Well this week turned out to be awesome....but it
was rough going up until Sunday. President Lanius made a goal with the
entire mission to have a "baptism day", where every companionship in the
mission (all 91 of them) should have at least one baptism. We had
several investigators leading up until this last week, including several
"miracle investigators", who we ended up loosing for various
reasons....during this whole week, we were looking for possible
alternatives. We didn't have much success during the week. Actually,
things only got worse....(It's kind of funny looking back at it
now....Elder Jubitz and I were almost kind of laughing at how much the
Lord was testing our faith....luckily, we both have our heads on
straight, and were able to endure the rough tide). We had a zone meeting
in Jaboatão (two companionships showed up an hour late....yippe for
punctuality!! haha). In spite of that, the meeting was awesome. We asked
the district leaders to speak. Elder Taparosky is from Curitiba. He
reminds me a lot of myself. He's a really good guy and I like his
approach to missionary work. Elder Linton is from Mona, Utah, and he too
knocked our socks off with a talk about humility. Elder Jubitz and I
also adressed the Elders. We talked about how we need to work together
as a companionship to create an environment where the investigator can
feel the spirit. It was a lot of fun. The Spirit was present among us.
It was a great moment to stop and think "Today, I'm a full time
missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Is there
really anything better than being able to say that?"
We
went forward with faith...we had a few fun experiences....we
unknowingly knocked the door of a "cannon black" ceremony....I have no
Idea what that means, but I just know it's some kind of animal
religion....we saw a bunch of people all dressed in white, kneeling in
front of a bunch of animals....one guy came and answered the door and
asked us if we wanted to come in and watch....I took a rain check.
We
spent a day in Afogados (which means "drowned" in Portuguese.....I
guess you could apply that to baptism in some way!). Elder Taparosky and
I had a lot of success. I almost asked him to send some of that success
to our area! We taught 2 families, and spent about 3 hours in an
incredibly spiritual lesson with a lady named Ninevé (which is Nineveh
is English, the city where Jonah lived). She has a pretty crazy
life....she's pretty much broken every commandment there is, and wants
to change her life. We went to work on helping her to see the blessing
and need for repentance and baptism. She was super hesistant....she's
afraid of being baptized and then falling back into a sinful life.
Needless to say, after a super spiritual lesson, she accepted the
baptismal invite. She said a kneeling prayer at the end that was
honestly amazing. She promised to God that she would do whatever it
takes to change her life. It was a real fun experience.
Another
cool experience. While doing splits with a greenie Elder, we taught a
really fun lesson. The night before, while doing our daily planning, I
prayerfully asked the Lord where we should go to find people to
teach....I was shocked when I heard what appeared to be a voice saying
"Rua Matias Coelho, 2:00 PM"....I was startled, because Rua Matias
Coelho is the name of a street in our area....what's more is that it's a
street that we have already contacted. Rather than doubt the voice in
my head, I made the plans to go there. When Elder R. Souza and I showed
up the next day, we found a man sitting in a rocking chair on the
sidewalk. I went to talk to him. We found out that he lives in Moreno,
another area in our zone, and works in Jardim São Paulo during the week.
We started teaching him about the Restoration, and especially about
baptism. He told us that he was active in the Catholic church, but I
felt the need to invite him to be baptized....I thought to myself "there
is no way that this Catholic man is going to want this, but here we
go"....despite my weak faith, I invited him, and he shocked me by
responding "Well, I do need to be baptized". What a miracle. We passed
his address to the Moreno Elders. Let's see what happens!
Now
to the miracles that happened in OUR area. Sunday morning we went to
pick up Anna, Pingo, and their two kids, Anderson (13) and Alef (6) to
go to church....Pingo ended up having to work at the last minute, and
couldn't go to church. When we showed up at their door, Anderson was all
dressed up ready to go. He is a STUD! I'll talk about him more. His
mom, Anna, was about to give up on church too. She wanted to wait until
next week when she could go with her husband, but we didn't give her the
chance to back out on this one. She changed her clothes and we were on
our way! Another man, named Carlos came to church too! We found Carlos
knocking doors. Turns out his son was baptized 20 years ago, served a
mission, and now is in the bishopric of another ward in Recife. For some
reason, Carlos was never too interested in the church, but when we
showed up at his door, he seems to have been prepared for us. He said
how much he wants to set a good example for his other children (all
n-i-n-e of them!), and feels the need to be more religious. He loved
church! The topic was perfect in sacrament meeting "The peace that the
Gospel brings to our lives"....it was a 10/10. After, we showed Carlos
the baptismal font, and told him that his goal is to be standing there
in the same spot that his son was baptized 20 years ago, but this time,
it would his son baptizing him! He liked the idea a lot. He felt the
spirit of the Lord confirm to him that that was the will of our Heavenly
Father for him. We need to work out his wedding, but other than that,
it should be fun experience!
And
then Anna and fam. At the end of church, Anderson asked me if he could
come back to church next week. Oh how I love that kind of question! We
took them to the baptismal font as well. Anna and Pingo also need to
marry before they can be baptized, but she got all the motivation she
needed for that Sunday morning. To top it off, we marked Anderson's
baptism for this next sunday! He is more than prepared. He loved the
church. He understands the lessons and the Book of Mormon better than
his parents. He feels the Spirit when we teach him. He was the Lord's
answer to our prayers. He will be the example for his family. I was so
grateful to see the Lord respond to our hard work, sacrifices, and
prayers. This was a crucible week for us, but it was worth every second
of it! There's nothing better than bringing the peace of the eternal
Gospel of Jesus Christ to our brothers and sisters. This is a blessed
work!
Until next time,
Elder McKinley
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