So Tuesday morning I was picked up by one of our zone leaders and taken to the mission office. I was looking forward to hopefully having an interview with President Holzapfel. I really have a lot of respect for him, and I was hoping to have some 1 on 1 time with him. I was a little bit bummed when he gave me a big hug, took a picture, and jumped in the car to go to another meeting. His wife did give me a bunch of snacks to take on the plane which was very considerate, but I still think I would have rather had the interview. The Sessions, an missionary couple in our mission, drove me to the Birmingham airport and saw me off.
My last supper in Alabama....place called "Rib It Up"....the best ribs I have ever had....they were huge!!! That's only four ribs on that plate, but you can only see 2 of em!
Me and Elder Duffy. My zone leader in the MTC, and my comp in Alabama! This kid understands missionary WORK.
Me and President Holzapfel
Me signing my VISA!!
Elders Withers, Emmanuel & McKinley...Elders in Ensley, Alabama.
With Elders Wimberley & Taggart at the Alabama Mission Office
The flight was quick to Atlanta, but it was a bit delayed taking off, so I was in a bit of a rush trying to catch my connecting flight to Sao Paulo. I did run into about 10 other missionaries in the airport...one was Elder Cole Moffat (i knew him from BYU) going to Argentina, and the other was Elder Griffin Adams who is reporting to the Sao Paulo MTC. Pretty cool to run into those guys. The flight was about 10 hours, but surprisingly wasn't that bad. The turbulence was kinda crazy, but it made things interesting with some of the melodramatic Brazilian women on the plane.
Me and Elder Adams! He's heading to Sao Paulo North eventually.
Sao Paulo....huge!
My first look at Recife from the plane was a good one. Lots of green and lots of blue....two things that I like quite a bit. I got my bags and was met by two of the mission secretaries, Elder Botcherby and Elder Berg. This mission does not have any senior missionaries like my last mission. Its a little bit strange comparing these two missions. We had cars, bikes, texting (we got updates and instruction from Pres Holzapfel several times throughout the day), unlimited phone calls etc. Here we walk and have 90 minutes a month on our phones. No texting either. The nice thing is that unlike Alabama, people are usually home when they say will be! So we took a cab to the mission office....I was seriously just in awe as we drove through the streets. Everything was sooooo foreign to me. It was seriously like a dream. It felt like it was about 100 degrees outside. The humidity here is off the roof. Ive been sweating ever since I got off the plane. Definitely an adjustment. Like I said, there was a lot to take in. There are people EVERYWHERE on the streets, in cars, on motorcycles, looking out of their apartment windows....its crazy! There are about 4 million people that live in the area of Recife....and I may have already seen all of them. Not to mention there's buildings everywhere! In the main section of Recife (its actually called Recife) there are huge skyscraper apartment buildings everywhere. This is pretty much considered the wealthy area. Walking down a few of the streets of Recife reminds me a bit of San Francisco....there tall buildings, shops, and homeless people. A lot more vendors here for sure. The people here are all pretty dark for the most part....not quite black like I was expecting but still dark.
Restaurant where Missionaries like to eat...they make mini pizzas!
Recife is called the Venice of Brazil
Me, Elder Lima, and Elder Wynder. Like I said, I'm the tallest person I've seen in a while.
The people here are ridiculous. They are simply too nice. If some missionary came to my house or ward and couldn't speak my language, Id ignore him in a second and talk to the other missionaries. Not so here. The people are so excited to see a missionary, especially one who is here learning their language.....they are soooooooo patient with me. It baffles me! It really helps me to want to learn the language that much faster. They are good moral support and encouragement. I have seen how much I have learned just in these 5 short days. I think that I will be where I want to be within a month or so....that doesn't mean fluent....just means capable. Those 5 years of Spanish are really looking good now. They helped a ton. My biggest struggle right now is trying to understand the people. Recife has its own vernacular and accent, just like Philadelphia or Alabama (I can relate to that). People here sound very similar to speakers from Portugal. They make a shhh sound a lot. Kind of tricky to pick up, but Ill get there.
So to talk about what Ive been doing the last 5 days....it certainly has not been missionary work unfortunately. Thursday we had a meeting with the General Authority, Elder Mazzagard from the Brazil Area Presidency. It was about a 4 hour meeting. I didn't understand everything, but I understood enough. This mission just had a change of leadership. Under the previous president, President Emerick, there was quite a bit of disobedience and focus solely on baptisms.....regardless of whether or not they stayed active. The first presidency and Elders Nelson and Holland were praying specifically about our mission. They noticed some flaws in our numbers. They were seriously considering closing the mission, sending the good missionaries to other surrounding missions and the bad missionaries home. President Lanius, the new president, asked for a chance to turn the mission around. Within a month of him being here, 8 missionaries were dishonorably released and excommunicated from the church. Right on the spot. There was a lotttt of confessing and repentance in the mission. The area president of Brazil, Elder Costa, held a personal interview with every single missionary here. Apparently there was quite a purging here. I am glad that this is something in the past, and that Pres Lanius has his head on straight. The goals and vision of this mission are pretty lofty. We have a mission goal of having every companionship baptize every single week! That is crazy, but without a doubt possible here. So that was my first day in my mission.....welcome aboard right?
Friday we went back (the 3 of us) to the mission office. I had to go back to the airport to do some paperwork and to register with the government as a visitor. Elder Wynder came in to do his conclusion interview. We spent the entire day away from missionary work, which kind of made me sick a little bit. Elder Wynder had one request from Pres Lanius, and that was to visit the temple one last time before we left.....so guess what we did all day Saturday? We went to the Temple! That, I didn't have as much of a problem with. The Recife temple is absolutely gorgeous! It is huge too! The pictures of it really don't do it justice. It is in a bit of an awkward situation in the city, but it doesn't really matter when you're standing in front of it. Its just as beautiful in the inside too. Definitely the highlight of my time here. Ive appreciated the peace of the temple sooooo much more since coming into the field....it gives you a different perspective.
Sunday we went to church. Like I said, these people here are ridiculous. They make you feel like a million bucks every time you see them and talk to them, even if you cant understand them! We had lunch at a members house, which was actually really, really good. That's one other thing different here versus Alabama. The members feed us every single day for lunch! Really convenient! Lunches in Brazil are kind of a big deal....not very much emphasis on breakfast or dinner, which is difficult to cope with at first. I basically just eat once a day, and maybe a snack or something at night. Like I said, I'm getting there....After lunch we came back to our apartment to do our studies and then to a going away party some of the members were having for Elder Wynder. Lets just say that Elder Wynders going away party has been quite a bit of a distraction, and has been the cause of quite a few broken rules....mainly in regards to curfew and our schedule, no issues of worthiness. He is a good missionary, but I think it will be a good thing when he leaves....I'm here to work, and we have done almost zero of that since Ive been here.
I am supposed to go to President Lanius apartment tomorrow for my interview, lunch, and training. I am excited for that, but it will be yet one more day of not working (oh yeah and today was p-day too....) I really am not complaining. It is a miracle that I am here, and I absolutely love it. It has been worth every drop of sacrifice and effort it has taken to get me here. I thank the Lord everyday for the privilege of serving as one of his missionaries. I am going trough trials, but I am also being blessed beyond comprehension. The Lord has me on his shoulders. I know that as sure as I know the sun is shining (and trust me, where I am, the sun is shining....) Sorry for my punctuation....the keyboards here don't really have the best of markings. I love you all and continue to ask for your prayers and love! Thank you thank you thank you to all who take the time to read what this 19 year old boy is doing with his life....hopefully something Ive said will relate to you personally.
Until next time,
Elder McKinley
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