(Elder Mackrory)
Bom dia meus conservos!
Vamoix la. Vi 4 fuscas, trazendo o total aos 1266.
Last pday we went to the Museum of Tomorrow. I thought it
was kinda mid. It’s got some cool architecture, but it was just kinda either
too abstract to understand or disheartening. there was a giant sphere that had
things projected on it and we were inside. It was like a 360 movie theater. And
I thought it would be a super cool presentation of whatever, but it ended up
being a well edited montage of nature and urban scenes and some really majestic
sounding voice saying garbage one-liners about humanity. The rest was a bunch
of exhibits with cool factoids about culture and nature, ending with an exhibit
on how climate change will end everything that we just saw. But instead of
showing how we can help with all that like a cool museum would do, it just
ended with a question “What are you gonna do about it, tomorrow?”. I thought
the whole thing was kinda dumb. Then we went to eat lunch at the mall and went
home to clean the house and relax. At night, however, we had one of the most
productive nights. We probably sent like 80 messages to people and managed to
control all of the people in our system, most of whom do not have interest. It
was super satisfying to “clean out” our system so we can focus on what’s most
important.
On Sunday we again had a great time. Sundays are kinda like
my favorite days. We left home for church after calling a bunch of people. When
we got there I helped set up the sacrament and got on reception. We had our
usual Marcel and Rafael at church, and we also had our newer friends Geise and
Lucia (not to be confused with Vera Lúcia, the recent convert from last week).
They were both really nice and well accepted by everyone. We marked another
lesson with both of them, and as we were leaving Geise says “in that call can
we talk about when I can be baptized?” So life’s going well. We had an amazing
lunch and I got the recipe. Then we had an amazing desert and I got the recipe.
After church we went up to a very far part of my area to teach Colmar who went
to stake conference. It was a really cool lesson, and he understood it well.
On Monday morning we had transfer news. And… even though I
wasn’t expecting it, I was indeed transferred. Actually I and Elder Coutinho
(another secretary) were transferred. My new area is still within the zone, and
I’m glad about that. My comp is super cool, and I’ve lived with him already.
But I didn’t have time to think about bags or my new area or anything, because
now we need to arrange everybody’s travel. We did that, had our weekly meeting
with president and went back to working on transfer stuff. I organized a lot so
that on Wednesday when the guy who is taking my place in the area can easily
see what’s going on. It was a lot of tying up loose ends. Afterwards I did my
personal study and it was super cool. I read the chapter about kindness in the
teachings of George Albert Smith. That night we went to teach a few people.
During those lessons, I really felt that the Spirit was speaking through me.
Instead of planning what I will say and kinda half-listening, I felt that I
needed to just listen to the person and then speak. I found that the best words
I could have said were put into my mouth and I felt a deeper love for the
people. It’s annoying that I haven’t been fully applying this earlier. That
night we called an uber with two elders who would sleep over that night due to
fact that one of them was returning home on Tuesday and there weren't flight
options on Wednesday. We arrived home a little late and I didn’t even have time
to pack my bags. See a pattern?
On Tuesday we went straight to the office to finish up some
logistics for the transfer and then we had district council, and the zone
leaders showed up to give us ice cream because our district won a competition.
We had a wonderful time and sang Love One Another for the opening and closing
hymns. We had lunch with the assistants and went back to work. After working
time we had dinner at the elders quorum president's house and had some of the
best fried chicken of all time, followed by strawberry Açaí, my favorite. At
night I was really tired and so I didn't have time to pack my bags.
On Wednesday morning I was woken up at 5am by some Elders
who missed their bus, so we had to quickly get the computer out to switch their
tickets. Then we went back to bed. At about 8am I met up with my new companion
and we went to the office. There, I had a big list of things to take back or
hand out. By some miracle, by lunch I managed to get all of it done. After
lunch however, it wasn't any less busy because we had to get everyone kicked
out of the chapel. By another miracle, everyone was gone by 14h45, which is a
new record, especially given the fact that we started the meeting about 20
minutes late. Afterwards I did some normal office work for a bit so that I
wouldn't get behind. Then we cleaned the chapel. A lot of pizza left over, we
will not have to pay for lunch for the next 5 days. But wait, why am I still
doing office work if I was transferred? Well, so I was transferred, but only to
the next door area that was the area of the other two secretaries. We just
switched up the companionships so that Elder Ribeiro could train Elder Coutinho
how to be the executive secretary next transfer. So my new comp is Elder
Vieira, from São Paulo. He's super fun, and speaks the best English I've heard
from a Brazilian. Perhaps it helps that he lived in Utah for a year or two. So
the fact that I didn't pack isn't a problem because I'm just switching
bedrooms. Our house has four bathrooms so not even that changed. We might
switch refrigerators since we have two. But now I have my own room just for my
own wardrobe with a balcony. And did I mention that my area has Sugarloaf
mountain and a part of Copacabana? Life’s good in the office.
On Thursday we had leadership council, and it was super
good. We learned a lot about Christlike leadership, and how councils should be
revelatory experiences. I felt the Spirit a lot, and ate well. Then someone
asked for a copy of my spreadsheet. I wasn't even talking about it. So now I've
got to translate it all into Portuguese, which you'd think would be easy, but a
lot of the programs depend on English date input, and so that's a problem.
On Friday I went on a boat. On the other side of the
Guanabara Bay is a city called Niterói. The fastest way to get there is by
boat. There in Niterói we had to resolve some problems with gas and electric
bills, but we didn't get it resolved because some other mission in Brazil
(cough cough Vitoria) is giving the Church bad credit by not paying bills on
time. That night we had a YSA dinner and had a super dope member lesson about
the Plan of Salvation that I thought benefitted me more than it benefitted those
we taught.
Tender Mercy: Really that lesson about the Plan of Salvation
takes the cake this week. We focused a lot on the atonement and what it means
for us. As my companion explained things, I felt a blessed assurance that my
efforts were enough. Not that I should stop, but that I didn't need to worry so
much about what I worry about. I felt that the Lord was with me in that moment
and I felt that He had been with me before then as well.
Spiritual thought: This week I finished the teachings of
George Albert Smith, and one of the things that marked me was this:
“We need have no fear if we do what the Lord has asked us to
do. This is His world. All men and women are subject to Him. All the powers of
evil will be controlled for the sake of His people, if they will honor Him and
keep His commandments”
Sometimes we forget Who created this world. Sometimes we
feel that we are far from Him. But He has set forth His commandments for those
who live in the world. If we but follow these commandments, we have no reason
to fear anything that may come.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-george-albert-smith/chapter-24?id=title6&lang=eng#title6
Fotos:
1. Elder Kjar's Rizz
2. Museum of Tomorrow
3. Presidents house (yes all 8 couches are necessary)
4. Lunch at presidents house
5. Me on the water
6. Good açaí makes your tongue black
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