Elders, Elders, Elders.... But lots of Fun anyways!
Ok so this was an awesome past week (I have written that so many times, I know, I know.) But it seriously passed fast then any other week in my life. I have a feeling this transfer will fly by. This week was awesome!! It was so great... first off, I guess I will describe a little bit of where I am, since I apparently forgot that last time.
I am in the city of Ribeirao Preto, in the richest neighborhood, Jardim Iraja. We work in a lot of the neighborhoods here, and there are a ton of skyscrapers here. It seriously is sooo different from my last area. I am living in the city here, I feel like I am living in New York... it is always, always loud, we live in an apartment with a bakery downstairs, and there are always cars, a lot of people, and a lot of excitement.
And the ward here is FANTASTIC. I don’t know what to do with myself. Yesterday was the first Sunday I haven’t had to teach a class on the spot or give a talk or play the organ or conduct the music... or all of the above. Ha-ha. And, its a little bit crazy in this ward- the Bishop is the old mission president of Manaus. And the stake president lives in our ward. And nearly all of the members here are judges or very important business men... so wow, its a little crazy. And, the Leaders of the Zone use to work here, and so its a little bit of a pressure point here because we have all of this... but... the Lord really had sisters in mind here because lets just face it- they needed us... ha-ha, no I really am not being cocky, but the Lord has just poured out his blessings on us, because the thing is, Sisters and Elders teach differently, and so we have the capacity to touch different people differently. It has been an awesome week because the Lord has guided us sooo clearly in every moment. I have never felt so on fire, and so guided- ok so here are some of the things that happened this week-
- First some of the funny. Our apartment is still a wreck. We cleaned all Pday last week, and it still looks like we haven’t cleaned in years. I can’t even begin to talk about the mold. But we keep cleaning a bit everyday, so maybe by the end of the transfer it will be clean.
-Also, one night we arrived home to find out that our power had been cut. Yes, our beloved Elders had forgotten to pay, not one, but two bills the past transfer! And they didn’t leave any bills for us to even know who to call. So we ended up having to travel to the center of Ribeirao Preto, which was an adventure because we didn’t know where that was... then I had to call the energy department and explain to them the situation- which was funny because who knows these energy words in English, let alone in Portuguese? And then we had try and find how to find the bus to get back to our area, and then try to find out if the men had already come... really this story is too long, too funny, too complicated to do it justice... but it didn’t resolve itself quickly. Luckily, we again have power- so we can plan at night and eat.
- We have been lost a lot this past week, we didn’t have a map for a good while, and we also didn’t have any member numbers or addresses... finally yesterday at church we got these- Yay! But, the Lord certainly works in his own way, because even those these thing would have helped- the Lord guided us and we found people to teach! The ward here helped us soo much, to say that they are excited to have sisters is an understatement! We were helped sooo much, and felt so much love from the members as they have been patient with our blunders and mistakes. (Did I mention that they have a member here like Julie Warcup... it’s the weirdest thing! She does exactly the same things!)
-I know that I am supposed to be here right now. We had so, so, many experiences, where when people opened the door, I knew that I had seen this house, or this family, before in my life. I have never felt so guided by the Lord. There was one time where we had an address, which we knew was right. But when we went there, a family opened the door, and even though it was the wrong family, Sister Labadie and I could barely speak, I knew that I had seen that family before. I knew that we had to find that family.
- We also found another family that is gold!! They have been waiting for us for so long- Lia and Danielo. Lia’s aunt is a member in the US, and we received the reference, and called and went there. They are a really, really young couple, they were married a year ago, and when we taught them- it was the same thing- I knew that I had known them before. I knew we were supposed to be there in that exact moment.
-We also accidentally found a menos ativo family this week, and the mother was smoking. She said she had never been able to quit, and as we taught her, Sister Labadie did the most amazing thing- she got up, grabbed the cigarettes, walked to the bathroom, got them wet, and threw them away. She was teaching so strongly to this woman that she didn’t need them- and the spirit was so strong. It was a really courageous thing of Sister Labadie to do- and just an awesome moment.
- We also are teaching an American, Bobby, whose wife is just like Julie Warcup and is a member. He has gone through many, many, missionaries... but we feel really different with him. We know we are called here to help him too... He is really old, and like the most eccentric old man ever… you know like the old men on Return to Me? Yeah, like that! He’s a riot, and lived in Italy 20 years, America 29 years, and now Brazil. It was really hard teaching him because we had to teach him in English... I was stumbling over all my words.
- I really haven’t even begun to do this week justice, and this email is already so long. But I just have to testify that this has been one of the greatest, if not the greatest past week of my life. I have decided to focus on the restoration and the first vision, and I have seen how this has made a turning point in how I can testify with the spirit. I cannot believe how the Lord has poured out his blessings to help us understand and speak Portuguese, to help us find our way through the area, how he has put people directly in our paths. We decided our goal in our companionship was to be more like the Savior- and this has been so powerful... we have prayed so much more, and really pleaded that we could be instruments in his hands here.
I know that this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and restored all of the truths that we need to truly be happy. I have been happier then I can ever remember these past 7 and half months, and this past week was maravilhosa. I am so grateful for this chance to be here- thank you soo much for all of your prayers, they have helped me soo much.
I love you all!!
Com Amor
Sister Melanie Monroe
I am in the city of Ribeirao Preto, in the richest neighborhood, Jardim Iraja. We work in a lot of the neighborhoods here, and there are a ton of skyscrapers here. It seriously is sooo different from my last area. I am living in the city here, I feel like I am living in New York... it is always, always loud, we live in an apartment with a bakery downstairs, and there are always cars, a lot of people, and a lot of excitement.
And the ward here is FANTASTIC. I don’t know what to do with myself. Yesterday was the first Sunday I haven’t had to teach a class on the spot or give a talk or play the organ or conduct the music... or all of the above. Ha-ha. And, its a little bit crazy in this ward- the Bishop is the old mission president of Manaus. And the stake president lives in our ward. And nearly all of the members here are judges or very important business men... so wow, its a little crazy. And, the Leaders of the Zone use to work here, and so its a little bit of a pressure point here because we have all of this... but... the Lord really had sisters in mind here because lets just face it- they needed us... ha-ha, no I really am not being cocky, but the Lord has just poured out his blessings on us, because the thing is, Sisters and Elders teach differently, and so we have the capacity to touch different people differently. It has been an awesome week because the Lord has guided us sooo clearly in every moment. I have never felt so on fire, and so guided- ok so here are some of the things that happened this week-
- First some of the funny. Our apartment is still a wreck. We cleaned all Pday last week, and it still looks like we haven’t cleaned in years. I can’t even begin to talk about the mold. But we keep cleaning a bit everyday, so maybe by the end of the transfer it will be clean.
-Also, one night we arrived home to find out that our power had been cut. Yes, our beloved Elders had forgotten to pay, not one, but two bills the past transfer! And they didn’t leave any bills for us to even know who to call. So we ended up having to travel to the center of Ribeirao Preto, which was an adventure because we didn’t know where that was... then I had to call the energy department and explain to them the situation- which was funny because who knows these energy words in English, let alone in Portuguese? And then we had try and find how to find the bus to get back to our area, and then try to find out if the men had already come... really this story is too long, too funny, too complicated to do it justice... but it didn’t resolve itself quickly. Luckily, we again have power- so we can plan at night and eat.
- We have been lost a lot this past week, we didn’t have a map for a good while, and we also didn’t have any member numbers or addresses... finally yesterday at church we got these- Yay! But, the Lord certainly works in his own way, because even those these thing would have helped- the Lord guided us and we found people to teach! The ward here helped us soo much, to say that they are excited to have sisters is an understatement! We were helped sooo much, and felt so much love from the members as they have been patient with our blunders and mistakes. (Did I mention that they have a member here like Julie Warcup... it’s the weirdest thing! She does exactly the same things!)
-I know that I am supposed to be here right now. We had so, so, many experiences, where when people opened the door, I knew that I had seen this house, or this family, before in my life. I have never felt so guided by the Lord. There was one time where we had an address, which we knew was right. But when we went there, a family opened the door, and even though it was the wrong family, Sister Labadie and I could barely speak, I knew that I had seen that family before. I knew that we had to find that family.
- We also found another family that is gold!! They have been waiting for us for so long- Lia and Danielo. Lia’s aunt is a member in the US, and we received the reference, and called and went there. They are a really, really young couple, they were married a year ago, and when we taught them- it was the same thing- I knew that I had known them before. I knew we were supposed to be there in that exact moment.
-We also accidentally found a menos ativo family this week, and the mother was smoking. She said she had never been able to quit, and as we taught her, Sister Labadie did the most amazing thing- she got up, grabbed the cigarettes, walked to the bathroom, got them wet, and threw them away. She was teaching so strongly to this woman that she didn’t need them- and the spirit was so strong. It was a really courageous thing of Sister Labadie to do- and just an awesome moment.
- We also are teaching an American, Bobby, whose wife is just like Julie Warcup and is a member. He has gone through many, many, missionaries... but we feel really different with him. We know we are called here to help him too... He is really old, and like the most eccentric old man ever… you know like the old men on Return to Me? Yeah, like that! He’s a riot, and lived in Italy 20 years, America 29 years, and now Brazil. It was really hard teaching him because we had to teach him in English... I was stumbling over all my words.
- I really haven’t even begun to do this week justice, and this email is already so long. But I just have to testify that this has been one of the greatest, if not the greatest past week of my life. I have decided to focus on the restoration and the first vision, and I have seen how this has made a turning point in how I can testify with the spirit. I cannot believe how the Lord has poured out his blessings to help us understand and speak Portuguese, to help us find our way through the area, how he has put people directly in our paths. We decided our goal in our companionship was to be more like the Savior- and this has been so powerful... we have prayed so much more, and really pleaded that we could be instruments in his hands here.
I know that this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and restored all of the truths that we need to truly be happy. I have been happier then I can ever remember these past 7 and half months, and this past week was maravilhosa. I am so grateful for this chance to be here- thank you soo much for all of your prayers, they have helped me soo much.
I love you all!!
Com Amor
Sister Melanie Monroe
posted by Bev at 4:16 PM
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