QUE. SORPRESA.

BUEN DÍA. Bueno. This week was filled with many things. I'm not going to beat around the bush. Story!

So, you all remember how last week I found out my new companion was Elder Santillan from Salta. Well, that's how it was on Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday morning before transfers. Every one who was supposed to leave left for the offices, and I stayed in the chapel with the missionaries who weren't leaving their areas. I was just sitting and waiting for Elder Santillan to show up, eating cookies. And then I get a call from the Zone Leaders. They ask me if my companion is Elder Santillan. I say that it is. They say, "Well, they messed up. You're training. We called a remis (kind of like a taxi here) to come pick you up and you have to come to the offices now. I didn't even have my suit on! Just normal white shirt and tie and my dirty walk-all-day shoes. So the remis comes, I have to go to Ramos Mejia alone (I got lost a few times trying to direct the driver, I'll be honest), and wait for the new missionaries to come in. So I arrive to the offices in my normal missionary clothes and go sit down with the other missionaries who are training (all in suits) and just wait with my head spinning. We have a couple of meetings to prepare us to train new missionaries, the new missionaries come in, and I get Elder Winward, from Mapleton, Utah! Woo! I am surprised that my brain didn't erupt from my skull that day with every thing that happened with out warning. But there you have it! I'm training a new missionary, fresh from the jungles of the Provo MTC. It is a pretty exciting experience. Elder Winward's pretty great. He is way smarter than I am, so once he learns Spanish he is going to kill it over here. He does lots of computer stuff, which is way out of my jurisdiction, but we get along well and he is excited to get better at his Spanish every day. And he gets better every day! 

New missionaries have a lot of faith, and I am excited to see how the faith of Elder Winward helps us to bring this hopeful message to the people of Ferrari in greater ways! I am really excited for this transfer, and we've already seen miracles this week. We're going to see many miracles. I know prayer is powerful, and I know that if we trust in the Lord, and utilise that trust in our prayers, we'll see the results. I love good old Elder Winward already, and I'm excited and feel blessed to have been given the responsibility to help him become an incredible missionary of the Misión Buenos Aires Oeste. But I'm more excited to be able to watch as the Lord makes him an incredible servant, and as a part of the experience, makes me a more humble and prepared one as well. 

I love you all dearly and hope for joy this Halloween for all of you. This Halloween I'm dressing up as a missionary, I guess. 

AMOOOOR,

Elder McDonald

Photographic evidence of last week's duck eating adventure!

Jacob the Giant!

Baptism of Gonzalo! Woop!!!

My new pench mates! The one on the left is who I thought was going to be my comp, Elder Santillan, and the one on the right is my new comp, Elder Winward.

The puppy is from the people that live next door. It always finds a way to sneak in to the pench, so we took picures today when it happened again.

UN LATINO RECIBÍ

BUENAS. What's happening up north? Any thing exciting? Nice. Well, yesterday we got the calls about where every one would be going, and I'm staying in Ferrari! That's great news. This area is really great. I've enjoyed my time here a lot and there is still a lot of good work to be done here. Other news! My new companion's name is Elder Santillan! Elder Aparicio, the Colombian who lives with us knows him and told me he's from Salta, which is a northern province of Argentina. All I know about Salta is that they say words with two "r"s differently and they make really good empanadas. So I'm pretty excited from a culinary point of view. I am incredibly excited to be able to work with a native Spanish speaker again. It's been ages! To be honest, from a preaching the Gospel standpoint, it helps a lot, and makes teaching and understanding much more exciting.Plus I get to learn more about Argentine culture! Especially the differences between the North and the big city! Man, I'm just excited. Life is real good, right? This is a grand opportunity, eh?

This week was good. We ate a surprising amount of milanesa, which makes a week good pretty automatically. Mom, I hope you've found a good recipe and are practicing for a year from now. ;)

This morning I read a scripture in Moroni 6:9 that I really liked. And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.

The applications to missionary work are obvious, but it also made me think about our daily lives here on earth. Hard days always will come, but it's important always to remember that these hard days are meant to come, and that we're here on this earth to perform a labour. And we have to perform that labour with diligence. I thought we could apply it to any sort of responsibilty we are given, spiritual or temporal. Even though things are hard, people are imperfect and situations are imperfect, we have to work hard and diligently to do what we've been called to do, or complete with the responsibilty we have. It's exciting to know that if we do what we're doing well, there will always be a reward! Especailly when the reward is one promised by he Lord. Working hard is hard, and I'm always working on bieng better at it. But it pays off! 

I love you alllllllll and fell your prayers daily. I have to go but I'm grateful for every day and I'm grateful for my family! BE HAPPY.

AMOR DE ELDER MCDONALD.

Morning Futbol!

COMÍ UN PATO

¿COMO ANDAN? I hope all is well up north! Sounds like things are getting pretty heated given the closeness of a certain event in November. About presidents. This week was great down in Arge! Things are always happening here in Ferrari. This last Friday, I laughed a lot. Here's why:

Some time during the beginning of this week, Elder Salmon and I got to know a member of the church who isn't actively attending, and who is also completely crazy. But crazy in a really wonderful way where she's always laughing and talking which makes us laugh and just feel really good. Any ways, we were chatting in her front yard, which happens to be full of chickens and ducks. I commented on the amount of ducks she had, and half-jokingly asked if she eats them. She surprised us with a big old yes, and then surprised us more with the best offer I've received here. She said, "Yeah! I break their necks, and then a take all the feathers off, and then I cook them! You want me to cook you two some for lunch one day?" We obviously obliged, and listened with glee as she described the process of killing and preparing her ducks to be eaten. So we set up our lunch date, and to be honest, I kind of thought that she wasn't atually going to make us duck, given the fact that she is actually one hundred percent crazy. But sure enough, we arrived Friday to a big plate of roast duck and even a bowl of its innards cooked in vinagre. That may have been the greatest lunch I have ever had here. Not for the food as much as for the ambiance. She just killed us with her little comments and jokes. And to be honest, the duck was impressively delicious. Tip for those who want to eat it in the future: Ducks have really thick skin, so I would recommend not only removing the feathers but also removing the skin after cooking. Elder McDonald's food tip of the week!

Other than that, we had a pretty tranquilo week. Our friend Hector is doing really well, even though he couldn't come to church this week because for some reason Mother's Day in Argentina is in October. He always asks us great questions about what he's learning, and really has a desire to grwo closer to the Lord. He has trouble recognising his answers from the Spirit, and I don't think he's the only one. The Spirit speaks to all of us differently, given that we are all different! It's important that we work hard to understand how we can best recognise the Spirit in our lives - that's some thing that I'm working hard on too. But we have countless promises from the Lord that His Spirit is there to help us if we're looking. I love His name: the Comforter. He comforts those who have received Him, especially when no one else is around to do so. How can we keep the Spirit in our lives and keep his comfort? Read 1 Nepi 1:12 and 2 Nephi 32: 8 and 9. Through regular scripture reading and prayer, the Spirit is promised us. Look for It, and when received, don't forget the answer! I love you allllllllll and am so happy to hear that my family well. I'm so happy here. Argentina is beautiful, and those who live here are even more so. Be happy!

Becitos,

Elder McDonald

¿UN AÑOOOOO?

HELLO ALL. Weird news: this last Friday marked a year since I left the comfort of a California home and headed off on this beautiful adventure. That's pretty weird, right? I feel pretty weird, but I also feel really excited that I still have an entire year to work as hard as I can to share this wondrous message.  A year isn't very long, but there's a lot that can be done in a year. 

I hope every one knows that over this past year, I've felt the power of many prayers and much faith. I'm not going to say I don't feel like I've changed and become better, because I have. If nothing else, I can say with a surety that I know that my Redeemer lives, even Jesus Christ. He has not left me comfortless for one step I've taken in this country. And I can testify that He never will. He, along with our loving Father in Heaven, is always always ALWAYS there to lift us and show us the importance of finding joy in all things. But whether or not we feel the love of our Saviour and His help in our lives is our choice. If we aren't looking for it or keeping our selves open to it, we aren't going to feel it. That's just how it is. The Lord will never force us to believe in Him, for that is the adversary's way. He wants us to believe, and to follow and to love Him with all of our hearts (That is His greatest desire for us!), but only we can do that. No one else can do it for us. So when every thing bad happens in our lives, instead of letting your self wonder why God lets these things happen, wonder what you're doing to allow the Lord to pull you out of the hole you've fallen in to. 

I don't have a lot of time suddenly! But I have loved nothing more than being here in Argentina for nearly a year, growing, learning more about the wonderful people here, and sharing the message that I came here to share! This, what I share, is the Restored Gospel of Christ. Christ's Gospel is every one's necessity, no matter the culture or situation. 

I can't write about how much I love all of my family and all who have supported me 'round here. I feel a lot of love though! You'll just have to trust me on that.

Les amo a todos,

Elder McDonald

 We live in an apartment with out a back yard, so I had to improvise with the shirt burning... I just burned a piece. (For those who don't know: burning a shirt is the traditional way to mark the halfway point of a two year mission.)

Una foto Argentina. That's a big ol' milanesa sandwich with lots of mayonesa and chimi churri right there in my hands. 

PALABRAS DE AMOR; PALABRAS DEL SEÑOR

HELLO ALL OF MY FRIENDS. How is all? Man, what a week! More specifically, what a weekend! This weekend we got to watch our beloved Prophet. Apostles and Church leaders help us grow closer to the Saviour Jesus Christ through their inspired words of love. I adored what we heard this last weekend, and feel blessed to know that we have Christ's living Church on the earth today.

I'll be honest, as a missionary, it was hard for me to not enjoy Elder Oaks' talk above the rest. I completely forgot to bring my notes so as to expand further on his inspired words, but I hope all wrote down his 7 things that we can do to better participate in this most important work of sharing Christ's Gospel. I loved the power of his talk and the clarity with which he spoke. It was very easy to see that the focus on Saturday was very much pushed towards missionary work - the MTC choir even sang! There's a reason that it was such a prominent message this weekend, and we all should ponder why and what we can do to follow the Apostolic invitations we received. I loved Elder Oaks': Every member was invited to pray always for opportunities to share the Gospel, and Elder Anderson beforehand promised us that if we do so, the opportunities will come! All should remember that these are invitations from the Lord, and these are promises from the Lord given through his mouthpieces here on earth. I loved one of Elder Oaks' points about never judging who is ready to hear Christ's restored Gospel and who isn't. We never never never know, and our responsibility is to invite! If we invite faithfully and diligently, then we will know we are successful, no matter how many times rejected. How I loved those word!

Second, I really enjoyed President Nelson's talk on joy. It was visible and tangible the joy that he felt sharing his inspired words as well. His scriptural basis is one of my favourite scriptures. "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." I testify of those words. I know with out any doubt that our Father in Heaven created us that we might be happy here and in the world to come. We can have joy here! The way has been placed before us, and the Way is Christ. Jesus Christ is joy, and I know that to be true as President Nelson clearly knew it. Seek for more joy every day. Share the Gospel in some way! That brings joy! Serve your fellow man in some way! That brings joy! And all of that makes us love our Father in Heaven even more, and feel more of His love. That brings joy! I love you all dearly, and all of you bring me joy and peace. 

Mil abrazos,

Elder McDonald