How do you feel? And for posterity’s sake, please be honest.

Hello, Hello, Hello.... one more week has flown by, and I am sure all of you are completely stressed with school, work... etc... all the workings of normal life. I am feeling a lot better, and back to the normal stress of the mission... which is awesome! We are working hard, and this week we booked it all over our area- which is huge! We have to take the onibus a lot because it’s so huge... once again I have another little city in our area, which is fun.

I finally talked my companion into singing with me on the onibus, and now she loves it. It’s a little scary the first time, and the second time... but after a few days your legs start shaking. haha! We always sing the same hymn- "minha alma hoje tem a luz" My soul today has light? What hymn is this in English? Terrible, terrible. But it’s really fun, it’s a super upbeat hymn.

We live next to a peanut factory that makes pacoca and a bunch of peanut candy (just not peanut butter -sad) and so everyday there is a smell of toasted peanuts... yum. Why is it that I always live next to the smell of food? In Iraja we lived above a paderia... bread store I think? And there was always a smell of bread... yum. But this peanut smell is way better, and it’s even better because pacoca is waaay cheap. Which is good because about a year ago I developed a viçio de pacoca. I am addicted to this pacoca stuff. It’s the best ever- (family its that peanut butter fudge thingy I sent home)

We also live next to a biiiig catholic church. Funny because in Iraja it was the same... only that here this church is humongous. A lot of nights we can here the mass and stuff. Interesting. This city has a ton of churches, I think I am going to start taking pictures of how many different churches there are here- you wouldn’t believe it. And everyone with a name more absurd- The Church of Jesus Christ of the seventh day, the baptism church, God is love, Universal, the Assembly, There are tons of Jehovah Witnesses, espiritisma, The College of Christ, The Spinal Cord of Christ (no, I am not joking) Alan Kardec, The tabernacle of Faith, the Christ Congregation, ....and it just keeps going and going.
Its no wonder that there are so many confused people here.

We are teaching some great people- This week was a little frustrating. The past two weeks we have been helping an old woman stop smoking so she could be baptized- Francisca. She wanted soooo badly to be baptized and stop smoking, and she stopped smoking completely this past week. And she was super excited to be baptized, and completely firme until a few hours before the baptism Sunday afternoon. And some relative that she hadn’t seen in over 6 months showed up out of the blue telling lies about the church... lies so ridiculous that its hard to think that people believe it. (That after she baptized she would have to travel to another country and walk a lot, that the church was only about sacrifice, that we didn’t believe in God or the Holy Ghost... only Christ)

So it was really sad to see on Sunday afternoon how the lies of Satan sometimes are so crazy, but people believe them. Needless to say she did not want to be baptized, or even go to church. So we will see if we can do some damage control this week... who knows.

So that was a bid frustrating, but the good news is that my companion is awesome, and we shrugged it off and kept on working. We have some great other pesquisadors that we will focus on (all of them chose not to come to church on Sunday... ugh) But I am positive that there are lots and lots of people waiting for us.

We had a funny moment this past week, we contacted some reference and this lady had 2 pit bulls- huge, huge pit bulls. We asked if we could come in, and she said, "Well if you are willing to risk it, but I don’t know what these pit bulls will do. They don’t know you." I looked at my companion and said, "vamos!" (Let’s go) Only that she has a great fear of dogs ( I don’t blame her, these dogs were ugly) And I entered in the gate. Only that I didn’t see that the crazy lady shut the gate behind me, and my companion who wasn’t so close to me, was shut out. (The gates here are huge and opaque) For about 2 minutes I couldn’t see my companion. I had 2 huge pit bulls around me, and this crazy lady trying to calm them, and me trying to explain to the lady to open the gate so my companion could come in, and trying to shout to my companion to stay close to come in. It was a big mess. And finally she opened up the gate, and sister Santo walked in... crazy. We taught the lady, and as we were leaving, the pit bulls started to playfully bite the lady... crazy, crazy. We were so glad to leave, Sister Santo was shaking, but we could only laugh and laugh because it was another crazy missionary moment.

Anyways- it’s about time to get going, I have to go get another x ay to make sure everything’s all right. I am loving it here in SJRP- its kind of a mix between Iraja and Porto Ferreira.... way interesting. I love being on the mission- already in 2 weeks here I feel like there is soo much to do! Vamos la!!

Love you all!!
Sister Melanie Monroe

PS- Thanks grandma for all the letters. Mike was right on when he said you are our most faithful letter writer. You rock! Thanks!!

Feeling Better at Last!

Yay... once again the week has passed by way too fast. I am feeling more and more anxious at the way time is passing in this year, and more inadequate in writing in English. That last sentence I wrote was terrible. I am going to have to take an English class for sure when I get back. I saw an American yesterday, and once again, had great difficulty talking to her. I say stupid things like, how many years do you have?

então... seria tão mais facil escrever em portugues, mas só mike ia entender. tudo bom. Ok so I am super, super excited because I am finally beginning to feel better!! Wahoo!! I think that maybe this week I will get to work normal, we will see... I have to go to the doctors again today and see... but the good news is..... I do not have tuberculosis! Yes, that’s right, the doctors here thought the past 2 weeks that I had tuberculosis, I had to do a bunch of exams... one that was a mini surgery and supposedly "10 minutes", but ended up being 2 hours that I was put to sleep... my companion wasn’t with me and nearly had a heart attack when I was gone for soo long. Ha-ha. Poor thing. But yes, all the results came back well; I do not have TB... thank heavens, just a very, very bad case of pneumonia. Apparently there’s a nasty case of pneumonia that is going around Brazil that looks identical to TB when they do the X-rays and cat-skans and all that jazz. And the good news is that my body seems to be finally responding to everything and I am feeling a looot better. I still feel tired, but not like I was feeling beforehand so its all wonderful! I am happy, terrific, and almost healthy! I think its really quite funny that they thought I had TB... I remember when I was leaving my Boss (Hi Dave!) told me, wow, I cant wait to see what you pick up there in Brasil.....we all know that I have a weird, weird, history of being that .01% case that gets the weird sickness or has the weird reaction. Ha-ha, and it just continues. When I went back to the hospital, all of the nurses were like, you again? Ha-ha. But the good news is, its pretty much all passed!! Wahoo!

Well that’s not really too exciting, so I’ll get down to telling about this new area. Its a really pretty city here, São Jose do Rio Preto, we have a good area, a good ward, and I have a good companion, Sister Santo. She’s from Pernaboca, that makes the second companion I have had from there- she lives in a city Olinda right on the beach. We both miss the beach :( But anyways its funny because we were both born (mission terms) in the same area- Porto Ferreira. She was there with my old companion Sister McCallister before I got there, and she was transferred when I got there. So its fun to work with her, she was also a nurse before the mission...so really Pai Celestial had it all worked out for me.

Funny story, we were teaching a pesquisador on Saturday night, and we were singing a hymn when the house began to shake and shake and shake. I stopped singing and nervously grabbed the chair- it was an earthquake! I couldn’t believe it! Well, at least I thought it was.... Turns out there is a train that passes behind that house, and the house shakes violently every time the train passes by. I nearly died laughing afterwards. And my companion and the family we were teaching laughed even more than me for a good hour. But it seriously did feel like an earthquake, if another Californian had been there with me, I am pretty sure they would of thought the same thing. And the blondeness continues...

Oh yes, speaking of blonde, I am now a brunette. My hair was getting so burned and sooo bad that I needed to paint it darker. Too bad its already turning a bit blonde again because of the sun.

We are teaching some great new people, I have been a bit lost this whole week, but its great! I am super excited about this new area, I already feel that there is a lot of work to do... we already have a bunch new people, vamos lá!! The great thing about being in a new area is that you have to once again, rely on the spirit to be guided and know what to say to people, members, recent converts- because I don’t know any of their problems, worries, etc. It is great saying things to people, and then afterwards thinking, wow, I don’t even know why I said that...
The spirit is the most amazing thing!!!

Ok got to run...Love you all, good luck with school starting... how is it already time for school to start ? Que Tristeza.. Thank you everyone for your prayers for my health, they made a huge, huge difference!!

Beijos!
Sister Melanie Monroe

Bittersweet - from Aug 13, 2007

I liked what Mike said in his email about highs and lows. The past 3 weeks have been a lot of that, as I have been in and out of the hospital, struggling with my own health, and also trying to help our dear pesquisadors.

The best things really did happen though- Marines and Adriano were married Friday Morning, which was my first Brazilian wedding. quite interesting, but soooo great. It was soo awesome to see them get married, put on the rings, and be so excited. The best part was seeing how their spirits changed because of their obedience to Gods Commandments! And then the best, best, best thing of all was to see them get baptized the next day. It was amazing.

Sometimes, no, many times on the mission I have no words to describe the joy of these moments. To see how they look so different after baptism, sometimes it seems impossible that the same person can look so different after this simple ordinance. But they really do have a new light around them. Adriano especially... it has been a great privilege to see this man, w ho didn’t want to get married, didn’t want to EVER wear a tie, shirt, etc, change soo much. In the end He was the most firme! He was sooo excited to be baptized, to be married, to receive the Holy Ghost. He bought a tie and shirt, and wore them to be married, to be baptized, and to receive the Holy Ghost.... And he cried and cried as he felt the spirit at his baptism, He will be a great man in the church, and Marines will be right there beside them. Their son Eduardo is super excited to be baptized next year, by his dad!! They told us that they were so excited to be 'Mormon.'

Truly the highs were so great. I also finished o livro de mormon for the third time on my mission on Saturday. I read a looot when I was in the hospital (there wasn’t anything else to do.) I have never read so much so fast. And really- this book is true. I have never felt so comforted, and so overwhlemed my the spirit of this book. Read it! I liked mikes idea of reading in 40 days, it really is a good idea to read it super fast once in awhile.

And wow, here is for the big, big news. I was transferred!!!! After 8 months in Iraja, in the center of Ribeirao Preto, I was transferred to São Jose do Rio Preto. It is a beautiful city, about the same size of Ribeirao Preto, and we live in the center. it seems that I really am a city girl :) This city is about a 4 hour bus ride north of Ribeirao, and it is a part of the mission I have never been too...oh wait, I have only had 2 areas on my mission, so there really aren’t that many parts of the mission I have been to... haha...And my new companion is Sister Santos, I am super excited!

It was really, really hard leaving Iraja. It felt like a part of my heart was breaking, to leave all of these people that I love so much. To see how each of them has grown and changed, the callings they have, the priesthood many of the men have...the light and growth they have made. Mike said it right- you feel like part of the ward so deeply, and so the things that happen to the ward, seem to affect me even more then the proprio members of the ward. It was really, really hard leaving. And as I said goodbye, It was even harder to see them crying... they have never had a missionary stay so long in a ward.

But I know this is the right move. It’s hard to say goodbye, but I have to- because I know there are just new people waiting here in Rio Preto. Yeah!!! It’s just funny because this will most likely be my last area... seeing how I don’t really move around that much. He he.

Oh yes, and the pneumonia is kind of getting better. I feel tired a lot, but I hear that this is normal. Brazilians seem to think that a person with pneumonia can’t eat cold food. (Which if you ask me, is ridiculous). I really just wanted to eat ice cream last week. tudo bem. I am getting sick of soup. ha-ha. But yes, I have to do some more exams to make sure everything is healing up right, but we will see how that goes. it is better because now I am in the area of the mission doctor, wahoo!! I am excited about that, seeing as I always seem to be that 1% person that gets the really weird case of things... yeah.

But anyways, we don’t have too much time, Pday is coming to an end, we spent the major part of our day on the bus traveling here.

But yep, wahoo, new adventures in the mission! Love you all, thanks sooo much for the letters, prayers, and support.

Beijos to all...
Sister Melanie Monroe (the Fel Gibster)

Eu fui Internada - I was Interned

Então.... things have been a little bit exciting in the past week. I was hospitalized because of my pneumonia, the drugs they were giving me were not working and so I was getting worse. It ended up that I had to travel 4 hours north to a city São Jose do Rio Preto, where there is a member of the church that is a really good, good doctor. So my companion Sister Feijo and I traveled to Rio Preto where they did a bunch of tests, and I was hospitalized. They started an IV, meds.... the usual stuff. And, it all started working. After 2 days, I was feeling a lot better and so they let me leave. I was soo happy!

So the good news is that I am getting better, my cough is alot better, and even though I am still tired- I get tired way easily, I am taking some powerful meds that are helping a ton. yay for medicine and doctors.

We even had a little bit of time to work this week- We work for a little bit in the morning, we go back home and I sleep a little bit again, and then we go back out in the afternoon. It’s a bit weird, but I am grateful to work a little bit, no matter how small it is.

With all of this I am learning that this is the Lords work, not mine. I don’t know how, but he is still preparing people for us. We are super, super excited because Adriano and Marines will be getting married this Friday and getting baptized Saturday. They are super, super excited, and it makes me soo happy to see how much they have grown. They tell everyone that they are “Mormon” and tell everyone that they love the church. Adriano was sad last night because he told us how many times Elders had asked him for his address, and he waited and waited for their visit, and they never visited him. But I guess everyone has their moment- and now it is their turn!

So anyways, I am as Michael always says "healthy, happy, and terrific." well, I am almost healthy, one more week and I hope I will be there. Thank you everyone for your prayers, there was a distinct moment when I wasn’t feeling so well when I had the distinct impression that my family and friends were praying for me, and because of that I would be better soon. Thank you.

I love you all!
Sister Melanie Monroe