(Elder Mackrory)
Bom dia todo mundo!
A few exciting things happened this week. It flew by. We'll
start by saying that the beetle count is up to 228.
Early this week, we took a street contact for someone called
Raquel. We took the contact in Portuguese. That might seem obvious, but it's
important later. I texted her a few times during the week, with no response. No
big deal, we can just visit her. But then she responded. In English. I texted
back asking if she would prefer to speak in English, to which she affirmed and
said she spoke French or English. It's a little weird that Portuguese wasn't an
option. But I was excited to perhaps teach someone in English. It would give my
Brazilian comp some perspective on how American greenies feel, haha. Since it
was just a street contact, I explained a little about our purpose as
missionaries and asked to meet with her. She confirmed her interest and said
her name was Thomas. Wait. I checked the number again, and it turns out it was
not a Brazilian number. So it turns out I had not been speaking to a Brazilian,
but to another person somewhere in the world. We texted back and forth some
more, and HE said he lived in Benin, Africa. Whoa. I was not expecting that. I
wasn't sure what to do, but then I remembered that I have a friend who is
actually serving in Benin. Since I don’t know how to send a reference across
continents through the missionary app, I just sent him an email. Thomas
confirmed that the friends I had mentioned had already contacted him. So good
job being on top of things, Elder Cowden! The whole thing was crazy and it was
awesome to talk about our faith and do missionary work in English. I'm even
more glad that I was able to get him in contact with the missionaries in his
own area. Super cool experience. It did feel like 3 steps of "I know a
guy," though.
Overall, this week has been really cool. The heat wave has
ended. I was able to wear my jacket a few times.
For the last few days, we have been helping the elders of
Macaé move their things (desks, beds, fridge, stove, etc.) to a storage
container until they can move into a new apartment. They've found one, and I
think they are in the process of securing a contract. The house is impossible
to organize. It's a huge mess. It's not dirty, but there are just things
everywhere.
We had a meeting with a member who talked about goals. One
thing that stood out to me was that you can't just set a goal. You have to plan
it too. For example, my goal is to do 5 pushups for every page of Jesus The
Christ. Do I make the pushups after each page, or all at once after the
reading? Or do I make the pushups before I read and only read as many pages as
I did pushups for? Without a plan, the goal is difficult to accomplish. Without
a plan, the brain defaults to the easiest method, which for this goal would
mean heavy procrastination. It was a really cool concept, and though it wasn't
directly gospel related, the spirit was really strong in the room.
Thanksgiving was this week obviously, but nobody cares about
it here. The only thing that was different was that I got to talk to my uncle
in Portuguese. He served in Brazil, so it was pretty cool to talk to him in a
different way than ever before.
On Saturday, it was Elder Rojas's birthday, so we went to go
get ice cream that night. He brought two cakes and some sparklers for candles.
It was pretty cool. The cake was super rich, and I have no idea how anyone
could finish their cake and ice cream. I didn't get ice cream, and it was crazy
filling. Then we went to Dominos and got pizza. It was a really fun night.
Until we got home. We took two Ubers for the eight of us. Since we had to drop
the sisters off at their apartment, our Uber was a little later than the other
elders. When we arrived, the Elders were rushing us inside. They seemed pretty
spooked. When we asked what happened, they told us of the massive drug deal
happening 30 feet from our front door. There was a white van (no windows) that
pulled up and people surrounded it reaching for all the regular drug places
(wheel well, gas cap, bumper, etc.) There were other people just standing around
guarding it. They were dressed normally, but it was explained to me that they
all had guns. If we had stayed out much longer, they likely would have taken
our phones at gunpoint. It would have been a sick story, but I wouldn't be able
to tell it since I wouldn't have a phone.
Well that’s really it from me, hope you guys are doing well.
Tchau!
SummaRio:
1. We made a contact and put the wrong number down, but the
person who responded was interested so I sent the reference to the elders
there. He is from Benin, Africa.
2. The heat wave is over and I got to wear my jacket again
3. We helped the Elders of Macaé move their furniture to a
storage container while they wait on a new house. The house we live in right
now is way crowded and impossible to organize.
4. We had a meeting with a member where he explained that a
goal without a plan is just an idea.
5. Thanksgiving was nonexistent, but I got to talk to my
uncle in Portuguese.
6. There was a crazy drug deal outside our apartment after
we celebrated Elder Rojas's birthday.
Tender mercy:
I got an email from a dear friend who I haven't talked to in
a long time. It was an awesome email and lifted my spirits when I was feeling
down.
Spiritual Thought:
Luke 15: 4-5
4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one
of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after
that which is lost, UNTIL HE FIND IT?
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.
There ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low
enough, ain't no river wide enough to keep Him from getting to you. If you need
His healing power, call on Heavenly Father in His name, and no matter where you
are, no matter how far, don’t worry. Call on Heavenly Father in His name and He
will be there in a hurry, you won’t have to worry.
Photos:
- in Brasil we have a knockoff jeep called a Troller. This
one was decked out to look like a CAT digger.
-the beach
-my comp stole my phone
-Hollywood???
-I can't stand this street (sorry, that's a terrible joke)
-a flower
-the cakes we had and Elder Rojas
-I am learning useful Portuguese with Duolingo
-the Duolingo mustache guy is very lonely. He often says
similar things.
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