First off, there is much to be communicated! It has been anything but an uneventful week here. Foremost, yesterday a bundle of about 15 Brazil visas came through to and were delivered at the travel office. Mine hasn't come, don't anybody freak out. However, one member of our district did receive his. And get this, they called his name over the PA yesterday morning around 9:30 am and he left this morning. As in his connecting flight to Dallas left an hour ago. He had about 24 hours notice, and he will be in Sao Paulo within 48 hours of being notified of his visa. He is not going to my mission, but rather the Cuiaba Brasil mission. It kind of gave us all a reality check. The Portuguese room next door to us lost three of their members and the rest were scattered among other districts. That includes the guy in my BYU ward going to Brazil who got here a week before I did. He is gone. Craziness.
Second, we moved classrooms. We had a big room on the fifth floor (top floor) of the tallest building on campus near a study lobby with windows offering a panorama in the direction of BYU and the mountains. The room had a teal accent and a big screen tv attached to the computer so our teachers could show us teaching videos on it. Stunning. The only con was that it had no windows and was a little stuffy. Now we are in a squat building, in the basement. The room has a window that opens, so it is nice and cool. However, its view includes a concrete window well with some landscaping. And the study lobby is windowless. Oh and the new room echoes because all four walls are white brick. It is a test of patience for all of us. I think I am the most equipped of everyone though. Really, it is nothing compared to the noise of being at home. Just kidding...kind of. Most of the Elders in my district are actually the youngest or second to youngest children in their families. They seem to have a lower tolerance for the racket than those of us with younger siblings. But it can be painful. Anyway, we have made it into our new home and it has begun to grow on us.
Third, we lost a teacher. He got reassigned to yet another of the new districts pouring into the Provo MTC who were originally destined for the Sao Paulo MTC. So, we got a fresh teacher. He just got hired. He got off his mission over a year ago and hasn't spoken Portuguese since then. He knows the language, but is, let us say, not yet accustomed to teaching. However, he is very nice and we haven't given up on him yet. We mourn the loss of our other teacher though. He was dearly loved. We gave him a card and such.
Conference was last weekend. Elder Anderson sang in the Priesthood Choir. He was on TV! You can see him. Go to www.lds.org then click on the October 2010 Conference link. Find the list of talks separated by session. Click on "Show Music". He sang in the Priesthood Session. On the song Hark, All Ye Nations from 0:44-0:52 he is on the top row, third from the right. (Recall that he is tall, blond, and blue eyed). Then in Called to Serve from 1:52-1:54 the camera is panning upward to the left and for a moment he can be seen in the top left corner of the screen. Not that we watched it online afterwards over and over again or anything, can you tell? It was sad that I didn't get to go sing, especially because they did so well. They were gone for only 8 hours, but it would have been nice to go on a little road trip. Anyway, it turned out cool.
Conference other than that was absolutely fantastic. We watched every session in the gymnasium (having classes cancelled on Saturday and meetings cancelled on Sunday). My favorite was the Saturday Morning Session. Fabulous. I didn't even fall asleep once. (Though, during the Sunday Afternoon session the Elder sitting next to me was particularly stricken with fatigue and had a slight tendency to flop over onto my shoulder every few minutes.)
Anyways, things feel different. It has been one month today since I entered. I feel like I can't relate to the newcomers any more. They look so dazed. I feel compassion, but I am fairly comfortable here. Hard to think that I could just up and leave at a moment's notice.
I love hearing from you all. Letters are so much fun and definitely offer a morale boost. We get them delivered at night just before we get ready for bed when we are tired and worn out from working all day. Thanks to those of you who sent your addresses!
Ate mais,
(Elder) JOSHUA BODILY
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