Drew mail 12-28-2020: "Back at it Again!"

 

Hi everyone! I am so grateful for all your prayers and love! I'm very grateful for everything I've been learning and experiencing! I can't believe it's been more than a week already of being back in Uruguay! 

It has been an incredible experience for me as I've worked to study, pray, write in my journal and make the most of this time. I've been pondering and thinking a lot about the experiences I've had and how I've gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of my Savior Jesus Christ. It has been such a special experience as I've focused on being able to give my efforts and time to doing that and I have felt so much love and peace as I've done so! I have recorded the ways I've learned the Book of Mormon is true and thought it would be cool to share a few with you! Almost every single time I read from this book I feel such an incredible peace, love or joy! I've had my mind opened and been able to learn more about and get closer to my Savior from this book and I know it is true! I've had so many experiences testifying about its importance and value and truth for us, when I've felt the Holy Ghost comforting or burning within me, and I've heard many testimonies from others which had lifted me up as well! All these things and more have helped me, but the most important or greatest thing to me is the relationship it has helped me to develop with my Savior. I love Him so much and testify that we can come closer to Him by reading this book than by any other! You can have these same experiences too and come to know for yourself that it's true and as we get closer to the end of the year I invite you to think about what you've learned and why you're grateful for certain people, things or experiences that have happened and express it to them or enjoyed it so you don't forget! 

I'm grateful for what's ahead too! I know good things are ahead as we put our trust in God, have hope and give our all to the Savior. On Wednesday I should be heading to an area called Tacuarembó and will meet my new companions over there! It's an area I haven't been to before, but I'm excited! Thank you again for your prayers and faith. I love all of you so much and wish you a wonderful end of the year and am incredible year like none before, ahead of you! Never forget that God loves you so much and will help you and that you are AMAZING! 

 ~Elder McDonald

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas! I am so, so thankful for the great blessings that we get from our Heavenly Father, including the most important and valuable ever... Jesus Christ! I love the Savior so much and am so thankful for everything He does for me. I am learning so much more every day that Heavenly Father loves us perfectly and wants us to be happy, whole, clean and full of grace and His strength. The only way we can do that is through developing a relationship with and relying completely on the Living Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He is the King of Kings, the Messiah, The Only Begotten, perfect, loving, redeeming, healing, righteous, good, kind, powerful, miraculous, Great Son of God. We can get closer to Him and follow Him each and every day and I promise you that as you strive to do so each day to really get to know Him and love Him with all you have and are you will be blessed beyond your imagination. You will be filled with hope, love, grace, strength, healing, guidance, direction, and all the Heavenly help you will need to return to your Heavenly Father, clean and changed to love and rejoice forever with your family. This is the message of Christmas. This is the message of Christ, the King and Lord Jehovah! Trust in Him and love Him with all you have and everything will be made right in His time and way! I love you all and wish you a wonderful Christmas and that you always know He can make more of us than we ever can on our own. Merry Christmas!

~Elder McDonald

Drew mail 12-21-20: "CHRISTMAS IS HERE!!! And... Covid??

 

Hi everyone! I am officially back in Uruguay!! I still can't believe I'm here, but it's great to be back. There are 24 Americans now who came back and it's been really neat to see a few missionaries I knew before. 15 of the missionaries are in my mission and 9 are in the other one. While we were traveling, I got to talk with quite a few people and have some great experiences in the airport.  One of the people was a lady from Uruguay coming back here too! So another miracle, we barely made it into the country before it had been closed down again to tourists. Literally the last plane! 

We got in to Uruguay on Saturday and we had to get tested for Corona again because Uruguay apparently doesn't accept the saliva test that all of us took so we got to do the good-old nose test! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it wasn't very fun. I was surprised again by how humid it is! In the airport it honestly felt like we were in the same room as a sauna 😂. We got to see President and Sister Dunford and they loaded all of us up on a big bus and took us over to the place we're staying in. We got assigned into companionships among us and given little districts and my companions were Elder Reeves and Elder Staheli (sounds like Staley - he’s from Saint George area 😉).  I had known Elder Reeves a little bit before - when I was here previously and I talked with him quite a bit in the airport.  I hadn’t known Elder Staheli before now. So we all got together with all those who came back into our mission and we talked with President and Sister Dunford about what's been going on.  We reviewed their goals and discussed how things have changed a bit. We also had some good old Uruguayan meals 👍.  Then got things unpacked and didn't have a whole lot to do from there so we talked, studied and got ready for bed. 

In the morning we were going to do a Sacrament meeting with everyone, but just after we got ready, the President's Assistants knocked on our door and had President on the phone.  He let us know that Elder Reeves tested positive in the airport for Covid and that Elder Staheli and I would need to move to another room and be quarantined in that room until we get tested next Saturday.  It's been weird to be stuck in this room but we've been doing good!  I am really grateful that I'm Elder Staheli's companion right now.  He is super fun and an incredible example!  I know Heavenly Father has blessed me to be with him right now!  We've been doing a lot of studying, listening to conference talks and have come up with some ideas for us to do /things to work on while we wait for more direction.

I'm so thankful to be here and want each one of you to know that I love you so much! I'm so thankful for your prayers and help and I want you to know that whatever I can do for you I will do it! I am praying for you and know that Heavenly Father loves you so much and will give you the help, answers, strength, healing and love you need as you trust in Him and in the Savior, Jesus Christ. I wish you all a Merry Christmas.  I know that you will be able to feel the Savior’s love and power come into your life as you follow Him more fully.  I love you all and want you to know that you are AMAZING!  Have a wonderful week and know you've got prayers and great blessings coming your way! 

Much love

~Elder McDonald

Drew mail 12-7-20: "Give Everything to the Lord! "

 

Hi everyone! I can't believe Christmas is coming up so quickly, for me it feels that this whole year has just flown by! I'm really grateful for this time of year as we've been able to focus on gratitude and more as we are able to focus on the Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I've been thinking a lot recently about the things I've been learning and what I've been able to do and trying to determine what more I can do, or what more do I want to learn and give to the Lord. It's been insane to me how quickly the time has gone by and I can't help but think about what more would the Lord have me do? As I've been pondering and trying to find how I can give more of myself, I've been thinking more about how perfect and loving the Savior is! I've really felt strongly this week that if we choose to follow Him and love Him all our days, one day everything will be made right and He can make more of us than we could be on our own. I love my Savior! I know we can be saved and healed and changed and strengthened and blessed by and because of Him! I want with everything I have to be able to serve Him all my days and keep my focus on Him and have His love, hope, and power in my life more fully. 

As we're focusing more on Christ this time of year, I've been thinking what difference would be in our lives if we kept a laser like focus on the Savior all year. We should be giving our all to Him every day, all year! It's an incredible feeling of love and peace when we dedicate ourselves wholly to Him and I know that as we give our all to our Heavenly Father, we will be blessed and filled with His love and joy! He can do more with us than we thought possible and I know He loves YOU perfectly! I encourage you to be able to give everything you have to Him, not only this Christmas but your whole lives and I promise you will be astonished and overjoyed with the love and change you feel! I know Christ is the Savior and He is here for you! You just have to choose to put your faith in Him and try each day to get a little closer to Him! I love you all and if there's anything I can do for you let me know!!

~Love Elder McDonald

#Missionnotes Month #18

 

#Missionnotes Month #18  of sharing the light of Christ - 

"Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us."  ~Luke 2

Drew mail 11-30-20: "Miracles and Faith"

 

Hello everyone! I hope you've had an amazing Thanksgiving and been able to take some time to think about the great blessings Heavenly Father has given you throughout your life! I know I'm very touched and grateful for the evidences of love and care He has for me! 

This past week we've been looking at the topic of faith in come follow me, and it's been related very well to some of the things that have happened for us! So from Ether 12 and lots of other places in the scriptures we learn that faith is to have a firm belief in Christ which then leads us to action. Sometimes that action can be hard, or it can be something simple too, but it is very important that we have that part in faith because if we don't act, no miracles nor change can come. 

We've been working hard to develop relationships with the leadership in our area and on Sunday we had a Bishop come up to us and give us the contact information of a lady he had just visited with who isn't a member.  We were able to reach out to her and set up a video call for Wednesday evening! She was really nice, it was a neat experience to be able to see Heavenly Father bless us with that miracle!

I testify that miracles really do occur as we put our faith in Heavenly Father.  I know that He blesses us as we act in faith! I encourage each one of you to show more of your faith in the Savior Jesus Christ, by sharing His love and light with those around you more fully as we go into this Christmas season! I testify that you will be blessed and that miracles will abound as you put your faith in God and Act!   😊

Love you all! 

~Elder McDonald

Drew mail 11-23-20: "A Call Center Professional 😂 (and Happy Thanksgiving!!) "

 

HI everyone! I hope you've had an amazing week full of gratitude! We've been calling people like no other this week.  It has definitely not been an easy thing! I've realized that this time has really changed the efforts we have to make.  It's been difficult because it's something I haven't developed strength in doing yet but it'll come, just a different aspect of the work that needs more time and work now!

As I think about what Heavenly Father has just told us through His living prophet, we need to focus on gratitude. It has really helped me out as I've thought each day on what I'm thankful for.  It's given me more joy, peace, and love, just as the prophet said we'd receive as we work on developing this Christ like attribute!

Relating that back to what I said earlier, I'm grateful for the opportunities we have to struggle and to have challenges. That's how we learn and grow and become better.  Hopefully I'll be able to become the person Heavenly Father needs me to be with the skills and the character He wants me to have to be able to further His work and be a better instrument in His hands!

I pray that each of us can yield our hearts to Him and give Him our all, while having gratitude so that He can make us into the pure, sons and daughters He wants us to be! If you haven't seen the message from President Nelson yet, watch it! I also encourage you to give your all in fulfilling his invitation! You all are amazing and I'm grateful for your love and support, Heavenly Father loves you so much and is proud of you! Have a great week and enjoy your Thanksgiving!!

~Elder McDonald

Drew mail 11-16-2020: "Sunset, Sunrise, Daybreak, Star Dust, and What Else??"

 

Hi everyone!! I hope you've been having an incredible week! I'm so thankful for your prayers, love and support! If you ever have any questions for me, or if there's anything I can do for you, reach out to me, I'd love to speak with you! I don't have a whole lot to report on this week, other than that it's been an awesome experience so far to be here in St. George! The weather is super nice and I'm really grateful to be serving here with Elder Hinckley and my district! They are amazing! We had our first district council on Friday and it was a really great experience to get to know the missionaries here. I'm excited to be working with them, they are all amazing!

We've been working hard to reach out to ward leadership and get to know them, but not a whole lot of them have returned our calls 😊. That's a lot of what we're doing these days, calling people and setting up times to share a message with them, give service, or share a spiritual thought on the spot if they would like!  

We have gotten to help one family move a HUGE playhouse that the dad made by hand for his kids.  It weighed so much! We had 6 of us Elders pushing that thing while the dad lifted it up a little bit with a hand-truck dolly. It was fun! We also are able to go knock the doors of the people who don't have phone numbers, or who aren't very good at answering phone calls, so we've tried to find a few people that way.  All the while we are working to keep those who are at risk for having complications from contracting the virus safe!  Of course we're working through Facebook too! If you have any fun ideas for us to try, let us know!  We're looking to do everything we can and just want to help everyone here!

So the title for this week's letter is based on some of the street names in our area, they all have really "scenic/pretty" names so I thought it was kind of funny 😊.  Anyway things are going well, we're going to reach out to the stakes around us as well since we are over the Spanish work for all of the stakes in the area - so it should be fun!

Thanks for all your prayers, I love you all and if there's anything I can do for you let me know! Have a fantastic week, do your best to enjoy it and take advantage of the small moments to see the good!  It'll help you out a lot to realize that Heavenly Father is influencing your life and is in the details! 

~ Much love, Elder McDonald

#Missionnotes Month #17

 

# Missionnotes "That they may always remember him"  

On to month #17

Share the light

 

 Hi everyone! How are you doing? I just wanted to share a few thoughts I've had this week as we've met with lots of different members of the church and done more service this week. I really know Heavenly Father loves each one of His children perfectly and is aware of their needs. He wants us to help and lift others and encourage them to keep working to return to Him. We all are in this life together, and may not know what specific  needs others have but we all can love and share light with those around us. All God wants us to do is give our best effort and keep trying while loving others! I know you'll be blessed as you tap into that love and encourage others to get back up and try again as you do the same. I'm going to an area this transfer called Sunset and I'm not really certain where it is, but I'm looking forward to this opportunity to share Christ's love with others! Have an amazing week and know I love you so much! 

~ Elder McDonald

Sharing Gospel light (stop-motion style)

 

Drew mail 11/2/20: "A Quick Testimony"

 

Hello everyone! I hope you've had an awesome week! I don't have a lot to report this week, we've been doing a lot of service and finished up some fun Facebook videos which you should check out if you can! I just want to leave my testimony and love with you that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love you so much! If there's anything I can do for you let me know! Just take one step at a time and put your trust in them and you will have the help, love, strength, answers and inspiration you need! Love you all! 

~Elder McDonald

Drew mail 10-26-2020: "The House of the Lord"

 

Hi everyone! Have you had a good week? Seen any neat blessings or answers to prayer? I have! I can definitely testify that Heavenly Father loves each one of His children, hears, and answers our prayers and gives us exactly what we need to progress and become more like Him!

I want to focus though on temples today. We had the opportunity to drive to Cedar City on P-day and got to go visit the outside of the temple there! It was such a neat experience and I'm so thankful for temples! I have missed being able to be inside the temple so much, as it's been a little over a year since I've been able to serve there! Even though I didn't step into the temple, today was such a sweet reminder, that it is the house of the Lord. I felt the purity of the temple and know without a doubt that  things that happen inside the temple, the promises we make there about how we will live, and the blessings that God promises to give us are so, so special.  Words can't describe how I feel about this sacred place. I know without a doubt that the central driving force of all this is love! 

The love that God has for each one of us is perfect and is overpowering of everything else we could ever experience. I testify that everything, covenants, ordinances, commandments, the plan God has for us, the Savior, repentance and forgiveness, everything is centered on that LOVE! God is so desirous to bless us and purify us and help us get back to Him and I testify that He has prepared the steps to do so. They are to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized by His authority in His name, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and keep moving forward repenting and making more covenants until the end of our time on this Earth. 

I honestly cannot express with words the love and spirit I feel as I think about temples and the things God does for us to help us return to Him. I know that even though right now we may not be able to consistently serve in the temple, we can receive the blessings from the temple and keep becoming more pure and learning about these things while we wait for the day to return there. I have faith that all the promises we receive from God will be fulfilled in His time and way as we do the best we can to follow Him and trust in His word. 

One last thought I have is to invite you to look at the talk by Elder Ronald A. Rasband from this most recent General world conference "Recommend to the Lord.”  I love the Lord and love His house and the covenants we make there. I testify of their importance in our salvation and promise that as you seek to be more worthy and follow Him with everything you have, you will feel the Spirit testifying to you of His love and plan for you! You are amazing! Keep trying and take one step at a time. God loves you so much and will help you each step of the way as you trust in Him! Have a fantastic week, I love you all!!

~Elder McDonald 

Drew mail 10-19-2020: "God's Love!!"

 

Hi everyone! This week again seemed to fly by! I can't believe it's been 5 months since I was home, it's been such an incredible experience to be serving and I'm so thankful for the experiences I'm having! Even though it may be hard at times, it's definitely the best thing I've ever done and I'm seeing that Heavenly Father really does have a plan for me and is aware of my needs and of everything that's going on! 

So this week we met a few times with a man we met a while ago. He's really awesome and is very nice and we've been able to talk about some different points of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Him, and he has incredible faith! One of the visits we had though we were being in the defensive side and we could feel that both us and him weren't feeling understood or loved. We felt the Holy Ghost in a few points of the visit, but we definitely weren't creating an environment where the spirit could testify continuously and help him feel God's love. After the visit we sent him a message apologizing for that and expressed that we need to always help others feel that love as missionaries. After this he responded and told us he was grateful for our efforts and wants to keep visiting with us. I felt so much better and felt like the wall which was keeping that love and spirit from being felt was taken away instantly. 

So a few things I've learned from this are

1) we need to ALWAYS respect others and love them as Christ would. He has commanded us to love others and to always help them get closer to Him through feeling that love. It isn't an easy thing to do though! We can get angry or choose to be offended and believe we're in the right while someone else is doing something wrong, but it is so essential that we choose to let those negative feelings and judgments go and that we just choose to love and see others as Christ does. 

2) we need to ask for forgiveness and let hearts be healed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. No matter what has happened, we need to love and extend our hands to others. Whether we've been hurt or we've hurt others, we're all brothers and sisters and we're all trying to do better. We're all in this journey together and we all need to be more united and loving. 

As I've been thinking about these things I've had a thought stick out to me that I heard from General Conference. I don't remember who it was from, but they said something along the lines of there will come a time when all Christians will need to be united and rely on each other. I really feel it is important to be one with all those around us. It's not an easy task, but I know it's what God asks. And since He asks it, that means it's possible with His help. So I encourage each of you this week to think about how you can be a little more loving and united this week with all those who are around you. I promise you that you will feel greater joy and will be able to have less fear and anger in your lives as you learn to see and feel for others what Heavenly Father does for you. 

Love you all! If there's anything I can do for you let me know! 😊

~Elder McDonald

Drew mail 10-12-2020: "Apple Cider"

 

Hi everyone! How was your week? I hope it's going well and you always know how much Heavenly Father loves you! I wanted to write about something fun we did this week. Last week we met a couple who are religious and the wife was a member of the church a while ago but now goes to a different church, and they are super awesome! We got to meet them and have been able to do some service for them chopping wood, then they invited us to go make apple cider with them! It was an awesome experience and we got to develop our relationship with them quite a bit! I want to relate the process we went through of making apple cider to the atonement and hopefully help you know that Heavenly Father has a plan and will help you become the person He wants you to be! 

So first of all we had to go get apples. We have a friend who has apple trees and mentioned she was wanting to get rid of the apples (tender mercy!) so we went over there and pulled the apples off the branches we could. Then there were some that we couldn't reach so we had to shake the branches and make the apples fall to the ground. We then had to go through and find which were good to use and which were eaten by birds or unusable. 

So we gathered all them and took them to where we'd be turning them into apple cider. The people we were helping had an apple press which worked something like this.. We had to wash and cut the apples then feed them through a part of the machine where they were ground up into even smaller chunks which filled the barrel where they would be pressed. We then had to spin and rotate a plate down onto the barrel which squashed the apples so tightly that they released their juice into a pan which drained to buckets we filled up with the product we wanted. And voila! Apple cider! 

It took quite a bit of time to complete the process of making what we wanted to, and it wasn't exactly they easiest thing to do, but I can tell you that this was probably the best apple juice I've ever had! It was a powerful lesson as well in relation to the atonement of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we don't want to go through the process we have to to be changed (refined) into what God knows we can be. Sometimes we're comfortable on our tree branch, not wanting to be moved, or not wanting to experience trial or pressure, but just like how diamonds are made from incredible amounts of pressure on coal, we can be made into something better than we could be on our own. I testify that Heavenly Father has a plan and sees the bigger picture perfectly. He has enough love to shake us from the tree and turn us into something more, something better, something we can only be because of His son Jesus Christ and the refining process of repentance. 

I love you all so much and know Heavenly Father will help you as you put your faith in Him and let Him refine you! 😊

~ Elder McDonald

Drew mail 10-5-20: "COME and Hear the Word of the Lord!"

 

Hi everyone! I hope you've had a wonderful week and that you know how much Heavenly Father loves you!! He is proud of your efforts and wants to bless and help you! We got to see and hear and feel that as we had General Conference this past weekend! It was such a great experience to feel of His love and receive answers to our questions and if you haven't been able to watch or listen to it yet, I encourage you to do so! Also keep studying the messages after they are posted and I know you'll learn more and feel greater help and love for you from Heavenly Father as you study them! 

Two of the things that stood out to me were from Elder Rasband where he spoke of the importance of being worthy and clean before the Lord to be recommended to Him, and President Nelson talking about the importance of "letting God prevail" in our lives. I testify that God has a plan for you and will work miracles in your life as you work to follow Him and choose to let His will be done over yours. I love the Savior and testify that we can receive divine answers and help as we trust in Him! Love you all, have a fantastic week! :) 

 ~Elder McDonald

#Missionnotes - Month #16

 

#Missionnotes - Month #16

"Behold your little ones..." 

Drew mail 9-29-20: "New Day"

 

 Hi everyone! How are things going with you this week? I'm so thankful for your love and prayers, it really makes a difference! I am also so thankful for the things I am learning and experiencing! Even though it's difficult at times, I know that when it's hard we tend to grow the most! This week we had a few neat things I wanted to mention! We've got transfers tomorrow, but I'm going to be staying here in Beaver with Elder Solano for the next month and a half! 

First of all, we did something pretty fun, which I didn't think I'd be doing as a missionary! While I've been here in Beaver, we've gotten lots of great service opportunities, but this last Saturday, we did something a little different! We had a missionary carwash and were able to spend 2 hours in the afternoon just washing people's cars at the church! At first, I was concerned we wouldn't have a lot of people come, but we worked to put it on all the pages we could on Facebook and made a few signs for us to wave on the corner! Turns out we got a LOT of people, and it was really a fun thing for us to do! 

Another neat thing that we got to do was have zone conference yesterday (Monday)! I loved as always getting to feel the Spirit strongly as we learned together about Christlike attributes, the importance of the work we are doing and the power and role of the Book of Mormon in our lives! I love that as we learn new things or even review things we've heard before, the Spirit will testify to us the truthfulness of what we hear or learn. That's how we can know for ourselves what is from God! 

The last neat experience I want to write about is the baptism of Jose and Andrea! It was a great experience to see them baptized and be able to participate in their confirmation, where they become members of the Church of Jesus Christ, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost! It was a real testimony builder for me that because of the authority of the priesthood, we can do sacred things such as baptism and confirmation, which are steps on the way back to Heavenly Father. I know that at times we can have struggles and it can feel like we just can't do any more, but I testify that Heavenly Father gives us the tools we need to try again and start over! I love that no matter what happens, we can look to Him and His son and know that their love never changes, and that we can begin again each time we fall or make a mistake! Each day can be a fresh start and we can try to be just a little better than we were before! I know that if we give all we have, Heavenly Father blesses us and helps us do more than we thought we could. We just need to focus on taking one step at a time and not lose hope or faith. I love my Savior and am so thankful for the help He gives me each day to keep trying! I promise each one of you, that if you follow Him with all your heart and strength and mind, He will bless you. He will help you try again and see that today is a new day!  😊

~ Elder McDonald

Drew mail 9-21-20: Unity and Love!

 Hi everyone! How has your week been? This week has been a good one, I've learned a lot and I'm grateful for all your prayers and faith and love! We had the opportunity to do a zoom meeting with Elder Neil L. Anderson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Bingham who is the President of Relief Society! It was with our whole mission and it was such an incredible experience! I wanted to share some thoughts and feelings I had that stood out to me as we discussed with them a few different things. 

The first thing that stood out to me came from Sister Bingham and it had to do with unity. She talked about how we need to be united as companions, as well as with the members around us, with our leaders and last with Heaven. I want to make it a little more personal to you and tell you that you have to be united with your family, your friends and neighbors, those you may struggle getting along with, those you associate with, and with Heaven. I know that this is such an important principle that we can be united with those around us. That's really the only way we can become the best person we can be and help others do that too. I know that when we're united miracles and blessings come, doors open that weren't there before and we can really learn to see others as God does. 

The next thing I want to mention is the importance of loving others. Elder Anderson talked about how the Savior loves everyone perfectly and how we need to let that love sink into our hearts and change how we act. It can be really hard when we have different habits or beliefs or personalities, but I know that no matter what we can always love. It all needs to start with love is change is going to come and I know that this is the best way to open hearts and help others feel the perfect love that the Savior and Heavenly Father have for them. I challenge you to love, not only those you get along with, but especially those who it may be difficult to love at first. 

I loved how throughout this meeting it was an important thing to get to love the Gospel and believe it for yourself. It's a hard thing to change and act on something you don't believe in so we each need to start to form our own believes and decide what to stand for. Elder Anderson invited us to make a private list of the specific things we really believe in. For example: I believe that God exists, I believe He is my Father and that He loves me, I believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. Make a list for yourself and if there's something you're not sure about search more and ask God to know for yourself. It will come! Just keep trying. Right now is the time you need to build your foundation and know what is true. The time to act is now! 

I want to share my testimony that I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of God on the Earth today. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and that He knows you personally and can and will help you if you turn to Him. I know that no matter what we can trust in and love Him. I testify that we have been given great resources to help guide us in this journey and some are, Prophets and Apostles, Priesthood, scriptures, ordinances and covenants, and prayer. I know that if you open your heart to Him, He will direct you and accept your offering. He loves you so much and will bless you for your efforts.   :)

~Love, Elder McDonald