Well the honeymoon stage is over with me, my companion, and this area. The realities and difficulties of missionary work have returned. Don't think that that is a bad thing, because stuggles, difficulties, and trials are the ONLY way that I've found I can improve as a missionary and as human being. We have been having some of the similar troubles that me and my last companion had, but there are some new ones as well. Living with 4 missionaries (3 brazillians I might add) is a very interesting atmosphere. It's one thing to understand them and other Brazilians when you're talking in public and to investigators, but in the apartment, when the slang, stories, and drama surface, I get lost in everything. I live with the two zone leaders and my companion, the district leader. You would think we'd be the most obedient apartment in the mission....the average bed time here is about 11:45. I'm usually getting into bed late too because my companion is fiddling around with the other missionaries while we are trying to plan. I've discussed with him, and I think the other missionaries took the hint. Don't get me wrong, living with just your companion can be rather difficult, and having two extra missionaries to balance things out is a blessing, but it can also be a very, very painful distraction.
Elder Melo is the district leader. We have 8 missionaries in our district, 4 elders, 4 sisters, all in the city of Caruaru. 2/7 days of the week Elder Melo and I are supposed to spend helping the other missionaries in our district build and develop their areas. This is kind of frusturating for me, because when we go to the areas of these sisters, they just kind of kick back (they are supposed to stay with us) and let us do all of the work! I think it would be better to let them have their area to themselves, and let us followup with all of the investigators that we have (we have a lot....). Like I said, I'm learning through trials and frusturation, that I don't know everything about missionary work, and that there are usually two sides to every coin. I was going to save this quote until the end, but I think it goes well with my point here. "If this were the work of men, it would fail. But this is the work of the Lord, and he does not fail." - Joseph Fielding Smith. It is very helpful for me to remember that regardless of how inefficient I feel like we are being, this work will succeed, and I am trying contributing to it, even if it the level of that effort isn't always where I hope it is.
Melo and I at our District (stake) conference....only time I've worn my jacket other than the temple
Another quote/story I liked....I've learned A LOT about the power of prayer the past two months. I often feel that there is no one that understands the tough times we have (which I know isn't true, any missionary can testify of the difficulties of missionary work, companions, learning a language, etc.) When I have these feelings, my knee-jerk reaction is to get on my knees and pray, then get up and go to work. The first story comes from Elder Mazzagardi of the 70. He visited our mission the first day I arrived here. He told us that we should always kneel when we pray in reverence to the Lord. One missionary asked if we could kneel on a rag or a pillow, so that it wouldn't be as painful (carpet basically doesn't exist here). Elder Mazzargadi put his foot up on the railing of the podium, rolled up his pants and revealed a nasty black kneecap. He said " this is the secret to my success!". I really liked that attitude. We aren't going to get very far without leaning (and I mean LEANING) on the Lord. The other quote is from President Hinckley. "I don't know how to get anything done except by getting on me knees and pleading with the Lord for help, and then getting up and going to work". The power of prayer (and fasting) is very, very real. That is something I'm learning very, very well out here.
Us with Cristina, the "mom" of the missionaries. It was her birthday party.
Well a bit about our investigators. The people here are great. Much, much more receptive than where I was in Recife. The people here aren't really that much poorer or anything, just nicer, friendlier, more accepting human beings. We actually had a baptism this week. It was an investigator that Elder Melo had been working on for about 4 months. His name was Abel, and he is about 70. He bought a car, just to use to drive too and from church (this was before he was baptized too!). But I never got to teach him much, so I'm not going to talk about him much!
Abel's Baptism
Bernardo....he was a referral from members in the ward. He has been to church a few times, but never really learned much about why we are different. We taught him the first lesson at a members house (the members actually kind of turned out to be more of a distraction during the lesson than a help, but I'm not going to complain because without them we wouldn't be teaching him!). He was golden. He asked great questions...one of which was "How can we become part of the covenant people of the Lord? Aren't only the Jews entitled to those promises?" Luckily, all those hours of bible study paid off great and I whipped out Galatians 5 for him, showing him that we are adopted in to the covenant race when we are baptized. Another great question "How can I know which church is true?" That was an easy transition to the 1st vision account. My word. We marked him for baptism on Jan 6th. He was excited for it. That was a fun night.
Jose Carlos and family....Jose is the crazy guy I wrote about last week. He still is crazy, but he does have a legitimate desire to find out more about our church. We invited him to attend the baptism we had this week....this is where my "pride cycle" title comes in. I was humbled this night. The baptism was at 7:30. We got to the chapel at 5 to clean and fill the font. Then we went to go pick him up (show him where the church was) at 6. It took a good 45 minutes just to get there, then he took a good 20 to put his socks and shoes on. We waited for our bus for an hour (which never came), then we ended up paying for a taxi....which are wayy expensive here. We got to the chapel at 8. I was stressed. Jose Carlos was chatting my ear off the whole time....I was understanding him perfectly, but he couldn't understand a word I was saying (people here have a harder time understanding my accent). I was getting kind of frustrated. When we finally got to the chapel, I felt the most calming, peaceful feeling. I don't know that I've ever appreciated or noticed the presence of the spirit of a chapel like that before. It was something else. The night went on....the baptism went off without a hitch. Afterwards, Jose Carlos (and two of the other investigators we had) were being really finicky with us. They said they had felt the spirit, and agreed that baptism was important, but don't want to be baptized right now. They didn't even have a reason. Like I said, frustrating. On the bus ride home, Jose Carlos was thoughtful enough to tutor me in my Portuguese...he was talking to me like a 4 year old....it was a rough night for me....I went to bed that night a much, much humbler man.
Our zone....good thing I'm in this picture
I talk alot about the realities I have here, but I want everyone to know how much I treasure, value, and appreciate these experiences. I like how Paul said it in Hebrews 12:11
"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
I am growing and learning so much here. I am coming to know my Savior and Father in Heaven and the power and role that they play in this work. Truly, it is a privilege to serve as a missionary. I love this work!
Until Next Time,
-Elder McKinley
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