Cleide is an eleita; The gospel helps us grow and reach our full potential; It's HOT!!!

Olá família!  It's me again.  :)  P-Day once more, and there's only two weeks left until transfers come around again!!!  CRAZY how fast the time is flying.  It's almost November???  When did THAT happen?  haha :)  Is it feeling that way for you guys too, or is mission time just messing with my brain?

But things are going great here in Maringá.  Remember how I said we've been working really hard lately to find new people to teach?  Well, we were looking for a miracle this week ... really searching for someone who was prepared to be baptized on Sunday, and although it didn't come in the form of a baptism, we DID find an amazing family to teach.  We met Lorena, 15, while doing contacts in the street.  She was really interested in our message, and we set an appointment right then to teach her and her family.  So we've been teaching her and her mom, Cleide, and they are both REALLY open and receptive - eleitas. :)  

It's usually SO HARD to get investigators to come to church...we have to explain and explain and explain the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy, the sacrament, church meetings, etc.... We have to arrange to have someone come and pick them up in the morning, just so they won't have any excuse to not show up.  Seriously, sometimes it can be a lot of work to get an investigator to church on Sunday.  But Cleide is an eleita.  She got up in the morning, went out, and caught a bus to take her all the way to the chapel in downtown Maringá, carrying her two year old daughter the whole way.  :)  It's so awesome to see people with that kind of faith, that desire to do the right things just because they know it's right. 

What else happened this week....oh!  Daniel had to wait a week in between his baptism because of stake conference last week, but this Sunday he finally got to be confirmed.  It was awesome!  His testimony is more and more solid every week, and that is so cool to see.  The blessing that he received during the confirmation was powerful, and he was blessed to become a great leader in the church.  Amazing to see how the gospel helps us to grow and reach our full potential.  :)

We're still working with his son, Alexandre, but haven't made a ton of progress yet.  We still haven't been able to get him to come to church, but aren't really sure what's keeping him back... Okay, so I forgot to tell this story last week - when we brought Alexandre to the Book of Mormon play last week, we showed him around the chapel a little bit - the classrooms, the baptismal font, etc.  He seemed uncharacteristically quiet while we explained everything to him, and later he told us that a looong time ago he'd had a dream about the chapel - he's kind of hard to take seriously sometimes, so at first I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth, but he was definitely being sincere.  He also said that he dreamed about a man there in the chapel, one of the whitest people he'd EVER seen in his life, and that he recognized him that night at the activity - our district leader, Elder Griner!  Crazy, right?  We thought that maybe because of this dream, Elder Griner would be able to make the difference that we somehow weren't making, so he came to our area yesterday to talk with Alexandre.  Apparently it went well, and we're going to continue working with him this week.  :) 

In other news, it's hot.  haha :)  I'm apparently not adjusting to the heat or the humidity very well, because I end up completely drenched in sweat every day... the other sisters say that I'll get used to it, but I'm not so sure. :P  It's ridiculously embarrassing, but ah well.  Could be worse.  :)

I think that's all for now.  It's great to be here.  I'm happy.  :)  Keep writing me letters and such!  I love you all soooo much and pray for you ALL!!!  

Love, 

Sister Gee  

Courage in the work; Stake conference; Disappointments, but overall a good week

Sister Lopez and Sister Gee

Hello everyone!  Another exciting week here in Maringá - we have another new sister with us!  So turns out that Pres. Tavares WAS able to shift things around to get Sis. Ramirez a new companion, and now there are four of us again.  Sis. Ramos arrived on ... Wednesday, if I remember right.  :)  She is AWESOME, and its been so much fun to have her here.  She is from Recife, Brazil, and has a strong northern accent - did you have any companions from Recife, Jamie?  I dont know how to describe the accent, but if Jamie knows what Im talking about, she can imitate it for you.  ;)  Its pretty wild!   Sis. Ramos has 10 months in the mission, the same amount as Sis. Lopez.  They actually lived together before in a different area, so they're already good friends!  So Sis. Ramos and Sis. Ramirez have been working together in Parque dos Pioneiros A, and Sis. Lopez and I have been able to focus on P. dos P. B.  :)

Another exciting moment this week was interviews with President Tavares!  Interviews happen every 3 months or so, and this was my very first, besides the quick interview when I first arrived in the field.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was a really great opportunity to sit and talk with him for a few minutes, about everything - my health, family, problems I've been experiencing, what I need to improve on, etc.  President Tavares is awesome.  Hes really energetic and super enthusiastic about EVERYTHING, which is great.  Before the interviews he gave a powerful message about what it takes to be missionaries of COURAGE, using Alma 17 as a guideline of things we need to be doing every day to be able to preach the gospel with power and courage.  It was awesome, and exactly what I needed. I'll definitely be working on applying those scriptures to my work here in Maringá.

It was an exciting weekend - we had stake conference on Sunday, and a lot of activities leading up to it.  Friday was a Book of Mormon Theater put on by all the youth in our stake.  We were only able to stay for the first few acts and weren't able to see our ward perform, but the wards we did see did a great job!  We also brought Alexandre (17), the son of Daniel, to watch the theater, and I think he really enjoyed being able to meet some other teens from the ward and make some friends.  We've been trying to get him to come to church for a month or so now, so this felt like a step in the right direction.  :)

Stake Conference was crazy - the chapel was completely PACKED full of people.  The disappointing part was that somehow all of our plans fell through and not one of our investigators had a ride to church.  Daniel was able to take a bus to get to church, but his son Alexandre didn't make it.  That was disappointing because we had set a baptismal date for him next Sunday, but because he didn't come to church this week, we will have to push it back another week...  

But overall its been a good week.  :)

Sounds like you guys are having plenty of your own adventures back home.  I talked to a woman in our ward on Friday who had visited Utah with her family for General Conference.  She talked about their visit to Provo, the temple, the mountains, the autumn leaves...ahhh.  I miss all that!  But I am happy to be here serving a mission in Brazil.

I love you all so much!  Take care, write me a letter when you have a minute!

Love, 

Sister Melissa Gee

Miracle baptism! Daniel

Hello once again from Maringá!  It's been another busy week, and a lot's happened since last I wrote.  Two new sisters arrived here last Tuesday!  ....and one new sister left again appr. two hours later.  haha.  :)  Sister Empey has some kind of problems with her back, so Pres. and Sis. Tavares decided that it probably wasn't a good idea for her to live here in Maringá, climbing up and down the many flights of stairs to our apartment every day.  So she went back to Londrina, and Sis. Lopez and I are working in a trio with the other new sister, Sis. Ramirez, for the time being.  We're supposedly going to have a new companion for her today or tomorrow, but again, nobody's heard any details about that yet, so we're not completely sure it's going to happen... we'll see.  :)  

Being in a trio is interesting... It's been kind of crazy, especially since we've had to work in BOTH of the areas here - the area of Sis. Ramirez as well as the area of Sister Lopez and I.  We've been going back and forth between the two, trying to take care of the investigators and recent converts in each area, but not really being able to give them the time they need.  We're really hoping that Sis. Ramirez WILL receive a companion soon so things can get back to normal here...   Sis. Ramirez is from Chile, and lots of fun.  She's hilarious and has a lot of crazy stories, so she's definitely kept us entertained this last week.  :)  It's really fun to be able to get to know some more of the sisters here in the Brazil Londrina Mission.

Yesterday we had another miracle baptism!  We started out this week not really sure what was going to happen - we didn't really have any investigators with a definite baptismal date, and weren't sure where we were going to find one.  But on Thursday we taught Daniel again (Silvia's dad), and he decided that he wanted to be baptized.  :)  He's a really great man - really humble and accepting of everything we teach.  He really has a sincere desire to do what's right, and it's been awesome to see him progress.  So even despite the disappointments with Silvia deciding to stop coming to church last week, we're still receiving blessings from the work we've been doing here.  And I'm sure that he will be a good example for the rest of his family, one that they'll hopefully decide to follow!  (Also, at our last zone meeting, they announced that the first companionship to baptize a man would get a pizza....so we're not complaining too much about that either.)  :)

 

Baptism of Daniel

 

Alright, well that's pretty much it for the week.  I love you guys!  I wish I could have been there for the family vacation this past week...sounds like it was an adventure.  :)  Good luck with school and band and Primary and work and EVERYTHING that's happening over there!  And write and tell me all about it!  :)

Love love love,

Sister Melissa Gee

Teaching Carol and Silvia; "Do I value the words of the prophet this much?"

Olá família!

Okay, so it's been another busy week, and a LOT has been happening.  Sis. Lopez and I are still working like crazy.  The two new sisters that will be taking over the other area here in Maringá still haven't arrived, due to health problems and other complicated situations.  They're supposed to be arriving today, but I don't think anybody really knows exactly what's going on with that... haha.  For the time being, it's just been Sister Lopez and I, which is fun.  :)  Raisa hasn't been able to work with us at all this transfer, so we've had to rely a lot on maps, buses, and our own two feet.  Hello, Missionary Work.  It's been an experience, frustrating, hectic, and exhausting at times...but I'm really grateful for Sis. Lopez and all the work she does to make sure we find our way to lunch appointments, lessons, and back home again at the end of the day... even if we occasionally get a little bit lost along the way.  :) We're slowly learning the area - the streets, the bus schedules, where all the members live, stuff like that - and also realizing what a blessing it was to have the help of Raisa last transfer... haha :)

We had quite a few people that we were teaching at the beginning of the transfer, and a few that I really thought were progressing amazingly well - Carol and Silvia.  Carol is 21, and a referral from a recent convert.  Silvia is 19, and we met her and her family while knocking on doors (aka clapping at gates).  :) I don't remember if I've mentioned them in a previous email or not, but they both were really interested in our message, really quick to learn and keep commitments, they were reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church...really, seemed like golden investigators.  The hardest part of this week was when each of them told us that they didn't have any interest in continuing with the lessons or coming to church.  Sister Lopez and I were both shocked, and a little bit discouraged... it was hard.  But Sister Lopez shared something that she's learned on the mission - moments of rejection are part of the mission.  We'll all face them ... but even during these moments, we will ALWAYS be able to feel the love of the Lord.  His mission wasn't easy - He too was rejected and suffered more than we can comprehend - so why would we expect ours to be?  And I know that He'll be with us, and that if we continue to do our best, the blessings will come.  :)

Conference was definitely a blessing after the discouragements of the week.  I felt the Spirit so powerfully, during each of the four sessions.   During the first few talks during the first session of Conference, they weren't able to get the transmission in English to work for the 7 or 8 us American missionaries, so we watched in the cool chapel with the rest of the stake, in Portuguese.  The translators speak really fast, and though I understood more or less what was happening, it wasn't easy.  I found myself hanging on to every word the prophet said, desperate to understand, not wanting to miss anything that was happening - and then the thought came into my mind, "Do I value the words of the prophet this much when they're in English, easy to understand?"  I think sometimes when things are easy for us, we start to take them for granted...but I realized just what a wonderful thing it is to hear a prophet of God speak to us.  

The rest of the conference was amazing as well, and I can't wait to be able to read all the talks again when the Liahona comes out.  So many talks on discipleship, missionary work, following Christ...definitely a theme of the conference.  It made me really appreciate the experience of a mission, the blessing of being a missionary.  I'm SO grateful to be here, so grateful to be able to serve!!!  I know it's going to change my life forever, and I'm so grateful for that, and for everything I'm learning here.  For the person I'm becoming here.  :)  And YES, everyone here is so excited about the changes for missionary age requirements!!!  SO many more young women will have the opportunity to serve now that they can leave at 19.  What a blessing. :)  The work is really going forward, and this change is only going to move it along faster and faster!  Can't wait to be able to train a 19 year old sister.  ;)

Well, that's all for this week.  I hope you all loved Conference, and enjoyed basking in the spiritual feast as much as I did.  :)  I love you all so much, and think about you often!  I'm so glad you guys are focusing on Mission Prep - it's really going to make such a big difference when your time comes to serve!  Let me know what things you're learning and practicing!  :)

Until next week,

Love,

Sister Melissa Gee

Time for a fresh start! Baptism of Henrique; "Would you really give all this up for..."

A new month, a new set of contact lenses, a new transfer.....ahh.  Yep, it's time for a fresh start.  :)  So, this transfer I'll be staying here in Maringá (woohooo!!), only in a different area and with a different companion!  Because of the problems with her foot, Sister Scapin left early this morning to head back home.  It was a really tough decision for her, but she and President Tavares both felt like it was the right thing to do at this point.  It's definitely going to be different without her... but I'm excited for this transfer to start, to be able to really get to work!  I've had a word or two with both of my feet, and I think they'll behave for a while...haha :)  Sister Lopez will be my new companion and will finish up my training.  I was hoping that I would be able to continue working with her, since we already know each other and have had a few weeks to get used to working together.  It's gonna be a good transfer.  :)  We still don't know which sisters will be arriving tomorrow to take the place of Sister Scapin and Sister de Jesus, so more excitement is in store....stay tuned.  :)

Let's see, que mais......this week was a little unusual, with Sister de Jesus and myself taking turns staying at home with Sister Scapin, and then with all the goodbyes and pictures and tears when Sister Scapin found out she was leaving...  But it was good, and despite the confusion we were able to work quite a bit.  We had a MIRACLE on Saturday...Henrique, an investigator that Sister Lopez, Sister de Jesus, and I have been working with for a while now, decided to be baptized!  It was really exciting for us, because for the longest time he'd been saying that he didn't really have the desire to be baptized, that all of the commandments and expectations were too much for him.  I still don't know exactly what changed, but I think it all started when we taught him the Plan of Salvation last week... After explaining everything that God has planned for him, Sister Lopez looked at him and said, "Would you really give all this up for a cup of coffee?  For a cigarette?  For one night breaking the Law of Chastity?"  And I guess that really made an impact, because Saturday night he decided he wanted to be baptized - the next day.  So we were in a rush all night, getting signatures and organizing everything, buying stuff to make a cake...and Sunday we had a baptism.  :)  It was especially special for Sister de Jesus, since she left this morning and would have missed the baptism if we'd waited for next week.

Henrique and Sister Lopez

Oh, and also, yesterday was the Primary Program in our ward!  That reminded me of Mom and home and all the stress she's probably going through getting everything figured out...haha :)  But really, I loved it.  I love seeing the sweet little kids and the pure faith that they have.  The Spirit is always so strong when they share their simple testimonies of the gospel.  The Primary president asked us to join the kids on the stand for a musical number - Called to Serve and I Hope They Call Me On A Mission - which was really special.  It made me think of my time in Primary, when I sang that same song....and now here I am 15+ years later, serving a mission!  Sigh....time flies.  :)

Anyways, I've gotta write my president now.  I'm so so grateful to be a missionary, to have this opportunity to learn and grow and serve and teach...I'm amazed by how much I've learned already, and I know it will only continue!  I love you all so much, and hope you are all happy and healthy and loving life.  I think about and pray for you aaallll the time!  Thanks for all the love and support I continually feel from you guys.  It means a lot.  :)

Love,

Sister Gee