Before Josh Probst '06 even arrived at Princeton as a freshman in the fall of 2000, he knew he would not be coming back the following year.
Probst, originally a member of the Class of 2004, has spent the past two years fulfilling a promise he made to himself a long time ago: to voluntarily spend a portion of his life in the service of his church, acting as a missionary in the developing world.
"I really feel that I owe so much to God . . . [Taking] two years of my life [to be a missionary] wouldn't be really sacrificing anything but gaining something," Probst said.
After completing his freshman year at the University, Probst set out to spread the gospel — one of approximately 60,000 missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
A new way of life
Probst's assignment to the LDS Church's mission in Brazil meant he would have to learn Portuguese, the nation's official language.
He and his fellow young missionaries — most of whom were under the age of 25 — underwent two months of training in São Paulo, learning the language and "how to be missionaries," before moving to Rio de Janeiro, where they would conduct their missionary work.
Probst spoke fondly about his time in Rio, though he acknowledged that it took him some time to adjust.
"Oh yeah. It was very different," said Probst.
"The food was hard to get used to at first," Probst said. "We always ate lunch with a member. We had some pretty interesting food: cow's stomach, cow's tongue, cow's tail . . ."
"Yeah, almost the whole cow," he said jokingly, pausing for a brief moment and separating his hands which had thus far been clasped together earnestly.
Probst then spoke more seriously of life in Brazil. "It was very shocking when I first got there," he said.
"We saw the real [Brazil] . . . most people think of carnivals. Well, we went into the slums."
He pointed out that the part of Brazil he saw looked very much like the country recently shown by the Undergraduate Film Organization's recent presentation of "Cidade de Deus" (City of God).
"I'd been through there a little bit," Probst said referring to that part of the Rio. "That was part of our area."
Probst recounted the first six months in Brazil as being the toughest. As a young American, adapting to a missionary lifestyle posed an especially difficult challenge.
"We didn't watch TV, we listened to church music only . . . just because we had to have that level of spirituality," he said.
"I missed just hanging out, just watching TV, playing video games, watching movies."
But then Probst placed his challenge within missionary context. "I guess it's kind of selfish [to] miss doing a lot of things for myself," he said. "As a missionary, we're worrying about other people."
The work of a missionary
As a missionary, Probst had to adhere to a strict daily schedule: He would wake up at 6:30 a.m. and study with his peers until 9:30 a.m. Then they would hit the streets — often returning up to 12 hours later.
In Rio, Probst spent most of his time on the streets looking for "anybody who was willing to listen. Our basic goal was a conversion of the person to the gospel," Probst said.
Probst always worked with a partner. "I was never on my own, there was always someone there who had been there a year, [someone] who . . . helped you out."
Once on the streets, Probst would visit existing members of the Church and ask if they had any friends whom Probst and his fellow missionaries could "teach."
But much of Probst's contact with the prospective members occurred randomly on the streets. "They would stop and talk to us. They would be friendly," he said.
Though most people — often five out of every six — would at some point decide against converting to the LDS Church, Probst was still grateful for their hospitality and openness towards him.
"The people of Brazil are very open. They're a lot warmer than North Americans," he said enthusiastically. "I love the Brazilian people."
Probst spoke of his successes and his failures as a missionary.
"There was this guy in one of my first areas [during the] first couple months out there. We were on the street contacting people [and] he was on his doorstep. Humble guy. Humble house," Probst said.
The man suffered from a drinking problem. As part of their work, Probst and his partner "challenged" him to lead a more Christian life and eventually convert.
"When we challenged him, he didn't hesitate to working with us," Probst said. "He overcame his vices, his addictions. And, he was eventually baptized."
Proud of his accomplishment yet ever humble, said Probst, "He told us that we had brought him new life and that he was a new man. His wife, kids commented that he was happier at home. It was incredible to see that."
However, the process of converting people is not easy. "People would challenge you. They would raise questions that were really challenging, and if you didn't have answers that was a problem," Probst said. "It made me search harder. It boosted my confidence and strengthened my faith."
Life after Brazil
Probst believes that his experience as a missionary in Brazil has changed him for the better.
He spoke of developing a stronger sense of self-discipline and a higher level of maturity. "While we were there we worked in pairs, but we lived alone. We took care of our own house, did our laundry in buckets. My maturity level rose significantly."
Furthermore, he articulated a change in the way he interacts with people. "The way that people are so friendly there, I try to be friendly to people here. More open. More warm," he said.
"Also, my spirituality level was way above it was where I left," he said.
Recalling the experience of the drunk man of the streets of Rio whom he helped convert, said Probst, "You always hear these stories of how people's lives change. [But I had] a first hand-experience and I saw this man totally change his life. It helped me personally, to see how powerful it really is."
The true benefit of his missionary experience, according to Probst, was the transition of the somewhat abstract notion of the power of faith into a reality. "I grew up in this church . . . My parents always told me, and I never really doubted it. [But] with these experiences . . . I found that it really is true," he said.
"Experiences like this just help to build your faith."
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