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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Elder Mackay and Elder Lima with the Happy Groom, João Paulo
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Do You Think it's Time for a New Pair of Shoes?
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Monday, May 10, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Frequent Flyer Miles
Due to the recent travel, I don't have much time to write this letter, but I wanted to get in a few words quickly. So, the Leadership Council went well in Manaus but was followed by a series of unfortunate events that I'm not going to get into at this time. Since we arrived on Monday and stayed until Wednesday, I was able to do divisions with Elder Nascimento, Elder Carreira, and Elder Wetzker to teach some new people in my old area and also see a few old faces (I'll say more about it next week).
The council was interesting with one of the hot topics being whether or not the missionaries should be allowed to watch the Brasil games in the World Cup. It was funny to see the difference between Brazilian theory and American theory with regards to whether or not we would watch. In past situations, after a long conference and lack of sleep, I would have found myself dragging back to the mission house to take a rest, but now that the mission is coming to an end, you get that second wind that pushes you to go the extra mile.
Sadly, the wedding of João Paulo and Giselle isn't official yet since the paper to make it legal isn't ready due to a massive 20 day delay by the cartório. The important thing is that they are taking steps in the right direction, and in a few weeks, the baptism will be realized (once their union is made official by the law).
Elder Lima and I are getting along well and trying our best to make this district become a Stake with the efforts of our fellow missionaries. Next week, I will once again be traveling to Manaus with the zone to be part of the Tur da Missão, where we will have the opportunity to hear the words of Elder Linhares, the Area Seventy.
By the way, I'd like to wish you an early Happy Mother's Day. I look forward to the call on Sunday when we can discuss more about the work, our plans for your arrival, and the food and films I would like for you guys to stock up on, so I can make up for the 2 year absence (haha). Well, that was my rushed email for the week, and I fear due to similar circumstances, it might be more or less the same situation with my email next week.
Até mais,
Elder Taylor Mackay
P.S.- Jet lag is real
The council was interesting with one of the hot topics being whether or not the missionaries should be allowed to watch the Brasil games in the World Cup. It was funny to see the difference between Brazilian theory and American theory with regards to whether or not we would watch. In past situations, after a long conference and lack of sleep, I would have found myself dragging back to the mission house to take a rest, but now that the mission is coming to an end, you get that second wind that pushes you to go the extra mile.
Sadly, the wedding of João Paulo and Giselle isn't official yet since the paper to make it legal isn't ready due to a massive 20 day delay by the cartório. The important thing is that they are taking steps in the right direction, and in a few weeks, the baptism will be realized (once their union is made official by the law).
Elder Lima and I are getting along well and trying our best to make this district become a Stake with the efforts of our fellow missionaries. Next week, I will once again be traveling to Manaus with the zone to be part of the Tur da Missão, where we will have the opportunity to hear the words of Elder Linhares, the Area Seventy.
By the way, I'd like to wish you an early Happy Mother's Day. I look forward to the call on Sunday when we can discuss more about the work, our plans for your arrival, and the food and films I would like for you guys to stock up on, so I can make up for the 2 year absence (haha). Well, that was my rushed email for the week, and I fear due to similar circumstances, it might be more or less the same situation with my email next week.
Até mais,
Elder Taylor Mackay
P.S.- Jet lag is real
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A View of Boa Vista
Geovanna Greta Azevedo de Souza Getting Ready for Baptism
A View from the Bridge Over the Rio Branco
Fishing on the Rio Branco with Alcides
The End is Near...Elder Mackay's Last Toothbrush
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Geovanna Greta Azevedo de Souza Getting Ready for Baptism
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
A View from the Bridge Over the Rio Branco
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Fishing on the Rio Branco with Alcides
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
The End is Near...Elder Mackay's Last Toothbrush
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
The Brushes of Trunkeza
The whole mission I have been marking my progress by the number of toothbrushes I haul around with me (I use one for an entire transfer then toss it). FYI- yesterday, I used my last toothbrush of the mission for the first time (see foto). So, this week had quite a bit of chuva (rain), and since it's not a common occurrence here in Boa Vista, the unprepared streets became rivers.
It's official...I'll be finishing up my mission here in Boa Vista! Now that the transfers are over, our zone consists of: Sister Nascimento, Sister Costa, Sister Gabani, Sister Anacleto, Elder Soares, Elder Pires, Elder Seastrand, Elder Henshaw, Elder and Sister Francisco, Elder Lima, and Elder Mackay. The zone is really prepped for the month of May. So far, there are 14 people who already have baptismal dates, included in that number is about 5 men and 4 families.
This week, as part of a service project, we helped one of our investigators (Alcides) with his morning fishing on the Rio Branco. It was a ridiculously long walk to the bridge of the Macuxis, but with three people rather than just one, I would like to think we added to his fishing success. It was interesting because the fish we caught weighed only 2 or 3 pounds at most, but when you've got one on a hook and you are reeling it in by hand (nobody uses a fishing pole here), it feels like a good 20 pounds. Alcides was using chicken liver and intestines as bait. Not knowing any better, I bought a sausage, cut it up, and put it on the hook. Right after my line hit the water, the other line started moving around. With fat-greased hands, I felt like my battle with the fish was in vain, but after a lot of slipping and concentration, I pulled the beast out of the water and then wiped off my hands to prevent future embarrassment. I caught 1 fish, which was better than Elder Lima's 0, and we ended up with a total of 7 for the morning between the three of us.
I hate to say it, but I am losing a little faith in Alcides and Walquiria. They are good people. They go to church and say they understand everything, but I feel that they are missing the big picture. We are here to help them out with their wedding, so they can receive the blessings of keeping the commandments, but they continue putting it off. I know one day they will follow through with everything, but I feel that day still hasn't arrived. So, rather than push them to do something they won't and aren't ready to do, we will most likely stop passing by their house until they show they are prepared to step up to the plate.
One of the highlights of the week was the baptism of Geovanna Greta Azevedo de Souza. She is 19 years old and was at a phase in her life where she didn't know what to believe anymore. The first time we taught her it was a real battle to get her to open up her heart to our message, but thanks to many factors, including her friend Anne, the situation progressively got better. I was glad to see the big changes in her and in her family. Her mother, who once was more or less against her being baptized and following a religion, is now excited to talk with us and feels free to tell us her worries and doubts.
This weekend will be the long awaited wedding of Giselle and João Paulo (Tito). They will be marrying in the District Headquarters here, which is a really nice looking chapel. Giselle, who is progressing at a faster rate, will be baptized on the 7th of May, less than a week after the wedding if all goes according to plan. Tito, no doubt, is making progress and changing for the better, but it will take a little bit longer for him to follow in Giselle's footsteps.
The missionary work, and all other work in general, reminds me a lot of a quote by Frank Lloyd Wright- "I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen." Success doesn't just walk up to your door and knock. You've got to prepare yourself: get up and out in the street and start the search. It is not an immediate condition. We must visualize what we want and not accept failure, which only happens when we stop trying. Devote yourself to the cause. As some might say: eat, drink, and breathe it until it becomes a part of you - something natural that is instinct or second nature. Many times the obstacles we must overcome seem so great that we do not even dare to try, accepting immediate failure. Challenges remind me of a drill we had to do in football. The coach pulled up onto the dirt track in his F 350 and put it in neutral. He grabbed me and 6 other guys from the skill group (wide receivers and defensive backs) and told us to push his truck around the track while he steered. We all looked at each other like he was asking us to do something that was going to really do us in, but together we dug our feet in and pushed. At first the truck didn't budge, but with all our force, it started to move inches, then feet, and eventually we were sprinting behind the truck with our hands on its bumper and tailgate. That's my two cents this week.
T-T-T-TCHAU!!!!
Elder Taylor Mackay
It's official...I'll be finishing up my mission here in Boa Vista! Now that the transfers are over, our zone consists of: Sister Nascimento, Sister Costa, Sister Gabani, Sister Anacleto, Elder Soares, Elder Pires, Elder Seastrand, Elder Henshaw, Elder and Sister Francisco, Elder Lima, and Elder Mackay. The zone is really prepped for the month of May. So far, there are 14 people who already have baptismal dates, included in that number is about 5 men and 4 families.
This week, as part of a service project, we helped one of our investigators (Alcides) with his morning fishing on the Rio Branco. It was a ridiculously long walk to the bridge of the Macuxis, but with three people rather than just one, I would like to think we added to his fishing success. It was interesting because the fish we caught weighed only 2 or 3 pounds at most, but when you've got one on a hook and you are reeling it in by hand (nobody uses a fishing pole here), it feels like a good 20 pounds. Alcides was using chicken liver and intestines as bait. Not knowing any better, I bought a sausage, cut it up, and put it on the hook. Right after my line hit the water, the other line started moving around. With fat-greased hands, I felt like my battle with the fish was in vain, but after a lot of slipping and concentration, I pulled the beast out of the water and then wiped off my hands to prevent future embarrassment. I caught 1 fish, which was better than Elder Lima's 0, and we ended up with a total of 7 for the morning between the three of us.
I hate to say it, but I am losing a little faith in Alcides and Walquiria. They are good people. They go to church and say they understand everything, but I feel that they are missing the big picture. We are here to help them out with their wedding, so they can receive the blessings of keeping the commandments, but they continue putting it off. I know one day they will follow through with everything, but I feel that day still hasn't arrived. So, rather than push them to do something they won't and aren't ready to do, we will most likely stop passing by their house until they show they are prepared to step up to the plate.
One of the highlights of the week was the baptism of Geovanna Greta Azevedo de Souza. She is 19 years old and was at a phase in her life where she didn't know what to believe anymore. The first time we taught her it was a real battle to get her to open up her heart to our message, but thanks to many factors, including her friend Anne, the situation progressively got better. I was glad to see the big changes in her and in her family. Her mother, who once was more or less against her being baptized and following a religion, is now excited to talk with us and feels free to tell us her worries and doubts.
This weekend will be the long awaited wedding of Giselle and João Paulo (Tito). They will be marrying in the District Headquarters here, which is a really nice looking chapel. Giselle, who is progressing at a faster rate, will be baptized on the 7th of May, less than a week after the wedding if all goes according to plan. Tito, no doubt, is making progress and changing for the better, but it will take a little bit longer for him to follow in Giselle's footsteps.
The missionary work, and all other work in general, reminds me a lot of a quote by Frank Lloyd Wright- "I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen." Success doesn't just walk up to your door and knock. You've got to prepare yourself: get up and out in the street and start the search. It is not an immediate condition. We must visualize what we want and not accept failure, which only happens when we stop trying. Devote yourself to the cause. As some might say: eat, drink, and breathe it until it becomes a part of you - something natural that is instinct or second nature. Many times the obstacles we must overcome seem so great that we do not even dare to try, accepting immediate failure. Challenges remind me of a drill we had to do in football. The coach pulled up onto the dirt track in his F 350 and put it in neutral. He grabbed me and 6 other guys from the skill group (wide receivers and defensive backs) and told us to push his truck around the track while he steered. We all looked at each other like he was asking us to do something that was going to really do us in, but together we dug our feet in and pushed. At first the truck didn't budge, but with all our force, it started to move inches, then feet, and eventually we were sprinting behind the truck with our hands on its bumper and tailgate. That's my two cents this week.
T-T-T-TCHAU!!!!
Elder Taylor Mackay
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Mackay's Secret Recipe
Dear Family and Friends,
There is no one secret. To better my Portuguese, I recently picked up an inspirational book called O Segredo, which tried to explain the secret to a successful life through obedience and understanding to one single rule: the law of attraction. No offense to the author and her poorly structured and repetitive livro, but this cure-all answer is a little naïve and childish in my opinion. Success in life cannot be measured by obedience to a law developed by man...sure, it might open up a few doors in this life but, at the same time, will shut doors with eternal consequences. The secret I have been able to understand can be found in a combination of 7 areas. The most important of these being obedience, which allows one to fulfill all other responsibilities with exactness. The areas are as follows:
Making of goals
The scriptures
Faith
Frequent prayer
Hard work
Service to others
Obedience to the commandments
This week I would like to write a little about the faith our investigators are showing. As of now, we have 5 people with dates marked for baptism: Alcides and Walquiria (a couple), Simone and Pedro (mother and son), and Geovanna. I have been extremely impressed with the faith I've seen practiced in their lives in such a quick manner. One way I have been able to better visualize the idea of faith is through a poem by Emily Dickinson:
Faith — is the Pierless Bridge
Supporting what We see
Unto the Scene that We do not —
Too slender for the eye
As the poem says, faith is like a bridge that can bring us knowledge which mankind may not consider to be scientific proof or certainty. So, essentially, we just need to take that first step on the bridge. We do not need to see the whole bridge...just take the first step. The reality of it all is that the test of our belief is our willingness to act.
With much temptation and confusion in her life, Geovanna will be postponing a trip to Venezuela, so everything can go well for her baptism. I can't say that I would have the same desire or self-control if I were put in the same situation. It's experiences like these which give you a great respect for those you teach and a better understanding of the power of God. He created the world in 6 days...by all means, it is no task for him to realize the conversion of a human being.
As you know, we had the great opportunity to hear the words of Bishop Edgley, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and Elder Holland. I wasn't able to be there in person, but Elder Holland gave us a shout-out through the webcam (haha). Monday and yesterday, we ran around getting the whole set-up ready for today's big show. Elder Holland talked about a lot of things but mostly about the influence the mission will have on your entire life. He spoke of how a day has yet to pass that he doesn't remember or share an experience from his mission. He stated that his mission was a preparation for him to make all the decisions he had yet to make in his life. Elder Holland also warned us against the lowering of personal standards after returning back from the mission. He cautioned us of the dangers and the disappointment he would feel if we fell away from the Church after dedicating two years of our life to teaching the gospel. He said, "If I find out any one of you has become less active or inactive in future years, I will personally hunt you down in your sleep and scare you silly back onto the straight and narrow." He jokingly said, "I'll surprise you so good you'll be screaming for your mommy in the middle of the night." Can you imagine? A mom asks, "What is it?" Her frightened returned missionary replies, "It's Elder Holland...he's in my room!" It was cool listening to these men speak, and every time I heard them say the words, "Manaus Mission," a smile would grow on my face knowing I am part of that effort.
As for this week's news, we will be having the baptism of Geovanna, with the participation of the local institute program, on Saturday and the wedding of Tito (João Paulo) and Giselle the following week. We were invited to Tito's bachelor party soccer game. It was pretty legit with regards to competition, including some guys who have a good shot of working their way to the professional level here in Brasil (one being my companion, Elder Lima, who was working his way up to play for the city of Vitória team). Fortunately, my American skills came into play and I scored a sweet goooooooooooolll!!!!
That's all I have for now. All is going well with the work here and I'm super excited for our May prospects. I'm really hoping I get to stay in my current area, because with all that the zone has lined up, it will make for quite the grand finale. Have a great week!
Até logo,
Elder Taylor Mackay
There is no one secret. To better my Portuguese, I recently picked up an inspirational book called O Segredo, which tried to explain the secret to a successful life through obedience and understanding to one single rule: the law of attraction. No offense to the author and her poorly structured and repetitive livro, but this cure-all answer is a little naïve and childish in my opinion. Success in life cannot be measured by obedience to a law developed by man...sure, it might open up a few doors in this life but, at the same time, will shut doors with eternal consequences. The secret I have been able to understand can be found in a combination of 7 areas. The most important of these being obedience, which allows one to fulfill all other responsibilities with exactness. The areas are as follows:
Making of goals
The scriptures
Faith
Frequent prayer
Hard work
Service to others
Obedience to the commandments
This week I would like to write a little about the faith our investigators are showing. As of now, we have 5 people with dates marked for baptism: Alcides and Walquiria (a couple), Simone and Pedro (mother and son), and Geovanna. I have been extremely impressed with the faith I've seen practiced in their lives in such a quick manner. One way I have been able to better visualize the idea of faith is through a poem by Emily Dickinson:
Faith — is the Pierless Bridge
Supporting what We see
Unto the Scene that We do not —
Too slender for the eye
As the poem says, faith is like a bridge that can bring us knowledge which mankind may not consider to be scientific proof or certainty. So, essentially, we just need to take that first step on the bridge. We do not need to see the whole bridge...just take the first step. The reality of it all is that the test of our belief is our willingness to act.
With much temptation and confusion in her life, Geovanna will be postponing a trip to Venezuela, so everything can go well for her baptism. I can't say that I would have the same desire or self-control if I were put in the same situation. It's experiences like these which give you a great respect for those you teach and a better understanding of the power of God. He created the world in 6 days...by all means, it is no task for him to realize the conversion of a human being.
As you know, we had the great opportunity to hear the words of Bishop Edgley, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and Elder Holland. I wasn't able to be there in person, but Elder Holland gave us a shout-out through the webcam (haha). Monday and yesterday, we ran around getting the whole set-up ready for today's big show. Elder Holland talked about a lot of things but mostly about the influence the mission will have on your entire life. He spoke of how a day has yet to pass that he doesn't remember or share an experience from his mission. He stated that his mission was a preparation for him to make all the decisions he had yet to make in his life. Elder Holland also warned us against the lowering of personal standards after returning back from the mission. He cautioned us of the dangers and the disappointment he would feel if we fell away from the Church after dedicating two years of our life to teaching the gospel. He said, "If I find out any one of you has become less active or inactive in future years, I will personally hunt you down in your sleep and scare you silly back onto the straight and narrow." He jokingly said, "I'll surprise you so good you'll be screaming for your mommy in the middle of the night." Can you imagine? A mom asks, "What is it?" Her frightened returned missionary replies, "It's Elder Holland...he's in my room!" It was cool listening to these men speak, and every time I heard them say the words, "Manaus Mission," a smile would grow on my face knowing I am part of that effort.
As for this week's news, we will be having the baptism of Geovanna, with the participation of the local institute program, on Saturday and the wedding of Tito (João Paulo) and Giselle the following week. We were invited to Tito's bachelor party soccer game. It was pretty legit with regards to competition, including some guys who have a good shot of working their way to the professional level here in Brasil (one being my companion, Elder Lima, who was working his way up to play for the city of Vitória team). Fortunately, my American skills came into play and I scored a sweet goooooooooooolll!!!!
That's all I have for now. All is going well with the work here and I'm super excited for our May prospects. I'm really hoping I get to stay in my current area, because with all that the zone has lined up, it will make for quite the grand finale. Have a great week!
Até logo,
Elder Taylor Mackay
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Exposed Shores of the Rio Branco
Elder Mackay in Front of a Local Church
A Frequent Site in the Trees of Boa Vista
Boa Vista Zone Leaders: Elder Lima and Elder Mackay
A Beautiful Day on the Rio Branco
This Poor Guy Lost at Frogger
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Elder Mackay in Front of a Local Church
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
A Frequent Site in the Trees of Boa Vista
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Boa Vista Zone Leaders: Elder Lima and Elder Mackay
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
A Beautiful Day on the Rio Branco
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
This Poor Guy Lost at Frogger
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
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