(Elder Mackrory)
Boa tarde família e amigos! Espero que todos estejam bem.
Essa semana batemos o recorde de fuscas nessa área! Vimos 26, acreditam? 946 é
o total.
This week was incredible, just you wait. We'll start with
pday. We stayed at home, but we did a pretty thorough cleaning. I got to return
most emails I had in my email inbox. I made sure to respond to all of them
before writing this one, so if you've sent me an email and I haven't responded,
please send me another email, because I've not seen it.
My district last week met and superseded their goal, and so
I made pancakes for them again. This time, I made them beforehand and just
heated them up on Tuesday morning. Everyone in the district had received money
for lunch, so we cooked together. I learned some valuable lessons on how to
make good cheap food. I also learned how loyal Brazilians are to rice. They
made rice, but the meal didn't have anything that went well with rice, but we
still ate it anyway because it's a sin to eat a meal without rice. We then
started a division (are they called exchanges in the states?), and I spent the
day and night with Elder Murphy. He's super lit. We had a good time and learned
a lot.
On Wednesday, we had some confusion about ending the
division. On Tuesday, we agreed to end the division em Cabo Frio. Somehow, that
was misinterpreted as ending the division in Búzios. So in the morning, the
four of us switch areas. Elder Murphy and I came to Cabo Frio, and Elder Flores
and Elder Albernaz went to Búzios. It's really annoying. Anyways, we worked
things out, and they came back to Cabo Frio, and we finally ended the division.
That afternoon, we visited Leia and família. We were able to remark their
baptism dates and mark Kezia's baptism date. The father is still thinking about
it, but he's supportive of the rest of them.
On Thursday we had a lesson with the part member family we
usually meet with on Mondays. Their kids are sick, so we gave them some
priesthood blessings. It was the first time I've given a priesthood blessing in
Spanish. I think it went pretty well.
On Friday we had quite the day. A family that is being
taught by the sisters needed to be interviewed. I don't like online interviews,
and so we went in person. It's just that I didn't realize how far it really is.
We got to the bus stop about 15 minutes early. This is the only bus that goes
directly there. The map says it's delayed, so we wait about 20 minutes and it
doesn't come. I look on the map again, and it says the bus was canceled and the
next one will pass in two hours. Awesome. So, being tight on schedule already,
we book it to another bus stop and catch a bus that will take us halfway there.
A second bus took us all the way there. We arrived, shoved down some subpar
subway, and headed to the interviews. The family is awesome, and each interview
was something special. The interviews did take longer than we expected, and so
we had to rush to the bus stop. Somehow, the mother of the family called up a
friend and arranged a ride for us to get to the bus stop on time. We got to the
stop early and when the time rolled around, the bus didn't show up and now it's
canceled. At this particular bus stop, it's very far from any other bus stop
and only the direct bus passes. We wait a bit and out of nowhere the bus shows
up. We rush to get our things and jump on the bus. When I got around to pay, I
realized a terrible fact. My phone was still laying on the bench at the bus
stop. So, we got off just as soon as we got on and ran about a mile to the bus
stop to get the phone and prevent it from getting stolen or wet (it was
starting to rain). So at that point the next bus was scheduled at 10:30pm and
not even reliably, so I called a very expensive Uber that hurt my wallet. Good
thing I listened to Síster Dutsons counsel to have a reserve fund. We arrived
at home finally.
On Saturday we had an equally Exhausting day, but this time
for good reasons. After lunch we made use of the fact we're in a far
neighborhood to contact everyone who had interest. We stopped by this store to
ask for a house number we couldn't find, and when we told him the name and
house number, he said “That's me! Are you guys here about the Book of Mormon?”
Guys miracles are real. We chatted with him and gave him a copy of the book.
Later, on the same street, we passed by this family and something told me we
should stop there. So we did and taught this family who is very interested! On
to the next planned lesson, we stopped by and met the guy's wife, who's never
been home, but she now is interested. Then we booked it over to a plaza and met
with a young lady interested in the Book of Mormon! She said she likes to read
and never heard of this book before. So we explained the premise and the story
of the restoration. She was like “Wow. This is incredible. I'm even more
interested now.” And then she said something that made me think “yeah right”
but hey ya never know. She said “how about when I finish it at the end of the
week I tell you guys how it went?” So we told her about the importance of not
only reading, but pondering as well and she said “ok well maybe it'll take me
more than a week”. So we'll see where this goes. Then we booked it back home to
grab a Book of Mormon for our next visit because we ran out. Somehow we made it
to the next appointment on time (54 minutes of travel was reduced to 30) and taught
this guy and his wife. They are super interested as well and have time to read.
In Búzios, the average week we find around 5-6 new people to teach. Saturday,
however, we found 8. You're welcome Elder Smith. Cuide delas por favor.
Sunday we had another Sacrament meeting in Cabo Frio to
sustain the new leadership. Why these changes have taken over a month to make
is beyond me but that's not for me to judge. Remember the train wreck of a
lesson that happened last week? Well this Sunday we were able to clear up all
his questions and discuss his actual needs. It was really refreshing.
Tender mercy: On Sunday coming home from the lesson we actually bumped into the young woman who said she'd read the Book of Mormon in a week. It was really good because she had some doubts about something she said clashed with what she knew in the Bible, and I got confused because she cited the verse from memory and it was indeed against the correct doctrine, but then we opened the book and read the verse again and turns out she just misread it. But the fact that we were there at the moment she had a doubt was a demonstration to me that God watches over His children and helps them help each other.
Spiritual thought: this week, I finished reading “Saints:
Volume 1” and “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith”. Reading
these books at the same time was actually something really cool because Saints
has more story details that helped me understand more of the context behind the
revelations that Joseph Smith received. After reading them, I realized my
testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration as a whole had grown
tremendously. I know without a doubt, with all firmness in mind and heart that
he was a prophet of God, that he was called by the Same and saw the Same,
standing with Christ at His right side. His ministry was one marked with
complete dedication to keeping the commandments of God and seeing to that
prophecy be fulfilled. I believe that as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints it is essential to have a testimony of his work to restore
the church. The last chapter of the book of his teachings is called ““Praise to
the Man”: Latter-day Prophets Bear Witness of the Prophet Joseph Smith”. I
invite all to read this chapter and then, after reading, add your own testimony
of the Joseph Smith and his prophetic calling.
Chapter 47: “Praise to the Man”: Latter-day Prophets Bear
Witness of the Prophet Joseph Smith
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-47?lang=eng
1. Super cool membro
2. I think this is where Moses got the 10 condiments
3. Average size banana
4. Sou uma ímã de pintinhos
5. It's mango seasooooon
6. Crazy rules about how to correctly use the word
"maybe"
7. "I'm cold" means "I need a hug" in
Elder speak.
8. District lunch
9. Eating out with members
No comments:
Post a Comment