Final Photo Update 6/10/13

Neide's baptism! What a special one!

FINAL LETTER! 6/10/13

Well, things are winding down, but at the same time, things are picking up pace too! On Wednesday, we were able to go to the temple...what a treat. I really had some good time to reflect on my service and the lessons I've learned  these past years. I could feel an incredible peace and sense of satisfaction during my time there. 

On Thursday, I had my final interview with President Lanius....I've spoke a lot about my mission President. He is a very interesting man. He's one of the most dedicated and loyal servants of the Lord I have ever seen. He can at times, give the impression of being very serious and straightforward. There was a good time when I felt that he didn't really stop to get to know his missionaries individually, but with time, I discovered that this man is really a spiritual giant who has a heart bigger than a basketball. Sitting down with my Priesthood leader who personally guided me and oversaw my progress for two of the most incredible years of my life was an experience that surpasses all description. I don't think there's another man on this Earth who knows me so well (not just for having personally known me, but knowing and seeing what I have done, what my companions say about me, what my leaders say about me, what those I lead say about me, what the members say about me, and so on....you could kind of say that he is like a "Big Brother" or that he has an "All seeing eye"...don't think that your mission president doesn't know who you are....).

During our conversation, I felt like I was receiving the second half of my patriarchal blessing....I knew that the Lord was acting as voice through this man's lips. After about 5 minutes, I stopped him and said, "President, do you think I could take some notes?" He gave a good hearty "Jabba the Hut" chuckle and said "Sim, Elder McKinley, Pode!!!" Just for you guys to have an idea, I usually write about a page per night in my journal....Thursday night, I scrambled to write everything down that was flying through my head....It came out to about 8.5 pages...my new pen almost ran out of ink....

I was incredibly touched and very reflective after my interview. I felt that this man had looked into my soul. He told me things about myself that I knew were true, but that I had never come around to recognize or completely acknowledge. He helped me to understand just how much potential I have as a priesthood holder and as one who has a testimony of the Gospel and desire to see the work of the Lord go forth (both in my own life and in the lives of others). I felt his love and appreciation. I knew that the Lord had foreordained this man to play an important part in my life. What a special relationship I feel that I have with this righteous man of God. 

The last week is here. I'm not "trunky", like my whole district likes to tell me and joke about....I feel bad for some of them....they are all starting their missions, and I think they are a bit confused, thinking that they'd like to be in my place. I've told them several times that they don't need to worry about clocks or calendars....they are living the best and most exciting time of their lives. 2 years passes by in a heart beat.

 I'm so grateful for everything that I was able to during these past months and years. What an incredible ride it has been. I wouldn't trade it for anything. There's nothing in my life that has personally meant as much to me as my mission. I will forever cherish it in my heart. It was a sacred privilege given to me by the Almighty. I owe him everything I am and have for what he has given me.

Once again, I turn to the Book of Mormon to better describe my feelings. Ammon, as he reflected on his missionary service, expressed much of what I myself am now feeling:

Therefore, let us glory...yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.....Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God. (Alma 26:16,35 )

Enos, as he neared the end of his life, expressed the following in regards to his ministry among our Heavenly Father's children

I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world. (Enos 1:26)

I give my testimony to all, in addition to those which have been and will yet be given, that this work is true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is real. Jesus is real. He lives. I have never had so much certainty of this as I do in this present moment. I have never done something as important and special as the work I have been engaged in these last two years. I have basked in every minute of my mission. I know that there is no better opportunity for a young man than a full time mission. I really just can't describe it. My joy is overflowing. It's something that you just have to feel for yourself to understand. It's worth it. It's so worth it. I feel grateful. I feel happy. I know who I am. I know what I want in this life. I know where I want to go. Could there be anything more special than this?

Thanks for tuning in!

Love, 

Elder McKinley

Letter 6/5/13

Wowowow! It's soo good to be an Elder!!!! Why does it have to end!?? I really feel like the Lord has held in reserve some of his richest blessings for me in these last few weeks that I have in the field. I have been feeling the Spirit stronger than ever....I am seeing the Lord's hand more clearly and plainly than in any other time of my life. It's as if everything in my mission is turning into a big huge "replay". I'm seeing how all of this (the difficulties, the miracles, the heartaches, the stress, the prayers, the faith) ties into my Heavenly Father's plan for me. You get to a point where you look back at all the blessings of your mission, and you feel so grateful for all of the things that the Lord has done for you, that you almost want to cry with happiness and gratitude....then your perspective opens up a little bit more and you see that you've been permitted to help countless people at the same time along the way.

Shoot. If I'd have come all this way and gone through everything that I have without having been able to have helped a single person besides myself, I'd be the happiest 20 year old boy in the whole world....and then to think of all of the special, blessed people that I've been allowed to teach, serve, love, and help during these 2 years (many of whom who are in turn doing the same to others around them)....well folks, thinking about all of this, King Benjamin's words come to my mind,

"And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you. (Mosiah 2:25)

I feel so UNWORTHY of it all! My mortal mind just can't wrap around the idea...this same question repeatedly has come to my mind during these past 2 years "What did I do to deserve all of this???" I honestly don't think I do deserve it....not even a tenth of it do I deserve. It has really helped me to understand just what the Prophets meant when they teach us that "the Lord thy God is a merciful God" (Deuteronomy 4:31). It helps even more to understand just what is mercy: "Mercy is the compassionate treatment of a person greater than what is deserved" (Topical Guide). What a powerful lesson this is. The Lord is MERCIFUL. He is LOVING. He is GENEROUS. He gives us much, much, much more than we deserve. Pathetic words do nothing to describe my feelings [funny how everything as a missionary relates to the scriptures....I understand so well now what Moroni meant when he said, "And only a few have I written, because of my weakness in writing." (Ether 12:40)]. I love the Lord for everything he has done for me. Once I asked my mission president what was the most important thing I could learn on my mission. "Love God", he responded. I can say that I feel that I've take a few good steps to understand that essential and oh so important lesson. 

We had Neide's baptism this week. It was a marvelous experience for me. I saw how the Lord hand prepares his elect children to enter into his Kingdom here on earth. We did little or almost nothing in comparison to the spiritual preparation that she has been going through since long before I was born. That's what the Lord means when he says the "field is white, already for the harvest". Our job is not complicated, but is incredibly sacred and special. As she climbed the stairs out of the baptismal font, I heard her say "que água boa" or "what great water that was!". Her son is serving a mission in Campinas, Brazil. I can only imagine how he must have felt to receive the news that his mom was baptized....it's going to be even better on the day that he finds out that his Dad was baptized too! Batista, Neide's husband, has been going through a transformation. It's like watching a time-lapse of Mosiah 3:19 before me eyes...

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

He said a prayer at the end of one of our lessons that almost brought me to tears. I can't believe how much these people are changing. It's all the testimony that I need that this work is true. The Lord is the Head of this work. He leads us. He changes us. We just need to do as he instructs, or in other words, we need to "submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit". The work is true. I bear my witness of it. 

Until next time, 

Elder McKinley

Letter 5/27/13

Well instead of using my Internet time to write reports home, I spent it looking up hotel rooms in Recife for when my parents come here....something I'm not very used to....all of this "real life" experience that I've been having lately (choosing college classes, booking hotel rooms, etc.) can be somewhat frightening. I feel like a hermit crab who feels plenty comfortable inside of his little, familiar "Elder" shell...It's time to graduate to a bigger shell soon. 

I don't have a ton of time, but I'd like to share a story about a couple we are teaching, Neide and Batista. Their son, Jonas, is a recent convert and is serving a mission in Campinas. His parents have been taught by many different missionaries, but their hearts were still quite hardened. A few members suggested that we try to go to their home and teach them. We decided to give it a try. The lesson was wonderful....we were really feeling the spirit strongly. When the moment for the baptismal invitation came up, we showed a painting of Christ's baptism....we waited a good 10 seconds for them to respond.....Neide shocked me (and even better was the look on her husband's face!) when she said"ok, I don't have any more questions or doubts about it". We worked a lot with them this week. They went to our ward conference this week....boy was it perfect for them....The ward normally has about 40-50 people present....there 150 at this conference. There was an incredible outpouring of the Spirit there....it's just what you pray for as a missionary so that your investigators can really know and feel what the restored Church of Christ is like.

I'm super excited to help this couple enter into the church before my time here is up....Let's see if I'll have this privilege!

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley

Letter 5/20/13

What did I learn this week? The scripture included above just about says it all. Learning to deal with difficulties and hardships is a life long pursuit. I think we as missionaries learn in 2 years what would take about 20 when it comes to "endurance".  I feel like I really am reaching my peak as a missionary....I've never felt so "lost" in the work....don't get me wrong, the distractions still exist, but I can really feel that my whole body, mind, and soul are consumed by this work. Everything else seems to take a back seat. 

We had some interesting events this week. Our biggest prospect for this week was a girl named Iza. She's 17 years old. We found her and family about a month ago while passing on their street. We stopped, turned back, and knocked her door to follow a spiritual prompting. We started teaching her, her mom, and her sister. They always have a ton of people in their house....it reminded me of "Seinfeld". Every 5 minutes, someone new enters into their house (we got a lot of new investigators from them). Iza went to church 3 weeks in a row. She was well received and liked it a lot, but had a lot doubt as to whether or not she wanted to stay and become a member. We worked a lot with her...the Lord blessed this young woman quite a bit for her to be able to feel the spirit and know that what we were teaching her was true.

We offered countless prayers in her behalf. On the day of her baptismal interview, she wanted to give up. She said that she didn't feel "ready". We were able to convince that she knew absolutely everything necessary to be baptized and to follow Christ. She calmed down a bit, and said that she would be baptized. When Saturday came around, we started to worry if she would actually show up when the time came around. We had to travel to a few other cities to do baptismal interviews, and it was a little bit out of our hands. We got to the chapel, waited, prayed, waited a little longer, called her, waited a little longer, prayed, and decided to go after her to try and see what was going on....when we got to her house, no one was there....I thought "great, there goes our baptism for this week". Instead of complaining and getting depressed and upset about it, those words offered by the Lord to Joseph Smith passed through my head, "If thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high". I gave it a try, and kept my head up. When we got back to the chapel about 15 minutes later, we were shocked to see Iza, her sister, and her mom there waiting for us! We baptized her and had an incredibly special experience doing it!

The Lord really did come through for us! I felt grateful for having kept my head up and not "murmured" against the Lord my dark hour of despair. What a difference it makes to not only be grateful and loving towards the Lord in our hour of peace and tranquility, but also in our dark hour of despair. My testimony grows each and every day, mainly because I choose to want it to grow. If we sulk and wine and complain, having a hard heart every time that storm cloud comes our way, it would be a lot harder for the Lord to bless us with special, spiritual experiences. Keep a smile on folks. The Gospel is true. 

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley

Letter 5/13/13

We came out the gate with a lot of energy this week. If there's one thing that excites you to get out to work as a missionary, it's being stuck at home for two days with a sick Elder. We easily made up for our lost time this week. The Lord really helped us to make up our lost ground. 

We used a bit of out p-day time to have lunch with an investigator of ours named Daiana. She is from Rio, her aunt is the relief society president here in Vitória, and she is currently living with her atheist "husband". She works a ton as a professional cook (yeah, lunch was good with her). Monday was the only time we had to meet with her. She invited not only us, but the other companionship to have lunch with her too....all four of us. We eased our way into a gospel conversation with them (Daiana is crazy to be baptized....she just needs to marry first....our lesson was more focused on her husband) Let's just say that trying to teach an atheist with 4 Elders isn't the best idea....the lesson took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Almost 2 hours! I felt so bad for the poor guy. After the other Elders finished explaining the plan of salvation from the creation of Adam down to Adam-ondi-ahman, we left the very tired looking family in peace....you know what blew me away? When we saw Daiana later in the week, she said that her "husband" liked the lesson! How??? This church really must be true folks. 

We found several good people to teach. One lady left me with a big smile on my face....after explaining the restoration to her, she said "do you mean to say that God and Jesus Christ appeared to this boy and called him to establish the only true church of Christ here on the earth???". I love responding to a question like that....you leave people with such a powerful thought in their minds....unfortunately not everyone understands so clearly what we teach. 

Fun side notes: A crazy guy we passed on the street this week asked us if we are those same Germans that blew up the World Trade Center....hmmm. Another lady  chastised me for not knowing "the Lord's prayer" by heart....she insisted that we say it together with her before leaving. When it rained a few weeks ago, these giant flying ants began to crash and fall all over the place....what do the people do about it? Run after them, put them into bottles, and then take them inside to fry them and eat them....I passed up that opportunity! We taught Albemar (the voo-doo-ist). He told us of how he talks and receives visits from spirits at times....I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He is starting to the light bit by bit. We made some good goals with him. I don't think I'll be around to see his baptism, but he is an incredibly good hearted man. I think it will happen one day. 

We challenged a 17 year old girl we are teaching named Isa to be baptized this Saturday. She has been to church twice already, but has cold feet in respect to a baptismal date. We talked with her for a good while, and we left her with the challenge to read a few scriptures and pray to know if she should or should not be baptized. Among the scriptures we gave her was Alma 32:16.

"Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized withoutstubbornness of heart"

We were confident that she would receive an answer....when we came back, we were sadly disappointed to see that she hadn't even read or prayed....unfortunately, we had to chastise her a little bit and help her to understand just how important all of this is. I think it made a difference. She went to church again yesterday. There was a little 8 year old boy running around passing out invites to his baptism this Saturday. He gave an invite to her....when she looked at it, I think the Spirit touched her heart....she told us at the end of church "who knows, maybe I will be baptized this Saturday after all!" What a great piece of news! The Lord really can work miracles....we are going to see if we can seal the deal with her!

Elder Santana and I have been growing along together....we are really becoming more and more unified in our teaching and purpose. I couldn't imagine a better way to finish my mission that the way I am now!

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley

Letter 5/6/13

It's a funny thing, because Elder Santana's parents are Pernambucanos (they are from Pernambuco)....they married and moved to São Paulo where he was born....he visited Pernambuco once before about 7 years ago and he got real sick to his stomach (maybe food poisoning or something). Since he's started his mission here, he's been sick to his stomach....In Brazil, people don't feel even the slightest uncomfortable in telling you that they have diarrhea (sp?)....it's really weird....if you ask someone who looks like they are sick how they are doing, they'll respond, "oh I'm fine, I just have diarrhea today"....and then people react and respond like it were any other small conversational thing....so yeah, everyone found out that Elder Santana has had diarrhea for about 10 days now....it was a bit difficult to work on the street when we had to stop and run to the chapel or back to our house every hour or so for him to use the bathroom. It's not his fault though. 

Tuesday at about 1:30 AM, he woke up and was having a lot of stomach pain....the other Elders got really worried and insisted that we go to the hospital. We called our branch president here in Vitória whose name is Elias. This guy is a stud. He showed up within 10 minutes in his little 1990's Volkswagen golf to give us a ride....the hospital (more like a clinic really) in Vitória didn't have the right equipment to do his exams, so we had to go to Recife, which is about a 30 minute car ride. Let me tell you something about Brazilian state highways....they aren't lighted. Let me tell you another thing about 1990's Volkswagen Golf's....their windshield wipers suck....to through some more gas on the fire, it started to rain....I was absolutely bewildered as to how our Branch President was able to the road through the rain and darkness....to make it just comical, the wipers blew a circuit and stopped working all together....so there we were, flying (Brazilians have lead feet!) on the dark Brazilian highway, in the rain, with no working windshield wipers, with my companion cradled up wincing in pain, and our branch president trying to simultaneously drive and stick his hand out the window to dry off the windshield with a dirty rag he happened to have in the back seat....yup. Let's just say that I gained a stronger testimony of prayer after this whole ordeal. The Lord protected us until we got to the hospital in Recife. Fun experience though getting there!

The exams came out normal...it looks like Elder Santana caught some kind of parasite. The doctors gave him an antibiotic that solved the problem really quick. In all, we ended up spending 2 complete days watching the wall paint peel in our apartment. It's good to get out folks. 

We had to work 2x as hard to try and make up for the time that we lost. We didn't have the same success that we'd been having in bringing investigators to church. That little boy Alex that was baptized was as happy as could when he was confirmed yesterday. You could see his happiness on his face. He ran to pick up all the hymn books after sacrament meeting was over, without even being asked. I can only imagine the happiness that I would feel if a little guy like this makes it to serve a mission...only time will tell. 

I made a few visits to the other areas in our district. I've been serving (and will finish my mission) serving as district leader....it's been fun for me so far. I'm able to apply a lot of the things that I've learned throughout my mission with these newer missionaries. They are all really eager to learn, and I'm really eager to pass what I know to them, so it's a great combo. 

There were a few people that I interviewed for baptism this week...that's always one of the highlights for me. I love seeing the desire people have to enter into the church....more often than not, the people have doubts or get cold feet right before their baptism. We really have to be in tune with the Spirit to be able to help these people to make the right decision. Sometimes it's a simple worry or concern that they have, like "what will my friends think?" or "will I be able to play soccer on Sundays?". Sometimes, it's a lot more complicated, like "I had an abortion 15 years ago and I just found out that my husband moved out on me to live with another woman and I don't have any money to buy food for my 5 children ...can you help me Elder?" That was the case on Saturday. After a good long talk, a very spiritually guided lesson, we helped this good faithful woman see how she could find peace and real stability in our Father in Heaven's Earthly Kingdom. The teachings and blessings of the Gospel are really the only thing that could help a woman like that. She courageously accepted, even in the middle of many doubts and real concerns, to be baptized. What a privilege it was to talk with this lady of such great faith. 

Even when it looks like things are going wrong, the Lord is always willing to drop us one of his tender mercies. I'm very grateful for this, and all of the wonderful experiences that I've had as a missionary up until now. Let's see if I can't have a few more before my times up!

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley

Letter 4/29/13

What a week folks! Almost too much to put into one letter. Last Monday was Elder Santana's 25th birthday...since it was our p-day, we decided to celebrate a bit. We went to Caruaru, which is about 2 hours away by bus....it's been more than a year since I was there....It was sooo strange to see my former area....It felt like years since I had been there. It was a good walk down memory lane...

We have been visiting with a man named Allan. Allan is an inactive member of the church who lives practically in front of the chapel. He was baptized when he was young, and stayed extremely active in the church for about 10 years....when the time to serve a mission came around, he started to get a bit unsure about if he really wanted to serve or not. To make a short story even shorter, he got involved with drugs and fell away from the church. While searching for a referral that we had received from an investigator, we came across Allan and his family. They very warmly and excitedly invited us in and received us in their home. He basically told us that he has been wanting to come back to church for a long time, but just needed someone to invite him. These past two weeks, he's been at church! He had an interview with the branch president, and it looks like he's wanting to come back to stay! What a great joy it is to see him coming back to church with such enthusiasm, and so easily too....well, easy for us that is....it must be a pretty interesting experience for him. 

We also had a baptism this week! Coming from the smallest town on earth, Glória de Goitá, a city that we cover in our area. It's about 20 minutes away from Vitória, but I'm convinced that missionaries have never set foot in that town. We got off the bus, and I felt like I had landed on an alien planet. I'm used to people stopping and looking at me when I walk by on the street, but this was ridiculous....every nook and cranny we walked through, the people pretty much stopped dead in their tracks, stopped talking, and looked at us like we E.T.'s It was hilarious....I got a kick out of it. We taught Rosana, Abelmar, and Rosana's nephew, Alex. Abelmar is about 60, and has two sons who are serving missions in southern Brazil. His first wife died, and now he's on his second one. She's only 23....So that's interesting....Alex is about 10. Alex and Rosana showed up at church last week, and we invited Alex to be baptized. At first, we thought that he might be a little unsure or childish with his decision to join the church, but with time, and each one of our visits, he showed that he really does want to make good choices! You could see just how happy this little boy was to be able to be baptized. He showed up early at church in a white shirt and tie to help set up the chairs in the primary room (this is on his 2nd visit too!) I was shocked. Elder Santana had the opportunity to enter into a baptismal font for the first time as an Elder. He was just as happy as Alex. It was a good day all in all. 

We found out that Abelmar participates in Candomblé, which is that weird African voodoo religion that I talked about in the past. Apparently, he talks with "spirits" which give him counsel and advice....These "spirits" told him that if he were to be baptized, that the spirits would destroy him....yikes...on the other hand, he has a serious problem with coffee, beer,  cigarettes, and oh yeah he isn't married either (nor does he want to...he receives some kind of retirement money from his dead wife, and if he were to re-marry, he would lose it all)....this may be the most complicated situation that I've ever seen, but guess what, the Gospel has the power to change a man! He told us that he's lost the desire to drink just with us visiting him and bringing the spirit into his home. It's going to be an interesting adventure for this man....

Well, my time is up already....The work is full steam ahead...missionaries are showing up here by the dozens....it's an incredible thing to see how the Lord is pushing his work into corners that it's never before entered! 

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley

Photo Update 4/29/12

Elder Santana and I the Day we became companions

Walking on a dirt road in a rain storm results in the following:

Alex's baptism...the guy with the cowboy hat is the voodoo guy!

Letter 4/22/13

Well I hope that the experience that I shared last week set well with everyone. I thought about that experience a lot, and I wanted everyone to know that I'm definitely not perfect, but that I, like each and everyone of us, can learn and change after making a mistake....the Gospel is a miracle isn't it? I like to tell people who are worried about having to be "perfect" after baptism that the only difference between us sinning before and after baptism is that after we are baptized, we commit to show the Lord that it really was a mistake....that we really don't want to do that again....that we really did learn and become a better person through the use of our free agency and the atoning sacrifice of Christ. He's the one "paying" for these "tutor sessions" if you know what I mean. We can choose whether or not we are going to pay attention, study, and apply what is being taught. 

As for the work, we had some great miracles this week. There was a flu bug that went through our house this week....first Elder Medeiros, then Elder Santana, then Elder Morrey....for some stroke of luck, I was spared, but our work efficiency was not....we had to get a bit creative with our companionship exchanges to leave the "ailed Elder" at home while the others went to work....I wouldn't be caught dead inside of our house when I could be out teaching and testifying, especially since I feel like I'm the bottom of the ninth inning of the ball game here. We had interesting weather....as we went to pick up our investigators for church sunday morning (the true moment of truth for a missionary....), it started to rain...I said a silent prayer on the way to their houses, knowing how difficult it is to convince someone to walk 25 mins with you to church in the pouring rain. Right as we got to their houses, the rain let up and the sun came out....it wasn't a huge miracle, but I sure noticed the Lord's merciful hand....

We had 6 investigators at church this week! What a relief....our first two weeks we were basically opening up the area to missionary work, so we didn't have much to work with. There was a mother-in-law/daughter-in-law combo, a two sister combo, and a mother and son combo! We got a chunk of each one of these families to church this week....no we have to try and go back and pick up the remaining stragglers. Only one of them has a problem with chastity, so that means we have some people with short-term baptism potential. The most promising is one of those sisters. Her name is Isa. She's 17, and happens to be friends with a few other young women at church. She was a bit unsure if she wants to be baptized in this church or the Assembleia de Deus....we are going to work with her. The little son who was at church, Alex, is 10 and agreed to be baptized! He showed up to church with a white shirt and a Book of Mormon in his hand! Sweet. His mom, Rosana, and him found the church in Recife but ended up out here in Vitória. They didn't know there was a ward here, until they found me and a few other Elders about a month ago in the train station....they asked us where the church was in Vitória, and we happily told them. Little did we know, they would show up out of their own will a few weeks later! Sweet! The Mom isn't legally married, so we will have to try and tackle that one.

The work is accelerating here. The members are really trusting in us. We can see that they are willing to help us out! I'm excited to be a missionary at this time and in this amazing place! ahhhh.....Why does it have to end????

Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley

Letter 4/15/13

Well, I've got a lot on my mind today...I'd like to share 3 main things with you all.

The first is an experience that happened with me about 3 weeks ago. I was debating with myself as to whether or not I should share this story by email, but I couldn't stop thinking about it so I guess that's the Lord's way of telling me "yes". Maybe you remember me telling a story about a 17 year old girl named Taynar who was almost baptized....I gave a part of the story to you guys. Here's  what happened..while preparing her for her baptism during the week (it was marked for Saturday night), we completely lost contact with her....apparently her cell phone broke or something, and she never picked up when we called her. We called her neighbor several times (who is a member of the church), but she didn't have any contact with her either. I'll remind you that she lives in an area that is currently without missionaries, so we were taking a bus and a train to get to her area....it takes about an hour each way to get to her house.

We tried seeing if she was at home every other day, but with no luck. When Thursday rolled around, we were pretty worried that we were going to lose the baptism. Through some miracle, she picked up when we called her. She said that we could meet her at night. When we showed up at her her neighbor's house (note that we tried to do the right thing by teaching her at the member's home!) to meet with her, she wasn't there....after waiting a half hour, we tried going to her house yet again....she was there, but said that she needed to wait at home while some furniture guy was putting a new dresser together in her house (weird....but whatever). She said that she was waiting for her mom to show up so she could leave to go her neighbors house so we could teach her (I hope you guys are following my story here....) Realizing that we had another appointment that night, we had two thoughts.....teach her right then and there, alone at her house and at the same time breaking a mission rule, or leaving her there and taking the risk of trying to meet up with her again to prepare her for her imminent baptism and baptismal interview. What do you think we did?

My conscience was functioning very well. I knew that the right thing to do was to wait to teach her with another responsible adult present....my companion and I looked at each other....We reasoned to ourselves that we could justify teaching her alone, considering the circumstances. We entered and taught her for about 10 minutes when her mom showed up (she was drinking when she showed up....little did we know at the time, but that drove her nuts seeing us at her house....she said that we were invading her privacy....it ended up costing us that baptism).

All in all, the moral of this story is simple. People sometimes tell me I'm crazy for wanting to obey all of the mission rules, but that doesn't mean that I, or anyone else is perfect. My companion and I didn't make the best choice. We thought that we were smart or prepared enough to not need to obey that rule at that time....we were dead wrong. No, we didn't do anything serious and there was no sin committed (thankfully!), but we transgressed a lower law, and we paid the price for it. This girl, Taynar, is super elect. She will be baptized without a doubt, but unfortunately, our act of disobedience cost me the privilege to watch that baptism. I was transferred two days later. I really felt that I learned the price of obedience. I thought myself as an obedient Elder before that day, but the Lord showed me that there is still more that I can do. I feel very grateful for the lesson I learned....I really do feel that it was priceless. It will without a doubt serve me in the future. Absolute obedience is key. Therein lies safety and peace!

Well now that that's off my shoulders, the other things are rather simple. I've been thinking a lot of how I can show more charity and real love towards those I serve. Sometimes we serve others more as an obligation or as a sense of duty than as a real demonstration of love towards them. It's the more "expensive" option, but it's totally worth it!

The last thought. We found a man named Sidney. He's an inactive member's buddy. He's about 30. He told us how confused he is by all of the various religions in the world, and how he so desperately wants to find the truth. I know better by now that you need to test an investigator before seeing if he really is committed to following the Lord, or in other words, if he really is an elect. Our first lesson gave all the good signs...he was willing to accept all of the commitments we offered him. This was Saturday night. We were expecting him Sunday morning at church. When we called him Sunday AM, he told us that he went on the Internet Saturday night and found some information about the church that he didn't like, and said that he would rather sleep than go to church....it left me real sad to see someone so desperate and so hungry for the Gospel continue being deprived because of a lack of sincerity. I asked him if he believed that everything he reads on the internet is true....his response wasn't very creative. He told us that he read from the Book of Mormon and prayed, but he was missing the "works" to complete his "faith". He was our biggest hope for this week. We are going to try and keep working with him. The work here is difficult (always was! and always will be!), but it is the battle that makes the victory oh so sweet! The battle against darkness continues! Through obedience and faith, we can and will succeed!

Until next time,

-Elder McKinley 

Letter 4/8/13

This week was sweet. I was running around quite a bit with the transfers....I actually didn't end up getting my companion until Wednesday morning. All of the trainers and new missionaries met at the Recife chapel while President Lanius interviewed everyone. After about 3 hours, we were assigned our companions. Of the 25 elders that were assigned to train, I'm the only one that has more than a year of mission experience. It's not common for an Elder to train at the end of his mission. My new companion is Elder Santana from Santo André, São Paulo. He's 24 years old and a great guy. He's really humble and has a strong testimony. He spent a part of his life inactive in the church, but is back to make things right. He has an incredibly strong desire to serve a mission. He's a little bit innocent, if you know what I mean...kind of like Adam and Eve after they were kicked out of the Garden....he knows how to do a lot of things, but it seems like he wants to try an be submissive and learn as much as he can from me. It's different for me....I'm used to companions who come "pre-configured" with their own customs and habits....Elder Santana is a completely blank slate....it should be fun to work with him and pass all of the experience and knowledge that I've acquired these last 2 years.

We managed to hitch a ride from a member in my old ward, Jardim São Paulo. I will miss that ward a lot. There are some very special people that I met there....I really learned to love the members and converts that I knew there....I will have lasting friendships with these people without a doubt. The church is a bit different here in Vitória. There are two small branches with about 60 active members in each. We live with another companionship, Elder Morrey from Washington, and Elder Medeiros from Rio Grande do Sul. I already knew both of them, seeing that I already served in their zone. Our house is amazing....everything is super new and shiny.....Brazilians love ceramic tiling....and now I do too. We have an awesome setup here. The city is interesting too....there's a lot of dirt streets here (unpaved) with mansions on the side....kind of funny....poor infrastructure, rich people. This is the wealthiest area I've ever served in. The "interior" as they call it here, or inland area, is notorious for having receptive people. Everyone will talk with you, fewer will assume a commitment. It's real hot and dusty during the day, but at night there's a little cold breeze that comes through the city that is awesome!

The work has been good here. Elder Santana and I are getting along great. With time, I'm starting to see him break through his shell and getting to teach these people with real boldness and authority. I was blown away by the first lesson that we taught here....he challenged the lady to baptism like a pro....I thought he was teasing me by saying that he didn't know how to teach. It's funny, because he hardly speaks any English, but I'm trying to teach him a few things....it's harder than you guys think to remember English now.

The work progress was pretty slow here. We don't really know our way around the area and spent a lot of time getting to know the neighborhood and the members. I'm hopeful that this next week will be a lot smoother and more productive.

In other news, thinking that I had my foot out the door as a mission leader, I was called as District Leader. When I told my mission  President that I had a desire to train, I never thought that I would end up being the district leader of 4 areas that are all in training....3 Elders have less that 2 weeks in the field, 3 have 2-4 months, 1 has 8 months, and then there's me, the dinosaur of the district. I'm gonna train alright. It should be a good experience for me....it looks like the Lord wants me develop a little more patience before I'm through here. This week should be a fun one!
Until next time,

-Elder McKinley

Letter 4/1/13

Well, that's the biggest news I've got for you guys! I was very suspicious that I would train these last transfers....I had told President Lanius in an interview that I had the desire to train a new missionary (seeing that I have yet to train a new missionary on my mission) during my last two transfers. I had a specific area in mind that I thought would be a good set up for me to train in, but I didn't ask anything specific from my mission president. Lo and behold, the Lord granted my desire....I will be serving in Vitória de Santo Antão, an interior city on the way to Caruaru, a former area of mine. It's in the same zone that I was already serving in, so I had already visited the area twice on companionship exchanges....It should be a great way to finish my missionary service! I'm really excited for it! I will be staying in Recife for 2 days (until Wednesday) for my companion to arrive. I don't know who it's going to be, but I believe that it will be a Brazilian. I'll fill you guys in better next week.

In my last week in Jd. São Paulo, I was a bit disappointed with the outcome of Taynar's baptism....after passing a few days without any cell phone contact with Taynar, we tried going to her house everyday to try and talk with her and prepare her for her baptism. She was nowhere to be found, and we ended up only finding her mom at home almost every time....little did we know, but for some reason our frequent visits left her mom extremely annoyed....when we showed up on the day to interview Taynar, her mom exploded on us and told us that she didn't want her to join a church that makes so many annoying visits to her home....we tried explaining to her that we were only passing there to try and prepare her for her baptism, but her mom didn't really have "ears" to hear us. All in all, she refused to sign the baptism slip to authorize her 17 year old daughter's baptism....frustrating....she is going to eventually give in, but for now, we are stuck on this note. She will certainly be baptized (Taynar loves the church....she knows it's making a difference for her and that she truly does feel close to the Lord there), but unfortunately, I probably won't be there to see it. All well. That's how it goes....the Lord has bigger purposes that we know some times.

I'll write more next week with the adventures from my "son" and I in Vitória!

Until next time,

-Elder McKinley