Sisters Forte Unite!!

Sisters forte unite!!
Jul 26 2006

Yay for another dia de prepração!! And guess what.. Only another two weeks left of the CTM! Wahoo!! Not that I don’t love it.. on that note, and before I forget, since it takes a good 10 days for mail to get here, Please everyone start sending letters to my mission address.. I think I listed it as one of my first blog entries. So send it to that one, and I don’t know about dearelder.com for later... So stay tuned for whether or not to use that once I get out to the field... but for now, you can write my mission address if you feel so inclined to write. (Which is always nice! Haha)

Anyways, I had a great, great last week... it was a bit of a wild weekend.. And when I say wild, I guess I should say that I was the one who was wild. Ha! I convinced my companion, tehehe, to start a huge pillow fight with the sisters on Thursday night. We borrowed ties from our district, tied them around our head, put mascara all over our faces like war paint, and then went around attacking the other sisters! It was an awesome, awesome pillow fight, and it just helped to have some crazy fun! And then the next night, we arranged a game night for all of the sisters- we played "sock wrestling" which is an ótimo game! Its kind of hard to explain, essentially the goal of the game is to tackle each other and use any means necessary to get socks off of other sisters, once you have your socks off, you are out. It was way fun, and again, only helped to feed the fire that Sister Donaldson and I are the crazy sisters! Haha...

But the cool thing is that everyone always talks to us, and so when we had an idea with some other awesome sisters to start this special fast this week, everyone listened to us. So the fast this week is not from food ( don’t worry that would never happen) it’s from English. Jejum de Ingles. We are only allowed to use English in district meetings, church meetings, and in companion study. Everything else; completely português. We have been so surprised at how many sisters in the hall have joined in- It has been really hard, but soo incredibly awesome! We have become so close to many of the Brazilian sisters as a result, because anything we say, has to be in portoguês. It is becoming easier, I actually feel guilty now when I talk in English. Haha.. I guess that is a good thing!

We also got new roommates this past week which is awesome!! I love them, they are so sweet and so patient with our português, we end up talking a lot at night. And I can actually carry on a full on conversation with them, using lots of different tenses- a dramatic improvement from our last roommates....who would teach us about colors and numbers. Haha. But we have loved all of our roommates. They are incredible!

I am getting so excited to leave in 2 weeks... Some of the sisters that I was really close to (Sister Domph and Sister Limburg) left yesterday for their mission, which was crazy. It made me realize how soon we leave, and made me sooo excited. I am getting anxious to leave, but luckily I have some major goals to complete before I can go... I am trying to read the whole Book of Mormon in português, out loud, before I go. This has taken a bit of interesting time management to get this done, and I have to read 30 pages a day to get it done- but it is awesome!!! I can feel the power of this book, even though I never know all of the words, I can still feel the spirit of the message. My português has improved dramatically the past week, what with this jejum de ingles, and also this reading o livro de Mormon outloud. It’s awesome!

My companion and I have become the best of friends- we are soo close, she and I have a lot of being wild, but we are also working really hard, and good at pushing each other. I am so glad that she will be out in the mission with me, so I don’t have to say goodbye to her. And she is from Provo, which means we will be at BYU together later! Hoorah!

Ok one last thought and then I am going to try to send pictures, I have been thinking a lot of how I can be a better missionary.. Oh wait, I am always thinking about that. haha, but anyways, as I pondered over that once again this past week, I was just feeling so grateful for how different we each are! Each missionary here may look the same, we all wear the same nametag, we all wear basically the same thing (granted some of us look worse than others ha!) and we all share the same message of the gospel. But we are all soo different- and that is a good thing!

When I think of how the Lord created the earth- he created each area so differently, and yet each area is soo incredibly beautiful in its on way. It’s the same with people, we are all each soo different, and that is what makes us beautiful- variety. We are each needed in this world- its ok that each of us has a different personality- we can use this to our advantage. I have been trying hard to mold more into the image of Christ, but in that quest I am realizing that there is strength in variety, and beauty!

I love each of you, thank you for your prayers and love.. I know they are helping. I am incredibly happy! Oh and I forgot to mention, Michael and I are continuing to have fun. He is so awesome at Português! And other missionaries are always telling me what an awesome teacher he is. It’s nice to have the best example in the world as your brother, and personally with me to start my mission! Wahoo!

Ok I am off! Muito Muito Amor do Brazil!
Love Sister Melanie Monroe

Itamar

Yeah for Brazilian Pets!! So Last Thursday, my companion and I found this awesome catipiler... hmm I don’t know how to spell that in English. We took him to our district room and named him Itamar- after the person that we teach over and over and over again on the Computer lab program here at the CTM. Itamar is a bit of a joke here at the CTM. So yes, we have a pet ligarta- and it became a district game to try and kill Itamar when I wasn’t in the room…quite upsetting really. But then two days ago I thought I had killed it- but then we found out it went into a Cocoon! How fun! So we are waiting for Itamar to come out- ooo wee! haha, I cant believe I just wrote a paragraph about a caterpillar. haha.

Well Sao Paulo had some kind of riots last week, and so we were supposed to go proselytizing last Friday, but because of that we had to stay around this part of Sao Paulo and not go downtown. But it was still awesome!!! We were allowed to go out of our usual boundaries… I am afraid that Sister Donaldson and I took too much of an advantage of that, haha, we got a bit lost... but no worries it was a fun adventure! It was so awesome to go around- it was such an improvement then two weeks before- we talked to each person for about 5 minutes, and were able to testify a bit more and ask them if they believed in God and Jesus Christ. We had a few rejections- but everyone was really friendly. It was awesome because we somehow ended outside a preschool or daycare, and we talked to about 3 mothers with babies, that were so awesome to be able to talk to them about families, and how the gospel can bless our families! Otimo!

This has been just an awesome past week- I am starting to feel anxious about leaving- a good happy nervous anxious- and it is lighting a fire in me to study harder... Sister Donaldson and I are trying to read o livro de mórmon an hour aloud each day, and this has been a bit of a sacrifice because it is hard to find the time- but such a blessing. I am trying to finish it by the time I leave the CTM- it is a challenge but it is also exciting to see how each day I understand more of what I am speaking… although right now I am in Isaiah so that is a little bit iffy.. haha but its awesome! Português is awesome!

It has been so great to have Michael here- we are able to sit next to each other all the time!! And last night, haha, this is great, we had an awesome fireside and afterwards I went to give Him a hug, and all of the Brazillians freaked out... We quickly explained to them that He was my brother, but it was really funny to see their reaction... haha, we have gotten that a lot this week! Who knew hugging was such a big deal? Michael is doing really, really well... Good grief he is learning the language so fast, he will be pro in like a month... today at lunch a sister came and asked me a question, and Michael translated for me. haha... sad and true! We all knew who the smarter one was before though! He will be such a great missionary, and I am so glad that we get to share this together!

This past week has been so great- I feel like each week I learn more about what I need to improve in. I am soo glad that I have an awesome companion- It is so awesome to be able to learn from each other about the gospel. We are so very different, but that has been so great for us. I am learning so much from her- She is really good at asking questions about the gospel that just make me think, and go a level deeper. It’s awesome.

I am so happy and content to be here, once again I feel so reminded that this is the Lord’s work. I have felt so blessed to be here- My testimony of the power of prayer has really been strengthened this past week. Part of being a missionary is having this huge mantle of responsibility placed on you- the spirit is so strong, but the slightest error- and unkind word or a tired and grumpy comment really disrupts it- and you can feel a little bit of loss of the spirit. I am really learning to watch myself so that I can have that power all of the time. But the good thing is that the Lord is quick to forgive! I was reading Psalms 73 this morning, and it kind of sums up how I have been feeling- mostly the end of it. At the end it says "But God is the strength of my heart... I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works."

I know that this is true- I have put my trust in the Lord- and he will strengthen me to be able to do his work. I know that if we will get down on our knees- and pray with sincere desire- and really envision God right there- listening- because He is- he will hear the desires of our Hearts and bless us. I have felt so blessed by prayer, especially as I have prayed for many of you. Thank you so much for your prayers and love- I have felt so touched.

I love Brazil! I love this gospel, and I am so eternally glad for the many blessings that it provides for us in our friends, families, and experiences. But most of all, I am so grateful for Jesus Christ.

God bless you all and keep you safe this next week!

Love
Sister Monroe

Elder Monroe was seen kissing a Sister Missionary

OK well first off, I am soo soo soo excited for Michael to be here!! I haven´t been able to fall asleep the past couple of nights because I have been soo excited. And then last night I woke up every hour... haha I am such a nerd. This morning we went to the Sao Paulo temple which was awesome- really a beautiful, beautiful temple... and then when I got back- Michael was here!! I gave him a big hug, he kissed me on the cheek, everyone stared at us- we were in the cafeteria.. haha, we started laughing, and explained to everyone. We talked all lunch, and I feel like I hardly talked to him. It was soo much fun! I have missed him so much, and so it was so much fun. I am so excited that we get to share the next three weeks together!

As far as highlights for the past week- we had another "theme" day on Monday! I like to keep things lively at the CTM.. haha. We did a black and white day, and this time we got a lot more of the sisters to participate. Even all the Brazilians joined in for the fun. It was awesome! Our district again thought it was hilarious- they actually brought down ties for us to put on a for a little bit, so then we really looked like elders. And I had my first lesson on tying a tie. Black and white is a bit boring I have to say- I am so glad that we get to wear lots of colors! I wear my red shoes practically every day, and everyone knows that I am the sister with the red shoes!

One of the highlights of being here has been meeting so many awesome Sisters... I love all of the other sister missionaries. They are all so dynamic, so energetic, and lots and lots of fun! I have made a lot of new friends- and they are each great great examples to me- and not at all the typical sister missionaries you think of... they all have lots of personality, but are incredibly spiritual too. é ótimo!

All right, and every missionary has bad language blunders on their mission.... I think I had my first major one- good thing it really wasn’t that bad. I was sitting next to this sweet Elder from Brazil, and we were talking in portoguês about his conversion story. He joined the church I think 2 years ago, ago, something like that. And then his parents threw him out of the house... I was trying to be understanding- because this was an incredible story and the Elder was so sweet and kind, and in that clutch moment I asked him... Where did you die? I meant to say, where did you live.... unfortunately the verbs are super close- morrer and morar. Yeah... try that verb conjugated in the past tense, plus me trying to speak it.... anyways, he looked at me in shock, I realized my experience, tried to fix it, asked him again where he died...ahhh! haha, and they I started laughing and said I was sorry- I know that word really well in Português by now... he understood what was going on and laughed too. I felt soo bad. But at least that is happening now in the CTM eh?

My district has made some pretty bad language blunders too. Yesterday we swore in português a couple of times without realizing it. Our teacher got all upset and told us never to say that word again. The only problem, is I cant remember in those verbs which way is the good way... and the way that I swear. I think I will just avoid those verbs for now... haha.

Well I really have had a lot of fun great moments the past week, it really has gone so fast... I wanted to thank everyone for their letters. I have felt so loved and so overwhelmed with all of the letters from everyone! Thank you thank you! And as far as DearElder.com goes, they deliver every 10 days, so it still takes a little bit, but it is free... so it works for me- I like any mail!! :)

Today when I went to the temple it hit me that I have been here for over a month. That actually made me really sad- I still want to have 18 months on my mission! I leave in another 3 weeks, which is crazy to me. The more português I am learning, the more that I realize I don’t know anything. But I know that if I do my best to know what I can, the Lord will take care of the rest. The awesome thing about being a missionary is that you have the spirit with you so strongly- but it is a double edged sword- if you say one cross word to your district (in a moment even where it is maybe justified... haha) then you can feel that spirit leave just a little bit... but luckily, as my good friend wrote me this week- this is such an important work that you are forgiven easily and the spirit comes back.

I am continuing to try to refine myself and learn how to be fluent in the spirit, it is so important- especially as I feel more and more that I lack in fluency of português, and I am going to need the spirit to make up for my many weaknesses. I have been thinking a lot about Moses, and about Enoch, who felt like they lacked in their speaking ability... but that the Lord blessed them anyway.

I know that I am suppose to be here, I have never been so happy, and yet felt so inadaquet.... and I have no idea how to spell that word. But I am so grateful for the chance to work hard to serve the Lord, this is His work, and He will make a way for me to be able to do it! I testify that this is the only true church on the face of the earth- and that Christ is at the head of it. I kneel before Him in awe, His atonement is an incredible thing- a thing which gives me strength each day to do what He would have me do.

I love you all- thank you for your prayers- I know that they are helping me!

Com Amor,
Sister Melanie Monroe

Ugly Sister Missionary at Last!!!!

Ugly sister missionary at last!!!!

hey hey! Yes I love P days!! This has been an awesome past week, I feel like I have had so much fun, and learned so much- its hard to believe that it has only been a week.

So Let me explain the subject line first off... yes, on Monday, we had an ugly sister missionary day at the CTM, and yes, yours truly did help to arrange it. ha-ha. Only about half of the sisters joined in- but let me tell you, that was more than enough sisters. it was HYSTERICAL! I wore this very sister missionary skirt that has a bunch elastic top- (Mom, remember this is the skirt that you made me get and said that I would wear it.. well i wore it all right!) But I pulled it up really really high, and then my companion made me wear one of her hideous button up shirts (I can say this because my companion refuses to wear this shirt) It looks like a print that you would find on a D.I. couch somewhere. Yep, I hope that brings the right image to mind. SO anyways, I wore that, and that was huge huge on me, it looked like I had no body shape at all, and that I had gained 50 pounds, and then I had this elastic bunch skirt on bottom... AMAZING i tell you. And the other sisters...ha-ha! It was really really bad, and so funny. We all looked about 30 or 40 years older.

The best reaction was in my district. All of the Elders tried to look like they didn’t notice... they did the double take look, and then the "we just wont say anything about it but try not to look" kind of face... ohh I about died. Then one of them finally asked my companion.. "uh hey sister.... you um.. haven’t worn that... uh... dress yet." ha-ha. And then we explained our funny day to them, and they thought it was hysterical. Good fun... as you can see, I have managed to keep my full personality in full force... hahaha.

Oh and super super exciting! Last Friday, they drove our district into the middle of Sao Paulo, next to some bus stop, and dropped us off with a stack of pass along cards. it was sooo much fun!!! I finally felt like a real missionary... and I was shocked at how bold I was.... I had no problem going up to anyone and talking to them. They all seemed to understand me, for the most part I was able to say everything I wanted to say to them- granted everything I wanted to say was very very simple sentences... and there were only a few people I couldn’t understand when they asked me questions. It was great, and the best part was that I really felt the spirit testify to some of those people. There was one girl that looked really touched after we gave our little testifica to them, and she had this light in her eyes- ahh I wish I could of gotten her number and followed up. Our whole district had an amazing experience; we were all so excited afterwards.

The best part came at the end though- We were waiting to get picked up and there was a group of teenagers standing across from us, just staring at our district. I had the feeling that I needed to go talk to them, so I snagged an extra pass along card that one of the other Elders had, and I dragged my Companion over there, and started talking to them. I am shocked at how bold I was... I introduced ourselves, and asked them if they believed in God... some of them were smoking- they kind of looked like a gang- but I talked to them about Christ, and told them my little message- even though some of them said they only believed in science- they said they would call. But it was just awesome being able to talk to them! The greatest part is that when my teacher saw that it was just me and my companion talking to this group of teenagers, (all of the Elders were across the street) he freaked out! ha-ha.. He was really nervous for us, but I didn’t feel nervous at all. It was awesome!

It is really funny being a blonde in Brazil... I am sure I will have more stories about this later... I got some crazy looks in Sao Paulo.. but I just took advantage of it. If they looked at me, I would go straight up to them and start talking about the church, they sure got a lot more then the bargained for! ha-ha. I did have a few guys ask me if I was married, but I tried to change it to asking them about Futebol or their family. ahh its great. My companion is really tall too, and so that in itself is funny- 2 tall American girls out to get Brazil!! Yay!

Um let’s see... other then that the Portuguese is coming along... We didn’t get new Brazilian roommates... we are hoping tomorrow because my Portuguese is lacking.. it really forces you to talk. Other then that I am just loving being a missionary- if you couldn’t tell :)

I love my companion, she continues to push me to be more obedient, and I think she helps calm my wild side! ha-ha.. She is awesome, and with her help I feel like I am learning how important this work is... It really is so exciting and so amazing that the Lord lets us help in this work. I feel so grateful every day that I am here, I can’t imagine being anywhere else- I love this work- and I love the chance I have to learn and grow here. Today we went to the Sao Paulo temple, and the whole time I kept thinking how incredibly fast the work is growing here in Brazil... I hope that I can see the day when they have a temple in every state here- how awesome would that be! anyways, I better run.. Thank you thank you thank you for the letters!!!! I have been so touched by all of my friends who have written me. I have read each of the letters at least twice... Thank you!!

Oh and one more thing- last Saturday we had a fireside on the Atonement... it was so incredible. They quoted Joseph Smith saying that no matter how important the other parts of the gospel are, they are only appendages to the Atonement. I heartily agree... this is the gospel of Jesus Christ! I have been reading a lot about Christ like attributes and continually feel like I have so much to change... If you have Preach my Gospel, read the chapter on Christ like attributes. That in itself I feel is a lifetime pursuit... To mold ourselves in the image of Christ. What an awesome thing that we have that knowledge of how to improve ourselves and what things we have to work on..(even though sometimes I might wish I didn’t know how much I have to do!!) I love this gospel, and I love my Savior... I am so grateful for his confidence in me, and it is His Confidence and His love which makes it possible for me to learn any Portuguese at all, and for me to be here!

Com Amor
Sister Melanie Anne Monroe