He is full of happiness and love and saw many miracles

Ah man I’m a big crybaby. Yesterday I had my last interview with the President. He asked me to say the prayer. So I started saying the prayer and began to bawl... haha. He asked me what my mission had meant for me and what I had learned. I couldn’t really describe with my own words what it has meant for me... so we read some special scriptures that explain exactly what my mission has been for me.

Alma 26: 27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

 28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

 29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.

 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

 31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

I know with all my heart that this mission has been hard, but it has also produced so much happiness in my life. I have learned SO MUCH. And I think most importantly I have gained a stronger testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. All the success is credited to Him, and His mercy for me, an imperfect servant. I have passed through so much in these two years. And the only thing that kept me going and that taught me how to have success was the love I could develop for these people. When I think of their faces and their testimonies I am just full of happiness! haha I am crying. crap. Just like Ammon was teaching us here.... I can look forward, backward, and all around and see the fruits of MY labor. And I know that my fruits have been sincere and accepted because of the love I have had toward my brethren! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. And that’s why I am sad. I will miss them. I have helped build and establish Zion in this part of the Lord’s vineyard.

An example. When I got to this area I prayed with all my heart to see a couple that I love SO MUCH from Topilejo. But Topilejo is super far and it was basically impossible.... They were converts before I even got there for about a year, but that didn’t matter. I grew to love them. They taught me what true humility is. They taught me HOW and WHY we keep the Sabbath day holy. And they taught me that service brings forth many blessings.. etc etc. Ah. And so I was praying to miraculously see them.... Well the weeks passed by and I didn’t see them... I saw 2 other investigators that I taught in Topilejo! haha And it was a really nice blessing to see them and share my testimony with them once more.... And since I saw them, I kept the faith KNOWING that I would somehow run into them. On my last Saturday we got into a bus to go help other missionaries with an optional service project... and someone tapped my shoulder.... and it was P. AND R. Hahahahaha I was basically yelling and screaming with joy when I saw them. Everyone in the bus was freaking out. I KNEW that God had heard and answered my prayers because of the faith I had. Due to time...I was only able to tell them how much I loved them and asked for their info to find them on FB. They commented to me that this was an answer to their prayers to see me one last time before I went home.... Hahha And so I was crying and so happy. And then they had to leave. It was a miracle and it wasn’t the only one. I have lived and seen so many miracles. And I know that through my faith in the Savior, and through my love for these people, they were able to occur in my life. I love them just as I love you all, my family.

The last baptism of my mission was ideal. It was perfect. With last minute issues to resolve, but I mean that comes in the fine print. So I was prepared. It was super spiritual and the water was SMOKING HOT. I almost couldn’t go in. It was a hot tub. Hahaha. ooops. But the testimonies were sincere and comforting. R. is now a member of the true church of Jesus Christ and she is more determined than anyone I know to endure to the end and share this message with everyone, no matter how many times they reject her!

I worked until the end. I have learned how to endure. I couldn’t have asked for a better mission. It was a perfect mission. And it has been completed, but it hasn’t ended. I loved it and will always cherish it. And now I get to see you people!!! WOW I love you all so much. Thank you for supporting me in my times of despair and difficulty. I know it hasn’t been easy for you, but I hope you have been able to learn along with me. I am now at a loss of words. Haha.... See you on Wednesday. :)

Con TANTISMO AMOR Y MAS,

Elder Macdonald, si, como las hamburguesas...

food.

BAPTISM

It was a great baptism!

selfies

I LOVE THEM. IT WAS A TRUE MIRACLE

Last report

A sweet and amazing family, and the LAST FULL WEEK

OH BOY, this week came.

It’s my last week in the mission. And I truly feel content and happy with the work and service I have given. I definitely could’ve done things better, but I did the best I could in the moment it was presented to me. It’s all part of this whole progress thing, I think. 

Well, sometimes I wake up with a pit in my stomach. Other days I am super happy. I don’t know, I am like really sensitive right now. I just try to choose not to think much about it. lol. I will just let the whole change process happen on it’s own. The good thing is, I can live everyday to its fullest and find, teach, and baptize, just as any missionary would. 

Well, my last baptismal service as a missionary will be this Thursday at 5 o`clock. R. is so ready. She passed her interview with so much emotion and excitement. She stayed for another baptismal service and felt the spirit so strong that she was crying basically the whole time. Haha I don’t think she knew what to expect. She is nervous, but READY to make a covenant with God. How amazing is that, that our Heavenly Father lets US make covenants with Him. He loves and trusts us so much. 

We ate with her family this week on Saturday. It was kind of heart breaking because her family life is a struggle. Four years ago her mother had a brain tumor. So she had to go into surgery. Waking up after surgery, she couldn’t move her right arm or below her waist. She was paralyzed at 31 years of age, being the Mother of 6 children under the age of 16. Her husband went to the United States to work and send his family money. After the first few months, they lost all contact with him. They don’t know if he died or left them for another woman. R. prefers to think he passed away, as tough as that is. They, as a family, don’t let strangers into their house. They basically don’t communicate to the outside world, besides school and work. So when R. told them that we were going to eat with them in their house, they all freaked out. Nervous really, for the whole “two big white strangers” are going to eat our food type thing. Haha So, when we got there they were all hesitant to let us in and talk to us. But from the beginning we were able to love them and get to know them. Such a great family. Such a hard life. The only thing we could do was be there to listen and testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ heals broken hearts. They made us sooo much food. It was adorable. All of the younger kids made the food because the mom can’t, and R. was working.... It was touching to see such strong young children in the service of their physically incapable mother and two complete strangers. We helped them feel good about themselves and gained their trust. We taught a few principles of our Heavenly Father, and they could feel a sweet spirit testifying of the truthfulness of the message. We made an appointment to visit them this upcoming week :) R. was shocked that we did it, but we told her we would. Haha. I know that as representatives of Christ we have the power to bring light into the darkness, that the darkness can’t comprehend. But it definitely doesn’t go unnoticed. All of us as members have such the great responsibility to serve our brother and heal the wounded in spirit and body. We all need of the goodness of Christ, and we all need to be willing to give it. I know this is true. I know that we are imperfect, and that means we should learn to have patience with imperfect beings, being imperfect our own selves, that surround us. The mission has taught me that. When we serve others, we truly are only serving our loving Heavenly Father. Sometimes it requires us to go out of our comfort zone, and that is PERFEC - because that makes us progress. And without progress, this life would be extremely bland and boring. I am so privileged to have been able to know such sweet souls of our Heavenly Father and feel un poquito del amor (a little bit of the love) that he feels for them. 

I can choose to keep applying all of the things I have learned, lived, and witnessed in my mission, or let it be nothing but a sweet memory. I will choose to apply it. And I will keep inviting and helping all of my loved ones apply it too. Not because I am bossy, but because I love them. Hahaha. 

So I am at a loss of words. We worked hard this week and have 5 investigators at church. Everyone seemed to love it and be happy. Hopefully this can keep happening here in Acoxpan. I know that ALL missionaries are entitled to have a successful mission. It just depends of the work we put into it. And of course the tender mercies of the Lord.

Well I love you all so much. I am excited to see you, and I am happy that it is finally time. But I am also sad that the time came so quickly. I guess its just part of the plan of the Master. 

I still will write you one more time. Until next week…

Con Amor,

Elder Macdonald

Met Jacob Porter's companion. Elder Z. He is in my ward!

dogs with sweaters. never gets old.

Tour of the Estadio Azteca

This was today!! Just like 30 minutes ago. super fun.

GOOOOOAAAALLLLLL

Soy chilango (He is a native of Mexico City)

Hahahaha - Wow so this is just funny and weird and I don’t know how I feel about it.

This was my last Fast and Testimony Meeting as a missionary. AND LET ME TELL YOU. It was embarrassing. I just cried the whole time. Thanks a lot. I tried to bear my testimony. But if I couldn’t even speak English while crying, let alone in Spanish. So it was funny. But my tears were contagious and everyone else started crying to even though I didn’t say anything. hahaha. 

It’s rough. But it’s going to be a good change. Today was super chill because we went to Centro. My last time! I went to go buy a bunch of Mexican stuff for you folks. Hope you like them all. I seriously got some mad bargaining skills. Like I bargain and then the people don’t even know what just hit them. Even the Mexican that went with us was in shock. He was like WOW HOW’D YOU DO THAT.??? And I was like.... soy chilango. Duh. I don’t even know who it is all for because I just liked everything, and got everything that I could within my budget. With money to spare...!!. Talk about that family. Just be proud. I accidently offended some people because I was so good at bargaining. It was a confidence builder. You’ll thank me sooner than later. eeps.

So my birthday was great. We enjoyed CPK and the after party since it was p-day!! woooohoooo! Ate some yummy cake. 

Ahora. We got to talk about the business that went down. So we had 6 people in church! WOOOHOOO. Miracle.

R. is perfect still. She is a secret genius and has a scholarship to her university and she scored so well that they moved her to better, more difficult classes and so she had to quit her awesome job working in a lawyers office as their assistant getting paid a lot, and now she is jobless. And all of the jobs here basically require working on Sundays. SO we taught her about the Sabbath day and fasting. We told her that it really isn’t even an option. It’s not, well hope I can find a job that doesn’t require me to work on Sunday, it’s more like... I hope I find a job because I DON’T work on Sundays. And so we went job-hunting for her and she did it too. We fasted for her and she fasted too!!!!!!!!! And after that fast she had a job interview for a job from that goes from Monday to Friday!!!! aahahh woohoooo. Miracles do happen. She is so determined to get baptized on January 17th. She asked me to baptize her, and I was like.... “well you gotta do it on the 17th, so no more missing church”. And she got excited to keep the commandments and reach her goals. We are super excited for her. She even offered to feed us on Friday because the other hermanas couldn’t. Talk about chosen. We are having daily contact with her so that she gets baptized on the 17th! Please keep praying for her. 

We might have another baptism too. C. is an investigator that had disappeared since I got here. But he showed up to church again. His wife is a member. They went on vacation and had a bunch of work this past month. So we are hoping he can get baptized this week or the next. He is super ready too!!! yayaya.

S. went to church again and loved it. She is a young woman and is going to have a picnic with the young women this week before school starts. We are so happy that she is finding her place here with us. But we gotta work more with her mom because otherwise she won’t get baptized. But her mom is losing interest and has had so much work. Dang. Pray for her. 

Z. went to church and got mad at us because we wouldn’t tell her our first names and wouldn’t give her a hug. Hahahahah She like legit ran away. But we had to explain that right now as missionaries we have lots of rules. And she was like.... EVERYTHING IS PROHIBITED HERE. GRR.  But she liked church. She is kind of a nut. But her sister is a legit good investigator. So we are going to work with both of them. Hopefully she was joking about all of that stuff.. I think she was. Hahaha. 

And then randomly 2 new investigators showed up for the first time to church. THANKS MEMBERS FOR LOVING US AND BRINGING US INVESTIGATORS. They are a nice, smart couple with two kids. But I don’t think they are married. But they seemed to like church a lot. Hope so. 

Anyway. I am really weirded out because I will only write you guys 2 more times. But I’m just trying not to think about that much. I don’t remember all that I was going to tell you guys. It was a wonderful weeks. Lots of miracles and lots of fun. The best missionaries are the missionaries that know how to have fun. And that’s a fact. The spirit is with us more when we aren’t stressed or mad or sad or worried. It is with us when we are smart, service-ful, and having fun doing this work!!!

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. yayaya.

Con Amor,

Elder Macdonald

New Years Eve with the Bishop!!

CPK birthday lunch

GAMES

Cake

New suit. homemade

Rosca de Reyes!!

NO I GOT THE BABY

SO DID SHE HAHA

adorable Mexican grammies

Went to the coolest artisan market and bought some fun souvenirs... 

finally went and saw the angel