MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE everyone!!! Igor has decicded to be baptized!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE everyone!!!  I can't believe it's almost Christmas and that I get to call you all TOMORROW!!!  :D  I'm super excited...and I will confess, a little bit nervous.  haha.  I CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH anymore, guys.  Seriously, it's going to be rough.  :P  :)  But STILL, I'm excited!  Just be prepared to help me transition back into English...and be patient.  haha :)

So.....wow, a lot has happened this week.  Transfers, first of all.  Right after I sent my email to you guys last week, we received a phone call from Sister Gomes and Sister Bullen... (they had gone to Londrina for the day so we weren't together like usual) ... and Sister Bullen had been transferred!  That was a HUGE surprise for everyone, because she only had ONE transfer here in Ibipora, and Sister Gomes had three.  Everybody thought that Sister Gomes would be the one transferred....but nope, President Tavares decided to mix things up and send Sister Bullen first.  She was transferred to Maringa, and Sister Ramirez arrived to take her place as Sister Gomes' new companion.  Remember Sister Ramirez?  We lived in the same apartment for my last transfer in Maringa, so I already know her pretty well.  It's been good to have her here with us.  :)

We also had an interesting change in our district.  Our district leaders worked in an area called Cornelio, but this transfer the area was closed and our district leader was transferred to a different district... so NOW, we get to go to Londrina every week for our district meeting with our NEW district leaders....the office elders!  Haha, it's different, and bem legal.  They are hilarious and a lot of fun, AND, bonus points, we get to pick up our letters there every week instead of having to wait for transfers.   SWEET!  :)  It's been pretty awesome so far... the escritório is basically the coolest place in the mission, but you can only go there with permission from the president....so having our meeting there is quite the privilege.  ;)  Hearing all the mission gossip, getting letters, Liahonas, packages, seeing all the other missionaries in Londrina....pretty legal. :)  

We also had the Branch Christmas Party last Friday, which turned out to be a pretty big deal.  CHURRASCO!  Okay, so I know that's not SO exciting for you Porto Alegre people, but it doesn't happen that often here in Parana, okay?  haha :)  But it was cool.  The chapel was ALL decorated for Christmas, FULL of people and FULL of FOOD.   Before the eating started, the Primary kids sang Away In A Manger (Jesus Num Presepio), and I played the piano.  Afterwards, the four of us sisters ended up eating behind the curtain on the pulpit, because all of the tables were full....it was actually really funny, kind of like a VIP area, or at least that's how I like to think of it.  ;)  Churrasco, rice and beans, salad (with TONS of tomatoes and onions chopped courtesy of yours truly), potato salad, and guarana.  mmmmm.... :)  and afterwards, ICE CREAM for dessert.  It was pretty great to have the whole branch gathered together to celebrate this wonderful holiday, in a wonderfully Brazilian way.  :)

As far as pesquisadores, I don't have TOO many updates - just one.  Igor told us yesterday that he's decided to be baptized!!!  That was SO exciting to hear.  We knew that he had a testimony and really had a strong desire to be baptized, but it looked like a lot of the problems he was facing were going to hold him back... but he said that he's decided for sure to make the changes in his life that he needs to be able to follow this path.  We set his baptism for two weeks from yesterday, and will be working with him to make it happen.  It isn't going to be easy, but keep him in your prayers and I know everything will work out!  :)

Well, family, I am SO excited to be able to talk to you tomorrow.  I am SO excited for Christmas, for this special day to remember our Savior and His birth.  I am so grateful for Him, for His life and His example.  I know that He lives and loves us, and I KNOW that this is His Church and His work.  I am so so grateful to be one of His representatives and for the opportunity to share this testimony with you as well as with the people here in Brazil.

Merry Christmas!!  I hope it's a wonderful day for all of you!  

Talk to you soon..

Love,

Sister Gee

Christmastime in Ibiporã; Two sister mssionaries, one small umbrella, BIG rain storm

Hello everybody!   Another week has passed and I'm still loving being here in Ibiporã!!  :)  Today is transfers, and as I haven't received any emails from the mission secretaries yet, I'm assuming that means I'll be staying here for another transfer.  woohoo!  :)  Sister Marques hasn't gotten anything yet either, so it looks like we'll be working together again!  I'm pretty excited about that.  :)  I was reeeeeeally hoping that we'd be able to stay here for another transfer.  We have a bunch of people that we're working with right now, and it will be so great to have some more time to keep teaching them and helping them progress.  That also means that we'll be here for Christmas, which I'm also SUPER excited about - we have some amazing members here that I'm sure will take verrryyy good care of us.  :)  Ibiporã is all decorated and beautiful for Christmas, and there has been A LOT going on in the city to celebrate.  The city center is FULL of giant Christmas sculptures made completely from plastic bottles - angels, candy canes, snowmen, and even a house for Santa Claus...it's really pretty incredible.  They have a stage set up for bands and dancers and other performances, a carousel and other rides for the kids, and a ton of little booths with different foods and treats.  It reminds me a lot of Summerfest, actually!  Churros, Krepes, Japanese food, cotton candy, candied apples... Sister Marques and I have definitely been enjoying this time of year.  :)  It's definitely different from Christmas in Utah, where everyone stays inside hiding from the snow! :)   Definitely different, and awesome.  :)

So, not a ton has happened this week...João's leg is still pretty bad and hasn't really shown any signs of improvement, and on top of that, he caught a cold this week, so yeah...he's not doing too well at the moment.  :/   We pass by every day to check on him, and to help in any way we can - which usually includes running to the store to buy groceries for him.  :)  He really is so sweet, and I'm praying that his leg will heal quickly.  It was sooo heartbreaking the other day - we stopped by to give a quick lesson, and afterwards, as we got up to leave, we shook his hand goodbye and he said "Tchau....and now I'm going to be alone."  haha!  It was so sad... :P :)

Oh, and another story - this week has been SUPER rainy, which is really a huge blessing.  We had been waiting for the rain for a loooong time, so when it finally arrived, it was a relief!  Friday we had scheduled a family night with some pesquisadores that live in Vila Esperança, the FARTHEST neighborhood from where we live.  That afternoon, we quickly made a cake to bring for a treat afterwards, pulled it out of the oven and ran out the door only to find the rain POURING down.  We only had one umbrella between the two of us - so try to imagine this - two sister missionaries huddled between one small umbrella, struggling in vain to protect a hot cake from getting soaked in the rain... yeah.   After a few minutes we realized that walking all the way to Vila Esperança wasn't going to happen, so we quickly changed course and caught a bus to take us there.  I couldn't help but laugh as we walked through the pouring rain with our umbrella and our cake.  And then we arrived at the house of the family and nobody was home.  ahh.  It would have been frustrating if it hadn't been so funny.  :)  But it still turned out to be a great evening.  We stopped by Rose's house and ate dinner with her and her family, with our cake as dessert!

Well, I can't wait to talk with you all for Christmas!  I think we'll be able to go to the house of a member here and use Skype...hopefully!  It would be so wonderful to be able to see you all.  :)  I guess I'll figure out all the details and let you know next week!

Love, 

Sister Gee

Christmas conference in Londrina; Christmas tree!; Investigators not progressing

Querida Família,

Oí once again from IBIPORÃ!  It's been another great week here.

The highlight of the week was CONFERENCIA DE NATAL in Londrina!  All of the missionaries in our zone met together to celebrate Christmas and learn together.  It was a WONDERFUL conference, and I loved being able to spend time with some of the other missionaries here.  President and Sister Tavares both spoke to us, as well as a member from Londrina.  The Spirit was AMAZINGly strong, and I learned so much that I'm going to be applying every day.  We practiced teaching a few lessons together, had some musical numbers, a delicious lunch, cake for all of the missionaries who celebrated birthdays from July to December, and of course Christmas presents!  The conference lasted the whole day, but it seriously passed so quickly.  I felt so grateful to be able to be there, receiving the spiritual reinforcements that I need to do this work every day!  Mission conferences are amaaazing.  :)

Oh, and I got your Christmas package!  It was sooo funny, everyone was surprised that I had actually received a Christmas tree in the mail, and that I was actually going to carry it all the way home on the bus.  I lugged it all the way from Londrina to Ibiporã, opened it up, and the sisters and I spent the evening decorating the house for Christmas.  It's BEAUTIFUL, thank you so much!  The other sisters are convinced that Mom and Sister Bullen's mom were planning everything together - Mom sent the Christmas tree, and Sister Bullen's mom sent presents for everyone to put underneath it!  :)  It's so exciting to be decorated for Christmas - I love this time of year!  

Unfortunately João wasn't able to be baptized this week... We went to his house on Thursday to set up the baptismal interview and everything, only to discover that he had two ulcers that had opened up on his leg... big, nasty, painful ulcers.  He said that they're causing a lot of pain, and he hasn't been able to walk too much because of them.  We had the elders come to give him a priesthood blessing, but it looks like he's going to have to wait for them to heal before he'll be able to be baptized.  

Our other investigators haven't been progressing too well so far either.  We haven't been able to get people to commit to come to church, and that's been causing a lot of problems. We haven't been able to teach Igor in a while either, and he didn't show up to church yesterday...I'm pretty worried about him, and REALLY frustrated that we can't get out to teach him more often.  I know that he needs our support and help to make some changes, but he's not getting that because we live SO far away and really can't afford to take the bus out there very often.  I don't know what to do, and am kind of feeling like it's out of my control at the moment.  I'm just praying that everything will turn out alright, and that we'll somehow be able to find a solution to the problems that are keeping us from being able to help him progress.

Well, I think that's it for the week.  Things are going really well here in Ibiporã!  I hope you're all happy and getting ready for Christmas - and THE HOBBIT, jealous!!!   Haha, but I love you all so much!  I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful, supportive family.  :)  You guys are amazing!

Love,

Sister Gee

Awesome birthday!; Sweet, little, old man João; Aparecida finally meets the missionaries

Hello everyone! 
So, I had a pretty awesome birthday.  Like I mentioned last week, we had a branch activity that day and spent a while that afternoon getting everything ready.  The activity went really well, we had quite a few pesquisadores, a TON of food, and even though the karaoke machine never showed up, we had a lot of fun listening to music and singing along in the microphone.  Sister Marques and I gave the spiritual thought, with a message about letting our light shine through sharing our testimonies with others.  And of course, everybody sang a nice loud rendition of Parabens Pra Você for me!  Afterwards, when Sister Marques and I arrived home, Sister Gomes and Sister Bullen brought out a tray with some of the leftover food from the activity (tuna sandwich-type things), with a few candles stuck in.  I was a little surprised, and thought it was a little strange...but remembered that it must have been a pretty busy day for them, smiled and thanked them, and blew out the candles.  They started to laugh and brought me into the other room where we found a FESTA that they had put together for me - cake, balloons, brigadeiros... it was AWESOME, and so funny.... :) Ahh, those sisters.  They´re crazy.  :)
Highlight of this week was our lesson with João.  I dont think Ive mentioned him yet... He is a sweet little old man who has been coming to church for the past couple weeks.  He lives all alone, so I think he really enjoys our visits, but he was feeling a little apprehensive about committing to baptism... We were really trying to avoid being pushy about it, but THIS week, he told us that he´s ready to be baptized and has already invited his kids to come to the baptism.  Sister Marques and I were so excited!  He is so sincere in his prayers and so accepting of what we teach.
We also spent one day this week working in a neighborhood reeeeeeeeeally far away from our house.  We found quite a few great people there, but my favorite lesson was with Aparecida.  The reference that we had was for her daughter, but when Aparecida answered the door, she told us that she had moved out more than a year ago.  But she invited us in, and we sat and visited with her for a while.  She started to tell us about her life, her family...and then told us about her daughter.  Apparently a few years ago she was going through some REALLY hard times, struggling with depression and some other challenges in her life.  One day when she was feeling particularly discouraged, she ran into two young men in white shirts and ties.... :)  She gave them her address and later that day told her mom, ´If two guys show up here, they´re from the church!´  The elders never showed up, and eventually she moved away... but this week Sister Marques and I found her mom and were able to share our message with her.  :)  Aparecida actually started to cry a little bit while telling us the story of how her daughter met the elders.  I just felt so excited to be able to be the one to find her and teach her what she and her daughter had been waiting for so long.  :)
Anyways, time´s up again!  I love you guys so much.  Thanks again for all the birthday wishes, for the presents, for the love and ALL that good stuff.  :)  Hope you are all getting ready for the Christmas season, and enjoying the cold for me!  I can´t wait to be able to talk to you all in a few weeks!  :)
Love always,
Sister Gee