Alex Mail 05-27-2024: "Alma 26:12"

 

How we doing everyone!! Hope everyone is doing great and is enjoying the start of summer! This week has been CRAZY full of miracles! That's why I chose alma 26:12 as this week's title, it's for sure been the scripture of the week! For those who don't know, it says "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." It has been so true and I'm just amazed even more each and every day for the miracles God blesses us with and his hand in this work! To quote my cousin the goat Elder Casperson, "the work is moving as it should because the Lord is in control"! Let's jump into the highlights!

On Tuesday I got to do exchanges with my dawg Elder Hooley again! He's been my ZL my entire time in Mexico and we got to do our 2nd exchange together and he's just such a stud! Learned so much from him about how to teach more directly, clearly, and lovingly while testifying with spiritual power! We met an amazing new family who's already so accepting of the gospel and who came to church on Sunday! Also had an amazing family home evening with a member family who brought their neighbors! The members here just continue to clutch-up!

Wednesday we had interviews with President and it was so spiritually uplifting as always! So good to just talk with him and feel so much of Christ's love through him! And then during our interview with the APs they challenged us to have the faith to find someone that day who will be baptized! So that day Elder Nielson and I went out with the intent to do it, and we saw a miracle! We had a phenomenal lesson with a guy named Adrian and he is definitely someone we believe that can be baptized! So cool to see the spirit guiding us when we just go out and trust that the Lord will deliver!

Thursday was just a day for the books! First of all the Lord provided tons of miracles to help us drop a 5-bomb member lesson day! Definitely the most member lessons I've had on my mission.  The testimonies of members just can't be beat! In one of those 5 lessons we were able to put a baptismal date for my boy Javier on June 8th! He's such a stud and is so ready, he already has such a strong testimony and when we finished the lesson he told us "well you guys better start getting the water ready!" 😂 he's the goat, love that dude so much!

And then to cap it all off on Sunday we had, I think, the most friends I've ever had on my mission come to church! They just kept coming through the doors Elder Nielson and I were on top of the world haha! So awesome to see them show their faith and to see some hard work pay off! The Lord is working wonders here in Popular and I'm so grateful to be a part of it! We get transfer news tomorrow so we'll see if I stay or if I leave on Thursday, either way I know I'll be exactly where the Lord needs me to be! Crazy, we're already to the end of the 7 week transfer, but hey, time flies when you're having fun doing the Lord's work! Love ya'll tons, keep smiling, and enjoy summer! Feel free to reach out if you need anything at all - I gotchu always! Nos vemos!

Love, Elder McDonald 

Word of the Week: calabozo (dungeon) Elder Nielson and I found this one for our house 😂😂 the cockroaches came back this week, dang it 😭 don't worry though we vibin' hahaha

 Invitation of the Month: STUDY THE ATONEMENT!! My love for the Savior has grown so much this past month and I hope it has for you all too! I know that we never have to go at it alone because of his eternal sacrifice for us and because of our covenants!

**The Park - fanciest mall in Mexico 👀

**Golf simulator with the white boy district 🥹

**Say goodbye to Elder Goana the GOAT AP**

**Kaaachowww / Overlook of San Luis**

Alex mail 05-20-2024: "Members Bring Spiritual Power!!"

 

What is up what is up everybodyyyy!! Hope you all are doing well and had a crazy fun week! Crazy that we're already to the end of another school year back home I'm feeling old 😂. We're having a ton of fun though out here in popular! Elder Nielson and I are just grinding, having a ton of fun, and just seeing miracles left and right it's the best!

We had a ton of really cool member lessons this week and man, they brought some spiritual power! Some of the ones that really stood out were with the familia Sustaita, Javier, and Alejandro! In each one we really focused on the importance of our covenants and especially baptism! The members that we invited just brought so much spiritual power and their testimonies were perfect for each one of our friends! We're super hopeful to help each one of them progress towards baptism super soon, and it's a huge thanks to the members! For all the members out there don't underestimate the spiritual power you can bring in any situation daily! Lots of people think you have to be a missionary to share the gospel but really, it's a responsibility of every single one of us as members and disciples of Christ! Trust in the power of your covenants and desires to live righteously and I promise you will see miracles each and every day!

Got to go on exchanges with my boy Elder Whitaker again this week, this time in his area in Boulevard 2! Also, a huge plus was getting to stay in their house which is definitely the nicest in the mission! Nice little break from "the dungeon" as elder Nielson and I have started calling our house haha. Elder Whitaker and his comp are opening the area so they don't have a ton of people in teaching yet, haha, but we had some awesome visits with members and really just focused on talking with everyone! He's a super good missionary and it was a ton of fun to just laugh with him and learn from him! Super grateful for the opportunity to meet and work with so many different missionaries and grow together as disciples of Christ!

For P-day today, we got to play basketball with all the Elders here in San Luis and President, who is in town for interviews this next week! I don't remember if I've mentioned it, but President played basketball for BYU with Danny Ainge when they went to the sweet 16 👀👀 so yeah, he's still crazy good lol. And then we hit Costco which has become the P-day tradition of the white-boy district 😂  we love our American things haha!

I also loved studying about Abinadi this week in the book of Mormon! I learned a ton about how to become a better teacher and just loved his example of always testifying and pointing back to Christ! It made me just so much more grateful for my Savior and all that he truly has done for us! I know that he's the only way to true happiness and eternal life with our families and I'm so grateful to get to share that message with all the people I meet here in Mexico! Look for Christ in all that you do and I promise you will be filled with more joy than you could ever imagine! Love you all tons and have an awesome week!!

Love, Elder McDonald

Word of the Week: Descansar (to rest) I was reading this past week in Alma 43 in the Spanish Book of Mormon and verse 1 stood out to me so much. It talks about how the sons of Alma are going out to preach but then also says "Alma no pudo descansar", meaning Alma could not rest! He cared so much about the salvation of the children of God that even after all he had done, he could not rest and decided to go back out preaching and teaching! How amazing would the gathering of Israel be if every single member of the church had this same desire and "could not rest"? It starts with each one of us!

Invitation of the Month: STUDY THE ATONEMENT!! Has anyone else noticed that Christ and His Atonement can literally be found everywhere in the scriptures? I loved learning more and more about my Savior each day and really pondering what He truly has done for every single one of us!

**San Luissss**

** We got PAID & Nutella Milkeyway!** ;)

**Elder Whitaker for President / Elder Nielson with da puppies**

**Mexico Sunset**

#Missionnotes #10 "All the Remainder of our Days"

 

"All the Remainder of Our Days"

Alex mail 05-13-2024: "Locked in Keys, Broken Window"

 

Heyooooo what is good everyone hope you guys are all doing well and had a super good week! This week actually flew by we're just having a ton of fun and working crazy hard down here in Mexico! I love the mission and am just so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve the Lord each and every day!

If you're wondering about the title for this week's email we had a fun little adventure this week 😅😂 . We accidentally locked our keys into our house and then later realized after leaving a lesson a little bit later. Also to make things worse our landlady somehow doesn't have a spare key to the house that she owns 😑. After a few failed attempts to pick the lock and break in 😂, we called our Elders quorum president to ask if he knew how much a locksmith would cost. But he told us to just break the window because it would be way cheaper to replace than getting a locksmith so that's what we did 😁 don't worry we had landlady approval and it's all fixed now but definitely a fun adventure this week haha. Life-lesson, don't lock your keys in your apartment it's the worst hahaha. Zone conference from Elder Montoya. We've really been focusing on baptism and the importance of covenants in all that we do, and we've just seen an even greater spirit during our lessons!

We got to do exchanges again this week and this time I got to go to Boulevard with my dawg Elder Miller! He's from California and this is his first transfer in the mission so he's only got like 4 weeks but the dude is such a stud! I got a little taste of training haha but he's like the most prepared trainee I've ever seen his Spanish is already crazy good, he knows his area super well, and he just is a solid missionary already! It was a super fun day and I learned a ton from him about developing charity and just giving our all in whatever way we possibly can!

And just wanted to finish off the letter this week with a crazy cool miracle that we saw! So one night we get out of a lesson that was clear on the other side of our area around 8:45. We're supposed to be home by 9:30 and so we were just gonna take a bus and have plenty of time to spare. Well after waiting for 30 minutes without a bus in sight, Elder Nielson and I decided to say a quick prayer and trust that the Lord would deliver. A few minutes later a bus drives by, we signal for it to stop, and it drives past us and all of a sudden, slams on the breaks and we get on. When we get on, we realized there was no one else on the bus and after talking to the bus driver for a sec realized that he was on his way home and the busses stopped at 8:30. However he told us that when he first saw us he was just gonna drive right past but he said something made him stop! He was a super cool guy and ended up taking us home for free, such a cool experience and a huge Testament that God truly does watch over his missionaries! I promise God is in the details of our lives, we just have to choose to look for him and trust that He will deliver, because He always will! Love you guys tons and hope you have an awesome week!! Hasta luego!

Love, Elder MacDonald's (as all the Latinos say hahaha)

Word of the Week: Bochito (Slug Bugs) I finally took a picture of one this week but super old slug bug cars are crazy common here and there's actually some super cool ones! I'll try to take more pics of them haha

 

Invitation of the Month: STUDY THE ATONEMENT!! I've absolutely loved trying to focus on my Savior and his Atonement in everything I studied this past week! It's so amazing to see how his sacrifice truly is central and foundational in all that we believe and do in the church! I'm so grateful for my Savior and everything that he has done for us!

**Broken Window**

**Pig calf 😶/ Torta time / Bomb enchiladas**

**Palm tree vibes / Drip bochito**

**Concha night**

Alex mail 05-06-2024: ""Elder Montoya!😱👀"

 

Hello hello everybody! Hope you are all doing well and had a super awesome week! Just another fantastic week down here in Mexico! It's starting to get warm haha but it's not stopping us from working hard and we're having a ton of fun! We saw some awesome miracles and had some super memorable experiences this week so let's jump right in!

The biggest highlight of the week was having Elder Montoya of the Quorum of Seventy here for our Zone Conference! He's the area president over this part of Mexico and man, is he a spiritual tank! Such a cool experience to be able to meet him and learn a ton from him and his wife! Hermana Montoya talked a lot about how we can truly teach with the Spirit as our constant companion which was awesome! Super cool to be able to ponder what things we can eliminate from our daily lives that are distracting us from or not allowing the Holy Ghost to be with us constantly! President and Hermana Webb talked a lot about faith and just how necessary it is, not just in this work but as disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ!

Elder Montoya shared some amazing experiences from his mission, taught about how we need to keep baptism and covenants as our central focus in all that we do, and how amazing the gifts of repentance and the atonement truly are! He also invited us to smile more! Something so simple that can truly change someone's life, after all the gospel is a gospel of hope and joy! When we seek to smile in every situation we're truly living what we teach and becoming true disciples of Christ! And lastly he talked a lot about promising specific blessings to people, especially with our calling and authority as direct representatives of Jesus Christ! Definitely learned a ton about some new things we're going to start applying to this work and I'm just so grateful to know that this truly is Christ's church on the earth today! I testify that Christ truly is directing his work through his amazing leaders of his church!

Another big highlight this past week was getting to go to 2 baptisms! Not in our area haha but people that I've helped teach! The first on Saturday morning was Adalberto, Elder Ramsay and I found him about a month ago in their area and man, is this guy the definition of elect and prepared! Ever since the first lesson he's loved the gospel, accepted everything right away, and showed so much faith! He shows up to church 2 hours early every Sunday to just sit in the chapel and read the Book of Mormon 🥹. Such a special moment and I hope that I and all of us can be a lot more like Adalberto the goat! The other baptism was Saturday afternoon in my old area Industrias! My boy Diego is only 9 years old but already has a strong testimony and is just such a stud! I got to teach him basically everything while I was there but left before he got baptized. So glad I got to go back to see his special day and to see some amazing ward members who made such a difference in my life!

A big focus for us this week was holding in person lessons in the church and we saw so many miracles from it! We had some powerful, spiritual lessons with Javier, Isabel, and Estefania and I'm just so grateful for our dedicated chapels and the spirit we're able to feel there each week! Don't take the wonderful gift of this restored church for granted! Be all-in every single week and I promise you will see Miracles! Love you all so so much and hope you have a fantastic week! Keep smiling and do good!

 Love, Elder McDonald

 P.S. check out Elder Montoya's talks from general conference they're so fire 👀 🔥  

The Eternal Principle of Love

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/10/16montoya?lang=eng

Tested and Tempted—but Helped

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/10/tested-and-tempted-but-helped?lang=eng

 

Word of the Week: Burrito (little donkey 😂) don't ask me why it took me 9 months to connect the dots that the food burrito means "little donkey" but it did 🤣 . Elder Nielson enlightened me this week haha and fun fact I haven't seen a burrito here they're literally nonexistent lol

Invitation of the Month: STUDY THE ATONEMENT!! The main invitation elder Montoya gave us was to really study and personally come to know the significance of the Atonement! This month in everything you study relate it back to the Savior's sacrifice for you and the most important event in the history of the world! He promised us as we do so we will truly develop a personal relationship with our Savior and feel immense love for what he truly has done for us!

**Adalberto the GOAT // Diego my Boyyyy**

**I didn't do it I promise // Just your casual lizard in the grocery store**

**Mexican Murals**

**Feliz Ramsay for Mother's day // MTC district Zone Conference**

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!**