Bom de Mais

This week was great.  We had some pretty awesome experiences with our investigator, now recent convert, Viviane.  We got a referral a couple weeks ago to visit Viviane because she had already been to church about a year ago, but for some reason she had stopped going.  The first day we called her and asked if we could make an appointment for that afternoon.  She said that she woke up that morning feeling like she needed a change in her life and felt like she was missing something. The lesson was good and we set a goal for her to be baptized on the 1st of March, but she still had lots of doubts and concerns.  It was super difficult to teach her after the first day because she was never home and has a crazy schedule with her work, school and son.  She went to church last week and we finally got to teach her again on Wednesday.  We taught the Plan of Salvation to her.  After, she told us, "That makes so much sense."  The next day we taught her with the bishop and talked about the baptismal date.  She was really scared to be baptized and still didn’t really want to.  (Every other church here teaches that baptism is one of the last things that people should do, so a lot of people get nervous when we ask them to get baptized in 3 weeks.) We asked Viviane to say a prayer to end the lesson and ask if she should be baptized.  The spirit was super strong, so there was no denying that the answer she got was yes.

At the baptism, there was a "surprise special musical number".   Elder Oliveira apparently signed me up to sing a "Teach Me To Walk in the Light" solo.  Anyone who’s heard me sing knows that it’s not pretty, but I just went with the flow and sang the song in English.  After, I talked about how we are all learning to walk in the light of Christ.  Baptism is just the first step so there’s a lot more to do afterwards!

On Sunday she was confirmed a member de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias and received the Holy Ghost.  We talked to her after church and she thanked us for helping her learn and get baptized.  She said, "I didn’t think I would ever join this church.  I was avoiding you guys until last week, but now I feel so good with this decision."

Also, Fabiana and all the kids went to church yesterday!  That was a lot of kids.  Matteus, the oldest son, even went to the youth conference this weekend.  Lots of stakes in Brazil do boys camp and girls camp during the weekend of Carnival every year so that the kids can get away from the parties and bad influences.  Luckily here in Ribeirão das Neves, there’s not much of a party, and most people travel to other cities for the weekend.

I hope all is well,

Elder Marsh

 

Investigators: Adilson, Andre, Ronaldo, Peter, Diego, Rafael, Stefane, Fabiana, Arlen, Mateus, Miara, Iandra, Gustavo, Leal, Chris.

I don’t need anything right now. Thanks mom and dad.  Love you.
Congrats Chris!  Go cougs!

What does "Bom de Mais" mean?

Bom de mais (pronounced bom dee m'eyes) is a common saying in Brazil.  While there is no literal translation, it is generally accompanied with a smile and a thumbs up sign. 

Depending on where you live, you might describe it a number of ways.  For instance, in Boston when asked if something was good or not, we might smile and say it's "Wicked good".  Perhaps in France, they might say it's the "Creme de la Creme". In Brazil, they say it's "Bom de Mais".