This week was another difficult week, though we had a miraculous date marking experience. We marked a date in the first lesson with the girlfriend of a former investiagator. She was the driving force that kept him from being baptized (she wanted him to be baptized in the Assembleia). She came to church with us yesterday. She has cousins that are members of the church. She will turn 18 next month. Remarkably, a member gave her mom as a reference the week before, so we had visited her house twice and talked with her parents before even meeting her. For now, the parents are determinedly NOT interested, but they like us and know us because of our visits. We both want to involve them though, to the point that they grow a desire to be baptized as well.
One of our pillars of strength in the Serra-Sede (one of our really awesome members) is suffering financially and took up a job that keeps her from going to church except for one Sunday per month. This is sad.
Remarkable how a mission makes you want to raise your hands to the air and yell in anguish, but at the same time fills you with sublime satisfaction and heavenly joy.
Elder Wilson saw wild monkeys for the first time in one year and four months in Brasil! It was my third time in nine months. They are tiny and almost squirrels except for their faces and their long tails. It was funny, because it was in one of the fanciest neighborhoods in our area.
Yesterday at church, the sister who taught Principles of the Gospel (the course for new members of the church and visitors) came sweeping into the class room with a bunch of balloons and a cake. The lesson was on baptism. The reason? She said: <<Baptism is like a big party! When there is a baptism on Earth, there is a party in heaven!>> I´m not sure on the accuracy of her statements, but it was all in good sentiments. Sigh...ay ay.
Things are really nice here weather wise. I don´t sleep with the fan anymore. We just open our window. I´m not sweating as much. Blessing!
Next time you just feel blah, try going out into the street, talking with thirty different people about your deeply personal religious views and listen to all of the criticisms and comments they make to you. Let me tell you, if I didn´t know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was true, I don´t know what I would do.
A mission is work, but its wages are better than any other work.
Good week to all,
Elder Joshua Bodily
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Inverno Chegou (Winter has Arrived!)
Well, this week has been a challenging one. First off, Inácio, the man who was to be baptized on Saturday bailed out four hours before the baptism. He called us and told us to come to his house ´´para conversar´´ or, in English ´´to have a talk´´. This did not leave us feeling very tickled, but we walked to his house. The next hour and a half were spent in trying to understand and address his concerns. He cannot read, and he is very sensitive about it. Apparently, when he distributed invitations to his friends and family, more than one of them called their pastors to come and talk to him and keep him from baptizing in this church. More than one. Despite the fact that we always warn our investigators to talk with us about their doubts and concerns, this was too much for him. He doesn´t want to get baptized until he learns to read. Even though he is 48 and works a lot and very hard (the church has his resumé and is searching for a better job for him--I had to fill out his resumé because he can´t write), and has no time to return to studying. This is very sad, because he was truly excited and happy to be baptized the night before when we visited with him and had a good talk. He said that he wants to keep coming to church, just not get baptized. Yet, he didn´t even come to church yesterday. Also, the man who had a goal to be baptized this coming Sunday didn´t come to church.
The only investigators we had at church were Reginaldo and Edineia, the most golden of the three couples we are teaching. Good news in their category, they marked the date of their marriage! They will be married on the 13th of July and be baptized the Saturday after. The only reason for the delay is the red tape of marriage here. We were in the government office building when they signed the papers and marked the date officially. Now, the papers will process, then they will come to the office on the 13th of July and sign one final paper and then the deal is sealed!
So, basically, all of the people we have been teaching and helping for the last 7 weeks, save for a precious few, are not doing very well. We are going to start working in a different neighborhood again. Start from scratch. This is refreshing, but exhausting work, building a group of people who accept us and getting to know a neighborhood from the ground up. Remember, we go everywhere on foot, and it is easy to get lost in the maze of streets, alleys, and pathways.
One brilliant and lovely and glorious piece of news: WINTER HAS COME TO BRASIL! We are officially in the winter season here. It has been really nice the past few days. Really really nice. We open the window instead of turning on our fans to sleep at night. Right now in the internet house the windows are open and the a/c is turned off, but it is the same as when the windows are shut and the a/c is on! Miraculous, but true. It is probably 75 degrees right now.
We are determined to make things work here. Elder Wilson is now the district leader here. Our former district leader left to be a zone leader in Vila Velha. In his place came a missionary fresh from the MTC, he is from Argentina. The last American waiting for his visa with a call to this mission arrived as well. Elder Buttars, who I met in the MTC. He has been waiting since leaving in December for the Texas Fort Worth mission. No more Americans in the mission for a while due to visa problems.
Have a wonderful week,
Elder Joshua Bodily
Monday, May 16, 2011
Baptisms and Street Contacts
This week was that of transfers. Neither of us here got transferred. Elder Wilson is starting his fifth transfer here in Serra-Sede. He will have seven months here at the end of the next transfer. That is a TON! Everyone thought he was leaving this transfer.
We have a baptism lined up for this Saturday. His name is Inácio. He is a very humble but savvy man of about fifty years. He can barely read at all. Basically nothing. He can only write his first name. Yet, he astonishes us with his spirituality. He stopped smoking in one day, a habit he has had since forever. He also gave up coffee the same day, a huge hurdle for a Brazilian. He has been in many churches that haven´t allowed him to be baptized because he cannot read the Bible. Darli, another investigator of Inácio befriended him at church and is making visits in his house helping him learn the basics of writing and reading. He is ready and filled with almost childlike excitement to be baptized. He is awesome.
One man got really mad at me this week when I tried to contact him on the street. It is really hard to keep contacting and talking to people when every bit of my shy self doesn´t want to, and the people we are talking to all too often would prefer we let them be. But I also know that this is about more than just shyness and inconvenience for 30 seconds on the street. This is about a lot more.
This week I read Our Heritage, a brief history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I felt the Spirit testifying of the divinity of this work as I finished the book. The truth of God is going forth nobly, boldly, and independent. There is no greater joy than in service to Him and His kingdom.
Tchau,
ELDER JOSHUA BODILY
We have a baptism lined up for this Saturday. His name is Inácio. He is a very humble but savvy man of about fifty years. He can barely read at all. Basically nothing. He can only write his first name. Yet, he astonishes us with his spirituality. He stopped smoking in one day, a habit he has had since forever. He also gave up coffee the same day, a huge hurdle for a Brazilian. He has been in many churches that haven´t allowed him to be baptized because he cannot read the Bible. Darli, another investigator of Inácio befriended him at church and is making visits in his house helping him learn the basics of writing and reading. He is ready and filled with almost childlike excitement to be baptized. He is awesome.
One man got really mad at me this week when I tried to contact him on the street. It is really hard to keep contacting and talking to people when every bit of my shy self doesn´t want to, and the people we are talking to all too often would prefer we let them be. But I also know that this is about more than just shyness and inconvenience for 30 seconds on the street. This is about a lot more.
This week I read Our Heritage, a brief history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I felt the Spirit testifying of the divinity of this work as I finished the book. The truth of God is going forth nobly, boldly, and independent. There is no greater joy than in service to Him and His kingdom.
Tchau,
ELDER JOSHUA BODILY
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Please Write!
Josh didn't send an update this week. We talked to him on Skype on Sunday and he asked that I pass on the request to send him a letter! Who doesn't love mail! Have a good week and check back next week for another update from Elder Bodily.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Maio Chegou (May Day)
Dear Everyone,
This week was one of the longest ever. Tuesday it rained on and off. I got wet. I had left my umbrella in the car of the bishop last week. Wednesday it rained almost non-stop. We went straight to the store to buy a new umbrella for me in the morning. I payed
R$9 for it. It turned out to be a lemon. Before lunch the umbrella caught the wind and the handle stayed in my hand but the whole rest of the umbrella went flying down the street in the gusting breeze. Luckily it caught on a pole, unluckily it ripped a tiny hole in the top. So I spent the afternoon getting dripped on by an umbrella without a handle. In the evening the wind picked up and blew my umbrella completely inside out and snapped four of the metal prongs. I got soaked. It was really irritating, but also really funny the whole time. I mananged to keep my scriptures dry, so no harm done. Thursday my umbrella was returned to me at District Meeting in Laranjeiras.
I found out that two members of our Group can´t read or write. One is a 42 year old woman, the other is a 62 year old man. The woman has a son that is 8 years old that can´t read or write yet. He said ´´I´m only 8, I´m not behind at all!´´ This shocked me. Education, even the most basic education, and simple capabilities are truly a blessing.
One of our investigators, Darli, bore his testimony in fast and testimony meeting yesterday. He read a brief scripture in the Bible, and then gave a simple testimony about God and the joy he gives us. It was really neat. He loved it (he is an attention hog who loves to talk, bless his heart). I bore testimony in Portuguese for the first time yesterday as well.
Six of our top investigators have to get married before baptism: Edineia & Reginaldo, Gilmar & Silvana, and Darli & Arlete. One of our other investigators is in the process of separating from a man she has been living with for 12 years, because she doesn´t like him and she wants to be baptized. Marriage is a really complicated process here, and it takes a long time for all the paperwork to work out. You have to have a birth certificate, signed my the government in the city in which you were born that is no more than 4 months old before you can start the marriage process. So, basically we have a ton of people who want to be baptized, but it is just a waiting game. Wait. Wait. Wait. To give you an idea of how ready they are, Edineia and Reginaldo hosted a Ward Social at their house last night and yesterday was their sixth time at church in a row. Gilmar & Silvana have daily prayer and scripture study in both the Bible and Book of Mormon. And Darli bore his testimony yesterday, while Arlete decided before she even went to church that she wants to be baptized. Serious.
Elder Wilson and I wanted to do something different to find people to teach and help the group this week, so we planned and gave a scirpture study class along with a scritpure chase activity and bonbons for refreshments on Saturday. It was a big hit and we had 18 people attending, which-- for the Group is a huge number. 12 members and 6 non-members. (Edineia, Reginaldo, their daughter, Darli, and Arlete being among them). It was all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ--about faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endurance to the end. It was really hard not to write fé, arrependimento, batismo, o dom do Espírito Santo, e perseverança até o fim just now. Portuguenglish.
A bus went driving by us the other day and someone was sticking their umbrella out the window. On the narrow street on which we were walking, I was afraid of getting hit, and I moved all the way to the edge of the street to avoid it. I looked at the person, and it was Edineia! She was laughing--just trying to get our attention. She cracks me up.
We had a really good spiritual, fun, successful Ward Social last night (the one in Edineia and Reginaldo´s house). Only about 15 people came, but I gave the spiritual message on loving our neighbors along with Elder Wilson. Then we had a discussion for a half an hour about loving our neighbors. Then we just chatted, played a game, and ate hot dogs Brazilian style afterwards. It was really neat. And I won the game. It´s too hard to explain but it is fun. It is called Zoom, Break.
On a side note, one day while we were studying, I looked over at Elder Wilson, and he was sticking a sticky note against his face and then pulling it off. I thought, that´s weird. Then it happened again! Turns out, he was just trying to see which side was sticky on the sticky notes and his hands were too clammy to feel.
Funny story: knocking doors one day this week we got the best excuse yet. I woman opened a window on the second floor and she looked to be very distressed. She explained that she is 9 months pregnant, is feeling contractions, and is waiting for her husband to arrive and drive her to the hospital, so she couldn´t attend to us. We understood.
We got word that our little Group here in Serra-Sede will be discontinued soon. We just don´t have the Presthood presence yet. This is a little difficult, because of all of the couples we are teaching who are working towards marriage. More news on this next week.
Have a lovely week,
Elder JOSHUA BODILY
This week was one of the longest ever. Tuesday it rained on and off. I got wet. I had left my umbrella in the car of the bishop last week. Wednesday it rained almost non-stop. We went straight to the store to buy a new umbrella for me in the morning. I payed
R$9 for it. It turned out to be a lemon. Before lunch the umbrella caught the wind and the handle stayed in my hand but the whole rest of the umbrella went flying down the street in the gusting breeze. Luckily it caught on a pole, unluckily it ripped a tiny hole in the top. So I spent the afternoon getting dripped on by an umbrella without a handle. In the evening the wind picked up and blew my umbrella completely inside out and snapped four of the metal prongs. I got soaked. It was really irritating, but also really funny the whole time. I mananged to keep my scriptures dry, so no harm done. Thursday my umbrella was returned to me at District Meeting in Laranjeiras.
I found out that two members of our Group can´t read or write. One is a 42 year old woman, the other is a 62 year old man. The woman has a son that is 8 years old that can´t read or write yet. He said ´´I´m only 8, I´m not behind at all!´´ This shocked me. Education, even the most basic education, and simple capabilities are truly a blessing.
One of our investigators, Darli, bore his testimony in fast and testimony meeting yesterday. He read a brief scripture in the Bible, and then gave a simple testimony about God and the joy he gives us. It was really neat. He loved it (he is an attention hog who loves to talk, bless his heart). I bore testimony in Portuguese for the first time yesterday as well.
Six of our top investigators have to get married before baptism: Edineia & Reginaldo, Gilmar & Silvana, and Darli & Arlete. One of our other investigators is in the process of separating from a man she has been living with for 12 years, because she doesn´t like him and she wants to be baptized. Marriage is a really complicated process here, and it takes a long time for all the paperwork to work out. You have to have a birth certificate, signed my the government in the city in which you were born that is no more than 4 months old before you can start the marriage process. So, basically we have a ton of people who want to be baptized, but it is just a waiting game. Wait. Wait. Wait. To give you an idea of how ready they are, Edineia and Reginaldo hosted a Ward Social at their house last night and yesterday was their sixth time at church in a row. Gilmar & Silvana have daily prayer and scripture study in both the Bible and Book of Mormon. And Darli bore his testimony yesterday, while Arlete decided before she even went to church that she wants to be baptized. Serious.
Elder Wilson and I wanted to do something different to find people to teach and help the group this week, so we planned and gave a scirpture study class along with a scritpure chase activity and bonbons for refreshments on Saturday. It was a big hit and we had 18 people attending, which-- for the Group is a huge number. 12 members and 6 non-members. (Edineia, Reginaldo, their daughter, Darli, and Arlete being among them). It was all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ--about faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endurance to the end. It was really hard not to write fé, arrependimento, batismo, o dom do Espírito Santo, e perseverança até o fim just now. Portuguenglish.
A bus went driving by us the other day and someone was sticking their umbrella out the window. On the narrow street on which we were walking, I was afraid of getting hit, and I moved all the way to the edge of the street to avoid it. I looked at the person, and it was Edineia! She was laughing--just trying to get our attention. She cracks me up.
We had a really good spiritual, fun, successful Ward Social last night (the one in Edineia and Reginaldo´s house). Only about 15 people came, but I gave the spiritual message on loving our neighbors along with Elder Wilson. Then we had a discussion for a half an hour about loving our neighbors. Then we just chatted, played a game, and ate hot dogs Brazilian style afterwards. It was really neat. And I won the game. It´s too hard to explain but it is fun. It is called Zoom, Break.
On a side note, one day while we were studying, I looked over at Elder Wilson, and he was sticking a sticky note against his face and then pulling it off. I thought, that´s weird. Then it happened again! Turns out, he was just trying to see which side was sticky on the sticky notes and his hands were too clammy to feel.
Funny story: knocking doors one day this week we got the best excuse yet. I woman opened a window on the second floor and she looked to be very distressed. She explained that she is 9 months pregnant, is feeling contractions, and is waiting for her husband to arrive and drive her to the hospital, so she couldn´t attend to us. We understood.
We got word that our little Group here in Serra-Sede will be discontinued soon. We just don´t have the Presthood presence yet. This is a little difficult, because of all of the couples we are teaching who are working towards marriage. More news on this next week.
Have a lovely week,
Elder JOSHUA BODILY
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