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