It was all by design

 (Elder Mackrory)

Bom dia pessoal! Fala a boa

Essa semana foi um pouquinho difícil em relação aos fuscas. Nos 12 dias que vou relatar, eu vi apenas 11. O total agora é 1217.

Preface: I made the goal at the beginning of the year to be more detailed in my emails. Until now, however, I didn’t have a plan to do so. And, as I always say, A goal without a plan is just an idea. So this and the next emails will be longer ones. but I will begin again to include a brief summary of events and the end for those who don't have much time. This email will be especially long because it covers 12 days instead of 7, so don't get too scared.

The first few days of the year were pretty good. I don’t really remember what happened though. We met some pretty cool people, including Marcel, with whom we were able to mark a baptism date on the first contact (Thanks for the tip Elder Owen).

Sunday (the fifth) was a very special experience for me in so many ways. First of all, it was Vinicius’ baptism. Vinicius is a very special person. He is one of the most knowledgeable people I know, and yet he does act like it. He possesses the gift of humility. He was always receptive to our message and readily accepted it when he found out it was true. Since I met him on day one I was amazed by his character and desire to become like the Savior. Anyway, we got to church early for ward council, which was great, and we went right into reception. There are always many visitors in Botofogo ward, especially during this time of year. There was one old lady that walked in and did not speak one lick of Portuguese. I felt impressed to ask if she would like someone to translate for her. Now, there are plenty of people in the ward who are capable of translating. I had more or less spoken that, meaning I would find someone to help her. But then she said (in a Jamaican accent), “Yes thank you, come sit down with me”. And we sat down for the meeting to start. So I started translating. At first my brain glitched a lot and I ended up saying things like “uhhhh.. something about prayer.” or “I forgot how to say that”. So I said a silent prayer that I would be able to translate for this sister. From then on, things started getting easier and I began to see myself succeeding. It's just that I really like when I sound fluent. So I started getting too confident and started glitching again. I’m working on my humility. It’s actually quite humiliating. Anyway, then things got better and I felt the Lord helping me and making me able. Then she said she wanted to get up. So we made our way to the front and sat down on the pulpit. After one or two testimonies, it was her turn. She got up and spoke of how she’s on vacation with her son, and she doesn’t speak any Portuguese, but she knew she had to be in two places here in Rio. She had to be at church and she had to go to the templo. She bore strong witness to how dedication to covenants brings blessing. Then it was my turn. I had planned to speak about my recent study of the Book of Mormon and its impact on me, but I decided instead to speak about the very experience of translating for sister Perkins. After the meeting, we had Sunday school, which was somewhat difficult to translate because I could barely hear who was making comments, but it was a really nice time. Afterwards we went up and got our last minute prep done for the baptism and I again translated the meeting. The baptism was amazing and Vinicius bore a strong testimony of the power he felt as he was baptized and the strength he received as he was being taught. After the baptism, sister Perkins said “I have spent my day well”. She then told me that she had prayed for someone to translate for her. It was such a tender mercy to be the answer to her prayer.  Shortly after the baptism service, as people were leaving the room, another sister in the ward thanked me for my testimony. I didn’t think the testimony I shared was the strongest testimony I've ever born, but it was also a big tender mercy to say the things that one sister in the ward needed to hear.

On Monday, we didn’t have pday. What? Ok, so pday has been kind of confusing since transfers with Christmas and the temple and new years and all. But usually the secretaries have pdays on Saturdays. This is for a few reasons, but one of them is that the church headquarters doesn't work on Saturdays, and we often need to get in contact with them. It's kinda a weird flow, and I still haven't really experienced it. But anyway on Monday we prepared the office for the senior couple we are receiving. The Butters are super cool. Elder Butters is a professor of finances and Sister Butters is a nurse. Elder Butters already speaks Portuguese since he served his full time mission in Fortaleza. Sister Butters is still getting the hang of it. I registered and updated some phone information for missionaries and had no less than three people ask me for an upgrade. I just ignored the request and said “valeu meu patrao”. Guys, all I have is A13’s, stop asking for A34’s. But I can’t get too mad about it because I once made the same request to Elder Kjar. When I got to the office on the 18th, the number of undesignated media referrals was 508. I finally got that down below half, at 236. There’s usually about 10-15 that arrive every day. My goal by the end of the week is to have that down to about 130. That means I will only have referrals from the last month in the system. I also updated some area limits, got a sweet deal at pizza hut and made some terrible dad jokes in Portuguese. They’re actually called Big Uncle jokes here. Everyone in the office agreed that I’m going to be a menacing dad.

On Tuesday we went early to the airport. Some missionaries are still working out some legal processes, so we had to go help them out. I got an Oreo shake and burger there. It was nice. I contacted a bazillion media references, the number is now down to 154. I basically did a lot of the same. At night we had a lesson with our friend (recent convert) Vinicius. We talked a lot about the temple and family history work. Mind blowing lesson. This guy smiles big, and I’ve never seen a bigger smile on his face than I did today. He's incredible. Right after, we said goodbye to Elder Eloi who is heading out to in-person MTC. Super gente boa.

On Wednesday we went a little early to the office so we could do district council. To my surprise, the assistants were in a division and so I got to see Elder Schmuhl again. First time we’ve been in district council together since my training. Afterwards we made some lunch. After lunch, Elder Butters says, “I think we need some ice cream, don't you guys agree?” And we all put on dumb faces and said “Well I don't know, do we?” and he said it was necessary and so we went and got ice cream. I managed to get my references down to 80, meaning I only have references from the last month, with a few exceptions. I also made a super cool video about humility. I’m probably the best at making videos. Afterwards, we walked home in the pouring rain because we didn’t look at the forecast. It's ok. Rain on the tag is good for ya ;).

On Thursday we had another super cool lesson with Vinicius, showing him around the FamilySearch app. More office work, I slimmed down the number of undesignated referrals a bit. Now that I’m getting the hang of it, I think the number will stabilize in the 40’s or 50’s.

On Friday I made a quizlet with all the phone area codes in Brasil. I get a lot of referrals from other states, so I have to send them away. The addresses are almost never precise, and so I have to do a little bit of searching, so knowing the area codes is super useful because I can narrow down my search radius by a lot. Turns out I know like half of them, but it would be ideal if I had them all memorized.

Saturday was kinda chaotic, but it was fun. One of our recent converts came to hang out and give us lunch, but she didn’t leave. So productivity went way down. Kinda annoying, but it was fun. I also found out that they sell Rooibos here, so that’s really nice. That night, the Bishop called and said that there was a complication with one of the speakers, and asked if I could speak for 15 minutes. So it’s a good thing I already had a talk prepared.

Come Sunday morning, my gospel library app wasn't working. Wouldn’t even open. I did all the things to trouble shoot and nothing worked. So I just carried my Portuguese quad to church and used it. It’s kinda cool to use paper scriptures on the pulpit. That afternoon, we went walking. We walked about 6 miles in total. Accidentally left the district, and went underneath a mountain. But then it all worked out. We saw a family that Elder Ribeiro had known in Macae. I also knew this family from when I did a division with Elder Levie on new years adam 2023. They are an extended family of the family I taught. The husband is an inactive member, and his wife hasn’t heard of the church. So we invited them to church and introduced them to the Book of Mormon. Good times.

SummaRio:

11 fuscas, 1217 in total

Marked a few baptism dates

On Sunday I had a special experience translating for a visiting member from Jamaica. It was also the baptism of Vinicius. I recommend you read that one in full.

On Monday I tackled a ton of references and more problems.

On Tuesday I tackled a ton of references and more problems. I also went to the airport to help Elder Ribeiro legalize some missionaries.

On Wednesday I tackled a ton of references, got ice cream, and made a sick video about humility. It’s probably better than any other video on humility.

On Thursday I tackled a ton of references and more problems. Super dope lesson with vinicius about family history work.

Friday I tackled a ton of references and more problems. Also made a quizlet to help me memorize all the area codes.

Saturday was chaotic because we had a recent convert come to just hang out. At night the Bishop called and asked me to speak the next day.

Sunday morning my gospel library app kept crashing and so I had to use my paper scriptures to speak. Cool experience. That night we talked to tons of people, including a family that Elder Ribeiro and I know from Macae.

Tender Mercy: During lunch on Saturday we were chatting about missionaries who have gone to the office before. Our recent convert asked me what I thought about one missionary who was my companion in my first area. As many of you know, my companions in that area were not the most obedient. I could have said a bunch of things against this missionary, but I decided that I would only talk about his positive points. As I did so, I felt the spirit of the conversation change. It wasn’t bad before, but it changed to be better. I also was surprised at how much good this missionary has in himself. It was a cool experience that changed my perspective on this missionary and helped me to understand, on a spiritual level, why gossip should be avoided.

Spiritual thought:

In 1 Nephi 1:1, Nephi related that he and his family have waded through “many afflictions”. Nevertheless, he also states that he and his family had been highly favored by the Lord. In the second chapter, sixteenth verse, he mentions that he had great desires to know the mysteries of God. In due time, this was given, as his diligently lived the gospel. His perspective changed. He went from a wealthy city boy to a poor desert nomad. This must have been very difficult for him. But his knowledge of the goodness of God and His plan made his afflictions bearable. Because he was faithful and relied on the Lord, his problems were bearable and he was even able to bear them with joy. In doing the same, we will find that life is not only bearable, but joyous as well.