Bom dia

Bom dia friends and family,

            Another week is in the books, which means I only have one week left in the CTM. Crazy right!?! I’m not going to lie…I’m getting a little stir crazy here at the CTM. We spend the whole day learning, teaching and speaking in Portuguese. I feel like I’ve almost reached my maximum capacity of learning with 8 other Americans and not in the field. I still the CTM though. Our district is currently the oldest district in the CTM at 5 weeks. So you could say we pretty much run this place. Because not a ton has happened this week, the majority of this letter is going to revolve around a story that happened last p-day.

            I’ve always had the fear of going bald. Luckily, I haven’t had to worry about that to much because my mom’s dad, the Silver Fox, has a full head of hair. Last week, I was in real need of a haircut. My hair was looking really poofy. Here at the CTM the barber is known as the hack shack. Pretty much he just gives you a good ole buzz cut, but with one of his hands in his pockets and in about 5 minutes. So I knew I wasn’t getting my haircut from him. There was a kid in my hall from Panama who cut hair. Unfortunately, the guy who had clippers left so that left so that was not an option. So finally, I was left to get a haircut at a barber outside the CTM on p-day. We asked a couple of people, and we found out there was a barber only a couple streets away from the CTM. So my companions and I went and checked it out. It looked legit and was pretty cheap. Both Elder Callahan and I needed a cut, so we decided why not??? There were two barbers in the shop, and we waited about 20 minutes for one of them to free up. During that waiting time, we talked about what we were going to get. We decided that the haircut numbers were universal, so I was going go with my classic 4 on top and 2 on the sides (which I now realize is way to short for a missionary). I think Callahan was going to get a 5/3. The first barber freed up, so I kindly invited Callahan to go first, but he countered my offer. So I took the chair (rookie mistake). The cut started off with a nice shave and warm towel treatment, so I thought, “This is going to be legit!” I then explained to the barber that I wanted a 2 on the sides and a 4 on top several times (in Portuguese). He said alright, and the cut began. He finished the sides, and it looked like my classic cut from back home. Then, without a moment pause, he took the sheers and cut directly down the middle of my head (with the 2)?!? My companions laughed historically as I realized that it was too late. I couldn’t fix his mistake. I would have to get the rest of my hair cut at a 2. For the rest of the cut, I was in shock. The worst part was when I tried explaining his mistake he couldn’t understand me, so I still had to pay for it. Luckily, it was only $5 (worst 5 bucks I ever spent). My hair was/is so short. Those first day, I couldn’t even recognize myself. Also, I got so much hate from every Brazilian, Hispanic, Americans and instructor. I tried wearing a hat (one of my companions has an Indiana Jones hat) for a day, but they’re not allowed in the CTM. I had to explain myself so many times. Pretty much anytime I saw anyone or they saw me, they ran their hand through their hair. Even my branch president, who hardly speaks English, said to me, “What happened to you hair? (jokingly in front of the entire branch)” Luckily, I can take the 24/7 heat, and by the third day, I was owning my military/soldier buzz cut. I have learned my lesson when it comes to hair cuts: 1^st – speak better Portuguese. 2^nd – always let your companion go first. 3^rd – always say what you want multiple times throughout the cut. 4^th – don’t go bald because I don’t look too hot.

            Sorry for that obnoxiously long story, but that’s pretty much all that has happened this week.

            One super exciting part of the week was going proselyting. Once again, we went to the busiest street in Sao Paulo, Rua Polista, and handed out copies of the Book of the Mormon. As a district, we gave out 50 and got 32 phone numbers/addresses. My favorite part of that experience was when my companions and I saw three men sitting separately along the street. We each chose one to talk to. I felt very compelled to speak with this one guy wearing a chef uniform. So, I went up to him, and he told me to just sit next to him and talk. So we just had a conversation about family, religion, God, Christ, and the Book of Mormon. We talked for about 10 minutes, and I was able to give him a Book of Mormon with my testimony and favorite scriptures. It was one of the most peaceful and rewarding conversations of my life. I can only hope to have more conversations like this on my mission. I can’t wait to get to the field and have experiences like this everyday. I’m extremely nervous and excited for this adventure ahead. I know that my time at the CTM has helped prepare me so much for the filed. I can’t thank enough my family, companions, instructors, friends, leaders and my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Without them, I would be nothing. I can’t wait to talk to every in two weeks from the field.

Love, Elder Dave Bodine

Oi

Oi Family and Friends!

            Another week has flown by. I’ve really fallen into a nice routine here at the CTM.  My companions and I pretty much do the same thing every day. Eat, sleep and speak Portuguese. There is not much else to do here at the CTM. The other day we played a full court 5 x 5 pick up game with jumping!!!! Crazy right…It felt so good playing a real game of basketball. Some other highlights of the week include going to a churrascaria last p-day. My companions and I went with all the elders in the week below us.  A churrascaria is one of those places where they bring all you can eat meat on a stick. It tasted so, so, so good and made me realize that the carne in Porto Alegre is going to be amazing, and that the food in the CTM is pretty bland/boring. The best part was that it was less than 10 bucks. We’ll probably be going back to that place. Haha!

            Another highlight of the week was giving a talk in Sacrament Meeting. Every week we prepare a 4 minute talk in Portuguese. Five minutes before Sacrament Meeting starts, the district president tells us if we are going to talk. This week the pressure was on because the President of the CTM and his wife were sitting in on our Sacrament Meeting. As soon as I made eye contact with the district president, I knew it was my turn to speak. Luckily, I prepared a sweet talk on the gift of tongues. I was pretty nervous, but I ended up delivering a solid talk. Being able to confidently bear my testimony in Portuguese feels so great, and I definitely feel the spirit as I testified of the many things that I know to be true. Sundays are also great because we get about an hour and a half of free time where we can take a very much needed nap. After that nap, I feel so energized and ready to go for the rest of the week. I never would have thought that sitting in a desk all day would be so physically and mentally tiring. It gets pretty frustrating when I’m teaching or just having a conversation in Portuguese because I have such a limited vocabulary. Sometimes I get down on myself, but I realize that I have learned so much in just 4 weeks…I’ve probably learned more Portuguese in a month than the amount of Spanish I learned in five years.

           

            All the Brazilians who came to the CTM the same week have officially left. Some of my best Brazilian friends are gone. My division companion Elder Antonio left to Santa Maria, all my Brazilian friends learning Spanish left this week, and many more. It’s funny, every Brazilian missionary who leaves expects a gift from the American elders. Last night, I was wearing a wild life tee, and I probably got asked 20 times by Brazilians if I would give it away to them as a present. I declined each time. Haha. I’ll miss all the elders who left this week and hopefully will get to see them again when I’m fluent in Portuguese so I can hold a real conversation with them.

            I can’t wait for the field to have more spiritual moments. This week’s Sunday devotional was amazing because we sang I am a Child of God in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Also, the speaker was amazing and bore a powerful testimony of how we must listen to every whispering of the spirit.  This week I tried focusing more on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love chapter 14 of Mosiah. It is a little bit depressing to read and know how Christ willingly and knowingly suffered every pain and affliction on this earth. But it is so comforting to know that when I feel alone or am going through a trial, I can know that Christ knows how I feel. Christ will always be on our side no matter what we’ve done or how we feel. I miss you all and thank you for all of your love and support.

Love, Dave

Òla!

This week has flown by. Last P-day was amazing! The temple was great, the food was great, and walking around the streets of Brazil was great. That’s probably the main reason the CTM is so great (besides the Brazilian culture.) One of my instructors, Irma Fabiana, lives a couple of streets down from the CTM. So as a district, we went to her house and made pancakes/waffles. It was nice to have some real breakfast food. Ham and cheese paninis get old pretty quick!

Some other highlights of the week include going on splits with Elder Antonio. He is super friendly, an amazing teacher, and always helps me learn the language. It is awesome teaching with him because if I ever forget what to say or don’t know the vocab, I can just look at him and he finishes my sentence or thought. I am hoping my trainer is similar to Elder Antonio.

The highlight of the week was proselyting. On Monday, we had the chance to go to the busiest street in Sao Paulo and place copies of the Book of Mormon. I think it was called Ave. de Policia, they call it the Time Square of Sao Paulo. My companion and I talked to everyone we possibly could. We tried our best to share a short message of the Book of Mormon and the blessings it can bring if we live the principles in it. We handed out a dozen and had a few people who seemed genuinely interested in knowing more. It is amazing to think that we could have planted a seed in a couple of 27 million people living in Sao Paulo. Proselyting also helped me realize how much further and how much harder I have to work when it comes to Portuguese. I’m excited for the field and to go out proselyting one more time while in the CTM.

It was weird celebrating the 4 th of July in Brazil. The CTM tried recreating the holiday, but they weren’t too successful. For food they gave us cheese filled hotdogs, sloppy joes, and French fries. You could say it wasn’t my favorite meal.

The spiritual highlight of the week was listening to David Bednar’s BYU Devotional on the 20 Mark Note. It is an amazing story about an interaction between David A. Bednar as a missionary and President Packer. I highly suggest you watch or read it. It teaches us how to know if a feeling or thought is through the spirit. It is sad to see all of my Brazilian friends leaving the CTM. In fact, our favorite Brazilian roommates left yesterday. They will forever have an impact on my CTM experience. I hope one day I can have a cambio with them in Portuguese. I love and miss you all. Thank you for all of your prayers! I know this gospel is true and that Heavenly Father and Christ love us all no matter what we’ve done.

Love,
Dave