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