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| From Recently Updated |
Elder Mackay at the Amazonian Cultral Center
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| From Recently Updated |
Elders Melo, Mackay, Keicher, and Soelberg Enjoying P-day Together
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| From Recently Updated |
Elder Mackay Looking for Natives
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| From Recently Updated |
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
No Princípio Criou Deus Os Céus e A Terra...e A Amazônia
This week flew by fast. Get this...a pair of my shoes had a massive hole in the bottom, so I gave them to a member in the ward to resole. That left me with only one other pair. Then, out of nowhere, a hole emerges in the heel and then another in the forefoot. I couldn't believe it! Since it happens to be the rainy season, I'm walking around like a homeless person with a layer of cardboard between my foot and my shoe. Fortunately, I'm the only one who knows, but let's hope those other shoes get fixed soon.
Today we decided to go to the Bola da Suframa to go bowling or to play soccer on a synthetic field. As luck would have it, the bowling facility doesn't open until 3 p.m. and the guy who watches over the field decided to take an undetermined amount of time for a coffee break. Since we were already a distance from home, we decided to visit the Amazonian Cultural Center since none of the other missionaries had been there. It was pretty cool to learn more about the culture, people, and rituals.
In other news, I don't know if I have mentioned my favorite team here in Brazil, but it is called Bota Fogo. There was a big tournament with all the teams in Rio de Janeiro...and they won! I'll include a picture in next week's e-mail.
As for the missionary work, it is going well. We are working with four family members of a rapaz (boy) called Gabriel, three of which already have baptismal dates. They are really interested in the Church, enjoy our visits, and are keeping the commandments. We just have to continue teaching and answering their questions so that all goes well on the 13th of March. Along with this family, we have a few others we are teaching...several of which are progressing.
Our district is doing really well. We are by no means the highest baptizing district, but I would like to think we're the highest quality. In the past two weeks, we have baptized three people: one man and one family. Not too bad, right? March is looking to be a big month for our district (Jardim Botânico - the new Canaranas). We have made a goal of nine baptisms, three of which will be men and two of which will be families. I have absolutely no doubt that we can reach the goal we have made. All in all, we actually have a potential of eleven baptisms, so I'll be doing quite a few interviews and divisions.
This past week I received a little envelope from a friend (Aaryn...thanks a ton) with a letter, picture, and sweet tie. It goes great with my suit...check out the pics. It made my day at conference since it had been over a month since I had received anything from anyone.
That's pretty crazy that you encountered someone online who is here in Cidade de Deus with me. They were pretty excited to be corresponding with my family in the States. That's about all for this week...thanks for the love and support.
Abraço,
Elder Taylor Mackay
Today we decided to go to the Bola da Suframa to go bowling or to play soccer on a synthetic field. As luck would have it, the bowling facility doesn't open until 3 p.m. and the guy who watches over the field decided to take an undetermined amount of time for a coffee break. Since we were already a distance from home, we decided to visit the Amazonian Cultural Center since none of the other missionaries had been there. It was pretty cool to learn more about the culture, people, and rituals.
In other news, I don't know if I have mentioned my favorite team here in Brazil, but it is called Bota Fogo. There was a big tournament with all the teams in Rio de Janeiro...and they won! I'll include a picture in next week's e-mail.
As for the missionary work, it is going well. We are working with four family members of a rapaz (boy) called Gabriel, three of which already have baptismal dates. They are really interested in the Church, enjoy our visits, and are keeping the commandments. We just have to continue teaching and answering their questions so that all goes well on the 13th of March. Along with this family, we have a few others we are teaching...several of which are progressing.
Our district is doing really well. We are by no means the highest baptizing district, but I would like to think we're the highest quality. In the past two weeks, we have baptized three people: one man and one family. Not too bad, right? March is looking to be a big month for our district (Jardim Botânico - the new Canaranas). We have made a goal of nine baptisms, three of which will be men and two of which will be families. I have absolutely no doubt that we can reach the goal we have made. All in all, we actually have a potential of eleven baptisms, so I'll be doing quite a few interviews and divisions.
This past week I received a little envelope from a friend (Aaryn...thanks a ton) with a letter, picture, and sweet tie. It goes great with my suit...check out the pics. It made my day at conference since it had been over a month since I had received anything from anyone.
That's pretty crazy that you encountered someone online who is here in Cidade de Deus with me. They were pretty excited to be corresponding with my family in the States. That's about all for this week...thanks for the love and support.
Abraço,
Elder Taylor Mackay
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Downloading...Downloading...
As I'm waiting for your 7MB picture to download, I'll take this time to get a nice jump on my letter. First off, with regards to the updates from friends back home, it's crazy to see how much progress people make and how much time passes (2 years obviously) while you're serving a mission. I'm proud of you guys...keep up the great work!
So, this week was pretty laid back. The only difference being that I did my first interview for the dupla of Êxodo (Elders Melo and Keicher). The investigator passed and was baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday. It's pretty cool now being a part of the bigger picture as a district leader even though it is quite a bit more work and responsibility.
This week was Carnival, which ends today. It reminds me a lot of the New Year's Day parade since each samba school gets judged and can earn different awards. I guess the only difference between the two celebrations is that the clothing budget here in Brazil seems to get reduced each year, so people are a little more exposed to the elements. Fortunately, where we are is just about as far away from the Sambódromo as you can get, so we didn't have to worry about streakers and women and men dressing like the opposite sex.
We are having a little bit of difficulty in our area since it is so expansive, but that's just the way it's going to be until we get some more missionaries in Manaus. We still are lacking families and men to teach (who will actually keep the commandments and go to church). The other thing that doesn't help is the only people giving us references and who are excited to help with the missionary work are kids and teenagers. I'm not going to let that get in the way, though. If that's what gets put in front of us, that's who we are going to teach. Like Elder Olsen once said, "God will be more likely to trust you with men and families if He can see that you are a successful teacher to rapazes, moças, and crianças."
I still can't get over the fact that I will have missed two Olympics while on the mission. I completely forgot about the Winter Olympics in Vancouver until a member was watching the luge the other day. Go Team USA!
Today makes exactly 1 year and 8 months since I left sunny California. In 3 more days, it will be exactly 2 years since I received my mission call...pretty sweet. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed.
Sister Jayme wrote a message in the Journalzinho about Elder Larson, so the whole mission will be praying for him. Whether or not he is able to return back to Missão Manaus really isn't a big deal anymore. What really matters is that all goes well and he is able to enjoy the simple things in life without pain. That's all I have for now.
Paz e amor,
Elder Taylor Mackay
So, this week was pretty laid back. The only difference being that I did my first interview for the dupla of Êxodo (Elders Melo and Keicher). The investigator passed and was baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday. It's pretty cool now being a part of the bigger picture as a district leader even though it is quite a bit more work and responsibility.
This week was Carnival, which ends today. It reminds me a lot of the New Year's Day parade since each samba school gets judged and can earn different awards. I guess the only difference between the two celebrations is that the clothing budget here in Brazil seems to get reduced each year, so people are a little more exposed to the elements. Fortunately, where we are is just about as far away from the Sambódromo as you can get, so we didn't have to worry about streakers and women and men dressing like the opposite sex.
We are having a little bit of difficulty in our area since it is so expansive, but that's just the way it's going to be until we get some more missionaries in Manaus. We still are lacking families and men to teach (who will actually keep the commandments and go to church). The other thing that doesn't help is the only people giving us references and who are excited to help with the missionary work are kids and teenagers. I'm not going to let that get in the way, though. If that's what gets put in front of us, that's who we are going to teach. Like Elder Olsen once said, "God will be more likely to trust you with men and families if He can see that you are a successful teacher to rapazes, moças, and crianças."
I still can't get over the fact that I will have missed two Olympics while on the mission. I completely forgot about the Winter Olympics in Vancouver until a member was watching the luge the other day. Go Team USA!
Today makes exactly 1 year and 8 months since I left sunny California. In 3 more days, it will be exactly 2 years since I received my mission call...pretty sweet. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed.
Sister Jayme wrote a message in the Journalzinho about Elder Larson, so the whole mission will be praying for him. Whether or not he is able to return back to Missão Manaus really isn't a big deal anymore. What really matters is that all goes well and he is able to enjoy the simple things in life without pain. That's all I have for now.
Paz e amor,
Elder Taylor Mackay
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Elder Soelberg and Elder Mackay
The Farewell Tour with Elder Olsen
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
The Farewell Tour with Elder Olsen
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Keep it on the DL
Well...once again, I'm here in Jardim Botânico with Elder Soelberg and the members seem very happy. Somehow, Elder Trage and Elder Keicher were the ones transferred. The one thing that makes this time around different from all the others is that I am now the district leader. I'll let you know how it is next week since I have a few interviews on Friday. After we got the call on Saturday and I learned the others would be leaving, I kind of had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen at transfers. As district leader, you have to do quite a few divisions, so I won't be able to dedicate 100% of my time on just my area. I guess that explains why districts sometimes judge LDs for lack of success without thinking about all the work they do in other areas and all the meetings they attend.
Everything continues to go well in our area despite the fact it is extremely difficult to find people who are going to progress. For example, we received a reference from pass along cards and we contacted the family the very next day. To our disappointment, we encountered them about a week too late. Apparently, things weren't working out between the couple and they are separating. Since she'll be staying in the house, we'll continue to pass by and teach her, but it would have been a lot cooler teaching a complete family or helping them out with their marital problems before it reached the point of no return.
Just to give you a heads up on the area, Sunday morning a guy was hacked to death with a hoe (four streets from our house). The killer decided to steal the victim's identity and rip out his throat, mouth, and other stuff to make it harder to identify the body. Crazy!
On Sunday night, I received a call from Elder Olsen informing me that he was wanting to pass through Cidade de Deus before heading back home. I advised as many as I could and we walked around with him to the homes of those he had taught. It was a strange feeling since the last time I walked the streets with Elder Olsen was about a year ago. It was pretty cool, though, to have a little reunion with Bosco and Maria's family, since we were the first ones to seriously teach them and help with their wedding and baptism. Elder Olsen should be arriving home about lunchtime if my calculations are correct. It was really weird at the transfer meeting seeing those guys go and then realizing that after this transfer Elder Noorda, Spotts, Mills, and others that I know pretty well will also be leaving. Elder Noorda will be training this transfer just like I had suspected, so now we both have a little legacy that will be staying in the mission for another year and nine months.
Elder Soelberg and I are currently teaching a ton of people, but it seems like they are going to take a little bit longer to see results. To be honest, it would be cool to see them baptized and confirmed while I am in the area but what really matters is that I'm planting the seeds for future missionaries to reap. When you have a situation like this, you really have a lot more respect for those U.S. missionaries who generally aren't known for having a ton of immediate success. They are a patient breed knowing that come what may with their investigators, they gave 100% of their effort to help them out. Thanks for all the e-mails and support...they help get me through the week.
Abraçozão,
Elder Taylor Mackay
Everything continues to go well in our area despite the fact it is extremely difficult to find people who are going to progress. For example, we received a reference from pass along cards and we contacted the family the very next day. To our disappointment, we encountered them about a week too late. Apparently, things weren't working out between the couple and they are separating. Since she'll be staying in the house, we'll continue to pass by and teach her, but it would have been a lot cooler teaching a complete family or helping them out with their marital problems before it reached the point of no return.
Just to give you a heads up on the area, Sunday morning a guy was hacked to death with a hoe (four streets from our house). The killer decided to steal the victim's identity and rip out his throat, mouth, and other stuff to make it harder to identify the body. Crazy!
On Sunday night, I received a call from Elder Olsen informing me that he was wanting to pass through Cidade de Deus before heading back home. I advised as many as I could and we walked around with him to the homes of those he had taught. It was a strange feeling since the last time I walked the streets with Elder Olsen was about a year ago. It was pretty cool, though, to have a little reunion with Bosco and Maria's family, since we were the first ones to seriously teach them and help with their wedding and baptism. Elder Olsen should be arriving home about lunchtime if my calculations are correct. It was really weird at the transfer meeting seeing those guys go and then realizing that after this transfer Elder Noorda, Spotts, Mills, and others that I know pretty well will also be leaving. Elder Noorda will be training this transfer just like I had suspected, so now we both have a little legacy that will be staying in the mission for another year and nine months.
Elder Soelberg and I are currently teaching a ton of people, but it seems like they are going to take a little bit longer to see results. To be honest, it would be cool to see them baptized and confirmed while I am in the area but what really matters is that I'm planting the seeds for future missionaries to reap. When you have a situation like this, you really have a lot more respect for those U.S. missionaries who generally aren't known for having a ton of immediate success. They are a patient breed knowing that come what may with their investigators, they gave 100% of their effort to help them out. Thanks for all the e-mails and support...they help get me through the week.
Abraçozão,
Elder Taylor Mackay
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
And Then There Were Five: Elders Trage, Cainã, Keicher, Mackay, and Soelberg
Elder Mackay Empty-Handed After a Day of Fishing
The Baptisms of Jéssica and Anderson
Just Hanging Out with the Monkeys
Elder Mackay's Fishing Hole
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Elder Mackay Empty-Handed After a Day of Fishing
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
The Baptisms of Jéssica and Anderson
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Just Hanging Out with the Monkeys
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| From Taylor Mission Pics |
Elder Mackay's Fishing Hole
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| From Drop Box |
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