Well I am going for a marathon here....I can probably spend all day typing here with stories and stuff that I would like to share....it might be a tad unorganized but here it goes.
I have been getting to know this quarter of Brazil slowly but surely....I am literally learning line upon line here....I do realize that Brazil really is not that exotic or crazy as some of the other countries that the church has missionaries in, but I certainly am getting my quota here....the biggest thing is the language. I considered myself to be pretty well off linguistically before I got here....I knew that there was going to be an adjustment period, but it honestly is so frustrating having no idea what these people are saying! That was where I was at a few weeks ago....I am definitely following the flow of most conversations now, but still there is a significant grey area for me. A majority of it unfortunately falls between my companion and I. Half of the time, I have no idea where we are going, what we are doing, or who we are talking to. Elder Lima knows the area and the members very well too, so its pretty easy for them to chat up a storm while I sit there and stare at them with my mind spinning at a 100 mph. Well anyways, enough of that....I do feel great strides everyday with the language. I study, write words, ask questions, doing whatever I can to cement Portuguese into my mind, but the only way I am going to learn this language is with time, and a lot of help from the Lord. For this reason, I dont let my lingual abilities bother me. I have definitely noticed that as my intellectually ability to speak has been curtailed, the power I draw from the spirit has increased. I have without a doubt been humbled to the point where I really don't have a hope of successfully communicating our message here unless I have the spirit with me. Its a wonderful thing for me to experience this. The Lord truly is building me into the missionary he wants me to be, but first he has to get rid of the parts of Michael McKinley that are getting in the way.
It cracks me up some of the things the people say and do here....whenever people are talking with you, they love to poke you and touch you to help illustrate their point (Brazillians love using their hands to talk). I had to laugh, this one guy poked me about 10 times within a minute....it reminded me of the scene in happy gilmore when Chubbs is poking adam sandler with his wooden hand while hes talking to him....unfortunately Im the only person in this city that understands why that is so funny. Another funny story, my second day here (a few weeks ago) we were teaching a lady with two little kids....while we were teaching they decided to take off their clothes....well I learned that people here dont really get circumcised....that was a fun lesson in culture 101. It gets better....they came back about 2 minutes later with two humongous pairs of toy scissors, and kept snipping them....I about lost it. Like I said, no one understands my humor here! I met a lady on the street who was trying to tell me that 9/11 was predicted in Leviticus somewhere....of course she couldn't remember the reference....oh and I love when people tell me how impatient or racist the people are in the US....I ask them if that was something they noticed when they visited (knowing that they'd never been). They respond oh no Ive never been, but Ive seen it on TV and movies. Wonderful.
We spent a good chunk of this week searching for a new apartment. Our contract on our old one expired after about 4 years of missionaries living here. We used that as a good approach to talk to people, telling them that we were looking for an apartment to start a conversation, but then telling them who we were and our message....it was quasi-successful. EVERYONE here said how difficult it would be to find an apartment in this neighborhood....Im not sure why...we found a couple of good candidates...one is a sweet house about 20 feet from a bakery and 40 feet from a fruit stand (if youre following my idea here...) Im hoping that works out. Theres a housing coordinator for the mission that is coming out today to look for it. About 600 reais a month...i think thats about 400 dollars.
This last week on our pday we got to go into downtown Recife and look at some of the shops, stores, and museums there. There was one Catholic cathedral that we toured....holy smokes. That place was crazy. The catholic influence on this city was enormous....there are 300 year old churches all over the place. Now a days theres a lot more variety in the religions here....a lot of Baptists and Assembly of God, and then my favorite, the Universal church.....pretty smart idea to make a church for everyone, regardless of what you believe huh? But nonetheless, Recife is rather similar to the south. It is very religiously active, everyone loves football (different kind of football here) and people like to drink on the weekends!
One cool experience I would like to share. We started a conversation with a man and a woman on the street the other night. The woman was kind of stubborn, but the man was really listening to me intently. His name is Pedro. Elder Lima was talking to the woman, and so I was left on my own with Pedro. I told him about prophets, authority, the true church of Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon. He was a little bit hesitant initially. I asked him if he thought that the 1st vision |Joseph Smith received was a possibility to him. A simple yes or no question. He couldn't give me a straight answer for about 5 minutes worth of worming his way around the question. Finally he admitted it was possible. I shared my testimony with him, and challenged him to read and pray. He was silent for about 30 seconds. I really felt the spirit strongly. He shook my hand and told me he would do exactly that. He was definitely sincere. After we left, Elder Lima told me that he had been listening in our conversation. In about 20 mins worth of talking, he said that he didnt hear me make one mistake....the power of the spirit is real. I know it is! I am learning lessons like this day in and day out. I am starting to develop that indescribable love for this work. It will continue to grow, I have no doubt about it. I am pushing forward with a firm faith in Christ, that I can become an effective tool in the hands of the Lord, and that the purposes of our Father in Heaven can be brought about through his servants. The work goes on!
Until next time,
-Elder McKinley
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