Alex mail 03-31-2025: "Finisher of our Faith"

 

Heyooooo! I hope everyone is having a great week and doing well! This past week was awesome.  I've dwelt a lot on a scripture that I feel like relates to the week a lot: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). To me there are a couple of things about this scripture that really stand out; first, that Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith, second, that He chose to focus on and was motivated by joy and that He endured through the worst suffering possible to bless us and give us all that same hope and joy!  It's been amazing every day as a missionary to see a small piece of these truths in my life and the lives of others and it's been a huge testament to me that Christ truly is in the details!

I had lots of time this week to reflect about how I want my focus to be these last few months of my mission! We had interviews with President on Tuesday and it's been so cool to see how much I've grown to love that special time, once a transfer to just sit down with him and talk about anything and just learn from such an amazing representative of Jesus Christ! We were able to talk about how we can continue to improve the culture of the mission and how our efforts to act with purpose to follow Christ and become more like Him are the best things that we can do to keep building our testimonies throughout our lives!

We also had Mission Leadership Council on Friday.  We continued to focus on how we want the culture of the mission to be and how we can finish strong these last few months before President and Hermana Webb finish in June! It always helps me a ton to remember that our Heavenly Father is used to working with imperfect servants and just expects our best effort! So, if you ever feel like you are continuously falling short in your righteous efforts, just keep trying, just keep serving, and just keep loving, all will work out exactly as the Lord plans!

With that, I love that Christ not only is the start of our faith, but that He's the finisher of it as well! I testify that He's beside us every step of the way, always ready to help sustain us and pick us back up when we fall!  I’ve learned that no matter how hot it is outside, how much rejection we face, or however many trials I've faced while on a mission, my Savior has been right by my side through every single moment! This week as we've continued to work to help our friends progress towards baptism and overcome their trials, I've really seen the divine help and joy that only comes from the Savior!  Never forget that He's willing and ready to be the finisher of our faith! I love y’all tons and hope it's a great start to April and HAPPY GENERAL CONFERENCE, WOOOOO!!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Quejas (complaints) Elder Nielson taught me this word during our seguimiento call yesterday, I gotchu my boy, haha

Invitation of the Month: SHOW GREATER LOVE!! Right along with the church's invitation this month to remember and live in gratitude for the Savior's resurrection, what can you do personally each day to show greater love as He did?

**Elder Meneses / Mi NAVARRO**

**Wuachito / We taught Elder Bair how to dap up**

** I don't know how this house stands / Monkey Papas / Paso Blanco**

Alex mail 03-24-2025: "Spiritual Kid"

 

What's goodddddd happy monday everyone hope you all are doing great! It was a great start to the transfer this week.  Overall, pretty normal week since Elder Smith and I stayed together and we didn't have a ton of changes in the Zone either, which was nice! We're just gonna keep the momentum rolling these next 5 weeks! However, we did see lots of miracles as always! Here's 2 of the biggest ones from the week!

The first happened on Tuesday, Elder Smith and I started off the day calling a bunchhhh of people to clean out our records and list of people who are interested and that we're teaching. One of the last calls we ended up doing was with a girl named Karla, someone the Hermanas had taught here a while ago, but could never really get in contact with her. Miraculously, she answered and told us we could go over to visit her right then! After getting to know her she shared how she had gone to church a bunch in the past and even had set a baptismal date but got nervous and ended up backing off from the church.  She then shared that she felt our calling her was a sign from God, calling her back and inviting her to act and know this is where she is supposed to be! She now has the desire to be baptized and make and keep covenants with her Heavenly Father! It was a really cool experience seeing God direct us to those who are so well prepared for His gospel, as we just tried our best to do good and be instruments in His hands! 

The second highlight of the week was getting to take out my first-ever “spiritual kid” (or brand-new missionary haha!) The first day that the new missionaries arrive in the mission, they go out for a day with a companionship here in Aguas and Elder Smith and I got to take out our boy Elder Owens! He's actually such a dawg.  It was super awesome to see all the new fire and excitement he had to be a missionary and to finally be out in the field! It made me reflect a lot on how far I've come these past 20 months, as I feel like that was me in that same spot just yesterday! It didn't matter that he didn't know a lot of Spanish, had no clue where we were, or didn't know anyone that we met and taught, he just jumped in and did all he could to love and serve the people. That taught me a big lesson, no matter where the Lord calls us, no matter how much or how little experience we have, just jump all-in, just love, and just serve! All God needs us to do is keep trying, He'll work his miracles, and He'll take care of the rest. So, no matter what trials, stresses, or challenges you're facing right now, just trust you're exactly where the Lord needs you to be, just love, and just serve. All will be well because we have a loving Heavenly Father right by our side!

Love you all tons and have an amazing week!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Bloquear (to block) yeahhhh for the second time in my mission I got spam blocked on whatsapp 💀 😭 😭 I'm good now though, lol.

Invitation of the Month: PREPARE FOR THE SECOND COMING!! I love this quote from President Nelson's last conference talk "The best is yet to come, my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again! The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ." How can you more fully turn your heart to Christ and rejoice in His marvelous work this week?

**Elder Owens**

**Los Guisos / DQ Time**

**Hunter found a Lego set / Poderosisimo Navarro/  Just hit the grind too hard 🥱💀**

Alex mail 03-17-2025: "A God of Miracles"

 

Heyooooo! How we doing?? Hope you guys are all doing well! We got transfer news today and found out Elder Smith and I will be running it back for a 2nd transfer here in Jesus Maria! Actually, our whole district stayed the exact same, which almost never happens haha, but we're hyped! It was a wild week with lots of ups and downs, but we ended it off with a ton of miracles - as always in God's work! I think the biggest lesson I learned this week is that God truly is a God of miracles.  No matter what opposition we face, the Lord will continue to carry out His work and do His will, as we seek to give Him our all and put our trust in Him! 

The biggest highlights of the week were for sure the 3 baptisms that we had with our friends Vianney, Claudia, and Emmanuel! If you remember, Vianney was the reference we received from the church's Facebook page.  Ever since we met her, she's just been so well prepared for the gospel!  The entire time leading up to and after her baptism, she wasn't even nervous, just had a big smile on her face and kept saying how excited and glad she was! Her testimony after her baptism was probably one of the strongest, I've heard.  It was so cool to be a part of her conversion process!

Our other baptisms were the miracle family I mentioned last week! We didn't end up baptizing all 3 because the daughter Jania is still struggling a bit with smoking, but hopefully soon we'll be able to get her there!  However, the mom Claudia was able to stop smoking and finally after a couple years in teaching, she was able to make a covenant with God! Even though she faced a ton of opposition this past week, including fighting to stop smoking and losing her job, she remained firm and steadfast in her decision to get baptized!  Thanks to some amazing members who showed them a ton of love and support, everything went smoothly!

Got to run a couple exchanges this past week, one with my boy Hunter in Jesus Maria and another with Elder Alston in Pabellón! Both were super good, and very Spirit filled, and I learned a ton!  I'm always grateful for those little opportunities to serve other missionaries, learn from them, help them grow, and have joy in the work! I testify that every single calling in the church is nothing more than an opportunity to serve and to love and to become more like the Savior! So, the next time it's hard to give it your all, choose to remember Him and give everything out of love and appreciation for Him and for God’s children! Love you all and have a fantastic week!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: combi (van) to get out to Pabellón, where we did exchanges, you gotta take a big van, and they load em up with people hahaha

 Invitation of the Month: PREPARE FOR THE SECOND COMING!! We've got General Conference coming up in a couple weeks!! What can we do to spiritually hear the voice of the Lord in our daily lives and prepare for His return?

**Vianney's Baptism 🐐**

**Claudia y Emmanuel 🐐**

**Brazilian Steakhouse with Elder Bair**

**Cheesin/ Smith's best friend/ Confederate car 💀**

Alex mail 03-10-2025 "Lety the GOAT"

 

Happy Monday everyone hope you are all having an awesome week! I hit 19 months on the mission this past week which is wild.  I'm loving every single minute of it! Nothing better than serving the Lord and His children 24/7 and I am so grateful for the countless miracles and growth I've seen in myself over these past 19 months! Excited to finish strong and give my all these last 5 months!

It was a really awesome week as always haha! We saw a lot of miracles, found a lot of awesome people who are excited for the gospel, and most importantly had a ton of joy in the work! The highlight of the week was for sure Wednesday, to start off we had Zone Conference in the morning which was super spiritual as always! We focused a lot on giving our complete all to the Lord, being valiant in our testimonies of the Savior, and being completely committed to His gospel and to his work! Then after we had Mission Leadership Council, which is always a good meeting and focused a lot on how we can help the mission and missionaries continue to grow and help more people make and keep covenants with God! And then we finished it off with the best part of the day, Lety's baptism!! It was so special to be able to see how happy she was to finally make a covenant with God.  It was super special to have a lot of the missionaries who have taught her there as well! She's such a sweet, older lady and just a huge witness to me that it's never too late to change your life and come closer to the Savior! I know He, our Heavenly Father, and a lot of angels were shouting for joy that special day to see a daughter of God finally take the necessary steps on the way back home!

Got to run a couple of exchanges with my boys. Elder Hales and Elder Bennett this week! Elder Hales and I have been around each other for almost all our missions, and it's always a good time when we can run it up for a day! We saw a lot of miracles and focused a lot on teaching personally to propels needs! And then with Elder Bennett we focused a lot on just helping share the joy and light of the gospel with everyone! I'm so grateful for this gospel of joy and hope and the amazing blessing to share it each day!

Alright and for the biggest miracle of the week, Claudia and Jania were able to stop smoking!! They're the family of 3 that we found a couple weeks ago and are super excited to get baptized and so ready, the only issue was that the mom and daughter were smoking 40 cigarettes a day😭.  But after talking with them, doing our best to help them out, and lots and lots of prayers after just 5-6 days they were able to go 24 hours without smoking and now have like 3 days without it! I'm telling you guys God is good haha he's just waiting to bless us with miracles if we will just turn to Him! Whatever difficulty you're trying to overcome I promise He's willing and able to help! Love you all and you got this! Have a fantastic week!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Chidote (super cool) like Chido but even more cool haha, chidote

Invitation of the Month: PREPARE FOR THE SECOND COMING!! What can you do this week to show the Lord that you're truly committed to Him, His work, and preparing the world for His return? Share His light and gospel each day this week!

**Lety's Baptism!**

**Whitty my dawg/ Found a hairless cat 💀/ Hasta luego my Mexican pops 🥹/ Elder Bennett**

**We found Disneyland/ Elder Bair my financial secretary/ Chilaquiles/ B dubs**

**Elder North came back!**

#missionnotes #20 "He himself also knelt"

 

Alex mail 03-03-2025: "The Covid Miracle"

 Happy March everyone! Hope you are all having a great start to the week and the month! I can't believe February is already over time is going so quick! All good though each day we're working hard and seeing miracles, nothin’ better than that! The only bad thing about March is that the heat is back 😭, we be grindingggg in the tardes out here - lol it's just like summer again, but we love it!

Highlight of the week was for sure Mauricio's baptism! We did it on Tuesday and he's such a goat! He was a reference from the best member-family in the ward and he was so excited to make a covenant with his Heavenly Father! It's been amazing to see the gospel light enter in and change his life.  I know he's got so much good ahead of him in his future!

Alright, now for this week's title…  I never thought that I would see a miracle come from someone getting Covid haha, but that's exactly what happened this week! We were supposed to have Zone Conference on Friday, this past week, but Pres. and Hermana Webb got Covid.  Don't worry though, they're all good now haha!  But with that, Zone Conference got moved to this next week on Wednesday.  We didn't think much of it until we met with Lety this week. I think I've mentioned a little bit about her before, but she's amazing! She's a sweet older grandma who pretty much calls us her adopted kids haha.  She loves the church she's come like 15 times in the last 5 months. However, she's always been super stubborn about getting baptized, saying she wouldn't do it until May - for some reason lol. This week though, as we were talking with her, we mentioned how because of the last-minute change, Zone Conference and Mission Leadership Conference would be the next week, meaning all the missionaries who have taught her will be back here in Aguas on Wednesday. When we mentioned that, we could see the Spirit touch her heart, and her face light up as she said "Alright, I'll get baptized next Wednesday then - with everyone there!”  It was such a cool miracle and could only have been God's hand directing His work.  The odds of everyone being back were huge, due to what seemed like a random moment of sickness and the change in Lety's heart could only have been brought about by God's perfect timing! I love being a witness of God's great work and marvelous plan every day!

We saw a ton of other miracles this week with 7 of our other people on date for baptism!  It's been awesome to work with them each this week, helping them prepare to make covenants with God! It's amazing to see the willingness people have to sacrifice, learn, and change their lives in order to come unto the Savior. It's really put into perspective for me truly what I'm willing to do to follow my Savior and live His gospel! I've come to realize that as He truly becomes the biggest priority in our lives, all of our trials begin to fade into the background, and we witness His miracles constantly flow into our lives! I promise that as you continue to look unto Him in all things, He will guide you step by step and never let you fall! Have an awesome week and keep smiling, keep laughing, and keep loving as the Savior would! Nos vemos!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Consejeros (Counselors) Yeah, we became marriage counselors this week 💀 😂 we didn't really know what advice to give lol, but luckily the Spirit was able to do His work and now they're doing good, haha!

Invitation of the Month: PREPARE FOR THE SECOND COMING!! Alright this month leading up to general conference, I want to invite all of us to follow the prophet's most recent invitation and prepare for the Savior's return to the earth! Would you be ready if He were to come tomorrow?

** Mauricio's Baptism**

**Dominos time/ Mi HUNTER/ El plan de amor**

**San Luis Temple 🥹**