(Elder Mackrory)
Boa Tarde Meus amados familiares e amigos! Valeu Natalino!!!
Primeiramente, vamos falar dos fuscas. Só vi 13 essa semana,
levando o total para 1194. Mas é por causa de uma mudança aqui na missão. Estão
prontos?
This week I was transferred! That’s why I didn’t see too
many fuscas. On pday we just packed bags and made cookies. That night, however,
we had been invited to play soccer with some local kids who thought it would be
the coolest thing to play soccer with some gringos. When we arrived at the
field, there wasn’t anybody there. So we hung out at the next door park until
more people arrived. There were two 8-9 year old at the park who started
talking to us and asking us a bunch of questions. Normal questions that we get:
How old are you? Where are you from? Is it cold there? Do you eat rice and
beans there? Do you have a dollar? What kind of phone do you have? Wait. We
don’t normally get asked what kind of phone we have. I thought it was strange,
but we just kept chatting. After a few more boring standard gringo questions,
they asked again, “What kind of phones do you guys have?” At this point I’m a
little bit worried because its dark and were kinda far from the center of the
town where the police has jurisdiction. So now my guard goes way up. The kids
go home to “grab a ball” and I heard one of them say, “My phone arrived”. And
so, Elder Hernandez and I left. We were expecting some good exercise playing
soccer, and so we decided to run home. So that was a close one.
On Tuesday we went around and did member visits and I said
goodbye to everyone. It was super sad to leave these members that I love so
much, even though I only passed two transfers there. The branch is small, and
you get really close to the members. We delivered the cookies to everyone, and
some were left over, so that was pretty cool.
On Wednesday we left early for the mission office. We
arrived there a little late because of holiday traffic and the meeting had
already started, or was just starting. I don’t know. Anyway, during the
meeting, President introduces the new trainees to their trainers and instructs
everyone else to find their new companions. That’s awkward, because my new
companion is already in his area. So president gave me permission to travel
ALONE to my new area. So I took the elevator upstairs and arrived in my new area.
Yeah. That’s right. I’m the new technology secretary for the mission. So I’m
writing this email in Microsoft word and it is so refreshing to get off of
google docs. Google docs for some reason would randomly capitalize words. I
don’t know if you guys noticed that. But it was so annoying. And now I have a
computer.
On Thursday it was só correria. So freaking busy. For one,
the church system had a bug and all area boundaries reverted to the ward
boundaries, which is fine if you're the only missionaries in the ward, but for
more areas in the mission, this is a problem. The worst part of this is that to
fix it we had to call a number to report the problem. The problem was Brasil
wide, and so practically every mission was calling that number, so I didn't
actually get to report the problem because the number was busy. It's fine. We
also had the mission leadership meeting which was super spiritually uplifting
and I learned a lot about becoming more like the Savior.
Guys, I'll be honest the days are blurring together because
of office work, but it's so much fun. I contact like 60-100 media references
per day, help out my companion, Elder Ribeiro, with his tasks since he's
overworked during this time in the transfer, and much more. I do remember one
time I was calling this lady who was interested in the Book of Mormon, and I
said "É noix que faz a entrega" without even thinking. For those who
don't speak Portuguese, this is probably the most informal way to say
"were the ones who do the delivery". The people who say it like that
are all gangsters or wannabes. And its almost exclusive to Rio. Anyway, that
was super embarrassing for me and super funny for my comp who burst out
laughing when I said it.
On Sunday, we showed up early to be in a trio with a
missionary who was going home the next day. He and I were both asked to give
testimonies in sacrament meetings. For some reason, that day some 3 American
families showed up to the meeting including the family of one Elder Shumway, a
general authority seventy. So naturally he presided at the meeting and, through
the translating help of another missionary, spoke briefly at the end. It was
all super edifying. At the end, as we spoke the American visitors. Sister
Shumway came up to me and said "Are you nervous to go home tomorrow"
and I said "Huh?" "Yeah, my husband said you're going home
tomorrow." At that point I had forgotten that the other Elder who was going
home the next day also spoke. For a split second I thought the general
authority seventy came exactly to send me home. I was so confused and a little
scared that I did something without realizing. Turns out Sister Shumway just
mixed us up. Pretty funny in the end.
On Monday, we did not have pday because here in the office
we have pday on Saturdays. So for the next 4-6 months my emails will come in on
Saturday. But our pdays are kinda confusing right now because of Christmas and
New years being pdays. So next pday is this Saturday, and then new years day is
pday as well, and then we have a week and a half until the Saturday the 11th.
Kinda weird, but it's fine. We had to prepare tons of stuff for zone
conferences that are happening this week.
On Christmas eve, we went over to a members house for dinner
and it was really cool. Really good food and some cool memories. I got full
really early on and only got to eat one of the three dessert courses. It was
really funny, because sassy grandma and not-having-it aunt were both there.
Grandma would say things like "Nobody loves me. I'm so horribly treated
here" followed by a "Shut up mom". It was really hard not to
laugh. But don't worry this is all in good humor.
Other highlights:
-Sugarloaf mountain is in our ward boundaries
-There's a good view of the Christ the Redeemer statue right
outside the church
-Copacabana is in the neighboring ward.
-My bedroom has AC
Tender Mercy:
When Elder Shumway was going around shaking hands with
everyone, he would always take the persons hand and give it a little tug and
pull them into a hug. He did this with every single person. So I learned a
simple truth. Jesus is a hugger.
Spiritual Thought:
I have a new favorite Christmas scripture: John 18:37
"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I
should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my
voice." Let us not only remember the reason for the season, but also the
reason for the reason for the season. It's not enough to remember that Jesus
was born, but for what reason was he born? To redeem us from death and sin. If
we follow the example of Christ, we have so much more reason to celebrate Christmas.
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