Week of April 25-May 1, 2016
(25) SEGUNDA
(Monday): Today I think was the best
p-day I’ve had yet. Emails were
awesome! And we finished everything,
post office, emails, and buying things by 1:00.
So, then we had 5 hours. We
weren’t very hungry, so I made a simple lunch of rice and calebreza, and we
made a movie theater because Elder Bezerra had never seen ‘Meet the
Mormons’. I also tried making maple
syrup, and it came out like water…I’ll just have to try again. There really wasn’t anything special about
today, I was just feeling super, super happy.
It was
raining a lot when we left to start teaching.
All our plans fell through. Elder
Bezerra said, “Let’s go to this house I went to one time.” We went.
There’s a few less actives, and one of them is very, very sick, in a
hospital bed in their house. We talked
with them and they seemed so grateful that we had come. Before the lesson, they already marked
another visit, and gave us the address of their sister, who is inactive also,
to visit her. We shared a simple
message, and the next time we go we’ll share the restoration with them. I see a lot of potential. Tomorrow is the zone meeting with everyone. That’ll be fun. Today was day 293 of my mission.
(26) TERCA (Tuesday):
Today was unique. The sisters in Panambi
had an interview for a baptism this Saturday marked. I grabbed a bus to go on the house ride there
to do the interview then walked another 40 minutes to the house where they were
waiting with the 9 year old girl. The
moment I walked in and saw the look on everyone’s face, I knew some thing
wasn’t right. So, I went in happy and
positive, and everyone seemed to lighten up.
But the girl wasn’t there. She
was in her room, hiding under her bed.
Long story short, the interview didn’t happen, because of her grandpa,
who is 84 and having an affair with a woman of 40, who is member. He told her, in front of all of us, that if
she gets baptized he’ll leave and never come back, he paid her, he said he’d hit
her. He’d go and yell these things at
her, then come back and talk to us like it was all-normal. So, trying to get her to leave the room, I
turned on ‘Meet the Mormons’, and skipped to all the coolest parks. Everyone liked it, but the girl didn’t want
to leave.
Today was
pretty cold, but it was made worse with the rain. Today was 10, tomorrow will be 4, also with
rain and wind. My wife is going to be
GORGEOUS after all this rain I’m thinking.
WOOT WOOT!
We had a
great lesson with Simara today, who is very excited for her baptism. I’ll be in June, because her son will turn 16
on May 30th and she wants him to baptize her. She loves reading the Book of Mormon, and
today her husband was home! He’s a way
cool guy too, just that he works ALL THE TIME.
But he really likes us and we gave him a Book of Mormon, too.
Today was
good, just difficult with the part of the interview.
And our
showerhead was broken, not heating the water and shooting it in every
direction. So, I took it apart and then
fixed it, so now it works fine, just trips the breaker sometimes and turns
cold. Of course I only fixed it AFTER I
took my shower. Today was day 294 of my
mission.
(27) QUARTA (Wednesday): Today was a fantastic day. Everyone is dying from the cold, but it
doesn’t seem that bad to me. Everyone
thinks it’s crazy when I tell them I saw -16 degrees one time.
My favorite
lesson from today was with Mateus. He’s
14 and has gone to church every week from the last 3 months. He wasn’t baptized with his brother Samuel
because his mom said he was going on impulse.
But now he wants to really be baptized.
In the lesson he said a very heartfelt prayer in which he asked God to
bless his mom so she would let him be baptized on the 14 of Maio. He’s going to talk to her again about it, and
on Friday we’ll pass and have a sweet Family Home Evening, and talk to his
parents with him. We’re praying a lot
that everything goes well.
This
morning I was hungry and cold, so I tried to make sweet rice. The only thing is I don’t know how. So, I put a bunch of sugar and condensed
milk, and it came out pretty good. Just
that the rice was still raw, but I ate it all anyway. It was like sand with sugar, crunchy and
sweet. I already got the recipe now,
tomorrow I’ll try again. Today was day
295 of my mission.
(28) QUINTA
(Thursday): We went to a house today
that a woman we visited a few days ago asked us to go to. At the house the woman’s name was Marle. She’s a member already, but inactive. She has a big desire to return to the church,
and to bring her family with her. She
said she wants to go to church this Sunday.
Later, we
went to the house of the woman that sent us to Marle. It’s her sister, who isn’t baptized. She cares for her dad, who is very sick. He’s in a hospital bed in the kitchen. Jaque, who is also inactive, lives there
too. And she has a HUGE desire to
return. When we got there she was
leaving for a date thing, but she stayed with us because she wanted to hear our
message and ask a few questions.
At a
different house, there was a small group of young men playing cards. The group was mostly less actives and recent
converts. We stopped by with them for a
little and then I showed them a magic trick.
Ha-ha-ha, when I threw the deck down and only their card stayed they all
FLIPPED! Jumped out of their chairs and
ran around yelling. Ha-ha.
Here’s my
favorite quote from today. “No man, I’m
humble. Ask anyone; they’ll tell you I’m
humble. That’s why everyone likes me. It’s true, Man! I’m like literally the floor.” I died laughing when he said, “I’m the
floor.” Today was day 296 of my mission.
(29) SEXTA (Friday):
Mother’s Day at 1:00 Utah time, 4:00 here, I’ll call around that time. Just to make sure you all know we marked it
in the house of a less active named Rui, who is awesome. Man, he is great. He’s very smart, and works with
electronics. He said he could probably
fix my broken camera.
Then we
went to the house of Mateus and Samuel to do a Family Home Evening. As we were coming, their parents were leaving
to go to the store but they said they’d be right back. We’d never had a lesson with the whole family
at once, so we waited. And waited. And waited.
One hour later they came home, and we didn’t have time to do the sweet Family
Home Evening we had planned, so we left a message. Our main purpose there was to talk with the
parents of Mateus about his baptism, because he needs their permission. We talked with them, and they said it was his
choice. If he planned on staying on the
path, then he has all their support.
Then, Mateus said he wants to wait a little longer. I think he got nervous. But it all went very well, and it was worth
waiting. Now it’s all on him. He gave the last prayer and it was a very
good prayer. He was actually speaking
with God. Today was day 297 of my
mission.
(30) SABADO
(Saturday): Woot Woot! TODAY WAS GREAT!! We filled out the baptism record for Irene,
but she’ll be baptized alone. Her
husband said he’ll wait more to be baptized.
Their son is the Elders Quorum President and is very strange. Sometimes he says things that make no sense,
and he convinced his dad not to be baptized.
And he doesn’t want to baptize his mother. Yeah, I don’t understand either. Ha-ha, but at lunch today he kept talking
about some type of American tree I didn’t’ understand anything so he said, “Get
in my car. I’ll take you to the road of
these trees. It’s here close.” So, we went.
IT WAS 20 MINUTES AWAY!! And it
was a road of maple trees. Ha-ha, I
started laughing. This guy makes no
sense.
We passed
by the house of Simara after. She’s
still awesome, but is going through a very hard time right now. She said, “Now I know this is all true,
because if it wasn’t Satan wouldn’t work so hard against me trying to follow
it.” I wont go into details because it
is very personal for her, but we’re praying a lot for her. If all goes well tomorrow, we should have a
lot of people at church with us. Let’s
pray that it goes well. Today was day
298 of my mission.
(1) DOMINGO (Sunday):
So, I’ll just tell about one thing that happened today that really touched
me. As we were going to the last meeting
in church, the sacrament, I saw a young man with a baseball cap and sweater
standing by the door. I’d never met him,
so I started talking to him. He said he
was baptized 6 years ago. He’s 18 and
serving for the army in Cruz Alta. So,
we entered and sat together, because he didn’t know anyone else. Today was testimony meeting. I was really liking the meting, so I almost
forgot about Victor, the young man at my side, until the end when he said, “You
know, This is the first time I’ve come to church in a year and a half.” When I looked at him, I saw that he was
crying. A lot. Then after the prayer, I sat a little longer
with him, talking. When he was 17 he
fought with his mother and ran away to his dads house. After a year, he returned to talk to his mom
and live with her. Then he was drafted
to the army. He’s been in Cruz Alta for
3 months, and today decided for some reason to seek out the church. I think he was feeling very alone and
lost. I could tell the meeting really
touched him. A member came and started
talking to him too, and invited him to have lunch with us on Wednesday. He’s getting a new phone, so I gave him our
number and he will call. His whole
family is active in the church.
It was good
for me to see this. I realized, happily,
how I am becoming accustomed to the spirit.
What was good spiritual sacrament meeting, for Victor, was an incredible
spiritual experience. He’d spent so long
away from these feelings and then returned with the open mind and a broken
heart and felt the Lord accepting him again.
I love seeing moments like these, seeing the Lord working in the lives
of these people.
This week
went good, but it lacked baptism. This
Saturday we’ll have the baptism of Irene, who is excited and can’t wait. She’s 86 years old. And, soon after I’m certain that Noroha, her
husband, will be baptized as well. Today
was day 299 of my mission.
Week of May 2-May 8, 2016
100 Things I’ve learned on the Mission
1)
Patience 2) humility 3) Charity 4) love 5) How
to have faith 6) How to open a conversation with someone 7) You get what you go
after 8) you get what you go after 9) Laugh at yourself 10) scriptures help in
all circumstances 11) prayer helps in all circumstances 12) hard work pays off
13) few things are better then letters from home 14) I’m really not that brown
15) DON’T DRINK OLD MILK 16) the priesthood power is real 17) It’s easier to
like people when you serve them 18) Do all things with a willing heart 19) If
your sad, smile 20) My problems really aren’t that bad 21) Agency means wrong
choices will be made 22) Nobody wants to hear about how good you have things
23) If you want someone to open up to you, talk about them 24) Find the little things
you’re doing wrong, and stop 25) Exact obedience brings miracles 26) time
passes fast only when you want it to slow down 27) All things the Lord give us
are to strengthen 28) sometimes you have to be torn down before you can be
strengthened 29) The Lord blesses the prepared 30) When things get going good,
you’re transferred 31) Sometimes callings are to help yourself more then others
32) you’ll only grow when you push yourself 33) enduring gives you the right to
laugh at the trial 34) Never judge that which you don’t understand 35) saying
I’m happy when in the act of any sin is a lie 36) wickedness never was
happiness 37) Many things only depend on your desire 38) don’t study profound
doctrine until you’ve mastered the basic 39) do your part and leave the rest to
the Lord 40) when your comp says the slower knob is electrified, don’t touch
it. Just trust him 41) It’s good to be
an American 42) Don’t forget to pray 43) Don’t worry about that which isn’t in
your control 44) Leave home and life after the mission in the Lord’s hands 45)
Strive to end every day with a clean conscience 46) Never try and argue with
President, even when you’re right, you’re wrong 47) you know it’s bad when
Brazilians laugh at your English 48) P-day is sagrado (forgot the word in
English) SACRED! 49) Just give up on
trying to play soccer 50) even if you don’t get the joke, just laugh with
everyone else 51) You’ll enter a lot more new houses if you can make people
laugh 52) In Brazil, cats have 7 lives, not 9.
53) Never honestly guess someone’s weight or age 54) Smile at people you
pass 55) It’s a good feeling when someone asks you if you are from Sao Paulo
56) Take care of things that aren’t yours 57) Utah is a protected bubble 58)
What you think about when you don’t have to think is who you really are 59) If
someone doesn’t accept you, don’t force it or try to prove them wrong 60)
obedience brings blessings 61) Never iron your shirt while you’re wearing
it…yeah 62) Accept the Lords timing 63) Seek to thank God for the little things
64) Certify that your comp knows how to cut hair before you let him cut yours
65) We are here to harvest, not plant seeds.
Plant seeds along the way, but don’t forget the focus 66) if your zipper
breaks, don’t try and fix it with needle and thread while you’re wearing the
pants….yeah 67) It’s ok to be a little awkward as a missionary. We’re awkward people 68) don’t interrupt the
spirit when he’s working 69) Faith becomes real when you leave the times of
ease 70) it’s ok to miss home very now and then 71) Don’t seek to talk of home
with members or investigators 72) Remember your focus and don’t eat too much
food 73) always compliment before you criticize 74) don’t throw stuff at angry
dogs 75) you learn to love the things you do often, so do good things 76) sometimes
you just need to stop, take a deep breath, and yell as loud as you can 77) make
sure there aren’t people around when you yell as loud as you can 78) If you
don’t sing very well, you can make up for it with amplitude 79) It’s ok to be a
little chubby 80) Be the one people can count on to get the hard stuff done 81)
Wash your clothes often 82) it isn’t always our job to teach people new things
but sometimes strengthen their testimony in what they already know 83) I also
learned Portuguese, let’s not forget that 84) Satan has a lot of practice at
pushing peoples weak points. But we have
a body and he doesn’t so don’t pay attention to him 85) the scriptures were
written especially for us 86) Give yourself a little pep talk every now and
then 87) take a Leatherman on your mission 88) learn to make people laugh 89)
Learn to recognize the little blessings 90) listen to music 91) Focus email
time on family 92) sometimes our biggest limitations are the ones we create 93)
let the Lord work changes in your life 94) God, and Christ, know us and love us
95) Give your all to the Lord, and he’ll pay you back in double 96) my savior
lives 97) The Book of Mormon is true scripture 98) The atonement is real 99) I
love my family more than anything 100) Miracles come through faithful obedience
(2) SEGENDA (Monday): Today was a great p-day. For lunch, a member invited us to have
Churrasco at his house. I ate until I
almost popped.
Then, we found an new
family who is the family of the bishop of another ward. They’ve already visited the church many
times. We invited them at the end of the
message to be baptized and they accepted.
Then she said she had actually been thinking about joining the church
because she knows it’s true. Then we
went to the house of Irene, who will be baptized Saturday. Bishop and his family were already there for
a family home evening. Irene said she
has a huge urge to drink coffee, but then she said, “But I’m stronger. I’ll overcome this, I won’t let myself
fall.” She’s an adorable 86-year-old
black lady. But yea, that was my day,
very good and very productive. Today was
day 300 of my mission. WOOT WOOT!!
(3) TERCA (Tuesday):
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALENA!! It’s
crazy to think that I now have a 16-year-old sister. Hope your day was GREAT!
Today was
the interview of Irene. She is excited
and adorable. Ha-ha, it’s going to be a
great Saturday. And I think that the
next Saturday her husband will be baptized.
We had a
good lesson with Simara also. She’s excited to be baptized, and her husband
Marcos wants to be baptized as well.
Today was a very good day. Today
was day 301 of my mission.
(4) QUARTA
(Wednesday): Woot Woot! Today was GREAT! We visited a ton of people today. I am very proud of our work today. So we bought a pizza to celebrate. It was the smallest medium pizza I’ve ever
seen, but it’s all good.
Elder
Bezerra went to take a shower and forgot to turn off the switch that
electrifies the knob. He yelled to me,
asking me to turn it off for him, I did, yelled back, waited a second, and
turned it back on. Here’s what he said,
“Thank Y-ahhhhhh” Ha-ha, I started laughing so hard. I don’t even know why I’m so funny.
We visited various
less actives today. One of which is
Marle, who actually went to church Sunday.
We visited her, and she was asking us to help her sons. She said she doesn’t sleep at night because
they are out with their friends and she knows what they are doing. She feels guilty that she stopped going to
church, because then her son’s stopped going and now they are involved with
beer and drugs and parties. It’s super
sad to see this, and it makes me grateful to have my mom and dad who always
kept me on the path. Today was day 302
of my mission.
(5) QUINTA
(Thursday): Here’s my favorite quote
today. Simara said, “Marcos, we will get
married or you will move out because I won’t let you interfere with my baptism.” Then everyone was like OHHHH!, and Marcos
said, “Elders, I’ll pass you my moms
address because I’ll be living there.”
Ha-ha, it was AWESOME! She
totally put him on the wall. But she
didn’t know you have to be married before the baptism. So we will get on that for them.
Then Pedro,
who is an inactive 14 years old, his older brother Igor, is starting his
mission papers and everyone is super excited.
Pedro was alone in his house, and he asked us to come talk with
him. He’s nervous about his brother
going because it’s only them two in the house.
He wants to return to go to church.
He just needs to stop drinking and smoking and doing drugs. I think it’s all becoming very real for him
now that his brother is actually leaving.
But he really wants to get to church this Sunday. He’s an awesome young man, and he is
hilarious, he just lost the way.
Then we
went to the house of Rui, who will let us use his computer to talk on
Sunday. WOOT WOOT!! THEN, for the last house, we went to Silvia
and Lara. The 19-year-old secretary to
bishop lives there, Silvia is his mom, Lara is his sister. He’s the only active member. Hold cow it was a great lesson. They said at the end, “Even if this is the
only time you come here, we’ll never forget you.” There was a great spirit and they said it
seemed like God had sent us at that moment for them. It’s good to be God’s servant.
Well, I’m
happy and doing well. It’s getting
colder, which is more then welcome. I’m
almost finishing this journal, the Second Book of Jacob. Today was day 303 of my mission.
(6) SEXTA (Friday): Today was a very, very good day of work. I woke up great, and the day just got better
from there. I got up, made my little hot
chocolate, gave seeds to my birds. I
have about 12 that I’ve now trained to come every morning. I throw my seeds out on the balcony, close
the door, sit in my chair, drink my hot chocolate in my 2 sweatshirts and
blanket, and watch them eat. It’s
nice. And my flock keeps growing! I’ll need to buy more seeds soon.
I’m super,
super excited for the baptism tomorrow.
It’s going to be so good. I just
hope the water heater is working, because if not I’ll have to get creative and
somehow heat the water so we don’t kill the poor old lady.
I am very
proud of today. We helped people to feel
the spirit, and that’s what really counts.
Today was day 304 of my mission.
(7) SABADO
(Saturday): BAPTISM! Irene was baptized! At one point I was walking with her holding
my arm and she said, “I just want to take you two home because you’re both so
cute and you don’t have families.” (Mom says: HE HAS A FAMILY THAT MISSES HIM LIKE CRAZY!!)
Ha-ha, It was great. And the
water heater wasn’t working very well, so we stayed there for 4 hours before
leaving the water heater on and I was boiling water in the kitchen to dump in
the font, which helped. I made myself
the promise that after the mission, going to baptism will be a priority. If I can, I’ll be at every baptism. Most of the people there were the youth that
were already there, and bishop came at the last minute. But all went very, very well. And she was baptized! It was her son that
baptized her, and it was the first time he’d ever done a baptism and he was
pretty nervous. He had to do it 3 times,
poor old lady. But all turned out well.
Elder Bezerra, Marcos, Irene, Irenes son, ?, Jake
All who came to Irene's baptism
And
TOMORROW IS MOTHER’S DAY! Woot Woot!
Today was day 305 of my mission.
(8) DOMINGO (Sunday): HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! I LOVE YOU MOM!!! (Mom says: We got to talk to him for an hour. It was so good to hear his voice. He speaks Portuguese very well, and fast. He speaks English badly. ha!)
Jake and Elder Bezerra
Grandma Munoa, Grandma McKee, Grandpa McKee
FAMILY PHOTO
Man, today was fantastic. Few lessons, but I got to talk to the
family. It was great. And Irene was confirmed! I think my English was better because I
always speak English with Elder Hawk, so I have more practice. Today is also exactly 10 months in the
mission. That’s insane.
One think
that was weird for me was to call mom or grandma “you”. In Portuguese, you is ‘Voce”. But when you say ‘you’ to someone, to show
more respect you say “a senhora’. It felt
very weird and rude for me to just say you.
That’s interesting. “A senhora
means literally ‘the lady’ or ‘the madam’.
For men you say ‘o senhor’ which is ‘the sir’ or ‘the gentleman’.
Well, I’m
happy, healthy, and this week was very good.
It’s always good to end the week with a baptism. Today was day 306 of my mission.
I love you!!! Manda um abraço por tudo mundo!! (send
a hug for everyone)
Elder McKee
Chapel and Elder Bezerra
Our District
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