Alex mail 10-30-2023: "Trunk or Treat!🎃👻"

 

Hey everybody! Hope the week has been great! Also Happy Halloween! Crazy we're already to the end of October haha you know what that means though... time for Christmas music 👀this week has been crazy busy but full of really fun times and some cool tender mercies! Here are some highlights!

Tuesday we got to do service at the county food bank which was super fun! Kinda sketchy and creepy though haha, The food bank is at an old abandoned mental hospital campus. Not even joking it's literally in the kitchen of the mental hospital, it was wild 😧 - glad we were there during the day haha. We got to load up their mobile food pantry it's basically a big food truck that delivers groceries to people who can't go to the store for themselves, super cool!

Throughout the week we were handing out fliers for our ward trunk or treat and had one of the funniest rejections I've seen so far. This like 80 year old lady answers, we tell her we're inviting people to our church party, free food and free games all that stuff, and then she proceeds to tell us she doesn't celebrate Halloween because it's antichristian and how dare we be associated with such an evil holiday and slammed the door. It was so funny and unexpected my companions and I were dying laughing afterwards but hey, all good I respect your opinion lady hahaha.

Had a lot of really awesome member dinners this week! I love how no matter where you go throughout the world the church culture is the same and people are so welcoming and caring, super awesome!

Thursday we made a trail at bacon ridge. Yep you read that right we actually made the trail ourselves haha it was pretty fun though! Cut down a lot of trees and bushes, it was beautiful when we were done with it we're basically pros haha.

Had a great lesson with the Henry family, Dwayne, Tameka, and Dequan! Had a great talk about prayer and how we can literally have a conversation with our Heavenly Father! Super awesome family keep 'em in the prayers!

Friday we had our ward trunk or treat and we went all out! We were the judges for the chilly cook-off and only like 1 was actually gross so that's good 😂and then we decorated our trunk to hand out candy. Went with the avengers theme and had a game where the kids threw Thor's hammer and had to knock down the cardboard bad guys it was a big hit haha. And yeah the captain America Shield was homemade we like that😏😂had a super cool phone call with our friend Anna! She had some really cool miracles that led her to us and we were able to have a really good talk about prayer and how we can rely on Christ during difficult times!

Saturday got to go to the Spanish area and had my first lessons in Spanish! We had 2, the first one with my boy Abel, he spoke really clear Spanish and I could understand most of it! Had a great talk about baptism and how much blessings it brings into our lives! 2nd one was the tough one haha. My boy Harold from Venezuela, this dude spoke the fastest and most slurred Spanish I have ever heard it was so tough to understand I was lost for most the lesson haha. It was still really good though! This guy has been through it all and literally has nothing but his faith is so strong in God and just such a humbling experience for me! Made me realize how much we take for granted each day and just need to be grateful for all that we do have because some people have it a lot worse!

Spiritual thought for the week comes from the talk "In the Path of Their Duty" by Elder Bednar from this last general conference! I loved this talk and ya'll should go read it, love how he emphasizes how even if we're not recognized for our efforts by others, God recognizes them and will always bless us in his time! Love you all have a great week and let me know if you need anything at all!

Love, Elder McDonald 

Word of the Week:  Esfuerzo (effort)  I know that God cares most about our effort!  He doesn't demand perfection, he just wants us to try!  Try to be a little better today than yesterday.

Invitation of the Month:  GRATITUDE PRAYERS!!  One week left!  Show Heavenly Father how grateful you are for all the blessings He's given you each week!

**Colores de otono**

**Trunk or Treat**

Alex mail 10-23-23: "Sombrero Gets Bodied💀"

 

Holaaaaa!! Cómo están? Hope you all have had a fantastic week! Can't believe it's already another p-day, time is movin' out here! It's been another great week full of small but powerful miracles! Also had a ton of great lessons, dinners, and interactions with members this week which was super cool!

On Tuesday we had new missionary training, part-2, talked about adjusting to missionary life, had a super powerful testimony meeting, and got to hear from President Clarke! Love that guy, such a powerful teacher and example!

Wednesday had a super awesome phone call with my man Matt, who we met last week! Had a great talk about the importance of baptism and helped clear up a lot of questions he had about it and the Book of Mormon! Also cool to help him see he doesn't have to take our word for it, he can take it to God and ask him for what's true, just like we all can each day! Also had a hilarious visit with an older member in our ward from the UK, he opened the door, told us he didn't have time to talk, and then told us stories for like 15 minutes without us saying anything 😂so funny haha shoutout to my sister Kimber, - the East Coast ramble is realllll!

Thursday had a fire district council about consecrating our time to the Lord and then had my first interview with President! So cool to sit down with him, one-on-one, get to know him, and just feel such a strong Spirit as we testified and counseled together! Day ended on a bitter sweet moment, we passed-off my boy Jeremiah, to the YSA (young single adult) Elders. It went super well though and the YSA ward and resources there will be so good for him! He'll always have a special place in my heart as my first ever lesson, dawg for life!

Friday realized we had a screw in our car tire and spent the morning sitting in a "Firestone store" haha good times. In the afternoon had really good experiences being bold and inviting everyone we talked to to come to church and just come and see!

Saturday did exchanges with the Spanish Elders, except this time our DL and I switched places so it was me and 2 other pretty new guys running the Spanish area by ourselves. It actually went really good though and had some really good experiences finding people outside good-ol' Megamart! Met a dude from Guatemala who met with missionaries 40 years ago, loved the Book of Mormon but lost it, and was so happy when we gave him one for free! So cool to see that Book light up his life. We went whiteboarding that night and asked people the question, "If you could talk to God right now what would you ask him?" We got some funny answers but also some really good ones that led to us testifying!

Sunday had the primary program, love seeing the joy, faith, and light of those little but powerful kids! Also,  gotta help out in primary 2nd hour and play some sharks and minnows, some of those kids got wheels haha so fun.

Quick spiritual thought for the week comes from Alma 26 in the Book of Mormon! This chapter is so powerful its basically the missionary Ammon's Homecoming talk haha. I invite you all to read it this week and reflect on how you've seen God's power and the fruits of your labors each day! Love you all have a great week and always feel free to reach out! Hasta luego!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: semilla (seed) I know I've said it before but I'm super grateful for Heavenly Father helping me recognize my efforts that are planting seeds of faith in the lives of others! I promise you are all doing so much more than you realize to bless others, pray to see those seeds of faith!

Invitation of the Month: GRATITUDE PRAYERS!! Any changes y'all have seen by being more grateful in your prayers? I know that for me I've become a lot more grateful for the little things each day the Lord blesses us with! I'd love to hear what you all are grateful for let me know if you have the chance!

Caught in 4k 👀 & R.I.P. Sombrero Wind blew it to top of Megamart!

"Whiteboard ganggg"

Alex mail 10-16-2023: "Miracles Are Real!"

 

What's good everyone?!? Hope it's been a fantastic week! This week for us has been super awesome! We've seen a lot of miracles and my testimony that the Lord truly directs his work on the earth today has grown so much! I love that as missionaries we get a front row seat to his work and get to witness his hand in the lives of others every single day! It's really not us doing this work, it's all Christ ha,ha we just try to put ourselves in a position where he can use us for good! Let's get to the highlights...

Each week we do weekly planning where we set goals for the week and plan how we'll help our friends. This week we went into it feeling pretty discouraged because our effort has been there, but over the past few months Odenton has been a pretty slow area and we haven't seen a ton of progress. However, we decided to turn to the Lord in prayer and it was so cool, all 3 of us received revelation and spiritual promptings about how we can improve our finding efforts and where to shift our focus which has led to some serious progress and growth this week!

Wednesday was miracle number 1! That night we were going to visit Sister Brown (the older lady in our ward I talked about last week,) and she gave us some doughnuts she's the best ha,ha. But anyway, when we pulled in we saw a family walking and immediately all 3 of us felt the impression "they're ready to hear the gospel!" So we got super excited and decided we'd try to find ‘em and talk to them after meeting with Sister Brown. When we left, we were driving to a neighborhood to start knocking and we saw them walking again! At that point we knew God wanted us to talk to them, so we parked real-quick but they turned and we lost ‘em. After knocking for like 30 minutes we came to this one door and the lady said she wasn't interested but told us to ask the family who rents part of their house. So, we go around to the backside of their house and knock on the door and it's the family!! We probably startled ‘em our smiles were so big when they opened the door but it was so cool! We taught them about the plan of salvation real-quick and how we can live with our families forever! They really liked it, only downside is they're moving so we won't get to keep meeting with them but so glad we were able to be directed by God and plant seeds in their lives! God truly directs his work people!

Thursday we got to do service at a state park called Bacon Ridge 🐖 and trim some bushes and trees. Also, gotta do a cool hike and it gave me some serious Eagle Island vibes, great memories ha,ha. We also saw another miracle, found a guy named Jack while knocking who was super interested about the restoration of Christ's church and the Plan of Salvation! Scheduled a follow up lesson for this week, super excited for that! That night we had a lesson with my boy Jeremiah, super good talk about the power of the Book of Mormon and he's starting to keep commitments to read it more!

Friday, yet another miracle, met a guy named Matt who's super interested in the church and had a great talk about the Book of Mormon! So cool to see how God helping us see miracles as we continue to rely on him and improve our finding efforts!

Saturday got to go to the Spanish area again with my boys! Super fun time and had some really good practice speaking! Got to make my first calls in Spanish which was super scary at first because it's hard enough to understand Spanish in person, not to mention over the phone ha,ha. It actually went really well though and I knew God was helping me out! We also got to go to a baptism for a member's daughter that night, super cool experience! So awesome to see the support and love from the small but powerful branch, Latinos are so awesome! I got my first taste of Latino “time” and parties ha,ha they had a ton of food, delicious Tres-leches cake, and it was like 3 hours long 😂 so fun though. They all loved my last name - it makes them laugh every time and they usually ask "McDonald's? Like hamburgers and chicken nuggets?" followed by more giggling 😂 it's the best ha,ha

Sunday, Jeremiah came to church with us on his own which was amazing! So cool to see his desire to come and even though the sacrament meeting talks were a little random in topic. 😏 I know the Lord was able to touch his heart and testify that this is the true church!

Sorry for the long email ha,ha but quick spiritual thought, comes from the talk "Grateful in Any Circumstance" by Elder Uchtdorf from April 2014. In this talk he focuses on how gratitude is not based on things, but needs to be our focus in every circumstance, not just when things are going good! One of my favorite quotes is "How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?" This is so true and definitely something I want to work on! I invite you all to read this talk and look for God's hand in your life every day, see the good and be grateful! Love you all have a wonderful week!

Con amor, Elder McDonald

 

Word of the week: escoger (to choose) we get to choose every day if we will be loving, happy, kind, and follow God and our Savior Jesus Christ! Make that choice each day!

Invitation of the Month: GRATITUDE PRAYERS!! How'd week 1 go?? I really liked expressing more gratitude to my Heavenly Father each day it helped me be happier and recognize his hand more in my life! I promise we'll see blessings too when we choose to be grateful!!

Pics:

Bacon Ridge!

"Epanol phone call game plan!"  & Whoever makes the speed limits in this city is wild! 😂

Alex mail 10-9-2023: "MEGAMART"

 

Hellooooo! Hope everyone is doing great! Another week in the books! Time went by pretty quick this week so I think that's a good sign of starting to get in the flow of things! It's been a solid week of working to find people and starting to see progress with those we teach. Definitely have seen God's hand a lot this week and I know he is directing his work every day. Here are some of the highlights from the week!

For P-day last Monday we went to the zoo in DC which was cool! I'll throw in some pictures down below, pandas and elephants were some of the favorites haha.

We spent a lot of time Tuesday and Wednesday trying to meet new people and it went pretty good. Met some cool people and even if not many progress we're planting seeds of faith I know the Lord has a plan for them!

On Tuesday we were also able to visit an older lady in our ward named Valerie and she's awesome! It was definitely a humbling experience she doesn't have very much and has a lot of health challenges but her faith is so strong! I've learned to never take all the blessings I've been given for granted, life could be a lot tougher. I also know that when we turn to God and Christ we can get through anything that comes our way!

Wednesday night we got to pray with like 15 little kids who were playing football in the street haha, so cool! I love the joy and light little kids have and just felt God's love for them!

Thursday we had zone conference which was amazing! So good to learn from President and our other leaders, we talked a lot about planning effectively and becoming missionaries who aren't just here but all in! Also played a money game of wiffle ball after which was hype haha

Friday was the highlight of the week and this is where the title comes in😂 I got to go to the Spanish area with my Spanish Dawgs in my district! It was super fun and so nice to actually practice speaking and teaching real people in Spanish! We went to a laundromat and we just talked to everyone seeing who would be interested! Our DL (district leader) Elder Eagan, gave me one example and then told me "alright you do the next one."  Talk about getting thrown in the fire haha. I was pretty nervous but it actually went solid! Elder Eagan helped me out a ton which I was grateful for but by the end I was feeling a lot more confident and could at least have some simple conversations with people! Latino people are awesome everyone will talk to you and they were all pretty patient with my broken Spanish which was nice😂

After the laundromat we went to "Megamart," soooo dope!! If you haven't heard of it it's basically the Latino version of Walmart hahaha but as soon as I walked in I was literally in Mexico. Everything is in Spanish, Mexican flags hanging everywhere, Latino products, a bin of live crabs walking around, you name it. 😁Super wild experience but so cool!! We also got a cleannnn photo outside its basically an album cover👀.

Quick spiritual thought for the week! In zone conference we talked a lot about the difference between sacrifice and being all in, sacrifice is choosing to show up and give up something to be there, but being all in and truly devoted means giving our all in the moment even when we don't know all that is required! I invite you all to reflect on your lives and see if there's any pieces you could better be all in, trusting in God's plan more than your own! I know he will magnify your efforts as you seek to give your all to him! Love you all hope you guys have a wonderful week! Always feel free to reach out with anything at all!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Sonrisa (Smile) I like this word it sounds like sunrise which kinda relates right?? Make someone's day brighter with your smile this week!

Invitation of the Month: GRATITUDE PRAYERS!! This month set a goal to say at least one prayer a day that is only gratitude! I promise as we make an effort to show God we're grateful for what he's given us he will bless us with what we stand in need of and help us recognize his hand even more!

Zoo in DC

Beautiful Maryland and Treasures of Odenton

Los Español Dawgs

#missionnote #3

 

Alex mail 10-2-2023: "Trust in God's Plan"

 

What up what up!! How's everyone doing? It's been a solid week here! Definitely getting a little more used to the flow of mission-life each day which is good! We've focused a lot this week on finding new people to teach and we've had some good talks with a few people! Being in a mostly residential area can make it tough to find lots of people but I've been able to see God's hand directing us and leading us to those who are more ready to hear our message which is super cool! I think the big lesson I've learned this week is God has a plan, we just need to focus on our effort and trust that the best outcome will come in His time! It's been a pretty busy week so here are some highlights...

Last pday on Monday we went into DC and got to go to the American History Museum, the National Art Museum, and the Capitol Building which were all super sick!

On Tuesday we had practice for our missionary choir! We're practicing for Christmas and we're singing "Hallelujah" from Handel's Messiah 😮 it's a super cool song but it's crazy tough, wish us luck! 😂 

On Wednesday, we had our first district council which was cool! Our district is 3 trios, us, a set of sisters, and some Spanish élderes. The Spanish elders are helping me out a ton with Spanish and hopefully I'll get to go on exchanges with them once a week to get some good practice teaching in Spanish! Another example of God taking care of the little things, he's got a plan!

After district council on Wednesday we went to Chick-Fil-A 😋  if you know me, you know I love my Chick-Fil-A! It was phenomenal 😂 after lunch we did exchanges with our Zone Leaders and I got to go to Annapolis for the day! I was with one of our ZL's named Elder Belnap who's also from Idaho which was cool! We visited an awesome guy named Gabriel from Pakistan and got him on date for baptism! I didn't really do much haha but cool that I could be there when he made that commitment! We also went knocking in the ghetto back streets of Annapolis 😬 but it was actually so fun! The people were all so humble, nice, and loved talking about God! We also got to play some football real-quick with a bunch of little kids haha, so fun, they were full of so much joy and light!

Thursday we had new missionary training which took most of the day, super good to learn from President and Sister Clarke! We also had our first lesson Thursday night! With my boy Jeremiah he's a legend haha, he's 19 and has a lot of faith in God and Christ! Keep him in your prayers hopefully he keeps progressing!

Friday we did a ton of service which was good! I've realized how much joy comes from helping those in need - super cool to see!

Saturday and Sunday was General Conference, so fireeee! We got to watch at our mission home with President, at the temple visitor center, and then with a family in our ward. I loved all of the talks and it was cool this was one of the first times I took sincere questions into Conference and I got a ton of answers! I testify the Holy Ghost is waiting to teach us, we just have to make a diligent effort to listen. Some of my favorite talks were President Nelson's, Elder Quentin L. Cook's, and Elder Joaquin E. Costa's. If you haven't had the chance to listen yet no worries! I just invite you to go back and give it a listen! I also invite everyone to keep studying these talks over the next 6 months and see how God speaks to us through his prophet and leaders of His church!

Love you all! Sorry for the long email haha, but hope y'all are doing great and feel free to reach out any time at all!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Albedrío (agency) one of the greatest gifts God has given us is our agency! We get to choose who we will follow, meaning when we choose to follow God, he is so much happier and will bless us immensely!

Invitation of the Month: FOLLOW THE PROPHET!! Take some time this week to reflect on what you learned from conference, both individually and with your family! Also set some goals on how you will keep studying these talks the next 6 months.

*DC P-day Adventures

* Chick-Fil-A with the District

* Conference at Mission Home & Comps = Elder Sanders (Blond curly)  Elder Koester (Dark hair)