Letter 9/24/12

The weeks just keep getting better and better. I can believe how happy I am! My mission is truly the best thing I have ever done. I thought a few months back that I had "plateued" or "peaked" as far as the work level and satisfaction....after studying a little bit about how I can increase my faith and really ask the Lord to bless us in the work more than he has been, I'm seeing a whole different dimension of the work that I've never seen before. The work is chugging forward! I'm loving it!

A quick fun note....while walking home last night, we got flashed by a lady who was hanging out of a passing car. That was surprising.  

But other than that, we found a TON of amazing people this week who were really prepared to receive our message. Every week the same thing happens. We find about 10 new investigators, 5-6 are receptive and accept their commitments, and about 1-2 elect people make it through the week to show up at church and continue to investigate the church. It's a little bit disheartening at times when you know that there should be all of the 10 investigators at church on Sunday morning, but I guess I can relate a little bit with the Savior when only 1 of the 10 lepers came back to thank him. A lot of the people that I wrote about last week feel into that 90%. 

Silvana, however was not one of them. We found Silvana knocking doors NEXT TO THE CHAPEL. I swear, some of the most special and receptive people live next to the stinkin chapel! I don't know how there are some people that pass 20-30 years living 20 feet from the restored Church of Jesus Christ without even knowing it! Silvana said that she had visited church a long time ago, but never learned anything more about it. When we were talking with her on her doorstep, I pulled out a little laminated chart of the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles (with their names and pictures) and asked her if she knew that there exists 12 apostles and a living prophet on the earth. That got her attention. We left her with a pamphlet of the Restoration, and marked a return appointment. She's a bit closed (she was afraid to give us her phone number....I'm not sure why....) but she showed up at church on Sunday and L-O-V-E-D it! The gospel principles class was on families....it was perfect...she was participating more than a majority of the other members. She's about 45, and has two grown girls who live in Caruaru (my old area!). She asked us to send the missionaries there....sweet! I think Silvana's husband is a bit "anti"-Mormon....but let's see what's going to happen. She is reading the Book of Mormon and is seriously loving everything! It's fun to watch!

We had a real miracle this week. With about 30 minutes to kill before a meeting with our ward leadership Sunday afternoon, we decided to knock a few doors in a little alley down the street from the chapel. We found a man named Jefferson standing in front of his house smoking. We started to talk with him. He told us that during his entire life, he has always seen missionaries walking in front of his (in various places too....he was in the Brazilian Army, and has seen missionaries in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Manaus, Fortaleza) and has never once had the opportunity to talk with them, although he always was very curious to know what our message is. He understand our message perfectly! When we were explaining how the Lord revealed the Book of Mormon through the Prophet Joseph Smith, he interrupted us, grabbed the bible out of Elder Jubitz's hands, and said "you know my boys, the Bible teaches us some very important lessons...." My first thought was "oh great, he's going to open up to Galatians 1:6-9 or Revelation 22:19 and tell us that there can't be more scripture...." I was absolutely flabbergasted (yes, I was that surprised!) when he opened John 21:25 and read to us:

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."

I've never seen an investigator on my mission confirm the credibility and reliability of the Book of Mormon. I took advantage of that moment to teach Jefferson about when Christ personally visited the ancient inhabitants of the Americas....he accepted what we taught him as truth and additional revelation. It was incredible! Jefferson told us that during his whole life, he has been searching for truth...he has seen some pretty ugly things in some other corrupt churches, but really recognized the truth when in walked into his home. I was seriously full of gratitude to the Lord for having blessed us with such a special and elect man to teach. Without a doubt, Jefferson was a direct answer to our prayers, work, and faith.

 This work is so fun. It is so rewarding. I love it. I'm sad that I can't do it forever. The time is ticking. My time remaining here seems to get shorter and shorter by the minute (I guess that last sentence was pretty obvious, but really the time is passing fast!) I love these people. I love that I have the privilege to teach them the Restored Gospel of our Savior. It's the best!!!

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley