Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

Sadly, no one here is setting off fireworks. I haven´t seen an American flag in months. But, it is still independence day! Independence Day in Brazil is on the 7th of September. All the missionaries that are serving in the Vitória region participate in a parade in downtown Vitória on this day. If I stay here one more transfer and nothing changes, I will get to participate.

We have a baptism scheduled for this Sunday. His name is Elias. But I am worried about him. We will see what happens. He is 47 and single. He has a pretty dark past. I just hope that he has really changed and is really committed to live the Gospel.

We have had a very busy week. We have a lot of investigators. This is good. However, we had a disappointing turnout at church this Sunday. Four investigators. The three wives from our golden three couples. But none of the men. Edineia and Reginaldo are getting married NEXT WEEK and will be baptized here in two weeks. I really really want to help everything go ok, but it is up to them.

One of our investigators brought a friend to church and we have an appointment to meet with them together. Super neat! The ward is also making a special effort to supply us with members with whom we can teach lessons with throughout the week. This is very difficult to coordinate and plan, espeically since the minutes on our cell phone ran out. However, it reaps many rewards.

We had our first zone conference with the new president and his wife. They seem scared, but ready to be awesome. They are both wise, classy, witty people. And their Portuguese is easy to understand, thank goodness. Thank goodness.

This week we have our first interviews with the new president. On Friday.

We have struggled a bit to find new people to teach. We are going to work like mad this week to find people to teach. And we are going to lay down the law about going to church. Literally. We set a goal to have 12 investigators in the chapel on Sunday. Twelve. And the chapel is 25 minutes away. And the meeting STARTS at 8:30 AM. Bring it on.

I had a superb experience with an investigator, Silvana. At church yesterday she said this to me. Remember that I am an imperfect translator:

´´Last night I was determined to finish work early (she runs a little grill and snack shop on the side of the road) and sell all the food so that I could wake up and get to church. Before I went to bed I said to myself, In the name of Jesus, I am going to go to church tomorrow. And you know what happened? I woke up before the alarm went off, Eduarda (her 7 year old daughter) woke up happy and calmly, and we caught the van to the church peacefully. It is clear that when we put God in first priority, the blessings come and He helps us.´´

I could have died in that moment and been happy. It is that message that we try so desperately to share with people. It is so refreshing to have someone who decides with force to do what is right instead of the thousands of people that I have talked with who say things like ´´One of these days...´´ ´´When the opportunity comes up...´´ ´´It won´t work out this time, you know why? ....blablablabla´´, But I won´t guarantee. I don´t like to make a committment and then not follow through.´´. Or, the most ironic answer: ´´God willing, I will (fill in the blank: go to church, read the scriptures, pray every day, etc.)´´. When would that not be the will of God?

Such is life on the mission.

Happy 4th of July. Light some fireworks in memory of me. I will sing the national anthem on the balcony of our apartment. Leave it to me.

Have a fabulous week,
Elder Joshua Bodily

A Time of Transition

Unbelievable--

So much has changed in the past week. President Pickett has come to end of his mission. He and Sister Pickett are flying back to the United States after one year as President of the Rio de Janeiro North Mission, and the first two years of the Vitória Mission. There was a grand fireside in Cariacica last night. The first time that I have been to Cariacica. It was very spiritual. They will leave everyone here missing them very much.

As for transfers. Elder Wilson went to the boondocks of the mission in Nanuque, way in the north of the mission. I stayed here in Serra-Sede. I also turned senior. This means that from here on out, my companions will have less time and experience on the mission than I do. In other words, I am in charge, I have a lot of responsibility, and I carry a little more stress.

My new companion is Elder Salvador. Or translated, Elder Savior. He is from Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul way in the south of Brasil. Where it actually snows sometimes. He has a heavy southern Brazilian accent. I don´t understand everything that he says the first time that he says it. He is my first Brazilian companion. He is awesome though. This is his second area on the mission. He misses his first area a lot, but I was able to comfort him a lot because I suffered when I left the Athens 2nd Ward way back in December. He is a really neat person. He is hard-working, has a passion for the missionary work, and he has a lot of patience with me. He practices English words with me in the street. He has particular trouble pronouncing the words ´´contact´´ and ´´hymn book´´. He does not speak English. Virtually nothing. I sat on my bed the other night and just thought, there is not a fluent English speaker (with whom I am acquainted) in my area. It is a twenty five minute trip to the nearest American elder, my zone leader, and I don´t even know him. Now, at last, my brain is starting to think almost purely in Portuguese. Basically, because I have no choice.

I feel alone sometimes, but I know that I am not.

My companion from the MTC, Elder Anderson, found out this week that his 18 year old brother passed away. I don´t know any details. He just turned senior as well, and he went to a new area very far from here. I know he is passing through way more than I am.

I am so grateful for the things that I have in my life. I am grateful for my family, my friends, and for my knowledge of the Gospel. I know that nothing is impossible or too hard with the help of the Lord. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is exactly what it is named: the Church of the Savior Jesus Christ here on the Earth in these last days. Greater peace and happiness cannot be found outside of the safety of obedience to the commandments and the security of covenants well-kept.

Thank you again for all of you who make an effort to write me. I love you. Know that I treasure your letters and hold very dear to me your words of comfort and encouragement.

Fiquem firmes na fé, (Stay Strong in the Faith)
Elder Bodily

Tardy E-mail From Last Week

THIS EMAIL DIDN´T SEND LAST WEEK, BUT I WROTE IT!

Well,

There have been transfers. Elder Wilson is leaving and I am going to stay behind and try to make everything work here. Transfers are tomorrow. I am worried and a little sick to my stomach. Who knows what will happen.

I was sick this week. I had a fever, chills that alternated with extreme sweating, an achy body, splitting headache, upset stomach, and sore throat. Never all at once but the headache and achy body were pretty constant. It was just a big mix of annoying sickness. On Tuesday afternoon I started feeling a little weird. Wednesday morning we had a celebration of the second anniversary of the Brazil Vitória Mission. I felt pretty bad on the bus there, but I evened out more or less. Thursday was pretty bad and I had to fight every hour. Finally on Friday it was too much. I got permission to stay home for five hours in the afternoon after a long session of talking to people in the street and going to appointments that fell thru. That helped. Then On Saturday we worked a lot with a member who had a car so that helped also. Then yesterday´s schedule was pretty light. Today is the first day I feel mostly recovered. Joy.

Elder Wilson and I made a visit to a church called the Maranata Church on Saturday because one of our investigators invited us. We sang songs, heard a sermon on a few Bible verses, and listened to them pray. Complete with drums, guitar, flute, keyboard, etc. The Maranata churches are wooden and are usually on lots with lots of greenery that are very well kept. The Church was founded here in the state and the world headquarters also is here. Just interesting to note. That investigator went to church with us the next day.

We got to play with a parrot in one of our investigator´s homes. It was crazy. It tried to eat my boot and flew right by my had and has a wicked laugh every time it does something it knows it is not supposed to like bite a flip flop, try to eat the chocolate cake that they served to us, or bite our investigator´s arm.

Have a great week,
Elder Bodily

Oh Brasil

Queridos,

First and foremost, Francismara was baptized yesterday. I don´t have time to attach photos, but it was an excellent baptismal meeting, complete with homemade cake and pop afterwards. She gave us a fair share of scares this week. To the point that she called us and cancelled her baptism...twice. I´ve never seen Elder Wilson so close to crying before. However, after talking to us and resolving to ´´pray doubly hard´´ she decided to be baptized. No one from her family wanted to attend, though we furnished rides for everyone. It was sad, but the ward once again rallied around her and made her feel comfortable. She is one quirky young woman. We are happy.

On Friday we visited Gilmar and Silvania. Silvania said that it wouldn´t work out for her to go to church this Sunday because she had to attend her boss´s birthday party on Saturday, and she wouldn´t have time to clean her house and do her laundry until Sunday. She works like crazy during the week in a variety of professions from hair doer to chef to working in a hospital to selling jewelry. We said we would come by Saturday morning and help her clean the house. She laughed and thought we were joking. We arrived on Saturday morning and both her and her husband were stunned. They were even more stunned by us being in work clothes, not white shirts and ties. I did all their dishes and cleaned their sink and cabinet. Elder Wilson cleaned the bathroom and washed the floor. Silvania did the laundry and Gilmar worked on the house (it is still under construction). They made us lunch because they felt bad. They were in church yesterday. Joy!

I did another companion exchange on Tuesday. It was hard, and I was glad to come back.

That´s all I have time for this week.

Elder Bodily.

Junho (JUNE)

Dear Everyone,

These days I ate a banana fresh from a tree. It was picked the day before, to be specific. It was...interesting. Remember that I´m not a big fan of bananas. It tasted like a normal banana mixed with the flavor of a pea plucked from the pod, fresh from the garden. The same member that has the banana tree on their property has sugar cane as well. She is going to give us sugar cane to suck on.

On Saturday, Elder Wilson and I were passing through the downtown district and talking with people on the street. One of them was of particular note. It went as follows.

Us: Hello! Good evening! How are you! We are...
Him: I´m in a hurry. Save it for next time.
Us: Just...
CRASH!!!

We turned around. Right behind us a motorcycle had rear-ended a bus. A bus!! Despite the racket, the bus was unharmed. Luckily, the man and woman on the motorcycle were not hurt, though the man hurt his wrist pretty bad and some of the groceries they were holding fell out on the ground. They weren´t going very fast, and they were wearing helmets. It was kind of interesting. It happened right right behind us. Oh. And the man we were trying to talk to got away.

I did two divisions this week. Elder Wilson had a training in Jardim da Penha, so I went to work with an Elder in the area of Jardim Limoeiro (Lime Tree Garden) with an Elder with only one and a half transfers on the mission. He was Brazilian, so I got to practice Portuguese for real. Understanding was difficult at times. It was nice to change things up. We met back up with our companions at 5 o´clock in the bus terminal in Carapina. Then we returned to Serra-Sede.

The second division, I stayed in Serra-Sede and the missionary from the neighboring ward, Laranjeiras, came to work with me. He arrived on the mission at the same time as Elder Wilson. He is American, from Provo. It was interesting to be the leader in the area, and say hi to people that recognized me even without Elder Wilson. Many people got really scared that Elder Wilson had been transferred. Remember, he is here almost seven months now, and virtually everyone is acquainted with him.

Elder Wilson said very randomly at one moment walking down the street this week: ´´Remember that one time when that ant flew in my eye and bit me? That was really awful.´´ I laughed at the randomness. You run out of things to talk about when you live with someone 24-7 and experience everything with them.

We have a baptism this week. She is the miracle girl. She is turning 18 years old this month. She was the girlfriend of our former investigator. She is pretty neat. She wants to be a missionary for real. This baptism will not fall thru like our last one.

Last night we had a neat experience. At the Integration/Missionary Meeting, instead of the normal and large group we typically have usually when things aren´t out of the ordinary, we had Elder Wilson, Alvino, Messias, Micaela, and I. In the house of Elizangela. Just us six. Yet, Alvino´s spiritual though was about unity. He touched on the fact that the presence of the spirit is more important than the number of people in a meeting. He shared that when we are edified and learn together, study together, and laugh together, we are truly unified. We had a very uplifting and edifying night.

That´s all. Tune in next time.
Elder Joshua Bodily

Tudo Bem Tudo Mundo (All is Well in the World)

This week was another difficult week, though we had a miraculous date marking experience. We marked a date in the first lesson with the girlfriend of a former investiagator. She was the driving force that kept him from being baptized (she wanted him to be baptized in the Assembleia). She came to church with us yesterday. She has cousins that are members of the church. She will turn 18 next month. Remarkably, a member gave her mom as a reference the week before, so we had visited her house twice and talked with her parents before even meeting her. For now, the parents are determinedly NOT interested, but they like us and know us because of our visits. We both want to involve them though, to the point that they grow a desire to be baptized as well.

One of our pillars of strength in the Serra-Sede (one of our really awesome members) is suffering financially and took up a job that keeps her from going to church except for one Sunday per month. This is sad.

Remarkable how a mission makes you want to raise your hands to the air and yell in anguish, but at the same time fills you with sublime satisfaction and heavenly joy.

Elder Wilson saw wild monkeys for the first time in one year and four months in Brasil! It was my third time in nine months. They are tiny and almost squirrels except for their faces and their long tails. It was funny, because it was in one of the fanciest neighborhoods in our area.

Yesterday at church, the sister who taught Principles of the Gospel (the course for new members of the church and visitors) came sweeping into the class room with a bunch of balloons and a cake. The lesson was on baptism. The reason? She said: <<Baptism is like a big party! When there is a baptism on Earth, there is a party in heaven!>> I´m not sure on the accuracy of her statements, but it was all in good sentiments. Sigh...ay ay.

Things are really nice here weather wise. I don´t sleep with the fan anymore. We just open our window. I´m not sweating as much. Blessing!

Next time you just feel blah, try going out into the street, talking with thirty different people about your deeply personal religious views and listen to all of the criticisms and comments they make to you. Let me tell you, if I didn´t know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was true, I don´t know what I would do.

A mission is work, but its wages are better than any other work.

Good week to all,
Elder Joshua Bodily

Inverno Chegou (Winter has Arrived!)

Boa semana gente, (Good Week Friends)

Well, this week has been a challenging one. First off, Inácio, the man who was to be baptized on Saturday bailed out four hours before the baptism. He called us and told us to come to his house ´´para conversar´´ or, in English ´´to have a talk´´. This did not leave us feeling very tickled, but we walked to his house. The next hour and a half were spent in trying to understand and address his concerns. He cannot read, and he is very sensitive about it. Apparently, when he distributed invitations to his friends and family, more than one of them called their pastors to come and talk to him and keep him from baptizing in this church. More than one. Despite the fact that we always warn our investigators to talk with us about their doubts and concerns, this was too much for him. He doesn´t want to get baptized until he learns to read. Even though he is 48 and works a lot and very hard (the church has his resumé and is searching for a better job for him--I had to fill out his resumé because he can´t write), and has no time to return to studying. This is very sad, because he was truly excited and happy to be baptized the night before when we visited with him and had a good talk. He said that he wants to keep coming to church, just not get baptized. Yet, he didn´t even come to church yesterday. Also, the man who had a goal to be baptized this coming Sunday didn´t come to church.

The only investigators we had at church were Reginaldo and Edineia, the most golden of the three couples we are teaching. Good news in their category, they marked the date of their marriage! They will be married on the 13th of July and be baptized the Saturday after. The only reason for the delay is the red tape of marriage here. We were in the government office building when they signed the papers and marked the date officially. Now, the papers will process, then they will come to the office on the 13th of July and sign one final paper and then the deal is sealed!

So, basically, all of the people we have been teaching and helping for the last 7 weeks, save for a precious few, are not doing very well. We are going to start working in a different neighborhood again. Start from scratch. This is refreshing, but exhausting work, building a group of people who accept us and getting to know a neighborhood from the ground up. Remember, we go everywhere on foot, and it is easy to get lost in the maze of streets, alleys, and pathways.

One brilliant and lovely and glorious piece of news: WINTER HAS COME TO BRASIL! We are officially in the winter season here. It has been really nice the past few days. Really really nice. We open the window instead of turning on our fans to sleep at night. Right now in the internet house the windows are open and the a/c is turned off, but it is the same as when the windows are shut and the a/c is on! Miraculous, but true. It is probably 75 degrees right now.

We are determined to make things work here. Elder Wilson is now the district leader here. Our former district leader left to be a zone leader in Vila Velha. In his place came a missionary fresh from the MTC, he is from Argentina. The last American waiting for his visa with a call to this mission arrived as well. Elder Buttars, who I met in the MTC. He has been waiting since leaving in December for the Texas Fort Worth mission. No more Americans in the mission for a while due to visa problems.

Have a wonderful week,
Elder Joshua Bodily

Baptisms and Street Contacts

This week was that of transfers. Neither of us here got transferred. Elder Wilson is starting his fifth transfer here in Serra-Sede. He will have seven months here at the end of the next transfer. That is a TON! Everyone thought he was leaving this transfer.

We have a baptism lined up for this Saturday. His name is Inácio. He is a very humble but savvy man of about fifty years. He can barely read at all. Basically nothing. He can only write his first name. Yet, he astonishes us with his spirituality. He stopped smoking in one day, a habit he has had since forever. He also gave up coffee the same day, a huge hurdle for a Brazilian. He has been in many churches that haven´t allowed him to be baptized because he cannot read the Bible. Darli, another investigator of Inácio befriended him at church and is making visits in his house helping him learn the basics of writing and reading. He is ready and filled with almost childlike excitement to be baptized. He is awesome.

One man got really mad at me this week when I tried to contact him on the street. It is really hard to keep contacting and talking to people when every bit of my shy self doesn´t want to, and the people we are talking to all too often would prefer we let them be. But I also know that this is about more than just shyness and inconvenience for 30 seconds on the street. This is about a lot more.

This week I read Our Heritage, a brief history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I felt the Spirit testifying of the divinity of this work as I finished the book. The truth of God is going forth nobly, boldly, and independent. There is no greater joy than in service to Him and His kingdom.

Tchau,
ELDER JOSHUA BODILY

Please Write!

Josh didn't send an update this week.  We talked to him on Skype on Sunday and he asked that I pass on the request to send him a letter!  Who doesn't love mail!  Have a good week and check back next week for another update from Elder Bodily.

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