More Adventures!

Hey everyone,

This past week we had divisions in our area. I went with our Zone Leader, and Elder Diaz spent the day with Elder Moreira. We had a great day of success! We found so many people to teach and we had a couple of miracles.

When I was with Elder Nelson (my Zone Leader), we had just gotten out of one lesson and we went to our other appointment but they weren’t home. We turned around and we were at a little park when he asked me what our back up plan was (which was to make contacts). This park was a good place to do them so Elder Nelson asked, "Who should we talk too?" When I looked there were a few people there, a mom with her child, a couple of kids flying kites and this guy sitting by himself at a table.

(A pink dog in the Favela)

The guy kept looking at us, the 2 Americans wearing ties and nametags. I thought to myself, "We need to talk to him." But, he looked like the kind of guy who would stand up and walk away the second that we started walking towards him. I told Elder Nelson that we needed to talk to that guy and so as we started walking towards him; I was praying the whole time that he wouldn’t get up and run away. It felt like a super long walk but it was really like 2 seconds.

We finally get there and he hadn’t gotten up and left, so we got right into it saying who we were, why we’re here, and what we had to offer. Elder Nelson was talking and I was looking at this guy. He started to tear up and then just lost it. I saw it happen, the transformation in his face and countenance. It was amazing. We asked if we could sit down and he said sure. We sat and he told us that he was kicked out of his house because of a fight he had had with his father-in-law and that his life wasn’t going the way that he wanted it to.

We were talking and he then just spits out the question, "Why did you guys come and start talking to me?" I started to answer and Elder Nelson cuts in and says, "We were over there about to teach somebody else but they weren’t home, so I asked Elder McKeon who we should talk to and he picked you.  It was a feeling." I thought to myself, "That’s what it was, just a feeling, but it was the Spirit putting that in my mind to talk to Carlos, and that he needed to hear our message." I was so glad that I listened to that prompting and that we met Carlos, because it was a miracle. The only reason we were in that area was because of that ONE appointment, and turns out that Carlos was there waiting for us to talk to him. It was a powerful experience. I am so glad that I had it and it has helped my testimony grow so much.

We also had a baptism this past week for Antonio. We made a contact with his grandson, who didn’t want anything to do with the Church, but he said that we could visit his Aunt, where Antonio lives. We went by there and met Atonio, who is a more experienced man of 77 years. We taught him that night and we left, but I didn’t think much of it because he was old, and didn’t really seem that interested.

We went back once more and met his daughter, Miraldete. We have taught them and then we asked if they had already been baptized and they both said no, which is pretty surprising here in Brasil where everyone and their dog is baptized. We explained that it was a commandment to be baptized and they were ecstatic. We took them to Church and they had a great experience and we baptized Antonio yesterday. I was kind of scared because we woke up and it was POURING rain, but after 10 minutes it stopped and the sun came out and it was HOT.

(Antonio's Baptism)

We have to use this machine to heat the water in the baptismal font, because there is no hot water switch, so there was no way to heat the water and he is an old guy of 77 years. I was afraid that he wouldn’t go through with it, but when I got into the water (and I am used to cold water) it was like ice!! I was standing there shivering and I look back and lead Antonio into the water and he didn’t say a word. Meanwhile, I’m freezing my butt of and shivering like a little girl. I take him and I say the ordinance and as soon as I said, "Amém," it felt like we were in a different font with fire water instead of ice water. It felt like we were in a Jacuzzi. I can’t explain it. I stopped shivering and I was warm all over. The Spirit was so strong and the Lord was there with us in that baptismal font. We got out of the font and everyone was joking and laughing, "I bet that water was pretty cold huh??" I said nothing and Antonio just said, "It was warm." They all laughed because they thought he was joking, but he wasn’t joking. It was real and I knew it and I knew that he knew it. It was so amazing. I was so happy that day. It was so great and I will never forget that feeling.

(Antonio and Elder McKeon)

I hope you guys have a great week and I love you!!!

Love,

Elder McKeon

Hey guys,

How is everybody doing??

It is getting colder down here! I'm glad to hear that the heat wave has passed you guys, but down here it’s getting kind of cold. I had to buy a beanie to wear when I go to sleep. It reminded me of how dad always used to wear his beanie on just the top part of his head every morning just to cover up that bald spot! I guess now he has to cover the whole thing since his whole head is bald haha.

We had a good week, but it was different because we had interviews with President Ferrin on Friday. We got to do a division with Elder Cleveland, the Assistant to the President. He is a great guy and I am really close with him. He is an amazing missionary and I learned so much from him in the 2 days we spent together. The cool part was that Jardim Camargo Novo was his first area on the mission. It’s where he was trained and learned how to be a missionary. We worked so hard during the day and I learned a ton of new things to try when I work now. We had a lot of good lessons together and we now have 7 more people to teach because of the techniques that I learned. At the end of the day we would visit the people he taught and it was touching to see the love that these people had for him and how he helped them come closer to Christ. It was truly amazing. I just hope that this is the same feeling that the people that I have baptized feel for me as I feel for them.

On Friday we had interviews with President and it was kind of hard because when we, Americans, have interviews with him, he speaks in English. It’s hard because it’s been a long time since I have spoke in English and I would have to say a lot of it in Portuguese so he would understand what I was trying to say. Sometimes, he would say a word in English and I wouldn’t understand it and then I would ask another American what it meant and none of us would understand the word.

This next week should be great! We have a lot more people to teach and lot of new people coming to us and they seem promising!

I love you all so much! 

Love,

Elder McKeon

Birthday Week

Hey everyone!

We had 3 important dates this past week....

1. July 4th the birthday of the greatest nation on earth. Although I am a missionary in a different country I still keep up my American pride!

 (Elder McKeon with Elder Rees from Wayne County. Their dads also served in the same mission in Portugal.)

2. July 5th we were walking and I had eaten a TON of food at our lunch appointment and we had some cake there too because of the b-day.

We were walking on our way home and I said to Elder Diaz,"I think I will buy a pizza tonight for my birthday."

He then hits me in the chest and says, “NO! You can’t buy ANY food tonight, no food at all!" That kind of freaked me out a little bit and I asked why.

He said, “I’m planning something with a friend." I thought "He has only been in the area for like 2 weeks, who could he know well enough to plan something???" Then I immediately thought Marcelo because this is exactly something that Marcelo would do. I asked him if Marcelo was coming and he said no because we had planned with Marcelo to go to his house in Guarulhos today (p-day) and have breakfast. So, I put that in the back of my mind.

We got home, and after we planned, I started to take off my tie and again Diaz hits me in the chest. This time I got kind of mad, I don’t like to be hit, so I asked why and he said, "It would be better for pictures if you were wearing the tie and shirt."

(Elder Padilla and Elder McKeon)

Then I waited and to my great surprise Marcelo, Regane (his wife), Elaine (her mom), Tael (who I baptized), Luiz Augusto, Katia, and Luiz Henrique (who I also baptized) came and threw me a party! I was totally surprised with the others, but I had a feeling that Marcelo would come but the others were a total blind side. It was awesome! We ate cake and had a great time and everyone was calling me super old and "velinho" (little oldy).

3. July 7th Regane got baptized. It was cool because this is the date that I got baptized and that just made it a little more real for me and that I am here on a mission to help others come unto Christ and how they can see the changes in their lives for the better. It was really cool and she will help her inactive uncle and aunt come back to Church and just help our ward here in Camargo.

(Regane's baptism)

Well I have to go! I love you guys so much!

Love,

Elder McKeon

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

Miracles

Hey everyone! 

This week wasn't easy, but they never go the way you planned they would.

As we experience things in life, we really learn and can grow from them and should grow from them. Haskell and I had a cool conversation this morning when we were studying. He found an old paper of his from the CTM that was full of mistakes. He said, "I hate looking back at old things and seeing how bad I was." I told him that I love doing that to see how I have grown. He then proceeded to go through and correct all of those mistakes perfectly. I told him to look and see how he had grown since he was in the CTM and that he will only continue to improve.

I was thinking about that this past week because we didn't have as good a week as I had wanted. 

We stopped passing by Rita's house becuase she wasn't progressing. Then we felt that we needed to stop by there once in the week and we did on Friday. She said that she had felt so different when we had stopped passing by and that she either needs to be baptized as soon as possible or she would stop going to Church. So, we talked to her and got her closer to be being baptized this past Sunday. We then passed by again on Saturday and she said that she wouldn't be baptized if it was cold. We made a deal that if it was sunny and warm outside on Sunday, she would be baptized. We immediatley started fasting and praying for it to be warm and sunny becuase everyone was saying that it was going to be freezing cold this weekend. When we woke up on Sunday, it was sunny and warm out, but as we got to Church we got a phone call from her saying that she wouldn't be baptized.

It was so heart-breaking. We were so excited and ready. Like i said, we woke up Sunday morning and it was bright out with the sun shinning. I actually started to sing on Saturday night, "The Sun will come out tomorrow" from Annie. Right? That's from Annie, right? Anyways, we were yelling that on our way home Saturday night. When I woke up on Sunday morning the sun was out and I was so excited that I started to sing "Here comes the sun!" But then we get that call and it killed me. I was so excited for her to be baptized, but then nothing. It was a really hard feeling to get passed. I went into the bathroom and asked myself, "What could we have done better to achieve this miracle?" I asked Elder Haskell and we both thought about it and we did everything we could it just doesn't happen sometimes.

We have contacted into another great family. It was actually a miracle. We had a contact at this one home and we had been passing by, but no one seemed to be home. After our last appointment one night, I just said to Elder Haskell, "Lets just try once more before we go home." We walked down there and we found this man and his wife going into the same portão and we asked him if the their neighbors were home. He checked for us and he said no and we then set up an appointment to teach him the next day. We then returned the next day and taught a great lesson and they accepted baptism, but they aren't legally married. That's their only problem that we know of, so we will continue to work with them.

A different day our other appoinment fell through and we had nothing else to do. So, I thought, "Lets go to Bruno's!" When we got there, there was no one there. We sat down for a minute to plan what we were going to do. I was again praying that he would show up and we could teach him. As I finished, I looked up because I heard someone yell, "Oi!" It was Bruno coming home on his bike! It was awesome. We then went in and had another great lesson with him and he said that he loves having us in his home and that there is a different feeling when we are there. He has never let any other religious group into his house because he doesn't really trust them. When he saw us that first day, he said,"I felt different when I first saw you guys and that I wanted to know why 2 Americans are doing in the middle of Brasil." He and his family are awesome.

Miracles sometimes don't happen, but always, another happens in its place.

I love and miss you guys so much! Keep up the prayers! I love and pray for you all everyday!

Love,

Elder McKeon