(Elder Mackrory)
Bom dia galera! Como foi a sua semana? A minha foi incrível.
No sábado, eu não vera fuscas o suficiente pra chegar aos 1000. Mas o Senhor me
abençoou. No sábado e domingo eu vi 14 fuscas! Talvez isso seja o recorde de
dois dias. Em total, vi 31 fuscas, totalizando 1009!!
Also this week I ended my teenage years. It's a real shame
that I've gotta act like an adult now.
Last pday we took it slow, cleaning the house and going to
the store. Just normal pday things. On Tuesday we had district council in
lagomar, and we had to take a bus that cost R$17,30. Then we took that same bus
back to Macabú. We then started our normal activities. Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, and Sunday were pretty normal days, but they were full of finding new
people and lots of success in doing so.
On Friday we had zone conference. Presidente first got up
and spoke about goals. And he had me sparkle-eyed. Why, you ask? Because he
pulled out his ✨️spreadsheet✨️ for goal setting and goal
tracking. This thing is set by month, and automatically sets the calendar in
order, with space to add like 10 goals, which can be reported in binary or in
base 10. The spreadsheets averages, shows graphs, points out tendencies, and
much more. And this spreadsheet has been active since 2014. It's incredible and
I've never wanted something so bad in my life. So that is my plan today. I'm
going to make a goal spreadsheet. That day on the way home I tried to do
something, but was completely stumped by the coding. I thought at first that
I'm just rusty, but then I realized that I was trying to write English
functions (they don't work when your phone is in Portuguese). So then things
started to smooth themselves out when I started writing “Se” statements instead
of “If” statements.
That night we had a family night with Cleiton, who is what
missionaries call an “eternigator”. Basically an investigator who takes forever
to do anything, but loves to have the missionaries over. His wife was baptized
over a year ago and their children are all in primary. We don't do a whole lot
with him since he's not really progressing. But since I'm new here we decided
to use my newness to try to reactivate his interest. When we showed up, we
started talking and he mentioned he's gone a week without breaking the word of
wisdom, just because he felt that it was the right thing to do. During that
week, he felt the need to be baptized. Guys repentance works and miracles are
real and happen. Now that the Spirit has done His part, now it's time for us to
do ours.
On Saturday we had a normal day. It was actually a great
day. Let me tell you why. Not because it was my birthday, because it wasn't (I’ll
explain later). There were lots of things that happened. First, we had an
amazing lunch at Cleitons house, then we went to some recent converts house.
Great lesson there, and as we left, something weird was happening. On the
ground, There were lots of big ants. Like an inch long or bigger. Some of them
had wings. When I say there were lots of them, I mean like there were enough
that I could have stepped on one in every step if I wanted to. So there's lots
of kids in the street with an empty 2 litre bottle “hunting” the ants. They
grab the ants and put them in the bottles. And the bottles are being filled.
Bugs don't gross me out. But what Elder Mena said is that these ants, called
tanajuras, come out once a year and die. What people do is grab them before
they die, tear off the rear section of their body and fry it up and serve it as
part of the farofa. Nasty. I am not a fan of crunchy ant butt. I got some good
pictures of these disgusting creatures.
That night we actually had a terrible experience. Absolutely
crushing to the heart. I won't go into it. I left that lesson feeling kinda
sick and distraught. As we got home it was time to start my fast, and I was
just feeling helpless and pained. As I knelt down to pray, I began to offer up
my worries and burdens to the Lord. I don't know how long the prayer lasted,
but as I started to finish, I felt an immense peace “as exceeding as was my
pain”. I stood up feeling exactly opposite to the way I knelt down. I felt an
extreme trust in the Lord and an understanding of the love He has for me and
for the people we had taught. I knew everything would be alright. So for my
birthday, I received the greatest gift I have ever received: An unwavering
testimony of prayer and fasting. I gained a greater trust in the Savior and a
greater understanding of His love for each one of His children. I know now for
a surety that the Atonement is not only for our sins, but for all burdens,
sicknesses, and pains. The Lord is not reluctant to give us access to His
power, He wants to give us access to it.
Like I said, Sunday was a pretty normal day. But there was
one thing that was remarkable. As the day unfolded, I watched each of the
things I prayer for work out. We taught the same family which left me so
distraught, this time with the environment completely changed. It was a joyous
lesson. During the day, things just worked out and I saw the Lord's hand in all
of it. How grateful I am to be a part of the marvelous work and a wonder, and
to be feeling to sing the song of redeeming love. This work is His work, no
unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs
may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will
go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent,
visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the
purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work
is done. There's no better language to describe my joy here than that of the
prophets.
Well that's it. Here's a tender mercy:
Waiting at the bus station in macaé after zone conference, I
remembered a sister who owned a restaurant at the station. She provided the
food for the conference, so I went to thank her for the food. Turns out she
remembered me from when I was in Cavaleiros and gave me and my comp a cup of
some of the best guava juice there is. Then she invited us over to lunch for
stake conference. So it was good to see her again and get lunch and a cup of
guava juice.
Spiritual thought: one thing that my mission president
emphasized at zone conference was the importance of making and keeping
commitments. He talked about our covenant commitments, our commitment to be a
missionary, and in general the appointments we mark with people. He said that
as we dedicate ourselves to God completely, He gives us forgiveness. This is why
baptism is “for the remission of sins” when it seems like repentance is right
there. I there learned that repentance is a change of heart, and making and
keeping covenants is how we obtain retain remission of sins. Cool thought that
really helped me to understand the relationship between repentance and baptism.
Fotos
1-4: the gross grilling ants
5-7: my beautiful area
8-9 my beautiful companion (feat. The chapel)
10: 300 days on duolingo
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