(Elder Mackrory)
Boa tarde meus amigos e familiares! como vão?
Esta semana vi 4 fuscas, trazendo o total aos 1255.
Last pday was super fun, the zone leaders nailed it, and
everyone pitched in, Elder Vieira more than most. we decided to do a churrasco
and play some random sports. It was super fun and super chill. Elder Vieira
knows how to cook meat. I helped out cutting the garlic, preparing the salsa
and tasting the meat. Since we switched our pday for Monday, and president was
busy with interviews on the other days, we had to do our meeting on that day.
So Elder Ribeiro and I took advantage of the situation and did our proselyting
time in the morning and left the night for talking with family or responding to
emails, of which I was able to respond to all, finally. At night we went to the
store, which had like no fruit, so I wasn’t able to buy much and we will be
forced to go back during the week. We didn’t spend much time in the store as a
result, but the checkout lines were insane. We spent more than half of the time
in the line.
On Tuesday we had district council and I tried Pão de Mel
(honey bread) for the first time and I can say that I am in love. It was also
super cheap, so my wallet might also be a fan of it. We then had interviews
with president, which was super good and I got to bear my testimony with him
and we talked some more and I got some really good guidance. I started editing
a video about President Nelson, but didn’t finish it. It’s one of the most
complicated videos to edit that I have made. A few weeks ago we gave Sister Lopes
a SIM card to contact some referrals for us, but for some reason she hasn’t
been able to get into the WhatsApp, rendering the SIM card basically useless in
Brasil. But she sent a message that by some miracle she was able to get in, and
so she will be helping us out a ton with the 1500 media referrals we get a
week.
On Wednesday we went earlier than normal to the office and
we taught English to the missionaries. I think that this one went better than
last week. We then got lunch real quick and headed to the airport to legalize a
missionary. I brought my big ol’ grammar book and had a wonderful study of the
gerund and reduced phrases. Afterwards we went back to the office and I
finished up editing a video for the mission Facebook page. It turned out really
good and pretty much all the missionaries posted it. We had a lesson with
Marcel and a lesson with Geise. With Geise we marked a baptism date for later
next month. Prayers that it works out. We then went really quick to visit Tia
Vera and give her her own copy of my plan of salvation drawing, since she asked
for one.
On Thursday we got ready for Carnaval. We looked up the
itineraries for all the cities of all the places and times that Carnaval will
be the most dangerous. All of the cities I looked up were all advocating for a
Carnaval without sexual harassment. I laughed because everybody knows you can’t
have your cake and eat it too. Anyway, there was actually one city that did not
advocate for this. They thought a higher priority for them was a Carnaval
without dengue. That made me laugh even harder because at least they accept the
terrible nature of Carnaval. We had both of our lessons fall through, but
marked about 6 more, so it wasn’t a completely unproductive day.
On Friday Carnaval officially started, and so our day went
quite differently, in order to prepare. Usually, we do personal study from 9-10
and then head to the office, where we do office work until 6pm with a two hour
interval for lunch and two half hour intervals for comp study and language
study. then at night we leave the office and do “real missionary work” until
10. For Carnaval, however, our local church leaders advised us not even to
leave the house. However, since that is not an option, we left for the office
at 9am, lunch at 12h30, and home at 4. Afterwards we did our studies and online
work until 8pm, at which time we had our mission-wide zoom Carnaval devotional.
We had a great training given by Elders Owen and Hayes, a spiritual thought
about the two great commandments, although the audio didn’t really work very
well. Then a few dope video presentations. It was pretty cool, and I started
writing a song for me to perform. it’ll be pretty cool.
Tender Mercy: I don’t know why, but for whatever reason on Friday,
we didn’t see any Carnaval. I don’t know if its because our neighborhood
doesn’t have any events, or because Carnaval starts in the night, or whatever,
but the Lord really protected us as we walked to and from the office.
Spiritual thought:
During my interview I shared with president something that I
have been and am still learning. In various stages of my life, I have sought to
know more about the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is the single most important
event in the history of humankind, after all. In such stages, I studied and
asked questions and sought to put in order the events of, the background to,
the preparation for, and the effects of His atonement. In doing such, studying
with faith and seeking spiritual knowledge, I always felt a strong peace and
happiness as I discovered more about the atonement. But I always felt something
was lacking. I always started these studies with faith that the Lord would show
me what I had missed the last time and that everything would click this time.
Well, although I always learned more and came to understand more, I felt like
there was still an essential part to the puzzle missing. This essential part
was something that I have found with more clarity on the mission. The atonement
was not done so that we could study it alone. It was not done solely as a show
of love or submission. It was done to have effect in our lives. It was done so
that we could become better. As I have created goals, strive to achieve them,
and reflect on my progress, I have looked back to see how far I have come. In
doing this, I showed the Lord that I was ready to receive more understanding. I
felt that the Spirit of the Lord was with me at more times than ever before,
guiding my every move. I have felt that the doctrine has never been clearer. As
I apply the atonement, I understand the events of, the background to, the
preparation for, and the effects of the atonement. Knowledge does nothing
unless placed into practice.
Would you believe I didn't take any pictures?
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