Photo Update 5/29/12

Now there's a real super hero....a missionary! (This was from a kid's birthday party in the ward)

Our lunch on saturday. Elder Bochio surprised us and showed up at our lunch appointment after calling and asking President Lanius.

Diego, a guy that I interviewed for baptism that lives in Goiana. He's a stud!

What we did all day tuesday.....ROOT CANAL for Elder Chapuis! Lucky guy

Our district!

A family home evening that we had with Mical, Regiane, Raquel, Rafael, and Thayres. The only one that is really progressing is Thayres (Tie-ear-eez). She is going to be baptized on Friday! I made brownies for everyone there....they were all going nuts to get their hands on more!

Letter 5/21/12

Well I've officially been in Abreu e Lima longer than any other of my previous areas. Yesterday marked 3 months since I showed up here. It's wierd that I haven't really stayed put for very long in any area, but I have been so blessed to have already known 5 areas on mission, and I haven't even been out a year yet! Many Elders have only 4-5 areas on their entire mission! It's wierd when you know an area so well that you're even saying hello to the dogs by name....just kidding.....Everyone knows that the dogs here only speak portuguese.

We have been working for a good time now with Mical and her family. Mical is about 65 or 70....I'm starting to fear that she just enjoys our company and doesn't really care too much about the church or even God. She lives with her son and his family. His wife, Regiane, is always suppppper stressed out whenever we see her, and never has time to listen to the message....it's a shame, because what she doesn't have time for is exactly what her and her family need. She has 3 kids....we have been teaching Raquel (11) for a while....she wanted to be baptized, but isn't willing to go to church every sunday. Rafael (12) also wanted to be baptized, but has been a bit flaky with his commitment (that's usually what happens when you teach kids...). Rute, a 3 year old, is probably the firmest in the family....she calls "Jesus" (in portuguese, it's more like "Jay-zeus" or in Pernambuco/the nordeste, "Jay-zwois") everytime that we come walking up the street....she's pretty cute. It's difficult when being faced with the decision of sticking with a family and trying to help them and moving on to try and help others.

 Lunch with recently baptized Xavier and Bianca

Ward activity

We went to the dentist this week in Recife for Elder Chapuis....looks like he is gonna have to have a root canal....poor guy...it's about 4 hours that we lose everytime that we make the trip out there. I did manage to get the dentist (she's a member of the church) to look at my teeth....no cavities!!!! what a blessing considering how much soda we end up drinking here.....I never liked soda very much, but boy to Brazilians loveeeee coke! They almost get offended if you don't drink it!

With Eliel, our pastor friend, we've had some complications. He has some serious back problems (4 screws to be exact) and had to have a surgery this week. It was difficult to get a chance to sit down with him this week. He just needs to go to church and he'll be baptized!

We had a zone meeting this week. We tried to address the lack of baptisms that the mission has been having lately. President Lanius has been going after the level of committment of the missionaries alot. I talked a lot about D&C 4. I am blown away at how much power this scripture has for a missionary. I made the habit of reciting every morning as I wake up. It gives me a refresher in respect to my perspective as a missionary....it really shows how important and sacred every second of these 2 years are. I focused on v.2 and 4.

"Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day"

"For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul"

I talked about the allegory of the vineyard in Jacob 5 too. I emphasized how we are doing the work of the Lord in these latter days.

"And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come. And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things."

I want so badly that these missionaries understand that this is the Lord's work! We are merely the participants....he will do 99.9% of the work for us....we just need to do what he asks!!! The mission rules, commandments, advice from our mission president etc. It's sooooo simple! I don't understand why so many people have so many difficulties with it (myself included). If it were something easy though, it wouldn't be worth the while....we are getting there, bit by bit.

We are working with a 20 year old girl, Thayres. She is supppper good! She was a referral from another companionship. She has a friend that is a member of the church in another ward. We got to teaching this last week. She keeps all of her committments! Any missionary knows that this is almost unheard of! She recieved a answer from the Lord about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and is preparing to be baptized this Saturday! We are way excited for her!

Mike and his companion formed a band: an accordian, tambourine, and drummer boy 

The work has its ups and downs folks.....but the when there are ups....they are really "up"! There's such an andrenaline rush that you feel as a missionary when someone says that they recieved an answer from God, or they want to be baptized....its unlike anything else that I've ever seen in my life! I find myself continually amazed at the blessings that the Lord gives me each and every day....it's a mission full of miracles....It truly is a blessing to put on the missionary name tag every day.

Until next time,

Elder McKinley

Letter 5/14/12

Well I am pretty short on time today....I did get a chance to skype with family this week!! That is always such a huge blessing and source of inspiration for me....you just feel good after talking with the most important people in your life after almost 5 months of absence.

We got to go to the temple this week....boy talk about another source of renewing your energy. It was really interesting.....the last time I went through the temple, I really didn't understand very much of what was being said....this time, I understood everything soo well, that I was almost shocked. I'm learning the language even though time to study and practice is rare....the Lord really is loosening my tongue....my accent is almost gone....people here almost always understand what I say (there's always an occasional crazy who doesn't want to understand, but that happened in Alabama too when I was speaking english so hey...)

We had a zone leader council in Recife on wednesday. Elders Skousen and Markham just got called as zone leaders too, so that was real cool to be there with them. President Lanius talked alot about how the mission needs to step it up in terms of comittment. There's an abundance of knowledge and
skills amongst the missionaries.....we just need to apply it all and as President put it, "get your shirt sweaty". There is sooo much work to be done here....the mission is on the up. The spirit of the Lord is here amongst these missionaries. I am so excited for what the remaining 14 months of my mission have in store for me!

All of the American missionaries in my zone

I'll talk a bit about Eliel, and then I gotta boost! I'm running super late today....Eliel is a man that we found through the english class that we have been teaching every wednesday night. We found out that he himself is actually an english teacher (it's funny how thick his accent is in english). We asked him if we could share a message with him one day. He invited us to his house. He eventually revealed to us that he was a pastor of 8 different churches throughout the course of his life. He saw in each and every one of
them that the churches were man-made and not divinely established. He was always searching for the truth. One night, while searching the bible, he found Jeremiah 33:3.....which talks about searching for answers from the Lord....that night, he had a vision! He said that he saw me, but that he didn't know exactly what it meant....he had never met me before in this point in time. About 3 weeks later, he saw me walking on the street, and was blown away. Through his friend (our barber), he found out about the english class and we met him there......wow huh??? I could not believe that he had seen me in a VISION!!!

Eliel

He told us that he wanted to be baptized the next day...we told him that he had to wait to visit the church 2 times before being baptized....he started to try and persuade us that he needed to be baptized, showing us scriptures and everything! I never thought that as a missionary, I would find myself on the side of telling someone to wait to be baptized! The Lord showed his power to me through this experience.....I said to my companion that I would be perfectly content with knocking doors for the rest of my mission without a single baptism if I could just see this one man make this sacred covenant with the Lord. For all you future missionaries out there, just let me say this....it's an experience like this one that really makes you realize just how tender the mercies of the Lord are....Things like this don't happen everyday, but when they do.....they make you remember that IT IS ALL WORTH IT.

In the words of Sammy Jackson, a man I met in Alabama, "Have a great one!"

Until next time,

-Elder McKinley

Letter 5/7/12

Well it was another wild week here! On Monday (our P-day), President Lanius came to our stake center in Paulista....he called a meeting with the entire zone...we weren't entirely sure what the meeting was about, but it turned out to be an excellent idea on his part to help unite the zone and get the mission back up on it's feet! (to give you an idea, the mission was more or less pulled apart piece by piece and reconstructed from scratch....President Lanius has the weight of the world on his shoulders here...) He sat everyone down together, said a prayer, and then asked, "ok...what do you guys want to know?" I thought it was a pretty interesting approach....he responded to a lot of doubts and "false beliefs" that exist in our mission....I wanted so much to jump um and give him a high five so many times....We had a zone conference (which ironically, is more like a mission conference....1/2 the mission was there) on thursday in which he did the same thing....He talked with the entire mission about having committment and dedication to fulfill the missions that we were sent here to complete. He completely cemented in the fact that it's not a "lifestyle choice" to choose to obey the commandments of God or the rules that we agree to as we become one of his authorized representatives. He smashed the idea that "tolerance" is something that we should have when it comes to obedience....we need to love those who are striving for obedience, but like Spencer W. Kimball said, true love is when you help people to be better. Needless to say, that meeting left me with a great, great sense of satisfaction. It's good to know when the mission president is on your side!

Everyone at the baptism! Almost everyone here is a member....and there's a few that will be members here shortly!!!

Right before we entered the water....Cintia was pretty emotional....the spirit was superrrr strong....such a great moment

Fillin up the washing machine....state of the art technology huh?

Elder Bochio picked it up big time this week. I was blown away....he was really showing a change of heart and a willingness to make some of the sacrifices and attitude changes that come with being a dedicated missionary. That too left me very happy during the week, and we really got some great work done!! There's nothing better than that!

A fun note: in our English class which we have in the church every wednesday night, I taught the class how to sing "happy birthday to you!"....seeing that it was my Dad's birthday, I got them to all sing "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR STEVE!" in their thick brazilian accents....Boy was it funny.

We had a HUGE miracle this week....Elder Bochio always talks about he has done just about everything there is to do as a missionary....the only thing that he lacked, was to teach and baptize a pastor of another church.....guess what we did this week??? One of our students in our English class is actually a professor himself....his name is Eliel...he heard there was an American giving english lessons, and he jumped at the opportunity. We got around to teaching him at his house....you will not believe his story! He has been a pastor at 8 different churches (at least 8 that he remembers!) during his lifetime....he said that he has always searched for the true church, and since he went to our english class in the chapel, he started to feel that there was something different about this church. We taught him the restoration and the coming forth of the book of Mormon in our days....Our lesson lasted about 4 hours....we taught him for about 20 minutes, and he just talked for the rest about how blessed he was to have true servants of Jesus Christ in his home showing him God's revealed truths....Yeah....I felt pretty humbled at that moment....It's funny how much we take for granted having the restored gospel in our lifes, while a man like Eliel is close to praising us for delivering this marvelous message to him in his own home. Is this work worth it? I don't think I even need to answer that question.

Well, in other news, Elder Bochio was transferred, and Elder Chapuis (sha-pweez) is here in his place....Elder Chapuiz is from Rio Grande do Sul...he's been on his mission about 17 months. He's a stud....super humble....I already like him....A LOT. It should be a real blessing having him here, but I'm wise enough to know now that the path that we walk is not a smooth one....there are obstacles, there are "rainy days", there are a lot of annoying "mosquitoes" that show up along the way....but with the Lord....we can overcome all of them! I am most earnestly looking forward to skyping with my family this Sunday!

Until next time,

Elder McKinley

p.s. a HUGE parabens to soon to be Elder Baeza!!!! that news made my day!

Letter 4/30/12

Well, this week was possibly one of the best and worst weeks of my mission. It's funny how there is ALWAYS an opposition as a missionary. It's almost to the point where after a really really good day, I am just thinking, "alright, whens the trouble going to come?" I am trying to write about more positive things in my emails here, but I do think it is important that everyone at home realizes that for every great experience I have here as a missionary, there is an equally frustrating and difficult challenge to follow it up....but let's start with the positives shall we??

Monday night, after our pday was over, we went to have a family home evening with Cintia at a member's house. While walking there, a guy stopped us on the street around the corner from the chapel. He said, "Elders, what time do you guys you have church?" After talking a bit with him, we found out that he a inactive member of 14 years....he was baptized 15 years ago in Santa Catarina, Brazil, wayyyyyyy down south. After about a year, he became inactive. He said that his mom had just been baptized in Rio de Janeiro, and that had gotten him thinking about the church....he said he wanted to come back! Just that morning he had made that decision....but get this...he had been living here in Pernambuco for 10 YEARS.....he had never once seen missionaries here! The first time he saw them was when we were walking on the street Monday night...I am seriously blown away at how many times the Lord just completely sets everything up for us, and then hands us a nice big package, complete with a bow and everything....We got a chance to teach him this week (we are starting from scratch with him) and he went to church and our ward's activity on Friday night....it was a great feeling to see the light and fire reignite in his eyes...he just went through a divorce, and you can tell that he is on hard times right now.....the Lord really does know each and every one of his children.

That night, we got to the FHE at the member's house....I gave a message about trusting in the Lord....I told 2 stories, one about my maternal great-grandma, and the other about my paternal great-grandma, about how they both found the gospel through trusting in the Lord....One immigrated from Germany after finding the Gospel, the other is about a family in the southern US that found missionaries as well. After the message, one of the members (a girl in the ward named Tallyta) started crying. She told about how much the gospel has blessed her life and how much she has learned to trust in the Lord....pretty soon everyone started crying (except myself and Elder Bochio....we were just kind of surprised to be honest!)....the spirit was strong there.....very strong.

The next day, we had a zone meeting (this wasn't a planned thing, it was something that Pres. Lanius had asked all of the Zone Leaders to do to help the mission start baptizing more)....what ended up happening was not good. The zone started more or less of a debate about what is more important, obedience to the mission rules or loving your neighbor....The answer is clearly that they are both important! Unfortunately, the missionaries were a bit divided. In a nutshell....my companion was not really happy that so many missionaries stress obedience, that including myself....afterwards, we started a companionship exchange with Elder Larsen and Elder Lemos. I came back with Elder Larsen....he is in a tricky spot....he is with a few less than obedient Elders, and has been trying to help them to overcome that...long story short, I gave him encouragement and told him to continue to do what was right, but to try and be as patient and loving as possible with the other missionaries....when he went back to his area, he had a sit down with the Elders....about 3 hours later, one of the Elders called Elder Bochio and told him that he was packing up his bags ready to go home.....my companion was NOT happy, and he ended up taking a lot of the blame out on me, saying that I had caused Elder Larsen to cause this problem....well another long story short, we ended up going to the apartment of these missionaries and having a sit down with them....we were able to smooth things out and help everyone get back on good terms. Like I said.....I'm leaving a LOT of details out here....this isn't the whole story. Some things I think I will just have to wait until I get back home to tell....but the lesson is this....I was pulled and squeezed in very, very uncomfortable ways this week....but the great thing is that I was pushed so close to the Lord....I saw his hand care for me in so many ways. I know that he does NOT abandon those who are faithful to him....I feel similar to Nephi a lot of times (I'm not too self-righteous I hope), but I can relate to some of the things that he went through, and to the same joy and happiness that he had we he did what he knew was right!

Well continuing on with the week, we are starting an English class....we have a good crowd attending so far....about 15 people, and about half are non-members. This class was in the midst of this whole fiasco....at the end, we decided to sing "I am a Child of God" in English for our class (I was with an American Elder, Elder Francis at this time).....even being so worked up and worried about so many other things that were happening, the Spirit touched me so strongly during this hymn.....I knew that in spite of allll of the shenanigans (I use this word a lot, but it really is the most appropriate word choice) that happen, there is nothing more important than this supreme fact of our Father in Heaven's love for us.....anyone with a doubt or a question of whether or not you are important should think about this song, and listen and pay attention to the amazing spirit that it brings.

Well here's to the meat of my story this week.....Cintia got baptized! She has without a doubt been the most elect baptism of my mission so far (of Elder Bochio's as well), and I feel that the Lord truly has blessed me to be able to help some amazing people throughout my mission. I was excited this entire week to for her baptism....she hasn't been working this whole week (remember the "allergy to A/C" miracle that she had?), and she basically spent the whole time reading the BoM, praying, or visiting with us....she had a pretty screwed up life before we met her.....her dad was murdered two years ago (shot 3 times in the head....pretty sad huh?), her mom is in jail, her ex-"husband" left her and told her that he didn't want anything to do with her, all her "friends" just call her when they want to drink or party or do other bad things.....she just really didn't have good influences in her life....We taught her the gospel in its restored fullness....I watched a miracle take place these past 2 weeks....I watched the spirit "wrought a mighty change of heart" within this young woman. There is no privilege, no blessing, no present, no gift that I have ever received that can compare with the divine power of the complete conversion that I witnessed here. This is what it means to be a missionary.....or better, a representative of Jesus Christ.

We had her baptism right after church on Sunday (she was baptized 2 weeks from the day that we met her, the fastest baptism too of my mission). There were about 50 people at her baptismal service.....that may be an average number in the US, but that doesn't happen here in Brazil....ever! Everyone was crying.....seriously....the spirit was off the charts. Right as we were about to enter the water, Cintia just broke down in tears....she was feeling the love of the Lord sooooo strongly....it truly was a privilege to be a part of. She had asked me to baptize her....she had been joking with me that I was her "padrinho"....or godfather....I was honored to be the one to actually baptize her. As I was saying the baptismal prayer, I too felt the spirit flowing through me. As she exited the water....her comment summed it all up....she just said, "I feel so clean!" Truly, the miracle of baptism is something that's hard to describe....I was changing my clothes, I had a moment where I just sat down and thanked the Lord for the miracle that I had seen....I too was on the verge of tears of this time....

It gets better....one member brought his friend to church today....he was able to witness this baptism....afterwards, he went up to the bishop and told him he too wanted to be baptized....he probably didn't understand very much about what baptism means, but he felt the spirit testify to him that it is something very, very good. Miracle?

At night, while talking with Cintia and her cousin (Raquel) and her friend (Leandro), they too both asked if they could be baptized. Miracle?

The Lord is soooo  involved in this work. Please don't read this letter and think that Elder McKinley knows how to baptize or that he is in a really good area or something.....this is all the work of the Lord.....I'm just the one that happens to be here to reap the blessings! My heart is soo full! I am soooo happy! I can't stop smiling! I don't want my mission to end! It sucks just thinking that one day I'm going to be taken away from such happiness and Joy (clearly there are other good things in life, and other important things.....but I am perfectly content with being a missionary for the rest of my life as of now!) I wish I could box up some of this joy and send it home to you guys....but that's not the Lord's way of doing things....you have to have the joy first hand to really appreciate.....This is why a mission is worth it....this is why it's worth it to sacrifice to live the gospel. You receive an indescribably, extremely satisfying joy and happiness! It's too good to be true! Actually, it's not, because it is true! The gospel is true! I am a testimony that God is active in our lives, and that he is just waiting to open the windows of heaven above us.

Until next time,

-Elder McKinley

This was another week of miracles!

I had the opportunity to do a companionship exchange in Goiana, which is wayyyy up north....it's almost on the border of Paraiba (which is the João Pessoa mission)....I was there with Elders Smith, Sousa, and L. Ribeiro. Boy was it a fun exchange. They have a good chemistry among those elders there. Elder Sousa taught me something that I will never forget.

A good shot of our house....it's wayyyyy good!

He's a convert of about 6 years....he's from São Paulo, and at the time when the missionaries found him, he was living in a favela (slums)....it was seriously a miracle that the missionaries found him. He accepted the message, even though no one in his family did. He continued on until his mission call to Recife....I have never seen an elder who is more genuine, more loving, or more Christ-like than this Elder. It's hard to explain exactly, but I literally was just blown away watching and seeing his example. Even when we had some of our appointments fall through or people tell us that they didn't want to hear our message, he managed to show real love for them. I'm used to smiling and just saying "ok have a nice day!" and then turn around and leave....but this Elder stopped and bore his testimony to them of how indebted he is to the Lord for having received this message in his life. It was more than just a testimony....it was really a pure demonstration of his love for these people.

 the only other redhead I have seen in 6 months! She's a member her in the ward....too funny

The next day I got to spend a bit of time with Elder L. Ribeiro, who showed up with me in Recife on the same day. He's from Curitiba, which according to Elder Barkdull, is a satellite bubble of the U.S....haha. But boy did I have a hay day working with those Elders for 2 days. I met a less-active family that had been baptized about 6 years ago by an Elder Romney, who just so happens to be Mitt Romney's nephew! Small world huh?

The Elders in Goiana! They got a good dynamic going there....a fun bunch for sure

Someone told us this week that they thought that Mormons are all cannibals and only eat human meat....I've never heard that one before!

When I finally got back to Abreu e Lima with E. Bochio, he was already a bit depressed....he was infuriated with me because he thought that I had marked a verse in his Bible...He is a little bit (I forgot the word....darn portuguese....it's like when you are super sensitive about other people touching your stuff). I had to patiently explain to him that I did NOT mark his bible, even though he was convinced it was me. He finally got over it...our companionship is extremely better....Elder Bochio is still fixed on July 14th, the day when he will finished his mission and go home. It's sad that he doesn't even care what happens between know and then....he just wants the time to pass fast. We are finding ways to work together and to accomplish our common goal to help people accept the Restored Gospel here.

Well we had a HUGE miracle here....maybe it won't translate well from here to you folks back at home, but you can trust me on this one....it's a miracle.

A less active family that we taught in Goiana....they were all baptized by Mitt Romney's nephew about 6 years ago when he served as a missionary here in Recife!

Well I talked about this Cintia last week. We had been teaching her Grandma, Mical, and one night she showed up there (unexpectedly) and wanted to hear our message. She is 20 btw. She had just gone through a difficult breakup with her boyfriend, and was really turned towards God recently. She said that she had visited every kind of church that exists, and that she never felt the same as she did when she sat down with two young missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ. She said that this was exactly what she has been looking for, and knows that God has been preparing her to accept this message. The difficult part is that she was saying that her job (she works as a full time nanny) would take her a way for 15 days at a time, and that it wouldn't be until next month that we could teach her. We knew she was as gold as they come, so we gave her a Book of Mormon and all of the 6 different pamphlets (The restoration, plan of salvation, gospel of Jesus Christ, word of wisdom, chastity, and tithing) and told her that we would talk next month. We went home and prayed. We asked the Lord to provide a way so that she could be baptized and open the door for a transformation in her life....

A member family in Goiana that is super cool...the husband just got called as the Ward mission leader and is super excited to help the Elders! 

The next day, she called us....she developed a "freak" allergy to air conditioning over night (the house where she nannies is super nice and has a/c in every single room....that almost doesn't exist here in Brazil) It got super difficult for her to breathe, and she had to leave the house.... The kid she nannies has a health problem and has to stay in the A/C, so what did she decide to do? She quit her job! She said that she felt it was the right thing to do! We went there that day and started teaching her more. That night she had a dream in which she saw herself entering and staying in the church, marrying a returned mission in the temple, and having a happy, successful family.....WOW. 

An FHE we had....Cintia is there in the middle in the black....she is AWESOME. A real miracle

I couldn't really believe what I was seeing. She is going to be baptized this sunday after church (we would have baptized her sooner, but we just have to wait for her to go to sacrament meeting two times). She is a walking miracle. She can't stop talking about how happy she is how different she already feels. This miracle has not only given me a boost, but a huge kick in the pants for Elder Bochio, and even a good spark for our ward here.....everyone all around is excited and full of the Spirit of the Lord....really, I have seen this week how the Lord's hand is sooooo large and sooo present in this work! Let me be clear....NONE OF THIS IS BECAUSE OF ANYTHING I DID. The Lord did 99.99%, and just needed us to seal the deal. I have such an increased testimony of miracles now....the Lord knows what we need....What an awesome blessing it is to be A MISSIONARY. 

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley

P.S. Congrats to Elder Hafford on his mission call!!!! 

Picture Update 4/9/12-4/16/12

Some enormous fruit I found on a tree....they have some very interesting fruit here

Xavier, Branca, and Ruth! The whole fam!

The wedding at the chapel! Suits and everything!

Junior's baptism! He's an interesting little guy

Elder Markham and I (way back from the MTC) did a companionship exchange and did some good service....It was a fun exchange.

Waiting for the train....tried to look cool in this picture, but I don't think it worked unfortunately

Signing for Xavier and Branca's marriage!

 

Our apartment!

Abreu e Lima!

Bochio started doing exercises with me....looks like he's keeping up well

Xavier has a nice acordion....boy is it a complicated instrument

We had some fun putting up a mosquito net....