Picture Update 3/22/12











With Rosicleida

Elder McKinley + Elder Ribeiro

Photo Update 2/20/12

Elder Bocchio, my new companion and fellow zone leader!

AMAZING family that we found. My heart breaks in two just thinking about this special family

Our district!

Representing the Bay all the way down here in Brasil! 

The most annoying part of transfers 

Just before Elder Ribeiro and I were transferred. He is going to train and be the new District Leader. 

Letter 2/20/12

I have (per usual) 100000 things to talk about it, but you guys are going to get the highlights. We had a District Meeting this week. I gave a lesson/training on unity....Our district has been having a bit of a problem, in reality it's just one Sister and our Zone Leaders, with unity. We talked about being unified with our companions as we teach, as we work, as we walk on the street (walking next to them and not one in front of the other)....basically in any aspect that you can think of. It was a fantastic meeting....the best district meeting I've had on my mission. We all felt the spirit very strongly, and there was a very different attitude among the missionaries afterwards. 

So this week was the start of Carnaval....for those of you who aren't familiar with this "colorful" celebration we are blessed with here, it  is a week long party that is very similar to Mardi Gras....everyone's out in the streets, drinking, dancing half-naked.... Brazil wide. Basically not a very good place to be for a person with values, let alone a Latter-day Saint, let alone a missionary. We got instructions from Pres Lanius to be in our apartments every night no later than 5:30....if there isn't anything going on in our areas, we can stay out until 7 at the latest. Caruaru was pretty relaxed....almost everyone leaves to go to the beach. 

This week was pretty difficult and slow for us....we were being 100% obedient and working hard every day, but it felt like every single appointment we had and every lesson we taught had some flaw. Nearly all of our appointments fell through....people weren't home, they were sick, they were sleeping....but whatever the case, they weren't available for us to talk to them. Those that we did have a chance to teach were all super lazy...I know it's bad to say that, but it's the case. We taught a lesson to a family that felt the spirit....they said that they knew that the church was true and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. A lot of people say this, but these folks really felt the spirit testify to them....when it came around to extending commitments with them, they said something more or less like this, "we know your church is true, and that ours is not, but I can't leave my church. I was born there, and I will die there". Talk about frustrating.

Well after 7 straight days of this, the Lord blessed us with a MIRACLE. In reality it was nothing miraculous, but I found a family that absolutely touched my heart. We met Iramar (ear-a-mar) walking to try and find an address that we received. He stopped us and started to talk to us. We asked if we could go to his house and share a message with them. They accepted. We went to his house, which was more or less in a favela. Generally we stay away from favela (or slum) type places....but this family was nothing like what you would expect to find in a favela. Iramar lives with his 4 kids and his wife. They were all so polite and respectful....but the thing that stood out to me was there HUMILITY. I understand what Alma was saying in the first part of Alma 32 when he said that the humility of the people prepared them to accept the word of God. We had an amazing lesson. In fact, it was the best lesson I've ever had on my mission....which is interesting, because my companion isn't exactly the best teacher. The spirit was THICK in that room. That family, humble as they were, understood EVERYTHING. I've never seen that. There's always that feeling at the end of the lesson that "Shoot, did they get it?"....there wasn't the slightest trace of this thought at the end of that lesson. We invited everyone to kneel for the closing prayer, and invited Iramar to say the prayer. He was a bit nervous but he accepted. His prayer was that of a humble.....very very humble man....it reminded me exactly of that story that I told you guys last week. He expressed thanks from the bottom of his heart for the message that we brought into his home, for the knowledge of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ. He apologized to the Lord in the prayer, because he said he was feeling a "bit emotional"....at this point I began to tear up...I was feeling the Spirit stronger than I ever had before on my mission. My heart was literally broken into two pieces. After the prayer, he shook my hand firmly, not about to let go, and just said "Thank you.....thank you". You can imagine how I felt 24 hours later when I got my transfer call....This is where you really just have to trust in the Lord, and my companion that will take over the area now. 

I love Caruaru. I believe it will be my favorite area of my mission. There is a consensus among the mission that it is the best area in the state. I did not want to be transferred, but a mission is all about that....It's not my will....I'm not hear on a mission to do what I want....I'm here to serve the Lord, and He has decided and notified me through his ordained servants that he doesn't want me in Caruaru anymore. Because of that, I will leave. For none other reason than this. 

Today in our transfer meeting, I found out that I will be serving as the Zone Leader of the Paulista Zone, a zone with 18 missionaries, the largest in the mission. I know the Lord has things in store for me, and for the people that he will touch through me and my willingness to serve him. I am here to serve, serve, serve, and forget everything else that might inhibit that objective. I am LOVING my mission. I know the Lord is guiding this work, and even more, he is guiding my life here.....I trust him. He does nothing unless it is for my benefit, regardless of whether or not I recognize it at first. I will leave you guys hanging in the mean time....I really don't know too much more than this, but there will be much more to come next week. 

Until next time, 

Elder McKinley

Letter 2/13/12

One more week that passed by....I think this one lasted about 6 seconds? Sheesh. More about my companion....he likes to talk alot, but like I said, not to strangers. We have a bit of a problem leaving our appointments on time so that we can get to the next one on time. He loves talking about his 20 brothers and sisters (now I know how my other companions felt when I was talking about my four sisters.) He could talk an hour straight about them. I feel like I practically know them already! Elder Ribeiro also has a bit of a fear of using other people's bathrooms. He refuses to use any other bathroom than the one in our apartment. He is a good worker....he talks very fast and kinda loud and I think leaves people thinking, "why is this boy shouting at me and my family?". Every companion comes with unique challenges, laughs, and stories.

We found a few families to teach this week. We found Leila and her two kids while walking to another appointment. She was standing in front of her house when I felt prompted to turn back around and go talk to her. She was real friendly and accepted us in her house. We taught her about the 1st vision and the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ here on the Earth. I am getting pretty good at teaching the restoration. I learned alot from everyone of previous companions, and all that knowledge has snowballed up into a quite a chunk of analogies, comparisons, and questions that really help the investigators to understand. Mix that in with the companionship of the Spirit, and you have a recipe for success. We taught her a few times, and then found out (through a phone call) that she moved to another neighborhood outside of our area. Kind of frustrating, but we will pass her off to the other missionaries, who I hope will keep accompanying her family.

We have been teaching a family of three, Jaciara, Antonio, and Felipe, the son. Felipe is deaf and mute, so naturally he likes to read. We taught all of them and gave them a Book of Mormon. I am simply amazed at the power that that book has. You just need to connect the good feelings and spirit that accompany that book with the message of the Restoration, and you have a convert baptism right there.

We had a zone conference in Recife this week. It's a 2 hour trip into Recife, and we usually take a Taxi (6 of us paying together). Elder Soares, an area 70, was there. He shared a story that I really liked. It was about the New England mission, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Canada (the same place as Cambridge university). The mission president there received 8 new missionaries. 7 were big, strong, educated, and good looking. The last was more or less the runt of the litter. Very poor, very humble, very small. His clothes were about 2 sizes too big and his haricut looked like it had an encounter with a wind turbine. The mission president preferred to put the larger, better looking missionaries in Cambridge, where there was more a less a "good image" of the missionaries there. He had a dream in which he saw that 8th missionary walking on the streets of Cambridge, so he decided to keep him there. 3 days letter, he got a phone call from the Head of the Theology department at Cambridge asking to be baptized. When the mission president asked why, he said that that little missionary had visited him (he and his companion had prayed to know who they could visit, and felt inspired to visit to him). They waited in his office about 7 hours to talk to him. When he finally sat down with him, that missionary asked the Cambridge professor if they could start with a prayer. He agreed, and the missionary prayed.....the professor said that he opened his eyes 3 times to see if the Savior was actually there with them in that room. He said that he had never felt the spirit so strong as when he heard that humble missionary talk with the Lord. I really liked that story....it touched me. It really is all about humility, and leaning on the Lord. It's something that I really having been working on, is being more humble, and truly becoming a servant of the Lord. It's hard at times, but I know the Lord is helping me.

I don't know how I have so much to write about here.....I feel like nothing happens during the weeks here! I went to do a baptismal interview in the area of Sister G. Nunes and Sister Harris. The name of their investigator is Amaro. One of the baptismal interview questions asks about felonies, abortions, and homosexual relationships. If they had any problem with one of those, the Mission President has to interview them before they can be baptized. Well he had a problem with one of them. I won't say which, b/c one, it really doesn't matter, and two, it's not my sin to share. I explained to him that we would have to call the mission president the next day and that he would ask him a few questions. I told him that we didn't need to tell the other missionaries what had happened, and that this was something between him and the Lord. We went out to the other room where the other missionaries were waiting. I told him to act normal while we were there in front of his family, and that afterwards I would talk with the Sisters. Well when I told Sister G. Nunes that he didn't pass the interview, she was ticked. She wanted to know why, and I told her that I needed to talk with President Lanius first before I shared with her what it was. She did not like that. Nor did my Zone Leaders. They wanted me to tell them first, even threatening me that "President is going to be angry if this is something that we could have resolved". Luckily for me, I knew what the protocol was for this. Preach My Gospel says that a situation like this goes directly to the Mission President, and that it is under his direction from there. I did what I knew was right, despite all the flak I was getting (kind of sounds like a theme of mission huh?). Pres Lanius sided with me, telling me that I was not to tell them what the nature of problem was, but only that it was a problem with question 4 of the interview. I called Sister G. Nunes back, and she STILL wanted me to tell her what it was. I told her that it wasn't my business to share with her, regardless of the relationship she has with her investigator. I'm amazed at how often I'm tempted and asked to intentionally defy the mission rules, the counsel of the mission president, and the commandments of the Lord. Even as a missionary. I definitely am learning how to, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "stand firm like a rock" when it comes to matters of principle. I went back there the next day, President Lanius talked with him, and he got the all clear to be baptized. He really had a broken heart, and was almost in tears after he got the news that he could be baptized. Let's just say that Sister Nunes was happy as could be with that news.

Well we did have a baptism this week! Nothing beats a baptism as a missionary. Dalila is about as elect as they come. She was the first person that I saw from to start to finish with her progress to baptism. She asked me to baptize and confirm her, which was great. It was a pay day for us....we've been working hard, and I know that the Lord blessed us with her. 

Dalila's Baptism

I'm running out of time unfortunately (I always am!). A mission is the best. That's all I'm gonna say. I hope it's a good week for everyone....I know it will be here!

Until next time,

-Elder McKinley  

Skyping with Elder McKinley on Christmas

The best part of Christmas was getting to Skype with Elder McKinley. He was at a member's home and we got to hear him converse with people in Portuguese and see how good and healthy he looks. The highlight was when he got choked up while telling us how his favorite thing is to show people a picture book of his family and how families are forever. He's is an amazing missionary and although he has had his ups and downs with companions, he is a wonderful example of what a hard-working missionary should be!

Letter 2/6/12

Well this week has been another great week. It wasn't full of miracles or anything crazy, but I just felt good, happy, and satisfied with the work this week. I've been conducting the district meetings the past few weeks. It's a bit interesting. I had a bit of experience leading in the church before my mission, but there's definitely a difference when you are working with people who are there with a calling and a purpose. There's a lot more motivation to work here. We have a fantastic district here....a lot of missionaries with the spirit. It's a wonderful feeling. I feel at times that I am having more impact on the missionaries than on the members...It can be a bit frustrating, because you come into the mission with the mindset of helping people that aren't members of the church, but I have been learning that there are PLENTY of folks within the church who are needing some help from the missionaries as well.

We had a meeting with our branch president, Janderson. By the way, no one (unless your a stake president or general authority) uses their last name here. All the leaders and members in the church refer to one another by their first names. They all have the same last names here....SIlva, Melo, Lima, Nunes....it cracks me up to look at the ward roster and see 7 families with the same last name. Anways I wanted to know what Janderson wants us to do here. He is huge....probably 300 pounds...kind of intimidating. He was telling us how he has had some problems with some of the missionaries that served here in the past. A lot of them spent a lot of time with the members....and I mean a lot of time....a good hour or two every night in Cristina's house, one of the members here who I've talked a bit about before. We spent a lot of time there when I first showed up with Melo....and we stopped being missionaries the second we walked in that door and started becoming buddies who were there to hang out. I always felt a bit uncomfortable with it....

Some of the other missionaries too kind of ignored the members completely....just showing up there once a month to eat lunch and never passing by or including them in the missionary work. Janderson suggested that we work to gain the confidence of the members....we have about 20 returned missionaries in this branch....that is A LOT. They know when the Elders are here to work and when they are here to hang out. I think that a majority of the members have already noticed that I am a bit different than some of the Elders here. They know I want to work with them, and that I am not here to party. These last 2 weeks have been fantastic as far as our relationship with the members has been concerned. We have gotten a ton of referrals, invites to come to family home evenings,  offers to accompany us with our appointments....I'm very grateful for that advice that Janderson gave to us, and I think we are going to almost completely focus on working through the members. This probably sounds familiar for some of you living in Pleasanton, but member missionary work really is the best way to go!

Things with my companion have been good. He is by far the most obedient, most willing to work companion that I have had here in Brazil. He is very, very timid however....he kind of feels like a sack of potatoes on my back when we are talking to people....luckily the Lord has blessed me with the ability to make a contact in Portuguese, because my companion does NOT make contacts. He does like to flirt a little bit with some of the girls in our ward which is no bueno. The concept of an "Elder" doesn't connect with some of the missionaries here. He left me yesterday in church. I was inside talking with the members, when I went to look for him. I eventually found him, outside in the middle of the street chatting it up with some of the young women in the ward...like I said, no bueno. I had a chat with him about that.

Well we are all scheduled up her for a baptism. It's for a lady named Dalila. She will be baptized this Saturday. She will be the first person that I've seen start to finish (knock on wood) with baptism. She has a crazy strong testimony. I'm really excited to see the kind of spiritual growth that she will have through membership in the church.

We had one of our investigators, Leomar, call us this week, wanting $300 bucks to help pay for a motorcycle that he wanted to buy. We went buy his place to explain to him that the church really doesn't do that. When we tried to teach him, he said he needed to go to his girlfriends house. We asked if there was a better time during the week, and he said that we have been taking up too much of his time, and that we are separating him from his girlfriend, and that he only wants to go to church, and not have to meet with us. Interesting relationship we have here....

Well the work goes on, and the time is F-L-Y-ING by....I don't really like it. I'm at 7 months already...I don't even remember what I've been doing these last 7 months! It feels like 10 minutes ago that I got here...I hope it's a good week for everyone! Only you can decide that!

Until next time,

-Elder McKinley

Pictures 1/31/12

Tiago and his wife. The wife is a member of 16 years, and Tiago is still investigating. He wants to know the church is true, but is still waiting for that answer.

A lot of white! 8 People that were baptized this week. The other Elders taught them and everything, but it was still fun for us to be there!

Elder Skousen and Apeland....my buds from the MTC. Skousen was with me in Alabama. It was the first time I had seen him since the first day I got here. It was fun to see how much he has grown spiritually, and shrunken physically!

 Last picture the four of us took (the Caruaru Elders) at the mission conference.

Renatta and I. She just left on a mission for São Paulo East. Unfortunately I'm a vampire in this picture.

A family that I interviewed for baptism. A mom and 5 kids. A pretty fun family.

Letter 1/30/12

Well it has been yet another, crazy, amazing, difficult, happy week (I'm starting to think that I can expect this from missionary work). The foremost news is that of my companion. Elder Ribeiro! He showed up Monday night at about 10:30, without a penny in his pocket. So I've been paying for all of his stuff so far. I don't think he was expecting the 50 reais that he would spend on his bus ticket to the interior. He's from Curitiba. I met him once before at the welcome lunch that I had with President Lanius when I got here in October....he was coming fresh off of 19 days in the MTC, I was coming off of a 2 month stint in Provo followed by a 5 week touchdown in Alabama. He's got 4 months on the mission. When he showed me some of his pictures, I saw a photo with about 20 people all dressed in white shirts and ties....I asked if it was a ward activity he had....he said "no, no, no, that's my family!" Yep, he has 20 siblings.....his parents adopted 18, and had 3 themselves....crazy huh? He wants to play soccer at BYU...I told him I've got a buddy on the team there, and he thought that was sooo cool (shoutout to Sterling, go Cougs!) With a little time I learned that his biological mom tried to abort him during pregnancy, and she left him in a shopping bag on the street to die. A firefighter was walking by and I guess he saw the bag, and rescued him. That firefighter later adopted him and is now his dad. Pretty miraculous story....he has a good personal application when we teach the law of chastity that's for sure. Elder Ribeiro is a kind of quiet on the streets....he is a little bit timid talking with strangers....when we get talking to a person for 2 or 3 minutes, he lights up though. The members really liked him. It's a bit interesting, because I am used to teaching with Melo....we taught very, very well together. Ribeiro tends to fly through the lesson....it's something to work on for sure. One thing I am grateful for, is that he is willing to work and to be obedient!! Probably the most important thing I'm looking for with my companion.

 It's a bit interesting being senior companion. Like I said in the title, I am finally free to obey the rules and not have to argue/plead with my companion to agree. However, I am learning very painfully the importance of having a sense of direction here. I learned a lot in the 2 months I spent here with Melo, but he was always leading, I was always talking to be people, so I didn't learn the area very well. We are more or less wandering our ways around these streets here (they are alll identical....), but I am learning super quickly.

Well in other news, I was also made District Leader here in Caruaru! We have an interesting district....4 sisters, ourselves, and our zone leaders. Because of that, I don't have to do splits with the other missionaries (where I would leave my companion and team up with another missionary), and we are not allowed to accompany the sisters in their areas. The majority of my job and responsibility comes from following up with the sisters at night through phone calls, giving trainings and advice during our district meetings, and interview their investigators for baptism. We had a good district meeting this week. I focused on obedience, and letting the Lord direct this work. It is HIS work after all, we are just instruments. I also interviewed 9 people this week for baptism. Boy was that fun. It really is amazing to see the changes that are brought about in people after such a short period of time.

On Wednesday, the entire mission went into Recife for a mission conference with Elder Jay E. Jenson of the presidency of the 70, and Elder Carlos A. Godoy of the 70. It was an awesome meeting, partly because of what was said, and partly because I got to see all of my old buds from the MTC and from other areas. I'm surprised how many missionaries I already know here. I had some fantastic news. I saw Elder Skousen, who I was with in Alabama together. He got a letter from his companion there that Mike Snyder, a 17 year old kid that Elder Gibson and I had found and taught, got baptized! To add some frosting to that wedding cake, Elder Doyel, who I didn't previously know, but followed the exact same pattern I did (2 months in Provo, 6 weeks in Alabama- the exact same area/ward I was at to be specific!!- and now here) told me that Sammy and Fay Jackson, that couple that I always talk about here, are still active and are preparing to enter the temple to be sealed in February! Boy was I on cloud 9. That really was one of the best feelings ever.

But like I said, Elder Jensen and Godoy gave great talks for us. Elder Jensen talked alot about how we need to keep the covenant that we made with the Lord to serve our missions faithfully. He used Alma 60:34, and had us put our names in the place of Moroni. Boy did that hit me....I only hope that it had a similar effect on the rest of mission. Things are definitely improving here....I am seeing more and more improvement in the attitude, obedience, and dedication of the missionaries here every day.

We had a cool experience this week. Dalila, a 25 year old single mom of 3, who we found and taught went to stay the weekend with her parents who live out of town. We hadn't taught her a ton....we only had 3 meetings before that. She has been reading the Book of Mormon every single night, went to church once, and went to a baptism meeting. When she told her parents and sister that she was going to be baptized on February 11, they flipped. They all started yelling at her, attacking the church, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, everything. She defended it all. Her parents told her they wanted her out of the house, and so she left. She told us all of this last night....I've never felt so proud of an investigator before! I know that I had nothing to do with it....there's no way I could convince a stranger like that to defend something so courageously if it weren't actually true!! It was a testimony to me of the power of the Holy Ghost to convert people to the truth. She truly is one of the Lord's elects here in Caruaru. Maybe we didn't baptize 8 people this week like the other missionaries, but I have plenty of satisfaction knowing that there is one more "defender of the faith" here in Caruaru, only because the Lord willed it to be so, and for no other reason but this! The baptisms will come of the Lord's time and schedule....my job is to make sure that me and my companion have done our part and our prepared for when that hour arrives! Another great week here....the work moves forward! It's still true too!

Until Next Time,

Elder McKinley

Letter 1/23/12

 Hiking up Monte de Bom Jesus (The mountain of Good Jesus.....nice name huh?). The view from up top is pretty amazing. 300,000 people live in Caruaru.

 

Melo and I...thumbs up as usual!

It's been an interesting week. Had a little bit of everything this week. Success, difficulty, drama, miracles, struggles, and hard work. I like to always start with a few light moments, to break the ice ya know? It was a bit chilly this week, and by that I mean that it was anything other than blistering hot. I think that's my new definition of "chilly". But we had rainy weather for about 4 straight days. Elder Melo whipped out a zip up sweater....the other Elders were bustin his chops over it, telling him he looked like a tourist or a model with his sweater...I was getting a kick out of it, when Elder Melo responded with a quality gem: "No, no it's a cardigan!".....I don't believe he has ever seen dumb and dumber, but I felt like I was there with Harry and Loyd in that moment. I fear my sense of humor is becoming diluted here! There's also been a new record broken here.....we met a 15 year old girl with a 20 month year old daughter.....but wait there's more....she was pregnant with #2! My mind has trouble wrapping around things like that.

Our weekly planning meeting...it's a bit difficult to follow, I know...

What my companion is doing while I'm planning

Well like I said we had some miracles this week. I made a contact with the "cash stand" guy on the bus. The busses here have a driver and a person to collect money. Anyway he invited us back to his house. We showed up there to find his wife and two step daughters, Renatta and Rafaela who are both in their 20's. We left a message with them, and scheduled an appointment to come back the next day. When we showed up on Thursday, they had invited 2 more of their friends, Dalila and Claudia, sisters who are in their 20's as well. We taught the first lesson again, and scheduled an appointment for Friday, where there were 3 more people! My word! Everyone was humble, and felt the spirit during our lesson. We got 3 of them to church  this week (I'll take what I can get!), and one of them to a baptism we had on Saturday. The one, Dalila, was telling us how she has searched many churches, and had kind of given up on the whole organized religion idea. She was telling us that after hearing the first lesson, she was feeling a strong desire to be baptized. Like I've said several times before, we don't do anything in this work....The Lord does it all, we just reap the blessings.

We also had another miracle. While walking to another appointment, a black guy "summoned" us to talk to him at a little snack shack he was sitting at. He asked what he had to do to join our church....we talked with him for a bit, scheduled an appointment later than night, and then he proudly said, "you guys are going to have to be pretty good to convince me to join your church!" My companion and I just smiled at each other. He didn't know what he was in for. We came back to his house (he lives with 10 other people, including a very very old lady who smokes tobacco pipes, who for some reason appears to me that she belongs on a pirate ship....I know like I said, my sense of humor is getting watered down). We taught 4 of them a fantastic lesson....they were all touched....Leomar gave an amazing prayer at the end of the lesson....I've never heard such sincere, heartfelt language from an investigator. He was asking for God to literally change his life, and to show him the truthfulness of these things. When we came back the next night, he said that he is still awaiting for an answer to his church. We talked to him about having patience, and allowing the Lord to work things on his own time table. He too, went to church this week, and was like a kid in a candy shop. He ate it up! It is amazing to see the changes that come about in these people after only a few days of contact with the gospel. 

Aparecida and Ronisson. We have been teaching them for about 6 weeks, and after cancelling on 2 baptism dates, we finally got them dipped! Aparecida's dad baptized them. I think it was his first time witnessing or doing a baptism. I don't think he got the memo about waiting until getting in the water to raise the arm to the square.

If you remember Luciano, the less active member hearse driver, he too was at church last week. I forgot to mention that to everyone. Don't want to "leave anyone hanging" out there with what's happening to our investigators. Yuli and her mom decided to stay an extra week in Recife....still waiting to get back to working with them. Tiago, whose wife is a member, is progressing. We taught him in the chapel. He is as sincere as they come. Said he read Moroni 10:3-5 15 times since last week. He really wants to know these things are true, but is just waiting for an answer....this is where missionaries' patiences are tried. We have to remember that the Lord has a plan and a timetable with everyone of his children. 

We got a phone call from our Zone Leaders while they were in Recife this week. They told us there would be a mission conference this Thursday, and that Elder Bednar of the 12 would be coming to visit our mission! I was ecstatic, until I learned that they had no idea who was coming, and they were just guessing it was an apostle, and that it would be Bednar. Goons. But nevertheless, our mission will be blessed this week with a visit from Elder Jay E. Jensen, of the presidency of the 70. We don't know what it's about....we just received notice to show up in Recife on Thursday.

 Paulo and I. Elder Melo and I found him but it was the sisters that taught him. I always will remember him shirtless....haha

Paulo and his family. He is 40. His wife is 19!

Well the biggest news of all.....Elder Melo was transferred last night! I put an exclamation point because it's always a big change as a missionary, not necessarily because it's what I wanted. I was starting to grow with Elder Melo. We were working, teaching, and getting along together very well for the most part. I talk alot about all of our challenges with one another, but it is through those challenges thatt we grew to become so good with one another. Elder Melo went with Elder Oliveria to Recife to pick up my new companion (I don't know why I didn't get to go to Recife myself, the Assistants to the president requested Elder Oliveria to come in), and I will get to meet him sometime tonight! I have no idea what to expect. Elder Melo was district leader, so that will mean either myself or this new missionary will fill that role....could be interesting...but like I said at the beginning, there was some good drama this week.

Melo got the phone call last night....he started crying on the spot....we went to say goodbye to a lot of the families here....we started to run to try and visit more people....when we showed up to each house, we were drenched....Melo with tears, myself with sweat. Wonderful. Most of the families were crying as well to say goodbye to him. When we got to Crisitina's house, who he was easily the closest with, he kind of lost it. At first he didn't want to go past their house because he didn't want to have to say goodbye. I talked him into it....after about 5 minutes, he was sitting in a chair and started to do more or less of a hyperventilating action....his body locked up and turned nearly paralytic....it was very very strange. I've never seen anything like it. He seriously  couldn't move. His hands were all clenched up and he was breathing uncontrollably. I tried to help him stand up and walk around but his whole body was completely limp. I gave him a blessing, but  his body was still not cooperating. Everyone there was freaking out....I had to try and keep everyone cool there....never a fun role when everyone's emotions are high. We talked with Sister Lanius, who consulted the church doctor. Apparently when you cry for an extended period of time, the nerves in your body go a little bit crazy and lose some function...we got him onto a couch, where he eventually calmed down and fell asleep. Way to go out with a bang huh?

Well I don't know what kind of prophetic advice I can give this week. Some of the things we experience as missionaries can't really be explained, told, or taught....you kind of have to actually serve as a missionary to know. But please know that this has been the best 6 months of my life. I am so grateful I have 18 more months of this left. The Lord really is taking care of us. We aren't serving him here. He is serving us. Good week to everyone! Stay strong! Do something good for someone, and don't be afraid to show gratitude to those around you!

Until Next Time,

-Elder McKinley

Letter 1/16/12

It's been another good week here in Caruaru. I hope that my letters aren't coming off as negative....I am LOVING this area, companionship, etc....it's just that the negative things at times can appear so frustrating....especially when you want so badly to be perfect!

We continue to find new people in our area every single day. One of the sisters said to me something that I liked.....there's almost 300,000 people that live in this city, and not even 500 of them have the gospel in their lives. We have plenty of work to do....that is not a problem in slightest. Elder Melo and I had a planning session this week (I was lucky to get that....usually weekly planning gets swept under the rug until "next week"). We talked about working and following up more with only our best investigators. Since I got here, I have without a doubt noticed some substantial improvements in the way we go about business here. The first week here, we seriously almost spent more time in the homes of members than with investigators. We typically wouldn't leave our apartment until 12, 12:30 (we are supposed to leave at 11). All of that has improved sooo much. We still aren't perfect, but we are getting there. I think I'm learning one of the great secrets to getting along with your companion is to accept that you aren't going to love or even like some of the things he does, but you put up with the small things for the sake of the work.

We were supposed to have a baptism last Saturday with a 16 year old kid Ronnison and his mom Aparaceda. There are a ton of single mothers here.....its crazy! It's really sad, but it's so common that no one really thinks anything of it. Anyway, Ronnison is basically already a member....I'm thinking I wrote about them last week....I can't remember if I did. Anywho, The mom bailed out on the baptism last second because she was sick. It's the 3rd time she postponed the baptism, and she wants to be baptized the same time as Ronnison. Her son was ticked....I felt bad for him. He wants nothing more than to be baptized! They are marked for the 21st.....who knows. All we can do is follow up, follow up, and then after that follow up some more.

Arnoldo and Lucinne are continuing to be solid investigators. We went to their house this week to show them the "Restoration" movie....we had some technical difficulties.....they didn't have a DVD player, so they ran over to their neighbor's to borrow theirs, but then the TV didn't want to work....Arnoldo heaved the TV away, and whipped another honker tv (I think the TV was bigger than him) out of no where. Then the cable for the DVD player broke in half, so they went back to their handy neighbors to get another one....after about 30 minutes fiddling with everything, we settled for a black and white picture, with half of the screen not showing up....nevertheless, the work of the Lord went on....we watched the movie, and they were touched. When we came back later in the week to teach them the Gospel (and invite them to be baptized), Arnoldo was all stressed out that his son has drinking problems, and didn't have much attention to give to us.

We had an appointment with Yulli and her family, but she decided to go to Recife without telling us. Luckily we called before making the 2 hour trip to her house.

There is a part member family in our ward. The wife was baptized 16 years ago, and the husband goes to church every week but has never had anyone talk to him about the church or anything. We went to his house and taught him. I initially thought that he was going to be an easy investigator, but I learned, that like any investigator, he had doubts, concerns, and needs. We taught him a fantastic lesson, mainly because the wife bore an amazing testimony about her conversion. She had a bit of a miraculous experience when she saw President Hinckley come to dedicate the land for the Recife temple in 1996. She said she received an answer in that moment that he truly was a Prophet of God, and that everything he and past presidents of the church had taught was true....Tiago was really excited to read the Book of Mormon. He works in Recife during the week, so it's a bit difficult to track him down. We are going to try and get him to go to the baptism on Saturday.

And then there's Jose. This guy loves me.....I don't know why....he called us Saturday night and told us that he wants us to come visit him more often. We went straight there. He has 3 boys, one of which is my favorite, Jardell. He kind of reminds me of Chase Barkdull....always happy, and always makes me want to smile (anyone who knows Chase will understand, if you hadn't had the pleasure yet, track him down!) Anyway, Jose is a great guy....we have had a tough time trying to track down his wife to teach her too, but it is good that we are teaching the man of the house. I was asked to give a talk 5 minutes before sacrament meeting, and I decided to talk about Alma 36. I spoke about how Alma really tasted the two extremes of life....the sadness and despair that comes from sin, and the exquisite joy and peace that comes from righteousness. I've never seen someone so "locked in" as I did when I made eye contact with Jose during my talk. It sure is fun to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. He really, really liked church. His family is one that I would really love to see baptized and receive this happiness which Alma describes so well.

One more investigator, Valdermere. He is Cristina's brother (Cristina is our "mom" here in Caruaru....she takes good care of us). He looks like he belongs on the set of "Jackass" (forgive my language, but I don't know of a better way to describe him!). He's got tattoos, a playboy bunny necklace, and just kind of a "hard" look about him. He showed up at church sunday, I think more to "please the masses" than anything. He too, was touched, and blown away at how much he learned about God's plan for his children in just 3 hours of church. One of his comments during sunday school was "My goodness, I didn't know that....I need to study more"....when we gave him a Book of Mormon, his response was very firm. "I will read this". I love this work!

Speaking of this work, it continues day in and day out. It continues to be hard, sweaty, rewarding, but most importantly, true. I know that I am building the Kingdom of the Lord here, even if it is only one pebble at a time.

Until Next Time,

-Elder McKinley

Letter 1/9/12

Well I was a bit selfish last week and didn't really talk much about any of our investigators. We have literally had miracles every single day this past week. I'm constantly scratching my head trying to figure out why the Lord is being SO good to us. Transfers were today....no one in our district changed. I am glad to stay here, and I am hopeful that the next 6 weeks will be better than the last 6 weeks. Elder Melo spent almost the entire week preparing to leave....we must have passed by the house of nearly every member this week....lots of shed tears...mostly by Melo. It was fun for me to sit and watch all week....but really, it was kind of a drag.

Last week, a girl named Yuli (nice name huh?) was walking to her boyfriends house who lives really close to the chapel here. She had a very, very strong impression to enter, and so she did. She walked in about half way through sacrament meeting. After the meeting, we discovered that she was not a member. We taught and testified to her about the restoration of the Gospel, to which she immediately affirmed that she too now knew was true. We gave her a Book of Mormon asked to her read and pray about it. When we followed up with her the next day (we taught her on our Pday....she was worth it), she said that she had received an even stronger answer than the first time we taught her. We taught her boyfriend, Davide (he showed up to church solo--when Yuli was sick--on his own this week without a reminder or anything....miracle) and her mom, Raquel. Every one of them was touched by the spirit. We are going to mark a date for them for baptism on the next visit.

We had two incidents that were truly divine. The first: while waiting for a bus, the Brazilian equivalent of a hearse (yes the car that takes dead people to the cemetery, except here, it appeared more like a clark pest control truck) pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride....always good when the corpse-mobile is giving out rides huh? But he told us he was a member, and had been baptized about 5 years ago. He lived in another area, where the branch closed down about 3 years ago. He had a strong testimony, but had no idea where the nearest church was. He told us that he had been praying the night before to be led to a member of the church....coincidence? If you think it was, you need to serve a mission....there are no such things as coincidences anymore.

The next day, while getting on a different bus (here there's a little cash stand on the bus where you pay to get on....it's separated from the driver) I had such a small, tiny prompting to talk to the cash lady. She was super friendly, didn't stop smiling the whole time....I got her address and gave her a pamphlet. When we went to return to our apartment, guess which bus picked us up? Yep. The same one. Her name is Roberta. She read almost the entire pamphlet. She said that she was touched by it, and wanted to know more. She said that she has been having some difficulties in her life, and that she too was praying the night before for the Lord to put someone in her path to help her.

You're probably wondering, "I'm hearing alll these miraculous contact stories from Elder McKinley, but what ever happens to these people?" To be honest, we are having difficulty following up with all of them.....we have A LOT. Like I said, I really don't feel deserving of all these miracles. Our companionship has some obedience issues. I'll try and keep you all updated as much as I can remember everyone!

One more miracle.....comes from Arnold and Lucienne. We walked past Arnold on the street. Elder Melo said hello to him and asked him his name.....he responded pretty grumpily that he "can't just give his name out to anyone". Melo responded with a smile and introduced himself. He loosened up, invited us to his house where we taught him and his wife. While telling the 1st vision, I could feel the spirit working on them. The first vision is without a doubt my favorite part of the lesson. We can almost bank on it every time for inviting the spirit, and we make sure to point it out to them too when they are feeling it. It's a perfect time to extend the baptismal invite as well. Arnold and Lucienne showed up at church on sunday....along with 6 other of our investigators....holy smokes....the baptisms are about to come raining down here I fear.

I try to do everything I can to be worthy and deserving of the souls that the Lord is entrusting us with. It is difficult at times, but I have to remember that the power of the Lord's Atonement works for missionaries too. He knows my circumstances, and he knows I am trying my best. He's good enough to me that he'll through me a bone every once in a while (ok maybe more often that). But seriously, It's possible for me to have success here because the mercy of the Lord. I loveeee this work. It's hard. It's frustrating at times. But it is sooooo good!!! Can't believe I've been out 6 months already....I want that time back!

Until Next Time,

Elder McKinley

Letter 1/4/12

The last 8 days have probably been some of the hardest, most difficult, best days of my mission. I'm going to try and spend the most time on the things that I feel would be of most worth for everyone to know.

On Saturday night (News Year Eve), Elder Melo and I were doing our nightly planning. As we kneeled down to pray, he asked me what we could improve....I had a list rather long that I wanted to say, but I simply told him that I wanted to have more communication between us to and to be more unified. There is hardly a day or an hour that goes by where we end up doing something that we didn't have planned, and that I hadn't a clue about. I understand that things will come up, but there is quite a gap between the "coming up" and the "finding out" for me. To add to that, I really just have to follow whatever is happening....I don't really every have much of a chance to include my input.  In Alabama, the missionaries switched off carrying the cell phone every other day. Here, I've never been "permitted" to have to the cell phone. It's not a rule here, it's just that my companions like to have the phone, and they love talking on it.

 When I tried to address  our communication problem with Melo the first time (probably about 2 weeks ago), he responded by saying "just follow what we planned". That's about as good as reading the Book of Mormon in Mandarin. When I brought this up again Saturday, he wanted to tell me that I am not communicating with him. His claim was that I was making contacts with people, and then marking follow up appointments without "telling him". We are always together when we make contacts, and therefore together when we mark appointments. He usually just kinda of hangs around while I am making the contact, letting me do all the talking. When the time comes up to make the follow up appointment, he gets mad that he doesn't know about it (I always remind him the night before the appointment too while we are planning). His claim was absolutely ridiculous. He got pretty heated pretty heated pretty quick as I defended myself....I've never known a time when I have shown more patience in my life. He went on about how thinks that I am taking over the companionship marking appointments during the day and how I am scheduling things without telling me....I made my Zone Leaders come in and sit down to be mediators (this didn't exactly make things better)....I never once raised my voice at him or attacked him directly, as he did several times. Again, I really do not think I have ever shown such patience or self-control before.

Melo went on to critique me about several things, including being a rich American that knows nothing about how to love people, having a Dad that "lied to me" about what a mission is really like (he asked earlier that day what I had heard about a mission from my dad....I told him he told me of miracles, struggles with companions, and the joy that comes from work), that I thought I was better than they were because I like to work hard and keep the rules, and that "I don't want to make things better within our companionship". I stopped him there.....it was me with my district leader, and two zone leaders sitting there. At this point I asked the Zone Leaders if they thought that I thought I was better than they were. They responded with things of their own that had nothing to do with my question. Elder Pinheiro said that he didn't like that I asked for the address of a family that we found while on a temporary transfer together. He had told me that he and his companion were going to visit another area for 3 days directly after we had taught this family. I had wanted to just stop by their house to follow up with them....he got kind of territorial with me, and was mad that "I didn't think he was capable of following up with that family". They didn't end up going to the other area (again, more communication problem), and he wanted to make me the bad guy. Instead of defending myself like I wanted to do, I apologized and asked his forgiveness.

Elder Oliveria went on to say that I am too invasive when I am talking to people on the streets, buses, or anywhere else, and that "all I want to do is baptize, that I don't care about these people". He said that I have to be careful when I ask people "Where are you headed?" or "Do you live in ________ neighborhood"?....I've never felt that I was intruding into someone's business while asking these questions....the people recognize that I'm a harmless smiling gringo in dress clothes....I don't think they're exactly threatened by me. Instead of defending myself again, I simply accepted his advice, and told him I would try and improve.

After enjoying the "Elder McKinley Roast", I made my two claims to them. The first, is that I told all of them that I am here primarily and solely to please my Father in Heaven. If my investigators, companions, leaders, and mission president think I'm a bad missionary, it wouldn't matter to me if I knew that the Lord approved of my work. That is the only way I will measure my success as a missionary. I told them that of course I wanted to baptize, but I would rather please my God by working hard and being obedient, regardless of my baptismal situation. The second thing I said, is that I was here to obey the rules and directives of the mission, regardless of what justification may be given for the purpose of the rules. I have been blessed with an understanding of the principle of obedience to the commandments of the Lord, and I do not intend to neglect that knowledge just because I am living with people who do not share that same understanding as me.

It was a rough night for me. I knew I have been being obedient, working hard, and doing my best to please everyone, but no one likes to be chastised like that. I felt a bit unsure about my standing for the next few days....I will tell you why I feel that this was some of the best time of my mission so far.

Sunday night, before we went out to make an appointment, Elder Melo began uncontrollably bawling. I had no idea why, We came to find out that he is feeling that he will be transferred out of here after spending 7 months here. This is the only area he has ever known. I gave him a hug, to which he willingly accepted, and told me that he knew I was sent here to take care of this area, and that these very special people would be in good hands with me. I was blown away....he must have had some kind of miracle change of heart. (These past 2 days since have been some of our most unified, closest days together.) couldn't really grasp all of it at once...he had gone from what I thought was hating me to loving me in 24 hours....very special experience to me. It confirmed to me to always do what is right, regardless of what other people think of you...sometimes they will come around, sometimes, they wont.

But that's just ONE story I have this week. This past week, while walking back from our district meeting, some drunk guy called to us off the street. He came over to us, and told us that he had served a mission 10 years ago in Santa Maria Brasil. He had since fallen away from the church, and succumb to alcholism. He expressed great desire to turn his life around, to have "the life of a missionary again". We decided to help him out. We marked a day to come back to clean his apartment up. We came back on Friday, delivered him with clothes, toiletries, scriptures, food....a ton of stuff.....it really was a miracle. We took him to stay a few nights in his aunt's house who lives pretty close to us. We checked upon him every few hours. His name is Telcion by the way. I could literally see the transformation taking place within him. Sunday night (about 4am), he started having some paranormal experiences (there's unfortunately a lot of that here), and decided   to go downtown and drink again. On our P-day, we discovered that he was missing, and went after him. After about 3 hours of searching, we found him sleeping under a table at the "feira" or fair, that Caruaru has every week. We talked to him, took him to eat, and then back to his aunt's house. Unfortunately, she didn't want to take him back in....this is where the story comes in. We stopped at our apartment so that Melo could use the bathroom. Him and I went up while the other 2 elders and Telcion stayed downstairs, or so I thought. Next thing I knew, Telcion was in our apartment. This is a biggggg no-no as a missionary. The Zone leaders had brought him up there to rest....he went over to our hammock (yes we have a hammock!) and quickly fell asleep. I asked Elder Pinheiro if he was aware that visitors are strictly forbidden in the apartments of the missionaries. He said yes....I told him that we needed to call the Mission President to advise him of the situation. Here's where the problem came up. Pinheiro told me that we didn't need to get permission for this. I insisted. Olivera said that "sometimes we just need to trust in the Lord"... I guess that means determining when the rules do and do not apply and keeping it a secret from the mission president. I told them that if they didn't call the mission president, I would. They responded with a very firm...."let him be....he is sleeping and resting right now....do you know what he's been through?" I really did feel like crap at this point....I was looking at him sleeping, and the last thing I wanted to do was to kick this poor soul out of our peaceful, quiet, comfortable apartment. I felt like Nephi. It's not easy to do what's right when your superiors (or older brothers in Nephi's case) are trying to convince you not to.  I was surprised at this moment, when Melo, emerging from the bathroom, backed me up. He himself called Pres Lanius, who affirmed that we did indeed need to remove him from our apartment. Olivera came up to me, said some angry words (some of which I understood, some of which I didn't). Pinheiro walked passed me with the angriest face I have ever seen. I've never seen either of them like that.

Well, once again, I felt like crap again, and very up-stirred by what happened. I knew what I had done was right, but like I said, no one likes to have people angry at you. Later that night, Elder Olivera apologized to me, and admitted to me that I was right. Today, we had a Zone Meeting (not zone conference, it was just the missionaries). While Elder Olivera was talking to all of our zone about dedication and obedience, he said that Caruaru had been blessed with an example this past transfer. He said, in front of everyone, that Elder McKinley had taught by example how he and the other missionaries in the zone should be working and behaving. I see how some of you reading this may think I'm being cocky, or high-headed by telling this story. I'm including this here, something that I feel is very personal, because it really taught me a very, very powerful lesson that I would like to share. The lesson is that the Lord will always support those who do what is right. Those who oppose you, if they really are humble and willing to admit their errors, will eventually come to their senses, and you will have your reward for righteousness here, as well as your reward in Heaven. It was a very difficult thing for me to stand up to my Zone Leaders that day, and my companion (and zone leaders too) on Saturday night. I KNOW I was supported through this. I know I did the right thing, and I am so grateful for the strength and courage that the Lord gave me to do it. It took me a good hour to write this. We had miracles pouring out of heaven this week aside from all of this. I do not know why the Lord is blessing us (and especially me) so richly. I don't always understand the ways of the Lord, but I do trust him.

Until next time,

-Elder McKinley