Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

Sadly, no one here is setting off fireworks. I haven´t seen an American flag in months. But, it is still independence day! Independence Day in Brazil is on the 7th of September. All the missionaries that are serving in the Vitória region participate in a parade in downtown Vitória on this day. If I stay here one more transfer and nothing changes, I will get to participate.

We have a baptism scheduled for this Sunday. His name is Elias. But I am worried about him. We will see what happens. He is 47 and single. He has a pretty dark past. I just hope that he has really changed and is really committed to live the Gospel.

We have had a very busy week. We have a lot of investigators. This is good. However, we had a disappointing turnout at church this Sunday. Four investigators. The three wives from our golden three couples. But none of the men. Edineia and Reginaldo are getting married NEXT WEEK and will be baptized here in two weeks. I really really want to help everything go ok, but it is up to them.

One of our investigators brought a friend to church and we have an appointment to meet with them together. Super neat! The ward is also making a special effort to supply us with members with whom we can teach lessons with throughout the week. This is very difficult to coordinate and plan, espeically since the minutes on our cell phone ran out. However, it reaps many rewards.

We had our first zone conference with the new president and his wife. They seem scared, but ready to be awesome. They are both wise, classy, witty people. And their Portuguese is easy to understand, thank goodness. Thank goodness.

This week we have our first interviews with the new president. On Friday.

We have struggled a bit to find new people to teach. We are going to work like mad this week to find people to teach. And we are going to lay down the law about going to church. Literally. We set a goal to have 12 investigators in the chapel on Sunday. Twelve. And the chapel is 25 minutes away. And the meeting STARTS at 8:30 AM. Bring it on.

I had a superb experience with an investigator, Silvana. At church yesterday she said this to me. Remember that I am an imperfect translator:

´´Last night I was determined to finish work early (she runs a little grill and snack shop on the side of the road) and sell all the food so that I could wake up and get to church. Before I went to bed I said to myself, In the name of Jesus, I am going to go to church tomorrow. And you know what happened? I woke up before the alarm went off, Eduarda (her 7 year old daughter) woke up happy and calmly, and we caught the van to the church peacefully. It is clear that when we put God in first priority, the blessings come and He helps us.´´

I could have died in that moment and been happy. It is that message that we try so desperately to share with people. It is so refreshing to have someone who decides with force to do what is right instead of the thousands of people that I have talked with who say things like ´´One of these days...´´ ´´When the opportunity comes up...´´ ´´It won´t work out this time, you know why? ....blablablabla´´, But I won´t guarantee. I don´t like to make a committment and then not follow through.´´. Or, the most ironic answer: ´´God willing, I will (fill in the blank: go to church, read the scriptures, pray every day, etc.)´´. When would that not be the will of God?

Such is life on the mission.

Happy 4th of July. Light some fireworks in memory of me. I will sing the national anthem on the balcony of our apartment. Leave it to me.

Have a fabulous week,
Elder Joshua Bodily