First week in Monumento!! 8/29/16

Hello everybody!! I have so much to tell that I don´t know where to begin! Literally everything has changed in my life since last week. Everything. But here´s the rundown of my new situation...

New area - Monumento is beautiful!! It´s got a lot of museums and old buildings and lots of skyscrapers. Way different from Poá, but still beautiful. It reminds me of downtown D.C. or Boston or somewhere like that. It´s been a little hard because when I got here, they didn´t have many investigators, which was a lot different than my last area. But God is blessing us a ton, and we have an elect family that we´re teaching now, so I´m excited about that!

New ward - I´m in one of the oldest wards in Latin America! The chapel is huge! It reminds me of some of the bigger chapels in Utah that have that 70´s style, with really geometric design and lots of medium-stained wood. There are lots of members here, and they are in general on the wealthier side. The members seem really nice. I´m excited to get to know them all better.

New companion - Sister Rechetinicou and I are surprisingly similar. I think we´re gonna get along really well. I have a lot to learn from her :)

New house - although the house itself is dirty and a cramped, I´m getting used to it now, so it´s all good. We live on a really nice, enclosed street, which is really comforting. And we live with the Sisters of Vila Mariana, which is really fun. They´re super sweet. It´s a little tough sometimes living with three Brazilians, just because I don´t always have the same things to talk about, but they´re really inclusive and kind to me.

New calling - whew. I still have no idea what I´m doing. But that´s okay :) I helped with the training of the new missionaries and trainers on Tuesday and it went well I think. And now we´re planning for the big monthly leadership council which will be happening this Friday. Prayers are welcomed ;) It´s been cool getting to work more closely with President and Sister Silcox. I feel very honored to be learning firsthand from them.

New p-day - Ha! That was a joke because I don´t have a p-day now, but I still get to to talk to y-all, so that´s what is most important. We stay at the office all day on P-days. But we still have fun...for example, today we´re going to play volleyball with the assitants and secretaries...I get to put my mad MTC volleyball skills to use once again ;) 

Basically, that´s all the news in my life. I miss you all very much. I know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and answers them. He wants us to succeed. He´s happy when we do. :) So take courage!! It´ll all work out :)

All my love,

Sister Doyle

Então.... 8/22/16

Hey everybody!!

I´ve got some big news!!! We had interviews with President this week and he explained what´s going to be happening tomorrow with transfers....

Sister Nunes will stay here in Poá and train a new missionary! It´s gonna be super good for her and she´ll take good care of Poá for me :) Sister Martinez is returning to her first area, Vila Virginia, to open it and get it going again. 

And I will be leaving Poá, which is super sad for me. I have absolutely loved my experience here. I love this city and these people like my own. I will never forget all the miracles I´ve seen here and all the love I have given and received in this beautiful city. 

During my interview, President asked me if I´d be will to accept the call to be the new Sister Assistant to the President. And of course, I accepted. Early tomorrow morning, I will be headed to the office to give my first training for the new missionaries and then I will go to my new area, Monumento, with my new companion, Sister Rechetinicou. I feel super unqualified and nervous and stressed, but I know that The Lord believes in us more than we believe in ourselves. And that The Lord qualifies whom He calls. I will need a lot of qualifying ;) I´m very excited to work closely with President Silcox, though; I know that I will learn a lot from this experience.

I love you all very very much. I would not be here without your support and love. You are the best. Don´t ever forget how much you are loved and taken care of by your Heavenly Father.

All my love,

Sister Doyle

Random Pics from Poa! 8/15/16

Pics:

• Sister Nunes loves to take selfies! 
• Trip to beautiful old town of Guararema. 
• Overcoming my fear of a vicious dog that we walk by everyday. 
• P-day bowling break! 
• My random stray couch obsession continues :)

                                                     

                                                               

                                   

                                                    

                                                            

                                                             

                                                                       

                                            

                                                   

Luiz Carlos was baptized!!!! 8/15/16

Hello everyone!!!

Yep, that´s right!!! Luiz Carlos was baptized this Saturday and received The Gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday. He was so ready and so excited and I felt the Spirit stronger than I have ever felt during a baptism. The ward really supported him and the feeling of love and togetherness was incredible.

I am so immensely grateful for The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power it has to change our lives for good. I am overwhelmed by my gratitude to be serving a mission and representing my Savior. I know that I don´t deserve to wear His name on my chest. But I know that He knows that as well. I will never ever regret having served a mission. God knew that I needed this experience. I feel so blessed and honored to be here.

I´ve been studying the New Testament in depth these past few weeks, and I am absolutely loving it. I am so grateful for the chance to really study the scriptures every day and prepare myself to teach (and be taught) during our lessons. We had a sad experience with one of our families of investigators that decided to return to their former religion, which is a religion that involves working with evil spirits. It was hard for us to understand why they would choose the wrong path. But we must remember that God has given to each of His children the gift of free agency, and we must respect that. I know that one day, everyone will know that Christ is The Savior of the world and that it is only through and in and by Him that we can be saved. Until that day, we just need to continue teaching everyone who will listen to the good news. I´m so grateful for the knowledge of my Savior and the chance that I have to return to live with my Heavenly Father again one day.

I hope you are all doing well and feeling God´s Spirit and love in your lives. If not, pray everyday and you will start to feel it. I love you all very much and I´m so grateful to have family and friends like you.

All my love, 

Sister Doyle

Hello from Poá!! 8/8/16

Hey everybody!!!

Sorry that I´ve been kinda lame about writing a lot. Today will be no exception :) But despite my short time to tell you about it, this week was really good!!!!

We had a zone conference on Tuesday, where I learned a lot about how to prepare better to teach. And then on Wednesday and Thursday, we wore ourselves out doing two divisions!!! We brought the sisters from Suzano to our area on Wednesday and worked with them and then the sisters from Jundiapeba came on Thursday to do the same thing. It´s stressful, but also really cool to be able to do division and get to know the other sisters better and help them with their problems and concerns. Then on Friday, we went to the center of Sao Paulo for a Leadership Counsel with President and the APs, which is always a lot of fun. I always learn so much from President. We had a really great training on how to ask inspired questions, and I´ve already seen it making a difference with our investigators.

                                                                    
Our investigators are doing well, although they struggle to make it out to church. Luiz Carlos came to church for the third time this Sunday and also quite smoking. I think he´ll be ready for his baptism this coming Sunday. We´re really excited for him. 

We also met a golden family this week. The husband is already a member of the church, but hasn´t gone in 20 years. And now his wife is interested. I already love them :)

I´ve been learning a lot lately about how the scriptures apply in our lives and how Christ left us the perfect example to follow. We can never go wrong if we´re following our Savior. Learning more about Jesus Christ is never a waste of time, and if we take the time to focus on Him each day, He will give us time to do everything else we have to do in our dayd-to day business. I know that. 

I love you all. Thank you very much for the support and prayers!

All my love,

Sister Doyle

Sorry, this one is going to be short..... 7/25/16

Hey everybody!

I don´t have a ton of time, but we´re doing well here! Sister Felartigas is heading home tomorrow, which is super sad for all of us, but she´s excited to see her family. We´re going to miss her here in Poá. The members threw a party for her on Saturday, which was really sweet.

Pics: Going away party for Sister Felartigas.  Nazaré (she reminds me of Oma) :)

 

                                                 
This week, I´ve been helping with some English pronunciation classes at an English school here in Poá, which has been a really new experience for me! There are things I didn´t even know existed in English haha

We have an investigator, Luiz Carlos, who is really progressing and loving the Gospel. I love it when people understand the importance of God in their lives. And when they´re willing to sacrifice to put Him first. We don´t have to be perfect to follow Christ. We just have to be willing to change when our will isn´t in line with His. It´s lot simpler than we think it is :)

I miss you all very much and I hope you are all doing well!! You´re doing better than you think you are :)

All my love,

Sister Doyle

A year of miracles... 7/11/16

Hello everyone!!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer weather! The weather here has been super random...hot one day, freezing the next. But nothing too extreme, so that´s been a blessing.

This week, I hit my one-year mark on the mission. I cannot believe it has already been a whole year. It feels like yesterday that I wasin the MTC trying to to memorize the basics of Portuguese. The past year has had its tough moments, but it has been full to the brink of miracles and some of the happiest moments of my life. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else in the world. It´s sad to think I only have 6 months left here!

The past week, I really gained a testimony of fasting and prayer. Last week, Ilma (our elect who was super excited to get baptized) explained that she had a sick family member who lives far away and that she would need to go there and miss church, which would automatically cancel her baptism the next week. I fasted to ask God to provide a way for her to make it to church. Sure enough, Sunday arrived, and she was there. She decided not to go. That Sunday, we fasted again to give thanks for that blessing. Later during this week, Ilma´s daughter, Vanessa, who was marked for baptism this Sunday, was expressing doubts and wanting to cancel her baptism. Normally, I would´ve entered into panic if someone said this three days before their baptism. But I felt calm, and my companion and I both felt prompted to teach Vanessa about fasting. She agreed to try it, and the three of us, along with her teenage son, Victor, fasted together for 24 hours. We arrived at her house at the end of the fast and...she felt great. God had taken her fears away and replaced them with confidence and peace. 

Yesterday, Ilma, Vanessa, and Vanessa´s daughter, Yasmin were all baptized after church. It was glorious; a day I will never forget. They were all glowing, happy and excited to make this important covenant with The Lord and start their journey to the Temple and a forever family. I know that God hears our prayers and honors our fasts. He wants us to have answers and be at peace. All we have to do is humbly ask. I could not be more happy about these three amazing women. I am honored to be a part of their lives. They are incredible. 

So that was the big focus of this week. I also renewed my visa in the center of Sao Paulo, so that was fun.

Also, we received transfer calls last night...and....all four of us are staying here in Poá. Again. I am super happy to be staying here. Poá has become a second home to me. Sister Felartigas will be heading home in two weeks, so we´re not sure if Sister Martinez will join us in a trio or leave and have just one companionship in Poá. But for now, no changes.

I hope you are all doing well and are feeling God´s love in your life. If not, try doing a fast. It´s 24 hours without food and water, but it´s much more than that. Start with a prayer and tell God your motives for doing a fast. During the fast, focus as much as you can on receiving your answer and on hearing God´s counsel. At the end of the 24 hours, end with a prayer. If possible, donate the money that you would´ve used for food to help those who are in need. I know that if you try this, and do it with faith, you will recieve the help/comfort/advice/answers that you need. God loves it when we show our faith and ask for help. He loves you, and He wants to help.

And I love you too. Thanks for the support and prayers! Have a great week!

All my love,

Sister Doyle