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[Arriving Safely at Home]
1/18/2021
Hey all, sorry this is coming out to you guys a bit later than expected! I had a crazy past couple of weeks with coming home and being with my family, but here's my final mission update! I had some memorable final mission experiences.
So, picking up where I last left off, Tuesday right after Christmas Elder Dale and I hosted our final English class! Well, final for me. I think he's planning on continuing it. It went great, and right after, one of the members in the other elders' wards called and wanted to talk to me. He told me he really appreciated my missionary service and knew I was going home, so he got me a little box of chocolates as a going-home gift (that he left hidden in the chapel for me to grab.) What a nice gesture! Then we played soccer for my last time with the youth after the class.
On our way home later that evening, the four of us were walking down our main road which is usually pretty busy, but it didn't have many people at night. So we are about to cross the street to get to our turnoff, and a lesser-well-off looking woman comes up to me and sees that I'm carrying this box of chocolates that the member just gave me, in a plastic bag. She says something along the lines of, "Help a woman out, give me some chocolate." So I reached into the bag to open the box to give her one and she instead just took the whole bag out of my hands and started walking off! Crazy! I wasn't sure what to do, but luckily Elder Araujo jumped in to help me out. He went over and talked to the woman, and eventually another guy on the street came by to help out too. I got the box back with about half the chocolates left - haha! It was a crazy experience, but in the end it worked out.
Other than that, there was a lot of saying goodbye to some people I really connected with, like Nair and her family, and Aline and her family. In fact I'm still in contact with them over WhatsApp and they are doing great!
On my last Monday in the field, I had all my stuff packed and we headed to the bus terminal for transfers, and then I went to the Mission Office with Elder De Luca in an Uber. We did our final exit interviews with President Hirschi and chatted with each other about our missions and the experiences we each had over the past two years. In the evening we went to the Mission Home and had a nice dinner and a testimony meeting with President and Sister Hirschi. Later, we headed back to the office elders' apartment to spend our last night in Brazil.
In the morning, we all went out together, the three of us Americans going home and the secretaries, to get our Covid tests. If we tested positive, we would have had to stay in Brazil for another week or two, but luckily everyone tested negative! So happy! From then on we were just waited around the office until we left for the airport in the afternoon. We then got to the airport and boarded the plane and flew out Tuesday night at 10:45pm. Elder Pontious was my airplane companion. We landed in Houston Wednesday morning, ate a bagel during our layover, and departed again towards Salt Lake City! I had a window seat so I was able to catch a little needed sleep. When we landed we were so excited to see our families!!
It was great so great to see my family there to greet me! They had signs and everything! I loved being able to chat with them the whole drive home. We went to In'n'Out Burger as my first American meal home! It was so good!! When we got home, we celebrated Christmas and opened presents. They waited to do it with me which was awesome. That night I had an interview with my new Stake President here in Utah, to be released as a full-time missionary.
I am so grateful that I was able to serve as a full-time missionary and be able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Colorado and Sao Paulo. I'm grateful for the people I have met and the new friendships I've made. I have had some amazing experiences that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Thanks eveyone for reading my weekly email blog posts and sharing this experience with me. I am so grateful for all of you!
Love,
Nathan [previousely] Elder Bird
- New Year's Eve Zoom call (finishing the BoM together)
- last p-day churrasco [BBQ] get together
- everyone going home on this transfer
- last photo with President & Sister Hirschi
- my family at the airport
- coming home
[A Special Time of Year]
12/27/2021
Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
These last few weeks I have had "returning home" online courses that I have been doing each p-day. Last Monday all the missionaries going home soon had a self-reliance training with someone from the mission department of the Church. It was pretty cool, because there were people from my mission and the next mission over, so I got to see Elder Brinton (from my MTC district) one more time. Elder Pontous was there as well. The three of us are the last ones still serving here in Brazil from that district, which is pretty cool. I'm proud to have been able to stick it out to the end with them.
The next couple days were pretty slow, because President Hirschi put our house in quarantine for a couple of days. Apparently there's a two-day cold going around the mission (maybe even Brazil as a whole country) and a lot of people are getting sick. What's funny is that everyone in our house had already had this sickness the previous week, and we were already better when President mandated us to stay at home. So, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent inside all day unfortunately.
Things picked up a little bit on Thursday though. We were able to give a quick priesthood blessing to someone in the ward. Other than that, we spent the rest of the day trying to set up lessons with people, but it was difficult because it was so close to Christmas. We were able though to set something up with Franklin, the next day on Christmas Eve. He said he would be delighted for us to come over!
So on Friday, Christmas Eve, we were able to do a quick lesson with Franklin, and then he invited us and the other companionship over for his Christmas Eve dinner with his family!. I learned throughout the day that it's actually more common here in Brazil to celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. That was super nice of him to invite all four of us over. So we went back home and returned a bit later for Christmas Eve dinner at Franklin's!
The next day was Christmas! Elder Dale's mom was kind enough to include a stocking and some small gifts for each of us in the house in his Christmas package. [He was able to get a package because a family member hand-delivered to the mission office.] So we all got to open some presents on Christmas Day! What a blessing! We had a nice chill day at home and I got to talk with my whole family! It was a great day.
Then on Sunday we had the Christmas Sacrament meeting with all four wards together. I had the great blessing of accompanying the hymns and musical numbers on the piano. The choir sang a few special Christmas songs and it went really well, until the piano bugged out for a little bit. One of the pedals stopped working and all the notes were being held as if the pedal was always being pressed. Other than that, it was great, and I was happy to help out. Many people mentioned that they will miss my piano playing when I leave, so that made me feel good.
Alright gang, that was my week!
This upcoming week, we've got a couple of lessons set up already, and some plans for what we're going to do for New Year's Eve and Elder C. França's birthday. I'll be packing up of course, and getting ready for my departure throughout the week.
Now here's the dealio, for next p-day. I will be heading over to the Mission Office from my area, and I'm not sure if will have time (or a phone) to send out my last weekly email. But for sure I will send one out when arrive at home, to report on my last week, and to let you all know that I got home safely.
Thank you all for reading and sticking with me throughout my mission experience. I love you all and appreciate all the support that you have provided to me over the course of these last two years.
Love,
Elder Bird
- Self-reliance training with President Hirschi, the OGs, (+Elder Jackson)
- Elder Dale and I with Papai Noel (Santa Claus)
- Christmas Eve dinner at Franklin's house
- Chillin' with Elder Dale at Franklin's house
- Christmas morning after opening our stockings - thanks Sister Dale!
- Matching outfits with President Hirschi
[Last Zone Conference]
12/21/2021
This week was definitely one of the memorable ones out here!
Feeling Sick - A two day sickness hit all four of us in the house this week, starting with Elder C. França (last) Saturday and Sunday, me on Monday and Tuesday, Elder Araujo got it Wednesday and Thursday, and finally Elder Dale had it on Friday and Saturday. So last Monday we all went to get haircuts, but I wasn't feeling so well and I almost passed out at the haircut place - haha. I ended up foregoing getting my hair cut.
Zone/Christmas Conference! - On Tuesday the Sul Zone and our Diadema Zone had a Zone Conference, the last one of my mission! It was super uplifting with some talks and trainings from the President and other missionaries from both zones. During lunch they played a really cool video compilation of Christmas messages from all our families to us missionaries!! I was super surprised to see my whole family in there wishing me a Merry Christmas! It made my week! Thanks fam!!
Then after lunch, there was a little Christmas program that Sister Hirschi put together. There were special musical numbers and Christmas songs for everyone to sing, with messages in between. I got to play two of the congregational songs, which was fun! Overall super awesome last zone conference.
English class or fix the basketball hoop - Since our Zone Conference landed on Tuesday (the day we usually do our English class), we moved it to Wednesday. Only one person ended up coming, so we decided to just cancel it. I headed out to the basketball court with Elder Dale to see if there was anything we could do to help fix the rim that had been bent. I think Elder Dale felt kinda bad because he was the one that broke it after doing a slam dunk. After a bit of time and a couple of different methods, he got it back to being pretty straight. We'll see how long it stays that way though, haha.
Baptismal Interview - Wednesday night we went over to Nair's house, like usual. We were able to call our district leader, Elder Araujo, to do Bárbara's baptismal interview. She ended up passing! So we made some preparations for her baptism on Saturday!
Whole lotta walking/some exchanges - As the sickness was passing through our apartment of Elders we did some exchanges throughout the week. Elder Araujo and I went out with Elder Dale to an appointment, and then to a members house to pick up their lunch. Then we headed to another member's house to pick up my lunch with Elder C. França and it was super far away/ We also had some more appointments planned for the evening, so that day there was a lot of walking! When Elder Dale got the sickness on Friday, I stayed home with him while Elder C. França went out with Elder Araujo for their appointments.
Bárbara's Baptism!! - Saturday morning was Bárbara's baptism! We went to the church early to get the font all filled up making sure the water not too hot, because it was a nice warm day. The family showed up not too late - haha - and Bárbara got changed into the white jumpsuit. We took some pictures and then had the baptismal service. It was really sweet and some awesome members came to support the family.
Inamar Christmas Party - After the baptism, we called Diego in the Inamar ward and hitched a ride with him to the Inamar Christmas get-together, which was being held at a super sweet venue near the reservoir! There was a pool (which the missionaries didn't use obviously), a little soccer field, a fuseball table, a pool table, karaoke, and a place to eat! A barbeque lunch was provided, and it was a fun time being able to hang out a bit with the members of the ward! Both sets of missionaries were invited to come, so we had a good time there! Unfortunately there weren't any investigators who came, but we got to talk more with the members of the ward, and it was really cool!
Christmas devotional piano recruitment - On Sunday, I played the piano for both our Sunday meetings, like usual, then after the Inamar ward a group was being organized to do some musical numbers for the following Sunday. Next week all four of our wards will meet all together for the Christmas program. It should be epic! The group practicing their set, asked me to accompany them on the piano. I was surprised to be able to get the hang of all of the songs during our impromptu rehearsal. I'm very thankful for my talent of piano playing, and man has it developed over the course of my mission.
I hope it's a beautiful Christmas for all you! Catch you all next Monday!
Love,
Elder Bird
- Great to see Elder Pontious (from my MTC district) at the Zone Conference
- Me and Elder Dale
- signature move!
- Bárbara's Baptism - me, Nair, Bárbara, Samara, Claudio, Elder C. Franca
- selfie of Inamar ward Bishop and the party venue (pool in background)
- super awesome pizza we had one night - yes that is chocolate on the edges
[Losing to a Professional Basketball Player]
12/13/2021
Hey all! Just a normal week out here in Brazil.
Family Home Evenings - This week we got to do two Family Home Evenings. The first one was on Monday night with a member who lives in Eldorado. He invited all four of us missionaries to come over and dedicate his house, and it turned into talking about the life and sacrifice of Jesus and eating some pizza. The other Family Home Evening was on Thursday with Aline, Bruno, and Ana Laura! We watched the Church's short film about the birth of Christ and then talked about the signs of His coming to the people living in the Americas, from the Book of Mormon. It's so great to be able to have spiritual experiences with the members here.
Last Interview with President - I say "last interview" even though I still have my exit interview left to do with President Hirschi, but this past week was my last regular interview with him. We talked about finishing strong, who we're teaching that could potentially be baptized before I leave, and basically it was a nice, short, but spiritually uplifting conversation.
Bárbara's Baptismal Date - Speaking of people who could be baptized before I leave, we went to Nair's house on Wednesday like usual, and talked with her about Bárbara's baptismal date. She wants to move it up because there's a possibility she'll be at her dad's house for Christmas, so it was moved to this upcoming Saturday the 18th! Super exciting!
Basketball with Venezuelan Professionals - There's a member in the Vila Paulina ward who played basketball professionally in the Venezuelan second division, and the Peruvian third division. He is super good at basketball. He invited us missionaries to come to the church and play a bit with him and some non-member friends of his. Elder Dale was keeping up pretty good with the five of them, but the rest of us were way in over our heads - haha.
Vila Paulina Christmas Party - Saturday night was the Christmas party for the Vila Paulina ward, and Elder C. França and I were invited to come, by the Bishop, which was great! It was a really good time, and there were even some investigators there as well, so it was super fun! There was a member who brought a friend, and while Elder Araujo and C. França were talking to another guy, I went with Elder Dale to meet him and talk about what we do as missionaries. We got his information and he seems interested in learning more. Exciting stuff!
Alrighty my peeps, that's it for this week. Tune in next time for more mission news! This week will be zone conference, our ward's Christmas party, and hopefully Bárbara's baptism. Catch ya next week!
Love,
Elder Bird
- Christmas decorations thanks to Elder Dale
- Elder Dale decorating his tree
- Our little tree
- Vila Paulina Christmas party
[Cracked Screen]
12/6/2021
Hey all! How's it going? Good? It's December!!
A long walk - Elder C. França and I were trying to find the house of a referral that we received, actually from two different people. The first person didn't leave a phone number, just an address, so we headed over to the house and tried knocking. The person who came to the door said the person we were looking for, didn't live there. Then recently, we had someone else tell us about this person, and gave us her address and phone number. So we went to the address were maps took us again, and the same thing happened as the first time. But, this time we had her phone number so we called to confirm the address, and it turns out she lives way far away, on the same street at the same number, but on the other side of our area. Classic Brazilian house numbering system. So that day we had a long walk. In the end we found the house and had a good conversation with a woman named Lia.
Exchange with Elder Pedroso - On Thursday morning, the mission did it's transferal Mission Leadership Counsel. I didn't go this time because I'm not in leadership anymore, but my companion had to go, along with the other Zone Leader in the zone, Elder Vasconcelos. Because they each have a companion who doesn't go to the meetings, the APs told our two companionships to start an exchange Wednesday evening. So I stayed with Elder Pedroso in their area. I had some good conversations with everyone who lives over there, including a Brazilian Elder who will go home with me at the end of this transfer, and another American. After lunch the next day, we switched back companions.
Visits with André - On Saturday, a member of the ward went out with us to do some contacting and visits! We followed a route that would eventually lead us to a house where we had a lesson planned. The sad part was that nobody who we visited, including the lesson, answered their door. That was kind of a bummer, but we still had a good time. We ended up taking André back home a bit earlier than expected, but we had a good chat with him after.
Youth Christmas Activity - Later on Saturday, the other Elders had been asked to do a special musical number for their youth's Christmas party activity and they invited us to join them. I got to play the piano and they sang "The First Noel" (in Portuguese, of course). They also shared a bit of a message and the youth did their Secret Santa gift exchange. Then there was food! Which was good.
Cracked screen - The four of us were standing outside the church building, on concrete, as Elder Dale uses our phone to translate something. He then tried to put it back in Elder C. França's pocket, but misses, and it falls face down on the ground. We didn't ever receive a screen protector, so it got pretty smashed up.. Bummer!
Someone stole the light - Throughout the week, our church building kept losing more and more power. One day, the power was out in one hallway, then later, the chapel lost power, then finally the upstairs hallway lost light. We were talking to Bishop Porfirio about it and he said that someone was stealing the wiring for the power of the church. Apparently it's a super expensive type of cable, like R$300 per meter of wiring. So by the end of the week, there was no power in the whole church building. So for Sacrament Meeting, [Sunday Services] there was no light, no piano, and no microphone. We were still able to have church though because there are windows that line the chapel, so we had some natural light during the day. This is probably a good analogy about enduring through the dark times in life, but you guys can come to your own spiritual conclusions.
Alright guys, those are the highlights this week! It's gonna be a great last month of my mission here, I can already tell. The holiday season is always a magical time of year. Anyway, hope it's a great week!
Love,
Elder Bird
- Huge Butterfly/moth we saw in one of the churchs
- Close up
- The four of us at the Christmas youth activity
- me and my companion
- something strange we saw on our long walk
- playing ball in the rain
- Acai with the boiz
- I'm literally in Brazil
- This bus driver must really love Christmas [none of the other buses are decorated like this]
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