With or Without You

Wow... I just found out last night that Sister Labadie and I both are in love with this song by U2. I can’t remember how long it has been since I have heard that song, but Sister Labadie and I sang it really loud and enjoyed ourselves. Don’t worry; absolutely no one was in the street because there was a huge rainstorm. Oh wait, that would be every afternoon that we have a thunderstorm. Almost every night we have a huge thunderstorm, or at least a huge show of lightning. Huge thunder claps no longer scare me, but they never cease to amaze me. It’s such a cool show.

Well, I absolutely laughed my head off when I read that my brother went to the Assemblea. I don’t know if really explaining these other religions here can do them justice. But I have for sure had some awkward moments when sister Labadie and I found ourselves in a catholic prayer circle, or when we heard another prayer when the people were shouting. We had another pesquisador that had a really hard time not shouting Gloria Alleluia! during sacrament meeting. haha.

Meanwhile, I don’t know if anyone cared, but the Catholic Church on the other side of our street where Sister Labadie and I live decided to not construct the church during the week. Instead, they have decided its much better to build the church on the Sabbath Day. Ironic isnt it? It’s just funny... Another church that is way common here... ok well its not really a church, its more a belief- and its spiritualism... or espirito here they believe in reincarnation. I am so glad I don’t have to have another life here on earth after this one. It just makes me tired to think of it.

Anyways, I am getting way off topic, this seems to be more of a mind dump today- but we had a great past week. We had the baptism of Prascila, and her family came to see it. It was so special, it had been 20 or more years that her parents hadn’t been to church, and they just cried as their daughter was baptized, and then on Sunday confirmed. It was so special to talk to them, and to challenge them to go to the temple and set a temple date. We have great hopes this will help them, unfortunately Prascilas parents live in another city, so we will just have to write them some letters or something to help them out.

We are super exited because we had a really special Sunday- it was Sister Labadie’s birthday, and we had to eat a ridiculous amount of cake. I feel sick just thinking about it. They threw her a surprise party which was way sweet of them. Sunday was a special day also because Lia got a calling, and Danilo blessed the sacrament. Sister Labadie and I just cried and cried to see Danilo bless the sacrament and he had a huge HUGE smile on his face. It was their wedding anniversary yesterday too... so last night we celebrated their anniversary and sister Labadie’s birthday together! I don’t think they every imagined on their wedding day that in one year they would be celebrating with two crazy Americans. Just goes to show you life is crazy!

Anyways, we are continuing to be blessed incredibly. I am sorry my grammar is so bad, I ant remember how to spell a lot of things. I am having a lot of hard time remembering things from home too.... somebody was asking me about how much things cost in the US. I have no idea. Ha.

But yeah- this ward is so incredible- we love the chance we have every day to bear testimony! I am so excited because this next Sunday will be the baptism of Carol- the girl from the payphone- I don’t know if I told this story- she was the one we couldn’t find, and ended up teaching her like 2 weeks ago, she has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy- and has been so excited for baptism. She is practically a member now- she took us to her Father, and taught a lesson with us there, and it was hilarious because she was teaching him about everything--- she remembered the details of everything about Joseph Smith, the works. It is so amazing how many things we take for granted. These simple truths that we have- people spend a lifetime looking for them.

So here is my challenge for you- give a pass a long card to somebody this week... and don’t just give it to them, take down their address, and then give it to the missionaries. You have nothing to loose- and you never know who is praying to find it. We found out this week that when we sang last week on the onibus, that a girl who was on the bus had been praying and praying for weeks to feel better, and when we sang, she said that great peace filled her whole soul... and she wanted to find out what it was... seriously- we never know who is looking for the message of the gospel! Its great news! Share it!

Ok I really have blabbed long enough. I love you all. I am so grateful for this chance I have to be a missionary. I continue to be amazed at the perfect plan that the Lord has for each of us in our lives. He is always there to guide us and direct us; we just have to turn to him!

Hoorah for Israel! Beijos and Bracos!
Sister Melanie Monroe

What is this a baseball game? No it’s a live concert.

Helloooo one and all, the time once again is passing incredibly fast. Crazy. This past week was awesome, but first off I thought we could break it up and here about something a little different. Just for kicks, Sister Labadie and I made a list of the things we love most on our missions:

-Planner. Yeah... we write everything every thirty minutes. I have never had a planner make it through a full transfer, the last 2 weeks the covers are always, always falling off, and they are sick and dirty… it looks like some child took a crayon and started writing on it... but really it was just me trying to write an address on the bumpy onibus.

-Fanny pack. Yes I have a fanny pack. I know... the sad thing is I have already gone through two, Someone has got to start making these things sturdier. They are so great, because we pack tons of stuff in them, everyday we try to have 3 or 4 livro de mormons with us, hymns, our own livro de mormon, umbrella, toothbrush, pamphlets, pencils and pens, water bottles... bible... and at times a banana. I have tried to avoid the last thing because its gotten mushed a few times. Woops.

-Handkerchief- to wipe the sweat. It really helps.

-Fans- We each have one that we kind of carry around with us around the house.

-Foot Powder, no serious, this is like a great, great thing! We got them for Christmas from our mission president- yes!!

-Ensigns... seriously, they are like gold. My mom sends me the monthly Portuguese one every month and it’s the greatest thing ever. I don’t know if they are different in English or portages, but the Portuguese Liahona was on missionaries this month. It was awesome. Sister Labadie wanted to know why there wasn’t a picture of us in there. I think its because they didn’t want to show how sweaty and dirty missionaries get.

-Jody dresses- that would be the missionary dresses, really... I have had more then a few ugly days on the mission. They are just funny clothes days. Sometimes Sister Labadie and I do it on purpose, just to see what people will say.

-Bleach. That would be because it helps to kill the worms in our shower. Nasty I know. We are fighting and winning against them, don’t worry.

Anyways... that’s just some of the things we have been thankful for this past week. There continue to be soo many miracles every week, thanks to the bondade of the Lord. Sister Labadie’s foot is getting better so fast, we were blessed with a lot of help from the members this last week, and the Lord put soo many people right in front of us this week, as always. We had conference with the Zone, which as always pumps us up to be a little crazy.

We always make announcements on the onibus, but after zone conference we were feeling a little bit more... well... gutsy. So we got up in front of 50 people on the bus, and sang, there is sunshine in my soul today. (it was raining as usual) I wish I could of gotten a photo of the look on peoples faces. It was great because afterwards we knew exactly who to talk to- We made a loud announcement that we were there to teach them about the true gospel of Jesus Christ- and there were several people that excitedly talked to us afterwards.. it was a great way o know who really would be interested in our message. Sister Labadie talked to one woman afterwards who said she had been looking for God. Well we can help with that eh?

The Lord has been so good to us, we will have a baptism this Saturday of a young woman who is a lawyer, and her name is Priscilla. It is awesome because I can’t remember if I told this story already, if I did, you can all just skip to the next paragraph. Anyways, like 3 weeks go we felt to go to a random bairo, where we had never been. And as we were there, a man passed by and said, wow, I was Mormon like 20 years ago.. I haven’t been to church in 20 years... but can you teach my daughter. Sure. We can do that! So he took us to his daughter, we taught her the first lesson, and she just cried and cried as she said her first prayer with us. So special. So we have been working for her for awhile, and her whole family is going to travel here this weekend to see her baptism.

It is also so cool to see how people progress- Daniel got the Holy Ghost this week. And he was so excited. His mom Patricia, who is waiting for her marriage to go through to get married, bought him a shirt and tie and shoes and pants, and he was soo excited to get the Holy Ghost. He told me afterwards he felt soo good when he was receiving the Holy Ghost and Patricia just cried as she saw her son get the Holy Ghost. She then asked for a blessing after church to have help, which was just so beautiful to be a part of it. They are such a great family- and Daniel was promised he would be a great missionary-something we were excited to hear!

Lia and Danilo are awesome- they did medicals for free for another soon to be missionary, and gave their first referral to some other lucky elders :) (It is in another part of Ribeirao Preto)

Anyways, I have rambled on enough... but I am doing great. Last night we had a surprise visit from some other sisters who were coming to Ribeirao Preto. They spent the night at our house, and it felt like a big sleepover. So fun! And it was such a reminder to me how blessed I am to be working with Sister Labadie, we are such great, great friends, which makes the work so fun!

Ok I love you all! PS, the quote is from Return to Me, I was thinking about how horrible our singing was on the bus. ha-ha. Great memories!

Beijos!
Sister Melanie MonroeHelloooo one and all, the time once again is passing incredibly fast. Crazy. This past week was awesome, but first off I thought we could break it up and here about something a little different. Just for kicks, Sister Labadie and I made a list of the things we love most on our missions:

-Planner. Yeah... we write everything every thirty minutes. I have never had a planner make it through a full transfer, the last 2 weeks the covers are always, always falling off, and they are sick and dirty… it looks like some child took a crayon and started writing on it... but really it was just me trying to write an address on the bumpy onibus.

-Fanny pack. Yes I have a fanny pack. I know... the sad thing is I have already gone through two, Someone has got to start making these things sturdier. They are so great, because we pack tons of stuff in them, everyday we try to have 3 or 4 livro de mormons with us, hymns, our own livro de mormon, umbrella, toothbrush, pamphlets, pencils and pens, water bottles... bible... and at times a banana. I have tried to avoid the last thing because its gotten mushed a few times. Woops.

-Handkerchief- to wipe the sweat. It really helps.

-Fans- We each have one that we kind of carry around with us around the house.

-Foot Powder, no serious, this is like a great, great thing! We got them for Christmas from our mission president- yes!!

-Ensigns... seriously, they are like gold. My mom sends me the monthly Portuguese one every month and it’s the greatest thing ever. I don’t know if they are different in English or portages, but the Portuguese Liahona was on missionaries this month. It was awesome. Sister Labadie wanted to know why there wasn’t a picture of us in there. I think its because they didn’t want to show how sweaty and dirty missionaries get.

-Jody dresses- that would be the missionary dresses, really... I have had more then a few ugly days on the mission. They are just funny clothes days. Sometimes Sister Labadie and I do it on purpose, just to see what people will say.

-Bleach. That would be because it helps to kill the worms in our shower. Nasty I know. We are fighting and winning against them, don’t worry.

Anyways... that’s just some of the things we have been thankful for this past week. There continue to be soo many miracles every week, thanks to the bondade of the Lord. Sister Labadie’s foot is getting better so fast, we were blessed with a lot of help from the members this last week, and the Lord put soo many people right in front of us this week, as always. We had conference with the Zone, which as always pumps us up to be a little crazy.

We always make announcements on the onibus, but after zone conference we were feeling a little bit more... well... gutsy. So we got up in front of 50 people on the bus, and sang, there is sunshine in my soul today. (it was raining as usual) I wish I could of gotten a photo of the look on peoples faces. It was great because afterwards we knew exactly who to talk to- We made a loud announcement that we were there to teach them about the true gospel of Jesus Christ- and there were several people that excitedly talked to us afterwards.. it was a great way o know who really would be interested in our message. Sister Labadie talked to one woman afterwards who said she had been looking for God. Well we can help with that eh?

The Lord has been so good to us, we will have a baptism this Saturday of a young woman who is a lawyer, and her name is Priscilla. It is awesome because I can’t remember if I told this story already, if I did, you can all just skip to the next paragraph. Anyways, like 3 weeks go we felt to go to a random bairo, where we had never been. And as we were there, a man passed by and said, wow, I was Mormon like 20 years ago.. I haven’t been to church in 20 years... but can you teach my daughter. Sure. We can do that! So he took us to his daughter, we taught her the first lesson, and she just cried and cried as she said her first prayer with us. So special. So we have been working for her for awhile, and her whole family is going to travel here this weekend to see her baptism.

It is also so cool to see how people progress- Daniel got the Holy Ghost this week. And he was so excited. His mom Patricia, who is waiting for her marriage to go through to get married, bought him a shirt and tie and shoes and pants, and he was soo excited to get the Holy Ghost. He told me afterwards he felt soo good when he was receiving the Holy Ghost and Patricia just cried as she saw her son get the Holy Ghost. She then asked for a blessing after church to have help, which was just so beautiful to be a part of it. They are such a great family- and Daniel was promised he would be a great missionary-something we were excited to hear!

Lia and Danilo are awesome- they did medicals for free for another soon to be missionary, and gave their first referral to some other lucky elders :) (It is in another part of Ribeirao Preto)

Anyways, I have rambled on enough... but I am doing great. Last night we had a surprise visit from some other sisters who were coming to Ribeirao Preto. They spent the night at our house, and it felt like a big sleepover. So fun! And it was such a reminder to me how blessed I am to be working with Sister Labadie, we are such great, great friends, which makes the work so fun!

Ok I love you all! PS, the quote is from Return to Me, I was thinking about how horrible our singing was on the bus. ha-ha. Great memories!

Beijos!
Sister Melanie Monroe

No March Madness aqui... but aguas de marco!!

Well, it’s honestly quite weird to think that it’s March. To me, I have permanently been in the month of July this whole time here. Michael said something about a fan that was hysterical- that one of the best things ever was to arrive home and sit in front of the fan... So true! I have my own personal fan, and it moves with me around the house. When we plan it is with me, and as I sleep at night on top of the sheets, it is on full boar right at my head all night. Yeah for fans!!

This week has been an amazing one- once again we were blessed with so many miracles. I really learned how the Lord answers our prayers, at any moment. We had soo many great powerful experiences- but here are just two of them from this week that were incredible- one night we were about to visit Patricia, the mother of Julia. We have been teaching this family after Julia was baptized 2 weeks ago... They are soo great! Anyways, right before we entered the apartment, Sister Labadie and I said a prayer that we would be able to talk to Patricia about baptism and about her marriage... it’s a rather complicated situation. Well anyways, as we entered and then sat down, the first thing Patricia said to us was- I want to talk to you two- I would like to be baptized but I have some questions about my marriage first. Wow... how is that for a quick answer to a prayer!

So Patricia will be getting baptized soon here, she wants to so badly...she will be getting married in the next month here, there is a bit of paperwork she has to do, but it will all work out. It was so exciting because she wanted her son, Daniel to be baptized this week, to help her family progress, and also to help her fiancé visit the church. Well, Daniel was baptized and it was a really special baptism, he had the biggest, biggest smile on his face as he entered the waters of baptism, and Patricia had tears dripping down her face... she has such a great desire to be baptized! And the best part? Her fiancé, Cyfalnre came to the baptism, and loved it! He will be coming to church next week to see Daniel receive the Holy Ghost. So Sister Labadie and I are soo excited- it is amazing to see how things open up because of the desires of the Lord.

It is awesome to see our recent converts help this new family. Lia and Danilo have been such help for them as well- and once again, it is just awesome to spend time with this family. Lia and Danilo have this permanent smile that wont wipe off their face. We talked to Danilo about the priesthood, and found out, that he knows more about it then Sister Labadie and I! haha! He already had marked an interview with the bishop, and was telling us all about the different quorums of the setenta... because lets be honest, like I knew that much about it all? I don’t know... its the priesthood... We taught what it is, but when it comes to the details of it all, I am a little lost. Looks like that is something I could study...

Anyways, as far as the other really great experience- this happened last week. It was at the end of our Pday, and Sister Labadie and I decided to make a few phone calls at a payphone we try not to use... anyways, we were there and I started making calls, and Sister Labadie started talking to this lady. Well, as Sister Labadie started sharing about the gospel, this lady, Carol, just started to cry and cry. She said she had just had a miscarriage and lost twins, and this was exactly what she needed to here. We talked to her for awhile, and set up an appointment to teach her the next day.

Well the next day, we looked and looked for her house, and couldn’t find the street. I was so frustrated, because I knew she was waiting, and I felt it was so important to visit her! That night as we were home I poured over the map, trying to find the street where she lived. Well we started praying that we would be able to find her again... all week we thought about her, but never saw her.

Well yesterday, we had lunch in a really far away neighborhood. Afterwards we felt impressed to stop in a member’s house quickly, and to our surprise a different member, SuElli was visiting there. She quickly offered to give us a ride home, and as we were driving in the car with her, we saw Carol. Well Sister Labadie yelled stop stop stop! And so SuElli stopped the car, we yelled at Carol, and began to talk to her.....push comes to shove, we ended up going to her house, teaching a lesson... and I know now why we had to wait to find her. SuElli was exactly who needed to talk to her- she has had a life very much like Carol, and it was her advice that made a difference. Carol cried and cried as we taught her about prayer and gave her a Book of Mormon... she asked us to start from ground zero with her, and teach her everything we know and help her make this change in her life. Well sure, twist my arm!

It truly is amazing to see how the Lord works. I have been blown away with how many truly elect people, people who have been so prepared and waiting for the gospel, have been put directly in our lives. It is such a blessing to us to be a small part of this work and to be able to bear our testimony to these people.

I can see now why people never want to leave the mission- the joy is so indescribable. Everyday now I get antsy to leave and to share my testimony. I know that this gospel is true, and I know that with faith, we can have a power to do miracles. Because the biggest miracle of all is seeing ourselves change as we help others come to know the truth. The biggest miracle of all is seeing what Christ can make of our life, to see how this perfect gospel, takes a small ordinary person like me, and changes every part of me!

Oh yeah... And even though the work is serious, there are some hysterical moments. Here is a good one, this past week Sister Labadie and I were walking and ended up talking to one man... and he told us that "He had been Mormon in his past life." We asked him to explain that, and he said that his therapist told him that he had lived in the US in his last life, probably Utah, and it looked like he had been moron. Well that’s just great.

Oh and the other one, Patricia’s daughter wanted to ask someone if they knew the missionaries and instead she said "Voce conhece os dicionarias" Which means do you know the dictionaries? So now when we arrived at their house we say, The Dictionaries are arriving! She is hysterical. She can’t say Sister Labadies name either so it’s Sister Monroe and Sister Laba... haha.

Anyways, times up, its time to run! I love you all!!!

Beijos e Bracos!!
Sister Felony Gibson Monroe (ask KC or Ali if you dont get that one)

Vichi Maria!! Mesericordia

Holy Cow, first off... in two days, yes in only two days, it will be my half way mark!!! Nine months on the mission. Misericordia, what happened to this mission? It is flying by so fast. I can’t believe it!! Sister Labadie and I were talking about how fast this last year has flown by for us... soo fast. And yet, I think this week I was beginning to see how much I have changed. Nothing huge you know, but just a lot of little things. And so you add up all the little things, and it’s a big change, sabe?

Here is a funny thing that Sister Labadie told me this week- She told me one day, I am so grateful for you because you taught me not to care what we look like. ahhhhhh.... hahaha. Ok, so yeah, I don’t really ever get ready these days. We honestly don’t have time! And it’s so stinking hot and so I just end up sweating like the first second after my shower. And it is still raining a ton here too... We had a really funny moment this week where the rain was so strong that it broke my umbrella and Sister Labadie’s umbrella. So yeah, add the rain, sweat, and the fact that we run a lot, we are quite a sight! But hey, it’s Brazil!!

But yeah, I would have to say that this last week was one of the greatest weeks on the mission for me. Saturday night was really special because there was a..... drumroll everyone........ ECLIPSE!! and a BAPTISM! ok no really, the great news was the baptism, the eclipse was just a double bonus. No, Saturday night we had the baptism of Lia and Danilo. I have yet to see anyone more prepared to be baptized then this family. It was such a special day. Saturday morning I woke up so early because I was so excited, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. All day Saturday we were so antsy, waiting for this baptism... ok wait, it was like that all week. They were counting the days too- we had a countdown chain with them!!

It was such a special night, and to think of how much I have seen them change in the last 6 weeks. They are so intelligent, and have really grasped unto all parts of the gospel. They are so excited to go to the temple in a year- they will be great leaders in the church, we could feel that as we taught them, and it was confirmed to us this weekend. The coolest thing too was that President and Sister Condie, our mission president, came to the baptism too... it was such a special night! They had asked us to sing Families can be together forever for the last song... and there were a lot of tears as we all celebrated together.

And then when we left, we saw the lunar eclipse, soo cool. And it just seemed like another reminder how great this life is. Sunday at church I was just honestly overwhelmed with gratitude. I use to think that joy was from winning a basketball game, striking out a girl in softball, beating everyone in cross country… you know, all those things. And while those are great… The joy that I feel now, the joy of knowing that these people will be going to the temple... this family last week, and Lia and Danilo this week.. These are events that I want from the bottom of my soul to see. The joy I feel is so unreal.

There were so many other great things that happened this week. The Lord is pouring his blessings upon this area; I know that a part of it is because of all of your prayers. I would like to share the other experiences, but I don’t even know where to start.

I know this gospel is true, and that real joy comes when we share it with others. The aunt of Lia, who lives in Idaho, is a member. She prayed for 32 years that someone would accept the gospel. And now because she had the courage to give us this reference, Lia and Danilo now have the blessings of the gospel- and their lives and the lives of their family will never be the same. Share the gospel with someone, success is in the invitation- not the reception- of the gospel!

Anyways, I have got to run, but I love you all!! Ate!!

Sister Melanie Felony Monroe