Week of May 23-29, 2016
(23) SEGUNDA
(Monday): Today was a P-day, very
good. I bought a bigger jacket, talked
to my family, and watched my church movies…again. I’ve watched them all so many times I have
them memorized in English, Portuguese, and now I just watch it in Spanish.
We had a
Family Home Evening that went very well, with Irene and her family. Today was good. 30 happy birthday emails. Today was day 321 of my mission.
(24) TERCA (Tuesday): Today at 6:30 the alarm goes off. I get out of bed, turn it off and then the
phone rings. The elders form my
district. Every Terca they grab the bus
at 6 to get to where we have our meeting at 7 to wait until 10 for it to start. They had missed the bus and at 6:30 exactly
called to let me know. So, now it’s my
job to organize everything to get everyone to a different area for the
meeting. The sisters didn’t have any
money. I don’t even know how because
they literally receive DOUBLE what we receive, so I had to buy it for them, and
I get the refund later. Then we had to
call our lunch to cancel. T he man told us to pass by then we got home and he
would heat up the food for us. We got
there at 2:40. Flippen’ elders.
But the
rest of the day went very good. We’re
working hard and definitely seeing results.
The Lord is blessing every part of what we are doing. Today was day 322 of my mission.
(25) QUARTA
(Wednesday): Everything is going great.
Today we knocked a lot of doors, but there’s a huge game going on and
NOBODY wanted to talk to us. A few
commitments fell through, but all is well.
Today was day 323 of my mission.
(26) QUINTA
(Thursday): I think that today all the crazy people who think they know the
bible decided to unite against us. One
guy came out and said, “Are you the Mormons who believe in the Book of
Mormon? We said yes, and then he left….
didn’t want any more.
The next
house was a Jehovah Witness, who said we don’t know anything. Then he said, “For example, what does it say
in Psalms 84? Ha-ha, I didn’t know! Then he said, “And John 17:3?” which I do
have memorized, but I just stayed quiet.
Same with Elder Bezerra. We
managed to leave as he kept trying to show his deep biblical knowledge. The next house the man didn’t even
leave. Just looked at us and said, “I
feel bad for you both, so young and full of desire to do right, yet lead astray
by leaders and parents. I invite you
both to go to your knees for once and actually ask God His path for you, and
you’ll see the light.” I thought it
funny that I actually follow his council everyday. The guy talked a good 15 minutes from his
door about everything our church does wrong.
He said, “Your church is a branch off from the original church, so it
isn’t true.” I asked which was the
original church and he said “Evangelhico”, which isn’t even a specific church,
it’s a type. I asked which, and he said,
“Whichever, they all have the same roots.”
So, what he said about our church being a branch off was false, and even
if it was true, by his logic our church would still be true.
The next
house was a 17 year old who his religion is black magic…like voodoo. We found out his whole family is already
baptized but they left the church to follow family tradition. Yep.
We finished
the day on a good note. We found a woman
named Ava. She was baptized and active
for 18 years, then went inactive and has been for 13 years. She was Primary President, young women’s
president, RS president, worked in the temple with her husband, studied and
worked with missionaries. Literally
everything. But then, one day her
husband told her “I’m done” and packed his things and moved to a hotel, leaving
her with the kids. She still reads the
scriptures and prays, just that after she loved a few times, she slowly started
going inactive. She’s a lovely lady,
just that her and her children lost the way.
But, we’ll bring her back. She
knew all the stuff on the church because her sister is active and she also
follows the church site. But, yea, we’ll
bring her back, then her kids too, who are all moved out now. Today was day 324 of my mission.
(27) SEXTA (Friday): I
loved all the cards!! I laughed and laughed and laughed at all the photos!! Glad
you guys celebrated big for my birthday. ;) I loved the picture of dad with all
the pigeons. SO cool that he´s trained them so well that they all stood still
with a paper face on theirs. Elder Bezerra sat looking at them all, laughing. Ha-ha
he loved them!! (For Jake’s Birthday, everyone in his family wrote him a card and we
included a picture of them doing something they like, with the Fake a
Jake. There were some hilarious ones.
About 25 cards.)
Jake's birthday package.
Making his cake with frosting we sent to him.
Happy Birthday Balloons!
So, let me tell you about my birthday lunch
first…it fell through. So, we were left
to make our own food. Usually we just go
to the restaurant and eat, but I was feeling creative. So, we bought shrimp,
that one type of noodle that has cheese inside, and then I wanted to make
alfredo sauce that I made one time with another Elder. As you can see from the picture, it didn’t turn
out…. seriously it was the grossest thing I’ve ever eaten since I left for the
mission. I ate a few bites, threw it
out, and Elder Bezerra did, too. It was
just the Alfredo sauce. I bought the
wrong type of cheese, and it didn’t melt right in the milk, and everything went
down hill from there. It was actually
pretty sad, but we were excited. This
p-day I’ll look up an Alfredo recipe.
The Shrimp and noodles weren’t good either, but al least they were
bearable. But yea.
We met a
new woman today named Princila. She was
very good and flat out said that if she gets an answer she’d have to follow
it. I love it when people have that
attitude.
A member
made me a cake, which was very nice of them.
They added mom on Facebook to send her a picture.
Pamela Koepp is the 16 year old girl who made Jake the cake for his birthday. She was so nice to send mom the pictures. Mom loves the Brazilian members who take care of the missionaries!
Today went
very well. I’m happy. Transfers came, and Bezerra will leave and
I’ll train again. Hopefully he knows how
to cook. Ha-ha. Today was day 325 of my mission.
(28) SABODO
(Saturday): We have an investigator
names Nathanael, who we’ve only taught 2 times since I’ve been here. He’s 16, and his mom is in the hospital. She has cancer, and Wednesday she had her
second surgery where they took out an orange sized tumor from her brain. Nathanael is always at the hospital with
her. He’s an amazing young man, staying
very positive and optimistic. He goes to
seminary and has a lot of friends in the church. But it’s harder for him to go on
Sundays. But, tomorrow he’ll go. He wants to be baptized, but right now it’s
complicated for him, because his mom is the only immediate family he has, and
she’s going to start chemo next week.
So, we’re going to pray a lot for him, and her. Her name is Eliana.
The
activity we had planned for today fell through because of the rain, and was
moved to next Saturday. We have a lot of
people planning on going to church tomorrow.
I just hope the rain doesn’t mess things up. Today was day 326 of my mission.
(29) DOMIGO (Sunday):
So, we have this investigator named
Vilmar. His wife, to which he isn’t
actually married, is a strong and faithful member named Claudia. He’s already gone to church a whole lot, and
now we are passing by. The last time we
went, Claudia was feeling very sick, and we gave her a blessing. Today we had an incredible lesson with the
two of them. We watched the video
“expressions of love.” A Mormon message.
And talked about it. Claudia said
that she wants to get married, then right after the marriage, which would be in
the church, they go to the font and Vilmar gets baptized. She wants a picture where she’s in the white
wedding dress and he’s in the white baptism clothes. Kind of cool. But Claudia shared her testimony, and the
spirit was there so strong. Vilmar shared
his feelings, and that he will be baptized, he just wants to prepare a little
more. But he said it wouldn’t take
long. Claudia get so happy, And us of course. We talked a lot about faith and a desire to
know the truth and seeking an answer.
Then we
went to a member’s house so Bezerra could say goodbye and there were a ton of
people from the ward there. We walked
in, and they said, “Bezerra! We noticed
that the only winter clothes you have is that thin sweater. So tomorrow, stop by the store where I work
and we will get you a real coat.” I had
been telling him all week that I was going to get him a real coat and some more
sweaters, and I thought it was so cool how the members also realized and were
going to help. Today was day 327 of my
mission.
Simara and Marcos came to church!
Staying warm!
Week of May 30- June 5, 2016
(30) SEGUNDA
(Monday): Today was great. We got
a good coat for Bezerra, then talked to our families, then went to eat
lunch and hang out with Marcos and Simara.
She prepared a little goodbye speech for Bezerra and I, and started
crying as she was reading it to us.
They’re incredible people that the Lord prepared perfectly. They almost have the lights back in their
house, too!
I also got
a great package from grandma Munoa with more handkerchiefs and dried apples,
which I ate, all of. We visited a few
other people too, but yea, that was my day.
Today was day 328 of my mission.
(31) TERCA (Tuesday): I’m training Jesus. Elder Jesus Santos, that is. He was baptized a year and 4 months ago! He’s 25 years old, from Sao Paulo. He’s a very cool guy, and we’ll see how he
works. He’s humble with a desire to
learn.
I spent the
first half of the day in the bus, and the other half waiting in the chapel for
5 hours for the meeting to start.
Yep. But today was good. And Simara called to tell me that they have
electricity again! WOOT WOOT!
I’m excited
to train again, and I think we’ll do a great work together in Cruz Alta. Today was day 329 of my mission.
(1) QUARTA
(Wednesday): The zone conference
today was awesome! I’m starting to feel
older and older in the mission. It was
very good and I learned a lot. Took a
lot of pictures as well.
Jake is right behind the Elder that is forward.
Jake is on the left end of front row.
In 29 days
President Parrela will go and president Lauza will come. Only 6 new missionaries were in this coming
group, and of all the missionaries in the mission I was chosen to be one of the
6 trainers. I feel good about that, it
shows the Lord has confidence in me.
Yea, I got my certificate and my cool rock for memorizing 25 scripture masteries, then i forgot them on the bus.... haha so yea ill never see them again. but its alright, I got a picture.
I was going
through Elder Jesus Santos’ pictures on his camera, and I found a picture of
him with Dallin Ward! He said, Dallin
destroyed everyone in volleyball and basketball! Ahha. REPRESENT! But, yea, that was cool. (Dallin is a young man in Jake’s home ward who is also going to
different Brazil mission.)
We got home
at 7:15 and then left at 7:30 for a commitment, with that Ana who is an
inactive who worked in the temple. Fell
thought, and so did plan b and c. so, we
were heading home to let him organize his stuff, and I felt like I should knock
on a door. They let us in. We talked to an old man named Aristelo, and
his son in law, Wellington, whose 19 years old.
We tried to teach the restoration. T he first time Elder Jesus Santos
has ever taught, and we hadn’t had time for me to prepare him. Yea, it was a crazy lesson, but there was a
good spirit. Then Aristelo kept asking a
bunch of questions with nothing to do with anything. He mentioned a few times a daughter who had died
young. It wasn’t until I promised him
that he would see her again and that his family could be eternal that he really
started to pay attention to the lesson.
He sat there with tears in his eyes, and then said, “I like you both a
lot. Please come back and tell me more about this plan of salvation.” It was a good first lesson, and very good for
Elder Jesus Santos, too. After the
lesson, Elder Jesus Santos said, “I think you’re going to teach me a lot. You dominated the conversation and talked
with power and your testimony blew me away.
I think I got a very good trainer.”
I said, “Yea, you did.”
Ha-ha. Just kidding, I didn’t say
that, but it was neat to see how far I’ve really come in just 11 months.
I really
learned a lot today about how I can better my studies and my prayers. That’s something I really need to work
on. Today was day 330 of my mission.
(2) QUINTA
(Thursday): I love training. Ha-ha, man, the questions he asks and some of
the things he says make me remember when I first started and how lost I felt.
We had a
very good lesson with Eduardo today, who has his baptism date marked for the 18th. I am SUPER excited for that.
We’re going
to have the activity this Saturday, and it should be very good. I’m hoping a lot of people go.
Eduardo
drinks sometimes and has a habit to drink coffee, but he is going to leave them
both. We talked a lot about the
blessings of the word of wisdom, and also the blessings of baptism.
We also sat
in a bus for 4 hours because I have to do a baptism interview. Today was day 331 of my mission.
(3) SEXTA (Friday): We talked to a lot of people today. A whole lot.
We met a German family, but only the mom was home. She was super nice.
My comp is
super funny. Sometimes in the lesson he
gets excited and teaches the whole thing with out passing to me to talk, but he
does it really fast and the people don’t understand, so after he talks of
everything, I go back and explain. He tells me that I’m very good at teaching,
because I perfect what he forgets to say, which is almost everything. For example, the lesson of the restoration
has about 7 parts, and usually we start and each one takes alternating
parts. Then it isn’t just one person
talking, and we can testify. Today in a
lesson, I started with the first part, then Elder Jesus Santos taught the 2nd,
3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. But nothing really make sense, so I went back
and taught it all again.
I always
ask him what I can do better to help him, and today he said, “Be more
loving.” I thought I have been doing
pretty good. So I asked him to explain.
He said, “You don’t hug me, and when we sit on a couch if our legs are
touching, you scoot over to not be touching me.” Ha-ha.
I said, “Yeah, and that won’t change.
Maybe I’m just a cold American, but I don’t like people touching
me. I love all my comps and everyone,
but I don’t like to hug them”. And then
he said, “Well, I can’t wait to see you with your wife. If you don’t hug your companion, how will you
hug your wife?” Then he asked me if I’d
ever even dated, or hung out with girls.
Ha-ha-ha. I said, “Yeah, a few
times.” Then I said, “I have no problem
hugging girls, especially very cute ones.
And that my wife will be a very cute girl, so it will be easy to give
her a hug.” Ha-ha. It’s really a culture thing, and I have not
been able to really get in the habit of hugging everyone yet. I like my space, and if that makes me a cold
American, tudo bem. Ha-ha.
(4) SABADO
(Saturday): WOOT WOOT! Today went great! We had a great lesson with a man named
Jerson. We were walking, and just
started talking to him in front of his house.
He invited us in and we taught the restoration. In the middle of explaining Joseph
Smith, He said it’s a beautiful message
and he really wants to go visit. We told
him, and he asked us to come pick him up and go there with him. He was very excited.
AND THE
ACTIVITY! So, before we went to the
house of Taina, who is a 16 year old less active. Her brother too, and he’s starting to go to
seminary. We went way before the
activity because I wanted to take them both.
Taina went to get ready and it took FOREVER. Fabio, her brother didn’t end up going. Then her dad gave us a ride, but picture
this…her cousin, also a girl, wanted to go.
All right. So the car is small. Us
two elders in the back with the cousin, Taina, in the front. And we start going in the wrong direction,
and I find out it’s to pick up another friend who wanted to go, also a
girl. The car has place for 3 small
people in the back, and it had 2 missionaries and 2 teenage girls. I spent the whole ride praying and citing
scriptures in my mind. But they loved
the activity, so it’s all good. There
were a lot of members, a car pulls up and out came 3 pretty girls, and then the
missionaries…NOT what I had in mind, but all right.
Tomorrow
should have a lot of people at church. I
hope so, at least because very few went last week. Today was day 333 of my mission.
(5) DOMINGO (Sunday): So today we left early to pick up a bunch of
people who said they would go to church with us. Not a single one came with us. Ha-ha, it was normal to me, but Elder Jesus
Santos didn’t understand. He said, “Why
aren’t they coming.” I said, “It
happens, it’s early and cold. But we
always show our faith by coming to try and pick them up. We do our part to give them the chance to do
theirs.” Ha-ha, then he said, “You mean
this has happened before? Where you went
to get people for church and they didn’t go?”
ha-ha! EVERY SUNDAY! But I didn’t tell him that, because I don’t
want to destroy his cute lil expectations.
I just said, “Yes, it’s happened before.” He really has a lot of faith and hope for
everyone, and I remember back to when I was starting and I always got mad
because my comp wouldn’t visit 2 times the guy who didn’t show any interest and
smokes so much his fingers were black.
Now I can see the same thing in my comp.
he always gets so happy when he challenges the people to baptism, which
makes sense. I don’t’ want to tell him
how many hundreds of accepted baptism invites I’ve done to get a few baptisms.
Today was
very good day with very good lessons.
And he asked if every day is so slow.
I said, “You still don’t ever realize how good this area is.” He said, “You mean there is worse?!” He’s 25 years old, but very innocent, it
seems.
This week
went very well. I didn’t get to visit
all the people I wanted to, but we got a lot of good stuff done. I’m happy and trying my best to do the Lords
will. I’m learning to be more humble and
patient, which really isn’t as easy as it sounds. Today was day 334 of my mission.
Give everyone a hug.
Love, Elder McKee
Jake and Elder Jesus Santos
Maybe the pole needed for Marcos' and Simara's electricity?
So, President took all the foreigners to a place to do something, but didn't have enough seats, so Elder Hyland and i went in the back, where there were seat belts and no seats. So, we wrapped them around our legs. Not sure if it helped, but I sure felt better because President drives like a mad man.
Sis. Cornick with the wild hair, photo bombing their picture.
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