FINAL WEEK

Hello hello.

 

So much this week.  So much.  This is the last week that I will be in the MTC.  I have scarcely two and a half days left.  I have received a temporary reassignment to the Georgia Atlanta North Mission.  I will be there until my visa comes through.  Then I will fly to Vitoria.  It is pretty unbelievable.  I hadn't really thought about or imagined serving an English speaking mission.  Now I will.  There is word that Atlanta has a large Brazilian community, and so it is possible that I will get to use my Portuguese a little bit, but Georgia isn't Brazil.  I am excited to "graduate" the MTC, and am excited for Georgia, but I am still most excited for the time that I will actually get to Brazil. One other Elder in my district is going to the Georgia Atlanta North mission as well.  We will be companions on the plane rides over.  Another two Elders in our district (including Elder Anderson!) were temporarily reassigned to the Virginia Richmond Mission.  All the rest have been temporarily reassigned to the Alabama Birmingham Mission.  Except, of course, the three who were called since the beginning to the Portugal Lisbon Mission.  There are 26 missionaries leaving the MTC on Monday that are destined for Brazil but have received temporary reassignments.  One is going to Billings Montana.  There are three of us total going to Georgia, about 6 total going to Virginia, and then the rest (a big majority) headed to Alabama.  It is going to be quite the adventure.  I have almost no idea what to expect. 

 

Elder Anderson and I played horseshoes the other day just to change things up during gym time.  I had a couple awesome throws.  I won one game, then he the other.  That tends to be how everything happens when we compete.  Pretty balanced.  It was a good time.

 

Temple walks were banned for a time because of missionaries leaving trash behind there and organizing meetings with family members during their time to walk around and study on the temple grounds.  However, just in time they were re-activated last week.  Elder Anderson and I found an isolated spot up on a hill overlooking the temple and wrote in our journals.  (We cleverly brought towels so that our slacks would not get dirty nor wet.)  It was peaceful and invigorating.

 

On top of everything else, another apostle came to visit us.  No one knows when the stream of apostles will end, and it's too bad we are leaving before the next devotional, but how could you have picked three better devotional speakers to go out on?  It was M. Russell Ballard this week.  We sang the most beautiful arrangement of Precious Savior Dear Reedemer by Brett Stewart (you should look it up) in the choir.  He spoke on becoming master communicators and taught that we communicate with much more than just words.  We communicate with behaviors, feelings, service to others, body language, and the Spirit we bring with us.  Even though the Spirit is what witnesses to people of truth, we have to effectively convey that truth and be well-practiced in delivering the message of Jesus Christ and His Church before the Spirit can confirm and testify of the truth of it.  It was an inspiring and down-to-earth message at the same time. 

 

I had a good experience in Priesthood Meeting on Sunday.  Elder A and I were the only ones sitting on the front row, so to "reward" us we were asked to give the opening and closing prayers.  Naturally, our branch being a Portuguese-speaking branch, the prayer had to be in Portuguese.  I gave the closing prayer without too much difficulty (we learned the basics of offering prayers in week one, and have branched out from there).  As I went to step off the stage, the Branch President (a native of Porto Alege, Brasil with a heavy accent when he speaks in English) grabbed my sleeve quite literally and pulled me back.  He said "Elder, your Portuguese is beautiful.  You are surely ready to go.  When are you scheduled to leave?"  I responded next week.  He replied, "You are well prepared."  Then, a member of the District Presidency who was visiting last Sunday (a former mission president in Brazil who is, of course, fluent in Portuguese) said, "You are more than ready for sure."  I'm pretty sure those comments were coming from reliable sources.  Made me feel good, to say the least.

 

I cannot belive that this is my last email from the MTC.  This time next week I will be in Georgia.  My preparation day (email day) will probably not continue to be Friday.  We will see what happens.  New companion next week too!  Everything is going to change and I am going to feel just as new at this as I felt the first day here.  Joyful how that works.

 

As always, I appreciate your mail and your thoughts.  I will try to have fun if you will all try to have fun.  I'll write from Georgia as soon as i can!  Until then,

 

Have a lovely week--  Elder JOSHUA BODILY

tchau tchau