Winter is finally arriving; Tati was excited to go to church yesterday;

     Hey there everybody!  Thanks for all of the emails today.  It sounds like everybody is either enjoying summer or really excited for it to start soon!  Things are well down here in Lagoa Vermelha.  Its actually been quite a bit chilly this last week with a lot of rain.  It feels like winter is finally arriving.  The temperatures aren't really very low here, but it can be pretty cold because all of the buildings and houses feel like the same temperature as it is outside, so Ive been having to start using some of my warm clothes.  The rain has kinda been annoying because a majority of the city here is dirt roads so I've been marching through a lot of mud haha.

     Well it was a pretty productive week this week.  We continued looking for a lot of new investigators and following up the ones that seem to be the most interested.  We met this really cool lady named Tati.  She is probably in about her upper 20's and has a little 2 year old son named Taylor.  We first talked to her by doing a street contact and she was really interested and told us that she has been studying the Bible a lot recently and visiting different churches.  During the visits we've been noticing that she is really intelligent, knows the Bible way better than I do, and is really receptive to what we have to say.  She was super excited to go to church yesterday and even was sending us text messages to us to make sure we would pass by with a ride.  She has already become good friends with us and later today and more this week were are going to help her with a service project in her yard.  On Saturday we were having a pretty rough and rainy day when literally nobody was letting us in, but later that night we were able to teach two young and really cool families.  We had really good first lessons with them both and they both seem excited for us to visit them again.  It was a super good way to end the day and it looks like they are families that can progress a ton!  We still haven't been able to baptize Celso.  We have been trying to figure out whats stopping him and what are his doubts but I have no idea.  He always says he wants to get baptized but then always has little excuses to keep setting the date back.
     I'm not really thinking of any exciting or other interesting stories that happened this last week.  We are working hard here and doing all that we can to find the people that are ready to receive the message.  Thanks everybody for all of the love and support you always give me.  You guys are soooo cool!!  But I hope everyone has a great upcoming week!!  Cya later

Elder Gee

Good week here in Lagoa; I really enjoy small branches;

    Hello there all of you good people.  Whats going on? 

    So I had a good week here in Lagoa.  I'm starting to get more of a feel of the area, the members, and our investigators. 

     Since last Sunday was Stake Conference, I got to experience our branch for the first time yesterday.  Our branch is really small and there were probably 25-30 people there yesterday.  But like Vera Cruz, I really enjoy small branches because all of the members are really close and its good to make good friendships with them.  There was a family visiting from Bento that I met there and they are planning on moving out here which would be cool and help out our branch a lot.  We also found a woman this week that is less active while we were looking for new investigators and she was really happy to talk with us and then she went to church this last week.  I noticed that during the fast and testimony meeting she was feeling the spirit and she told us that she would for sure come next week too.  We will are planning on visiting her this next week and hopefully we can meet and teach her boyfriend that isn't a member.  We also marked a baptism date this Saturday with one of our investigators Celso.  He is a middle age man that is a good friends with some of the members and has already been frequenting the church for months.  He has been really hesitant when it comes to baptism, even though he already passed the baptismal interview with prior missionaries.  He thinks he isn't ready because he has a lot of confusion in his life and wants his life to become more clear and stable before baptism.  We had a good lesson with him and focused on the gift of the Holy Ghost and how it would help him with these important decisions after his baptism.  He was still a little hesitant when we tried to mark the date but then finally accepted.  We are definitely going to have to follow up a lot with him this week to keep him motivated and prepared for this Saturday.

     For this next week I think a majority of our work is going to be looking for new investigators.  Wish us good luck and that we can find some of the ``eleitos``  But I'm doing well here so don't worry about me :)  Thanks for everything and have an awesome week!!

Transfered to a little city called Lagoa Vermelha - farthest away from the mission headquarters; I was called as District Leader; Quite a few baptisms - Diselu

Hello friends!!  Greetings from Elder Gee!  It sounds like everybody had a really busy week finishing up with finals and everything.  But luckily its SUMMER already for you guys!  Oh and happy birthday to everybody who had a birthday recently!  I feel bad for not writing anything in my earlier emails, but I promise I didn't forget about you on the actual birth dates, just when I write my emails. 

     So I'm guessing you all want to hear about my new area... So I got transferred to a little city called Lagoa Vermelha close to Passo Fundo.  Well actually its not that close because its a 2 hour bus ride, but that's the Zone.  I'm pretty sure that Lagoa is the city farthest away to the mission headquarters in Porto Alegre.  To give you a clue, we didn't get to our area until about 4:00 on Wednesday afternoon and the transfers happen on Tuesday morning.  We slept at the LZ´s house in Passo Fundo on Tuesday to save time and money because they next morning was district meeting there.  Also I was called to be a district leader so it was my first meeting, but I hadn't even arrived at our house or unpacked or anything so it was kind of a fast planned training.  But it turned out fine and was a lot easier and calmer than I expected.  So I'm definitely gonna have to get used to long bus rides for this area.  This week we have a conference in Porto Alegre and then also leadership training, so if I understand correctly, we are going to leave Wednesday morning to Passo Fundo and then go as a zone to Porto Alegre and have the conference Thursday morning.  We will return to Passo Fundo and then on Friday have the leadership training and probably get home late that night.  Crazy huh?
    Oh ya, but about the area.  Like I said, its a really small city (I think even smaller than Vera Cruz) with a small branch.  My companion is Elder Simpson, from Washington.  He is a cool and a funny guy and has a little more than 6 months on the mission.  He was one of the missionaries that reopened this area so its really new and is needing a lot of work from the missionaries.  The area was shut for about 6 months from the missionaries, and during that time the number of frequenting members went from 80 down to about 20.  I still don't have a real feel for our branch because this last Sunday was Stake Conference in Passo Fundo.  There were a ton of members there and we had the awesome privilege to hear from General Authorities Stanley Ellis and Elder Richard G Scott from a transmission in Salt Lake.  I remembered Stanley Ellis because I really liked in his talked in General Conference, and he gave another awesome talk about obedience.  I had a little trouble understanding Elder Scott but even a lot of the Brazilians did because he spoke really soft with an interesting accent.  But it was way good.
      But the work has been speeding up here and there have been quite a few baptisms recently, including one that we had on Saturday with a man named Dilseu.  He has a cool story, because his teenage kids are members but he never was too interested in the church and had a drinking problem.  He had to go to the hospital because of all of the alcohol he consumed but while there he decided he wanted to change his life.  The missionaries went there because his kids asked for them  to give him a blessing, and they found that he had read more than half of the Book of Mormon and wanted to be baptized.  In less than 2 weeks we taught him everything and was baptized.  We also have a lot of other good investigators that look promising.  The only problem is that both last week and then this next week, we are losing a lot of time with these long trips.  Almost all of them work during the day so we have a really small window to teach them all.  It will be interesting but we will do our best to make time for all of them.

     But I doing well here and super excited for my new assignment.  I love you all and thank you for all of the support.  Have an awesome week!

Elder Gee

Shocker! ..transfer tomorrow; Elder Marques has been saying goodbyes and I am the one leaving ;-) Marcia and Vagner wedding and baptism!

Hey everybody!  Wow, I sure received a shocker this morning.  It turns out that I'm going to be transferred tomorrow.  Haha I definitely wasn't expecting this.  I opened up my email this morning and the transfers was one of the last emails I read because we both were pretty sure that Elder Marques was going to be the guy.  But tomorrow morning I will be leaving and heading to my new area.  To be honest, I'm kinda disappointed because I am really liking it here in Bento Gonçalves and we have a ton of good investigators and awesome members that I´m going to miss.  These last couple of days all of the members were unofficially saying goodbye to Elder Marques and he gave a talk yesterday which for his ``last Sunday in Bento`` and he even has his suitcase all packed and ready for tomorrow.  While I on the other hand haven't even given any though about leaving, have a bunch of dirty laundry because I have been letting Elder Marques wash everything, and am going to have a ton of packing to do later on today.   Wow, yeah it was definitely surprising news and it doesn't look like I'm going to have much time to say goodbye to people or things like that.  But even though its kinda disappointing to all of a sudden leave an area when nobody is expecting it, it will be a good experience in my new area.  All i need to do is just keep on working and helping people out and just trust in the Lord. :)
     But thankfully, my last week here in Bento Gonçalves was a memorable one.  This weekend our investigators Marcia and Vanger had there wedding on Friday night, and then were baptized on the following Saturday. They were both so excited to get married and baptized.  The wedding turned out great with a bunch of help from the ward members and it was a very special night.  I think that it was the first wedding that I have ever attended, maybe I'm forgetting another one, but all in all it was an awesome experience!  Haha a cool thing was that me and Elder Marques got to be 2 of the witnesses of the wedding and I got to feel a little important :)  Oh ya, I just remembered that we had a scare that night because 1 of the 4 registered witnesses said he wouldn't be able to make it, and we learned from the bishop that it has to be the same witnesses that were registered or the wedding process couldn't be completed.  Luckily, they were able to pick him up and everything turned out well besides the 45 minutes that the members sat waiting for it to start.  After the wedding, there was a party with a ton of good food and cake which was the cherry on top of a fantastic night.  Then on Saturday, they were both baptized!!  I baptized Marcia and Elder Marques baptized Vagner, and like always it was a sweet baptism.  I was so happy for them and had a such a good feeling while I was there with them as they made this so important covenant.  Well I don't think there is a better way to leave an area then seeing a family be baptized so all is well.
     Well family and friends, I'm doing great here and ready for my next opportunity to serve my new area.  Since the beginning of my mission, I can tell that my testimony of this work has grown a lot and I know that there are people that are ready to hear the truth of the restored gospel.  I'm very grateful that I have this period of time to focus on helping out in this marvelous work, and for the experiences that will help me throughout the rest of my life.  Thanks for all the love and support.  I hope you have an awesome week and Ill tell you where I am going to serve next Monday.  See you guys later,

Elder Gee

Vagner and Marcia making progress; Flavia and Leandro

Olá amigos!  Whats up?  Thanks for all of the emails today!  Its always great to hear what you guys are up to, and its sounds like everything is good in the neighborhood.  I'm having a blast down here, and we had another exciting week.  The biggest and most exciting news this week was still the progress of Vagner and Marcia.  With the wards help, we were able to help them plan everything for there up coming wedding this Friday!  They are both super excited for the wedding and are both ready for the baptism the next day!  We have already taught them everything they need to know, and now its just the interview this Thursday, the wedding on Friday, and then the baptism on Saturday!!  Wooohooo!!  Wow, they are such a special young couple and they both truly have a strong desire to choose the right and follow Christ´s example.  They are quick to put into practice the teachings and have been willing to make a couple of changes in their normal lifestyle, because they have a strong faith that has been growing and growing every single day.  Vagner is very intelligent and asks many good questions when doubts arise.  There was an awesome experience this week while we were visiting them this weekend when he briefly shared his testimony of the gospel and told us how his goal is to be sealed in the temple with his family! Haha too cool right?
     Flavia and Leandro are still continuing our process to get married.  This week while we were visiting them Leandro firmly stated that he wanted to be baptized and we were able to talk to him a little more and help him understand the process.  This was great news because before he was much more hesitant.  He always has showed that he wants to get married with Flavia but never really wanted to talk to much about going to church or about baptism.  This afternoon we went with them to the registry as witnesses like we did with Vagner and Marcia and completed all of the paperwork necessary.  The date of the wedding is set for the 26th of April.  We still cant plan too much about the date of the baptism and other things, because we have only taught him a couple of times, and he still hasn't come to church.  But it was a really positive and motivating week for them, and we are super excited to continue helping out this awesome family.
     We also had some members bring friends to church which is always good for us.  One of the people that seem to have a lot of potential is Marie.  She and her cousin Berny recently moved to Bento Gonçalves from the Dominican Republic.  Berny was baptized there 5 years ago and when they moved here, they searched and found the church last Sunday.  Berny didn't realize that it was General Conference that weekend so he came at the normal hour, but luckily we were there at the chapel to talk with the Ward Mission Leader Ricardo.  We talked to them a bit and informed them about conference, and they ended up coming to both of the Sunday sessions.  We were really excited to teach them this week, but it appears like they don't have a set place and are just living with some friends.  They are hoping that they can get set place to live this week and then we can hopefully start teaching Marie.  They both went to church this last week and are already making good friends with the members.  Haha they are both super nice and funny and speak Portuguese a little like me, because their first language is French.  But ya they are cool and once we can starting teaching them, I think Marie will quickly get baptized!  

All in all, the work is going forward here and we are both happy.  I'm grateful that I have this chance to focus on serving my neighbor and the lord here and I know that this a once in a life time opportunity so I'm trying to take advantage of it :)  I love you all a ton and wish you guys the best.  Thanks for the support.

Elder Gee

Great experience to watch and hear general conference; Vagner and Marcia upcoming marriage and baptism

    

Good morning everybody!  How is everybody doing these days?  Wow, how was Spring Break?  It sounds everybody had a great time in Disneyland and at the beaches.  I wont lie I was pretty jealous of you guys and I found my thoughts in California a couple of times this week haha.  But, it was still a great week here, especially with the opportunity we had to watch General Conference this weekend.
      It was a great experience to watch and hear the messages of the Prophet, Apostles, and other church leaders.  In my opinion, Conference is even better on the mission.  So much great counsel that you can use to help other people, and also strengthen your own testimony as you are dedicating this period only to serving the lord.  It also definitely strengthens our testimonies that the church leaders are definitely inspired, and that they are telling us exactly what God wants us to hear.  Thankfully, it was a lot easier to understand the language and maintain my attention this conference, compared to my first on the mission.  I learned a ton and came out this weekend feeling great and refreshed spiritually and physically. 
      So we have still been working really hard with our investigators that are progressing and helping them prepare for baptism.  We spent a lot of time helping out Vagner and Marcia and help them prepare for their up coming marriage.  In the beginning of the week we went with them to help them register the marriage. Luckily, we found out that since the wedding will take place in the church, the 30 day wait isn’t necessary!  We marked the date for the 19th of April, and then they will be baptized the very next day!  Haha right now I'm just getting a tiny taste of all the planning that needs to take place for a wedding, but thankfully the members and relief society president are getting very involved to help out this couple with all of things like food, invitations, wedding dress, etc. that missionaries have no idea how to do.  But even though it is a little frantic, they are both super excited to get married and I can already see the happiness that is coming.  They were both there at the General Conference and it was clear that they both really enjoyed and it was a good family bonding time. 
      Unfortunately, we also had some not so great news.  Our golden investigator Jussie, who has been progressing a ton recently had to travel for work and will be out of the state for 20 or so days.  This was kind of disappointing because we had the baptism marked  for this very weekend.  We visited him before he left and gave him a lot of Book of Mormon passages and told him to try hard to remember the teachings and commandments that we taught during the trip.  We are hoping and praying that all goes well and that we can baptize him soon after he returns, but I’m kind of nervous because we have been visiting him a ton lately to help him, and 3 weeks without contact is a long time.
      Wow this week went by unusually extremely fast! I’m not really remembering any other noteworthy news from this week, but it seems like this email is missing some other exciting stuff that happened.  Well I guess I will share my testimony that Jesus Christ lives and he loves us, and that only through him we can find true joy in this life and in the life to come.  I love all of you a ton and wish you the best!  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Gee

April Fools; Teaching three couples

Hey there everybody!!  Happy April Fool´s day.  Yeah I remembered about it because it exists here in Brazil too, so you don’t need to send me some crazy news that’s happening up there because I wont believe you.  Haha even if its true, just wait and till me the next week  :) 

I had a fun Easter here, and ate way to many chocolates and other junk.  All of the ward members love to give food to us missionaries, so don’t worry I didn’t miss out on the sweets. Things are going well here, although this week was really hot. Just when it seemed like it was about to become winter time.  But we still had another good and productive week, and are having a lot of investigators that are progressing. The biggest news is that we currently have 3 couples that we are teaching who are planning to get married soon.  There is Vagner and Marcia who I talked about the last week, Leandro and Flavia, and Michelle and Paulo.  Vanger and Marcia both came to church again and are really excited to get baptized.  Vagner is an awesome guy and is reading all of the passages we leave for them, and I can already imagine him as a great priesthood holder that will help out the ward.  Flavia is a recent convert and we have started visiting her boyfriend Leandro.  Leandro is a cool guy and is interested in the church.  We have only been able to visit him a couple of times, but they also are wanting to get married. We have been helping them out with the information and getting the process started.  Leandro also has twins that are 8 years old, so its another family that could all be baptized. 

Then there is Michelle and Paulo who were ex-investigators, but this week one of the members told us that they are really wanting us to come back and visit them.  I met them yesterday and they are a super cool family!  They have 3 sons (2 over 8:)) and Paulo told us that he has been studying a lot of literature from the church recently.  Haha I was really surprised when we went there and saw that he had a trips, and Principles of the Gospel Manual.  I was even more surprised when he told us that he read the entire manual and then asked us to give a lesson about eternal marriages and families.  The lesson was very special I could tell that everyone there felt the spirit!  We are both really excited about these families because all of them are progressing and have potential to be baptized soon.. This week we focused a lot on these families and this week they should all start process and the 30 day countdown that people need to wait before the wedding.Then there is one of our other investigators, Jussie who has been progressing a lot recently. This week we taught him the Word of Wisdom which we knew he had a problem with. We taught the lesson with one of the members of the ward, and it ended up being a great lesson. Jussie promised to live the Word of Wisdom and give up smoking and drinking coffee.  We also traded his coffee that he had in his house for a package of Cevada which is similar, but not against the Word of Wisdom. He is doing really well and is excitedly preparing for his baptism on the 13th of April.  I think that just about sums up our week here in Bento Gonçalves. 

I hope you are all doing well there and I am very jealous that you guys are going to be in Disneyland this week, (if its not an April Fool´s joke :P)  I sent a couple pics this week so send me some back from the trip.  Also, Congratulations on the job offer Ryan!! It sounds like that was a great birthday present for you.  But anyways, have an awesome spring break in Cali!  I love you all!  See ya later,

Elder Gee