Semana Santa

Bom Dia-  (Good Day)

Yesterday, Easter (Páscoa) ended the Holy Week (Semana Santa) here in Brasil.  It is truly a cultural phenomenon here.  Everyone has the day off on Thursday and Friday before Easter.  Almost nothing was open at all the whole weekend.  A lot more people were willing to talk to us because they were enjoying free time.

So, there is an epidemic of pink eye going around here.  Various missionaries in the mission have it.  Three members in our group have it.  And Elder Wilson caught it.  One eye first and now in the second eye.  He is not happy about this.  He woke up four times last night to rinse out the ´´goop´´ in his eye.  I have not touched my eyes for four days.

Yesterday there was a soccer game between two of the biggest teams in Brasil, both rivals from Rio de Janeiro.  Flamengo versus Fluminense.  Everyone here calls it a ´´fla-flu´´ when these two teams play each other.  A vast majority of people here in Vitória and in the state are fans of Flamengo.  Last night we were walking down the street when all of the sudden a roar of screaming and cheering broke out across the whole city and fireworks started going off.  Flamengo had scored a goal.  Soccer is a big deal here.  Elder Wilson was here during the World Cup, and he said that last night was super mellow in comparison.  I believe him.

One really neat thing that I have liked since arriving here is all of the hummingbirds here.  I usually see at least one a day.  They sit up on the power lines like sparrows.  There are a lot more flowers here for them to drink from than in the States.

One thing that is not so neat is that a very popular form of advertising here is done with big speakers on top of cars that play catchy slogans about everything from supermarkets to cell phone companies.  Elder Wilson said that during election season candidates hire various people to drive around with these big speaker boxes.  It´s basically propaganda all the time, and really loud.  I already have the catchy tune to Rede-Show Supermercados memorized because it drives past our house every morning at least once.

We have a family that will be baptized as soon as they finish the long sticky process of getting married.  They gave us Easter eggs yesterday.  They are just an egg shell with the innards taken out the bottom, and they paint them with paints.  It was neat, mine had palm trees painted on it.  Inside they had chocolate covered peanuts wrapped in tin foil.  Basically home made peanut m&ms. 
Yumm.

We are having a really good experience teaching a man named Darli and his wife Arlete.  He has already come to church twice and she is very interested and always sits in on the lessons we give in their house.  He is the first person that I have met who really has a thirst for the truth, for the scriptures, a drive to learn.  And A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias has really struck a chord deep inside him.  He knows it is true, and he likes it.  He asks an abundance of questions, good questions.  (Everything from What does the name Mormon mean?  to Who can receive the Priesthood?)  Arlete met missionaries years ago in the home of her sister back in Bahía, (the state where Elder Russell Gray is serving...to the north of Espírito Santo, where I am now).  She said something really neat the other day.  We showed up to our appointment in the rain.  She said more or less translated: ´´I don´t know everything about your Church, but it seems clear to me that your church is the true church because you come visit us of your own free will, and even in the rain.´´  (Rain is a huge excuse to do nothing here in Brasil.  Really big excuse.  If it rains in the hour before church starts on Sunday, attendance will be less than if it is sunny.  Invariably.)  It is neat to visit with them.  They are set to be baptized on Mother´s Day.

We had interviews with President in the Stake Center in Jardim da Penha on Wednesday.  It was cool to ride the bus back to Vitória.  Traffic is nasty though.  Our trip there took one hour and 14 minutes.  Our return to Serra-Sede during rush hour took 2 hours and 29 minutes.  Riding on big Brazilian buses packed with people while its raining outside is interesting.  In the beginning, everone sitting by a window shuts the windows, but soon there the windows get foggy and it gets really hot and muggy with everyone smashed in the bus, so the people by the windows sit in limbo between opening the window and getting wet to shutting the windows and roasting.  You also get to eavesdrop on everyone around you.  Mostly empty chatter about annoying co-workers or the price of a pair of shoes.

Have a wonderful week everyone.  Happy Easter.
Elder JOSHUA BODILY

What a Week!

Queridos,

This was a week jam-packed with action.  Serra-Sede is quite an interesting area. 

An 18 year old --Alan-- from the Serra Ward worked with us from 1:30 pm until 9:00 pm on both Tuesday and Wednesday.  It was funny to think that it has been over a year since I opened my mission call envelope and read that I was going to Vitória Brazil.  Working with him reminded me of the many days I spent in trios in Georgia. 

I had my first Sunday with the Group of Serra-Sede.  You won´t believe it, but we had 15 investigators at the church.  And there were only 24 members that came to church!  It was quite interesting.  One of our investigators showed up 45 minutes early, before any members.  In fact, because of tardiness, only six members were in the church when the meetings commenced.  The rest arrived only a little late, but it still was strange to have almost three times as many non-members as members at the start of the meetings.I played the keyboard that was sitting on a small table (the table had been serving ten minutes before the meeting as the Relief Society table complete with flowery centerpiece) in the middle of the seated members because the only outlet in the chapel room is on a pillar in the middle of the room.  It was almost hilarious.  I didn´t know what hymns I would be playing accompaniment for until they were announced over the pulpit (which still lacks a microphone) For all you piano players, the first hymn was Christ the Lord is Risen Today.  On a keyboard.  I made it work.  We had excellent lessons in Sunday School about the Priesthood, and I think that it helped the people we are teaching really understand and get a taste for the significance of the Restored Gospel, that we are not just one more church. 

I read a talk from Boyd K. Packer that came from the April 2010 General Conference of the Church called The Power of the Priesthood.  It made me remember that though the true followers of the true Church of Jesus Christ will be few, that we have the Priesthood.  He quoted the following verses in 1 Nephi 14.

12And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few (...); nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.

14And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

This became even more evident to me yesterday as we went on splits with members.  I was with a member named Marcelo who drove us both out to the other side of our area where I had never been and we made visits with less active members of the church and members of the church needing assistance and visits.  As we drove around children playing soccer barefoot on the streets with crudely constructed goals made of old plywood (and one group of children playing cricket), small and humble homes on both sides of us I realized that the Church really does have a worldwide presence.  In its grand and elegant presence in downtown Salt Lake City all the way to the few and far between members in tiny houses in a large and sweeping, yet very poor neighborhood of Planalto Serrano in the Serra-Sede. 

On a lighter and more random note:

I saw a dog throw up yellow stuff all over the road on a really hot day this week.  I gagged.

Elder Wilson bought a hammock made of coconut fiber from a street vendor who basically sold it to him and ran in 45 seconds, even though Elder Wilson didn´t even have a desire to buy one.  The man was a very polished salesman.  Poor Elder Wilson broke his budget just because he wanted to show me a genuine Brazilian hand-made coconut hammock. 

Someone we taught said that Elder Wilson looks like a Southern Brazilian, but I look like I have a French face.  They asked if I have ancestors from France.  This made me happy.

We passed through the weekly farmers market downtown on Saturday.  There was a vast array of fruits and vegetables I have never seen, live crabs, men selling ducks who looked excited to be carried around by their wings, not knowing that they would probably be eaten within 24 hours.  There were also clothes vendors, people barbecuing meat, selling ice cream, and everything from wallets to umbrellas.  It was really exciting to be swallowed up in the hustle, bustle, and culture.

A member gave me a Bible that has tabs!  This is great because the ones we got in the MTC don´t have tabs, so it is really hard to find the really tiny books of the Bible quickly in a teaching setting.

Life is good, Serra is beautiful, and I am happy. 

There are more rainy days on a mission than there are sunny ones, but the rainbows that you experience are more vivid than any you´ve ever seen before. This is true.

I took some better pictures from the house out over the area and will have to send them next week.

Have a wonderful week,
Elder JOSHUA BODILY

Serra-Sede



Elder Joshua Bodily and Elder Luke Wilson




Catholic Church as viewed through
window in our house



Hello.

Much news this week.  I was transferred!  I am still in the same zone and the same stake, but on the opposite side of the stake.  The Vitória Ward is at the extreme south of the stake, and my new ward is on the extreme north end of the stake.

I am in the boundaries of a Group.  So, technically, we are in the Serra Ward  (pronounced Seh-huhh.)  But, we are working in the Serra-Sede Group.  (pronounced Seh-huhh Sedge)  Once again I am working in a Group (instead of a ward or branch).  However, here the papers have already been sent in applying to become a branch.  We meet in a house, but every fast and testimony meeting we go to have church with the Serra Ward.  That is what happened yesterday.  We have fast sunday the week after general conference here, instead of before, who knows why.  I have seen the house though, it´s pretty neat.  It has a drinking fountain, walls separating the chapel area and the primary area and the young men/women area.  It also had a lizard crawling up the wall when I visited.  Apparently, they have no one who plays piano...so guess what will happen this Sunday.  One member has a keyboard he is bringing.

My new companion is Elder Luke Wilson from South Jordan, Utah.  I have yet to have a Brazilian companion.  Elder Anderson got transferred too, and he is with his second Brazilian companion.  He is also here in the Zona Vitória.  Funny.  Elder Wilson just turned senior at this transfer, which means that I am his first junior companion.  He is incredibly on the ball and focused.  For the first time, I have a companion that is demanding things from me.  I feel a lot more like a part of the team, instead of the assistant to the senior.  We are having a good time working harder than ever here.  The city of Serra is really strange.  It is really spread out.  We live in the downtown district of the town, even though the downtown sits on the extreme northwest boundary of the entire city. 

The house here is immaculately clean.  It is very new.  A good surprise.  I like living alone with one other Elder for the first time.  There is much less traffic in the bathroom in the mornings, it´s calmer at night, and easier to coordinate lunches and scheduling.

We had six investigators at church yesterday, and the Serra Chapel is a fifteen minute bus ride and a five minute walk from Serra-Sede.  Remember, the downtown sits way far off from the city...weird.

We have a great group of people we are teaching and we can both sense success on the horizon.  We are both passionate about the progress of the work and we are having spiritual experiences every day in lessons and with members and investigators alike.  Here, the work involves a lot of visiting less-active church members, reminding them of the fire that was one in the thestimonies.  I really enjoy this.  We have some really strong people who have just fallen off the path a little bit.  It is very rewarding to help others strengthen themselves, because we end up strengthening ourselves in the process.

Some strange things about Brasil:



Another view from our house.



They have strikes a lot.  Today was the first one that I´ve seen the participants of.  Today on the street were about two hundred people standing in the principle road with banners, shirts, and a huge megaphone thing making lots of racket and lighting fireworks.  They are professors and teachers of some state schools here.

The sun rises here at about 5:15 in the morning, and sets around 7:30pm. 

Anyways, my time is running out.  Have a lovely week.

Elder JOSHUA BODILY

Vinte Anos, Transferencia, e Conferencia (Twenty Years, Transfers, and Conference)

Hello Hello!

This has been a wild week.  I have twenty minutes left on the timer, so I will type until it runs out!

I turned twenty on Saturday.  I had the wonderful opportunity to have General Conference on my birthday.  Not only were we watching conference in English in an air-conditioned room all day, but the conference was spectacular!  All the normal Portuguese members were in the chapel watching in their language.  About eight of us English speaking missionaries and President and Sister Pickett viewed the conference in English on a tiny little 32 or less inch TV with blown out speakers in the high council room on the second floor of the stake center in Jardim da Penha.  In between the sessions, Elders Bagley, Rossi, and Souza (with whom I live) took me out to a lunch shop.  I had a delicious pão de queixo (cheese bread) and suco de abacaxi (pure pineapple juice, made right in front of me, fresh!--literally, blended pineapple--delicious!!).  

The Conference, as I said, was awe-inspiring.  It is good to be reminded that the Church is a worldwide organization, and more importantly, that it is led by God.  I felt super-charged by the Spirit after the final session.

I had to watch the priesthood session in Portuguese, and it wasn´t horrific.  I caught a lot, but it was not the same as having it in English.  The first session on Saturday was rough.  The tech guy at the church, in charge of setting up the equipment couldn´t find the channel that was delivering the Portuguese translation of the conference.  He couldn´t find English either.  So, for the first 45 minutes all of us watched in SPANISH.  It was hilarious.  Finally, he got it working.  Portuguese definitely has helped my ability to understand Spanish, though.  I understood almost everything.

Right towards the end of the last session on Sunday, when Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was speaking, an electrical storm passed over us.  It was the most breathtaking storm I have ever seen.  Lightning was flashing every five to ten seconds for hours!  Many of the bolts left crashing explosive thunder.  At one point in the conference, we heard Elder Holland say in his emphatic and slow voice: ´´The voice of God will be heard.´´ This was immediately followed by a flash of lightning through the window and an instant sonic boom of thunder.  I had goosebumps all over.  At least five of the lightning bolts were followed by thunder within one second.  There was a downpour also, of course.  It was really neat.

Also, I found out last night that I have been transferred!  I am leaving Vitória 1.  I don´t find out where I am going or who my new companion is until tomorrow.  I am nervous and excited.  It will be good to have this fresh start with a new age, new companion, new ward, new area, and a new outlook-inspired by conference.

In Vitória, there are three blue macaws that fly over the city regularly.  They have a routine, it seems.  Most mornings they land on a telephone post a block away from our apartment.  Today, we went to take pictures of them when they arrived there.  We found out that they go there because the post is next to an old lady´s house, and she feeds them whenever they come.  They sit on the pole and call out until she comes outside.  We talked with the old lady, took pictures really close up of the parrots.  Brazil.  Enough said.

I am in really good spirits, I feel energized by the presence of the Spirit, and I am determined to make the best of this new transfer.  Have a fantastic week, all.

Elder JOSHUA BODILY

PS.  Wish me luck with packing.