Well it has been another crazy week in Brazil! I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. It was pretty low key here. During our dinner hour on thursday my companion took a nap and I made myself dinner....nothing special....just bread, turkey, and some corn meal stuff called "koos-koos" that I really like. It gave me something to be thankful for thats for sure! I have a feeling that Christmas will be a bit more wierd for me, seeing as no one celebrates thanksgiving here!
So we got word on Friday that the sisters who are working in the area to the north of us are having a baptism on saturday, and that they needed someone to do the baptizing! My companion and I were easily excited at that invitation. The work has been slow here. In 7 weeks in IPSEP, we have had 1 investigator attend church....that is about the extent of our visible results. It doesnt help when youre frusturated that your companion doesnt want to work to change things either. All that aside, we were very thankful for the opportunity to baptize someone. The sisters asked us to get to the chapel early to fill the font. As I went to unlock the door, of course the key snapped in half inside of the lock. It wouldnt be a baptism unless something went wrong. You should have seen this key....it looked more like a screwdriver than a key. I dont know how it broke....I really am not that strong. Regardless of the adversary´s efforts, we evantually got in through another door and filled the font! We baptized two brothers, one age 12 and the other was 10. I baptized Paulo, the older. It was my first time baptizing another person! Very cool moment. I had to feel for these two boys. When my companion asked where their parents were, they responded that their Dad was dead and that their Mom was drinking. You just hope that the church can grab hold of these two little guys and keep their heads on straight as they grow up. On Sunday, we got to confirm them as well. I was surprisingly not nervous whatsoever about giving him a blessing after the confirmation! I know my portuguese isnt (yet!) perfect, but I was able to speak the words and thoughts that the spirir put into my mind. Very fun memory for me.
Sunday afternoon, we went to Soledade, which is more or less the chapel that the mission uses whenever we have meetings, transfers, etc. We were practicing for a Chistmas choir that the stake is going to put on the coming weeks. Elder Apeland and I had a good chance to talk. He was my companion in the MTC, and spent a few months in Texas before getting to Recife. He has a rough companion, much much worse than my situation. Hes kind of a beast to him. It was really nice for us to have the opportunity to talk with one another about how we can help our companions....plus its nice to just vent with someone in your native language, regardless of what youre talking about. All that Portuguese can build up some pressure at times.
As we left the meeting, I got a call that I was to be transferred the next morning (today!). I was not expecting to be transferred at all. Ive only been with Elder Lima for 7 weeks who was technically my trainer. I´m definitely not complaining though. I was willing to stay put in IPSEP with Elder Lima, but if the Lord wants to move me, lets move! I actually got to see a bit of the tender side of Elder Lima after that news came. He was telling me how thankful he was to have a companion that was willing to work and to keep him on top of things. That meant a lot to me, considerering that Id spent the last 7 weeks constantly concerning myself with trying to motivate and keep my companion hard at work. He started giving me all sorts of tips, advice, and things to watch out for with new companions. I really appreciated the sincerity I saw from him....almost the only time I saw this my whole time with him. Nonetheless, Ill take it!
This AM we headed back into Soledade for transfer meeting. Im going to Caruaru, which is in the interior of Pernambuco! It was about a 3 hour bus ride. It is much cooler here, and much more hometown-y if you know what I mean. I really like it here so far. My new companion, Elder Melo, looks amazing so far. Night and Day from what I had last transfer. Im going to be careful from passing judgement just yet, but I think this could be one of my favorite areas during my mission. Elder Melo is from Sao Paulo, and seems to like to work and be obedient....two things I have been missing very much in a companion recently! I dont really know very much about the area...Ive only been here about an hour or two! Ill have more news next week!
Until next time,
-Elder McKinley
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