Eating caterpillars, we can pray directly to God, and stop and help the missionaries

Hey now everybody. How’s the world treating you all? Ready for GENERAL CONFERENCE? I so am - SO READY.

This week turned out to be wonderful and full of miracles. The Lord is in charge. He always has been. 

We had to baptisms on Saturday. O. and M. were baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. I told them that they were finally Mormons, so now when people as them they can officially say “YESSSS BECAUSE LAST SATURDAY I WAS BAPTIZED IN THE MORMON CHURCH”. They laughed because it makes them nervous to stand up for their beliefs. But they are wonderful. I was super nervous because I had to baptize O. It’s not her, it’s me. I’m really weak and don’t have muscles. But I know the Spirit helped me and we launched her out of the water like a torpedo. Woot woot. Her daughter slipped into the baptismal font and it made us all laugh. Hahah. We had L., our recent convert give a talk. It was fantastic. SO great. I loved it. She felt so good. We had an investigator go to the baptism and say the opening prayer. Her prayer was so short, but of this it consisted... "Heavenly Father, thanks for letting us be here. I hope that some day soon I can do the same and be baptized. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." WAT. ahhahaha my comp and I were so happy and all the members were like.... NICE JOB MISSIONARIES. Hahaha. So it was super easily classified as a success. The Bishop gave a great welcome to both of them. They were baptized without problems. They also got to church a half hour early for their confirmation... and that made me super happy.

The power just went out and I thought I lost all of my email... butt thanks to myldsmail it was saved. Good thing. 

This week we also had 11 investigators in church again. It was another great miracle and work and of the Lord. We are so privileged to be working here with such a great spirit of the work of salvation. 

G. is the one who gave the opening prayer in the baptism. She came with her daughter again to church, but this time they brought her husband! It was his first time. It was awesome to see a potential Priesthood Holder with his family in the sacrament meeting. G. and D. are soooo excited for their baptism on October 25th. We visited them with a recent convert named L. and it was amazing to see the spirit boost the confidence of them all. L. walked in the house and they were like.... “HEY, you are the girl that got baptized 3 weeks ago, WE KNOW YOU”. L. was so happy that they remembered her and it boosted her self-esteem. She also gave a fantastic testimony to boost the excitement of the investigators and let them know that all the difficulties that they are having are a normal occurrence as one starts on the path of discipleship - Such a success. The work of Salvation is perfect. If we do it right, everything works out how it should. Helping the new converts be strengthened through giving testimony to more investigators helps everyone out - even the missionaries. 

M. de J. and her niece K. came to church again. And loved it again. They felt so good and happy in the church. They are getting ready to get baptized on October 18th. M. de J. is down to only smoking 3 cigarettes a day! That is such an achievement because she used to smoke a pack of 10 or more a day. Next week we are going to work on ZERO smoking a day. I know that she is able to do it. She is so loving and stoked to get baptized on her date. We are teaching them at a good pace. Hopefully everything goes as planned. 

C., V., and I. are supposed to get baptized on October 11.... AHHHH. We are freaking out because we have to teach them a lot and C. has to stop smoking but we haven’t had time to talk to her about that. But they went to church and loved it. This week, they were robbed. Investigators always have to pass through strong trials right before getting baptized. But they are passing these trials with flying colors. So great. Although I do love them, I do not like to eat with them. But they are so happy and in love with the church and the missionaries that they signed up to give us food 3 times this past week... and two times this week. They always eat the weirdest cuts of meat that make me afraid of the end results. One day we went and ate with them..... They gave us the loveliest uncooked fish with broccoli. But the broccoli was accompanied with little critters well known as caterpillars. This is not a lie or a joke. It was real. It gave me anxieties. I ate as much as a could. The elder that had the boiled caterpillar on his plate freaked out so much that he just ate it. And I was extremely concerned. But it all turned out well. I couldn’t control the nervous laughter. I busted up dying because the situation was too horrible. I was constipated and had diarrhea for two days in a row. But EVERYTHING is OK. The good thing is that they are great investigators with strong testimonies and desires to do good. So I am over the initial shock of their extremely bad cooking. 

L. and her daughter J., were about to get baptized

about ten years ago. L. used to work in Park City for some wealthy Mormons. She cleaned houses. She is actually pretty well off because of it. Hahaha. But anyway. They are now deciding to get baptized again and they are progressing pretty well. They both went to church. The mom has been there like 3 times already, but it was the daughters first time. It is hard to make them understand that the church should be their priority, but hey. It is a work in progress. We are happy for them and put the date for them to get baptized on November 1. They are extremely willing to do it. Yayay.

The L. fed us lunch yesterday. FINALLY. We love eating with them because they cook really good. We ate green enchiladas. MMMMhmmmm. We taught their grandpa yesterday. He is a really sad old man of 89 years. He is sad because his body isn’t what it used to be. He says that nobody listens to him anymore because it is really hard for him to hear so he can’t keep a conversation going. He broke down in tears with us in the middle of a lesson because we testified to him that he can and should pray directly to his Heavenly Father. His whole life he has thought that God was too busy and that he needed to talk to his secretaries.... ,aka saints, that he worshiped. It opened his eyes to talk to us and we are really hoping he accepts the invitation to church. He doesn’t want to because he can’t walk but we are going to try and find him a good wheel chair. He told us that he was NEVER baptized in any church and was really interested in the idea of being baptized... but rejected it because he is "too old". BHahah. But he has so much potential.  L. the mom is doing fantastic even though her husband just left her on Saturday. But right when he left the house she decided to go to the baptism and the Women’s Conference. She was so blessed by doing so. She is so strong and her testimony has grown leaps and bounds. 

Anyway. The people we are teaching are truly chosen. 

We had a good Zone Training Meeting. The Zone is getting excited to work hard. They are all being very obedient and just doing their best. I am so lucky to work with them. 

Well the Letter is really long. Tell the missionaries in our ward that if there wasn’t any work in our ward boundaries, then he wouldn’t have put them there. (Our missionaries are not complaining - Eric just worries about them and how hard our area must be to do missionary work in) You guys have to help them and inspire them to believe. It’s a truth that ALL areas have the same potential to have success. Don’t get all statistical on me. Those are doubts and fears from the adversary. Just keep working. Pray hard, work hard, and you are going to find amazing souls that you would have never expected to receive the gospel. Want to know why? Because it is true  and why else? Because God is God.  HELP THEM. If you are busy with homework or cooking or doing some other important thing.... STOP in that very moment and GO WITH THEM to a visit. Just do it, and GOD will bless you so much. Please and thank you. Let them know that they are there to learn something. To grow, to become better, and to baptize. It’s all true. 

Les AMO,

Elder Macdonald

The zone.

Getting the water ready!

The ward. yayayayay

Halloween shopping at Walmart!

Finding the elect, "how can we start over?", the work moves forward.

This week was extremely long, but awesome and super fantastic.

We started out with changes. Haha - IT KILLED ME. I saw the C. Family (one of his favs) and a bunch of missionaries that I love. It was a true treat. I helped the assistants train the new missionaries. It was super fun. I met an Elder C. and he is apparently the cousin of Emma Fletchers’ husband... and he dated Austin Turley’s cousin... haha.  So that was a fun conversation. It was a super successful training because the missionaries’ didn’t fall asleep! Apparently they always tend to fall asleep... I mean, they are just brand new here in Mexico and dying from all the craziness, so that is great that they were attentive and learning.

Other things that happened this week... Well we had lots of time to work in our area. I LOVED IT. Finally taught 30 lessons in a week and we had 11 INVESTIGATORS in church. We are moving forward with lots of progress. We taught so many great lessons. Elder R. and I teach super well together. We are in sync with one another and know how to keep whatever situation afloat. 

All of our investigators are progressing. I don’t even know if I have time to talk about them all because they are so many. 

M. A. is supposed to get baptized this Saturday but we are not sure about anything because he needs a special interview with the President because 9 months ago he wasn’t able to pass the first interview with the Pres. We have faith that he has made sufficient changes in his life to get baptized now. We love him so much and love that he is progressing. We want to avoid him not passing the interview again because it could be devastating. But we are going to do it and move forward. 

We also have 2 other maybes that are going to get baptized this Saturday. It is a mother and daughter! They are super fantastic and have progressed so much. They have attended 5 times at church. They have testimonies of the restored gospel. They have defended their beliefs in school, at home, and at work. They are true disciples of Christ. Their countenance has changed and they have such a light about themselves. One is a young woman and the other young women in the ward are already her best friends. Honestly. God’s hand has been so evident in their progress. But its is super weird and annoying that for medical, health, or I don’t know what you call it, reasons... but they are hesitant to get baptized.... I will say nothing more than this... It is that time of the month. So my comp and I are at a loss. Haha. We told them to pray super hard and that we believe in miracles. lol. Hopefully on Saturday everything is great and perfect, because if they don’t get baptized this week they will have to wait two more weeks for General Conference. We would rather not do that. Pray for O. and M. We need a medical miracle. 

Another nine year old named K. was going to get baptized this week..... But her mom was like “NO don’t you think you are all going a little bit too fast for this...¡¡?¡?¡?” and I was like “WHAT?  Are you crazy?”, but I didn’t say that. She wanted us to teach her daughter in 2 weeks everything she needed to know so she could get baptized with her uncle. But we were like... “NO, we can’t do that”. So we decided to visit her often and to baptize her in like a month... and we have been. But, now the mom went and changed the baptismal date on us. She is going to wait to get baptized with her aunt... another investigator... in 3 weeks. So that gives us more time to teach the lessons.

Her aunt is M. de J. She is one of the elect. So chosen. So prepared. And we love teaching her because she always reads her homework. So great. She is loving the lessons and has come to church 2 times. 3 more weeks and she is getting baptized. 

C. is the mother of a recent convert. Then her daughter, E., started going to church and got baptized... C. went awol on her and hated her. Everyone thought she was a lost sheep. Maybe she was, but now she is back on track and has been to church 3 times.... LOVES CHURCH, and she is going to get baptized on October 18th. She is so fantastic. She started reading the Book of Mormon and balled her eyes out when she read Lehi’s dream because apparently she has lived it.. I don’t really know in what aspect, but it is super close to her heart and she already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the restoration. She keeps asking us... “so when are you going to prepare me to get baptized?”... and we are like... “well, we alreadys started”.... Good stuff..

Another new investigator we started teaching is the daughter of the chosen G. I have talked about. A week ago she was in a motorbike accident and her boyfriend died. He was driving her. She was in so much pain and grief and she asked us... “How can I start over?” We taught her the Plan of Salvation and testified that death has been swallowed in Christ. It was a great testimony builder to be able to testify that her friend is okay. We taught her the plan and she came with us to church the next day. She liked it a lot and was super happy. Her name is D. 

So many other amazing things happened this week. We had a leadership training. We are getting the Zone so much more excited to work and so much happier. Everything is great. We see miracles everyday. I know that our Savior lives and that He loves us. He has a plan so much better that we could ever imagine for us. He has compassion and mercy for us because he truly KNOWS what it’s like. This gospel is true. Keep sharing this gospel as member missionaries. 

CON AMOR,

ELDER MACDONALD

At Leadership Training

The Pres. trying to keep the church from flooding. lol

My beloved son

FREE PIZZA FROM DOMINOS BECAUSE THEY GOT THERE LATE. HAAA AWESOME.

It rained so hard that we had to wait under someone's roof thingy.

Mexican Independence Day, and do we honestly understand what we have?

Feliz dia de INDEPENDENCIA!

So it is officially Mexican Independence Day today and I’m loving it. This whole week was just a big party and tonight it’s just gonna get a whole lot crazier, so we have to be in our houses at 7 o´clock tonight. Hope I don’t get shot. It was a joke. I still have the same dry humor. So don’t worry... OK? 

I started the week off evaluating little missionaries. From there we went to the hospital so they could do some tests on me and give me more medications.... And on the bus to the hospital, guess who I saw?? R. M. C.!!! She is my convert from Aculco. She said that she is doing so fantastic and loves being in the ward. She is actually teaching in the Relief Society. BOOYA. That’s what I am talking about... So fantastic. Love it. But her daughter is prego and needs help so she basically doesn’t live in her house anymore and lives in another state. But she comes down every Sunday to go to church. Talk about a true saint. 

When I got to the hospital they gave me an x-ray to make sure my throat isn’t being attacked by something weird. And GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?! It is totally okay. Yeah. So they gave me some more drugs. They masked me and make me breath gas for 30 minutes and I got sooo freakin loopy and felt like I started flying to Cancun. I got super dizzy. And then they had to hit me on the back to break up the mucus. I think it worked a little. I am like 90% okay. I just need a little bit more time. But I honestly do feel better. That’s good news.

Then on Friday we had a Zone Conference and we taught the Zone about a handful of stuff, but ended with the Atonement and how the Atonement can carry us as missionaries in our labors. We watched a video by Pres. Eyring and Elder Holland. It is super powerful and everyone was crying. SUCCESS. And later that night we had the NOCHE MEXICANA. We were allowed to go if we invited investigators and brought them. We brought like 5 investigators. It was super fun to see 32 missionaries there all looking like losers just to make people laugh and enjoy the night. But we had to leave at 8:30.. to get home at 9. We honestly had way too much fun and everyone felt like they returned to college with all their friends for an hour.... Hahaha. We repented and forgot about the fun we had. Loved it...

Then the next day we went to the offices to receive changes. As Zone Leaders we know the changes like 3 or 4 days before everyone because we have to announce them. Hahaha it’s super fun to mess with everyone. Just kidding.  The changes were pretty crazy because the President is changing a bunch of Elder areas and Hermana areas. But whatever. He wants more variety in the wards. So we have to go tomorrow to help with the changes and tell everyone where they are going...

But that’s not all. The President wanted me and my comp to help the Assistants train the new missionaries that are arriving here tomorrow on their first day before they meet their comps. SO I am going to be working with the Assistant to help the newbies get super pumped about being in Mexico. It’ll be a super fun task. I am excited! Glad I get this opportunity. 

We had another Sunday of pure successes. 5 investigators got to church BEFORE 11am. That is a miracle in itself - getting there early. But then like 20 minutes later 5 more investigators came. We had 10 in the Sacrament Meeting. And they all LOVED IT SO MUCH! Lots of them are the same and have been there before. But they are just progressing so well towards their baptismal dates. We have so many plans to get them all dunked super soon. They are actually all super willing and it just shocks me and I just think.... What am I doing differently? I honestly don’t think I’m doing anything differently. But I will keep trying to find what’s up. 

Well I am super happy and loving life. We are sad because our District Leader is being changed to another area and he will only have 1 more change. 6 WEEKS, so crazy. I literally started tearing up thinking about that because it just comes so fast and I can’t believe it. So I try not to think about it. 

We had super great spiritual lessons all week. We have people that just are amazingly prepared and I don’t comprehend why the Lord lets me be part of their progress. But I LOVE IT. Someone was literally so shocked and amazed the whole time we taught the plan of salvation this week. Her facial expressions were priceless and it made me remember how priceless this information is that we have. Do we honestly understand what we have? I think we forget sometimes that we have the TRUTH of the RESTORED gospel. It is mind blowing and amazing. Such tender mercies the Lord lets us see this to build us up and make us stronger. The fact that the Lord allows us as members to know this stuff isn’t for selfish purposes, rather because he trusts that we are going to put it to good use and use it to teach others and share this priceless knowledge. GET IT? It’s true. 

Well, I am sending like 5 million photos this week. Enjoy. They are great.

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Enjoy Mexican Independence Day. I know I will. We already played some RISK today in the chapel. hahha. It is so frustrating and made me lose the spirit. Dumb game.

Con Amor,

Elder Macdonald

They were killing me with gas. I got a little bit loopy.

In the bus

Birthday party in the hair salon.

The ginger.

Getting ready for sept 15th. The Mexican spirit.

So excited for the Stake party.

The group at the Stake Mexican night.

mustache

with the Bishop

Birthday dinner for my comp

Hospital food, harvesting the Elect, and a testimony of the Redeemer

This week was so great. I love the mission. I do, I do.

So I can’t even remember exactly what I liked.... ohh ya.

SO, I went to doctor as you know, and his stupid medicines didn’t even help me. I am done with his medications and I am still sick. I am bound to die like this, I suppose. And being sick has been stressing me out just a little bit.... also with the help of not being able to work in my area as much as I would like to because of my assignment.... so I got a little bit stressed out. But I have learned to see the good in everything that we are doing, and to understand that we are doing it for something.

We did exchanges with the Assistants to the President this week. It was super great. I went with Elder S. He is a good missionary. We learned alot from each other and enjoyed the exchange. I think he is such a great example of just being an example. 

We had to go back to the hospital because I needed to sign a card from the insurance company and so when we were there they invited us to eat again in their super yummy restaurant kitchen thing. I ate pancakes. Haha but when we got there we ran into 2 elders... and then 2 sisters came in. So it was just a mission reunion there in the hospital. Missionaries love getting sick. It’s the best. 

Then we had a good day teaching investigators. We have honestly seen God’s hand in this work. I have come to realize that it doesn’t have to do with my skills or talents or abilities. As long as I give it all I have, and try my best, God will make up for my shortcomings... and he will guide the chosen to US. Hahah. We have so many new chosen investigators that have just fell into our hands. We haven’t done anything – It’s crazy. This is what missionary work should be. We should teach people that are already ready. Sounds funny, but it’s true. We don’t need to be the ones planting. We are commanded to baptize the elect. And those elect do exist.  For example…

On Saturday we had a baptism in the ward. So we invited a lot of people to come to the baptism. We even invited some of them before so we could teach them in the church. When the two investigators got there (M. de J. and K.) with the member, we gave a church tour. Let me tell you that this church building is brilliant. It is so beautiful. So it is so easy to feel the Spirit. Also because the paintings are fantastic and huge and so it gives us something more to talk about. We applied it all to the faith we have in Christ. We let them understand that everything we do and learn in the church is centered in Christ. It makes so much sense to me that Christ is the center of it all. Later I will talk about that. But literally RIGHT when we were finishing the tour, 2 more investigators got to the church and so we gave them a tour too! Started and ended with a prayer, and they just felt so freaking good. They also loved the baptism and ONE said that that is going to be her soon. Haha, it is mind blowing that the Lord lets me see these types of things and live them. I feel so privileged. 

The baptism was great and the Spirit was so strong.

I did more exchanges with a new missionary. Elder Y. He is such a good missionary and it was a great honor to learn from him. I eat with him everyday and we always joke around, but it was fun to actually get to know him. I love doing exchanges with the missionaries because I get to learn so much from them. And the Lord has put so much trust in me to help these missionaries grow in their confidence in preaching the gospel. I always make fun of him for being a ginger. And all the Mexicans tease him about his last name. hahahaha. poor kid. #bullying. 

I got my scriptures back and I love them. I will send photos.

SO last night after the District Meeting a missionary in the zone called us and needed to talk to us. He is struggling a lot with some doubts he has had about his testimony and the doctrine. He was super nervous so the doubt wasn’t very clear to me at first. But basically it has to do with the need of a Christ, of a Redeemer. We didn’t have a lot of time to talk so we told him to come on Friday with his doubts super clear so we could help him. But we talked about how Satan is always going to work on our weaknesses, and if we feed these weaknesses, they will grow bigger and bigger until we can’t take anymore, and He has one. However, I know that we need a Christ. I know that because I have felt his love and his Atonement in my life. We inherited the affects of the Fall. The Fall of Adam and Eve has literally separated us from God's presence and turned us into mortal beings. We as mortal beings have no chance of living with God again unless it was through some reconciliation or agreement that we could become immortal beings again. And that reconciliation comes through Christ. He gives purpose to our good works. He gives purpose to our eternal expectations. If it weren’t for him, it wouldn’t make sense to be a good person because today we live, drink, and eat, and tomorrow we die. When in fact we know that our being is meant to be eternal, and our works are meant to be better. Those things direct us to the Atonement of Christ, where we can come to an agreement with God, and be forgiven of our fallen state where we are subject to sin and imperfections. (sorry the stuff I said doesn’t make sense I can’t add words because it will just delete what I want to say. ARG.) hahaha but anyways. I love being able to help the missionaries with their difficulties because I know how it can be. I feel honored that he had the courage to talk to us and ask for help. Hopefully we can help him understand and trust in what he already knows.

Today we went to Centro. It was super fun. I have to send photos. We saw the pyramid and my comp bought glasses! It was super good.

Well I love you all super much a lot and good. SO enjoy life. Feed the missionaries good food. And be good!

Con Amor, Elder Macdonald

my scriptures

the breakfast club

District Meeting

Elder G.

the gen - The Elders he flew to Mexico City with from Provo

Centro - The downtown District

Cathedral

A pyramd that the Spanish covered with more idolotry.

This is a diagram of what Mexico City used to be... a wee little lake. hahahhaa.