Elder Payton MacLay: 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