Mateo in MEXICO: Goals, golden investigator, and choosing to follow Jesus Christ.

Hey everything this week – busy week full of changes here and at home!

A new church building at home?! What in the world? No one told me- until you went to church there. That’s cool though. Can’t wait to see it!

So yes mother, everything is well. I don’t know why you read that email weird. I am happy and all is perfect. I was joking about the mission rules. I love the rules. Really I do. They help us have the Spirit and they teach us to be obedient if we follow them. So yeah.

We had interviews with the President this week. It was super great. I love my President. We had a nice little chat. He challenged me to make more personal goals to get better at certain aspects as a missionary, as I see necessary. I am bad at making goals because I just usually do stuff. But I am going to try to make more goals. Preach My Gospel testifies that goals are the best way to progress in this work! So I am super down. I mean we already do them, but I am really going to focus on specific personal goals to get better at teaching specific lessons or principles of the Gospel. So that'll be good and make study interesting.

I also had a leadership meeting and it was great! I saw Elder R.! I haven’t seen him for months! He is a Zone Leader in some place across the way. I just loved catching up with him. We learned how to make exchanges more effective and had an opportunity to train different missionaries according to their needs. In exchanges we have a great opportunity to show our love for other missionaries and give them appreciation for the hard work they are doing and then make goals with them to get better in their wards and areas. So I was like “okay I'll do exchanges today!” Haha. So I did them with Elder K. from my ward. He went to Highland High School. He is a funny kid and a really great missionary. He is a hard worker and loves the work. He inspired me. I loved working with other missionaries because I really do learn something new each time. Everyone is so different and brings the Spirit in such different ways. We have all been blessed with talents and abilities to build the kingdom of God on this Earth and that means we have to USE these talents and abilities. If we don’t... well, we lose them. And something else I like is that we have also been blessed with unique testimonies to bless the lives of others. It is soo true. So bear your testimony in church. ASAP. And also bear your testimony with your nonmember friends. If you see the poor missionaries walking on Hermosa Vista with nothing to do, pick them up in your car, and TAKE THEM TO YOUR NON MEMBER FRIENDS HOUSE and bear your testimony with them! If you don’t, you are just silly. I hate hearing that "no one wants to hear our message... " from the members. It is simply a lack of faith. THERE, I SAID IT. Help the missionaries please, members.

Other great things happened. We seriously have a golden investigator who is soo spiritually prepared. Her name is R. She is the girl with the bad leg and the sad life. She came to church this week and was balling at the end because she had just felt so much more joy than she had in A LONG TIME. She felt the Spirit. And she LOVED when the woman bore their testimonies in the Relief Society. See.... testimonies are key. We also taught her like 3 times this past week and we put a fecha with her! She is getting baptized in January! Woohoo. She is so stoked and just believes it is so true. She always does her homework. I love being a part of helping people with a true desire to change their life and follow Christ. God has trusted us as missionaries to act as Christ would and teach them about His Gospel. It is so true. It changes lives. It makes people happier, IF they live and apply it. It is all about agency. If you choose to follow Christ, you WILL be happier in your life. It just will happen. R. is a testimony to me that it is just so true. She is so humble and so meek, and just so willing to do the will of God. Love it. I am so happy for her.

Other people are slowly but surely progressing. Kind of, Idk it is hard. If people don’t act, it doesn’t happen. And all we can do is teach and invite. So I am just praying daily for them to be receptive to the Spirit and choose to follow it.

My comp struggled a bit this week. It is tough. I remember getting frustrated and annoyed easily. And it is tough. I remember taking it out on my comp. Haha. So we talked a little bit. I hope he understands that I am here to help him! Little by little. But things are better. It got pretty bad, but after we did a comp inventory, he felt better and so did I. We were both open to each other. I explained to him that missionary life is super different and hard, but so great. We are all good and he is more excited to work. He is still really struggling with Spanish. So I am trying to get creative with ways to teach him and help him.

Anyways. I am stoked to skype you all in a week and a few days! It will be chido. I love you all soo much!!!! The 26th we will skpye and I will be expecting to see everything you got. I am so happy Rach’s bday went well! Happy anniversary to Grammy and Paps! Glad Holiday Dinners went well. Is Andrew going to try out for Encore? Do it. Does Rach go to MVT next year? Weird. So weird. All of it. Anyway.

Nothing funny happened this week. We have a Zone Conference and that might have some good stories. Stay tuned.

LOVE YOU ALL. Mexico is wonderful. The church is true. Remember the true meaning of Christmas. Remember to celebrate the birth of YOUR Savior and Prince of Peace. He loves us so much. I know that to be true. He is the fountain of all love.

Con Amor,

Elder Macdonald