Drew mail 11-25-2019: "Give me Now This Mountain"

 Hola everyone! How are you all doing? I pray that you are all doing well and are having lots of great opportunities to draw closer to Jesus Christ, give thanks for blessings that we have, and have greater light in your lives this time of the year! I always love this time as we start to get closer to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, when we can have a fresh start! Something that I have learned is that we are able to enjoy many great things as we go throughout our lives, and make great memories as time passes, but there is something much greater that can only be enjoyed when we put in the work and  "climb our mountain."  It can definitely be a daunting task when we start and we look up at the top of the mountain in front of us, but I can testify that once we get to the top we will be thankful for the effort we put forth as we enjoy a more beautiful view.

You're probably wondering why I am talking so much about mountains in this letter. We recently had a multi-zonal conference with our Mission President, President Dunford, along with the President of the Area, President De Hoyos.  Among some of the things that really struck me was the quote from President Dunford that I used for the title of this post.  We talked about becoming true disciples of Christ and having the mindset of wanting to do hard things to become better.  This was something that really struck me. I am not just talking about climbing mountains, I have done it. I remember one mountain in particular was really difficult for me. We had gone as a youth group to hike the Seven Devils mountain range.  This hike was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I remember the first day I wanted to go home and stop going forward but when we finally reached the end of our hike, we were at the peak of the mountain and we could look out to what seemed like the edge of the world. As I sat there and looked out over the beautiful view I felt so happy and grateful to be able to have come all the way that I did and to be enjoying this greater view.

When it comes down to it Heavenly Father will never leave us alone in our hikes up "mountains." I can testify that He will give us help and strength and we will see great miracles along the way. 

Throughout this week we weren't able to spend as much time in our area as normal, and so we were a little nervous about being able to share lessons and find new people to teach, but we have been blessed and have been able to find people who truly are interested in learning and who have great potential to progress! We were looking in the area book (which has records of people who have been taught in the past) and we found Juaquin and Paula who have a small family and have lots of love and want to learn! We also found a family who is from Cuba who have only been in Uruguay for 4 months - same as me!  They are really wanting to come to church and learn more as well. I am grateful for the blessings and help I have seen as we have put our trust in the Lord and tried to climb our "mountain" this week.

Les prometo que cuando les esfuerzan a subir sus montañas, cualquier tipo que sea, que van a disfrutar más luz, más gozo, y más amor. Al comienzo va a ser difícil, pero puedo testificar que va a ser vale la pena. Sé que Jesucristo y Dios estén con nosotros en nuestras pruebas y que vamos a ver sus manos en nuestras vidas cuando les confiamos. (I promise you that when you put forth the effort to climb your mountains, whatever type they be, that you will enjoy more light, more joy and more love.  Beginning the climb may be difficult, but I can testify that it will be worth it.  I know that Jesus Christ and God are with us en our trials and that we will see their hands in our lives when we put our trust in them.)

Elder McDonald

Scripture of the week: 1 Nephi 3:7

Quote of the week: ¨Quien va a subir esta montaña conmigo¨ Presidente Dunford 

Drew mail 11-20-19: "Tender Mercies Abound"

 Hola everyone! How are you doing? I hope that everything is going well, and that you are having great opportunities to have joy and are able to feel of Heavenly Father's love for you. Something that I love being able to see is that everyday we truly can see so many things that remind us how much Heavenly Father loves us and that we can feel joy each day. There are so many great experiences we can have that can help us to be able to know that he is mindful of us and that things will get better. 

This week we had transfers! So I am staying here in San-Fernando, but now I have a new companion! His name is Elder Loperena and he is amazing! He is from Texas and his parents are from Mexico so he is ¨latingo¨ which means he speaks Spanish and English! He is very calm and even headed and has a lot of understanding about the Doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is incredible! I am super excited to work with him and to be able to work together to improve ourselves and help the people in our area get closer to Jesus Christ and make promises with Him.  So at the start of the transfer I was pretty nervous, as I realized I would have to direct the area all day. Where to go, who to talk with, lunch, everything. I was nervous thinking that I wouldn't be able to do it, but I saw lots of tender mercies this week, and was able to feel more and more comfortable as we went through the week. Yes, there were some times where I made mistakes, missing buses, walking in the wrong direction, or changing appointments, but it's all a learning experience and I know that Heavenly Father is aware of our efforts and is right with us.
Throughout the week I have been able to have lots of experiences that have reinforced this truth, and helped me be able to find peace and strength in my efforts to direct the work. 
So first... the weather here the past few days has been HOT, HOT and HUMID. I have sweat more than ever before in my life!  At times it can be a little hard to find the motivation to keep walking and working in the heat. We were contacting one house and a man came out, and we asked him if we could have some water, and he came back out with a liter of juice which was a tender mercy! 
Another experience we had was on Thursday night. We had to go to a different area so we could be with the other missionaries in the morning to go together early to go and complete a step in the process for my visa. We had gone to the bus station, and we waited for the bus to come. The first bus came, I didn't think it was the right one so we let it go. The second bus came and we asked if it would take us to where we needed to go.  The man said no, so we let it go. (it really was the right one,) but we weren't able to take it. Then the third bus came and we knew it was this one.  We tried to signal to stop it, but it wouldn't stop!  Sadly, right now the microphone in our phone doesn't work, so we can only send messages. We decided to go to the house of the zone leaders and ask them what to do. They told us there was one last bus arriving in 5 minutes, and to catch it we would have to run. So we ran about 3 kilometers in like under 5 minutes to make it to the bus (angles helping!) Which we did! So then after being on the bus for 5 minutes, the bus driver told us we had to get off and he would come back in 15 minutes. The tender mercy of this though was that a father and daughter got off as well.  We were able to talk with them a little which was neat! Then finally we got back on the bus and were able to talk with another man which was another tender mercy. Finally, all said and done we got to the area and I was able to do what I needed to do for my visa. An adventure full of tender mercies - am I right!
I want to testify that I know that Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives and will not leave us alone. Even when we make mistakes or when it is hard to keep going, He will put tender mercies in our day that help us remember he is mindful of us, and will give us greater strength and happiness. I promise that each one of you can see these tender mercies in your lives and that you will realize Heavenly Father truly loves you and is concerned about you and your experiences. I invite you to look for these moments when you can see His hand in your life.  I promise you will see them! When you do, make sure to give thanks for them and as you do this more and more will come. 

Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 13: 33

Much Love - Elder McDonald

#missionnotes Month #5

Month #5 - Keep up the good work!

Drew mail 11/12/2019: "CAMBIOS (Changes)"

 Hi everyone!! It is so remarkable how quick the time is going! I can't believe that tomorrow I am officially finished with my training! I am going to miss my companion, Elder Letelier, but am excited for the new chapter! My new companion`s name is Elder Loporena, and I will be able to tell you a little more about him once I get to know him, but I know he is from Texas, and has family from Mexico.  So he is "Latingo" which means he speaks both English and Spanish which will be a blessing! 

This week I have been thinking a lot about the things I have learned and about the experiences I have had.  I am so thankful to have been so blessed to have Elder Letelier as my trainer. He has helped me understand how important it is to be able to give everything you have from the heart and to always seek improvement.  It is really strange to think of events that have happened over the past three months here in Uruguay but I feel like they happened years ago. I am really grateful for the things I have been able to learn and of course, there have been some rough times but looking back I can see how much I have grown and changed.  I realize that everything that has happened has been for my benefit.  I had the opportunity this week when we were contacting to find a man who spoke to us entirely in English. It was really strange to see that I struggled thinking in English and had a hard time trying to say what i wanted to because I was so accustomed to think and answer questions in Spanish. Thinking about this experience I realize that it shows how much I have progressed and changed in regards to speaking Spanish. It is something incredible to realize that when I first got here, I could understand very, very little Spanish.  Now I feel weird speaking or thinking in anything other than Spanish. I can testify that this is how all things are in life.

Before, I really didn't like change (even now I struggle with it.) I liked being comfortable in my routine and knowing that I could do the things I was doing. But now as I realize this, I understand how dangerous this can be. The truth is that we need to have changes in life. We need to be able to stretch ourselves, have trials, and cry in order to grow and to have a fullness of joy. I love looking back, I can see where I started, and how far I have come.  I know that this is how it will be when we are called to stand before Heavenly Father again.  It will be something incredible to understand how much we have grown and learned.  We will be able to understand that everything happened for a reason.  We are who we are today because of all the experiences we have had. I promise that if you work to do everything you can each day to be able to be just a little better than you were yesterday, you will be able to one day look back and see how much you have changed. We are here to learn and improve, but this can't happen if we don't change or accept changes when they come. It can seem scary at first, but I know Heavenly Father has His plan in motion.  He will help us through all things. We just need to be humble, have faith and love, and help others out along the way. 

Quote of the week: ¨Caminar en la senda del discipulado requiere práctica, cada día, poco a poco, gracia sobre gracia... Lo importante es que no se den por vencidos, que sigan intentando hacerlo bien. Con el tiempo, llegarán a ser mejores, más felices y más auténticos.¨ Elder Uchtdorf  MissionaryWork: Sharing What is in your Heart

Scripture of the week: 2 Nephi 31: 20 (favorite scripture of Elder Letelier)

--

-Elder McDonald

Drew mail 11-4-2019: "Serving with a Smile"

Hola Todos!! Como estan? Espero que esta semana tuvieron un poco más gozo y paz en su vida! Me encanta que cada día tenemos la oportunidad a ver bendiciones y sentir gozo. Siempre podemos tener gracias por algo en el dia, y estoy muy agradecido por las experiencias que he tenido esta semana. He recibido un testimonio más fuerte de una de las mejoras maneras en que podemos recibir verdadero gozo en nuestras vidas. Servicio!  (Hello all!  How are you?  I hope that this week you had a little more joy and peace in your life!  I love that each day we have the opportunity to see blessings and feel joy.  We can always be thankful for something each day, and I am grateful for the experiences that I have had this week.  I have received a stronger testimony of on of the best ways that we can receive true joy in our lives, Service!)

So this week Elder Letelier and I have been able to have quite a few opportunities to give service to the people here in our area of San Fernando Bis. It has been a really big blessing for us, because we were kind of stalling out in working the way we were and were needing a different approach.  One experience in particular was really awesome. The last change we had found a man and his wife contacting who had said they were interested in talking with us, but because they have a rough schedule we had not been able to find them again. On Wednesday though we found them!! We started to talk with the husband whose name is Alfredo, and we found out that some of his kids and he were working in the back of their house to dig a BIG hole to construct a bathroom (basically a big cement tube will go in the ground where the waste can go). We offered to help, and when we got back to where they were working we jumped right down into the hole and started digging with them. They were really surprised by this, but soon we were all laughing, talking, and getting to know them really well. When they were more comfortable with us they started to ask us questions about the Church of Jesus Christ and we were able to teach them a little. They invited us back to help again the next day and said that if we came back we could have lunch with them on Sunday... which of course we did! Who can say no to free food? But this was really a neat experience as we saw the power of service to bring smiles and open hearts (and fill stomachs ;) )

We were able to have a few other service opportunities throughout the week as well, for which I was really grateful. Each time when we serve we can feel greater happiness, greater peace and just have greater comfort in our lives. It doesn´t matter what we´re doing; cutting wood, lifting the beds of trucks, or just offering a smile or kind word to others. I know that each one of you can feel these things as well and can have greater happiness in your lives when you are of service to others. I promise that this will open your eyes to the relationship we all have with God, as His children.  You will feel greater love for those in your life, and will find a peace and joy that doesn´t come from anything else. The way you can know this for yourself is to try it! So that´s my invitation for you this week, work to find ways you can serve others.  It doesn´t have to be anything big, but I promise you will see a change when you do it! I have seen it, and you will too.

Quote of the week: ¨Quizás nos preguntemos cuál será la mejor manera de prestar servicio, pero el Señor lo sabe, y por medio de Su Espíritu seremos guiados en nuestros esfuerzos."  Tal como Él lo hizo- Obispo W. Christopher Waddell

Scripture of the week:  Mosiah 2: 17

Drew mail 10-28-2019: "What makes you different"

Hi everyone!! I hope you are all doing well and that you all know how much I love you and am grateful for all you do, but more important, I hope you know how much Heavenly Father loves you! He truly is working in your lives, and he has blessed you with individual gifts and with the path ahead of you that you need to grow and become your best self.

The title this week comes from one of the people we contacted while walking in the street on Saturday. Generally you can tell when people are going to try to avoid talking to you, because they will start walking quicker, look at the ground, or try to pretend to talk on the phone, but we do our best to talk with everyone we can.  We were walking Saturday morning after not being able to talk with the people we had made plans with.  I was praying we could talk with someone who needed our help.  Not long after, coming down the road was a lady who looked like she was going to try to avoid us. I decided that we were going to try to talk with her no matter what. As we walked closer to her she looked at us stopped, and said ¨I have a question for you. What makes your church different?¨ I want to apply this question to each one of us. What makes you different?  What are you doing in your life to be able to become more like Jesus Christ?  What are you doing to show others that you are wanting to become better, that you are working to live in a way that gives you greater happiness and peace?  Each one of us has been given unique spiritual and physical gifts and talents, directly from God. He knows us perfectly, and has given us these things not only to bless us, but so we can help others as well. I hope you can realize that you are unique, individual, and special in your own way.  Heavenly Father needs YOU. He needs you to help his children, to be able to work harder than ever before to serve, to love, and to become more like him. We each have different strengths and weaknesses, but we all are children of God. As such, we need to help each other feel loved and learn to come closer to our Heavenly Father. 

Testifico que Dios tiene un plan para usted. Usted tiene dones especificos, que necesita usar para ayudar otras personas y progresar en esta vida. Oro que puede entender su papel en el plan de Dios, y que puede saber que usted es importante. Necesitamos Usted. Dios necesita usted. Usted puede aprender y progresar. Busca por sus dones y va a encontrarlos. 

Debemos ser obedientes y diligentes en esta obra tan grande que tenemos por delante y solo podemos hacerla a la manera de Dios, pero eso no significa que no habrá oposición, sin embargo podemos seguir adelante y confiar en las promesas del Señor, tal como Nefi;

"Por tanto, yo, Nefi, me esforcé por guardar los mandamientos del Señor, y exhorté a mis hermanos a que fueran fieles y diligentes."  (I testify that God has a plan for you.  You have special gifts that need to be used for helping other people progress in this life.  Pray that you can understand your role in God's plan and that you can know that you are important.  We need you.  God needs you.  You can learn and progress.  look for your gifts and go find them.  We should be obedient and diligent in this great work we have before us.  We can only do it according to the manor of God, but that doesn't mean there wont be opposition.  We can however press forward and confide in the promises of the Lord.  Like Nefi - "Therefore I Nefi, encouraged them to keep the commandments of the Lord and I extorted my brethren that they be faithful and diligent.")   

 President Dunford 

 LOVE YOU!!

 -Elder McDonald

Drew mail 10-21-2019: "It's gonna take work"

Hola all! Cómo están? I hope you are all doing well and had a great week! I am so thankful for the things I have been able to experience and learn this week! I've had some great moments but also there have also been some really difficult times. I want to share a little bit of what I have learned about the Lord´s work and how all we experience can be for our good!

So first of all to start out with the "good" that I have been able to see this week:

As always I have been able to see tender mercies each day and I am so thankful for them. The little things, the answers to prayers and testimonies are what keep me going! So we have been working with a man named German who is living with his pareja (girlfriend) Ana, and is a less-active member of the church. They are really amazing and are just so loving and wanting to learn and progress. At first when Elder Letelier and I met them we were not sure of how to approach the topic of marriage with them, but this week we met with them a few times. On Tuesday we were able to talk with them about temples and a little bit about eternal families which was really amazing.  We left feeling good. Then on Thursday, they we were talking and the subject changed to what they are wanting to do with life and all of the sudden Ana said "our goal is to be sealed in the temple." At first Elder Letelier and I were like -  what! That is amazing!! So then we were able to talk with them about what they need to do to get there,  We invited them to pray together to be able to know if they ought to begin the process of getting married, which here in Uruguay takes three months. It was an amazing thing to be able to see that this lesson was directed by God and to see the joy and hope in their faces as we talked about what it means for them to be together forever. Throughout the rest of the week we were able to find a few new people as well and begin teaching them which was another amazing thing! We had lots of great opportunities to talk with the people here who are wanting to learn which has been an amazing blessing this week.

On the other hand, we had a rough time on Saturday. We had planned to have three lessons in the Church building with Julia, Esperanza and Luisa, and Sharon, and everything seemed to be working together towards it, but in the end not one of the lessons worked out. We were super excited to have these lessons and help these people.  I  honestly was really devastated when we weren't able to have them come. We went to look first for Sharon, and she didn't answer the door. We had called and talked to Julia the day before and she told us she was going to come to church, that she had been praying, so we waited for a bit for her and then it was clear she wasn't coming. I was just crushed. Elder Letelier and I were able to pray together and sit for just a moment, as we did the peace and calm that I felt was remarkable. He told me that we had done everything we could do, and that we needed to be happy with our efforts and I felt better. We decided to go look for Luisa and Esperanza, and she was out cutting the lawn and said she couldn't come but scheduled a time for Sunday to come back. We then decided to go and find Julia at her house. She answered and we were able to talk with her about repentance and the atonement. She is struggling with being able to let go of her sadness and pain of losing her son a few months ago, but isn't wanting to act so she isn't able to receive healing. It has been really difficult to be able to feel such great desires and hope to have these people come to the church, but then feel such great sadness when they don´t. 

The thing I have learned though this experience is that this is the work of God. We have to be able to struggle and experience hardship to be able to be perfected and learn and improve. Without sadness there can´t be joy, and the truth is it´s gonna take work to be able to receive this fullness of joy. I testify that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that even in the hard times we can hold to the tender mercies and see the good. He wants us to progress and improve. He wants us to become like Him, and we can if we just keep working. I promise that every effort you give to draw closer to Heavenly Father will be worth it.  You will see the great blessings that come from your faith and time and tears and striving. I love you all and hope you will find strength to continue in the work of the Lord.  We need each other to do it!  This is a joyous work, and we will find success, fulfillment, and love if we continue. Yo lesprometo esto en el nombre de Jesucristo amén.  (I promise you this en the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.)

Scripture of the week: 1 Nephi 3:7

Quote of the week: El sólo desearlo no lo hará realidad.  El Señor espera nuestro razonamiento; nuestra acción; nuestro trabajo; nuestros testimonios; nuestra devoción. -President Monson  (Only desiring it, doesn't make it real.  The Lord expects our reasoning, our action, our work, our testimonies, our devotion.) 

Mission Life #1

Videos from Drew:

Drew mail 10-14-2019: "Come Rain or Sun"

 Hi everyone! How are you all doing? I hope and pray that you are all doing well and are learning lots and are having lots of opportunities to learn and grow! I know I definitely am! Every day I am blessed to be able to learn something new, and it seems like even with the things I know, there is always a new way to look at it.  One of the great things about this life is that we are here to learn and gain experience. While our circumstances may change at times there are eternal truths that always remain the same. We can find these in everyday life and draw strength and greater understanding from them.

This week we have had close to the two extremes in weather. At the start of the week we had sun and more sun. I was thinking, "man it just can't be much more humid or hot than this!"  But then the weather completely switched and the weekend brought tons of rain. So much that the streets in some places were like little rivers! Through it all we kept walking. At times our circumstances may make us rethink why we are doing what we're doing or even question the truths we have come to know, but the fact is the truths are always the same and are always there! 

One of the things I have learned about so much is the un-changing, un-qualified, perfect love of Jesus Christ.  Come sun, come rain, wind or snow, His love is always there for us to partake of.  It truly is the most amazing thing, which gives us the most happiness and light in our lives. I love that this week I had the opportunity to witness a few people say their first prayer. The thought that struck me with this was that their prayers were so pure and simple, and that Heavenly Father was so happy to be hearing from them. Prayer is truly the way that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father, and receive guidance, understanding, and answers to our questions.  It doesn't matter who we are or where we come from to Him, we are all His children. He wants us to learn and keep progressing and eventually have all he has. He has a perfect plan for each one of us, and the plan doesn't change. I am so thankful that we can find strength from these unchanging truths. In the world where so many things are confusing, and there are seemingly numerous ways to find "happiness" there are eternal truths which if we build on we can have clarity, strength, and purpose in our lives. 

I love the new video of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi Chapter8, which talks about the vision of the tree of life which the prophet Lehi saw. {if you haven't seen it yet, go look it up! Then read the chapter!} In the vision he was shown a rod of iron, which led to the tree of life.  As people grasped hold of the rod (the unchanging truths or words of God) and pressed forward they finally made it to the tree. And why did they want to get to the tree? Because the fruit of the tree (love of God) is true, complete happiness. It is the source of our hope and all goodness. The way that we get to partake of the fruit is to continue holding to the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, continuing to learn and move forward. 

We have the way! We have the promised result! We just need to see it through. There will definitely be hardships, we may lose sight of the way for a time, but Jesus Christ is always beckoning us to return. He is waiting for us, hoping to give us the greatest welcome home if we will just rely on Him and on the path he has laid. I know that this is the way, and that we can have such marvelous blessings in our lives when we choose to keep trying to learn and move forward. I promise you will be able to see these blessings and know the eternal truths, if you just keep trying. Un día todo estará bien. Dios les ama. Yo les amo. Seguir adelante! (One day all will be well.  God loves you.  I love you.  Keep pressing forward!)

Elder McDonald

#missionnotes Month #4

#missionnotes  Month #4

Keep sharing the good word!