Then why'd you have to go and lock me out

 (Elder Mackrory)

Bom dia galera! Como é que vocês estão?

Vi 21 fuscas esta semana, totalizando 1044. Tô começando a reconhecer os fuscas na minha área, tá sendo difícil não contá-los de novo. Mas vou ser honesto, podem deixar.

Hello friends and family! How yall doing? Last pday we planned to head down to aeroporto to do a district pday, but we backed out in order to teach our person on baptism date. We set his baptism for this week on the 3rd. We're praying that his dad lets him get baptized. Please add him to your prayer list. This kid has a true testimony of the truth, and the only thing in his way is his father's permission.

On Tuesday we had a great district council, and we're truly able to debate ideas and leave feeling edified and motivated to be the best missionaries we can be. I had a division with our district leader, Elder Humerez. He's pretty cool, but he walks really fast. That's not a bad thing, but I'm already a fast walker. So to say he walks fast means he walks fast. Anyways we got a lot done. Before we could get anything done, however, we realized we forgot to get the keys from Elder Mena. Locked out. So my first thought is “Bem, there goes our dia, we're gonna have to viajar 2 horas para ter as chaves back.” Side note: my brain is a disgusting slush of half português half English. I won't be able to communicate when I get back. Anyway, by luck, a member of the bishopric works for the bus system, and we arranged for him to basically call a friend and have the keys sent to us by bus. We got the keys, and got a lot done. At night we had a family night with Cleyton and his family. His wife got baptized a year ago, and he's still unsure when is his moment. But he told us that he's making changes and is getting ready to be baptized soon.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were pretty normal days. Lessons, English class and a family night. On Saturday, however, we decided to walk around the world. Probably About 4 hours of walking. But we were able to have two member lessons, we found like 4 people and visited some less active members. Super productive, but I was exhausted.

On Sunday, we woke up to torrential rain. It got cold during the middle of the night and I turned off the fan. When my alarm went off I was confused because it sounded like the fan was still on, but it was in fact just the flow of traffic (water) on the road (river) below. This was scary for me, not because of the weather in itself, but because this would mean church is canceled. And we would have to remark the baptism date

So I prayed. Then I prayed again, and by the time we had to leave, the rain had stopped and the road was no longer flowing with water. When we got to church, our friend on baptism date was already there, patiently waiting in the pue. That day, we exceeded our goal of potential members at church, and all the recent converts went as well. Miracles happen you guys, and they happen through faithful prayer.

Other news: I finished working out my version of the goals spreadsheet. It works better than the original (sorry pres) and has a nice BYU theme. 

Tender mercy: On Friday we were walking around and we were approaching a youth. Elder Mena said that they taught him like a month ago, but that he said he didn't want to talk to the missionaries any more and that he didn't believe in God anymore. The kid stopped us and told us this great experience where he now knows with certainty that God is real and cares for us. He wants to meet with us again.

Spiritual thought:

President Brigham Young taught, “Let us train our minds until we delight in that which is good, lovely and holy, seeking continually after that intelligence which will enable us effectually to build up Zion, … seeking to do the will of the Lord all the days of our lives, improving our minds in all scientific and mechanical knowledge, seeking diligently to understand the great design and plan of all created things, that we may know what to do with our lives and how to improve upon the facilities placed within our reach.” Lately I've been captivated by the concept that we can change our very nature in Christ. We can even train our minds to enjoy good thoughts instead of always having to work to put good things there. How can we “train our minds until we delight in that which is good, lovely and holy”? What results from “improving our minds”?

Fotos:

1. Mini pineapple growing

2. Landscape

3. New profile Pic

4. Sunset

5. Meme

6. Her name is Aurora and she likes to sleep

7. My spreadsheet

Mmm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm

 (Elder Mackrory)

Fala galera! Tudo bem com vocês? Yes, this is a Taylor Swift line; go listen to Hey Stephen.

Vi só 14 fuscas, totalizando 1023. Mas eu vi tipo 10 fuscas que já vira antes, então eu acho que por mais que esta área tenha mais fuscas que Búzios, não vou poder contar todos eles.

This week was freaking awesome. Filled with miracles, culinary delights, and more spreadsheet fun. Basically all you could ever ask for.

On pday, I decided to make pizza. But first we went to get haircuts and go to the store. At the barbershop, the wall art hosted some classic F1 cars. Back home, I threw together the pizza and threw it in the oven. Guys. It was the best pizza I've tasted here in Brasil. I've told you that I don't like the pizza from here. My comp said it could easily be sold for 100 reais (your average pizza is somewhere between 50-70 reais). I was like actually jumping for joy because it had been so long since actually good pizza. Good times.

On Tuesday, we didn't have district council. What? Don't worry, we'll get there. On Tuesday we had a lesson with a new friend and we ended up talking a little bit of music and he started singing an Evangelical song that I really like. You should have seen the look on Elder Mena’s face when I started singing too. 🎵Ai Jerusalém, por que deixaste de adorar? O Deus Vivo que em tantas batalhas te ajudou? Chora Israel, num lamento só, talvez Deus Se lembre do bichinho de Jacó. Chooooooora Israeeeeeel! Babilônia não é teu lugaaaar! Clama ao teu Deeeeeus, Ele te ouviraaaaá, do inimigo te libertará! 🎶 and then there's an epic violin solo. Good times.

Wednesday we had our first English class, and it went well I think. They think the way we say Gabriel is really funny. Then again they were all teenage boys so why wouldn't Gaybriel be funny.

Thursday we had district council and Interviews with president. The bus is really expensive so we arranged to have both events at the same time and place. Sister Dutson brought some really good cookies. Learned some cool things in the interview. that night we had a family night and got some free Açaí. We met their neighbors who own a pizzeria. They liked us so much they invited us over the next day for pizza. We were super hyped of course because free food is free food, but I'd rather rice and beans than a 6/10 pizza.

On Friday we had a really special experience where we found a lady who was interested. We found her in her tiny clothing shop. As I looked around the clothing shop, I see a children's white button up shirt. I asked how much it was and it was a really low price. So I bought it and we then went to a recent converts house who doesn't have a white shirt and gave it to him. He's nine and his parents doesn't really do all that much for him.

Saturday night we went over for pizza and started chatting to the guy and his wife and they're really gente boa. He then let me put the cheese on the pizza and then it goes into the oven he built brick by brick. like 5 minutes later a perfectly beautiful pizza comes out and it's ready to eat. Oh my goodness I thought my pizza was the best. This pizza was a 9.5/10. Only complaint would be too much cheese, but that's on me. Seriously so good.

On Sunday there was a really big soccer game after lunch, and so everyone is locked up inside or at the bar. The fact that it was raining as well made it almost impossible to find people. But days like that come, so its all good. I also got an email from Elder Kjar with a copy of President Dutson's goal spreadsheet. So there go my relaxing plans today. We'll be working on that and scholarship essays today.

Tender mercy: Yesterday, I spoke in church. I was given little time to prepare, but thankfully the topic was one that I had just happened to be studying that week and so I was able to find scriptures, conference talks, and more to prepare a talk in record time.

Spiritual Thought: In studying on the topic of Idolatry, I came across the thought that, in the same way that “cold” is just the absence of heat, “wickedness” is really just the absence of righteousness. I brought this up in my interview with President and he made an interesting comment that I liked. He said that there are two types of sin: omission and commission. Basically, you can sin by sinning or refraining from doing good. So, I learned that simply not doing bad things isn't good. Only doing good things is good.

Fotos:

1. Me messing around on Google sheets

2. My rainy area

3. The best pizza in Brasil (the tomato side)

4. Real pizza oven

5. Real cacao fruit

6. Interviews with president

7. The second best pizza in Brasil

8. Sick wall art

Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years

 (Elder Mackrory)

Bom dia galera! Como foi a sua semana? A minha foi incrível. No sábado, eu não vera fuscas o suficiente pra chegar aos 1000. Mas o Senhor me abençoou. No sábado e domingo eu vi 14 fuscas! Talvez isso seja o recorde de dois dias. Em total, vi 31 fuscas, totalizando 1009!!

Also this week I ended my teenage years. It's a real shame that I've gotta act like an adult now.

Last pday we took it slow, cleaning the house and going to the store. Just normal pday things. On Tuesday we had district council in lagomar, and we had to take a bus that cost R$17,30. Then we took that same bus back to Macabú. We then started our normal activities. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday were pretty normal days, but they were full of finding new people and lots of success in doing so.

On Friday we had zone conference. Presidente first got up and spoke about goals. And he had me sparkle-eyed. Why, you ask? Because he pulled out his ✨️spreadsheet✨️ for goal setting and goal tracking. This thing is set by month, and automatically sets the calendar in order, with space to add like 10 goals, which can be reported in binary or in base 10. The spreadsheets averages, shows graphs, points out tendencies, and much more. And this spreadsheet has been active since 2014. It's incredible and I've never wanted something so bad in my life. So that is my plan today. I'm going to make a goal spreadsheet. That day on the way home I tried to do something, but was completely stumped by the coding. I thought at first that I'm just rusty, but then I realized that I was trying to write English functions (they don't work when your phone is in Portuguese). So then things started to smooth themselves out when I started writing “Se” statements instead of “If” statements.

That night we had a family night with Cleiton, who is what missionaries call an “eternigator”. Basically an investigator who takes forever to do anything, but loves to have the missionaries over. His wife was baptized over a year ago and their children are all in primary. We don't do a whole lot with him since he's not really progressing. But since I'm new here we decided to use my newness to try to reactivate his interest. When we showed up, we started talking and he mentioned he's gone a week without breaking the word of wisdom, just because he felt that it was the right thing to do. During that week, he felt the need to be baptized. Guys repentance works and miracles are real and happen. Now that the Spirit has done His part, now it's time for us to do ours.

On Saturday we had a normal day. It was actually a great day. Let me tell you why. Not because it was my birthday, because it wasn't (I’ll explain later). There were lots of things that happened. First, we had an amazing lunch at Cleitons house, then we went to some recent converts house. Great lesson there, and as we left, something weird was happening. On the ground, There were lots of big ants. Like an inch long or bigger. Some of them had wings. When I say there were lots of them, I mean like there were enough that I could have stepped on one in every step if I wanted to. So there's lots of kids in the street with an empty 2 litre bottle “hunting” the ants. They grab the ants and put them in the bottles. And the bottles are being filled. Bugs don't gross me out. But what Elder Mena said is that these ants, called tanajuras, come out once a year and die. What people do is grab them before they die, tear off the rear section of their body and fry it up and serve it as part of the farofa. Nasty. I am not a fan of crunchy ant butt. I got some good pictures of these disgusting creatures.

That night we actually had a terrible experience. Absolutely crushing to the heart. I won't go into it. I left that lesson feeling kinda sick and distraught. As we got home it was time to start my fast, and I was just feeling helpless and pained. As I knelt down to pray, I began to offer up my worries and burdens to the Lord. I don't know how long the prayer lasted, but as I started to finish, I felt an immense peace “as exceeding as was my pain”. I stood up feeling exactly opposite to the way I knelt down. I felt an extreme trust in the Lord and an understanding of the love He has for me and for the people we had taught. I knew everything would be alright. So for my birthday, I received the greatest gift I have ever received: An unwavering testimony of prayer and fasting. I gained a greater trust in the Savior and a greater understanding of His love for each one of His children. I know now for a surety that the Atonement is not only for our sins, but for all burdens, sicknesses, and pains. The Lord is not reluctant to give us access to His power, He wants to give us access to it.

Like I said, Sunday was a pretty normal day. But there was one thing that was remarkable. As the day unfolded, I watched each of the things I prayer for work out. We taught the same family which left me so distraught, this time with the environment completely changed. It was a joyous lesson. During the day, things just worked out and I saw the Lord's hand in all of it. How grateful I am to be a part of the marvelous work and a wonder, and to be feeling to sing the song of redeeming love. This work is His work, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done. There's no better language to describe my joy here than that of the prophets.

Well that's it. Here's a tender mercy:

Waiting at the bus station in macaé after zone conference, I remembered a sister who owned a restaurant at the station. She provided the food for the conference, so I went to thank her for the food. Turns out she remembered me from when I was in Cavaleiros and gave me and my comp a cup of some of the best guava juice there is. Then she invited us over to lunch for stake conference. So it was good to see her again and get lunch and a cup of guava juice.

Spiritual thought: one thing that my mission president emphasized at zone conference was the importance of making and keeping commitments. He talked about our covenant commitments, our commitment to be a missionary, and in general the appointments we mark with people. He said that as we dedicate ourselves to God completely, He gives us forgiveness. This is why baptism is “for the remission of sins” when it seems like repentance is right there. I there learned that repentance is a change of heart, and making and keeping covenants is how we obtain retain remission of sins. Cool thought that really helped me to understand the relationship between repentance and baptism.

Fotos

1-4: the gross grilling ants

5-7: my beautiful area

8-9 my beautiful companion (feat. The chapel)

10: 300 days on duolingo

I got kissed

 (Sister Cummings)

Hey howdy y'all!

Sorry my emails lately have been so short and non-eventful! I'm going to try to repent by giving y'all a good one today!

So, what happened this week?

The first thing of note that happened this week is that our district had it's "last hoorah" by having dinner with President Standley and his family on Tuesday night! It. was. a. party. We love the Standleys so much. They legitimately feel like family. We laughed BUNCHES. Shared crazy embarrassing stories and jammed to music. It was yeehaw, to say the least.

The next thing that happened this week was that we did bunches of service this last Thursday and it was pretty normal work except for the one lady that had all six of us missionaries rip up all the grass in her front lawn by HAND. She refused to let us use a lawnmower so we legit hand-picked a WHOLE yard. It was kind of insane.

The last event of importance was that transfers happened this last Thursday night and Sister Nybo and I somehow thought it was at 8:30 instead of 8:00 and by the time we realized our mistake and joined the zoom call, President was already way past calling out our assignments so we had NO IDEA if we had been transferred. It was crazy. But spoiler alert, we weren't transferred and Sister Nybo and I are STOKED. We absolutely LOVE being companions.

Actually just kidding, THIS is the last even of importance. Yesterday, I got to drive ALL DAY. I LOVE driving so much. It's actually my favorite thing in this world other than Jesus, and my family and music, and actually lots of other things but that doesn't matter. Moral of the story, I just love driving. So, shout out to Sister Walters for getting the vid so that we could use y'all's car. It was yeehaw.

If you want to hear about how I got kissed on the mish, click the link at the bottom of the email and watch the vlog I made. TRIGGER WARNING if you're afraid of old men without teeth, don't watch.

Okay, I hope that was enough details for y'all but now it's time for the spiritual thought:

" If you want to be like Jesus, remember He had a wilderness, a Gethsemane, and a Judas"

^ I read that the other day somewhere on Facebook and I have just kept thinking about it. Our lives are difficult and sometimes it may seem like we're the only ones struggling but that's false y'all! Christ has struggled too and understands your pain to a perfect extent. Turn to Him. He's legit so amazing!

I love y'all!

Sister Cummings

Now I've read all the books beside your bed

 (Elder Mackrory)

Bom dia meus amados amigos e familiares! Belezinha?

Essa semana foi louco, nem sei aonde começar. Mas tenho certeza de uma coisa. Vimos, pela primeira vez desde Janeiro, mais do que 30 fuscas! Vimos 32, levando o total a ser 978. Eu acho que semana que vem vamos chegar aos 1000 fuscas! Vamos que vamos!

Let's start at the beginning. Pday was great. In the morning we got transfer news. Against my thoughts, I'm being transferred! My new area is Conceição de Macabú. My new companion is Elder Mena. He's awesome. He's from Ecuador, but he's been living for the past 12 years in the northeast of Brasil. So that means he's the perfect companion for learning Spanish from Portuguese, since he knows both languages very well. I spent the next hours packing my bags. I don't like that it is often necessary to pack 2 times, once for everything else, and twice for the things you need to you between the first packing and leaving. So I packed 1 time. That night I slept in my dress pants and shirt on a mattress without sheets or pillow. Wasn't as bad as I thought. Of course I left out my essential toiletries, but those just went in my small proselyting bag. That night we had a lesson with one of the Argentinian families we're teaching. For the first time since starting to learn Spanish, I led the lesson! In fact, I kinda dominated the conversation and didn't even realize it. Elder Flores gave a testimony and we said the last prayer.

On Tuesday we moved district council up an hour to be able to make our lunch appointment. We barely made lunch. But it was worth it because the lunch was incredible and the company better. We lunched with the other Argentinian family we're teaching. We then rushed from place to place, teaching and visiting. At last, we passed by the bank to take out money. Waiting for the van, some members passed by and gave us a ride home. Turns out the reason there's no big apartment buildings in Búzios is because it's a law that you can't build higher than the second floor. Weird. We than lied an Uber with all my bags and headed to Cabo Frio for the night. We decided that we wouldn't show up at the house, but at the chapel. There was a ward cake competition, and I was determined to eat cake. We showed up 40 minutes and so naturally just in time for the opening prayer. Good cake and hot dogs. The road home was rough and I opted to carry the giant suitcase on my shoulder instead of pushing it and breaking a wheel. I thought because I carried a sousaphone on my shoulder for hours at a time that a suitcase for 15 minutes would be nothing. But when the suitcase is 70 pounds it's a different story. The travel took 20-25 minutes and I got home sweating buckets. Good times. Got a solid 4 hours of sleep and got up before the sun to catch the bus to Rio.

The bus ride was great, and I finished reading the Bible! Such a great book. Highly recommend. And it means that I reached my goal to read all the standard works before my 20th birthday. I also started reading the teachings of Brigham Young. Super good! He teaching the gospel with such beautiful simplicity. Upon arriving in the mission office, got to meet lots of good friends and make some new ones. I had heard lots of things about my new area. Some say it's the hole of the mission and nothing ever happens. Others say it's the area with the most success. So basically it's an area that depends heavily on the missionaries that are there and the effort they put forth. So I'm excited that I'm going to an area with lots of success. My new area is in the Macaé stake and when stake conference happens, I'll be able to see lots of friends from the Cavaleiros ward. On the way there, Elder Humerez, Mena, Robison and I talked about conference. I put forth my guess of 17 temples being announced. The bus actually passed by a my old area and I was jaw to the floor the entire time. We passed by the old Macaé house, the central terminal and the 1001 terminal. The bus made a quick stop there and I descended real quick and got to chat for a second with Elder Patterson. Elder Mena and I stayed on the bus and it took us beyond the end of the world to Macabú. We got home exhausted and went straight to bed right after just a few unpacking things.

Thursday was up and doing things. We went to the store at exactly 8am and got our things for until pday and ran another errand. Back home I did more unpacking while my comp contacted our appointments for the day. We studied a bit, cooked and ate lunch, and left for our activities. We met some recent converts, members, investigators and basically I got a tour of the whole city. During our walking I got to practice some more Spanish and my comp practiced English as well. We got home exhausted.

Friday was basically the same thing except we had in person lunch. We also taught our 9 year old recent convert about the pre-mortal life and we did a practice where he taught us the doctrine. Kids learn really well if you make them teach. It's also really useful to know what they really retained.

Saturday was a spiritual banquet. Obviously we had conference, which we watched at a members house during lunch. after the session we had to zip back the chapel and teach a lesson to the friend of one of the youth in the branch. The friend's baby was super cute and was super interested in stealing my tag. The two of them ended up watching conference with us that evening and I confess that I paid more attention on the baby that I should have. It's ok, though. I can rewatch conference and the baby was really cute.

Sunday we had lunch early and then zipped back to the chapel to open it up for members to watch. Guess how many members came? 1. And he was only there to open up the locked closet where the TV is kept. After the session, we went over to a new friends house and tried to give her a Book of Mormon. She refused it and went inside without saying a word. Then she came back out with a dusty Book of Mormon with the names of two Elders who served in Macabú like 4 years ago. So we invited her to read and watch general conference. We'll be over to her house tomorrow, we will see how things went.

Spiritual thought: Guys. general conference was so freaking good. I felt rejuvenated and ready to face the evils of the day. Although it was not simply because the messages were gratifying and peaceful, but because each of them invited change. Moroni 7:13 reads, “...that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve Him, is inspired of God.” Goodness and truth are not passive. They incite action on the part of the listener. This conference, we sustain our prophets and leaders. It's easy to lift up your arm in support, but the true way to sustain our leaders is to follow their teachings. They teach nothing but that which has been or is being revealed by God. Go and put into action all the precepts of the speakers. Rewatch, relisten, and reread the discourses and think about how it directly applies to you. Then go and do. That's it guys. It's so simple.

Tender mercy: These last few days have been quite breezy and cool here in Macabu, which is contrary to the norm. It gave me the excitement that I needed to hit the ground running and get to work.

Fotos:

1. This kind of fruit grows on the bark

2. My new area is so pretty

3. The River of January (its actually a bay)

4. Our investigator's Porsche

5. A conferência dá sono

I thought I saw you at the bus stop, I didnt though

 (Elder Mackrory)

Boa tarde família e amigos! Espero que todos estejam bem. Essa semana batemos o recorde de fuscas nessa área! Vimos 26, acreditam? 946 é o total.

This week was incredible, just you wait. We'll start with pday. We stayed at home, but we did a pretty thorough cleaning. I got to return most emails I had in my email inbox. I made sure to respond to all of them before writing this one, so if you've sent me an email and I haven't responded, please send me another email, because I've not seen it.

My district last week met and superseded their goal, and so I made pancakes for them again. This time, I made them beforehand and just heated them up on Tuesday morning. Everyone in the district had received money for lunch, so we cooked together. I learned some valuable lessons on how to make good cheap food. I also learned how loyal Brazilians are to rice. They made rice, but the meal didn't have anything that went well with rice, but we still ate it anyway because it's a sin to eat a meal without rice. We then started a division (are they called exchanges in the states?), and I spent the day and night with Elder Murphy. He's super lit. We had a good time and learned a lot.

On Wednesday, we had some confusion about ending the division. On Tuesday, we agreed to end the division em Cabo Frio. Somehow, that was misinterpreted as ending the division in Búzios. So in the morning, the four of us switch areas. Elder Murphy and I came to Cabo Frio, and Elder Flores and Elder Albernaz went to Búzios. It's really annoying. Anyways, we worked things out, and they came back to Cabo Frio, and we finally ended the division. That afternoon, we visited Leia and família. We were able to remark their baptism dates and mark Kezia's baptism date. The father is still thinking about it, but he's supportive of the rest of them.

On Thursday we had a lesson with the part member family we usually meet with on Mondays. Their kids are sick, so we gave them some priesthood blessings. It was the first time I've given a priesthood blessing in Spanish. I think it went pretty well.

On Friday we had quite the day. A family that is being taught by the sisters needed to be interviewed. I don't like online interviews, and so we went in person. It's just that I didn't realize how far it really is. We got to the bus stop about 15 minutes early. This is the only bus that goes directly there. The map says it's delayed, so we wait about 20 minutes and it doesn't come. I look on the map again, and it says the bus was canceled and the next one will pass in two hours. Awesome. So, being tight on schedule already, we book it to another bus stop and catch a bus that will take us halfway there. A second bus took us all the way there. We arrived, shoved down some subpar subway, and headed to the interviews. The family is awesome, and each interview was something special. The interviews did take longer than we expected, and so we had to rush to the bus stop. Somehow, the mother of the family called up a friend and arranged a ride for us to get to the bus stop on time. We got to the stop early and when the time rolled around, the bus didn't show up and now it's canceled. At this particular bus stop, it's very far from any other bus stop and only the direct bus passes. We wait a bit and out of nowhere the bus shows up. We rush to get our things and jump on the bus. When I got around to pay, I realized a terrible fact. My phone was still laying on the bench at the bus stop. So, we got off just as soon as we got on and ran about a mile to the bus stop to get the phone and prevent it from getting stolen or wet (it was starting to rain). So at that point the next bus was scheduled at 10:30pm and not even reliably, so I called a very expensive Uber that hurt my wallet. Good thing I listened to Síster Dutsons counsel to have a reserve fund. We arrived at home finally.

On Saturday we had an equally Exhausting day, but this time for good reasons. After lunch we made use of the fact we're in a far neighborhood to contact everyone who had interest. We stopped by this store to ask for a house number we couldn't find, and when we told him the name and house number, he said “That's me! Are you guys here about the Book of Mormon?” Guys miracles are real. We chatted with him and gave him a copy of the book. Later, on the same street, we passed by this family and something told me we should stop there. So we did and taught this family who is very interested! On to the next planned lesson, we stopped by and met the guy's wife, who's never been home, but she now is interested. Then we booked it over to a plaza and met with a young lady interested in the Book of Mormon! She said she likes to read and never heard of this book before. So we explained the premise and the story of the restoration. She was like “Wow. This is incredible. I'm even more interested now.” And then she said something that made me think “yeah right” but hey ya never know. She said “how about when I finish it at the end of the week I tell you guys how it went?” So we told her about the importance of not only reading, but pondering as well and she said “ok well maybe it'll take me more than a week”. So we'll see where this goes. Then we booked it back home to grab a Book of Mormon for our next visit because we ran out. Somehow we made it to the next appointment on time (54 minutes of travel was reduced to 30) and taught this guy and his wife. They are super interested as well and have time to read. In Búzios, the average week we find around 5-6 new people to teach. Saturday, however, we found 8. You're welcome Elder Smith. Cuide delas por favor.

Sunday we had another Sacrament meeting in Cabo Frio to sustain the new leadership. Why these changes have taken over a month to make is beyond me but that's not for me to judge. Remember the train wreck of a lesson that happened last week? Well this Sunday we were able to clear up all his questions and discuss his actual needs. It was really refreshing.

Tender mercy: On Sunday coming home from the lesson we actually bumped into the young woman who said she'd read the Book of Mormon in a week. It was really good because she had some doubts about something she said clashed with what she knew in the Bible, and I got confused because she cited the verse from memory and it was indeed against the correct doctrine, but then we opened the book and read the verse again and turns out she just misread it. But the fact that we were there at the moment she had a doubt was a demonstration to me that God watches over His children and helps them help each other.

Spiritual thought: this week, I finished reading “Saints: Volume 1” and “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith”. Reading these books at the same time was actually something really cool because Saints has more story details that helped me understand more of the context behind the revelations that Joseph Smith received. After reading them, I realized my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration as a whole had grown tremendously. I know without a doubt, with all firmness in mind and heart that he was a prophet of God, that he was called by the Same and saw the Same, standing with Christ at His right side. His ministry was one marked with complete dedication to keeping the commandments of God and seeing to that prophecy be fulfilled. I believe that as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it is essential to have a testimony of his work to restore the church. The last chapter of the book of his teachings is called ““Praise to the Man”: Latter-day Prophets Bear Witness of the Prophet Joseph Smith”. I invite all to read this chapter and then, after reading, add your own testimony of the Joseph Smith and his prophetic calling.

Chapter 47: “Praise to the Man”: Latter-day Prophets Bear Witness of the Prophet Joseph Smith

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-47?lang=eng

1. Super cool membro

2. I think this is where Moses got the 10 condiments

3. Average size banana

4. Sou uma ímã de pintinhos

5. It's mango seasooooon

6. Crazy rules about how to correctly use the word "maybe"

7. "I'm cold" means "I need a hug" in Elder speak.

8. District lunch

9. Eating out with members

Supa Short Pt2

 (Sister Cummings)

This pday has BLOWN by and I don't have much more time but I had an amazing week! So much happened! But I can't remember a single thing!

We performed in church again yesterday so I'll attach the recording for that as my spiritual thought

I love y'all SO MUCH. Have a good one!

-Sister Cummings