Letter 11/14/11

Well the weeks continue to fly by here....it really is difficult to explain time on a mission. I got some good stories from this past week. I really do have pages and pages of stuff that I could write....the majority of it I cant even remember, but everyday truly is a new adventure. A quick note, we are going to the temple next thursday, and that will be my pday, so don't expect a letter from me until next Thursday! People see me coming from a mile away, and they know I speak english. A lot of people like to try and show off their english skills to me. For example, while walking down the street the other day, a man came whizzing by on his scooter shouting THE SUN IS VERY HOT. Another little kid was shouting a very, very naughty word. Of course Im the only one in 100 miles that understands it....that goes for all of the American rap music that the people play here. Filthy..... The other day, we got off in a market in Prazeres because of a companion exchange we had. When I got off of the bus, I literally felt like I was in the middle of an Indian Market....people shouting advertisements, animals barking, cawing, mooing, scooters zipping by left and right. Felt like a dream. I have to pinch myself sometimes here.

The temple!

 

Shopping on pday! What a treat

my pantry (actually we put all of our food in the fridge because of ants! Nothing like chilled crackers after a long day of work!)

It almost seems too funny to be reality. We were walking by an art gallery (I guess you could call it that) and some guy who looked exactly like Snape from Harry Potter came running out and insisted that we go into his studio and take a bunch of pictures. It was weird....the pictures he had all looked like xrays of people....he had me look at all the pictures from different angles and all sorts of wierd stuff. I dont think it would have mattered if I was fluent in Portuguese....this guy was wierd!

this is the "Snape" guy I was talking about and his wierd pictures....oh yeah and he insisted that I take a picture in black and white....

We got to go a Rodizio restaurant this week, courtesy of a member. Wow....I honestly felt guilty eating that good and being a missionary. I thought I had to be breaking some kind of rule! The food was ridiculous. All sorts of meats, and it was unlimited too. It was a bit difficult trying to tract after that. Life is good here sometimes without a doubt.

A Rodizio! This food is too good. I don't think that guy was too thrilled about taking that picture
 

One of our lunches....the food here (quality and quantity) is out of control....The guy on the left is a member in our stake....he leaves for the Sao Paulo North mission soon

 Well now more on to missionary topics....we were supposed to be evicted this week from our apartment, but the management never notified us, and the mission office said they would take care of anything that came up, so I guess we are here to stay for the time being. While we were walking through an apartment complex, we stopped to ask a few teenagers for directions (one of our not so clever ways of starting conversations with people). Turns out, one of the kids was a member of the church. His name is Emerson. He was baptized 3 years ago, and is about 20 now. He is a stud. He never really had a reason for leaving the church. He said that he just kind fell through the cracks and people forgot about him. He said since he had stopped going to church, he had never seen the missionaries or anyone from the church, until we walked by the other day. We gave him a book of Mormon, and started reading it with him. While we were talking, one of his buddies, Lindenberg, walked up and sat down, so we started teaching him too! The coolest part, was when we started to talk about the Book of Mormon, and Emerson bore his testimony (remember he hasn't been to church in 3 years) to his buddy. We knew this kid was special without a doubt. We talked about a mission with him....he wants to serve the Lord. Truly the Lord doesn't forget his children, even if we sometimes do.

a few members from our ward. The guy next to me is a bit inactive, but we are trying to get him out on a mission!

 Another good story, actually the story of a whole day. Yesterday was quite a roller coaster for me. All the lows and all the highs. We left for church early so that we could pick up our investigators for church. We had about 5 people that said they would come. All 5 fell through. Oh yeah, and then it started to rain. Feeling a bit dejected, we headed to church. I had been asked to give a talk (the first of my mission). I was allowed to choose my topic, so I spoke on Prophets. I knew I needed help to be able to explain gospel principles, but explaining in Portuguese makes it all the more difficult. I was praying this morning and the past few days for help. I can honestly say that that was probably one of the easiest talks I have ever given. The Gift of tongues was without a doubt present. I know its hard to understand what this means when they are just words on your computer screen, but to me, this was yet another powerful evidence of the presence of the Lords hand in my life and in this work. As the day continued, we taught a lesson to a lady who was a referral from a member. She was open and eager to learn, but I absolutely destroyed the lesson. I was trying to tell her, rather than teach her. She was not understanding very much, and I wasn't getting a ton of help from my companion. I felt extremely frustrated after the lesson. We returned to our apartment for dinner, when I offered up yet another prayer for help. We went back out to a few appointments, and at about 830, 30 minutes before we needed to return for the night, we decided to talk to a few people in a park close to our apartment. There were 4 kids (about 16-17 years old) that I felt impressed to talk to. We started a conversation with them, and ended up giving a complete lesson to them on the sidewalk. That lesson was honestly textbook. I don't know that there was too much that I would have done differently.¨All four of the guys we interested, and we invited them to play volleyball with us on our pday, which they accepted. Once again, there were times when I felt like I wasn't even speaking Portuguese, it just felt so natural. I cant take credit for it whatsoever. The power of prayer, and the power of teaching with the help of the Spirit is undeniable to me.

a baptism that the sisters in our ward had.

The good news is, the mail works very well here. If any one you would like to write me, it is always appreciated. But to be honest, something Ive learned is that I really only need the help, encouragement, and correspondence of my Father in Heaven. Everything else is secondary to that. Don't get me wrong, I love getting letters and hearing from my family and friends, but NOTHING can substitute for the advice, comfort, and security I feel from conversing with my Heavenly Father. My testimony of prayer has grown so much here (as it did in Alabama and the MTC as well, but especially here.) I hope everyone has a great week, and remember, Don't forget to pray!

my watch....i worked "this hard" today....gross aint it?

 Until next time, 

-Elder McKinley