Drew mail 9-23-2019 "Nourishing the Fruit"

 Hola Todos! Cómo están? Les amo mucho, y estoy muy agradecido por sus oraciones, fe y amor. Ustedes son los mejores ejemplos para mi, y verdaderamente son amados hijos de Dios. Espero que ustedes nunca olvidan que Él tiene un plan para todas personas. Podemos recibir más fuerza y esperanza cuando hacemos las cosas que nos ayuda llegar a ser más cerca con Dios y Jesucristo y desarrollar nuestra fe en ellos.  (Hello everyone!  How are you?  I love you much and I am very grateful for your prayers, faith and love.  You are all the best examples for me, and truly are love children of God.  I hope that you never forget the He has a plan for all people.  We can receive more strength and hope when we do the things that help us become closer with God and Jesus Christ and we demonstrate our faith in them.)

Really, this is one of the most important things we can do in our lives. To develop a stronger relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as we grow our faith. As we nourish the seed, like Alma says in Chapter 32 of Alma, we will be able to find such incredible levels of happiness and precious blessings. It is important that we can look for the opportunities we have to nourish the fruit. Throughout this week, I have had several experiences which have helped me to do just this, and I want to share some of them with you:

First, we were able to have a multi-zone conference with our Mission President, President Dunford and his wife on Wednesday. This was absolutely an amazing experience for me. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by so many missionaries and to hear the inspired words of my Mission President. One of the things that really stuck out to me in the conference was when we talked about true conversion. Becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ should be at the center of all our efforts, and we should also do everything we can to help others experience this change of heart as well. Truthfully this is the way we can find peace, love, happiness, and hope for the future. I was so blessed to be able to be strengthened by the words of my mission president and his wife, and after the conference I truly felt uplifted and encouraged to do better and give more of my efforts to the work of the Lord. The inspired messages of those that Jesus Christ has called to direct his church are one powerful resource that can help us nourish the faith we have. We can use the words from the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the words of modern day prophets to help build us up and find strength to continue on. I testify that the words of God truly are for our personal lives, and we can find answers, motivation, and love in them when we truly rely on them like they are daily nourishment.

The next great experience I had this week was to give service. This was my first big service opportunity I have had since being here in Uruguay and I am so grateful for it. Three other elders and I were able to go help a man put in posts (essentially big tree branches) around his yard to construct a fence. He had dug holes around the perimeter of his home, and we put the post in the hole, filled the hole with dirt, and used another pole to stomp the dirt in to hold the pole in place. It was not easy work, but through it all I felt so much happiness and gratitude. Something that just occurred to me now as I am writing this :) -- us putting in the poles is an object lesson. We have to do the things that fill the "hole" and hold the "pole" in place so that when the winds come, and when pressure is placed on the fence, it will stand. This is another blessing that will come from nurturing our faith and relationship with God, and service is one amazing way we can do this, because when we serve others we are able to feel the love of God for His children, and feel the true happiness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The last experience I want to share is the impact that seeing other's faith grow has had on me. On Sunday we were able to have our first interested person come to Church! We have talked with Sharon a few times, and I am so grateful because each time we talk with her, I am able to see her understanding, faith, and desire to learn grow more and more. It truly was such a blessing to be able to see her come to the church building with us on Sunday, and it has strengthened my testimony as I have been able to see the faith in her grow and view the joy it has truly brought into her life. So then the application for us is that the "seed" of faith within us can grow when we see it growing in others. Thus, it is so important that we can try to help everyone around us develop their faith because the work truly is universal. It is something that connects all of us, and blesses all of us as it works within us.

Alright, so then what's the wrap up?  :)  It is so vital that we work to develop and grow our faith and conversion within our hearts. This is why we are here: to become more like Jesus Christ and to develop the attributes and knowledge that will help us return to live with God and our families for eternity. How beautiful is that! There are so many simple things we can do to "nourish the seed" and I promise that as you do them, really trying with all you have, you will be able to see the fruits of your efforts, and they will be more marvelous than you can imagine. Keep trying. Keep working. Keep believing and doing everything you can each day, and one day it will all be well. I love you all so much, and I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you with a perfect, unchanging love. Never forget that! Now go and start nourishing that seed!

Scripture of the Week: 1 Nephi 8: 10-12

Quote of the week: "Nuestro objetivo debe ser aumentar la fe en Dios y en Su divino plan de felicidad, aumentar la fe en Jesucristo y en Su sacrificio expiatorio y alcanzar una conversión duradera. Esta mayor fe y conversión nos ayudarán a hacer y guardar convenios con Dios, lo que fortalecerá nuestro deseo de seguir a Jesus y producirá una transformación espiritual y genuina en nosotros..." Elder Ulisses Soares: How can I understand? 

Drew mail 9-16-2019 "Finding the Gems and Using the Diamonds"

Hi everyone! This week has been one of even more blessings and lessons to be learned. I am amazed that even when I think I am learning so much, there is always something new to be experienced, something new to teach me. I love that about this life. We really are here to learn and grow, one step at a time, together! I am so grateful for the support and help I have been blessed with by having all of you in my life, and I am amazed by your examples and faith. Thank you for helping me learn to see the tender mercies and become who I am today. I pray that each one of you will be blessed and will receive the ability to overcome all trials and challenges you will face.

At times it can seem like everything is going along without anything special happening, or even that there isn't any good around us, but the truth is there are "gems" in the road where we walk. This week I have been really blessed to be able to see these gems. On Wednesday in particular, we saw lots of them! First of all, in our area the people here are very comfortable with the life they have and are very relaxed. It is really evident as one of the greetings they say is "Total Tranquil."  This can make it really hard to find people who are truly interested in learning or changing their lives, but I have seen that the Lord really is preparing "gems" who are ready to hear and learn. As we walk along the road, we have to look for them, but they are there! So that said, on Wednesday Elder Letelier and I were able to have 3 lessons and find 7 new interested people! That is something truly remarkable for our area, and I know it was a blessing from heaven and an answer to prayers and fasting. Of course, not every day can be like this, in fact the rest of the week was pretty normal with not being able to find many people to speak with, but I know there are always these gems to find if we just look.

So if those who are being prepared to hear the message of the gospel are the "gems", you might be wondering, who are the diamonds? The members! Those who have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ and have been refined by his atonement! I was able to see this week how important these diamonds are in finding and helping turn gems into diamonds. On Friday I was able to have my first lesson with members present and I was so grateful for this experience! It taught me the importance and value of having these diamonds to testify and develop relationships with those who are learning the message of Jesus Christ. We were teaching a sister named Julia, who lost her son about a year ago, and has been really struggling to overcome the pain and sadness of this event. We were able to bring a member who has lost a family member, and it was amazing because at the beginning Julia was reserved and not talking much, but then the dear member stood up and just hugged and held Julia for a moment. Julia cried, and the sister simply loved and comforted her. After this, Julia opened up and it was such a sweet experience for me! I know when we use the diamonds, it helps them even more, helps the gems, and helps us. The beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we are all working together to help each other in this refining process. That´s why we´re here! To be refined and to help others do the same. 

Much Love - Elder McDonald

Quote of the week: We tread a path covered with diamonds, but we can scarcely distinguish them from ordinary pebbles -Elder Uchtdorf

Scripture of the week:Ether 12:27 

#missionnotes Month #3

#Missionnotes Month #3 

Keep up the good work!

Drew mail 9-9-19 "Time to Act"

 Hola Todos! ¿Cómo están? Espero que ustedes pueden sentir el amor de Dios y ver Sus bendiciones en su vida! (Hello all!  How are you?  I hope that you can feel the love of God and see his blessings in your life)  I am so grateful to each one of you and want you to know that I love you so much! Thank you for your prayers and love, and I am so grateful that we can all be on this journey of learning and progressing together. Never forget how amazing you are, and know that God loves you so very much! 

This week was really good! I can't believe how quickly the time flies, but I am learning so very much, and have seen so many blessings each day! This week there have been some difficult moments, just like it is for our entire lives, but I have also learned some valuable lessons as well. At times we can feel like things just aren't going our way, or that we are just having a bad day, but the truth is we can choose to change it around. One day this week Elder Letelier and I were having a hard time getting along. It just started out as a rough day, and after one particular lesson where we weren't quite united in teaching we were walking down the road and I was just feeling upset and like the rest of the day was not going to be any better. But then I had the thought "Well, what can you do to change it?" I started to talk to him about his mission and ask him questions, and we started to play a game where we tried to kick a pebble between the other's feet as we walked and soon the feelings between us changed. It could've very easily been a bad rest of the day if we had not changed what we were doing, but because we chose to act our relationship was strengthened. There are going to be rough moments in life, and we can choose to act to change them or to just feel sorry that we are struggling. One gives an outcome of hope and improvement and the other only breaks us down further. 

In our area we have a hard time getting people to meet with us and open their doors. On the other side we seem to find lots of inactive members. At first I was really discouraged by this, and thought that we just wouldn't be able to help very many people here, but then Elder Letelier said that we are likely finding so many inactive members for a reason. Again, I could choose to be discouraged or try to change how to act and move forward. We are making more goals and trying to find new ways to help the people here, and I have faith that when we choose to act Heavenly Father will magnify our efforts and make it so we can do more than we could before. But its up to us if we will choose to change, and choose to try. All we have to do is try to do our best and Heavenly Father will take care of the rest. I promise this is true and that you can learn this for yourselves as you test it out in your life. There is power in acting in faith, and I know you will receive great blessings as you do so!

Love, Elder McDonald

Drew mail 9-1-2019 "We're All in This Together!"

 Hola everyone! I hope you are all doing well and are feeling of the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in your lives. I am so grateful for all of you and for the examples and faith that you have. I know there´s times when it can be really hard to keep taking steps forward, but if there´s one thing I have really come to know, its that Heavenly Father loves each of us SO MUCH! He wants each of His children to be able to have joy, to have light, and to come to Him. Even when it seems like everything is going against you, the truth is He is always there for you and will always help you as you turn to him. Just keep trying, and just keep reaching out. Things will get better little by little, and we will come to see so many blessings as we just give all we can to follow him. And the way that we do that is through living the gospel of Jesus Christ! I have been able to learn so much that the things he asks us to do are so we can be safe, happy, and whole. We can truly become who we are meant to be as we learn and live the way Jesus Christ wants us to. Satan knows this and he wants to make it seem hard and like it is easier to just do things our way, but the truth is we are not alone in our efforts. Not only do we have Jesus Christ on our side, but we have all those around us to help strengthen and encourage us. I have been thinking lots this week that the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is just like a big family reunion. We are all working together to help each other make it home. And truly this is a joyous thing when we all do our part!

Elder Letelier and I have been working lots to get to know the people here in Cerro, and its been really cool to see that we all have the same goals. We all are working together to make it back to Heavenly Father, and we need each other for support. I have felt so strongly this week that Heavenly Father directs everything in our lives. He puts people in our path and around us for a reason. They are the people that can best help us, and we can best help. It can be difficult to overcome fear to reach out to others, but it is so vital that we do! Many times as we would be out going to a home or simply contacting we would walk past a home and I would feel like we needed to go back and try to talk with the people there. One really cool experience was when we were walking past a little store run by a small family. Their son was sitting outside and was looking down at the ground. At first I didn´t think anything of it and we were walking past when all of a sudden I had the thought that we should go talk with him. It would have been so easy to say no, he clearly doesn´t want to talk with anyone, and we are already a-ways away from him, but I told my companion, and we decided to go back. It was such a good thing that we did because we were able to get to know him and have a good lesson about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ with him! If we had not chosen to turn around and talk with him we never would have had such a good experience!

I know Heavenly Father wants so desperately that all of his children can hear his message and come to him. He wants to do everything he can to bring us home, and guess how he does that? Through His other children, and through His Gospel. It can seem scary or hard to reach out to other people, but in truth we all are needing a helping hand. Heavenly Father knows each of us perfectly as well as our needs, and He will put people in our path for a reason. We may not understand why everything happens the way it does in this life, but I know Heavenly Father knows. He has a plan, and in order for all of his children to return to Him, we all have to work together. It´s like we´re all in a boat and trying to get to shore, but we need to all row together to make it. When we do that it will be so much easier, and we will receive so many blessings and strength that we need to make it to the destination. I love all of you so much, and promise that as we give our efforts to help others and move forward together, such marvelous light and happiness will come into our lives. We all need each other, and we all need love. The Lord needs YOU! Just start rowing, wherever you are, no matter what your fears or doubts are, just row. You are not alone and will receive help. I promise. 

Con amor, 

Elder McDonald

Drew mail 8-26-19: "Miniature Milagros are still Milagros"

Hola de Uruguay! How are you all doing? I hope you are doing well and that you can feel of my love and gratitude for each of you! I can´t believe I am finally in Uruguay! Its such a beautiful country and I love it so much already! My first area where I am serving is called Cerro and is outside of the city and there's not really another way to describe it than to say ¨campo¨ (field). I love the people here so much and I know that this is exactly the place I need to be right now.  So I wanted to share some of the great blessings I have seen already in my time here.

First of all, traveling to Uruguay was a miracle (milagro) in and of itself. We had three separate flights and about 22 hours of travel time.  Our first was to go to Georgia where we would catch our international connection.  We only had one hour in-between flights so we needed our plane to be on time. The first thing was that our plane was delayed in leaving which made our group of missionaries nervous as to if we could catch the connection. But soon we left and were underway. As we were getting close to Georgia our pilot came on the speaker and said that due to bad weather we would be circling until we had permission to land.  Now at first I was not happy with this.  I was really nervous because I wanted to catch the flight to Uruguay, but I decided to say a prayer and stop worrying. It turns out that the pilot coming on the intercom was a blessing! The woman who was sitting next to me had put in head phones at the beginning of the flight and didn't speak to me, but I had prayed that if Heavenly Father would make a way I would open my mouth and speak to her. Of course, prayers are answered! So when the pilot came online this woman took out her headphones and I actually was able to talk with her for a moment. Soon enough we were able to land and as we were leaving the plane I offered this woman a Book of Mormon.  She politely declined, but I felt good knowing I had done everything I could.  More, I had hope because we still had time to catch our next flight. As we looked at the directory we realized however that our gate was at the farthest end of the airport and we would have to take the subway train to get there.  So we started to jog towards the train and just as we got to it the doors opened and we got on. MILAGROS! So we were able to make it to our plane and safely arrive in Uruguay on time.

Often times miracles are not great or overwhelming things, but come in small simple ways.  I have seen so many and I wish I could tell each one to you, but that would take too much time.  I have seen miracles in who was assigned as my trainer.  His name is Elder Letelier and he is from Chile, so yes he speaks only Spanish.  He has been such a wonderful example to me already of hard work and faith, and I know he is exactly who I need to be with right now. Further, I have come to know that Cerro is exactly where I need to be to start my mission.  It is remarkable to me that as we go out ¨contacting¨ or simply clapping at people's homes, hoping they will open to talk with us, I have prayed ¨Where do we need to go¨and have truly felt a pull to take a certain direction to a certain home.  Sometimes people answer, sometimes they don´t, but I know that there is a reason for us to go to that place.  

One last specific miracle I want to mention has to do with oranges.  On Saturday night I really started to want some oranges, but we didn't have any in our home, so I decided to just not think about it.  On Sunday I still wanted oranges, and after church we went contacting.  We felt impressed to go to a certain home and out in the yard was a man who was gardening.  As we talked with him for a moment, he welcomed us into his yard and gave us.... ORANGES! I know its kind of a silly story and something not really important, but this showed to me that Heavenly Father knows our desires and will take care of us in everything we need.  I didn't need oranges. I would have been just fine without them, but I believe Heavenly Father wanted to show me that he knows me and that He is there for me.  To me, this was a miracle. 

Yo sé que todos ustedes pueden ver milagros en vuestras vidas. Sé que fe, obediencia, y acción trae milagros.  Dios les ama mucho, y él quiere bendicir todas personas que venir a él.  Yo prometo que ustedes pueden recibir más luz en sus vidas mediante el evangelio de Jesucristo. Yo oro por todos ustedes cada día y les amo. Vamo arriba! 

(I know that all of you can see miracles in your lives.  I know that faith, obedience, and action bring miracles.  God loves you so much and He wants to bless all people that come unto Him.  I promise that you can receive more light in your life through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I pray for you all each day and love you!  Keep moving forward!)

--

-Elder McDonald

Drew mail 8-18-2019: "The Hand of God"

 This week has been a good one! I hope you are all doing well and know that I love you so much! Today has been pretty crazy as it is my last "P-day" (preparation day) in the MTC, but I wanted to write about how much I have learned this week. Our district decided that this week we would work on the attribute of hope and working on seeing the hand of God in our lives.

This has been a really cool experience and I’ve seen lots of blessings from it. So one specific experience was with Elizabeth, our last TRC amiga. We were going to teach her on Tuesday, and we were super excited because we were going to invite her to be baptized, but then it turned out that we taught a different person instead. After the lesson we were leaving and walking down the hallway and we ran into Elizabeth! We talked with her for a minute and found out she was super nervous about an English test she was going to have later that day. As we were talking I had the thought, we need to pray with her. So I asked if we could and she was so happy and said yes! It was just super amazing to be able to see Heavenly Father direct us so that we could run into her and then pray with her. I know the hand of God is real.

It isn’t always something big like that however, but it can be seen everyday. The hand of God is shown when someone says a kind word, or smiles at you, or whenever anything good happens. I have found this week that when we pray for hope and try to see the hand of God it’ll happen! I promise. Try it and you can see for yourself. You all are amazing! Keep trying your best and I know Jesus Christ will make up the difference. I love you all!

Elder McDonald

Drew mail 8-11-2019: "Heavenly Father makes a way."

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well, and know that I love you, and Heavenly Father loves you so much! I wanted to share a few thoughts and experiences I’ve had throughout this week about how I’ve seen that Heavenly Father makes a way for us to do all he asks us to.

So on Sunday my district decided that we would do an “English fast” and only speak Spanish from Sunday night to Monday night. At first I felt nervous and wondered if I would be able to actually do such a demanding thing, but then I decided to just do my very best and rely on the help of my Savior. As I went throughout the next 24 hours, I found that I was able to speak much more than I thought I could! I found excitement and desire to speak in Spanish and I know that these blessings were from Heavenly Father. Now, of course I said a few things in English, there’s no way that I can be perfect, but I know that I worked as hard as I could and received great help and happiness because of these efforts. I think that it is really important for us to just give our all, don’t beat ourselves up when we aren’t perfect, and keep trying. I know that when we do this Heavenly Father will magnify our efforts and help us to do more than we believed we could.

I’ve been really focusing on specific goals this week, and I’ve found that this has really helped me see that when we give our all to improve, Heavenly Father will give us opportunities to learn and grow, and then recognize his help. In personal study I read the talk by President Nelson called “Drawing the power of Jesus Christ into our lives”, and I think that a quote he said really establishes what I’m talking about. He said, “When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you ever have done before, then His power will flow into you.” I know each one of you can know and see this for yourselves.

So one more experience where I saw that Heavenly Father makes a way for us to help others was during one of our TRC lessons with Elizabeth. Elizabeth is simply amazing! She has so much desire to learn and develop her faith and has done all we’ve invited her to do.  During our first lesson we invited her to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon, and we were planning to go into our second lesson and talk more about the Book of Mormon, but right at the start we found out that her questions and what she was needing to hear were about the plan of salvation. So even though we had not prepared for that lesson, and we were a little unsure of ourselves, Elder Howe and I decided to just go forward and do our best talking about the plan of salvation.  We saw so many blessings and help in knowing what to say, and as we trusted in the direction of the Holy Ghost, a path was made clear one step at a time. At one point in the lesson, I had the thought to read Moses 1:39 with her and I know this was a prompting from the spirit. This experience was such a strong testimony to me that when we just give our all and try to be directed by the Holy Ghost, that direction will come.

Yo testifico que Dios tiene un plan por nosotros. Él puede guiarnos y enseñarnos para ayudar otras personas y cumplir su voluntad. El Espíritu Santo es real y podemos recibir paz, gozo, y conocimiento por medio de su influencia. Yo sé que Dios ama todos ustedes.

(I testify that God has a plan for us.  He can guide us and teach us so that we can help other people to fulfill his will.  The Holy Ghost is real and we can receive peace and joy and knowledge by way of his influence.  I know that God loves all of you.)

Quote of the week: “I’d ask them to do hard things because I loved them.”

Scripture of the week: D&C 122:7

Elder McDonald

Drew Mail 8-3-19 "God will guide our footsteps"

Hi everyone! This week has been another really a good one! I’ve learned lots and seen lots of blessings in my life each day. So to start out, during Sunday films we watched the talk “Christ: the light that shines indarkness” by sister Eubank.  I absolutely loved this talk, and if you haven’t heard it in a while go watch it! I know that as you do you will learn something that you need to hear. On Monday I was able to read the talk “Consider the blessings” by President Monson, and again this is one you should read. The thing I learned from this talk was that the Lord is in the small things and will bless and direct us as we look to him. We need to work to realize his hand in our lives, and I know that as we do, we will realize that he truthfully has a great role in our daily lives. 
One experience I had where I saw this was when Elder Howe and I were trying to prepare for a lesson with José.  We both were having different ideas and were trying to explain our viewpoints, but we were just getting frustrated. I realized what was happening and decided to say a quick prayer in my mind that I would understand his feelings and as soon as I did, my feelings changed and I saw him differently. We were able to put together a good lesson and feel united. 
During the Tuesday devotional sister Craig (General Young Women’s Presidency) explained further how the Lord directs us. She said “God can only guide your footsteps when you move your feet”.  Before our planning meeting could improve, I had to decide to pray and open my heart. I know it can be hard to move our feet at times, but I know God is there to direct us as we do.  
Something I’ve learned which has helped me learn to trust more in Heavenly Father is how I study. I absolutely love the time I have to study the scriptures, and I’ve found that when I am truly studying with a purpose it is so much better. I have learned to start with a prayer, read, ponder, and then pray again telling my Heavenly Father what I learned and asking any questions I have. Doing this has given more meaning to my study and has helped me see the hand of God more clearly throughout the day.

Alright, so the highlight of my week was when I was able to host the new missionaries arriving at the MTC on Wednesday. This was really such a neat experience and reinforced my testimony that God knows and loves each person individually. As I was able to help new missionaries receive their materials, drop off their suitcases in their residence, and get to their first class I felt so much happiness and peace.  Towards the end, it started to rain and even though it was cold and my clothes were damp I felt so warm and happy inside. I know that each of you can feel that too when you try to help others and take steps towards our Father in Heaven. So the last missionary I welcomed was really having a hard time leaving his family and was just struggling a lot with this change. I know that God had me help him specifically because I was able to help comfort and encourage him a little. I’m not saying this out of pride, but I’m trying to say that I know God puts specific people in specific places at specific times for a reason, and all we have to do is be ready and look for it. I know that everything happens for a reason. I know God loves each of you so much and has a plan for you.  Just keep doing your best and you’ll see growth and great blessings from Heavenly Father.

Quote of the week: “Don’t give up, keep moving forward, and know there is help ahead.”

Scripture of the week: James 1:5

Elder McDonald

#missionnotes Month #2 August 2019

#missionnotes month#2 -- Aug 2019