What a week!

This week was crazy busy but so wonderful! We started the week with exchanges on tuesday and district meeting on wednesday and then friday we got to practice singing a few songs with missionaries! We are preparing for a missionary fireside we will be having next Sunday where a big group of missionaries are singing songs. It's going to be so wonderful and powerful, I am so excited!!! I get to be in a little group that is "Be Still My Soul" and it is such a beautiful arrangement! And Sunday we had the primary program which was SO wonderful! At the end we sang "We'll Bring the World His Truth" and there were many tears! It was the sweetest experience!

So many Miracles this week!!!!

Miracle #1: Sammy is our neighbor and very inactive. When we first met him he was not interested at all in coming back to church but the more we see him the more he softens up. He was determined to come to church this week to see the primary program but didn't end up making it because his brother signed him up for work. SO CLOSE! But he'll be there next week! So the miracle is that on wednesday night we were knocking our apartment complex and we saw him getting out of his car. He grudgingly said "hi sisters". He then explained that he had just been in a really bad mood and was super angry but as soon as he saw us he calmed down. We talked to him for a bit and explained to him that the spirit led us to be here at the right time so we could help calm him down and remind him of what's important. Then we asked if he would pray and he said no. I felt prompted  to tell him something Richard G. Scott told  us in the devotional he gave at the MTC while I was there. He said "pray when you don't feel like praying". So I told Sammy that and he finally agreed to pray and it was one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard! He started crying!! The spirit was so powerful it was such an incredible experience!

Miracle #2: So lots of families in our ward have been asking for the names of our investigators so they can specifically pray for them. Also, a member offered to put our investigators' names on the temple roll. Because of these prayers, time miraculously opened up for Karen! We were able to teach her this week and she was able to come to all 3 hours of church on Sunday! We are hoping to hold her baptism either this Saturday or next Saturday!!! Her client is in the hospital so we kind of feel bad that we are happy he is in the hospital because it is an answer to prayer and it allows us to teach Karen and prepare her for baptism!

Miracle #3: Also related to the prayers our members are saying for our investigators. We taught Gideon last night and he committed to be baptized on the 16th of November!!!!

Heavenly Father answers prayers! He knows us and loves us so much! He is aware of all of His children individually!

GAH! I am so grateful to be a missionary! I am so blessed to see so many miracles and to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands! Something that has popped up in my studies this week is when Christ visited Peter and the apostles after he was resurrected and Christ asked Peter if he loved Him 3 times. I want to be able to answer boldy "YES LORD, I LOVE THEE!" I am grateful for the opportunity I have as a missionary to show my love to him and serve his lost sheep!

I love this gospel so much! The church is true! Jesus Christ lives! And he loves us so much and so individually! I love you all so much! I hope you have a fantastic week!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey

Talofa!

10/21/13

Talofa (hello) Family!

This week has been great (as per usual in missionary life)! Not a ton of super exciting things happened but the work continues here in Lakewood, Washington!

This week we miraculously were led to a few less active families that live in our apartment complex! One is Sammy and AZ (brothers) who are Samoan! (Sammy taught us "Talofa") AZ is a little more willing to come back to church than Sammy right now, but that will change soon. AZ even told us "hey there is a non-member living with us, you could come and teach me lessons and maybe she'll sit in"! haha it's great, he's already a missionary. Another miracle was the Richards family! We were just driving out of our apartment complex and there was a giant bag of garbage in the middle of the road, so I immediately thought to jump out and pick it up and take it to the dumpster. So that's what I did, and on the way a minivan pulled up next to me and a man yelled, "hey! What are sisters doing over here?" I went up to the family's car and asked if they were members and he said they "used to be". So immediately I said, "Great, we'll stop by!" and ran back to the car to go visit them. It was a fun experience and they said they're going to come to church this Sunday!

Next Sunday is the primary program in our ward! We got to watch all of the primary kids practice on Sunday because we get to take part in the program! All of the missionaries in our district are going to jump in the program at the end and sing "army of Helaman" with all of the children! I almost cried on Sunday just practicing it! It is going to be so powerful and special when we do it on Sunday!

The American Lake Ward is really getting excited and anxious to help the missionaries! Our wonderful Bishop is really pushing the ward to be a part of the hastening of the work! This week he pushed for the ward to pray for the missionaries and their investigators BY NAME! I invite you all to do the same! We must pray specifically!! I know if you all pray for your missionaries and their investigators by name, miracles will happen! Already so many families have approached us and asked us for the names of our investigators! At the end of the sacrament meeting, the woman saying the closing prayer prayed for us individually and I almost cried. It truly is so powerful to pray specifically for people by their name!

I just love this wonderful ward I am serving in! On Sunday a woman approached me and said her friend is from London and she told her that one of the missionaries in her church lived in London. So now her friend has agreed to meet with us because we have a connection! Just another example of all of the miracles I am blessed to see as a missionary!

The Lord is in the details! He knows and loves us so much!!! I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time! It is so exciting to see the work of God progress so quickly! Family and friends the missionaries need YOU! The members are the means! Do what you can in your ward to help your missionaries and bring your friends and loved ones who are not members or who have not been going to church and help them come back!

I love you all! I love this gospel! I love this work! I love the Lord!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey

 Washington is beautiful!

 We had a flea problem this week....and this is how we felt about it.

This is a wonderful Brazilian friend.  She and her husband have been helped me so much practicing my Portuguese.  They are the sweetest!

Having some fun in WA-TAC!

This week was quite the week! Lots of ups and downs and belly splitting laughter! We are having a blast together as a trio! Thankfully we all get along super well and have so much fun together! We are still trying to figure out teaching and a few things, but it has been such a blessing to have both Sister Sandau and Sister Phillips to serve with!

Elder Holland's talk could not have come at a better time! This week we were blessed to work with a lot of people in our area that are suffering from mental illness. Each visit was such a miracle! We were able to really help these people and share Elder Holland's talk with them! Serving in American Lake with everyone being military, we work with a lot of people with PTSD and depression and all sorts of mental illness. What a blessing it was to hear the comfort and counsel of Elder Holland and pass it along to those who really needed that message this week!

We had a very fun ward activity on Saturday night called the "Choctober Fest". So many of our investigators and less active members came! It was such a successful night and it was so good to see all of them at the church getting to know the ward members. The members truly are the means!

Sunday was a busy, busy day! The three of us spoke in sacrament meeting! I had the opportunity to speak on patience, Sister Phillips spoke on gratitude, and Sister Sandau spoke on Christ like love! It really was such a blessing to study patience this week! Waiting for my visa to Brazil has not been easy! Having doors slammed in my face almost every hour of the day has not been easy! Serving a mission while my cute little nephew was born has not been easy! BUT it has all been worth it! In Alma 26, the Lord promised the sons of Mosiah that if they were patient in their afflictions that he would give unto them SUCCESS! The Lord blesses us when we are patient! When we are patient we put our faith and trust and faith in the Lord and in His timing! We show our willingness to submit to His will (Mosiah 3:19)! Patience is a continual work in progress but it is so important!

I love this work so much! I've been thinking about little Connor all week and how much I love him! Give him hugs and loves and kisses from Aunty Abby! I love you all so much! And I love the Lord so much! He is so good to me! I am so grateful to be serving a mission and to be serving in the American Lake ward in Lakewood, Washington. HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey

10/14/13

 My one and only car on da mish (maybe....ha, ha)!

Me and my crazy companions get to decorate for Halloween!

Minha Nossa!

9/7/13

FAMILY! My goodness what a week!

Sister Phillips arrived safe and sound on Wednesday and we have been having a blast every since! She is a visa-waiter going to Brazil too so we get to practice Portuguese together! It is such a blessing to have her! We are still figuring out how a trio works but we all getting along very well and are having a lot of fun!

Transfer week is always busy and exciting! The whole mission gets together on Tuesday for transfer meeting! It is so uplifting and inspiring to be surrounded by so many missionaries and to hear from the missionaries going home! I met Sister Tanner too - she told me she is from our new ward! She is great and seems to be doing well!

On Thursday we had the new missionary meeting and it was weird to be the trainer there and not the new missionary! I learned so much and had fun getting to know some of the other missionaries better!

I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! My goodness general conference was just amazing! I can't even begin to explain how wonderful this weekend was! How blessed we are to hear from our prophet and apostles! The talks were so specific and direct and wonderful! It is amazing sometimes how questions you didn't even know you had can be answered during general conference! Wow, what a weekend! 

On Saturday after the two sessions, we helped serve food at a funeral for a young man who was killed in Afghanistan. It is so interesting being in this area, getting a whole new perspective on the military and the service these men and women and their families give to their country.

Sunday was wonderful! One of our great investigators came to the Sunday Afternoon session and LOVED it! Another investigator watched it at his house and we talked about it after and he said he liked it better than he thought he would. They both said they feel what we are sharing with them is really important and are making it a priority in their lives!

Welcome to the family baby Connor! On Sunday night on our way to a lesson Sister Weaver called and told me the wonderful news that my baby nephew was born on Wednesday!!!! YAY!!! Tell him I love him so much! It really is so special to have him here. I've had a pretty cool experience with him being born this week, I think I felt him coming. I just knew he was going to be born this last week! And I am so glad you all got to talk to Sister Weaver! She is pretty incredible!

We had a pretty incredible miracle on Wednesday night. We are teaching a man named Gideon and he is Filipino. Last week we gave him the challenge to write down a question and pray about it and listen for an answer in general conference. He told us that that night he thought and pondered about if what we were teaching him were true or not. That night he had a dream. He said he was kneeling down and he had just been baptized! Then he said he felt hands on his head and then he felt a shock go through his body that made him so happy and feel so much peace. As he was telling this story, Sister Sandau and Sister Phillips and I were just in AWE! Jaws dropped we all got really excited and started talking to him about what his dream meant and what the spirit is. I told him to write his dream down to remember how he felt! Such a miracle!!!

Speaking of Gideon -- Mom and dad, can you e-mail all of the sweet Filipino members we know and ask them to e-mail Gideon. He was curious to know if we knew any Filipino members and I was like "I know tons!" It would be great if they could e-mail him and tell him a little about why they love the church and answer his questions if he has any for them. his e-mail is: gideonngrace@gmail.com 

I am so happy baby Connor is here safe and sound and that Ali had a quick delivery and is safe and sound! I love you all!

This church is true! Heavenly Father knows and loves all of us so much and so individually! I love you all so much! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey

P.S. Mom- thanks you for the package! I got it this morning! I love all of the pictures!!! And THANK YOU for the sweaters! You are the GREATEST! LOVE YOU!

Baptism and mission life photos

 Happy day!

Pillowcase from the Primary

 Lakewood District

Threesome

"So President wants a third bed in your apartment...."

9/30/13

What a week!

Seriously though, this week was incredible but CRAZY!

Tuesday we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders which was really fun and I learned so much! I spent the day with Sister Peruch (my grandma) and spent the day in Lacey!

Wednesday we had zone meeting which is always so fun to get together with all of the missionaries in our zone. We just have the best zone ever!!! Wednesday night we had a meeting for all of the ward councils in the stake and all of the missionaries in the stake with Elder Bussey. It was about missionary work and how important it is that the missionaries and members work together. We are on the same team trying to accomplish the same work. The work is exploding in Tacoma Washington and it is so exciting to be a part of it all!

Saturday was the most exciting and stressful and fun and exhausting day! NYGGERIAH GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!! My first baptism! It was the most wonderful day and the most wonderful service! While she was getting dressed I gave the missionary message and taught the restoration to everyone who was there which was a neat experience. It was such a special day and she was so happy and just glowing and her mom kept crying and telling us "You have no idea how much you have blessed our family". This is what it is all about. This is why I am here. I get to take part in the most glorious work on this earth - bringing souls to Christ and helping them and their families work for their Salvation! How great is my calling! 

Saturday night was the Relief Society broadcast! It was so incredible! I just get so giddy when we get to hear from President Monson. The broadcast was so inspiring and a wonderful reminder that we need to always be keeping our covenants and how important prayer is. What a blessing it is that we get to hear from a prophet and apostles and inspired leaders! I CAN'T WAIT FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE! I invite all of you to prepare for general conference this weekend. Write down questions you have and pray about them sincerely and you will be given an answer in conference.

Later Saturday night we got our transfer calls! ....(drum roll please........) Sister Sandau and I are staying together in American Lake and WE ARE TRAINING A NEW SISTER!!!!!! GAH!! WHAT?!! We are going to be in a trio and we are training a brand new sister! I am so excited!!

Sunday was just the most incredible day! So inspiring and uplifting. Our Testimony meeting was so special! Lots of kids got up and bore their testimonies and brought such a special spirit in the room. Nyggeriah and her mom were so close to bearing their testimonies but her mom said if she got up there she would just stand there and cry. Priesthood and Relief Society was a combined meeting and we talked all about missionary work and all of the new changes the church has been through this past year. What an exciting time this is! The tone of the church has definitely taken a turn to a more anxious tone of growth and buzzing excitement for missionary work. I just love the American Lake ward so much! I am finally really getting to know and love all of the members and they are finally loving and getting to know me! Everyone is anxious to help us in this exciting work!

Family and Friends I want you all to know that I know this church is the only true church on the earth today. We are blessed with a modern day prophet and apostles. We are blessed to have the priesthood in our church so that we can properly perform the ordinances of baptism, confirming the gift of the Holy Ghost, blessing the sacrament, giving blessings of health and comfort and so much more! Please share the good news of the gospel! This is such a marvelous gospel and I have been blessed to see it change lives! I love you all so much and I encourage you all to get excited to hear from our prophet and apostles and leaders this weekend! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Sister Tingey