Minha mae saio e minha madastre chegou!
Ok so roughly that means- My mom left and my step mom arrived! Ha-ha, on the mission your first companion in the field is known as your mom (or father) and your second is your step mom. Last week was Sister McAllister’s last week in the field, and in missionary terms "I killed my companion" which means I was the last companion with her. We had a really special week- my first baptism!!! Wahoo!! Anyways, first off, I wanted to write some other cool things, and then I will write about that baptism!
Ok first off- I love my name now. Mel!! In Portuguese, this means Honey ( I cant remember if I wrote this before) and here in Porto Ferreira, they sell things with Mel everywhere... and Icant contain myself. I have pictures of many things with Mel now, and signs that say "vende se mel" which is like saying- selling me! Ha-ha. So I love this, and its really cool to hear that my name actually has a cool meaning... I use to think that Mel was just like an old balding man... but now, it’s pretty sweet. (No pun intended) so that’s fun!! I will send some pictures to my mom of this!
Oh and I don’t think I told this story- the dogs here are nuts. i hate them. the other day we were walking and one just started biting my skirt and my legs and wouldn’t leave me alone for a good few minutes. I finally just turned around and nailed it with my water bottle. Sister McAllister started laughing hysterically, and said she had wanted to do that for a long time. I had just had it, the dog left me alone.. I just hope no one else saw it... they are all slightly attached to their dogs here, but frankly all the dogs are slightly heinous and smell of chi-chi. Nasty. I just keep thinking of nestle and Choco and Cassie (well may she RIP) Yes, I don’t know if anyone knew it but our dog, who thought she was a cat, died a few weeks ago (ok so only Ali and Natalie and talvez Amanda will think this is interesting!) and so yeah.. I like those dogs. But Brazilian dogs... ick.
Ok so we had a really busy week trying to visit everyone and get ready for the baptism- and it was awesome! I am sorry if my email last week was a bit down, but really I am loving it here and working hard! This baptism was Benedito, a man who I saw on the street and was in a wheelchair, asked him if he needed help, didn’t really understand him, and just started pushing him. Sister McAllitser asked him for his address and scheduled a lesson with him, and in our mission presidents words we "just pushed him right into the font!"
Ha-ha, but no... he was really just special. It has been awesome to see the spirit start to touch him and change him. Every time we taught him it was awesome to see him change just a little. And then the day of the baptism, it was so awesome- he arrived 2 hours early. He was so excited! I felt nervous up until the end- he only has one leg, and so I wasn’t sure how they were going to baptize him, but everything worked our great and it was awesome!! But, it’s interesting, I felt excited, but still a little anxious. Yesterday when he was confirmed with the Holy Ghost, that’s when I felt like it was complete…and its true, no baptism is complete without the Holy Ghost. But yeah, it was awesome.... truly without words the joy and excitement!! Wahoo!!
Anyways, another really exciting thing that I have watched progress is that a man, named Geraldo in our ward. He and his wife Marlena had been inactive for years, years, and years. We started visiting them, and my companion sister McAllister made the comment that if they came back to church it would be a miracle. Well.... in a visit a month ago, I felt impressed to make some comments about eternal marriage to them (they haven’t been through the temple) and testify to them about the importance of going to the temple... and promise them some things I KNOW did not come from me. I just opened my mouth. It is really incredible to see the spirit working on people, and know that you are just an instrument. But anyways, Geraldo and Marlena have been coming back to church for the past 3 weeks!! And Geraldo received the priesthood, and I cannot describe how things have completely changed... it was a real testimony to me that missionaries have other jobs besides helping people to be baptized. We are here to help people endure to the end as well... and the joy that I feel for this family is just as great as I feel for Benedito. Pretty awesome…and indescribable.
Anyways, these are just a few of the stories of things that have happened this week... I will never have time for all of them, but it has been an awesome transfer with Sister McAllister. It was hard to see her go- I hope that someday I can be the kind of missionary she was- we truly worked miracles here together. Small miracles, small things, that will someday make a difference. She is awesome- and I am so excited that will hopefully-kind of- in a strange way be related to me! Ha-ha!
Anyways- my new companion is... drum roll please... a Brazilian! Wahoo! Sister R. Silva. She is awesome, really happy... I don’t think she has another expression besides smiling. And rumor has it she is a hard worker. Yes! otimo! So yep, this will be fun! I hope I can understand her... ahh I am a little nervous, but lets just say I have been bumped up to accelerated Portuguese... ha-ha!
Ok to finish up- there were a few questions to answer…anyone feel free to ask questions and email them to my mom, I love hearing what people are wondering and thinking! I love you all!
Ok- this week’s question-What was the biggest culture shock in Brazil, and besides people, what is my favorite thing?Well (thanks Robbie for the questions!) umm biggest culture shock... that’s kind of a hard one... honestly the way people clean. It never ceases to make me laugh.... its honestly just funny. The way they clean dishes... it’s quite a production. And my favorite thing- probably the fruit....its heaven. I eat a ridiculous amount of mamao and pinapple and banana and tomato and tangerines. Ok wait I think tomato is a vegetable... but they are so good here. Oh and mamao is um papaya… I almost forgot the name. Way good! And I love the flavor milho verde here- its corn- and the use it in ice cream and cake- way good!!
I really need to go! Love you all!!!
com amor,
Sister Monroe
Ok first off- I love my name now. Mel!! In Portuguese, this means Honey ( I cant remember if I wrote this before) and here in Porto Ferreira, they sell things with Mel everywhere... and Icant contain myself. I have pictures of many things with Mel now, and signs that say "vende se mel" which is like saying- selling me! Ha-ha. So I love this, and its really cool to hear that my name actually has a cool meaning... I use to think that Mel was just like an old balding man... but now, it’s pretty sweet. (No pun intended) so that’s fun!! I will send some pictures to my mom of this!
Oh and I don’t think I told this story- the dogs here are nuts. i hate them. the other day we were walking and one just started biting my skirt and my legs and wouldn’t leave me alone for a good few minutes. I finally just turned around and nailed it with my water bottle. Sister McAllister started laughing hysterically, and said she had wanted to do that for a long time. I had just had it, the dog left me alone.. I just hope no one else saw it... they are all slightly attached to their dogs here, but frankly all the dogs are slightly heinous and smell of chi-chi. Nasty. I just keep thinking of nestle and Choco and Cassie (well may she RIP) Yes, I don’t know if anyone knew it but our dog, who thought she was a cat, died a few weeks ago (ok so only Ali and Natalie and talvez Amanda will think this is interesting!) and so yeah.. I like those dogs. But Brazilian dogs... ick.
Ok so we had a really busy week trying to visit everyone and get ready for the baptism- and it was awesome! I am sorry if my email last week was a bit down, but really I am loving it here and working hard! This baptism was Benedito, a man who I saw on the street and was in a wheelchair, asked him if he needed help, didn’t really understand him, and just started pushing him. Sister McAllitser asked him for his address and scheduled a lesson with him, and in our mission presidents words we "just pushed him right into the font!"
Ha-ha, but no... he was really just special. It has been awesome to see the spirit start to touch him and change him. Every time we taught him it was awesome to see him change just a little. And then the day of the baptism, it was so awesome- he arrived 2 hours early. He was so excited! I felt nervous up until the end- he only has one leg, and so I wasn’t sure how they were going to baptize him, but everything worked our great and it was awesome!! But, it’s interesting, I felt excited, but still a little anxious. Yesterday when he was confirmed with the Holy Ghost, that’s when I felt like it was complete…and its true, no baptism is complete without the Holy Ghost. But yeah, it was awesome.... truly without words the joy and excitement!! Wahoo!!
Anyways, another really exciting thing that I have watched progress is that a man, named Geraldo in our ward. He and his wife Marlena had been inactive for years, years, and years. We started visiting them, and my companion sister McAllister made the comment that if they came back to church it would be a miracle. Well.... in a visit a month ago, I felt impressed to make some comments about eternal marriage to them (they haven’t been through the temple) and testify to them about the importance of going to the temple... and promise them some things I KNOW did not come from me. I just opened my mouth. It is really incredible to see the spirit working on people, and know that you are just an instrument. But anyways, Geraldo and Marlena have been coming back to church for the past 3 weeks!! And Geraldo received the priesthood, and I cannot describe how things have completely changed... it was a real testimony to me that missionaries have other jobs besides helping people to be baptized. We are here to help people endure to the end as well... and the joy that I feel for this family is just as great as I feel for Benedito. Pretty awesome…and indescribable.
Anyways, these are just a few of the stories of things that have happened this week... I will never have time for all of them, but it has been an awesome transfer with Sister McAllister. It was hard to see her go- I hope that someday I can be the kind of missionary she was- we truly worked miracles here together. Small miracles, small things, that will someday make a difference. She is awesome- and I am so excited that will hopefully-kind of- in a strange way be related to me! Ha-ha!
Anyways- my new companion is... drum roll please... a Brazilian! Wahoo! Sister R. Silva. She is awesome, really happy... I don’t think she has another expression besides smiling. And rumor has it she is a hard worker. Yes! otimo! So yep, this will be fun! I hope I can understand her... ahh I am a little nervous, but lets just say I have been bumped up to accelerated Portuguese... ha-ha!
Ok to finish up- there were a few questions to answer…anyone feel free to ask questions and email them to my mom, I love hearing what people are wondering and thinking! I love you all!
Ok- this week’s question-What was the biggest culture shock in Brazil, and besides people, what is my favorite thing?Well (thanks Robbie for the questions!) umm biggest culture shock... that’s kind of a hard one... honestly the way people clean. It never ceases to make me laugh.... its honestly just funny. The way they clean dishes... it’s quite a production. And my favorite thing- probably the fruit....its heaven. I eat a ridiculous amount of mamao and pinapple and banana and tomato and tangerines. Ok wait I think tomato is a vegetable... but they are so good here. Oh and mamao is um papaya… I almost forgot the name. Way good! And I love the flavor milho verde here- its corn- and the use it in ice cream and cake- way good!!
I really need to go! Love you all!!!
com amor,
Sister Monroe
posted by Bev at 5:47 PM
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