Double baptism in Aeroporto! Gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting; Lots of changes coming!

Hello Family!!!  It's been another great week here in Aeroporto...and to top it all off we had a double baptism on Saturday!  Woohoo!  Both Taiz and Luana were baptized, and it was such a special day.  

Taiz is the little sister of a member here in the ward, she is 10 years old and is awesome.  :)  She has been living with her sister, Irmã Lucimar the last few months after she lost her husband and daughters in a car accident, and it was so special to see how the two have helped each other through these difficult times, and how the gospel is making a difference in their lives.  Taiz is so sweet and it has been so much fun to teach her and help her prepare to be baptized.  

Luana is a young woman that we have been teaching the last month or so.  She is a good friend of a recent convert, Isabele.  The two are 13 years old and are super excited to be able to go to the temple to do baptisms in June!  Luana had a hard time committing to baptism for a long time and was really hesitant, but last Sunday she finally made up her mind and on Saturday she was baptized.  We were all so excited that she had made that decision and it was beautiful to see how happy she was at her baptism!  You could tell that she really did know that it was the right thing to do, and that it felt good!  

What else happened this week... we got to go downtown to get a vaccine this week.  It was for a sickness called "gripe", that I think is something like the flu.  Blech, shots.  But the 40-ish missionaries here in Londrina all got to go in on the same day, so it was fun to be able to run in to a few of them in the vaccination clinic.  Almost as good as a zone conference.  :)

Oh, and I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday!  It didn't go as well as I would have liked, but I survived...and it was surprisingly hard to keep it within 10 minutes.  Haha, I NEVER thought I would have that problem.  :P  :) 

Next week is transfers.  There will be a lot of new sisters arriving, and President Tavares has been dropping hints that there will be a lot of changes happening....exciting!  Also, this upcoming transfer will be President and Sister Tavares' last transfer here.  Crazy...it's not going to be the same mission without them!  But we're all excited to be able to get to know our new president too.  :)

Welp, that's it from me.  I'm sorry I haven't had too many interesting stories lately, I'll do my best to have some good ones next week! :D

Love always,

Sister Gee

Mother's Day call was SO good; Two ready for baptism this weekend; The Lord is looking out for us as His missionaries!

Querida Familia,

It was SO good to be able to talk with you guys yesterday!!!!  Ahhh, it made me so happy to be able to see your faces and hear your voices and chat about everything that's happening in your lives.  It seems like our Christmas call was just yesterday, it seriously blows my mind that it's already May and Mother's Day has come and gone and the next time I'll see you all will be when I get home in December!  :)  But I love you all so much, and I'm so happy that you are all doing well and having exciting things going on.

As you know, my week was crazy....but we have a lot of things to look forward to this week, and a lot of work to be done!  Two people to prepare for baptism this weekend and one for confirmation!!  We are so blessed!  I'm so happy to be here in Londrina with Sister Cardoso!  We are learning so much together and teaching some amazing people and seeing amazing things happen!  I'm realizing more and more every day just how much the Lord is looking out for us as His missionaries and I am so grateful for His love and protection.  

I love you all so much!  Thanks for all you do for me! My love and prayers are with you ALWAYS.

Love,

Sister Gee

My new area, Aeroporto is great! more of the big-city feel; In a trio - My companions have been a lot of fun so far; Sisteres Treinadores Lideres

Okay, so first of all, sorry for the scare last week - the interview was no big deal, just one of the routine interviews we have every three months.  We weren't expecting it because President Tavares switched our interview slot last second, so it was a surprise for us!  But nothing to worry about, I'm still in the same area with the same companions.  :)  

So let's see....I hate when I miss writing a week, because then I have sooo much more to talk about in my email and I don't know where to start!  :P  But my new area, Aeroporto is great.  I've been having a lot of fun getting to know the members the last two weeks, they are awesome, and it is SO GOOD to be in a real live ward again!  :)  The bishop is great, we have an awesome ward mission leader, and the lunches have all been delicious so far.  It's been good.  

The work in this area is a little different than in Ibiporã.  There is definitely a little bit more of the big-city feel, and the people here are a lot busier and less receptive.  We get a looot more "no"s when doing street contacts.  :P  But it's all good, and despite the differences, we're seeing so many blessings here!  The eleitos are crawling out of the woodwork everywhere we look.  :)  We had a baptism yesterday, an awesome young man named Felipe.  He is 21 years old and a friend of a member of the ward here, which is how the sisters first met him.  He has been excited about his baptism since the first time he talked with the sisters a few weeks ago!  :)  So I got to help teach him the last few lessons he needed to receive and finish preparing everything for his baptism.  It was great. :)

My companions have been a lot of fun so far.   Being in a trio is different, very different, but I think we're all figuring it out.  Like I mentioned in my email last week, Sister Barros is CRAZY and we are always laughing together.  It is not always easy to be in a trio, but she is veryy good at balancing everything out when the three of us are not on the same page.  I don't know what I'd do without her.  :)  

More exciting updates from this transfer:  there is a new calling in the Brazil Londrina Mission!  Sisteres Treinadores Lideres!  Or something like that, haha, it's a complicated title, but to explain everything more simply - We get to do divisions between sisters now!  So I think 8-ish sisters were called to be Sisteres Treinadores Lideres, meaning that they will do divisions with every area of sisters once a transfer.  Here in Aeroporto we got to host the sisteres lideres this week and they worked with us in our area a little bit.  I think the plan is for us to go to their area, Assis, São Paulo, next week to do another division and learn from the way they work in their area.  It's exciting and new and awesome!  I always wanted to be able to do divisions and get to know/learn from the other sisters in the mission, so I'm excited.

Okay, so I know this email is SHORT, but I'm once again running out of time.  But I love you all so much!  I can't wait to talk with you guys on Sunday!!!  :D

Love,

Sister Gee

Shortest weekly email yet :-) Loving the new area, Aeroporto, and the investigators and companions; Will write more next wek

 I'm super out of time.  Sorry I'm not going to be able to tell you all about my new area and companions and everything, but I just wanted to write REEEEEALLY quickly to let you know that everything here is AWESOME!!!  I'm loving the area and the investigators so far, and my companions are great.  Sister Barros is CRAZY and is always ready to goof around with me.  It's fun.  :)  Sister Cardoso is super sweet and an awesome missionary.  She is very focused and really balances out Sister Barros' craziness.  We have a good balance in our trio, which is definitely important.  Anyways, I don't have time to write more, but don't worry, next week I'll be sure to have a lot of details to share!!

Transfers! My new area, Aeroporto in Londrina; Elaine was baptized! -- "nice way to end my time in Ibiporã"

Transfers once again... I was expecting to stay one more in Ibiporã, because we had a telephone conference on Friday with the entire mission and Pres. Tavares told us that the First Presidency has asked that missionaries stay in the same area 6-8 months.  And I've only been here...5 months now, right?  So I was pretty calm, figuring I still had a bit of time left here, but ... Sister Passos and I got a surprise phone call Sunday night from Pres. Tavares!!!  And yes, I'm being transferred.  I'm going to an area in Londrina called Aeroporto!  I don't know much about the area - all I know is that everyone jokes that you get super trunky there, because as the name suggests, it's really close to the airport and you have airplanes passing your window every 5 minutes.  :P  But I'm not too worried about that.  :)  I'm actually going to be working in a trio with Sister Cardoso and Sister Barros.  Aeroporto is in the same zone as Ibiporã (Zona Londrina), so I already know them pretty well, and I'll still be able to see all the other missionaries I already know in the zone, including Sister Passos (she'll be staying in Ibiporã to train a new sister!)  Ahh.  Always so much exciting stuff happening around transfer-time.

We were actually preparing everything for our baptism Sunday night when President Tavares called us with the transfers news.  It was a CRAZY evening because we spent the day in Jataizinho, visiting Igor and his family, and didn't get back until 5 minutes before the baptism was scheduled to begin.  We arrived in the chapel and realized that our ward mission leader had travelled to visit family that afternoon and, therefore, the baptismal font had not been filled and the (wow, I forgot the word for this) ... baptism ... outline...(?) had not been prepared.  :/ so we got to run around throwing everything together last second as usual.  :P  I swear some day I'll learn to plan efficiently so stuff like this doesn't happen to me.

BUT in the end everything worked out, as it always does.  And Elaine was baptized!  She's Jean's little sister and was super excited for her baptism - she is 12 years old and has been coming to church and the young women's activities.  It was a wonderful baptism, and a nice way to end my time here in Ibiporã.  :)  There are so many other people that we've been working with and I'll be so sad to leave and not be able to see them progress and be baptized...but I'm sure there are plenty of amazing people and experiences waiting for me in Londrina.  :)

Anyways, it sounds like everything is going well for you guys back home!  Running marathons and taking finals and landing jobs and all that good stuff.  :D  I'm so excited about all the amazing things you're all doing!  It's so good to hear about it all, keep me updated.  :)

Well I'm going to cut this one a bit short, it's going to be a busy day, packing suitcases and all.  I'm sure I'll have a lot more details to share next week, when I get to my new area and start getting to know everyone there!  It's going to be an adventure! 

Love,

 

Sister Gee

Angelica came to church! I'm doing super well here in Ibiporã!

.so, turns out that transfers are NEXT week.  I had heard somewhere that this transfer would be only 5 weeks, but I was wrong.  So you'll all just have to wait one more week to find out what will be happening next transfer.  :)

This week has been good.  Normal, and good.  Sister Passos and I have been trying to focus on finding new people to teach...it's amazing how quickly your teaching group can dry up if you're not constantly finding new investigators during the week.  We met a few interesting people this week, and hopefully will be able to continue working with them and helping them progress through the next few weeks.

The best part of the week was Sunday - Angelica came to church!!!  Sister Passos and I were both SO excited.  I don't remember if I've already mentioned her in past emails - she is Iago's mom (the 11-year old boy who was baptized a few weeks ago), and we've been working with her a lot the last few weeks.  We have been inviting her to come to church ever since we first met her, but something always happens last second that keeps her from being able to make it.  We showed up at her house at 8:40 am on Sunday morning, expecting to have to persuade and push her to come to church with us - and when we got there, her neighbor told us that she had already left to walk to the chapel alone.  I was surprised - it's rarely that easy to get someone to go to church, and Angelica had never showed too much enthusiasm whenever we passed by her house on Sunday mornings.  But sure enough, she was there in the Relief Society room when we got to the chapel!  She really enjoyed the church meetings and is already planning on coming next week.  She has a baptism date set for next Sunday, but that will depend on if she is able to quit smoking by then...We have been working so much with her and really trying to help her finally decide to quit.  You know?  She really does have the desire and knows that it's something she needs to do, but I think she still has a lot of doubts that she'll actually be able to do it.  But I know that with faith and determination, EVERYthing is possible.  :)

Well...that's about it from me for now.  Sorry, not a whole lot to report, but I really am doing super well here in Ibiporã!  It's so hard to believe that I've already been here for 5 months. :P  I'm getting so used to the members and the streets and the neighborhoods and everything...so while I wouldn't mind staying another transfer, a change might be good for me.  :)  We'll just have to see where the Lord wants me! 

Love,

Sister Gee

Conference was AMAZING! "so grateful this weekend to be a member of this Church"

Ready for General Conference

Hello Family!  I'm here a little bit later than usual today...Sister Passos and I got up early today to go for a jog around the park by our house, which was an amazing way to start the morning...We watched the sun rising through the clouds and I just couldn't help but singing a bit of "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" as we ran.  It was already in my head thanks to Conference yesterday, and it just seemed so appropriate at the moment!  :)  It was beautiful and refreshing and though I'm definitely not a runner, I loved it!  Now our P-Day time is running out fast, but hopefully we'll still have the time we need to get everything done today.  I was joking with Sister Passos earlier that missionaries have this idea of P-Day as a "day of rest" where you get to relax, nap a little, write letters, and basically do everything you want...when it really is just a "day of preparation", washing clothes, cleaning the house, grocery shopping... :P  There's really no resting involved at all!  But it's all good.  :)

 

First of all, YES, Conference was AMAZING!!!  I love love love love Conference.  :)  I always leave each session with a smile on my face, feeling a little bit lighter and closer to my Heavenly Father.  It's an amazing feeling, and I don't want to have to leave and go back to the daily routine.  I just felt so grateful this weekend to be a member of this Church, to have a prophet on the earth and to have the chance to hear their inspired counsels and guidance twice a year.  I was super nervous that I wouldn't be able to watch in English this time, because I'm the only American sister in the zone at the moment, meaning that I would have to leave my companion and watch alone with a bunch of elders. :P  But, I watched the first session in Portuguese with Sister Passos, and President Tavares gave me permission to watch the rest of the sessions in English.  What a blessing!  :)  I was surprised by how much easier it was to understand the talks in Portuguese after just 6 months since the last General Conference, but I was still so grateful to be able to watch in English.  Unfortunately, none of our investigators were able to make it...it was so sad, because I kept thinking "AHH, this talk is perfect for So-and-So..." but they weren't there to hear any of it.  :P  It was so sad to me that sometimes people don't realize what an amazing thing they're missing out on, and how much they could be blessed by attending Conference.  But I will definitely be putting the beautiful messages to use in my teaching over the next few weeks!  And Sister Passos and I kept the Priesthood Session tradition - stopping for ice cream!   :D

 

Ice cream during the priesthood session

 

Let's see, what else happened this week....our District Meeting was in Cornélio Procópio, a neighboring city where our leaders are working right now.  It was Sister Passos' and my first time visiting there, so it was a bit of an adventure.  :)  We got a little bit lost, but the loooong bus ride was a nice opportunity for a nap!  It was a really good meeting, and I am always so impressed by our leaders - Cornélio has a reputation in the mission as one of the hardest areas - an extremely small ward and A LOT of hills - but they don´t EVER complain, and they are working so hard and being blessed with success.  I really admire their example and I'm trying to put out the same dedication and faith here in Ibiporã!

Well, next week will be transfers once again....can you believe it?  Time is flying!  :D  I'll be sure to let you know all of the changes and news in my email next week.  I am so so grateful to be here serving a mission - I am learning SO much every single day, and I love being able to help people come unto Christ and learn of this amazing gospel.  :D

Love,

Sister Gee