It’s raining cats and dogs!!! ……and spiders!

9/23/13

But seriously there are cats and dogs and spiders EVERYWHERE! And it has started to rain everyday! It’s getting a little chillier here as we are approaching October and my light Brazil clothes may not be enough...hopefully I’ll get my visa soon!

First off: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNACKY!!!! It's your birthday tomorrow! My little brudder is growing up! I love you so much buddy!

And loves to Grandma Tingey on her day too!

It has been such an incredible week! We got to have a great activity as a mission last Wednesday. We went to a place called Camp Zion and did a ropes course and had a fantastic devotional with president Weaver and his wonderful wife! I had an especially powerful experience at the trust fall activity. I was SO scared to do the trust fall. I did not want to do it at all, but after a little encouragement I got up on the log and turned around to get ready to turn around. I was shaking and so so nervous and scared. Finally i just breathed in and thought of this activity of trusting these other sisters to catch me to be like trusting in Christ to catch me when I fall. So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and fell. There is nothing like the feeling of being enveloped in warm safe arms after falling like that. It was such a testimony to me how much we need to trust in our Savior and how important it is that we act and show Him that we trust Him and he will always catch us!

During the devotional, President Weaver gave an incredible talk. in summary he said, "Jesus loves you so much" and he talked about how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do not condemn us. When we make the wrong decisions, we are only robbing ourselves of the blessings, but we are not condemned.

I really have felt the love of Christ and Heavenly Father for me this week! Every time we get together as a mission we sing "amazing grace' and it is SO powerful! What an incredible, inspired song! I really am feeling like I'm a part of the WA-TAC mission!

Sister Sandau and I have had a scripture/theme for this week. It is Ether 12:27, one of my favorites. In it we are told that we are GIVEN weaknesses. I forget that sometimes. I often just want to be perfect and do everything right and I forget that God gave me weaknesses so that I may be humble. and i am made humble so that I can find strength in Jesus Christ! What a blessing our weaknesses are! God does not expect us to be perfect. he expects us to be our best self!

i am so grateful for the time I have each morning to study! I love the scriptures so much! We are reading the Book of Mormon together as a mission and what a powerful experience that has been!

I am so grateful for the OPPORTUNITY the Lord has given me to serve Him full time  what a blessing it is to be a missionary! Alma 26:12 - "yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! I am so blessed to be a servant in the Lord's vineyard and to watch over this part of His vineyard in American Lake. I want to do everything in my power to nourish these people. (Jacob 5:47) this morning I had a really special experience and felt that in the pre-mortal world, I told these people that I am talking to and teaching that i would come and help them come back to Christ. What a marvelous work this is, I am so blessed to be a part of it! What a blessing to be able to feel a tiny part of god's love for these people!

Nyggeriah is going to be baptized this Saturday! i am so happy for her! And we have transfer calls this Saturday! GAH! So exciting!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Be the best member missionaries you can be! The Members are the Means! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey

Fotos

 A package from home!

 View of Mt Rainier from Base

A 10 year old cutie who is anxious for baptism

Oi minha Familia!

9/16/13

Several times this week I have had a call or a letter from the mission office and my heart stops!!!!.....however I still have yet to receive my visa! My mission president said to expect it by the end of this transfer, so we'll see! I wouldn't mind staying in American Lake for another transfer though! I have met so many wonderful people who i love so much and want to help! There are so many people here that are so close to accepting the gospel, it's so exciting!!!!

So: I know you all have been wondering more about my wonderful investigators! We have three on date! One is a 14 year old girl named N and her mom, Karen. They are both so wonderful and so ready! Sister Peruch and Sister Sandau knocked on her door before I came and we went back when I got here. She said that she and her mom have been reading the Book of Mormon and love it! So we gave her the first lesson and invited her to be baptized and she said YES! We started going to see her as much as possible and she was just taking everything in! Her mom works A LOT so after we taught N., she would teach her mom! They both want to get baptized so bad, we just need to finish teaching them the lessons! They are so prepared and so special! Karen tells us all the time how their family had just been through a really hard time and how when we came, these two girls they didn't know, we brought a spirit into their home like none other and we have been able to help N. out a lot! Oh I just love them so much!!! The Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost is so powerful!!! This gospel is so true!

Our other "on date" is Pelma and we just knocked into her a few days ago. She recognized us because she has seen "The Other Side of Heaven". She's an islander and loved the movie! So we gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to be baptized and she said YES!

This work is so incredible! I am so blessed to meet so many wonderful people everyday and to talk to everyone about the gospel! This is the LORD'S work! and I am so blessed to be an instrument in His hands!

I love you all so much! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey

Mais Fotos!

 Our kitchen

 Rain, rain, rain!

What?!

 We were in a parade!

At the fair

 Beautiful

Mount Rainier

Week 3 in the beautiful WA-TAC!!!

Oi Familia!    9/9/13

It has been a great week! Such a turn around from last week! It's really amazing how difficult experiences and challenge help us learn so much and push us to do better! 

First off - Thanks for the package mom!!! You have no idea how happy and excited I was when I got it! BEST PACKAGE EVER! I love you so much!!!

So this week Sister Sandau and I have been busy trying new methods and working as hard as we can. Since we are both really new, we have been visiting the members in the ward when we have a free moment to get to know them better and to ask for mission advice! We have gotten some GREAT advice so far and have been able to use that and try it out this week! Some advice was how important investigators going to church is! Many people said if they don't come to church, it can mean there aren't really serious about the discussions which can save us time to be able to find those who are ready to be baptized and spend most of our time with them. So we have been working on knowing where our time is best spent and having daily contact with our investigators! It is hard sometimes but we have really tried to see everyone we are teaching every day and it has made such a difference! It is so important that they have that contact with us because satan works so hard on them but when we visit we can bring the spirit back to them and remind them of the good things this gospel brings!

This week we had zone conference which was AWESOME!!! It is always so nice to get together with so many missionaries and feel united in the work! I learned so much and was re-motivated to work hard and do my best!

We also had stake conference this week which was a broadcast from salt lake! we got to hear from Elder Nash of the seventy, Sister McKonkie, Elder Hales and Elder Perry. It was a great meeting! Some things they mentioned were remembering and keeping our covenants. How important family prayer and family home evening and family everything is so important. Also tithing, how we can't afford not to pay tithing! What a blessing to hear the words of the apostles for this time in this area!

What made the meeting even better were two of our investigators came!!! YAY!!!! I love these two so much! It is a 14 year old girl and her mom who are just a miracle story! They both love the church so much and want to get baptized! They both have been reading the Book of Mormon so much and have recognized the spirit we bring into their home! It really is so special to be teaching them! I feel so blessed to be apart of their process of coming unto Christ! This work is so amazing! It is truly the Lord's work! I could do nothing without the Lord!

**Visa Update**

President called me this week and said that they still don't have my visa but they talked to the visa people and said that Brazil has been a lot quicker with visas for the past couple of weeks and they said to expect my visa either by the end of this transfer or next transfer!!!!!!!!! YAYAY HOORAY!!! It is nice to know that I will hopefully be getting my visa soon! Although I am so excited to go to Brazil, when I think about leaving the Washington Tacoma mission, and more specifically the American Lake ward, I get really sad! I have had such incredible experiences here and I love the people here so much! I would love to stay another transfer to continue helping the people we are working with! But I know wherever the Lord sends me is where I need to be!

I love you all so much! Thank you for your e-mails and your prayers and support! It really means so much! I think about you always!

Also, I love having the time to study for hours in the morning! Since I've been on my mission, I have really learned the importance of scripture study and prayer! It is such a blessing to be able to study the scriptures, to know what we need to do to come closer to Christ! And it is such a blessing and a comfort to be able to communicate with our Father in Heaven!

Also, I have learned the importance of MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK!!! Family and Friends: Do your best to be a missionary! Member missionary work is the BEST! It is the most effective way of finding those who are prepared and ready to hear the gospel! It is the most effective way to share the gospel! Be an example and share the gospel with everyone! Find people for the missionaries to teach! Invite non-members and less actives into your home! Invite them and the missionaries to your house for dinner! I know you all are such wonderful missionaries and I am grateful for your work and for your example! I love you all so much!!!

LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVEYOU!!!!

Sister Tingey

P.S. Dad- it was so fun to meet Alan Peterson! Such a tender mercy! Such a blessing to spend some time talking to someone who knows my dad and family so well!

Hello from the great WA-TAC!

Oi Familia!      9/3/13

What a week! It has been a rough one to say the least, BUT there have also been many miracles and tender mercies that remind me that the Lord loves me and is mindful of me!

Lots of doors slammed in our faces this week. I think I said last week that every night we knock doors for two hours and usually we find at least one or two interested people but this week for four days straight we found NO ONE. It was very difficult to have so many "no's" over and over again. However, in moments where I was at my lowest and wanted to break down, the Lord provided a kind kind person who stopped us and talked to us for a bit, even if they weren't necessarily interested, it meant so much to me to have these people show such kindness towards us when we were having such a difficult time. The Lord knows and loves us!

This week we had a scare in the ward. Some sketchy stuff has been happening on Post - but don't worry mom, Sister Sandau and I have mace. Needless to say, we have felt uneasy going onto post and visiting families in the ward. Last night especially, I felt so uneasy as we drove around post so we went right home and asked the Elders to give us a blessing. Can I just say how grateful I am for worthy priesthood holders who can serve whenever they are needed. After the week we had had we really needed the peace and comfort of a blessing. I was so overwhelmed with the spirit and felt such peace and strength as I was given a blessing! It was exactly what I needed to begin the week ready and determined to work as hard as ever!

This week I have really felt the importance of the spirit in directing and guiding us where to go to find the Lord's elect. I had a really cool experience Saturday night. But first I wanted to talk about Saturday morning because Saturday was just a great day all around! We got to go to a place called Anderson Island as a district and help with the games at their yearly fair. We also got to be in their parade! It was a wonderful way for the people on the Island to see who we were and get to know us a  little better! We had wonderful opportunities to talk to so many people. This is the third year the missionaries have done this and it has made a huge difference on this Island and for the little branch of 25 people.

Okay, so Saturday night, our first hour of knocking was much like the previous nights, no one was interested or would even listen. We still had an hour left to knock and didn't know where to go so we got back in the car and I pleaded with Heavenly Father to help us know where we should go. I immediately had a thought to go knock on these apartments that we had been afraid to knock before because we weren't sure if it was legal. We drove over there and said another prayer to know if this was where we needed to be and I felt the peace and strength I needed to be brave enough to do it. The Lord gives us strength! Our very first door someone said they were busy but told us to come back another day. Our second door however, this wonderful man from Africa answered and was soaking up everything we were saying. He was willing to read the Book of Mormon and read more! It was a miracle! Soon after we knocked on a man's door who is an inactive member and we were able to bear our testimony to him and soften his heart a little bit. I am looking forward to talking to him more and hoping he will come back to the church.

This work would not be possible without the Holy Ghost and without the Book of Mormon. We would not be able to find the people who need to be taught now without the influence of the Spirit! I am so grateful that I have been confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost and that I have the power to be led by the Spirit if I am worthy of it. This gospel is so amazing and it is so true! It is so hard when people do not accept it.

Miracle two: So we have been teaching this cute girl named Nigeria and she said that she and her mom love the Book or Mormon and want to get baptized! We hadn't even met her mom at this point! We finally met her mom on Sunday and they both are just so wonderful and incredible and said that they had had some people from other churches come and teach us but that when we came, two strangers, and taught them about what they know and blessed their home, she said there was a different spirit in their home and she said they needed that spirit in their home. They are so wonderful and are prepared!

I am running out of time to write but I love you all so much! I am so happy you had such a wonderful weekend together! I miss you family! Mail is appreciated!!!! (hint hint nudge nudge) but seriously, please write!

I know this is the only true church. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much and know us individually. I know that we are never alone, that Heavenly Father is always mindful of us. The Holy Ghost is so powerful, always be worthy to have the spirit with you! The Book of Mormon is so powerful! I love it so much and I love that I have an hour everyday to read and study from it personally. I love being a missionary! Even with all of the difficult experiences I am having, I am grateful everyday that I am a missionary! I have the opportunity to witness so many miracles and to change lives! How great is my calling!

I love you all so much! Jesus Minha Luz!   HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey

Minha compenheira e mim!

Meet my trainer, Sister Sandau!

Beautiful Lakewood, Washington