Some thoughts I've had lately: I'm really starting to appreciate the wonderful gift and privilege of prayer. I've had the habit to pray to Heavenly Father morning and night for a long time, but I am seeing more and more blessings that come through simply asking for them with faith! I've also been very sensitive to the spirit this week. I've been able to notice very quickly and easily when it is or is not with us. I've seen from time to time, during these 14 months of my mission, just how much it can suck to work without the Spirit. There simply isn't a way to do this work without the Spirit. It's giving me an added appreciation and gratitude to understand just how crucial and essential it is to earn and keep the companionship of the Spirit. When we have the spirit, we can have success, even when we don't know how to find people to teach, know the needs of an investigator, or how to convince someone that the Gospel was restored and that everyone needs to embrace and live it. It's important. Very important indeed.
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| The Goiana Elders! A member gave us a ride back to our apartment |
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| Catching a lift! The missionaries in our zone live in a sweet 14 story apartment complex now. Lucky ducks! |
We've been working a ton with the Elders here in the zone recently. There's a lot of pressure coming from up top to pick up the pace of the work, so we, in turn, are going in front! We usually spend one day during the week working in another area in our zone making contacts or visiting with other investigators to help the other missionaries. On top of that, we usually do a companionship exchange for 24-48 hours. This week for example, I spent 2 days in Goiana. (Boy do I love that area!) The pace of the work is fast, but I like it that way. We are able to work in a lot of areas and get to know a lot of people. In Goiana, there are four missionaries, one from Utah, one from Chile, one from Uruguay, and one from Brazil. Talk about diversity! They are a pretty fun group. I love the friendships and brotherly bonds that we develop as missionaries...."Band of Brothers" is a pretty appropriate title I think. I've done 3 or 4 companionship exchanges in Goiana already....I really want to serve there one day. It's a small little town that's pretty far away from everything. I had another awkward "breast-feeding" experience here....we were teaching a lady when all of the sudden her baby started crying....we all know how to fix that! Boy is it hard to concentrate when that's going on right in front of you (there's not too much of an effort made to "conceal" anything either). It's the new norm for me.
We had lunch this week with an Irmã in the ward here, and she surprised us with "Frutos do Mar" or "Fruits of the sea".....yikes.....clam, shrimp, oyster, and something that looked like seahorse all chopped up and mixed in with a soup. The Lord bore me up through the meal, but Elder Chapuis was not so fortunate....he spent the rest of the day holding his stomach and walking rather slowly....It's pretty rare that I eat something here that I don't like, but the seafood is a killer here!
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| Lunch! It's good to be a missionary in Brazil! |
We had a pretty cool experience this week. We are teaching a girl named Izabella, who is one of Iara's friends. Iara was baptized about a month ago. We found her through her mom who was inactive in the church, but who since returned and is going strong. We taught Izabella in Iara's house. She wasn't understanding very well when we teaching her...all of the sudden, Iara jumped in and started explaining how much the church has changed her life in just one month. She said that she really knows that everything that we have taught her is true. She said that she feels in heart and feels the spirit very strongly every time that we teach her the restored principles of the Gospel. Boy was that a cool experience. It's so awesome seeing how people grow and flourish with the seeds of the Gospel. It gives me more perspective and motivation as a missionary to really understand that these people aren't just contacts on the street or pictures that I send home to my family and friends, but real people who are really affected and changed by the message which I bear. It's the best!
We went to the temple this week with Elisiaria, who was baptized in November. She was receiving her patriarchal blessing there, and had invited us to join her. We met up at the temple with another family that we have taught a few times as well. It's a couple that are actually the owners of our apartment building. We have taught them a bit about the church, mainly because they have always been interested to know more about the temple. They live right next to the temple (but they work in our area in Abreu e Lima). We taught Jaciara, the Mom, and Gabriella, her 19 year old daughter in the temple waiting room with the other missionaries from their area. The lesson was awesome. The spirit was strong there. Everything that we taught made perfect sense to them. I love teaching someone who understands what you are saying. You're literally on the same page as the person. They were excited to know that there exists a church with Prophets, Apostles, and Priesthood authority on the Earth. We are going to pass them off to the other Elders, but we will keep in touch with them for sure!
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| At the temple with Gabriella, Eliziaria, and Gabriella |
We are shooting for 3 baptisms this week! We are going to need a few miracles, but I think it is very possible! We are going to work this week! I think I'm living in my last days in this area....I want to take advantage of it!
Until next time,
Elder McKinley
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