Tuesday:

So, an exciting thing today, Devanir is an older guy we are teaching. We are on a timeline to teach him fast, because he's in ill health. Unfortunately, he's almost impossible to contact. He's really elect but is constantly in the hospital. We've called him over a dozen times and sent texts and no response. So we decided to mark him as stopped teaching. But as we were doing it, I got a bad feeling, and Elder Bodily said he felt it too. So we decided to call one more time. And guess what! He lives with his brother in law, and he said his brother in law didn't want us coming over and "mixing things up" as he put it. His brother in law is a very prominent religious leader in Boston, but Devanir said he didn't see a reason why we couldn't drop off a Book of Mormon. He gave us the name of his street, but his accent was so thick that we couldn't understand him, and he didn't know how to spell it! So we wrote down a couple versions of the name before he had to go. Bodimer, Bolderler, Boldier, etc. Then Bodily and I zoomed in on the map and went street by street through east Boston until I found a street that seemed close. Elder Bodily said it out loud but saying the name in a Brazilian accent. We decided that was the one! Then we didn't have a house number, just the description that it was a green house. We were praying there was a green house on that street. And guess what? There was. So we dropped off the Book of Mormon and are praying he got it. We haven't been able to reach him since, but that is the way it goes with him. 

Elder Bodily was Facebook finding later and talking to a guy who asked him how he could know his purpose... which is an amazing question! I made the comment, "I wish I could get questions like that, all I get are pro-debaters trying to tear into me about why my beliefs are wrong!" We cracked up about that, then moments later I had the opportunity to respond to a similar question haha! From there we had another amazing lesson with Francis, and it ended with him asking if we could meet again on Friday. I love him so much. 

Wednesday:

Today Elder Bodily and I got ready and dressed for an interview with president. We were waiting for the zoom link for about ten minutes of silence before we realized our meeting was tomorrow, haha. Anyways, after that we had some service to do. We were working on giving out food baskets. The way it works is the people go to the counter, say how many people in their family, then get a ticket for the appropriate amount of food, and finally Elder Bodily and I get it for them. The largest food package is for 7 people. Along with the other volunteers were cracking up a bit at... how big the families were today. We had about 50 people come through in a row all with 7 people in the family, which was weird because all of them were elderly and alone! No harm no foul though, haha. It mainly is funny, because the food pantry is open all week and never has a long wait, so if you are running low on food you can just come back. Oh well. Maybe they don't like going out. We stayed a little longer than normal, because there were some shortages, and they needed our help. Then rushed home for a lesson, and an English Class. Brother Horta called and said he has some stuff to give us. You see we, had mentioned we were going to give gift bags with invitations to to some families in our ward for our new family home evening idea. He had some stuff for us to put in the bags. 

Thursday:

We went over to get the stuff from Brother Horta. We were thinking it would be some candy or mints, but we should have known better, haha. This is Brother Horta. Instead, he gave us a giant duffel bag of water bottles, about 100 pens, a bunch of mints, and some pill counter containers. We needed bigger bags after that! Elder Bodily and I turned to go to the store to get some but on our way out he asked us if we wanted some more apples. When we went back, he asked if we drank milk. When we said ya, he brought a gallon of milk and asked if we liked ribs. Then he brought us three things of pork ribs and told us how to slow cook them properly!!! He is just the best, no other word appropriate. 

After that we had a lesson with Augosto and marked a day to meet him at the chapel next week, which will be my first in person lesson! Actually my first time seeing a person we are teaching, haha. After that spiritual high, we had weekly planning and interviews with president. From there we started the Pork Ribs and had a lesson with a guy I met named Roni. It was an ok lesson, but there was a party or something in the background 'cause it was SOOOOO loud. Elder Bodily and I were basically yelling for the entire hour it lasted. But he's a great guy and has a beautiful family. After that lesson we were exhausted, so we made some hot chocolate and took the ribs out of the oven. Thank you sooooo much brother Horta cause they were BOMB. 

Friday:

Started off with district counsel. The meeting went a little over and the Zone leaders came to talk to us and told us we shouldn't be talking to people any longer than district counsel because of corona. That was disappointing, but it's also life. We went home and made some mac and cheese for lunch. I wanted to grate some sharp cheese they gave us at service, but I may have grated too much, because it made the macaroni sooooo gross. While we were sick from that, I made cookies for the gift bags and Elder Bodily wrote the FHE invitations. 

Saturday:

Started off interesting. I got poked by a bodybuilder on Facebook. I was excited to talk to someone who shared my interested, so I responded and asked him how he was. He said ok just a little sore. I asked how his quarantine was going and he blocked me. 😅 Interesting to say the least. Elder Bodily and I dropped off the gift bags after that. At one of the houses, we walked by the kid who lived there. He's around 6. He said hi to us, and we said hi back and asked how he was. He was really cute, but we thought it was the next house over that was the member's house! So we walked over, then Elder Bodily said, wait, I think that was him😅. So we hurried back and gave him the gift bag and waved at them through the door. When we got home, I was talking to Roni about our love for Churrasco, and he invited me to come over and have one. He said he'd do the meat if I'd bring the pão de açucar. It broke my heart to politely decline, but I promised as soon as I was allowed to I'd let him know.  

Sunday: 

Sunday started off with Elder Bodily and I making a video for the zone page, which I would then post on my Facebook. Elder Bodily had a disappointing start. He made a plate of bacon and eggs and was walking to the table when he remembered it was fast Sunday. Heartbreaking, but it happens to the best of us. When the time finally came for us to break our fast, we were starving! As we were getting ready to eat, the phone rang, and the member on the line asked where we were and said she was at the park waiting. We were very panicked, especially because she was speaking in Portugese, and we are the only Portuguese Elders in the area. But as it turns out she was meeting with the Zone Leaders, not us. So crisis averted. From there we went to the park to grab the keys to the church from the Zone Leaders and that member was the member from earlier! She said when we were leaving she was waving at us and telling us to stop but we couldn't hear. She said she had a pizza she wanted to give us. Needless to say we were broken hearted, haha. After that, she went calling a bunch of missionaries trying to figure out who gave her the gift bag. (Didn't see that we left our number in the bag) How funny that when she finally did call us it was by accident, haha. Anyways, once we got the keys, we went to the church to use the computer to look up games to play over zoom for our FHE. We worked with the Sisters to plan the rest of our FHE which happened Monday. 

Monday: 

Not much to talk about other than the FHE. There were only two other member families other than us and the sisters, but it was a blast! We hope it grows and turns into something they can invite friends. We all got to know each other, played two truths and a lie with the kids, then had a spiritual thought about General Conference. It was incredibly spiritual. One of the members shared about her son's medical problems and the stress of knowing he could die any day. She talked about the peace she felt throughout as she listened to general conference and bore her testimony that she knew it would be ok. It was so powerful!