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