Maio Chegou (May Day)

Dear Everyone,

This week was one of the longest ever.  Tuesday it rained on and off.  I got wet.  I had left my umbrella in the car of the bishop last week.  Wednesday it rained almost non-stop.  We went straight to the store to buy a new umbrella for me in the morning.  I payed
R$9 for it.  It turned out to be a lemon.  Before lunch the umbrella caught the wind and the handle stayed in my hand but the whole rest of the umbrella went flying down the street in the gusting breeze.  Luckily it caught on a pole, unluckily it ripped a tiny hole in the top.  So I spent the afternoon getting dripped on by an umbrella without a handle.  In the evening the wind picked up and blew my umbrella completely inside out and snapped four of the metal prongs.  I got soaked.  It was really irritating, but also really funny the whole time.  I mananged to keep my scriptures dry, so no harm done.  Thursday my umbrella was returned to me at District Meeting in Laranjeiras. 

I found out that two members of our Group can´t read or write.  One is a 42 year old woman,  the other is a 62 year old man.  The woman has a son that is 8 years old that can´t read or write yet.  He said ´´I´m only 8, I´m not behind at all!´´  This shocked me.  Education, even the most basic education, and simple capabilities are truly a blessing. 

One of our investigators, Darli, bore his testimony in fast and testimony meeting yesterday.  He read a brief scripture in the Bible, and then gave a simple testimony about God and the joy he gives us.  It was really neat.  He loved it (he is an attention hog who loves to talk, bless his heart).  I bore testimony in Portuguese for the first time yesterday as well. 

Six of our top investigators have to get married before baptism:  Edineia & Reginaldo, Gilmar & Silvana, and Darli & Arlete.  One of our other investigators is in the process of separating from a man she has been living with for 12 years, because she doesn´t like him and she wants to be baptized.  Marriage is a really complicated process here, and it takes a long time for all the paperwork to work out.  You have to have a birth certificate, signed my the government in the city in which you were born that is no more than 4 months old before you can start the marriage process.  So, basically we have a ton of people who want to be baptized, but it is just a waiting game.  Wait.  Wait.  Wait.  To give you an idea of how ready they are, Edineia and Reginaldo hosted a Ward Social at their house last night and yesterday was their sixth time at church in a row.  Gilmar & Silvana have daily prayer and scripture study in both the Bible and Book of Mormon.  And Darli bore his testimony yesterday, while Arlete decided before she even went to church that she wants to be baptized.  Serious.

Elder Wilson and I wanted to do something different to find people to teach and help the group this week, so we planned and gave a scirpture study class along with a scritpure chase activity and bonbons for refreshments on Saturday.  It was a big hit and we had 18 people attending, which-- for the Group is a huge number.  12 members and 6 non-members.  (Edineia, Reginaldo, their daughter, Darli, and Arlete being among them).  It was all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ--about faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endurance to the end.  It was really hard not to write fé, arrependimento, batismo, o dom do Espírito Santo, e perseverança até o fim  just now.  Portuguenglish.

A bus went driving by us the other day and someone was sticking their umbrella out the window.  On the narrow street on which we were walking, I was afraid of getting hit, and I moved all the way to the edge of the street to avoid it.  I looked at the person, and it was Edineia!  She was laughing--just trying to get our attention.  She cracks me up. 

We had a really good spiritual, fun, successful Ward Social last night (the one in Edineia and Reginaldo´s house).  Only about 15 people came, but I gave the spiritual message on loving our neighbors along with Elder Wilson.  Then we had a discussion for a half an hour about loving our neighbors.  Then we just chatted, played a game, and ate hot dogs Brazilian style afterwards.  It was really neat.  And I won the game.  It´s too hard to explain but it is fun.  It is called Zoom, Break.

On a side note, one day while we were studying, I looked over at Elder Wilson, and he was sticking a sticky note against his face and then pulling it off.  I thought, that´s weird.  Then it happened again!  Turns out, he was just trying to see which side was sticky on the sticky notes and his hands were too clammy to feel. 

Funny story:  knocking doors one day this week we got the best excuse yet.  I woman opened a window on the second floor and she looked to be very distressed.  She explained that she is 9 months pregnant, is feeling contractions, and is waiting for her husband to arrive and drive her to the hospital, so she couldn´t attend to us.  We understood.

We got word that our little Group here in Serra-Sede will be discontinued soon.  We just don´t have the Presthood presence yet.  This is a little difficult, because of all of the couples we are teaching who are working towards marriage.  More news on this next week. 

Have a lovely week,
Elder JOSHUA BODILY

Semana Santa

Bom Dia-  (Good Day)

Yesterday, Easter (Páscoa) ended the Holy Week (Semana Santa) here in Brasil.  It is truly a cultural phenomenon here.  Everyone has the day off on Thursday and Friday before Easter.  Almost nothing was open at all the whole weekend.  A lot more people were willing to talk to us because they were enjoying free time.

So, there is an epidemic of pink eye going around here.  Various missionaries in the mission have it.  Three members in our group have it.  And Elder Wilson caught it.  One eye first and now in the second eye.  He is not happy about this.  He woke up four times last night to rinse out the ´´goop´´ in his eye.  I have not touched my eyes for four days.

Yesterday there was a soccer game between two of the biggest teams in Brasil, both rivals from Rio de Janeiro.  Flamengo versus Fluminense.  Everyone here calls it a ´´fla-flu´´ when these two teams play each other.  A vast majority of people here in Vitória and in the state are fans of Flamengo.  Last night we were walking down the street when all of the sudden a roar of screaming and cheering broke out across the whole city and fireworks started going off.  Flamengo had scored a goal.  Soccer is a big deal here.  Elder Wilson was here during the World Cup, and he said that last night was super mellow in comparison.  I believe him.

One really neat thing that I have liked since arriving here is all of the hummingbirds here.  I usually see at least one a day.  They sit up on the power lines like sparrows.  There are a lot more flowers here for them to drink from than in the States.

One thing that is not so neat is that a very popular form of advertising here is done with big speakers on top of cars that play catchy slogans about everything from supermarkets to cell phone companies.  Elder Wilson said that during election season candidates hire various people to drive around with these big speaker boxes.  It´s basically propaganda all the time, and really loud.  I already have the catchy tune to Rede-Show Supermercados memorized because it drives past our house every morning at least once.

We have a family that will be baptized as soon as they finish the long sticky process of getting married.  They gave us Easter eggs yesterday.  They are just an egg shell with the innards taken out the bottom, and they paint them with paints.  It was neat, mine had palm trees painted on it.  Inside they had chocolate covered peanuts wrapped in tin foil.  Basically home made peanut m&ms. 
Yumm.

We are having a really good experience teaching a man named Darli and his wife Arlete.  He has already come to church twice and she is very interested and always sits in on the lessons we give in their house.  He is the first person that I have met who really has a thirst for the truth, for the scriptures, a drive to learn.  And A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias has really struck a chord deep inside him.  He knows it is true, and he likes it.  He asks an abundance of questions, good questions.  (Everything from What does the name Mormon mean?  to Who can receive the Priesthood?)  Arlete met missionaries years ago in the home of her sister back in Bahía, (the state where Elder Russell Gray is serving...to the north of Espírito Santo, where I am now).  She said something really neat the other day.  We showed up to our appointment in the rain.  She said more or less translated: ´´I don´t know everything about your Church, but it seems clear to me that your church is the true church because you come visit us of your own free will, and even in the rain.´´  (Rain is a huge excuse to do nothing here in Brasil.  Really big excuse.  If it rains in the hour before church starts on Sunday, attendance will be less than if it is sunny.  Invariably.)  It is neat to visit with them.  They are set to be baptized on Mother´s Day.

We had interviews with President in the Stake Center in Jardim da Penha on Wednesday.  It was cool to ride the bus back to Vitória.  Traffic is nasty though.  Our trip there took one hour and 14 minutes.  Our return to Serra-Sede during rush hour took 2 hours and 29 minutes.  Riding on big Brazilian buses packed with people while its raining outside is interesting.  In the beginning, everone sitting by a window shuts the windows, but soon there the windows get foggy and it gets really hot and muggy with everyone smashed in the bus, so the people by the windows sit in limbo between opening the window and getting wet to shutting the windows and roasting.  You also get to eavesdrop on everyone around you.  Mostly empty chatter about annoying co-workers or the price of a pair of shoes.

Have a wonderful week everyone.  Happy Easter.
Elder JOSHUA BODILY

What a Week!

Queridos,

This was a week jam-packed with action.  Serra-Sede is quite an interesting area. 

An 18 year old --Alan-- from the Serra Ward worked with us from 1:30 pm until 9:00 pm on both Tuesday and Wednesday.  It was funny to think that it has been over a year since I opened my mission call envelope and read that I was going to Vitória Brazil.  Working with him reminded me of the many days I spent in trios in Georgia. 

I had my first Sunday with the Group of Serra-Sede.  You won´t believe it, but we had 15 investigators at the church.  And there were only 24 members that came to church!  It was quite interesting.  One of our investigators showed up 45 minutes early, before any members.  In fact, because of tardiness, only six members were in the church when the meetings commenced.  The rest arrived only a little late, but it still was strange to have almost three times as many non-members as members at the start of the meetings.I played the keyboard that was sitting on a small table (the table had been serving ten minutes before the meeting as the Relief Society table complete with flowery centerpiece) in the middle of the seated members because the only outlet in the chapel room is on a pillar in the middle of the room.  It was almost hilarious.  I didn´t know what hymns I would be playing accompaniment for until they were announced over the pulpit (which still lacks a microphone) For all you piano players, the first hymn was Christ the Lord is Risen Today.  On a keyboard.  I made it work.  We had excellent lessons in Sunday School about the Priesthood, and I think that it helped the people we are teaching really understand and get a taste for the significance of the Restored Gospel, that we are not just one more church. 

I read a talk from Boyd K. Packer that came from the April 2010 General Conference of the Church called The Power of the Priesthood.  It made me remember that though the true followers of the true Church of Jesus Christ will be few, that we have the Priesthood.  He quoted the following verses in 1 Nephi 14.

12And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few (...); nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.

14And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

This became even more evident to me yesterday as we went on splits with members.  I was with a member named Marcelo who drove us both out to the other side of our area where I had never been and we made visits with less active members of the church and members of the church needing assistance and visits.  As we drove around children playing soccer barefoot on the streets with crudely constructed goals made of old plywood (and one group of children playing cricket), small and humble homes on both sides of us I realized that the Church really does have a worldwide presence.  In its grand and elegant presence in downtown Salt Lake City all the way to the few and far between members in tiny houses in a large and sweeping, yet very poor neighborhood of Planalto Serrano in the Serra-Sede. 

On a lighter and more random note:

I saw a dog throw up yellow stuff all over the road on a really hot day this week.  I gagged.

Elder Wilson bought a hammock made of coconut fiber from a street vendor who basically sold it to him and ran in 45 seconds, even though Elder Wilson didn´t even have a desire to buy one.  The man was a very polished salesman.  Poor Elder Wilson broke his budget just because he wanted to show me a genuine Brazilian hand-made coconut hammock. 

Someone we taught said that Elder Wilson looks like a Southern Brazilian, but I look like I have a French face.  They asked if I have ancestors from France.  This made me happy.

We passed through the weekly farmers market downtown on Saturday.  There was a vast array of fruits and vegetables I have never seen, live crabs, men selling ducks who looked excited to be carried around by their wings, not knowing that they would probably be eaten within 24 hours.  There were also clothes vendors, people barbecuing meat, selling ice cream, and everything from wallets to umbrellas.  It was really exciting to be swallowed up in the hustle, bustle, and culture.

A member gave me a Bible that has tabs!  This is great because the ones we got in the MTC don´t have tabs, so it is really hard to find the really tiny books of the Bible quickly in a teaching setting.

Life is good, Serra is beautiful, and I am happy. 

There are more rainy days on a mission than there are sunny ones, but the rainbows that you experience are more vivid than any you´ve ever seen before. This is true.

I took some better pictures from the house out over the area and will have to send them next week.

Have a wonderful week,
Elder JOSHUA BODILY

Serra-Sede



Elder Joshua Bodily and Elder Luke Wilson




Catholic Church as viewed through
window in our house



Hello.

Much news this week.  I was transferred!  I am still in the same zone and the same stake, but on the opposite side of the stake.  The Vitória Ward is at the extreme south of the stake, and my new ward is on the extreme north end of the stake.

I am in the boundaries of a Group.  So, technically, we are in the Serra Ward  (pronounced Seh-huhh.)  But, we are working in the Serra-Sede Group.  (pronounced Seh-huhh Sedge)  Once again I am working in a Group (instead of a ward or branch).  However, here the papers have already been sent in applying to become a branch.  We meet in a house, but every fast and testimony meeting we go to have church with the Serra Ward.  That is what happened yesterday.  We have fast sunday the week after general conference here, instead of before, who knows why.  I have seen the house though, it´s pretty neat.  It has a drinking fountain, walls separating the chapel area and the primary area and the young men/women area.  It also had a lizard crawling up the wall when I visited.  Apparently, they have no one who plays piano...so guess what will happen this Sunday.  One member has a keyboard he is bringing.

My new companion is Elder Luke Wilson from South Jordan, Utah.  I have yet to have a Brazilian companion.  Elder Anderson got transferred too, and he is with his second Brazilian companion.  He is also here in the Zona Vitória.  Funny.  Elder Wilson just turned senior at this transfer, which means that I am his first junior companion.  He is incredibly on the ball and focused.  For the first time, I have a companion that is demanding things from me.  I feel a lot more like a part of the team, instead of the assistant to the senior.  We are having a good time working harder than ever here.  The city of Serra is really strange.  It is really spread out.  We live in the downtown district of the town, even though the downtown sits on the extreme northwest boundary of the entire city. 

The house here is immaculately clean.  It is very new.  A good surprise.  I like living alone with one other Elder for the first time.  There is much less traffic in the bathroom in the mornings, it´s calmer at night, and easier to coordinate lunches and scheduling.

We had six investigators at church yesterday, and the Serra Chapel is a fifteen minute bus ride and a five minute walk from Serra-Sede.  Remember, the downtown sits way far off from the city...weird.

We have a great group of people we are teaching and we can both sense success on the horizon.  We are both passionate about the progress of the work and we are having spiritual experiences every day in lessons and with members and investigators alike.  Here, the work involves a lot of visiting less-active church members, reminding them of the fire that was one in the thestimonies.  I really enjoy this.  We have some really strong people who have just fallen off the path a little bit.  It is very rewarding to help others strengthen themselves, because we end up strengthening ourselves in the process.

Some strange things about Brasil:



Another view from our house.



They have strikes a lot.  Today was the first one that I´ve seen the participants of.  Today on the street were about two hundred people standing in the principle road with banners, shirts, and a huge megaphone thing making lots of racket and lighting fireworks.  They are professors and teachers of some state schools here.

The sun rises here at about 5:15 in the morning, and sets around 7:30pm. 

Anyways, my time is running out.  Have a lovely week.

Elder JOSHUA BODILY

Vinte Anos, Transferencia, e Conferencia (Twenty Years, Transfers, and Conference)

Hello Hello!

This has been a wild week.  I have twenty minutes left on the timer, so I will type until it runs out!

I turned twenty on Saturday.  I had the wonderful opportunity to have General Conference on my birthday.  Not only were we watching conference in English in an air-conditioned room all day, but the conference was spectacular!  All the normal Portuguese members were in the chapel watching in their language.  About eight of us English speaking missionaries and President and Sister Pickett viewed the conference in English on a tiny little 32 or less inch TV with blown out speakers in the high council room on the second floor of the stake center in Jardim da Penha.  In between the sessions, Elders Bagley, Rossi, and Souza (with whom I live) took me out to a lunch shop.  I had a delicious pão de queixo (cheese bread) and suco de abacaxi (pure pineapple juice, made right in front of me, fresh!--literally, blended pineapple--delicious!!).  

The Conference, as I said, was awe-inspiring.  It is good to be reminded that the Church is a worldwide organization, and more importantly, that it is led by God.  I felt super-charged by the Spirit after the final session.

I had to watch the priesthood session in Portuguese, and it wasn´t horrific.  I caught a lot, but it was not the same as having it in English.  The first session on Saturday was rough.  The tech guy at the church, in charge of setting up the equipment couldn´t find the channel that was delivering the Portuguese translation of the conference.  He couldn´t find English either.  So, for the first 45 minutes all of us watched in SPANISH.  It was hilarious.  Finally, he got it working.  Portuguese definitely has helped my ability to understand Spanish, though.  I understood almost everything.

Right towards the end of the last session on Sunday, when Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was speaking, an electrical storm passed over us.  It was the most breathtaking storm I have ever seen.  Lightning was flashing every five to ten seconds for hours!  Many of the bolts left crashing explosive thunder.  At one point in the conference, we heard Elder Holland say in his emphatic and slow voice: ´´The voice of God will be heard.´´ This was immediately followed by a flash of lightning through the window and an instant sonic boom of thunder.  I had goosebumps all over.  At least five of the lightning bolts were followed by thunder within one second.  There was a downpour also, of course.  It was really neat.

Also, I found out last night that I have been transferred!  I am leaving Vitória 1.  I don´t find out where I am going or who my new companion is until tomorrow.  I am nervous and excited.  It will be good to have this fresh start with a new age, new companion, new ward, new area, and a new outlook-inspired by conference.

In Vitória, there are three blue macaws that fly over the city regularly.  They have a routine, it seems.  Most mornings they land on a telephone post a block away from our apartment.  Today, we went to take pictures of them when they arrived there.  We found out that they go there because the post is next to an old lady´s house, and she feeds them whenever they come.  They sit on the pole and call out until she comes outside.  We talked with the old lady, took pictures really close up of the parrots.  Brazil.  Enough said.

I am in really good spirits, I feel energized by the presence of the Spirit, and I am determined to make the best of this new transfer.  Have a fantastic week, all.

Elder JOSHUA BODILY

PS.  Wish me luck with packing.

Vinte Anos (Twenty Years)

Beleza! (Beautiful)

This week we found a woman who has a desire to be baptized.  We have already taught her twice, though she couldn´t make it to church since she is travelling out of state this weekend.  She is neat.  She is pregnant with her and her husband´s first child, and she wants to be a good mom.  She is motivated by this.  Her name, for future reference is Jánia.  

I may have already mentioned that the Area Seventy of the state of Rio de Janeiro lives in our ward.  He and his family are going up to Utah for General Conference tomorrow and staying for over a week.  I am so jealous!  So strange to think that they will be there so close to home!

Irene, our investigator that cancelled her baptism also cancelled the family home evening we were going to have with her and the former mission president´s family.  We are seeing her tonight to see if she wants to continue, or some other option.  I am hopeful.

The coconut man missed church yesterday.  No one we are teaching was at church yesterday.  Basically we have a blank slate, despite the fact that we work all day long all week long to help people progress in the gospel.  However, we had a really inspiring meeting with the mission president, his wife, and half of the mission (missionaries from Vitória, Vila Velha, Viana, Serra, and Cariacica).  The meeting was phenomenal and both Elder Bagley and I feel recharged to go out and thrust in the sickle.  Also, last night, due to the meeting, Elder Anderson, Elder Gneiting, and I were all reunited for the first time since Provo where we were all roommates!  That was almost five months ago!  Elder Gneiting is working nearby too.  Very neat.

I am going to turn 20 on Saturday.  This is crazy.  Twenty marks the beginning of being old.   Then again, I am happy to be done with the teenage years.  And as a birthday gift I get General Conference in an air conditioned building!  And hopefully investigators galore watching with us!  I am excited.

I went on another exchange to Serra, ate in the bishop´s high rise house again, and talked with a man named Paulo who was fishing in the bay.  Just another week in Brasil.

Have a good week all.

Boa semana. (good week)

Elder JOSHUA BODILY

Semana Longa (Long Week)

Oi gente.This week was quite interesting.  We are teaching a man who is a vendor of coconut milk.  This is quite common on the streets here in Vitória near the bus stops.  He always has way too many coconuts.  Therefore, this week I ate coconut with a spoon directly from a coconut, and drank coconut milk directly from a coconut with a straw.  Here it´s called water of coconut.  This is a better name because it tastes like some strange flavor of Propel, nothing like milk or even close.  This man came to church for the second time yesterday!   Progress!

I started a habit with Elder Souza, one of the other missionaries I am living with.  We are running in the mornings.  We live quite close to the water´s edge and the port (most of the city of Vitória is an island.  We live on the island, the mission office is on the island, etc.)  Anyway, we are running along the pathway next to the water´s edge.  Palm trees, cobblestone sidewalk, barges entering the port, little crabs on the path, the whole bit.  The road is called Avenida Marechal Mascarenhas if you want to look at it.

I conducted the baptismal meeting for the baptism of an investigator of Elder Rossi and Elder Souza´s yesterday.  I also played the piano, and was a witness for the baptism.  It was a little crazy, but we got thru and there were no glitches.  Well, that´s a lie.

Our investiagator Irene was all set up to be baptized yesterday, but backed out on Friday.  Despite a powerful lesson with us, and the wife of the former mission president of the Brasil Curitiba Mission, she still backed out.  We hope to reschedule... :?  This was very disappointing, especially because her reason is pretty silly.  Perhaps she has a deeper issue.  We hope to help her overcome whatever obstacles she is facing.  We have a family home evening with the family of that former mission president and her tonight.

On Tuesday I went on exchange with Elder Souza.  On Thursday and Sunday night I was on exchange with Elder Rossi.  We had a full and successful day on Tuesday, an awesome experience.  However, Thursday was without any appointments, just looking for people to teach.  We found only one person all day.  This was difficult.  Always interesting and refreshing to work with different missionaries, though.  If sometimes, a challenge.

Good news!  Various times in this email my brain has been saying a Portuguese word, and I am having to force the English.  Just a little, but this is exciting.  It´s already starting to happen in spoken language.

We are downtown right now, from here we will go grocery shopping, go home, clean, and hopefully relax a little before another week starts.

Tchau everyone.
Elder JOSHUA BODILY

downpour

So.

This week things are back to normal, as in, our local LAN House (computer kiosk) is open.  No more Carnaval.  It rained almost everyday this week.  Yesterday and Saturday it was super wet.  Even with umbrellas we were drenched several times each day due to the wind and water splashing off of roofs and us having to walk in ankle deep water and traverse staircases that were acting as waterfalls on the hills.  Also, just like on the movies I got splashed while walking on the sidewalk by a bus passing through a big puddle (or mini-lake, as you prefer) on the road.  I laughed.  It feels really weird, like jumping into a pool sideways.  Dramatic thunder and lightning displays.  Today the sun is out again.  I prefer rain.

Elder Gneiting, my companion in Georgia got his visa, and arrived in Brasil on Thursday.  President let him call me.  Two of the people we were teaching in Portuguese (a mom and son- Fátima and Luca) made considerable progress.  Luca was baptized and Fátima is going to be baptized on the 20th!  Also, a woman that we found who spoke English got baptized.  Finally, after 6 months in the States, he got his visa and is here.  It´s good to know that all the labor, time, and effort that I and the thousands of other missionaries contribute each hour of each day has at least some tangible yet exceptionally delicious fruit.

Yesterday was Stake Conference at the Stake Center a 30 minute bus ride from here.  It was interesting.  President and Sister Pickett gave talks.  The Elders that we live with had a baptism afterwards.  On the bus from there to our lunch in downtown Vitória, there were two Dutch women who were a classic image of confused tourists.  They spoke British English with heavy Dutch accents, but no Portuguese.  They were lost.  We helped them, along with a random Brazilian who spoke broken English with them...which, ironically they understood better than my flawless English.  If I do say so myself.

A strange woman started walking with us on the street when we were on our way to the chapel to have a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader.  She asked if she could come in to the church.  We said of course (one of the members teaches a drama class in one of the classrooms this particular night of the week).  She invited us to her house for pizza and pop.  I think she was crazy.  

That´s all of that story...especially because she didn´t know her address.

We have a baptism scheduled for this Sunday with a woman named Irene.  She lives alone with her dog in a tiny house that she re-modeled herself.  It is incredibly well kept, complete with garden, painted walls, and all kinds of handy home improvements and annexes that she does herself.  She is incredibly well-versed in scripture and always very passionate-she likes to talk.  She always feeds us something when we visit.  

I saw two wild monkeys the other day.  Crossing the road.  No joke.  Little tiny monkeys with little manes around their heads.  I was in shock.  It was super neat.

We are helping a man who just a few months ago was way deep into drugs and all that.  However, he has stopped and begun cleaning out his house, cleaning up his life, and attending church (we met him when he attended church of his own accord).  It is going to be a tough road for him, still.  He still smokes a lot.  As he sat and cried in front of us in fear that his 12 year old daughter doesn´t want to live with him anymore until he fixes his life, I realized how truly blessed we are when we follow the commandments, seek things spiritual before physical pleasures, and trust God- living life with love and Christlike attributes.  He has wasted SOO much time with things of no value to the point that he could lose what is most valuable to him.  

My companion is an interesting folk.  He worked in a mortuary before the mission, wants to go into a career that involves drawing, and has the most cluttered desk I´ve ever seen.  I like working with him though.  P.S. He can´t sing worth a lick, so I pick rarely sung hymns to sing at the start of companionship study.  This makes it even more difficult to sing, and I get a smile out of it.  He´s a good sport.  

Have a joyous week and be grateful for AC ----->,

 

 

Elder JOSHUA BODILY

Carnaval and Transfer

Hello Everyone.

 

Tomorrow is Carnaval, so we are using the computer of our Bishop.  This means that all four of us are taking turns to email on ONE computer.  There is still one more after me.  We have been here over an hour and a half already.  Everything is closed, you see.  There are no internet houses open in all the city.  We even trekked to the Centro to check the internet houses, and not a one open.  We have already wasted so much of the preparation day!  So frustrating.  But the Bishop´s house is really nice.  It´s actually in a high rise in the Centro.  Anyway...

 

The transfer happened.  Elder Hein went about half a mile away to the mainland in Vila Velha.  Elder Rodriguez and Elder Brito went way far away.  I am companions now with Elder Bagley.  He is an American, from a small town Hemet, California an hour outside of San Diego.  He speaks nearly flawless Portuguese, though.  Everyone we meet thinks he is Brazilian.  And that´s not an exaggeration.  He is coaching me on pronunciation.  He doesn´t like to speak English almost ever.  Elder Anderson is now companions with a Brazilian (non English-speaking) though, so I cannot complain.  He teaches very well.  We get along, but he is very quiet.

 

The other two in the house with us are both Brazilians from São Paulo.  I am learning how different Portuguese from São Paulo is from Portuguese from Fortaleza and from Salvador.  Everyone has different expressions and accents.  One of them is a brand new Elder with less than a month since entering the CTM (MTC) in São Paulo.

 

We have gotten lost a few times as I have guided the group of us four to lunch.  Embarrassing, but eventually we found the destinations, even though we had to call and have one of the members find us and escort us to their house.  What can you do?

 

I played Monopoly Deal in Portuguese with the other Elders in the house.  I won.

 

The weather has been cloudy, breezy, and rainy here.  A welcome break from the burning sun.  I barely even perspired one of the days this week.

 

Believe it or not, tomorrow will be 6 months since entering the MTC for me.  I will be 1/4 through with the mission.  2 months in the MTC, 2 months in Georgia, and 2 months in Vitória.  I´ve already had 7 companions!

 

Have a wonderful week everyone.  I have a host of beautiful photos, I wish I could send them all.

 

Abraço,

Elder JOSHUA BODILy

Batismo (Baptism) and Transfer

The view from my apartment window...building with steeple is a church.

Hello Hello.

This week was a viciously difficult week.  We searched and searched for people to teach and found almost nobody.  But, in the end we had a wonderful baptism on Sunday.  I baptized Christianne (24 years old).  We had to do it twice because her knee came out of the water the first time.  It was stressful.  And you have to give the baptismal prayer in Portuguese, in case that didn´t occur to anyone.  It was a really good experience and everyone was just happy the whole day long.

Transfer news:  So, I will have a new companion and two new roommates.  All three of the other Elders in areas Vitória 1 & 2 (Elders Hein, Rodrigues, and Brito) are being transferred!  I don´t find out who is going to be my companion or the others in the area until tomorrow!  I am inheriting a lot of junk that the other three are leaving behind in the apartment.  Including a really nice blank leather journal, Portuguese grammar books, and excellent writing utinsels.  Yes, only I would get excited about the writing utinsels.  This is exciting.  I am going to be the only one that knows the area, the ward, and where everyone lives!  In the whole southern half of the city of Vitória!!  It will be interesting.  Elder Hein went through almost everyone we are even acquainted with (hundreds of people) and I took notes on where they live and what their statuses are.  Now that everything is on paper, I am a lot more calm.  And I am surprisingly familiar with the city already.  Should be good.  

On Monday, a Sister gave me two bananas to eat in her home.  I couldn´t figure out how to open it because Elder Bodily hates bananas and never eats them.  The skin was thick and I didn´t want to squish the insides.  As she noticed my difficulties, she said don´t you have bananas where you´re from?  She started laughing and saying even the monkeys know how to open bananas.  What was even worse was I had to eat them with a straight face.  She spread the word in the ward and now tons of people think I can´t open a banana.  Which is partially true. A random member at the baptism yesterday came up to me and said, if the baptism is a success, I´ll give you a banana!  Ay ay.

I did another exchange with the zone leader in Serra, Espírito Santo.  Elder Manis and I had an excellent day.  He is from Arizona, and is almost finished with his mission.  We taught a lot of people and got fed by various very generous folks that we visited.  It was fun to mix things up again.

I discovered that Elder Hein had the CD that we listened to every day in the car in Athens, GA.  It is a collections of hymns played on a cello.  Super beautiful, brought back very good memories...especially the memories of a car.

I am feeling pretty happy and excited to have a completely refreshing transfer, get to know new Elders, but also to stay in Vitória where I am still a bit comfortable and know the members well.

Brazilian money...Reais

Funny story, I was walking through an alley with Elder Hein and someone up in a high window threw out some trash into their ´´compost pile´´ slash dump in their yard.  However, of all things, a banana peel was ill-aimed-- and hit me, square in the chest.

 

I hate bananas.  

Until next week.

Elder Bodily