(Elder Mackrory)
Hey folks! Tudo certo por aí?
This week was easily the fastest one yet. I don't know what
day it should be, but definitely not pday. This week was so gratifying and I
know exactly why. Wait until the end.
This week was a little slower than I was hoping, we only saw
12 fuscas. 729 total.
On pday last we did a nice little hike in Arraial do Cabo. I
was really excited for the hike, but turns out it was just a walk over a hill
for a hidden beach. Really beautiful and fun to dig holes in the sand. Elder
Flores built sand castles and I dug tunnels, all the while the sisters were
perpetually astonished at the male mind. Apparently women don't constantly want
to dig holes and build sand castles. Strange. Digging a hole is one of the most
gratifying things to do. If you know me, you know it was one of the first
things I did when I moved to New Mexico. We spent the rest of the day exploring
the city and then went home to chill. When we went out for work that night, we
visited a good friend and introduced her to the Book of Mormon. Great time.
That night, I was able to talk to a few friends who happened to be with my dad,
including the dad of my #1 amigo. He also served in Brasil some time ago and so
we spoke Portuguese together. Super cool.
On Tuesday we had my first lesson by audio messages. That
was nice to be able to re-record when I make grammatical mistakes. I love to
study the grammar, and so that means my knowledge of the grammar exceeds my
ability to use it. It's frustrating. But I'm getting better. Weird observation:
in Portuguese, you can say “I had taken” (eu tomara) instead of “I hope so”
(espero que sim).
On Wednesday we helped set up for the branch festa junina
and had English class. My students Like to learn slang, and since we were
talking about clothing, I taught them about drip. Apparently I'm the drippiest
American they've known.
Thursday was the Branch festa junina! Festa junina used to
be a harvest festival, but nowadays it's just get together dressed as farmers
and do line dancing and eat food. So basically just any other holiday. But it
was fun, we got permission from president to stay up an extra 30 minutes!
Friday was interesting. We tried to find this one guys house
and ended up getting on the wrong street. Upon realizing this, we switched over
to the Correct street and found his house on the corner we arrived at. Cool
little tender mercy there. We had an awesome lesson with Marcelo and he's
loving the Book of Mórmon. On our way to our next appointment, the person
canceled. His wife wasn't sure about us and had some worries. So we settled on
passing by and introducing ourselves. He sent us his address and we started
off. we had the street name and number. Arriving at his address, We called out
“Alex!”. Alex's wife opens the door. We introduce ourselves, and explain a
little about what we do. We expressed that we would like to meet with them
another day. She introduced herself as Rose, and agreed to meet with us on
Monday (tonight). We said good night and thank you and started off for our next
visit. I sent a message to Alex telling him that we had just spoken with his
wife, Rose. He responds, “my wife's with me and her name is Margaret, you must
have spoken to the wrong person.” So we confirmed his address, and we had
visited the right house. So we asked for his location (addresses are awful in
Brasil and you often need a location to find things). The location he sent us
was on the other side of the area. Turns out there are two roads with the same
name, and two houses with the same number where both families have Alex as the
father. So we have no idea who we just marked with, but we walked an Hour or so
to the real Alex's house. We introduced ourselves just fine and all is well. So
we'll see how our accidental lesson goes tonight with fake Alex and his family.
On Saturday we managed to mark a lesson with real Alex and
his wife. There awesome people who love to talk about God. Especially Alex. We
chat almost all day everyday about the gospel. He was really attentive and
adored hearing about the Book of Mormon. He said he'd come to church. Then his
wife said “don't just go there, get baptized!” So we marked a date for his
baptism. The wife, ironically, is less interested, but we're working on that.
Sunday was great! Our new ward mission lead was called and
he's very enthusiastic about the work. I'm excited to work with him. He speaks English
Spanish and Portuguese fluently and is a natural conversationalist. Gonna be
great. I spoke in church with 12 hours notice, which went well. Many of our
friends came and so it was hard to keep track of them.
SummaRio:
12 fuscas, 729 total
Went to the beach in Arraial do Cabo and dug holes
I know less Portuguese than I know
My English students think I'm “Drippy”
Celebrated the harvest that didn't happen
Visited the wrong (right) house and found the wrong (right)
people.
Alex is amazing and is getting baptized pretty soon
Spoke in church, and had the new ward mission leader called.
Tender mercy: on Friday we were struggling to put anything
on the calendar, and we're kinda not feeling like doing anything so we just
decided to act in faith and go out to teach. In the moment we decided to go
out, things came to mind and appointments kept happening. We ended up teaching
4 lessons. The Lord truly prepared our path.
Spiritual thought: Repentance does not just bring joy.
Repentance is Joy. This last transfer I’ve tried my very best to follow every
rule and standard we missionaries have. And it's been an incredible ride. As
ive tried to follow every standard, I've realized how far I've come short. The
hardest and toughest parts of my mission have been in this last transfer and
also the most joyous. In striving to be better, I am able to be more sensitive
to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. In moments of coming short, I feel guilt
and sorrow for the things I did or didn't do. This feeling is known by many in
the scriptures. Lehi, at one point having insufficiently exercised faith,
experienced this guilt: “he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.” I felt
this. From not keeping all the commandments, I feel the Spirit of the Lord
retreat to a certain degree. For me, this is reproof enough. In solemn prayer,
following the examples of all the scripture heroes I know, I ask forgiveness
and make plans and goals to be better. Godly sorrow reproves sin and incites
righteousness. I felt the godly sorrow, repented of my shortcomings, and
resolved to do and be better. In fulfilling my desires to become better I feel
my spirits soar and the Spirit of the Lord once again residing in abundance
with me. Alma the younger describes it well, “my soul was filled with joy as
exceeding as was my pain!” I would go further to say that the joy exceeds the
pain. This process repeats itself daily, and each day I experience the
consequences of my shortcomings and the joy of becoming better. Daily
repentance is daily joy. Try daily repentance and come to know the paradise
that comes from overcoming the natural man. This joy is incomparable and
indescribable. There's beauty in that. You gotta experience it to know it. So
go! Review what ways you can become better! Pray for guidance as you make these
changes! Don't wallow in pain, use it to motivate you to become the person God
wants you to be! And then become better! Experience the joy I'm feeling every
day!
See y'all in the next one!
Fotos:
1. Meme
2. Electric lawnmower???
3. Sick car?? Who knows what it is?
4. My drawing
5. Service project
6. "Hike"
7. "Hike" com todo Mundo
8. Beach
9. Me playing in the sand
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