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| Ovos de pascoa -- Easter Eggs |
This week has been good - ups and downs, just like the mission
usually is. We've been focusing lately on a new family we found last
week - Silvio and Sandra, and their 5 kids: Kauani, Gabriel, Kamila,
Gustavo and Kemile. :) We met them through a member,
which is always a plus. It is so much easier to bring an investigator
to church, help them build a testimony and decide to be baptized when
they already have the support and friendship of the members! They are a
wonderful family and I already can see so
much of the potential they have. Kauani, the oldest daughter, is 12
years old and has already been to church two or three times. We're
working with her and Kamila, 9, to help them prepare to be baptized this
weekend! The rest of the family still hasn't
come to church yet, so their baptism will be a few weeks from now. It
was so sweet - on Sunday, we were a little bit disappointed because
Sandra and Silvio hadn't shown up to Church. Kauani arrived a little
bit late, and as we went to greet her at the door,
I gave her a hug and said something like, "I'm so glad you came!" She
smiled and said, "I
can't miss church!" She is so young and already is such an
amazing example to me. Hopefully she'll be able to continue being that
strong example of faith and dedication to the rest of her family as
well.
Thursday was ZONE CONFERENCE! Ahh, I love Zone Conference. We get
to go to the stake center in Londrina, all chique and dressy, see all
the other missionaries in our zone, hear awesome talks and training from
our leaders, including President and Sister
Tavares, and basically just spend the whole day receiving spiritual
nourishment and learning and growing together. It's the best!! I think
one of the themes of the conference was definitely FAITH. We started
out with the story of David and Goliath, the
FAITH that he had to prepare, trust in the Lord, and then RUN into the
battle. It was super fun - complete with a life-size Goliath and an
elder that got to defeat him with a sling shot and tennis balls. :)
Sister Tavares shared an inspiring message about
Authority and the Priesthood - even though it doesn't apply directly to
us as sisters, I really appreciated the things she taught us. As
members of this Church, we have a responsibility and a calling - we are
agents that ACT, not just wait to be acted upon.
"To break this covenant, it's enough to simply do nothing". How's
that for motivating, right? :P :) But it was so good to be there and
learn and learn and learn. I'm always amazed by how much I'm learning
here on the mission - and at how much I still
don't know. :P :) But it's such a blessing to be here and I'm always
so grateful for the opportunity to hear and learn from President and
Sister Tavares! They really are inspired.
Friday was super crazy - we had come up with the idea to have an
Easter activity on Sunday last week, brought it up in the branch
leadership meeting on Wednesday, and the members decided it would be
better to have the activity on Friday than on Saturday
like we planned, so we got to throw everything together in one day (as
we spent all day Thursday in our zone conference in Londrina). It was
stressful and not very well thought out, but we somehow managed to put
together an activity, and it actually turned
out okay. And you will not believe how hard it is to find egg dye here
in Brazil!!! haha :) We presented a short movie clip about the
Resurrection and afterwards had games - an egg race and of course the
Gee Family Egg Spinning Contest. :) It was super
fun and I think the members here really enjoyed it. It was fun to
bring a little bit of my Easter traditions here to Brazil and share it
with others. :)
We spent Sunday morning running around the city hunting down our
investigators as usual, and walked in to the chapel about 15 minutes
late to find a BIG surprise waiting for us - President Tavares at the
front of the class, teaching the Sunday School lesson!
Neither of us knew that he would be coming to visit the branch, so we
were definitely taken by surprise. Fortunately we had a pretty good
turnout of investigators, so he knows we're not slacking around here in
Ibiporã! haha :) I think he probably had felt
bad for missing the fireside last week, so decided to make up for it by
visiting the branch. He taught the Sunday School class, participated
in our Gospel Principles class and spoke in Sacrament Meeting. It was
really special to have him there, and hear
a little bit more of his counsel and testimony. He and Sister Tavares
left us with a few Easter presents - ovos de pascoa and a big brand new
water filter for our house. Woohoo! :)
Anyways, dear family, I love you all so much. I am so so so so
blessed to have such an amazing group of people who love me and support
me and pray for me during this time of my life as a missionary in
Brazil. It's something that I really truly am so
grateful for. I hope you all know how much you mean to me! I know
that this truly is the Church of Jesus Christ and I am so grateful for
the countless blessings that we receive as members - a living prophet,
the companionship of the Holy Ghost, the beautiful
temples, eternal families... and so so many more! I know that we are
here with a purpose in our lives - to learn and to grow and prepare to
go back to our Heavenly Father's presence. I hope you are always
looking to improve and prepare a little bit more
each day. I hope you are treasuring the words of the prophets,
both modern and ancient - read the scriptures, read the Ensign, apply
the things you learn to your every-day life! I know it's what God
expects of us and I know it will make all the difference.
Well, until next week. Tchau!
Love,
Sister Gee
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