Elder McKinley's Stint Across the Pond

I find it hard to believe we are at this point once again. This week was a blur. We welcomed 8 new missionaries into the mission, had interviews with President, and followed up on technology use with those missionaries that arrived a few weeks ago. I was less bothered by the fact that I only have one more regular interview left with President Checketts and more bothered by the lack of time I had to go out to teach our friends. Nevertheless, the interviews I had with President and Sister Checketts were wonderful. They have become good friends and beloved mentors. They are such stalwart figures of faith and dedication, to the Lord, to the people they serve, and to each other. I love them.  The capstone of the week was the baptism of our friend Francisco. He is such a good soul. He was confirmed a member of the church this Sunday. He sent us a text later that day saying that he felt so happy and excited about this responsibility and feels it's one of the best decisions he...

This week feels like a blur so it probably was haha. Anyways, that means very little photos and a bullet list of highlights :-) - exchange with Elder Norman (love him, great man, but somehow we took no photos #tooconsecrated - super MLC aka big meeting full of the Spirit, counselling, and discussion  - Our friend we've been teaching had his interview for baptism and he passed! His baptism will be Saturday! - we inventoried the office and got rid of loads of excess junk #D&C132:8 - long days and good conversations  The Portuguese is coming right along. I won't go into details because they are personal and sacred to me but I've really seen God strengthening me these past few weeks. I love being a missionary and serving His children.  Food of the week: kibe - like a meatball but full of cheese; Brazilian  Scripture of the week: The Book of 1st Kings - it's interesting and symbolic haha

Bom dia todos! Wow this week was really intense. Let me jump right in with a few updates: - My portuguese is rapidly improving. I understood everything at church yesterday! I was able to have some good conversations in portuguese as well. It honestly still blows my mind to know that I am learning and speaking portuguese right now, but I feel the Lord strengthening me and helping me learn faster than I would be able to on my own. I am able to carry a pretty detailed conversation with people on the street and talk about all different kinds of things, including the gospel. One of the most interesting things about all of this is praying. I am trying to pray in portuguese once per day. When I am talking on the street and in front of other people, I sometimes forget words or do not remember how to say a specific thing. However, when I pray, I feel like the Lord helps me remember what I need to say and how to say it. I am so humbled by the help He has given me and the time I am spending s...

Elder Coelho loves that song and it applies aptly to my current situation. I know I said I'd email. But time got away from me again. Sorry for the shallow promise. Know that I read everything you send and I love you all! I will reply sometime in the future. For now, enjoy these photos.  Scritpure of the week: Alma 13:28 I love you all and know that I'm loving serving the Lord out here! Little Venice  And the new comp  I ran into a friend from BYU at church! Wow it was insane! 

Hey everyone! I am staying in the City ward and the office for another 6 weeks! I am pumped. Alas, my companion is leaving me, but I am getting a brasilero :-) We are going to have an amazing time. I love you all and here are some pictures (I have no time because I am doing transfer stuff). I love you all! I will attach pictures as a reply. Elder McKinley

Yep, that's how you spell wow in Portuguese. Word of the week right there. Salutations everyone. Honestly, this week has been very much of the same kind of stuff I do every week. Here are some of the highlights. Wait. Before I share the highlights, I want you to know that I have contemplated not writing a weekly email anymore. The time on my preparation day gets shorter and shorter and my desire to write an email about my week decreases bit by bit. However, I am on number  90 . I feel like I need to stick it out to the end. I know what you're saying: "but Elder McKinley, sunk costs are irrelevant!" well, I never really liked economics anyways so I shall carry on.  Highlights: - I had exchange with Elder Bleyl. He also happens to be from Virginia, the other side of Richmond to be precis. He is pretty cool. We did this thing called Good Gym which involves going on a run, doing a service project, and then running back to where you started. It was terrible in th...

This week was absolutely and insanely busy but amazing all the same. Jumping right in: We went to the temple this week! We attended a meeting called Mission Leadership Council or MLC to discuss how the mission is doing spiritually, emotionally, and physically and to set some goals and make some plans to help all the missionaries grow closer to the Lord and more fully dedicate themselves to serving Him. To help aid in preparing the mission leaders for the meeting, we went to the temple and did a session at the temple. A session is where we go through the temple and reflect on the promises we have made with God and we learn how we can better keep and understand those promises (check out this link for more detail:  https://www.lds.org/ general-conference/2019/04/ 54bednar?lang=eng ). It was absolutely amazing and so spiritually uplifting. I am excited to go more often when I return home. I cannot wait for when they finish planning and building one recently announced for Richmond,...