(Elder Mackrory)
Boa tarde gente!
This week was unlike any other. It was feeling so slow, and
then I woke up and it was Saturday. Unreal. We saw 11 fuscas, bringing us to
626. A lot of people have asked me, so I'll answer it here: Do I count every
time I see a fusca, or just every new one? The answer is something in the
middle. I am familiar with a few fuscas in my area that don't move and are just
there. There's also some personalized ones that are impossible to mistake for a
different fusca. Those ones I do not count more than once. But if a blue fusca
passes on the road one day, and I also see a blue fusca the next day, I still
count it both times, even with the chance that it's a repeat. Basically, unless
I can verify with certainty that I have seen that very fusca, I count it again.
This week was not very full of news until this weekend. Just
lessons, lunches, and long walks. We've seen significant progress from Sheila,
Camila, and Miguel.
On Saturday we left from lunch (deep in gang territory) and
started to walk back to the chapel. About halfway out of gang territory, we get
stopped by two gang members on their dirt bikes. For Elders Kjar, Schmuhl, and
Patterson who are reading this, it's right by that abandoned soccer field in
cangulo. Anyway, one bike stopped on front of us and the other on our side. At
this point I'm wondering if Elder Tacuche and I will still be companions when
we get to the spirit world here in a bit. They started with the usual “who are
you” “what are you doing here” “are you American” “are you Jahovah's Witness”
and I answered with the usual “were missionaries” “we preach the gospel” “yes”
“no''. They said Oh that's chill I know where your church is do you want a
ride? So we respectfully declined and they left.
Later on the walk, as we leave gang territory, we meet these
guys again. They're just having some beers and chilling out. They call us over
and offer us some water. so we have some water and chat for a minute, when our
old investigator walks of his house. I said “Hey Manoel, it's been a while!”.
Our motorcycle friends are confused and tell me that his name is not Manoel. I
don't remember what it was, but it wasn't that. So in the 3-4 weeks we taught
him, he completely lied about his name. That's cool. Anyway, not-Manoel walks
up to me and says “hey dear” (very drunk) and gives me a big ol’ kiss on the
forehead. Yeah. Not cool. So we left and got to the chapel just fine and I
washed my hands and face very thoroughly.
At the chapel, we needed to fill the font (foreshadowing). I
turn on the tap and wait an hour. I looked in, and it's barely 4-5 inches deep.
So by that timing, we'd be there until 11pm. So I started filling buckets at
other taps and dumping them in. Then we found two 5 gallon drinking water
containers. So I spent the next 3 hours hauling water around the church. I was
very exhausted, but we finally got the font filled by 7pm.
Sunday morning we got to church and it was great and we had
4 of our friends show up! Afterwards we had the baptism of Camila. She's
awesome, I talked about her earlier. She's pretty well known in the ward, and
so we were planning to have the meeting in the baptism room, but like 80% of
the ward stayed to watch, so we did it in the Sacrament Hall. a little bit
later, she was baptized (I didn't mess up on the words) and she shared her
testimony (holy moly that was great). I gave her a triple combination (Book of
Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) that was in pretty
much new condition, just collecting dust in our house. She was smiling ear to
ear.
Now let's talk about Miguel. He's Camila's 8 year old son.
He would have been baptized with her, but he was at another family event last
week. Following advice from my mission president, we postponed just his baptism
to next week. He was unsure this last week anyway, and now he's determined to
follow his Mom's example. It's better this way anyway. Anyway, today was his
first day in primary with the other kids. After running around with them after
the baptism, he stopped for breath next to me. I asked him if he was making
friends. He said “yeah, I made three Today!” And showed me three on his fingers
(so freaking cute). Then I asked, “So how many do you have now?” And he thought
for a moment and said “4!” And showed me again 4 on his hand. So I asked, “who's
number 4?” And with a smile and a hop he said “you!” and looked at my tag and
said “Elder Macaroni!”. Guys you have no idea how much my heart melted for this
kid. I can't stand nicknames or mispronunciations, unless it's little kids. I'm
ok with little Liz calling me Elder Moroni. Oh man, it was a good day. Another
nice side effect: Sheila is super pumped for her baptism next week too since
she watched Camila's. Valeu Elder Kjar
SummaRio:
11 fuscas, 626 total
Not too much happened during the week
On Saturday we spent 5 hours filling the font and hauling
buckets of water to do so.
Sunday was the baptism of Camila!
Miguel broke his own cuteness record by calling me his
friend.
Tender mercy:
After filling the font, I was super exhausted. Then randomly
the maintenance guy shows up with pizza and coke for us. Out of nowhere. It was
the best pizza I've had in Brasil. Easily a 6/10. And it was exactly what I
needed to release some stress and cool down.
Spiritual thought:
“I promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon
every day, you will make better decisions—every day. I promise that as you ponder what you study, the
windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions
and direction for your own life. I promise that as you daily immerse yourself
in the Book of Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day” - President Russell M. Nelson
The Book of Mormon, when studied with prayer and faith, is
the greatest tool to invite the Holy Spirit into your lives, and in inviting
him into your life, your questions are answered, your decisions are better, and
your doubts become faith. I've found the answer to all of life's Difficulties
lies in putting God first through prayerful study of the Book of Mormon.
See yall next week!
Fotos:
1. Tiny Jesus Van
2. Chalkboard (don't worry I redesigned it to be better,
just didn't take a picture)
3. Real açaí fruit
4. Churrasco
5. BATISMOOO
6. Meme
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