Oi Aminginhos

3/27/17
So this week went by really fast and I don't know what to say but guess what JORGE CAME TO CHURCH. After a month of teaching Natália and her consistently coming to church for a few weeks, JORGE CAME. The first lesson with her, she cried because she was struggling in her relationship with him and he never supported her in church or anything remotely religious and a month later, she tells us that they have been arguing less since she's been coming to church, that there is more peace in their house, and that Jorge is really reading the Book of Mormon and praying and HE CAME TO CHURCH. He told us that, before, he used to think anything religious was super annoying but, the more he talks to us, the more he wants to hear and learn. 

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I seriously love them. HEARTS HEARTS HEARTS. 

This week was a little rough in terms of rejection and finding new people and we may or may not have had a couple mental/emotional/spiritual/homesick breakdowns this week but that's okay!!

OH AND this week is GENERAL CONFERENCE. AKA I HAVE BEEN PUMPED FOR THIS FOR THE PAST MONTH AND A HALF. Every 6 months we have an opportunity to hear a live broadcast from the prophet and other leaders of the church and it is literally a FOUNTAIN OF GOLD. If you have questions about life or if you need direction in anything, WRITE THOSE QUESTIONS DOWN and pray about them every day and study the scriptures every day and then on Saturday at 10 am Utah time (1pm here), go to LDS.org and watch the first broadcast and I PROMISE you that if you are prepared, that God will answer your questions through the inspired words of His servants. sorry that was a lot of caps haha

Anyways that's pretty much all for this week! I love you guys and am so grateful for all the support and prayers!!!

Todo o meu amor,

Sister Morata

PICTURE: WHOO NATÁLIA AND JORGE AND LUNA

Os Cegos Guiando os Cegos ft some real talk

3/20/17
Hey guys! I can't believe it's PDay again already; this past week flew by so fast and I have SO MANY THINGS I want to say. Also sorry in advance for how long this email is

Funny stories:

So hahaha we were visiting one of the member's in the ward and haha he may have started making fun of my and Sister German's acne and calling us adolescents haha and jokingly (jokingly?) suggested Acnase cream and haha let's just say what was more ironic about this situation was that I had literally just bought Acnase cream two hours earlier and it was in my backpack when he said this and I'm not sure why I'm sharing this story haha but in the moment it was really funny.

OH and we were walking down the street and found a guy selling caldo de cana (sugar cane juice) and he literally chopped up the sugar cane with a machete in his truckbed and fed it through this big machine and it was so good and he kept offering us more and we were like no thanks we're full we've had too much and then he pointed at me and told me to say, "Eu não posso tomar mais; eu estou cheia," which translates to "I can't drink more, I'm full," And so of course I repeated it back to him (or thought I did) and the street was so loud that I literally YELLED back at him, "EU NÃO POSSO TOMAR MAIS; EU SOU FEIA" and him and his wife and S German started laughing and a minute later I realized that I yelled back at him, "I can't drink more; I AM UGLY." hahaha então that was my funny language mistake of the week.

And then we also did divisions this week, when we trade companions for a day to learn more about how other sister's teach and just to practice in different ways and my companion is the Sister Training Leader/leader over the sisters in our area so she went on divisions with another sister and somehow I ended up on divisions with a sister who just arrived last week AKA greenie me trying to guide an even greenier greenie and let's just say all our plans fell and I thought that I could read a map but apparently I was mistaken and let's just say we were like 75% lost and ended up outside the boundaries or our area?? I don't know how this happened?? haha let's just say my one day as senior companion was definitely a learning experience (aka I learned how to read a map)

Spiritual things:

Natália came to church again! She's seriously awesome. We started teaching her boyfriend, Jorge, too and I can see that they are all using the gospel as a way to strengthen their families and that is so cool. The gospel really is meant to be shared in the home, as a way to strengthen the love between everyone their and to provide a place where lessons can be taught and questions asked in a loving atmosphere. 

And we started teaching Natália's landlord, too! Her name is Anapaula and she's reading every night and understanding everything we're teaching and praying every day and HOLY COW we have all three of them marked for baptism on the same day aka SO MUCH LOVE and hearts around that house. I seriously love everyone there. That house has a special place in mine & Sister German's hearts.

Okay real talk now. I don't know if my emails seem like I'm happy and cheery all the time as a missionary because if that's how they seem, then just wanna say that it's not true. A mission is one of the hardest things I have done in my life and this week the feelings of inadequacy and failure multiplied times a million. I have felt like I am not bubbly enough as a missionary, not outgoing enough. I don't know the language and I don't know how to talk to people and I have been asking myself why on earth God would let me be a missionary. Why would he allow someone with a personality like mine preach this gospel when it seems that everyone loves and wants to talk to the fun and happy and outgoing ones? What is the point of me being here? Am I just here to fill the spot as somebody's companion? These thoughts have been running through my mind all week and it's been rough. But in the past couple days I have realized a few things:

1. My companion/trainer is absolutely awesome and loving and patient and is always there to help me.

2. Thoughts like these would NEVER come from a loving Heavenly Father. 

No matter how useless I feel, God has a purpose for me being here. The only one who would try to convince me - or anybody -  otherwise is the Adversary  and he is trying to destroy this work and our happiness. God loves us and has a purpose for us, no matter where we are in the world. I wish I could go back in time and slap myself into reality that I am doing something. I am a representative of Jesus Christ and He uses everyone who is willing to progress His work here on the earth. I can't stress this enough. I love this gospel and I am so so so grateful for the support and prayers of everybody. This has been a trying and yet amazing week and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. I know that there is nowhere else I could be right now where I could learn as much and serve God as much as I am here.

I love you all!

Todo o meu amor,

Sister Morata

Photos:

WHOOO BYU reppin´

the tan lines are REAL

trying to explain the old guy selling caldo de cano how to use my camera haha

self timer gone wrong

did anybody else watch Sagwa the Chinese Cat when they were a kid or just me??/

 
  

I Can't Tell if I'm Crying or Sweating haha

3/13/17
Oi friends,

This week was SO RAD because we finally moved apartments and have you ever moved apartments in 9174039874 degree weather and 105% humidity and there is no such thing as air conditioning in this city??? Hhahahahahhahahhahahhahah but it's good because our apartment is much more safe now so that's cool. Aaand we're super duper grateful for all the people in the ward that spent a Saturdayafternoon helping the poor missionaries move because hahaha we cannot carry an oven up and down stairs by ourselves.

ANYWAYS, we had a little Christmas miracle in the middle of March yesterday (okay I still think it's January sometimes aka time is passing so fast???)! We got to church and didn't have ANY investigators there and we were just heartbroken and stressed and after the first class we started calling everybody, hoping that somebody would show up by Sacrament meeting (here Sacrament is the last hour of church instead of the first so that's a little different but it's cool) and NOBODY answered and we went to Sunday School and nobody came still so we were heartbroken still. Eventually it was time for Sacrament meeting and we went in and were talking with some ward members and they asked us about Natália and we looked back at her all devastated and said, "She didn't come." And she looked back at us all weird and was like, "Uh, yeah she did. She's over there." AND SHE WAS THERE. Not only that, but she walked to church (and she lives way far) in the heat, with her little baby, just to come to church and oh my goodness Sister German and I nearly cried, it was so awesome.

Other awesome things that happened this week was that we taught Natália's boyfriend! He's not as interested as she is but we hope that he'll be more receptive and they'll realize how much this gospel blesses families. And then after one lesson we had Natália was all, "Oh I have a present for you guys!" and gave us earrings and it was so sweet and I love her so much. 

Also, we found CHURROS RECHEADOS this week aka churros filled with chocolate or doce de leite and YUM ok.

And finally for the spiritual thought: Lately I've been studying the Atonement every day because there is a promise in Pregar Meu Evangelho (pretty much missionary handbook on what to teach/how to teach/how to be a missionary) that, the stronger your testimony is of the Atonement, the stronger your ability to teach and testify of this gospel. So I'm learning that the Atonement is Christ's sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross, and His resurrection; His Atonement overcomes both mortal death and spiritual death/separation from God because of our own mistakes. And as I was reading in True to the Faith (pretty much the church's dictionary for all our gospel terms), it said that, the stronger our testimony is of the Resurrection/overcoming of physical death, the stronger our hope is through difficult times. I am so grateful that Christ, who lived a perfect life, sacrificed that life for us. So that we don't just end after this life. So that we can have hope that we will live again and inherit blessings that we can't even imagine right now.

This gospel is so good. This work is so awesome. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

Todo o meu amor,

Sister Morata

Pictures!

so much rain I thought I was going to die

3/6/17

HELLO THIS WAS AN AWESOME WEEK

First, I can't tell you how many times (at least 3) that I looked at my umbrella and then at the slightly cloudy sky and told myself, "I'm not going to need that today!" and then it ends up pouring gatos e cachorros and my companion and I are running around like mad people in the rain.

Hahaha yesterday was particularly POURING and we were in the chapel and we looked out the window and saw the streets and it was nighttime and the streets and sidewalks were flooded up to mid-calf and the walk home is all downhill hahaha so we ended up struggling for our lives not to slip in the downstream river that was the streets of São José do Rio Preto and there was lots of lightning and I was 80% sure that my short little mission (in Brasil and in life LOL) was about to end in this storm but we said a prayer and here we are hahahahahaha.

WE HAD PEOPLE IN CHURCH YESTERDAY WOOOOOOOOO. After nearly a whole transfer of nobody, we had PEOPLE. Natália, the girl with the cutest baby that I think I wrote about last week, CAME TO CHURCH and brought her baby and her baby was pretty much the star of the day haha. And then we were sitting there and I looked out the window of the door and THERE WERE 2 MORE PEOPLE COMING. One was Vanessa; she's the sister of a couple investigators we just cut. We were visiting them about a week and ago and gave her a Book or Mormon and marked Moroni 10 for her and explained a little bit about the book and that was kind of it. We came back on Saturday to talk to her sisters and Vanessa was there and the first thing she said to us was this: "I read the book you gave me. I read the part you marked, then I started at the beginning and I read a little bit every day."

!!!!!!!!!

Are you serious?? THIS IS AWESOME. When we invited her to come to church, she said, "I'll go," without any hestitation. How rad?!?! And then church was SUPER great because it was fast & testimony meeting (generally the first Sunday of the month, during part of church, members of the congregation can come up and share a testimony/their feelings about the gospel) and it was so spiritual. Everybody was bearing testimony of this wonderful, wonderful gospel and açlsdfjsj!!! It was the perfect Sunday for them to come to church.

ANYWAYS, Sister German and I are super duper excited for this next week and it's just going to be so great!!!

God is so, so good and I am so grateful, this week more than ever, to have this 1.5 years to just devote to His service and His Kingdom on earth and I love my life here!!! 

Thank you for all the support and love, always ♥

Todo o meu amor,

Sister Morata

CARNAVAL no BRASIL

Lol the little city I'm in literally does nothing for Carnaval except close all the shops so Carnaval wasn't that exciting hahaha and we literally had to walk 41894654 miles to find a lan-house that was open (place where you pay to use a computer and send/read emails lol @ not being an iPad missionary)

Anyways, this week was AWESOME in finding people! We are meeting with this 17 year old girl named Verónica who seriously understands everything better than anybody else I've met. We taught her all about the Book of Mórmon and gave her a chapter to read and we come back and she's read that and more and has questions ready. She hasn't come to church yet but we will keep trying!!

We also met this suuuper sweet young mom (seriously has the cutest bebezinha) who has met with missionaries before and loves them and wants to continue to meet with us and wowowow I love her.

Anyways, this week has been loads and loads awesome. This old man tried to kiss my cheek the other day and I kind of flipped out and just shook his hand and he was all, "Haha, you Americans not used to this" blah blah blah and my trainer/companion Sister German started laughing really hard when he walked away hahah that was fun.

ALSO Sister German and I are officially the 702 Crew if you were wondering.

Spiritual thought: So I've been sharing this scripture with practically everybody lately and I love it. It's 2 Néfi 4:19 (I think!) and it says: And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted

(sorry I don't know how to change the font) but I love love love this scripture because everybody feels discouraged and down and not good enough every once in a while. We feel like we can't change, like we've dug ourselves too deep any we can't get back up. But I love this scripture and how it reminds us that, even when we feel like this, we can remember that it is in God that we have trusted. He will help us through our trials. And through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can feel peace, we can be clean again, we can be whole in Him. I know that this church is true and that through this gospel, we can receive all the strength and faith and hope that we need to overcome whatever the adversary throws at us. I have felt down, I have felt like I can't do this, but when I realize that these thoughts don't come from me or from my Heavenly Father, and I can turn to the One who saves and find that strength. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I LOVE YOU ALL. 

Todo o meu amor,

Sister Morata​

Solo Sisterin'

1/24/17
HELLO AGAIN MY FRIENDS

It is officially week #seven in the CTM and last night/this morning we said goodbye to the half of our district that is leaving for the field! It was so hard. Last night we had a "graduation ceremony" and "senior superlatives" (I may or may not have won for "Best Dancing Lamanite Woman") and had our last district prayer. I am so so very grateful to have met all these people and have learned something unique and special from each one of them and sorry I'll try not to make this email as sappy as last week's LOL.

So this week is gonne be a little (a lottle) weird since I'm a solo sister with three Elders! Back at school I was so used to going to class or going grocery shopping or going to work by myself and I was fine but after being attached at the hip to someone 24/7 for the past six weeks, I feel awkward not having someone to even go to the bathroom with!

Okay so when we do practice teaching appointments it's kind of really weird because normally when there's a solo sister, she teaches along with two elders but since we have a trio of elders, they kinda split us up so two elders teach together and I teach with one elder (????). So there have been many, many instructors who have stopped us in the hallway on our way to teaching appointments because they're like WHERE ARE YOUR COMPANIONS (since it's a big no-no to be hanging out one elder/one sister) and we're like afdljadfjsorry hahaha our instructors told us to do this slçadjflsd. 

It's pretty great though. Our elders (my elders?) are super nice and tell me all the time to just tell them if I'm feeling lonely becuase they don't want me to feel that way and it's great! Also, they tend to walk in "alpha formation" around me whenever we go places as a district and they pretend that they're my security guards. 

Hahaha so I guess that's it for this week at the CTM! Probably won't be able to email again for a couple weeks so please know now that I love you all! And please continue to send me pictures because I love pictures of you!!

left to right: Elder Taylor, Elder Forsgren, Elder Shawkey, Elder McClary, Sister Lyman, Sister Wilcox, Sister Hales, me (ignore my face)

Thanks to my mom for sending me these!

Todo meu amor,

Sister Morata