Howdy, howdy. How's everyone doing this week? Hope everyone is
having a great October and enjoying the fall weather! It's started to get a
little cooler in the mornings and nights here but still hot in the afternoon. Haha.
I still don't believe it's October! I'm writing from Matehuala this week. We're
back up for exchanges which will be super fun! So awesome to be back in an old
area but more stories to come next week! Elder Hunter and I have just been
having so much joy in the work these last few weeks it's been awesome! The Lord
has blessed us with so many miracles and each day I'm just more and more amazed
at His hand in this work! I can truly testify that this church, this gospel,
and this work truly are JOY!! If you want to feel true and lasting joy, follow
Jesus Christ! It's that simple!
This week started off by celebrating Elder Hunters birthday on
Tuesday! My dawg hit the big 20, he's an old man 🫣😂. For those of you who don't know haha there's a
tradition here in Mexico where the person whose birthday it is, gets their face
slammed into their birthday cake on the first bite haha. The members we ate
with on Tuesday brought a cake and let's just say, I gave Elder Hunter a
biggggg face full of cake🤣 check out the
pics below to see, haha.
Got to go on exchanges with my boy Elder Dayley this week in
Boulevard-2! Dayley and his comp share the ward with us so we're always around ‘em
but it was awesome to spend a full day with my boy! We went to work and just grindeddd all day but
had a ton of fun doing it! We saw some really cool miracles and found some
amazing people! We focused on just seeking to be charitable in all we did and
even though we met some crazy people who had absolutely no idea what they were
talking about and just tried bashing, we kept it cool, haha and just sought to
love and testify and it was really cool! I promise that no matter how difficult
it might be, as you seek to replace contention and frustration with charity,
patience, and understanding, I promise that the Lord will be with you and help
you grow and become more like Him in more ways than you can imagine!
Finally just wanted to share one of the coolest miracles of my
mission that happened this last week! This is also the reason for this week's
title, “gorditas” haha. So, basically gorditas are a type of food here, they're
pretty much mini-Quesadillas, and we have a lady we're teaching who makes and
sells ‘em for her work. We've been teaching her for probably a month, but she
hasn't been able to come to church since she sells on Sunday and it's her
busiest day. On Tuesday we stopped by her house, and she basically told us she
wasn't super sure about the church or getting baptized, not because she doesn't
like it or doesn't feel like it's right, but because none of her family is very
interested and she doesn't want to be the only one who joins in her family. On
Tuesday when she told us this, we just shared our testimonies of the church, of
baptism, and of the power of prayer and invited her to pray that night, asking
Heavenly Father directly if she should be baptized regardless of what her
family decides. We came back on Thursday, asked how her prayer went, and she
said "yeah, I prayed just like I do every day. But this time I asked
Heavenly Father if I should be baptized and I got my answer. I know this is the
true church and I will be baptized regardless of what my family decides".
As you can imagine, our jaws basically hit the floor haha, it was sooo cool! I
testify that the power of prayer is real and that if we truly have a desire to
follow God and receive guidance for our lives, He will always deliver! She came to church on Sunday and told her
family that from now on, she won't work on Sundays so she can come to church!
Eloisa truly is an inspiration of faith and trust in the Savior, and I hope we
can all be a little more like her!
Love you all and hope you guys have a fantastic week!! Feel
free to reach out if there's anything I can do for you, I gotchu!
Love, Elder McDonald
Word of the Week: Mordita (Bite) this is what they chant during your first bite of birthday cake right before they slam your face into it 😂!
Invitation of the Month: FOLLOW
THE SPIRIT!! How's it gone so far trying to listen to
and act on the promptings of the Spirit? I promise that no matter what
situation you find yourself in, as you seek to follow the promptings of the Spirit
you will be guided in all you do!
