Vamor aprender nadar!

Wow... how has another week flown by... I almost started crying this morning when I realized it is almost july. Where is this year going.... It is so true when they say that every transfer of your mission just gets faster and faster, this transfer is FLYING by... and this past week was so great- sooo great!pete- happy late bday!! sorry i am a fubeca.I don’t have too much time, because Sister Menezes and I made the journey into the Centro today to do some fun stuff here- the other elders are having super pday, but we are opting out of the games to do some needed stuff- like pay bills, that I have put off for a bit…. Oops, and trying to find a post office, which is way hard to find here in brasil. I cant complain because at least we are in cities that have them. And we will do some other needed stuff... but I had to at least write some of the highlights of the last week!!

Ascención was baptized!!! This woman is amazing, as she entered the font she had a huge smile, and said, time to learn to swim again!! haha! She is 78, and hysterical!! I love her! She was soo happy this week as she decided to be baptized, her daughter is a member, but left the church after problems in her marriage. She tried to talk Ascencion out of baptizing this week, but Ascención recieved such strong responses to her prayers, that she would not be swayed... how incredible. She was soo happy yesterday, and said that inside she was a child again. wow. Everyone in the church was happy too, because it has been 20 years that she has recieved visits from the missionaries!!! A lot of people at church knew her, so that made for some fun.

Sara also baptized!! A 11 year old, the sister of Nadieji also decided to follow Nadiejis examle and be baptized. She has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy, and just loves it all...she was super, super happy, and all week was waiting for her interiew with the elders, and waiting for her turn. Nadieji just glowed as she watched her little sister be baptized, and her mom showed up to watch this time... lets see if we can help the mom, shes a little slower, but is warming up to everything... and the two younger siblings of Nadieji and Sara just love church, they are 6 and 7, and I think feel very left out that they cant be baptized. So that was exciting.

We also had a funny, kind of sad thing happen this week. I am learning to loove the law of chastity... we had to teach it to a boyfriend and girlfriend this week, they have been dating for 3 years, and have had really, really bad experiences with marriage. We prepared and prepared, and taught a great lesson full of the spirit, asked them to follow the commandment, and then they said, "but of course we wont follow it." well, we kept teaching and trying, but some people are just hard... the only thing we could do was laugh, (when we left) at how much they didn't feel the spirit... we will keep trying with them, because they want to be baptized... ahh well.

But the good news is that we are teaching Geraldo, the same man who sat watching us sing on the bus for 5 months now, and now wants to be baptized- he has gone to church 3 or 4 times, and is leaving his girlfriend and moving to be baptized... wow. There is a man of faith. He is incredible.

We are also teaching a great family who have 4 kids, that want to be baptized, just have to help Dad find another job so he doesnt have to work on Sunday... so much to do.

Well, I love the mission, I loved Michaels last email, it was pretty much right on, so if anyone wants a sermon, read his blog. I am great here, trucking along, and crying myself to sleep at night because it is July, almost. Why is the time passing so blasted fast!! ahhh...so I am going to run.. love you all!!

love,
Sister Melanie Monroe

"A new Woman" and "the Happiest Day in my life"

Well, this past week was INCREDIBLE! I took a deep breath after a lot of advice from family and friends about slowing down, and relaxing a bit...and had an incredible week. I am learning a lot about balance- about reporting to the master, and not worrying about what other people think.... Its so easy to stress in life, and I tenho certeza that Heavenly Father doesn’t like when we try to do so many things that we end up fainting... so these past 2 weeks I have been trying to be realistic, do everything I can, and leave it up to the Lord... and wow- this is really his work!! He has poured out blessings on us this past week!!

These two phrases I put as the subject line are from 2 incredible women that baptized on Sunday. The first was Eva, a woman we have been teaching for 5 weeks. She was definitely a fight- she had already been baptized 2 times, and really felt that the last time was valid. She has been going to church straight for 1 month, and we had invited her to be baptized so many times.... But these past 2 weeks we invited lots and lots of members to visit her, and we had an incredible visit with her with Danilo and Lia. They shared their testimonies and were glowing with the spirit... and Eva accepted to be baptized on Sunday. It was soo great being there with Danilo, because I sat there thinking of how it was exactly the same with him- a fight! And there he was, helping us fight again! I loved it!! Him and Lia are amazing.

Eva is an incredible woman, and we have no doubt that her two sons will follow her soon... they have already gone to church a bunch of times. Eva is a seamstress, and is possibly the most talented person I have met. She creates designs and sews whatever she thinks of. She makes the most beautiful things, and has started up 2 businesses these past few weeks. So she is AMAZING. And as she came up out of the water she was just glowing, and said "I am a new woman!" This has been a lifetime journey for her, 6 years ago she was sick of churches and the confusion, and she said a prayer that she wouldn’t go to church until someone knocked on her door. And then she would know that it was the Lords church. And the church had to be close, she asked as well. Well, 5 weeks ago we knocked on her door; it was a wrong address, but the right address and the right people realmente.(really) And the church is a short 5 minute walk. Wahoo!! She is amazing.

The next woman is Nadieji. She was someone who was completely prepared by the Lord. We talked to her grandmother on the street, and her grandmother gave her the cartao de amizade,(pass along card) and she called to receive the DVD, and impatiently waited. She is an amazing girl- she is only 15, but she is raising her 3 siblings, because her mother works all day. She takes them to church, and does everything for them- cooks, cleans, helps them with homework. She is amazing, a 15 year old with a 25 year old mind. She was so prepared by the Lord, and remembers everything we taught her, she was baptized yesterday even with a lot of opposition of her mother and neighbors. She is incredible, and told us that yesterday was "the happiest day of my life."

So this week was certainly a week that I learned that this is the Lords work. We do all that we can, think that these other people will progress, and the Lord really puts people in our path, that HE has prepared. The gospel is so true, so perfect! I feel so moved when I think of how I have had it my whole life, and taken it for granted. These people search their whole life, and when they find it, they give up everything for it- work, family relationships, success in jobs... everything! It is amazing.

We are still working with Ascencion, she was sick last weekend and so we couldn’t do much to teach her, we just visited and sang with her. We are also teaching a big family!! Yeah!! And have some other amazing, amazing people that are progressing. And all of this is what the Lord has done- because the more time I am out here, the more I realize that what I think, is not what the Lord thinks.

I love the mission, I love Brasil, I love rice and beans. Pretty much I can’t remember being happier in my life!! Thanks everyone for the letters and love, the letters I received this past week made me soo happy. Thank You thank you!!

beijos!
sister felony melanie monroe

Um Dia Inesquecivel !!

Yes. Yesterday was an unforgettable day. I have one thing to say- I think I am doomed with bad luck for stake conferences in Brazil. Remember the stake conference that happened in Porto Ferreira about 6 months ago? Or rather, didn’t happen.... let me refresh everyone’s mind. Yes, the branch decided not to wait for Sister R. Silva and I even though we had clearly called them and asked them to wait for 5 minutes- we had 6 pesquisadores and 1 baptism planned for that conference... and they didn’t even wait one minute. And so I didn’t even go to church that day. But yes, I think it is one of the funniest stories of my mission, and luckily for me- it quasi happened yesterday... again!

But I am getting ahead of myself, to really appreciate how horrible/ funny yesterday was, I think we will have to do a play by play. So here we go- here was my morning yesterday.

6:30 wake up, get ready for church

8:00 call a bunch of pesquisadores/ members, wake a bunch of people up and remind them about church. I make sure and leave a few minutes on my calling card thingy (they dont have this in the US) in case of an emergency, and to call the elders that night.

8:20 A member Vera picks us up, we go with her to pick up a pesquisador- Asenciáo, a 78 year old woman that is amazing! She is the funniest person I have ever met, hysterical. She isn’t quite ready, but we arrange for Vera to return in 15 minutes to pick her up.

8:35 We drive by another woman, who could of been baptized, but chose not to even wake up. She didn’t want to go. We feel sad, but pass by Marcia, a recent convert, and Vera takes us to the church in Iraja.

9:00 Marcia, Sister Menezes and I arrive at church, where we will wait to take the Van to Stake Conference, a good 30 minute drive to the other side of Ribeirao Preto. Vera leaves to go pick up Acenciáo and other members, and we plan to meet her there.

9:05 Eva, Junior, Filipe, Marcia, And Gilberto and Sister and I are waiting for the van

9:15 the hour the van is supposed to pass by. We are still waiting

9:25 I am starting to get nervous. We are still waiting

9:30 I start calling everyone that I know that can take us to Conference. But the phone card quickly gets eaten up, and I end up calling corbrar... I don’t know what this is in English, and I talk to a few people and it seems like that I have sent someone back to get us. I try calling a few other people, but no one answers their phones. I think I called a good 12 or so people. I am feeling nervous.

9:45 I cant believe it... still waiting. I want to cry, but can only laugh. Eva asks us if they forgot us.

10:00 Junior and Filipe have had enough, they walk back home. I cant blame them, I would too if I was them. (Did I say that? oops.) Marcia and Eva walk to buy bread, clearly breaking the Sabbath day, but Sister and I are so confused that we just laugh and tell them to come back in a few minutes. Sister Menezes has the idea to call a taxi...

10:10 Eva, Marcia, Gilberto and I cram into a taxi and take off for the other side of town... no one has an address or an idea where it is, but we know generally where it is, so we take off. Oh and I forgot, Sister and I lost our house keys during this time tambem.

10: 45 We are lost in the other side of town. We don’t know where the church is. The taxi driver isn’t very happy. We stop to pull over, and Gilberto, a pesquisador that just showed up out of nowhere (we taught him like 6 weeks ago and he didn’t seem interested at all, and he just randomly showed up) suddenly, and strangely, knows where the church is, and guides us all there.

11:10 we arrive there!! Sister and I have never been so excited to arrive to church.. sure we are an hour late, but we are there!! There are TONS of people... we find a few chairs in the last 2 aisles... unfortunately we are sitting in the "youth" section and no one wants to listen.

11:40 The General Authority, Elder Pisarani, gives an outstanding talk- that made the whole trip and confusion worth it.

12:00 the conference ends, and then we have to figure out how to get everyone home.... I don’t even want to get started.

So there we just have half of the day, a day that was insane, crazy, and I just hope never happens again. I am scared for my next stake conference here in Brazil. I think I will make like 5 backup plans next time. ahh. It was crazy, we laughed and laughed, because I didn’t know what else to do.... But seriously, the last talk was so special. There I was, not able to hear ANTHING, praying that they could say something that we could hear, and that would touch the heart of the pesquisadores that had sacrificed more then 2 hours to get there... and when he spoke- it ended up being what I needed to hear. He read my favorite scripture- Romans 8:38-39... and even though there were hundreds of people there... I felt like this man was just speaking to me. I felt so moved... words really don’t describe.

Really, this last week was an interesting one, a bit crazy and hard. I had a fever at the beggining of the week, actually I had it for like a week and didnt even know it, I am thinking thats the real reason I passed out. But yeah, the fever miracoulously went away, we had zone conference, we had baptisms fall through.. tudo bem, and had surprise pesquisadores that make it all worth it.

I am excited for this upcoming week because we have some incredible people that we are teaching. Ascencion is one of these- she is 78, but said a prayer Saturday night to know if the church was true, and felt the words come to her mind that she needed to follow this church. She is incredible, so hysterical- we have been teaching a few old people, one as old as 98, but Ascencion is different because she is humble and has accepted baptism! wahoo!! We are still working with Eva, Junior, and Filipe, who are incredible and just need to ACT! ahh. We are also teaching another older couple who is great, Valter and Regina, and just have some awesome people.

So things are great! Like Michael said a few weeks ago, sometimes you just have to laugh. Ha-ha. And hope that the next stake conference will be in a church building close so I can walk there! Ha-ha!

Ok I love you all!! Beijos!
Sister Felony Melanie Monroe

Dismaiei

Well if anyone (besides Michael) can figure out what that says, they get 5 pesoca! (The best peanut candy ever) This week was for sure one of those weeks that you are glad to get through. But it was awesome- I had a few exciting/ funny/ strange things happen. So here it goes- here are things that I actually heard people say this week-

"Voce consigue ver ele? Eu não consigo." (Have you seen Him? I haven’t seen him!) A little girl told us this as we were teaching her grandmother about prayer. She was so upset that she hadn’t seen God when she prayed... we tried not to laugh and told her that generally people don’t see God when they pray... only prophets. But it was so funny to hear how dismayed she was that she couldn’t see God- " Eu não consigo."

"Este escritura e muito boa! Sabe porque? Porgue eu temo homem." (This scripture is great, you know why? Because I fear man!) We read 2 Nefi 8:12 with Maria, a mother of a recent convert, and it talks about not fearing man. Well, in short terms, Maria is a hypochondriac, and she has diabetes, and has a great fear of doctors... but she still goes to the hospital everyday. But it was great because after months of asking her to go on visits with us and her never going; she went on 2 visits with us this week! And she bore her testimony about scriptures and the church- it was fantastic! And two of the families that she helped us with went to church! And loved it! So that was waay exciting!

"E eu olhei e vi que este não é italiano, é romino." This would be Danilo, who continues to amaze me. He was telling me of a cool experience he had this week- he is a doctor and so has to be constantly reading articles in English, Italian, and Spanish- and he needed to read an article about a certain drug, it was important. So he found an article about the drug, it looked like Italian, and he began reading, and understood everything that he needed to- and when he finished, he looked at the end, and saw that it wasn’t Italian, but Romano... a language that he doesn’t know! It was so awesome- I told him it was a gift of the spirit, and he just beamed!

"Sister, sister, sister, sister!!!" This would be Sister Menezes, shouting my name on Saturday morning... I had a bit of an interesting experience. We moved our fasting Friday to Saturday, thinking that would be better for us. Well, I didn’t feel so hot going into the fast, but let’s be honest- doest anyone feel healthy when we fast? No. So anyways, there we are fasting and Saturday when I woke up I felt really, really weak. So we were getting ready for the day, and I was in the bedroom with Sister Menezes when I suddenly passed out. I guess I was out for 2 minutes or so, and I woke up sooo confused... I woke up talking Portuguese, a true miracle, but I had to think for awhile to remember that I am in.... Brasil... I am.....a missionary ... my companion is.... Sister Menezes... yeah it was a bit funny. I have had the worst headache since then, but I was able to have a priesthood blessing which was incredible. Danilo gave it to me!! That was so cool, he got the Sacerdocio Melchesideque 2 weeks ago, so this was his first blessing. It was sooo incredible, Lia sat there with us, watching, and we all cried, the spirit was so strong. And I felt so much better afterwards; the headache is just a dull roar now.

So anyways, these are just a few things that happened... there are a dozen of other things that happened, but I couldn’t really do them justice. I love being a missionary; I love the power of the scriptures- I think Nefi and Capitao Moroni wrote some of these scriptures just for Sister Monroe! I love the power of prayer, it is so real, Heavenly Father is so close, just waiting to talk to us, we just have to begin.

Be Happy, Be grateful! And remember that I love you all. I am grateful for your prayers- Have a fantastic week! (Oh and by the way, in 3 days it will be 0ne year that I am here in Brazil!! HOLY COW!!! Misericordia.)

Beijos... não!...ate
Sister Melanie Monroe