Hey everybody,
We had two baptisms in our ward this week, which was very exciting. The ward secretary was going through all of the records of our ward and saw that two people that were "members" hadn't been baptized. This means that there was no record of the baptism and there were no witnesses to protest otherwise. It was as if they were never baptized. We were able to do the ordinance again, which was different for me. Normally we have to work very hard for baptisms, and these two fell in our laps. The baptism went great, the water was FREEZING though. The thing that heats up the water was broken, and it's winter here, so the water was extra cold. Both Barbera and Bryan are great members and they had such a good experience. We were more than happy to help them with this ordinance.
We had a meeting this week. When we were on our way to it, President Ferrin gave me a call and says, "Well Elder, are you on your way here?" I told him we were on our way and he asks,"Well, elder can you give a talk tomorrow? You will be the speaker." I told him I would and I asked him what he wanted me to speak about. He asked me to speak about the importance of prayer. It was sort of an ironic topic, because I started to pray immediately to know what to talk about. I ended up sharing my experience about how prayer brought me closer to our Father in Heaven when I messed up my knee and thought I was going to have to be sent home for surgery. I spoke about how I pleaded with Heavenly Father to let me stay here in Brasil so I could complete my mission. Fortunately, He allowed me to heal enough to stay here and I learned just how important communicating with Heavenly Father is.
The weeks are going by so fast and all I want them to do is slow down.
Love,
Elder McKeon
July 7, 2014
Hi everybody!
Well it's weird to think I just had my last birthday on the mission. I had several of missionaries ask me what I was going to do for my birthday and I just told them I would be doing missionary work. Then they would ask me what I was going to do besides missionary work and I replied with, "More work!"
We worked hard on my birthday and we had a good day. We then went to Irmão José Valter's place and I gave a message on how we need to be an example of the Church at all times using 1 Timothy 4:12, and then she had made me a cake. It was very nice of her, and I didn't ask for it, but I guess when you are doing what you are supposed to, the blessings follow!
We also have a baptism set for this Sunday! The zone is doing well and we are working hard. This next Sunday we should have 6 baptisms in the Zone. Things are going great and I love being a missionary so much. I am going to make every minute count.
Love,
Elder McKeon
July 1, 2014
Hello friends and family!
I was not able to write yesterday because I was in São Paulo all day due to transfers. This is the last transfer of my mission. It hit me pretty hard. It is sad to think that my mission is coming to an end and I only have a little bit of time left to help all of the people I can.
Our mission president let us watch the Brasil game and boy was it intense. I don't know about Colombia...if we play like we did I think we will lose. I keep getting asked about the U.S. team and I feel bad saying I don't know anything about their team. Our President let's us watch the Brasil game, so that's the only thing I have really been able to follow when it comes to the World Cup. I guess it is ok though because I have adopted the Brazilian people as my own, so I want their team to do well.
This week we did a little service project. I guess it wasn't so little though...we ended up building an entire roof. For the past 5 months, Charles (we are teaching his family) and his girlfriend/wife Juliane have come to church without fail. Unfortunately, they are very poor and cannot afford to get married (it is very expensive and difficult to do down here). They are saving up to get married, so hopefully after that, they will be able to get baptized.
Anyways, Charles fell 30 feet while working and broke his back, neck, and right arm. He didn't die, which was a miracle, but he has to be in bed for 6 months without moving. We started teaching Charles and his family after the accident, and ever since the first lesson, Charles has welcomed us into his home.
On Thursday, he called and asked if we would be able to do some service. We of course told him we would be glad to help and he told us he needed some help with his roof (his hand is still messed up and he is still recovering from the accident). I thought we would be patching up some holes, but Charles needed us to do a little more than that. He had us rip of the roof completely and throw it away. It turns out the roof was totally messed up. All the ceiling in their house was made of was Styrofoam and bedsheets. We ended up ripping that all out too. We put in 16 new wooden beams and 26 roof plates. It took my companion and I the entire day and part of Friday. It worked out well though because we got to spend a lot of time speaking with Charles about the Gospel and he is so excited to get married and join the Church.
On Saturday night we had a Festa Junina! Its like a ho-down here, all redneck and country like. We had a TON of non-members there and they were all super interested in the Church and what we did as missionaries. We talked the whole night and it was such a great opportunity to talk to the members and their friends that they brought and trust us to teach.
Elder Hardy has promised to work hard with me until the end!
Love,
Elder McKeon
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