Monday and Tuesday we had many people to visit, like I said last week.
However, as we visited them, very few showed potential, fewer accepted return
appointments, and little changed. Wednesday was quite difficult. We worked in
three separate neighborhoods, and still found very little to do. The highlight
of Wednesday was the Family Home Evening with Erica and her family. Erica is 23
and her mom and sisters are members of the church. She has been inactive for
about two years, but now she is full of desire to return. She organized the
whole Family Home Evening and it was suprisingly spiritual. I say surprising
because her nephews, son, and the neighbors were all making the most noise and
the biggest mess and being punished by the sandal of Erica´s dad (not yet a
member). We left edified, impressed, and full of refreshments. MMM.
On Thursday and Friday we had our zone meeting, in two parts. In order to
save on bus tickets, we met with the Elders from our zone working in Cariacica,
Viana, and Vitória on Thursday. Then on Friday we travelled to Cachoeiro to
meet with the Elders and Sisters from Cachoiero and Guaçuí. The two meetings
were a success. It was good to take care of yet another responsibility. I gave
a training about working together with and fortifying members of the church. We
had an activity centered on how well you know your companion that turned out to
be pretty entertaining. I think we all learned some funny things about each
other.
Thursday night the ward had an activity. The point was to invent new
lyrics to a song and then present your new hybrid song on the stage together
with karaoke music. We, as missionaries, were the judges. There were some
pretty funny and some pretty ridiculous songs. All of them were based on
Brazilian songs. The new lyrics were about callings, speaking in church, food
storage, families, etc. There was some controversy about our decision as
judges, but quite a few non-members were present. There are always a few
members who do an excellent job of inviting friends to the activities. Even
though most of them do not live in our ward, we were able to pass their
information to the other wards and stakes responsible.
Friday after the meeting we met with President Araújo, who was on his way
to Campos for a stake conference. Then we did a division with the Elders in Ala
Cachoeiro II. I worked with Elder Caceres. Elder Caceres is from Argentina.
He arrived on the mission when I was in Serra, and our wards shared the chapel
there in Serra. I did a division with him a year ago in his area in Serra.
Funny how things change, but stay the same.
Saturday and Sunday we pounded the pavement trying to make things happen,
but we had little success. The family of four (Élsio and kin) did not go to
church and we did not find them at home even though we took a bus way out to see
them. And they didn´t answer their phone. So, we don´t know what is going to
happen.
Sunday was Stake Conference. There was a special broadcast from Salt Lake
City for stakes in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Espírito Santo. Walter F.
Gonzalez from the Presidency of the Seventy (whose native language is Spanish),
Elaine S. Dalton President of the Young Women, Elder Neil A. Andersen (he spoke
in Portuguese), and President Thomas S. Monson all spoke. It was really
neat.
Next week is the dedication of the temple
in Manaus! All the Sunday meeting have been cancelled and in their place, they
are going to broadcast the dedication. I had to renew my temple recommend with
President because it expired last month. This will be a neat experience, but no
investigators can come...which adds a complication. The temple will be the
sixth in Brasil after São Paulo, Campinas, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, and
Recife.
Wish us luck for the new week.
Beixo,
Elder Bodily
No comments:
Post a Comment