Vintage tee, brand new phone

 (Elder Mackrory)

Boa tarde pessoal! Tudo joia?

Gostei desta semana, conseguimos muito. Inclusive, vi 23 fuscas! Só faltam 3 até 900!

Hey y’all, Elder Mackrory here. It's been a good week! Let's get into it. Last pday we just stayed at home and chilled. Honestly my favorite kind of pday. We had a meeting with the mission to discuss some changes being made to how we have lunch. The purpose of lunch with members was to help the missionaries save money and get to know the members. the focus is being changed. Now it is no longer to economize, but to strengthen the members and help them focus on the missionary work. As such, we will no longer be able to receive pix (Brazilian venmo) when members cannot offer lunch at home. In these circumstances, we just have to use our own missionary support funds to make lunch. This will be a big change from the norm. We don’t have all the details, but this change will take effect starting in October. After the meeting, we had our usual lesson with the part member family from Argentina (different family). Pretty average pday.

On Tuesday we had district council, and this change is making missionários bonkers. I'm totally OK with it, but apparently outside of our house, it's a big big deal. People are worried about going hungry on the mission and totally overreacting. It'll be fine. Promise. Just learn how to cook.

On Wednesday we had a super cool lesson with Jamile who is the neighbor of my favorite sassy Venezuelan grandma, with whom we had lunch on Saturday past. She was excited to hear our message.

On Thursday, we got unexpected news. First, I got a message from the ZL's asking if I could lead the music at zone conference the next day. So I said sure, no biggie. Then they said, “actually, do you wanna do a solo?” So I said “maybe, what's the song?” “I dunno, you choose”. So yeah. So I quickly give it a look on the gospel music app and find the only song that has sheet music and a recording of the accompaniment. Thank goodness it was I Am a Child of God. Quickly memorized the lyrics in Portuguese, and started practicing. We didn't have any confirmed appointments in the evening, so I was able to get the music down. Great to be able to get lots of notice for things.

Friday morning we left the house early and headed to Cabo Frio. Got to see my good friends Elder Patterson and Elder Roberts. Got news from the missionaries in my first area that Kamila and Douglas are being sealed next month and that Kaique is still being taught! Just good news from that area. The solo went very well, although it had been more than a year since my last solo, and so for some reason I was really shaky. The assistant to the president behind me was ready to catch me because he thought I would fall. But on the other side of the pulpit it looked alright I hear.

I also got to switch my phone out! By luck, the mission office had a newer phone available. It's a A23. Same year and line as the other one, but not the base model. Camera is nice, slow-motion capabilities, faster processor, and for some reason the font size can be smaller, which I really like. A friend of mine, Elder Hayes, who was actually Elder Kjar’s comp in the MTC, traded cases with me. Def won that trade. I basically ended up with an otterbox and he got some yellowing silicone case. He proposed the trade, his loss. The only thing I didn't like about the case is it made it hard to access the fingerprint sensor. A knife and red hot spoon made short work of that problem.

On Saturday we had English class. I figured out that Brazilians have a hard time hearing the difference between “thirty” and “forty”. They all think the TH sound is impossible. That and making the “L” sound at the end of a word. “I will learn to say thank you” becomes “I wiu lawn choo say fanku/tanku”.

Sunday we had lots of changes! We had a special meeting in Cabo Frio with our two branches. Our branch was discontinued and absorbed into the other branch. And apparently it will turn into a ward next week. Why they didn't make all the changes next week beats me, but for this week and this week alone, I'm serving the Cabo Frio branch. We had two lessons yesterday in the farthest neighborhood in our area. Because money is always tight, we decided to take the bus direct to there. But that meant we did about an hour of study in Cabo Frio before the time came for us to catch the bus. We had amazing lessons and met Jamile’s daughter Yasmin.

That's It for this week. Super good.

Tender mercy: We had something come up at the last minute before catching the bus on Sunday, and we almost missed the bus. By some miracle, we were able to make 19 minutes of travel in 11 minutes. Barely made the bus.

Spiritual Thought:

In Portuguese, the lyrics to hymns often change drastically to make the words fit with the music. In I am a Child of God, they do not. Each line corresponds to their English counterpart. The wording changes, but the same truths are taught. Why are these Truths so important? Why does knowing about our divine origin and potential have so much import?

1. I am a child of God,

I am here because of him.

He sent me to earth, gave me a home,

And such good parents for me.

Teach me, help me to keep God's laws

So that one day I may go and live with him.

2. I am a child of God,

Do not forsake me

And today begin

To teach me the laws.

Teach me, help me to keep God's laws

So that one day I may go and live with him.

3. I am a child of God,

And I will have a reward.

If I fulfill his law here,

I will live with him.

Teach me, help me to keep God's laws

So that one day I may go and live with him.

 

1. Coffee made with corn is pretty good

2. My leaf is bigger than your lead Shane

3. My bros going to Curitiba

4. The blood moon smiled at us

5. Eu amo buzios

6. Piña colada wafers go hard

7. Throwback to Sept 7, 2023

8. District Açaí

9. Zone conference 

Even if it's a fake god We'd still worship

 (Elder Mackrory)

Fala aí gente! de boa?

Esta semana foi boa. Estávamos fazendo mais trabalho nas ruas, então vimos mais fuscas. Esta semana vimos 18, levando o total a ser 874.

Hey guys! How are y'all? This week was different than any other week on the mission. It was probably the week in which we had the least success in the field. But at the same time, I was still able to feel motivated to keep going and to have joy. As such, there aren't many stories, but I'll recount the ones I do know.

On pday we went to cabo Frio in the rain and ate at the mall, except I was out of money so I packed a lunch. Apparently raw carrots are not acceptable food here. Everyone thought I was crazy.

On Tuesday we had district council, the first one of the transfer! As a district, we set good goals to promote unity between ourselves and within the mission. Made me super excited to get to work. On the long bus ride home, I wrote up and finalized all the programs for our district councils. Last transfer, planning DC's was something of stress for me, so I just went ahead and did it all in one go. In our district, both of the sister companionships are training, which, according to how mission family trees work, I now have two daughters. This means I've got a total of 6 kids on the Mish. And we've still got 11ish months to go.

On Thursday, we were informed that our lunch for Saturday was moved to a different family. Then, on Friday, it was moved again to a different family. Then we got a message on Friday night, and the conversation went like this:

"Good evening, Elderes!"

"Good evening, sister! Lunch changed?"

"Yep lol"

Writing it out, it seems less funny, but Elder Flores and I were dying of laughter.

Also, this week, I finished the Old Testament except for Isaiah (best for last). I also finished the new Testament except for Revelation (best for last). So, study has been really intense. After a chapter or two of Isaiah, I'll think, wow, that's a lot of information. Let's go to some lighter reading. Nope, revelations isn't easy either. So then we have the trust old Book of Mormon. Do you wanna guess where I'm at? Smack dab in the middle of 2 Nephi. So I can't catch a break. Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely loving it, but it is so much.

On Sunday, we had a problem. We woke up late. Not terribly, just about 30 minutes. But why? I was so confused. Neither of the alarms on our phones went off. Turns out that during the night, something happened, and my charger burned my phone and caused it to close the alarm app completely. So now my phone charges at the slowest rate possible. It takes about 10 hours to get a full charge. Luckily, I got in contact with my boy Elder Kjar at the office, and he'll have me hooked up with a new phone this Friday at Zone's conference. Until then, I'll have to be careful with my battery because I might not wake up with 100%. I think I might have a curse, lol. This will be the third phone I have on the mission, not because I'm reckless. Both times this happened, it was beyond my control or something completely unrelated.

Well, that's it for this week, now here's the good stuff: Tender Mercy: after a really long and tough day with almost no success, we got açaí. The way the guy prepared our cups was confusing, and we ended up getting each others orders mixed up. We didn't realize until we had eaten a little bit, and by that time, it was too late to switch. So we laughed and teased each other all the way home, saying stuff like "wow your Açaí is really good😀" "Yes, I know😒". Just a good pick-me-up.

Spiritual thought: This week, a friend of mine sent me a post from an anonymous member of the church. I really like their thoughts and completely agree. I will attach the image below. But the point of the post is to say that the things that bring the greatest blessings in this life are following the principles of the Gospel. Firstly I'd like to leave it clear that I have certainty of the doctrines that I believe. God exists and is our loving Heavenly Father. He sent His Son to prepare our path to return to Their presence. All of the prophets have testified of this and I believe in their words. But this certainty doesn't stop people from asking "what if it's all for nothing? What if none of it is true?" Well, if so, then the "fake" principles by which I live lead me to be a better person. The "fake" commandments give me real safety, assurance, and happiness. The "fake" Savior taught me how to live a life of fulfillment and love. I learned to forgive and move on, comforted by a "fake" knowledge that everything will work out in the end. What if it's all fake? Then so what. I'll live a much fuller life pretending it's real than accepting its fake. If it's real, then only God can imagine what is in store for those who live by such "fake" principles. Either way, I come out on top.

I hope a good week for y'all, until next time!

The Scriptures have something for everyone!

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey y'all!

Okay y'all this week was GREAT. Sister Nybo and I were SO BUSY but it was so amazing. We've been trying to talk to as many people as possible so we've been getting lots of rejection everyday. Which sounds hard but it's actually just been really hilarious! Sister Nybo and I laugh so much!

This is going to be a long spiritual stuff section so I apologize in advance but I just wanted to share with y'all what I've been studying as of late.

As some of you may know, in the past I've struggled with body image and eating disorder related issues which were very real and very hard. Well, the trials that I've had to overcome and am still working to overcome with these issues have really molded who I am today. They've refined me and have helped me to turn my mind and heart to my Savior and to His Gospel. They've given me the motivation and desire to study His words and to strengthen myself as I've learned more. However, recently, I've found myself wondering, "what do the scriptures have to say about eating disorders and body dysmorphia? How can they specifically help me and others in my same boat?" Well, I have found the answers to my own questions so let me share:

To start off, I want to share a quote from President Jeffrey R Holland that really started this whole study of mine. He shared these words in a BYU Devotional titled, "For Times of Trouble" and he said, “In this church, we ask for faith, not infallibility. Immerse yourself in the scriptures. You'll find your own experiences described there. You'll find spirit and strength there. You'll find solutions and counsel. “There’s one thing that I want to say about this quote and that is AMEN President Holland! Anyways, shall we see what the scriptures so far have had for me?

The first counsel the scriptures provided me can be found in 3 Nephi 13 in verses 30 through 33 which state:

"30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

 

Okay, let me tell you what these scriptures mean from my perspective. Through the filter of my trials. It means that God's got me completely. He knows the things that I worry about. He knows that I worry everyday about what I'm going to eat and what I'm going to wear and how I'm going to look but He wants me to trust Him. He's asking me to put more faith in Him so that I have less capacity to worry and be anxious about these other more worldly concerns. He wants me to seek Him first for comfort and counsel before I seek anything else.

Here's the next bit of counsel and personal understanding that I've found while studying. It's found in 2 Nephi 4 in verses 17 through 21 (sorry it's a long one" which say:

"17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.

19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my [flesh]; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh."

When I first read these verses, I just wanted to give big ol hunky "large in stature" Nephi a great big hug. I too sorrow sometimes because of my physical body but I know in who I have trusted and I'm going to continue to trust in Him because He's the only one that knows EXACTLY how to help me and provide me with aid.

Anyways, sorry if that was a lot but I just wanted to show y'all that the scriptures have something for EVERYONE. God is a GENIUS because He has inspired each prophet and writer in the scriptures to say the exact things that so many people need. If you feel like the scriptures have nothing to say about what you're struggling with then I'm sorry but you're wrong. Both me and President Holland can attest to that. So please read your scriptures!

I love y'all! Sorry for this massive email!

- Sister Cummings

Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find

 (Elder Mackrory)

Fala aí gente! Tudo joia?

Essa semana foi muito boa. Vou contar pra vcs aqui. Vi 17 fuscas, totalizando 856.

On pday last, we had transfer news. We were like 90% sire one of us was leaving. I was pretty sure it was gonna be Elder Flores. Welp. I was wrong. Turns out we're both staying here. So the time we planned to make our bags, we just hung out. Kinda nice.

On Tuesday we had district council, and went back to our area and had lunch with some of our Investigators from Argentina. Argentinian pizza is bomb. Since we thought we would be making our bags on Tuesday, we didn't have anything planned. So we did tons of online work and managed to fill Wednesday and Thursday which were pretty empty to allow for travels and unpacking/getting groceries.

On Wednesday we went around visiting people in the rich neighborhood. One person we tried to visit only had a street name, no number. So we decided to knock every door asking for this person. You wanna guess where she lived? On the last freaking house on the street. We knocked every door except hers when we got to her house. Amazing experience there, worth red knuckles.

Thursday was a day. We confirmed 3 lessons in the morning far from our house. So we went. The first guy cancels with us saying “sorry I'm in São Paulo” like what? We confirmed with you yesterday. How is this possible? Oh well we had a backup plan. Second one cancels because we took too long to get to her house (we arrived early). Third guy didn't respond and was not home. Great. Now what? Well, the Lord provides, and we were actually able to visit a less active member and have a good conversation! Then we left for lunch, and went back out to work. a few lessons, contacts, and lots of walking later, we arrived at home at 9pm. Exhausted. 12 hours without stopping. Longest day ever. But it felt good to work and get home exhausted. Slept well, but even in my dreams were knocking doors and finding people. I really don't get a break, but I love it.

On Friday we had leadership council in Cabo Frio, so that means 4 hours on the bus again. Yippee! But it was good. Learned a lot of good stuff and I left there feeling really motivated to organize everything in the district and make things moving well. So I did. Sent everyone messages and assignments and asking questions and everything else, and by Sunday I managed to organize the programs for the district councils and set up follow-ups for everyone.

Saturday was also a very long day. We had English class early in the morning and no one came. Then we had a very rushed trip to a lesson and then on to lunch. After lunch at least 3 people stopped us to talk. We met a guy who read the Bible in 22 days. Something like 60 chapters a day. Insane. Visits, lessons, walking, and the rest until 9pm.

Sunday was really cool. After church, we went to prepare the new house of a member. The previous owner did not clean the house like ever, and the house was disgusting. But now it's limpinho. We had a very good lesson with our Argentinian family and I spoke my best Spanish yet. It got to the point where speaking Spanish was easier than Portuguese. I couldn't bring myself to say “Igreja”, all I could think was “Iglesia”. Definitely felt the power of the Gift of tongues.

Tender Mercy: On Tuesday, because of the extra time we didn't plan for, my companion and I did a transfer planning session. We arranged all of our goals and we arranged the calendar all beautiful and it actually relieved a lot of stress that I didn't even know was there.

Spiritual thought: Yesterday I finished the Old Testament minus Isaiah. I'm saving the best for last. In the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ teaches “And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.” (3 Nephi 23:1). The Lord Himself gave us the commandment to search the words of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah is hard to understand, sometimes seemingly impossible. That's because the truths contained therein are so precious, the Lord saw fit to hide them, as He did with His parables. Because it is difficult to understand, we need to study it more, and line upon line, it will be given us to understand.

Photos:

1. Beautiful rooster

2. Super old car from Argentina

3. Panini press is the best way to reheat pizza

4. Sunset at the beach

5. Super good thing I made. Ate it with rice (not pictured)

6. That moment when your ear hair is longer than your actual hair

7. Yellow cocos?

8. The sun was dark one morning

I Miss Playford

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey Y'all!!

This week was AMAZING! So much happened. So much good!

This week was my last week in the Playford which is so sad! There's so many people there that I've made such genuine friendships with. I'm going to miss them bunches! But that's okay! There were absolutely zero "goodbye forevers". I know I'm going to see all those amazing people again!

I got transferred to Firle which is the area that has the temple and the mission office so I'm so stoked to be here! I got to bear my testimony in my new ward and I ended up saying "y'all" a lot in it and got teased for being so Texan. It was fun!

Moving onto the spiritual stuff!

I wanted to talk about what I bore my testimony on this Sunday and that's this:

Since I've been on my mission, I've been telling myself this one motto over and over and over to keep myself going and it's this, "I'm not here for me, I'm here for Thee."

This motto has been sooo helpful in keeping my mind where it needs to be as I deal with the difficulties of day to day missionary work. Sometimes I really have to remind myself that I'm here on the Lord's errand and not on mine. But, as I've been pondering more about this little phrase l've found that it doesn't just apply to missionary work but to our whole lives. We came here to Earth to prepare ourselves to return to Him again. We are here for Him.

So, keep living your life for Him!

I love y'all. Have a good one!

- Sister Cummings

Question of the week: What do you live for?

I am a child of Christ

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey Howdy y'all!

These last four days since my last email and P-day have been absolutely FANTASTIC!

The one bad thing is that Australia lied to us! It started getting really hot and sunny and we thought summer was coming. But it was a lie. On Saturday, it got SO cold and SO rainy and Sister Yochim and I were not prepared and spent the whole day soaked and shivering. But the work must go on and so we did too!

I don't know if I already told y'all this but I have a violin right now! Isn't that insane!! It's amazing! And yesterday I got to play it with one of my favorite people on this Earth (shout out to Tilly! I love you!) and I felt the spirit SO strong. It was just so healing and amazing! Definitely a miracle moment for me!

Now to the spiritual stuff

Moroni 7:19 says,

"Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ"

One question came to mind as I read this verse and that was, "what's the distinction between being a child of God and a 'child of Christ?'"

So, I asked my fellow missionary, Sister Walters (she's absolutely amazing by the way!), what she thought and this is what she said,

Well, everyone is a child of God. We just are. And it's special. But it's 300× more special when we come to know God's Son, our brother, Jesus Christ. When we develop a personal relationship with Him and let Him become our everything, that's when we become children of Christ, and that's beautiful.

Isn't that amazing! And now this is what Elder Ginn said,

Our Father gave us the chance to choose a relationship with Him, and that happens through Christ. When we commit to a relationship with Jesus, He becomes the Father of our spirit, changed by His grace! (Mosiah 5:7)

And Sister Forrey (the COOLest sister) wanted to give her input too! Here's what she said,

One of the greatest things about being a child of God is that we have Agency. We came to earth to choose to come back to Him. And just like Elder Ginn said, that can only be done through Christ. I really like 2 Nephi 2:27. It says, "...men are free according to the flesh... and they are free to choose liberty and eternal life through the great Mediator of all men..." It all comes down to our choosing Christ so that we can fulfill our eternal destiny as children of God.

AMEN. Aren't they just AMAZING! I'm so grateful to be serving around such beautiful missionaries with such beautiful testimonies.

Anyways, I don't have anything to add to that!

I love y'all! Have an AMAZING day! And let me know if there any songs y'all would like me to play on the violin!

- Sister Cummings

Question of the week: How do you know that God knows you personally and loves you?

Closing Remarks

 (Elder Putnam)

Dear Friends and family,

This past week has been outstanding. It was my last full week of missionary work and I no longer have a regular day. On Tuesday I will have district counsel, interviews with president and dinner at his house. On Wednesday, I will fly out in the morning and be released in the evening from missionary service. Something sister Ceimere said really kinda shocked me. She said that when you are released, you feel the support of the blessing of your calling kinda disperse. It kind of concerned me and I'm not really looking forward to it. If you have any advice regarding that please let me know. I'd love to hear it.

On Monday, we visited Sigulda and took a cultural day in order to do so. We checked out the castles and the gardens. It was very pretty.

On Tuesday we had district counsel and a lot of lessons. Elder Williams choked on a tomato and was trying to get it up for the entire duration of the devotional. Sister Smart also came back and visited with her family so we got to talk with her.

On Wednesday we struggled with our lessons, but the highlight was definitely visiting Gatis and Gunita. Marta is also high key a legend. (Although she wasn’t happy at church on Sunday.) We had a really good conversation about how we can be tools in God's hands. It was super cool to hear how Gatis was able to put together a meeting between the archbishop of the Rīga Lutheran church and Elder Renland when he came. Pretty cool. Gunita shared about how she used her musical talents and learned English from her mission to translate the hymnbook into Latvian. They made us delicious pesto and not so delicious tomato and avocado salad. But the gift of tongues works in mysterious ways.

On Thursday we had online MLC and a bunch of lessons. We also went to dinner with the Halls at a dark ages themed restaurant. It was delicious. We got to celebrate our missions together and encourage the missionaries that still aren’t going home. Gatis also joined a call lesson and that made it so much better. Like he just knew exactly what to talk about to help this duds feel the spirit, especially cause he was kinda bashy. I love Gatis.

On Friday was Edžus' baptism. For a good portion of the day we were preparing for that. We has a goodbye lesson with Arta and then Edžus' baptism was a spiritual high. Roger, one of our friends whose just starting to learn with missionaries was fascinated with the baptism and then talked with Lauris Sapožnikovs for like 30 minutes after it. So many people showed up to support Edžus and the Spirit was very sweet.

On Saturday we took a bus out to Nākotne (translation: the future) which is a small town in the countryside. We helped the Sapožnikovi clean up their land after the big storm we has recently. Marija kept coming up and throwing water balloons at the missionaries, predominately me. She also helped us with some of the smaller branches. On the way back after she helped us she was walking behind me and I put my hand out to give her a high five. Instead of hitting my hand she took it and started walking with it. That melted my heart. She's like 5-6 years old and reminds me of my little cousin. Super sweet experience. We got back in Rīga for my last basketball night in Latvia. Elder Beebe and I were battling it out. Honestly he has turned into a really good defender especially against me. Gotta respect him. We go at it pretty competitively and make some good plays on each other. We'll have to recruit him down from Utah state for the intramural team. He's just gotta marry someone at BYU to qualify.

Sunday topped all other days, even though we did have a baptism. Edžus received the gift of the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting which set a wonderful start to the meeting. He also bore a short testimony and did some incredible member work welcoming in a first time church comer. A+ for him. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Elder Beebe, Bastow, and I all gave our farewell talks. It was a great experience, since a few members from Liepāja were travelling back from the temple and I was able to say goodbye to them in person. After second hour, I had the opportunity to sit with a member and open the scriptures. I felt like President Mahslakti-Tolstosheev in my interviews with him. This member expressed some concerns and we read together about the stripling warriors. For privacy reasons I won't get into what we talked about but it was a very uplifting experience for both of us. Afterwards Elder Beebe, Elder Bastow, and I visited the Frīdbergi for dinner. They are just such a celestial family. I don't know how they do it, but Harolds is gonna be a deacon next year and I'm super excited for him. On Sunday I also had a really good sacrament experience.

Today, P-day, we played basketball and Baltic ball. My joints ache. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As for spiritual things, my favorite talk that I listened to this past week was Elder Renland's The Powerful and Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. I especially like how he mentions at the end that we will fall off the Kayak. It doesn't feel good to spiritually fall off the Kayak, but by constantly moving forward, taking the steps of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and applying His atonement, we work up to it. Getting back on the spiritual kayak requires effort, not just subconscious passive movement. And we will fall off the kayak more than once. Its comforting and motivating to know that.

Here are a few pictures from this past week.

I will be giving somewhat of a farewell talk on this Wednesday evening. If you're interested in watching, send me a message and I'll get you the zoom link. It'll be like 5:45 Mountain Daylight time. (I’m not gonna be able to speak in sacrament meeting so it’ll be more like a welcome home party and testimony.)