(Elder Mackrory)
Fala comigo! Tudo joia?
Hey y'all, it's been another week, another 7 days down. I'm
super excited for Christmas. It's only 198 days away! That means you can start
listening to Christmas music.
Anyway, I'd like to apologize for last week, I completely
forgot to include the fusca count! These last two weeks I saw 17, making the
total up to 681. This area has less fuscas than I thought.
This week was super interesting, way different than what I
was expecting. Many things happened.
On pday, we just hung around the house doing cleaning chores
and such. We also went to the beach. That was a highlight. Unfortunately, there
was a sign that prohibited swimming, which means I didn't swim. (for those who
aren't laughing already, missionaries aren't allowed to swim anyway). I also
rearranged the bedroom to have more space. The furniture arrangement before
looked like it was specifically designed to restrict space and movement.
On Tuesday, we had district council. My new district is
awesome. I've finally got some people who like Taylor Swift too. Granted,
They're sisters, which means it was a given, but its cool anyway. I finally got
to play some of the new hymns. They're so cool. We then went to lunch, at a
nearby self-service. For those who aren't familiar with this concept, let me
explain. You pay a flat price for all-you-can-eat. Two catches: you can only
have two pieces of meat, and you can only serve yourself once. It is usually
well priced around 18-25 Brazilian reals. So naturally, missionaries usually
put their Stomachs to the test. Miracles happen. Mountains are moved. Not
literal mountains, but mountains of food. It's usually around two liters of
food. Rice, beans, spaghetti, farofa, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, mashed
potatoes, French fries and fried chicken. It's Thanksgiving. At this
restaurant, they had a beef cut that looked like brisket or something. So I
took two pieces (it was the biggest option), and sat down half expecting it to
be the driest meat of all time. But then. Out of the corner of my eye. A
glimpse of heaven. BBQ sauce. Yoink. A few good passes, and a few more, my meat
expectations were going up, and my mouth became more and more anxious. I said
my prayer of gratitude (truly grateful) and started the process of emptying my
plate. The meat was almost on par with my mom’s cooking. It was that good. The
restaurant gave us actual salad dressing, so the salad was amazing. Hot sauce
in the rice and beans makes it go right on down. Little bit of olive oil on the
spaghetti? Yes please. Parmesan? Obviously. It was one of the best meals I've
ever had. I hope you enjoyed this journey with me.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we spent time exploring the area
and visiting people. The area is pretty safe, only about half of it seems gang
controlled. But I haven't encountered any drugs yet. Lots of walking (sometimes
in the wrong direction) and trying to note the landmarks and places where we
can take public transport. This area is especially difficult when it comes to
addresses. Nothing is right, and some of the people just have their address as
“Rasa” . That's the name of the neighborhood in which we work. So it's starting
off slow, but if the area is slow for progress, there's always one person who
is willing and eager to progress: me. I've taken to reading the scriptures
during my getting ready times. Showering, getting dressed, and eating are all
done as fast as possible in the morning, and I usually get an extra hour of
personal study time. Same thing at night. It's an awesome experience. Highly
recommend.
Side note: I named the spiders that live on our apartment
balcony. We got Xila (she likes to sit in the shape of an x), Robertha (she
likes to stay inside her little tunnel), and Rebeca (she's the biggest of them
all, I just like the name). For those wondering: “Spider” is a feminine word,
that's why they're all female names.
On Friday we ate corn dogs and French fries for lunch. It
was really good. But we bought way too many French fries. So that's been a
regular snack since then. Looks like Elder Kjar and I are on the same page.
On Saturday we had a service project using machetes and
saws. Some good pics came from that. We did the service with the branch
chorister, so she sent me the hymns in advance to practice.
On Sunday I was doing prelude (practicing the hymns of the
day) thinking “wow it is so nice To not have to sight read and to have notice
for things” and then the branch president walked up, shook my hand, and asked
if I could speak. So yeah. God was definitely laughing His head off on that
one. I only had to speak for 5 minutes, and I had things to say, and a general
idea of where I wanted to go with the talk, but I was in no way prepared. So I
did what a good friend of mine told me to do. Just bear testimony of Jesus
Christ. So that's what I did. And it went pretty well. But it was still really
funny.
Also on Sunday, I got news from my last area! Esther, the
daughter of Sheila, was baptized! What's awesome about this, is that her father
now has interest in learning about the church! I'm excited for Elder Tacuche
and Elder Levie to continue the work there.
Well that's it this week, thanks for reading!
SummaRio:
17 fuscas in two weeks, 681 total
Calm pday, cleaning, and beach
On Tuesday I moved a mountain (go read)
Whitewashing is hard, but personal study is fun
I named the spiders living on our balcony Xila, Robertha,
and Rebeca
We made corn dogs and French fries
I got to use a machete
I got to do give a impromptu speech in church
Esther was baptized in my last area!
Tender Mercy: on night, walking home after a long day of
pretty much nothing, our branch president showed up out of nowhere and drove us
the rest of the way home. He saved us about 25 minutes of walking.
Spiritual Thought:
Psalms 84
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give
grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
I focus on this a lot, but the first law of heaven can't be
over emphasized. Obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, that is, to “walk uprightly” is the only way to obtain life eternal.
But it's not just that. Walking uprightly gives perspective, clarity, safety,
joy, peace, understanding, love, charity, faith, hope, long-suffering,
brotherly kindness, strength, gentleness, and all good things. Trust in the
Lord to walk uprightly brings all good things. It turns this life more like the
life to come. As you experiment upon the teachings of Christ, You will come to
know of the truth of them. Experiment on them, ponder on them, pray on them,
live them, and love them.
Tchau guys
Elder Mackrory
Fotos:
1. Pq não é quarta-feira?
2. The spider with the best business model
3. 7 string guitar?
4. View from service project
5. The Liger (mystical powers)
6. Lunch one day
7. Family night
8. Self service restaurant
9. Esther's baptism
10. My comp and I
11. Me at the beach
12. Rebeca
13. Robertha
14. My self service masterpiece
Sorry no picture of Xila, she's camera shy. I'll try again
this week
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