Alex mail 04-29-2024: "El Bautismo de Jose Cruz!"

 

What is upppp everyone?? How was the week? Whether it was absolutely amazing or the worst of the worst, we've got a fresh start so let's get after it this week! Hope you all are doing well though! Miss y'all tons but man I love being a missionary it's just the best! 😁  Obviously the highlight of the week was the baptism of our boy Jose Cruz!

Baptisms are always a little bit stressful trying to get everything done on time the week leading up to it haha but luckily everything went pretty smoothly! He's so awesome and like I mentioned last week the change I've seen in him over the last 2 months teaching him has been so amazing! He's grown from someone just semi interested into someone who truly loves the gospel and is so grateful for his Savior! His testimony at his baptism was super special and we hope in the future he'll be able to serve as a missionary too! He was baptized with his 8 year old cousin yesterday after church which worked out perfect because like all the ward pulled up 😂  . The room was crazy packed ya love to see it! And luckily we didn't have green water this time 🤣. Definitely so rewarding and special to help people make covenants with their Heavenly father and bring them back to him! These are the moments that make the tough parts of missionary work so worth it!

We gotta do exchanges this week and I stayed here in popular with my dawg Elder Whitaker! Dude is actually such a stud he's got the same time in the mission as Nielson and I and we just had a ton of fun! This day was also the first time in my entire mission (almost 9 months), where literally every single lesson and contact fell through 💀😂. We were itching to teach so bad but we made the most of it and didn't let it affect our work ethic at all! We ended up meeting some really cool people on the street and we just started teaching and testifying with every single person we talked to! I learned a ton from him, especially how I can be more personal and loving in talking to everyone and random strangers, they're all God's children! Always love exchanges and don't worry Whitaker and I got a feeling we'll be comps eventually so stay tuned 👀 😎.

Elder Nielson and I really are shifting our focus with being straight up and super bold with everyone we meet and teach! Now that we are a lot more comfortable with Spanish we've realized that we've gotta do all we can to bring God's children back home to Him! It's been amazing to see that when we let go of fear and just be confident, bold, loving, and direct with people we're seeing miracles! This work is too important to casually sit back and go through the motions! And that goes for all of us, not just missionaries!! It's time to stop letting fear and Satan get in the way of bringing God's children unto him and preparing the world for Christ's return. Start living, talking, teaching, testifying, and breathing the gospel you know to be true and I promise greater blessings and miracles than you could ever imagine will come into your life!

I love you guys tons and hope you have an amazing week! Always reach out if you need anything at all, I'd love to pray for ya and help in any way I can! Remember you're never going at it alone! You guys are amazing, keep smiling and love every single day! Que les vaya bien!

 P.S. we've got zone conference this next Friday with Elder Montoya from the 70!! He's the area president for this part of Mexico so stay tuned you already know its gonna be awesome 👀👀  Con mucho amor, Elder McDonald

 Word of the Week: Temporada de Güeritos (White boy season 😂😂) This doesn't really translate to Spanish lol but we've started referring to ourselves in the all white district as "white boy season" haha

 Invitation of the Month: INSPIRED QUESTIONS!! Last week of the month! Let's finish strong and receive some good personal revelation! This week I want to focus on taking questions to zone conference to better receive revelation, what would happen if we started taking questions to every meeting, like sacrament meeting every Sunday??

*Jose's baptism!*

*Exchange with my boy Whitaker / Squirrel with Vans​/ Dope graffiti*

*Barber did my boy dirty/ Just your average bouncy castle in the church #welcometomexico / sus enchiladas*

*White boy season* 

Alex mail 04-22-2024: "QUE MILAGROS!!"

 

How we doing everybodyyyy? Hope the week was a great one for you guys! This week has been so awesome and one full of miracles! We've definitely seen the Lord's hand every single day in this great work magnifying our efforts! I love being a missionary it's such a blessing to see the Lord accomplishing His work right on the frontlines! Let's jump right in!

On Wednesday we went to visit our boy Jose and Elder Nielson and I talked before about trying to potentially put a baptismal date but knew he still had some questions, and so we decided to just trust the Spirit and if it felt right, send it haha. We walked into the lesson and asked if there was anything specific he wanted to talk about or had questions about and he said "yeah actually, what does the baptismal process look like? Because I want to get baptized"!! Both mine and Elder Nielson's jaws hit the floor haha. It was such an unforgettable experience and a huge testament that the Lord truly is accomplishing His work! We were able to finish teaching him the principles, answer any questions, and schedule his baptism for this upcoming Sunday with his cousin who's turning 8! If you don't mind please keep Jose in your prayers that everything will go smoothly this week leading up to that special day!

We had a ton of opportunities to give blessings and even dedicate a house this week with some members who are going through some rough times. I'm so grateful for the priesthood and I have a very strong testimony that it truly is the power of God here on the earth today! If you are struggling at all in any way and just feel like you need some heavenly help, ask for a priesthood blessing! I promise Heavenly Father is just waiting to pour out all of the blessings he has in store for us when we show faith in Him!

We had a miracle find this week, Elder Nielson and I stopped at a little store to buy some bananas and while we were walking all of a sudden these perfectly green bananas one by one start breaking and falling to the ground. While we're trying to pick them all up, a random guy driving by stops, gives us a bag, and helps us pick them up. He then asked us if we were missionaries and after explaining what we do, he tried to buy a Book of Mormon from us. He was on top of the world when we gave him one for free and we're super hopeful we'll be able to start teaching him soon! Definitely some divine intervention hahaha!

Had another great lesson with Alejandro and Tita! They're such a sweet couple and full of so much light! I loved seeing how much joy and understanding came into their life as we were able to review the restoration and help them understand why there are so many churches today and why we believe we are truly the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today! 

Finally, probably one of the biggest miracles of the week was our lesson with my dawg Willy!! He was a reference from my boys in Industrias (shoutout to Horoba and Dominguez the goats), and he's from Haiti! We learned that he's here in San Luis working to try and bring his family over as well and speaks 4 Languages (Creole, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and is learning English). Also, shoutout to my boy Elder Sainsbury - might need him to teach me a little Creole haha! Willy already has some of the strongest faith I've seen and was just so quick to accept everything we taught him about the Book of Mormon and the restoration! The Spirit was so strong and we've got high hopes we'll be able to help him progress towards making covenants with his Heavenly Father! 

I think those are the biggest highlights from the week! As I've learned this week, remember that there truly are miracles in every single moment of every single day! Choose to look for them and I promise the Lord will bless you immensely! Love you all and have an amazing week! 

Love Elder McDonald

P.S. For P-day today you already know Elder Nielson, Elder Whitaker, and I all got Costco memberships 😏 😂. Only 250 pesos for the next year (like $12-15 US dollars) definitely the most adult purchase I've ever made 😂.

Word of the Week: Plátano (Plantains/Bananas) we had fried Plantains this week with a member and oh man were they good, definitely a favorite dessert here

Invitation of the Month: INSPIRED QUESTIONS!! How has studying been going with questions in mind! I've seen so much more spiritual guidance from the Holy Ghost not just in my studies but also in our lessons, the spirit is always the real teacher!

**Worlds fattest dog / Gotta be one of the best dulces here!/ Pumpkin homi**

**Costco Ganggggg**

Alex mail 4-15-2024: "My MTC Dawg👀"

Howdy, Howdy everyone, how has the week been? I hope it was a super fun one and that you are all enjoying the nice spring weather back home! It's been just another solid week down here in Mexico! The biggest news and highlight from this week, was transfers! This past transfer was only 5 weeks because our Mission President had a training when transfers normally would have been, which means that this new transfer will be 7 weeks to get us back on the normal schedule. All good though, I'm crazy excited because my new companion is my dawg Elder Nielson! We were in the MTC together in the same district and so we already know each other and have the same amount of time in the mission! We're super excited and ready to work and it's already been a ton of fun the first few days here in Popular! Elder Wahlin and I were able to do some really good work prepping the area and now Elder Nielson and I are hoping to see some good success this transfer!

We had a lot of really good lessons and visits with members this past week, especially with Elder Wahlin leaving and lots of people wanting to say goodbye to him! I love being able to meet so many amazing people and families as a missionary and I'm so grateful for the opportunity every single day to testify of my Savior Jesus Christ and His restored gospel! Even though Elder Nielson and I aren't perfect at speaking Spanish, we've seen a ton of miracles and help from Heavenly Father in teaching His children! It’s helped me realize that the Spirit truly is the real teacher and that the Lord is able to magnify all of our efforts to accomplish His will! Our confidence in the Lord continues to grow each and every day and regardless of what we may feel like our weaknesses are, I testify that the Lord has the power and desire to help us overcome every single one and turn them into strengths!

We had a lot of ward activities this week, which were all super fun! We got to help out with a skit they did about temple-work and you already know I nailed my part of just yelling in English 😂. We also had a ‘noche-de-hogar’ (family night) with our ward when a missionary returned home, and it was awesome to just reflect on how grateful I am to be serving! Time is definitely flying-by and I don't wanna waste a minute of it! I've truly learned that the most joy in this life comes from following our Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel and I invite you all, to just be all in! Turn your life completely to Him and see the joy and miracles that will come!!

Some highlight lessons this week were with Alejandro and Tita, Manuel, and the Sustaita family! They're all progressing super well and have a ton of desires to learn and come unto their Savior! So grateful for the opportunity to serve in this area for at least one more transfer! That's about it for the week, hope you guys have another awesome one and feel free to always reach out if you need anything at all! Love you all and keep smilingggg!!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Elote (Mexican Corn) Found out what the Mexican corn stuff from “Nacho Libre” is called 😂 had it for the second time at our ward activity and I gotta say this one was much better 😂 

 Invitation of the Month: INSPIRED QUESTIONS!! I've loved trying to focus more on studying with questions in mind! It’s been a game changer and has made it so much easier to recognize revelation and answers to questions! Try it out this week! Go to the scriptures and pray with specific questions in mind!

**Lunch with the white boy district / Elder Nielson**

** Homie juggling knives and a soccer ball/ I found my truck/ Railroad vibes/ Who needs a wall when you have telephone wires**

** I Broke my Jam!/ Tacos y Elote**

**Hasta Luego Elder Wahlin!**

Alex mail: 04-08-2024 "Cactus and Cow Stomach🌵🐄"

 

What is uppp everyone?? How was the week? I hope it was a super great one for each one of you and that you had the opportunity to watch General Conference! And if you haven't yet, no worries you still can! Definitely was so spiritually uplifting and such a great opportunity for us all to receive revelation for our individual lives and our families!

Well if you're wondering about the title for this week's email I officially tried two of the weirdest foods I think I have ever eaten this past week 😂. Yep that's right I ate both cactus and cow stomach this week (separate occasions lol). The cactus wasn't horrible, mostly just tasted like sour green beans. But oh man let me tell ya cow stomach is not the move 😖 😂. I had it in a soup and, let's just say it smelled horrible, had a super slimy texture, and you could see the bumps from where the hairs were hahaha. Definitely 10/10 would not recommend lol but after some desperate prayers we made it through the bowl haha.

Two other funny things that happened this week were 1. We got spam blocked on "Whatsapp for a day 💀😂 . Yeahhh we learned it's a little tough to do missionary work when you can't call or text anybody hahaha. All good though we thankfully got unblocked the next day and we were still able to do some good work and see Miracles even if we couldn't really contact people like normal! And 2. We also had the solar eclipse here in Mexico today and oh man everyone thought the world was ending 😂  Los Mexicanos and their superstitions! haha. School got canceled, people told us to not wear long sleeves for some reason, and if you're over 40 don't leave the house lol. Don't worry though we're still alive turns out nothing went wrong hahaha.

On the spiritual side of things though we had a really productive week! Lots of really great lessons where we were able to invite people to watch general conference and testify of Christ's restored church and our living prophet on the earth today! We saw so much more power when we testified of these foundational truths and definitely something I want to keep doing for the rest of my mission!

We were also able to have the Baptism of 2 kids of members in our ward this week, Paco and Valentina! Even though they are both only 8 years old they have such strong testimonies and I'm super inspired by their example to me and desire to follow Jesus Christ! It was a super spiritual moment and great news we had clean water this time! 😂 

And the highlight of the week, General Conference! I absolutely loved General Conference! There's something just extra special about Conference while on a mission and I just soaked up every second of it that I could! We were able to watch in English which was clutch haha. I think the Saturday morning session had to have been my favorite, with talks by President Holland, President Eyring, President Nelson, Elder Kearon, and Elder Soares being some of my favorites! It was amazing to see my questions I took into conference be answered in so many ways and I truly have a testimony that Christ is directing His church today! God truly wants to bless us with all of the knowledge that we seek, we just need to turn to Him and trust that we'll receive in His own time and way! I also loved how central the temple and our covenants were in almost every single talk! Please, please, please if you have the opportunity to attend the temple regularly and frequently, make this the number 1 priority in your life! I testify that nothing will bless your life more, and that service in the temple, and not taking it for granted, is one of the greatest ways we can show our love for God and our Savior Jesus Christ! Love you all tons and have an amazing week!

Love, Elder McDonald

 

Word of the Week: 1. Nopales y 2. Menudo (1.Cactus 2.Cow stomach) had to go two this week since they both deserved it 😂 . Menudo will probably now be on the list of things I tell people I can't eat hahaha

Invitation of the Month: INSPIRED QUESTIONS!! How was your experience taking questions to conference?? I hope you were each able to receive answers from our Heavenly Father but if you feel like you haven't, that's ok!! Keep studying, praying, seeking, and trusting that the lord will deliver in his own perfect timing and way! I promise answers will always come!

***Dairy Queen with the district**

**Mexican backpack drip/ someone gave me my first soccer jersey literally has ALL the sponsors**

**Conference snacks and setup**

#missionnotes #9

 

#Missionnotes #9

Alex mail 04-01-2024: Egg Wars!!🐣

 

That's right folks you already know who was the Benito Jaurez District Champion of Egg Wars 😏. Now if you're wondering what in the world egg wars is don't worry I'll explain 😂. Basically to celebrate Easter our ZL's had the idea to bring a bunch of hard boiled eggs, make a battle arena out of towels, and then 2 people roll their egg at the others haha. Miraculously one always breaks while the other is completely fine haha 🤷. I'll attach the picture of the egg that carried me all the way and never got a single scratch! Best part was winning a pack of the Cadbury Easter chocolate eggs 😏 

But yeah that's how we celebrated Easter here haha, I hope you all had a fantastic Easter too! I loved being able to really study and focus on my Savior this week and each day I am just more and more amazed at all He truly has done for us! Elder Wahlin and I really focused on testifying of Christ's atonement and resurrection in every possible opportunity we could and we saw a lot of miracles from it! It's amazing to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ truly does apply to everyone and because of His atonement and resurrection, we truly can have hope in this life and know that death, or any trial we face, is not the end!

We had a lot of plans fall through this week due to it being the holiday week and lots and lots of people were out of town haha. However we made the best of it and didn't let it affect our focus or desire to serve and we ended up seeing a lot of miracles from it! It also seemed like this week that almost all the people we had lessons with are struggling with some kind of addiction. Kind of fitting for this week though to be able to teach and testify so much of the atonement! It's amazing to be able to help people understand there truly is a way to overcome any addiction we face and I love being able to testify of my Savior, Jesus Christ!

Also got to have interviews with President this week! So grateful to have that opportunity each transfer to just talk and get his amazing advice! Always super rejuvenating and I'm super grateful for amazing mission leaders who are great examples of our Saviors love!

We were able to have some amazing lessons with some of our most progressing friends Alejandro, Tita, and Jose this week! They were all able to come to church and Jose actually spoke in church which was so cool! He's got a really strong testimony and made our Easter sacrament meeting super spiritual! Another super big highlight was a mission-wide Zoom testimony meeting we had Sunday morning. So powerful to hear so many testify of our living Savior, and this week I've just been so grateful to be a representative of Him and to serve with such amazing disciples of Christ! That's about it for the week but I hope y'all have another great one and enjoy General Conference!! It's the bestttttt! Love y'all!

P.S. also forgot to mention last week but we got to help out with our Stake Primary activity "es genial a tener 8!" (Basically its great to be 8 in English haha) and we got to teach them all about baptism it was awesome, pictures down below!

Love, Elder McDonald (tu Mexicano favorito)

Word of the Week: Cucarachas (Cockroaches 😬 ) yeah so uhhh our house kinda got Invaded by cockroaches this week 😭. So nasty we had to kill a bunch haha but don't worry we've got all the drains covered now we're chillin 😁 

Invitation of the Month: INSPIRED QUESTIONS!! This month I'm really going to focus on taking personal, inspired questions to the Lord! We've got a great opportunity with general conference this week as well! I invite you to take 2-3 personal questions to the Lord in prayer, study, and conference thud week and I testify you will receive an answer in his time and his own way!

**Egg Warsssss**

**The Egg that won it all / Happy Easter from the district**

**My first mango!/ Platano tamales/ Bienvenidos al centro**

**Es genial a tener 8!**