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