Second Chances

This week went by incredibly fast. Not really sure why (maybe cause we were workin so hard), but it just flew by. I learned lots of things this week about the mission life, Brazilians, my comp, and my roommates. First off, I want to talk about fasting. For me fasting is super hard, because I love to eat. But when we fast we can and will witness great miracles. On Saturday we started fasting mid afternoon. Elder Muller and I had a full schedule planned out. I think every hour we had a lesson planned with a different investigator. Unfortunately, Brazilians are very flaky and none of them were at their houses... So we started to look for new people to teach. After an hour of searching, we found a member who said she had a friend that lived above her who wanted to hear our lesson. So we taught her. The first thing she asked us was, `why are there so many churches on the earth´. You could say this was the perfect transition into the restoration lesson. During the opening prayer she started to cry and explained to us how she needed to hear our message because she was going through so many trials in her life. We then talked about joseph smith, the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ, and the book of Mormon. We finished by talking about how she could live with her daughter Jesus Christ and god for eternity in the celestial kingdom. The spirit was so strong. She told us that she needs to hear more and desperately wants to be baptized. Elder Muller and I were stoked after the lesson. Fasting=Miracles.

I learned one other thing about fasting. When you fast for 24 hours you get pretty hungry... So for our first meal after the fast, we got fed pork, carne asada, rice, beans, potato salad, fruit, and ended it all off with a huge bowl of ice-cream. You could say I feasted. I stuffed myself with every morsel possible. After lunch, I was on splits with Elder Pedraza. I wasn’t feeling too hot to say the least. We had been walking for about an hour when I had the feeling. I took off my tie, ran to the side of the road, and had a nice barf sesh. I felt so much better after though. So for the next 22 fast Sundays in the field I know not to eat too much food haha. In other news, my Portuguese is coming along real well. It is a constant 24/7 English fast. I have noticed when I talk more I learn more. Currently, I’m trying to help my comps and house mates learn English. Their accents are hilarious. But they are learning. Let me tell you the gift of tongues is real. I have so much faith in my heavenly father that he will help me get my message and spirit across while I’m teaching the people of Erechim. I might make errors, but as long as can be an instrument in the lords hands and help our investigators feel the spirit... I am beyond happy. I know that fasting for the right reasons allows us to see miracles in our lives, I know the gift of tongues is real, I know that when you get on your knees and have a conversation with God, any doubt, trial, question, difficulty can be solved through the spirit. I thank you for all your prayers and advice... They really do make a difference. Love you all...

Elder Bodine

The momument is in passo fundo. Its this drink called chimarrao. Pretty much every person in rio grande do sol drinks it. It is this weird bitter tea that i don't really like but have to drink when i go to members house because it is part of the social life here...