One Day I'll Have Time

January 25, 2016

So basically a super quick recap of my week.

·  Still exploring my area! We found an ice cream shop that has the closest thing to Blizzards! I cried a little bit inside...

·  We had a worldwide missionary broadcast. We had to go to Santos, and guess what! I saw Sister Aston! Miracle in and of itself! I miss her...

·  Stake Conference! We had an Area Seventy speak. Don't ask me who because I can't remember his name to save my life.

Highlights of my week. Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

PS. I don't have time to respond to everyone, but know that I read the emails and will respond someday!

Meet Sister Justino!

She's crazy too!

Because sometimes I need to remember that there's a little piece of American in me hahaha!

What happens when we only have one key to the apartment and 2 companionships...

Throwback to 7th Grade? Don't judge us too much...please.

Welcome to Itanhaém at 6:30 in the morning.

No Time!

Emergency Transfered this week! Now serving in Itanhaém. Definitely missing Morrinhos though.

Sister Justino is my new companion.

I have no time in the LanHouse!

Hope you all have a great week and I promise I'll write more and send pictures next week!

Amo Sempre!

Sister McEldowney

From the keeper of this blog -

Speaking from a former missionary perspective, emergency transfers can happen for a number of reasons. Typically, however, it simply denotes a transfer that takes place outside the standard transfer day.

"...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings..."

Service is the best! Honestly, it was the perfect way to start off my year!

This year has a lot of things that are going to happen! I've decided that I'm not going to let any opportunity pass through my fingers. These are the last months that I have to be a missionary, which is super bittersweet. As happy as I am that I get to see my family and friends this year, I've realized that I absolutely love this work. I love being a missionary and the thought of leaving the mission field brings a lot of emotions to my heart. For now though, I'm here and I'm doing the work of the Lord. I'm exactly where He needs me to be and I couldn't be more happy about that. One day my mission will be 18 months of memories, and I don't want one regret to be mixed in with those memories!

Anyway, back to my awesome service opportunity! We split the ward I'm in with two other sisters and we're like a family here. We help each other in whatever way we can. Well, they have a family they're teaching that was in desperate need of help--foodwise--and as 20 year old missionaries, we couldn't help much on our own. We talked with the bishop and with the President of Relief Society and with their help and the help of the amazing members in Morrinhos, we were able to help them beyond what we thought was possible. It was truly incredible.

As we participated in this project, I remembered a scripture-Mosiah 2:17.

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

I have such a strong testimony of service. I know for a fact that when we are serving others, serving those who are children of God just like each of is, we are serving our Heavenly Father. I love the feeling of giving service and invite all of you to search for opportunities to serve the people around you every day.

Have a great week!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

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From the keeper of this blog -

The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "is the oldest and largest women's organization in the world." (see https://www.mormon.org/faq/relief-society) Today there are over 5.5 million women in 170 countries who are members. Understanding the history of its development may help you understand why Kayla and her fellow missionaries approached both the Bishop and the Relief Society president to get help for the family above. There's a link below.

The Relief Society

Happy New Year!

People! It's almost 2016! What is life right now?! I can't even believe it!

Seeing as how I have pictures to send, this email won't be very long.

What I do have to say though is thank you to all the people that have continually written me over the last 9 months. I appreciate it a ton! Knowing that there are people who haven't forgotten about me and still love me even from thousands of miles away makes being away from home a little easier. To those of you who haven't written me, I promise I won't hold a grudge...at least not for too long haha! Kidding! 

Also, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that your New Year starts off swimmingly!

Love you all!

Sister McEldowney

I made tacos this week! I had a major pride moment.

I was reunited with my favorite companion ever!
How grateful am I to have seen her this week!

My AMAZING companion!

My HUGE Christmas box!

BATISMO!

Parabéns Vivaldo! 

A Serious Lack of Motivation...To Write

So, I've discovered that 2 hours in front of a computer is not my favorite thing. I'm not really sure how I managed to do it for so much longer before, but anyway, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to want to write. With that, I'm going to send a few pictures and say that Morrinhos is great and Sister Arévalo is my new companion and is great. Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ok, that's all for this week. Sorry people, I'll be more interesting in the week that comes!

Amo Sempre,

Sister McEldowney

Meet my companion!

Welcome to what sister missionaries find entertaining at 10:25!

I Can Be Taught

We were "tracting" this week (as much as you can do in a "downtown" type area) and we came to a building to try on the interphones. Anyway, there was a glass covering and it gave [me the chance] to see my nametag in the reflection. I think that was the first time that I actually looked at my nametag for more than just a few seconds. I started thinking about the power that this little piece of plastic has. Then I thought about it more, it't not the plastic that has the power, but me. I have the authority, bestowed upon me by a priesthood holder, to be a representative of Jesus Christ. This isn't a game, this isn't a dream, this is real life. I am a representative of Jesus Christ on the earth. 

We have a saying we repeat every morning; it's called "My Comission" from Elder Bruce R. McConckie. 

I am called of God.

My authority is above that of kings of the earth.

By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is my master and He has chosen me to represent Him--to stand in His place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me.

My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my doctrine is His doctrine.

My Commission is to do what He wants done; To say what He wants said; to be a living modern witness in word and in deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous Latter-day work.

How great is my calling!

I just want you all to know that I love this gospel with all of my heart. I love being a missionary. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life, but I'm so grateful for all that I'm learning. I know that I am not only respresenting Jesus Christ Himself, but I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. I know that this is the same church that Jesus Christ established when He was on the earth and that it has been restored. It was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the authority to act in God's name, the authority known as the priesthood, has been restored as well. It is through that authority that we can receive the ordinances that will allow us to return top the presence of our Heavenly Father.

I hit 9 months this week and thought I would be the happiest person alive knowing that I'm halfway done, but it was a difficult moment for me. I've already used half of the time that the Lord has given me and I don't want to waste one minute of the time I have left. This time is sacred and I'm truly grateful for it.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Amo Sempre/Amo Siempre/Love Always

Sister Mackey/Hermana McEldowney/Sister McEldowney

PS. I had French Toast for my 9 Month mark. I cut the pieces in half because I'm "halfway" there haha!

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