Fotos

Happy Pioneer Day....almost!

Oi Familia!!!!

 

This week has been a wonderful week! I am feeling much more comfortable with my new missionary life and time is actually going by a little bit faster than it was last week! I am learning and experiencing so much every day! Being a missionary is so wonderful! This week the poor sisters in my room have been very sick and they all have had to go back to the room and sleep for a while at some point. I have been powering through and making it through the week without getting sick, but I think it's just about to hit me.

 

I love being at the MTC! Everyday I feel the power of thousands and thousands of missionaries! It is also such a blessing that I get to see some of my best friends while here and some old friends I haven't seen in a couple of years, like Elder Quinn! It really is such a blessing when I get to see these wonderful missionaries I love so much!

 

This week our first investigator (Aquilino) became our second teacher! His name is Irmao Duvall and he is AWESOME! He has so much energy and focus and he teaches us so well! I have really felt since I've been here that the teachers are here for so much more than to teach us Portuguese. They are here to uplift us and to teach us how to be the best missionaries we can be and I'm so grateful for that!

 

Last Tuesday I got to go to choir for the first time which was AMAZING! I love the choir director!!!! He is so fun and amazing and he brings the spirit so strongly into every practice. I feel like I am really singing with a choir of angels when I sing in the MTC choir! It is an incredible experience! Because it's pioneer day this week, we are singing Praise to the Man!!!!! I feel so much power when we sing this arrangement, it is so beautiful and overwhelming! The choir director talked to us a little about W.W. Phelps and how he basically caused the prophet to be put into liberty jail because he had so much anger against the church and then a few years later he wrote Praise to the Man! What a powerful song and message!

 

This week we began teaching a new investigator - Francisco - which has been a great experience, and again we are learning so much every time we teach, good lesson or bad lesson. This week the church distributed new leader resource materials to all of the branch presidencies and the district leaders and the zone leaders! This work is moving forward and missionary work and training is changing and hastening! It is so excited! I am so grateful that I am apart of the change! I am apart of the rush of missionaries and the rush of the gospel around the world! This week our zone is getting 2 new districts! 27 NEW MISSIONARIES!!! Crazy!!!!! But so exciting!!!!!!!

 

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be serving my Father in Heaven. He has given me so much and blesses me everyday. I am grateful for this time to turn outward and serve God's children. This is a very selfish age in most peoples' lives but I get to spend 18 months devoting my time and heart and soul to God and to serving His people! One major lesson I have learned this week is that this work is not about me!!! This is the Lord's work and it's about bringing God's children unto Christ and helping them receive the restored gospel so they can one day return to the Father in Heaven who loves them so much!!! Sister Colvin and I had the opportunity to watch Elder Bednar's talk "The Character of Christ" on Sunday night. I invite all of you to watch or read this talk, it is life changing! It taught me how important it is for me, a representative of Jesus Christ, to strive to have the character of Christ! This means not turning inward but turning OUTWARD! That means serving other people and loving them and not thinking about myself! Christ has given us so much and is the perfect example, I want to strive to be like Him in everything I do!

 

I love this gospel so much! I am so grateful for the countless blessings the Lord blesses me and my family with! The miracles the Lord has provided for our family this past week is such a testimony to me! I am so grateful the Lord is looking out for my family while I am serving Him. As President Phillips said, "I'm ashamed that I'm amazed". The Lord has always and will always look out for us! I know this is where I need to be at this time. I know that this gospel is the only true gospel on this earth and I know that it is the only way we can return to our Heavenly Father. Portuguese has been a struggle this week but I know the Lord would not have called me to Brazil unless He knew I could do it and He is helping me every step of the way!

 

I love you all so much and I always feel like I have so much more to say but not enough time to say it! I love you all so much and I love missionary work!!!!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey (Brasiliera)

7/23/13

 

Pics

First week as a missionary!

Oi Familia! Tudo Bem?!

 

WOW! What a week! There is so much to tell and yet I don't know if I can really put it all into words!

 

FIRST: Minha compenheira is the BEST! Her name is Sister Colvin and she is such a wonderful missionary! I am so grateful for her! We get along so well and are so different and yet so similar! We seem to be able to really understand eachother and we are always on the same page which is such a blessing! She is such a strength! She is 21 years old and has graduated and majored in Biology and Music. She is extremely smart and dedicated to the work. We both have helped eachother out so much already! Also: MY DISTRICT IS AWESOME! We are already like family! There are four sisters and eight elders in our district. We all get along really well and we just have amazing missionaries in our district. There are a few that are struggling but I really am so grateful for my district. There is one Elder, Elder Siebers who is from Connecticut. He says his family knew our family and his sister used to play with Elizabeth or Ali all of the time. Small world in the Church.

 

Okay, MTC:

 

Can you say refiner's fire? The MTC is such a wonderful place! Days literally feel like weeks and the first week was pretty slow but apparently after your first week, weeks go by fast. I don't know....seems like I'll be here forever haha! But I am okay with that becuase I am learning so much!!! Our first lesson in Portuguese was on Friday and it was definitely a struggle but we learned so much! We were extremely humbled! Our second lesson, however, was such an incredible experience! Sister Colvin and I decided that we were going to focus on the needs of our investigator (Aquilino) and focus on our purpose as missionaries: To invite others to come unto Christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Another big focus was to listen to the spirit and follow the spirit and put all of our trust in God and not worry about the language! Family, it is incredible what miracles can happen when you put your faith and trust in God. I was so exhausted on Saturday but I was so determined to invite Aquilino to Christ! Sister Colvin and I prayed and prayed for the spirit and prayed and prayed that we would be directed on what we needed to teach Aquilino. Words cannot even express what we felt in that lesson on Saturday. The Lord truly does help his missionaries. It was the spirit working on Saturday, it was such a miracle. There is no way we could have taught that lesson by ourselves. Also: the gift of tongues is real! Although I'm still not great at Portuguese, I have learned so much and can pray and testify in portuguese! Sister Colvin and I practice and speak portugues as much as we can! Este muito importante que nos falamos portugues siempre!

 

I love this gospel and I love being a missionary!

 

Each day there are so many ups and downs and highs and lows! Every day feels like three days haha! But everyday without fail is just incredible over all. There is such a power here in the MTC! My teacher is Irmao Cope and he is amazing! He has been teaching at the MTC for a really long time and knows what he is doing! He is great!

 

Sunday was wonderful! The spiritual uplift and day of rest was much needed! All of the sisters got to watch Music and the Spoken word which was so nice! So uplifting! In relief society Sister Carole Mikita spoke to us and gave us a wonderful lesson about planting seeds and how important our calling is! The devotional was given by Brother Heaton and he taught me to embrace the awkward and to open my mouth even if it is an awkward situation.

 

This week I have really learned and had to be reminded of why I am here. I am here to bring others unto Christ. I am so grateful for my calling and the opportunity I have to be here!

 

I have been able to see a lot of my BYU friends since being here and that has been such a blessing! Seeing my friends as missionaries gives me strength and it makes me so happy!

 

This gospel makes me so happy! I want to share it with everyone and I know that that will take WORK! I knew a mission would be hard and this week I have been reminded and have been learning how much work it takes to be a successful missionary! It is so important that I work and study and prepare as much as I can and then have the faith to put my trust in the spirit and in Heavenly Father to guide and direct me in what to say. I am so grateful for a companion who is so dedicated and diligent and helps me focus and study as hard as I can!

 

I am running out of time but I love you all so much! I miss you lots but being a missionary is so worth it to me! I am learning and growing so much! I am drawing closer and closer to Christ everyday and I am so grateful for that! Eu sei que Jesus Cristo vive. Eu sei que este evangelho es verdadeiro. Eu sou muito grata para me chamada e este oportunidade de servir. Eu sei que O Livro de Mormon es verdadeiro. Eu amo O Livro de Mormon e Eu amo Jesus Cristo! I LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

 

Animado e Felizidade! This is a happy message!

 

Love,

Sister Tingey

7/16/13

First word from the MTC

Transcribed from her hand written note:

"Oi' familia!  I have just completed my first official day as a sister missionary and boy do I love it!  Today was amazing!  Definitely a bit overwhelming but I have an incredible district and I have the best companion ever !!! Her name is Sister Colvin and she is fantastic!  We share a room with Sister Warden and Sister Matheson.  WOW!  What a place!  The spirit and strength here is incredible!  It is such an amazing experience to be surrounded by the most amazing missionaries.  We truly are an army and Satan better watch out because we are coming and we are powerful!  I love you all so much and Eu amo Jesus Cristo!  I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!  I'm trying to brace myself for the next few days because its going to be a rough ride but a fantastic one! 

LOVE YOU!

Sister Tingey

P.S.  Tell Holly I saw Elder Lewis!

One Day More

In about an hour, I will be set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I could not be more excited! I have wanted to serve a mission for many years and last October it finally became a reality! I have been called to serve in the Brazil Rio de Janeiro mission and I already am in love with the people and the country! Tomorrow I will enter the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT and will begin my adventures as a missionary! It's incredibly difficult to be saying goodbye to my friends and family, but I can't wait to share the happiest message and to bring families together. There is a great quote floating around the internet that goes something like this: "Missionary: noun, someone who leaves her family for a short time so that others can be with theirs for eternity". I am ecstatic to be dedicating the next 18 months of my life to my Father in Heaven who has blessed me abundantly. I love you all and I want you all to know that I love my Savior and I can't wait to share His love and teach His gospel to the people of Brazil! The rest of my posts will be letters I will be sending to my family each week to report on my adventures!

Just for fun, I thought I'd add this song to my post because I love it and it embodies a lot of what I have felt as I have received my mission call and have been getting ready to serve a mission! Enjoy!