Week of May 16-May 22, 2016
(16) SEGUNDA
(Monday): Today I bought tapioca,
which is a food from the North. It’s not
as good as the homemade I ate one time, but it’s still delicious. We cleaned the house, I watched a movie,
Elder Bezerra was washing clothes, and I didn’t notice, so I got shocked when I
was cleaning the bathroom.
We had a
family home evening with the family of Irene.
We talked about covenants, and why they are important. It was very good and spiritual.
One thing
I’ve been trying to work on is being happy in the moment. A while back I realized that people are
always saying, “I can’t wait until…” We
always expect to be happy in the next phase of life. I thought about all these stages. As a child, we can’t wait to start
school. Then we can’t wait for summer
break. Then remember how Andy always
wanted to cut the grass, until it became his job? Then we can’t wait for Jr. High, then high
school. We can’t wait to drive, and then
we become mom’s errand boy. Can’t wait
to graduate. Can’t wait for the
mission. Can’t wait to get home. Can’t wait to start college, and then you
can’t wait to finish. Can’t wait to
start the new job, and then you can’t wait to retire. Maybe we just need to learn to stop and wait
a little. I think everyone is in at
least one of these phases, or some other “can’t wait” phase. Why do we always have to wait until the next
step in life to be happy? Learn to wait
and be happy now. You look back on the
‘can’t wait’ stages you’ve already passed and wish you had taken advantage more
of them. At leave I’ve noticed this in
myself. I look at my mission alone. I couldn’t wait to leave, then to leave the
MTC. Then to meet my trainer, then to
end my training, then to be fluent in Portuguese, then to get a new comp, then
to be transferred, then go senior, then to be a trainer, and on and on. So, now I’m working on being happy now, and
not thinking I’ll only be happy or satisfied in the next ‘can’t wait’ phase. I’m done ‘can’t wait’ing. Today was day 314 of my mission.
(17) TERCA (Tuesday): Marcos, the husband of Simara, called us
today and said he was upset he missed the last dinner, so they wanted to do
another today. When we got there, Simara
said, “Thank you for your prayers for us.
We managed to get enough money to pay the electric bill, so tomorrow
we’ll have lights. There’s a little left
over, so we bought hot dogs.” They are
the sweetest people! Simara, in her
prayers, promised to the Lord that she will start immediately, even though she
isn’t’ yet baptized, to pay her tithing.
We taught the plan of salvation to Marcos, and it was a very spiritual
and good lesson. Then, Simara told us
about some dreams and feelings she’s been having, then said, “But I know these
things are the devil trying to take me from the path. I don’t care what happens, I’ll be baptized
because I know that is what God wants me to do.” Really I just want to baptize them
already. She calls me Jacob, not Elder
Mckee, because I think she gets embarrassed that she can’t manage to say McKee
correctly. Today was day 315 of my
mission.
(18) QUARTA
(Wednesday): So, this morning we
went to the house of Vera Lucia, an older lady we are teaching. Her daughter, Cinthia, was visiting and as we
entered I could see that she was about to leave the room. I wanted her to stay, so I started talking to
her and she sat back down. I asked her how many children she has, and she said
one 13-year-old daughter, and she had discovered today that she would be having
another child. Vera Lucia was about to
leave to go somewhere so she asked if we could just share a small message. We said the prayer, and I went to share a
scripture, and Cinthia started asking questions, “Who wrote the Bible? How can
we know it’s true? What happens when we
die? Why are we here?” We answered them all using the Book of
Mormon. We were there for about 20
minutes just answering questions. Then,
Vera Lucia really needed to go, so we gave Cinthia a Book of Mormon with the
pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation. We
told her to read it and next Wednesday (That was the only day we could and they
could) we would come back. When she got
the Book of Mormon, we had explained that it was scripture inspired by God just
like the Bible. We said ‘whenever you’re
feeling upset or sad, just open it and start to read.” She opened the book right to Alma talking
about the preparations for war.
Ha-ha. But that lesson was great,
and she showed so much interest.
Then we
helped, after lunch, a young family move to another house. They had a lot of very heavy stuff. The big wardrobe wouldn’t fit in the new
house. To get in, you have to climb
stairs, and then it’s a hard right turn into the door. The wardrobe wouldn’t fit through the door,
barely. I said, “Look, its super
close, lets just pull the pins on the door, remove the door, and it will
fit.” The man said, “No, this is
easier.” He then grabbed a big knife,
and went to town on the wardrobe, cutting the side to make it smaller. Then, it still didn’t fit. I gave the idea again to take off the
door. Nope, we descended the stairs
again, and he broke off half the wardrobe and put it in the trash. Even with half, it was a pain to get into the
house. Today went good. Today was day 316 of my mission.
(19) QUINTA
(Thursday): Yesterday while we were walking in the road, a youth from the
church said his dad wanted to pass us a family to teach. He asked us to pass by the next day. So, we went today in the morning. The man, Carlos, showed us the house, and
introduced us to the people, then had to leave.
We sat and talked with them for a while and taught the restoration. Fabricio, Rachael, and their neighbor
Raquiele. Fabricio said that he’s been
searching for a church and on Sunday Carlos went walking past, returning from
church, and he told him he would visit his church one day. Carlos said, “Alright, let me call the missionaries,
they can teach you a little more.” As we
were talking, he asked the name of the church again, we told him, then said,
“But we’re more commonly known as the Mormons” and then he said, “You guys are
the Mormons!? 10 years ago I was
baptized in the Mormon church when I was 16."
Ha-ha, he’s already a member! The
lesson was a great one, and at the end we challenged his wife to baptism, and
she said, “For a long time now, I’ve been asking God to show me the way. If I pray and feel that yours is the way for
me, then yes, I’ll be baptized.” AHHH
and it was SUCH A GOOD LESSON!
And Simara,
remember how she was so excited that they were going to be able to pay the electric
bill? Well, they went to center, paid
it, and came back and had a notice.
Their electric box is on their house.
It’s now the law that it has to be in the road on a post. That post costs $2000 reais. Simara and Marcos were devastated. They struggled to pay the 200 reais for
electricity, 2000 is almost impossible.
But we, after, talked to Bishop, and we’ll see if they church can
help. Simara and Marcos, when we got the
their house, were sitting in the front reading over little pamphlets. Simara’s faith is amazing to me. And yesterday they got all the stuff ready
for their marriage. It’ll take a little
longer then expected, but all is well.
Today was day 317 of my mission.
(20) SEXTA (Friday): I think this whole thing of not having
electricity for Simara and Marcos is more of a blessing then anything
else. They’re reading together, praying
together. They aren’t letting their
faith fall. And today Bishop told us to
pass by their house to tell them the church will help them pay for the post and
everything. Simara hugged us. She was so happy and so that was a good point
from today. It was great news and
an answer to their prayers, and Simara, who was lighting a candle next to me
for light, accidently knocked over the candle onto my lap, and I yelled and jumped,
spilling all my rice and chicken all over my lap and the couch. Marcos said “dear,
he brings us this great news and you try to set him on fire!?” then I said “don’t
even worry about it. I’m a ninja and I put it out with my rice.” Ha-ha,
so now the joke is that. ALSO!! Simara will kill me if I don’t bring the recipe
to her of the chicken in the sprite, can you send it to me. She said if I don't get it she will find you on Facebook and get it herself and tell you that I have the memory of a fish. ha-ha. Also, the recipe to
an apple pie, and your cookies? Thanks.
A not so
good point is that a dog almost ate me.
We were walking in the street, and a big dog and his other dog friend
started barking. I look at them and
they’re behind a closed gate, so we just keep walking. Then, Elder Bezerra yells and pushes me
backwards and takes off running. I look
and the gate wasn’t closed, and the dogs were running at us. If you just stand still they usually leave
you along, but Bezerra had already started running, so now they’re in attack
mode. I don’t think I’ve ever run so
fast in my life. And the 2 dogs chasing
me, we get to the top of the hill, and Bezerra says, “Holy crap. That was crazy! Did you see them?!” I said, “Of course I saw them, it’s hard to
miss. I also saw how you pushed me back
and left me for dead!”
But I
became super happy that the church could help them. It’s now cold winter, it’ll get colder, and
they’ve gone a long while without a hot shower, nor a machine to wash clothes,
nor lights in the house. Today was day
318 of my mission.
Elder Bezerra and Jake and the post!
(21) SABADO (Saturday): Today we challenged Eduardo to be baptized on
the 18th of June, because with what he still needs to learn and the
days he has work off this is the only day that would work out. And he accepted! He’s the husband of Camila, who was born in the
church and always active. He’s gone to
church a whole lot, just never was baptized.
They have a little daughter who is adorable. Eduardo is really quiet, doesn’t really talk
very much, but he’s super cool, and I think that he really wants to be
baptized.
The rest of
the day went great also, that was just a highlight. Things are going great here in this
area. We have a lot of people
progressing, which probably means I’ll be transferred. Usually it works like that. But I don’t think I will be. For sure we’ll know by Friday.
Also,
please send more of that Hershey’s chocolate spread you sent me, or anything
else like it. Nutella also. It’s SUPER good with Tapioca, and I’m running
out now. Also, just in case I forget to
ask will you send a raincoat like I have for Elder Bezerra, please? Also maybe 2-3 cool ties to me. There are a few young men in the ward I want
to give them to. Today was day 319 of my
mission.
(22) DOMINGO
(Sunday): Today was stake
conference, and it was awesome! A man
from the 70's came and talked. President
was here, too. He told me about how he
was with Uncle Roy a little bit ago.
Simara
went, along with 5 other investigators.
It was a very good day. Simara is
reading the gospel principals book, and has read 200 pages in the last 2 days. She loves it and keeps talking of all the new
stuff she is learning.
We also
went to the house of Fabricio and his wife Rachael today. They were very excited to go to church with
us next Sunday, and said they would give us a ride. Rachael read the Book of Mormon, which is
encouraging. We marked another part for
her to read, and taught the plan of Salvation.
This week went very well. We made
a lot of progress. Today was day 320 of
my mission.
Yes, I’ve been
great!! This week went incredibly well!! We don’t have lights in our room
because a wire snapped or something, so we go by candle which is awesome.
I think that
they will cut the time any minute now, so I love you!! I’m praying for you!
Thanks for all the help with everything! I’m going to buy a bigger coat
today. I love everyone! And I’m praying
for all of you!
Love, Elder
McKee
More ninja fly catching skills!