Answers to some questions (9-23-13)

Bom dia todo mundo!

Well this week has been another slow one, but it was good.  First I am going to answer some questions that minha mae (my mother) asked me.

What is a typical day like?  We do studies from 8 to 11am because I have language study.  Then we go and try to see investigators or less actives, or do service.  At 6ish we usually have dinner appointments with members and after we try to go and visit other people.

How many miles do we cover in a typical day?  I have no idea but it may be anywhere from 5 to 15 but I honestly have no idea.

What do I do on p-day?  Well we do email and buy food and such, we usually play sports and just hang out.  We don't have miles to go to fun places every week so we just usually stick around here.  But sometimes members have us do stuff with them.  It just depends on the day.

My favorite thing about the mission.  Well I don't know.  We hardly teach and it is half in Spanish so that isn't my favorite part, but I would have to say service.  Everyone that we serve is super grateful and has a real need.  It makes me feel good.  We did some service for a guy with a super rare cancer in his leg where he had to have his entire left upper leg (his glute) and other muscles removed.  We just mulched his garden and he was super appreciative and that was awesome.

The most powerful lesson I have learned.  Well that would definitely have to be patience.  With everything that has been going on...my lack of a visa, no one remembering our appointments and no one keeping their commitments I have realized that I may not have been as patient as I thought I was.  So having patience is very important and something that we always have to work on.

So that is about all of the questions.  So about this week.  We had transfers this week and only one person in our district of eight was transferred and that was Elder Larsen which was sad.  Now we have a greeny straight from the MTC and before that South Jordan, UT.  So I am now no longer the greenest banana in the grocery store!  But he is super awesome and super enthusiastic.  He will do great things.  This week we also did that service for the guy with cancer.  His wife works with our ward mission leader and is not LDS.  He really isn't that old.  He is like 41 but because of the loss of his upper leg he can't bend down very much.  But he is super awesome and loves the fact that we give up to two years to serve.  He almost passed out when I said I was going to Brasil and that a guy in the ward here is going to Ghana in December.  That was cool.

Then we had a baptism in our district.  Down river on the other bank is Luling and they had a baptism.  She is super good friends with a member who was baptized in our ward just before I got to the MTC (end of June).  It was awesome.  I loved seeing how excited they both were that this was happening and her testimony was super awesome and the Spirit was definitely there.  We did teach two lessons about the Book of Mormon to investigators and we read with them both times to stress its importance and that we need to read the Book of Mormon.  So hopefully it sunk in.

As for funny/other stuff.  Everytime I bear my testimony in Portuguese in a Spanish lesson they understand, and they think I'm Brazilian, which is awesome.  That makes me feel good.  I had gumbo for the first time yesterday and it was made by a real cajun.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!!  As part of living here I have learned that I like crab and crawfish, at least in stuff.  I don't know if I like it by itself because I haven't had it.  But it was awesome.  And this weekend is going to be awesome too.  IT IS GATOR FEST!!!!!!!!!!  I FINALLY GET TO EAT ME SOME GATOR!!!!!  That is one item soon to be off the bucket list.  I am so excited!

Well that is all for this week.  Enjoy the pictures and I will talk to you next week!

Com muito amor,

Elder Mackay

 The LaPlace Elders

 Goodbye picture for Elder Larsen (the one with the notebook in his belt)

 It was too good to be true...Blockbuster is closing!

  This is George the gecko that has been on our door almost every night for the last 3 weeks

Lots of Service (9-17-13)

Oi, tudo mundo!

Well this will be a short one, like no time to write.  And nothing really happened this week.  Lots of service though.  We got a new Ward Mission Leader and he is hooking us up!  It is awesome.  So I didn't get transferred so feel free to send more letters my way at the same address.  You have NO IDEA how awesome letters are.  It is like Christmas Day.  So send them, But this week should be better.  I will try to make it the best week ever!  And every other week!  Sorry for the shortness but I have pictures this week!

Oh and two of the sisters in my MTC district got their visas.  SO ALL OF YOU PRAY FOR MINE!!!  haha.  I WANTS IT!!!

Well Stay classy and I'll talk to you all next week!!!

Com Muito Amor,

Elder Mackay

I got a Duck Dynasty shirt!!!

Heat Index was 110! (9-9-13)

Oi Tudo Mundo!

Well this week was definitely super slow.  All of our appointments decided to cancel so all of our plans were just shot in the face over and over and over.  Luckily, the only plans that didn't cancel were our dinner plans.  So that was a good thing.

Well since nothing really happened this week I shall tell you about our zone training meeting.  It was about Preach My Gospel and how vital it is with missionary work and how we always need to study it.  One quote that we went over from PMG (Preach My Gospel) was "the scriptures and Preach My Gospel are sufficient for missionary work."  I forget who says it, probably Boyd K. Packer, but it is awesome.  After that we went to eat lunch at this place called Canes.  It is a fast food chicken finger place.  IT IS AMAZING!!!!!  Eu amo ele muito!!!  It is so good.  Too bad the west doesn't have any.

We went to help the Spanish speaking sister in our district find Hispanics to teach.  We went to this apartment building and it was basically Blacks and Dominicans.  That place was hoppin'.  So many people out and about and about 3/4 Spanish speakers.  We found some pretty solid people for them to teach.  One of them was a Mexican who was covered with crazy tattoos.  He had a Mexican soldier from the 1800's with a sombrero.  It may have been an Apache but I don't know.

Other than that nothing much happened this week.  So now funny stuff.  On Wednesday or so it was like 90 degrees but the heat index was 110.  When I go home just before our dinner appointment I changed my white shirt.  When I took off my tie and looked at myself in the mirror I looked like I was straight from Biggest Loser!  My sweat marks were crazy!  It was gross.  So I changed and ate like 5 otter pops.  This morning before we left the other companionship's apartment there was a gecko running around on the floor.  I caught him and tried to hold him on my hand.  He wasn't very big and i thought he would stay still so I could admire his awesomeness.  Well he had different plans.  He would run and jump off my hand so then I would catch him again and then he would jump off again.  It was ridiculous.  So I just caught him and let him go.  Geckos are sweet.

Well that is all for this week.  As always stay classy.

Com muito amor,

Elder Mackay

Did My Sister Send You? (9-2-13)

Bon Tarde Todo Mundo!

Well this past week felt better than last week, even though we taught about the same amount of lessons.  We got to see the people but they were busy so we made return appointments.  This week is super busy.  It will be awesome, I am super excited for it.

This week we did a lot of service.  It started out at a specialized zone training.  We went to Metairie just west of New Orleans, and we did a service project for one of the members.  We were building a shed for him.  We had to level the pads it was going to stand on.  The pad that I helped do was the most perfect of them all.  I'm not bragging or anything!!  Oh wait...yes I am!!  It was awesome.  The President sent our district home.  There were too many people and not enough work.  And this was going to be a two-day, all day thing.  That was super disappointing.  But that night we were driving back from a dinner appointment and saw an older lady doing yard work.  We stopped and helped her for about an hour.  The funny thing is that she is the sister of one of the sisters in the ward.  We knew this when she asked, "Did my sister send you?"  We were like "Who is your sister?"  She said, "The crazy lady on Country Club."  We were all like, "Sister Smith!"  Haha.  It was pretty awesome.  Sister Smith came over and took us to Sonic for ice cream.  A couple of days later we served a recent convert.  Her porch floods whenever it rains so there is a ton of mud in it.  We washed that all out and cleaned all her porch furniture.  We got to use ammonia.  DANG that stuff is strong!  And it would hit you like a wave!  It was crazy.  She fed us lunch...pulled pork!!!!!  It was glorious and then we washed her car.  So we were quite productive service-wise.

Nothing really happened this week.  We didn't teach much so nothing happened there.  But we got a new ward mission leader so that will be sweet.  He sounds like he will be good.

Today was fun so far.  I'm writing this letter late because it is Labor Day and the mail doesn't pick up today.  We went to the Rich's house.  They are a young couple with a two year old and they invited us over for a BBQ.  We played some intense games of croquet.  That game is so legit!!  I thought it was super dumb, but I had never player it until now.  And it was awesome!  Now we are going to go to another BBQ with another couple in the ward.  COMER TODAS AS XEESEBURGERS!

That's all for this week!

Te amo!

Elder Mackay

 There is a gecko on the Elder's shirt.  Jason said they are everywhere!

 Jason working on the shed

Jason was surprised to see many people using their front yards as a driveway!

Ghost Pepper Extract (8-25-13)

Oi Todo Mundo!

First off, tell Conner happy birthday for me.  You have probably gotten the card already but tell him happy birthday for me.

Ok.  So you all are probably DYING to know what I did in New Orleans last p-day.  Well I shall tell you.  so we went to the French Market.  It is in or by the French Quarter of New Orleans and it is just a huge flea market with tons of cool stuff.  And all I got was a t-shirt.  I had to get something because I may never go back there.  And we also went to some of the stores by the flea market.  And one of them is by the name of the Pepper Palace.  And almost all of our district was there.  It was us four Elders in LaPlace and the two sisters in Luling.  The two Luling Elders could not get a ride.  But anyway, at the said pepper store, they sell hot sauce there.  And have samples.  And a heat scale from 1 to 10+++.  Well I guess that it is tradition that all the missionaries that go to New Orleans partake of this sauce.  You just have to dip the chip and you can have as many chips as you want.  Well this sauce is made from ghost pepper extract!  Which makes it even hotter!  And you have to sign a waiver to do it!!  Well I did it.  AND IT WAS AS IF THE DEVIL AND ALL HIS SATANIC SPAWNS WERE DANCING ON MY TONGUE AND SLIDING DOWN MY THROAT!!!  IT WAS LIKE A LOCAL ARSONIST WAS LIGHTING A FIRE IN MY MOUTH WITH THE FEROCITY OF A ROARING T-REX AND THE INTENSITY OF 73,903 NEUTRON STARS THAT WERE ALL EXPLODING!  So it was terrible.  It lasted for a good 20 minutes.  The other Elders had done it before and they liked it more the second time.  And what made it worse was the Sisters had never done it AND it did nothing to them.  NOTHING!  And Sister Allen was all like "I don't handle spice well."  And then she had it and was all like."Oh was that it?"  It was an injury to our pride but it was still pretty fun.  I will never do that again though.

Now to the spiritual stuff.  We hardly taught any lessons this week.  It was a tough week.  Every time we went to see people we made appointments with they were not home.  It was frustrating.  But we were able to meet with Ivan and Margarita Marin.  They are Honduran and don't speak English.  But they are super interested and have been taught before.  And they kept their reading commitments and understand the Book of Mormon. I can't say much but at the end I always bear my testimony in Portugues so that way they can kind of understand me.  So that is cool.  But Ivan had to go out of state to work and won't be back permanently till December.  So that stinks.  And we also met with a less active guy named Santos Paz.  Also Honduran.  He is a different one.  He asked us why we spend so much money on temples when we could use that money to help people.  And he asked us other out there questions.  He even saw my patch of the Brazilian Flag on my bag and asked me about it.  And I said I was going to Brazil when I get my visa, in Portugues.  And in English he says, "Why do you speak Portugues when you should be speaking Spanish."  Well, the answer is simple.  Eu nao falo espanol.  Eu falo Portugues e ingles.  That was funny I thought.

Well nothing else really happened this week.  I did have to give a talk in church today.  It was on how seminary and institute helped prepare me for a mission.  It was pretty good.  But other than that nothing happened.  Hopefully we can get more done this week.  Well, talk to you all next week.  Eu amo voces.  Ate logo!

Elder Mackay

 New Orleans

 The Silver Man

 Street Performer

 The Pepper Palace

 Missionaries at the Pepper Palace

Jason thought these were a part of the past!

Rain in Louisiana... (8-19-13)

Boa Tarde todo mundo!

This week has been pretty good.  It was definitely better than last week, number-wise.  And by that I mean we taught more lessons.  Last p-day was great.  We did laundry, went shopping where I bought a box of twinkies, and we had a tie swap with the other Elders in LaPlace who live in the same complex as us.  I got a pretty awesome green tie for one of my purple ties.  That trade took like 30 seconds because I didn't bring any ties with sentimental value.  But my companion, Elder Araujo, took like 30 minutes to come up with a suitable trade for two of his ties.  It actually ended up being a three for two deal where my companion got the two and raw end of the deal.  But he has 70+ ties.  It is utterly ridiculous.  I'm pretty sure he could go for two transfers and not wear the same tie twice.

Then on Tuesday we met with our only investigator.  His name is Donald.  He is an older, handicapped black man.  He walks with a limp and his left arm is curled against his body so I don't think he can use it.  He told us he had a stroke when he was a teenager.  But he loves Jesus.  He is always asking for pamphlets with pictures of Jesus on them.  So that time we gave him a Book of Mormon and he freaked out.  The good kind.  He was all like, "I've never heard of this before, but if it talks about Jesus I'll read it."  But unfortunately we haven't met with him since.  He is gone every time we go by.

Wednesday was terrible.  We were going to the library to do media studies, Mormon messages, conference talks, that kind of stuff.  But if was raining.  And rain in Louisiana is like buckets for each raindrop.  And I don't have a rain jacket.  So I used the outer layer of my coat.  It kept my arms dry for the most part but not my back.  When we finally got to the library we went straight to the bathroom.  I almost was able to wring my pants out.  Then after that we went to do roster clean up.  There are a lot of records in this ward for people who don't live here anymore.  Well every house we went to, there was no answer.  So we went to the neighbors, and they didn't know anything about them.  We talked to one of the neighbors through her door.  We knocked and she said "Who is it?"  We said "missionaries."  And she replied, "Oh I'm sorry, but I'm not dressed for visitors, maybe another day."  It was funny, but we asked about her neighbor and it was the guy we wanted.  And we returned to that house and can come back.

The other days went like the other days, except no rain.  And the humidity has gone down.  But yesterday (Sunday) we went to a trailer park to talk to a Hispanic family.  So we went to a less active family first.  I could only understand about less than half of the whole conversation, but they had me give the closing prayer in Portugues.  That was cool.  And then we went to the family we really wanted to visit.  Their names are Ivan and Margarita.  Also Spanish.  So again, I was no help during the lesson.  But they have met with missionaries before and Ivan at least knows the Book of Mormon is true.  I think Margarita does too, but they don't go to church for mainly two reasons.  It is in English, which they don't speak any English, and their two year old is super noisy.  But they went one time and loved it.  We are going back on Tuesday.  They really want to see us before Ivan goes to El Paso till December for work.

But here is a funny moment.  Well, I don't think it is funny but you all might.  So we ride bikes everywhere.  Well I dread riding them because I'm afraid that my companion is going to kill himself.  We ride primarily along highways with large shoulders.  So here I am as far as possible to the right side.  And then there is my companion riding the white line, with no hands and zig-zagging all over the place.  It scares the crap out of me because he is like going to die.  Crazy Mexicans!  Well, that is all for today.  Today for p-day I think the whole district is going to New Orleans.  So that should be fun even though I don't know what we are doing.  Tell Grandma thanks for the twinkies!  Talk to you all later!  Ate logo!

Eu amo voces,

Elder Mackay

 A cute but very skinny puppy they found one day.

 Jason's tie from the tie swap.

 Just saying...what is this?!