A Foot or Two: And it smells like me, you can't get rid of it

(Elder Mackrory)

Bom dia todos!

An eventful week! Excited to get into it. This week we only saw 9 (493) fuscas unfortunately. Remember the good old days? When a bad week saw 25? Oh well. I work harder here. That's what matters.

Last Pday we did nothing. Carnaval continues. It was nice. We did go to the store though. This week was full carnival and so we needed to be home at 7 every day. Because of this inspired mandate, I have only seen glimpses of carnival. That's a good thing. Carnaval is a big drunk fest with a lot of love. We won't get into it.

Tuesday we taught some lessons and went with Kauan to play ping pong with some of the young adults and youth in the ward. Here in Brasil, the chapel is used for activities other than sacrament meeting. Not in an irrelevant way, but because it is the only big room suitable for activities. So it was fun to bump to Taylor Swift (they let me choose some of the music) and play ping pong. Afterwards we had an awesome lesson with Kauan. He is starting to feel ready for baptism. I appreciate all of your prayers. They are working.

Wednesday, we had lunch outside of our ward boundaries with a member in our ward (what?). Basically next door they sold flip flops. Generally flip flops are R$40 or if you know where to look, R$30. I got some nice ones for less than 10. So yeah. We also had an awesome lesson with Maria and she gave us Guaravita (my favorite).

OK. Pera aí. Guaravita. Let me explain. It's a brand of Guaraná juice that is dirt cheap. It's only in Rio. My first trainer Elder Nascimento introduced me to it. On Pday I found Guaravita brand Guaraná concentrate. So naturally I've been drinking all the guaravita I want. So much that I've given it the nickname “guaravida”.

Thursday, we visited João who came to church and he had a lot of doubts. We were able to explain and disperse the confusion. I was cooking in Portuguese. I also bought a new umbrella that is pretty big. We stopped at a bakery because it smelled really good and they had fresh bread for 40 centavos a piece. So yeah. We're coming back.

Friday, we had another lesson with Kauan and played a really fun version of tic tac toe. We also had lessons with Luciene, Mara, Andrea, and Naniga. Not really a lot of fun things are happening, just lessons. Which is fun for me but less fun to write about. Good problem to have.

Saturday, our toilet got clogged. We tried to use the plunger but the rubber was hard and stiff. So we went out to buy a new plunger and came back just in time to leave for lunch. So we had to leave it clogged. When we came back at 7, the house smelled like death. Worse than death. Spiritual death. So we closed doors and opened windows and connected fans. We contacted the mission secretary of houses to send a guy. Then he sent us a youtube hack video which didn't work. The premise worked, but we couldn't get it to work with the things we had in the house. It was up to me. I went to war. New plunger, shirt as a mask, trash bag and nylon glove combo against an unseen mass and a deathly stench. I took the new plunger (which wasn't a whole lot better than the old one) and gave it a few goes. Nothing. Not even slow draining. I was about to give up, but then I had the idea that the reason the plunger didn't work is because I didn't get a good seal around the exit. So I slowly lowered the plunger into the opaque swamp like a shuttle docking at the International Space Station. After securing the plunger, I gave it one good go. It worked! The toilet flushed. And I flushed it again to make sure. A wonderful finish to a terrible situation.

Sunday was cool. I got to use the restroom and go to church. We had Kauan there and some brilliant messages. We sang the first hymn a capella because the pianist was out of town. So I got up and decided to sight read the sacrament, intermediate, and closing hymns. Worked out just fine, and I'm so grateful that I didn't practice as much as I should have at home. Let me explain. When you get practice assignments from private teachers, you're expected to practice. And by the next lesson, have mastered those assignments. Problem was, I didn't do a whole lot of practice unless I really liked the song. So I got good at sight reading. Making it look like I practiced without practicing. So, mom, I'm sorry for not practicing, but in Brasil, where more than 2 days notice is absurd, it is serving me well.

Well that's it this week! Hope everyone is doing fine and has working toilets!

SummaRio:

493 fuscas

Pday was at home because of carnival

Tuesday we played ping pong with Kauan in the Chapel

Got some 2-dollar flip-flops

Guaravita is amazing

We bought some fresh bread for 8 cents a piece

All we do now is teach lessons

Our toilet got clogged and so I had to fix it

I played the piano in church

Tender Mercy: We were walking to a lesson and this drunk lady called to us. We started talking and she said we are very beautiful and that the work we do is good. Normal Stuff. Then she started saying weird stuff I didn't understand. Then a dude pulled up out of nowhere asking us “how goes the work?” Could not tell if he was a member or not. But eventually he started correcting the lady and saying things like “no no, these boys are men of God” and the lady started getting more mad until the dude said something and she shut up and went to go sit down again. We left and the dude rode his bike with us for a bit and we talked about how she was crazy and that the work is going well. It was clear she was getting violent, and if he hadn't been there, I think our lack of comprehension would have caused her to become violent towards us. Truly the Lord places people in our lives to protect those on His errand.

Spiritual thought:

Sunday night, I was thinking about what to write in my journal for the day. Usually I write something I learned from the day. But I couldn't remember anything that I had learned. Then it came to me. I didn't learn anything because I wasn't looking for things to learn from! I only looked in retrospect for something to just have been there! But that's not how learning works! We have to look and try to learn.

“Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark” 2 Nephi 32:4

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” Matthew 7:7

Photos:

1. Going to war

2. Selfie with Kauan

3. Teaching John 6:48 with 8 cent loaves to some kids that think we're celebrities

4. Ping pong with Kauan (he looks good in white, don't you think?)

5. T. SWIZZLE na capela?

6. My team do Brasil (GIGANTE)

7. Points this week:

-Daily point (Ponto Diário)

-Street dogs (by companionship, Cachorros da Rua)

-Pratas Lavadas (doing your dishes)