Bless and sanctify this biscoito

Well it was quite a strange week. The work was really slow (not really to our fault). Going from probably the most successful weeks of the mission to one of the least productive wasn't super fun, but I'm grateful that we're all safe here in Porto Nacional!

On Sunday we went out with the President Almeida (branch president) to give the sacrament to all the people who don't have priesthood holders in their homes. It was honestly really cool. It was a very reverent day other than when we used biscoito (a brazilian cookie thing) instead of bread at one house (we ran out of bread and the family we visited didn't have any). When Elder Calazans was blessing the sacrament and said "Abençoeis e santifiqueis este biscoito", not gonna lie, I had to hold back a laugh. 

Tuesday we had zone conference and wednesday we had a technology training, making the week even less productive (the conferences literally took up the WHOLE day. But it was a good time to see a bunch of old mission friends and learn some new stuff. I FINALLY got my Christmas package (4 months after it was sent lol). 

We started teaching the family of Deusinha's daughter. They are a bunch of fun and it's really sweet to see all the missionary work all the recent converts are doing here.

Deusinha's dad always sits in on the lessons. I LOVE the guy. He doesn't really talk, he just sits on the side and laughs at everyone. He makes me feel so good about myself because he laughs hysterically at every half-hearted joke I make.

Other stuff:

-There's this really annoying dog on Flavia's street. It always barks really annoyingly and acts like it's gonna attack us. We were riding our bikes down the street and he tried to bite me, so I gave him a swift kick to the face. Not gonna lie, it felt really good. 

-Andreia and her fam always call me "Americano." It's so pure. Priscila was saying a prayer and she said "Obrigado por mais um dia de vida do Americano." ("Thank you for one more day of life of the American"). I'm pretty sure I let out an audible laugh when she said that.

In last week's email, I talked a little bit about the blessing of having a prophet. It was cool to see the prophet in action this week! Everyone in Brazil was like "why would church be cancelled here?? Coronavirus isn't even that bad right now." And then a few days later, BAM, Brazil shuts down all the schools and stuff. President Nelson was a step ahead of the Brazilian government. Coronavirus still isn't much of a problem here, but I feel like everyone (starting with the prophet) has been getting ahead of it. 

It's a little frustrating to work do missionary work WITHOUT church (it's hard for investigators to progress without going to church), but God knows best and he's giving what he knows to our prophet.

Shoutout to my man Bryce for getting his mission call to Fort Worth!

Also birthday shoutout to my momma and my sister Marli! They are the BEST. Proof that they are the best: the USB of music Marli made for me (it's got more boppin church music than I knew existed) and the giant pile of letters that came to me from my mom (she writes letters for me EVERY WEEK). LOVE YOU BOTH.

Have a great week!

<3 Elder MacLay

"Cagar para divertir"

Well this week was GREAT. I feel like I'm at one of those really high points of the mission right now.

First off, the baptisms of Flavia and Deusinha went really well! So many people showed up that there wasn't enough room for everyone. I played 'Where Can I Turn For Peace' (an absolute BANGER) on guitar as a special musical number. Flavia and Deusinha are probably the most prepared people I've baptized on the mission.

We also marked March 28th for Raiane's (Flavia's cousin) baptism! 

The free community civil marriage thing was rescheduled AGAIN. It will be April 17th. Andreia/Alexandro, Maxwell/Tatyane, Emanuel/Laryssa, and maybeeee Odilon/Deusinha will each get married! That would be 4 weddings in one day, then 7 baptisms the next day on April 18th. It would be the coolest weekend ever (if I'll be there).

This week I'm going to ask the ol President Cooper if I can stay one more transfer here in Porto (transfers will be in 2 weeks). All of the weddings and baptisms that we have planned will be next transfer.

Before my mission, I never would have dreamed that I would be involved in so many marriages. It's so weird when I stop and think I'm involved in such an important decision for a bunch of random people I found in Brasil. I guess Elder MacLay is quite the matchmaker.

FUNNY STUFF:

-My comp Elder Calazans was wrongly diagnosed with diabetes. We were at the pharmacy and they offered free tests to see if we were diabetic. Elder Calazans went first. A blood sugar level of more than 200 means you have diabetes. When the results came back, the little machine said that his blood sugar level was 400. That pretty much means he is dying. He was SO stressed out. He was thinking he was gonna die young and gonna have to change his diet even more (he's already lactose intolerant). But then the next guy got the same results and they found out the machine was broken. I politely declined my free diabetes test.

-A kid threw up during sacrament meeting. I was at the piano starting to play the intro of the last hymn, then he came running across the front of the pulpit throwing up everywhere. I couldn't help but stop playing because it was the most dramatic throwing up I've ever seen. There was a hilarious yet quiet gasp from the audience. It was kind of like the movies when something dramatic happens at a fancy restaurant and the jazz music stops abruptly. But then, I continued playing the piano again and everyone sang uncomfortably as the kid's dad carried him out of there.

-In the past 2 weeks, I've developed an addiction to tapioca. Tapioca is way different in Brasil, so if you want to know more about it you can look it up online. The stuff is amazing. It doesn't really even have flavor or anything. I can't explain why I like it so much but since it's so cheap, I eat it in ridiculously large quantities. 

We've been teaching a lot about the Restoration in lunch appointments with members in preparation for general conference. The messages usually come back down to a really essential thing that we have thanks to the Restoration: a living prophet.

The fact that we have a living prophet to give us the guidance and revelation of God is really special. If it weren't for modern-day prophets (and ancient prophets, too), we would be missing out on a lot of really important truths and blessings. 

The Restoration of Christ's church is an ongoing occurrence that started with Joseph Smith and continues with the prophet we have today, Russell M. Nelson. 

9th Article of Faith:

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

We are so blessed to have a prophet who directly receives God's word and reveals it to us!

Tenha uma boa semana!

<3 Elder MacLay

ps. check out my watch tan line in the pics

"Big John"

This week, someone asked me what my real full name is. I said "Payton John" and they were like, "Your name is Big John?" And I was like "Yep that is exactly what it is." So now, we are teaching a family that calls me Big John.

The work is still going well! 

I'll give some updates of progression of people here:

-Andreia, Alexandro, and their fam: Andreia and Alexandro's wedding will be March 17th! (the free community civil marriage thing). 2-3 months ago, they were living far away and were about to separate (even though they have 4 kids). They felt they needed to stay together and move here to Porto, where they quickly met us. They are happy, they love church and their lives have already been forever changed by the gospel. 

-Flavia's baptism will be this Saturday! She is so dang ready. She taught Sunday school this past week

-Eluiza (Flavia's sister) started her mission papers! She has made a lot of sacrifices these past few weeks and it's really cool to see.

-Deusinha's baptism will also be Saturday! She's been getting sick since giving up coffee, so I'm praying that she keeps strong.

-Maxwell and Tatyane are also considering getting married on March 17th! They also love the church and want to be baptized, but they are a little hesitant to get married.

I've been thinking about the promise in Mosiah 2:41, about how people that keep the commandments will be blessed. Jesus was the only person that kept every commandment and consequently, he was blessed. Most of our problems in our lives happen because of our own mistakes and decisions, but that wasn't the case for Jesus. His problems always came from the works and persecution of other people. Ultimately, he could always be at peace with himself because he was always doing exactly what he should have been doing.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that the more we break the commandments, the more problems we create for ourselves.

Have a great week!

<3 Elder MacLay