So behind...crazy computer viruses!

From the keeper of this blog -

We've had computer difficulties galore since Thanksgiving. This blog entry is going to include all the ones I've missed in the interim.

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Not A Whole Lot to Say 

November 23, 2015

I'm just going to send the pictures that have been backing up because this week was a lot of walking, trying to work with members, and teaching our three solid investigators. Enjoy the pictures!

1. Meet my friends...who are all home now. Weird...I miss them...

2. Meet my new companion! She's from Peru. She's really nice and a super good missionary.

Felicidade

November 23, 2015

I got a package this week and I may have felt like a little kid at Christmas!

AMERICAN FOOD GALORE! #MintOreos #CANDY #purejoy #MissingHashtags #MissingJimmyFallon Ok, I'm done now haha!

I May Have Waited Until the Last Minute...Again

November 30, 2015

So I have this problem where I'm thinking in Portuguese now, so it's really difficult to write quickly in all English. You'd think that speaking English for 20 years I wouldn't forget, but I speak Portuguese 24/7 and literally have to switch my brain. It's not an easy task!

Anyway, I saved my mass email for last...again. Sorry people!

I started a challenge (if you will) called True Gratitude leads to True Happiness. It's 110 days of recognizing something you're grateful for. It's incredible! I'm about a week and a half in and I can already see a difference.

I love the topic of gratitude, it's something I'm truly grateful for. I know that when we acknowledge those things that we are grateful for Heavenly Father will bless us with even more.

I love you all and am so grateful to be here. I love this work and I love being a missionary. It's difficult, but I know that I need to be here.

I hope you all have a great week!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

PS. I envy those of you who ate pie on Thanksgiving. Ok, that's all.

A Chance to Cook and a Chance to be Trunky

December 7, 2015

So, I have basically no time and apparently am learning really well from my lovely MTC companion to write some real quick bullet points for everyone. (Thank you Sister Aston! Glad I'm not in this alone! Hahaha)

Anyway, I'll explain the title and send pictures. Pode ser? Perfeito!

• So the sisters in the ward where I am serving generally feed us every day for lunch. If they don't give us food, they give money. We're poor missionaries and everything they do helps us a ton! Well, this week we had a lot of the sisters not be able to receive us in their homes, so guess who cooked a lot this week! This sister missionary! The good thing is that I love love love to cook and it gave me a chance to try out some new things. This is totally preparation for when I'm a mom and have to cook every day regardless of anything.
• We found a Mexican restaurant in our area! Guess what else! IT'S AUTHENTIC! The family that owns the restaurant is Mexican! They're from Cancun. We ate there on Friday night and I was in heaven! I totally got trunky thought because they starting speaking Spanish and we talked all about Mexican things and I just cried tears of happiness because I felt like it was home. They're the sweetest little family too and I think I have new friends. It was great! 
• We baptized an incredible man who was so prepared for the gospel. I'm starting to realize that quality baptisms are much more worthwhile than the quantity of baptisms. Both are the best, but I'd rather have 1 super solid baptism, one super solid convert, than 50 more-or-less. 

Ok, I'm out of time and really need to send this! Love you all!

-Sister McEldowney

PS. 18 days to Christmas! Watch this - Christmas

A Week of Changes

Hey y'all!

I've been missing my country music like crazy this week. This whole 8 months on a mission thing is starting to take its toll on me. BUT, I love love love my mission, so it's worth giving up music and a normal life for 18 months.

Anyway, this week has definitely been interesting. Like I told y'all last week, we had transfers. My new companion is Sister Dávalos! She's from Lima, Peru and is super sweet. We're very different, but we're definitely making things work. Different isn't always bad! It's working to our advantage because...WE HAVE TWO BAPTISMS THIS WEEK! Holy cow! I'm so stinking happy! We had an amazing experience with them that I'm going to share with you all.

So the two baptisms are two young men who are grandsons of our recent convert. Anyway, the older of the two asked us why he needed to be baptized if he was already baptized in the Catholic Church. I have been scared to death to answer that question since the MTC. I truly didn't know how to answer, but I knew that I needed to say something. Also, I know that prayer goes a long way! I said a silent prayer as I thought about how to respond. Let me tell you all something: it may have been a silent prayer, but I was pleading for help. As we like to say in Portuguese, "socorro, socorro!" It was much needed in that moment. Anyway, as I silently screamed for relief, words started to come out of my mouth. The Spirit not only gave me the words to say, but helped me to gain a testimony I didn't know I had.

As missionaries, we invite all people to be baptized. We know that it is through baptism that we follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and enter in the gate on our path back to our Heavenly Home. I knew that, but I didn't know how to explain to this 15 year old why we were asking him to change his life. I understand now.

In Mathew 3 we read ,

"13 ¶Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Do you know why Jesus went to John the Baptist? Because he had the authority to baptize. So, there's one thing. In order for us to follow in Christ's path, we need to be baptized by someone who has the authority. 

Another thing. How was Christ baptized? By immersion. It's only logical. In order for someone to come up straightway from water, they have to be completely immersed. Point number two: we have need to be baptized by immersion. 

The last thing I said? Well, this is one of my favorites. We need to know what we're doing. Christ made the decision and we need to as well.

I'm out of time, but I want you all to know that I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I know that there are men on the earth right now who have the authority to act in God's name and to baptize in the same way that Jesus Christ was baptized.

I'm out of time but love you all!

Have a great week!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

Home run!

No time. Had a miracle baptism this weekend! Sending pictures!

Also, we had transfers. I'm staying in Ponta da Praia as senior companion! Ahh! No pressure or anything!

Have a great week!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

PICTURES:

Baptism of irmão Marcio! #miracle

1 Companion, 2 Transfers, and 3 Baptisms Later...

From the keeper of this blog -

A little bit late with this one. Kayla's 11/2/2015 blog below -

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Well, you guessed it! It's P-Day again! Happy day! I love P-day!

So this week was slow, but also super fast! I don't have a lot of time though, so this week will be relatively short blurbs about some major events.

• BATISMO! Irmã Margarida got baptized on Saturday! My goodness, talk about someone who was truly prepared for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their life! She's awesome! In two weeks she met the missionaries (cough cough - my companion and me - cough cough), went to church, felt the Spirit, accepted baptism, and got baptized! People, that process took me over a year! She's so solid too! She's already planning her first trip to the temple to do baptisms for the dead and wanting to sign up to feed us and my goodness, she's just the best! I love love love her!

• I went on my first divisions with the Sister Training Leaders here in Brazil! I did exchanges in Maine, but here was weirdly different. I survived with only some minor injuries. No, seriously, I have a "mild" sunburn as a result of my day in Praia Grande, but I'm alive and well!

• Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, (known as Dia dos Finados here) is a thing! It's actually a really depressing day for Brazilians, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes everything better! We taught the Plan of Salvation to people in the cemetary. I wrote this about my day to my mom and thought the rest of you would enjoy it too! "We explained to them that the Plan of Salvation is God's plan for each of us. It explains where we came from, why we're on the Earth, and where we'll go after we die. It's amazing how knowledge of God's plan provides such comfort, especially in times of grief. I love that we, as missionaries, share with people that we lived with God before this life, that He sent us here to gain a body just like He has and to choose the right so that we can return to Him after we die. I think the best part is when we explain that families can be together forever through this plan. When we do all the things we are supposed to do and choose to follow Christ's example, we truly can be reunited with our families. I love to bear my testimony to people that families are forever in the Celestial Kingdom. We have the choice now to follow Christ's path so we can return to His presence and the presence of our Heavenly Father in our families. The choice truly is ours."

• My companion hit her one year mark! I made chocolate cake and German Pancakes for her! That may have been slightly selfish on my part because I love both of those things, but she loves them too, so it worked out well!

Well, that's about it! Have a great week!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

From the keeper of this blog, caught a few things worthy of more information. I've included hyperlinks below -

"She's already planning her first trip to the temple to do baptisms for the dead..."

What are baptisms for the dead? And why?

"I love to bear my testimony to people that families are forever in the Celestial Kingdom."

The Celestial Kingdom

Two for one...

From the keeper of this blog - 

I thought I'd posted Kayla's 10/19/15 email, but I logged in today to add her 10/26/15 email and guess what? In the name of positive thinking, you get two for the price of one in this blog entry.

October 19, 2015

Honesty Hour

So, I'm going to be 100% honest. This week was really slow and not a whole heck of a lot happened because my companion was pretty sick during the week. 

One super exciting thing is we found a super solid investigator who accepted baptism. ELEITO! Super pumped!

Also, one of the members in the ward, when we had lunch at her house, made brownies for me! We had brownie sundaes for dessert and I was stoked! I don't realize how much I miss "American" food until I eat it. Now, I have to find a way to satisfy my craving for Mexican food! Never again will I take advantage of that blessing in my life!

Uhh, that's about it. I read a lot of articles in the Liahona. I love church Magazines! Maybe one day I'll work for them. New life goal? Hmm, we'll see!

Sorry I'm so boring this week! I'll try to be more exciting next week.

Until then, have a great week!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

Also from the keeper of this blog, I've included a link below to the church's magazines webpage. The church provides magazines for children, youth, and grown-ups.

Church Magazines

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October 26, 2015

The Sky is Falling, But I'm Still Saving Lives

I basically have no time. Surprise there...NOT! But, this week I have some super excting news!

So, this week we have been working really hard with these two investigators we have. We found irmã Margarida last Thursday after planning. She was super receptive and we marked a return appointment for that Saturday. We went, taught the Restoration and they, they being irmã Margarida and her son Marcio, committed to baptism and church. Well, last Sunday we had no investigators at church. Super disappointing.

Well, we didn't give up! We kept going back and after a week of some intense daily contact, they went to church this week and accepted baptism (again) for Saturday! Oh my goodness gracious! We taught them yesterday and the Spirit was incredibly strong! They're way stoked for baptism and I can't wait to see the joy radiating from their faces when they make their first covenant with Heavenly Father!

Guess what! All of this happened while the ceiling in our bathroom is falling. Thus, the sky is falling! I'm okay though and have yet to be hit in the head by falling cement.

Hope you all have a great week! Enjoy this picture of the hole in my ceiling!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

A Week in Pictures!

Not a ton happened. A pretty ordinary week. Finally sending pictures though!

My district last transfer! Almost exactly the same this transfer haha!

I was in a trio for a week! Sister Mendes had to go home for medical reasons, but I love love love her! Missing her and it's only been a week!

Sister Aston! Goodness gracious, how I love this sister missionary! One day we'll be companions again!

I basically prepped like a mom for General Conference. #MissionsAreMomTraining #SnacksGalore

Sister Martinez! Love this girl! She's my other Mexican who speaks English and watched conference with me!

Sister Castillo! Meet one of my Sister Training Leaders who I love to death! She's great!

It Came and Went

From the keeper of this blog -

I can't believe I missed posting this. Sorry everyone! Without further ado...

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Can you believe conference is already over?! Minha nossa! That was the fastest weekend of my life!

Really though, General Conference is the best! I was like a little kid at Christmas this entire last week. Every day I woke up with a countdown to conference. Thursday morning I even woke up counting down the hours! What can I say? Hearing from the living prophet is a huge deal!

Because I'm going to continue with my fan-girl rant for this entire email, I hope you all accept it and keep reading! But first, if you haven't watched conference yet, what are you waiting for?!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2015/10?lang=eng&vid=4512255274001

No excuse now! The link is right there!

Anyway, I loved all of conference, but three talks stuck out to me in particular.

1. Elder Robert D. Hales

"None of us marry perfect, we marry potential." I loved that! Our goal is to be perfect, but we wouldn't be on the earth if we already were. Heavenly Father sees our divine potential and it is important that we see whoever me marry in that same light.

2. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"No love in mortality comes closer to Christ's love than that of a selfless, dedicated, mother." Pure perfection! Seriously, this talk left me speechless.

3. Elder Russell M. Nelson

"The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them." This entire talk was just great and gave me new aspirations!

Quick side note: Elder Kim B. Clark spoke during conference! That man is powerful! I remember hearing him speak when he was President of BYU-Idaho and thinking "wow! He'll probably be an apostle one day." He's now a member of the Quorum of the Seventy! The Spirit is so strong in his presence and in his speech. Secondary fan-girl rant over.

Anyway, General Conference is great! Every question I had was answered and I'm grateful that we have such wonderful men who lead this church through revelation they receive. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints truly is Christ's church on the earth today and I'm so grateful for this knowledge.

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney