Minha bicicleta me odeia (11-25-13)

Oi yall,

So this week was a good one.  We taught 17 lessons as our quad, which we are kinda all companions because we work the same area, and that is the most I have EVER taught in a week.  So that was otimo.  We also had a mini MTC for the youth which was super stressful because everything went wrong.  But some of the youth were touched so it achieved its purpose.

We taught Wilmur again this week.  Twice actually, AND HE IS PROGRESSING!!!!!  He read the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation pamphlets and he started reading the Book of Mormon.  SO EXCITED!!!  I don't really know what is being said during the lessons but Elder Drollinger tells me he has good comments and questions and he can understand me at the end when I testify in Portuguese.  I can feel the spirit hardcore when we teach him.  So that is sweet.  Other than that we saw another investigator named Porfirio, and one of his roomies moms is up from Honduras for like 4 months.  And she sits in and is super interested.  Which is awesome because she tells us when to come next when before he was like, "eh whenever" so that is muito otimo.

Now for my bike hating me.  Well I replaced the brakes because they were like gone.  No rubber at all.  So I did that, but the thing that made me know that it hates me is that on the way home from church yesterday I went to change gears after like 1 pedal the then the chain snaps.  So I then thought we were going to walk the 2ish miles home in the cold humid wind.  But then Elder Drollinger says WE AIN'T WALKIN'!  So he made a tow cable out of 2 bike locks and tows me home.  It was sick.  I didn't think it was going to work, but it did.  It worked super well actually.  I have some sweet videos that yall will have to wait to see when I get home.  But I have pictures that yall will get in this email.

So that was my adventure of the week.  Gotta love mission life!  No news on the visa as of yet.  Which is the story of my mission haha.  But I am happy to serve here in the bayou :)

Happy Thanksgiving yall!  Please pray that I won't die when I finish the 4 or 5 meal appointments we have on Thanksgiving.  I'm going to need it.  And they are Hispanic, so I don't know how much food they are going to shove down my throat haha, but it will be good food.  :)

That is all for this week!  Stay classy e otimo yall!

Elder Mackay

Jason and his broken chain

 The Missionaries' ingenuity

 The tow of the missionary bike and the Missionary...Elder Mackay!

Miracle of the Week (11-18-13)

Boa tarde,

So this week has been pretty sweet.  We met this less active who hadn't been visited in a while because he had bipolar and I guess the last time the missionaries were there it didn't go very well.  But we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary so we are trying to work with him.  We also taught this Salvadorian named Juan and he was maybe crying (IDK) after we taught the restoration lesson.  That was cool, he is a sweet but shy dude and we think that he has a ton of potential to accept a date.  But we haven't seen him for a few days.  BUT WE STILL TRY!!!!!  NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!  NEVER SURRENDER!!!!!  Other than that we don't have many other stories about lessons.

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK!!!  I had interviews with President Wall last week and in it he said to fast with my companion Elder Drollinger and the other two elders in our apartment for my visa and to have Elder Drollinger give me a blessing and say whatever he wanted.  So we did that and while we were fasting the office elders called and said that they were coming to get me to do fingerprints for my visa reapplication.  That wasn't very unusual because like the week before they sent me a thing that I had to sign and sent back to Salt Lake City for my visa.  But they said that the fingerprint part was sent super fast after the first part which usually meant that the person's visa is really close SO I MAY BE IN BRASIL FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!  FINGERS CROSSED!!!!!  So that was the cool miracle for the week.  And also, Brasil played Honduras in soccer on Saturday in Florida.  And Crasil won 5-0.  I only care because it is Brasil, and the ward is mostly Hondurans.  hehehe  IF ONLY I COULD BRAG IN SPANISH!!!!!  Oh well.

I am really liking Metairie.  It is really busy and you don't know if that car sees you or not.  But it is the grand ol' life.  And also my companion Elder Drollinger has taught me some really fun card games that aren't with face cards and those are Killer Bunnies and Magic.  But don't worry, we are faithful missionaries and only play them on Pday (they are approved for their mission).

So that is all from the wet and swampy state of Louisiana!  I love yall tons and may you all have a grand and classy day!  Stay Classy.

Com muito amor,

Elder Mackay

 Elders: Crane, Walker, Drollinger, Mackay

They are living the thug life...they put tinfoil on the teeth for grills

A Wyoming sticker on a car in Louisiana

How Yall Makin' Out? (11-13-13)

How yall makin' out?

I decided to speak southern for the heading.  hehe

Well this week was action packed and crazy.  I still don't speak Spanish so that makes the struggle real. But I get by.  So I don't know how many people know this of those that read these letters, but I do an AMAZING Smeagul voice and I enjoy showing it off.  Well one night I realized that these other Elders that I live with had not heard it yet.  So it was night time and we had just said our prayers and turned off the lights, and I sleep on the top bunk of one of the bunk beds.  So I face the wall and I start acting out the scene from the two towers where Smeagul had just been beaten up by Farimir and his boys and he starts arguing with himself whether "master" betrayed him or not.  So I go about this and they all freak out.  It was hilarious.  One of the Elders said that he felt like he was in violation of the white handbook because he felt like he just watched a movie.  Then I started saying some lines from the Riddles in the dark scene from the hobbit and then went to bed.  It was hilarious. (He really is good at sounding just like Smeagul from the Lord of the Rings movies!).

So now for spiritual stuff.  We had interviews with President Wall yesterday.  And they were awesome.  He told me how I can be involved in the lessons enough where I don't feel bad that Elder Drollinger is doing all the talking.  So that was awesome.  And he told me of a way to know what the Lord's plans are for me.  And that is to have an apartment fast.  We are doing that on Friday.  I love talking with President Wall, he is awesome.  We talked about some other stuff too, but those were the highlights.  But we both think that my time in Louisiana is drawling to a close.

And another cool thing.  The Elders in an adjacent area found a Brazilian so we went to his house.  But no one was home.  So we left a mormon.com card and we are going to go back another time.  SO I MAY TEACH A PORTUGUESE SPEAKER!!!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!  Well that is about it.  Enjoy the pictures of me and my companion and of the gorgeous 2013 or 2014 Stingray Corvette we saw.  It was glorious.

Com muito amor,

Elder Mackay

Street Ball (10-21-13)

(Sorry this is out of order!  Enjoy anyway!)

Bom Dia Tudo Mundo,

This week was good, it wasn't much different than any other week but it was still really good.  We went on exchanges this week and I went with my district leader, Elder Hansen.  We went to my area so I had to take over.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  The hardest part was finding who to visit because we couldn't visit any of the Hispanics we visit because I don't speak Spanish and neither does Elder Hansen.  But it was still super awesome.  We were biking trying to find something to do and we biked past this house with some 15 year old black kids playing basketball in their driveway and we totally played them.  And we were in our shirts and ties.  it was legit, the backboard was broken and had tons of holes in it so it was total street ball.  And we only lost by 1.  If we had better shoes we would have had that game.  After the game we invited them to our Tuesday night basketball.  They were super interested so hopefully they come.

Other than that our investigator Leo came to church.  That was super awesome!  He only stayed for sacrament, but it was better than nothing.  Church was interesting anyways, but it was super good that he came.

We also went to the temple and did baptisms.  Actually we watched.  Elder Hansen's recent convert Sister Van Matre went for the first time and her husband was baptized and confirmed.  That was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have had at the temple.  It was sweet.  And the Baton Rouge temple is TINY!!!  But really pretty.

So that is about all for this week.  Eu amo voces and stay classy!

Com Muito Amor,

Elder Mackay

Crazy Two Weeks (11-4-13)

Bom Dia!

Well this has been a crazy 2 weeks.  We had a Halloween Party where I never want to have pie again because of the pie eating contest I joined.  NOT FUN!!!  And best of all there was this guy who came and he didn't even know there was a party but he came because he had recently seen the Book of Mormon Broadway play that came here where it just makes fun our our church and he wanted to know what was crap and what was legit from the play.  So we talked to him and gave him a Restoration pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and then on Monday before our dinner appointment he calls us to tell us he read the pamphlet AND THE TESTIMONIES AND HE WAS IN 1 NEPHI 3!!!!!  It was crazy and I was super excited to teach him, but then I got transferred.

I am now in Metairie (met-uh-ree) North, which is about 20 minutes from New Orleans.  I am still in the same zone kinda.  I am in the New Orleans Spanish zone rather than the English one.  And I live with 3 Elders now.  My new companion is Elder Drollinger and he got here at the same time as me.  He is from Colorado Springs and he knows exactly where my family used to live when they were there.  But I am kinda comps with the other two elders I live with because we are working the same area and that is quite interesting.  It took us a long time to figure out what we were going to do and I have only had like 2 days with E. Drollinger because we went on lots of exchanges so that we could learn the area a little bit.  So that was fun.  Everything is in Spanish here, the ward, everyone we teach, EVERYTHING!!!  And I just speak Portuguese.  So I try my best to understand these people.  Church was very interesting.  I had to bear my testimony during church and the member who conducted said this when he was saying that I was going to bear my testimony, "And we will have Elder Mackay or MaCay or whatever he calls himself go next."  I didn't learn of this until after the fact haha.  So this will be a fun transfer.  I really like my comp and the other two elders.

My birthday was super sweet on the 1st of November.  We had District meeting and like everyone knew about it.  And I only told the people in our apartment.  The Sisters made me cake.  So that was really sweet.  First Bday in the field!!!

Oh and right before I was transferred we went to the aquarium!  IT WAS MUITO OTIMO!!!

Well that is all for this week!

Eu amo voces!!!

Elder Mackay

P.S.  Elder Mackay's new address is:  3400 Kent
                                                           R105
                                                           Metairie, LA 70006

 LaPlace missionaries at the Baton Rouge Temple

 Missionaries showing their "cool" side

 Pie eating contest

 And more pie!

 I think the point of this picture is the camaro!

 Eels at the aquarium

Missionaries on their way somewhere...

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