This week we took advantage of our Pday and went to a huge art fair that was being hosted in a humongous conference center here. There was a tonnnnn of people. I've never seen so many people on my mission since the cafeteria in the MTC! We went with Tawã (Tah-wahh.....funny huh?) who is one of our buddies here in the ward. We saw a lot of "interesting" sculptures and statues.....by that I mean a lot of pornography....people call it culture....I call it gross! We ran into a member who was working at a booth and wanted to give us a free bar of soap that she made! Just what was I needing! But seriously, you can be in Provo, Alabama, or Pernambuco, and the members just love to treat the missionaries! It's one thing that I will miss after my mission....the people that love (and sometimes don't love....) you from the second that they see you and recognize you as a missionary. I ran into a few American families there....my companion had a good laugh as he watched me try and speak English with them....you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to have a focused conversation with people in English these days....the families were looking at me like "is he really American?".....the Brazilians already know that I'm not Brazilian, and now even the Americans are denying me....I'm without a nationality!! I'm caught in the gringo limbo!
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| Chapuis and I at an art fair....they had a tonnnn of stuff that was really cool to look at. A lot of junky, but nonetheless, cool stuff |
Funny experience...we were on a PACKED bus this week. There was a little tiny baby that was screaming right next to me. I was looking at her, when the dad who was holding her passed her to the mom (who was already wearing a lowcut shirt.....) immediately started breast feeding her in front of everyone! Boy....it seems like there seems to be a temptation in every corner here....sometimes I just wish I was blind!!
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| These are all made out of coconuts....pretty cool huh? |
We had a bit of a difficult week....a lot of people rejected us/ran away when we got to their house/hid from us. I've never had too much of a problem with that on my mission....this week was unusual in that respect. It's a bit mentally and spiritually degrading. More than anything, it's just sad that people are running away from something that would bless and benefit them so much! It's hard to accept and understand that from perspective....knowing what a difference a 15 minute message could make in someone's life. You really have to seek after the Lord's help to keep going and to keep talking and to keep inviting people, even when it feels like no one's interested. Here I am in Brazil saying this....if you guys like, you can send me a letter from a missionary in Japan or Italy to humble me....It's something that I shouldn't be worried about, but it is something that has an impact on us.
We were invited by Jessica, our investigator, to visit her church (the Presbyterian church). We didn't have anything planned for that night, and we were both curious, so we decided to pay a visit. It was an interesting experience. We were received very warmly....my umbrella had broken, and it was POURING rain, so we both showed up looking like swamp monsters, but the pastor's wife ran and got us a towel to dry ourselves off. A couple young adults sat next to us and turned the pages for us in the bible....It was funny when the guy didn't know where Thessalonians was, and I had to show him. The sermon was very normal...what I had expected. Afterwards the Pastor came up and spoke with us. We chewed the fat for a bit, and then presented him with a Book of Mormon as a gift. I started to explain to him what the book is and what it talks about, but he wouldn't have any of it. He started saying that the book doesn't talk about Christ and that it contradicts the bible and a whole bunch of other things. My companion got his feathers ruffled a bit and wanted to try and explain everything. When I had an opportunity to speak, I confidently bore my testimony of the book and invited him to do the same thing that Christ invited, that is to "Come and see" (John 1:39). We thanked him for accepting us and we left him there with the book in his hand. You can question the book, but my testimony is different. A testimony is my knowledge. It can't be questioned. Anyone that sincerely wants to know about the truthfulness of something, just needs to seek an answer from God, and they can have the same testimony that I have received.
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| Thumbs up! |
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| Nice to have a little taste of the Motherland here |
We are teaching Iara, the 14 year old daughter of an inactive member named Gilca. She is going to be baptized July 28th (Brooke's birthday or mom's? or Leah's? I can never get those birthday's straight....) She went to church today for the first time in about 10 years, and loved. We are teaching her boyfriend too, Junior. It should be a pretty interesting few weeks to prepare her for baptism. She is a reallly really solid investigator. She likes coffee a lot, and when we told her that she would need to give it up in order to be baptized, she said "God is sweeter than coffee, that won't be a problem for me anymore". Boy if a half of our investigators had that attitude, my name would be Elder Baptist.
We saw two young men from our ward be ordained to the priesthood this week: Willian, a 17 year old that was my first baptism here in Abreu e Lima, and John, a 13 year old that was inactive who we visited and invited to come back to church. It was a gratifying experience to see people that I've worked with continue to progress in the Gospel. There's nothing better than that feeling!
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| We are teaching the mom that's standing up with the "why so serious???" face. She's a little bit tricky....she tells us one day that she can't wait to be baptized and the other that she's not ready yet. Ahhh!!!! |
I had a really special experience this week. The speakers for our sacrament meeting both fell through, and we were asked last minute to give talks. I didn't have the slightest idea about what I would talk about. I felt prompted to share some experiences that I had as a youth when we when frequently bring and bless the Sacrament to ill members of the ward. I told a few experiences that I had, and I really started to reflect on just how much I cherished the opportunity to serve and help those members of the church. I got a little bit emotional as I reflected on the gratitude and happiness that I saw in the eyes of those members when we showed up at their home. I shared a scripture in Moroni 7:47 "But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." I bore my testimony that we can only truly feel the pure love of Christ as we seek to show this love for others. It was a learning experience for me of the truthfulness and the simplicity of loving and serving as Christ would do. There truly are few other memories that I have in my life that I can honestly say that I was happier than when I was forgetting myself and serving my brothers and sisters. I know that the Savior loves us. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to love one another. I know that is true.
Until next time,
-Elder McKinley
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