Fire Here and Fire There

Well... I don’t even know where to start.... I have cried, and cried, and cried as I have read all of the emails and looked at the pictures of the fire... I have been worried sick about it all week. So worried that I called Presidente Condie and received permission to call home to see if you guys were all right...

I called on Saturday but I could only remember 4 numbers... I tried all of them, the house, mom’s cell phone, dad’s cell phone... and the only number I could think of was Julie Warcup... I didn’t talk to her for very long, just a little bit to hear about the damage, which had lost homes... and to hear that my family was all right. I was soo sad to hear about the 18 families that lost homes in our stake, but I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude that it was only this... with all of the damage that happened; I cannot believe how much the Lord saved.

On Monday I knew about the fire... I was nervous, and I started feeling so nervous that I started feeling sick... we were walking close to the stake president, and he gave me a blessing, which helped me a great deal. Then the next day, we were teaching families in a neighborhood, and we walked by a house, that caught fire... we were the 2 and 3 person there, so we ran to grab buckets, and started helping to put out the fire... but we didn’t get there in time, the fire claimed all of the house, and we couldn’t do anything... Sister Cunha cried because she knew the family... I cried because I was thinking about this fire in California... and I was so worried about all of you.

But all of this week I tried to remain focus and calm, and remember that the Lord would do his part to help all of you... and that I had to do my part here... I worked as hard as I could... and happily, we have two families who we will be gong with to the cartorio this week to be married! well.. its the first step.. then in 2 weeks they will be married and baptized! yeah!! So that’s exciting... two families!! they are incredible, the Lord really did his part, we still have a lot to do.. Because Satan works so hard with families, and they live on opposite sides of the city, and so we have to walk a lot, work really hard, and help the progress and resolve doubts... all that jazz.

But yeah, I don’t have too much to say, my heart is quite heavy, I feel so sad for these many people that lost homes.

One good piece of news- Sebastiao, we was baptized last week, read the whole Book of Mormon in a week... he is now reading the guide in back.. Hah.. he also had a dream with Sister Cunha and I, leading him to a tree with fruit sooo white... we opened up the Book of Mormon, and read Lehi’s dream with him… to which he said this was his dream…and asked if we were reading his mind. Sweet things that happen because of the spirit. Sebastiao is so awesome; it is wonderful to see a man soo changed and so different.... He is just amazed with the gospel, he went on visits with us, and surprised us with how much he testified and urged others to come with us to church. Yeah!!

So anyways... my prayers are with all of you... keep on going, I know that the Lord will reach out and comfort all of us during this time. Thanks for all that you are doing to serve others during this time.

Sister Monroe

A Series of Fourtunate and Unfortunate Events

There are always a lot of crazy things that happen in the lives of missionaries. Every week when I read Mike´s letters, and I reflect to think of what to write, I am always amazed at how wacky and crazy my life is. But then I realize, it’s always been this way. I am a complete and crazy blonde who has been set loose in Brazil. (Oh yes by the way, I am blonde again... this sun is so strong that even though I died my hair, the blonde is already back again.)

So yes what made this week crazy? Let’s start with my birthday- this day we had interviews with the pres, had a district meeting, in which the elders returned to being 19 year old boys and did lots of stupid things such as giving me poop for my bday present. Thank you elders... But then we returned home, and it was late afternoon because of interviews, and Sister Cunha and I decided to take back the wheelchair to the store where we had rented it... only that we live in a really, really steep hill... and Sister Cunha decided to sit in the wheelchair and have one last ride... I had the distinct feeling not to push her down the hill, but I didn’t think anything of it (me being blonde ahhh)

When I say that this hill is steep, I am not doing it justice... trucks and cars aren’t even allowed to go down this hill it is so steep... and so I don’t know why I thought that a wheelchair would be ok.. so the wheelchair gained speed, gained speed... and yep, we completely wiped out. It was awful. The wheelchair went crashing to one side, Sister Cunha fell down, I fell down... we both have battle wounds. We could only laugh, because it was so stupid... and we were both in a great deal of pain. I have a huge, huge burn on my knee... that has been constantly bleeding this past week. great. Sister Cunha only scraped a little of her arm, she was in some pain, but it is healing fast.

The worst part is that my right knee hurt so bad, I was so scared that I had pulled a ligament or something... I couldn’t even walk on it that night because of the pain... I took some Advil, and prayed and prayed like crazy. I felt so bad, not because of the pain, but because I had blatantly not listened to the spirit... but as I prayed and prayed that night, pleading with the Lord that this problem could be cured so that I could work and fulfill and finish all of my mission, I felt a great peace in my heart, and finally slept that night.

The next morning I woke up- with almost no pain in my knee, and completely back to normal. It was a miracle, probably the biggest health miracle that I have seen happen to me... and I felt so completely moved that the Lord has patience with the stupid things that we do, and used this as a moment to help me grow in my faith. I feel so profoundly grateful that the Lord has given me the strength to continue.

That day, Wednesday was a great day... we were able to set a baptism date with Sebastiao, a 48 year old man. We met him last week, on Saturday, as we were walking on a hill... he was outside, and we felt impressed to talk to him and invite him to go to church, we sang him a hymn, and that was that... but he felt something different- went to church the next day... and started moving his life like crazy. We taught him all week, and it was awesome to see how the Lord really began answering his prayers and helping him in his life. He moved 180 percent.... he had already visited almost every church, and was really searching for the church, and so he could recognize the truth when he found it.

He has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy, and all of the booklets we gave him on the lessons... He was baptized yesterday, and as we visited with him afterwards and later that night, he had the light of Christ so strongly in his eyes... and he told us he felt like he was flying. He said he felt "awesome." Really, it is amazing to see that every person has a different time table to be converted... His was so fast, but he already has a strong, strong, testimony.

So that was a great blessing, to be able to help Sebastiao. We have some other young girls we have been teaching for a few weeks that are progressing, another man that was a contact that miraculously showed up at church yesterday as well, and we also began teaching another family- that is INCREDIBLE. (But... they aren’t married... ahhhh) But they already received a response to their prayers, and so that is exciting.

Really, this last week was a series of crazy events, but in the end it all turned out better then I had expected. I am so grateful for every experience, for every chance that I have to know my Savior better, for every difficulty that I have, to understand the price that He paid for each of us, for every joy that I have, to understand what is real joy- the joy of salvation and eternal life, that we each receive because of Jesus Christ.

I love you all; please pray for these families that we are teaching- Rodrigo and Regina, and Claudia and Silvio... they need the prayers. Beijos-
Sister Felony Melanie Anne Monroe

One Year Older...ahh caramba!

Yes, tomorrow is my birthday...23!! Crazy. This year I am quite certain that no one will be breaking eggs on my head- oh seja, I have forbidden my companion to do this. Last year I had the worst headache the next day... but its weird to think this last year has passed so fast.

But today I thought it was time, to write about some of the things I am grateful for-

1. My companion is no longer in a wheelchair. On Thursday she was finally feeling better and walked completely normal. It is sooo much easier teaching, making contacts, and feeling the spirit when I am not completely exhausted.

2. Showers. It is getting rather hot again... ok so it really never stopped being hot, but Brazilians loove taking showers, they sometimes take them 4 times a day. If I was at home during the day, I would take one 4 times, but that’s rather impossible.

3. The hymns. This last week we sang a hymn to a man and invited him to come to church, like we do with everyone. But something struck with him ( Sebastian is his name) he actually was ready when we passed by-Sunday morning, and told us that he had really liked how we had talked to him the first time, and explained about the church, which had been different from other missionaries, so he decided to go to church. He has accepted baptism and is pretty awesome.

4. Rice and beans. This week we ate pasta 2 times in a row, and in about 2 hours I was starving again. I really do like rice and beans.

5. Cevada- this is what the Mormons here drink instead of coffee... it doesn’t have caffeine... and it is soo good. I love it with milk!

6. Functioning Families- I am always surprised about how many problems people have... this week was a bit sad as one of our great families, Joao and Bete kind of bit the dust. They are having horrible marriage and family problems, and even with the gospel, some things are impossible to mend... it was so sad seeing how bad choices really can mess up not just one life, but the entire life of a family.

7. Marriages- ok so we are trying to help another great, great family get married- Claudia and Silvio. They are awesome!! And they are so excited to get married and get baptized. The only problem has been getting the paper work- getting married is possibly the most complicated thing here in Brazil. Its quite ridiculous really (as mike will understand) we spent about 6 hours or more calling cartorios allover brazil, trying to find one piece of paper... we have to have them send it here, so we can go to the cartorio here, and then mark the casamento in like 3 weeks... all quite stressful, and yet quite funny. So we are praying that we can find this paper... and that it can arrive here fast!! So at times I am grateful that marriage, when its all said and done, is always worth it... even when I am frustrated with the ridiculous legal system here.

8. Nature- this last week I studied a bit about the creation... I love seeing nature. i have been so long in cities... and right now we are teaching a family that live in a farm about a 40 minute walk from the city. It is soo beautiful walking there, there is a stream, and hills, and palm trees... it makes me so grateful for the beautiful world the Lord has created.

So anyways, there are some random thoughts I had this week...this week really flew by, it was a hard week, lots of disappointments, but in the end, lots of triumphs. As Claudia said to us on Friday- to win a war- there has to be a war... I laughed soo hard when she said that. Its true, to help all of these people progress, and in the end, do all that I have to do, there has to be opposition in all things.

But now we have to run to call another cartorio....I wish I was joking. Pray that this paper is there...

Love you all!
com amor
Sister Monroe

Hills, Wheels, and Complete Madness

OK, so sorry everyone that I missed last week, internet problems once again. I was on the internet, only that every letter I sent never sent... which made me quite frustrated, but what can you do... just laugh. So that’s what happened last pday.

But first off to talk about my new area- São ~Jõao da Boa Vista... its the prettiest area of all!! It is a beautiful city, not too big like Rio Preto or Ribeirão, buts its a good size. Its very, very hilly... San Francisco comes to mind, just that San Francisco has about 4 big hills... and here there are about 100. I only wish I was lying. The bairros (neighborhoods) seem close only that you have to go up and down about 5 hills before you get to them.. so its kind of funny. and the hills are waaay steep. But this city is pretty, and I am loving it- the views are beautiful, there are mountains (ok mountains for brazil, so like big, big hills for Americans) and the clouds are beautiful. This city is actually way close to Porto Ferreira, we passed through Porto when we were coming here, and I almost died seeing where I had spent the first 6 months of my mission.. it made me so happy, just driving through :)

But anyways, the branch here is pretty small- about 30 people. And so we have a lot of work to do. It’s always funny the life in a branch, because everyone knows the life of everyone else... it’s a lot of complication really. But the Bishop is very sweet and kind, he looks like a penguin because he always has his glasses on his forehead... but that’s beside the point. He has helped us out a lot this past week... I will go into this later.

The first week here was amazing; I had the strongest feeling that this is where I needed to be. We started teaching 3 families- which was so exciting. I have never taught so many families at the same time in my mission. 2 have to get married... but at least they have the desire, that’s half way there, so now we just have to pull some complicated strings in the blasted Brazilian paperwork, so this might take some months, but the point is that we are teaching some awesome people. One family is from Macieo, another from Goas, which is why it is so complicated, we have to get their paperwork from these cities... but with the help of the Lord, I am confident we can get this done.

Então, one of these families is João and Bete and Liticia, this is a very special family that came to conference this past week... João really wants to be baptized, but Bete has a lot of doubts about everything. It really is a miracle that they are coming to church, they are working through lots of problems- they almost divorced, and it has been so incredible to see how much the Lord wants to help them as Sister Cunha and I have been guided in what to say and teach. Last week I randomly felt impressed to study on Perdao...um, ah forgiveness. And then that night as we went to their house, Bete had a ton of questions on forgiveness. She is struggling through some issues, she has a ligament problem in her ankle, but this has been a blessing (she hasn’t recognized this yet) because she has time to listen to us. (She never had time before)

The other family is Claudia and Silvio. Claudia is an amazing woman who had a dream this past week about everything we had taught her. She had said a prayer that night, asking to know if it was true, and in her dream she saw a toon of light, more light than she had ever seen... and she knew that everything we had taught her was true. She was so excited afterwards that she was early to meet us to go to Conference. So we are excited to work more to help this family.

The last family is from Macieo. I am always thinking of Mike when we are teaching them- Marcio and Selma. They are hilarious, and talk soo fast... They call me Galega (white, blonde, and blue eyed person) and my comp Morena (black ) Which makes us laugh. Here in brazil, talking about another skin color isn’t so sensitive... its an everyday matter.

So there’s about the first week... which brings me to the second words in my topic- wheels.....So my companion is in a wheelchair. I am serious. She was perfectly fine the first week, but her knee started to ache, and ache, and ache.... and she was in so much pain that the Bishop rented a wheelchair for us... we went to the doctor, they said to come back in 10 days... gave us some meds... and that leaves us how is has been the past 5 days, me pushing her in this wheelchair.

To say that it has been hard would be an understatement. These hills make it quite difficult, I have to run after her in the downhill, because it is so steep that the wheelchair takes off, and then I think I am going to die when pushing her back up the hill. (Did I mention that we live on a huge hill?) It’s been funny, but at times I have wanted to cry... I don’t remember ever being more tired in my life. I find myself praying in every moment that I can have strength to push this wheelchair. And the Lord has helped me so much, with a second wind of energy, or a person who helps us.

I was so grateful that for the first time in my mission I saw the Saturday sessions of conference (we had pesquisadores that came with us) And it was exactly what I needed to hear… when Elder Worthlin started shaking, and ainda assim, he kept un talking until he finished his talk... it gave me so much force. Later that night as I was pushing the wheelchair home, there was a monster hill and I just didn’t have strength, but then I remembered this talk- and I thought to myself- Elder Worthlin finished his talk, I can push until the end!

So there you have my last week, complete madness... We are still working as hard as we can, we are still talking to everyone we see...but it is a bit funny. People tell us the funniest things, some think we are begging and try to give us the money, others ask if Sister Cunha was born this way, others tell us to pray to Jesus, that he will cure us...Its all very funny.

But here is a quote that has gotten me through all this: (This by the way is translated from Portuguese, so feel free to move it around to make it better in English) "He who walks alone can arrive faster, but He who is accompanied will arrive farther."

I love the mission, even though I am tired, it’s all worth it. :) There’s nothing better worth fighting for! Hoorah for Israel!

Com amor
Sister Monroe