Week 96 Letter

Monday, Dec 24, 2012

Hey mom, so some updates for you.  Some of the plans have changed because of a mini transfer that had to happen before Christmas.  The transfer goes until the end of the year, but in order to send some missionaries home before Christmas, we had a mini transfer which affected a lot of the zone and district leaders because it was district leaders that were leaving, so I am now in Rodonopolis, MT.  So, I have already planned to use a computer of a member to do Skype with you and it will be in the afternoon here, although I am not sure what time yet.  I think that it will be from 3 to 4 o’clock in my time, do you think that that would be okay, because at night we have an appointment with a family and they do not have internet, so the night time will not work.  Anyways, if there is any problem, let me know.  I will try to pass by the lan house today in the afternoon to be sure that everything is okay.  If you want to call me today to mark a time, my new number is 066 9217 8035. Thanks mom, and until you call, love Elder Lee

Merry Christmas to all, what a pleasure it was to talk with you!  You all look so good, and I cannot wait to see you in person, but in the meantime, I am going to take full advantage of the mission.  I sure love it.  I just got done talking with you, so there is not a lot to say, but I promised to write a little, so here it is.  This week was good; I went around meeting some investigators and members, and really finding a new teaching pool because the work has been a little slow here lately.  There have already passed 2 months here that there has not been a baptism, so we are working to change the momentum.  I am excited to be here and work in this area.  I have officially been in every city now that has a church in Matto Gross and our part of Rondonia, which few missionaries can say, if any.  I have been extremely blessed.  I am happy that you had the chance to get to know  little bit about President Reber.  He is such a good and inspired man, and I think that we will keep in contact for a long time after the mission.  I sure love him and respect him.  I wish that there was some way for you to see all of the people that I was blessed to teach and baptize.  You would love every one of them, and I know that they would sure love you.  These people are so special.  Well, I love you all, and cannot wait to hear from you via email next week.  Great holidays!  

With love- Elder Lee

This was a note from Shane's mission President - 

Sister lee. 

Yes I am familiar with the process. I will be in the mission home in several hours and take of it then. What wonderful son you have. He is a great leader in the mission and has helped me so much. Great job as parents!  

Happy holidays to you all and thanks again for sharing a fine young man with us. 

Pres. Reber

Week 95 Letter

Monday, December 17, 2012

Mom, Happy Birthday!!!

I sure love you mom, and hope that you had a great birthday.  I hope that you accept this email as a worth present, lol.  I will send some pics for you because I know that you like them.  Sorry that I have been bad about taking and sending pics.  I will tell Tony to be better ( :  I did want to wish you a happy birthday though.  I have been thinking a lot lately about how blessed I am to have you as my mom.  I was even talking to President Reber Saturday morning about how involved my parents were in my life and how grateful I am for that.  Speaking of talking with Pres Reber Saturday, it is because he came with me to my house to announce to Will that his calling came and that he will serve in the São Paulo East mission and that he is will leave on Jan. 3.  It was awesome getting to hear the news with him.  Will promised me in Sinop that he would open his call with me present, even if he had to travel, and I must admit that I did not believe it, but the Lord works in many ways to answer his prayers of his worthy children.  It was awesome.  Anyways, I was reading a talk from a general authority, I think that it was Dallin H Oaks who was talking about the great plan of happiness, and he said that in our premortal life we progressed as far as we could without having received a physical body and a mortal experience and that the decision that we made there affect who we are here.  Mom, I know that you made great decisions there and that I must have done something really good to deserve you as my mom, or on the other hand, something really wrong and God thought that I would need all the help that I could get if I were to have a chance.  At any rate, thank you for being such a wonderful mom.  I have also been studying a lot about the nature of the calling of motherhood.  It is the most elevated and sacred calling that I daughter of God can receive.  It requires more work and patience than any other position.  It carries eternal consequences of most impotence.  |It is so important that it was reserved exclusively for women.  Mom, you magnify this calling better than any other.  You are a perfect example of every attribute that motherhood requires.  Patience, temperance, meekness, love unfeigned, courage, strength, internal beauty (external as well ;) eternal perspective, gentleness, longsuffering, selflessness, humility, careful hands, a firm mind, virtue, benevolence, knowledge, integrity, hope, faith, and among and above all charity.  I know that this is a short list, and I know that you have many more attributes and characteristics.  Thank you so much for being the mom that God wanted of you.  I hope that I have been the son that you wanted of me and I promise that I will continue to get better.  I sure love you mom, and I think that world of you, and I know that it is not just me that thinks that.  Every ward and branch that I have passed in in Brazil, you have come up in a sacrament talk.  That is really true.  You give hope, strength, and courage to people around the world.  You are a perfect example of being a light to the world.  You have a great light, and you let it shine forth. Thank you for always being engaged in a good cause.  Thank you for being engaged in raising and teaching me.  How blessed that I am.  I love you mom, and wish you a great birthday!!!  You of all people deserve it!!!!  Love you grateful and always indebted son,

Elder Shane Lee

Will is going to stay until almost the end of the year.  He has been waiting for a long time to go, so he is all ready.  Really, they called Pres Reber and told him that Will would only leave in March, but Pres Reber moved it closer because he knows that Will was just waiting to leave.  President Reber is awesome.  I still do not know what I am going to do for Skype, but I think that I will spend Christmas night at Joaquim's house, Aryane's family.  He and his wife are marked to get baptized on the 23rd.  I am super excited!!!  Anyways, they have a computer and internet, but I do not know if they have a web cam.  I will investigate and see.  If so, I think that I will Skype from there.  If not, I will have to use a lan house.  The problem is that on Monday I do not think that I will be able to email you, so if I do not email you, call me Monday at this number, 065 9236 5199, (my cell) and we can plan it out on the phone.

Thanks for the chirstmas package and mama-mia PJ's!  I loved it!!!!!

Baptism of Lucas, getting Will's calling, the young man who baptized Lucas is from Cuiaba and was doing a 24 hour division with us. he has a year in the church, is 16, and we thought it would be cool if he got some baptizing practice.  It was awesome!!!

Week 94 Letter

Monday, December 10, 2012

Tecnologia (sorry, that was Portuguese, I wanted to say technology) can be a headache, cant it.  So, to answer the questions, I do not know if they bought my plane tickets yet, but I think that I will be flying home on the 12th or 13th of Feb.  I will let you know more when I know more.  The second question, my investigators are doing well.  Lucas, Gizele's little 10 yr old brother was going to get baptized yesterday after the stake conference but the chapel ran out of water so we had to remark it for this Saturday, but all is well.  Aryane's parents have committed to be baptized before the end of the year.  That will be really awesome.  Will is going to stay with my until the end of the year waiting for his call.  I think that it should be coming soon.  My birthday was great.  These people are so good to me.  I do not know if the package came yet.  I just tried calling to the secretaries, but they did not answer the phone, so I still do not know.  I cannot believe the Jason already got his call, and to South Korea?!!  That is awesome!  That will be a "fun" language to learn, he will be great!  I did get the photo that dad sent me of Elder Sands and Sister Ward.  It is a small world, and being in the church makes it smaller.  I will send some pics to you.  I really do not know what else to write... This week we will have the Christmas mission conference and the day after will be a training conference for the leaders which will also be an all-day event.  I think that meetings wear me out a lot more than working on the street, but they are always good and really do make a difference.  The week after I think that I will travel to Carceres, a city outside of Cuiaba and Varsea Grande to do some divisions there.  I have already done divisions there as a district leader three or four times.  It is about 4 hours of a bus ride.  Usually we travel at night to take full advantage of the day.  The next transfer is at the end of the year, the 30t and 31st.  I really do not doubt that I will be transferred, which is sad, but it is part of the mission.  President said that he is going to release all of the missionaries going home from their leadership positions before the end of their missions to let them help and train other missionaries take their spots.  I am the only one in my group that has continued as a leader, but I think that I will be released this next transfer.  We will see.  President told me that he might have me train again on the next one, but he thinks that only 2 or 3 new missionaries will come.  It is all in the air, but I will do anything that the Lord asks and President Reber knows that.  Well, there is my week in an email.  I love you all, and wish you all a happy Christmas season!!!  

Love Elder Lee

Playing Soccer

Elder Grantham, Rodriguez, and I (Elder Herrera was traveling)

  Baptism of Gizele

Week 93 Letter

Monday, December 3, 2012

Hello family!!!  Well, this will have to be quick, but we had a great week.  Gizele was baptized Friday in one of the most spiritual baptismal services that I have witnessed.  It was awesome to see her there with her member and nonmember family.  She was so ready.  I had the privilege of baptizing her with the help of Elder Herrera.  Because she is paralyzed from the hips down, I carried her into the water, and well I was saying the prayer with my arm raised, Elder Herrera secured that half of her from falling into the water. Then I held her weight again and lowered her into the water and brought her up again and carried her out of the font.  It was awesome.  It made me think a lot about the way Jesus is willing to carry us if we just come to him and lay aside the things that easily beset us.  It was incredible, and then I was able to confirm her on Sunday.  All in all, it was awesome.  Also, we had a baptism of three kids in the ward that I was helping to teach.  I baptized one, Elder Rodriguez baptized the other, and Elder Willians baptized the third.  It was super cool.  The parents are preparing to be baptized as well, but they are waiting for their documents to come back so that the can get married legally.  It was also a great and full baptismal service.  All is well in Zion.  This week I am going to really work on the rest of Gizele's family and friends.  I am excited.  Well, that is about it, sorry that it was short, but it really was a good and busy week.  The zone is doing well, and this next week we are expecting that it only gets better.  I am doing a lot of splits this transfer to try and help everybody out with marking dates, teaching, and planning.  So far, so good.  Tomorrow I am going to help Elder Rodrigues teach a girl that came to church named Bruna, she is a friend of a recent convert.  It should go well.  I think that she is more ready than she thinks.  It will be really the first time that she will be taught by missionaries, and so we will teach the restoration.  Well, I love you all and send you all hugs.  Happy holidays!!!

Love, Elder Lee

PS - I did take pics, but I am not here with my camera, I will have to send them next week.  Their names are Karoline 13, Filipe 8, and Keilyane 10.

I did read the blog.  It was awesome.  I cannot wait to meet my two little brothers.  On Christmas I think that I am going to Skype, but I do not have a place yet.  It might be in the lan house here, we are good friends with the owner.

Hey dad, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday!  I know that you are probably not thrilled to be 47, but I am sure that you are still young.  I sure love you dad, and I really do look up to you.  I am thankful for everything that you have taught me.  Some of the things that you have taught me before are just now really sinking in.  Your lessons have left and continue to have a great impact on me.  Also, I am expecting a lot more lessons after the mission, because to be honest, I am scared spitless about the after mission life.  I know that I am in good hands though :)  I will have lots of questions and doubts, but I am really glad that I feel like I can tell you everything, and without fear ask for help, counsel, and advice.  I am going to need it.  Sometimes I feel spoiled that I have the perfect family, and when I try to tell people about the joy that their family can have, I perceive that they do not fully understand the meanings of these words as I do.  I really know that families can be forever, and that families can be happy here in this life.  I know this because I have been raised by goodly parents who love the Lord, and who are fully converted.  This last month I have been thinking a lot about the difference between a testimony and conversion.  A testimony is a belief or knowledge of something that is true.  Conversion is a testimony put into action and into practice.  A testimony can be received in an instant.  After one prayer somebody can receive a testimony, or in other words, a spiritual witness about any truth, be it about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, tithing, or perhaps church attendance.  Conversion, on the other hand, is something that happens over time.  It is the changing of one's heart to submit to all things that the Father sees fit.  It is a testimony in action and a habit formed over time.  I know that my testimony has grown and been strengthened over the mission, but really, I have always had a testimony of these truths.  What has changed is my level of conversion.  I want to continue increasing my level of conversion for the rest of my life.  I think that this is what is meant by endure to the end.  To become converted to the Lord, and eventually become perfect, as he is.  Well, there is my thought for you.  I was not thinking about saying all of that in a birthday card, but I really do want to wish you a happy birthday, even though it is a little late and let you know that I love you dad.  From your grateful and proud son - Elder Lee