Bringing the Gospel to Brazil: I love to serve

Hi fam,

Another solid week in the books. I didn’t write yesterday cause the mission was in Porto Alegre for the Christmas celebration. Man 176 missionaries together was crazy. We were able to have a great celebration together. It was also sweet seeing all my comps and good missionary friends. Overall, a great day with many funny, spiritual, and exciting moments.

The week was also solid. I had my first splits with a fellow Californian, Elder Tullis. We had a solid day together and learned a ton together. This week was full of growing experiences. Also, it was one of the hottest weeks of my life. I’ve never had such a hard time sleeping in my life. At night, it stays hot and humid. So that’s always fun. One of the highlights of this week was when we fond a joven named Diogo. Diogo is awesome. He is 13, 6’3”, 220 pounds and loves basketball. It’s been awhile since I’ve found a person that loves basketball as much as me. But the kid not only loves basketball…He is super interested in our message. After teaching the restoration, Diogo promised a church visit and a sincere questioning of God. Upon returning, he told us that he had asked God with faith. He described how he desired to know if our message was true. He felt unresponded, but described his strong feeling of peace, power and love in his fervent prayer. We helped him recognize his answer, and now he is determined to follow Christ.

One other moment or a variety of moments that I enjoyed came from a simple prayer and personal study. This week I was pondering the famous Gordon B. Hinckley missionary quote, “Forget yourself and go to work.” I began to ponder this quote and realize the best and most productive moments in my mish were when I forgot about my past, my future, my family, my friends and just served. Focused 100% on the people we serve as missionaries. Many scriptures and prophets/missionaries of the scriptures teach us how to serve. In Joshua 24:15, we learn that it is our choice to serve God, and that we should serve him today. King Benjamin teaches us to serve with love, because as we serve others we serve God, and Doctrine and Covenants shows that God delights and is honored by our daily service to others. What great opportunity I have to learn how to forget myself and serve others in need. In this wonderful Christmas season, I invite you all to forget about yourself and serve someone in need of your love/service. If you do so, your love for others and the Lord will increase, and your holiday season will be more joyous. I love to serve, I love my Savior, and I love this gospel.

-Elder Bodine

PS I let my good friend Elder Abretch cut my hair. I let him cut the style he wanted…Not sure I am a fan but it grows back.