Vila Prudente.....Transfer 3!! WOOOOOOO!!! 1/27/2014

Another area opened in Vila Prudente!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!!! AND Sister Falcão and I got to stay together for a third transfer!! I love that girl so much! Sister Corbitt and SIster O´Brien from England live with us now as well and it is a party. I love them heaps!

So out of the miracles last week lots of really tender things happened. Silvia, Marilia´s friend is a golden investigator. A true gem. We went to teach her and she is such a sweet spirit. She is so humble, and so prepared to follow the gospel.  All she could do was keep thanking us and it just kind of put things into perspective for me. This gospel is SO precious. We have the knowledge that our Savior lives. That He loves us. That through Him, we can repent, and someday live with our Father again. We truly have a treasure to share with everyone.  It also made me realize that the Lord will send His prepared people our way, if we are faithful and are doing our part. Something incredible that happened with Silvia was that on our first lesson with her the WOrd of Wisdom got brought up breifly, but it was just very breif. As we taught her yesterday, we invited her to live the Word of Wisdom and she told us she had been living it since the day we had talked about it breifly. She has such a sincere desire to follow the Lord and do what is right. I am so happy for her and I love her so much!! So something kind of funny that happened this week was that as we walked this week I found a lucky penny. A penny in Brazil!!! It also kind of marked how the work started to fly. We have so many people to teach and love right now! It so exciting and so happy. All of my prayers have been answered and it feels so good to work so hard and have to run to places!! I love Vila Prudente and I love working here. We have a Father in Heaven and Savior, a living prophet, we can have eternal families, we have tools to guide us each day. What more do we need???

In my studies this week something that really really stuck out to me was that the Lord will mold us into what He wants us to be. If we are instruments in the Lord´s hands, then He knows our talents. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He knows who we need to be. I know that He will help us get there!! Sometimes I honestly feel so overwhelmed and am  like wow, you have such a long way to go. Dang it, you messed up. But I have learned that if we sincerely pray to be better, and acutally act, that true change is possible. I know that true change, is made possible through Christ. He knows how to succor us when we most need it! The Lord will always qualify who He calls, and I know that I am pretty rough, but that each and everyone of us is getting there. Here is to getting there!! My testimony of finding people and knowing that I was supposed to meet that person has increased. The  work really is moving along beautifully and it is so happy. I have learned to work with the members more, and how to involve them more. We members really need to get our game on! There are those we love that need this special message!!

 Love you all,

SIster Carvalho

Gems of the week:

Sister Falcão have this freaky twin thing going on where we think of things at the exact same time.

Sister O´Brien: How do you say bridesmaid in Portuguese??

Me: Dama

Sister O´Brien: Dama... well that doesn´t sound too positive now does it?

Sister Corbitt gave Sister Falcão and I a couple name: Sister Calvão

Miguel Bernardo´s baptism! It was such a special day!

We had a zone BBQ.... Elder Astin always wears these sunglasses indoors and
I think it is dumb... so when he took them off and left them lying around
SIster Falcão and I took pictures while stealing frosting.

My name is SIster Carvalho and I like to photobomb.

Transfers...TOTGETHER FOR A THIR TRANSFER! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAaa!

Sister Corbitt has named us companion-in-laws. I am fond of it. Living in
four is the best. This is us in order from shortest to tallest. Sister
Falcão, Me, Sister O´Brien and Sister Corbitt!

Simplicity, Miracles & lots of other gems 1/20/2014

This past week we worked really hard to strengthen our current investigators and to find lots more. The week before we had  gotten 7 new addresses in one day with set appointments to go back and visit. This week we went and visited all those people. Not all of them were too interested, but on Saturday we visited one and to be honest, I had little faith after how all the other appointments had gone. We had talked to Sonia a week before and marked but it was far and I just thought, she probably forgot. When we got there, she just said I thought you guys weren´t coming. It was probably one of the best lessons we have tught. She accepted baptism and was really anxious to learn. It was so cool!! She didn´t attend church, but I feel like she is reallya wanting to know more. There was also a day when all our appointments fell through. All of them. We were walking and I jjust kept praying for us to find someone. All of sudden, we start talking to a lady and we got to teach her that day!! The whole week was just full of finding elect people. Another one was a contact we did with these 2 17 years olds. When we went back to teach them, it turns out that one was baptized last week but only went to church twice so she could be baptized but then didn´t return because she dind´t understand anything. But now, she wants to come back and her cousin accepted baptism too! WAHOO!!!!

This week though was also full of good studies. I love studying. It is such a precious time because we learn so so so much. More often than not we also study exactly what the Lord would have us learn. I love the conference talks, they are the best. It is the best knowing we have real alive prophets who are divinely inspired by Heavenly Father to lead and guide us. I think every single talk I read this week spoke of enduring to the end and small and simple things. Simplicity is wonderful. If we pray and study our scriptures earnestly, Heavenly Father WILL answer. He will hear, and He will help us in exactly the way we need. The best was reading Alma 58. The Nephites were having kind of a rough time during the war, and it seemed like it wasn´t ending. They didn´t quite know why, but in the end they poured out their whole souls to the Lord. They didn´t know how exactly that they would overcome their difficulties but they decided to go forth with all their might because the Lord would bless them. I really want to apply this to my life and even though I don´t quite see the whole picture, just go forth with all my might and do the Lord´s work. I love this work, and I know that the Lord is blessing His work, because it is HIS work and not mine. 

Yesterday was the crowing jewel of the whole week. This Sunday was by far one of the most miraculous  spiritual Sundays I have had on the mission. All of the lessons at church focused on Christ and the Spirit was so strong and so sweet the entire meeting. We had 9 people go to church on Sunday. 9!!!! It was so crazy. Although none of the people we taught went, we had a family of 4 show up. Four!!! One of Marilia´s friends also showed up and is super interested. A recent convert´s son came and is wanting to be baptized so we are teaching him this week!!!! MIRACLES LIKE WHOA. After , We had Miguel Bernardo´s baptism. Marilia is a recent convert and his mom and she is really wanting an eternal family. We are teaching her husband, and since her son just turned 8 it was his baptism!! When she bore her testimony to her son at thebaptism....holy cow. Everyone who was there was in tears. I think it will really make the difference for her husband. She gave by far one of the most powerful testimonies ever. Holy cow. After we had lunch at a member´s home and she put on the Book of Morom Testaments film. I just cried and cried at the end. I know my Savior lives!!!! Just thinking of His love, and His sacrifice makes my heart full. I love our Savior. I am so glad I get to serve Him for 18 months, and learn to be a little more like Him. And now for the last miracle of SUnday. Sundays in VP are usually super dead. There is no one on the streets. We were walking and saw these three people sitting by a payphone. I was like hey sister, let´s go do a contact with em. They spoke NO Portuguese. Only Spanish. So I totally got to use my Spanish and teach them a little. It was such a cool feeling. To top it all off though, I happened to have a Restoartion pamphlet in SPANISH by chance in my bag. It wasn´t by chance though, becuase Heavenly Father knew I would find those Bolivians!!!! It was so so so cool. We are going back to visit them this Saturday. I think the mission is really my favorite thing ever.

Love love love,

SIster Carvalho

Great Gems From this week:

Sister Falcão may have picked up some of my habits... like saying oh my gosh. Now whenever something awkward or amazing happens she just starts chanting ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh or awkwardawkwardawkward. It is so funny. Also, we always always always say nao agentou. which kind of means I can´t handle it.

1/13/14

WOW 1/6/2014

So first off Happy New Years! Forgot to say that last email. I come home this year and that literally freaks me out so much. Wow this week was really cool. We were so blessed. The 31st and 1st here were DEAD. There was not one person on the streets. We even went to the busiest street in our area to try and do contacts and there was like 4 people there. However, we met the neatest people in these two dead days. Most everyone we met even agreed to have us return and teach them. The whole week went on this pattern and we met so many new people! It is a prayer that I have long prayed for and it was answered. I am so excited to meet with all of these people, they were truly placed there for us to meet by Heavenly Father. One of the sweetest people we met was Esmeralda. She has had so so so many hard trials in her life. Oh I forget to say, I have found out the trick to getting people to stop in contacts. You both have to be moving, and then you have to stop and then the other person will stop. It is great. So we did that with Esmeralda and she told us she had just moved into her house that very day. We didn´t even teach her anything we were just like can we go help you? We can clean, unpack boxes, whatever you´d like! She was just like really, you would do that? Yes, of course! She then said any sort of help would be welcome. We went there yesterday and chatted with her and helped clean her cupboards. It was interesting to see how each and every single human being has our own indivudal sturggles and trials. Even more amazing is how Heavenly Father helps each and every single one of us throughout these trials. Something I have gained a huge testimony of here on the mission is the scripture that hangs on my mission plaque back home. Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. I have realized that the more and more I lean on the Lord, the more blessed, happy, succesful, peaceful, anything that is good I am. He knows us better, and He knows what is best for us. I am so grateful for our Savior. As we trusted in the Lord this week, we were guided to all these new people. I had a small miracle happen with me. I think I am the queen of small miracles, because they happen often and they are all each so tender and precious to me. On Wednesday we were studying and I realized I dind´t know where my temple reccommend was.( We are going to the temple tomorrow!!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!) I always carry it with me, so I thought it was in one of my bags. As I looked through each bag, it was no where to be found. I started to panic a little so I said a prayer to find it. The thought that immeadiately came to my head was it´s in your bag. I was like hey, maybe I overlooked it so I went back and looked. Nothing. I looked through ALL of my suitcases and every letter I have. Nothing. I prayed again and felt it was in my bag. Still nothing, so I prayed again and was just like please, I preach that no problem is too big or too small, please help me to find it. This time I felt nothing. I sat glumly at my desk and just told Sister Falcão, :estou triste. I am sad. I don´t know why, but it was such a big deal to me. I wanted my temple reccommend! Sister Falcão just said is there a special place you put things? I said no, and suddenly the thought came, your scripture bag. I springed up and looked in my scripture bag pocket, and lo and behold, there was my temple reccommend. I just started crying because He had answered me the whole time. I have been learning to really really trust in the Lord. As we planned for Tereza this week I felt we should watch the video with the apostles testimonies of Christ and Sister Falcão felt we should watch President Monson´s. It spoke directly of the scriptures and PLan of Salvation which is what Tereza needs. As we planned for M, we felt it was important to address that other churches all have light and Christ in them too, and sure enough it came up in the lesson. It was such a spiritual lesson. MISSIONS ARE JUST SO COOL. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEE mine. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love my Savior, I love being guided by the Spirit. I love these Brazilians. I want to work with more fervor and mor diligence and serve with my whole heart. I want to try and become the best missionary I can be. I know as we strive to further the Lord´s work, we will be blessed with His joy. 

Love love love,

Sister Carvalho

The Charmed Life of Sister Tiff Carvalho 12/30/2013

So this week was Christmas. It was perfect. I actually really enjoyed my first and only mission Christmas. Seeing my family was the greatest thing ever. The day after we had a treinamento at 8 in the morning at the mission office with President. I think there should probably be a stamp that says: Sister Tiffany Carvalho, disaster of the Brazil São Paulo East mission. From losing the cell phone on the first week, to leaving the house keys at the office and having to go all the way back, and being almost an hour late to the treinamento I don´t even know what to expect anymore. We had set up our alarm for 5:30 and it didn´t go off. I have timing issues. Sheridan would always get upset at me. I have been trying to work on it for a while now. At the training we focused on making goals, and changing ourselves for the better. I know that if I do my part, the Lord will bless me in trying to change myself. I am excited to change and try and become better. After being late, Sister Falcão and I were more than determined to do everything on time perfectly. I think you could say we learned our lesson real good. We have woken up on time and strived to be obdient with exactness in everything this week, and the blessings of obedience came pouring in.I read Elder David M. McConkie´s talk about teaching with God´s Power and Authority. It was perfect and correlated perfectly with the treinamento because it talks about how we first need to be totally obdient to have the Spirit with us. Then we search the scriptures and pray, and that is how we can be the most effective teachers. The day after the treinamento we were visiting a recent convert when Tereza called to see if we could come that that day. She had marked for us to go over on Tuesday of this week so that was really neat. We finished up our visit and headed over to her house. We chatted with her for a while, and then her grandson and granddaughter-in-law got home. They are both baptized, but inactive. They always treat us super well though and receive us well. They eventually sat down and talked with us and HOLY COW. MIRACLES. All of their needs and questions came tumbling out. Tereza´s especially and we were able to be truly guided by the Spirit! It was so cool. It felt so great that they all trusted us and that we have made a special relationship with them that we were able to talk so openly. In fact, they all agreed to go to church this week and we want to focus on each and every one of them. Lots of what they said made me want to be a better member when I get home. As members, everyone looks to you and if we aren´t always trying to be the most Christ like, we can hurt others. That made me sad. This week I studied Alma 44 and it talks about how Moroni gave inspiring words to the Nephites to help them. These inspiring words then helped them to turn unto the Lord for help. If we can help lift others up, and lend a helping hand, how effective could we truly be? The Savior lifted everyone up around Him and continues to lift all of us up each day. It is our duty and privlege to love and help everyone. The world is just a better happier place when we love everyone. This week we also met two new investigators. We are super excited to teach them, we have been praying for a family and they have a big one!! Heavenly Father always always always answers our prayers. We also got to go back and teach Natalia, she had lots of work so we stopped because she got home way late. We went there yesterday and it was so cool! Her and her mom aren´t totally sure, but it was incredible because lots of what believe in, they already believe in too. We just need to follow the Spirit and I am sure that miracles will happen with them too. Thanks for all the Merry Christmases they were great. Love you all!!

Lovelovelove,

 Sister Carvalho 

12/25/2013

12/23/2013