Send me letters!

First off, I would pretty please like letters. Like if I got letters it would make me probably jump for joy. Just kidding, I am a spaz, I would jump for joy. Except four people have asked me now what my address is so I don't think anyone knows it. Here it is:

Sister Tiffany Carvalho

Brasil Sao Paulo East Mission

Rua Caa- A 229 Belenzinho

SAo Paulo- SP Brasil

03171-020

This week was kind of strange. It was really great, don't get me wrong, but it was not your typical mission week. So Monday was P-day, then Tuesday my poor mission mother, Sister Waite got so sick. She could hardly get up but she wanted to go to lunch because Josi had references for us, and she wanted to visit Tereza who is getting baptized this week. Dedication much? She is awesome. So we did that and then went home. I read conference talks, made a passion fruit mousse, and cleaned up the kitchen. Then we picked up Sister Borges and Sister Melo because Wednesday we had our first mission conference! It was sooooooooooo good. It made me so much more excited to do this work. One of my most favorite parts was this video they showed, and anyways I won't explain it all due to time, but the message was are we going to make Christ's sacrifice worth it? I want to! I have a firm testimony of the Savior and His love for us. I can feel it so much here on the mission. I want others to feel it to, and I want to serve my Heavenly Father by bringing others unto Christ. I know He lives. Everyone else should know it too and come unto Him! So I have got to work, work, work! I read an old Ensign that talked about Elder Bednar because it was when he was first ordained an apostle. His son said that his dad would tell him the following on the mission, when it gets hard, go to work and success will come. When the success comes, remember that God gave it and you did not earn it's That isn't it exactly because I don't have the quote with me but it is so true. This is the Lord's work. Something I have also been reflecting on lately is obdience. Obdience with exactness. We have heaps of rules on the mission, but it is for good. I won't ever forget Sister Ashby and her testimony of being obdient with exactness. When we are obedient, blessings WILL come. It doesn't matter how small the commandment or how big, the Lord will always bless us. D&C 82:10 says the Lord is bound when we do what he commands us. Don't we want blessings? Ai, this gospel is so simple, but we complicate it so much. We will either obey or we won't. Grey areas don't exist. I was trying to go into the grey by telling myself it was okay to get up at 6:45 if I woke up at 6:30 and just laid there. But justification isn't real. Either we are obdient or we aren't. Either the Lord blesses us or he won't. He never gives us half blessings, so why would we give half obdience? I know that as I try my hardest to be obdient, Heavenly Father will truly bless me, and he will bless Sister Waite and I as we teach and try and find more people. In other news, I am currently in Cachoeira Paulista and I have been here since Friday. We are on splits and I am with Sister Melo and will be here until tomorrow morning. She is such an example to me! She is a model and actress, and has only been a member for 11 months. President Ferrin let her serve a short mission (corto prazo, it doesn磘 esist anymore) and she left her whole life to serve. Solid. I am so exicted to be in Brazil. I can feel myself growing and changing, which is good. I am so excited to serve Heavenly Father. I can feel the blessings coming. Just today I read some of the best news ever and just sat here crying out of joy. That has happened lots while emailing. I hope all is well in your lives, and that you all have a splendid week.

Hello Everyone!

Hello everyone! So these past two weeks have been a little slower. So we looked in the area book and tried finding people that we felt had potential. Two of them were Claudimision and Mariza. When we prayed with Mariza she just started crying so much in her prayer. I felt the Spirit and I know that she felt it too. She has been a little flakey though so hopefully she will pull through because she has so much potential! I think that is something that can be frustrating sometimes. You see the potential in so many people, and you want what is best for them, but sometimes they just aren´t wanting it yet! It is like Elder Holland said though, salvation was never easy. Claudimison is the son of a less active member. He was really quiet during the lesson, but he accepted baptism. He even called us Saturday night to tell us he couldn´t make it to church. I am excited for him. On Wednesday we did a fast as a zone to find more people. The power in fasting is so real, it is incredible. Just that day we recieved a contact from Patrick, a boy in our ward and we met a man at Claudinei´s who is so prepared and good. Miracles, ahhh! The next day at lunch there was a member´s mom (Silvana) and we had already plans to visit her later that week but she happened to be there, so we taught her after lunch. She accepted to be baptized but she said the only thing that was holding her back was her smoking. Silvana said though that is so strange though because lately she hadn´t been feeling like smoking anymore. She would only smoke one cigarette a day or half of one. The Lord prepares people so so much!!! There are so many miracles like that happen daily. I know that Heavenly Father is constantly looking after us in our lives. SAturday and Sunday were the highlights of the week though. So on Saturday we taught one of the city´s politicians who also happens to be an ex-Catholic minister. Padre Coelho!! We met him because his wife is Suely´s sister and he stopped being a padre because he wanted to marry Rosana. Ah it was so neat. We felt like Ammon teaching King Lamoni or something because not only is he super well known, but everyone loveeeees him. He is such sweet man. They were so respectful and receptive throughout the whole lesson. When I taught the first vision I don´t think that I have ever felt the Spirit so strong. I was almost in tears by the end of reciting JSH 1:16-17. Ah I just know these things are true. There is so much more to life than the everyday hustle and bustle. We have the restored gospel on the earth people! Doesn´t that make you just want to scream? They said they would certainly read The Book of Mormon and pray about it so we will see how it goes! On Sunday we had an FHE at at a member´s house so we could teach his mother-in-law named Tereza.  Sister Waite and I are starting to become famous for our FHE´s. At the end of the lesson, we invited her to be baptized and she accepted. She said I have been to your church so many times but no one had invited me before. I have always wanted to be baptzied. AHHHHHHHHH. Yes!! Yes yes yes! Wow. The mission is great. That is all. Have a great week. Love you lovies!

Love,

Sister Carvalho

Hello!

Hello! I don't even know where to begin! So last pday after emailing we bought stuff to make yakisoba and we went home and made it. We were seriously about to sit down when our doorbell rang. We were really confused because no one comes to our house to talk to us. I looked out and it was Diana and Jose. I yelled for Sister Waite to come because my first thought was that something might have gone wrong with Claudinei's surgery. We ran down and they said they had bad news, but before we could even panic, they said Claudinei was fine. What a relief! Then they told us the bad news. Cida has had kidney stones but is scared to get them out and with being nervous for Cladinei they acted up and she was in loads of pain so they rushed her to the hospital. Then Jose spent all his money saved for the wedding because his motorcycle and Claudinei's car broke. Also, both the parents were in the hospital so how could they get married that week? So the wedding has been pushed to September. Their faith is incredible though. Jose said he had prayed so much, and they are still super firm on being baptized. I just love them! Cida and Claudinei both got home from the hospital on Friday and we happened to get there right when Cida got home. When we saw Claudinei he just said my sisters! We asked how he was and he said this week was a good week. Uma a boa semana mesmo. I knew that my church was praying and fasting for me. As long as I have faith everything will be okay. He even shared the gospel with some 19 yeard old girl he met from Taubate and she said she would look up the church. That my friends is how the gospel is spead. I love them so much. This morning we went and made them smoothies and french toast for breakfast! Camila was baptized yesterday! She was so ready and so excited. I have noticed that something hard always happens before someones baptism. Some things had happened to Camila but she was still there firm and excited! She was also telling me and Sister Waite about how she was telling her friend about the gospel. When people are truly converted, they want to share the gospel with all the people they know. It reminds me of the talk at conference about the tomatoe seed and how it spreads and can grow into a million tomatoe plants. That is how missionary work is! I am out of time and have loads more to say. The theme of this week and last week for me is Work will win when wishy washy wishing wont. We are trying to find more people teach, and I know that with hard work we will! Love all of you loads, send some letters, would ya?

Ana put her flower clips in my hair and Yasmin wanted to take a picture.

These are Bishop´s daughters, Ana and Yasmin. We are best friends, everytime they see me they run up to me and hug me and play with my hair or ask to play hide and seek. You would never guess it, but Ana (she is 3) likes worms and cockaroaches. Once we showed up at church and she drew one on the chalkboard. Hahahaha. She kills me.

Love this one of Camila! She was so excited.

Us and Camila

Have faith! 

Our zone p-day a fewe weeks ago! The two girls on the end aren´t sisters. Sister missionaries that is.

Oi pessoal! {Hi guys!}

Oi pessoal! It has been another grand week in Brazil. But what is new there? The week started off with Sister Waite and I going to Sao Paulo for P day since we had to be there the next day anyways so Sister Waite could renew her visa. We went bowling and then had to hurry to another area because President wanted us to stay with sisters that were closer to the mission office. When we got to there house, SIster Bruno had forgotten the house keys with her companion that was on splits in another area in Sao Paulo. Lets just say I was tired afterthe whole ordeal, but it was a great adventure. This week we really tried to focus on the Galvaos and Camila. Camila is amazing. Holy cow she is amazing! Everything we teach her she just soaks it all up and does her part by studying as well. We taught the Word of Wisdom and one of the scriptures I read she had just read that day. Weird little coincidences like that keep happening with her but I know it isn't coincidence! The Lord truly prepares us all. On Saturday we had the oppurtunity of going to a fireside that Elder Cruz of the seventy was speaking at and we got to bring Camila and her daughter Raisa with us. I felt the Spirit so strongly. It was so strong! He played a video of how the Atonement and missionary work go hand in hand. Sometimes it easy to get frustrated, but my favorite part of the email was when Elder Holland said Salvation isn't easy. It was never easy It is so true. I know and can testify of who we alll truly are. Sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. I know that He loves us, and I know that our whole purpose in being here is to reutrn to live with Him again someday. That is why I am on a mission. I want that for everyone. And no it isn't easy. Life is hard. But life is also so good! And we can be so blessed through the gospel. Camila cried through it and felt the Spirit so strongly as well. It was an awesome experience. The Galvaos! So Dianna and Jose are getting married this Saturday to be baptized on Sunday. I love those two, I feel like they have been my friends forever. Dianna and Jose were a little scared that they would do what is wrong after, but after talking to them they are solid! That family just wants to do what is right. We had a super tender moment with Claudinei when we said goodbye to him because he is having a major surgery. I think it is a hip replacement. I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be and that these people I am meeting, I was supposed to meet. I love them. I am so grateful that I get to be here in Brazil serving a mission. I know that if we pray to know of the veracity and truthfulness of this gospel we will know. I encourage all of you do so because I promise you will recieve an answer.

A cool wall in São Paulo 

Claudinei with Alessandro! Alessandro baptized Claudinei. I just love Claudinei. Ilove  love love th Galvaos! 

Bowling in Sao Paulo. SIster Ab

reu in the yellow is from Portugal. She is hilarious I love her.

São Paulo 

The wedding! CLaudinei was baptized the next day!! Dianna and Jose are getting married this Saturday and baptized on Sunday! Woooooo. They are such a good family

We went to Sao Paulo so SIster Waite could renew her visa and we got to go bowling for pday with some of Sister Waite´s other missionary friends. There was a McDonalds. Never have I ever loved McDonalds more in my whole life.

It got freakishly cold, but it is hot now again. I had two layers of tights here.

Claudinei´s baptism. Apparently no one likes to smile. Hahaha. But Claudinei is incredible. I have learned so much from him.

Pedro KAuan! He is such a special little boy. I expect great grat things out of him. When Bishop confirmed him, healso gave him a blessing and blessed hiim that he will serve a mission. He will be a powerful missionary. I can just see it now!

Real acai!!! It's sooooo good

Another awesome week!

This week was once again, awesome. It is always an awesome week though. This Friday was the wedding! It went so well! This computer won´t let me send pictures outherwise there would be a picture overload because last week the computer was dumb too. Dang it! Cida and Claudinei! Ahhhhhhhhh I am so happy for them!! Cida decided not to be baptized this week because she has a phobia of water, she almost drowned twice, so yeah. But we are hopíng that she will this week! We know that she knows it is true. Claudinei´s baptism. Oh my gosh! There has beeen the most incredible difference in him since we first met him. He was kind of a sad looking person before, but now he is always so happy and smiling. He is so solid. He always wants to do what is right. The Spirit was strong at his baptism. To know that he has made that specail covenant with his Heavenly Father and is on his way is truly amazing. He can be sealed with his family one day! He can hold the preisthood!  It makes me so happy for him. Just pure happiness for him! When people are baptized, you just think holy cow this is what it is all about. Bringing people unto Christ! The same day as the wedding we visited a reference we had waited on visiting all week, her name is Camila. We talked to her for a little, and invited her to the wedding. She said she would come, so we arranged for a ride to pick her up because she lives far! When we got there she was waiting with her daughter at the gate. After the wedding we were showing her around the chapel and she started talking to Sister Waite and I and said that she felt so much peace around us. She also said that she felt like she had known us her whole life. I then bore my testimony of why we are happy, and we bring peace, because of the gospel! There was a sweet spirit. Yesterday we visited her and her mother and it went super well. Later that night, Sister Waite and I were planning when we get a phone call. It was Camila. At first she just asked if we got home okay, and made remarks about it being cold. After a little she says, so I read that chapter you marked and at first I was a little unsure if I should be baptized. But after reading that chapter, I want to baptized, I know it is true! I started jumping up and down in the kitchen. When we visited her, her sister in law and Mom were super receptive as well. I am so excited for them! What is funny is  that my second week here, none of our investigators showed up for church. Zero. It is a sad feeling. Then that Sunday we met Claudinei´s family. This Sunday no one showed up again. Que tristeza. Then we taught Camila and her family. Da hora. We knew that this week would be slowing down, and we kept praying that the Lord would guide us to find more people. When we do that, we need to put in the work though. We just can´t pray and wait for things to happen. At first, it seemed like not much was going on, but the Lord will ALWAYS answer our prayers. He also promises us in 3rd Nephi that if we pray for something good, with real intent, He will give it to us.I have a testimony of that! Because not only has it happened this week, but many times. Thanks so much for all the prayers! I can feel them! I love you guys!

Love love love love,

Sister Carvalho

Good week!

This week was soooooo good! Yay! So starting with last Monday. We had a P-Day with our zone and I had my first chuhassco while in Brasil! So good. Followed by, Pedro´s batismo! That little boy is incredible. When we first started teaching his family it was through Josi who gave us a reference to his mom, Cida. As a newbie, it is my job to invite people to be baptized. As soon as I invited him and Cida, he raised his hand right as I was done talking and said `Can I please give my opinion´and we were like yes of course! I want to baptized. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Except he didn´t turn 8 until last Monday and he chose to be baptized on his birthday! Cida and Claudinei (his parents) are getting married this Friday at the church and baptized on Saturday. I love that family SO much. Holy cow. They all have changed so much. But I will write more about the rest of the family next week. Just to show you the type of little boy Pedro is, I want to share a story his Mom (cida) told us. During that week she said Pedro, after church next week we can stop by the feira (like a farmer´s market) and get you a pastel. He looked at Cida and said no mom we can´t do that! When she asked him why he said, because at church we learned that we need to keep the sabbath day holy, and if we buy that pastel, the man will have to work to make it for me and that isn´t keeping the sabbath day holy. He then suggested that they buy some coxinhas (brasilian food, mmm so good) and that Cida fry them for him the night before on a Saturday so that no one would have to work. I love Pedro!!!! After his baptism we had a family home evening with Pedro´s family at Luzia´s house because it was her birthday too and a few people from the ward came as well. So much good food. It´s a killer. Sister Waite and I then taught a lesson on D&C 137 and eternal families. At the end, Sister Waite bore her testimony and the Spirit was so strong. Then I bore mine, and the Spirit was so so strong. I know that this gospel is true and that families can be together forever! When I bore my testimony, it made me think of my family and how much I love them. And that the gospel, makes me so happy. I can´t help but say that every email because it does. You want true happiness~ Then anchor your life in the gosepl and in Christ. I promise you that you will feel happiness. Bearing my testimony made me feel so alive and it truly showed me why I am here in Brasil. It was so good. I now would like to share an adventure I had with Sister Waite this week. (Oh ps everyone keeps asking me about bugs because they know I am terrified. I haven´t seen any besides a huge spider but I think that is because the first time we went shopping here I bought a can of Raid and I spray it around the house at least twice a week. The goal here is to avoid bugs) So we were trying to get to a neighborhood called Cecap and I wanted to take the bus because it was hot. It´s hot here and it is winter. I am so scared for summer. Anyways, I could tell that Sister Waite wasn´t as enthused but didn´t say no either so we took the bus. This was the first ´shortcut´. When we reached the stop I was like okay let´s go and Sister Waite was just like oh no, it will drop off closer. One more stop. No it will drop us off closer. We started going down this highway and I am like ahhhhh so the next stop we got off and had a long ways to walk. After 15 minutes of walking we finally can see the neighborhood and we see these little boys running into this huge huge field with horses in it. If we crossed the field it would be another shortcut. Sister Waite loves adventure and turns to me and says Sister, let´s cross the field. I was just like uhhh, are you sure~ Sister Waite just said yeah yeah yeah, let´s go! I relucantly went, because I felt bad after the whole bus fiasco. We start trekking this field and my feet would go in past my  ankles in this grass. Sister Waite is just laughing and is like ahhhhhh this is so cool, and I am thinking there is probably super scary bugs in this and snakes and I was just stressed. We were almost done crossing it when I stepped in a little bit of water and I was like what is this. Sister Waite was ahead and 20 seconds later she says sister, I just stepped in water past my ankles. She was like let´s just go, and I said no thank you I will cross the field and go around. We stood there trying to decide what to do when the little boys who were on the other side of the field yelled, Girls over here! We cross the field to where they were and they said just go through here it is just water. We went through it and the water literally went up to my knees almost. It was so funny. I then quoted Pride and Prejudice after and said, ´did you see her hem~Six inches deep in mud´ Except I had pulled my skirt so it was fine. The moral of the story here is don´t take shortcuts. They are never worth it, and good hard work will always pay off in the end. Thank you all so much for your prayers and examples. I love all of you lots!!!

An update!

So emailing stresses me out. It is official. I haveen´t quite figured out the tatic yet to get to everyone. And I feel SO bad when I can only write a short response, or don´t write back at all. Also, everyone probably thinks I am a spaz. Which I am. But it´s cool. But truly, all the emails mean so much to me. And make me so happy! I read them all, and I promise to get back to you all eventually. I am sorry if I have hurt anyone´s feelings. I had uploaded all the pictures last week and then they wouldn´t send and Sister Waite said we could only send two at a time. So only two random ones got sent. I am going to try an cover lots of questions that were asked. So I live in an apartment a house away from the church building just Sister Waite and I. It is on top of a Xerox place. It is sweet! The members here are so good! I have a firm testimony that missionary work best happens through the members. At home I was always really passive on sharing the gospel. I didn´t want to offend anyone or make things weird. But it is so important. And it won´t be weird if you share it with love. Don´t we all want others to know how happy the gospel makes us? All of the people we baptized were all references from the members. All of them! Something else that I am sure of is that the Lord prepares people. I am nothing but an instrument in the Lord´s hands.My job is to be prepared by having the Spirit with me and reading my scriptures. I know that if I am doing those things, the Lord will guide me to the right people, and have me know exactly what He wants me to say. Just this week we visited a less active member that said she just didn´t feel like going to church. Nothing had happened, no one had offended her, she just felt most comfortable at home. She just always wants to stay home. Just that morning I had read 3rd Nephi 9:13-14(I am nt 100% sure it was 9. It might have been 10) where Christ says to come unto Him. It is so simple! The gospel is so simple. We are the ones that complicate it. All Christ wants is for us to come unto Him. We can be our happiest and best if we have faith in the Lord and come unto Him. Ahhhh the gospel is so good! So good. So I was able to share that with this lady, because I know that the Lord wants her to come unt Him! And she will be happy again and not want to stay home all the time! This week we had four baptisms, and one later on today at 5! Lorena is blessed. The members are excited about missionary work, they love the missionaries, and the references they have are prepared! During all four of their baptisms, I just felt warm. Like a blanket was wrapped around me. I am so happy for them! I know that this choice that they made will bless their lives so much. I am so happy that the happiness the gospel brings me, they can have it too! Ahhhhhh BATISMOS! First there was Silvia and Ana Marcia. Their mom was baptized 13 years ago and is inactive. We found them because we were teaching another family (their story soon to come) and Silvia is their neighbor so she was always there. We taught them and they both got so excited. Alessandra their mom was really quiet at first but after the baptism something within her awakened. We visited her after and she was just like I need to do what is right!  I know what is true, and I am going at it full force. I am so excited for them. Next is Kaylane! Her two brothers were baptized last month, and now she was! Their family is so sweet! They already all read scriptures together and they are so well mannered! I love them. Lastly we have Felipe. Poliana gave him as a reference and HOLY COW. We stopped by at first and just gave him a pamphlet on the Restoration because we were on our way to another visit. When we came back the next day, he was just like yeah all of this stuff is stuff I had already believed in before. I just have a few questions on the preisthood and how the church was restored.  WHAT!? Okay! His faith and prepardeness just amazes me. I am so so so happy for all these people. And I am so happy that they have the gospel in their lives now. I know it will change their lives for the absolute best. I know that Christ lives, and loves us. I know that if we come unto Him everything will just fall into place. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God and that he restored the true church on the earth. I love the gospel, and I am so grateful that I can share it with everyone. Thank you so much to everyone that has influnced my life thus far and has helped me get here. Love you!

PS If you send me a letter by the end of this week, I will for sure get it the 30th because Sister Waite and I have to go to the mission officce then to renew her visa. Wooo.