Hello All.
As I hoped, things are slowly improving here and I am feeling more comfortable as time passes. I struggle with major change, it seems. I can't believe that Christmas is in five days! This should be an interesting week. Today is preparation day, tomorrow we have a mission-wide Christmas Conference in Lilburn, and on Christmas we have been invited to spend the day with a member family to celebrate (we aren't allowed to work on Christmas unless someone makes a specific appointment with us--which, surprise, hasn't happened for Christmas Day yet).
Yesterday, the first two Portuguese Group baptisms took place. We had a special Christmas sacrament meeting that went for 90 minutes (English and Portuguese combined--Elder McGregor interpreting via neat wireless headsets for the Portuguese). Directly after the sacrament meeting, we had the baptismal service. I got to play the piano. Then there were talks and then they were baptized! The Elder who taught them, and by whom they wanted to be baptized was transferred to another area (about 10 miles away) the same time I was transferred here, but they had permission to drive over and for him to do the baptism. However, their car had a flat when they pulled out in the morning (30 minutes until sacrament meeting was starting)! So, Elder Bl and I had to jump in the van and rescue them. We were luckily only about 10 minutes late. It was hectic, but all worked out. The baptismal service itself was really an excellent and spirtual experience. And the entirety of the baptismal service was in Portuguese. Elder McGregor, Elder Gneiting, and I dropped by to visit with them and teach them again last night and they both were still glowing from the experience. They are really fantastic individuals.
Being in this area is quite interesting because of our sharing the van. Also, we live on the extreme edge of our area, far from any Portuguese speakers. So...for instance on Wednesday, there was a training meeting for the leaders of the mission, so Elder Mu and Elder Bl (English) from our area took the van to Lilburn for the day. We were more or less stranded. We kept busy doing some tedious map work that has been needed for a long time, and doing studies, but it was hard. We walked for twenty minutes one way to try and visit the nearest Portuguese speaker we are teaching, but they didn't answer their phone or answer their door. Elder Gneiting went with the other English Elder on the two bikes we have to try to get to their appointments (all far from home, aka five-ish miles). They got a flat tire three miles out. It was a bizarre gaffe of a day. Sadly, we are very short on allotted miles this week as well. And since we are driving to Lilburn and back tomorrow, we will be even more strapped for car use until January when we get more miles. Fun stuff.
The Paper Mill Ward had their Christmas Party on Saturday, so we got to attend. That is the third Christmas Party in three weeks for me! It had a nice dinner and some musical performances. I am starting to recognize faces and remember names again. One thing that is very difficult about being a missionary is remembering names simply because you have all kinds of interaction with hundreds of people each day. It requires real effort.
We massively cleaned the apartment last week and so, fortunately, the roaches have been less frequent visitors. We still set aside a special giant wooden spoon with which we exterminate any that we see. The weather has also been letting up lately. The pattern seems to be super cold snap, followed by a half week of chilly but mild weather. The pool at our apartment complex froze over (I have no idea why on earth they haven't drained it).
I have been very grateful for the letters that have been sent to me. Especially last week.
A lot of the members are very kind to us here. Apparently the Relief Society put on a food drive for us missionaries and delivered what is, essentially, a minivan full of food- cereal, granola bars, candy, fruits, cans of a variety of soups, and all manner of non-perishable foods. Plus razors, toothbrushes, body wash, and shampoos. And some random postcards. We are going to have a massive dividing up party tonight to allot it all among us.
I have had something re-emphasized to me this week. Life is simply challenging. It demands a lot from us, and to be successful one must do much more than just keep up with the challenges. You have to keep up and also press forward, learning, growing, and improving despite circumstance. We are teaching a single mom with two sons-- one is two years old and is super hyper and struggles with anyone watching him except for his one babysitter, who just moved back to Brazil. The mom can scarcely work and sleep, let alone find time for recreation, free time, or time with her children. A member family we had dinner with just lost their 3 year old son to cancer after a lengthy struggle. In other words, the challenges of life abound. Be grateful for what we have, what we enjoy, and always press forward to become better people in life. Help others. Face fears, and trust God. No cliff is insurmountable, no gorge impassable, no dark too dark to be escaped. When we put ourselves where we know we should be and do what we know we should be doing things fall into place.
Go out of your way to enjoy Christmas! I miss everyone! Até próximo!
Feliz Natal,
Elder JOSHUA BODILY
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