The World Cup is finally here in Brazil!

Well, folks, the World Cup is finally here in Brazil! That has made for an interesting week here in Brazil. I knew that Brazil took their soccer seriously, but wow it's like a whole other religion here. 

Quick funny story of the week. Remember in São Borja when the drunk man broke into our house?? Okay, well, one of the members that helped us kick him out moved here to Panambi. And I didn't remember him, but he remembered me and told the story for all the sisters here. Haha. Gave me a good laugh. Don't worry, our new apartment is much safer than São Borja. 

This week has been a crazy one! We had splits with our Sister Training Leaders-- Wouldn't that be great if they could Transfer Sister M. Seal down here for a week to do splits with me? No but really it was really good. Sister Saito came and she used to serve in Panambi and so she showed us a lot of helpful things seeing as I am still new to this area. I learned a lot and have lots of plans to improve. 

Also this week we had a family night with one of our investigators. She is really a miracle. So I found her my first transfer here in Panambi. She was running to pick up her son from school, but I felt like I should talk with her. She said she was in a hurry, but quickly gave me her information. 

One day we tried to go and contact her, but she lives in an apartment on the top floor, and the doorbell wasn't working. So we said a prayer. And within 5 minutes a girl walked passed us to get into the building and we asked if she would let us in. Turns out she is the step-daughter of Botira (our investigator) and showed us in to her apartment. We've been teaching Botira and her family for about 2 weeks now. They are so nice, and are reading the Book of Mormon. I am excited to see what comes of this family. 

Well this week was pretty good lots of work to do, and not enough time to do it in. Normal for missionary work right?? I always feel like I am running from one appointment to the next, and well sometimes it literally happens. But there has to be some way to burn all the calories from all the delicious food here right?? 

Well I love you all! Thanks for all the letters and support. It means the world to us missionaries!! Have a great week.

Sister K. Seal

P.S. Read this story in the Liahona this week and thought I would share. Loved it. 

"Almost three years ago a devastating fire gutted the interior of the beloved, historic tabernacle in Provo, Utah. Its loss was deemed a great tragedy by both the community and Church members. Many wondered, “Why did the Lord let this happen? Surely He could have prevented the fire or stopped its destruction.

”Ten months later, during the October 2011 general conference, there was an audible gasp when President Thomas S. Monson announced that the nearly destroyed tabernacle was to become a holy temple—a house of the Lord! Suddenly we could see what the Lord had always known! He didn't cause the fire, but He allowed the fire to strip away the interior. He saw the tabernacle as a magnificent temple—a permanent home for making sacred, eternal covenants.

"My dear sisters, the Lord allows us to be tried and tested, sometimes to our maximum capacity. We have seen the lives of loved ones—and maybe our own—figuratively burned to the ground and have wondered why a loving and caring Heavenly Father would allow such things to happen. But He does not leave us in the ashes; He stands with open arms, eagerly inviting us to come to Him. He is building our lives into magnificent temples where His Spirit can dwell eternally.

"In Doctrine and Covenants 58:3–4, the Lord tells us:'Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. 

"For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory.”

"Sisters, I testify that the Lord has a plan for each of our lives. Nothing that happens is a shock or a surprise to Him. He is all-knowing and all-loving. He is eager to help us, to comfort us, and to ease our pain as we rely on the power of the Atonement and honor our covenants. The trials and tribulation that we experience may be the very things that guide us to come unto Him and cling to our covenants so that we might return to His presence and receive all that the Father hath.” (Sister Reeves October 2013)

I also echo the testimony, that sometimes when we feel that we are in the ashes, we just need to look up and ask for help and guidance. He will never leave us in the ashes. He has a plan far greater for each one of us than we could ever imagine. And we would do well to acknowledge His love and Divine Power to shape our lives into something far better than we could ever imagine. He loves you, and through the infinite power of the atonement of His son we can become like Him. 

Absolutely Fantastic!!

June 9

Good Morning!!

So this week has been absolutely fantastic!!

We had a mission tour, where Elder Suarez came to visit us. He told some amazing stories about how the Church started in Recife. It felt a lot like how the church is right now in Panambi with a frequency of only 12 people including the missionaries. But I realized that really we just have to be diligent and patient and understand the Lord has a plan. 

Speaking of being diligent we had the baptism of Meline. It was so amazing. It felt like everything that could have gone wrong that day went wrong. The water heater didn't work, and we found out last minute that we didn't have 2 witnesses for the baptism. Seriously everything that could have gone wrong-- Did. But it just gave me the opportunity to notice to things. We as missionaries are truly in the midst of a battle- a battle for souls. We are here trying to help our brothers and sisters enter the pathway towards salvation. But as much as we want this happiness for them, and as much as God wants this happiness for them, Satan doesn't and he truly is willing to give it his all to destroy their happiness. But the day of the baptism came and it was sunny and really warm, and we didn't even need the water heater and the Elders from Cruz Alta came and everything went according to plan. It was a beautiful baptism. And the next day we got to have a testimony meeting and it was to date one of the sweetest experiences I have had here in the mission to watch this recent convert Meline bear her testimony that she knows this church is true. It was absolutely beautiful. 

Well I also wanted to give a BIG shout out to Grandma and Papa-- I got a wonderful package this week!! Thank you so, so much!!

I love you all and hope you all have a fantastic week. 

Sister K. Seal

A Super Week!!

Good morning everyone!

Wow this has been a super week!! 

Well first I received some pretty great hand-written letters!! So thanks to the faithful Great-grandpa Hulet, Oma, Mom, Skylar, Conner, McKenna, Kim, Grandma and Papa. Seriously thanks for the support. And for Conner-- I am really trying to be better at writing back. So practice some patience okay, kiddo?? JK Love you. 

Also BIG CONGRATS to Michael! I worry to think about you going to college this year-- I mean who is going to wake you up now that Zoey is not there to bite your butt? Mom you may need to find an apartment that allows pets... JK but really Parabéns!! 

Mom, keep it strong one more week!! You can do it. 

Skylar and Dad-- BEAUTIFUL cakes!! Send me one in a package okay?? No, but really, I think I figured out why you were decorating cakes. You figure hey, I got 2 daughters coming back from missions and hopefully getting married soon-- trying to cut wedding costs, huh?? Smart man. 

Well. like I said, amazing week! Sounds like the rest of you had some pretty steller weeks too. This week we had Stake Conference. It was really nice and we had some AMAZING speakers!! The temple president of the Porto Allegre temple, my mission president, and Elder Lear of the quorum of the seventy came to speak at the stake conference. The messages were beautiful and I learned so much. 

Even our investigators loved the conference. Meline is going to be baptized this Saturday. But also we brought another investigator; she is the mom of Fabio, a recent convert (for mom and dad she is the mom of "The Bread"). Anyways, after the conference she said she too wants to be baptized. That is truly a miracle, because the sisters have been teaching her for like 7 months and she never wanted to get married... but after this conference she said she knows it is all true!!

Well it was perfect! This week is also going to be AMAZING!

1. We have a surprise member of the quorum of the seventy coming to visit the missionaries Wednesday. 

2. We have a baptism

3. Because I get to catch up with my old district from São Borja.

Makes for a good week. 

Anyways well I just wanted to leave you with a quick thought I got from Stake Conference. Elder Leal shared this story:

A man died and was resurrected and waiting in a room to be interviewed. Another man was ahead of him. The door opened, the man entered, and the door closed. The man on the outside could hear the conversation on the other side of the door. The interviewer began: “I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.”

“Well, He was born of Mary in Bethlehem; he lived thirty-three years, spending the last three organizing his church, choosing his Apostles, and giving the gospel to direct our lives.”

The interviewer stopped him and said: “Yes, yes, that’s all true, but I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.”

“Well, he suffered and died so that we could have eternal life. Three days later he was resurrected so that we might return to Heavenly Father.”

“Yes, yes, that is true, but I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.” The man, a little perplexed, again began: “Well, he restored the gospel in its fullness to the earth through Joseph Smith, reorganized his church, gave us temples so we could do work to save our dead. He gave us personal ordinances for our salvation and exaltation.”

The interviewer again stopped him and said, “All of what you have said to me is true.” The man was then invited to leave the room. After he left the door opened and the second man entered. As he approached the interviewer he fell upon his knees and cried, “My Lord, my God.”

I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support! Hope everyone is enjoying there summer!!

Much Love,

Sister K. Seal

Doing A LOT of Contacts...

Good Morning Everyone!!

This week has been a good one, well I am pretty sure I say that all the time, but really it has been pretty great. 

This week, like I mentioned last week we have been doing A LOT of contacts. Its really a great way to meet new people, and especially with such a small branch, its hard to work a lot with the members. This week we had 10 people in sacrament meeting- again including 4 missionaries. That is something that kind of breaks my heart a little coming from Utah County, but there are always two ways to look at a challenge. So there is a lot of work to be done here in Panambi. I am excited. But in these contacts, it has been really interesting to get to know a lot of different people, and if we are really friendly and nice they usually say we can share a message with them. 

We met a man this week named Nieltor who has a degree in theology. He is really smart and knows the Bible really well. Honestly, that scared me a little when we went to his house. But it went really well. We taught him about prophets and how Jesus organized His church when he was here. He quoted a scripture that talks about false prophets, and then asked us about Joseph Smith. It is awesome how in the moment God truly can put words into your mouth. We talked about if the Bible warns against so many false prophets then truly there should be one true prophet. He became real quiet and thought about that. After that we asked him to pray about we had taught, and he said he would. 

Also this week, we have been dying to talk to Melini. She was the girl that let us use her computer to skype for mothers day. She had a baptism marked, but got into a fight with her husband and backed out. So I went to talk with her at church yesterday to ask her when we could meet to talk about the baptism. But before I could even get 1 word out she told me she wanted to be baptized and that we need to mark a date. WOW! I am excited that she has such a strong desire to be baptized. 

Well my companion is really great! She is patient with me as I am learning how to train, which is awesome! I love the other Sisters I live with too, we have been working together with the other companionship to get to know the other less actives here in Panambi, and really I couldn't have asked for better Sisters to work with... Okay maybe if I could request for McKenna to get sent down here, and maybe we could put Kim back as a missionary... But hey! 

Well, congrats to Michael! Graduation!! Way to go, kiddo. Don't trip on your robe when you walk to get your diploma... okay?? JK you’re tall. That won't even be a problem for you.

Conner.... I am expecting a letter to hear how your competition went!! 

Thanks for all the letters folks!! You are all the best support a missionary could ask for!!

If I could just leave you with a quick thought I read this last week in studying the atonement:

To accept our weaknesses as permanent frailties is to deny the power of the atonement. This gospel is a gospel of change. We are imperfect children of a Father in Heaven who loves us, but who has high expectations of us. He knew on our own we couldn't be perfect so He sent His son. And through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we can have the opportunity to access the power of the atonement and change, become better, and ultimately become as our Father in Heaven~Perfect.

(3 Nephi 12:48)

I love you all. I pray that you all have a great week. Thanks again for all the continued support. 

With all my Love, 

Sister K Seal

Sorry no photos it rained all week long, and didn't want to ruin the camera. Next week:)

Change

Morning Everyone-

Well this week has been a crazy one- Well okay they all kind of are in the mission field. It just seems like time keeps flying by. 

Well, I have my new companion. She is from Curitiba. She is very sweet and already teaches super well, it doesn't even feel like I am training. That is always a nice thing. 

Other than that 2 other sisters moved into our house. Sister Alves and Sister Reis. They are both Brazilian. So yup, I am living with only Brazilians. Yes, that scares me a little, haha but I guess that means my Portuguese is about to get a lot better, and my English a lot worse, so just prepare yourselves for some poor grammar folks. 

Thanks to mom, I got my package and loved it. I promise to write some good letters now that I have some fancy pens. 

Well, like I said this week flew by right now we are trying to build a teaching group, which means we are doing a lot of street contacting. So there is not much to tell, but I am excited to get to do a lot of work here. 

One thought I was thinking about today is the idea of change. I was reading about the atonement this week and came across this idea that has really stuck with me.  I “know I cannot change my situation, but I can change how I respond—I have to humble myself and depend on Him for help."  Here in the mission there are so many things I can't change. I can't change who will accept me into their house, how fast I improve my language.  But the thing that I can change is how I view my opportunity to serve. I can respond by not becoming frustrated with what isn't going right, but instead looking for the things I can improve and looking for the things that I have to the opportunity to change. 

Well I love you all. Thanks for all the letters and package this week too mom. I am so grateful for them. The secretary of the mission said that I am the missionary who receives the most letters, that made me laugh and then I realized how great you all are!! SO, THANK YOU!!

Until Next Week,

Much Love, 

Sister K. Seal

Subway in Santa Maria

Transfers!

Bom dia!

Good Morning Family and Friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day! It was so good to talk with my family- Special thanks for Kim for driving clear down from Idaho. It was so good to talk with you. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!!

Well this week is week of Transfers! And well it finally happened. I am going to start training. I am scared as all get out. So I am going to solicit the prayers of all of you. I am going to need extra help this transfer. I don't know much about my new companion, but I do know she will be Brazilian. I am excited, but very nervous to meet her. I get to meet her tomorrow and then we will return back to Panambi. I am very excited to stay here in Panambi. It is a very big city and there is lots of work to do. 

We are right now teaching 2 people that will be baptized this month. One is Diocir. He is awesome and going strong in his goal to stop smoking by the end of this month. When we first met him 3 weeks ago he was smoking around 40 cigarettes a day and now is down to 11! 

The other lady we are teaching is Melini. I honestly love her. The Sisters before us helped her get legally married. And she is about 23 years old and is amazing. She makes us lunch once a week and she is preparing to be baptized as well. 

Well this week is going to be another busy one, but I am very excited because I am going to Santa Maria so that means I am going to get all your wonderful letters. Big shout out to the faithful writers and big apology also for the lack of letters. No need for a call to repentance. I already repented and am going to write a bunch of letters today! 

Well I love you all and just wanted to leave you with a quick message from one of the Greats...

Neal Maxwell 

Just as "doubt, despair, and desensitization go together, so do faith, hope, charity, and patience.  The  latter qualities must carefully  and constantly nurtured,  however,  whereas  doubt  and  despair,  like  dandelions,  need  little encouragement  in  order  to  sprout  and  spread.  Alas, despair comes so naturally to the natural man!" 

I love this thought. Satan is clever, and truly following him will always be easier. And at times even more enticing, but when we hold fast to our faith, our hope, and our charity we can know and WILL know that there are better days and better ways! 

I love my Savior and the opportunity and privilege I have to represent Him and in His work. I love the Gospel and the perfect plan our Father in Heaven has for each one of us. I know God lives. I know Jesus is the Christ and He too lives. And because of this we too WILL live.

Love you all. As Kim would say: Be good! 

Thanks for the continued letters and support. 

Sister K. Seal

Panambi

Good Morning Family and Friends!

How is everyone?? I am so excited to see and talk with everyone on Mother’s Day! I am also really, really excited to see my best friend McKenna!!

Anyways, this week has been really slow. We had a family night with a recent convert that recently moved into our branch. That is a real blessing (guess how many members we had Sunday at church.... 12-- that is including 4 Sister Missionaries and 2 of our investigators). Anyway his name is João and he is really funny. He is about 50 years old. He is starting to memorize the articles of faith, and I decided that it would be a good idea for me to memorize them with him seeing as how I only know them in English. But it was really fun. His brother is investigating the church and he came too. His name is Diocir. We are actually helping him stop smoking. They are very funny together- it only slightly makes me miss my own sister.

Well I received an email from a Miss Kimmy that reprimanded me for not talking a lot about my area so I will try to give you all a quick synopsis. 

The area is called Panambi- it is about 5-6 hours away from São Borja, and I traveled by bus to get here. It is beautiful here with all the hills. Everything is so green. The members here are really nice, but there are very few. But we have lots of investigators to work with! There are a lot more German descendants here which I really like because I feel like I fit in better! Our house is really nice-- we don't have study desks, but I actually count that as a blessing, because it gives me an excuse to study cuddled up in my bed.

My companion is Sister Taynã she is from Recife. Which is really close to where McKenna is. She has a crazy cool accent-- kinda hoping McKenna returns home with this accent. She has 11 months on the mission, and she is super nice. 

Well I hope that cleared up any questions anyone has about my new area. Today we are traveling to Cruz Alta for a Zone Conference we have tomorrow so I promise to take photos for everyone! Also hopefully mom's package is there. Well, I love you all. Thanks for the letters everyone! 

Sister K. Seal

P.S. sorry no photos this week, the computer I am working with is slightly dysfunctional.