(Elder Mackrory)
Opa! Tudo Bem?
Everything here moves so fast. The speaking, the bikes, the
days, the weeks, etc. It is hard to believe that this is the last Pday before
transfers. I don't know if I'll get a new companion or not, I can see it going
both ways. When I started this transfer I thought that I would definitely get a
new companion after the first 6 weeks, because I thought that's how training
works. A week ago, I heard that only happens if there's a problem with the
companionship. Now, I've heard it can go both ways regardless of how the
relationship is. I really don't know, and I'm excited to see what changes in
our zone.
You guys have no idea how many times I've said
"sim" (yes) when I have no idea what was just said to me. It's gotten
better, and I can usually get enough out of what they said to give a closer
answer, but sometimes they give me strange looks and I wonder if we will have
police outside our house the next morning. I really hope I don't incriminate
myself, I can't go back to jail.
This week was so cool! It actually snowed. Not a significant
amount as to gather on the ground, and honestly not even enough to make the
ground wet, but it snowed. I decided to wear my jacket that morning because I
love to wear my jacket. When we went outside, I felt on my face rain, but there
was no rain in sight. I took a closer look, and discovered the smallest
snowflakes I've ever seen, they more looked like dust particles. But it snowed.
I didn't think I'd see snow until late 2025. it was a good thing I wore my
jacket, as it rained a little in the afternoon.
It has actually been really cool this week. like
temperature-wise. It hasn't gotten above 24, and is usually 21-22. I wish I
wore my jacket more because this coming week will be hotter.
I bought some variously flavored wafer snacks last week.
I've been keeping them in my bag for when I need a snack and it has been
amazing. I think my favorite flavor so far is strawberry. It makes it really
easy to bear the last three hours of proselyting because I am not overcome with
hunger. Speaking of hunger, Portuguese goes not have a word for hungry. they
just say "with hunger", like "tô com fome".
I went on a divisão with Elder Schmuhl from the CTM. He is
in my district now too, so I see him often, but it was cool to actually get to
work with him. His area includes my house, so I wasn't too disoriented trying
to navigate a new area. He and I are both American, and this is a huge talking
point for Brazilians. Like America with Spanish, everybody here knows basic American
words like "hello" "what's up" "thank you"
"good bye". Many people will say to me in a very think Brazilian
accent, "What's up, dude?" It's actually the funniest thing. But I
can't laugh because they're not saying it ironically. Anyway, the divisão with
Schmuhl was awesome. We made the plan for the day, including two lessons. We
couldn't find the house, as the numbering system is almost nonexistent. We
asked a guy who was loitering if he knew, and he laughed with us about the
terrible numbering system. We were able to share a little bit about our
missionary purpose with him, and he seemed very intrigued. we got his number.
When we found the house (It was on a different street), the person who we
planned to teach was not there, but another person was. They were at first resistant
to listen because she was under the impression that our church teaches
everything in a different way. We assured her that we believe many things the
same, and gave her the example of faith. Elder Schmuhl explained faith really
well, but it literally doesn't translate well. In Portuguese, Faith is Fé. He
explained that just like fé has two letters, it has two parts. F stands for fazer
(the verb "to make" or "to do"). He explained that we need
to act in order for our faith to be real. É stands for esperança (hope).
Because we can't know or see all things, we need to have hope that they are
true, and that the God does see and know all. It was really cool to see her
visibly realize the commonality we shared. Next we went to a different area and
bought some popcorn. we were walking to find a place to sit and eat, when we
were stopped by a man who spoke a lot of English. Like I said, being American
is a big talking point. He mentioned he had been taught by the missionaries
before, but didn't understand how the Book of Mormon fit into history and how
he didn't understand the premise of the book. We were able to explain it
perfectly to him, as the words we didn't know in Portuguese, he understood in
English. He was really excited about it now, and wondered if there videos he
could watch (I know, right?). We shared with him the Book of Mormon app, which
has all the Book of Mormon Videos, the audiobook, and more. It's rare that a
person we meet is interested in the gospel, and even less rare that they're
excited. This was so cool and made we really excited for when I'm fluent and
able to perfectly explain things to people who do not speak English, and
motivated to work towards that. We later got another contact from a family who
likewise approached us about our American looks. He and his family were
interested and intrigued by the church's English classes every week. We had a
family night a bit later, which is basically dinner and a message. They had a
very young daughter around the age of 4 who was very hesitant towards us. She
wouldn't even tell us her name. Just cutely cower behind her mother. As the
night progressed, she warmed up to us. By the end, she asked if I could play
with her. She gave me puppy eyes, so I couldn't say no. I really enjoyed
playing with her. Not sure what we were doing, but she was having a good time,
and that is what matters. I really love love live character development.
Following Ice Cream and a spiritual thought, we left (to the toddlers dismay)
and went to get Acai. It was a great ending to a great day. It is really cool
to see that when you have faith in the lord's plan, he will bring people to
you. Both of our lessons fell out, but the people we met during the time we
would have been teaching showed us that the Lord's plan is always the best one.
Spiritual thought: I decided to write down a list of good
attributes that I wanted to develop. I decided then to write how Christ
exemplified each one. This has been really fun so far, since a lot of the
attributes, while good, are not typically associated with Christ. It has been
cool to see that He has exemplified everything Good. One that recently stumped
me for a while was Faith. This should be easy right? But the time in Christ's
live when he would have needed the most faith, the time that he was growing in
wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man, is summed up in less words than
this sentence has. Then, while studying for a different attribute, it came to
me. Immediately following His baptism, Christ fasted in the wilderness for 40
days. Fasting shows Heavenly Father that you are willing and ready to receive
further light and knowledge because you have decided to go without food for a
time. This is a very strong show of faith. Even Christ, a person who lived
without sin, needed to have faith, and found the need to constantly exercise
it. How much more then do we need to do so, seeing that we are imperfect
beings? What is a way you can exercise faith this week?
Tender Mercy: on one family night this week, I was passing a
rugby ball around with the father. Later, on the bus, I came to notice that my
tag was missing from my jacket. This was really worrying to me, as we had to
run to catch the bus. I thought that it had fallen off during this run. In this
case, it would have likely been lost forever. But we got a message later that
night from the member who found my tag in their yard. It must have been knocked
off from rugby. Although it was never really lost, the message came at a time
when I was most worried, and a bit scared. It is humbling to see how much an omniscient
God cares so much for the little things.
SummaRio:
1. Transfers are coming up; I'm not sure if I get a new
companion. I'm happy both ways
2. I say "sim" a lot and I probably shouldn't
3. It snowed. Not a lot. most people wouldn't consider it
snow, but there were snowflakes in the air
4. It has not been very hot this week. A lot of overcast
days and temperatures around 21-22 degrees centrigrade.
5. I went on a divisão with Elder Schmuhl from the CTM. It
was really cool to see the day unfold the Lord's way, and not in our own way.
You gotta go with the flow.
Photos:
1. Think Celestial
2. A Painting if Lehi and the tree of life by one of our
investigators
3. Purple flowers
4. Real guava
5. Red flower
6. Neighborhood; oftentimes the address will have the color
of the house with the number which makes things easier unless you're colorblind
7. Beautiful temple art at a member's house
8. Ocean view
Oh my goodness! I totally forgot the most important part of
my emails! The beetle count is now up to 89. I saw a half beetle. This time it
was the top half that was missing. I guess it makes sense that every beetle has
the back bottom quarter, since that's where the engine is.
Tchau gente!
Elder Mackrory
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