No email this week

Payton had limited Wifi this week and got to play basketball with his Zone, so this is all we got!

"not sending a group email this week. ill just have an EXTRA special group email next week with some icy pics and extra stories. love you mom and dad!"

<3 Elder MacLay

 

"cara, seria inferno na terra"

It was yet another good week in Brazil! Pedregal is the best!

I'll start off with a funny story. I was waiting at a bus stop and this old guy starts coming up to me. He seemed angry and I could tell he was gonna be trouble. He came up to me while I was getting in a car and started making all these weird hand signals. He didn't say a word, just a bunch of hand signals. I was super confused but I got in the car and tried not to look at him. I awkwardly glanced out the opened window to see if he was still there and to my great dismay he was still staring at me. When we made eye contact he pointed to the ground and said "A NOITE" (which means 'tonight'). I have no idea what his plans were for that night but I didn't get mugged or killed so TUDO BEM. 

There's some really great people here that really love the missionaries- even non-members love to invite us over to have a family night, dinner, bonfire, etc. This week, a semi-recently baptized member named Suzanne had us over for pizza. I got to play with her kids/nieces and we jammed out on their keyboard. It was DIVERTIDO DE MAIS.

A few weeks ago, this old senile lady told us that she saw the devil. She said that he, indeed, is red and has a tail/horns. Apparently the stereotypes are true. But then another old senile lady told us that the devil came to her in the form of a dog and started talking to her. I don't know what to believe anymore.

Random stat that I have been observing and pondering about very much: I think approximately 40% of the men here wear shirts. Generally, they are dressed up like they are ready to go to the beach. They wear swimsuits, flip-flops, and rarely wear shirts even though the beach is hundreds of miles away and there is not a pool in sight.

This week I attempted to play piano for sacrament meeting. It went terrible, but it wasn't all my fault. The chorister started singing in the most random time during the introduction and the congregation decided to follow. It didn't help that they were way off key. The Ward is probably the least musically-gifted group of people ever assembled. To make matters worse, I am terrible at piano.

Today I was reading some really good chapters in Alma. Alma 5: 14-16 had some really good questions that made me think about my personal conversion. Alma was asking people questions about conversion and Faith. I think they are questions that everyone should consider, specifically the question "Do ye exercise Faith in the redemption of Him that created you?" In church, we always hear about how we should "Come unto Christ", and I was thinking "what is the best way to 'come' unto him?" I think that the main way to 'come unto Christ' is repentance. Jesus Christ suffered all things and understands all of our struggles, sins, and trials. Alma chapter 7 explains this better than me. Alma 7:11-14 explains the Christ's mission and Atonement probably better than any other scripture. 

We are having some success down here, thanks to some work, luck, and some help from a member. On September 28, we are set to have 6 baptisms! I'm stoked to say the least. The people we are teaching are really great right now. Also, a group  (like a branch but smaller) will be opening in Pedregal next month! The work will really blow up once it opens, so I really hope I get to stay here for that!

If you're reading this, I want you to go out there and have a great week

ATE PROXIMA SEMANA

<3 Elder MacLay

1. THE SQUAD

2. Ruy stylin

3. something very artistic

4. photo shoot with my homies

5. photo shoot pt 2

6. photo shoot pt 3

Twas another good week here in Pedregal

Twas another good week here in Pedregal. 

First off, we had two baptisms on Saturday with Igor and Eduardo. They are awesome! Igor is super awesome and has this awesome light to him. Eduardo is just a young lil guy but has desire to do good (and wanted to be baptized thanks to the example of his sisters Ileeny and Jane). 

The other day I tried to play soccer and it didn't go well. The whole day I was pretty stoked to play but when we got there I realized that those guys weren't messing around. They play on this tiny little court with a cage around it and they kick a soccer ball at approximately 54252 miles per hour. It was like a cage match but soccer edtion. Needless to say, I couldn't hang with those guys.

We clapped in front of this gate the other day (the Brazilian equivalent to knocking on a door lol). This guy named Manuel came out with bangages all over his body except for his head. It reminded me of the guy in Spongebob that was "born with glass bones and paper skin" haha. But Manuel was the nicest guy and we got to talk with him and his family for a while. He has a lot of health problems but he is still super positive and grateful.

The other day there was Independence Day in Brazil. I don't know the history of Brazil very well, and I don't think a lot of the people do either, but they sure use it as an excuse to party. The main road (there's really only one main road in Pedregal) was backed up so much that traffic didn't really move at all. Most of it wasn't even traffic, it was just people dancing and drinking. Brazilians party hard.

This week, we taught a lot of people that are really having struggles. We saw people dealing with some really heavy things- health problems, family/relationship problems, loneliness, addiction, etc. It's pretty tough to see this kind of stuff, and it can be hard to hear when some of my friends and family are also struggling back home. I hate that I can't magically fix their problems on my own. But the goal is to give them the knowledge and resources they need to get through their trials! I think that the knowledge of prayer and Jesus Christ/the Atonement can help more than anything. If people know 1. WHERE they can look to for lasting joy and a remission of sins (the Savior) and 2. HOW they can turn to Him (through prayer), then their burdens will be made lighter. See 2 Nephi 25:26 and Mosiah 24:12-15 for more. 

Unfortunately, a lot of trials and struggles require a bunch of patience and that is something I do not have, but I am learning this transfer.

oh BTW I hit my 3 month mark this week!

See ya next week friends. Catch ya on the flippity flip

<3 Elder MacLay

The squad

 Sorvete

 BAPTISMOOOOO

Live action lion king reenactment

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT TO MY CUTE LIL NIECE PAISLEY

"Met the Prophet NBD"

Brazil flag

'll start this week's email with a quote from our loving prophet, President Russell M. Nelson:

"Good morning Elder MacLay." -Nelson (August 30, 2019)

It's a pretty profound quote if you ask me. 

This week President Nelson came to Brasilia and talked exclusively with my mission (around 150-200 people). It was AMAZING. He gave an amazing and inspired talk to us. We got to shake his hand. When I went up to him, I had the biggest smile on my face. He said good morning to me and looked into my eyes. Looking into the eyes of the prophet was pretty undescribable. 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

Also I should mention that Elder Quentin L. Cook, Marrie Cook, and Wendy Nelson were there. We got to meet all of them too! They had another devotional on Sunday that was broadcasted across all of Brazil. It was LEGIT.

In other news, it was a very eventful week! 

Transfers were last monday, but it was super complicated because the mission is pretty big. A lot of people didn't transfer until Friday (after the President Nelson devotional). I was with Elder Ocampo (from Honduras) from Monday to Friday while we were waiting for our companions. He is super awesome and we've gotten along really well since the MTC days. We are both still in training but we made jokes about how I was technically his trainer because I have been on the mission for two weeks longer than him.

Got my new companion on Friday and it will be an interesting transfer! He's a Brazilian named Elder Amaral and he doesn't speak english. I'll be growing and learning a bunch this transfer because I pretty much do everything in this companionship. We are having some success though and I think we will baptize a lot this transfer! 

Here's some random funny/interesting stories from the week:

-This guy came up to me on the road and tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. Then he saluted me. Then he walked away. He didn't say a word, but I appreciated the salute lol

-We get açai all the time here. There's this stuff called leite condensado (condensed milk) that is super on açai. I always ask them to put it on my açai but they always laughed when I asked for it and I never knew why. Well turns out I was saying "leite cansado" which directly translates to "tired milk" lol. Here I was asking for tired milk on my açai for my first 12 weeks on the mission.

-We were teaching a lesson and an autistic kid started trying to beat me up. I was minding my own business on the couch and he runs in and starts swinging at me. I grabbed his hands before he could hit me and his mom just casually strolls over and tells him to stop. Later he run at me again 

This week me and some elders were talking about spiritual gifts. We agreed that we need to recognize our spiritual gifts in order to be able to use them and perfect them. Take some time and think about your personal strengths/spiritual gifts and think about how you can 1. perfect those gifts and 2. use the gifts to bless the lives of others.

See ya next week amigos

<3 Elder MacLay

reunited with my homies from the mtc

my new comp

THE BOIZ

baptism with Jane before my ol man Elder Young left!

ela é uma gata

   We found pictures on the Church News of President Nelson's visit to Brasilia.

     

Can you spy Elder MacLay?