(Elder Mackrory)
Bom dia meus amigos e familiares! Essa semana foi muito boa,
igual falo toda semana kkkk. Eu vi 4 fusacs, trazendo o total aos 1262.
Last pday was really cool, though I did get sunburnt a
little bit. Anyway we went to a really famous favela, Vidigal. Vidigal sits
right next to Rocinha, one of the most famous favelas in the world. At the top
of this favela sits a really cool couple of mountains called Dois Irmãos (Two
Brothers). We got in a van to get all the way up there, and then hiked the rest
of the way. It was super dusty, and since I decided to do the hike in flip
flops, my feet got super dirty. At the top was one of the coolest views of my
life. It’s a rather pointy peak, and so there’s a 360 view that can see just
the very tip of Barra da Tijuca all the way to my area in Flamengo. I could see
Sugarloaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, President Dutson’s house, Copacabana,
Ipanema, and lots more. After some sick photos, we went down the hill again,
which was now even dustier. We then sat at the beach and everyone but my
companion and I bought super overpriced underportioned churrasco. Even at the
beach it’s impossible to escape ads, because there were planes constantly
flying by with big ad banners behind them. Afterwards we got some Coconut
water, super cold. This was the first time in my life that I liked coco water.
At night we filled the baptismal font and had the baptismal interview, and both
worked out great. After nine, Elder Vieira cut my hair, I wanted a zero fade,
but he wasn’t feeling confident enough to do it, so I grabbed the machine and
took off all of my sideburns so that he had to give me a zero fade. Turned out
really well, but since I was sunburnt from the hike, it made for some stark
contrast.
On Sunday we had a good time. We had to get things ready for
the baptism still, so it was a little hectic, especially since ward council
went slightly overtime. There was an American couple there for which I
translated the sacrament meeting. I really like translating. At the baptism,
everything went well, and Vera was baptized. When I held out my hand to help
her up the stairs, she fell backwards, scaring the crap out of me. Turns out
she wanted to be dunked again, and fell on purpose. Not sure if it was the heat
or her joy that made her do it, but my heart skipped a beat. Afterwards, she
bore powerful testimony of how Christ had helped her get to where she was. It
was super cool and inspiring. At lunch I made a tiny clay brahma ox that
everyone thought was super cool. We had some visits planned, but they all fell
through.
On Monday we had a cool lesson with Vinicius about My
Covenant Path, and he was super excited. At the office, it was all normal until
president called me in with Elder Coutinho to talk about the missions
referrals. As we discussed things, we reached a conclusion that makes it a lot
easier for missionaries to contact and maintain referrals. That night we
visited Tia Vera and then had a few online lessons at home.
On Tuesday we didn’t have district council because the other
missionaries were doing a service project. But we got tons done and our couch
finally arrived from maintenance. We went home for lunch and I cooked everyone
some cuzcuz with tomato, bell peppers, onion, corn, and calabresa. It was super
bomb. We went to the office supplies store to pick up some supplies for the
office. We went to visit Vera Lucia to finalize her baptism form, and the way
she talks and expresses herself is completely different. She is so happy and
the stories she shares are all uplifting, whereas before they could be slightly
gossipy (you know how old ladies are). We finished out the day doing our
personal studies during which it rained for the first time in about a month.
On Wednesday we had district council in the morning. That’s
a problem actually, since I didn’t know we were gonna do that until Wednesday
morning, so it was too late to cancel English class. So after I gave my
training, I quickly jumped over to teaching English. Afterwards, we had a super
rushed media specialist meeting, but actually it turned out to be one of the
most productive ones. We had to rush the meeting to be able to go to lunch.
Afterwards, we got tons done at the office, someone asked me for an upgrade
without needing one, and we had an online lesson with Marcel. During the lesson
there was some crazy thunder and a 20 minute downpour to cool everything off.
On Thursday we had a kinda wack day. We started out normal
with personal study, but then we went to president's house for lunch. It was
also the exit event with all the missionaries who are leaving this transfer.
I'm not going home any time soon 👀, but president is the
goat and invited the rest of the district to lunch. After lunch we went home
real quick to switch out the suit and we then had a lesson fall through, but we
were able to contact all our referrals. We then left home and met Lúcia (not to
be confused with Vera Lúcia who was baptized this Sunday). She's super cool and
wants to read the Book of Mormon and invited herself to church. She also lived
in Illinois for two years. Then we finished the day doing our office work.
To top up the week we went early to the airport to help some
missionaries with visas. We then went to the office and I did my work there,
the guy who had been leaving me on read for the last 3 months (the guy who’s
not supposed to do that) finally responded and we got some good information
about phones. we ended the day with our studies and a lesson with a goat named
Paulo, and he’s super interested.
Tender Mercy: This week I have noticed a constant flow of
revelation. I feel like the Lord’s hand was in all of what happened. This
happened because I had an increased focus on gratitude. I saw more of what the
Lord had done for me as I thanked Him for what I did see. Why would the Lord
grant something to you if He knows you won’t be thankful for it? Gratitude is
the key to revelation.
Spiritual thought: When Nephi went to go get the brass
plates from Laban’s house, the Spirit of the Lord taught him many things about
how the Lord brings to pass His righteous purposes. On of such revelations
reads the following: “Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the
commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have
the law.” Of course, in today’s world, the law of Moses has been fulfilled and
we keep the higher law now, but the same thing applies. Without constant
scripture study, it is impossible to keep the commandments. We must be always
reading and studying the word of the Lord in order to keep it.
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