Mission conference in Londrina; Sister Scapin still stuck in the apartment

Hard to believe that I'm almost finished with the first transfer of my mission...only one week left!  And who knows where I´ll be next week... At the beginning of the transfer, Sister Scapin was pretty confident that we would both stay in Maringá for both transfers of my training, but with all of the craziness that we've gone through the last few weeks, I really don't know what's going to happen!  I could be here with Sis. Scapin, with a different trainer, or in a new area altogether...It´ll be exciting to find out.  :)

Well, the big event of the week was MISSION TOUR!  A mission conference in Londrina, with all of the Brasil Londrina missionaries in the Paraná areas.  I attached the picture that they took with everyone there...I'm on the veeeery far end on the left, almost falling off of my chair...  Taking that picture was not a comfortable experience.  :P  :)  

 

Mission Conference in Londrina  - September 2012

 

Also, as a part of the conference, all of the new missionaries got to bear their testimonies for everyone!  Fortunately I've had a lot of practice bearing my testimony in Portuguese the last few weeks, so it wasn't too bad.  :)  

We were blessed to be able to hear from Elder Carlos Godoy, from the First Quorum of the Seventy.  It was an amazing experience.  We´d been preparing for it as a mission for two weeks leading up to the conference, and as a part of that preparation they asked each of us to come with specific questions in mind.  I had two or three questions that I´d thought about and written down, and EACH question was answered very directly throughout the conference.  It was a pretty powerful testimony to me that the Lord really is aware of us, and that He really does speak to us through His apostles.  :)  And now we all get to do the same thing for General Conference in a few weeks!  Woohoo!  :) 

Oh, and I got the package you sent!  Thank you sooo much...it was wonderful to open it and see the pictures and treats and fun things you sent.  I felt loved.  :)  And would you believe it if I told you that we already finished off all of the candy...?  (haha, my companions helped a lot.)  :P :)   

I've continued to work with Sis. Lopez this week, as Sis. Scapin still has a lot of pain in her foot.  It´s been great.  We've had exciting moments when our investigators progress, and disappointing moments when they choose not to...but through it all I've really felt grateful to be a missionary.  It´s such a privilege to be able to share the truths that I know with people who don´t have the blessings of the gospel in their lives.  It's a blessing, and something that I know will pass by much too quickly...so I'm trying my best to take advantage of every opportunity I get.  :)  I just wish that I'd taken more of the opportunities to prepare for my mission, so Kyle and Justin and everyone reading this who might be thinking about serving a mission, there´s no way to prepare too much!  Start now, and be as ready as you possibly can to reach your potential as a missionary.  :)

Well family, I love you so much!  I'm so grateful for you all.  I realize more and more all the time what a blessing it is to have every member of my family a member of the Church, and what a blessing all your support and love is.  I remember you in my prayers every day!  I hope that everything is going well, that everyone is happy and healthy and having a great time with school and friends and everything.  Can't wait to hear from you guys!  

Love,

Sister Gee

Still stuck in the apartment; Mariana was baptized!

Weeeell, once again I don't have a lot to report.  I'm still stuck in the apartment most of the time, studying and waiting for my leg to heal, so not much has been happening here in Maringá.  I have a physical therapy appointment today, and I'm hoping that they'll give me the OK to take this boot off and get back to work!  It really feels completely fine, so I'm guessing that will be the case.  It's been an interesting experience to have so soon after arriving in the field, but I really have appreciated the opportunity to study more and develop more confidence when I speak and teach.  Having a Brazilian companion has helped a LOT with the language, I think.  I find myself thinking in Portuguese at times, and I've started to say my personal prayers in Portuguese too...it's been helping a lot.  I still have a reeeeally hard time understanding people, especially people who talk fast or have heavy accents, which is basically everybody.  haha :)  But I can understand Sister Scapin more or less all the time, and I'm sure I'll continue to improve as time goes by.

Even though we haven't been able to go out and teach much this week, we were still able to see the blessings of missionary work yesterday.  Mariana, one of our investigators, was baptized!  She is 16 years old, and her mom and little brother were baptized a few months ago.  She wasn't sure about baptism at first, but last week in church she told us that she had finally made the decision to be baptized.  It was so wonderful to see this beautiful family and the blessings that the gospel has brought to them! 

The elders in our district have been awesome and really helpful to us for the last few weeks while we haven't been able to do much.  They've been taking care of our area, visiting our investigators, teaching lessons, and finding new people to teach, so hopefully there will be a lot to do once we get back!

Yup, that's pretty much it for the week.  Hopefully I'll have a lot more stories to tell next time!!  :)

Sister Gee

Ouch! Injury to my foot!; Stuck in the apartment; Language is coming along well;

Hello, família!!!  :)  So first off, CONGRATULATIONS to Ryan and Celecta!!!!  It's a GIRL...ahhh, I've been dying to hear the news, and I'm SO so excited for you guys.  Nothing against little boys, but I will admit that I was secretly hoping for an adorable niece.  ;)  Give Baby Celecta a hug for me, kay?

It sounds like the rest of you are having a fun Labor Day weekend!  I think I'd actually forgotten that Labor Day even existed ... haha, I opened your email and thought "Labor Day...?  Oh yeah... that happens, doesn't it?" :)  Have an awesome time, take pictures, and tell me all about it next week!

Okay, so its been an interesting week here .... :)  Here's the story.  Last week, after we had finished all of our P-day activities, we were heading out to get back to work once again.  We were on our way to a Family Night with some recent converts, and I think we were running a little bit late, because we were in a hurry.  Walking quickly along in the dark, I failed to notice a small dip in the sidewalk, tripped, and fell.  I didn't think it was going to be a big deal or anything, just a twisted ankle, right?  But Sister Scapin was worried, so the next day we went to the hospital to get it checked out, and lo and behold, I....I don't even know, from the pieces of Portuguese that I understood, I did SOMEthing to my ligament, and I have to be pretty careful with it for the next two weeks.  wooohooooo....  That means I get to wear one of those big awful boots everywhere, go to physical therapy, and basically just NOT walk...  so yeah, ever since that happened, life has been kind of dull.  We cant go out and work because of my foot, so every day after lunch, Sister Scapin and I go back to the apartment and study for the rest of the day.  It's kind of frustrating, especially since I cant physically FEEL that somethings wrong.  I don't have any pain at all, I'm just trusting that the doctor knows what hes talking about.  :P  I'm sure it will be good for me to have extra time to study and really become more confident with all of the lessons, the language, etc. ...  Just kind of frustrating to have to stay at home when I feel like I should be out working!

Other than the whole foot fiasco, everything's great here in Maringá!  I'm getting to know the members better, and I really can tell a difference in my ability to speak and understand the Portuguese, especially when I think about my first day here.  Haha, I was soooo lost...and now I can at least follow the conversation, even if I cant contribute much.  Everyone here is wonderful and welcoming and so much fun.  We had an awesome ward activity this week, with a spiritual message, games and food.  It was so great to see so many members of our ward interacting and laughing, having a blast together!  

Anyways, life is good.  I love you all, and pray for you every day!  Thanks for everything you do for me.  :)

Till next week!

Sister Melissa Gee

Quote of the Week:  Pouca coisa é necessaria para transformar inteiramente uma vida: amor no coração e sorriso nos labios.  - Martin Luther King  :)