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