Were you standing in the hallway with a big cake?

 (Elder Mackrory)

Essa semana me deixou com um pouquinho de raiva. Eu vi apenas UM fusca. Não acridto. Só. Nem 2. O total agora é 1227.

Last pday was pretty cool. We started off right at 8am with a jog. We jogged to Sugarloaf mountain to meet our recent convert at the base of the mountain. When we got there, he was waiting for us and so we started the hike right away. We went up this hill in like 25 minutes. Bro is a professional hiker. So he’s leading the way, and were behind him pretending to not be out of breath. Got some good photos on the way up and the view was incredible. We just hung out one the first summit and then went back down. Next time we go to sugarloaf mountain we’ll go all the way up. Anyway we start going down the hill, again with Vinicius leading the way. So he starts literally running. I’m glad my comp is from the backwoods of Brasil, because getting good footing was difficult at the speed we were going despite years of playing night games in the woods. So 10 minutes later we are at the bottom of the hill again, pretending not to be out of breath. Afterwards we went home and took showers and then headed straight to Copacabana. Elder Oliveira (the one I did a division with last transfer) has served in this area before, so he gave me a recommendation for a place to go to get a new filtered straw for terere. So we got off at the wrong bus stop and had to walk a bit, but we got the straw.

On Sunday we went to church, and had lots of people there! Marcel, his mother Carla, Tia Vera, and Rafael. Vinicius came as well, this time in a suit, which was pretty chic. After church we had lunch at the house of a family from São Paulo. Their accents were super weird. One of the kids licked my shoulder, which was also weird. But the food was good. We then went out to work in 120 degree heat. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, because was only 90% humidity.

On Monday we had our weekly planning meeting with president and everyone in the office. Just that, we always start by talking about houses and finances and my part of tech gets left for last. This time Presidente caught me off guard and said we’re starting with me. We had tapioca for lunch and it was really good. We met with Tia Vera that night and marked a baptism date with her. She was super excited ready.

On Tuesday, we made chicken stew. Only with one small twist: we used chicken feet as part of the meat. I kinda liked it. You bite on the knuckle and spit out the bone after you eat the skin and ligaments. There’s a small amount of fatty meat. The palm of the foot (is that a word??) is the best part.

On Wednesday I had my weekly meeting with the Media Specialists. This time around we had tons of participation from them and it was great. The other meetings were just me talking, and I would rather write an email and send it out if that’s how it’s gonna be. But everyone participated and it was really productive. That night we talked with Tia Vera and talked about the Word of Wisdom. She showed lots of faith and even said she would tell everyone about it.

On Thursday we did weekly planning, and it was pretty productive. Weekly planning is something that I will continue doing after the mission. We then went to a plaza to meet up with someone, but they didn’t show up. So we got lunch and headed back to the office. Pretty normal day.

On Friday we started the day with a lesson our recent convert Viinicius. Right when we were about to start, President and his wife walk in with a big cake for Elder Ribeiro, who’s birthday is today (Saturday). So, we ate cake and talked about the plan of salvation. Super cool lesson. We made hamburgers for lunch, and I, using Worcestershire sauce, made a big fire in the pan and it was super cool. As well, we spoke with Isaque, who’s a famous soap opera actor and singer from Brasil. He is being taught by the other Elderes, so we had a transition lesson with all four of us and it was pretty cool. He speaks English really well, so we had the lesson in a mix of Portuguese and English. That afternoon I also found a super fancy microphone for recording voice. I’ll definitely be having fun with that.

Anyway, that’s all that happened. Y’all are in for some good fotos next week.

Tender Mercy: Last week, the other Elders were almost robbed coming home from their area. Problem is, we go home taking that road almost every day. Not always at the time, but still pretty dangerous. This week we have not failed to say a prayer as we leave the office. Now, I can’t say if we would have been robbed had we not prayed. But what I can say, is that we have also been blessed with calm as we go home. I don’t feel the lightest bit worried about what would happen.

Spiritual thought: Most of the time, I just read my scriptures with the purpose of learning. This week, I was reminded of a quote by Elder Eyring that talks about that he studies with the thought “what does God want me to learn or feel?” The part of “feel” stood out to me and I decided to focus more on that. Guys, there is so much peace in this. Read with the focus of feeling what God wants that you feel.