Mormon 9

This week was awesome.... We didn´t have a ton of stuff to do in the escritorio, and we had lessons planned for every day. All I got to say is that the Lord is looking out for us. This week I´ll start out with a pretty depressing but funny story. In the escritorio, president has these giant white boards in his office where he has a giant map of the mission with all the missionaries. Each missionary has a refrigerator magnet with name, birthday, and hometown. As secretary, I get to create these magnets. I was pretty stocked cause I was thinking about how I have the power to change the photo on my magnet. So I went and took some pictures, and I was like alright, ok, this pic is WAY better. Then I plugged it into the system, and it ended up looking almost identical to the photo I took over a year ago… Haha good times.

Now let’s move on to the miracle of the week. Last Tuesday, I got a call from a sister in our mission (completely normal). She explained she had a referral to pass to me. Referrals are another one of my responsibilities. But as she started to talk about this person, strangely, something felt different. I felt like I knew that he was going to be our investigator. Sure enough she told us his name, Enrique, number, and address, and when I went to put it into the computer his apartment popped up in our area. I was stoked cause she told us he was the nephew of one of the counselors of the mission, and that we needed to teach him ASAP. So I called him up, and we scheduled a palestra the very next day. We got to his apartment, and when he opened the front door, I was greeted with a surprise. Haha let’s just say I didn’t expect him to be the way he is. We went up to his house to find his mom who was also very interested to hear a message. We chatted with him to get to know him and why he wanted to hear our message. We then dived in to teaching the restoration. As we taught, I could feel the spirit enter the room. By the end of the lesson, we invited him to pray/read the Book of Mormon, and he was like… I already know what your saying is 100 percent true. We invited him to be baptized and he said, “Seria bacana” or in my English translation, “that´d be dope”. It was pretty funny. After the prayer, we got up to leave and he was like.. wait where are you guys going. Turns out he wanted us to teach all the lessons for him in the same night, but it was already 9 so we had to leave. He showed up at church on Sunday, walking 20 minutes in the pouring rain. He said he felt at peace at church and that he was excited to be baptized and continue returning to church each Sunday. He also said he felt as though he needed to serve a mission. Pretty sweet if you ask me. There were many other miracles this week as we saw Ezequiel progress and claim that he was committed to being baptized. Elomar, his wife, and their son Joel, all loved our messages and said that they had found the church they are going to stay with. We also found and taught other people that I hope and pray will progress.

This week I was studying in Mormon 9, and I noticed a couple things that I really like. First off, I love the last chapters of prophets in the Book of Mormon. Whether it be 2 Nephi 32-33 or Mormon 9, the final testimonies of prophets in the Book of Mormon or in these latter days are an amazing study tool. They testify so boldly of Christ and the things that we truly need to hear. I love in chapter nine how Moroni tells us how God has not stopped to be a God of miracles. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the same God that talked with Abraham and other prophets of the Old Testament (11). The chapter teaches us of the plan of happiness that God created for us and how God desires to show us miracles in our lives. On the mish I have seen many small miracles happen that have built my testimony of this gospel. I have tried to take and apply Moroni´s advice in verse 21, which says to believe in Christ without doubt. If we can do this, the Lord will grant unto us what we need. I also love verse 29 and how we can learn that we need to always be worthy to partake of the sacrament and be worthy in all aspects of our life. But the part of this chapter, which hit me the hardest, was verse 31. I read it, and my jaw kinda dropped. Moroni tells us that instead of being critical of his and his father’s weakness and shortcomings, which were few, we should observe them and use them to become better than they once were. After I read that, I thought how can I be wiser or more righteous than a prophet of God?? Then after pondering and prayer, I realized that I don´t need to be better than they once were, but really I need to improve myself. This verse helped me see that even prophets of god have shortcomings. And how Moroni was willing to humbly admit to these shortcomings for the better sake of himself and all those who would read this amazing book. I know I have shortcomings and weaknesses, but as I observe them, believe in Christ, and use his divine atonement, I can be more prepared to see miracles in my life and prepare myself to return to their presence. I know this gospel is true. I know miracles happen. I know I am in the best place I can possibly be right now to come unto Christ. Thank you for your love and prayers and have an awesome week

dave

Exact same thing after a year.

Had no idea blockbuster still exists...

Hiatus

First off let me say, I broke the streak of weekly emails... but it’s all good cause the last two weeks have been pretty awesome. I have been noticing that time management is key when you are working in the mission office. It has really taught me that every second of proselyting is precious. I´ve also noticed that I go out to preach the gospel ever more focused and dedicated to find the Lord´s children. Despite the lack of time to proselyte, Elder Castle and I have seen many miracles these last couple weeks. On Sunday, we had 3 surprise investigators at church. One was a friend of a member, and the other was a father/son combo, who had heard about the church from a family member. We were able to meet with them after church and learn that all three are super prepared and willing to be members of this church. Ezequiel has already read all of the Book of Mormon and been to church numerous times. The Father / son combo loved the church meeting and can’t wait to have us back in their house to share a message. Overall, I am super grateful that Heavenly Father presented these three wonderfully prepared people to us with very little work. We also got the chance to work in our area a couple times this week. I got to leave with Elder Maciel, who was once executive secretary of the mish, to visit his recent converts. We went to this sweet area where we found a 16 year old kid named Vanderson, a convert of Elder Maciel. We shared an awesome message with him and invited him back to church and after he was like... so we gonna go visit my friends... So then he proceeded to take us to all his friends in the neighborhood... Haha it was classic. This Vanderson is a clown. We would show up at his friends’ house, and he would be like, "yo these caras are here to share a message about god" This dude came all the way from California just to talk to you. He was surprisingly super good at making contacts, and it was super fun interacting with his friends. haha we found 10 or 12 of his friends to teach. Overall, awesome divisão. I was studying in Ether 12 when I came across verses 3 and 4. It helped me realize my purpose and my potential on the mish. Preaching repentance from sun up to sun down to all people. I also love how Ether describes hope in verse 4. He tells us that hope comes through faith and is the anchor for our souls. We all need to hope for the best. But not just hope but act, and God will provide. I know this gospel is true, and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and another testament of Jesus Christ. I love you all and thank you for your wonderful love, prayers, and support.

Dave

P-day Com Presidente

Lol pw tennis taught me a lot

Glory days

The matching uniform do... Hawaiian californiian combo

Presidente with that serve

Uno in the house of presidente... it got pretty heated

A Week of Craziness

This week I have decided that I will give you a more detailed account of my week because it was absolutely nuts with transfers. The last 4 days have been crazy preppin all the materials for the group leaving, the group arriving, training of the new missionaries, and for all the people switching areas. This transfer had a ton of changes in the mission... It was super cool to see how it all went down and how all the changes seemed so perfect. I really gained a testimony this week that Presidente Campos receives revelation for our mission. But now that I have done a slight recap, let’s get into the details.

          First off, we had an amazing lesson with an investigator this week. His name is Roniel, and he loves football. He is so good that his parents sent him down to live with his aunt/uncle, so he could play for a club in Rio Grande do Sul. His aunt/uncle are members, and the missionaries have been preppin him for a while to be baptized. When Elder Castle and I arrived to get to know Roniel, we learned that he has been acting a little rebellious and that his aunt wants to kick him out of the house. We have been trying to help the family reunite and show their love for one another. Last Tuesday, we showed up to their house and all chaos broke loose. Everybody started to judge one another and the spirit was leaving the lesson. Finally, we explained how our purpose was not to hear all of the problems they have had between themselves, but to help them grow closer to one another and Christ. In one particular moment, a scripture popped into my head... Alma 39:12-13, where Alma is giving some advice to Corianton. The language is pretty strong, but it applied to the situation so well. We were able to calm them down and help them establish goals on how they all could improve themselves and their relationships. The spirit was super strong, and I pray that Roniel can continue to prep for baptism. 

        This week we had an amazing p-day with Presidente. Everyone in the mission office woke up and went to Parque Germania to play basketball and tennis with Presidente. Haha it was amazing. I never thought I would see Presidente Campos in normal clothes. It was super fun playing tennis with him because he´s actually pretty good. After playing tennis in the extreme heat, we headed out to presidente´s house where we got an authentic nordeste meal from natal made by Sister Campos herself. Lunch was amazing.... After we played some crazy board and dice games with Presidente and his family. And to finish things off, I made brownies for the whole crew, which turned out delish. Overall, an awesome p-day with Presidente, his family, and the office crew. 

        The next couple of days were crazy in the office. I had a bunch of policia federal errands to run, my comp had to buy a bunch of passagens and pay bills, we prepped transfers by calling everyone in the mish and telling them which bus they would take to which areas, and we got some more crazy info. The sisters in our district left, so we will now be working in two areas with two wards... I have never gotten the chance to work with two wards, so I´m excited for the new challenge. I have got a feeling that Castle and I have started to get a hang of things in the office so we should be able to get out more... plus it wont be quite as crazy cause Presidente got some more staff to help us out. Also, I´m stoked cause our new area is awesome to find people to teach and bring to church.

        Monday was absolutely insane cause Elder Castle and I were at the rodovaria in Porto Alegre helping everyone catch their bus. It was a major struggle with a bunch of people showing up late or getting on the wrong busses... but in the end everything worked out as planned and everyone got to their areas. Monday night I had to finish printing all the materials that missionaries take home from the mish. It was super weird seeing some great friends leave. One of the Aps, Elder Sousa, left yesterday, and it has been super weird without him. But I’m excited for this next transfer in the office and can tell you that time is passing by so fast. I’m losing track of the days. I was reading in 4 Nephi the other day and really liked verse 12 which says, "But they did walk after the commandments.” I love the wording of this statement. What does it mean to walk after the commandments?? The rest of the verse list actions of what the people of the church of Christ did to walk after his commandments. They fasted, they prayed, and they heard the word of the Lord. We all need to walk after the commandments of the Lord. Without a doubt in my mind, you´ll be happy when you walk after the commandments of our Heavenly Father. Thanks for all your love and support... I hope you all have an amazing week.

Dave

Elder sousa gave us a shoe shine before our first reunião de liders

Temple trip finally....

Fun fact the temple is one street outside of our area 

Outback run

The Office

The weeks are flying by in the office. I don´t even know how to describe the daily life here. One day could be dealing with important documents and taking money to the bank, and another day can be calling 50 missionaries about shoes that they had bought. Overall, it is a bunch of randomness. I´ll give you an example of one of this weeks "correrias". Context: We have a missionary from Argentina who leaves next week. Right now, she can leave the country, but she doesn´t have her foreigner ID, which means she will have to pay um mil reais if she ever wants to come back. For the past two weeks, I have been trying to figure out how we can get her ID. I contacted people in São Paulo and they said that I had to mail a bunch of important documents to São Paulo and they could get everything done. They also gave me a deadline of when everything could be sent in. Tudo tranquilo, I sent all the documents in with one day to spare. The next day I was reading through the mission´s emails at about 5:15 and saw a email that translates to, "Elder Bodine forgive me a thousand times... I forgot to include one other document that you need to send us... Can you send it to us today?" So at 5:20 Elder Castle and I ran to the house, got money, and than ran through the streets to arrive at the post office right at 5:30 to send a tiny piece of paper to a random dude in São Paulo. This happens on the daily haha. It’s crazy times here. We also have been able to leave and get out and teach a little bit. We found a family this week that have a lot of potential. The dad of the fam, Luis, promised to read the Book of Mormon and go to church the next week. So we're praying everything works out with them. We are also planning an English class because everyone in the street has been coming up to us and asking if our church has an English class... So we´re hoping that that will be a good way to find new investigators, unify the ward, and reactivate members. This week we were in a meeting with Presidente Campos, when he shared a super cool scripture with us. We were talking about how we could be successful missionaries. He told us to read Joshua 3:5, which talks about sanctifying ourselves and if we do so god will grant us with many blessings. I encourage you all to ponder what it means to sanctify yourself, than commit to sanctifying, and the blessings will come. I love you all and hope you have a great week... 

Dave

Secretario executivo

This week was different to say the least. In reality, it was a total blur. It was Elder Castle and I’s last week of training as the new secretaries of the missão. Now we "know" what we´re supposed to be doing. Haha. I will now give you the low down on what I’m officially in charge of as executive secretary. As executive secretary, I deal with passports, drivers licenses, foreigner identities, and the renewal of all these important documents. We have this giant safe or cofin in Portuguese in the office. I’m the only one with the password... Any mail that gets sent here, I’m in charge of (so now would be a great time to send me letters haha). I buy all the materials of the mission... whether it be pamphlets, BOMs, planejamentos, and many other materials. If you’re leaving or arriving in the mish... I’m the one who will buy your ticket. When missionaries make appointments with health, I’m the one that talks with hospitals, doctors, and farmacies to set up appointments and buy medicine. Any lost, stolen, or broken cell phones, I get to call the company to explain what happened and what we need. I schedule all the times for the missionaries to enter the temple. If you have a reference of a person who lives in the areas of our mission you call me, and I will call the elder in that area to tell the missionaries to visit that person. And last and most important would be fichas or the baptism records. All the baptisms that are performed in the mish, I get to digitize and send to São Paulo (thousands of fichas... muito chato). All in all, there is for sure a work load. I am still adjusting to the office life. I was pretty fed up with the office life when I got an email from a friend who told me how great of an opportunity I have to serve all the missionaries and my area. This friend sent me an excerpt from the Book of Mormon in Helaman 7. In this chapter, Nephi climbs up a tower and prays to the lord how he wishes how the times could be easier. He starts to complain about his circumstances. Then he composes himself and realizes that he has been consigned to those days. The days with much wickedness, trials, and iniquity. But if he continues to complain nothing will end up happening. Let me tell you, I was in the shoes of Nephi this last week. I was complaining and thinking that my work would solely be in the office. But this email changed my perspective. Now I realize that the three hours I get to leave everyday need to be completely focused in serving and finding others to share this gospel with. I have thought a lot about my new designation and truly believe that I will see miracles in the proselyting of my area and in the mission office if I remain worthy, be diligent, and focus on serving others and not myself. All in all, I’m stoked to get out and work in my new area ALA IV. The members are great here, and my comp and I are planning an English class. I think nearly every time we have been on the street some one has asked us if our church has an English class.... so I am thinking this will be the key to success here in the area. Thank you for all your support and prayers, and have and awesome week.

Dave