SEGUNDA (Monday): Yep, today was good. Emails, packages with candy, the postcards
are awesome! And the flash cards are
great. I’m going to just work on Old
Testament, also! So, something
interesting… You know that deep feeling of satisfaction you get, like you’re
proud of yourself, after you do something really good. Yea…. I didn’t have that feeling after I
jumped off the roof of the church. 4
other Elders from our district came and we played volleyball. They hit it onto the roof; I saw an opportunity
and took it. As I started climbing the
barred windows, one of the elders started singing the Spiderman theme
song. Anyways, when I jumped I think I
bruised my heel. But it’ll be fine. Totally worth it.
I forgot to
weigh myself today, which might be a blessing.
Ha-ha, let’s just say they feed us GOOD!
Also, the cyber place had my pen drive!
WOOT WOOT!! That’s what I’m
talking about. I also bought lunch for Elder
Santos Melo and me. It’s this buffet
place with REALLY good food. I paid
because I was feeling nice, and it was like $10.00 for us both to have a soda,
and as much amazing food as our bellies could hold.
I also had
the other elders teach me how to juggle a ball with my feet. I’m going to be practicing a lot. At one point, playing volleyball I was trying
to pop the ball up into my hands with my feet.
After 4 tries one of them said, “Stop.
You’re American. Use your hands.” Ha-ha.
It was funny. Well, I don’t have
much more for ya’ll. Love you! Today was day 111 of my mission.
TERCA (Tuesday): Woot Woot!
Good day! Those post cards of
Christ you sent me, I LOVE THEM! They
are awesome. One lesson today with a
family of members that’s kind of struggling and 2 other people, I gave a
lesson/message about the gospel, and used 3Nephi 27:13-15. It was very spiritual and went very well, and
at the end, I gave 3 groups each one of the post cards. I said, “Put this somewhere so that when you
look at it you’ll remember the spirit we’re feeling right now, and think about
the gospel of Christ.” They all started
at it, then Mirian said, “That’s your name in the corner, did you draw
this?” I said yes and she started
crying. She had a son that died a while
back, and she told me that he drew the same picture for her one time to use in
her class with the young women. It was
very spiritual. Then we closed with a
prayer and Mirian went to put the picture in her house. When I went in a little bit later to put
something away, it was in a picture frame on the shelf with pictures of her
son. Thank you mom and dad! Mirian asked me for a bigger one. I don’t know if it’s possible to blow it up
without it getting blurry, but if you can, and then send it to me, that would
be awesome.
So, we’re
kind of getting in trouble with the door.
Ha-ha. President called Santos
Melo today. We aren’t really in trouble,
but they said that we should have called zone leaders. I think they would have said the same thing,
but it’s all-good.
We also had
a really good lesson with Sandra e Carlinhos, about temples and baptisms for
the dead, and family history. Then we
set a goal with them to go, with a name of a family member, in January. Then, I gave them a picture also. They loved it. Carlinhos started debating which child’s
picture he would remove so he could put it in a frame. Ha-ha.
You will
never believe what song randomly got stuck in my head today. The duck with the lemonade stand song. Talk about a thought placed in your head by
the adversary. (Josh and mom randomly sang this week too. We like to think that is a tender mercy to
remember that we are still connected to Jake while he is so far away). Also, the scripture mastery cards are
AWESOME! I like that they are so
big. They fit perfectly in the side
pocket of my bag, so I choose one to take with me each day and work on it in
the street.
Also, the
kids flipped at Sandra’s house when I gave them my last pack of skittles and
M&M’s. The chocolate here is
different, less sweet, I think.
I’m 89%
certain Elder Santos Melo vai embora (go
away) next transfer, and 73% certain they will open the other area as
well. 96% certainty I will ficar . Casa boa.
(stay in nice house). One more thing, if anyone has an idea to
make a country of people with families get married, please share. If I had a baptism for every couple that
needs marriage, half of them would be baptized.
Ha-ha. Today is day 112 of my
mission. 16 weeks! 16/104=4/26
QUARTA (Wednesday):
WOOT WOOT! Another great
day. People are loving the post
cards. I’m only giving them to people I
feel a connection with, and with a message.
I want people to remember my name by the spirit they felt with me.
Lesson with
our new Sergio went very well. Nothing
feels better than, in the lesson, you’re speaking with no thought before hand,
and the message is just flowing and they understand what you’re saying. I leaned today that the gift of tongues is
just as much helping people understand you as it is helping you speak. Man am I glad I’m on the Lord’s side. I don’t’ think Sergio will be ready for the 7th
like we marked, but we’ll keep praying and working with him.
Also, hoje
e noite (tonight), there was a
baptism at the church on Appel (a very well known street). It’s about 30 minutes walking, and where we
have all of our meetings. The rapaz (boy) being baptized asked Elder Santos
Melo to baptize him at the interview. It
was that kind of situation where they asked him who he wanted to baptize him,
and he didn’t want to offend either of the Elders who taught him so he chose
Santos Melo. It’s fine. So, we went to that, and it was cool. I don’t have any pictures with the kid. I have no idea who he is, but he seemed cool,
and very well prepared.
Today, I
made the promise to myself that during my mission I will never complain. Rather then complaining, I’ll actually do
something to fix the problem.
Complaining does nothing but attract other complainers, and tick off
those who are happy. Its crazy Octobra
is almost gone already! The time passes
so fast! It seems like the more you try
to hold onto every moment, the faster time passes. Today is day 113 of my mission.
QUINTA (Thursday): So, let’s talk about this good day I had
today. I’ll just tell you about one
lesson that I had today, with Sergio. It
was really good. We pulled up the shorter
restoration video on the computer and watched it. Then talked about it and about lesson 3,
evangelho de Cristo. Then we talked
about his smoking. The original goal was
one a day for this week, and none net week.
Today in the lesson, Sergio said he was done. He doesn’t want to smoke anymore. Then he told us about when he was in the
hospital for 2 months and didn’t miss smoking.
How after 10 minutes, if he resists the urge to smoke it passes. I said, “That’s great! Stop now!
So, can I have your cigarettes?”
Ha-ha. He looked at me like I was
crazy. Then I explained to remove the
temptation. But his son smokes, too, so
no go. But he asked us to stop by his
house everyday to check up on him. He’s
a great guy. His nephew leaves for a
mission on day 11 of November, and we’re trying to get him to baptize Sergio,
on the 7th.
Then, we
stopped by the house of Terezinha, a less active that is old and very sick,
hence the inactiveness in the church.
But she loves the missionaries.
I’ve only been to her house three times. But she is like a grandma to
us. We walked into her house, and she
right away handed us both little towels and said, “Go clean your faces. You’re filthy.” Ha-ha.
(By the way, I was HOT today.
Whether from rain or sweat, I haven’t been properly dry in weeks). Then she told us about the trip to Natal she
has planned. I told her I have a friend
in Natal serving a mission and she got very excited. She texted her son who lives there to ask
about the missionaries in his ward, and he didn’t know their names. She told me to figure out her ward and if
it’s the same she wants to deliver a letter for me. She told me about 6 times she wouldn’t open
it. Ha-ha. Today is day 114 of my
mission.
SEXTA (Friday):
How are you guys doing on the Old Testament Scripture Masterys? I already have 6 down! I memorized 2 today. Casa Ben.
Haje for um ban dio mesmo (not
translating right, but something about good day) and I took a picture of my
dinner. The burgers here put America to
shame. Just saying.
So, we met
a new investigator today, and she doesn’t stop talking. No matter what we do. So, that’s cool.
Ha-ha. Also, so we have a list of all the young men
in the ward, about ¾ of which are
less/inactive. We went through it and
found one name of a kid who hadn’t been baptized, the list said, but he always
goes to church and everyone thought he was already a member. So, we went to the house of Mirian, a member
who we are tight with and also the aunt of this rapaz. We asked her if she knew that her nephew
wasn’t a member, and she flipped! She
said, “YES he is! He was baptized and
confirmed twice! I don’t’ want to hear
anymore!” Ha-ha. I guess when he was 8 he was baptized by
Rafa, husband of Mirian. Then, for
whatever reason, he got put in the system as another person. So his name was in the system twice, one
saying he wasn’t baptized. The
missionaries found it, and 3 years later taught him everything again and
baptized him. Mirian got very mad
because it made it seem like the baptism her husband did was invalid. Then the same thing happened with the system,
and now where we come. By the end, we
looked closer at the list and it had his name 3 times. At the end we were all laughing and all was
well. If you want a sweet story to read,
read Daniel 5. AHHH Cool.
I never appreciated the scriptures like I should have been. Today is day 115 of my mission.
SABADO (Saturday):
TODAY WAS AWESOME! This morning
in my studies I spend a lot of time on studying diligence in Preach My Gospel. I had been losing my drive a little, and so
today I worked to get it back. And I
feel so good right now. I’m proud of
today. One thing that helped a LOT was
every time we were walking in the street and I started to think about family,
friends, plans after the mission, I tried to immediately recite all the
scripture masteries I know. Worked like
a charm, and suddenly the big hills seemed smaller and we seemed to get places
faster. Foi muito bom. (It was good).
First lesson today with
Sergio. He drank a little coffee this
morning, but he’s still going strong with not smoking. We taught the 10 commandments, with
chastity. Went very well, and I felt the
spirit. I love it when the people
participate.
2nd
lesson, a new investigator we met yesterday, the one that doesn’t stop
talking. She lives with her 2
grandchildren, 11 and 12, who were home today.
Irma Rita, a member who is AWESOME, was there as well. She’s the one who referred us to Tereza, this
lady. We spent about the first 15
minutes, before the prayer, and I showed them a magic trick, the kids flipped,
and so did Santos Melo. We joked around
with them, and very quick they suddenly weren’t shy of us, and we were friends. Then, We had the prayer and taught the
restoration. I think it was one of the
best lessons I’ve been a part of yet.
These kids paid such close attention, especially during the first
vision, and we used a lot of examples, and really did a good job, I feel, of
teaching to their needs. It was
awesome. Rita bore testimony. They want to go to church. The kids want to
be baptized. Woot Woot! More on them to come.
Then,
Angelo and Serenir, the people who were baptized 4 years ago. Went awesome.
And in the middle of the lesson, their 8 year old son said, “Look at the
Americans head. It’s like he has a ball
on the back of his head, under his hair.”
And everyone looked at me and then exploded into laughter. 4 months with out ANY head jokes, and this
8-year-old kid broke my streak. Ha-ha,
but it was so funny. The rest of the
lesson, one of them would look at me and muffle a laugh, then everyone is
trying not to smile, then laughter again.
I felt right at home, everyone making fun of my head. Ha-ha.
The other
Sergio now, the one we were trying to help a while back to stop smoking. We walked in his house for the first time in
about 2 weeks. He hadn’t been home any
of the times we passed. The tile in his
house was COVERED in cigarette butts and ashes.
He’s started drinking again as well.
But we’ll continue to work with him.
We had
other lessons also. This morning Santos Melo asked me to pray in English, and I
couldn’t. Half way through I just
flipped back to Portuguese. He doesn’t
know this, but I was speaking English totally wrong. Grammar, words, I even could hear a little
accent. Christmas, talking with you guys
will be interesting. Ha-ha. I need to practice my English. There’s been a few times when I’ll be
thinking about something, stop, and realize I was thinking in Portuguese. WOOT
WOOT!! It’s still totally
incorrect Portuguese, but it’s a start.
Today was day 116 of my mission.
DOMINGO (Sunday):
Good day, Great week. Church
today, which always makes for a good day.
Albertinha received a calling today.
Secretary of something I didn’t understand, but she was so excited when
we passed by. And Denise e Mauricio are
going to go this week to do the marriage papers. I’m super excited about them because they’re
a young family, with kids that will now grow up in the church. Woot Woot!
We also
passed by Sandra and Carlinhos, and it went very well. They’re very firm now, and Sandra thinks Joao
is secretly reading the Book of Mormon. Joao is 14 years old, and the type of
kid that feels the need to rebel in everything.
For the first month I was here I didn’t even know he existed because he
always hid. Now he comes into the room and participates while acting like he
doesn’t’ care. He’s coming to church,
too. Sandra was very happy about the
chance that he is reading the Book of Mormon.
So also, I
think I’m fat or getting there at least. I’ll weight myself this p-day and let
you know.
So, during
the lesson with Albertina, Mauricio, and Denise, we were talking about
prophets. I explained how prophets
receive inspiration, and how they then share it with us, and why we need to
obey the prophets. When I finished, they
sat in silence for a second, and Albertina said, “Remember when we could hardly
understand him?” Denise, “Yes, and now he speaks almost perfect.” Ha-ha.
That was awesome. Sometimes I’m
surprised at how far I’ve come. Or more
accurately, how far I’ve been brought by the spirit. “I glory not of myself, “ Alma. We had 7 investigators in sacrament. Good day.
Today is day 117 of my mission.
SEGUNDA
(Monday): Today I ate more food then
my body can hold, and my belly is NOT happy with me. But today was a good day. We went with the others in our district to the cemetery with Plan of Salvation Pamphlets and Family Proclamation to the
World. Today was a big holiday where
everyone goes to pay their respect to the dead.
It was very uncomfortable at first talking to people while they’re
mourning, but we were really able to help some people.
So, land
here is very expensive, so a family will buy one plot in the cemetery, then
stack the tombs. So there are like 3-4
coffins stacked, some are just brick, other tile with glassed off rooms with
pictures and flowers. There was one
area; down and away from the big ‘rich people’ graves, where it was seriously a
border of bricks in the ground, or sometimes just a slight ditch to help you
know where the graves were. These people
can’t afford a spot, so they just bury their loved ones here. We went down to this area because there was
an old man by himself. We asked him if
he needed any help. He said no. We talked
a little, and he said, “My wife and son were buried there”, he pointed to 2 big
holes in the ground. There was a whole row of these holes ready for new
coffins. The old man had tears in his
eyes as he explained he had come to put flowers on the grave of his wife and
son and found their graves dug up waiting for new bodies. I learned later from Elder Santos Melo that
this isn’t rare. They bury the bodies in
thin wood boxes. In a few years, the boxes have rotted away, and they dig
another hole for the next one. He said
they hit bones and all as they dig the hole.
Then, to the old man, Santos Melo said that we as missionaries are here
to help people, and we have a message we’d like to share. Asked if we could note down his phone
number. He said, “I forgot my phone in
house.” Santos Melo, “Oh, Ok then, well
here is a card” gave him a pass along card.
Then I pulled out a plan of Salvation pamphlet, and said, “this is the
message we’d like to share with you another day in your house. This explains the plan that God created for
us, so we can live forever with our families.”
Bore small testimony about eternal families. No joke, his only response was, “I think I
actually have a paper with my number on it.”
Ha-ha, then he gave us his number.
It turns out he doesn’t live in our area, but the other elders will stop
by his house.
It was
really cool today to talk to these people about eternal families as they are
thinking about their families. Never
thought I’d be bearing testimony and feeling the spirit in a very catholic cemetery.
This week went
very well. I’m learning so much still,
which is awesome, and this coming week is the last of the transfer Quinta or
Sexta (Thursday or Friday) we’ll
receive a call telling us where we will go.
I think I’ll stay here. Actually,
I’m 97% certain I will, until Feb. Which
is cool. I love that I know everyone
here. I’m still loving the mission, and
trying to make every moment count. Over
and Out. Today is day 118 of my mission.
Love you guys!
Elder McKee
We asked him about his showers. We heard they can get shocked if they touch the shower head. This is what he said: They don't have hot or cold water here, just a big tank. So the showers have this thing that's got live wires just exposed, but it heats the water as it comes out. So, unlimited hot water, but yes, it shocks you if you touch it. I haven't yet touched it, but I will before I leave the mission. :)
We asked him about his showers. We heard they can get shocked if they touch the shower head. This is what he said: They don't have hot or cold water here, just a big tank. So the showers have this thing that's got live wires just exposed, but it heats the water as it comes out. So, unlimited hot water, but yes, it shocks you if you touch it. I haven't yet touched it, but I will before I leave the mission. :)
Albertinha and her grandson trying to blow a water wing up on Jake's arm.
He said he made a new planner and was pretty excited about it.
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