Alex mail 9-25-2023 "Welcome to Washington DC!"

 

Howdy howdy!! I hope you all have had a fantastic week! This past week has been wilddd - we've had a ton of stuff go on! I’ve officially made it to the mission field! But before I get to all that let's go back to the last few days in the MTC!

Last Sunday was super spiritual and awesome! We met with President and Sister Marquis (our branch presidents) a lot and they're both so spiritual and loving! Definitely going to miss the go-and-do experience.  I learned a ton about how the Spirit speaks to me! I invite you all to search for how the Spirit speaks to you individually it definitely makes a difference!

On Tuesday we were assigned service in the cafeteria and let me tell ya, those tables have never been cleanerrrr. Elder Horoba, McNeill, Mabey, and I were the dream-team haha. That night for our general authority devotional we had Elder Nash and his wife! They talked about what our missionary purpose truly means and how we can live the doctrine of Christ as we teach it! Super awesome as always!

Wednesday was last day of the MTC and it was tough to say goodbye to our district and teachers who we've come to love so much these past 6 weeks. Our last class we had a testimony meeting and the Spirit was so strong!! I'm so grateful for the missionaries I was placed with, I know it was inspired by God! Each one helped me grow so much - love them all! Also Wednesday night was my friend's first day in the MTC so got to see him before I left the next day! I also had him give me a blessing which was so cool and powerful! I've loved my time at the MTC I learned so much and I am so grateful for the Spirit I was able to feel there!

Thursday was travel day and it started off at 4:00AM leaving the MTC for the airport. A few bus and train-rides later, we made it to the airport and then waited forever for my flight haha. I flew from Salt Lake to Washington, DC and got to travel with like 20 other missionaries! When we landed, we met our mission president and his wife (President and Sister Clarke) and they're so kind and loving!! We drove to the mission home, had dinner and a meeting, and then we were taken to a hotel and it was moneyyy sleeping in a big bed again hahaha!

Friday we got up and went to the Lincoln memorial! Super cool to see it and all the main memorials and monuments around it! After we were each given a book of Mormon and split up into groups of 5 on the subway. We had a 30 minute ride and were tasked with talking to someone and hopefully share the book of Mormon with them! After a while no one was on our train and so I said a quick prayer for Heavenly Father to give me someone to share the gospel with, and right after, a guy got on and I felt prompted to talk to him! His name was AJ and he was a legend! He was super nice and pretty interested in the church and I was able to give him the book of Mormon! I know that God has a plan and if we just let him direct us and have the courage to do His work he will lead us! After we went to the temple visitor center and saw the outside of the temple, super beautiful! Then went to the mission office and I met my companions! I'm in a trio, my trainer is Elder Keoster (pronounced Custer) and Elder Sanders! They're both super awesome and really patient with me learning haha. After, we went back to our area which is Odenton, Maryland! It's a pretty small city and mostly neighborhoods but I'm excited!  The only downside is I’m in an English-speaking area so I won’t get to use Spanish as much but it’s all good!  I know God needs me here and I trust his plan!

Saturday was pretty rainy, so we didn't get to be outside as much as we wanted but still got in some good work! On Sunday we went to church and the ward is awesome! It's pretty big and the members are really awesome so hopefully we'll be able to work with them a lot to find others to teach!

Sorry for the long email, haha, but just a quick spiritual thought - It's definitely been tough adjusting to in field missionary life but I testify that God cares about us so much and is always aware of us! Every single time I have prayed for his strength, love, and comfort and I have seen it! Turn to him and I promise he will be there!

Love you all have a great week! Feel free to reach out with anything at all!!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Milagros (miracles) I know Miracles are around us daily! God is pouring out blessings into our lives we just have to look for them and accept them!

Invitation of the Month: FOLLOW THE PROPHET!! General conference is this week woohooo!! I invite you all to take some time this upcoming weekend and listen to the words of our prophet! If you don't know how to watch or what conference is, reach out to me or another friend we'd love to teach ya!

Pics:
1. Artistic rendition of district 08-P
2. My dawggg Tanner Jay!!
3. The boys
4. Hermano Bond
5. Hermana Lopez
6. Hermana Hatch
7 and 8. DC!
9. Lincoln Memorial
10. Washington Monument
11. World War 2 Memorial
12. Subway
13. Washington DC Temple
14. Christ statue in Visitors center 
15. New missionaries with President!

#missionnotes #2

 

Alex mail 9-15-23 "¡Habla su idioma!"

 

¡Holaaaaaa! How's everyone's week been?? I hope you all are doing great! This past week has gone by crazy fast once again! Classes are pretty similar each day but I'm having a lot of fun learning Spanish! It's definitely tough at times but I feel like I made a lot of good progress this last week which was cool! Just taking it one day at a time haha little by little! We've also done a lot of fun games and practices in classes which definitely make the daily grind a lot easier.

On Sunday instead of our usual devotional we had a musical one by Jennie Oaks Baker and her family which was awesome! She's the daughter of President Oaks of the first presidency and she's insane at the violin! Super cool and really spiritual!

On Tuesday we had Elder Natress and his wife here for our general authority devotional from the 70. They talked about being confident in Jesus Christ and his work, not being afraid, and just having faith in all we do! Super hype and motivating! I always love the Tuesday night devotionals they're always so good!

On Wednesday we started what's called "Speak Your Language" (Habla su idioma en español) which basically means for our next week here we have to speak Spanish at all times, unless the person we're speaking to doesn't speak Spanish. It's definitely been a grind at times especially outside of class haha but it's definitely great practice for the field and we're doing alright! Can't believe I just have one week here left it's crazy!

Quick spiritual thought this week is from the talk "Lord, I Believe" by Elder Holland from April 2013 general conference. One of my favorite quotes is "In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. Hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes". I know that faith is something we build throughout our lives and when we encounter trials, rely on what we already know and just desire to gain more! When we do this I know that God will bless us and give us the strength and comfort we need!

Love you all hope you guys have a phenomenal week and always feel free to reach out if you guys need anything at all!! ¡Nos vemos!

P.S. might not send an email next week because I probably will be traveling to D.C. on Thursday or Friday so my pday will probably switch

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the week: Inquebrantable (Unbreakable) I'm stealing this one from our teacher haha but it's just a dope word 😂 I know with Christ we are Unbreakable!

Invitation of the Month: FOLLOW THE PROPHET! How did week 1 go?? I've worked on studying a lot more general conference talks while here in the MTC and they've brought me so much peace, joy, and strength into my life! The words of our prophets are truly the words of God today! Keep it up!

 Pictures:

1. Trying to watch the BYU game from the 6th floor (didn't work very well haha)
2. Love this painting of Christ
3. The official tagsss
4. The squadddd!! Love you all you guys are the best!!

Alex mail 9-8-2023 "Your Reassignment Is..."

 

Hi Everyone!! This week has been awesome but it's flownnn by! Classes each day are pretty similar, mostly just learning Spanish and practicing teaching which has been cool! I've learned a tonnn this past week and each day I get a little more confident with speaking! The Spirit is definitely helping me out I couldn't do it on my own!

Today I got my reassignment for where I'll go in 2 weeks if my Mexico visa isn't in yet by then. Drumroll pleaseeee... Washington D.C. North!! I'm super excited about it if I do end up there! I don't know a ton about it ha,ha but I heard from an elder that lives there that my mission is the actual city of Washington D.C. and most of Maryland which would be really cool! There's still a chance that I'll go to Mexico right away if my visa comes in this next week but, if not, I'll go to D.C. until it gets in! Honestly, I'm great either way I know the Lord has a plan for me and I'll go where he needs me to be! And serving in 2 places would actually be super cool!

This past Tuesday for our devotional we had Elder Gary E. Stevenson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles come!! It was sooo amazing! He talked about being all-in on this work, how this work is the greatest work on the earth, and how much we need to rely on the scriptures in our daily lives!! The entire time I could just feel so strongly that he was a direct representative of Jesus Christ and felt his testimony hit me so strong! The Apostles truly are special witnesses of Jesus Christ!

On Wednesday we got to help welcome the new missionaries that got here which was really cool! Wild to think that was me just 3 weeks ago but it was cool to hopefully give ‘em some good advice!

One quick spiritual thought I want to share is from the talk "Christlike Poise" by Mark A. Bragg. He say’s "Spiritual poise blesses us to stay calm and focused on what matters most, especially when we are under pressure." I know that Jesus Christ is our perfect example and as we do our best to follow him, He will bless us to withstand all the storms around us and be calm and confident no matter the situation! Turn to him each day! I invite you all to study this talk it’s a really, really good one!

Today after going to the temple for P-day I got to see my sister, Kimber and my Mom!! (Who were down in Provo) Definitely the best highlight of the week I love my family and am so grateful for the knowledge that we will live together forever! Love you all, have a great week! Feel free to reach out if you need anything at all!!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the week: Gozo (Joy!!) I love this word! It doesn't mean just happiness, joy is everlasting! I know that true joy comes through following Jesus Christ and his Gospel.

Invitation of the Month: FOLLOW THE PROPHET! This month's invitation will hopefully get us all ready for General Conference next month! I invite you guys each day to work to follow the prophet, whether that's study a general conference talk, study the scriptures, or apply one of their teachings into your lives. I would love to hear what you guys do each day! I promise as you do this, this upcoming general conference will be so spiritually uplifting for you and very meaningful and beneficial!

Pictures:

1. Love the Utah mountains
2, 3, and 4. ¡Mi Familia!

Alex mail 9-1-2023 "¿entienden?"

 

Hello, hello!! How's everyone's week been?? I hope ya’ll are doing great! This past week has flownnnn by! Time seriously doesn't work here it's funny but it's good! We're staying super busy, so the days go by quick ha,ha. This last week we started full Spanish immersion which has been really awesome! Basically, for all of our classes (6-7 hours a day) our teachers and us are only allowed to speak Spanish! It's definitely tough sometimes but we've learned so much in just 1 week! I feel like I learn the most just from listening to my teachers speak and feel like I'm getting better day by day! If you're wondering about the title of the email, "¿entienden?" means "do you all understand?" It's a question we hear all the time in class haha and half the time it's followed by a "sí, muy bien" and half the time it's a blank stare haha good times.

On the downside the MTC Sickness hit this past week which was tough. It was inevitable though with how many people are here and luckily it wasn't that bad. I'm good now though so hopefully that's it for the rest of my time here haha.

Our devotional Tuesday was by Sister and President Godoy of the 70 and it was really cool! We sang in the choir again which was dope! Sang an arrangement of "Armies of Helaman" which was fireeee. President Godoy talked about his personal conversion story and it was really cool to see how he is still so excited about the gospel and the joy it brings so many years later! Definitely got us fired up to go share that joy with others!

In class we've just been learning a lot about how to say certain things and phrases in Spanish, but we've also learned a lot about prayer and testimony which has been cool! Even though I don't have all the vocabulary I want, I've realized that just trying my best in Spanish makes my prayers and testimony a lot more sincere! That's something I definitely want to keep improving on!

One last thought I want to leave with ya’ll that I really liked in my personal study this week. In Elder Haynie's talk from the April 2023 General Conference "A living prophet for the latter days", he shares the simple but powerful statement "knowing by revelation that there is a living prophet on the earth changes everything." I know that Russel M. Nelson truly is the prophet of God and following his guidance brings so much peace and joy! Love you all - have a great week!!

Elder McDonald

Word of the week: Mira (telling someone to look) this word is just fun to yell haha it's become one of our district's favorite, credit Elder Mabey for starting it (pictured below)

Invitation of the Month: SMILE!! Last week of this invitation, end on a good note!! Focus on the good in your day and spread light!

Pictures

1. Las Montañas 

2. Elder Mabey with a beautiful view

3. Awesome picture of Christ

4. Respecto! ... no respeto