Hellooooo!
It was soooo much fun to talk to you all on Sunday!! I´m so glad that we used Skype!! It was great to talk to you and hear your voices on Christmas...but yesterday, being able to SEE you all was even more wonderful and fun! Haha...and it made me miss you all so much too! I´m happy to see that you´re still the same happy crazy and wonderfully fun family that I love! :) And no worries about Jorge´s family thinking that our family is crazy...I was there when his son, Elder Lamone, used Skype to call home a few hours earlier.....and the silly faces and laughter and craziness was just the same. There is nothing like family :)
I guess there is not too much new "news" since the last time we talked. I am still happy and loving life here in Rio Pardo! Yesterday Carlos and Feijão went with us to visit Elizângela and her family. Carlos works with her husband, Elisandro, and is his good friend, so when he heard that we have been visiting his family for the last month he got super excited to help us! He already invited the entire family over for a Noite Familiar and duck dinner (mmmmm...it was good) and tells us that at work he talks to Elisandro about the gospel every chance that he gets! :) There is nothing like the fire and power of the testimony of a recent convert... The lesson with them yesterday was so amazing. Usually it is difficult to get Elisandro to sit and listen...and when we invite him . But when we showed up at his door with Feijão and Carlos. We taught about prayer and how Heavenly Father is eager to bless and help us...we just have to have faith in Him and ask! My favorite part was when Carlos bore his testimony at the end of the lesson. He talked about his family and how they have been reading from the Book of Mormon and praying as a family every night ever since their baptism. He told Elisandro that it is the greatest blessing and joy that he has felt in his life to have his family gathered every night and praying together. It was a very beautiful and sincere testimony and the Spirit was very strong...I know that Elisandro was listening and that he felt it too. He thanked us all several times and told us that he wanted to be at church this next Sunday. !!! Wow! It is amazing how the Spirit can open and soften the heart of anyone who decides to listen....and it is also amazing how powerful a new and growing testimony of the gospel is!
I think that I already told you about Elizângela and her family. When we found them I was sure that it we had found a family already prepared and ready to be baptized! Elizângela and her husband, Elisandro, were married legally two years ago so that Elizângela could be baptized in the ward in Santa Cruz. Elizângela LOVED the church and the irmãs in her old ward…but when she moved to Rio Pardo 6 months ago, she lost contact with the church. She seemed so excited when she found us in the papelaria and was super happy to hear that we would bring her to church with us on Sunday. This, and lots of other little miracles, like finding her home, after searching for an hour and almost giving up thinking it was a wrong address, made us sure that this was a very special family that would be quick to accept the gospel and be baptized! But it hasn´t been quite that easy... Every Saturday when we visit she agrees to come to church with us the next morning….and every Sunday morning when we arrive, something happens that keeps her from coming. She told us a few weeks that her biggest dream in the world is to have her entire family in the church with her, but her husband, Elisandro, doesn´t want anything to do with God or the church. And when Sunday arrives, she feels discouraged about getting up early and getting all the young children ready and going to church alone. We told her that Heavenly Father knows her and loves her and that He also knows the desires of her heart. He is a God of miracles and He has a perfect plan for her and her family...including her husband. Maybe her dream wouldn´t be realized immediately, but the blessings from Heavenly Father of peace and happiness would come immediately once she decided to trust in him and to act in faith and do her part. Ever since that day she has been bringing her children to church and reading the Book of Mormon with them at home...even when Elisandro doesn´t want to participate. I can tell that her own testimony and confidence in the Lord are growing stronger! I´m so happy that now Carlos and Feijão are helping answer her prayer and that Elisandro felt the Holy Ghost testifying through the examples and testimonies of his family and friends.
Well, know that I love you and am thinking about you always! Thanks for being wonderful family and friends for me...the best I could have! Mom and Dad!!! Thank you thank you thank you for being the best parents in the world. Your emails and letters always make me so happy. Thank you for your hard work and sacrifice and love. I love you allll so much!! The next time I´ll hear your voices will be when I´m home with you all!!!!
Love Always,
Sister Jamie Gee
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