A Foot or Two: Me and karma vibe like that

(Elder Mackrory)

Bom dia pessoal!

Lots of changes this week! So excited to get into it. We'll start as we always do: 440 fuscas.

So! Transfers came in, and I'm out of Cavaleiros! I spent 3 transfers there, and loved every bit of the area. But now I'm in Saracuruna! It's much closer to the center of Rio and quite dangerous. So actually we are advised to be home by sundown. It's gonna be fun. I was talking to a member about fuscas, and he said I won't see many of them here. Which was a bummer, but then I saw 4 that day, so we'll see. And I'm training. My companion's name is Elder Kjar (pronounced “Care” because it's a Danish name). He already has one transfer in the field, so I'm finishing his training. His last companion was actually Elder Schmuhl, who I'm good friends with, so that's cool. Elder Kjar wants to be an engineer and likes Taylor Swift, so you already know we're besties.

Anyway, back in Cavaleiros, we had our zone Pday at the chapel. The usual churrasco and chatting with all the other Elders. One notable experience was reading the email of Elder Patterson. He was saying how he was trapped in his house for a few days due to crazy flooding in the street. He said it's not an uncommon thing to happen. I kinda laughed at him for that. And then karma happened. Do you wanna guess his area? Saracuruna. So God definitely has a sense of humor. Can't wait to be rained in.

We had a family night on Tuesday celebrating the completion of Sister Da Fonseca's mission. Basically, all of our investigators were there, and we had an awesome experience talking about the mission and reflecting on experiences that helped us grow.

Wednesday, we got word of transfers. We went to the bus station to see Sister da Fonseca off, and I got a call from the Assistants to the President. They told me I'd be training. So I asked, “Will I be training here? “Will I be starting or finishing someone's training?” “What's his name? “The answer was not what I was expecting at all. They said, "Thank you for your willingness to serve,” and then hung up. So yeah.

Thursday was packing and working out travel plans with the Zone Leaders. We were at a member family's house, and the wife who is a swiftie gave me a Midnights pulseira. Super cool. Not a whole lot more.

Friday was transfers day! Super exciting. We got on a bus at about 6:30 and I slept almost the entire 4 hours. We I woke up we were crossing a crazy long bridge and I got to see Sugarloaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer (just the statue, unfortunately). It was a super fun day. Got to see Elders Westover, Smith, Roberts, Schmuhl, Patterson, and Owen who were all part of my MTC group. We ate at a 6 story mall with an incredible view. I ate a donut. I haven't had a donut in 6 months. It was incredible. So incredible that I forgot to take a picture. It was huge, and was drizzled with marbled white and milk chocolate with a Kit Kat on top. So soft and warm. Cannot wait to have another one when I'm in the area again. When we got to the area, we went shopping, and the local supermarket and I saw the sickest knife collection up for sale. They have an 11” Brazil knife that I vowed to buy. Holy moly it was sick. Super shiny, and pretty much exactly the kind of souvenir knife I wanted to buy.

Saturday was the first day in my area. Our apartment has an official gym, which is super helpful because the doorways are weird and I can't set up my pull-up bar. Got an amazing workout in and I can't wait until later today when I go back. We left for lunch with the Bishop and it was amazing. We had homemade ice cream. Then we spent that day visiting members, teaching people, and getting new contacts. It was awesome. Other than that, I saw street goats and street horses. I've seen street dogs and street cows, but these were new. I tried to take a selfie with a street goat, but he dipped as soon as I took the picture. We returned home just before sunset, and began phone work. We had a few call lessons and called it a day at 9. I freaking love this area.

On Sunday we walked to church in the drizzle rain. Not a problem, I love the rain. The chapel is very cool, very different. All the chapels I've known have had very large halls for Sacrament meeting, with all sorts of classrooms in the same building. This chapel was about a third of the size, and most of the classrooms were in an annex building. Very different from what I've known here and in the states.

That's all the notable things that happened this week! Hope everyone is doing well, I have a bit more time this pday, so I think I'll be able to respond to everyone!

SummaRio:

440 fuscas

I was transferred to a new area closer to Central Rio. I'm training an American who is slightly more gringo that Me.

I was having fun teasing Elder Patterson about being rained in, and then I got transferred to His area. So God definitely has a sense of humor.

We had a last family night with all of our investigators that was awesome.

The AP's called to inform me I would be training and hung up on me when I tried to ask for more details.

Lots of packing and planning on Thursday.

Transfer day! I had an amazing donut for the first time in 6 months and got to know Elder Kjar

On Saturday we got to know the area better and saw some street goats

Our chapel has a very different setup than I've ever seen.

Tender Mercy: on transfer day, Elder Kjar and I went to go get a “RioCard” which gives us bus, train, and other public transport discounts. The address was completely wrong, but because of the misdirection, we were able to help some other missionaries with their bags and packing them in an uber. They were having trouble with all of them and so it was cool to be there when we needed to be. We afterwards were able to get our RioCards.

Spiritual Thought: on Sunday, Elder Kjar and I spent some time watching and sending out inspirational videos to our friends that we're teaching. One video I really enjoyed was called “One in Christ”. It talks about two rivers in Brasil that combine to become the Amazon. It uses that example to show that together with Christ we can become more powerful and more unified with others despite differences. I would love for you guys to watch the video and ponder on how we can apply the message.

One in Christ

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/inspirational-messages/2019-08-1000-one-in-christ-1080p?lang=eng

Fotos:

1. Trying to take a pic with a street goat

2. Black toilet was interesting and fancy

3. Cool knife collection at the local supermarket (mark my words I’m buying the Brasil one)

4. View from the mall we ate at

5. View from the bridge (the big one has Christ the Redeemer)

6. Last time at my favorite burger place in Macaé

7. Swiftie bracelet

8. No one laughed at my burger king order (doesn’t translate well)

9. Last time getting ice cream in Macaé