Happy Easter!!!
How are you all doing? Wow...it sounds like you just got back from yet another amaaaazing Gee Family trip! I don´t know how you do it Mom and Dad...but they are always the best! Beach and amusement parks and old western saloons and barbeques and weddings....what a fun weekend!! I LOVED seeing the pictures too!
This week was amaaaaazing!!! I know that I say that every week, but this week was really really special! On Sunday we had 13 investigators come to church!!!! 13! That´s twice as much as normal! The members are really helping a lot here and we are busy busy busy with lessons and references and new people to teach. What a perfect place to be a missionary! I also got to speak in sacrament meeting...about Easter and how we can show our gratitude to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice. Sister Corrêa and I are super happy to be here in Rio Pardo for another transfer together....I can already tell that it is going to be another transfer full of miracles!
My favorite miracle of the week... I think that I´ve already told you about Beranice and her family? She is the mother of 4 children...Lucas (13), Luan (12), Vívian (9) and Tiago (7). Her son, Lucas, was baptized 4 years ago and is the president of the teacher´s quorum and Loves going to church...but the rest of his family never have had much interest in going with him. I remember the first time that Lucas brought us to his home to meet his mom, Beranice. I think it was my first week here in Rio Pardo. I remember thinking that she was very kind and friendly, but it was also very obvious that she was very sad and that her life was very hard. She told us, several times, that she didn´t even believe in God anymore because a loving Father in heaven wouldn´t let her and her family suffer so much. That was the Beranice that I first met...and now, 6 short weeks later, it´s hard to even remember her that way! She started praying and studying the Book of Mormon each night and every day that we visited her she seemed to have more strength and light in her eyes. She told us that she really had started to feel Heavenly Father´s love and that she knew He was listening each time that she talked to Him. Last Tuesday, Sister Corrêa and I invited both her and her daughter Vívian to be baptized...Vívian quickly and happily accepted, but Beranice was more hesitant and told us wasn´t ready to make that decision. We promised her that because of her faith and desire to repent she already was prepared...and told her to pray that night to ask for peace in her decision.
When Sister Corrêa and I visited her again Thursday afternoon, she was waiting at the door with a huge smile on her face and bursting with excitement to tell us what had happened. She told us that she had received her answer from Heavenly Father and that she knew that she needed to be baptized. :) I have never seen her so excited and full of joy! I was thinking about her last night, and I starting thinking about just how much she has changed in these last 6 weeks...from not believing anymore in God to learning how to feel His love and hear His answers. And now she is going to be baptized!! This really is the "good news" of the gospel and the joy of missionary work. This is what the atonement of Jesus Christ does for each one of us that let Him heal us and fill us with his love. :) I am so so happy to be a missionary...these are the miracles that I am seeing every day!!!
Well...I have to go, it´s late again! Today is Dia do Índio (Day of the indian) here in Brazil, so Sister Corrêa and I celebrated with Tatiane and Antônia, making cookies and going on a picnic :) It seems like the hours fly by on P-day...much faster than on a normal day :) I promise that some week I will make sure to find time to write a long detailed email for all of you! But for now, know that I am safe and happy and feeling the love of Heavenly Father for His children here in Rio Pardo every day! I love being a missionary and being able to tell everyone I meet about the restored gospel and about Heavenly Father´s love. We are so blessed!
And Happy Birthday MOM!!!! That is so exciting that you get to celebrate an Easter birthday this year!! I hope that you have a wonderful birthday...I will be thinking about you, even more than I already do, every day :) Thank you for being a wonderful mother and friend for me. You always make me feel loved and happy. And your example of faith and desire to always serve others is always inspiring to me. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! :D
Oh!! Other exciting news...it seems like the Brazilian visas are finally starting to arrive for all the missionaries still waiting! Here in the Missão Porto Alegre Norte 19 american missionaries arrived that have been waiting for the last 6 months. And today I received a happy email from my dear MTC companion, Sister Robson. After 9 1/2 months of waiting....she´s finally made it to Brazil!! :D She told me that she also found Elder Francis in the São Paulo airport. I´m happy to know that my whole MTC district is finally here :)
I Love you all!!! Love, Sister Jamie Gee
No comments:
Post a Comment