Transfers

Hey everyone,

Well another transfer has gone by and it went by so fast.

(The missionaries were able to take a tour of the Sao Paulo churches on their last P-day)

We usually get a call from our District leaders Monday night where they tell us if we are going to stay or leave the area. Well, that's what we were expecting, but last night, President Ferrin gave us a call. He tells Elder Haskell that he will be transferred because he has already been here in Camargo Novo for about 5 months. Then President asks to talk to me. I get the phone and he tells me that I will get another senior companion (which I was a little disappointed about because I feel I am ready to be a senior companion), but he told me that I would get this Argentinian elder who needs some help and that I would be the senior companion, just without the title. President told me that I need to help him, so whatever President says, I do. So, I will help this new elder the best I can. I am excited for another adventure here on the Mission!

(Elder McKeon feeding a deserted horse)

We were challenged by our Stake President this week. He asked us to visit 5 inactive families in our ward and try  to bring them back. In an effort to reach that goal, we found this lady, Meire, and she has been inactive for what seemed like awhile, so we talked to her and she said that she would come to Church. As we were waiting out front for our other investigators, we looked down the road and saw her walking towards the Church! As she came in, we shook her hand and said thanks for coming. Then, out of no where, we hear a sister from the Church yell "Não acredito!!! (I dont believe it!)" The sister just runs to Meire and throws her arms around her and starts balling! I almost started to cry, because after walking all the way out to Meire's house (which is far), and the whole time it took to convince her to come back to Church was worth it when I saw that huge act of love for a friend. It was such a  great and powerful testimony for me and it made it all worth it.

(More pictures from the tour)

We also baptized Nelson this past Sunday. It was great! We were getting everything ready and he wanted Elder Haskell to baptize him so we had to look for jumpsuits that would fit Elder Haskell, but there was only one and it wasn't really that big. It was too short, I dont know if you can see it in the picture, but it was the funniest thing ever. 

(Nelson and his mother)

As Nelson was in the water about to be baptized his mom, Neuza, (who is the cutest little old lady in the world who we call vóvó or grandma) starts to cry and then Nelson starts to cry and I ALMOST lost it, but I kept it together. Trust me I did! It was such a great experience that we could help him be baptized with his mom and that they can now return to our Heavenly Father and live together for eternity! 

(Nelson's baptism)

Overall, it was a great week and we have more people to help this next week. I love being busy. It's so great being out here!

(Elder McKeon in front of the church they visited)

Don't worry about the riots here. They started because Brasil raised the price to use the bus, or Metrô, It was already 3 reais ($1.50 in U.S.) and they bumped it up to 3.20, which was ridiculous. We were in the Metrô last Monday when all of the sudden like 2,000 people showed up in the tunnel, all screaming, shouting, and pushing. Haskell and I were right in the middle of it, but I'm find and totally safe.

Anyways, have a great week and I love you guys so much!

Love,

Elder McKeon

Stake Conference

Hey everyone,

Mom, it sounds like you had a great time at Girls camp...for the 22nd time. Dad, I hope you had a great Father's WEEK just relaxing, watching golf, and eating sweet and sour meatballs. I miss those so much...

(Elder McKeon ironing a sheet for a Church movie night)

This past Sunday we had Stake Conference and it was great. We had President Ferrin speak with Sister Ferrin and then we had a member from the Seventy there, Presidente Petla. It was so great to hear them speak and when Sister Ferrin got up and started to give her talk, the first thing she said was,"Today, in the U.S., it's Father's Day." All the Americans in our Zone just sat up straight and we all looked at each other and said, "It's Father's day?" I'm thinkin of you, I just forgot the day we have Father's day. Anyways, it was a super great conference and we had so many people there. It was great to see the members make the sacrifice to show up and hear the great words of our leaders and how we can apply those principles in our lives.

(Yasmin and Isabelle, they eat whip cream off their hands, so Elder McKeon and Elder Haskell joined them.)

Unfortunately, we didn't have any new people there to watch it. It was kind of frustrating. We went out to call one of them and asked where she was and she told us that she was ON THE WAY TO THE CONFERENCE AND SHE GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT. I was sooooooooo mad. She was on the way and got hit by a car and then had to go to the mechanic because she had to get the car fixed as soon as possible. I was so ticked. She is fine though and she is going to be baptized this Sunday along with Nelson.

(Elder McKeon with a Brazilian family)

It was a crazy week, but I'm super sorry I'm running out of money on my computer and I'll write a longer letter next week. It's also transfers next week, this one FLEW BY. I hope all is well with you guys.

Love,

Elder McKeon

Things are looking up!

Hey everyone! 

This was a good week! The only bad thing that happened was that Nelson wasn't baptized...again. It was such a bummer because he is so cool. He is the only one who works and they have to pay the bills so wherever he can find work, he has to take it to support his mom and their house. We will continue to work with him to get him baptized!

(Elder McKeon climbing the cement walls of the city)

This week was much better than the past couple of weeks. We have been praying and fasting for help to find more people to teach and to take to Church. We have been working with our Ward here to get 5 inactive families from our Ward and then find them and try to bring them back to Church. With that, we had this family that was really hard to find, but little did we know that the mother passed away and her family moved to a different state! So, we were looking for that family and we saw this little old lady that asked us if we needed help. We talked to her and she told us that the family we were looking for had moved away and the mother had died. So, we think, "Well, there goes another family...." We then asked her if we can come back and teach her and her family. She just smiled and laughed, so we go back and we teach her family and they seemed super interested and loved having us in their home. 

(Elder McKeon and Elder Haskell)

We then invited them to Church with us, but only the lady we talked to, Maria, could go, because everyone else had to work. She came and she was kind of skeptical, but when we talked to her after Church, she said she had never felt anything like it before. She has committed to be baptized this next Sunday at Stake Conference.

(Elder McKeon in front of Itaim Paulista)

Speaking of Stake Conference, we have it this next Sunday. We will have the Area President of Brasil there with Presidente Ferrin and Sister Ferrin as well. It is gonna be so great! 

(Elder McKeon and Elder Haskell)

On another note, I was asleep on Wednesday night and I woke up to this loud noise. It sounded like fireworks, but it sounded like a TON of them going off all at the same time. I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. The next couple of days we find out that someone had broken into the bank about a 5 minute walk from our house trying to get into the ATM! They explode ATM's to try and get the cash out and that's what the sound was. The bank was all taped off and no one was anywhere near it. The funny part was, we went to go visit a family and there were some of their friends there and we started talking about the ATM and the lady just cries out, "My nephew got arrested for that!" Turns out, her nephew was walking by and heard them exploding the ATM and went in after the ladrões had left with some money. They got there like 1 minute too early, because they got there and as soon as they did, the Policia showed up too! So the Policia didn't even question them, they just arrested them and now they are in prison. Crazy right? Brasil is crazy.

I love you and miss you all so much!!!

Love, 

Elder McKeon

A Tiny Miracle

Hey everybody!

Sorry about not sending pictures lately, the place where we use computers is a little sketchy, so I will send them when it gets better, okay?

I'm glad that summer is finally ENDING here and showing up back home. It is really hot walking all day in Church clothes with a back pack talking to a million different people, so I'm thankful for the cooler weather.

This past week wasn't as hard as last week. 

We didn't have the baptism that we wanted because Nelson had to work. I swear, by the end of this month, he WILL be baptized. He really wants to be baptized, but his schedule is so unpredictable. So, he wasn't baptized, but he will this Sunday.

We had a little miracle this past week. There is this girl Leticía who is the girlfriend of a member here in our Ward named Lucas. When I first saw them in Church, I thought that HE was the investigator and that SHE was the member. It was the opposite. Haskell told me that she was an "eterno" (eternal). In our mission, if someone goes to Church more than 4 times without being baptized, they turn into an "eterno." That's what she is because she has some troubles at home or something I guess. We stopped by Lucas' house to see if she would be baptized. She told us that she knew that Livro de Mórmon is true and that the Church is true too. Then she told us that she wants to be baptized. We asked if she would be baptized that Sunday. She said that she REALLY needed to know if this was all true. I told her that if she REALLY wanted to know, then she couldn't ask us, Lucas, or anyone else. She needs to pray and really gain that testimony for herself and the only way that she was going to get that was through talking to her Heavenly Father about it. 

We tried to go back and see if she had prayed about it and we stopped by 2 or 3 times and she wasn't there because there was a Holiday down here in Brasil and they were gone. 

So, we stopped by on Saturday and they were there! We were sitting down and there was a lot of stuff going on in the house... everyone was doing something and Lucas and her were having a HUGE fight. They were yelling at each other to shut up and to leave and get out of their lives and there was me and Haskell just trying to hide ourselves because it was super awkward! I was praying for a quiet moment to try and talk to her and it happened for like 40 seconds. She told Lucas to leave, so I jumped at the opportunity. It was quiet. No one was shouting. I asked her about the prayer. She just got quiet, looked at the ground and then looked up and said,"I know its all true, I want to be baptized...." I just wanted to jump up and scream. It was amazing! I was so happy and then after that small moment, there was yelling again and awkwardness so we left. For that small moment she really felt the Spirit as did we all and it was amazing! So, I am so grateful for miracles!!!

I am sorry to cut this email kind of short, but I am running late for an appointment and I will talk to you guys next week! I love you all!

Love,

Elder McKeon