcoming a weakness?  Or will we decide to change now, BEFORE our 4 minutes is up?  It’s a powerful, very direct thought, but it’s the truth and it really put into perspective for me how important this time is for every single one of us.


Another really cool experience really quick. This week I truly grew quite a testimony of the quote "The Lord doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies who He calls."

The moment we started working here in Tiangua with just me and Sister Maeno, we had a lesson with the family of Felipe (recent converso [convert]).  We taught the lesson of the restauration [restoration] and I was so nervous because I still have a hard time with the language and Sister Maeno is new and this is a super important lesson.  I prayed sooo hard and when we arrived, wow.... I still can’t believe it.

The gift of tongues is so real,  but the qualifying of this call is sooooo real and sooo powerful.  I instantly.. like INSTANTLY could understand and speak almost flawlessly.  Obviously not flawlessly, still with my lovely American accent, but it was so perfect.  We taught and the spirit was so strong and I could literally feel the spirit speaking through me.  I feel like I hardly did anything, and I know I didn’t. because wow, I knew my weaknesses and knew I needed Him more than anything at that moment.   He was there. because I was worthy and we were willing and working and man, was it worth it!   The first lesson with her in this area and we set them for baptism and we literally got to see the spirit working with the elite in this area.   It was such an amazing moment.

I know 100000000000% that this work is of God and that I am nothing here without the Spirit.  I know that this gospel is the complete gospel of Christ, that this work is accelerated throughout the entire world and on the other side of the veil as well, that we are the chosen spirits to be living in this time and that we have the huge responsibility to share the good word with others.  I know that our job is really pretty easy, because we have the truth and the Spirit is here, testifying of this truth.  We don’t NEED to convince anyone.

oops!  Time’s up!

Thank you soooo much for all you do, your prayers and support and love.

I’m praying for you and your talk this week, Mom!!  It’ll be suuuuper awesome!  I hope you read the last general conference talks on the priesthood!  They are amaaaazing! haha.  I know that they’ll feel the spirit in your testimony more than anything in the doctrine.  You’re all such amazing missionaries at home!  Such examples to me!  Thank youuuu<3333

p.s.  I can’t believe you’re all going to YW camp already.  Did that just happen??? .;.... last .. year. what. haha. so weird.

Love you all!!! Keep safe!  Brasil is winning the world cup.  Think of me when you watch.   hehe. jk.  Love you!   Byeeee!!!!!