MORE LIKE CONFERENCIA GENIAL

WHAT A WEEKEND. I HOPE EVERY ONE HAD A CHANCE TO WATCH, LISTEN OR AT LEAST HEAR SOME THING ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE CONFERENCE WE JUST HAD. I could not be happier to have had the chance to hear the Lord's Word and Councel through His servants the prophets. And what councel we had! Man. I forgot my notebook with all of my more specific notes, but more than any of the others Elder Kearon's words on helping the least of our brethren stood out to me. Whether you're affiliated with the Church or not, I encourage every one who has a desire to follow the example our Saviour set for us whilst on the earth to watch or listen to that talk. I already said a lot of things about specifically the refugee crisis occurring right now, but I especially loved how he mentioned that it's important to start small. First of all, we should start on our knees. Few things are more powerful than the power of prayer and faith in what our Father in Heaven can do for His children all over the world. After we work on that, there's no reason to take a plane to Syria and try and get to work. Show your love for Christ and your fellow man by serving how you can where you live! Just do it! Look for things to do! I know you'll all find some thing. May we always remember the Lord's words: Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me". 

I am out of time! But I love all of you and I'm pretty sure I'll be sharing more conference thoughts next week! Every one in my life has a wonderful spot of gratitude in my heart!

Chau,

Elder McDonald

Making his birthday wish!

Birthday loot!

Elder McDonald and his new companion, Elder Trent from St. George, UT. 

Lovin' his mac and cheese from the US!

SEMANA RARA

BUEEEEEN DIAAAAA. I HOPE EVERY ONE IS WELL, AND STAYING STRONG IN THE USA. This email should be short. My zone leader convinced me to make a voice recording, which I assume my mother will be sharing on my blog or some thing like that. So every one should get to hear about this week in my actual wonderful voice. 

BUT! I do have some things to say still! First of all, I have been hearing a lot about the Muslim refugee situation still happening in the US, and I hope every one understands what an incredible opportunity this is to share our knowledge of Jesus Christ and His glory and power with those who can not hear about Him in their own countries. Get to work sharing the Gospel with those wonderful Muslim people whom I love, because I can't do it right now! And not just them! Every one! There are so many wonderful, beautiful cultures that would only be magnified in beauty with the Gospel of Jesus Christ built in. Look! https://www.mormon.org/eng/nadia

I hope every one had a great Easter, and remembered well why we have it. And I hope every one's hope is still burning bright in the Lord Jesus. Keep a steady "Hallelujah!" in your hearts! The world is a crazy place, with crazy people and crazy things. The best thing we can all do is keep our hearts and minds focused on Jesus Christ. Through Him, all of us will live again. That is a promise we have, and the incredible gift of resurrection is for all because of the incomprehensible love He has for all. Those who have perished, who are perishing and who will perish will all live again, and it is our job to make sure that all can have to opportunity to live again in happiness, with our Heavenly Father and Brother and our families for eternity. I am grateful beyond words to be part of an eternal family, and I am grateful beyond words that I have two years to extend that opportunity to the wonderful families here in Buenos Aires. 

Keep on in happiness, look for it in every corner, and don't let anyone know you're bummed out if you don't have to! 

Amor,

Elder McDonald

Here is a fun recording Elder McDonald sent this week! It's so great to hear his voice!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJkTTGcyd7o

INVIERNO ESTA CERCA

BUEEEENN DIA LOVED ONES! IS EVERY ONE WELL? It's getting colder here, which is wonderful. It's still kind of weird having backward seasons, but I am just feeling blessed to have cooler weather. It is a blessing. 

This was a week! We finished it off with some interesting news from our incredible friend Geronimo who is ready to be baptised but needs permission from his parents. He talked to them, and they said yes, you may be baptised... in a year. So that was unexpected news! But all is well. The Lord's hand in always in every thing, and Geronimo is the most devoted and mature fourteen year-old I've ever met, and he is ready and willing to keep coming to church and participating in what blessings of the Gospel he can until his parents' hearts are softened. It has been an absolute blessing to be able to take part in his conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ these past few weeks. I have nothing but praise and respect for him and his devotion and testimony of Christ.

Easter is coming soon! That's exciting! It seems like Christmas was like, three days ago, but here I am nearing six months on my mission! That is ridiculous. But how I love to think on Jesus Christ and all that He gave us during this last week of His life. I hope every one can find the time to look up the new Easter videos the Church released. I loved both of them! The main one is called 'Hallelujah', and I can't think of a more fitting word to describe the gratitude I feel towards to Saviour and his Expiatory sacrifice for every single one of His beloved brothers and sisters. With out any doubt, I know that Christ is the One who can help us with literally every doubt, every problem and every pain. He is always here, waiting. There are so many of His brothers and sisters who still don't understand that! Thus, how grateful I am to be a missionary, doing my best to spread this glorious message to all who will hear. The truth is that there isn't much more I can say, other than that I know that this is the path. It is difficult, and it is thorny and treacherous. But Christ already suffered the pain of those thorns, and the heartbreak that is unavoidable in this life. And what's more, He rose again from death. And for that so will each and every one of us, along with each and every family member that we have. And if we follow Christ's path and Christ's example, we have the blessed promise that we can live with them throughout the eternities. I love my Saviour, and I love the life that I am able to have because of Him. Therer's no better reason to say 'hallelujah' than that!

I hope all are happy and all are doing their best to remember our Saviour during this Passion Week! I love all of you and I love the wonderful people of Argentina as well! 

CHAU,

Elder McDonald

Flia Sotelo

GRAAANOOOLLAAAAAAAAAA

Nice change of pace from my usual daily oatmeal!

Asombro Me Da

HELLO ALL OF YOU WONDERFUL NORTH AMERICANS! HOW IS EVERY ONE? I hope that the United States are okay. I hope Argentina is okay too. I really don't know any thing about any thing political at this point, which is kind of relaxing to be honest. But I'm learning more and more about Jesus Christ and every thing that He has done and continues to do for us every day. That's more important, I would say. This week has been great, except that a rock punctured my shoe sole and now dirt continually builds up in a big lump underneath my foot. But it's all good and I'm still grateful to be walking a lot. Walking is way great; it keeps me feeling like I'm in another country being an effective missionary. 

I keep hearing more and more about how the Church is focusing on the importance of Sabbath Day observance. That's one of the big goals/plans here in the South American South area. Is that the Church's focus this year? It is a worthy one. I talk about gratitude a lot, and I was just thinking the the root of Sabbath Day observance is gratitude, right? The Lord has given us our lives and seven days of the week to live them. That's pretty amazing, right? So what can we do to show our gratitude for that gift? Giving Him back one of them seems pretty generous on His part to me. And is it really that difficult? It can even be rewarding! The Day of Rest doesn't mean lay in your bed all day and rest your body. Come up with a respectful service project to do for some one in need! Visit a nursing home or a hospital! Love every one and smile a lot! Do some thing wholesome as a family that draws your hearts closer to the Lord. Do what Christ would do if He were still walking the strees. None of those things sound boring or particularly difficult to me... Especially the service part. That is essentially all our Saviour did on the Sabbaths in Jerusalem. He served. And back then Sabbath Day observance was a literal law. Let's all find ways to give back to our Father in Heaven and Saviour so as to fulfil His prophesy that as we show our love and help the least of our brethren, we are really showing our love and gratitude to our Saviour. And thus, we shall be the sheep, not the goats, allowed to stand on His right hand at the last day. No one wants to be a goat.

I love every single one of you quite a lot, even though I don't know exactly who is reading this. But those that are, I am grateful and I hope that my emails are enjoyable reads. But seriously I LOVE EVERY ONE QUITE A LOT. Aaaaaalways be your self and always stand up patiently and lovingly for the things that you know are right. Be loving and joyful in all that you do!

Chau,

Elder McDonald

Here are some picture of P-day last week. I got a McFlurry to celebrate my birthday, and looked at Spanish movie posters since there was a theatre in the mall!

GRACIAS

FRIENDS AND FAMILY! Thank you so much for all of the wonderful birth-day wishes all of you gave me. What a joy I still feel receiving love from all of you even in a different country. I can't think of a better way to spend my birth-day tomrrow than trying to share Christ's Gospel with all that will listen! Again, I'm low on time this Monday, but I hope all of you know that I am happy and feeling great about my life! Some times I forget that I'm literally living in Argentina right now speaking more Spanish than English, but every time I remember the blessings I have I say a little prayer of thanks. Gratitude is so important. Even when your life comes crashing down and you seem to have lost every thing that you've cared about, our loving Father and older Brother Jesus Christ are one hundred percent of the time not lost unless you lose Them your self. Remember to be grateful for what you have! We all have life that God has given us, and for that, we are eternally indebted to Him. How much more do we have to thank him for when we recieve other things then! I feel like I talk about this subject a lot, but there's no use sulking and being down about what you don't have. That's never going to help you find joy. Start thinking and thanking about the things you do have, and then the joy will come. I think I'm going to have a killer birth-day tomorrow, and I think this week is going to be killer for every one! 

I am grateful for all of you, and I am grateful beyond measure for my Saviour Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for His Grace, and that He already suffered for every bad part of my life and every bad part of every one's lives, so that we don't have to! Be happy, love your neighbour even as you love your self, and love your God with all of your heart, mind, might and strength.

¡LES AMO!

Elder McDonald

LIÑA POR LIÑA, PRECEPTO POR PRECEPTO

HELLO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD, HOT DAY. It's actually cooled down a lot this week, which has been blessed. It is supposed to keep getting cooler and rain more, so I am quite pleased. 

SO, This wonderful week, we spent half the day in a fun town called Caballito (little horse!). We were there to hear an Apostle of the Lord speak to all of the missionaries in the Buenos Aires missions. And boy was it some good stuff. First an foremost, what a blessing and priviledge it is to be able to hear from an Apostle first hand in this day and age. And we are still blessed with the technology now to hear from them every six months. Don't take our General Conferences for granted! We literally have the opportunity to receive council from prophets, seers and revelators twice a year. That is an incredible blessing. Elder Bednar did some thing a bit different and spent most of the time asking questions and allowing missionaries to answer, then expounding upon those answers. He allowed time for questions as well. However, with all of the change in subjects and questions, the main focus that I got out of it is that faith should always be a principle of action. I thought of a good example this week to translate the point that I undestood a little better. If you've been with out the use of your legs for months, and the doctor comes in and tells you that you're all set to walk again, you believe him. Hypothetically speaking, you have faith from the doctors words that you can walk once again. But is this hope going to magically lift your body from the sick bed and make you walk. Ninety-nine percent of the time, no. IT's when you take action because of our faith. You move your muscles, you stand up, and you walk, trusting in the doctor. Faith is the same. If a brother or sister is struggling, is it going to be sufficient to prayer for him or her, and hope Heavenly Father does all the work? Our Heavenly Father assuredly will do the work, but He is going to have to do it through you. You have to get up and go visit your brother or your sister. Show Heavenly Father that you trust that he is going to help that person so much that you will take your self to them and wait for Him to put the words in your mouth that you need to say. I feel like my ability to write clearly in English is struggling. Hopefully what I just wrote makes sense. To bring it home again, Elder Bednar shared the story of the Israelites transferring the Ark of the Covenant in Joshua. The Lord promised that he would part the waters of the river for them so as to cross, but they didn't stand on the banks waiting in faith for the Lord to part the waters. They kept walking, and the waters didn't part until their feet started getting wet! I love that example of active faith. And I love that I have a lot to work on in my faith! I have always been a huge fan of the concept of faith, and know that it is incredibly important. Thus, I love learning how to better my own faith! May we all work to make our faith a principle of action and trust in the Lord, and not a principle of hope with out work on our part. After all, as the Apostle Paul said, Faith with out works is dead!

Elder Bednar spoke a bit about not beating our selves up as missionaries as well. I think a lot of people have trouble (me some times included) wondering why they don't have the kind of knowledge and power that the Apostles or our even our grandparents have. He very frankly, said, "It's because I've been studying the scriptures and exercising my knowledge for decades more than you!". We can't just receive this great inflow of Gospel knowledge because we want it. We have to practice, line upon line, precept upon precept. Every thing takes practice! Don't beat your self up if you're not a master and you still have sixty more years of life ahead of you to become one!

Friends and family, I am grateful beyond words for the Saviour and His help and love in our lives, constantly. I know that as we trust in Him, and act in our faith in Him, he'll be right there ready to lift us up. I'm grateful that we have a wonderful Prophet in Thomas S. Monson and Apostles on the earth today to guide us, just as Christ and His Apostles did over two thousand years ago. LOVE ALL OF YOU DEMASIADO AND I HOPE ALL HAVE JOY AND SUNSHINE IN THEIR SOULS.

Chau,

Elder McDonald

BUEN DIA.

BUEN DIA QUE TAL CÓMO ANDA CÓMO LE VA IS EVERY ONE HAPPY. This week was a bit cooler than the last which was a blessing. Last week I think I sweat more than I every have in my whole life. It was very hot. And very humid. 

I some how have very little time all of the sudden so I apologise for the length of this letter. It will be very short. But, I hope every one knows that I am happy and excited to be in Rivadavia. It is a great little area with some great little people (because every one is Latino and shorter than me). This week Elder Ordenes and I spent a solid amount of time using our faith and finding people to teach. And there have been some great miracles. I think whenever there is work involved, there is faith. Faith to find, faith that your work will pay off. The truth is that faith should play a massive part in each and every one of our lives! The Saviour has promised us time and time again that when we exercise faith in some thing righteous, it will always be given to us according to our faith and according to His will. Thus, it is also incredibly important that we have a desire to know the Lord's will for us. Because He does have a will for us, and He cares about every aspect of our lives, even things that we would think are too small or insignificant to matter to Him, who cares for all the Universe. But that's what's so incredible about the love of our Heavenly Father for His children. He loves each and every one of us, and He loves and wants our individual families to be happy as well. We need always be watchful of where our families are in relation to the Gospel, because the adversary is working harder and harder every day to destroy the family. The home is a sacred place, and our families are sacred to Heavenly Father. I can't even begin to imagine where I would be with out the loving example of my grandparents, my parents, and my siblings. With out loving guidance from our parents and family as a whole, people suffer. It's proven, and prophets have testified of it constantly. Today I am grateful for my family, both earthly and Heavenly. And I am grateful for a loving elder Brother who loved me and all of us enough to suffer every thing on our behalf. I hope all are well in North America (and other places if that's where you are) and know that I love all of you much! 

Chau,

Elder McDonald

Zone Meeting this week

 FYI I found these little cookies that I think would make you die. They are cookies with the flavour of.... BUTTER. They're literally incredible.