Nova transferência!

A Minha Querida Família Gee,

Olá família! Tudo bem? I am doing wonderfully here in Novo Hamburgo annnnnnd....yes! Sister Oliveira and I will be staying for another transfer together! I am super happy...this is a wonderful city with a wonderful ward full of wonderful wonderful people. I am very grateful and very excited for another month here with Sister Oliveira. This transfer was a strange one....very few new missionaries arrived, not a single american, and most of the new brazilians are just "curto-prazo" (temporary) missionaries...youth from wards here in Porto Alegre. President Pavan has been asking for a lot of help from the youth because we are so short on missionaries in our mission. A lot of areas have had to close because there aren´t enough missionaries to fill them! I guess that the problems with the visas of the have gotten even worse lately. Sister Robson is still in California! She´s been waiting for over 7 months now! We are praying and fasting as a mission this month that the visas start arriving....and soon!

But anyways...onto the new news! This week was a great one!! It started last Monday night at 9:30 pm with a "zone conference" conference call...the first time Presidente Pavan has ever done something like that the entire time that I´ve been here. It was pretty cool...15 duplas of missionaries and the President all on the same call. The zone leaders gave a few thoughts and a few missionaries shared their testimonies and then Presidente Pavan gave an amazing training.....all over the phone! President Pavan talked about the sacredness of our calling and how we should expect to see miracles. It was very inspiring and powerful and left Sister Oliveira and I feeling very motivated for the rest of the week! We talked about the investigators we´re teaching and made some plans to find new people to add to our "grupo de ensino" (teaching group)....and then we got to work. And we had huge success.....our planners are filled with amazing new people and families to start teaching this transfer! Another reason why I´m super happy that I get to stay :)

My very favorite day was Wednesday afternoon... Sister Oliveira and I had met Tainá, a 16 year old girl, on the street earlier this week and planned to meet with her in her home that day. But when we arrived she was already sitting outside her home with Ana, her 21 year old friend who lives on the same street, so we sat down and starting talking with them both. We sang a hymn before starting and Ana´s mother heard us singing and came out of the home to listen. The street where they live is always full of people talking and playing in the street, and as we started the lesson another girl, Tais, and her little sister Bruna came over and sat down....and then Caroline and her friend Morgan...and then Victória, and then Ana Lúcia.... and before we knew it there was a group of 8 young women sitting around our feet and listening to the story about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. There was a very beautiful and peaceful Spirit in the air...and as I looked around at the young girls, I looked into each of their faces as Sister Oliveira told them about the First Vision, and I felt a very strong feeling of joy! The same feeling of joy that I often have felt here on the mission....A feeling of overwhelming happiness to be a missionary, a feeling of gratitude knowing that the gospel is true, and a strong feeling of love. I felt very strongly that Heavenly Father knew and loved each one of those young women gathered around our feet. I know that Joseph Smith really saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and talked with them...and what other story shows more plainly the love that Heavenly Father has for each one of us? He called Joseph Smith as a prophet to guide us. He answers every prayer. He knows each of us by name! He loves us more than we can imagine....each one of us! I think it was one of the most beautiful and happy experiences that I have had on my mission...

Oh! And guess what else happened this Sunday?? I was talking with a sister in our ward when I someone tapped me on the shoulder....and when I turned around guess who I saw!! Alex!! :D I was suuuuper surprised....he had moved to Santa Maria (6 hours away) 3 weeks before I left Montenegro and I hadn´t talked to him since then. He told me that he had gone to Montenegro for Michele´s baptism yesterday (her baptism was yesterday!! I got to talk to her on the phone for a few minutes and she sounded sooo happy! Send pictures if she posts them on facebook, Dad) and that afterwards he had decided to see if he could find me in Novo Hamburgo before heading back home. It was a huge and happy surprise for me! :) He told me that the branch is small in Santa Maria, but that he is and busy talking to all his friends and family about the gospel! It made me so happy to hear his testimony and see that his excitement and love for the gospel are strong! There is so much joy in being a missionary.....it really is a marvelous work! :)

Well family, another P-day is ending and another transfer is starting and I know it´s going to be a great one!!! I am excited and happy and healthy and loving being a missionary! I am glad that you are all doing well! I think that´s great that you´re studying the New Testament as a family this year! Tell me about the things that you learn! I love hearing from you! You´re always in my prayers and in my thought!!

Love you!! Love, Sister Jamie Gee

Another wonderful week in Novo Hamburgo!!

Dear family,

Hello again after another wonderful week in Novo Hamburgo!! This week was a very very fast one....I can´t believe that it´s already P-day again! The weeks are getting shorter and shorter! I really am loving being a missionary. Each morning when I wake up I feel like my heart is bursting with joy. Even when the days are long or hard or hot....there is no happier feeling than being a missionary!

Sister Oliveira and I are teaching some amazing people right now. My favorite investigators right now are Ênio and Dina...a very sweet and loving couple. Sister Oliveira started teaching them with Sister Mota a week before I arrived here in Novo Hamburgo...and in the short time that we've known them they have already become very very dear friends. Ênio and Dina come to church every week and to all of the ward activities...and they already help us with our other investigators too! Giving references and car rides and talking to all their friends about the church...haha, it´s wondeful! I´ve never met people so loving and giving...they are always eager to serve us and others....in any way that they can! It´s an amazing example to me.. They are practically already members and I know that they love the church...but because they aren´t legally married they haven´t been able to be baptized. Dina´s first husband died 10 years ago and she receives "widow´s pension" that she will lose if she gets married again to Ênio....kind of complicated. Dina told us that if they lose it they would not have enough money to live off of.... But I know that their testimonies of the gospel are getting stronger each day and that one day they will be baptized!!

Saturday night was "Cachorro Quente" (hot dogs!!) night with the ward. Hot dogs here are soooo yummy....with tomatoes and onions and lettuce and corn and peas and cheese.... and then topped with a sweet tomato sauce and French fries. mmmm... It was a great ward activity! The members here are so much fun and very very helpful. We had lots of investigators come and they really enjoyed it and got to know a lot of the members. Any, a member in the ward, also brought one of her friends from work, Cleuse and her 17 year old daughter Melissa, who both seemed really excited to hear more about the church. I´m excited to visit them this week!

This is going to be a great week...Sister Oliveira and I have a lot of new plans and goals for the week o find new investigators that are going to keep us busy and happily working :) She really is a wonderful companion and friend and I´m loving working with her. I don´t think I told you before, but Sister Gibson was her trainer too.....3 months before me. So we´re sisters on the mission!! :D No wonder I love her so much!!!

And no Dad, I didn´t forget..........HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope your 51st birthday is wonderful and fun! I was remembering the other day when I called you last year from Ecuador on your birthday....I can´t believe it´s already been a whole year! I wish I could call you again to tell you that I love you, but know that I will be thinking about you!! mmmm... Maybe I´ll even eat Brazilian churrasco with grilled chicken hearts and pineapple to celebrate for you.....hahaha!

Well family, I love you and hope that you are all happy and doing well!! I love the pictures....ice skating sounds like it was super fun! I guess that I knew that I would miss out on a few things when I decided to leave home for a year and a half. It´s a good thing that being a missionary is so wonderful....it makes it all worth it!

I know that this gospel is perfect. Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love and He has a perfect plan for each one of us. We just need to trust in Him and let Him teach us and lead us....day by day. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that because of Him and His love we can change and become exactly who we need to be. I know because of Him our family will live together forever....and I´m so happy to know that :) I love you all sooooo much and I think about you all every day!

Love you!!!
Love, Sister Jamie Gee

Baptism of Manoel; And a day of BAD luck!

This week was wonderful as always! I cannot believe that I´ve already been here in Novo Hamburgo for a month....this transfer gone by so quickly! Sister Oliveira and I planned together that we were going to make sure that President Pavan knew just how much we love this area, in hopes that he´ll leave us together for another transfer :) Haha....I think I must have told him 15 times during the interview that I love love love the area and I love SIster Oliveira even more!! haha...we´ll see if it works! After the interviews we had an amazing training by our district leader about New Years Resolutions and setting goals. We talked about how goals are nothing without a good and detailed plan to accomplish the goal. He quoted President Eyring and taught us that once you make a goal, it should become sacred for you and for Heavenly Father, and we need to do Everything in our power to make sure we accomplish what we decided to do. It was really inspiring and I´m feeling really excited for this new year here in Brazil. I know I am going to see and learn wonderful things and meet many more amazing friends!!! I love being a missionary.

The best day of the week was Sunday. I got to speak in sacrament meeting and it went really well. I spoke about Joseph Smith´s First Vision and how we should follow his example and set aside time every day to go to our own "sacred grove" and really converse with our Heavenly Father and receive revelation from him. And the best part of Sunday....we had a baptism!! Manoel´s baptism was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but he decided to postpone it until Sunday because Daniel and Gisele Rocha (the family that introduced him to the church) had a last minute emergency. So we scheduled the baptism for 11:30...right after the sacrament meeting. It turned out to be a wonderful decision because almost everyone in the ward stayed to participate...including 4 of our investigators that were at church! There is nothing better than having an investigator feel the powerful and peaceful spirit that accompanies every baptism! :)

It was such a wonderful baptism! We had a problem with the water in the building and were only able to fill the tank halfway...but luckily Manoel is short. :) He was so happy! He had a huge smile on his face and a light in his eyes.... Sister Oliveira and I sang "O Senhor Meu Pastor È" ("The Lord is My Shepherd") and I felt so strongly the love and happiness that Heavenly Father has for Manoel and for each one of us! It was a wonderful wonderful day!

Haha...funny story of the week.... President Pavan called late Sunday night us to tell us he would be visiting our apartment early Monday morning, and in the hurry to clean our already clean apartment our beautiful big mirror feel off the shelf and shattered into a million pieces. We swept the glass into a box and laughing, I told Sister Oliveira to be ready for a day of bad luck that always follows breaking a mirror. I didn´t realize at that moment how true that statement was..... As I walked with Sister Oliveira to the trash room on the other side of the hallway of our apartment, we heard our door slam shut and we realized together that we had forgotten the keys!! It was 10:00 at night, we were already in pajamas and ready to sleep, no shoes, no cell phone, and without any phone numbers....and we were locked out!! Haha...luckily our neighbors are really nice and they helped us as we tried for almost an hour to unlock the door. Finally we called a "chaveiro" who came with his toolbox and opened the door in 2 seconds.....and then charged us 80 reiais!! Beleza....it could be a lot worse right? Well, the next day (yesterday) from the moment we woke up to the moment we went to sleep Everything went wrong!! Sister Oliveira´s money got swallowed by the ATM machine, our lunch appointment fell through, we went to Habib´s (an amazing Arabic fast food restaurant) and lost our receipt, a huge gust of wind broke Sister Oliveira´s umbrella, when she went to buy a new umbrella the umbrella broke in half in her hands (the lady in the shop wasn´t too happy), and finally an investigator gave us a huge bunch of yummy juicy grapes´....and mine was rotten and full of larva! Sigh....it was a very good feeling to enter our apartment last night knowing that our day of bad luck was over :)

But the blessings always follow the trials right? Haha...I´m ready for a wonderful new week here in Novo Hamburgo! I know it´s going to be a great one! I hope that you all are happy and doing well! I love you and you are always in my thoughts and in my prayers. Thanks for being a wonderful family and for always loving me and inspiring me to be better!

Love you!

Love, Sister Jamie Gee

New Year's celebration (or lack thereof) in Novo Hamburgo

Minha querida família,
Happy New Years!!! Are you all excited and ready for a wonderful new year? I am! I already know that 2011 is going to be an amazing year....especially since I´ll be a missionary for almost all of it! :D haha...all except for about 10 days...

Sister Oliveira and I started off the new year watching the fireworks from the balcony of our 8th floor apartment.....well, I guess I should say "waiting" for the fireworks from the balcony of our 8th floor apartment. We had to be in our apartment at 9:30, so we dragged our matress and blankets onto the balcony (we have a BEAUTIFUL view of the center of the city!) and spent the 3 hours waiting and listening to EFY music and laughing like crazy. It was fun. But sadly, at midnight there wasn´t much to see. I was content with just screaming and singing "Feliz Ano Novooooo!!" but I think that Sister Oliveira, from São Paulo, was a little disappointed. She said the fireworks in São Paulo are amazing!!!!!!!
It was a very fun night though...especially since we had churrasco with grilled pineapple with a family in the ward!!! Mmmmm....

This week was very wonderful here in Novo Hamburgo. It was a little difficult to find people at home, because almost everyone travels to the beach to celebrate the New Years.....so this week was kind of more walking and knocking than teaching :)

We are teaching so many wonderful people right now....
Nilza and Ivan are a young couple that have been taught by the missionaries for years and years, but they´ve never been very serious about being baptized. Well, Nilza has always wanted to be baptized, but Ivan never had any interest and had even less interest in getting married first. It seemed like every time we visited them they would just argue and fight and complain about the other one to us.... But I knew that our visits were making a difference because lately I have felt a huge difference in their home...a lot more love and peace and unity. And this week when we were teaching them a lesson about eternal families, Ivan surprised us all when he told us that he has decided that he wants to marry Nilza and then be baptized!!! I think that Nilza was the most surprised (and happy!) of all of us! It´s amazing how Heavenly Father can soften and prepare the hearts of anyone who lets him....it really is a miracle! And we, as missionaries and family members, just need to have patience with them, continue to love them, and trust in Heavenly Father and the power He has to change their hearts.

Alice is another amazing investigator that we´re teaching right now. Her daughter, Deise, met and was taught and baptized by the missionaries when she was 15 years old. And now, 8 years later, she is finishing her mission in Rio de Janeiro and coming home at the end of the month! It´s obvious that her mom, Alice, has a lot of love and admiration for her daughter...she always reads every letter and email that Deise (Sister Wolf) writes and she is soooo excited for her to come home! I feel like I she´s already a dear friend from all the things I´ve heard about her....haha, it will be fun to meet her when she comes home! Alice has been starting to come to church and to bring her other 2 children with her. It´s really wonderful to see how much of a difference one person can be for her entire family!!!

Annnnnd.......The very most exciting news of the week came on Friday afternoon when I received a call from Sister Inhuma in Timbaúva. I was thinking that she was probably just calling to wish me an early Happy New Years...but the excitement in her voice when I answered the phone told me that it was something even more wonderful. "Sister Gee!!! I had to call you because I wanted you to be the first one to know....Michele is going to be baptized!!" :D I am so so happy!!! I love Michele and I am so happy that I got to know her! I know that Heavenly Father leads us to His children that are ready to receive the gospel. I have met so many people here in Brazil that have been amazing examples to me...of faith and love and trust in Heavenly Father.

I love being a missionary and I´m very happy that I still have a whole year to be here in Brazil and to be serving the Lord! 2011 is going to be wonderful!!!!
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!! I hope you have a wonderful 15th birthday on Saturday!!!! Guess what....your birthday is going to be the day of Manoel´s baptism!!! It´s going to be a happy day! I´ll be thinking about you! Have a fun one :D I love you, Kyle!
I love you all!!!!
Love,
Sister Jamie Gee