Querida Família,
Tudo bem?? Como vai?
Another good week here...the days are flying by!
Lots of ups and downs this week.... getting dropped by some of our best investigators.... and then turning the corner and finding AMAZING new ones. I find that's how it is in the mission... you for sure have the rough days, but you just keep on working and soon enough you're back on top again. :) The Lord has blessed us SO MUCH this week, and it's been incredible to see how the Spirit has been guiding us, in a VERY real way. It's very humbling, and I just hope that I can always listen and obey the promptings He sends me.
The BEST part this week... : We've been receiving quite a few referrals from members, and because they're usually in the neighborhoods that are SUPER far away and hard to get to, we took a while to get around to contacting them...which was a mistake. I've learned this week that there is NOTHING better in the world than a referral from members! It's so good to teach people who are prepared and interested and ready to receive our visit. So different than the people we generally meet knocking doors. :P We contacted two amazing families this week, and they are both really sincerely searching to know the truth. It's so good. We taught the Restoration for Junior and Kawana (they are a young couple with a 1 year old daughter), and they accepted all of our invitations - to read the Book of Mormon, to pray, to go to church, and to be baptized! They asked questions about how to pray, how to feel the Holy Ghost, how they could receive an answer that our message is true... after the lesson both Sister Rojas and I left their house just beaming. :)
The other family we contacted was just as wonderful - Michelle and Jonas, and their two kids, a 6 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. We introduced the Book of Mormon and invited them to read, and Jonas told us that he had always wondered why Christ wouldn't have visited other parts of the world - he was so excited to read about Christ's visit to the Americas in the Book of Mormon! They both told us that we couldn't have arrived at a better moment to visit them and share our message. The Spirit was strong and once again, we both just felt so happy and excited to have found such a wonderful family to teach.
So the moral of the story is, missionary work is SO much more effective, SO much easier, when the members get involved! When we live the gospel, serve our neighbors and friends, LOVE others, opportunities to share the gospel will open up all around us. I know that's true! I'm so grateful for the members who have sought to be that example and have trusted us enough to invite us to teach their friends. It's made such a big difference in our work here.
Anyways, that's about it from me. Hope you are all doing well! I love you guys so much!!!! Have an amazing week!
Love,
Sister Gee
Monday, July 29, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Festa Julina! Importance of faith, and TRUST in God's promises
Hello
This week was fun...
Our ward had a party on Friday, Festa Julina! Apparently you guys have already seen photos. It was super fun, exciting to participate in a completely Brazilian tradition. There was a LOT OF FOOD, traditional clothing, dancing, and I even got my hair and makeup done. :) It was great - and the BEST part is how many people brought friends! I think there were almost more investigators there than members... We didn't even have enough time to talk to all of the visitors! But it was a really good opportunity to help people visit the chapel, get to know the members, and prepare them to come visit on a Sunday some day!
Sister Rojas and I are doing great! During the 12 weeks of training, we get to study one extra hour every day. It's surprising how fast the day flies by when you study the whole morning...8 am - 12 pm, 4 hours of study! but we've been working a lot, trying to find new investigators! We had 7 investigators in church on Sunday. That's more than I'm used to. :) Thanks to all the members who have been bringing their friends!
We have been teaching a young woman named Monica, who is a good friend of a lady in our ward. She has been coming to church for a few weeks now, and has been asking to receive the missionary lessons. Unfortunately she doesn't live in our area, but we got to go to the member's house to teach her the Restoration yesterday, and it was an AMAZING lesson! She is so prepared to receive the gospel...the Spirit was strong as we shared the message, and she got a little teary-eyed...she knows that what we're teaching is true, but told us she isn't ready to make a change, mostly because of pressure from her family, all of which are Catholic. But she is an amazing lady, so humble and accepting of everything we taught. I just felt so grateful to be able to share the wonderful message of the Restoration with her and bear my testimony of its truthfulness. It's the best part of being a missionary - when they really open their hearts and believe!
As Jared mentioned in his email this week....it's getting COLD! I heard that the cold is coming up to us from Rio Grande do Sul, where it's supposedly going to be -10 Celsius! Good luck with that, Elder Gee! :) Someone also mentioned that it could possibly snow here, but I don't think I believe it. It's not THAT cold yet. :)
Today in my personal study I read Hebrews 11 - an AMAZING chapter about the importance of faith, and TRUST in God's promises. It's powerful! I know I'd read the chapter before, but today I think I understood a little bit better... all the wonderful examples we have of faithful men and women in the scriptures made me want to strengthen (and put into practice) my OWN faith. Anyways, read it and tell me what you guys think!
But that's about it from me. Hope you are all doing well. I love hearing from you guys! Keep sending emails! I know I haven't been very good at responding...but I'll do better. :)
Happy Pioneer Day on Wednesday! :D
Love you!
Sister Gee
This week was fun...
Our ward had a party on Friday, Festa Julina! Apparently you guys have already seen photos. It was super fun, exciting to participate in a completely Brazilian tradition. There was a LOT OF FOOD, traditional clothing, dancing, and I even got my hair and makeup done. :) It was great - and the BEST part is how many people brought friends! I think there were almost more investigators there than members... We didn't even have enough time to talk to all of the visitors! But it was a really good opportunity to help people visit the chapel, get to know the members, and prepare them to come visit on a Sunday some day!
Sister Rojas and I are doing great! During the 12 weeks of training, we get to study one extra hour every day. It's surprising how fast the day flies by when you study the whole morning...8 am - 12 pm, 4 hours of study! but we've been working a lot, trying to find new investigators! We had 7 investigators in church on Sunday. That's more than I'm used to. :) Thanks to all the members who have been bringing their friends!
We have been teaching a young woman named Monica, who is a good friend of a lady in our ward. She has been coming to church for a few weeks now, and has been asking to receive the missionary lessons. Unfortunately she doesn't live in our area, but we got to go to the member's house to teach her the Restoration yesterday, and it was an AMAZING lesson! She is so prepared to receive the gospel...the Spirit was strong as we shared the message, and she got a little teary-eyed...she knows that what we're teaching is true, but told us she isn't ready to make a change, mostly because of pressure from her family, all of which are Catholic. But she is an amazing lady, so humble and accepting of everything we taught. I just felt so grateful to be able to share the wonderful message of the Restoration with her and bear my testimony of its truthfulness. It's the best part of being a missionary - when they really open their hearts and believe!
As Jared mentioned in his email this week....it's getting COLD! I heard that the cold is coming up to us from Rio Grande do Sul, where it's supposedly going to be -10 Celsius! Good luck with that, Elder Gee! :) Someone also mentioned that it could possibly snow here, but I don't think I believe it. It's not THAT cold yet. :)
Today in my personal study I read Hebrews 11 - an AMAZING chapter about the importance of faith, and TRUST in God's promises. It's powerful! I know I'd read the chapter before, but today I think I understood a little bit better... all the wonderful examples we have of faithful men and women in the scriptures made me want to strengthen (and put into practice) my OWN faith. Anyways, read it and tell me what you guys think!
But that's about it from me. Hope you are all doing well. I love hearing from you guys! Keep sending emails! I know I haven't been very good at responding...but I'll do better. :)
Happy Pioneer Day on Wednesday! :D
Love you!
Sister Gee
Monday, July 15, 2013
New companion is Sister Rojas from CHILE! Training is hard
HIIIII!
Another CRAZY week!
I got to travel to Londrina on Monday, like I told you guys last week. I actually stayed the night in Ibiporã, and it was super weird but cool to go back there and relive some memories from the time I served there. There were three trainers staying there, me, Sister Butler, and Sister Bispo. Two Americans and a Brazilian. So since we had managed to find out that the three new sisters would be one American, one Chilean, and one Brazilian, we had no idea who was going to get which one...but we all passed that night trying to guess. :)
The next day we got all dressed and chique to go to the mission house...the first time since I arrived in the field for me! Crazy. All three of us had butterflies. And when we arrived there, they didn't even relieve the tension and tell us who our companion was...we had to wait until the very end, after the lunch and training and everything to find out. BUT. It was definitely a surprise, becauuuussse.....
....
My new companion is Sister Rojas! She is from CHILE and is awesome and beautiful. :) She speaks Portuguese VERY well for the little time that she's been here (Spanish-speakers stay just 6 weeks in the CTM), and with a beautiful Spanish accent. It's super cool. She has been teaching me a few words here and there in Spanish. (Like yesterday, when she told me that I am cabeça de pollo. ...which means that I forget things a lot. :P)
Training is hard. I knew it would be, and it is. It's stressful. And the language barrier doesn't help, haha. Like I said, she speaks Portugese super well, but there are still those moments when she asks me "How do you say ...?" and I have to respond "....I don't know either!" haha :) It's been interesting. but so good! I know I'm going to learn SO MUCH this transfer. :)
We had a zone conference this week too, the day after we arrived from Londrina. Our first conference with Presidente Genaro! He is AWESOME, and the conference was amazing. Sister Genaro is bubbly and sweet, and Presidente Genaro is dedicated and spiritual. (I was going to send photos, but...I forgot my camera. ah, cabeça de pollo.) They have two kids, one son who is 16 (preparing to go on a mission soon!) and a daughter who is 12. They are a beautiful family! Our mission has been blessed to receive such a great president. :) I felt bad for Sister Rojas, the first week of the mission is always hectic, and with all the excitement and craziness of a zone conference to top it all off...! But I think she handled it all okay. :)
But I don't have much more time to write, so I'll end here. :) But I'm doing well, loving being a missionary and bringing the blessings of the gospel to God's children in Brasil! It's such a wonderful experience, and I'm so grateful for all I've learned, and all I'm still learning. :)
I love you all! Keep writing! Hope all is well at home, sounds like you guys are as busy as ever! Always doing fun stuff, right? I looooveee yooooou!
Love,
Sister Gee
Another CRAZY week!
I got to travel to Londrina on Monday, like I told you guys last week. I actually stayed the night in Ibiporã, and it was super weird but cool to go back there and relive some memories from the time I served there. There were three trainers staying there, me, Sister Butler, and Sister Bispo. Two Americans and a Brazilian. So since we had managed to find out that the three new sisters would be one American, one Chilean, and one Brazilian, we had no idea who was going to get which one...but we all passed that night trying to guess. :)
The next day we got all dressed and chique to go to the mission house...the first time since I arrived in the field for me! Crazy. All three of us had butterflies. And when we arrived there, they didn't even relieve the tension and tell us who our companion was...we had to wait until the very end, after the lunch and training and everything to find out. BUT. It was definitely a surprise, becauuuussse.....
....
My new companion is Sister Rojas! She is from CHILE and is awesome and beautiful. :) She speaks Portuguese VERY well for the little time that she's been here (Spanish-speakers stay just 6 weeks in the CTM), and with a beautiful Spanish accent. It's super cool. She has been teaching me a few words here and there in Spanish. (Like yesterday, when she told me that I am cabeça de pollo. ...which means that I forget things a lot. :P)
Training is hard. I knew it would be, and it is. It's stressful. And the language barrier doesn't help, haha. Like I said, she speaks Portugese super well, but there are still those moments when she asks me "How do you say ...?" and I have to respond "....I don't know either!" haha :) It's been interesting. but so good! I know I'm going to learn SO MUCH this transfer. :)
We had a zone conference this week too, the day after we arrived from Londrina. Our first conference with Presidente Genaro! He is AWESOME, and the conference was amazing. Sister Genaro is bubbly and sweet, and Presidente Genaro is dedicated and spiritual. (I was going to send photos, but...I forgot my camera. ah, cabeça de pollo.) They have two kids, one son who is 16 (preparing to go on a mission soon!) and a daughter who is 12. They are a beautiful family! Our mission has been blessed to receive such a great president. :) I felt bad for Sister Rojas, the first week of the mission is always hectic, and with all the excitement and craziness of a zone conference to top it all off...! But I think she handled it all okay. :)
But I don't have much more time to write, so I'll end here. :) But I'm doing well, loving being a missionary and bringing the blessings of the gospel to God's children in Brasil! It's such a wonderful experience, and I'm so grateful for all I've learned, and all I'm still learning. :)
I love you all! Keep writing! Hope all is well at home, sounds like you guys are as busy as ever! Always doing fun stuff, right? I looooveee yooooou!
Love,
Sister Gee
Monday, July 8, 2013
I will be a trainer! Barbara is awesome; Fourth of July in Maringá
Dear Family,
Another week has passed....and with it, one more transfer! I can't believe how quickly the last six weeks have flown by, I have loved being here in Maringá with Sister Saldanha...we've had a lot of fun and had some amazing experiences together. I'm always so sad when I leave a companion, especially because it seems like we had such little time together! But yep, Sister Saldanha is being transferred. We found out last night when I got a surprise phone call from the assistants....telling me that I'll be TRAINING this transfer!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh.... Right now my head is too full of all the things I have to do and all the craziness of the transfer to feel VERY nervous, but I'm pretty sure this time tomorrow the nerves will be setting in. :P Training is such a huge responsibility...I'm excited to be able to help a new sister and I'm grateful to know that the Lord trusts me with this calling, but ... I know it's not going to be easy. I'm praying a LOT that the Lord will bless me with the guidance of the Spirit and all the abilities that I'll need to be a good trainer. And any prayers that you guys want to send my way are welcome too. :)
So I'll be catching a bus in about two hours to travel to Londrina...and tomorrow morning I'll be headed to the mission house to pick up my new companion! I still don't know what her name is or where she's from...I heard that this transfer there will be one American sister and one Chilean sister arriving, so we'll have to wait and see which one I get. :)
Other than the transfer news, the most interesting thing that happened this week was when we received all of the furniture for our new house! A man stopped by the apartment to put together all the beds and tables and dressers...and by the time he was done, the apartment was COMPLETELY full of boxes and plastic wrapping and styrofoam. So we got to spend a few hours that day cleaning up the mess and throwing it all away. I think we cleared out one large cardboard box and two bags (the size of mattresses) full of garbage... haha, but it was a LOT OF GARBAGE! :) Thankfully, that's one step closer to being able to move in to our new house! Now we're just waiting for someone to buy/install a shower and kitchen sink for our house to be all ready! :)
It's been surprisingly hot this week, just when I thought that winter was finally starting. Looks like it won't be getting TOO cold here, at least not any time soon. whew*. On the 4th of July I made a little flag to put up in our apartment, I and the other sisters (yep, even the Brasilians) wore red white and blue, and I sang the national anthem...I'm the only American in the house, so I got to sing a solo, but it was good! It seems like being far from home is making me more patriotic than ever. :)
The work has been going a little slowly, partly because of the extra time we've been putting in to all the house stuff. We have a few solid investigators, and they've been progressing, hopefully that means we'll have a baptism next week! We taught a girl named Barbara this week, she is a friend of a member of our ward. She is 13 years old, and is AWESOME. We taught her the message of the Restoration and she accepted to be baptized once she knows it's true. I was amazed and so happy to see how easily she accepted our invitations, and how open she is to pray and seek an answer from God. We are also teaching a 12 year old girl named Milena, along with her mother and her older sister. They are a wonderful family, very humble and receptive to our messages. It was so good to meet them and teach them...the older sister, Bruna, has already prayed about our message and told us that she really feels that it's all true. :) The only problem now is getting them to church! Waking up early on Sunday morning has been a challenge for them, which is frustrating since it seems like such a LITTLE thing is preventing them from progressing. :/
Anyways, that's it from me! One more transfer...sheesh. It goes so fast!
I'm glad you liked the video! Haha, I was embarrassed and didn't know what to say. But it was fun to be able to send a little message for you guys. :) How's my English? :P :)
I love you guys so much! Don't worry, I know you didn't forget about me. I just like to give you a bad time. ;)
Have a greeeeeeeeeeat week!!!
Love,
Sister Gee
Another week has passed....and with it, one more transfer! I can't believe how quickly the last six weeks have flown by, I have loved being here in Maringá with Sister Saldanha...we've had a lot of fun and had some amazing experiences together. I'm always so sad when I leave a companion, especially because it seems like we had such little time together! But yep, Sister Saldanha is being transferred. We found out last night when I got a surprise phone call from the assistants....telling me that I'll be TRAINING this transfer!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh.... Right now my head is too full of all the things I have to do and all the craziness of the transfer to feel VERY nervous, but I'm pretty sure this time tomorrow the nerves will be setting in. :P Training is such a huge responsibility...I'm excited to be able to help a new sister and I'm grateful to know that the Lord trusts me with this calling, but ... I know it's not going to be easy. I'm praying a LOT that the Lord will bless me with the guidance of the Spirit and all the abilities that I'll need to be a good trainer. And any prayers that you guys want to send my way are welcome too. :)
So I'll be catching a bus in about two hours to travel to Londrina...and tomorrow morning I'll be headed to the mission house to pick up my new companion! I still don't know what her name is or where she's from...I heard that this transfer there will be one American sister and one Chilean sister arriving, so we'll have to wait and see which one I get. :)
Other than the transfer news, the most interesting thing that happened this week was when we received all of the furniture for our new house! A man stopped by the apartment to put together all the beds and tables and dressers...and by the time he was done, the apartment was COMPLETELY full of boxes and plastic wrapping and styrofoam. So we got to spend a few hours that day cleaning up the mess and throwing it all away. I think we cleared out one large cardboard box and two bags (the size of mattresses) full of garbage... haha, but it was a LOT OF GARBAGE! :) Thankfully, that's one step closer to being able to move in to our new house! Now we're just waiting for someone to buy/install a shower and kitchen sink for our house to be all ready! :)
It's been surprisingly hot this week, just when I thought that winter was finally starting. Looks like it won't be getting TOO cold here, at least not any time soon. whew*. On the 4th of July I made a little flag to put up in our apartment, I and the other sisters (yep, even the Brasilians) wore red white and blue, and I sang the national anthem...I'm the only American in the house, so I got to sing a solo, but it was good! It seems like being far from home is making me more patriotic than ever. :)
The work has been going a little slowly, partly because of the extra time we've been putting in to all the house stuff. We have a few solid investigators, and they've been progressing, hopefully that means we'll have a baptism next week! We taught a girl named Barbara this week, she is a friend of a member of our ward. She is 13 years old, and is AWESOME. We taught her the message of the Restoration and she accepted to be baptized once she knows it's true. I was amazed and so happy to see how easily she accepted our invitations, and how open she is to pray and seek an answer from God. We are also teaching a 12 year old girl named Milena, along with her mother and her older sister. They are a wonderful family, very humble and receptive to our messages. It was so good to meet them and teach them...the older sister, Bruna, has already prayed about our message and told us that she really feels that it's all true. :) The only problem now is getting them to church! Waking up early on Sunday morning has been a challenge for them, which is frustrating since it seems like such a LITTLE thing is preventing them from progressing. :/
Anyways, that's it from me! One more transfer...sheesh. It goes so fast!
I'm glad you liked the video! Haha, I was embarrassed and didn't know what to say. But it was fun to be able to send a little message for you guys. :) How's my English? :P :)
I love you guys so much! Don't worry, I know you didn't forget about me. I just like to give you a bad time. ;)
Have a greeeeeeeeeeat week!!!
Love,
Sister Gee
Monday, July 1, 2013
Missionary fireside; Irmã Eliza finally came to church!
Hello dear family
It has been a good week
It is still rainy and chilly here in Maringá, but they say winter is still yet to arrive
I FINALLY received the box you sent! Thanks to a little confusion in the mission office, it took a while...but finally made it to Maringá. I was soooo happy to get it! You guys are amazing! FULL of wonderful goodness, and lots of it. I will be enjoying this for a long, long time.
This week I got to travel to Londrina again, this time to revew my visa.
I travelled there with Sister Bullen (my old roommate from the CTM) and stayed in the house in Aeroporto with
Sister Cardoso!
It was a wonderful trip...divertido. :) They took my picture, and my fingerprints, and I am officially all set to stay in Brasil 6 more months. woohoo!
We had our missionary fireside on Saturday...it went well, but not many members showed up. Maybe 10. I hope that if the missionaries there decide to do a fireside one day, you ALL will be there.
But it was good, and there was food afterwards...yum. :)
Sunday was good, Irmã Eliza finally came to church! I don't think I've mentioned her yet - we've been teaching her for a while. She is the SWEETEST little old lady and she is happy ALL the time. She smiles and laughs at whatever we say...seriously. I love her, and we were so happy that she came to church. :)
But yeah, the week was a little bit crazy, but good, and we are happy here...ooh! Update on our house! We officially have a house...we have the keys and everything. It is officially ours, but as we don't have any furniture or anything, I guess we're going to have to wait for the pres. to figure that out. And with the new president arriving and everything, I have a feeling that our furniture shopping might get put off for a while. So we probably won't be moving until the next transfer...but still, it's a relief to know that we're at least getting closer.
Aaaanyways, that's all the news from here. It's great to be on a mission!
I love you guys!
Hope all is well at home.
Don't forget about me.
Please!
:)
Love,
Sister Gee
It has been a good week
It is still rainy and chilly here in Maringá, but they say winter is still yet to arrive
I FINALLY received the box you sent! Thanks to a little confusion in the mission office, it took a while...but finally made it to Maringá. I was soooo happy to get it! You guys are amazing! FULL of wonderful goodness, and lots of it. I will be enjoying this for a long, long time.
This week I got to travel to Londrina again, this time to revew my visa.
I travelled there with Sister Bullen (my old roommate from the CTM) and stayed in the house in Aeroporto with
Sister Cardoso!
It was a wonderful trip...divertido. :) They took my picture, and my fingerprints, and I am officially all set to stay in Brasil 6 more months. woohoo!
We had our missionary fireside on Saturday...it went well, but not many members showed up. Maybe 10. I hope that if the missionaries there decide to do a fireside one day, you ALL will be there.
But it was good, and there was food afterwards...yum. :)
Sunday was good, Irmã Eliza finally came to church! I don't think I've mentioned her yet - we've been teaching her for a while. She is the SWEETEST little old lady and she is happy ALL the time. She smiles and laughs at whatever we say...seriously. I love her, and we were so happy that she came to church. :)
But yeah, the week was a little bit crazy, but good, and we are happy here...ooh! Update on our house! We officially have a house...we have the keys and everything. It is officially ours, but as we don't have any furniture or anything, I guess we're going to have to wait for the pres. to figure that out. And with the new president arriving and everything, I have a feeling that our furniture shopping might get put off for a while. So we probably won't be moving until the next transfer...but still, it's a relief to know that we're at least getting closer.
Aaaanyways, that's all the news from here. It's great to be on a mission!
I love you guys!
Hope all is well at home.
Don't forget about me.
Please!
:)
Love,
Sister Gee
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