Monday, November 25, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hello wonderful family! O que saudades de vocês! HAPPY THANKSGIVING (thursday)!!!!!

Katie! Congratulations! Your VISA is ready for pickup?! That is a huge blessing- a girl from my MTC district STILL is in the states. I am  really excited for you.  

So... this week was stellar! We did a TON of contacts on the road- always good to talk with a lot of people. And, we did divisions/ splits with the sister training leaders again. It was great. 

But... of course, the best part of the week was.... Lucas´ baptism! Wahoo! He is 10- and about just the coolest kid in Brazil. LOVE him! He has wanted to be baptized from the first day we met him over a month ago. It was great! Yes, this is another friend of Jaqueline. I seriously am convinced that she is an angel. I LOVE her so so so much. She brought all of our investigators to church yesterday too. That is not to say that we are not working- we spent all morning trying to bring people to church. But it does go to show that this is the work of the members- they can do missionary work SO much better than we missionaries can. She is inspiring. I have learned a lot about what kind of member I want to be when I get home. It makes me sad to think about how little I did do when I was still home.

Jaqueline just really ``gets it``. Every store she enters, she invites someone to come to church- every day she is passing references. Its inhuman. She is an amazing blessing.

Anyways, next week is transfers AGAIN. Dont worry, I dont believe it either. I have absolutely no idea what will happen because I am pretty much convinced my mission is João Pessoa Brazil - PROSSIND. I have doubts that I will ever leave this ward, which is FINE by me- there isnt a better one in Joao Pessoa. I am so blessed to be here. But, whatever happens, it should be interesting. Ill let you all know 12/04. 

So Thanksgiving is this week. Wahoo! How fun! I hope you all have great plans. I hope you know how grateful I am for each of you. Your examples and support. I have the greatest family in the world. Não tenho dúvidas. I love  you guys, and I hope you have a great week. Eat some pumpkin pie and rolls for me, ok? :)

Sorry this was short, but next week will be exciting, promise:)

Love,
Sister M. Seal



Monday, November 18, 2013

Bat Encounter

So. Dont kill me but I used all of my time writing to Katie, Mom, and President Nogueira and now I have like 5 minutes to type up this week. (NOTE TO MOM: NO this does NOT mean I want you to write me less next week- your email should still be long. Please. :) )
Venis was confirmed yesterday- it was great! 

We should have a baptism this coming weekend.... at least one.

Crazy thing that happened: we were teaching on the street last night and a BAT flew past me- hitting my ear on its way by- probably one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me since I have never even seen a bat to begin with!!!

Haha we also made a Cigarrette Tea. Chá de cigarro. Its supposed to help people quit smoking. I think it helped one of our investigators a lot! He threw up. Gross- but is smoking less now. Maybe he needs to drink it again? Ughhh... how do people smoke? Just the smell of that tea made me sick. But it was one of the funniest experiences Ive had on the mission so far. I cant believe he drank it! And his wife was laughing the whole time. Poor girl, she just wants him to quit so bad. 

OH! We had a sisters meeting Friday and it was amazing! So great to see all the sisters- Sister Bassi, Sciammarella, Morgan (companion from the MTC), Woodland, and Johnson especially. That was cool. 

Tomorrow I have to give the training at our district meeting. NERVOUS. But, it will be fine, I hope. *crossing fingers*. 
 



 

Have a great week. Love you guys.  Be safe. 
Sorry I am so lame- but I sent pictures, so dont be too upset.

Love, 
Sister M. Seal

Monday, November 11, 2013

Lift Where We Stand

We had a baptism! Wahoooooooooo! Her name is Venis. She was a reference (one of MANY) from Jaqueline. It was the most beautiful baptism ever! The spirit was really strong. Spiritual RECHARGE. Anyways, this girl is so cool, she goes to seminary every day, she loves reading the book of mormon and she answers the interview questions as if she grew up in the church. Its really great. We are working a lot with teenagers right now- and they all love seminary. Logically! Seminary is LEGAL! The hard part is that all of these teens want to be baptized, but their parents arent allowing it... it nearly breaks my heart. But, we are praying hard and I know that God is in control. We do what we can and Heavenly Father always makes up the difference- because He is the difference. He is everything and He wants these kids to be baptized even more than I do.
We had a cool activity at the church Thursday. It was a ``Tree of Life`` activity, with the iron rod, based on Lehi´s vision. It was awesome! Everyone loved it! That is what the crazy pictures of everyone with blindfolds is. And the group picture too.
8 investigators in church again. This area is rocking! Now we just gotta get them all baptized right? Yeah... like I said, come on parents!!! Ha. One really cool thing was Gilvana. She is 9 and she came to church with us for the first time yesterday. Gilvana told my companion, during the meeting, ``I am going to participate in this church. I want to be baptized.`` SO cool. Her older sister is already a member, so this may just work, folks! Her parents always work sundays, so they cant come to chruch... but I think they will still let Gilvana be baptized. *Crossing fingers*.
Thursday we had zone conference, which is always great. And Saturday we had training from the assistants, which was also great. They talked about how we baptize 200 people per month, but that this isnt good enough anymore because another mission in Brazil baptizes 1000/ month. WOW! I am so happy to hear that missions in whatever part of the world are having so much success and doing so much to push this work forward. And yes, its true- our mission is capable of thousands. We have a God of miracles- anything is possible. This is true for any aspect of our lives. And tomorrow we have district meeting again. YES! I love all the training we get, because we NEED it. We have cool leaders- I just have the coolest mission in general. Que orgulho! :)
Yep, wonderful week. Actually, this month is just wonderful. And this transfer. And this area, this ward, this mission. I feel so blessed to be here in Prossind, and to be here serving in JP. There is no one else I´d rather be than a representative of my Savior.
I love you guys! I really dont think there is anyone in the world more blessed than I. I have an amazing family- one that means more to mean that life itself. I have wonderful friends and some of the greatest examples the world has to offer. And I am a missionary of the true church of our Lord and Savior. YOU, too, are a member of that church. That should make you smile. Think about that today, and then, lets all go out an do something about it, shall we? The thought comes to mind that we all just need to lift where we stand. Every member has work to do to bring HIS work forward. Urgency is key because HE is coming. So where ever you are in the world today- lift where you stand. Make someone smile. Make someone feel God´s love through YOURS.
LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
Love, Sister M. Seal

May the heavens pour out blessings on all those in the Philippines.







Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Another Great Week!

Do you all realize how many weeks until Christmas? WAHOOOOOOOOOO. No. You cant even tell its the holiday season here. It was like Christmas in Mexico. Total deception. Halloween doesnt exist. Thanksgiving doesnt exist. SNOW doesnt exist. But... dont you worry. I saw lights in the windows of my neighbor´s apartment yesterday. We took pictures- lots, and put of lights of our own. (Thank you Elders who left them behind). So legit! Ok. Trunky moment over now.
Amazing, wonderful, fabulous week. Really. We had 9 investigators in church- which is a blessing in itself. And if all goes right- a few of those people should be baptized next Sunday. Our teaching group is just amazing. We are teaching a lot of teenagers, and their families too where possible. The best part is that they all went to seminary every day last week. SO cool! Even better, almost everyone we are teaching right now is a reference from my best friend, Jaqueline. She is so cool. She single-handedly brought 6 of those people to church sunday and she bore her testimony in sacrament meeting. She spends a good deal of her time calling friends and inviting them to church. She may or may not be one of the coolest members I know. Recent-converts are so cool. 

Saturday we started an English class at the church. It went pretty well. Our ward-mission leader was actually the one who taught it. He is brazilian but he speaks really well. I think Next saturday we will teach though. Its pretty cool, and when investigators come, ainda mais legal! 

Portuguese is coming a long SO much better these days. My companion and I never speak english- only in the english class on saturdays :) And I am finally having people telling me I prounounce things well. YES. Its about time. Ha. But... I still have a long way to go. I think reading the book of mormon out loud is definitely helping- so if any of you are trying to learn a langauge, put President Hinckley´s challenge to the test- dont take my word for it. The prophet said it first!

Probably the best news of the week: Cleonice was finally confirmed (she was traveling in Brasília for the past few weeks). It was great! We also had a baby blessing in the ward yesterday. Pretty much my favorite sacrament meeting so far. Fast Sundays are always cool arent they? Other blessing? Eliane finally quit smoking. That was a huge battle, and we are really proud of her. She is also in the book of Alma- I love how seriously she takes the Book of Mormon. 

Just a wonderful week. Which reminds me of the phrase I need to teach yaáll. QUE BÊNÇÃO. It means, what a blessing, and it is definitely a phrase I use regularly- as should we all, because we are just SO blessed. 

This Wednesday is Zone Training. YES! I love meetings. Weird, I know. But... it also means: Letters!! That will be great to hear from you all. 
Adventure of the week? Yes, still with our apartment. The bathroom. The shower drain is rediculously clogged up and our floor has been flooded for about....48 hours now. Haha poor Sister Nogueira (mission presidents wife). She is pretty worried about us. So I think someone will be there later today to help us out. Ha. 

Well, other than that, this week was great. Every single day was wonderful. Thank you for your prayers and support and know that I am praying for you too. I love you guys. Have a great week. 

Love, 

Sister M. Seal

P.S. How was Halloween?

Monday, November 4, 2013

Abrasileirar


So... I have heard about the 7 plagues. But, I mean, come on, can't 7 be the limit?? Hahahaha the number of surprises in our apartment has far exceeded any of our expectations, I am sure. We have had Cats and Cockroaches. Flies and frogs. Worms and wasps. Oh, and of course, a never-ending supply of lizards, grasshoppers, spiders, ants, and mosquitoes. Keeps us on our toes. Fun right? It's like, why not just live outdoors? To avoid the rain? Ha wrong again. Our apartment floods anyway. Hahahaha we love it. We really do. It keeps things interesting. But... unfortunately, still no monkeys, Kim. Sorry. :)
My companion and I have made a lot of ``New Transfer Resolutions``.... one of them being: We never talk in English anymore... which means we are going to forget it by Christmas, I am sure. So I thought it would be good if I started teaching you some phrases/ words so you are completely lost the next time I call/ skype home. Verb of the week: Abrasileirar. Brilliant! It means to brazilianize. I LOVE IT! Thats what we are doing here- being ´´brazilianized´´. haha that verb really isnt going to help you much but i´ll think of a better one next week.
Changes: Our district changed. Our new District leader is Elder Terranova. He is from Highland, UT. Cool, right? No, I didnt know him before the mission. And, the new Sister in our apartment is Sister De Paula from Recife. YES! Brazilian. It is helping bastante with our Portuguese. Gente boa. She is really great.
Other blessings this week: We had a cool activity at the church last week and Jaqueline brought a handful of friends, all of whom we are now teaching! Jaqueline single-handedly got us all of our new investigators this week. Can you believe it? 12 references in ONE week. She is a rockstar. And, our other rockstar, Eduardo passed the sacrament yesterday! That was like THE COOLEST THING EVER to watch. It is so cool to watch this ward grow. For example, of the 4 men that helped with the sacrament, 2 are recent converts and 2 are recently- activated members. What a blessing. My ward is just SO great.
Além disso.... really nothing huge happened. Still so grateful to be a missionary and grateful to learn how much I STILL have to learn.
Happy Halloween this week- I expect pictures, of course. And heck- 1/3 of Skylars candy would be great too. She´s the cutest so shes definitely going to get the most. Haha
And to my best friend in the whole world, Katie. Wow. It flew, didn't it? I am so proud of you. Good luck with all the last minute details. I cant believe you check in to the MTC Wednesday. You will love it. The MTC is one of the most amazing places on earth. There is no greater blessing or opportunity that we have right now than to be missionaries. So go all out and make the most of it.