(Elder Mackrory)
Hey Yall!
Ok, this week was kinda crazy (mild gore warning) We'll
start from the beginning. The SparkNotes (which I'm now calling the SummaRio
(funny right? (You can't copy; its trademarked))) are at the bottom.
Last P-Day, we had a churrasco. Not sure if I’ve explained
what this is in a previous newsletter, but it’s pretty simple so I’ll do it
again. A Churrasco is a Brazilian barbeque with pretty much all you can eat
steak and sausage. It's my favorite thing. You know you’re at a fancy churrasco
if they serve chicken heart as well. There'll be soda (usually always Guaraná
and coke), salad, rolls with compound butter, and some sort of vegetable salad
that reminds me of Potato salad in its looks and consistency. The main thing is
meat though. And it literally is all you can eat. It's my favorite thing. The
only seasoning to the steaks is salt, which is cooked into the meat. After the
meat is cooked, its cut into little slices for the sake of convenience. It's my
favorite thing. Anyway, in the morning we went to the supermarcado with some
members who bought the meat. With the little money I had left, I bought my
groceries for the week. We took an uber to the member's house and started
cooking. It was perfect weather. Opaquely overcast, no wind, and 24⁰. The meat
was amazing, except the chicken heart was a little weird. The flavor was good,
but it was really fatty and chewy. Not sure why Brasileiros like them so much.
We cooked up co much meat it was overflowing out of the foot in diameter
Tupperware we had for it. Did I mention it’s my favorite thing? And then. Oh my
goodness. The desert. It was a whirl of chocolate/condensed milk pudding with
chunks of milk chocolate and mousse filled chocolates. It was better than the
meat. And I was already thinking that wasn't possible. I asked what it was
called and the member said "Mousse de chocolate branco bombom", which
being interpreted means, "white chocolate mousse candy". It doesn’t
make a whole lot of sense in English, but I’m sure if you looked up the Portuguese
words you'd get a good result.
Last week, I made two mistakes. The bad bananas I tried are
not Bananas na Terra, they're Bananas da terra. Plantains. My comp said there
was a typo on the sign at the supermarcado. The other mistake I made was saying
that I don't like the jeep liberty. I'm particularly fond of it, but I meant
Jeep Renegade. They’re extremely common here and extremely ugly. Also I saw a
few Kia Souls. Those are extremely ugly too.
Speaking of cars, I started counting classic VW Bugs. It’s a
fun thing to do on the bus or when walking. This week I got 28.5. Yes, I saw a
half beetle. It was made into a trailer for that super sick trimotorcycle. Or
is it Motortrike? I feel like motorized tricycle doesn’t do given the coolness
thereof.
Now for the fun part. On Wednesday morning for exercise, I
had planned to hit chest, but my wrist hurt for some reason so I decided to hit
legs. Big Mistake. I love working legs. I was a runner in high school. In the
moment, I didn't think about all the hills we'd be walking that day. It was a
really good leg day. But the rest of the day I hurt really bad. Today, I can
still feel I’m the slightest bit sore, but most of the time I don't notice it.
I will hit legs again tomorrow. I think it would be pretty cool to be the
Quadfather. Then, that night, my comp and I were supposed to be part of an English
class that the church hosts. The problem with that is that the Elder's quorum
was having a churrasco that night and we were invited. We managed to get the
elders from the other ward to stay at the class, and we left with the bishop
for the churrasco. Definitely worth it. I’m already fluent in English. At the
churrasco, I passed out. Not exactly sure what caused it, and it wasn't
dehydration. I won't explain how I know it wasn't dehydration, but I'll just
say it was CLEAR to me that it was something else. Anyway, on the way down I
hit the right side of my head on the pool table, and then hit the left side on
the floor. When I came to, I was in a chair with gauze being pressed against
both sides of my face. I was extremely confused because I was not in pain. I
looked around and everyone had stopped what they were doing and were just
looking at me. I was mad that I ruined everybody's fun, but that soon passed as
the food started to be brought out. I went into the bathroom to disinfect and
patch up. It was funny to pull the wound open and closed and make it talk. Way
more funny than it should have been. I was grateful for the help of one of the
men there, Renato, who wants to be baptized, but has to stop smoking first.
He's doing really well. We watched conference with him and his family. Anyway,
my comp wanted to go to the hospital and get stitches but it wasn't bleeding a
whole lot and I didn't think it was all that bad. I decided to stay because churrasco
is better than a waiting room. Definitely the right decision. Did I mention
churrasco is my favorite thing? We went home after being filled and I put a
butterfly closure on it and went to bed. Apparently those kind of bandages
don't exist in Brasil, so I’m glad my mom packed me some (hi mom, love you).
Photos of my flesh wounds are attached. I'm super excited for the scars they'll
make.
The next few days were packed with my legs hurting like
heck, and every member we meet asking "O que aconteceu?" (What
happened?). I got good at saying "Você deveria ter visto o outro
cara". I'll let you guys decipher that one.
I also want to make one thing clear about the mission. It's
not all sunshine and roses. Especially in the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I
love the mission. It's freaking awesome and worth it. Most of the time, I’m
able to stay positive, but sometimes it really sucks. I write my emails to be
fun and exciting for you guys and for my future self, but it’s not always like
that. There's always a day or two that suck. Staying positive isn't easy for
all, and so my spiritual thought this week is about that. Saturday night really
sucked for me. I really wanted to punch someone. That night I said a prayer of
gratitude and studied my scriptures. This helped my dreary state. And Sunday
brought the sacrament, and opportunities to testify of Jesus Christ. The
sacrament brought me an opportunity to serve others. It was testimony meeting,
and though I struggled for words, I was able to smile and convey love and belief.
All these things brought me to a point of near whole Joy. My message this week
is that if you're feeling down, or perhaps more than that, you can find joy and
emotional stability in doing the things that strengthen your belief in Jesus
Christ. And how do we strengthen our belief? Act in faith! Christ said prayers
of gratitude, studied the scriptures, testified, and administered the
sacrament. What's one way you can follow the example of Jesus to increase the
Joy you feel?
Tender Mercy: We took the wrong bus. We ended up spending an
extra 45 minutes getting to where we needed to go. But during that 45 minutes, I
was able to plan out my entire day. Not just that day, but pretty much every
day for the rest of the mission. When I need to decompress or relieve stress, I
like to organize things or make something. Making this minute-by-minute calendar
helped me to relieve stress. And since then, my study has been a lot more
productive and insightful! Although the bus tour around the beach was not the
right place for us to teach, it was the right place for me to be, in order to
better understand myself and relieve stress.
SummaRio(TM):
1. On pday, we had a churrasco (that’s my favorite thing)
and it was perfect weather.
2. They're called Bananas da Terra not Bananas na Terra, that’s
my bad. Also there were a lot of VW Bugs.
3. We had another churrasco, and I split my head open, but
elected to eat more food instead of going to the hospital because churrasco is
my favorite thing.
4. Lots of people asked about my head
5. The mission sometimes sucks, but it taught me a lesson
which is the spiritual thought. Please read it and the tender mercy in full.
Tchau Tchau Obrigado!
Elder Mackrory (formerly known as His Lordship)
Photos:
1. Half a beetle
2. Companion bonding with Açaí
3. My favorite kitten
4. My good side
5. The classics are everywhere
6. My other good side
7. Elder Handsome ready to feast on the word🤙
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