Merry Christmas Adam

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey howdy y'all!!

Merry late Christmas!! These last two weeks have actually been the most bizarre weeks of my whole mission. Like no joke. But it's been SO GOOD!

Here are some highlights:

- I flew on A PLANE for about 4 hours with the rest of the missionary music group all the way up to Darwin (the most north part of our mission)! I actually thought the next time I would be on a plane would be when I finished my mission but I guess not!

- We got DOS zone conferences this transfer because we got to piggyback on the zone conference in Darwin. I feel super spiritually sauced up right now!

- I got to see and catch up with my mission mom! I love you Sister Woodbury!

- I met a bunch of elders I didn't know even existed because they've been serving up north the whole time I've been here. It was really strange. They're really strange... because they obviously haven't had much interaction with sisters since they left the MTC...

- We performed our Christmas music devotional TWICE and both times I felt the spirit so hard. Sister Walters and Sister Starr did such a great job! I love them! They're beautiful!

- We celebrated Christmas Adam! One of my favorite holidays in the world! If you didn't know, Christmas Adam is celebrated the day before Christmas Eve (because Adam came before Eve obvi) and you celebrate Christmas Adam by having a rib dinner to bring in Christmas Eve. It the best thing ever and our fav members hosted it and ahh I just love them! It made me feel like I was a bit more connected to my family because I knew they would be celebrating Christmas Adam too!

- We had the BEST Christmas day ever which started off with having a sleepover with my favorites (Sister Forrey and Sister Cundiff. Love them) and then we spent the WHOLE day with other missionaries. It was literally the dream! I love how all these people I serve around have because legitimately as close as family. It's amazing!

- I can't think of more but I know more happened

- I love my companion Sister West! She's so tall and special to me!

Here's my spiritual thought, it's reason behind why we celebrate Christmas Adam:

In our increasingly secular society, it is as uncommon as it is unfashionable to speak of Adam and Eve or the Garden of Eden or of a “fortunate fall” into mortality. Nevertheless, the simple truth is that we cannot fully comprehend the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ and we will not adequately appreciate the unique purpose of His birth or His death—in other words, there is no way to truly celebrate Christmas or Easter—without understanding that there was an actual Adam and Eve who fell from an actual Eden, with all the consequences that fall carried with it

- Elder Holland from his talk where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet.

Anyways, I hope this thought makes you want to celebrate Christmas Adam next year and eat some ribs!

I love y'all!

Sister Cummings

in a big city, they just dropped me off

 (Elder Mackrory)

Boa Tarde Meus amados familiares e amigos! Valeu Natalino!!!

Primeiramente, vamos falar dos fuscas. Só vi 13 essa semana, levando o total para 1194. Mas é por causa de uma mudança aqui na missão. Estão prontos?

This week I was transferred! That’s why I didn’t see too many fuscas. On pday we just packed bags and made cookies. That night, however, we had been invited to play soccer with some local kids who thought it would be the coolest thing to play soccer with some gringos. When we arrived at the field, there wasn’t anybody there. So we hung out at the next door park until more people arrived. There were two 8-9 year old at the park who started talking to us and asking us a bunch of questions. Normal questions that we get: How old are you? Where are you from? Is it cold there? Do you eat rice and beans there? Do you have a dollar? What kind of phone do you have? Wait. We don’t normally get asked what kind of phone we have. I thought it was strange, but we just kept chatting. After a few more boring standard gringo questions, they asked again, “What kind of phones do you guys have?” At this point I’m a little bit worried because its dark and were kinda far from the center of the town where the police has jurisdiction. So now my guard goes way up. The kids go home to “grab a ball” and I heard one of them say, “My phone arrived”. And so, Elder Hernandez and I left. We were expecting some good exercise playing soccer, and so we decided to run home. So that was a close one.

On Tuesday we went around and did member visits and I said goodbye to everyone. It was super sad to leave these members that I love so much, even though I only passed two transfers there. The branch is small, and you get really close to the members. We delivered the cookies to everyone, and some were left over, so that was pretty cool.

On Wednesday we left early for the mission office. We arrived there a little late because of holiday traffic and the meeting had already started, or was just starting. I don’t know. Anyway, during the meeting, President introduces the new trainees to their trainers and instructs everyone else to find their new companions. That’s awkward, because my new companion is already in his area. So president gave me permission to travel ALONE to my new area. So I took the elevator upstairs and arrived in my new area. Yeah. That’s right. I’m the new technology secretary for the mission. So I’m writing this email in Microsoft word and it is so refreshing to get off of google docs. Google docs for some reason would randomly capitalize words. I don’t know if you guys noticed that. But it was so annoying. And now I have a computer.

On Thursday it was só correria. So freaking busy. For one, the church system had a bug and all area boundaries reverted to the ward boundaries, which is fine if you're the only missionaries in the ward, but for more areas in the mission, this is a problem. The worst part of this is that to fix it we had to call a number to report the problem. The problem was Brasil wide, and so practically every mission was calling that number, so I didn't actually get to report the problem because the number was busy. It's fine. We also had the mission leadership meeting which was super spiritually uplifting and I learned a lot about becoming more like the Savior.

Guys, I'll be honest the days are blurring together because of office work, but it's so much fun. I contact like 60-100 media references per day, help out my companion, Elder Ribeiro, with his tasks since he's overworked during this time in the transfer, and much more. I do remember one time I was calling this lady who was interested in the Book of Mormon, and I said "É noix que faz a entrega" without even thinking. For those who don't speak Portuguese, this is probably the most informal way to say "were the ones who do the delivery". The people who say it like that are all gangsters or wannabes. And its almost exclusive to Rio. Anyway, that was super embarrassing for me and super funny for my comp who burst out laughing when I said it.

On Sunday, we showed up early to be in a trio with a missionary who was going home the next day. He and I were both asked to give testimonies in sacrament meetings. For some reason, that day some 3 American families showed up to the meeting including the family of one Elder Shumway, a general authority seventy. So naturally he presided at the meeting and, through the translating help of another missionary, spoke briefly at the end. It was all super edifying. At the end, as we spoke the American visitors. Sister Shumway came up to me and said "Are you nervous to go home tomorrow" and I said "Huh?" "Yeah, my husband said you're going home tomorrow." At that point I had forgotten that the other Elder who was going home the next day also spoke. For a split second I thought the general authority seventy came exactly to send me home. I was so confused and a little scared that I did something without realizing. Turns out Sister Shumway just mixed us up. Pretty funny in the end.

On Monday, we did not have pday because here in the office we have pday on Saturdays. So for the next 4-6 months my emails will come in on Saturday. But our pdays are kinda confusing right now because of Christmas and New years being pdays. So next pday is this Saturday, and then new years day is pday as well, and then we have a week and a half until the Saturday the 11th. Kinda weird, but it's fine. We had to prepare tons of stuff for zone conferences that are happening this week.

On Christmas eve, we went over to a members house for dinner and it was really cool. Really good food and some cool memories. I got full really early on and only got to eat one of the three dessert courses. It was really funny, because sassy grandma and not-having-it aunt were both there. Grandma would say things like "Nobody loves me. I'm so horribly treated here" followed by a "Shut up mom". It was really hard not to laugh. But don't worry this is all in good humor.

Other highlights:

-Sugarloaf mountain is in our ward boundaries

-There's a good view of the Christ the Redeemer statue right outside the church

-Copacabana is in the neighboring ward.

-My bedroom has AC

Tender Mercy:

When Elder Shumway was going around shaking hands with everyone, he would always take the persons hand and give it a little tug and pull them into a hug. He did this with every single person. So I learned a simple truth. Jesus is a hugger.

Spiritual Thought:

I have a new favorite Christmas scripture: John 18:37 "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Let us not only remember the reason for the season, but also the reason for the reason for the season. It's not enough to remember that Jesus was born, but for what reason was he born? To redeem us from death and sin. If we follow the example of Christ, we have so much more reason to celebrate Christmas.

 

He was sunshine, I was midnight rain

 (Elder Mackrory)

Boa tarde Amigos e famíliares!

Essa semana foi muito boa. Vi 26 fuscas, e teria sido mais, só que tenho quase todas as placas de licença memorizadas. Então vi mais do que isso, mas eles não contam porque já os vi. O total chegou aos 1181.

Hey you all, this week was a blast. It flew by, and I can't believe it's the end of the transfer already. Last pday we went back to the beach in Cavaleiros again, and this time we got Calebito's, my favorite ice cream place. But this time I did vary the flavors instead of three balls of Frutas Vermelhas. I did still get frutas vermelhas however.

This week had too many things happening, so I won't go day by day.

We almost got stampeded. Walking home from the farthest area we watched some cows on the side of the road get kinda spooked and walk kinda fast away from us. Some seconds later they returned with two or three bulls getting up on their hind legs and snorting loudly. So naturally I made myself look real big, yelled and approached them. Just kidding. We just avoided eye contact and kept walking (slightly faster). They herd followed us along the fence line until we got beyond their pasture and then it was all clear. Tip: Running can encourage chasing, don't run from bulls. You'll lose every time.

I got really wet because I forgot my umbrella on a rainy day. The next day I was looking for my umbrella, and found that it had been in my bag the whole time. Good one Elder Mackrory. Elder Hernandez stayed dry though.

We had a movie night at the chapel as an activity and it was a super success! We had turmeric seasoned popcorn (so bomb) that a sister in the ward made. We're bringing her cookies tonight to thank her.

We played the primary program on Sunday and Elder Hernandez and I switched turns playing. It went really well.

On Saturday there was supposed to be another activity at 7, for which they needed us to open the chapel. Due to bad planning and a lack of communication, the activity actually started at 8:45. So the activity was basically talking about what the activity was supposed to be about and eating cake.

My phone updated finally and I got Meta AI on messenger. My Language studies have been insane lately because all my weird and specific language nuance questions are all answered really thoroughly.

We had a family night with an inactive member who said I sounded like I was from Rio. So that was a big win.

When walking back from a really far neighborhood In our area at night, we were a little worried about which path we should take because the neighborhood is a little dangerous and so we wanted to make sure were taking the safest route. We asked some people who pointed us to take the main road. We were already going to do that, but she gave us a good tip of when we should get off the main road to get where we were going. As we took the safer route, there was a car then stopped a bit ahead of us and let out two guys who walked into the forest. The car then took off. We witnessed all of this. As we passed the spot where they were, I glanced over (without turning my head) and they were both crouched over in the grass staring at us. So anyway we just continued on and didn't look back.

We got transfer news today! But you all won't find about that until next week.

Tender Mercy: During that encounter with the two guys who I solemnly swear were up to no good, I wasn't scared. I knew the Lord would protect us because we had done our part in choosing the safest path, even if the options weren't great. We kept our course and safely ended up at home. The Lord provides us with all we need when we provide Him with all He needs. And all He needs is our best.

Spiritual Thought:

I think a lot about the future. I don't swell on it, but instead, I let it shape my present. How do I want to be by next transfer? OK, let's work towards that this transfer. I think a lot about what I will say in my coming-home talk in church. In a way, it's sort of like a last hurrah. What I say has to encompass my learning and experience on the mission. I imagine the same is true for all people. President Monson, shortly before passing away, gave a talk that has really left an impact on me. Being the prophet, he may have had some notion that it was his last talk. Who knows. But what he chose to speak about was something so simple. His talk reflected well the Come Follow Me lesson this week about Charity. I'll attach the link below and I Invite all of you to watch, listen, or read the short talk and ponder on the importance of such important principles. They certainly have impacted and changed me. I hope they do the same for you.

Kindness, Charity, and Love

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/04/kindness-charity-and-love?lang=eng

Still no roos!

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey howdy y'all!!

Here I am back with y'all's biweekly email! It's been a heck of a two weeks! As always, SO many miracles and, SO MANY funny silly moments!

Here are some highlights:

- Sister West and I went to the Zoo to finally see the Kangaroos and guess what, THE ROOS WERENT THERE. Oh well

- Had an interview with Presi (President Standley) and he told me that I'll know my future eternal comp based on how good and established his morning routine is... cool. We talked about other things too, it was good.

- We did service in 100+ degree weather and the spirit gave us strength to keep going!

- Sister West and I do not have the spiritual gift of remembering to drink water...or even to bring water

- We sang as a choir at a live nativity AT THE TEMPLE and they mic-ed us up so I didn't make a SINGLE sound because I was laughing too hard. It was yeehaw!

- This last Wednesday we went caroling at the city mall to help advertise our Christmas Eve music devotional. It was crazyy and SO MUCH FUN. I played my violin so that I didn't have to sing (hallelujah) and it was heaps of fun!

- On Thursday Sister West and I biked ALL DAY in 100 degree weather. It was sort of awesome! We also made 2 friends that day! Blessings and miracles!

- I love my mission!

Here's my spiritual thought:

14) And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions.

15) And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.

16) And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger.

Okay so for some context, this is when the Nephites of the people of Limhi finally remember their God after a long period of iniquity and denial. I think the way God handles their return can be related so easily to how he handles our returns in this day. Sometimes the Lord takes His time to hear our cries so that we truly decide and act in faith and continue in that faith as we pray and pray and pray. But, what matters is that He always always answers our prayers and helps us but, He rarely ever fixes our problems right away. Instead, He helps us grow and "prosper by degrees". Which I think is so beautiful and really prompts us to be patient to the will of God.

Anyways, I love y'all! I hope y'all have a yeehaw week!

Sister Cummings

And you cant wait to move out someday

 (Elder Mackrory)

Fala aí rapaziada

Como é que vocês estão? Esse semana vimos 28 fuscas, totalizando 1155.

This week was really good, lots of fun and work. Last pday we went down to Cavaleiros beach and had lots of fun playing ball and then we went to the mall to eat. At the mall I saw a family from my first area and we caught up. When we had lunch at their house way back when, I used to sit down and draw with their 7ish year old son. When I saw him he was at least 4 inches taller and resembled his father a lot more. It was kind of a wakeup call for me that I've been on the mission for a bit.

On Tuesday we had district council and we gave the training. Every day I see Elder Hernandez speaking more and better, and he absolutely killed it. Then we went to a play performance of a member who's goated at giving us references. After the performance we went and talked to her and met the whole cast and we were kinda celebrities. They got super stoked about the Christmas party. went around and did some visits, all of our planned ones falling through. Good thing the visits God planned all worked out. We met a super old and ornery old lady named Dinah (pronounced Jeana) who has some strong opinions about sin. She gave quite the sermon. That night we had rehearsal for the Christmas party again and it was great.

On Wednesday we met a yapper. We'll actually we met her when we were in division last week, but thus week we passed by her house again. She's called Larissa, and she's so cool. What really frightened me is that she said she's been married for 6 years. That's not weird in and of itself, it's just that she's like 8 months older than me. So yeah. Anyway she also got super stoked about the Christmas party this Friday so that was a win. We accidentally talked for two hours.

On Thursday we had more rehearsal for the Christmas presentation and had a great lesson on the resurrection with Maria.

Friday was a big day. In the morning we helped Cleiton and his family move. Then we went home, showered, ate, and went back to help him unpack. Then we went home, showered again and went to the Christmas party. Larissa lost her dog like an hour before the party and she said she might not take it. But she sent her husband to watch the presentation. His name is Patrik. They didn't end up finding the dog, but she came anyway and it was so fun.

Saturday we walked all around Macabu visiting members and updating our missionary app since it has some (kinda) nee features that make it possible for us to keep records up to date. Met tons of inactive members who were all very kind and we will be working to bring them back to church and to personal conversion.

On Sunday we got to church and there wasn't any bread for sacrament. But no one said anything until 2 minutes before the meeting started, and so we booked it home and grabbed some of ours. Good thing it's a 3 minute walk to the chapel. We played the hymns and had good classes. I was inspired by the phrase “Privileged to serve the Lord”. It truly is a privilege to be on the Lord's errand.

Tender Mercy: After weeks of visiting Vanessa, a member we've been focusing on, I was beginning to lose hope. Sunday morning, however, as we left the apartment to go to church, we bumped into her! On her way to church! My heart was partying and just loving life. And then, everyone at church was so happy to see her too. Cherry on top.

Spiritual Thought: President Spencer W. Kimball taught: “We do believe in setting goals. We live by goals. … [One] important goal is to bring the gospel to all people. … Our goal is to achieve eternal life. That is the greatest goal in the world”

This week was great. As I now track my goals, it's easy to see how I'm doing. With exception to one, I met all my goals. I see myself striving not only to meet the goals, but to become a more dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ. This is the point of goals. When we make goals, we are able to understand better our purpose in life, because we can see it step by step. Even when we don't meet our goals, because we strived, we did better than how we would have done had we not planned. My invitation to you all is to make, register, and strive towards goals. Make Christlike goals and change them as you develop. It brings immense joy.

1. Blocked from WhatsApp!

2. New Christmas album on its way

3. The best movers in Macabu

4. It's summer year round

5. Hills

6. The theater

7. The hills and I

8. Nuggets and burger slaps

What a rainy ending given to a perfect day

 (Elder Mackrory)

 

Fala galera!

Essa semana foi rápido demais, e só vimos 16 fuscas. 1127 agora é o total.

This week was so fast, I hardly remember anything. Last pday we hung out at home because we were really tired. At night we had a sick lesson with a dude who was super interested in the Book of Mormon. We then went to teach some recent converts, but they weren't home, so we went and got burgers instead.

On Tuesday we left early for district council and accidentally got off at the wrong bus stop. But we had plenty of time to spare, so we walked. We then went to visit some people, some were home, most weren't, and then we had primary program rehearsal. I love primary hymns.

On Wednesday we taught Antônio and Patrícia about what happens after we die. Antônio is bald, so I made a good use of Alma 11:44 and everyone (including him) had a good laugh and understood the principles. Tomorrow, they will hear the restoration.

On Thursday I had a division with Elder Oliveira. He's got slightly more time than me on the mission, and it was great to be able to learn from him. We had an exhausting (good) day and made some acerola juice. He gave me some goated training tips which I will use extensively, and I taught him that adding a bit of lime in any juice makes it hit the spot.

Also Thursday was interviews with president. He gave me some really cool new insights to our work in small towns. We also geeked out a little to my spreadsheet (which he said was better than his!!!). If the compliment wasn't enough, he then asked me for a copy of it. It's a pretty nice feeling when a professor who taught an excel class thinks your spreadsheet is really cool and asks for a copy. Anyway, this might mean that next transfer ill be a secretary. Elder Kjar is outa the office next transfer, so they will be needing a new tech sec.

Friday we ended the division and had a dope family night with Cleiton, his family, and Thiago. We had hot dogs, and they gave us the leftovers. Members are awesome.

Saturday we ate those leftovers and went to visit Selma, the less active member who came to church last week after 12 years. We were planning on just stopping by real quick and asking her how she was, asking how she felt about church this week, and re-extend the invite. Then it started raining. The thing is that the forecast didn't predict rain, so we didn't bring umbrellas. She begged us to stay until the rain stopped, so we settled to do a reading of the Book of Mormon. She randomly flipped to a page and said “let's start here.” Guys I've never seen anyone flip to a more goated chapter than the one she flipped to. Mosiah 24. We read it, talked about it, she loved it, we loved it, it stopped raining, she said she'd be at church, and we left. Mission accomplished thanks to the rain God gave us.

On Sunday we were planning a million different visits. And none of them ended up working out. Not because they weren't in house, but because plans changed at the last minute. For whatever reason, the branch Christmas party is this Friday and no one told anyone. So we helped the primary president, the young women's president and the teachers quorum President organize the thing. And by the time we reached Conclusions, it was already time to go home. But it was good, well-spent time I think.

In other news, my trainee Elder Hernandez is learning the Carioca accent really well, since he isn't around any other Brazilian from anywhere else. It's started bleeding into his Inglish. He now says, “oopsh” Instead of “oops”.

Tender Mercy: In our Christmas presentation at the branch party, I'm singing “Quem é o menino” while Elder Hernandez goes wild on the piano. I think the song is so pretty, and it's on my favorite melody of all time: greensleeves. Anyway, as I sang it, I was reminded of the first time I felt that I knew Christ loves me. When I was like 10-12, I always went outside to take naps after church. I would always take my iPod (not the touchscreen kind; think older) with me and listen to music as I fell asleep. One of my favorites (year round) was Little Drummer Boy. One afternoon, as I listened to the song, my heart was struck at the climax of the song “Then He smiled at me”. In that unforgettable moment, I knew Christ was aware of me and loved me. And what was true then is true now and is true for everyone. Yesterday as I sang “What Child is This” I felt the same love and confirmation that His love for me is everlasting, and was the very reason He suffered for all of humanity, including me.

My spiritual thought today echoes my experience from yesterday: Christ was born into this world for a purpose planned long ago. He chose to come to Earth to save us from death and sin, to comfort us when we are sad, hurt, or alone. His birth means everything because His life changed everything. The penitent sinner saved, comforted, and loved by Him.

Yeehaw! life is good!

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey Howdy y'all!!!

Guess what? These past two weeks have been AMAZING! Sooo, let me tell you about them!

First off, transfers happened and sadly Sister Nybo and I are noar lunga companions. It's sad and I miss her but I also absolutely LOVE my new companion Sister West! This is her second transfer on the mission but her first transfer in Australia. She was visa waiting in the Texas, Austin Mission for a transfer so she knows all of my favorite things like Bucees! And Rudy's BBQ! AND HEB! So, we get along really well. Honestly, she seems like she's been a missionary for like a year already. She's just that goated!

Since the new transfer we have been giving SO MANY miracles from God! One of those miracles is more like 5 since we've made 5 new friends in these last two weeks! I know it doesn't sound very awesome but we've been averaging about 0.5 new friends a week but putting in the effort to get about 500 every week. So, the Lord does bless your efforts according to His timing!

Another Miracle is our friend Joseph! Joseph is a child of GOD (y'all are too by the way)! We met Joseph just over three weeks ago and started teaching him and then just last week he told us he wants to be baptized! Isn't that amazing??! His baptismal date is set for January 11 but during now and that date, he's going to be spending a month back in his home country where he doesn't have access to a church building or to missionaries. So please please please please pray for him!! We love him so much!!

Okay here's some funny things that happened this week:

- I got stung by a bee

- We heard multiple crazy conspiracy theories from people we thought were completely sane

- Sister West still can't do a pull up

- Sister Cummings can't do a backflip

- I got a nasty stomach bug at a dinner with a member and Joseph and still tried to teach in between trips to the bathroom #iykyk

- Sister West and I made a 5 minute stop at a cemetery to pray for the salvation of some souls and then just got back to biking. It was fun!

Anyways, I'm excited for this next week and I hope y'all are too! But, here's a real quick spiritual thought for y'all:

Lately, I've been trying to focus on following the spirit always! And not only does it take away a lot of the stress of missionary work, it makes it fun! It's so joyful! Because none of this work is in our hands, it's in the Lord's so as long as we follow His Holy Spirit everything will go according to as He would have it go. And, the same works in day to day life, not just missionary life. So, basically, y'all should do it too!!

I love y'all!!!

- Sister Cummings

You're tired from a long hard week

 (Elder Mackrory)

Boa noite meus amigos e familiares! Tudo certinho aì?

 

Essa semana vimos bastante fusca. 29. Acho que o total agora é 1111. Sem chance. Pois é.

Hello everyone. This week was super crazy full of things.

On pday last, we spent time at the Macaé chapel and played some soccer. We also were able to finally buy some much needed Tupperware for the house. We ended up sleeping over at the aeroporto house that night so that we could save some money on travel.

In the morning we had district council and headed back to Macabu. We had an awesome lesson with José, a nice old man who cares very well for his little 2003 VW Gol (not to be confused with Golf). Unfortunately he's almost blind so we will be making many visits to do some reading with him.

On Wednesday we went to the same neighborhood as José to be able to read with him, but he wasn't home so we went finding. We found an sweet old illiterate couple who were so intrigued by the little intro of the Plan of Salvation we gave them. that night we had English class, but no one came, so I decided to clean our area book. I was able to organize our dots so that they were confined to Brasil, but it's gonna be a job and a half to consolidate all of it. Real satisfying work.

On Thursday we traveled to the farthest feasible neighborhood only to have our lesson fall. Oh well we took some good fotos and I spoke some cow. I had a panic session because the “Books and Lessons” section in gospel library was gone. That's where all the teachings of the Presidents are and I love those books.

On Friday we had zone conference. In Cabo Frio. Like 4 hours away. So we got up at 5 am to catch our 5:50 bus. We got on and arrived at the bus station in Macaé about 7:20. We get on another bus and it takes us to Cabo Frio. Books and lessons came back. On the way I finished reading the teachings of John Taylor. Super sick guy. We arrived promptly for zone conference and started. Awesome talks and trainings and food. I meant to geek out with the mission president about my spreadsheet but another suck-up besides me took the seat next to him. Oh well there's always interviews. After zone conference, we left for the bus. We walked 40 minutes to the bus Station, took a bus to Macaé, and then took our bus to Macabu. We arrived in our area at 8:48pm. So I managed to organize a few more dots in our area book. 9 total hours of travel.

On Saturday we walked a whole ton. We again walked to the farthest neighborhood for an appointment we marked with a man we found when our last appointment fell. Too bad this appointment fell too. Oh well then we walked all the way back to the other extremity of our area and on the way talked to Selma, an inactive member. She gave us some bomb mango juice. Then we went and taught the illiterate couple from a few days ago. They ate up the first half of the plan of salvation and the Book of Mormon.

On Sunday we went to church, and Selma came! She hasn't been to church in 12 years and I'm so surprised the members recognized her and made her feel at home. That was a win. We then left to teach the couple from Saturday, this time with an RM. The lesson was fire, they totally loved 3 Nephi 11.

So needless to say, we're exhausted today, which is why the email is coming in a bit late. But it was such a bomb week. We were so busy that not much happened other than work. I guess that's a good thing.

Tender Mercy: for whatever reason, our morning bus was a but late on the day of zone conference. This was extremely worrying for me because we could not arrive late at the bus station. Our next bus was not a public transport, but a ticket system, so we can't miss it. We were arriving close to the city at about the time the other bus should be pulling out. It should have been all over. In this thought, I look out the back of the bus, and there is our next bus, waiting in traffic. For whatever reason (likely divine) the next bus was late as well. Had we missed the second bus, we simply wouldn't have gone to zone conference.

Spiritual Thought:

3 Nephi 11:14:

Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

My initial thought upon reading this is that Christ wanted to prove Himself to the people. But upon reading this next verse, I realized that that couldn't have been it:

3 Nephi 19:35

And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.

So. The people of Nefi were among the most faithful, so why was it that Jesus proved Himself to them? Well, actually, the point of feeling His scars was not only that they would have a perfect knowledge of His divinity, but to have a personal and one on one connection with Him. They all fell to the earth as He announced Himself. There's the faith. Then he said that they all went, one by one, to have a personal experience and connection with the Savior. This taught me a great truth, that the love that God has for us is not only real, but is as much individual as it is collective. He announced Himself to the group, but ministered to the one.

Fotos:

1. French fries are better here

2. Zone conference lunch

3. Scenic route

4. I told them to look at the camera

5. How many shades of green?

6. Sorcetinho nunca machucou ninguém

7. Central terminal in macae

8. I think a mooshroom left that there

Miracles YES

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey howdy y'all!

So many cool things have been happening lately! Two weeks ago I hit 6 months on the mish! Isn't that awesome! I'm already 1/3 of the way through! It's been so dang quick and so dang amazing! I've already learned heaps of stuff and have grown a lot (although not physically, I'm still just a little bit short).

Another amazing thing is that I've been seeing so many miracles!

One big one happened on Saturday during exchanges in the city with Sister Manuel (love her tbh) and we were just doing some finding and we walked up to this dude sitting down in the grass and we ended up sitting down with him and teaching him about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and he ATE it up! It was yeehaw!! And he also shared a beautiful story of how Jesus Christ saved his life! I legitimately almost cried! And the cool things about this is the little itty bitty miracles like the fact that the dude had JUST come to Australia two weeks ago from Papua New Guinea and didn't even live in the city but had decided to visit that day. Coincidence? Nah. AND THE BIGGEST THING. The dude was lost and was confused by the big city and that's why he sat down and while he had been sitting there he was praying that "someone with Jesus in their heart" would come and help him and then we rocked up! Prayers work!!!

Okay, next miracle happened yesterday at church when another guy, who we'd only interacted with over text and the phone rocked up to CHURCH and LOVED IT and even STAYED for second hour AND the second hour for the ward after ours. So 1) we think he enjoyed the church and 2) he would have eaten up 3 hour church. He was so interested and we were able to set up a teaching appointment with him and another one of our members for later in the week. AHH I LOVE JESUS CHRIST!

Anyways!! My spiritual thought is that miracles are real! Seek and expect miracles because they happen. God makes them happen!

I love y'all so much! Have a good one!

- Sister Cummings

Too many cool kids

 (Elder Mackrory)

Fala Pessoal! Tudo joia?

Essa semana vi 16 fuscas, totalizando 1082. Tanta coisa aconteceu essa semana, nem sei aonde começar.

This week we had transfers, found out about them Monday morning. So technically I could have told y'all last week, but I felt I'd leave the suspense. Turns out I'm staying here in Macabu, and Elder Mena is leaving. My new comp is Elder Hernandez. He's fresh out of the states. So yeah. I'm training again. This means I'm the missionary who has trained the most out of everyone in the mission. Five kids in the mission is too many kids. So we just spent pday packing bags. Well, I just relaxed while elder Mena packed. On Tuesday we went around and visited members and people, and then early Wednesday morning we headed over to the mission office. It was pretty chill at the office, just that it was raining, which is important later. We met Elder Hernandez and he's got a real big Texas accent. It's so weird since everyone I know here has a Utah accent. It's been a while since I've heard the word yall used unironically.

After lunch, we booked it to the bus station. But we ended up missing the bus. It was an early tine anyway, there was not way we were making it. So everyone in the travel group got in line to switch their tickets for a later slot. No biggie, just pay a small fee. But when I went to switch ours, we couldn't. Everyone else switched their tickets just fine. But since we were going to a pretty rare destination, the next time slot was the next day. So we call the office and Elder Kjar hooks me up with some passage to a close by city where we would sleep at another missionary apartment. It's just that this ticket gave us like 6 different possible gates that the bus could pull up in. Since there's no logic in that, I didn't understand at first. I didn't even realize until after what it meant. So we went to the first gate in the list and waited for a bus that came and went in a different gate. So we were confused and went to ask about the bus. “it just left from this other gate” they said. That's when I found out that we had to have been attentive to 6 different gates. So we went to switch our travel again. We got it done and finally, after four hours at the bus station, got on the bus. At 10:15 we arrived at Macaé (also raining) and walked with our bags to the Macaé house. Slept well there and took an early bus to Macabu Thursday morning. So for Elder Hernandez, who had just taken a 12ish hour flight from Salt Laķe, it took a total of 46 hours of travel to arrive in our area. We were able to go work that day, but needless to say we slept like rocks that night.

The next days were filled with finding, teaching, serving, and ministering to the ward. On Friday we had primary rehearsal for the program. Since I'm the pianist, we were there too. Turns out Elder Hernandez is goated at piano. So we split the songs and now I only have 3 songs to learn. On Saturday we stopped by the chapel to practice the piano, did that, and out of nowhere he started playing Cardigan. I tried to sing along, but became immediately embarrassed because I've forgotten the lyrics. Then he played Wildest Dreams and I was glad to find that I hadn't forgotten those lyrics. I even remembered some harmonies and we had a good time. Then we got a call From a member at like 7pm (remember that its Saturday) saying that we need to teach Sunday school. Alright. That's fine. Two hours is enough. Then we get a message from the branch presidency asking us both to speak in church. So. Yeah. So we went home and Elder Hernandez wrote his talkzinho and I got on Sunday school. I decided to use a talk I already had prepared to save time.

Then came Sunday. We basically did everything. Elder Hernandez played the piano, I led the music, I blessed the sacrament, we both spoke, and I gave the lesson in Sunday school. Other than teaching Sunday school, that's not far from what happens every week.

Well, that's it for this week. Tender Mercy: On Sunday we had lunch with a member family that Is having some difficulties. I get very uncomfortable when lunched go longer than two hours because of how lunches were in my first area. But after about an hour and fifty minutes they invited us to stay while they made cake. Usually I would politely decline, but I felt that it would be ok to stay. I was very confused by the feeling since I get stressed when we don't stick to the time schedule (thanks Elder Kjar (that's not sarcastic)). Anyway, we stayed and chatted and had cake. Got a good tip that using hot water in cake instead of milk makes the chocolate stand out more. Someone go try that and tell me how it goes, I didn't have a point of reference. The cake was good, but I have no idea I it would have been better or worse with milk. Anyway, we left after some time there and got a message from the mother thanking us for the sweet spirit we brought and that she hasn't seen her daughter so calm and happy in a while. So then it all made sense. We needed to be there a little longer.

Spiritual Thought:

President Boyd K. Packer taught: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the [doctrine] of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.”

I love this quote because there is no knowledge in this world more valuable than a knowledge of the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ will guide you in EVERY situation, something that a study of behavior cannot.

Fotos:

1. Noite familiar at the pizza place

2. Some nature for yall

3. Birthday party

4. Last night with Elder Mena

5. Ice cream in the bus station

6. Elder Kjar sent me this not realizing it would be in my email.

7. Jesus paid for our sins

8. Mango season!!!

9. Nature and me and my youngest son

The ties were black, the lies were white

 (Elder Mackrory)

Boa tarde meus amigos!

Está semana vimos 22 fuscas, totalizando, 1066. Não tenho muito tempo hoje, então vou escrever rápido.

This week flew by, and there's not too many highlights. First you should know that the young man that showed such interest in being baptized doesn't respond to us anymore. We're not sure what's going on, but we're in contact with the member friends and trying to work with him. Keep Luiz in your prayers. He knows the gospel is true.

On pday last, we didn't do anything. There's not anything to do here in Macabu, so pdays end up being like this. I'm not bothered and neither is my companion because we both like to spend the entire time talking to our families. At night however we had a family night which was fun, and had the most bomb mango juice. Mango season is starting and mangos are like 60 a kilogram. One time a mango fell from a tree and landed like 5 feet from me. I picked it up and ate it. Amazing.

On Tuesday we had our normal district council and started another division. This time I went with Elder De Jesus. He's from São Paulo. Super gente boa. Real good guy. We wandered around his area visiting members investigators and talking to everyone along the way. Managed to convince someone I was Brazilian when I faked a southern Brazil accent. We had another good family night and I got to practice my Spanish again because it the father is from Venezuela. He was lit. They gave me the ugliest black tie as a gift, but you know I had to say it was a beautiful tie. We're not at home as I write this, but I’ll get a foto of the tie and put it in the next email. Seriously its so ugly. But I love it at the same time.

Wednesday we had some confusion with some bus hours and missed the bus to go back to Macabu. Fortunately, we were able to end the division after lunch and I got to have what I've been told is one of the best lunches in Aeroporto. And they were right. Super good, and the cake was even better. But it would have been better if I had known there was cake. I may have overeaten a bit.

Thursday was busy full of walking. Luckily Friday had more walking. We went to a pretty remote part of our area to teach someone who was very receptive. There wasn't a bus back, so we walked an hour on the most scenic road of the area. It was complete with rolling hills, two angry bulls getting ready to brawl and some gorgeous horses.

On Saturday it was super rainy and so everyone canceled their plans. Me: “everyone will be available to talk to us!” How wrong I was. Anyway we ended up visiting members and helped with the chapel cleaning.

Sunday was pretty chill as well. Similar weather and plans. The primary program is coming up and so I will be the pianist. Hope I don't get transferred because that would be awkward. Elder Kjar usually messes with me right before transfers saying that I'll become a secretary. This time he made it extra convincing. Almost made me worried/excited to be a secretary. We'll, we've got transfer news now, and I'll let you guys know next week what happens. Do I stay? Do I go? Who will be my next companion? Tune in next week for the big news.

Tender mercy: In visiting members on Thursday we talked with someone who grew up in the super far area we went to on Friday. She told us about the bus we didn't know about and saved us about an hour of travel.

Spiritual Thought: How do I gain a testimony of something? Hmm. Good question. One might think it depends on the thing. Yeah, pray about it is good, maybe act on something. This conference, Elder Uchtdorf left a step by step program to gain and strengthen a testimony.

Step 1: Focus on how [the thing] testifies of Jesus Christ, how it teaches His doctrine, and how it invites you to come unto Him.

I know it's a really long and complicated process, but it's worth it. Alright, now go and experiment on the word.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/51uchtdorf?lang=eng

Fotos:

1. Divisão!

2. At what age can you get a recommend for this location?

3. Scenic route

4. Rain=online work

5. Valem a pena esses óculos?

6. Something spilled and I thought it looked cool

7. Night with the boys

8. Pablo from Búzios got baptized!

9. Dangerboy wants to get baptized

10. 9-0 babyyyy💙🤍