22 Reason to Celebrate! Wahoo!

Wow... yep, it’s the big 22 years. It’s funny to think that for so many years I thought that sister missionaries were so old, and those girls that never could get married... who knows why- probably because they were anti-social or something like that.... and now, I am that sister missionary! Ha-ha! It’s fantastic. It honestly doesn’t feel like my birthday, its incredibly hot here, and it feels like I am sitting in the middle of the hottest July ever. This morning I was trying to remember where I was a year ago, and I honestly couldn’t remember. I was thinking- BYU... no.. Poway... no... Blast.

So I pulled out my journal and had to look, and yes, I was in Poway, waiting for my last surgery on my knee... Wow... this year has flown by, and yet that seems ages ago. It’s funny to think how my life has changed during the past year... A year ago I was truly praying and thinking of a mission... just no one knew. hahaha. I think Bishop Ottesen was one of the first people I told that I was going to serve a mission, but that wasn’t until December. I think he knew all along that I was going to serve a mission... oh wait, I think a lot of people knew before I did that I was going to serve a mission... which makes it all the better that it ended up a surprise!

Ha-ha, anyways, enough rambling about the past, it is awesome to be here, and I feel so very blessed with so many things in my life. I truly have been so blessed with great role models in my family, ward, and friends... I was thinking of how many people had made a difference in my life today... and wow, there are many. Thank you to all of you!

Anyways, I don’t think I have too much time to list 22 reasons to celebrate, but I thought I would list a few random things, and also a few highlights of the past week.

Nossa- this has become my most used word (pronounced no-sah) its kind of like, wow, amazing, shoot, you know... all in one word. Nossa, it’s a staple to the language of Portuguese. Its actual meaning is 'our' but no one uses it like that... well they do, but nossa, they just use it all the time! ha-ha.

Canjica- ok so my Brazilian comp Sister R. Silva made me this corn thing this morning... its like rice pudding, but its corn…and its amazing!!! She knows I love, love, corn flavored things...and hmm it was amazing... so that was a fun birthday surprise. She sang feliz anivessario para mim and we ate it. Yeah for new birthday surprises, I just might make this a new birthday tradition.

Cegarras- these are the worlds most annoying bugs. They are big beetles, and they make a really, really annoying sound, and then they just stick to you… they fly and boom, they are on you, and they don’t leave until you pull them off. I nearly had a heart attack when one attacked me when I was saying a prayer this week. It was funny.

Abobora- this is pumpkin.(how do you spell it?) hmmm. Anyways, I made a pumpkin pie yesterday, and it felt a little bit more like October. Yum, it was so good. They all liked it, because they normally use abobora as a vegetable, or really, really sweet. They put sugar in it and cook it, its really good but man- tons of sugar! So they thought this was different.

Conferencia- we had conference with Presidente and Sister Condie this past week, and it was awesome. It was so much better then my first conference... when I kind of had my breakdown. It was great to realize how far I have come in 6 weeks- I am so much more excited to share the gospel, I have a much greater hold on Portuguese, and... we are having success here!!! (Ok this news needs to wait for later!) And, I got chocolate chip cookies from Sister Condie for my birthday. THIS was amazing... wow... who knew that chocolate chip cookies were so good. I had for sure forgotten. Yum.

Pia- This would be sink, or baptismal font. I forgot to tell my story of last week, when we had the baptism for Milena, the font decided not to fill... and we needed to have the baptism, so Sister R Silva and I said a prayer that it would fill... and it did! Really fast! Ha-ha…so that was a small miracle!

Fuma- I am for sure allergic to cigarette smoke... I had to take more cigarettes away from an investigator this past week. I made a trade with gum, (thanks mom for the gum, it’s a good motivator ha-ha) and then I put the cigarette in a zip lock bag in my bag... and then forgot about it. The next morning, to my horror, my bag reeked like no other. I felt so sick all day, and sprayed like a whole thing of perfume in it…it is better now, but it was pretty awful for awhile. So don’t smoke, for one it’s against the word of wisdom and for two, it’s possibly the worst stench on the planet.

And, we had…baptisms this past week!!! Wahoo!! So we have been working really, really hard with Paulo and familia this past 3 weeks, and we had it all set for Paulo, Jefferson, and Naira to be baptized yesterday… but man, can I just say that the devil works overtime like no other. Paulo has been really struggling with the word of wisdom, but he will be baptized next Sunday for sure. And then his son Jefferson went out of town... we spent at least 30 minutes looking for him Sunday morning…its a long complicated story, but we didn’t find him.

But the real story is Naira,... she is almost 12, and she is the spit image of Amelia (Jooj and Brit, I sometimes want to call her Amelia) (oh, Amelia is a orphan in Mozambique who is a rock) Anyways, Naira, is amazing... pretty much the most amazing 11 year old I have ever met. She has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy, reading it to her father, and has been taking away cigarettes from her father, and really been pressing her family, because she wanted to be baptized.

She is just really sweet- for example- we taught her I am a child of God once, and she pretty much has it by memory now, and has taught it to her brother and her cousin Miqueila. So, Naira is just stalwart.

So, Sunday morning we arrived at her house to help her, Paulo, Jefferson, and Mara, Anderson, Gabrielle, Joao victor... ok so there are a lot of people in this extended family- there are 2 families here all joined together! Anyways, Paulo, to our surprise- was all set to go- he was excited and ready, but to our horror, no one else wanted to go. Naira was like a different person- she has never been like this in 4 weeks that we have taught her. There was no light in her eyes, and she did NOT want to go to church. Well, I sat down with her, and talked to her for about 10 minutes. We read a scripture, and talked a lot… and we convinced her to go to church! It was like fighting with the devil. Seriously, I know that Satan knew the best person to attack in that house was Naira, because she is such a positive force for her dad and family. Anyways, we got her to come, and then her cousin Miqueila decided to come too- who has 8 years.

On the way we talked a lot about being 12 and school, and I shared stories about growing up and my little sisters… they were really nervous to go to church. (The last time was at conference and so they had never been to church; church) anyways, they loved it!!

And so... we ended up having 2 baptisms, Naira, and Miqueila. It really was amazing. And the spirit was so strong, to see children- so strong, and so pure, with really strong testimonies, enter the waters of baptisms... ok more like run into the waters of baptism! Ha-ha… Miquela ran into the font! and afterwards, her and Naira started laughing and just had the biggest smiles ever! And the only family member there to help them was Jefferson. (The brother of Niara) He was really sad he couldn’t be baptized, and wanted to know every detail of how they felt.

It was awesome, and Naira said this- I might be small in my family, but I will be a big example and be baptized. Wow... and this from an 11 year old. I have no doubt that with her example and strength, we will be having more baptisms this next week, but it was such a great experience to see how we really should be like- there is that scripture in 3 Nefi 11, that says with baptism we return to being a child…and yes, I hope that I can return to being like Niara and Miqueila. It was truly touching... and possibly the best birthday present I could have ever received from my Father in Heaven to be allowed to be part of this miracle.

Anyways, I am out of time, we are off to a super p day activity with the district... I am giving myself a birthday present and not writing any letters. haha! woohoo!But, thank you thank you for all the birthday wishes, and the cards. I got a huge stack at conference, and it was the best birthday present ever. I was so happy and wow. yeah.. I forget the words in English! haha!

Anyways, much love from Porto Ferreir!!
Sister Monroe