Last transfer, lets see if I can start a streak

 (Elder Putnam)

Friends and Family...

This is my last transfer and so I have a goal to send an email home every Monday. We will have to see how it goes, but at least we are gonna start on a good note. These words that I've just typed out will probably make my mom weep with joy.

This past week has been awesome. Like honestly its just been super fun and I'm super energized for next week.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we didn't have anything big happen. I packed up all my stuff really tight and compactly, which I'm super proud of. Since I'm getting transferred over with Elder Beebe to be with Elder Woods in Brīvības I was able to see that I'm gonna have no problems bringing stuff back home. I'm gonna have space and weight in my suitcases.

On Wednesday we had our actual transfer. Not a ton took place outside of that except for some finding and whatnot.

Thursday was really fun. We went and served at a Ukrainian help center where we made hygiene kits to send to people affected by the war. We formed an assembly line and worked so efficiently. There is something beautiful about efficiency. When something just works without problems its so amazing. At the end we compiled 197 hygiene kits before we ran out of supplies. We went and told the instructor and she was very surprised that we had finished it all in an hour and 30 minutes. The project was expected to take 2 days. no sweat for the Rīga first district.

On Friday we were able to meet with Ralfs and finish teaching him about the plan of salvation. He is so chill so its hard to see if he's ever feeling the spirit. But he's keeping commitments and wants to be baptized, so... I don't know I guess we'll dip him at some point.

On Saturday we had a baptism for Lehijs. Thats a member's son. He was so excited for his baptism that he made his own poster and bore his testimony at the end. I'll send a pic of the poster. At the baptism I got to talk to Gatis Senkāns for like 30 minutes. He's so wise and charismatic and vibey too. he spat in my eye on accident. lol. I also had the chance to teach Arta, who got baptized a couple years ago about endurance to the end. She said it was really moving and really touched her. That was pretty cool. Saturday night we were in charge of basketball night and we had a good turnout. It inspired me to take some pictures and try even harder to get people to come next week. So I texted some old basketball contacts and invited them. I'll report next week on how it went.

Sunday was likely the high point of the week with the Sacrament. I feel like I had been preparing all week and just in general had been a better person and a better missionary this past week. Disregarding eating healthier, drinking more water, and working out harder and more often, I was also doing better spiritually. I've been listening to general conference sessions before 10 and after 9 so I'll include a suggested talk to listen to at the end.

We were finally able to meet with Persijs which was a win. Edžus is still preparing for baptism and has been taught all the lessons. He's just waiting on permission to get baptized now.

Monday (today) we went to get our hair cuts in the morning by Sister Hall. The Hall's are a senior couple and they absolutely adore us. They made nachos for us and then we gave them a spiritual thought to help Elder Hall overcome some concerns regarding the recent assassination attempt of Donald Trump. I never thought that I would teach that kind of a lesson, but there we were, using the story of Enos coupled with a few verses from the Doctrine and Covenants, to address a concern about politics. God is good.

This coming Tuesday we are gonna visit the šostaki family which will be fun. We are gonna go walk with them in their garden. Elder Beebe and I are trying to meet with all the members in Rīga before we go home. So far, they are the first ones but they will not be the last.

Anyways, I think that’s enough for this week. I hope that I will write an email next week too.

Talk for this week: God Knows and Loves You - Elder Allan T. Philips

Lehijs baptismal poster. What a legend

After the storm, something was born on the Fourth of July

 (Elder Mackrory)

Happy Birthday USA! Hope you had fun blowing stuff up!

This week was crazy for me. So crazy, in fact, that I can't for the life of me remember what happened in specifics. But I can never forget this week or the things I learned. The normal things happened, English class, district council, pday, lessons, contacts, and all that good stuff. But this is not what I want to focus on today. So we'll get to the real focus shortly. Here are the highlights:

14 fuscas for a total of 743.

Made cuzcuz (couscous) twice. It's a dish made from corn flakes cooked as if it was oatmeal. Since it's savory by nature, you can add things like eggs, deli meat, cheese, vegetables and all sorts of good stuff. So I did that. each time differently and each time better. The first time I just put green peppers, eggs, deli meat, and cheese. The second time I put green peppers, tomatoes, corn, carrots, savory sausage, onion (grilled of course), and cheese. It was incredible. Highly recommended.

Google maps told me that I have spent 58 hours walking this month. I don't take my phone with me every time we leave though, so it's more than that.

I don't know if you guys remember, but I had a division with Elder Levie on December 30. During that division, we taught the restoration to a family. This Sunday, the daughter and son were baptized, and their parents are next! Missionaries, no effort you put forth goes unnoticed. The people notice it, and your Heavenly Father notices it more. For me these fruits took a good 5 months to come, and some take more time.

I've started including slang in my English classes. The students really like it.

Alright, now for the good stuff. I've been thinking about what the most important thing we teach is. Is it the Book of Mormon? Is it the Plan of Salvation? Is it Baptism? While all these things are important and integral to anyone's true conversion, there is but one principle that goes above all these. It's repentance. Numberless times the scriptures call missionaries to “cry repentance” or “preach repentance”. The Savior himself was often quoted by starting with “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” This is the word for which I have been called. Preach repentance unto those who need it. Who needs it? People who are far from God. People who are close to God. People who are distancing themselves from God. People who are nearing themselves to God. Everyone. No matter the situation or the past, everyone needs repentance desperately. It is the only way we can overcome the world. Christ has already done that, and he has given us the tools to do so as well. The Spirit of the Lord drives away sin. Sin drives away the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord allows us to leave our worldly desires behind and follow Christ. When we have the Holy Spirit, we will reach a point where sin loses its appeal, and we are left wondering why we would ever want to sin. How do we get to having the Spirit? Repentance. Simple as that. Repentance allows us to realize our faults and shortcomings, but does not leave us in that gall of bitterness, it gives us the righteous desire to do better and to be better. In a lesson this week, we were setting goals for this incredible couple to follow the Word of Wisdom and other commandments. In the Spirit that this repentance brought, the wife said out of nowhere “and I need to be reading more of the Book of Mormon!” We had not mentioned the Book of Mormon in this lesson yet. But the Spirit of Repentance, who is the Spirit of the Lord guided her to make the changes she needed to make. The joy that comes from deciding to follow the Lord leaves us wanting more and more and more. Repentance is not sadness and guilt. It is joy and relief. It is what I now strive to fit into every conversation I have, be it with members of the church, other missionaries, or with our friends. Repentance is the most important thing that my calling holds. As a missionary, it is my duty to share the joy that comes from repentance. In my prayers I always reflect on how I can become better. In doing this, my guilt of not being better before is swept away and joy, greater than was my guilt, fills my soul. I feel inspired and full of righteous desire. A fire fills my spirit as I prepare to preach to the souls of this dispensation. There is no greater joy than that of repentance. Make it a daily goal to reflect on how you can become better, and your day will be filled with inexplicable joy. I promise this. The lesson we had with this wonderful couple was a tender mercy for me and I am forever grateful to have experienced it.

Fotos:

1. Batismo of Bryan and Maria Martha

2. Haircut

3. English class

4. Théo, the goat

5. Cuzcuz part 2 (has the fork)

6. Cuz cuz part 1

7. All you can eat buffet

8. Super sick bike

9. The district

Just Another AWESOME Week

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey y'all!

So I've been told that y'all want me to spend more time talking about the missionary work I'm doing. That's valid. I just get worried that if I write too much, y'all won't want to read my emails! But I'll work on including more details in these emails.

One of the biggest things that happened this week was that I got to meet my new mission president and his wife! They are incredible! They're really young too! They have 4 boys and a little girl named Honey (isn't that the cutest name ever??).

Apart from that, we also got to meet a lot of people since we've been on the bus. Actually, it's crazy because we were walking because we missed our bus and we ran into this guy who's been inactive for a while and had just moved to the area so he didn't know where the chapel was. So we told him! And he invited us over for din din on Sunday and that was a absolute hoot! That's a miracle that's come from the car crash!

Anyways, I want to get to the spiritual stuff now because that's why I'm here! I love Jesus and want to tell more people about Him!

So I finished the BoM for the first time since starting my mission! (I finished it in 2 months!! CRAZY) and I just had a couple thoughts that I've developed on the importance of consistency. OH SIDE NOTE it's true. The Book of Mormon is true! But yes consistency. It's AMAZING and SO IMPORTANT. I've always kind of known that but I've seen it even more since I've been on my mission and with the Book of Mormon. Since I've been reading so much of the book so consistently, it makes so much more sense because y'all, it actually reads like a story. A story! It's amazing. Also, when you read the Book of Mormon everyday, you are blessed. I've found here on my mission that when I read it everyday I can better keep my mind centered on my purpose and on my Savior. It's great and I'm sure the consistency has been blessing me in other ways too. Y'all should try it! Please please please read the Book of Mormon!

Anyways, I love Jesus, I love y'all, and I miss y'all

Have a good one!

Love Sister Cummings,

About old question: I LOVED the responses to the last question about humility. I took notes and I'm going to write up my next spiritual thought on what I learned. So thank you!

New Question (PLEASE ANSWER): How do you grow your trust in the Savior?

Cause there we are again on that little town street

 (Elder Mackrory)

Hey folks! Tudo certo por aí?

This week was easily the fastest one yet. I don't know what day it should be, but definitely not pday. This week was so gratifying and I know exactly why. Wait until the end.

This week was a little slower than I was hoping, we only saw 12 fuscas. 729 total.

On pday last we did a nice little hike in Arraial do Cabo. I was really excited for the hike, but turns out it was just a walk over a hill for a hidden beach. Really beautiful and fun to dig holes in the sand. Elder Flores built sand castles and I dug tunnels, all the while the sisters were perpetually astonished at the male mind. Apparently women don't constantly want to dig holes and build sand castles. Strange. Digging a hole is one of the most gratifying things to do. If you know me, you know it was one of the first things I did when I moved to New Mexico. We spent the rest of the day exploring the city and then went home to chill. When we went out for work that night, we visited a good friend and introduced her to the Book of Mormon. Great time. That night, I was able to talk to a few friends who happened to be with my dad, including the dad of my #1 amigo. He also served in Brasil some time ago and so we spoke Portuguese together. Super cool.

On Tuesday we had my first lesson by audio messages. That was nice to be able to re-record when I make grammatical mistakes. I love to study the grammar, and so that means my knowledge of the grammar exceeds my ability to use it. It's frustrating. But I'm getting better. Weird observation: in Portuguese, you can say “I had taken” (eu tomara) instead of “I hope so” (espero que sim).

On Wednesday we helped set up for the branch festa junina and had English class. My students Like to learn slang, and since we were talking about clothing, I taught them about drip. Apparently I'm the drippiest American they've known.

Thursday was the Branch festa junina! Festa junina used to be a harvest festival, but nowadays it's just get together dressed as farmers and do line dancing and eat food. So basically just any other holiday. But it was fun, we got permission from president to stay up an extra 30 minutes!

Friday was interesting. We tried to find this one guys house and ended up getting on the wrong street. Upon realizing this, we switched over to the Correct street and found his house on the corner we arrived at. Cool little tender mercy there. We had an awesome lesson with Marcelo and he's loving the Book of Mórmon. On our way to our next appointment, the person canceled. His wife wasn't sure about us and had some worries. So we settled on passing by and introducing ourselves. He sent us his address and we started off. we had the street name and number. Arriving at his address, We called out “Alex!”. Alex's wife opens the door. We introduce ourselves, and explain a little about what we do. We expressed that we would like to meet with them another day. She introduced herself as Rose, and agreed to meet with us on Monday (tonight). We said good night and thank you and started off for our next visit. I sent a message to Alex telling him that we had just spoken with his wife, Rose. He responds, “my wife's with me and her name is Margaret, you must have spoken to the wrong person.” So we confirmed his address, and we had visited the right house. So we asked for his location (addresses are awful in Brasil and you often need a location to find things). The location he sent us was on the other side of the area. Turns out there are two roads with the same name, and two houses with the same number where both families have Alex as the father. So we have no idea who we just marked with, but we walked an Hour or so to the real Alex's house. We introduced ourselves just fine and all is well. So we'll see how our accidental lesson goes tonight with fake Alex and his family.

On Saturday we managed to mark a lesson with real Alex and his wife. There awesome people who love to talk about God. Especially Alex. We chat almost all day everyday about the gospel. He was really attentive and adored hearing about the Book of Mormon. He said he'd come to church. Then his wife said “don't just go there, get baptized!” So we marked a date for his baptism. The wife, ironically, is less interested, but we're working on that.

Sunday was great! Our new ward mission lead was called and he's very enthusiastic about the work. I'm excited to work with him. He speaks English Spanish and Portuguese fluently and is a natural conversationalist. Gonna be great. I spoke in church with 12 hours notice, which went well. Many of our friends came and so it was hard to keep track of them.

SummaRio:

12 fuscas, 729 total

Went to the beach in Arraial do Cabo and dug holes

I know less Portuguese than I know

My English students think I'm “Drippy”

Celebrated the harvest that didn't happen

Visited the wrong (right) house and found the wrong (right) people.

Alex is amazing and is getting baptized pretty soon

Spoke in church, and had the new ward mission leader called.

Tender mercy: on Friday we were struggling to put anything on the calendar, and we're kinda not feeling like doing anything so we just decided to act in faith and go out to teach. In the moment we decided to go out, things came to mind and appointments kept happening. We ended up teaching 4 lessons. The Lord truly prepared our path.

Spiritual thought: Repentance does not just bring joy. Repentance is Joy. This last transfer I’ve tried my very best to follow every rule and standard we missionaries have. And it's been an incredible ride. As ive tried to follow every standard, I've realized how far I've come short. The hardest and toughest parts of my mission have been in this last transfer and also the most joyous. In striving to be better, I am able to be more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. In moments of coming short, I feel guilt and sorrow for the things I did or didn't do. This feeling is known by many in the scriptures. Lehi, at one point having insufficiently exercised faith, experienced this guilt: “he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.” I felt this. From not keeping all the commandments, I feel the Spirit of the Lord retreat to a certain degree. For me, this is reproof enough. In solemn prayer, following the examples of all the scripture heroes I know, I ask forgiveness and make plans and goals to be better. Godly sorrow reproves sin and incites righteousness. I felt the godly sorrow, repented of my shortcomings, and resolved to do and be better. In fulfilling my desires to become better I feel my spirits soar and the Spirit of the Lord once again residing in abundance with me. Alma the younger describes it well, “my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” I would go further to say that the joy exceeds the pain. This process repeats itself daily, and each day I experience the consequences of my shortcomings and the joy of becoming better. Daily repentance is daily joy. Try daily repentance and come to know the paradise that comes from overcoming the natural man. This joy is incomparable and indescribable. There's beauty in that. You gotta experience it to know it. So go! Review what ways you can become better! Pray for guidance as you make these changes! Don't wallow in pain, use it to motivate you to become the person God wants you to be! And then become better! Experience the joy I'm feeling every day!

See y'all in the next one!

Fotos:

1. Meme

2. Electric lawnmower???

3. Sick car?? Who knows what it is?

4. My drawing

5. Service project

6. "Hike"

7. "Hike" com todo Mundo

8. Beach

9. Me playing in the sand

Boom Boom Crash

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey howdy y'all!

Sorry I missed last week! I was really tired and decided not to send an email. But, I learned my lesson because apparently when you don't send an email, you get in a car crash! So yeah! We got in a car crash! It was definitely an experience! Everyone is fine but Sister Woodbury and I are now biking, walking, and taking the bus. It's a total hoot!!

Anyways, even with that trial this week, we still saw SO many miracles and were able talk to SO many people! So God had His hands in the car crash. That's not a sentence I thought I'd ever say but yeehaw!

Soo moving on the spiritual stuff:

Last week we had this one last zoom call with the Mission President and his wife because their mission was ending. It was so amazing but there was one thing that our mission president shared that really stuck out to me and it's this:

"You will never hear your Father say, 'are you worthy?' but 'Do you believe?' 'Will you receive?''

I have three words for this. Amen. Hallelujah. And Yeehaw!

Actually, I have some more words about it. I think it's amazing that repentance is up to us! It's up to our faith and belief in our Savior. We have to have faith that He WILL take our sins from us. You just have to trust them with Him. He has already taken them for you. He has already born your pain. You just need to trust Him. Which is the simplest thing to say and one of the hardest things to practice. But it's worth it! I promise!

I know these things, I've done these things, and I'm so thankful for my Savior. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I love y'all!

Sister Cummings

Question of the week: Where's the line between true humility and just being too hard on yourself?

I never saw it coming, nor would I have suspected it

 (Elder Mackrory)

¡Hola muy buenas a todos guapisimos! ¿Como están?

Don't worry about the Spanish, we'll get there. This week was nuts. We'll start as we always do: 18 fuscas, total: 717.

On pday, we pretty much just chilled. We went to the store and got our things, but that's pretty much it. At 6, when pday ended, we had our usual mission-wide zoom meeting. I don't remember if we did any of the usual things like review some standards or do a kahoot. President dropped some crazy news on us. Our mission boundaries are changing! We are opening 6 new areas in an new zone. This new zone actually covers where Elder Tacuche and I went for his eye appointment. So we went to the new zone before it was cool. Actually I've been there multiple times before because when we went to the temple with Sheila and Camila, we got off the train in Bonsucesso to catch a bus. But anyways, president said that the missionaries who were there (Rio South mission) had already been taken out, and so were not getting new missionaries. President would arrange an emergency transfer of 6 companionships to go fill those areas. Crazy. This is where the crazy starts.

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty normal days. Elder Reis and I got a call Wednesday afternoon asking if I could be the pianist for zone conference on Friday. Great job giving me enough notice to practice. Jk I'm used to it. They asked me if I had sheet music for the EFY medley with “we'll bring the world his truth” and “as sisters in Zion''. I didn't, but luckily Elder Patterson hooked me up. Thanks bro. Turns out it's not difficult sheet music, it's just loooooong. We didn't have a printer, so we sent a message to president since we were going to see him the next morning for interviews. 10 minutes later we get a call from him to answer my question. First question he asks: “Does this sheet music have copyright?”. Oops maybe it does. Yeah it does. Saved by the bell. Now I don't have to learn 9 pages of sheet music in 36 hours. But I'm a little confused now. Why would president call just to ask that question? As my mind tried to find a reason, president answered. He said, “while I have you here…”. And proceeded to call Elder Reis to the new zone. So I asked him, “so what's the name of our new area?”. And he says, “oh, no, Elder Mackrory, you're going to stay here in Búzios”. Oh. Ok. Wait a second. “Who's gonna be my new comp?” I asked. “You will be with Elder Flores, covering the areas of Búzios 1 and Búzios 2.” Woah. “So then Elder Petersen Is out of here too?” “Yep. Elder Reis and Petersen will be companions in their new area. In fact, I was just about to call them”. “Alright then. Thanks president!”. Then the phone call ended and we're speedwalking home so we can see the live reactions of the others. We walk in during the phone call and Elder Petersen is jaw to the floor speechless. I got a good photo. So yeah.

So basically Thursday was spent packing bags and giving me the rundown of the area. Looks like it's gonna be fun! In the morning though, we went down to Cabo Frio to have our interviews with the president. We also did our district council that day to minimize travel. Super fun! The sisters who did the training made little cards to remind us all of that they taught. Then we got all our stuff that we ordered (box of copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, and my package). I got some pretty cool snacks and treats including a soda I haven't had in 11 months(ish). Man, I love Dr. Pepper. And my mom. Unfortunately with all the packing, I wasn't able to take any time to practice for zone Conference.

Friday was zone conference! We took an uber because we traveled with all the bags. We had a great time learning and socializing. After it all, we went home, and Elder Petersen and Reis left after saying goodbye. So that leaves Elder Flores and I. For my area, we didn't have anything marked, but we did have something in his area with an inactive family. We visited them and it turns out they're from Venezuela. And they don't speak Portuguese. So I had my first lesson in Spanish! I think it went pretty well. Obviously Elder Flores led the lesson and I staggered pretty often, but I didn't speak any portuñol apparently. I was able to give a simple testimony and speak about simple principles. Pretty neat and spiritually uplifting experience.

For those not familiar with the term, portuñol refers to the way of speaking for people learning Portuguese from Spanish or Spanish from Portuguese. Because the languages are so similar, speakers often just speak their own language and substitute in the words they have already learned. It gets really confusing to understand. So I’m really glad that I was able to avoid that!

On Saturday, we had lunch with an old Hispanic couple. They made sopapilla (Is that how you write it?) And spaghetti and chicken and beetroot salad. The couple invited a neighbor to have lunch with us. The whole time the Old sister is walking around lecturing us about everything wrong with Brazilian culture and how Venezuelan culture is so much better. She's doing all this is Spanish. It was really runny. When she wasn't lecturing, she was shoving food onto my plate faster than I could eat it. I don't know what happened or how it happened, but apparently the sister was able to get her neighbor to commit to living the Word of Wisdom. So that's great. So we gave our lunch message and shared a little bit about the Book of Mórmon and she's interested in learning more! So I echo my good friend in Chile by saying I love sassy, ornery, and opinionated old Hispanic ladies. It's a party.

Other than that, not much happened. Was a pretty chill week I would say haha.

SummaRio:

18 fuscas, 717 total

Our mission opened up a new zone with 6 new areas.

Copyright laws saved me from having to sightread 9 pages of sheet music

My comp was transferred

My new comp's comp was transferred

We're taking care of two areas now

We taught a lesson in Spanish

We got a pretty cool reference from a sassy old Hispanic lady who made us lunch

Tender mercy: we are always busy. As missionaries, there's almost always too much to do. This makes it difficult to stay on schedule. But this week we have made a point of being exactly obedient to the mission guidelines to help us handle all the work. And we have not been late to any appointment. We almost always arrive exactly on time. To the minute. Despite what Google maps said, despite the rush hour traffic, despite everything, the Lord has prepared a way for His servants to accomplish the thing which He has commanded. And I'm so grateful for it.

Spiritual thought: related to the tender mercy:

1 Nephi 3:7

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them.

There is nothing the Lord has commanded which is impossible for us. Even the commandment “be ye therefore perfect” is possible. Why? Because without the Holy Ghost, without access to the atonement, nothing is impossible. We would keep falling into further and further sin and ruin. The simplest commandment cannot be fulfilled without help from The Savior. And so, as follows, the most difficult commandment requires the same saving influence. The only difference is time. We will be made perfect one day. Just remember sometimes It takes a while, but that the Lord always prepares a way for His earnest followers.

1. Van windows are funny

2. New comp!!!

3. Flowers

4. What kind of doctor was doctor pepper? A fizzician

5. Elder Petersen’s live reaction

6. Burned myself making popcorn

7. 50 cents for a giant doughnut isn't bad

8. Xila lost two legs???? How????

9. Rebeca eating dinner

10. District council

11. Elders choir

I think I've seen this film before

 (Elder Mackrory)

Olá gente, vamos lá…

This week was pretty good, lots of miracles and cool experiences. We saw 18 fuscas this week, bringing the total to 699. So freaking close to 700. But we will make it. I saw one today that will be counted for next week so technically we're already at 700, but not officially until next week.

On pday we just chilled around. Went to McDonald's and got ice cream. I discovered everyone says “Méque” instead of McDonalds. It's a nickname that even McDonald's has accepted and puts on the billboards here. I prefer Rei dos Búrgueres (Becá) personally.

On Tuesday we had district council in the farthest chapel from where we were. We had to leave the house at 6:45 and we still missed the bus, arriving around 9:20ish. Then it was another 2 and a half hours back. Great view on the bus ride. If I wasn't sleeping I would have taken some photos.

On Wednesday we had English class! This time we organized a special event for the students with the Branch president. We watched a movie! In English! I was looking forward to it since last Wednesday, and I was so disappointed that they chose the emoji movie! probably one of the only times in the mission that ill get to watch a real movie, and I had to watch that one. Oh well it was fun to watch and eat popcorn.

On Thursday we had lunch at a Hispanic family's home, and I was surprised that I understood all that they said! It was a good meal too. Venezuelan missionaries are eating good. I haven't the slightest idea of what it was that I ate, though. It was good. They also had the cutest little 2 year old girl that thought I was a magician. She had a little plastic ruby jewel that she handed to me, and I did the classic pretend-to-grab-with-the-other-hand-and-pull-it-out-of-her-ear gag. She didn't catch on, but she did start to check her ears when I made it disappear. So then I pulled it out of her nose and she was completely awestruck. She loves to blow kisses and make half of a hand heart to make you make the other half. Super cute.

On Friday our Door knocking led us to the beach (oops). So we did our companion study (took photos) and took a little breather (played on the swings). We're getting better at actually doing companion study, but it was nice to visit the beach. The beach is windy at sunset.

On Saturday we had an awesome day! At district council I got a new idea for how to do door to door contacting from another missionary. So we tried it out and found It works great! Turns out people love saying prayers. When you show up at someone's doorstep Asking to say a prayer, people oblige and become curious and ask why. So we tell them about our purpose as missionaries and teach just a little bit of what we believe and if they'd like to know more. Simple.

And it worked for us. On Sunday after church, we came back to this lovely lady's door and she gladly let us in and we were able to talk about the Book of Mórmon and help them understand the purpose of life. It was a great experience. The mother is also like 9 months pregnant, so she is definitely giving birth this week. That'll be fun for us. But it does give her time to read and ponder the things she's learning. So we're glad about that. We went to a public park expecting to do contacting in public, but turns out there was a big party with lots of alcohol and such, so plans changed haha.

Something else that happened this week was in utilizing my downtown to read the scriptures, I was able to read the last 50 Psalms, last 20 chapters of Alma, the book of John, half of The Acts, and many other gospel study resources. It's so fun to be able to have such an opportunity to learn and grow. I feel so close to the people I read about such as Moroni, Helaman, Nephi, John, Steven, Paul, and lots more as I read their stories, plights, and triumphs. I become to know that they are real people, that lived real lives, and that they all had faith in one man: Jesus the Christ. Through my scripture study, I do feel close to the people of whom I'm reading, but I feel closer to the Savior than anyone else. He lives. He loves you, individually and intimately. He did all that He did so that you could come back to live in His presence and in the presence of The Father. The prophets, apostles, teachers, and saints of the Gospel did and do nothing except it was/is to testify of Him who saves, be it through action or word. And it is all I desire to do as well. I find total joy in this work even though I live miles and miles from family, friends, Chick-fil-A, and every part of the culture that I grew up in. Here I find comfort and safety in knowing that I trust in the most trustworthy person to ever walk the face of the Earth. I find joy in seeing others learn and grow their faith in Him who brings joy. I hope the same spiritual relief that is offered to all those who diligently seek Him and desire to stay close. I guess this will be the spiritual thought today, it's getting late for me.

Tender Mercy: leaving lunch on Sunday, we were expecting to have to take two busses to get to our area, but the one bus that takes us directly to our area (it only shows up once in a blue moon) showed up in the first minutes of waiting at the bus stop! We were able to then dedicate more time to finding, teaching, and everything else we do. Also we saved a few bucks.

SummaRio:

18 fuscas, 699 total

Went to McDonald's on pday

Had 5 hours of travel to get to district counsel

Watched the emoji movie for English class

Played magic tricks on a toddler who was super cute

Comp study on the beach (minus the study)

Found a new way to knock doors

Taught an awesome restoration lesson to a VERY pregnant lady. We will let you know how that goes thus week

Got to read tons from the scriptures this week and always felt close to the savior (go read)

Tender mercy

Fotos:

1. Red Bull gives you Wiiings

2. Beach sunset (you can actually see some mountains in the distance that are part of my first area)

3. Xila

4. The difference between "a" and "para" finally

5. ✌️🐶

6. 🍽🐶

7. 3 wishes? Weak.

8. Beach swingset

9. That's a nice tower you got there... be a shame if somebody ďþəß ľĵęẃč ĝòpäɓẃq êŷ ĥĵ§øœp idk