Natal a Vespera (Christmas Eve)

So.

This week we were supposed to have three baptisms. Three teenage brothers. However, last second, with the font already filled and everything, their mom got called to work an emergency shift. She is not interested in the Church, but she wants to be present for the baptism. Therefore, we moved the baptism to Wednesday. It will be neat!

It was rough to get the three brothers to church. We had to go with the ward mission leader to pick them up. They forgot to get ready, and so we got to church an hour late. First time that´s ever happened. Then the ward mission leader´s wife got mad at him for that and forbid him to use his car for the rest of the day, so I paid for all three of the their bus passages, plus mine, plus my companion (umm...Elder?...I forgot money...again.)

It is raining a lot. Summer is rainy season here. It´s great because the clouds block the sun.

I am now living with two missionaries from São Paulo and one from Argentina. Things are going well there. We all get along. And the two new Elders are CLEAN! Miracle! It is so pleasant to walk into the bathroom and be surprised to see that someone other than yourself has cleaned the mirror or squeegeed the floor. Or see that there are no dishes in the sink. 

Christmas is next week! I don´t believe it! Celebrate! Remeber our Savior!

The following week I am going to give a detailed account of the week. I am tired of sending tiny emails like this home. I´m sure you are too. If anyone reads these at least.

Natal, Natal, ta Chegando (Christmas, Christmas is Coming)

So...

This has been a crazy last few days. So our Mission Christmas Conference was yesterday. EVERYONE on the mission arrived in the stake center in Cariacica. It is an enormous and beautiful chapel. It was my third or fourth time in the chapel. I saw Elder Anderson, Elder Gneiting and past companions: Elder Wilson, Elder Salvador, Elder Vieira, and Elder Collins. It was neat. 108 missionaries. We had presents, skits, and lots of neat stuff. I got a tie, a glass, a cd of mission photos, and photos with lots of my missionary friends. Then the transfer happened after. 58 of the 108 missionaries were transferred, that is more than ever on my mission. I sat on a bench with Elder Anderson, Elder Gneiting, and our three missionaries that we are training. That was neat. Because we are training, we were not transferred. Only 17 of 54 companionships stayed the same. There are now Sisters in our zone. That is new too. Zona Campos.

Except, everything went overtime and went late. We went to the bus terminal in Vitória and learned (it was 7:30pm) that the next bus to Campos would be leaving at 7:30 am. We had to have the secretaries come to the bus terminal and pay to store all the bags at the luggage storage station and then us and two other elders went to the secretaries house in Vitória to sleep (lucky that I know my way around in Vitória super well). the Sisters went to Jardim da Penha on the other side of Vitória to sleep. We slept without pjs, pillows, etc. On old matresses on the ground. Very similar to my first days in Vitòria when I slept on the ground in the same house 11 months ago.

Then the trip. We got to Campos around noon. We had to help one set of Sisters get on a bus that was already rolling out of the bus station and another to cross the road, get on a city bus, go to the other bus station, and get on a bus there that was already rolling away. And between the four sisters they had 9 or 10 gigantic bags. It took all 8 of us to make everything work. We got permission to send email today. PS. Our lunch today fell thru. So, it has been crazy. We are now living with a brand new Elder and an Elder from Argentina that Elder Hein trained (Elder Hein trained me too). Their names are Elder Cunha (new) and Elder Melivilo (Argentina). It will be interesting.

I can´t believe that December is practically half over. One of the former secretaries who met with us when we arrived in the airport in Vitória on our first day went home yesterday. Reality check. Every day an adventure.

I am so grateful for the Gospel and for the peace and confidence it gives. Any other source than Jesus Christ is incomplete.

Have a good week,

Feliz Natal e Boas Festas

Elder Bodily

Dezembro Chegou (December Came)

Amigos e familiares,

I just started writing this email in Portuguese and so I had to erase everything and start over. Our week this week was pretty normal.

We had stake conference yesterday and Saturday. An Area Seventy came from Rio Grande do Sul to visit us. He talked about the need for missionares. We discussed ways to help young men, young women, investigators of age, and retired couples to go on missons. He said Brasil needs at least 600 more missionaries. For some perspective, our mission has 108 missionaries. It was a spiritual meeting.

The new missionary training program includes a few online supplements. That is why I have almost no time to write this email. I was doing the online courses.

We found a man named Salvador who has gone to church twice with an older sister in the other ward. He is about 45 and is not married, doesn´t have kids. He wants to get baptized on Christmas Eve! White Christmas! Next week, everyone on the mission is going to get together in Vitòria and we are going to have a Christmas celebration. Neat!

We are going to visit WalMart today. There are only two on the mission. One in Vitória (some of you may recall that I already visited there in January, almost a year ago) and one in Campos. Fun!

More next week, I promise.

Love,

Elder Bodily

PHOTOS!!!! FINALLY!!!