Feliz Ano Novo! Plus a scary story

Dear Gee family,

Hello!! Wow...it was so good to hear all of your voices on Christmas day!!! It made me smile for hours after! I loved Christmas this year...the huge Christmas feast the night before, the crazy district Christmas parties, the special people we visited on Christmas day, singing Christmas hymns with Sister Oliveira for anyone who would listen....it was all great. But it hadn´t really felt 100% like Christmas until I heard all of your voices on the phone. It made me so happy!!! I love you all and I´m happy to hear that you had a wonderful and white, snowy Christmas! I´ll be home for Christmas 2011!! :D

This week was a very very good one. As I already mentioned, Christmas was wonderful! Sister Oliveira and I were invited by almost every family in the ward to spend Christmas with them.... :) haha, as you can tell, this ward is wonderful and there is a lot of love and support for missionary work! We spent Christmas night with Ivonne Schneider and her family, the oldest family in the church here in Novo Hamburgo! She has a big, happy, crazy and fun family and the night was full of games and food, a spiritual Christmas message, and a music talent show starring all of the grandchildren. I felt very much at home :)

The rest of the week was kind of hard to find people at home...almost everyone is traveling or visiting the beach right now, and I think that it is going to be the same for this next week too. But the visits that we did have were wonderful! Manoel came to church on Sunday and loved it! Afterwards we visited him in his house and he told us that he knows that Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet. He told us that he is so happy that God is giving him the chance to find the truth while he is still here on this earth. :) It made me so happy to hear his testimony and see his happiness...it is obvious that he is suffering a lot from the leukemia and seems to be getting worse every day, but I love to remember what he said to us the other day "My body is very sick, but my spirit has never been healthier!"

He is such an amazing example to me of faith....he has complete confidence and trust in the Lord. I´m so grateful to have the chance to meet and know special people like Manoel....it´s wonderful to be a missionary!

Well family, I hope you are all doing very well and that you´re excited to start another wonderful new year! Life is wonderful isn´t it? It´s so great to know that every new year brings new experiences and new changes but that, thanks to the wonderful plan of our loving Heavenly Father, our family will always be our family. Forever and ever!

Happy New Year! I hope that you all have a wonderful night of partying and food and family and puzzles and fireworks.... I love you all!

Love, Sister Jamie Gee

Oh...and scary story for the week. Yesterday, Sister Oliveira and I were walking to an appointment, when suddenly a man barged right through the middle of us, running full speed and almost knocking me over. He looked at me and I saw pure terror in his eyes...so much fear in his face that it took me a while to notice that his hands were handcuffed behind his back. Sister Oliveira and I looked at each other in surprise and bewilderment...not really believing what we had seen...when suddenly the street was full of policemen with guns and police cars and siren....it was scary! At that exact moment, a man across the street came out of a shop and called "Sisters! Come in here!" It was Fabio my dear friend from the Timbaúva ward! I had no idea that he worked here in Novo Hamburgo. We ran across the street and waited in his shop and waited for the police to leave. haha, it was kind of scary at the time...but it was great that Fabio was right there at the exact right time. It´s no question that Heavenly Father loves and protects us!

Your story, Mom, reminded me of that too......I´m very very grateful that He is protecting our family!! Stay safe!!!! Love you!

New area! Novo Hamburgo

Querida famíla,

Hello dear family.....from Novo Hamburgo!! :)

Novo Hamburgo is a very beautiful city....and sooooo different than Montenegro. First of all....compared to Montenegro, this city is huge!! I was used to corn fields and calm grassy pastures and dirt streets....and suddenly I´m in a busy bustling city. The area is 6 times bigger than Timbaúva....and the investigators we are teaching live miiiiiiles apart. And minha nossa!! Hills!!!! I´ve never seen bigger hills....the entire city is like Timpview drive!!! haha.... my legs and feet were reeeeally complaining the first few days, but I´m quickly adjusting (I´m just talking about blisters and sore muscles....my sesamoid bone is just fine, Mom :D)

We live in a apartment building on the 8th floor and have a beautiful view of the whole city. It really is a beautiful city...very green! I will have to send pictures next week :)

Sister Oliveira is amaaaazingly fun! She has 9 months on the mission and is from São Paulo and I don´t think I´ve ever met anyone in my entire life that has so much energy and love for life! She is soooo happy! Always smiling and glowing and bursting with excitement. It makes it really easy for me to feel happy and excited about the missionary work too...so much that this week, even though our days are still packed full with lessons and appointments, hasn´t even felt like work! It´s just fun :) We are always laughing and singing all day long... in the streets, in our apartment, in the elevator, for the doorman in our apartment...haha, it´s very fun and I am loving it.

We have amazing investigators here right now! It was a really fun week getting to know all of them...and we also were busy with more of the "Mundo Feliz" DVD references. My favorite experience of the week was our lesson with a man named Manoel. Manoel is 40ish years old, has no family and lives alone, and makes his living by selling lanches (hotdogs and empanadas) in the streets......and I have never met anyone more Christ-like in my life. Manoel has amazing faith and love...you can see it in his eyes and on his face. Manoel also has leukemia and has been very very sick the last few months. We visited with him on Saturday night with Daniel and Gisele (members in the ward that gave us his name) and he really liked the lesson! We taught him about the restoration of the gospel and he was really interested and excited for us to come back ....

But the next day, Sunday, Daniel and Gisele said that he had suddenly gotten so sick during the night that he had been admitted in the hospital. So right after church, Sister Oliveira and I rushed to the hospital to visit him. When we entered the hospital, we were informed that regular visiting hours had ended for the week, but that as religious missionaries we would be allowed to enter to visit him. It was very humbling to see...instead of hospital rooms, each person was assigned to small hospital cots that lined both sides of the narrow and dark hallway. It was very crowded and very noisy, with nurses and doctors squeezing past....but when we found Manoel he was brimming with happiness and light! His bright and happy smile seemed very out of place in that chaotic and depressing place... He asked us if he could say a prayer with us, and during the prayer he thanked Heavenly Father for the chance he had to be in the hospital to be a light for the people that were suffering. His prayer was very sincere and humble...it felt like a real conversation with Heavenly Father. Manoel has so much faith!

Manoel had another visitor, a young woman named Kátia, with him.....she was staying in the hospital with her very sick brother that had already been there for 3 months. Sister Oliveira and I didn´t know how long we would be able to stay before being kicked out, so we just visited with them both for a little while... As we were leaving I had the thought to ask his friend if she would like a Book of Mormon....but because we were in a hurry and because we hadn´t even talked about the church to her, I just dismissed the thought. Instead I just gave her a hug and asked her if there was anything we could do for her......and do you know what she asked for??? She asked if we had some kind of book that she could read because the hours passed really slowly in the hospital and she wanted something to get her mind off her sick brother. !!!! Haha...I said, yes of course we had a book for her. A very special book. A book called the Book of Mormon. :) ...haha, It was a strong reminder to me that we should never doubt or hesitate when we receive a prompting from the Holy Ghost. Just act! I know that we can be led in every moment if we choose to listen. It was also a testimony to me that this is the Lord´s work and that He is helping us every day...Even if we aren´t perfect, as long as we are trying He won´t let us fail. Heavenly Father is so kind. I know that He loves each of us so much!

Well family, remember that I love you! You are all always in my prayers. I am so excited to talk to you on Christmas Day!!

Love always,

Sister Jamie Gee

Tchau, Timbaúva!; First transfer in Brazil

Olá Família!

The biggest news of the week is that, sadly, this will be my last P-day here in Montenegro.... Yup. My short but wonderful time here in the Ala Timbaúva is coming to an end and tomorrow I´m going to be transferred! I wasn´t even expecting to be transferred... There is a sister in our mission, Sister Mota, that is having a lot of problems with her knees and since Timbaúva is the flatest and calmest area in the mission, it´s normally where the missionaries that have health problems are assigned. So we all assumed that she would be coming here to Timbaúva...and since she´s already been companions with Sister Inhuma, we were all sure that I would be staying here to be her companion. haha, Sister Inhuma even started saying goodbye to the members yesterday and packing her suitcases last night.... And now we´re going to have to visit everyone again tonight and tell them that actually I am the one that is leaving!

My first transfer of the mission. It seems like I just arrived here yesterday and now I´m already leaving behind my first area. Crazy... I am sad and happy and excited all at the same time. I´m sad to be leaving everyone here.... I really feel like I have a second family here in Montenegro with the members in the ward. I learned a lot from the people that I met in this area. The members are so kind and loving and generous and fun! And I´m really really going to miss being companions with Sister Inhuma! It was such a fun and short 6 weeks... But I am happy and excited to see where I´ll go next. I know that good times are ahead....for all of us! :)

"Life can only be understood by looking back....but it can only be lived by looking ahead!"

This also means I´ll be spending Christmas in a new area. 14 days until Christmas! I´m very excited to talk to you all :) Speaking of Christmas, Sister Inhuma and I had many more wonderful experiences with the DVD "Mundo Feliz" this week....there is no better way to find new investigators and invite people to learn more about the church then with the beautiful spirit of Christmas!

Sister Inhuma and I have the best investigators right now!! The people we are teaching are so great...so humble and teachable. Charlene is incredible!! I really have never met anyone who has so much desire to learn....every lesson we have with her is powerful and she always asks the most perfect questions. The kind of investigator that every missionary wants to find. And Michele is the same way! We invited her to read the Book of Mormon just 1 week ago and she is already finishing 2 Nefi and loving it! Haha...that´s funny that Michele added me on Facebook. She was begging me to teach her Michael Jackson songs in english...haha, but we taught her EFY songs in English instead. I think she still liked it :) awww...I´m sad to be leaving them!!

Tonight will be a night of farewells! We have a Noite Familiar marked with Idimir and Eliane and family....which I think will be a PERFECT way to spend my last night here :) Sister Inhuma is going to teach us how to make tapioca....a recipe from Recife!! mmmmm.... She has been talking about tapioca, agua de côco, beaches and other wonderful things from Recife aaaaall transfer long :)

I love you all so much! Remember that we are so blessed and that we have every reason in the world to be happy and smiling! :)
Love,
Sister Jamie Gee

Feliz Dezembro!! Happy December!

Oí família!
Happy December! I can´t believe we´re already in the last month of the year! :) December is a wonderful month...even with the Brazilian summer heat it´s beginning to feel like Christmas here in Montenegro. It seems like everyone is a little happier, smiles are spread a little easier, and people on the streets are even more willing to stop and listen to two sister missionaries that have a message about Jesus Christ. I think the month of December is a wonderful time to be a missionary! :)

Our ward here is catching the Christmas spirit too. The "Mundo Feliz" program that Presidente Pavan started is having great success in our area! We´ve been busy all week with referrals from members that want to give the DVD as a Christmas present for their friends and family. My favorite visit was with Jussane (a member in the ward) for her neighbor Ines... Ines is a really nice lady but it seems like she´s had a hard life and she has a lot of sadness in her eyes...especially when she talks about her children, who both live far away. She seemed a little closed and grumpy when we first entered, and I wasn´t sure how the visit was going to go. As we crowded around her small TV (Sister Inhuma and I and Jussane´s entire family!) and watched the DVD, a beautiful and peaceful spirit filled the room. I felt the Spirit especially strongly as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir began to sing "Silent Night" (my absolute Favorite Christmas hymn!) and the shepherds knelt down by the manger to worship the newborn baby Jesus. I felt very strongly the love that Jesus Christ has for each one of us...and especially that He has for this wonderful and lonely lady that had invited us into her home. I glanced over at her and saw tears in her eyes too. It was amazing the difference in the room and in her eyes after the DVD ended and we all talked about Jesus Christ and what He means for each one of us. She was smiling the entire time we were bearing testimony and was very quick to ask when we could come back and share more about the gospel. :) We, as members of the church, are really so so blessed to know what we know! I think that if we realized how much joy it brings into the lives of those that don´t have, we would be even more eager and anxious to share the gospel!

This week we also had Conferência de Zona de Natal! Christmas Zone Conference!! It was so much fun to be with all the other missionaries....4 out of the 6 zones in our mission were there! I was super happy to see Sister Cidre too! Elder Nielsen and Elder Cazeau (other friends from the Provo MTC) were also there and it was really great to see them again and to hear all about their new areas and companions and experiences. Presidente and Sister Pavan gave each missionary a beautiful new bible and all of us sister missionaries had a "white elepant" gift exchange. It´s really beginning to feel like Cristmas! :) The best part of the conference was that Elder Aschonavieta a member of the Seventy came to speak to us. He served as mission president of the Fortaleza mission and had amazing stories and counsel for us. It was powerful! I think that we all left the conference feeling motivated to improve and excited to serve the Lord the very best that we can! He also spoke about the Atonement and the gift of repentance that we should use daily in our lives. We should constantly be repenting and seeking to improve and better understand the will of the Lord.

Michele is still doing wonderfully! She is beginning to read the Book of Mormon and she told us that it is bringing peace into her life...something that she had been looking for before we knocked on her door. I really love Michele...she is so sweet and loving and she never complains even though I know that her cancer makes her feel worried and scared at times. It´s wonderful to be able to bear testimony to her that Heavenly Father knows her and loves her, that Jesus Christ understands exactly how she is feeling and that He will always be there for her. I know that is true! It is true for each and every one of us :)

It´s wonderful to be a missionary!! I love you all and am very happy to hear that you are all doing so well at home! I love you all soooo much. I can´t wait to talk to you all on Christmas day!!! It´s really all I want for Christmas this year :D

I love you!
Love, Sister Jamie Gee