(Elder Mackrory)
Boa tarde Irmãos e Irmãs! Amigos e família!
This week seriously flew by. I can’t believe I've already
seen 171 beetles. I woke up on Saturday thinking it was Thursday. It was really
disorienting. I'm really starting to enjoy what I'm doing, and so the time just
goes.
Since the transfer, I've been master of the keys. I feel
powerful jingling around a big ring just to open the church building. It’s
pretty fun.
On pday we went to the beach. It was perfect weather for the
beach. I got lots of good photos, and we climbed out on the rocky bank and had
a few little mermaid moments. There was a stone tower we climbed that gave some
sick views. But, I did get sunburned. A nice watch and farmers tan has come of
it, though.
Later, when we went to the market and I splurged a bit. I
have been frugal with my money, so it wasn’t setting back too bad, but I got a
kilogram of whey Protein powder, some peanut butter, bananas, oatmeal,
chocolate powder, milk, eggs, and chicken.
That night, I made a bomb protein shake. Its ingredients are
above, excluding eggs and chicken. The next night, after we returned, I made
about three liters of it and put it all in a reused soda bottle. That's what my
breakfast is. It's amazing for after my workouts, and I usually have it slowly
as I start my studies. I bought more stuff today to make another batch when my
current runs out.
On Wednesday, we went to visit an inactive member, and there
was a dog waiting outside the door. We rang the doorbell and clapped and
called, but no one was home, so we pet the dog a little. THEN HE STOLE MY BOOK
OF MORMON. I ran after him and got it back. He did manage to take and keep the pamphlet
I had put inside. We named him Alfredo.
On Friday, we had lunch at the stake presidents apartment.
On the way there, the bus had to back up in order to make way for another bus
on a very narrow street. The driver backed right into a cement telephone pole.
Unfortunately, the bus survived with only scratches and scrapes, but it still
counts as a car crash. That night, we returned to the stake presidents
apartment complex for a ward family night. He rented out a common area for us
to make food and have the activity. It was an amazing lesson on faith from
Hebrews 11.
But then we had a serious scare. Not for the meeting, but
for us missionaries. We were told that the elders who live in the closest
apartment to us were gonna have to move in the next few days. Their landlord is
doing renovations. What that would mean is that my comp and I would be
transferred to another area. The other Elders would stay in our apartment.
Then next day I started packing. It was explained to me that
it was almost certain that we would be transferred. I put my money, clothes,
some food, and more in the bag.
When we saw the other elders that day, they explained that
there was a miscommunication and that they still have another 3 weeks until the
move out. This means I may not be transferred, and that another apartment will
probably be secured before anything needs to change. Nothing is certain, and so
look out for that in the future, I'll let you know.
The packing actually ended up being a tender mercy, as I had
a lot of things out that I didn’t really need. Those things have stayed packed,
and my shelves are a lot less cluttered. It was nice to have everything in its
space, and space for everything.
Sunday was stake conference, and we got to see everyone in
our zone. It was awesome to see Elder Smith and others whom I had missed. We
went to lunch, and afterwards on the bus home, my comp had a migraine. We got
home and he laid down while I called out appointments to postpone. He took some
medicine and Laid down. Unfortunately, he was out the rest of the evening. He
woke about 7 and felt better. During the 4 hours at home I got a two hour study
sesh and a two hour work out. It was an amazing time. We were going to go out,
but we got a call from the other elders that they were coming over. When they
arrived, they had blankets and pillows. Apparently it was a pday eve sleepover.
From experience today, their apartment was fine, and so this was to be an
elective sleepover. I'm pretty sure that's not allowed, but when my comp is the
district leader, and the comps of the other two greenie elders are the zone
leaders, there's really not much you can do. I cooked some food and did some
studying while they (with exception to one) played card games. I went to bed on
time and asked nicely for them then to be quiet. Didn't happen. I tried to just
go to sleep ignoring the noise, but that's wasn’t possible. At midnight I had
had enough. I called one of the Elders at the table and told them very
assertively that they had two options, complete silence or sleep. It felt
pretty good to say only that and then hang up. There was peace after that, and
everyone went to bed. I hope my sharp reproof will be enough to discourage this
activity in the future. There might have been someone God needed us to meet
during those two hours we should have been working.
Well that's it from this week, I hope the story from Sunday
night doesn’t make it seem like I'm not enjoying the work. I really do, it is
full of tender mercies and I know God helps me as I try to be obedient. It was
just a crazy story that I will allow to be repeated.
SummaRio:
1. I got sunburned at the beach and it made for nice clean
tan lines.
2. I splurged at the market and got ingredients for a
protein shake.
3. A made a protein shake, it was amazing, and I then made
enough for the rest of the week.
4. We got a scare when a miscommunication caused me to think
I'd be emergency transferred.
5. The subsequent packing ended up helping me out away
things I didn’t need.
6. During stake conference, I got to see some dearly missed
Elders. It was so much fun.
7. My comp had a migraine and so while he slept it off I got
a sick pump and some good reading in.
8. That night, other elders came over for "pday
eve". It’s not a thing, and the sleepover implied is even more not a
thing. I didn’t sleep well, as they were up playing cards til past midnight.
Tender mercy: During the adult session of Stake Conference,
a recent convert who was baptized just before I arrived shared her testimony. I
have been to her and her husband's house many times and grown to see the
savior's love for them. She said something in her testimony that I remember
teaching her about. She gave me a look when she said it. Although I was yet in
the CTM when she was baptized, her conversion story still included me. It
touched me deeply to see the love the Lord has for her. It helped me to realize
that I'm not here to baptize. That is an important part, but if I went home
now, not yet having performed a baptism, I would have succeeded. This is
because I strengthened the testimony of at least one. That is why I am here.
Spiritual Thought:
Mark 12:
41 ¶ And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how
the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two
mites, which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto
them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all
they which have cast into the treasury:
44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of
her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
This woman worked all her days to come up with two mites.
The rich worked less, and came up with more. The Lord regarded the woman's
mites as greater than the multitude of coins given by the rich.
It may be easy to attribute the greater value of the woman's
mites to a simple mathematical percentage. The woman gave 100%, while the rich
gave a lesser percentage. This is not the full truth. The woman did not only
give all her living, it says, but she gave all that she had. The rich likely
had food abundantly available at their homes, while the woman would wander home
wondering about dinner. The woman sacrificed what could have been food and
nourishment for one or more meals, while the rich sacrificed what was only
laying around. This woman sacrificed ALL she had to serve the Lord. As should
we. And as we sacrifice things to the Lord, He will open our eyes to the straight,
narrow, and infinitely worth-it path of righteousness. Keep trekking in the
Lord's footprints!
Tchau pessoal!
Photos:
1. Minecraft Bible
2. Christmas lights (because anybody who is anybody knows
Christmas starts November 1st)(No, it doesn’t start after thanksgiving, that is
just the intermission)(how ignorant you are for thinking the world waits until
America is done stuffing turkeys to Celebrate the birth of the Most important
person to ever live on the earth)
3. Brazilian school buses
4. Blurry picture of a sick lowered truck
5. Our street (I spy a vw beetle)
6. When the other elders ditch district run
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