Transfer tomorrow to???; The Lord is guiding each one of us

Oiiiiii Family!

Today is transfers and....... I´m being transferred!!! Crazy...both Sister Oliveira and I had hopes that we would stay together for one more transfer....and we thought that, if anyone would be transferred, it would be her...because she has been here 4 months already. Haha, it took me so much by surprise that I haven´t even said goodbye to anyone!! It´s going to be a very busy afternoon :)

This week was a great one....even more special now, knowing that it was my last one here in Novo Hamburgo with Sister Oliveira!!! I am going to miss her... But luckily we filled our last week together with many many memories and wonderful experiences. We taught Letícia and her brother-in-law and then helped them for a while mixing cement and laying bricks for her new house! It was super fun :) Just a little difficult in a skirt. Saturday night we spent with Alice, Claírton, Alana, Robson, Deise and Maiara, watched Emma Smith and ate popcorn and aipim cake.....so yummy! That really is an inspiring movie...the early members of the church had so much faith and trust in the Lord! We also met an amazing family this week...Cristina and her daughters Elizete and Ariane. Sister Oliveira and I met them sitting by the side of the road and stopped to talk to them about the Book of Mormon. Cristina was very interested and super happy to hear our message and told us that she wanted to hear more. But the coolest part of the story is that as we were talking to her about the Book of Mormon, suddenly an image came to my mind of her, years in the future as a member of the church, sharing the story of the first day that she met the missionaries. And as we left her and were walking to our next appointment, Sister Oliveira told me that she had had the exact same thought during the lesson! :) I know it´s something small and simple, but I know it was from the Lord. It makes me happy to know that He is always working side by side with us!

Well this will be my last email from Novo Hamburgo. What a wonderful wonderful city...the members, the investigators, the memories with Sister Oliveira...I loved being here the last 2 1/2 months! I learned a lot and laughed and smiled even more :) I´m sad to be leaving so quickly, but at the same time I´m sure that my next area will be just as wonderful too! It always seems to be that way on the mission... I really like what President Pavan wrote in his email to the missionaries this week, so I´m going to copy it here....

Amanhã, dia 01 de Março, iniciaremos mais um período de transferência. Posso afirmar a todos que o Senhor está colocando seus missionários onde Ele quer. As experiências dessa transferência, são uma forte evidência de que o Senhor dirige sua Igreja de maneira a revelar Sua vontade de forma clara, específica e forte.
Tenha certeza que, onde quer que você vá trabalhar, é a vontade e o desejo do Senhor.

Tomorrow, March 1st, we will begin another transfer. I can affirm to you all that the Lord is placing His missioniaries where He wants them to be. The experiences of this transfer are a strong evidence that the Lord directs His Church by revealing his will in a clear, specific and strong way.
I am certain that, wherever you are going to work, it is the will and desire of the Lord.

I felt very happy when I read this email this morning and a strong feeling of peace. I know it is true! The Lord is guiding each one of us. His hand is in every moment and every experience of our lives. I know that He has a perfect plan..... This week during personal study I was reading about the story of Esther. I really like what her uncle Mordecai asks her "And who knows whether you have not come to this kingdom for a time such as this?" Heavenly Father placed her there in that time and place so that she could do His work. I know that we each have the exact circumstances in our lives that the Lord wants us to have... that the Lord needs us to have in order to do the work that He has prepared us to do. We just need to be ready and willing to listen and then act with faith...nothing doubting!

I am so happy to be a missionary and to be meeting and teaching wonderful people every day! There is no happier feeling than sharing your testimony and feeling the Holy Spirit testify that what you are saying is true...and knowing that others are feeling it too :)

Thank you for being a wonderful family!!! I love you all so much!!!

Love,

Sister Jamie Gee

Wonderful wet week in Novo Hamburgo

Hi dear family!

This was a wonderful and wet week for Sister Oliveira and me here in Novo Hamburgo. And I mean WET!!! It was rainy all week long and ended with huge wind and rain storms on Saturday and Sunday. It was super nice to have a break from the heat and the sun and Sister Oliveira and I had fun in the heavy and windy Brazilian rainstorms, but it kind of made the missionary work difficult. :) You should have seen the streets!! They turned into rivers!!

Sunday was a wonderful day....Maiara was confirmed! And she was glowing and smiling and very happy :) I love that girl so much!! Now that the school year has started again here, Maiara moved back to live with her grandma in Estáncia Velha, a city about 15 from Novo Hamburgo, so we don´t get to see her very often anymore. Just on Sundays when she comes to church with Deise´s family.... Sister Oliveira and I were used to visiting her almost every day when she was preparing to be baptized, so we´re missing her a lot!!

On a sad note, the baptisms of Sônia and her daughters Débora and Denúbia probably will have to be postponed until the next transfer, because once again the rain kept them from coming to church on Sunday :( It was kind of frustrating...as a district we had decided to focus extra hard this week on bringing investigators with us to church, and Sister Oliveira and I had a huge list of families that were planning on coming... and then late Saturday afternoon the rain starting pouring and the streets started filling with water and almost all of the people we had invited called to tell us they wouldn´t be able to make it.... But! We had a wonderful lesson with them the next day and talked about Heavenly Father and His love for us and how we can show or love for Him by putting Him first in our lives....and they promised that nothing in the world will keep them from coming to church next Sunday :)

Story Time! So this Friday, Sister Oliveira and I were walking to an appointment and we decided to cut through the plaza in the center of Novo Hamburgo. On the weekends the plaza turns into a kind of mini fair...with crowds of people and a bunch of stands selling different things....fruits and breads, souvenirs, and crafts...it´s super fun! Sister Oliveira and I passed by one table filled with books and stopped to look for a while. Suddenly, Sister Oliveira started laughing and pulled me over to one side of the table to point out a book that she had found....a brand new copy of O Livro de Mórmon for 10 reais! :) The owner of the stand, "Sé dos Livros" is his name, looked over at us to see why we were laughing and Sister Oliveira introduced herself and asked him what he knew about the book. And his answer "Nothing...tell me about it." Perfect :) So we talked to him about Jesus Christ´s visit to the Americas and told him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon...and he said he would start that very night! :) He was such a nice guy! Very smart and intelligent...I think he reads 100 books a week...and at the same time very humble and willing to listen to our message. It is very interesting how the Lord leads us, without us even knowing that we are being lead sometimes, to the people that He has prepared to receive our message. Oh, and the best part of the story....do you know what his full name is?? Joseph Smith!! haha....well, really it is José Schmitt...but they pronounce them both the same way here in Brazil. Sister Oliveira and I couldn´t believe it when he told us :)

Well!! I love you all!!! Thanks for being the best family in the world! :)

Love, Sister Jamie Gee

Valentines Day; Maiara baptism;

Dear Family, Happy Valentine´s Day!!!

I just wanted to let you all know that I love you all very much! Dad, Mom, Ryan, Celecta, Melissa, Jared, Kyle, Megan, Justin and Rawley...you are the most wonderful family in the world and my very best friends :) I think about each one of you every single day!.....yes, even you Rawley :) Your Valentine´s cards made me sooooo happy....you are the greatest!!!

Valentine´s Day was super fun here in Novo Hamburgo! Sister Oliveira and I made chocolate oatmeal heart-shaped cookies with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles to take to our lunch with Deise and her family.....so I had plenty of friends and family and love and chocolate it really feel like Valentine´s Day :) It was great. And Alana (14) and Robson (13) looooved the pop rocks that you sent, Mom! haha...they had never seen anything like it before! The cinnamon lips were a favorite too...though I think that I was the one that loved them the most because they made me think of you, Mom! :) I love you!

This computer is very difficult to type with, so this will be a short letter...

But wow!!! What a wonderful wonderful week!!!! Maiara was baptized on Sunday after Sacrament Meeting and it was a very beautiful and wonderful to watch. She is a very special young woman and has an amazing testimony...wow, it really amazes me how much faith and strength the youth that are being sent to the world right now have...they are definitely prepared by the Lord! Carol is another young woman that we are teaching who is the same! ...She´s 13 years old too and she is more hesitant about the church than Maiara was, mostly because she has been going to another church, Deus No Brasil, for many years and is even a leader there. But she is reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and wants to visit the church this Sunday and really has a desire to know if it is true. Both these young woman are amazing examples to me...they are full of faith and light and I love them both.....they remind me a lot of you, Megan! :)

Sister Oliveira and I have just 2 more weeks together (most likely...) and we´re working hard to enjoy every moment and to work really hard to make them amazing!! It feels like I just arrived here yesterday...it´s crazy how quickly wonderful moments fly by! We´ve been finding lots of amazing families this week...super prepared to hear the gospel!! We met Sônia and her 3 daughters Debora, Danúbia and Daniele on Friday, taught them about the restoration, and then invited them to visit the church on Sunday. And do you know what Sônia´s response was? She asked us what she had to do to prepare herself and her daughters to be baptized!! Wow...that is the first time that something like that has happened on my mission! It is very true that there are so many people prepared and ready to accept the gospel!!! I know that Heavenly Father is blessing us a lot and helping us find them :D

Another favorite experience of the week...We met Andriele and her 5 younger sisters in the sorverteria (ice cream shop!....haha, see?? The Lord even blesses us when we stop eat ice cream! I love being a missionary :D) and they invited us to their home to meet their great-grandmother, Rufina. What an amazing lady!! She grabbed us into a huge hug the minute that we walked into the door and thanked us over and over for the visit. Rufina is 92 years old and has 21 children!!! And she is the most happy and loving and energetic and kindest lady that I have every met! She loves the Lord and has a lot of faith in Him...haha, she told us that last week in her church the pastor had asked "Who here has faith? Raise your hand if you have sufficient faith!" and when she had raised her hand he told her "Because you weren´t ashamed to show your faith, the Lord will send a victory to your home this week!"

She told us that she had been waiting patiently all week long for the victory to arrive...and that the minute we walked in the door she knew we were sent from the Lord. "You two are the victory that the Lord promised me!!" she told us happily over and over again! :D hahahaha.... I loved it! I´m super excited to teach her again!

I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that He has a perfect plan. We never have to doubt or feel inadequate or afraid...if we are willing to work with faith, we can have confidence that He will work at our side! I know this is true and I´m seeing proof of it every single day!

I love you all!!!! Love, Sister Jamie Gee

Beautiful rainy Tuesday in Novo Hamburgo; Great to be alive and to know that God loves us!

Dear Gee family that I loooooove!

Hello again! It´s a beautiful rainy Tuesday here in Novo Hamburgo and I am smiling! What a wonderful life we are living! It´s great to be alive and to know that God loves us! :D

This week was great!!! I know I say that every week....but this week I really really mean it! Last Wednesday was Zone Conference in Canoas...and I love love love Zone Conference. I heard that, before I arrived here, zone conference was once a transfer! !!! That would be incredible.... Ours are usually once every 3-4 months, but they are so incredible and inspiring and fun and motivating that I definitely wouldn´t mind having them more often! It is suuuuuper fun to see all of the other missionaries and hear all of their stories and update.....it was especially great to see Sister Inhuma!!!! It sounds like she is doing an amazing work in Timbaúva and is super happy. And I loved being able to hear about everyone there...she brought me a stack of cards and photos and letters from all the people that I looove! Oh how I would love to be able to return to Timbaúva someday!!!!

The training that President Pavan gave was amazing and perfect for me. Exactly what I needed to hear! He talked about lapidation and how we are all rough stones that need to let Heavenly Father polish and perfect us to be what He needs us to be. It was a really great talk....it´s funny how sometimes we let the silliest and smallest things keep us from letting the Holy Ghost enter our hearts and purify us. We just need to remember who we are and who we always have been.....and then act like it :) I really liked President Pavan´s talk and I learned a lot...

The rest of the week was fabulous!!! I think Sister Oliveira and I left Zone Conference still burning with the spirit....because I don´t think we´ve had a better week together! It was wonderful :) We found an amazing family! Do you remeber Carol? One of the girls that we taught that day in the middle of her street? Well...her family is huge and wonderful and amazing. Grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles and lots of cousins and grandchildren....I think there were 20 people in the room! We taught them this week about the Book of Mormon it was one of the most powerful lessons that I have ever been in! The Spirit was very strong and they were very excited to read....I´m excited to go back!

Oh....and on Wednesday afternoon we found out that Maiara´s mom had decided that it was too early for Maiara to be baptized and that she wanted her to wait for a few more years before making a decision like that... Maiara was almost in tears when she told us, she really has a strong desire to be baptized and knows that the gospel is true! Sister Oliveira and I talked to her about faith and read 2 Nephi 27:23. Heavenly Father really is a god of miracles!! Anything is possible if we have faith and trust in Him...and then are willing to work to do our part. We told her that, if we had faith, Heavenly Father would touch her mother´s heart and she would let her be baptized this week. We told her to wait for a moment when she and her mother were alone and to read with her from 3 Nephi 11 and then to explain to her what she had felt the morning that she had prayed and had received an answer.

And guess what.... We found out yesterday that Maiara´s mom is going to let her be baptized......this week!! :) I think the baptism will be on Thursday morning so that Deise can be there too...haha, which means it will be right before district meeting with all 18 missionaries. I´ve never seen a baptism like that before! I am very excited....and very grateful to know that Heavenly Father really is a God of miracles. I know that He loves and us will always always help us....we just need to have the faith to ask :)

I love you all dear family!!! Stay happy and safe and remember that I love you! Thanks for your prayers and letters!

Love, Sister Jamie Gee

PS.....Oh!!!! I almost forgot to thank you!!!! This week I received 2 packages....one, a Valentines Day package with candy and chocolate and hearts!! It made me feel so loved!! And it got here super early!! Thanks so much! :)

And two, an amaaaaazing CD with all of your wonderful voices!! Wow...it made me so happy. I was smiling and laughing and even crying a little as I listened....I think I´ve already listened to it 10 times! Thank you so much! You are all so so so wonderful and I miss you a lot! :D And the Christmas songs are beautiful! And Rawley howling is perfect!! :D Thank you thank you thank you, Nate!

Maiara;

Querida Família,

Happy 1st day of February! How are you all doing?

This week was wonderful as always! Sister Oliveira and I are happy and busy with many many families to teach!! This Sunday in church we gave a special training during the combined Relief Society and Elder´s Quorum Meeting about how the members can be more involved with the missionary work. It was great...and I can tell that it worked too because we´ve already had many members call, excited and ready to help! :) Yesterday we got a lot of new references and we had many members come with us to teach lessons and meet the people we´re teaching...it makes a huuuge difference when we teach people that already have a friend in the ward. It is wonderful and I know that it´s going to help us have a lot of success during the rest of this transfer!

The greatest night of the week was Sunday night when we had a Noite Familiar with Deise and her family. Deise just returned from her mission in Rio de Janeiro this Wednesday...and it is easy to see that she was a great missionary! She is filled with light and love and excitement to continue doing missionary work. Haha...so much that I´m pretty sure that this month, before Deise starts school, we´ll be working in a trio! Haha, it´s hard for me to call her Deise because in my mind she is still Sister Wolf!

On Sunday night we decided to have a Family Night at her home with her family (she is the only active member in her family) and her 13 yr old friend Maiara. As we walked with her to meet Maiara, Deise told Sister Oliveira and I that she wanted to work with us to prepare Maiara to be baptized this next Sunday.....!!!! I was very surprised and I could tell that Sister Oliveira was too...but she was bursting with contagious enthusiasm and excitement, and of course we agreed!

After meeting Maiara I began to understand why Deise was so confident. Nossa!! I have never met a young woman so sweet and kind and beautiful and prepared by the Lord! She had gone to church with Deise a few times before she left for Rio de Janeiro, and had loved it. We taught her the 1st lesson about the restoration of the gospel and I was amazed at her questions and comments...she is super smart and understood everything so quickly. It was a powerful lesson too....with the 4 of us missionaries (Sister Oliveira and I, Deise and her boyfriend Jonas, who just got home from his mission too) taking turns teaching. I especially liked when Jonas told about the First Vision...he taught in such a personal loving way and there was a very strong and peaceful spirit. Haha...even Alana, Deise´s 14 yr old sister, had tears in her eyes and said that she was feeling so good that she wanted to be baptized again! :) It was wonderful... Afterwards we invited her to read and pray that night before going to sleep and invited her to be baptized the next Sunday after church. And she accepted!!

Then the next day Maiara told us how she had read and prayed about the 3 Nephi 11...the chapter we gave her to read. She told us how she had prayed and then read and then prayed again. And when she didn´t feel an anwer she reread the chapter, slowly and pondering every verse so that she could understand the hard portuguese. She said that she did this 3 times, praying very very strongly...and on the 3rd time the answer came. :) Maiara said she was filled with a feeling of joy and felt like this day was going to be the start of a life of wonderful and happy days! She was so happy and is so excited to be baptized!!

Wow...I learned a lot from that lesson. First, I learned once again that Heavenly Father loves every one of His children and will always speak to us if we´re willing and ready to listen. I also learned a lot from the way that Deise and Jonas taught....very lovingly and powerfully...it brought the spirit very quickly. And, of course, it was a wonderful wonderful lesson for me of faith and boldness! We should expect and seek for miracles like these...every day of our lives! I know that Heavenly Father is very willing to bless us with more miracles than we can imagine...I think that many times He is more willing to bless us with miracles than we are to receive them! The only thing that we need to do is have faith and perfect confidence in Him, and then act with boldness and with courage!

I am very happy to be a missionary and very excited for the next 11 months that I have here in Brazil. I know that they are going to pass quickly...even more quickly than these first 7 have flown by...but I know that they are going to be full of wonderful days and people to love and lessons to be learned and miracles to see!

I am glad to hear that you are all happy and well at home! Thanks so much for the emails...you make me feel loved! Remember to always be grateful for the many many blessings that we have. There is nothing like a grateful heart that will bring more happiness and joy and peace to your life! I am so thankful to have you all as my brothers and sisters and mom and dad...you´re the greatest! I love you!!! :)

Love Always,

Sister Jamie Gee

PS....guess what Sister Oliveira and I are doing tonight....going to Alcoholics Anonymous!! It should be fun :) I´ll tell you more next week!