Hello folks! Well it seems that Jardim São Paulo has a bit of a rough way of teaching me.....I have found some amazing people to teach in this area....people that are seriously very well prepared to receive the gospel....families, adults, all intelligent and good people. Elder Jubitz and I have had the same thing happen time and time again....we work ourselves silly to find these people, they accept us and our message, they start to progress, they visit church, they like it, and then all of the sudden, they call us or text us or send their mom to tell us that they don't want to see us ever again. It is the most horrible feeling in the world....not even an hour ago, while typing emails, one of our biggest miracles we've had so far in this area, Junior, called and told us that he doesn't want anything more from us or the church. When I woke up this AM I found that another investigator we have that went to church last week, Tarcila, had texted us thanking us for the messages we left her, but told us that she wants to go back to her Baptist church (we ended up reactivating her in her old church.....sigh). It's not just this last week that this has happened! It seems like its happening to every investigator we find!!! It's driving me nuts!!
Well, after speaking my mind a little bit, We have found some incredible people (knock on wood) that we are teaching. I think one of my biggest satisfactions is in knowing that Elder Jubitz and I are working extremely well together.....we are truly working side by side with the spirit, and are able to really help people recognize us as the Lord's servants. We have got our teaching almost down to a science, and to top it off the Spirit seals the deal with its testimony. It's awesome. Missionary work isn't just about numbers, but in a sense it is....there are going to be X amount of people that will say no before 1 will say yes....I'm literally seeing how "separating the wheat from the tares" works out.
We found a family this week. The husband's name is Pingo (nice name huh?) and his wife is Anna. Pingo visited the church when he was younger, but never really got the chance to meet the missionaries or learn about the doctrine. He and Anna have been living together for about 10 years. When we knocked on his door, he let us in and allowed us to leave a message with him. We felt prompted to challenge him to baptism and to change his life around....he's pretty humble, but he accepted our invite. I've learned of the power there is in saying a kneeling prayer with the family at the end of the lesson, or in other words, get the father to say a kneeling prayer....he is always going to be reluctant and hesitant, (especially Brazilians) but there's no single better way to help a grown man feel the spirit than to humble himself to a prayer to his Father in Heaven in front of his family. Pingo really opened up his heart in front of us, asking the Lord to help him to change his life. The Spirit was there without a question (like I've said, there is no substitute for the Spirit of the Lord in this work....). We visited them a few other times this week. We went there with another member from the ward on Saturday night, but Pingo decided to go and get drunk instead.....little by little, we are getting there. His wife Anna is really wanting to embrace the Gospel with open arms....they aren't married, so we are trying to work out their wedding (she lost her birth certificate and the place that keeps the records, or the "cartório", where she lived burned down a while ago, so we will have to find a way to solve the problem of her birth certificate somehow!). They are a really, good humble family. I'm excited to try and help them change their lives, and unify this family!
We did splits with the Elders that live in our apartment, Elder Krama and Elder Nascimento. Elder Krama is infamous here in Recife....he's not a terrible Elder, he's just really difficult to work with. It's funny, because apparently I have a reputation of being that "annoying Elder who likes to work and be obedient"...haha I wanted to take a crack at him. We spent the day in his area. We spent a TON of time just walking around visiting members and other investigators who basically want nothing from the church....at night, we finally got to really working knocking doors. We taught several lessons in just a few hours (including a Pastor! it was like the Lord was setting up teaching opportunities for me to help show this other Elder what he could be doing with the time he's been wasting on his mission). We were able to have some real fun in a short period of time. Elder Krama wanted to return home about 30 minutes later because he neck was "aching". I helped him to teach one more lesson before the end of the day. After we returning home and doing our planning, he told me how much he had enjoyed the work and how good he felt during the day (he used the work "marvelous" in his description!). I thought it was a pretty normal day, but he perceived it quite differently. I enjoyed the experience. It was fun to help another Elder achieve his potential.
The temptation to slow down and give up is always present....Unfortunately for the adversary, I know that I wear the same jersey as the Savior. There are always obstacles, but there are also always prizes to be won. In the case of missionary work, these prizes are precious sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven. The gate is narrow and the path is strait. The Lord is directing this work. These are his children we are teaching....his elect children will hear his voice (through me....just thinking about that solemn responsibility gives me goosebumps) and will respond affirmatively and firmly. I trust in the Lord's promises. I just need to do my part!
Until next time,
Elder McKinley
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