Responsibility, helping the missionaries, and happy birthday to Rachel!

All right - I will just start this email.

I don’t think anything happened – so that’s weird.

Living with four missionaries is legit crazy, four as in me too. Haha. Sometimes it drives me crazy because I have to be the responsible one and tell people to shut up and study and then they all hate me. I hate having to be responsible. Sorry parents for giving you so much trouble as a dumb child. 

Anyways. Haha.

So it’s almost Christmas and it is like legit crazy! WOWOW HOW DID THAT HAPPEN. So we need to pick a date when we are going to skype for 45 minutes. It has to be a day other than Christmas #lol because all the computer places will be closed. So like on the 23 or 24 or 26.... you choose. I vote the 24 or 26 because that’s better. And tell me what time. Probably when it is like noon here or something. You do the math. And tell me what the skype user name and password are again because I totes forgot. DON’T FORGET. Okay? 

So we are being the best missionaries and contacting like CRAZY because members haven’t been giving us references because they "don’t know anyone". And I’m like “okay, well are you just cooped up in your house all day like a hermit?” And they legit respond... “Si.” Haha. So that’s weird. So because of that we are desperate and are talking to everyone we see. Well not really. We are more focusing on when the Spirit indicates it. And if He indicates it and we walk past the person we have to be super socially incorrect and chase after the person to contact them. That’s the way. Uh huh. So we have contacted some pretty great people that have accepted the invitation to be baptized! AHAH. One of them is our neighbor that lives right below us! I was all kind and knocked on their door to "get to know them" since I am their neighbor and all. We ended up putting a cita and at the end of the cita she was like “heck yes, I will be baptized if I know its true.” AND that was the lady that did the Mary Party last week. (which by the way wasn’t a BLOODY MARY ritual JENNY PENNY, it was simply a worship service for the Virgin Mary....) LOLOL. Everyone is having Mary parties and parades right now because its almost Christmas. It is super funny and I love it. Sometimes I want to start joining them but then I was like... better not, but back to our neighbor. So she is great. The other lady is basically our neighbor too. She is struggling a lot because of family and health issues. She is a wreck and it is heartbreaking. She can hardly walk and she has to sell stuff on the street to live. So when we talked to her she was crying the whole time. I think she is really going to love the message. Some more people were good when we talked to them but then they like actually never came out of their house and we waited forever. So that’s always awk. It’s like hmmm... what do we do. But yeah. Contacting is super fun. I sometimes still get scared to do it but whenever I do it I always feel super good and happy. So I suppose I should keep doing it. 

The kid we found at the baptism is flakey and never comes to church. But he is still living with his girlfriend and he has no other place to go and he doesn’t want to marry her so its like... well.... you can’t be baptized then. And so we are working with him.....

Yaya okay what else happened.

Kind of nothing. 

But I really liked the Christmas devotional even though we got their 20 minutes late due to dumb traffic and going in a bus. DUMB. I was like wait why is it only one hour. MORE PLEASE. 

OH YEAH! D. and D. I love them and their sons. They are they greatest people ever. Their sons are already future missionaries because they know everything. And they always pray and thank God for knowing "los mormones". And I love it. But they finally came to church! I WAS HAPPY. They just need to get married. So I played marriage counselor even though I didn’t want to. They have major issues. So I was just like well I honestly am sorry that this is so hard but it WILL get better if you trust in God and start changing your life to follow Him. I told them that it will be more likely to have a successful relationship and marriage and family once it is based on the Gospel Teachings. And I think that it struck them. They came to church. SO now I just gotta play marriage counselor again and get this two kids hitched!  

We are eating with the C. Family on Christmas EVE! WOHOOO. Best Christmas ever probably so don’t even worry about me. Haha. Love you all....

Ya sorry this is boring and short. #onehouremailstinks

I think my mission is the strictest in the whole world. But I still LOVE IT. But we seriously get new rules like every day - what the heck? Yeah we will probably never get facebook or ipads. First, because we aren’t allowed to have fun in this mission #thatsaninsidejokeireallylovethismission, and second because we already teach 30 or more lessons every week. That facebook thing is helpful when there aren’t so many opportunities for teaching like we have here. Not that it is a bad idea. I love it... But I doubt we will get it. 

Anyway. BYE. Love you all. 

Stay happy and strong. Remember your potential. God has not called us to be impure; He has called us to be Holy. We can do it with a little help from our friends. And Him. We have a perfect Pop. He knows our potential. Don’t disregard your greatness. Okay. That’s all. BAI. 

Con Amor,

Elder Macdonald

PS  OH YEAH MY LOVERRLY SEESSTER RAAACHEL turns like 20 this week. HAPPY BDAY GURRL. jk. 14 right? haha I love you so much. You’re so cool and way too hip for me. Keep being nice to dad.

PPS this is a shoutout - shoutout alright?!?! Love you sister. Be wise and stay sweet.

My Comp and I

Studying 

 I hit my head on the table. Rude.

Foot in the face

Nobody is perfect. 

Christmas tree O Christmas tree. 

Bus full of missionaries...

Twas cold

New comp, focusing on others, and bed bugs!

SO what’s Thanksgiving? 

Haha - I definitely forgot that it was Thanksgiving until the wife of the mission President said "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" to me and fed us ham. Ham!

So this week was super funny and great and weird. 

My new companion is Elder K. He is from Sandy, Utah, twenty years old, and doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish. But you know what.... neither did I. So at least I know there is hope for him because it’s like people think I'm from Argentina now. He is a really great guy. They arrived here a week ago and we picked them up fresh from the MTC. He seriously has got it so easy because he is living in the same house as 4 Americans and one of them is from his MTC district and they are like bffs. So I am just happy that he has already received many tender mercies since arriving. I really feel like since he got here I actually feel like a missionary that has time and experience. I LOVE THE MISSION. So much. Like now that I can really focus on someone else and their problems, I have forgotten all about mine. I realized that if I serve, love, and focus on other people, I can forget about myself and everything will be taken care of by the Lord. I love it. So glad I finally figured that out. It makes the mission so much easier and worthwhile. I’m glad I got that principle before the year mark. OH YEAH  - WHICH BY THE WAY IS IN TWO MONTHS. Weird. I cannot believe it. Doesn’t Jacob P. get home like now? It is very weird. This time thing is like a trick question #joke. Time isn’t real. So more about my loverly comp. We get along well. I really am glad that he is struggling a little bit because it means I can just focus on loving and serving him. He has been a little bit home sick. He has a true love at home and that makes it tough because he misses her. He doesn’t understand anything. But overall he has been a great sport and he is super outgoing. Everyone here already loves him. Haha it is super funny and sad because now people laugh at him. I remember when I first got here and everyone laughed at me when I tried to talk and I HATED it but now I am that person because once they start laughing I laugh. So I have to stop. But it just brings back good memories. Us gringos know how to make Mexicans laugh. Haha speaking of which.... He was sharing a spiritual thought and Grammy was like "NO INTENDI NADA. jajaja" and I was like “GRAMMY BE NICE”. So I think that people are going to have more compassion for him. This is good. It changes stuff up a little bit and I am just super lucky to have him as a comp. Super humble and willing to work. We got this!!!

So since the new people arrived this week we had to do stuff EVERY morning this week and I was like what the heck. Seriously. One day we went to go get mattresses and then the next we had meetings to train, and then he had to go get his visa, and the next we had something else. SO it was chaos this week. Running back and forth on the metro carrying mattresses and I was like omg. JK that didn’t happen. It would’ve been funny though. We also went to the offices again this morning to get my package, which was in a HUGE box. Super unnecessary. But thanks. I loved the presents. I sneak peeked them and taped them back up and my comp thought that was weird but I was like "what.... I do this every year... why stop now?"

We are living as four people in this house now. Haha CRAZY. It is tiny. But I have been good about it all. It is actually super fun. Elder W. and his comp are funny. His comp is some big football player. A really good guy. It is just a whole lot of fun. But they are supposed to find a new house this week. We will see what happens.

Okay cool miracle. So we went to a baptism for other missionaries in my District. (PS I GAVE MY FIRST BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW AND IT WAS AMAZING I LOVED IT SO MUCH) and so we went so we could teach a short lesson while they were changing clothes after being all wet. SO when we were there the lady was super nice and was crying while she bore her testimony and thanked me for helping her clear her doubts and fears because she had never felt so good like when she got out of the water. It was super touching. But when we were there some 20 year old guy walks in and was like super gangsta in his glasses and I was like who is this chabo and he was like "hey, uh how can I do something like this...." and I was like ummm "TALK TO ME". So we talked to him. His name is C. He has had a rough life and he wants to change it. The Spirit guided him to the church and now he is in the process of talking to us so he can be baptized. I think it will be a challenge to get over a few things but he has lots of faith and a great desire. So awesome! 

We also had other good lessons this week. But I don’t remember them. 

So I will tell a funny story. 

Okay so Friday night we got tacos. And we were running home so we wouldn’t be late in the house and when we approached the house we heard a bunch of chanting and yelling and lights flashing and I was like hmmm… Exorcism? But it wasn’t. it was just a Mary Worship - in our house. No big deal. I mean they only had like 50 people flooding into our house with the gates open and everyone chanting the same recited prayer and I was like “what do we do?” Like I don’t want to be THAT awkward person running through a Mary Ritual. But, if we didn’t awkwardly walk through the crowd to get to the stairs we wouldn’t be able to get home. So I was like uhhh. But we eventually did it. So in the middle of a big Mary Ritual, four white missionaries run through the crowd holding tacos. Talk about that - Only in Mexico - only. 

But despite all of that, one of the women that was there talked to us the next day and wanted to learn more about us. HAhaha. So that’s great.

All is well here. I am losing time. This limit is killing me.

Bed bugs are called chinches. SICK. Some missionaries had to fumigate their house cause their mattresses were infested by chinches. YUM.

I loved the family photos. I loved that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I don’t know what that even is. I can’t believe it is December. I am loving the mission. And I love you all!

Con Amor,

Elder Macdonald

PS. Shout out to Uncle Damon and Uncle Robby!!! I love you guys so, so much! Hope your birthdays are just fantastic! 

District selfies.

My first baptismal interview!

Elder K!

Mission accomplished - an eternal family!

All right - so this week was HILARIOUS. Seriously.

We had the best baptism of my mission this weekend. It was also legit crazy and very stressful. I almost drowned Grammy. But it all worked out - Grammy and M. were baptized and confirmed. Mission accomplished. Well part of it...

SO I am going to try to explain it. Bear with me.

Apparently this week ALL of Iztapalapa lost water. (Our delegation) I didn’t really believe anyone because my house had water all day everyday... or I guess when we showered and used the toilets. So, I was super positive that everything would go perfectly fine for the baptism. Well we got there on Friday morning to fill up the baptismal font in a church building that isn’t ours because we knew that the heater would work there and we NEEDED hot water for Grammy because otherwise she would've died in cold water. So as we were filling up the font it got up to like one foot and then it stopped. So yeah I guess the water really did go out. We went up to the roof to see if there was still water in the big tanks and it was completely empty. And since the water was out in the delegation it wasn’t filling back up automatically. SO we immediately ran to the "pipas" which are huge trucks filled with water and begged them to bring us water to the church because it was an emergency. But they said that since everyone is out of water in the city there is a big wait list and I was just like “RUDE”. Obviously, salvation isn’t important to the pipas. So when we returned to the church everyone was there and ready for the baptism. But they were like “uh why is there only a little bit of water in there”.... And we were like “sorry it ran out of water”. So we were like  "but we can go to the stake center and hope it works there". But they were like “NO its fine we can just sit down and get baptized”.... ??? WUT, uh are you sure? So M. is a big guy. He tried it out and GOT IN THE WATER to see if the water would cover his whole body by lying down. But his belly wouldn’t fit under the water and it was super awkward and I was just like “okay ya - no we are going to the stake center”. After we get to the stake center we see that the baptismal font is FILLED with clean water and i was like “WOOHOO”. But the bad thing was that is was COLD -like freezing cold. Like ice. We didn’t have the keys to empty out the font and so all we could do was fill it up with warm water and let it cycle through the drain on the side of the wall. So we stalled and took lots of photos. Then we finally were just like okay we are doing it. Grammy was freaking out. I was freaking out for her. But we all sucked it up and did it. M. went first and it all went well. Then it was my turn to baptize Grammy. She touched the water with her toes and was like "AYYYY SANTA MARIA QUE CALIENTE ES ESO?¿!?¿". lolol. So I WAS just like “it’s okay Hermana just get in and try to get used to it a little bit”. She was like falling in the water and couldn’t get control of herself. (I assume she can’t swim either.) So I just grabbed her and was like “okay use this hand to plug your nose so you don’t get it filled with a bunch of water”. I started to say the prayer and while I was pronouncing the ordinance she was like doing her own little catholic prayer and I was like “CRAP”. I guess the cold water made her forget that when we pray only one person talks. Then I said Amen and she legit did the catholic cross hand motion because she was freaking out so bad because it was freezing. HAHA. I was just like uh STOP. And I put her in the water. She was super focused that she left her mouth open and sucked in a whole bunch of water!!!!!!!!!1 She came out and was like dying coughing and had a look of terror on her face. I started hitting her back so she would spit it out so she could breath. And a bunch of water came out and she just started cracking up. She was like "WELL you told me to plug my noise but you didn’t tell me to close my mouth!?!?!" hahahaha. I was dead of shock, coldness, and laughter within myself. I immediately got out and couldn’t stop laughing. I was just so filled with joy that her and her son finally got baptized and that the baptism was so exactly perfect for them because it was the strangest baptism. I will never forget it. Sorry it probably isn’t funny here. You had to be there.

But now they are members and I am just so happy. I was SO filled with the spirit after the ordinance and just knew that they were feeling it as well. It is the best decision they could’ve made. NOW in one year they can be sealed as a family. They were the last ones of their family. It was great to see the change in them. What a miracle.

Okay so President changed the rule and now we only get an hour on the computers. So I am more pressured when I write and I can’t write as much. So that is probably good for you guys cause I always write a novel.

We have changes tomorrow!! I am so happy and content about them. Elder W. isn’t going far. He is actually staying in our same house!! Woohoo. He and I are going to train two newbies. Their names sound very gringo. So I will let you know next week how those white boys are... lol. Elder W. is staying in our ward and so we are just going to split our area for four missionaries now. 25 new missionaries are entering and only 2 are going home. President has been opening like 12-14 new areas for the past two changes and will keep doing it until like March or something. SO MANY MISSIONARIES! And it’s so many for us because our mission is already tiny tiny - like almost the smallest mission in the world. Love it.

Anyway. I love you guys. Know this church is true. God loves us and wants to forgive us when we make mistakes. We just have to start living with the set of rules he has given us so we can have His Spirit with us in this life to prepare us to live with him in the next life. He doesn’t necessarily make life easier, but he makes our burdens lighter. With this help, we are made stronger to pass through tough things.

Love God, and always forgive others so we can be worthy to receive forgiveness from Him.

Anyways. Happy birthday Amy? I don’t remember if it was or will be your birthday. But I love you and wish you this happy birthday.

Oh yeah. Happy Thanksgiving. I'll eat tacos, so don’t worry about me. Be grateful for your families, friends, and the Gospel in your lives. It will make you happier!

Con AMOR,

Elder Macdonald

Lizard

graffiti

leeches

Inside. SO DELICIOUS

The whole family

My son Elder W.

Da boyz

Miracles, laundry elves, and it's COLD!

Meow.

Haven't said that for a while so it just felt necessary.

Well this week was truly great. Miracles are so real. It was also tough and funny. BUT that’s ALWAYS.

So in our house here we have to wash all of our clothes by hand because it is cheaper than taking it to a lavanderia and less awkward then flooding peoples houses. So we just suck it up and do it. Haha. And I actually thought it was kind of fun last week. But this week it was not fun because my line broke and got all of my clean, wet, WHITE clothes, dirty and black and gross. So I had to clean them all again and it was stupid. I felt like a Pioneer. And plus it hurts your hands to wash clothes the old fashioned way. Elder W. and I came to the conclusion that America is a lie and everything is so perfect in America because elves do everything for us (or moms?). And here the elves don’t come. It also because Santa Clause doesn’t come to Iztapalapa (the Federal District he is in). Well, at least that’s what all the parents told me here. Hahahahahhaha. So sad. But, that’s life. I think its because the 3 kings come and give the kids presents. So because of that Santa Clause doesn’t even bother. Anyways. That’s just a little fun fact of Iztapalapa. And the water is green. But you already knew that. 

Well yeah so this week was super good. Miracles I tell you. Four investigators came to church and for two of them it was their first time!!! It was super great because the members totally helped us drive them to the church and drive them home. I LOVE that. Way to go members! One guy was actually in a bad accident in January of this year and has been on bed rest for like 8-9 months. He is just now starting to walk and do therapies to regain strength in his leg. One of his legs is just skin and bone. He lost all muscle and almost all of the control that he once had in his leg. He is a great man. He has a strong faith in Jesus Christ. He was baptized in a Baptist church a while back. He enjoys talking to all people about religion so his interest isn’t really driven by "finding the truth"... It’s more driven by interest in learning more and talking. Which is good too but it’s hard to have spiritual progress with that. BUT he came to church with his wife. And I really hope they liked it. The Gospel Principles class was a slight disaster so that was unsettling. The topic was the signs of the second coming and then they got back on the topic of the twelve tribes of Israel and it was just so weird and everyone was confused and our investigator was making comments on the 144,000 that come from the twelve tribes and everyone was so confused and I was just like “uh can we like end this class?”... #thanksfornotcomingtoclassTEACHER but its okay and I need to learn patience. Haha. And then we had to leave early from church because our Zone Leaders "needed" our help but they really didn’t. So I didn’t get to talk to him after priesthood to see how he felt about it all. But we shall see......

We also have two baptisms planned for this week. I have mentioned to you that it is the Grandma and her son that will complete the C. Family. So I have been worried about Grammy because she has lacked a testimony. So that is all we were focusing on with her these past 5 weeks- TESTIMONY of the church, the Book of Mormon, and the Prophet Joseph Smith. So I was losing a bit of hope because it didn’t seem like she was catching it all due to her age and due to her past life as a strong Catholic. But, I should’ve been more hopeful. I mean I had seen her go from rejecting a baptismal date to wanting to get baptized! And last night we were able to see her and fill in her baptism papers. And guess what. SHE HAS A TESTIMONY. She is recognizing her belief and faith as a testimony and I was just so grateful to God because he really does work miracles. It is so beautiful and great. I should’ve kept the faith that I initially had. I mean we were led by the spirit to give her a specific baptismal date and so obviously God was going to prepare her for that day. And you know what! She WILL be ready. But she told us that if the water is cold she won’t get in. Hahahah. SO we have to make sure that the heater works. I am also really worried for her because she needs to have an open-heart surgery. Apparently she has been sick for a while, but now it is like urgent and I am really worried that it won’t go well. She is really old and fragile and yeah. But we were able to give her a blessing and I really have the faith that whatever is supposed to happen will happen. What a great blessing to have seen her progression in just the short few months that I have been here. Her son is also ready for baptism this week and I am so stoked for him. Hahaha and his son came to church this week with a "futuro misionero" tag and I was loving it. So if everything goes according to plan, we have two baptisms on FRIDAY!

Alright.... what else happened.....

Oh yeah, the orphan boy that we were teaching that isn’t in our ward is good. He is an interesting character.  He wants to get baptized. But he is like not wanting to go to his ward so that will be interesting.... He has a tough life and I am just glad he is making good choices to follow Christ.

We got a new investigator thanks to some members! It is like a family friend of boyfriend of someone. He is kind of super awkward and not really open with us so we don’t really know if he wants to listen to us or just is doing it for the girl. He didn’t come to church and he said he would. But I mean everyone says that.. It was cool because we have to focus more on God and Christ with him because he doesn’t have a background believing in God or Christ. So it was a nice reminder to see the blessings in my life. First, because almost everyone here believes in Christ and so it makes that part easier. Second, because it has been a belief so integrated in my heart since I was a baby. It really makes life easier to believe in Christ. As cheesy as it sounds, its true. I don’t know how much he will progress. But I'll keep you updated. And plus if President splits the area again then I won’t even teach him in my area. AHH. The changes are coming in a week. Next Monday you will know what happened. Time is FLYING BY. So loco.

Well I am like losing all train of thought of what else happened this week. I am really hoping this week goes perfectly but it never does so I am just a little bit scared. Please pray for L. C. (Grammy) this week because she is going into surgery and I am worried it will not permit her to be baptized and just worried for her health in general. So yeah, please do it. And I think that is all...

This upcoming week we have a Capacitation de Zona. A Zone Training and it should be fun. We also have baptism. AND that will be fun!!!!!!! 

Love you all soooo much. I can’t believe it is almost Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone was going crazy here cause it was BIEN FIN in the stores. It was like Black Friday and all of that. HAhaha. Love it. So weird. 

Well anyhoo. Thanks for your prayers and love. We feel it here in Quetzal.

PS I found out the new temple video came out the week after I went and I wanted to cry because that was like a slap in the face, but I have to count my blessings for the oportunidad that I had to go.. hahahaha. waaah.

Con Amor,

Elder Macdonald

He is a chef.

CORN ON A COB HERE IS THE BEST. It's calle elote. They smuther it in mayonesa and cheese and chile. #heavenonastick

corn

Saying goodbye...

It got freezing this week! SO COLD.

Heating up a pan to heat up my hands.

Some people give us baby food to eat... why?

montañas

Us with A. El futuro misionero.

Elder P. eating corn. Oh yeah btw he left us. Haha we were only comps for 5 days and he got reassigned. But it's all good. He was a great guy!

Charity, a new third comp, and gratitude

All right. This week was interesting. I have a new companion. I still have my old one, Elder W., but we have a new guy with us who just got in from Ecuador! His name is Elder P. Haha. It is interesting. I'll explain more in a bit.

So it is really frustrating to be stressed because that can be the biggest impediment as a missionary to really connect with everyone else and let God’s love be spread through my example. I feel like I have been lacking this "connection" with investigators, members, and other missionaries, because I am just so focused on the stresses of doing what I am supposed to do and being good at it. And it is hard! I feel like a jerk sometimes, and I am now realizing that being stressed for dumb stuff like that is completely selfish and not Christ-like at all. Well... I don’t know what to do. I am constantly having self-evaluations of how I can be better and I feel like I am getting NOWHERE. Okay. 

Okay well we are teaching a kid that is the boyfriend of a new member and he is super great. Like he brings such an amazing spirit to our lessons and will progress soooo fast, but it’s really dumb because he doesn’t live in our area, BUT he has already integrated himself into our ward with all of the youth here and with us and so it will be heartbreaking when I tell him he has to go to a different ward. Well, actually I already did but he was like “no, I think I am good here so I think I'll just stay” and I am just like “oh noo”. It’s really tough, I don’t know what to do with him. His parents are dead and his sister lives in a different state and doesn’t talk to him. He literally lives alone and has had such a hard life. But the happiness that the church has brought to him has made him SO HAPPY and so spiritual and he just wants to serve God and he probably wants to serve a mission and ya. He is so great and it’s just so not fun to tell him he can’t come to church in our ward. So I am being a chicken and putting it off. 

So this week I completed 9 months. That’s weird. It really isn’t that much time, but it kind of is. I don’t know what to think about that. I feel like I am still a new baby missionary.

My comp went to immigration this week and I went to the offices to wait for him. I saw an Elder B. I think his name is Tyler B. It’s funny because we totally knew each other before the mission at BYU and he is from Mesa or Gilbert and its just weird seeing him working here. So when I was in the offices I did a bunch of paperwork and entered in all of the new baptism records that happened the past week. It wasn’t very fun. But it helped the secretaries out. #Service #humble

So on Thursday we had a great first lesson with a new family we are teaching. I really like them a lot and I just hope that they can start to progress. I need to find someone in the ward, or a family to friendship them and help them go to church. Haha. While we were in the lesson with them I got a call from the Assistants and they told me that I had special changes the next day and I was like “WHAT - NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!” But it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was thinking they were going to move me or Elder W. and I would’ve been really sad. So instead they just told me that we were getting a third companion. I was soo excited. I don’t know why because I have been in trios before and I really hate being in trios, but I guess I just forgot. lololol. His name is Elder P. and he is from Ecuador. He has almost 5 months in the mission, and he was waiting in Ecuador for his visa to come to Mexico. So when I got to the house the next day, the Assistant was like “okay try not to act super surprised about his hair because apparently if he cuts it he will go to jail when he gets back to Ecuador...." and I was just like “what the heck are you talking about dude?” And then I got in the house and was like “SHUT UP”. Hahaha. But I didn’t really say that. I was seriously peeing my pants because I NEVER thought I would have a comp that has a LEGIT ponytail. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. So he like explains to us that his tribe comes from pure "Lamanites" or whatever and I am just so confused as to what that means. But I guess it is a tradition, or really important to his culture that the men keep their hair long. So I guess since it is really part of his culture he doesn’t have to cut it... Hermana V. didn’t know what to do... she was like "should we tell him to cut his hair?!?!" and I was like “uh don’t ask me, I’m not in charge”. So we waited to see what President said in his interview and I guess he didn’t say anything because he didn’t have to cut it. And it’s still long. So I’m just a little bit jealous and think I’m going to grow my hair out so I can be as cool as him. 

He is a good guy but just gets on my nerves a tad bit more that I would have liked. But it’s only for two weeks until the next change. It was weird because when we were reporting to the Zone Leaders he was like throwing me and my other comp under the bus to the Zone Leader to look good in front of him. Like "oh they can do this better to get people to come to church because they are not doing this and this and so and so" and Elder W. and I were just like “duhhh heck!?” The politics of a mission really are crazy. I think it is an illness that some people have. But I just have to love him and everyone else that can be really hard. Awk. Maybe it is just me and I don’t like to be corrected. I definitely think that is a good percentage of it... But it was also a clear brown nose tactic. But hey, I have seen it done before, and it definitely won’t be the last time. 

I am sorry. I will try to have more charity. Actually something really great that my President did was add a fourth pillar of excellence! The first three, since I got here, were Work Diligently, Strict Obedience, and Trust in the Spirit. He just added the fourth, which is my favorite. It has to do with working to develop charity. I LOVE that because it has been something so overlooked in life by everyone. We are all so focused in being perfect missionaries that we really forget our true purpose, which is to be a representative of Jesus Christ. And I think that a representative of Jesus Christ HAS to have charity. Charity is such a broad characteristic. But it is something I am so excited to work on. haha. It is hard for me sometimes but I know it is so necessary. Charity suffereth long and is kind, envieth not, and seeketh not its own. It is seriously the most perfect attribute, which makes it soo hard to accomplish because we are so opposite as humans. We are not patient, we are not nice, we are envying beings, and we always want what we want- NOW. So when you read that scripture you’re like “wow thanks for describing my faults and making me feel super good”. But it is just another chance to be humbled. Haha backstreet boys just came on and it’s like "I want it that way", thanks for being proving my point. Jk, sorry distractions. Okay. Really though. The mission is such a humbling experience because it has been here that I have realized what a horribly imperfect person I am and how mean and rude and selfish I am and its so great because I don’t want to be like that. So its just hard but great - The refiners fire. God knows who I can be. Sometimes I forget that there is a "big picture" and I get too involved in the little hard things that I have like this new companionship. It is hard to get used to another personality but its like, I can either be difficult or I can shut up and learn something. So I think I am going to decide to learn something. I am just ranting and I don’t even remember what I was talking about. Oh yeah. Charity. Charity is perfection and it is really hard to have but I am trying to get it little by little. Okay well that is enough. 

Anyway. I love the message of the Restoration. It breaks my heart when people harden their hearts against that story. I know it could sound crazy, but it is also just so simple and beautiful to know that God loves us so much that he keeps communicating with us through a living prophet. I am working on understanding other points of views about the Restoration. It is something super personal to me because it was one of the first testimonies I received as a youngin’ - that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I remember I got that testimony when we did the Church History tour. I am so grateful for that family trip we took because without it I don’t think my testimony would be nearly as strong about Joseph Smith and his journey through restoring the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have quite a few of our investigators right now that are stumped on doubt about Joseph Smith. I hope they can open their hearts and let the spirit bare witness of the truth of that message.

Okay So I think that is all. I got the package. Thanks soo much. I LOVED the gratitude letters. I think I’m going to work on being more grateful. I love you all so much and am grateful for your kindness and the love that was expressed through your words. Anyways. I’m peacin’ out with this letter cause its too long and not that important. 

LOVE YA. Love me. bai

Conamorporfis,

Elder Macdonald

PS the doctor that works in the temple is technically the mission doctor for all the Mexico City missionaries. He works where the old MTC was located here. haha. idk. It’s not a weird thing? 

PPS Shout out to Aunt Karyn and Aunt Amy! So happy birthday to you two! I love ya both!  And shout out to Aunt Lisa last week – happy bday and much loveJ

cielo (heaven or sky)

selfisunday