Flew me to places I've never been

 (Elder Mackrory)

Olá amigos e família!

It hasn't been too long since the last email so there won't be too many updates. I am now in Brasil at the Sao Paulo Centro de Trenamiento Missionario. I got to meet my companheiro Elder Otterson, he's pretty cool. The plane ride was about 9 hours long overnight so I slept most of the time. the Weather down here is pretty nice; it is not super humid and a comfortable temperature outside. The inside is kept quite cold so I've found myself wearing a jacket most of the time in my dorm. We got new phones that we had to set up and that was pretty cool, it was like a puzzle trying to work with an OS that I’m not familiar with.

Something that I've been asked a lot today is why I'm serving a mission. There is a plethora of reasons but these verses from The Book of Mormon cover a lot of them. This is from Alma chapter 29.

1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

There is a lot of sadness in the world. I don't like that. I don't think anyone does. But what I know that many people don't, is that relief from this grieving comes through Jesus Christ. He is the only source of true, complete, and lasting Joy. As we put our faith in Him, and as we continually seek the blessings of repentance through the savior's atonement

One terna misericordia from these few days is that I didn't forget anything. As of yet with unpacking everything into my dorm room I have had everything I needed and will need for these two years. I know everyone worries about leaving something behind and I'm no exception.

Elder Lyman Mackrory

Photos:

1. Guaraná on tap

2. My roommates (Companion was ready)

3. CTM view of São Paulo

4.My friend Riley Who I invited to Church

5. My District (home CTM)

Drop everything now

 (Elder Mackrory)

Bom Dia amigos e família!

This is my first group email and I am so glad you are all here to support me, it means a lot.

     I have been called to serve in the Rio de Janeiro Norte mission. My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

     This first week I am studying at home, learning Portuguese and teaching methods. On Monday I fly out to Sao Paulo for my in person training.

     Although I have been at home, I have learned so much and have grown so much in my faith in Christ. He is our redeemer! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true gospel. I know this to be true with every fiber of my being. I cannot wait to be in person. The zoom meetings are always edifying and I can tell everyone is united in the purpose of bringing others unto Christ.

     I got to meet my companheiro (companion) and my district this week. They are so awesome and were going to have a blast at the Missionary Training center in Sao Paulo. I am the only one from New Mexico so I get questions like "What goes on down there other than Breaking Bad and Aliens?" It's difficult why I'm so fond of New Mexico given that there really isn't much more than Breaking bad and Aliens. Maybe I can say we have sandstorms. Oh well.

     The subject line refers to the fact that I put everything in my life on hold for two years to serve the Lord. Education, Dating, movies, music (I'm gonna miss 1989 tv), and pretty much everything that I love because I love the Lord more. I know He will bless me for this service.

     Every email I send out will include a tender mercy. The phrase tender mercy refers to several verses in the Old Testament (Psalm 25:6; 40:11; 51:1; 69:16; 77:9; 79:8; 103:4; 119:77; 145:9; Proverbs 12:10) There's a lot of verses there but I encourage you to read them to gain a greater understanding of what a tender mercy is. For me, a tender mercy can be anything from a great miracle to just something that made me happy; anything to help me get through the day joyfully. This week a tender mercy was being able to teach a mock lesson. My companion and I taught a lesson to our MTC instructor which made me really happy. I love to testify of truth and to share the love of Christ to everyone. I invite each of you to look for the Lord's hand in your life and I can promise that as you look for ways to be joyful in Christ, you will find your burdens become bearable and manageable and life will run more smoothly.

     Thanks so much for reading! My next email will be Tuesday and then from there the updates will be weekly. I'd love to hear from you all, but be sure not to hit reply all haha.

Elder Lyman Mackrory

Līgo: The Summer Solstice Celebration

 (Elder Putnam)

So the 23rd of June is the day with the earliest sunrise and latest sunset. To Latvians thats really important. Pretty much everyone goes out into the countryside to celebrate. Its a good time and everyone drinks a ton of beer. Unfortunately since everyone is out in the countryside, nobody is in Rīga and theres not as much missionary work to do.

We still got to celebrate with the stake at the Imanta church building. All the members and missionaries from Liepāja and Daugavpils also came. It was a good time.

Thats most of whats in my mind right now except for pday today. We again went to the Imanta church building and played volleyball, Baltic Ball, and games. Elder Khilabok grilled up some very delicious meat as well. I was impressed. I got a slight sunburn but it was a great time. All the Rīga missionaries except for the Assistants showed up. It was a great pday. Elder Davis said that I jump like a drunk frog.

The last thing on my mind is that we get a new mission President this week. President Anti is what we call him because we cant pronounce his last name. He will lay down the law. Itll be especially interesting because he already knows a lot of the missionaries and especially the members. Lots of things will change, both with missionaries and members.

Anyways, loving my time here. Its a great experience and the work is moving forward.

My next chapter: Riga 2

 (Elder Putnam)

Ok so here’s the takes from Rīga so far. They’ve got a lot of things under control. like split second hours and stuff like that. Brālis Bite is an absolute legend. We went over to his house on Thursday and it was a blast. We acted out Nephi obtaining the brass plates with the kids. It was awesome. He also led the second hour discussion last Sunday which was pretty great.

Rimi ran out of pelmeņi which caused me to improvise a little this week on food. The fridge is a little smaller too so I’ve had to dk a little dance there too.

Elder Argyle is an absolute G. He left behind a bunch of stuff for me to eat. Mostly chocolate and cookies and stuff. but some decent spices which i very much appreciate.

Definately missing Elder Bastow rn. Definitely also missing, like teaching people. that was kinda nice.

Anyways that’s pretty much it for today.

My next chapter: Riga

 (Elder Putnam)

Aight so the big news is that I got transferred. Imma miss Liepāja and I’m gonna miss Elder Bastow, but Elder Jessop and I are gonna live it up in Rīga. Its gonna be sick.

For now Imma just say that I’ve enjoyed my time in Liepāja, especially with Elder Bastow, I’ve loved the people here and I can't wait to bring some energy to Rīga. Should be dope.

The other big thing that happened this week was Mothers day!!! I got to speak and I actually gave a pretty darn good talk, given the fact that Latvian is my second language.

Heres some pictures from the last week:

1. There are some murals all over Liepāja of various sizes. This is one of the bigger and more famous ones.

2. We had a service opportunity on Friday and Sunday. We helped a person move to a new house (I should have seen that it was a shadow of things to come)

3. Jānis Mandeiks (he is one of the members of the ward here) sends me the playoff basketball updates. Its sick

4. These biezpiens bumbiņas are the best things on earth when fresh. My goodness.

6. Heres another mural. Its got Madison Beere in it. Check her profile picture on instagram (per Ernests Migla)

7. The Northern Forts were my first and last pday in Liepāja.

Weekly May 1

 (Elder Putnam)

Yoo, heres a recap of the week.

 

Monday: I arose early. Being compelled by Sister Lū we decided to be efficient in the morning. I got a solid workout in then showered and we headed to lidl. We went crazy again on the eggs and other high protein goods. I also found a new pastry there. Todays big purchase was a six pack of multifruit juice. Then we hit Rimi for a few items. I snagged Ramone (the purple car from Cars - ill include a picture). We also got tabasco sauce from Rimi which saved us a trip later. Then we met the former missionaries at the church to go to the Southern Forts. Ive never been there and so it was quite fun to check out. The Southern Forts are a bunch of cavish looking things made of cement. It was full of beer bottles and potato chip bags. We kinda just vibed out there for a short while. Then Elder Bastow and I did a lift (like the dancing thing where you lift the person in the air from the waist). Shoutout to James Lear for the pointers on that. The pictures not so great. We then went back to the church and played duraks and citrons, followed by Unstable Unicorns. I pulled like no useful cards for myself, but a bunch of downgrade cards. So I ended up looking like the villian when really I was only doing that which was effective. So finished up by sending off my email. Then we went to the Ščerbeniņi for Benja's birthday. Benja is the cutest little kiddo. We gave him cars for his birthday. I also got clowned for not having made siļķe kažokā (herring in a fur coat) which is just way not my thing. But I am a missionary. So I got seconds. Mamma, I dont wanna hear the echoes of old memories "on your mission youre gonna have to eat tomatoes" or "youre preparing for a mission so eat those mushrooms." And Father,,, I have not eaten a single chicken foot my entire mission thus far. For the most part, the food here is pretty darn solid.

Overall day: 9/10, lots of fun and relaxation

 

Tuesday: We had district counsel, went home. Did studies. Then we went whiteboarding in the rain with Ernests. It was not very effective but we talked alot about missionary work which was good. then in place of art night we had a lesson about the plan of Salvation with Emīls. He is starting to pick up the stuff that we put down. We just gotta poke him to get him moving (figuratively of course). Then we had a heart to heart with Raitis on the way home. I ate left over chicken pesto pasta for dinner.

But Ye Elders of Israel goes so hardddd.

Overall day: 7/10 not a crazy amount was accomplished. I also started to fall asleep during language study.

 

Wednesday: we started off by going to Miko bakery. Its so good. Very cheap for decent pastries. They have old bagged ones you can get by weight. I got maybe 20 little mini pastries for like a euro. Such a deal. Then we went to the church for Kristīnas Study. Garett was also there. He brought his dog, which im pretty sure is not allowed in the church, but I honestly have no idea what to do in that situation. Near the end, the former missionaries showed up to say goodbye. I must say, they are so cool. Like very respectful and kind. They seemed proud of us. Made me happy. Then we went home and did studies. Neither of us set a timer so im pretty sure it went over by like 30 minutes. But its ok. Then we went back to the church for seminary and the chosen night.

Overall day: 7/10 good day, but nothing overly significant.

Thursday: We went to the bakery again for comp study. my MSF is getting shot. English Night was alright. We were in charge of the beginner class which is just two 13 year old Russian girls. They are not at all focused. Then on our way home, Brālis Hilton messaged us and we found out that he, Brālis Bastian, and Jordan Harmon, who all served in Latvia 2 years ago, (and Brālis Hilton and Brālis Bastian taught us in the MTC). They’re dope.

Overall day: 6.5/10, the tougher days help you appreciate the better ones.

Friday: We started the day off with some finding. It got mad chilly on Friday just kinda out of nowhere. We went walking in a different direction and across the bridge. Its right next to the beer bottling factory. Anyways, nobody was outside due to the weather and the wind. There’s always the struggle of walking back towards home and then one girl is walking in front and keeps taking the same path that we need. It makes you look and feel like a stalker. But ya, then we went back to the apartment texted people, and did language study and lunch. Then it was Facebook and piano work until sports night. Sports Night was the first time we got to see the former missionaries. They are dope. I love them. Brālis Bastians was only speaking Latvian to us, which I was low key a fan of. Our friends liked them too. After Sports night we hurried home and grabbed our pelmeņi and a pot. Then we ate with the former missionaries and just talked about divine things.

Overall Day: 8/10, lowkey mad stressful, but definitely a fun time.

Saturday: We had a very stressful day. We wont say what started the day, but it was unsuccessful and a bit of a waste of time. Then we went home to fix our water filter, spending way too much time on that, and found out that the Suisses, who were gonna come up from Lithuania and teach an Art class, cancelled on us. So we spent a short sec informing a ton of people that we were cancelling an activity. It was tough. Then we went to the church and ate tacos with Lāsma, her kids, Raitis, Ernests, and the Māsas, kuras (klasisku māsu modē) nokavēja😁. Then we had a long game night. A part way through the former missionaries joined in and we had a solid time. I think the youth especially liked the returned missionaries. It gave them a tom of energy. After game night we talked for a long time with other people. I got to talk with Samanta and we just conversed. She taught me a new phrase. It was dope. Also the entire district leader call heard the last half of the conversation. It was good.

Overall day: 8/10, some good moments just kinda surrounded my chaos.

Sunday: It was good. the former missionaries spoke. I played piano badly in front of them. The church was very alive. Also, one of the newly called Stake Presidency members was there. He’s pretty cool, but his kids are absolutely crazy. They speak minimal Latvian and no English so I learned that Banan means Banana in Russian. Who woulda thought? After second hour we raced to do some Facebook work but just ended up talking with President Blūms about deep doctrine and how to improve the Facebook page. That Facebook post never did get written *sigh*. But President Blūms is dope. We like him. Then we had the classic Sunday calls. Elder Bastow and I have a new tradition though for Sunday dinner. But I wont include it here. Chicken Pesto Pasta for dinner.

Overall day: 8.5/10, good and also surprisingly chill for a Sunday.

Keep up your faith in Christ. He magnifies your efforts

Putniņš out✌️

Latvian word of the day: mieloties, meaning, to feast.

Mēs ar Talmadžu un Kraiganu mielojamies ar pelmeņus.

We feasted upon pelmeņi with Talmage and Cragun.

Spiritual Thought: We listened to the talk %1 better in Second Hour at church on Sunday. if every day you improve by 1%, you will be 38 times better of a person after a year. That’s an incredible difference. However, you have to have consistency. Keep the grind up. You wont see results day to day, but God will work His magic on you and through you.

Weekly update April 24th 2023

 (Elder Putnam)

Hey yalls, so if the daily summaries are short this week it is due me not writing that week and then struggling to remember what happened. Hope yall enjoy!!

Monday: It was a lot of messaging Henry and hyping him up for the MTC. Giving as much advice as I could. I also made bread for Family Home Evening. We kinda just chilled around and then went shopping. At Lidl I got so much food. Ill attach a picture. I got 5 litres of milk, 2 litres of Multifruit juice, 40 eggs, a 400g of chicken (not actually that much), and then Kvass. Those were my big deals of the day. We then hit Rimi for those extra things that you can’t find at Lidl, like paprika and paper towels. After that we just chilled at the church and wrote emails and stuff. After that, Raitis picked us up and we went to the Ceimeri for Family Home Evening. We discussed the talk "the Perfect Harvest" which I referenced in my last email. It was great. Since Kristaps was turning 10 months old we had some Honeycake. I tried kvass for the first time. Gotta say, I’m not a fan. Highly overrated.

Overall day:9.5/10 very relaxing with some solid highlights, mainly cause Henrys in the MTC now.

Tuesday: Ok I hit the ground running today. My workout went over. I’m usually out of the shower and starting personal study at 8:30. But right before my last set I looked at my phone and it was 8:29. I took a quick quick shower, which was difficult because of the size of my biceps (I had an incredible pump thanks to the General Conference hype up mix). And then Personal study went so hard. Imma share with yalls the thing that stood out to me as the Spiritual thought this week. John 4:35-36. Anyways I haven’t been this hyped for missionary work, like the work aspect of it, for a few weeks probably. We hit comp study and language study to start the day and then texted people into lunch. Its way more efficient if you just hash it out in the morning. 6 eggs for lunch with two types of cheese, ham cubes, chicken cubes, and onions, garnished with fresh sweet bell pepper and the green and the red tabasco sauces. I’m estimating like 50+ grams of protein. And then an apple. gosh I love this country. we hurried on over to the church for Distric Counsel. Usually district counsel is a waste of time, but it low key was solid this time around. Shoutout to Elder Breidijs. I walked away with many insights, despite the whole of it taking 3 hours. We figure out what our activity schedule is gonna look like from now on. We were considering ending Art night and then like 10 people showed up out of nowhere for it. And also an inactive youth might wanna come to that. Before Art night though and after District Counsel I practices piano while Elder Bastow put together the Facebook page for our activities in Liepāja. At art night I ended up talking to one girl (shes been here for the entirety of my tenure and has not listened to one spiritual thought). But today, I talked with her about the idea of God. and the possibility that He is our Heavenly Father. It was cool. I left it open on her end for some personal studying in Mathew 13. If yall got any other chapters for a 13 year old to read in the New Testament let me know. Further, I am beginning to just love Facebook work. Its kinda fun, especially when you start understanding the memes in Latvian. That always goes hard.

Overall day: 8.5/10 very efficient, but missed out on lots of things

Wednesday: Woke up and hit a solid leg workout. Finished it on time this go around. I’m starting to love my morning routine. This morning during personal study I felt prompted to message these two people. Now, we have two new friends. First off, there’s the tram stop girl. Shes gonna come to English Night, where we will talk a little bit more about the Book of Mormon and then also pass her off to the Māsas. That’ll be solid, although Viktorija wont be there... which will be rough. Secondly, literally the first successful contact I have ever been involved in was in my first or second week. I asked the dude if he wanted to hear about how families can be together forever. and we got his phone number, giving him a pamphlet. He read the pamphlet but it was really hard to get in contact with him. He came to like 2 activities, but then we thought he ghosted us. Anyways, I just sent him a scripture from the New Testament and he responded later in the day. Were gonna talk a little more later on.

Alright, next, even though we only had an hour to go finding, we placed 3 Book of Mormons. literally so good. Each one has legitimate potential. Each was to a youth. One we just called to from across the street and then we talked to him. He said he was Christian and then we talked about how the Book of Mormon has helped us get closer to God.

In the next one we went down to the beach next to the workout park. I hit some dips with very good form while Elder Bastow did some pullups. We talked to a group of youths, inviting them to English club and one of them accepted a Book of Mormon (in Russian, which is so lucky that we had one on us). He seemed really down to talk. (Later Imma post some stuff about me and working out and just self improvement). It’ll be good. Then we went to seminary. It was such a good lesson from Māsa Ščerbeniņa about forgiveness. My goodness. I loved it. Then we had our very first The Chosen Night!!! It was good, turned into texting time for me though and Ernests and Elder Bastow just chatted.

Last miracle of the day: Noah is gonna texted us when he has a free day. Very good stuff today. I had a lb of vegetables with two eggs, a protein drink and multivitamin juice.

Overall day: 9.5/10, Only baptisms get 10/10.

Thursday: So we had another great day. We did our studies, then ate, then went to the church, found a little for English club and then zi practiced piano while Elder Bastow Facebook grinded for the Facebook page. I found out that the sacrament hymns are all very playable. We like that. Elder Argyle and Elder Jessop pulled up for exchanges. I’m with Elder Jessop. Last time we had fun. Today he was a little more closed off, but we still placed a Book of Mormon with a dude whos gonna show up to church in two weeks... apparently. I also met the Mayor of Liepāja contacting. He was walking really fast, and I complimented his suit jacket. Then we walked, really fast with him. He taught me the word Mēris, which means mayor. how bout that? We then went back to the church and got really nervously prepared for English Night. We tried to hype it up to our other friends but they didn’t all come. However, the most important one, Ieva came with her friend. We gave her a little more information about the Book of Mormon. She says that shes gonna talk with the sisters tomorrow about the Restoration. English Club was a disappointment, but a start. Now that we have a legit plan, it should be better. Then we went to Hessburger with Sister Lū, Elder Lear, the Māsas, Raitis, Ernests, and AJ. Twas a good day. finished off my bagged milk today too.

Overall day: 8/10, a little disappointed with the English club turnout, but the Māsas have a new friend.

Friday: Friday ended exchanges with a visit to Vilars. We talked and he helped me write my Facebook post. After that we went to Street Burger and I ordered a delicious but overpriced burger. Like 13 bucks my dude. Then we went to basketball night and had a massive turnout. twas great. I felt kinda gross throughout all of it. I’m also starting to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid in Latvian. Its solid. Harry Potter is a bit out of my stretch but still fun to read.

Saturday. It was a pretty chill Saturday. We got our studies done in the morning. Then ate lunch, and went to the church to clean. The Māsas were also there, but their lesson cancelled on them. So they went to hang out with Viktorija for a long time. Kinda left us out to dry. Especially when we went back and forth from the church and to our apartment. So the Māsas were late to an activity again. But the game night went well. We played smurfs and duraks, a Russian card game. It went well. Not gonna lie, my spiritual thought was low key a banger. I could have given a better invitation though. After game night, we just kinda chilled around and then I had my call with the District Leaders, in which I found out that the Māsas didn’t have their keys and that we needed to meet them at the church to right that wrong. It felt kinda disso to be stepping out of the door at 9:00 dressed for contacting and everything. Well, I was dressed. Elder Bastow was wearing a sweater and he had taken his hoodie off. He was also wearing slides (which ill admit, I checked them off for him). What made it feel much more disso was that as soon as we rounded the corner and crossed the street, we saw Ieva Ščerbeniņa sitting at the bus stop. We were like crap. Then we saw Sister Powell, Lū, and James, Sister Lū's husband. (they all served in Liepāja together and came to visit). Bro it was really embarrassing. Like bad. Then Māsa Bentley took a bunch of pictures of us. Bro like I’ve never felt so close to getting sent home in my life. Well I guess that’s not true (ifkyk). They definately threw us under the bus. Also Viktorija is high key flirting with us. She really likes elders. A lot. Be careful Elder Beebe. Brālis Hiltons give it a shot. She has been avoiding after-baptism lessons with the Sisters for quite some time but then approached us when we got to the church and was like, yo you wanna have a lesson? Then she also invited us to go outside of Liepāja there.

Overall Day: 9/10, ended with an all time story so yeah.

Sunday: The Lears came to church today with Sister Powell. They're all pretty cool and shared their testimonies with us. Definitely got talked up by Sister Lu. Apparentely they are considering moving to Liepaja. So that would be dope. We took them to visit the Beldavas. It was a good time. Then we went home. Sundays are either really busy or really laid back. It just kinda depends on how we spend our time after church.

Remember that yall are dope and that you’re sons and daughters of God.

See yall next week!!!

Putniņš out ✌️

Latvian word of the day: pārspīlēt. It means to exaggerate

Mana mīlēstība pret olām nav pārspīlēta.

My love for eggs is not exaggerated

No Spiritual Thought for this week! but study up on the gift of the Holy Ghost. Its a pretty cool gift.