I don't remember English...or Portuguese???

Oí gente!

Então meu Presidente me desafiou falar em só português, não inglês. Boa sorte!! 

Mas, essa semana foi um pouco difícil para mim com na idioma. Não com compreensão mas para falar. Duas vezes eu esqueci completamente tudo! Durante lições eu lutava para falar e lembrar qualquer palavras. Muito difícil para mim. Foi doloroso... e também foi muito difícil para encontrar pessoas em casa.. Foi difícil essa semana. 

Mas faz parte de missão né?  

Mas eu continuarei avançado, sabe? 

Essa semana a gente tem 3 batismos e um casamento! Uma família!! Muito animada! Eles sabem muito e são tão fortes na igreja já. É incrível!

O resto da nossa pesquisadores são boas! Progredindo muito, e finalmente visitando igreja conosco!

Eu não tenho muito para dizer a vocês, mas eu tenho um testemunho sobre esse obra. Eu sei com todo de meu o coração que este é a obra do Senhor! Mesmo que seja difícil, eu sei que vale a pena cada desafio. Que eu tó nunca sozinha. Sei que meu Salvador me-chamou para servir aqui com esses missionários e para servir essas pessoas com todo de meu o coração. Este é exatamente onde Ele me precisa. Eu sei que este é a igreja de Cristo, que Ele estabeleceu a igreja aqui na Terra para nos. Que Ele é nossa Salvador e Ele nos-deu um dom muito especial, a Expiação! E ele quer que usemos esse presente todos os dias. Ele sofreu para cada um de nos, e por causa dele temos a oportunidade a viver com Ele e Deus novamente! Amo Ele com todo o que eu sou.

Amo vocês com todo de meu o coração!

Boa Semana pra vocês!

Com amor,

 

Sister Moss

OH! Parabéns Parker e Jordan!! Muito feliz para vocês! <3

 

Here's the Google Translate (English) version of Sister Moss's email...

 

Hi people!

 

So my President challenged me to speak only Portuguese, not English. Good luck!!

 

But, this week was a bit difficult for me with the language. Not with understanding but to speak. Twice I completely forgot everything! For lessons I struggled to speak and remember any words. Too hard for me. It was painful ... and it was also very difficult to find people at home .. It was difficult this week. 

 

But it's part of a mission right? 

 

But I'll keep going, you know?

 

This week we have 3 baptisms and a wedding! A family!! Very excited! They know a lot and are so strong in the church already. It's incredible! 

 

The rest of our researchers are good! Making progress, and finally visiting church with us!

 

I do not have much to tell you, but I have a testimony about this work. I know with all my heart that this is the work of the Lord! Even if it's difficult, I know it's worth every challenge. That I'm never alone. I know that my Savior has called me to serve here with these missionaries and to serve these people with all my heart. This is exactly where He needs me. I know this is the church of Christ, that He established the church here on earth for us. That He is our Savior and He has given us a very special gift, the Atonement! And he wants us to use this gift every day. He suffered for each one of us, and because of him we have the opportunity to live with Him and God again! I love Him with all that I am.

 

I love you with all my heart!  

 

Good week to you!

 

With love, 

 

Sister Moss 

 

OH! Congratulations Parker and Jordan !! Very happy for you! <3 

Dificuldades, e Milagres Sempre Sequem

Olá a todos!!! 

Então esta semana foi ótimo!!! 

So this week has been super great, and full of miracles and difficulties, (normal). First off, difficult for me because I've had tons of pain in my knee and its been really swollen, really scary for me. I don't want my knee to affect the way I work. But the pain got bad enough that I actually pulled out my brace. Right now, its good. Very little pain and the swelling has gone down. Milagre!!

The language is getting easier. I struggle with conjugating the verbs and stuff but other than that I feel comfortable speaking. I struggle still with understanding but its getting better. 

Our investigators are progressing really well!! We have maybe 6-8 people on date for baptism for the next 2 weeks, and a wedding next week!! Super excited! Yesterday we saw so many little miracles. It was incredible! First off, we called basically all our investigators to see if they'd be able to make it to church, and literally everyone told us no. After lunch we got a call that one of our investigators changed their mind and would go to church if we got a car to pick her up. We picked her up with her 2 kiddos, and went to church. 5 minutes into sacrament meeting a family of recent converts walked in with their sister who told us no. Little miracles but amazing! 

This week I've been studying a bit on faith, and I love the scripture Ether 12:6 e fala sequinte: 

6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. 

I have seen this scripture applied directly to my mission this week. We always, always always always will have problems and difficulties in our lives. This is normal to our life on Earth. But God always promises blessings after we endure our trials. We will receive a testimony or strengthen the testimony we have after we have shown our dedication and faith and have done our part in enduring our trials. I know this to be true! 

Also this week Sister Camilio and I were on our way to an appointment and a lady pulled up next to us in her car and offered us a ride. We were almost to the house so we declined and kept walking. she stopped next to us again and handed us chocolate and had us pick a quote out of a bag of quotes she had. I pulled mine out and it was a scripture which helped me a lot this week. Psalms 23:4

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

What a miracle? We have challenges every day, but we can overcome all things and have no need to fear because the Lord is always with us! He overcame the world, and because of him we can overcome our trials too!

Love you all so much and hope you all have an incredible week!!

Com todos de meu amor, 

Sister Moss 

Zone Conference and Emergency Transfer!

Hey Y'all!!!

So first off, ignore basically everything I told you last week. Monday night we got a call for an emergency transfer and I got transferred. I am no longer in Nova Parnamirim 1 with Sister Nobre :( super super sad that I am not her companion anymore, we had an awesome 2 weeks!! 

 

 

 

But I didn't go far! I am now in Nova Parnamirim 2 with Sister Camilio!!!! Literally I just moved beds in the house haha!! Crazy emergency transfer é?? Haha, but Sister Camilio is amazing. Love her so much, and she helps tons with the language! Que Bênção!!! We have some really good investigators who are progressing a ton!! Oh, and we are planning a wedding!! She was already in the process of planning it! The wedding is on the 18th of this month and they will be baptized that same day!! I am so excited!!! They are progressing so much! And are so strong in the gospel already! 

Oh this week we also had zone conference!! My first one!! haha! It was super sweet! Took lots of notes (which means I understood!!), and we really focused on the importance in extending commitments, following up on them and making sure our investigators are fulfilling them. I've learned mostly that without commitments or goals to progress in the gospel we really don't have the motivation to do so. And a commitment without a follow up is an empty commitment. there was really no point to extending it if you don't follow up. 

I also got to learn a bit more about the importance to each commitment we extend from the SLTs and LZs. Really sweet to hear from them all on all the different commitments. 

Other than that we just did a lot of teaching and contacting this week, you know normal missionary stuff haha! But its going well. I love it here and love my new companion! 

I know with all my heart this is the gospel of Christ, and that He is at the head of it today! That He knows us all personally because He suffered for us all personally. I promise, that if we are ever in need of help, if we just faithfully ask in prayer, we will receive the help we need! I love this gospel, and am beyond honored to be sharing this light with the people of Brazil! 

Love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Com amor,

Sister Moss

 

Sister Lopez, Sister Moss

Sister Feitosa, Sister Moss

Sister Moss, Sister Prates

Sister Moss, Sister Paes

Sister Lima, Sister Moss

Elder M. Villela, Sister Moss

Sister Nobre, Sister Moss

Sister Nobre, Sister Moss

Sister Oliveira, SisterMoss

 

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

Hey everyone!! Hope everyone has had an amazing week! Because every week we have is amazing!!

Well, this week we've had a ton of rain, which is great! And annoying all at the same time haha! It's kind of really bi-polar on weather. Makes the days interesting! Buuuut, the work here is progressing slowly but well! We are teaching tons of awesome people!  

 

Everything is great here!! The work is progressing, we had 2 investigators at church yesterday, which was great but we had like 7 people say they'd go and not actually do it... that's always a bummer, and as we say here "faz parte" which means basically that it happens. My companion is Sister Nobre and she's probably one of the funniest people I've ever met!! Love her so much! She's 19 almost 20, and is a convert of 5 years, the only one in her family. She studied a little before her mission but wants to change her studies after and go into medicine. She's so friendly and talks to basically everyone. People love her! She is helping tons with the language! The whole house is! Oh and yesterday she said a prayer in English!! I've been trying to get them all to pray in English haha. 

I'm about 45 mins from the mission home. I love my district, they're all so great! And take real good care of me. They help so much, and always check up on me. Which is funny because I'm not the newest missionary, but I am the only one who doesn't speak Portuguese fluently yet. Its kind of annoying, but I enjoy learning the language. The members are amazing!!! I feel like this ward is the equivalent to your ward! Super friendly and so willing to help! We have zone conference this week, super excited!! I'll definitely get pictures! 

Investigators:

 

E: E is a contact that Sister Nobre made last transfer, and we finally got in to see him. He is super receptive to the lessons but has troubles with praying. Which is normal for tons of people, but without prayer the conversion process is kind of at a stand still. And finding answers and comfort in our difficulties is just that much harder. But he is super great! Hopefully he will open up a bit more to the idea of praying to our Father, and really having that desire to converse with Him. 

LH: 19 years old, and the brother of a recent convert. We started teaching him one day when we showed up to check on his sister and she wasn't there. He is super receptive and really excited about the lessons. So excited that when we finished our last lesson with him on Friday he hugged us both as we were leaving. Really funny, Sister Nobre tried to tell him no but he didn't care! 

J e L e familia: J and L are amazing! We made contact with J one day and when we came back to try and teach him he wasn't there and met his daughter taught her and made a date to come back. went back and J wasn't there but his daughter was and his wife L so we went in to talk to them. Needless to say by the end of the week we finally taught the family with J there. We are now teaching J, L, M, N, and 3 of M's kids. and one of their neighbors! Really sweet family, and really open to learning more about the gospel.  

B e M: B e M are brother and sister and really sweet. M went to church with us yesterday, but we have yet to get B to church. Teaching them is great, they help with my speaking when I mess up haha. And are super receptive to the lessons. 

A: A we have only taught once, in the middle of the road Saturday afternoon. But he was super excited for church and told us he'd meet us there, unfortunately he didn't go... super bummed! 

F: F is super hard to get in to see and teach but when we do its always great! We've taught him 2 of the 4 lessons and have asked him to pray about the lessons. He is literally the only one of our investigators who has actually prayed. Woooooo!! But he told us he prayed and received an answer that this is the true church! And yesterday he went to church with us!! MILAGRE!!! 

I: I don't know him super well, he's another contact that sister Nobre made last transfer and I've only seen him once for maybe 15 minutes. But he seems great and really open to the lessons. 

S: And finally we have S, who is a reference from some other sisters. We have been trying to get in to see her since i got here and finally saw her on Saturday! Shes super super sweet and sooo ready for the gospel. She already knows so much, she basically taught the first lesson for us. 

But things are great here! Super busy with the work and the language and stuffs! Yesterday in church we watched a video that I really liked. It was one of the He Lives videos. But instead of saying just "Because He Lives" it said:

Ele está aqui

em todos os momentos

em todos os lugares

Ele está aqui

Eu amo esse. Cristo não só vive, mas ele está aqui! Todos os dias, todos os momentos e em todos os lugares!  Eu sei que esse é 100% verdadeira! Que Cristo é conosco cada dia! Temos um irmão e Salvador que nos- ama muito! Eu sei que ele está sempre lá para nós. E sempre nos ajudará em nossos momentos de necessidade.

Amo vocês com todos de meu o coração,

Sister Moss 

 

 

 

A Whole New World!

Hey everyone!! 

So I hope from the title I got a couple of you singing Aladdin, if not, you probably are now. So your welcome! 

But I'm sure you can guess from the title that I've been transferred. I am no longer in Mossoro with Sister Velasco. I am now in Natal, Nova Parnamirim with Sister Nobre!!! It is waaaay different here! Hence the "a whole new world". This area is waaay more city life than Mossoro. And more of what I imagined my mission like, if you ask me I think I'll spend more time in the city than the interioro. But I love it, and I love Sister Nobre! I've only heard great things about this area and Sister Nobre!! She is soooooo funny!!!! We are having so much fun already. She's Brazilian and is 19 years old and has 10 months on her mission. And is a convert to the church for almost 5 years. 

 

 

So far the work is good, we have lots of investigators that we are working with, I think since I've been here I've only seen a couple of people more than one time. But it's really good. 

The language is coming along, the sisters in the house (Sisters Nobre, Camilio, and Oliveira) help out so much! Oh, I'm the only American sister in my district and actually I think my zone too, and one American elder. Elder Torgerson, he was in my first zone in Mossoro and is my ZL now. 

The ward, again, only heard great things. And so far they've proven to be true! I love it here so much already!! 

So this week along with all the changes, I've been studying a bunch of conference talks, and there were 2 that really stuck out to me. 1 Whatsoever He Saith Unto You, Do it -Elder L. Whitney Clayton. In this talk he shares the story of when Jesus turned water into wine. Jesus tells Mary that in order for it to work, the people need to do whatsoever he saith unto them. And it's the same with us, He needs us to show our loyalty and faith in him, and do our part. He doesn't ask us to do things that we are incapable of. He will ALWAYS provide a way for us. and 2 Don't Look Around, Look Up -Elder Yoon Hwan Choi, this one I have been learning a lot this week. For more than just the spiritual part of it. But I'm learning to look up and see the beauty around me and learn more about my area. But also, when we have difficulties and feel like we can't go anymore, we need to look up to the Savior. He is our most perfect example and he knows better than anyone what we are going through. Because he voluntarily suffered our pains for us. He can and will help us in anything we do! 

Guys I know this to be true, that He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our struggles and difficulties and when we look up and ask for help He will help us! But that we need to show our love and faith in Him, because He won't do everything. We need to do our part, whatever that is. He will ALWAYS provide a way, and will ALWAYS help us!!! 

Com amor,

Sister Moss

 

 

End of a Transfer...

Hey everyone!! I hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July! I know I did! Sister Velasco and I celebrated by singing the National Anthem to the sisters in our house and having a mini BBQ!!! Woohoo!

so I am beyond sad to be ending this transfer, I feel like it just started. I need more time with Sister Velasco, and with training! I'm not ready to not be in training!!! It's basically a 90% chance that I get transferred now that I am done with my training but I will find out for sure tomorrow! 

Buuuut, I couldn't have asked for a better way to end this transfer! Yesterday we had a baptism!!!! Wooooo! Super super good! It was a baptism for F e L (mother and son). It was a real miracle that we had both of them there. During the week we found out that L would be at his dad's house on Sunday and that his dad wasn't going to let him get baptized because the "mormon church is satanic". so we were completely bummed. But still really excited for F. We went to go pick her up for church and she walks around the corner with her 1 year old son J. Super ecstatic!!! and 5 seconds later L popped around the corner!!! Sister Velasco turns to me and we both instantly high five each other and whisper "milagre!!" Uggh super awesome!! 

The baptism was really really good. It was the first baptism at the church since the church has been under construction. Sister Velasco and I spent the 2nd and 3rd hour of church cleaning the font because the workers didn't clean it before they left. But we got it done! It was funny because when F got baptized the water was still too low. so she sat on the ground in the font and basically just lied down in the water! Kind of funny! Never seen it done that way but hey, it works!! 

Other than that not much has really happened, we were really focusing on making sure they were both ready for the baptism and did a lot of contacting this week. I'm getting better at inviting people to be baptized while we are contacting. Its actually kind of fun! 

Anyway, that's basically my week, not super super crazy. But really really good!! 

Eu sei que este igreja é na igreja de Jesus Cristo, e que ele estableceu este igreja aqui na terra. sei que Joseph Smith foi um profeta de Deus e que ele restaurou na igreja aqui para nós em esse últimos dias. sei que o Livro de Mórmon é palavra de Deus e pelo poder de Deus Joseph Smith traduziu este maravilhosa livro. eu sei que Jesus Cristo é meu irmão e Salvador do mundo. Que ele sofrou para cada um de nós. E que nós temos uma oportunidade a viver e crescer mais perto de nossa Salvador e Pai Celestial. Eu sei que este igreja é único caminho para nós a viver com nossa Pai Celestial de novo depois desta vida. Sei que Ele conhece todos nós pessoalmente e nós ama pessoalmente. Eu estou muito feliz para servir meu Senhor e ajudar na obras dele. Eu amo este evangelho e muito grata por meu conhecimento de o plano de Deus em minha vida! Eu amo vocês com todos meu coração! 

Boa semana pra vocês!

Com amor,

Síster Moss

 

Week full of Milagres and Eleitos!!!

Hey y'all!!!

 

So this week was actually really good!! I saw so many little miracles this week, it was incredible!

 

So first off, we are teaching a mother and her son, F e L. They are such eleitos (elect). They are both on date for baptism this Sunday after church, I am so excited for them. F was baptized almost 10 years ago but never got confirmed, and it was actually a miracle that we found her. But that is a different story. It's so fun teaching them. This week we taught them the first lesson, and when we went back to see how praying went and if she thought this was true she explained to us that she knew it was true but couldn't explain how she knew. She knew she had received an answer to her prayer but couldn't explain it. Which is really cool, that's honestly how you know they really received an answer. Most times we expect something super great to happen, when actually it is the small things that mean the most. In the Book of Mormon it says that spirit is a still small voice, but is so powerful. That this still small voice, pierces to the very soul. Ugh how amazing!!! The fact that a simple sincere prayer, and we can receive answers that pierce to the very soul. Milagre #1!

 

Also, Sister Velasco says my Portuguese is sooo much better. She says I sound more comfortable speaking, which is really good because I don't feel super comfortable speaking yet! I really see the progress this week. Milagre #2!

 

Oh, yesterday was also another day full of milagres! So generally we struggle a bunch with getting investigators to go to church. Well yesterday we had 7 investigators at church!!! Milagre #3! And even better, two of them that showed up (A e G) I taught once with Sister Udagawa but since they wouldn't  go to church we dropped them as investigators. We visited them one other time before Sister Udagawa got transferred in hopes to get them to come to church but they still wouldn't come. So it was amazing to see them when I walked into sacrament meeting yesterday! Sister Velasco and I will continue teaching them again and hopefully get them on date for baptism soon! Milagre #4!

 

You guys seeing the progress and light in F e L and all of our other investigators reminds me everyday why I decided to serve a mission! Seeing the light of the gospel help these people change the desires of their hearts and have that real desire to follow Jesus Christ and return home is incredible! I really can't explain it, seeing the gospel bring light and life to those in need is a marvelous sight to see everyday!! 

 

I know with all of my heart, that this is the true gospel. And that through the Prophet Joseph Smith it was restored to the Earth in these latter-days. I know that this is the only way for us to return home to the Father and His Son after this life. That we were given a perfect plan to return home, and it's actually a quite easy route. The way is narrow and straight, this is the way! I love being a missionary even if sometimes I don't understand people or people don't understand me. I know that the Spirit works miracles and that is the language that I have in common with everyone! I know that when we pray, with real faith, real intent that we WILL always receive an answer. I love this gospel with everything that I am and am so honored to be serving the Lord and assisting in His work here in Brasil! 

 

Love you all so so much!! Hope you all have an amazing week!

 

Love,

Sister Moss

 

P.S. Super weird writing my testimony in English haha! That took some serious thought!