Menos Uma Semana (One Week Less)

Dear all,

This week was quite difficult. We worked a lot and we sweated out every hour.

Fernando and Leidiane are basically stopped in their progress. Lots of excuses and lots of challenges. We are going to be there tomorrow to talk with them and give them the force and strength that they are going to need to make it to baptism. They did not go to church on Sunday.

The visit from Elder Jairo Mazzagardi was really neat. I got to see a lot of friends from the mission. I was the pianist as usual. As part of the fireside, he announced a few hymns that were unplanned. Thank goodness I knew how to play all of them. I only messed up a few little times. He talked to us for almost three hours and it didn´t even seem like it. No one wanted the time to end. I saw Elder Rossi for the last time. He was my last companion for those who forgot. It was very spiritual the whole time.

Our visit to the Convent was marvelous. It was a blue sky, bright sun, cool breeze day. We met members from the church from Vitória, Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, and Minas Gerais. I also met four Americans. Two from Pittsburgh and two from North Carolina. Tourist sites are always interesting. I remember all the times that I would eavesdrop on the foreign tourists when we visited national parks before the mission. This time I was the foreign tourist and I understood the foreign tourists speaking in English. 

Jane is doing well. She got her nephew to give her a ride to church, and is preparing to be independent from the missionaries. 

Jorge avoided us the whole week. I hope that is not his final answer.

Weverton is still hiding from us. Two weeks ago that he went to church and we never saw him again.

We are going to take pictures, write in our journals, and clean the house today. I am excited. Next week we are going to tour the chocolate factory here in Vila Velha. The company is called Garoto, owned by Nestle. It produces chocolate for all of Brasil and Portugal.

Have a wonderful week.

Elder Bodily

Busy Weeeeeek

Meus queridos  (my dear "friends")

 

We had the baptism of Jane this week. Remember how she had a stroke and lost most of the strength in one half of her body? That made things interesting. The process of helping her down into the font was slow and calm. Step by step. A recent convert of the Sisters here in the ward baptized her, but I was dressed in white and in the font too to help her down the steps and then to hold her legs under the water. It took three tries, but we finally succeeded. And instead of being scared or frustrated after being submerged three times, Jane was calm and happy. Did I mention that the President of the Relief Society also helped her down the steps and got her dress wet?

 

She was confirmed on Sunday. After church, some members invited her to lunch. She made new friends and when we visited her in the afternoon, she was more talkative than I have ever heard her. She smiled and laughed and was a much happier Jane. She is a strong and faithful woman.

 

We had a marvelous lunch at a members house today. We cut our hair. And we are going to the Convento da Penha, the prime tourist site of Vila Velha. Things are a little rushed.

 

We worked hard this week, but we had little to show for it. We started teaching a family of six that has been taught by the missionaries many times. They received us really well and we succeeded in establishing trust and friendship with them. We hope to set goals and see progress in them this week. For future reference, the parents are named Fernando and Leidiane.

 

We taught Jorge again. He said that he is going to decide this week if he wants our help to be baptized or not. He said he knows that God will answer his prayers, but that he has to put forward more effort. He said that he isn´t putting forward effort yet.

 

We are working hard. We feel that Jane is not the last person that we will baptize this transfer. Jairo Mazzagardi from the area presidency is going to speak to us on thursday and we have interviews with President Araújo tomorrow (last time!)

 

I had some funny experiences this week,

Talking to a drunk man that tried to teach us the ten commandments.

I had a division with Elder Salvador (who was my first junior companion in Serra, now he is my zone leader).

Probably my last division.

I left home without my nametag and didn´t notice for over an hour, that was weird. I felt so strange afterwards. That is the first time on the mission that that has happened.

 

Until next week. I know, I still owe you photos, but this lan house charges R$3 per hour, two times the normal price. Wish us luck on our outing to the convento!

Love,

Elder Bodily

Ficando Velho Em Vila Velha (Getting Old in Vila Velha)

Dear all,

I was not transferred very far from Itacibá. Now I am in Ala Glória (yes, the translation is Glory Ward) in Vila Velha. My companion is Elder Dantas, from a small town called Caicó, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. He is 24, and has a little less than six months on the mission. I am the district leader of the Distrito Glória. It is just us, and the other two missionaries that share our ward: Sister Dias and Sister Zeller. This is the only ward on the mission that has both Elders and Sisters. If you have good memories, you will recall that when I was in Anchieta, Sister Dias was in my district. I sent a picture at that time. Funny that Sister Dias is in her last transfer as well. Most of the time, all four of us have lunch at the same house. Ala Glória is a really neat ward. There are a lot of ex-missionaries here and the members are all really friendly and neat. The ward is comparatively small in geographical terms. Especially since it is divided into two halves, one for us and one for the Sisters.

So, this week was pretty much just the back-breaking work of getting to know the area. Lots of walking, lots of getting lost. Even though my companion has been here in the ward since he started his misison, he still gets just a bit lost sometimes, and doesn´t always pick the fastest route. However, he is really a great companion. He is humble, clean, organized, calm, and hard-working. He is the only member of his family that is a member of the church.

We live up on a hill, and you can see a little bit of downtown Vitória from up top, and you can see the Terceira Ponte (Third Bridge), and some skyscrapers from the neighborhood of the mission office. Ala Glória is on the mainland, just across the water from Ala Vitória (remember that Vitória is an enormous island), where I started my mission. There are a lot of hills in our area, but Vila Velha usually has a nice clipping breeze from the ocean. The gigantic chocolate factory of the chocolate maker Garoto is in our ward, across the street from the chapel. It is a touristic point here. I will surely be visiting and taking advantage of the ten minute all the chocolate you can eat without drinking water session that comes after the tour.

We marked a baptismal date with Jânia, about 45 years old. She had a stroke about 8 years ago and it has left the left side of her body almost useless. However, we got an Irmão to give her a ride to church, and she was ready and waiting. Her sister was baptized thirty years ago and is inactive. She is reading the Book of Mormon and is determined to be ready for her baptism on the 21st of July.

One complaint: We had to walk for half an hour to get to this LAN House and then, it was all full of little punk kids playing online games and cussing, so we had to wait to use the computers. Now we have to walk back and buy groceries and then we will be able to relax.

Funny stories to tell next week.

Love,

Elder Bodily

Por Do Sol Em Itaciba (Sunset in Itaciba)

Dear All,

What an interesting week it has been. We have come to the close of one more transfer here in Cariacica. We received news on Friday that all four of us are being transferred. Elder LeFoll, Elder Dance, Elder Rossi, and I. So, my time here has ended. Tomorrow at 3:00pm we are going to be in the transfer meeting in Vila Velha.

This is going to be my last transfer on the mission. My last six weeks. This makes me think a lot and feel kind of strange.

This week was hard again. However, over the weekend I had two experiences that were really amazing.

First, on Saturday night the ward had a Festa Junina, a tradition here. It is kind of like a square dance country themed dance and dinner that originally was a Catholic holiday focused in Saint John, but that now has nothing to do with that. The turnout was huge. There were people from the Estaca Vitória (Vitória Stake). Surprisingly, I ran into someone I know other than some members from Vitória and Serra. Her name is Malu, 22 years old. Over a year ago I was passing in front of her house and we stopped to talk to her and offer her our message. She was with her boyfriend, had a nose piercing, dyed hair, and it was raining. We ended up returning and teaching in her home four or five times. But, with time, we lost contact, her and her mom never went to church, and we never again found them at home. Then Elder Salvador and I were transferred from Serra.

Turns out, the Elders saw the record of her I left, went by her house, found her at home, and she was baptized. She is going to be serving a mission in December. Her papers are all ready and she is wating until she has one year as a member to send them. Fruits of the labor. It was neat. I recognized her, but she was completely different. I was grateful for the opportunity I had to talk to her, take a picture with her, and get her email address. I am still baffled. I can´t wait to see where she goes on her mission!

On Sunday, we had an investigator Edson that went to church again. He is not married, and he lives with a less-active member Erica that is returning to church. They both are about 24 years old. It was pretty normal.  It has been a while since we have been to their house, because he wants to be baptized but only after they get married, which is going to take awhile. Plus, they were out of town for over a week and I didn´t even know they were back. He got up in fast and testimony meeting, in jeans a black t-shirt and gave the best testimony of the meeting. He told the story of how Elder Rossi and I went to their home, taught him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and challenged him to read and then pray and ask the Lord about it all. He said that the instant he finished praying, he felt an overwhelming sensation of happiness and relief, and that when he woke up the next morning, it continued. He continued reading, and the feeling continued to grow. Many other members that bore testimony afterwards said that his testimony remembered them of their conversion and rekindled those feelings. We too bore our testimonies. We are leaving the area, but we are leaving seeds planted.

I am tired, but happy.

Have a good week. Wait with eyes peeled for the transfer news.

Elder Bodily