Misericordia (have mercy or have pity)

Ay ay,

What a week of madness! I did a division with Elder J. Lima in Guarapari. It was a good experience. The Elders in Guarapari had three baptisms this week. It was neat to meet many of the members of the branch to which Anchieta technically belongs to.

Yesterday Elder Vieira and I went to Vila Velha to do two baptismal interviews for the Sisters. We travelled the two hours by bus. First of all, their directions were...less that perfect. We got off the bus 15 kilometers before we should have. All the buses were too full to let us on. Just as we were about to give up and go home, the Branch President pulled up and gave us a ride. His wife had gone by on a bus, saw two Elders that looked like they were lost, and called her husband. Miracle! Except, both the interviews fell through. Long story. One of the baptismal candidates didn´t go to church and was not at home, the other fell into doubt about a tiny detail that scarcely even deserves to be mentioned. I didn´t even get to interview him. We arrived, he expressed his doubt, and then Sister Dias, Sister Neylla, Elder Vieira, and I had a 45 minute lesson trying to get rid of his doubt. Disappointment. We left Anchieta at 3:20pm and returned at 10:10pm.

We had no one come to church again.

We had two more family home evenings. The turnout was exceptionally low at both, but at least we were there!

There really is not that much to say this week.

This morning, a little stressed and sad about the situation of things I had a chat with our Zone Leader. Afterwards, I took a shower and started to shave when something tickled my foot. I looked down and to my horror, it was a cockroach. Yes, the big Brazilian kind. I freaked out and it crawled down the shower drain. I know that it is impossible to drown them, but I turned on the shower until the little beast came crawling out of the drain, and then I unleashed my stress on the creeper. He quickly became a pancake as I let out a battle cry and attacked, armed with my flip flop (I believe I squashed it 15 times, with a yell each time). I swept it up and threw it off of our fourth floor balcony where it landed with a thud on the pavement below. I felt better after that, but I think I scared Elder Vieira a little. Joke.

I am really not discouraged or out of spirits, just a little disappointed with the state of things. In fact I am happy. I cannot believe that transfers are next week. I hope we both stay until we can get a little success here in Anchieta.

Have a good week,

Elder Bodily

Um Ano Ja (One Year, Ya)

Pessoal, (people, or everyone)

This week was exceptionally difficult. We worked and worked and worked, and we saw little of results. However, we organized two family home evenings in members homes. We invited less-active members and investigators. No investigators came, but a bunch of people from the church showed up and we had good experiences. We also made a load of visits to less-active members. Some we met for the first time. A member named João, nicknamed Aranha (or in English: spider) accompanied us in his car on various visits to members in Piúma, and we also tried to visit the two inactive members that live in Marataízes, way far from Anchieta. Only one was home. Just look at a map and you will see the distance from Anchieta to Marataízes. However, it is a beautiful drive. One member comes from Marataízes to Anchieta twice a week. For church and to teach institute. It is about an hour drive.

We had investigators at church finally! The first time here in Anchieta. A couple named Benilda and Vantuil. They are married and she wants to be baptized. Church was really neat. The testimony meeting was excellent and full of good experiences and conviction. I played a tiny keyboard of horrible tacky quality, but it helped the members sing very well. The turnout was also fruitful, with forty-one persons in attendance. Including many that we visited this week.

This is truly a beautiful little corner of the world. Beaches, waves, and palm trees. Anchieta, Piúma, and Marataízes. And even better, the last few days have been quite chilly. A crisp and cool wind from the ocean and overcast skies. My companion who prides himself on being supernaturally macho was groaning (literally), shivering, and complaining about the cold and how it was hurting his hands. Good thing he didn´t pass half a winter in Georgia with just the clothes of a Brazilian missionary. He would be dead.

I think that I am going to buy a little cake at the store for R$3,50 and a candle on Thursday. Enough said.

All of the missionaries in the district except for us two are looking to have baptisms in the next two weeks before the close of the transfer. Joy!

I want to go to the Garoto Chocolate Factory in Vila Velha on Monday, next p-day. I am going to have to convince Elder Vieira. Wish me luck. At the end of the tour, you can eat as many chocolates as you want as long as you don´t take any with you or drink any water. The Sisters went two weeks ago and one sister ate 25 bonbons! I´ve heard of missionaries eating as many as 65 bonbons. Can you say ´´Food Pyramid´´?

 There is so much joy and relief in the gospel. Lives centered in Jesus Christ and his Atonement are free from the suffering and utter torment of self-inflicted pain via drugs, immorality, laziness, and confusion. The Church of Jesus Christ is a safe haven for all. There is literal protection within the walls of obedience to the commandments. I have met so many people with life stories so horrific, painful, and bitter because of a lack of knowledge of the Gospel. They just don´t know how to live. We have that blessing and have to take advantage.

 Have an excellent week all,

Elder Bodily

Mudanca (Change)

Mais uma semana,

It´s clear that I am in Brasil. Elder Vieira pointed out to me that there are various rubber trees along the road from Anchieta to Piúma. Sure enough, there are plantations of rubber trees with tubes inserted in the trees in such a way that the rubber drips out of the trees into containers. Also, we became aware of the fact that Praia Guanabara (Guanabara Beach), which lies on the east end of Anchieta is a breeding ground for sea turtles. They come up on the shore and lay eggs. Then two months later, all the eggs hatch and the little turtles try to get to the sea. There is a little museum thing that we visited. The sea turtles are HUGE. They have a stuffed turtle, and it is the size of my armspan! Also, I ate bananas for dessert at a member´s house. She had just plucked them from her banana tree in her backyard.

We ran along the coastline for exercises. It was a refreshing experience. The sound of waves crashing and the sun coming up over the city.

I left my planner on a long distance bus from Guarapari. I realized about 20 minutes later and I called the bus company. My little planner went to Cachoeiro de Itapemirim (way out of our area), back to Piúma, and then up to Guarapari before it finally came back to Anchieta where we picked it up. What luck!

I did my second baptismal interview for Sister Dias and Sister Neylla. She passed and was baptized on Saturday. The district is having much success, outside of Anchieta, at least. Tonight we set out for Guarapari to do FOUR baptismal interviews for the Elders there.

Elder Claudio R.M. Costa, formerly of the Presidency of the Seventy; currently the Area President of Brasil, came to visit the mission Tuesday and Wednesday. We went to Vila Velha and slept on the ground Monday night. We crossed the Terceira Ponte (always an enjoyable experience for me) and heard President and Sister Araújo as well as Elder and Sister Costa speak to us. It was a very inspiring, very powerful meeting. Everyone from the Zones of Vitória, Vila Velha, Cariacica, and Campos were there. (Everyone on the mission, minus about 30 missionaries.) He spoke a lot about having the Spirit with us while we teach. He talked about helping people experience conversion before being baptized. Elder Costa served as the Mission President of the Brazil North Mission when it first started. He told the story of a man who after being baptized as a middle-aged man never missed a church meeting until his death. The thing is, he lived in the boondocks of Manaus, practically in the jungle. The man had to cross a small river, with currents running waist-deep, and walk two miles to the main road which was made of dirt and mud and filled with potholes. There he waited for a car to pass and give him a ride. All this on SATURDAY, because the chapel was in a city two hours from there by car. There, upon arrival he slept every Saturday night at the branch president´s home and attended meetings Sunday morning before repeating the process in reverse to arrive at home Sunday night. I love stories like that of people with real dedication and understanding of the Gospel and its importance.

On receiving constant revelation, Elder Costa shared the following quote, which comes from Elder Russell M. Nelson: ´´The Lord always answers the inquiring mind.´´ We have to inquire, seek, live worthy of, and work to receive and recognize the Spirit in our lives.

Oh.

And this week, WE MOVED. This is a joyful statement, but it was a horrific experience. We were left on our own to figure out a way to rent a truck to move all of our stuff, after packing all of our clothes--dirty and clean-- all of our books, materials, and supplies, and after cleaning out a house with years of missionary residue and refuse. We found lots of interesting things. Like yoyos that don´t work. A broken Playstation from 100 BC. Don´t ask me how that got there. A great pair of Levis jeans that fit me perfectly (score!). Etc etc.

Also, there is the closet. It is too big to get down the narrow staircase. So, a member is going to help us take it apart and set it up in the new apartment. We still have to sweep, mop, and clear out the old apartment. Also, the furniture people showed up a day late at our new house, and still haven´t set up our beds. They are coming tomorrow. The moving guy charged R$70 to take the stuff to our new house, but then didn´t even help us carry the stuff up to the fourth floor where we live. So, we carried the refrigerator, the cabinets, the dressers, the washing machine thing, our study tables, etc etc up the four floors to the apartment. Alone. The building does not have an elevator. We are sleeping on mattresses on the ground.

However, the new apartment is super neat. We have access to the roof, where we can put up our clothes to dry, and enjoy beautiful views of the city, the forest, and the ocean. And there is always a breeze up on top. The new apartment has two nice bathrooms, a room for the beds, and a room for study. All with big windows. And a tiny little balcony looking out over the forest. Definitely an upgrade. And it´s nice to have some privacy. We don´t live above a member anymore.

Also, Elder Bagley suffered a grave accident this week. I don´t know why, but him and his companion had the idea to catch a ride on a cargo train, except Elder Bagley slipped in between two cars of the train and the train ran over his leg. They did surgery, but had to amputate his leg. It was in the newspaper, on the news, and news of it passed to us my the mission leadership. He is going home after his health stabilizes, if he is not already home. This was shocking and very sad news for all of us here. He was my companion from March 1 to April 5 of this year. He would have finished his mission on November 1.

Until next week.

Elder Bodily