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​