Hey everybody! How are you all doing? How was Presidents Day and
Valentines day? Did you guys to anything fun for the day out of school?
Its been a rainy but good week here in Bento Gonçalves. Haha there
were several days that we got caught in the rain without umbrellas
because the beginning of the days were really sunny but then later in
the afternoon some storms came in. One of the
only days that didn't rain was the day we brought our umbrellas the
morning was cloudy, but then it cleared up and was a hot day. But
besides that its been good. I am finally getting a little more
orientated and comfortable in this city that's new to me.
One of the things that has been really different for me has been
planning in a bigger city. In Vera Cruz we were able to just decide
which investigator we should visit and we could visit them any day of
the week. Here in Bento, we need to plan which neighborhoods
we will work in for the certain day because we´re not able to walk
throughout the whole city like we did in Vera Cruz. Also, one thing
that has been a little bit harder here is helping our investigators to
get to church because here there are a lot of investigators
that live out of walking distance from the church especially with all
of the hills, so we need a lot of help from the members to give rides to
our investigators. But this week me and Elder Marques were able to
have a lot of success and visit a lot of people.
We have good investigators all throughout the city so we never our
left without anything to do. A lot of the investigators have a lot of
potential and we are working hard to help them out. One of the families
we are working hard with is Mario, Sandra, and
their two sons Lucas and Gabriel. They are all really cool and the
missionaries here have been working with them for a while. Sandra is
reading the book of Mormon and is really interested and went to church
this last week. We haven't been able to mark a
date for her to be baptized though because they aren't married and while
Mario likes our visits and says that he knows that the church can help
their family, he doesn't ever feel like going to church on Sunday
morning.
Also we have been visiting a inactive
family, Vanderlei and Marcia and they have a 10-year old daughter that
hasn't been baptized yet. Vanderlei really likes us missionaries and is
always joking around with us when we go visit them. He has said that he
wants Leandra to be baptized and for his
family to return to church but both weeks that I've been here they ended
up not going to church. We will have to work with them and try to find
out whats holding them back. Also there is a young girl named Karine
that went to church for the last couple of
weeks. We've never taught her, but she comes to church with her friend
that is a member and has really enjoyed coming to church. We are
planning on visiting her tonight so that we can get to know her and her
family better and it looks like she has a ton of
potential to be baptized.
Any other news this week? I've been feeling a
little sick today and last night but its hasn't been to bad. I just
hope it doesn't get worst because we have a lot of work to do this week
so maybe just keep me in your prayers :) But
I love you all and am very grateful to have such an awesome family! Oh
and have a happy birthday Justin! 13 wooohooo!! And the rest of you
all have an awesome week!! Thanks for everything! Buh-bye!!
Love
Elder Gee
Monday, February 25, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Missionary work in a big city; rain and hills; Mario and Sandra; Vanderlei and Marcia; Karine
Hey everybody! How are you all doing? How was Presidents Day and
Valentines day? Did you guys to anything fun for the day out of school?
Its been a rainy but good week here in Bento Gonçalves. Haha there were several days that we got caught in the rain without umbrellas because the beginning of the days were really sunny but then later in the afternoon some storms came in. One of the only days that didn't rain was the day we brought our umbrellas the morning was cloudy, but then it cleared up and was a hot day. But besides that its been good. I am finally getting a little more orientated and comfortable in this city that's new to me. One of the things that has been really different for me has been planning in a bigger city. In Vera Cruz we were able to just decide which investigator we should visit and we could visit them any day of the week. Here in Bento, we need to plan which neighborhoods we will work in for the certain day because we´re not able to walk throughout the whole city like we did in Vera Cruz. Also, one thing that has been a little bit harder here is helping our investigators to get to church because here there are a lot of investigators that live out of walking distance from the church especially with all of the hills, so we need a lot of help from the members to give rides to our investigators.
But this week me and Elder Marques were able to have a lot of success and visit a lot of people. We have good investigators all throughout the city so we never our left without anything to do. A lot of the investigators have a lot of potential and we are working hard to help them out. One of the families we are working hard with is Mario, Sandra, and their two sons Lucas and Gabriel. They are all really cool and the missionaries here have been working with them for a while. Sandra is reading the Book of Mormon and is really interested and went to church this last week. We haven't been able to mark a date for her to be baptized though because they aren't married and while Mario likes our visits and says that he knows that the church can help their family, he doesn't ever feel like going to church on Sunday morning.
Also we have been visiting a inactive family, Vanderlei and Marcia and they have a 10-year old daughter that hasn't been baptized yet. Vanderlei really likes us missionaries and is always joking around with us when we go visit them. He has said that he wants Leandra to be baptized and for his family to return to church but both weeks that I've been here they ended up not going to church. We will have to work with them and try to find out whats holding them back. Also there is a young girl named Karine that went to church for the last couple of weeks. We've never taught her, but she comes to church with her friend that is a member and has really enjoyed coming to church. We are planning on visiting her tonight so that we can get to know her and her family better and it looks like she has a ton of potential to be baptized. Any other news this week? I've been feeling a little sick today and last night but its hasn't been to bad. I just hope it doesn't get worst because we have a lot of work to do this week so maybe just keep me in your prayers :) But I love you all and am very grateful to have such an awesome family! Oh and have a happy birthday Justin! 13 wooohooo!! And the rest of you all have an awesome week!! Thanks for everything! Buh-bye!!
Love
Elder Gee
Its been a rainy but good week here in Bento Gonçalves. Haha there were several days that we got caught in the rain without umbrellas because the beginning of the days were really sunny but then later in the afternoon some storms came in. One of the only days that didn't rain was the day we brought our umbrellas the morning was cloudy, but then it cleared up and was a hot day. But besides that its been good. I am finally getting a little more orientated and comfortable in this city that's new to me. One of the things that has been really different for me has been planning in a bigger city. In Vera Cruz we were able to just decide which investigator we should visit and we could visit them any day of the week. Here in Bento, we need to plan which neighborhoods we will work in for the certain day because we´re not able to walk throughout the whole city like we did in Vera Cruz. Also, one thing that has been a little bit harder here is helping our investigators to get to church because here there are a lot of investigators that live out of walking distance from the church especially with all of the hills, so we need a lot of help from the members to give rides to our investigators.
But this week me and Elder Marques were able to have a lot of success and visit a lot of people. We have good investigators all throughout the city so we never our left without anything to do. A lot of the investigators have a lot of potential and we are working hard to help them out. One of the families we are working hard with is Mario, Sandra, and their two sons Lucas and Gabriel. They are all really cool and the missionaries here have been working with them for a while. Sandra is reading the Book of Mormon and is really interested and went to church this last week. We haven't been able to mark a date for her to be baptized though because they aren't married and while Mario likes our visits and says that he knows that the church can help their family, he doesn't ever feel like going to church on Sunday morning.
Also we have been visiting a inactive family, Vanderlei and Marcia and they have a 10-year old daughter that hasn't been baptized yet. Vanderlei really likes us missionaries and is always joking around with us when we go visit them. He has said that he wants Leandra to be baptized and for his family to return to church but both weeks that I've been here they ended up not going to church. We will have to work with them and try to find out whats holding them back. Also there is a young girl named Karine that went to church for the last couple of weeks. We've never taught her, but she comes to church with her friend that is a member and has really enjoyed coming to church. We are planning on visiting her tonight so that we can get to know her and her family better and it looks like she has a ton of potential to be baptized. Any other news this week? I've been feeling a little sick today and last night but its hasn't been to bad. I just hope it doesn't get worst because we have a lot of work to do this week so maybe just keep me in your prayers :) But I love you all and am very grateful to have such an awesome family! Oh and have a happy birthday Justin! 13 wooohooo!! And the rest of you all have an awesome week!! Thanks for everything! Buh-bye!!
Love
Elder Gee
Monday, February 11, 2013
New Area: Bento Gonçalves; HILLS! "only flat spot is in our apartment" Senior companion
Hey there everybody! How have you all been doing lately?? How has
school and work been going. Is it warming up there or is still a super
cold winter? I've been doing good here in Rio Grande do Sul. I got
transferred this last week so this week I have been
learning in my new area. The city that I'm working in is called Bento
Gonçalves. What I've learned so far from this past week here is that
Bento feels really big. I'm sure its not really that big, but having
only served in the little city of Vera Cruz, I feel
like the city is ginormous. I would guess that it has about the same
number of people as Provo. But like I said its been quite a bit
different then Vera Cruz.
The ward has a lot of active members. Yesterday I would guess there was probably 100 people there at the sacrament meeting, but my companion said there were a lot of people that weren't there because of Youth Conference and also an activity for the Young Adults that happens every year during the week of Carnival. So its not huge but like I said, its really different from the 25-35 people that attended the branch in Vera Cruz.
So my new companion is a pretty cool guy. His name is Elder Marques and he is from Manaus up near the Amazons. He is a new missionary, its only his second transfer but he already knows the area well and has been getting me a littler orientated. Haha I was pretty surprised when I saw that my new companion had less time then me because I still feel like I'm brand new. I guess I'm not really that new now but I still have a ton to learn and I'm sure that we are both going to learn a lot together and it will be a good learning experience to have a little more responsibility.
Ya but one of the first things that I noticed here in Bento is all of the HILLS. Haha to help you guys imagine, the city is just like our and the other neighborhoods above Timpview (probably less flat actually), but literally its the entire city. While we are walking we are either going up a hill, or going down a hill, never walking on flat ground.haha. I heard Jamie said that the only flat place in Bento is our apartment, haha so true, so true. My legs have been hurting a little this week but I hoping that It wont take long for me to get used to them. Its a lot cooler here because its up higher and there is a lot of wind. Its been really nice since it was a really hot summer here, but I'm thinking that if I stay here during the winter I'm going to have to prepare for a cold one. Also there are a lot of good people here in Bento. The members seem to really like to help the missionaries and also we have some good investigators here. Thankfully Elder Marques knows the people and the area well and has been guiding me to the correct houses. I've been trying to memorize some the the streets already, but after an entire week I still feel as lost as I was on the first day. Haha I definitely couldn't find my way back to our house at this point from the LAN House but I'm just going to have to walk up and down these hills until I learn the area as well as I knew Vera Cruz.
But its been a really good week and also a really good P-day as always because I get to read all of your emails and feel your support. I'm doing well health wise, just a little more tired than usual because of the terrain but nothing to worry about. Thanks for everything and I hope you guys have an fantastic up coming week. You guys are all awesome!! Haha see ya next week...
Love
Elder Gee
The ward has a lot of active members. Yesterday I would guess there was probably 100 people there at the sacrament meeting, but my companion said there were a lot of people that weren't there because of Youth Conference and also an activity for the Young Adults that happens every year during the week of Carnival. So its not huge but like I said, its really different from the 25-35 people that attended the branch in Vera Cruz.
So my new companion is a pretty cool guy. His name is Elder Marques and he is from Manaus up near the Amazons. He is a new missionary, its only his second transfer but he already knows the area well and has been getting me a littler orientated. Haha I was pretty surprised when I saw that my new companion had less time then me because I still feel like I'm brand new. I guess I'm not really that new now but I still have a ton to learn and I'm sure that we are both going to learn a lot together and it will be a good learning experience to have a little more responsibility.
Ya but one of the first things that I noticed here in Bento is all of the HILLS. Haha to help you guys imagine, the city is just like our and the other neighborhoods above Timpview (probably less flat actually), but literally its the entire city. While we are walking we are either going up a hill, or going down a hill, never walking on flat ground.haha. I heard Jamie said that the only flat place in Bento is our apartment, haha so true, so true. My legs have been hurting a little this week but I hoping that It wont take long for me to get used to them. Its a lot cooler here because its up higher and there is a lot of wind. Its been really nice since it was a really hot summer here, but I'm thinking that if I stay here during the winter I'm going to have to prepare for a cold one. Also there are a lot of good people here in Bento. The members seem to really like to help the missionaries and also we have some good investigators here. Thankfully Elder Marques knows the people and the area well and has been guiding me to the correct houses. I've been trying to memorize some the the streets already, but after an entire week I still feel as lost as I was on the first day. Haha I definitely couldn't find my way back to our house at this point from the LAN House but I'm just going to have to walk up and down these hills until I learn the area as well as I knew Vera Cruz.
But its been a really good week and also a really good P-day as always because I get to read all of your emails and feel your support. I'm doing well health wise, just a little more tired than usual because of the terrain but nothing to worry about. Thanks for everything and I hope you guys have an fantastic up coming week. You guys are all awesome!! Haha see ya next week...
Love
Elder Gee
Monday, February 4, 2013
Tati's baptism!! Transferred!! but my last week in Vera Cruz was a GREAT one!
Good morning everybody. I'm writing you guys early today because we
are having a P-day de Zona in Santa Cruz later on today. We get to
have this P-day together because our zone ended up reaching our goal for
baptisms for the month of January. We are
gonna go to a place called Parque da Gruta dos Índios here in Santa
Cruz, maybe Jamie went there or heard of it when she passed here but it
sounds like it should be a lot of fun and its always fun to hang out
with more missionaries then just staying with your
one companion.
Well this is gonna be my last time writing you guys from Vera Cruz. This morning the LZ´s called and not surprisingly they informed us that I was being transferred. I definitely was expecting this but it still is kinda sad because I have grown to love so many people here in Vera Cruz and its going to be hard to say goodbye to everybody. It almost feels like my mission is ending and I'm about to go start a new one haha. But my last week in Vera Cruz was a great one!
As you guys remember, last week was pretty rough for us when Tati sent us some messages the night before her baptism saying that she no longer wanted to be baptized. We tried contacting her but she left her house and wouldn’t answer our phone calls. But last Monday night she finally gave us a call and told us that she wanted to talk with us the next day. The next day we visited her and she told us that somebody close to her told her a lot of negative things about the church and she panicked and felt overwhelmed and that’s why she didn’t want to be baptized. But she told us that she had been thinking and praying a lot about everything and she told us that she made the wrong decision about not being baptized. She told us that the knew in her heart that the church is true and the right path for her. Wow, we were all super shocked, excited, and super happy and to make sure that she had real intentions and that there wouldn’t be time for the adversary try to send her doubts, we set the baptism for the very next day. She came to the branch family night and told all of the members the happy news. One of our LZs, Elder Medeiros came to give her another interview that night and he told us that she for sure was ready. The next day, we were able to have the baptism!!! I got the opportunity to perform the ordinance and it was such a great experience. It was just so amazing because we have been teaching and helping her for so long and to see all the changes she made in her life to keep the commandments and although it was really hard for her to quit smoking and doing some of the things she was accustomed to do, she definitely gained a greater happiness. Yesterday she bore her testimony and talked about how happy she was and that she knows the path that she will stay on for this happiness continue throughout her life. Haha wow it was so amazing. Seeing someone you have helped being baptized is the greatest part of the mission and I don't think any other joy or satisfaction can compete with it. I don't think I could have imagined a better way to finish serving here in Vera Cruz. Well I don't have too much time today because we are rushing to go to Santa Cruz but I´ll send some pics next week.
I'm loving being able to serve here in Brazil Its going to be kinda hard saying good bye to all of my friends here in Vera Cruz but I am truly grateful for this opportunity I had to serve the Lord, our branch, and all of the people here. I'm ready to continue giving everything I've got to help the Lord's kingdom in whatever area I will be transferred to. I love you all a bunch and am so grateful to have such an awesome family! I can't wait to hear from you next week but until then, Tchau tchau!
Well this is gonna be my last time writing you guys from Vera Cruz. This morning the LZ´s called and not surprisingly they informed us that I was being transferred. I definitely was expecting this but it still is kinda sad because I have grown to love so many people here in Vera Cruz and its going to be hard to say goodbye to everybody. It almost feels like my mission is ending and I'm about to go start a new one haha. But my last week in Vera Cruz was a great one!
As you guys remember, last week was pretty rough for us when Tati sent us some messages the night before her baptism saying that she no longer wanted to be baptized. We tried contacting her but she left her house and wouldn’t answer our phone calls. But last Monday night she finally gave us a call and told us that she wanted to talk with us the next day. The next day we visited her and she told us that somebody close to her told her a lot of negative things about the church and she panicked and felt overwhelmed and that’s why she didn’t want to be baptized. But she told us that she had been thinking and praying a lot about everything and she told us that she made the wrong decision about not being baptized. She told us that the knew in her heart that the church is true and the right path for her. Wow, we were all super shocked, excited, and super happy and to make sure that she had real intentions and that there wouldn’t be time for the adversary try to send her doubts, we set the baptism for the very next day. She came to the branch family night and told all of the members the happy news. One of our LZs, Elder Medeiros came to give her another interview that night and he told us that she for sure was ready. The next day, we were able to have the baptism!!! I got the opportunity to perform the ordinance and it was such a great experience. It was just so amazing because we have been teaching and helping her for so long and to see all the changes she made in her life to keep the commandments and although it was really hard for her to quit smoking and doing some of the things she was accustomed to do, she definitely gained a greater happiness. Yesterday she bore her testimony and talked about how happy she was and that she knows the path that she will stay on for this happiness continue throughout her life. Haha wow it was so amazing. Seeing someone you have helped being baptized is the greatest part of the mission and I don't think any other joy or satisfaction can compete with it. I don't think I could have imagined a better way to finish serving here in Vera Cruz. Well I don't have too much time today because we are rushing to go to Santa Cruz but I´ll send some pics next week.
I'm loving being able to serve here in Brazil Its going to be kinda hard saying good bye to all of my friends here in Vera Cruz but I am truly grateful for this opportunity I had to serve the Lord, our branch, and all of the people here. I'm ready to continue giving everything I've got to help the Lord's kingdom in whatever area I will be transferred to. I love you all a bunch and am so grateful to have such an awesome family! I can't wait to hear from you next week but until then, Tchau tchau!
Love
Elder Gee
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