He's not moving, futbol is everywhere, #missionarylife

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAALLL

That is all I hear.

Everyone is watching futbol (soccer) and if Mexico loses the World Cup I think we might be in serious danger. Mexicans sure do love their soccer. Haha. I will buy a jersey when they aren’t so expensive for being soccer season.

SO the changes are tomorrow, they told us yesterday... and I AM STAYING. Wooohoo. I am actually pretty happy. The ward is doing a lot better. My comp and I are getting along well. And we are going to have at LEAST 2 baptisms because it just is true and has to be true. 

My District has lots of changes Zone Leaders were changed - Lots of changes. It should be a good transfer. 

But anyway, the work of salvation is going super well. We have a new investigator named A. L. She is a newlywed to an RM and she is literally the PERFECT investigator. She actually reads, and when she reads, she understands. She is so smart and so fun to teach. She is sooo super excited to get baptized on JULY 12th. Hollar. Super stoked for that. And she comes to church every week.  We basically don’t even need to teach her cause she is so good. Hopefully she gets called as the RS president when she is baptized. She and her husband are such newlyweds and it’s gross. But I LOVE THEM AND AM SOO STOKED. One year, and they will be sealed. Yaaaa.

R. M. came to church even though she was on vacation all week. She is perfect too. The Lord has prepared her so much. She will make great contributions to the ward when she is baptized. Although, she is afraid to be baptized because she is afraid of the water. hahah. Uhhh well that sucks. Hopefully she learns how to swim and soon.

A. G. is the daughter of a less active member who is NOW ACTIVE. And A. is really doing well. She is progressing and finally came to church. We passed by their house. She was a good sport and went early and stayed for all the three hours. Haha. She made great comments and felt the Spirit. I KNOW IT. She can’t tell me she didn’t. 

Those are the progressing people.

We have other investigators that aren’t progressing because they don’t go to church. I don’t know how to get them there. 

We met an old investigator. He was super drunk and he started balling his eyes out when he saw us. We went to his house and started teaching something. It seemed to have affected him. But the next day he wasn’t at the appointment we set up. So he probably didn’t really listen to or remember anything. But the Spirit was strong in that lesson. I am almost sure he felt something. I just hope he can remember it. 

G. is doing super well.. She is progressing A LOT - understanding so much better. I feel like I said the same thing last week. But anyway, I am super happy for her.

Lots of less active families are going to church. It is great to see the fruits of our labors. Just gotta be consistent in helping them be consistent. 

Omg. I went with my ZL on intercambios to find some reference and we literally went to Hollywood and back. It is the nicest part of Mexico City. These people are so dang rich. If you ever want to feel like white trash, you know where to go. So we found the reference's house and we had to persuade the police officer security guard that the man that lived in this house really knew us and wanted to talk to us. And so then he went to the gate and did a secret knock and whistle and out came more police officers..... And then they were like “uhhhh what do you want?”... and we were like “please just let us talk to the very rich man that owns this house”. And apparently he was showering. Hahaha so then we ended up talking to the police officers and wrote down their addresses so that they can talk to the missionaries in their house. hashtagmissionarylife. When the man finished showering he talked to us through a speaker camera thing and was like.... “WHO ARE YOU??”. Hahahhahahahahahh ROFL. I was like “seriuosly..???. WE CAME ALL THIS WAY TO GIVE YOU A BOOK OF MORMON AND YOU DONT EVEN KNOW WHO WE ARE...?!?!?!?!” So then he was like.... "yeah, that was like 5 months ago when we talked... I forgot." and we were like “uhh aw - sorry for coming so late”. (thanks other missionaries for not contacting him before....) And he was not interested at all but told us to come back the next week and he gave us free water bottles. It was super funny. I love rich people...

We are teaching members lessons and then asking them what names came to their mind as we were teaching them this lesson. It is a great way to invite the spirit to tell us WHO might be ready for this message, or WHO might be a connection to find someone who is ready for this message. It has helped a lot. Members are actually giving us names of people to teach. WEIRD. Haha I hope you, family and friends, are giving names to the missionaries. Just keep giving names and new names. You won’t lose anything by trying. In fact, you will receive much more blessings in return. This message is TRUE. Share it with everyone. 

I hope your week is fantastic. I am super jealous of your summer vacations. Take pics and videos. Haha. It'll be super good. I love you all so much. Enjoy resting. 

Con Amor, 

Elder Macdonald

Super yummy tropical mango that tastes like pineapple. 

city shots 

super rich area

super cool Catholic Church in the rich part of Mexico

EVERYONE IS WATCHING FUTBOL AND SHOUTING GOOOAAALLLL

Eating gorditas de chicharron

companion jumping in my picture. thanks dude: ) 

This bike path goes all the way to Topilejo.  I have pictures of it in my Topilejo time.

Missionary work needs members, harvesting, and miracles

Happy Father’s Day Papsies. 

I hope it was wonderful. Thanks to the recognition Mexico gave fathers all around the world, they closed a very important highway and made it very difficult for me to get to where I needed to go on Sunday. But I kept love in my heart thinking of you. rofl. The good thing is we brought a less active of 13 years with us and she knows EVERYTHING. And plus she like paid for our whole transportation - so kind. But I really don’t like when people pay for me when they literally DON’T have money. Mexicans really are way more charitable than us North Americans. haha, sorry. 

So like I said... well I didn’t say it, but we went to a Stake Conference this Sunday and Saturday and on THURSDAY we had a Zone Conference, all because a member of the Seventy came to Mexico. He is truly a special witness of Christ. I can really see that. But man, he sure got us all in trouble. Hahahaha. So we had a really fantastic Zone Conference learning about how we can work better with the members. The work has already changed. If we haven’t changed yet, that is our own problem. So we need to help the members change, and get in the groove of this new point in church history. NOW is the time when members and missionaries come together and work TOGETHER to bring more souls unto Christ. 

We did practices. The spirit was super strong and fantastic. You can really tell that Elder Johnson has dedicated his time and talents for this cause. And it is such a fantastic example for us as missionaries. 

But then on Sunday he had two sister missionaries go up in front of the whole Stake to do a role-play of what they had learned on Thursday in the zone conference.... and the poor sister missionaries didn’t do as well as they could have and it was awkward. So all of the missionaries in my stake came together that night to work on things some more until we just about cried. It was super sad and our President was disappointed and then we got home super late because I live far away from the Stake Center. Haha but HEY, THAT’S THE MISSION. 

The Lord truly is preparing souls. We are called to find these prepared souls and help them make eternal covenants with their Eternal Father. He basically prohibited us from "planting". We are only allowed to "harvest". So that is going to be a struggle. But hey, if a 70 says we can do it, we can do it. After all, the voice of the Lord is the same as his servants. So the Lord really does have high expectations here in Mexico. Unfortunately we aren't achieving or reaching these goals. But with a little bit more faith, I am SURE we can do it. 

This week we also found a few new people! They are fantastic. But it is super hard to find people here. I don’t know why. They like run away right when we get to their house or something. STUPID SCHOOL AND WORK, WHY CAN’T EVERYONE JUST BE A BUM AND LIVE ON THE STREETS SO THAT I CAN TEACH THEM LIKE ALL DA TIME? 

G., the baptized girl, is doing great. We really saw a miracle with her. She needed a blood donor for her handicapped son because he was going to have a surgery. But, after like weeks of looking, she didn’t find a single person that was willing. She told us the DAY BEFORE the surgery. And we, obviously, can’t do anything like that. But we gave her a blessing and told her to have faith that the Lord would provide. And so we told her we would look for someone. The whole day we were looking and finally found someone! But atfer a few hours he called us and canceled because when he told his mom she got mad and said he couldn’t go. So at this point it was like 8 at night and we were like WHOOOOOO? We had asked like all of the active members we knew and NO ONE could. So we were in a lesson and my comp felt impressed to ask a less active and two investigators if they were willing to go like at 8:50 at night and I was like WE GOOOTTTA GOOOOOOOO. And they were like, well... sure of course we can. And we were sooo happy. We called G. and she was CRYING tears of joy. I was so happy she could see the tender mercies of the Lord in her life. Miracles. 

Well, the other investigator that wanted to get baptized now told us that after going to the baptism from last week, she is terrified of the water and doesn’t want to get baptized. We might have to drug her and pull her down under. But that’s just fantastic, right???? hahahhaha LOVE IT.

Love you all so much. The work of the Lord has already hastened. So if you aren’t aware, CATCH UP and lend a helping hand - TALK TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. Just give them the CHANCE to hear the invitation. That's all. And you will see miracles.

Con Amor, 

Elder Macdonald

BIRTHDAY CAKE WITH OUR NEIGHBORS.

the city streets

more city

and thats all. sorry. forgot I owned a camera this week.

Best baptism ever, 1200 year old pyramid, and great photos

OKAY WELL THIS WEEK WAS FANTASTIC.

Anywho. We had a baptism this week and it was just so great to see how that can unite a ward! Before the baptism we had a ward BBQ type thing. And LOTS AND LOTS of people came. We were all shocked. Everyone was just so happy being with one another. I was just loving the people so much, that there is no way they can’t love me. Haha - that’s my plan, to make everyone love one another by loving me. We will see how that works out. 

About 10 investigators came to the BBQ, and 5 of them were brought by members. Aka we didn’t know them before the party! So it was great. After the ward party we forced everyone to stay for the baptism. #BRILLIANTIDEA because the baptism was full! Like 45 people were there! It was such a happy moment for G. She is such a nice lady and I just love her. FINALLY she got baptized. It was her time. She even brought her two grandchildren. It was obvious that they didn’t want to be there but she brought them!! That’s good, right? yes. 

The talks were marvelous and you could definitely feel the spirit. Then I was supposed to sing a special musical number. But I don’t think the ward got the hint.... Hahahaha. Or they just don’t know what a special musical number is. So when I started singing, some people starting singing with me in the congregation... LOLOL. It was like a choir of angels in the background. Super dramatic movie material. Everyone was loving it though so I just let it flow... The spirit was super strong. 

And then... came the ordinance. And let me tell you... We took FOREVER trying to baptize this woman. I am just so grateful I didn’t baptize her because I would have laughed. My poor comp got to do it... and it was his first baptism. And she was obviously afraid of the water because every time they attempted to do the baptism she would get her head half way in the water and FLIP OUT. She turned into a fish out of water gasping for air and trying to reach for the wall. hahahahhahahahahahhaha. So I was up the stairs of the font in the doorway that leads into the bathroom. Good thing too so I could laugh to myself without anyone seeing. They literally did that one 10 times. Then they tried to have her squat but she wouldn’t get her head all the way. Then they had her kneel and go front first. GHahaha. we actually took 10 minutes practicing before adding the prayer so she could learn. And it was just a riot. The good woman has a great sense of humor too, so it makes the whole situation better. Oh dear. Why are baptisms thought to be a perfect moment of peaceful bliss, but in reality it becomes a near death experience? Oh Mexico. 

But the best thing is that she is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Lovin it.

On Sunday we gave talks about Missionary Work. The Bishop is now happy and loves us and told me to thank you guys for me. Haha. And the MEMBERS FILLED IN FOOD SLOTS FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH OF JUNE. Progress people. They love us now. All that was missing was love. I have just tried so hard to love these people and help them feel good about themselves, and just agree with them, even if they are crazy, because they just need to be loved. I think everything is going to be great here in ACULCO. 

Other investigators are doing well. A miracle happened. A newlywed couple just moved down the street. The husband is an RM and his wife is an investigator and wants to be baptized. The funny thing is, they just came to us. We are working super hard here to find the chosen by contacting and teaching and being rejected, and the chosen come to US. Haha. Being a missionary is just funny. 

Our landlady lives below us. She has cancer and is going to chemotherapy right now. We taught her and her daughter. They are so perfect. I love that we were guided to this house to live here and find these people. Soon they will be members. I just know it. 

And today we went to a pyramid!!! IT WAS SOO COOOL. Hahahha super funny cause Elder J. ran up and walked down singing the song from the TESTAMENTS and it was super apostate but hilarious at the same time. Took lots of pictures. The funny thing is, it is super close to our house. This area seriously is the best because we have EVERYTHING. From Krispy Kremes, to pyramids, you name it we have it. 

Well we are super happy, working hard, loving the work, being fed, helping the members, and the members helping us. Oh PS, an hermana is sewing my pants so they’ll fit better, (she is taking them in) and she really is doing a great job. I think I’ll pay her. And she loves my pants, or the material and wants to know what website you bought it from dad. Speak up. Thanks! 

I love the conference talks. I love the one about the four minutes. It is so true. We have been trained mentally, physically, and spiritually to be here. Now we are here. So we need to perform to our best ability to win the Gold. We can do it. These four minutes fly by, and we never know when they will end. So perform like you have never performed before!!

Love you all so much! 

Con Amor!

Elder Macdonald

we got a couch! sofa party.

old train track that is now a bike track and runs all the way to Topilejo! super tempting.

ward party! (

me helping the Bishop!

good member brought a non member friend!!! yayay!

me and my short comp!

N. and her fam took us to BURGER KING. yay

rainy days

this is KIKA. she is our pet. at first she hated me. but now she loves me.

RUNNING TO THE PYRAMID

play sets are fun for missionaries too.

an igloo?

little Elder J.

found an abandoned cabin. 

hiking.

we found the ancient pyramid. Apparently it was made 1,200 years before the birth of Christ. Thank you JAREDITES. 

jummmping

no one can jump like me.