tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9321726712328801122024-03-05T00:51:13.832-08:00Sister TantilloAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-63899889155271798132014-10-17T10:04:00.000-07:002014-10-17T10:05:22.595-07:00Another Tender Mercy <div class="p1">
last monday was my miracle day. my sweet mother already sent out a description of what happened to most of you... so ill just copy in her email here for those of you that didnt get it. cause i really couldnt have explained it any better. lets just say that God is SO good to me. </div>
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<span class="s1">"L</span>ast Monday night Bonnie and her companion had a dinner appointment with some members in their ward. Bonnie just got put into the English program so she doesn't know the members in the English ward yet. On Monday night we got a phone call from a man in Boston telling us his family had just had dinner with Bonnie and that he would like to answer any questions we might have about her condition. Turns out he's an endocrinologist! He told us that when Bonnie got to the house he asked her if she had a thyroid condition because he could tell right aways that she had Graves disease because her thyroid is so enlarged. Also, his wife has had the same surgery Bonnie will be having because she had thyroid cancer just like me. He knows Bonnie's surgeon and doctor and was able to confirm that they are the best and Bonnie is in good hands. AND they offered to let Bonnie stay with them for a few days after surgery so they can keep an eye on her. I hate to admit it but Heavenly Father managed to find someone who can take better care of Bonnie than even I can so how can I possibly feel nervous or uneasy about anything. I know she will be in good hands and I know that this is a tender mercy and that things will all work out."</div>
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speaking of tender mercies... right now our entire mission is doing a Book of Mormon challenge. we are reading the entire Book of Mormon in 3 months and highlighting every tender mercy that happens. its incredible and eye-opening. there is, without fail, a tender mercy of the Lord on EVERY page. i'm really thankful that President Packard extended the challenge. it's keeping me in the frame of mind to look for the tender mercies in my life. some of them arent as obvious as the one my mom described above. but when we learn to look for them, there are tender mercies everywhere in our lives. </div>
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sister watts got a huge package full of just oreos from her family this week. from which we discovered that sister goncalves has an oreo addiction. its really funny watching her try to withstand temptation and then give in. and once she gets going theres no stopping it.. half the pack is gone. i wont admit how many packs of oreos the four of us have gone through this week... at least theyre gone now and it wont be a problem anymore!! </div>
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the Elders here in framborough have been involved in a prank war.. language vs. english. the bulk of which involved them sneaking into eachother's apartments and wrecking havoc. we may or may not have been innocent bystanders throughout the entire thing... we also may or may not have oreo attacked one of their cars... we had so many after all. </div>
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i now have reading glasses... i realized this week that i couldnt go more than 10 minutes reading without my eyes hurting/getting a headache. which makes sense with the grave's disease cause it messes with your eyes. so i got a pair of reading glasses and bada-bing bada-boom, my eyes are better. </div>
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friday was zone conference!!!! it was GLORIOUS. i love zone conference :) and the best part of all was that we had it in Littleton! my old area. sister francis is still serving there so i got to spend the day with her. and a few of the members were around the building throughout the day and i love seeing them too! especially sister o. the best relief society president ever. AND... andrea, jon, tyler, and tessa were there! the family that lives behind the building that i taught :) my sweet little angel tessa. </div>
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for zone conference President Packard decided that he wanted to try to condense everything he's taught us in the last two years (since he's been the mission president) in one day's worth of training. which is a lot of information. and it all boils down to ZION. the theme of the Massachusetts Boston Mission. a couple of the stake presidents came to talk to us too. from boston (President Rollins) and from nashua (President Holland). both of which are phenomenal human beings.</div>
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Sister Goncalves and i did a musical number. they asked us like three days before so we had to scramble to come up with something worthy of zone conference- and being performed in front of the Packards. but we found the perfect arrangement of Danny Boy :) if you dont know what this song is i insist that you go youtube it right now. i love it when sister goncalves plays the violin. i refuse to ever perform again without her. </div>
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this past weekend was General Conference!!! We watched all of the Saturday and Sunday sessions in the Weston Stake Center. All of the Boston stake missionaries did because in between sessions we had choir practice. we're singing in stake conference this upcoming week. President Rollans (stake president) asked us to do it. He is the nicest man ever - he provided lunch for ALL of us missionaries, both days. </div>
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General Conference was especially wonderful. theres something extra great about watching it as a missionary. but i couldnt really tell you why.. im so sad cause i left all my notes i took at my apartment! or else i would share some of the highlights that i picked out. but basically what i took away from it was that we must not take for granted the blessing of having a prophet on the earth today. He LITERALLY speaks for God. He stands in the place the Savior would if He were here. and we cannot fall if we follow him. Helaman 5:12 was a common theme....</div>
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<i>And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.</i></div>
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well thats about everything exciting from my week! i love you all SO much :) i am forever grateful for your love, support, and prayers. it really does make all the difference. </div>
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-Sister Tantillo</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-22974224413650173262014-10-15T19:30:00.001-07:002014-10-15T19:30:10.814-07:00Surgery <div class="p1">
Family and friends,</div>
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Some of you already know some of this but I thought I'd send one email to explain to everyone. Thank you for your concern and prayers. It means so much to me and Allan to have the support of so many. Bonnie will be having her surgery to have her thyroid removed on October 24 at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Her mission president had to get special permission for her to have it there instead of having to come home. Bonnie didn't want to come home and we were concerned that it would be a difficult thing for everyone emotionally and that it would take too much time away from her mission. So, we prayed for a miracle that they would let her and they did. The other half of the deal was that I would be able to fly to Boston to take care of her. She and I would spend a few days after surgery with Allan's sister who lives a few hours from the hospital. Bonnie's mission president was great and tried hard to convince the church that I should be able to come, but the bottom line is that if the surgery is serious enough for the missionary to need his/her parents then he/she should probably go home for the surgery. Well, I'll admit I shed a few tears when I heard that I wouldn't be able to be there for the surgery, but I feel completely at peace about it now and I know that this is the right way for us to handle the situation. Bonnie asked today if Margaret and Terrie could come see her in the hospital so I'm sure they'll be willing to do that and give me a full report. She also said that either Sister Packard or her companion would stay with her the whole night in the hospital and she will be able to talk to us as much as she wants to after surgery. So, who can complain about that? The end of the story is the best part. Last Monday night Bonnie and her companion had a dinner appointment with some members in their ward. Bonnie just got put into the English program so she doesn't know the members in the English ward yet. On Monday night we got a phone call from a man in Boston telling us his family had just had dinner with Bonnie and that he would like to answer any questions we might have about her condition. Turns out he's an endocrinologist! He told us that when Bonnie got to the house he asked her if she had a thyroid condition because he could tell right aways that she had Graves disease because her thyroid is so enlarged. Also, his wife has had the same surgery Bonnie will be having because she had thyroid cancer just like me. He knows Bonnie's surgeon and doctor and was able to confirm that they are the best and Bonnie is in good hands. AND they offered to let Bonnie stay with them for a few days after surgery so they can keep an eye on her. I hate to admit it but Heavenly Father managed to find someone who can take better care of Bonnie than even I can so how can I possibly feel nervous or uneasy about anything. I know she will be in good hands and I know that this is a tender mercy and that things will all work out. So, that's the end of the story. Please remember Bonnie in your prayers and thanks again for all your love and support.</div>
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Linda</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-27244919024118696682014-10-15T19:29:00.001-07:002014-10-15T19:29:27.906-07:00General Woman's Broadcast<div class="p1">
this weekend was the General Woman's broadcast! we went to the Boston stake chapel in Weston to watch it. my favorite part of the entire meeting was during Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk when he said "you can lift other's burdens while carrying your own". i think its easy to fall into this trap of self pity where you feel like you dont have the capacity to help anyone around you because youre having so many trials yourself. sometime we feel like our own problems are so huge that we have nothing left to give to anyone other than ourselves. we think that turning inward and spending the time focused on ourselves will fix our problems. but really the very act of turning outward, being lost in the service of others, can heal us mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. it was a good message for me to hear :)</div>
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so we had like a 30min drive home afterwards and none of us had had dinner before. therefore we were starving. so our plan was to hit up some fast food on the way home, but nothing fast food existed on our route home. so then we drove past this complex with a chipotle&olive garden in it. and we decided that was good enough. we parked and walked over to chipotle just as they locked the door... so then we were like alright olive garden. we'll get something to go. </div>
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first i must explain that at this point it was 10PM which yes is late for missionaries, but we're allowed to be late on nights that we have things like general conference to go watch and havent eaten since who knows when... </div>
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so we walk up to the doors of olive garden with this grand plan to get in and out and still home by 10:30 so we could at least be on time for bed. which actually did work out for us. anyways, what we didnt realize was that the only way to get food to go at olive garden is at the bar... so then four sister missionaries walked up to the bar. and i felt like the worst person in the world and it was so uncomfortable and i wanted to die the whole time! its funny cause if i wasnt a missionary this would be not a big deal at all. its just the whole representative of Jesus Christ standing at a bar late at night thing that made the situation funny.</div>
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in other news... i got emergency transferred this week! hah. except not really i just got switched to the english program. so we were in a trio (me, cope, goncalves) and we lived with the english sisters (watts, lee). but then sister lee got emergency transferred to a different area so i got moved to fill her spot in the english program. so im still in the same wards, same area, same apartment. just different language and companion. sister watts is a total sweetheart and im happy to be able to serve with her! and im sooo happy to still get to live with sister goncalves and sister cope :)</div>
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yesterday a boy in the portuguese program was baptized. his name is daniel nascimento and he is the tiniest 8 year old you would ever meet. he's like 2 ft high. i got to do the musical number for it and played "baptism". so that was fitting. after he had been baptized and was done changing he walked back into the room and yelled "Hey everyone! I'm back!" it was too adorable. </div>
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sunday in general was a perfect day. literally everyone came to church. stephen reitter came who is an english ward investigator and he announced that he is ready to get baptized. daisy and geisy came - spanish investigators that had dropped off the face of the planet for a while. Father Peter- the Catholic Priest came to watch a baby blessing in the spanish ward. i was so happy! </div>
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last piece of news for the week. i met with a surgeon at MassGeneral to get her opinion on how best to move forward with my health. and she strongly recommended that i have surgery to remove my thyroid. so after talking to my parents and the Packards, we decided on that option. I'm scheduled to have the surgery here in Boston on Oct 24. the recovery is only a few days and then it'll all be over! good as new :) im really happy about this option and that its all working out. and im so thankful for my family and my mission family. </div>
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i love you all :)</div>
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sister tantillo</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-57460837571883706472014-10-15T19:24:00.000-07:002014-10-15T19:24:17.546-07:00Miracle Appointment <div class="p1">
i dont know what to say about this week... it was weird. i got a miracle last minute appointment at MassGeneral Hospital and my new doctor is a million bajillion times better. he is going to fix me! so im pretty stoked about that. he says that my best option is to get surgery and have my thyroid taken out. bada-bing-bada-boom. the grave's will be gone. so i like that option. hopefully ill be able to wait a few more months until i get home before i have to have the surgery, but if i have to have it while im still on my mission it'll still work out just fine. im just happy to have a solution to my probelms finally! </div>
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we've eaten a lot this week.. one night we had a brazilian dinner scheduled with the Bentos. I always love going there and they feed us a TON. which wouldve been fine except our investigator, Joame, texted us a few hours before and invited us over for pizza. i panicked, my fear of saying no returned, and we had two dinners that night. my companions were super happy with me. </div>
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i made it up to them though at a later dinner in the week. At Nereida's house where she fed us squid. yes. squid. dear sweet sister cope does not like squid. so who had to eat her entire helping of it?? ME. i wanted to die. Hermana Quezada was there too. she always comes up to me, gives me the biggest hug and kiss on the cheek, calls me a flaquita, and asks me why i havent eaten anything all week while grabbing me by the rib cage. its a great tradition. </div>
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on wednesday we decided to drop in on Alice and Amelio. Who promptly whipped out a three course meal with dessert. theyre good to us. we read a chapter of the Book of Mormon all together before we left and it had this warm comfortable feeling about it. sitting around the kitchen table with family reading scripture. i love it.</div>
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another highlight of my life right now are Joame and Gabby. THEYRE PERFECT. and the little boy, Geovani, who thinks he is my boyfriend. but thats okay he's only 4. they really are the most perfect family though. i love meeting people that have such a sincere desire to be closer to God and to change. theyre so pure and humble and i wish i could be more like them.</div>
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on saturday my family came to visit!! we got to spend a few hours together so we went to a seafood restaurant and then a chocolate shop. i love my family :) it was so good to be with them and i have the best mission president in the whole world for letting them come see me!! </div>
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okay let me give you a rundown of the missionaries im serving with right now.. theyre all nuts.</div>
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Elder Johnson: the district leader. gluten free. leaving in 4 days/trunky. talks like a brazilian in even when speaking english. </div>
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Elder Brown: visa waiter. hasnt yet accepted that he will never get his visa (just kidding i hope he does). really quiet and probably thinks we're all done.</div>
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Elder Henrie: zone leader. only ever said offensive things. 5 year old. </div>
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Elder Orton: zone leader. nicest person in the mission. the only normal one/our only hope</div>
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Elder Catalan: the guatemalan. most everything is lost in translation. good at soccer.</div>
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Elder Pennington: the child. can't focus for longer than 2 minutes. is jealous of our portuguese.</div>
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Sister Watts: the perfectionist. her closet is like a movie. the icon of pinterest.</div>
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Sister Lee: the asian. more specifically, the korean. crazy. loud. funny. </div>
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Sister Cope: violent. eats a lot. bullied me into being her best friend. </div>
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Sister Goncalves: the Brazilian Saint. i dont know how she puts up with any of us.</div>
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just so you can have a taste of what im living with right now. </div>
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alrighty thats all i have time for this week. LOVE YOU ALL! </div>
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-Sister Tantillo</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-91294715538814338392014-10-15T19:21:00.000-07:002014-10-15T19:21:20.561-07:00Happy 1 Year!<div class="p1">
we still get to be in a trio!!!! so on monday we got a phone call from the Packards asking us if we would be able to still have a third companion and we were like yessssss why? and its because another sister had to go home and sister cope was going to be her companion. but since that didnt really work out now she is with us!!!! IM SO HAPPY!!! this is called when you pray real hard and God is good to you and you get to be companions with your best friends. this is the most golden trio that has ever existed. ZION i tell you. ZION. </div>
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funny story though.. so all of this happened after transfer text came out which meant that where sister cope would go needed to change. she knew that she was going to be sent to one of the portuguese areas which has like 5 options. but President and Sister Packard for some reason decided to tell us that she was coming and they forgot to tell her! good thing we called and warned her! they remembered at transfer meeting and frantically/apologetically told her then :) she was a good sport about it haha. </div>
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On tuesday we met Father Peter. He lives here in our area and has been meeting with the missionaries/President Packard for quite a while. He is a Catholic Priest who believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. Its a really interesting situation. we sat on his front porch and talked for a while and he gave us a pocket sized book of the four gospels + Acts. </div>
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wednesday was transfer meeting. we got a ton of new missionaries! i love it when the greenies come in. theyre so pure and on fire and really theres nothing better. my sweet companion, sister sorensen, is going home. as tradition, all the departing missionaries bore their testimonies of the Savior and their mission. And Sister Sorensen did a musical number on her violin. She played Meditation which is a beautiful piece- but even more beautiful to our mission because if it's emotional ties to President Packard. It's a long story that I could never do justice, but I'll just say that it was the song played at both his sister's and mother's funeral. </div>
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Okay now i must tell you about our most wonderful investigators Joame and Gabby! They are Brazlian mother and daughter and so cool! We've taught them a few times now and they came to church on Sunday. They're both on the verge of having baptsimal dates! and we get to go see them tonight!</div>
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we have 10 missionaries here in framingham/marlborough and almost every single one of the Elders we work with changed this past transfer. and theyre all crazy. all of the Sisters are on strike and we cant stand a single one of them. just kidding thats mean we love them. but they are a bunch of 5 year olds. i guess this transfer we're learning patience. </div>
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saturday night we got to go to a wedding in cambridge! we took the T there and sister goncalves (the saint) provided the music. she played the violin for at least 5 hours straight. and they only gave her a days notice!! sister cope and i had fun though. listening to the pretty music and eating brazilian food all night :) </div>
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on sunday the Packards came to church! they did all of sacrament meeting and each of the kids talked too. second hour the met with us and the ward council, and third hour all of the adults got to have an "ask any question you want" session with President. and those are ALWAYS good. we had sunday dinner at the Bentos (brazilian family) with the Sorensens. they came to pick up sister sorensen and were spending a few days in boston! it was so fun to meet them theyre all just like her! </div>
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i think thats about it for the week!</div>
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I LOVE YOU ALL!</div>
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i dont remember if ive sent these pics yet but happy year mark to me! and these are my new best friends aka the cutest girls ever.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-43829236561586313912014-10-15T19:16:00.001-07:002014-10-15T19:16:30.918-07:00Mass General<div class="p1">
Dear everyone I love,</div>
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okay we'll start with a quick health update. my medication still refuses to work but all of your prayers are working and i somehow miraculously have more energy! President and Sister Packard are being wonderful and protective and decided to send me to MassGeneral Hospital to get better care and a better doctor. so ill make that switch this week. </div>
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yesterday we had a baptism! It was for Miguel Gonzalvez who is the husband of a member. He's in the spanish program. It was such a blissful and wonderful day! Sister Sorensen, Sister Goncalves, and I did the musical number with me on the piano and them on their violins. I've decided that from now on i always need a violinist playing with me too. it makes it so much more magical! </div>
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On wednesday we had MLC - the all day mission leadership council. I love getting trained by President and Sister Packard all day! We were there especially long this time because President wanted to end the meeting by reading a chapter out of the Book of Mormon with us - Alma 34. which ended up taking 2 hours to do because he had so much incredible insight on each verse! i was in heaven! and then i had a headache after from thinking too much.</div>
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we spent all of thursday planning with Elder Orton and Elder Rogers for zone meeting the next day. We train the zone on what we got trained on at MLC. and i must say it turned out to be the most legit zone meeting ever. we made it detective themed and turned the gym into a rope course! each companionship had to go through it but one was blindfolded. the purpose of it was having faith to find. after zone meeting we all went to lunch at a mexican restaurant. and we took up the whole restaurant. and then transfer texts came out!! sister sorensen is going home but other than that our apartment is staying the same. SIster Watts and Sister Lee, me and Sister Goncalves. They decided to release me as a sister training leader because of my health. which makes sense. President said he wants to call me as an STL again as soon as im better. but for now ill enjoy the break from the extra stress! </div>
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on saturday night the members threw a surprise going home party for sister sorensen! except i totally ruined the surprise... woops. what happened though was that we had told her that we needed to be at the church at 6 that night to practice for a musical number with one of the members. then we went on exchanges all day and when we were getting in the car to drive to the church after she tells us that she had actually scheduled another appointment and we needed to cancel the practice. and i panicked and im bad at lying and so i was just like "uhh we cant do that cause the entire spanish and portuguese groups are waiting for us at the church". but hey it got her there. everyone is really sad that she's leaving! </div>
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i feel like more has happened this week but for some reason this email is really short.... im sorry next time i'll be better! </div>
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Here's some of Alma 34 that President shared with us!</div>
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And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.</div>
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And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.</div>
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And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety...</div>
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i love you all!</div>
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-Sister Tantillo</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-50770568667024687452014-10-15T19:06:00.000-07:002014-10-15T19:06:15.357-07:00Crazy News <div class="p1">
Hello everyone! first of all the reason i am writing today is because we get to spend all of tomorrow at the temple! and then the rest of the week is absolute madness and really this is the only time we have to do it.</div>
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okay so we'll start with the craziest news of the week first... we have a new companion!!! on Wednesday we were in the mission office using President Packard's computer to write to President Packard about the exchanges we had been on. He wasn't there obviously because while we were there he called us! which isnt that strange of a thing at this point, it would be more strange if we didnt talk at least three times a week. haha. anyways he and Sister Packard called and told us that an emergency transfer (when someone has to leave immediately and leaves mid-transfer) was happening in Cambridge and that we were getting a new Sister to stay with us for two weeks. Most likely her and I will still be companions because Sister Sorensen is going home. So on Thursday we went to Cambridge to pick up Sister Goncalves who is Brazilian! Her companion, Sister Fuentes, went to Dorchester with Sister Cope and Sister Roman. They'll cover both Dorchester and Cambridge for the next couple of weeks (until transfers happen again).</div>
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Anyways, we are SO happy to have Sister Goncalves. Imagine the kindest and most compassionate person you know and then times that by ten and you have Sister Goncalves. She's been through a lot this past transfer but she's excited to be here now!</div>
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on tuesday we did exchanges with the English Sister that we live with! which is the easiest exchange to do ever. we even get to sleep in our own beds! it was a unique exchange because we decided to swap in the morning and then again halfway through the day. So i spent the morning with Sister Watts and the evening with Sister Lee. The coolest part of the day was when Sister Watts and i got to teach Daisy. Daisy recently started investigation the church, but she has caught onto it sooooo quickly! She wants to be baptized. She's already planning a time to get married so that she can get baptized. its so cool :) we talked to her about the questions "where did we come from" and "why are we here". Those big plan of salvation questions that everyone has! She ate it all up and was like "how did i not know this before? it feels so right and makes so much sense!" it was incredible. i love her :) as we left she told us that she was going to take a shower, get comfy, and spend the night studying 2 Nephi 2! my personal favorite :) </div>
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thursday we prepared for sister g to come. we managed to get another bed and desk into our apartment with only a day notice! we also went out to lunch with Priscilla, one of our portuguese members, at a brazilian BBQ. so that was a really happy thing :) then we saw Darlene and continued to help her learn the young women's theme in english. and then we met our spanish elders (Wenner and Catalan) at the church to plan with them for the upcoming week! I served with both of them in my first area.</div>
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Friday we spent most of the day with the Elders at Nereda's house doing service. she needed help setting up a ton of stuff for her yard sale. so we spent the day digging stuff out of her spider infested shed (Elder job) and organizing them on tables. Today was really good! We only had three hours of church instead of 6! because one of the wards is on a camping trip and theyre having church there. so we got to enjoy a sunday morning of studies. also Sister Lee and I made Hawaiin haystacks for us all to eat for lunch. we considered sharing with the Elders but somehow that didnt end up actually happening.. in church today we did a musical number! me on the piano with Sister Goncalves and Sister Sorensen on the violin. we played "I Am a Child of God". We practiced for 10 minutes before church started but it turned out great i think! </div>
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Miguel is getting baptized next week!! YAY! his wife wasnt coming to church but starting coming back and so did miguel. she taught a class today at church and it was beautiful! and Miguel is getting baptizted! we're so happy for him and for his family! </div>
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<b>ONE YEAR MARK!!!!</b></div>
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exactly one year ago I was entering the MTC. I can honestly say that I had absolutely no idea what I was signing myself up for. But, as always, the Lord had a far better plan in store than I couldve ever imagined. Everyone told me that a mission would be the hardest thing I have ever done. They were totally right! but I will always consider my trials to be the most sacred times of my mission. the times when i felt closest to my Savior. the times when Christ taught me to be more like Him. This has been the happiest, most rewarding, and spiritual year of my life. I'm thankful to have another 6 months of the same :) and a lifetime to apply what I've learned on my mission! </div>
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i love you all! </div>
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i've been thinking about this scripture a lot this week. Being willing to give away everything - my desires, my talents, my time, even my sins- to know God.</div>
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Alma 22:18</div>
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"O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day."</div>
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- Sister Tantillo</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-81280685919866612632014-10-15T19:03:00.000-07:002014-10-15T19:03:00.084-07:00Boston for the Day<div class="p1">
alrighty lets start way back at monday. we went into boston for the day! we met up with sister cope and sister roman and got to walk around the city all day long on a beautiful boston day! can life get any better? </div>
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this week my doctor told me that im not allowed to do things that will get my heart rate higher than it already is.... so that doesnt really jive very well with missionary work. i tried to protest, but the other sisters i live with insisted that i rest as much as possible! which made for a not very eventful week for me. basically they would take turns staying with me so i could sleep. i wouldve complained more and insisted that i go to every lesson we had! but i was submissive and let them take care of me. it must have worked because im feeling significantly better! </div>
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on wednesday however there was no time for rest because i got to go on exchanges with sister nielson! she was companions with sister francis (my trainee) in the mtc! so i got to spend the day in worcester with her. exchanges are awesome cause we get to learn from so many different sisters. especially as an STL cause i get to go on 5 a transfer! </div>
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friday night was incredible. we got to go to Belmont to teach a family that sister sorensen knows. the dad isnt a member, but has been going to church for several years. we were asked to go to see if there was anything we could help them with. and it turned out to be one of the most spirit filled nights of my mission. It was so strong and peaceful. He's a scientist and for the spiritual thought we talked about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. and we compared it to the scripture "all things denote there is a God..." saying that we can find God anywhere. in science, in nature, in our relationships, everywhere. </div>
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on Saturday we had another exchange. i went with the portable visitor center sister to a baptism in franklin. we set up the displays and then got to watch an adorable 8 year old enter into the waters of baptism and make that covenent with God. which is always something special to witness. </div>
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sunday was the best day of the week!! church was fantastic as always. i continue to fulfill my duty as sacrament pianist. right after church we left for Hartford Connecticut! which ended up being about 2 hours from us with traffic. there was another Joseph Smith fireside that we got to go to. "What the World Knows because of Joseph Smith". President Packards talks about his experience growing up as a boy in Texas. When it was normal for kids to pull out their Bibles at lunch and talk gospel. He says that one day another kid asked him, "what does the world know because of Joseph Smith?" and so President spends an hour at these firesides answering that question. Some of the main questions that can be answered through the restoration of the gospel in these days include..</div>
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How do we communicate with God, and how does He with us?</div>
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What is the purpose of life?</div>
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What happens to those who die without ever hearing about Jesus?</div>
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What happens after we die?</div>
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Are we saved by grace, works, or both?</div>
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Where is God's church?</div>
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President Packard shared a story about when he was on his mission. He said that one day he shared the Joseph Smith story with a preacher. His response was "Boy, if thats true, thats the most important event since the resurrection of Jesus Christ." To which President said ,"Well why do you think i quit my job, left my school and family, and paid my way here to tell it to you?"</div>
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The thing that stands out to most to me of the knowledge we have from the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the venue of revelation. That God has not ceased communication. That He speaks! That prayer is not a soliloquy, its a dialogue. That I know that I can get down on my knees and ask God anything, what should I major in? how can I better serve my family? Is this church true? and i can know that He will answer me! and that He does so because I am His daughter, and He loves me. </div>
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At the fireside this weekend I recieved the tender mercy to be able to sit next to Julie. Julie is 35 and is currently investigating the church. She has been through a lot and is searching for truth. She had never heard the story of Joseph Smith, but got to hear it from the mouth of President Packard. at the end of the fireside i asked her how she felt. we both were in tears as she told me "i've never felt this way. i feel so warm, peaceful, and happy! i promise these are happy tears!" I told her that I knew that what she was feeling was God speaking to her, and that He loves her.</div>
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alright thats all i have time for today! thank you so much for all of your prayers! im getting better and the medicine is finally starting to make a difference! so thank you!</div>
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i love you all!!!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-77126119425594751962014-08-22T16:24:00.002-07:002014-08-22T16:24:24.981-07:00Goodbye to Littleton<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i
dont even know where to start with the craziness of this week.. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the beginning of the
week was spent with cleaning, packing, and running around saying goodbye to all
of Littleton. which was so sad goodbyes are the worste! wednesday was transfer
meeting. sister francis and i wore matching dresses because we randomly had the
same one :) everyone thought that was pretty funny. transfer meeting was long
because we had 31 missionares going home and they all gave their departing
testimonies. i cried through the entire things. like not one glistening tear,
full out crying the entire time. because my family is going home! everyone that
i have served with so far is leaving. my trainers, sisters brown and hileman.
my first STL, sister gomez. and SO many others that i have come to love so
much. so that was hard for me. we sat next to sister hope and she cried through
it all too. so that made me feel better that i wasnt the only one sitting there
crying my soul out. but anyone that knows me knows that its not weird for me to
be the only one crying. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">after the meeting was
the usual chaos. everyone saying goodbyes, getting pictures, and getting our
luggage where it needed to be. i eventually found sister sorensen and we headed
to my new home in westborough! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">so about my new area.
there are 10 misisonaries here that cover the 2 wards - framingham/marlborough.
we all live in the same appartment complex. sister sorensen and i cover the
portuguese and spanish. but there's a set of elders for each too. we go to 6
hours of church because we have to be at both wards since SP meets with one and
PO with the other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">im happy cause there
are a TON of brazilians here!!! YAY! they make us yummy food :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sister sorensen is my
new companion and she is totally perfect. this is her last transfer so once
again ill only have a companion for 6 weeks. but thats okay! I LOVE HER. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">this area is also
awesome cause we get to do successful street contacting again! in littleton
literally no one would talk to us, but here everyone does! even if theyre not
interested theyre still nice. so thats really refreshing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i also get to have
roommates again which is the best thing ever! sister asay is a new missionary.
and sister lee i knew at byu. we had communications class together and one day
in class she told me not to serve a mission.... :) she's so funny i love
her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">theres this really
cool couple here - the Pumas. He's our branch mission leader and his wife is
pregnant as can be. theyre super cool and funny. im excited to work with them!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sorry this email is
way all over them place. i keep stopping and then coming back to it and so it
doesnt make any sense. basically im really happy in my new area and with my new
companion but theres not a ton to say cause its only been a few days
here! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">this week we have
Mission Leadership Conference with the Packards and zone meeting. the at the
end of the week we are spending the weekend in Pitsburg. We were going there
anyways to go the a joseph smith fireside on saturday because sisster sorensen
is in charge of the music program. so President invited us to come a day early
and go to the Boston Pops Symphony with their family on friday. we're way
excited for that!! so we'll be spending the weekend there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">my mission means
everything to me. this gospel means everything to me. it gives me purpose. it
gives me hope and faith and peace. it brings me joy and fills me with the love
of Christ. because of that, i KNOW that this is the true gospel of Jesus
Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><3 sister tantilllo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-5371910528772153802014-08-22T16:23:00.004-07:002014-08-22T16:23:56.997-07:00Sister Training Leader<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TRANSFERED.
FRAMINGHAM/MARLBOROUGH. SPANISH&PORTUGUESE. SISTER TRAINING LEADER. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">alright explanation
time. so President has been keeping me pretty in the loop on this whole thing.
which is way nice of him and not a usual thing. so he told me i was getting
transferred back to portuguese a week ago or so. and then on wednesday he told
me he wanted to make me a sister training leader. which for those of you who
dont know is a position of extra responsibility and we are assigned 3-5 other
companionships to take care of, teach how to be more effective missionaries,
and watch over their emotional and spiritual needs. anyways, so im that now. he
called me friday morning and officially asked me. he also said that i would be
going to an area where i would be able to use all three of the languages i have
so far been in (spanish, portuguese, english). and i was like alright.. theres
only like two areas in our entire mission where thats even possible. dorchester
or marlborough. so i knew it would be one of those two! then later on friday
after district meeting transfer texts came out! and i found out that the Lord
wants me in framingham/marlborough! which is only like 20min from here and
closer to the Packards. my companion will be sister sorensen. its a zebra area
which means its a mix of two languages. so the two of us will cover both
spanish and portuguese. it will be fun!! i called siste hileman and told her
and she was like "the Lord has been preparing you for this your whole
mission! this is why youve had to bounce around the languages so much!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ALSO TODAY IS MY 11
MONTH MARK! where does the time go..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we had the most
incredible zone conference with our entire mission presidency. the highlight was
president christensen's testimony, president's haight's humor, and president
packard's talk on pride. it was so good! "pride is the great stumbling
block to zion!" sister hileman gave me a birthday present at it and it was
an album full of funny pictures. after the day long conference sister francis
and i got to meet with president, during which he told me all of the stuff i
already talked about with being a STL and where to transfer me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">on sunday sister
francis and i got to speak in sacrament meeting! and what do you know... my
topic was pride! so i pretty much regave presidents talk in a 5 minute version
of what took him 2 hours to say. i wish they couldve heard the 2hour version.
Tyler, Jon and Andrea's son, really wanted to come up with me so i let him
start my talk by saying "God loves me" and then he went and sat back
down. it was way cute!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we went on exchanges
this week with our STLs here. i went to billerica with siste layton. and sister
staley came here to littleton with francis. it was a fun day and for our dinner
appointment we got to go on an airforce base!!! cause thats where the family
lived. it was sweet!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i had a wonderful
birthday! it fell on a sunday which was supe lucky because i got to be with
everyone at church for it! sister francis was really good about telling
EVERYONE about it and i was sung to several times throughout the day. natalie
showed up with cookies and a big hug where she lifted me off the ground. it was
the sweetest! we have the best ward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">for birthdays sister
packard sends out a mission wide text with a bio about whoever's birthday it
is. and sister carone wrote mine! it was so cute this is what it said "Now
a big birthday shoutout for the nicest person in the MBM: Sister Tantillo! She
comes to us from sammamish. WA!!! Did you know she sang in the last General
Relief Society Meeting broadcast? She is also a piano lover! she plays like an
angel, not only the piano but also the ukulele and singing! she likes to make
figure 8s with a car in the snow and to speak portuguese with a brazilian
accent! she's almost been in all the language progams in the MBM!! from spanish
to portuguese, from creol to english! she is also a great soccer player and
used to coach before the MBM. but most important shes a really spiritual person
and everyone can feel it when aound her!! we sure love Sist Tantillo!"
haha isnt that the nicest thing ever? carone sent it to sister packard to send
out to the entire mission! except they took off the nicest pesrson in the
mission cause thats just not true :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and then eveyone in
the mission is allowed to text or call you on birthdays. even elders! so i got
to talk to and text a lot of my favorite people in the mission!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we had some really
cool lessons this week. peter came back alive! and we had a lesson with him and
taught him how to relate scripture stories to his own life,. he like that a
lot. and brother christensen referred us to his neighbor who is indian. we had
a lesson with both of them about our purpose on earth and he is a new
investigator now!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">on sunday this guy
Kent randomly walked into our building before church started and wanted help
finding the Lord's prayer. we ended up having a really cool talk with him and
he gave us his number. he couldnt stay that day but wanted to a different
day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">its so hard to say
goodbye to the people here. i love them all so much! natalie is going to
be the hardest though... wish me luck! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i love you all! hope
you have a great week :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-28938992151174232232014-08-22T16:23:00.001-07:002014-08-22T16:23:15.804-07:00MBM<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Its been another
wonderful week in the MBM! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last Monday we went up
to Nashua for a BBQ with several other missioanries. the Elders had a grand old
time trying to force us to eat all of their food. They made us hispanic corn =
mayonnaise and chili powder. rach wouldve hated it. also it was sister lewis'
birthday last week and mine is this week so a couple of the elders made us a
birthday cake. it was totally gross and i dont even want to know what they put
in it. but they sang to both us of and made us take a bite. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This past weekend a
kid that Sister Carone and I taught in Brockton got baptized! and nobody
bothered to tell us!! We found out whent the mission sent out a text saying
everyone that had gotten baptized this week and we were like "Junior? like
our Junior? the kid that made us cry and loose sleep over Junior? yes that
Junior". so that was kinda sad cause we totally wouldve gone back and see
him get baptized since we taught him for so long! but i was als SO HAPPY that
he finally decided to get baptized! he was supposed to while we were there and
then decided to stop coming to church ever. so im happy that that all worked
out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We also had return and
report this week! its an all day conference with the Packards that the trainers
and trainees come to to return and report on how their mission has been going
so far and to make sure us trainers are taking good care of them. We met in
Belmont and got to listen to the Packards for hours. which is one of my
favorite things to do! We carpooled with the Billerica Elders. Elder Espinola
is the new missionary and he is from Paraguay and is learning English. Elder
Broadhead is his trainer and he made us listen to country-gospel music the
whole drive there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We had a tornado this
week! (dont freak out mom). we were visiting with an older lady in our ward,
anna mason, when we got a text from our zone leaders saying that a tornado had
been spotted and to find shelter immediately and not leave. so we stayed in
anna masons tiny little apartment and talked with her for 2 hours while we
waiting for the storm to leave. we could barely hear her little voice over the
thunder! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We've spent a
lot of time with Barbara this week. i love her so much. she is trying to
track down the missionaries that taught her when she first joined the church 50
years ago. so we're calling every bishop in mesa and boise to see if anyone has
records of them living there then. not much success so far but we soooo badly
want to help her find them! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We had a Brazilian
dinner this week! it made me so happy! it was with the Abreu family in our ward
who are from brasil. They have the cutest little daughter who is so confused
right now between portuguese and english and says half of each sentence in
either one. its funny. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Natalie and the rest
of the youth went to youth conference this week and had a really great time! We
had a lesson with Andrea and Sister Peterson came with us. Peter is still
camping/fasting and hopefully will come back soon! We're going on exchanges
with our sister training leaders tonight. i get to go to billerica and sister
francis gets to lead this area! she'll do great! we have the entire day planned
for her so she wont have to worry about a thing! and then we have zone
conference in lowell on wednesday with the packards. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we find out about
transfers this friday and i'm most likely being transferred. we have a shortage
of portuguese sisters because three are going home and the ones that were
supposed to replace them got delayed with coming. so ill most likely be
transferred back to portuguese to help fill in those empty spots. ill let you
know though! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">love you all and have
a great week!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05052111041030562926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-53307148208005482762014-07-17T17:42:00.003-07:002014-07-17T17:44:51.299-07:00It's Been a Good Week <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">hello! okay here
are some of the happenings from this past week. its been a good one! in no
particular order...</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. we
went to the greenfields house for dinner. they have a newborn baby named
beatrice and she is totally adorable and it was the hardest thing of life to
not be able to hold her! sister greenfield served her mission in japan and so
she taught us how to make and roll sushi. it was super fun and i feel more
cultured now. it was funny though cause sister francis doesnt like sushi. and
then we had ice cream for dessert and she hates that. haha so im being a good
trainer and teaching her that she has to eat whatever the members put in front
of her and finish her plate! shes really a really good sport about it. i have
very little sympathy cause we're fed a quarter the amount of food here than
what i got with the spanish/portuguese/creole peeps. except im still too nice
to her and will put some of her food on my plate when the members arent looking
and eat it for her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. im
been telling sister francis all about pudim and we finally found a form to be
able to make it in! from this brazilian lady in our ward :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. so we
were driving down the road yesterday just talking and all of the sudden this
dumb bird comes ouf of nowhere and ran into the hood of our car and died! and
ive never hit anything while driving before and i felt so bad and just started
crying and then sister francis started laughing at me and she was crying too
from laughing so hard. it was so sad!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. it was
7/11 day this week so on the way back from district meeting we went and got
free slurpees! and we were happy to have them because then we got stuck in good
old boston traffic for an hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. we had
a lesson with ashok this week. the Golds came and it was fantastic. we talked
about prayer and then at asked him to pray at the end. he started it by saying
"hey God" and then went into the prayer. it was great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. we
went to barbs this week (i adore her) and she shows us her enormous collection
of old jewelry! it was fun looking through all of us and she gave us each a
ring to keep! also she got a calling in church which is monumental for her.
shes the relief society service something. haha <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. we had
a great lesson with andrea this week. we told her about tithing and fasting.
and she was talking like she was going to start paying tithing. and then we saw
her walking out of church on sunday carrying a huge pile of tithing
slips! haha how randomly awesome is that! we got to see jon for the first time
in like three weeks cause he's been working weekends too. he is as kind and
wonderful as ever! we had a lesson in the church and told him about tithing too
and helped him download the book of mormon on his phone so he can listen to it
at work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. sandra
howard, our sweet less active, totally disappeared for like a month and then
showed up at church again this sunday! thank heavens! i almost fell over
when i saw her, ran up and hugged her, and then she chastised me for now
wearing good shoes with my ankle brace (shes a doctor). it was good to be with
sandra again! we went to her house with the bishop that afternoon too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. on
wednesday we went to mutual because brother gold invited us to come help out
with his deacons. they got into companionships and put on badges and pretended
to teach us as missionaries. it was super cute and they did such a good job!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10. peter
moved into his new apartment this week! we had a lesson with him and he was
telling us that after he moves in hes going to go camping for a week and do a
blueberry fast to get rid of his addiction. we feel like thats a reallyyyyy bad
idea and are sincerely worried that he's not going to come back. we talked to
sister mcbride. the mission nurse, about it and she said he wouldnt die but
that its still a bad idea and to try to convince him otherwise. so wish us luck
with that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11. we,
as in i, lost the phone again this week. which always happens to me. i really
shouldnt be trusted with is. anyways, when we finally found it we had a missed
call from President Packard! which always is scary cause he usually calls to be
like one of you is getting emergency transferred! so we finally got ahold of
him and we could breathe easy again when he just had a few questions for
me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12. we
got put in charge on locking up the church on sunday night and it
took us literally and hour to figure out how to lock one of the doors and we
called the entire ward until finally someone answered us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13.
alright the final and best story of the week! we were infested with fruit
flies. we woke up one morning and our entire kitchen was swarmed with them and
it was totally disgusting. so we rushed to the store and got this spray thing
and fumigated our entire apartment. which meant that we couldnt be there for
two hours while the smell went away. so we did our studies outside. and then we
had do go back in and deep clean everything. like everything had to be scrubbed
to get rid of the smell and the dead flies that had fallen everywhere. it was
so nasty and terrible and it took pretty much the entire day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14. oh
one more thing! we had a mission wide fast this week for the 96 people being
baptized this month! and president packard got knee surgery too and we're
praying for his speedy recovery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">thats
about all of our adventures from this week! President shared this scripture
with us, he always says "lets wear out our lives in the service of the
Lord, and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, for his arm to be
revealed." I pray that I may wear out my life in the service of my God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=932172671232880112&pli=1" name="14735830bbf43ae6_14735823cc15d54c_13"><span style="background: #F9F6ED; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;"> </span></a><span style="background: #F9F6ED; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Therefore, that we should waste
and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden
things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from
heaven—</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: #F9F6ED; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let
us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may
we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of
God, and for his arm to be revealed.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I love
you all and have a wonderful week!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 18.01801872253418px;">https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C98F1BCC67429D84!1656&authkey=!ALqj6UooVN_nP-I&ithint=folder%2c.JPG</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18.01801872253418px;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-52915744539964935742014-07-17T17:41:00.001-07:002014-12-18T19:01:42.901-08:00Letter #39: 3rd of July <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">hello, hello! so
basically all im going to talk about is our 3rd of july. so every year boston
has this incredible and huge firework show right on the river. President
Packard told us that we could go to a show and to get back as quickly as we
could, but that curfew didnt apply. he also said to stay within our stake
boundaries but we got special permission to be able to go into boston! because
we're not that far from it. so obviously the show was supposed to be on the
4th, but weather warning were saying that a hurricane was coming and the worst
of it would be that night, so they switched it to the day before.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">anyways, so thursday got here and
it was a wicked humid day here in the boston area. its like being in the grips
of death i tell yah. so we went to the train station to head into boston, but
the schedule was weird because of the holiday weekend and so we ended up
waiting there for an entire hour until the train came and we literally could
have died. we got to talk to a man who was headed to england though and that was
cool.<br />
<br />
so then the glorious train with air conditioning showed up and we rode it into
boston! we got off and headed straight for mike's pastries so that sister
franics could experience it. i love showing her around boston! i love boston :)
so we did that and then we headed over to haymarket station to meet up with
sister cope and sister gomez. i have a brace thing on my ankle because i
sprained it a couple of weeks ago so a guy with a bike and a carriage attached
to the back offered us a ride for only 5 bucks. so we took him up on that offer
and it was fun to be pulled around boston for a while! once we found the other
sisters we wandered around one of the main restaurant streets for a while
trying to find something that the gomester could eat. because she is dairy and
gluten free by choice (who does that??). we we ended up at this yogurt place
for us and then went to 7/11 for her to get fresh fruit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">then we hopped on the T again and
headed to the firework show! we sat on a blanket and played with uno cards and
met up with all of the boston missionaries. the cambridge missionaries were on
the other side of the river.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the show started and it was SO COOL!
we stood up and moved to get closer and took pictures and loved it. The music
goes along with the fireworks. It ended kinda earlier than we expected and we
were kinda confused. Then a cop got on the intercom and announced that everyone
needed to evacuate immediately. We started leaving and walked past another pair
of cops and heard them say "gotta get out quick. the hurricane will be
here in half an hour." so the we started walking a little quicker.<br />
<br />
We hadnt gone more than 2 minutes though when i heard a huge gush of wind and
looked back. I yelled at the other sisters to look too and we could see
coming straight at us from the river whirlwind of rain. and it didnt take long
to hit us. People started running and screaming and we were immediately drenched.
People ran to get under cover and we kept walking to get to the train station
so that we didnt miss it. who knew id get to go swimming on my mission! it was
crazy. i didnt even describe it well but it was crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we got back to the train station
and both our trains were leaving in 3 minutes. so we said quick goodbyes to the
other sister. i hugged sister cope and kissed sister gomez on the head (praying
that thats not the last time i see her since she leaves in a few weeks) and we
ran to catch our train! thankfully we made it and at our ending station a
couple from our ward were there to pick us up and drive us home. the storm had
calmed down by then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">so that was our adventurous 3rd
of July! the 4th we had zone meeting for most of the day. i volunteered sister
hileman to do the musical number and she sang "abide with me tis
eventide" and i videotaped her like the proud daughter i am! we're with
her and sister lewis today up in nashua, NH.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Other stuff going on thats more
missionary related haha his that Peter got into senior housing and is getting
all sobered up and looks better than ever! and Andrea came to church for the
first time in an month and was totally glowing! The gospel changes lives! We
also got a new investigator! her name is caitlyn and she has been through
really hard things and we love her. she is one of rita's barn girls. and we had
a stellar lesson with our perfect natalie and she taught us the plan of
salvation while we sat on a dock and ate ice cream! gotta love that missionary
life :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i love
you all!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Sister
Tantillo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 18.01801872253418px;">http://1drv.ms/1jVq5xt</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18.01801872253418px;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-55159138032376488902014-07-17T17:40:00.002-07:002014-12-18T19:01:21.203-08:00Letter #38: Sacrifice brings forth Blessings <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HELLO
EVERYONE!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">okay this
week has been total craziness. however, i have gained a firm testimony of the
phrases "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven" and
"exact obedience =miracles". as usual, the last week of the
month we are totally out of car miles. because our area is huge and they only
give us so many to get by. and so last monday we were doing the math and i was
like oh shoot theres no way we're gunna make it and still be able to get
everything done. so we texted the ZLs and were like soooo what would happen if
we went over? and they said nothing really except that we'd miss out on the
miracles. and so that got us determined to do anything possible to be worthy of
those miracles! and boy did they come!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">so what
we did was we went and picked up our bikes from our investigator, Peter's,
house. and then we biked from ayer to littleton. google it. its far. so that
took about an hour and a half in the Massachusetts muggy heat. you dont know
humid until you come to littleton. and then we proceeded to either walk or bike
anywhere within reason for the remainder of the week. and it killed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BUT WE
DIDNT GO OVER ON OUR MILES. in fact we came out with 40 miles to spare! a
complete miracle. we ended up getting rides to places we thought it would be
impossible to. and i can so clearly see God's fingerprints all over our week.
when we put in the honest effort, in faith, he blessed us tenfold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and
another way He did that, which is totally unrelated, but i think he just threw
it in as a bonus gift, was that we got permission from President to go to
Boston for the 4th of july firework show!!! we are SO EXCITED!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">for p-day
we went into Boston and took the train there and back. we met up with several
other missionaries (cope,gomez,harris,carone,lima,etc) lots of my favorite
people and spent the day at quincy markey and on the freedom trail, the harbor
and boston commons. it was a totally perfect day :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">okay
other miracle. which is attatched to a really unfortunate situation. i got
pulled over for my first time ever in life. boston cops i tell yah... but it
kept tradition cause my trainer got a ticket my first week with her. so i had
to break the law somehow in s.francis' first week to carry that on. anyways, so
the town lines here are really close together and i didnt realize that the
speed limit will drop from 40 to 20 and then back up to 40 within 2 minutes. if
that makes sense. haha cause in the cities (the only places ive driven) the
speed is constantly whatever the heck you want it to be. but thats not really
an excuse, so he pulled me over but the miracle was he only gave a warning! i
dont know if i shouldve told that story.. but oh well. its a good one!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we also
had the pleasure of going to clean out our elder's old apartment this week. the
zone leaders e.batts and e.spears helped us and it was super nasty. i dont know
how elders can live like that. we were talking to our old elders, bringhurst
and ripplinger, that night and they were like oh yah that was old lobster meat
in the sink. two months old! i wanted to puke. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">speaking
of which, sister francis has learned the art of eating until you want to puke
when members are feeding you. i just smile and tell her i love her and then
secretly think about how the portuguese/spanish people feed you a million times
more. but thats alright, shes adjusting. she is so stinking adorable and i love
her!! we are already best friends. im soo lucky to have such a perfect baby.
she met her grandma (s. hileman) and aunt (s.lewis) this weeked when we went to
nashua for a fireside. it was so good President Holland put it on and it was
about "why i believe". <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">this week
we also got a super random phone call from president packard! and i always get
nervous when the happens because mostly when he calls randomly its for bad news
like, youre being emergency transferred! but it was good news this time :) he
had just talked to our bishop who had told him how much he loves us and having
sisters in the ward and that miracles are happening here (which they are!) and
so President called to congratulate us!! it was so nice of both of them!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">alright i
think thats all... if i forgot anything ill include it next week! i love you
all! and i LOVE my mission :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">today in
our webex mission conference president said something along the lines of
"if someone falls out of the boat, dont hit them with the oars."
meaning, if someone is struggling, dont be mean or judge them, help them! it
will make getting back in the boat a lot easier on them!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">have a
great week!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 5pt;">
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">love, sister tantillo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 18.01801872253418px;">http://1drv.ms/1jVqekL</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-76311009813729725522014-07-17T17:39:00.002-07:002014-12-18T19:01:04.067-08:00Letter #37: My Baby Has Arrived <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">my baby has
arrived! her name is sister francis and she is from good old orem utah. she is
another product of the 19 year old age change. and i love her so much already.
she is so innocent and like a deer in the headlights and i love it cause thats
exactly how i was. i feel like im training myself. we're super similar in a lot
of ways. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">but
before she got here we were running around like craziness getting sister
bringhurst ready to go home! she was in COMPLETE denial up until the very end.
funny girl. we got her all packed up and then she sang and shared her testimony
at transfer meeting. all of the departing missionaries always get up and give
their testimony to reflect on their mission. its always really cool, spiritual,
and kinda sad to say goodbye. she did a really good job though. there were SO many
going home this transfer. and just as many next transfer! its weird that i
actually know the missionaries going home now. before ive been so new to the
mission that i would maybe know a couple going home that i had served with. but
now i know like all of them and its sad!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">anyways
enough about that. 3 boys from this ward just got home from their missions and
they put on a fireside last night. they all left and returned at the same time
and went to 3 different continents speaking 3 different languages. french(france).
russian(russia). and chinese (australia). it was really cool and all the youth
came which was good for them to see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">summer is
awesome cause everyone is home! but its also kinda hard cause people go out of
town a lot. like andrea is gone for the next week and a half so we cant do
anything with her until she gets back. and one of our ward missionaries, Rita,
is gone for ten days. but the work is good cause all the youth are home now and
we can take them out with us a lot! just some obstacles to overcome with people
traveling. the weather is beautiful though! a little too hot sometimes and soon
itll get worse and just be miserable, but for now its great. we are constantly
around water here and its so hard not to be able to go jump in it! especially
now since its perfect water weather. and every time we see natalie shes like
look at my tan! i just got back from the beach! oh to be 17 again... haha<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have
two new investigators! they live on our floor of our apartment building. His
name is Ashok and he has a wife with a name i cant pronounce or spell and a
2year old son. they are from india and we had our first lesson with them and
another one tonight! Bishop is coming with us. And Ashok came to church
on sunday and just loved it. we met them in the hallway and he said mentioned
how we are always happy and he wants his son to be happy like us. so we told
him that its the gospel of jesus christ that makes us so happy! and now he
wants to learn all about it :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">other
fantastic thing of the week was getting a picture in front of jon's company
truck! its huge and always sitting in their driveway. he's a handyman and does
painting and repairs and whatnot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i love
you all! oh and everyone MUST watch this video! ill put the link it. first of
all the website was made and is run by mbm missionaries. most of the articles
are written by missionaries serving here. and this video is the voice of our
very own president packard! enjoy his brilliance. it will change your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.reallifeanswers.org/challenges-in-life/how-do-challenges-bring-us-closer-to-god/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.reallifeanswers.org/challenges-in-life/how-do-challenges-bring-us-closer-to-god/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LOVE
YOU <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Sister
Tantillo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-66136437002093380402014-07-17T17:38:00.003-07:002014-12-18T19:00:48.337-08:00Letter #36: Quick Update<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">hey all!
im way super short on time today but heres a quick update...</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IM
TRAINING!! #PREGNANT#BABYONTHEWAY#ITSAGIRL. my trainee gets here on wedensday
at transfer meeting, also when s. bringhurst goes home! weirdness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Natalie's
baptism is postponed to November when she turns 18. but its actually a really
good thing cause it'll give her mom more time to hopefully be supportive of it.
its worth waiting if it doesn't cause stress between her and her moms
relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BARBARA
PRAYED. barbs is our sweet little less active that has NEVER prayed for us. she
thought she was doing it wrong and was too shy and embarrassed to pray for us.
and she finally did! it was a complete miracle and her prayer was BEAUTIFUL and
PERFECT.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">okay last
miracle of the week and then I gotta go (sorry). we had dinner with the
Anderson family! and let me tell you why this is a miracle. they have been SO
angry at the church for years because they have autistic boys and apparently
they weren't treated well because of that in their last ward. bishop has been
working with them for months but last we had heard they still didn't want any
contact from missionaries. so this week the andesrsons showed up on our dinner
calendar and we didn't really think anything of it. until we showed up at their
house and realized that it was THE andersons! it was a great appointment and we
are so excited that they are on the road to come back :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">okay
gotta go. the internet crashed in Littleton today and so we're at the library.
buts its closing in 5min. ill write more next week. love you all!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">AND HAPPY
FATHERS DAY TO MY WONDERFUL DAD, GRANDPA TANTILLO, GRANDPA SMITH, AND THE OTHER
AMAZING MEN IN MY LIFE.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><3 SISTER TANTILLO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-11630530147742756362014-07-17T17:38:00.001-07:002014-12-18T19:00:20.506-08:00Letter #35: Church, Pray, and Read Scriptures (CPR)<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"God will
either be personally discovered, or remain a mystery." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-
President Packard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I've been
thinking a lot this week about how much I wish that I could give people desire.
A desire to know God, to discover Him! to come to church, to study the
scripture, and to pray. I KNOW how happy it would make them and sometimes i
find myself wishing i could just do all of the hard work for them so that they
could find that happiness! But i cant. God would never take away a persons
agency. I can teach and testify and pray and do everything within my own power
to help them come unto God, but they have to take the steps toward Him
themselves. Even though i want to just throw them over my back and carry them
there myself :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don't
even have words to describe to you how much i love Natalie. I told her this
week that its like how one could never understand a mother's love for her
child. and she could never understand a missionary's love for our
investigators. so much love. we got to see her a lot this week! we had a lesson
at the Berrey's home and had her and Anna Berrey and Sam Berrey be the
missionaries and we pretended to be the investigators. They taught us about the
restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and did SUCH a good job! we were so
proud! The next day the young women had a temple trip. Natalie cant go in since
she's not a member yet. so we went too so that we could hang out with her out
on the ground while all of the other girls went in. we took her into the lobby
area and taught her right there about temple work and the covenants we make
there. it was powerful, to say the least. Natalie is incredible and absorbs
everything. She takes it in with the Spirit and lets him testify to her. She's
excited to go herself someday! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Natalie
is supposed to be baptized this upcoming Saturday, but we're having some
setback with her mom not being supportive. The last thing we want to do is tear
their family apart in any way. so if we have to postpone the baptism to help
her mom feel more comfortable with it, we will. but we're definitely praying
for a miracle and that things will pull through for saturday! Natalie is so
strong and has so much faith and i love her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
weekend was Stake Conference and they reorganized the leadership. Our new Stake
President is President Holland from our ward. the youth are really upset about
losing their sunday school teacher! it was a good surprise cause they've only
been in the ward for less than a year. Elder Gifford Nielson and his wife came
and spoke to us too which was a special treat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On
Saturday i went on exchanges to Billerica with Sister Staley. We had a way fun
day together and then watched the adult session of stake conference together
that night. Elder Nielson was talking and asked if anyone had had any
missionary experiences lately. and anna berrey stood up and talked about
natalie!!! and then he asked her missionaries to stand and i was so sad that i
wasn't there! but s. Bringhurst and s. layton (who was on exchanges there)
stood up and i was so proud! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we found
a brazilian woman to teach! well im teaching her and s.bringhurst plays with
the kids. she's the nanny of a woman that comes to church sometimes and used to
investigate. and we went over to see her one day and met Merinalva! i asked her
to help me with my portuguese and when i went back to practice with her i
explained what we do as missionaries and asked if i could teach her about our
church. and she said yes and asked if she could come to our church! ahhhh how
I've missed their culture. SO open to the gospel. so ill have to find the
closest building with a portuguese group for her to go to! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">blast
from the past moment! i found out that Cindy (my adorable friend from the
Revere ward, the one that called me Miley) got married this week! to Chris, her
boyfriend of the time who got baptized just a couple weeks after i left!! SO
HAPPY. she's completely done a 180 and i couldn't be happier for her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We had a
lesson at the Edwards with Karina Sheeran again. Her husband couldn't make it
this time but we taught her the restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon and
committed to reading and praying about it. She had a bad experience with
organized religion and doesn't believe that it can remain not corrupt. So we
talked about how any religion run by man would have the potential to be
corrupted. But that Christ is at the head of our church and directs us, and
thats why the doctrine and organization of this church remains pure and cant be
tampered with. She seemed to like that a lot :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Transfer
text is this week! ill definitely be getting a new companion because sister
Bringhurst goes home. which she is in complete denial about haha. but ill let
you know next week what the changes are! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">have a
great week and i love you all!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sister Tantillo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-66319059259073700822014-07-17T17:36:00.002-07:002014-12-18T18:59:50.939-08:00Letter #34: Blessings, Miracles, and Tender Mercies <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i don't
even know where to begin with talking about the blessings/miracles/tender
mercies of this week. it was unreal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">lets
first start off by addressing the fact that the Apostle, Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland, came to our mission this week! Words couldn't even begin to describe
what an incredible man he is. We've known that he was coming for several weeks,
but we got an extra bonus and his wife decided to come too! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">so
starting back at Monday, we polished ourselves up to meet him! and our car.
President told us to be in top shape for the meeting and to please wax our
cars. something that S. Bringhurst and i had absolutely no experience with!
haha be we're pretty sure we did it right... took a while but it seemed to be a
bit shinier in the end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tuesday
we had a mission wide WebEx and President and Sister Packard gave us the
lowdown for the meeting with Elder Holland that week and told us to be on our
best behavior. Afterwards Sister Packard came out to Littleton and took Sister
Bringhurst and me out to lunch. That was a special treat! we LOVE Sister
Packard. and its always fun chatting with the Packards cause they tell us
everything thats going on in the mission. They had been with the Hollands over
the weekend so we got to hear all about that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wednesday
was an exciting day for the entire mission because Brent Packard came home from
his mission! the Packards were SO excited and it was so cute. they invited
everyone that lived close enough to come to the airport to welcome him off of
the plane. funny story. we wanted to go superrrrr bad so we asked a member to
drive us so that we wouldn't waste our miles. and there was a big
miscommunication and she thought she was taking us to the mission home, not the
airport, and we didn't realize that she was totally headed to the wrong place
until too late and then we missed it! ughh. oh well. we heard all about it and
it was a very happy reunion for everyone! i am so happy for the packards
:) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thursday!!
ahhh i cant even handle it so im just going to say it right away! NATALIE IS
GETTING BAPTIZED!! we had a lesson with her that night and at the end she told
us that she had been thinking/praying about it and she had decided on June 14th
:) ! i almost fell out of my seat/ refrained myself from tackling her with a
hug. she is so perfect and i don't think ive loved anyone so much on my
mission. she's 17, don't know if i mentioned that before, and she is adorable.
she was introduced to the church through her friend Anna Berrey - a stellar
young woman in our ward. and she's been coming to literally everything for the
past month. church, activities, seminary! and now she's getting baptized! we're
praying that June 14th will work out. her dad is on board but her mom isn't
convinced yet. but natalie seems pretty confident that there wont be a problem
and her mom will agree by then. YAY! she wrote us both the most adorable
letters telling us thank you for teaching her and it took everything i had not
to cry in front of her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Friday
was the Mission Conference!! We got there super early to get the best seats! we
chose the third row exactly in the middle :) and saved seats to sit next to all
my favorite people - sisters cope, gomez, hileman, and lewis. best day ever! so
since we got there so early we had lots of time to visit with the other
missionaries while we waited. the whole mission has never gotten together all
at once and it was way too fun to even be allowed. i just love everyone so
much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">they also
had the traveling visitor center set up for all of us to see. its incredible.
it includes several displays with ipads on a stand that are connected to tvs
that show videos. and they all have different themes - the savior, families,
joseph smith. they're breathtaking. and some sisters in our mission have been
working super hard to get them going. and its exactly that! a traveling
visitors center! they take this displays around and can set them up anywhere
and turn a place into exactly what you would find at visitors center. super
cool.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">anyways.
so we were all freaking out and no one could even sit still because we were too
excited! and then about a half hour before the meeting started it was time for
all of us to chill out and actually stay in our seats so that we weren't
embarrassing when he came. and sure enough Elder and Sister Holland along with
President and Sister Packard walked into the chapel around 1:00PM. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
started things off with shaking all of our hands. and then told us afterwards
that he interviews each of us when he shook our hands and looked into our eyes
and that we were a good bunch of missionaries. He brought the President of the
70 with him who spoke to us first - Elder Hallstrom. and then the adorable
Sister Holland spoke to us. and then Elder Holland! He talked to us about the
importance of staying strong in the gospel after our missions. it was really
cool. he spoke up on the stand for a while and then said "i feel a sermon
coming on!" and got down to walk around the rows and keep talking to us.
it was way cool. He ended with talking about something that hit me super hard.
Its a poem that goes like this -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Come
to the edge"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No, I'll
fall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Come
to the edge!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And so I
came. He pushed me, and I flew.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think
it means something different to everyone. what it really means to come to the
edge and how we do that. But i know that we ALL get knocked off the edge
sometimes. We feel like we're falling and really we only have two options in
that moment. to hit the ground or hurry up and learn how to fly. and the only
way we could ever learn how to fly is if we fall in the first place! so we have
to let the Lord push us. We have to come to the edge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So there
were rumors that Elder and Sister Holland would be coming to our ward on
sunday. even Sister Packard told us that it was a good possibility! because their
son and grandkids are in the Littleton Ward. and so it was like 10 minutes
before church started and we were trying not to hope for it. but sure enough,
in walked the Hollands! They sat in the pews with their family but we got to
shake their hands again and he got up at the end of the meeting to tell the
ward how impressed he was. He didn't tell anyone he was coming other than his
family (and the missionaries just know everything) and he said it was really
amazing just to see an average day in the littleton ward. they went and spoke
to the young women during third hour. they're so lucky. and guess what?? they
talked to our investigator Natalie and she told them her baptismal date!! we
passed them in the hall several times and Sister Holland told us we are
adorable - i died. what a day. I was sitting by a returning inactive during
sacrament meeting and when he finished speaking she leaned over to me and asked
"who is that?" haha and i was like uhhhh let me tell you. after i
explained she said "that makes sense. i could feel it." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">so that
was our week with Elder and Sister Holland! i couldn't even begin to explain
everything that he said to us during the mission conference but it was
beautiful and inspiring. and i felt so happy afterwards! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">thats all
for now! have a wonderful week and I’ll talk to you again next monday! love
you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-70257995907260712522014-07-17T17:34:00.002-07:002014-12-18T18:59:15.617-08:00Letter #33: First Week of Transfers is Longest <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ive decided that
the first week of every transfer is always the longest and i literally dont
know what happens to the other five they go so fast! but this was week one so
it went at a nice and slow pace as we got back into the swing of things and
introduced Sister Bringhurst to the area. I dont remember a single thing that i
talked about last week so sorry if i repeat.. but this is S. Bringhursts last
area so we've made the goal to help her go out strong and kill it this
transfer. Littleton wont know what hit it! </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since the
Elders left we've picked up all of the stuff that we had them covering before.
So we're not necessarily busier, we're just filling our days with different
things to cover what they did too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">for
example, their beautiful and golden investigator natalie! they were working
with her for just a week before leaving and now we get to be blessed enough to
teach her! she is perfect. she is 16 and coming to everything. EVEN SEMINARY.
who does that? she does! we got to go in and teach her seminary class one
morning this week which was super fun. their teacher is brother gold and he
invited us in. and then later his wife told us that he was impressed by our
teaching skillzzz which is a huge compliment coming from him because he is (no
joke) a genius. anyways, back to natalie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we had
two lessons with her this week, both in the berrey's home. anna berrey is her
friend and the one that invited her in the first place. the first lesson we had
her mom came to because she wanted to check out what the deal was with the
mormons. so we answered all of her questions and she seemed really okay with
things after that. the problem is that she wants natalie to wait a while to be
baptized and is kind of putting a brake on things. which is sad because natalie
would get baptized tomorrow if her mom okayed it. but we had a good visit with
her mom and sent her off with her own copy of the book of mormon!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the next
visit was her dads turn! they didnt come at the same time because things are
rough at home and theyre going through a divorce. but her dad was much more
chill. they both said that they wouldnt stop natalie from doing what she wants
and that theyll support her "even if she wants to be a mormon." but
her dad listened to us teach our lesson and participated and also took a copy
of the book of mormon! he said he'd come back for our next lesson too :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">natalie
gets a long with her dad a lot better than her mom. but we're concerned cause
we dont want this to ruin her relationship with either of them. so we'll be super
careful and respectful moving forward. and the berreys are a stellar family.
they have a son who just got home from his mission in australia and theyre just
on fire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">on sunday
andrea came to church with her kids. jon didnt come :( andddd my heart broke.
his life is getting crazy with work. the summer is his busy season and he'll be
traveling like 80 percent of the time now. nooooooooo. not good. we've gotta
find a way to work around that and keep him progressing. so we had a lesson
with just andrea and the ostaszewskas came. (Sister O is my favorite person
here but dont tell anyone). we had a lesson about the plan of salvation and
andrea started talking about how she had read in the bible about another woman
who was in the garden of eden before eve and we were like uhhhh what
translation are you reading?! haha we asked her to find it for us and show it
to us another time.. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This week
we had dinner with the Agles! it was super fun cause i got to hear the update
on how Cami is doing in Peru. Shes almost done which is wayyy cray. and then we
talked about mikilah and ashlyn and jessica and afton and everyone all around
the world serving! Sister Agle is so cute and keeps up with all of there blogs
and stuff. also she's just an amazing woman. She's been working with some of
the missionaries here on a portable visitors center that would just blow your
mind. so impressive and beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">okay now
lets talk about the tender mercy of the week. well, theres a lot of them. but
ill just talk about the one that stands out the most! It happened on Friday. So
we had reached the end of the day and had only like 40 minutes left before
curfew. Bishop gave us this list of less active people to go and visit because
he doesnt know them. so he wants us to go find all of them and report back to
him. anyways, so it was the end of the day and we realized that we were one
lesson short of our goal for the day. so we were bummed about that and couldnt
think of anyone to go see with only so much time left in the day. so we decided
to hit up some people on the less actives list. which never results in
anything. usually people just tell us that they arent interested or theyve
moved like two years ago and they new people living there arent interested
either. so we picked a house at random and ring the doorbell and this woman
answers saying "what on earth are you poor sweethearts doing out there in
the dark and the cold? come inside right now!" TENDER MERCY. haha turns
out that this sweet woman hasnt been to church in years because of health
issues but all she wants is to come back. Bishop has never even heard of her
but apparently some of the woman in the ward still go and visit her. and so we
had a little lesson with her and told her we'd come back soon. and there you
have it, God throws us a bone at the end of a long day sometimes just to say
"Dont worry Sisters. I'll help you meet your goal for today just because I
love you." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So that
was our week more or less! Its been a good one. It always is! No matter how
high or low the weeks, days, and moments are, I am still in awe every single
night when I kneel down to thank God for all the He has blessed us with. How
active He is in our lives. And how incredibly much He knows and loves us each
personally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">all my
love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sister
Tantillo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-25809721352195485952014-07-17T17:33:00.003-07:002014-12-18T18:58:50.500-08:00Letter #32: Two Incidents <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This week
i discovered that my dear companion has a condition. aka a laughing problem. i
dont even know how to completely explain to you just how serious this condition
is other than the fact that she turns into a complete crazy person. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We had
two incidents where the crazy person came out this week. the first was in front
of our investigator!! dear paige was chatting with us and the Elders when
Sister Calder completely lost all sanity that has ever existed. the second
incident was at dinner with sandra howard (a returning inactive) and sister
hansen (this really sweet old lady who is trying to quit smoking). luckily they
think we're adorable so the hysterics didnt get to them too much. im not even
exaggerating this though. once she starts it doesn't stop! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Andrea
experienced miracles this week! through a lot of intervention from God,
everything this week was catered exactly to her needs. we had this big lesson
planned with their whole family and another family in the ward. but due to work
conflicts and people getting sick all of those plans changed into us having a
lesson with just andrea and sister ostaszewski (our relief society president
and my favorite woman in the ward). and that lesson was exactly what andrea
needed. to have the chance to focus on JUST her and HER needs and answer her
questions. she is progressing so quickly! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">then on
sunday more divine intervention happened! she wasnt planning on coming to
church cause she had a meeting that she couldnt miss. but it got cancelled and
she got to come! and im not even kidding you every single talk the entire day
was catered DIRECTLY to her. and she knew it! during sacrament meeting she got
hit with this wave of the spirit and realizing that the speakers were answering
these questions that shes always had. and all three of us started crying and
people were staring but we didnt even care because it was beautiful! after
church we talked super openly about her getting married to john and getting
baptized. she wants it! we just have to help her get there. and we need to help
john experience the conversion that andrea had this weekend too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i got to
go on two exchanges this week! the first was with our sister training leaders.
sister calder went to billerica with sister blair and i got to have sister
layton for the day here in littleton! they are exact replicas of us and its
weird. sister blair=sister calder and sister layton=me. so it was like spending
the day with ourselves! and i learned so much from that! the second exchange
was last night. there was this big meeting for all of the missionaries leaving
in the next 6months to encourage them to finish strong. sister calder and
sister hileman had to both go so i got to have sister hilemans companion
(sister lewis) here with me for the night! so that we wouldnt have to shut down
the area. she's my baby sister here in the mish since we both have the same
amazing trainer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">funniest
moment of the week. elder ripplinger got sick and so we were super good sister
missionaries/friends and went to the store to get him orange juice and
crackers. so we went to deliver it to them and were too lazy to walk it
upstairs to them. so elder bringhurst said "thats chill just through it up
to me and ill catch it through the window!" we agreed to this (the regret
came later) and ended up completely missing and watching the orange juice
carton explode against their brick building. and when i say we, i mean me.
totally my fault. harder to throw than it looks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">anyways,
the theme of our week has been "if you ask with real intent, you always
receive." God wants to speak to us and bless us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I LOVE
YOU<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><3 Sister Tantillo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-23605309320410406002014-07-17T17:32:00.001-07:002014-12-18T18:57:25.868-08:00Letter #31: Boston Marathon <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i just wrote on Wednesday but a surprisingly large amount of
stuff has happened! so last sunday we had a zone fast to find new investigators
cause its been a little dry around here lately... and guess what? WE HAVE
8 NEW INVESTIGATORS. that's right. life is grand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">three of those include that family that live right behind the
church! john, andrea, tyler(8), and Tessa(4). oh my goodness those kids are so
cute you have no idea. but theyre sooooo wonderful. they came to church on
sunday and after relief society andrea turned to us and basically said that
shes not ready for baptism today, but she will be after she learns more. the
only road block we've come across so far is that we found out that theyre not
actually married.. so we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. we had
an incredible lesson with them this week though. we invited the relief society
president and her family to it because they have kids about the same age and
they totally hit it off and love each other and its awesome. then they came to
church on sunday and then we went over to their house after to read the book of
Mormon with them and answer their questions. one thing that they keep saying
that i think is so awesome is that theyre impressed by the church because all
of the people seem to sincerely WANT to be there and to serve. it seems like
more of a blessing than a burden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">one of our other new investigators is Paige. she works at the
grocery store that we shop at so that's how we met her. turns out that she
knows one of the families in our ward, the olsens, super well though. they walk
their dogs together. so we had our first lesson with her in their home and it
went SO well. she started crying and told us that she felt so calm and at peace
in that moment. it was so touching. she also came to church on sunday and sat
with the olsens. unfortunately her work schedule is crazy so she could only
stay for the first hour. but it was good!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">easter sunday was wonderful! we had a polish dinner with the
Blosil fam and then spent the day visiting a bunch of members and sharing a
short easter message. it was fun and the members treat us so well! that night
we came home and were headed into our apartment when we ran into a woman and
her little daughter. we got talking about easter and told her that we had been
sharing a message about Christ all day and asked if she was interested in
hearing about it. she said yes and so we went into her apartment (two doors
down from us) and shared a message with her, her daughter and husband. theyre
from india and are leaving this week to be in india for a month. but they want
us to teach them again when they get back!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">today we started the morning at the temple! what a perfect way
to start the day :) it was super good and i got to see a bunch of the old
Brockton crew there. also i an into hemana paula from the revere ward! i didn't
recognize her at first and she just came up and hugged me and started going off
in Spanish and i was so confused at first until i realized who she was! but it
was fun to see her and she is too sweet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">then we got to go into boston and watch the boston marathon! it
was a gorgeous day and the city was insanely busy. which i loved. we parked at
the Cambridge building and then took the T in to boston commons and walked down
newbury street with all the shops until we got near the finish line and could
see the runners! it was so fun cause people kept yelling at us like "look
its the missionaries!" and "hello sisters!" all the Mormons in
the city that day made sure to let us know that they were there! we walked so
stinking far and our feet were killing and so we treated ourselves to giant
burgers before heading back. sister calder was obsessed with finding this one
burger joint that she insisted was "just a couple shops farther" but
im convinced that this place never existed and finally we settled on a
different burger place. several blocks and a few blisters later...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">anyways its been a fantastic week!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">humility brings blessings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">love you all!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-15820415006441026692014-04-05T20:48:00.001-07:002014-12-18T18:57:02.969-08:00Letter #30: Littleton<div class="p1">
transferring areas always makes for a crazy week. starting with transfer meeting which was wednesday night! we had to drive two hours to make it the the chapel that all of the missionaries that are getting transfers meet at. then we have a two hour long meeting where all of the departing missionaries get up and share their testimonies and we welcome all of the new little greenies. sister hileman got a new missionary to train which means that i have a little sister!! shes so cute i love her already. and i got to see sister hileman for the first time since leaving revere! that was purely glorious. i miss her! we're in the same zone now so we'll see each other slightly more often than before. after the meeting ends all chaos breaks loose with everyone trying to say goodbye to each other and get pictures and transfer luggage between the cars. chaos i tell you. </div>
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and then i was with my new companion sister calder! she is 21 and from California and only has a few months left on her mission. she's probably finish her mission here in Littleton! We cover like 12 towns surrounding Littleton here and the area is beautiful! soooooo different than revere and brockton. i tell people where i served before and theyre like oh... this is different for you then! and im like hey, dont hate on my ghetto areas. haha but the people here are wonderful. Sister Packard called a couple of days ago and asked me how my transition is going back into English society and i told her that its been a bit of a culture shock! but little things like dinner manners and shaking peoples hands instead of kissing them on the cheek are slowly coming back to me :) so littleton ward is the biggest ward in the mission and the people here are incredible. very intelligent and very hard working. Borther Holland is in this ward. as in the son of J.R. Holland. we sat in on his sunday school lesson this past sunday. we have two elders serving in this ward with us too. elder ripplinger and elder bringhurst. i havent taken any pictures of anyone or anything yet sorry! youll have a face with the name next week. </div>
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on friday after district meeting we went to lunch with everyone. our sister training leaders are in our district so we got to sit and talk with them. theyre amazing i want to be just like them please. so i was telling them that i was from seattle and one of the sisters was like oh, i know every single stereotype for seattle people. haha so she started listing off all these things that were actually pretty spot on. and she got the biggest kick out of it because apparently i totally fit the seattle stereotype. proud of it though. </div>
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we've been visiting a lot of members this week which is wonderful because i need to get to know everyone! saturday was the general women's broadcast which was incredible. if you havent watched it yet go do that now itll blow your mind. then on sunday night we went to a "voices of zion" concert put on by a choir made up of people from the surrounding area. it was super beautiful. i love music so much it pains me. haha but we were there to help with refreshments and whatnot. </div>
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and thats about it. not too much to report on since transfers made it a short week. i am SO excited for general conference this upcoming weekend! we are so blessed to live in a day where all we have to do is turn on the tv to hear the words of our prophet. I know that he is called of God and leading the church the way Christ himself would if he were on the earth. Don't take this opportunity for granted :) love you all!<br />
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Pictures:<br />
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C98F1BCC67429D84!1169&authkey=!AE8GCDnqTzI7qHU&ithint=folder%2c.JPG </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-20275667412427790602014-04-05T20:47:00.001-07:002014-12-18T18:56:46.364-08:00Letter #29: TRANSFERRED<div class="p1">
TRANSFERRED. okay so im going to tell you what actually ended up happening and then the crazy story behind it. I'm being transferred to Littleton to be companions with sister calder. english speaking. so at this rate ill be spending 3 months in every language. probably next will be Haitian creole and then ill have exhausted all of the options that this mission has to offer language wise. </div>
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so here's how transfers went down. earlier in the week we got a text from president saying that transfer text was going to come out on friday at 1PM instead of saturday at 9PM. and also that transfer meeting would be a day earlier too. as in today. which is why today is crazy nuts running all over the place because we have to leave a few hours early to make it to transfer meeting, which is cutting our p day super short. also we have to pack. lots and lots of packing.</div>
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anyways, so on friday we had district meeting and then right after t-text came so we were all together to read it. so heres the change ups.</div>
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sister cope is going to open and area in dorchester with sister gomez. aka the gomezster. </div>
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sister carone is going to southcoast to be companions with sister wake and theyll be in a zebra area. as in half portuguese half spanish.</div>
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elder starley is going back to the area he started his mission in (central falls) and will probably end his mish there. </div>
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sister hileman over in nashua is getting a new missionary to train so ill have a baby sister!! </div>
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everyone else in the district is staying. </div>
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why wasnt i on transfer text you may ask? because i didnt find out i was leaving until monday!! on friday the plan was that i was going to stay here with sister harris and we would get sister belchoir here too to be in a trio. that changed. </div>
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we were at the millers house monday morning cause they wanted to cook us all one last meal before they all peaced out. so we were sitting around eating and talking and what not when president packard calls! and thats always a scary thing. so sister carone answers and then hands it over to me and i was like oh man.... hi president. and then he explained to me that a sister has gotten sick in another area and that im needed to go fill her space over in littleton. and bada-bing-bada-boom thats where im going! </div>
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its been crazy the last two days after that trying to run around and say goodbye to everyone. cause they only think that s carone s cope and elder starley were leaving since thats all we knew so far on sunday. so ive gotten less time to say goodbye. but thats okay i think ive been able to see most everyone that i need to. saying goodbye is the worst though i was so tempted to just sneak out without telling anyone! haha but they wouldve been mad/sad so i went to say my goodbyes. </div>
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alright so thats transfer news. im outa time cause like i said, the day is short and theres a lot to do today! </div>
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ill be back on on monday and ill let you know how things in my new area go! </div>
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love you all!</div>
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sister tantillo</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-86578610305080502912014-04-05T20:44:00.002-07:002014-12-18T18:55:49.280-08:00Letter #28: Sun Came Out<div class="p1">
a miraculous thing happened this week called the sun came out!! it broke 50 degrees and for us that was good enough to be outside walking! it was pretty funny actually it was like all of the sudden the town exploded and everyone was out on the streets in tshirts playing basketball or walking to the store. but it made everything so much more fun cause we got to ditch the car and join them. its so much easier to talk to people when their not running from place to place to get out of the cold. or more like not even leaving their houses in the first place. so we had a couple good days like that and then it snowed again. haha but it was wonderful while it lasted.</div>
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we've had a million member lessons this week because all of our investigators either have gotten baptized (YAY!), disappeard (it happens), or arent progressing. we went to go see Jayla who is 13 and offered to help her with her personal progress. and she was like yes please help me! haha her parents are super solid but her mom converted to the church as an adult so she never did personal progress. therefore jayla doesnt really have someone in the home to help show her how to do it. thats the case for almost all of the young women here actually. so we went and helped her make some goals and plan out her next couple of activities.</div>
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also this week we had my all time favorite lesson that i have been in so far. it was on wednesday and i had sister gomez here because she is my sister training leader and was doing exchanges with us. sister carone went to cambride with sister melo for the day. so i got to take sister gomez with me! i love her. anyways back to my favorte lesson ever. i talked about cindy a couple of weeks ago. she's a yw in the branch too and just turned 16. and a couple of weeks ago she got out of the hospital where she had been for a few weeks trying to recover from some psychological problems she was having. we dont know the details, just taht she was being bullied a lot and amongst other things it pushed her over the edge. so i had been thinking about her a lot and s. carone and i decided that what she really needed more than anything was a lesson on the atonement of christ. so that day with s gomez we went and shared with her 2 nephi 9:18 and talked to her about carrying our crosses. and that we all have crosses to carry but through the atoning power of christ, that burden can be lifted. we also shared the story of zeezrom in alma 15 and talked about what it meant to have the power to be healed and how joyous it feels to allow the atonement to work through you and heal you from those burdens. at the end she started crying and told us that she felt like that story was exactly her and what she just went through. it was so tender and the spirit was incredible. she's an amazing girl.</div>
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at the end of exchanges we drove back to cambridge to do the switch back. i was tempted to take a wrong turn on the way home so that we could detour through revere! haha but that wouldve made us superrrrrr late for curfew so i resisted. but guess what!? elder freeman got his visa to brasil this week! he's been here forever! but s kemp called and told me the news and that he's leaving at the end of the month! he turned in all his fingerprint stuff the same time i did, but he's been waiting a few months longer. super excited for him thouh! he's been in the spanish program this whole time and doesnt know any portuguese though... totally fluent in spanish.</div>
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okay time for the highlight of the week. WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE WITH ZA! it was exactly one week after her baptism which was incredible. it was the stake relief society trip and so the baptismal session started at 8AM. there were several women from our branch that went and it was perfect. the absolute best thing that we could have done with her. Daniella is this amazing woman in our branch who Za has become good friends with and she took care of her the whole time and showed her what to do and everything. it was so special to be in the temple. funny thing though.. so za has really bad back problems that she has to do phsyical therapy for. and she through it out pretty bad at the temple and so she was in too much pain to come to church the next day. so that was unfortunate...</div>
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so heres what i learned this week. sister carone and i were having this really good talk about time. because people are always giving us the excuse taht they dont have enough time. not enough time for church or scriptures or prayer. basically, not enough time for christ. and we decided taht thats just ridiculous. all we have is time!! literally nothing else. the thing thats wrong is how we're deciding to USE our time. we all HAVE time. we're just choosing not to spend it on the things that REALLY matter. it's amazing though when we decide to put Christ first in our life how everything else falls into place.</div>
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i love you all! have a good week :)</div>
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sister tantillo</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932172671232880112.post-89079950315045988102014-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:002014-12-18T18:55:27.810-08:00Letter #27: Baptized!<div class="p1">
DANILSON AND ZA ARE BAPTIZED!!! oh my goodness its been such a crazy week! but so incredibly worth it because on saturday they were both baptized and on sunday they were confirmed and it was the most happy and incredible weekend of life i could not be happier!! </div>
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okay lets start with danilson. first of all we've been spelling his name wrong this whole time because sister lima told us that it was spelled like daenielson which is jsut totatally and completely wrong and doesnt even make sense because no one spells their name like that. but for some reason we believed her and then danilson thought we were crazy when we showed him how we've been spelling it. we met with him a couple more times before saturday to teach him all of the commandments and holy cow he is the most solid and genius 11 year old i have ever met. we asked him how him book of mormon reading has been going and hes arlready in mosiah!!! i didnt break past 1 nephi at his age! elder carvalho came over after one of our lessons and gave him is baptism interview and he nailed it of course. he was so cute when he showed up on saturday. he was all dressed up in a suit and tie and looked SO proud. and oh my he brought so many people to come watch! his whole family that lives in this area came and it was such an amazing missionary opportunity for him. his mom isnt a member but is our investigator (aurizandra) and his dad is an inactive member who hasnt been in church for years. we told him earlier in the week that he should invite his dad and he was super bummed about it like "no... he wont come." BUT THEN HE DID!! and guess what else?? he even showed up to church on sunday to see him be confirmed!! it was soooo incredible he hasnt been in church for years! </div>
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aurizandra had a party at her house after with their whole family to congratulate him and she invited us over and we me the most legit guy. it was danilson's uncle and he's a chef at harvard and was telling us about how he cooks for the senate and president when they come and all this crazy stuff. we had a super cool talk with him and gave him a book of mormon and he told us he would read it and call us about what he thinks. </div>
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okay now za. it was a bit more of a stressful experience getting her to her baptism day. we went over on wednesday to talk with her and review some things and she started telling us that she didnt feel prepared enough to be baptized and she didnt feel like she had a strong enough testimony and just wanted to KNOW and have as strong of a confirmation as everyone else seemed to. it looked for a little while like she might postpone her baptism and it broke out hearts. so we left after talking to her for a long time about it and went home and just prayed to know what to do. and we both felt super strongly like Za was ready and that saturday was her time to be baptized. we found this talk about how we dont need to KNOW, only to BELIEVE. and that we cant focus on our doubts, but that we need to built our testimonies on the faith that we do have. so we went back that same day and read through this talk together and it was amazing. her heart changed and she decided that she was ready! so that very night we had her interview and elder carvalho said that she was more than prepared. we were really worried about her the rest of teh week though cause we could tell that the adversary was working hard against her. (because she's so awesome). and then on saturday after she was baptized she got up and shared her testimony and it blew us away. she KNOWS. it was absolutely incredible and we and SO HAPPY FOR HER. her two little girls Eliana and Dalia are also the cutest people you will ever meet and it was sooooo cool for them to see their mom get baptized. they love coming to church with her and are having so much fun in primary. </div>
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so we've started a youth book of mormon class at the miller's house every other sunday! yesterday was the first one and it was AWESOME! we were worried that no one would come but their house ended up packed with most of the youth in the branch and the millers lead a discussion about the book of mormon. it was so cool to see all the youth together like that. the millers are the best. they treat us like their own chilren and having senior couples is the best. sister miller always feeds us healthy food and makes us these weird healthy tea things that we call her potions. </div>
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okay im out of time!! love you all!! church is true. have a good week!!</div>
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<div class="p1">
sister tantillo</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655107411883383666noreply@blogger.com0