Tudo Otimo!
Yay for another week here in Porto Ferreira! It has been an awesome past week, I think that I am just going to have to do some bullet points to talk about everything I want to- I have a lot of random thoughts, and I don’t want to have to connect them!
-The Portuguese is improving, thank you one and all for the prayers. I literally have no time to study, I know we are have time allotted in the morning, but it is not much, I write down some verbs I want to memorize, and some phrases, and that’s about it…I am always pulling them out throughout the day, and whenever I hear a recognizable word I try to write it down to learn it- I have tons of flashcards.... Yes friends, those of you who remember that I was once a flashcard queen, it has come to much use here! But it is coming, and I am beginning to understand more and more all the time! Yeah for the gift of tongues- it’s a slow gift but I know it is true!
-We helped clean out the church the other night…I was laughing and so hard and wishing that my Mother could of seen us cleaning. We literally pulled a hose into the chapel and began hosing down the floors! Ha-ha… and we had giant, giant squeegee thingies that we used to mop- It was quite unlike anything I have ever seen... but I was loving it. We had buckets and were splashing water everywhere- the Brazilian cleaning way is a tad different…and hilarious! Awesome!
-Last night we taught a lesson about the Armor of God... I drew a huge person, and we taped armor on top of him... I tried to draw a tough guy like you dad...but um... we can all remember my figure drawing class last semester and how my teacher just laughed at times at me drawing people. Ha! But the ward members loved it! One of the primary kids escaped with it somewhere... he can have it! Ha-ha… and the only paper they had for armor was purple, so it was purple armor. But the lesson went awesome, we were able to get a lot of participation, and everyone loved it. I am beginning to realize how many things we just have in the U.S. that we never even think twice about.
- I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about the Holy Ghost... I wasn’t nervous about it at all- really surprising- I had prepared it during the week, and when I got up to speak it went really well. Everyone said that they understood me- despite my horrid gringo accent :) ha-ha. I was just praying the whole time that the message of my talk- the spirit- would testify and touch the hearts of those there- and I don’t really remember anything I spoke about- but I do know that I felt the spirit- and I hope our investigators that were there, and the other ward members felt the spirit!
-Work here is a bit slow- the ward here is incredibly small, and I will say that the ward members don’t really have many leaders, and there are only a few- maybe 4 or so members that have been to the temple, and so we are working a lot with the members, to help strengthen them. Only through the help of the members are we able to do this work- we need them to be friends and examples to our investigators. And so we are focusing on ways to serve the members, and trying to get to know them better. All ready this effort has helped so much- yesterday at church we had some inactive families come who hadn’t been to church for quite awhile.. We were sooo excited to see them there!!
-Oh, I forgot to say more about this city! It is the capital of ceramics, for Brazil, or something like that. There are some cool ceramics here…well from what I see from the windows. That’s about all I know about that! But wow what it is really big here is milkshakes- every night I think every teenager is out buying milkshakes in the center of town. It is actually a bit of a sad scene... to see so many children of God so lost and confused about their life. There is a bar on almost every corner of town... its a little bit interesting at night when we walk home, but I never feel nervous because we have the Spirit of the Lord with us at our side. It is so sad to see what kind of effect this has on the town here- I am so grateful for the Word of Wisdom- this truly saves soo many families from ruin.
I don’t even know the address of my house now. Ha-ha... its somewhere in the middle of town... its blue in front with a blue gate and a brazil flag painted in front. Yes- welcome to Brazil! Ha-ha!
Yay for another week here in Porto Ferreira! It has been an awesome past week, I think that I am just going to have to do some bullet points to talk about everything I want to- I have a lot of random thoughts, and I don’t want to have to connect them!
-The Portuguese is improving, thank you one and all for the prayers. I literally have no time to study, I know we are have time allotted in the morning, but it is not much, I write down some verbs I want to memorize, and some phrases, and that’s about it…I am always pulling them out throughout the day, and whenever I hear a recognizable word I try to write it down to learn it- I have tons of flashcards.... Yes friends, those of you who remember that I was once a flashcard queen, it has come to much use here! But it is coming, and I am beginning to understand more and more all the time! Yeah for the gift of tongues- it’s a slow gift but I know it is true!
-We helped clean out the church the other night…I was laughing and so hard and wishing that my Mother could of seen us cleaning. We literally pulled a hose into the chapel and began hosing down the floors! Ha-ha… and we had giant, giant squeegee thingies that we used to mop- It was quite unlike anything I have ever seen... but I was loving it. We had buckets and were splashing water everywhere- the Brazilian cleaning way is a tad different…and hilarious! Awesome!
-Last night we taught a lesson about the Armor of God... I drew a huge person, and we taped armor on top of him... I tried to draw a tough guy like you dad...but um... we can all remember my figure drawing class last semester and how my teacher just laughed at times at me drawing people. Ha! But the ward members loved it! One of the primary kids escaped with it somewhere... he can have it! Ha-ha… and the only paper they had for armor was purple, so it was purple armor. But the lesson went awesome, we were able to get a lot of participation, and everyone loved it. I am beginning to realize how many things we just have in the U.S. that we never even think twice about.
- I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about the Holy Ghost... I wasn’t nervous about it at all- really surprising- I had prepared it during the week, and when I got up to speak it went really well. Everyone said that they understood me- despite my horrid gringo accent :) ha-ha. I was just praying the whole time that the message of my talk- the spirit- would testify and touch the hearts of those there- and I don’t really remember anything I spoke about- but I do know that I felt the spirit- and I hope our investigators that were there, and the other ward members felt the spirit!
-Work here is a bit slow- the ward here is incredibly small, and I will say that the ward members don’t really have many leaders, and there are only a few- maybe 4 or so members that have been to the temple, and so we are working a lot with the members, to help strengthen them. Only through the help of the members are we able to do this work- we need them to be friends and examples to our investigators. And so we are focusing on ways to serve the members, and trying to get to know them better. All ready this effort has helped so much- yesterday at church we had some inactive families come who hadn’t been to church for quite awhile.. We were sooo excited to see them there!!
-Oh, I forgot to say more about this city! It is the capital of ceramics, for Brazil, or something like that. There are some cool ceramics here…well from what I see from the windows. That’s about all I know about that! But wow what it is really big here is milkshakes- every night I think every teenager is out buying milkshakes in the center of town. It is actually a bit of a sad scene... to see so many children of God so lost and confused about their life. There is a bar on almost every corner of town... its a little bit interesting at night when we walk home, but I never feel nervous because we have the Spirit of the Lord with us at our side. It is so sad to see what kind of effect this has on the town here- I am so grateful for the Word of Wisdom- this truly saves soo many families from ruin.
-Oh- the best address to write me is the mission address...
Sister Melanie Monroe
Brazil Ribeirao Preto Mission
PO Box 30150
SLC, UT 84130-0150
Sister Melanie Monroe
Brazil Ribeirao Preto Mission
PO Box 30150
SLC, UT 84130-0150
USA
I don’t even know the address of my house now. Ha-ha... its somewhere in the middle of town... its blue in front with a blue gate and a brazil flag painted in front. Yes- welcome to Brazil! Ha-ha!
-We walk alot!! Had some blisters, but no worries, I haven’t let that slow me down. We walk to a lot of neighborhoods that are about 15 to 60 minutes away from our house regularly. I think I might just have some tan lines when I get home!
-My companion is awesome! She and I have a lot of fun together, we are an awesome team- she is helping me so much with the Portuguese, but at the same time letting me make many errors on my own so I can learn. We are working really hard, and it is so nice to have someone who knows so much about the work as your "mission mom!" Woohoo! She really is the best mission mom ever, She has taught me what to eat... we pretty much eat papaya for breakfast and dinner, and we laugh a lot together, cry alot together, teach a lot together- the works! How fun to have another eternal friend! Yay for companions!!
-Ok last thought- I was talking with one member yesterday who is the most stalwart, and incredible person. Her name is Conceçao… and she joined the church only 5 months ago, but she has the most powerful testimony. On Saturday she got to go to the temple for the first time and do baptisms, and as we talked about it yesterday, she brought tears to my eyes as she describe the beauty and her love for the temple. In all my life, I have never heard someone describe a temple that way. Her love for it was incredible.... I have been very touched this past week at how much we have.... there are some very poor areas here. We live in a middle class neighborhood- for Brazil... but wow. We have so many privileges, we have a temple so close, and we can go every week! It is such a sacrifice for so many here... and when these saints do go- they see couches- chandeliers- paintings- stained glass windows- things they have never seen in their life!! I feel so blessed, and so overwhelmed with all that I have. And even more blessed because I have the gospel. I have a direction in my life, I have power in my life from the priesthood, from the scriptures, and from the covenants that I have made, and from the knowledge that even though I don’t live perfectly- I can be made perfect in Christ.
I want you to know that I love you all! I know this is where I am suppose to be... and I couldn’t be happier here, even though I don’t speak Portuguese, and even though we are rejected alot- I am happy because I have a chance to testify every day about the basic truths that I know. What an awesome work!
Love,
Sister Melanie Monroe
posted by Bev at 10:23 AM
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