Dec 2, 2013

Yo Alex; 

 

There is a song by the band The Police that says:  There's a hole.....in my life..... and that is the truth with you being gone.  We all missed you very much over thanksgiving.  That is your whole entire family missed you.  You are a very blessed young man and have wonderful abilities to make people feel good about themselves and to make friends.  You must get that trait from your mom.  I am attaching some things from the Wade thanksgiving celebration, from the menu and agenda to letters that people wrote to you.  I will write more later.  We hope you enjoy!!!

 

DAD

• Alex Macdonald
• Dec 2 at 8:43 AM

To

• Keith Macdonald

 

hey fathaaaaa!!!!

how was thanksgiving!!!!!! wow the whole day on Thursday i couldn't stop thinking about all the stuff that was going on and what you guys were doing and it was as for me too a whole in my heart... some of my favorite memories are from that time...but before i tell you about my week i was not able to download the file that you sent me dad... but this week was another crappy week... they just don't really seem to end where i am... we are not finding many people to teach... the area is extremely difficult and the people are teaching do not find the importance of their salvation or reading the scriptures or going to church... the catholic church has really twisted a lot of minds down here... its hard because everyone else seems to be doing good and finding people to teach and that missionary work is easy for them but for me it feels the complete opposite...and it doesn't really help when my companion is trying to teach little kids and wasting precious time trying to make the focused and give them a lesson when i would rather waste time knocking on doors and doing other things...he only has a few weeks left and you know how that is dad when missionaries get close to leaving and that is the majority of what they think about... personally i just want a knew companion, one that wants to bust his butt every second that we have... because i know how precious the lords time is and i just want to do some good here in Peru and for my actions to have some results... i have definitely learned to have patience and have come to realize that is probably what heavenly father wants me to learn... i love the verses in the scriptures about patience and if you endure patiently with your afflictions, the lord will help you.  something that is keeping my hope up for the area that i am in... i mean we even had a blitz here which means we had all the elder in our district contacting in our area to try to find new persons to teach that is how hard it is... i know the lord knows how strong willed i am but man is he testing me to its maximum... not to mention the bishop of our ward has not been to church in the past 2 weeks because of work.... talk about setting a good example for the ward members and being a leader... the ward is terrible and we are going to have a ward counselor and we are going to train them on how to be better because we had a training meeting with the area 70 for all the leaders of the church and not one from our ward went... there is seriously problems with our ward and i don't know why... this problem only makes missionary work that much harder on us when the ward is struggling.... however on the bright side of things... one day we were prosolyting and some of the locals asked me to play volleyball with them... me and elder Benites thought it could be a good idea to make some new investigators... anyways they were really good and we had some pretty intense back and forth games and there was a crowd because of me and they kept saying... matalo gringo... which means kill it gringo on the spikes... that all happened on Thursday which made me feel better on thanksgiving...now every time i pass by they are always asking me to play... the other day we went to the beach and it reminded me of Pounders and there was actually some waves breaking about 2 or 3 feet... awesome! how is the family doing! i loved the pictures! everyone is getting so old it is crazy! Kyle is looking good and grandma still looks like she hasn't aged! hahahaha... hows work? how is Brad doing? can you give a hug to everyone for me? well that is kind of how my week went this week... a bunch of crap, crap, and more crap but all i can do is be positive right? anyways dad... you are missed sorely by your son... i love you forever dad!!! 

Nov 18, 2013

hey dad how is it goin!

well the baptisms did fall through because the mom had changed her mind at the last minute ;( but you should see this kid... he has mentioned to us that he wants to accompany us when we go proselyting and that he wants to serve a mission... he even went to a devotional with one of the apostles that came to northern Europe and loved it... he was very sad when his parents told him that he couldn't... we are going to talk to the mom about it because both of these kids have a strong desire and believe it is the right way... however freak man it is so hard to find people here because everyone is living together and not married which is a problem because you can not baptism them if they are not... or they just don't have any desire to change their lives...we had a family we were teaching who is not a member only the mom and she was menos activo and we have had many lessons with them and they just don't keep their promises and don't read and it really sucks because they have lost interest... most of our investigators have fallen and something that i realized is that we spent way to much time with goats instead of finding and grazing the sheep that have been prepared and trying to force people to change their ways... it just doesn't work... this week i felt a little of the pain that Christ suffered for us when suffered in the garden.... i realized that not only did Christ walk a mile in our shoes but he kept on walking so that we could be here and have the opportunity to repent and be able to return to his presence.  my spiritual experience this week.... the ward leaders here are not very good and the bishop is terrible... we are lucky to have bishop Johnson... there are a ton of menos activos because the ward just doesn't show enough love and help to others who need it... the wards in the united states are a completely different story and they need some serious organizing down here.... like the missionaries have to tell them how to run things and stuff...wow they got slaughtered! is he happy to be done? what is he going to do now? does Kyle drive my car? it hasn't been totaled yet? wow asu is dominating!!!!!! to bad you dropped your season tickets! but wow that is awful what happened to brad! he will definitely be in my prayers and my fast! you could always give him a priesthood blessing too! great way to be a missionary service ;) i started reading the book of Mormon again for the 4 time! and i am going to miss thanksgiving ;( dang some of my fondest memories are from those times! give everyone a hug for me! but if you miss your surfboard you have no idea how much i do!!!!!!!!!! it kills me everyday.... the other day i woke up and was freaking out because if felt like it didn't know where i was... then i realized i was in Peru serving a mission... it was really weird... we are working pretty hard and we are knocking on alot of doors and trying to find the sheep... my spanish is getting better but no where near where i want it to be... my companion wow he is a convert but wow does he know the lessons... he is a fantastic teacher too... i cant wait for Christmas because i believe we get to skype!!! is josh getting any bigger?? wow i miss him... i miss all you guys like crazy... its hard but the only thing i know that makes everything go away is putting myself to work and trying to forget myself and all the things i wish i could have and just try to maybe give a little back to our savior... sounds like life is good! anyways if you have any questions ask away because when i am typing it is hard to think of everything that you guys might want to hear! how is work and the family! i need to write mom and kyle but i love you dearly dad! i really mean it <3 album="" br="" clear="none" got="" haven="" jack="" johnson="" still="" t="" the="" yet...="">

love your son,

elder macdonald 

On Monday, November 18, 2013 9:01 AM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

It's tough when people can't commit to anything.  We are not a gospel of force.   People have their agency.  The devil can be very persuasive.   Do your best to look at people through gods eyes and see their potential.  Then just try to love unconditionally.   Sheep, goats.... They are all children of god.   I couldn't be any more proud of you.  Love you son!

DAD

hi alex, are you online...I am heading out the door will read your email today...Josh sure misses you the first time yesterday he said When is Alex coming home I sure miss him...So cute...He is finishing up soccer this week and loves it...He is playing a little tennis and golf on the side..He loves tennis.  He might be my tennis kid Ha  love ya send lots of photos form the beach it makes me happy when you can see the water...Are you happy you get to see the ocean...Love ya mom

11-3-2013

• Alex Macdonald
• Nov 4 at 9:01 AM

To Keith & Lori Macdonald

 

holaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

how was New York!!! wow mom killed it this time holy cow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 hours that is crazy!!!! give her a big hug for me will ya!!! i bet you she will sign up for another one! i got 100 bucks on it because she has done all the ones she wants to yet! hahah that is awesome mom sent me some pictures of them! for Halloween i got to go proselyting and watch little kids walk around with their parents but there wasn't very many of them and it is not very popular like it is in the states! and jake was a teletubby! that is freaking awesome! hahahahahahaha.... wow kyle´s football season is already over and they are in the play offs?? that was fast! is he playing yet? tell him that he needs to write me back since he hasnt in 2 weeks!!!! did someone really surf a 100 foot wave too?????????? life in Peru is starting to get really good and me and my companion are looking at 7 baptisms this month!!! so stoked about it! we have this one investigator named Jordan who is 16 and we finally got permission from his parents and one thing that he said that was awesome is that me thinks he might want to serve a mission... he thinks is cool! i was so stoked about that! but yeah finally things are starting to get moving! we dont have many other progressing investigators so we knock on alot of doors! we get crappy references too which sucks. the bishop is an idiot some of the times too which is really hard when you want to make the ward bigger but i guess not everyone can be like bishop johnson... but how is life in the states??is the government finally running again?? how is work?? any knew projects going on?? did you sell my dirtbike?? can you send me some of those wrist bands from your work! mine broke! are you guys in costa rica right now??? if you are... that is so unfair on so many levels.... anyways i survived my first change in the mission and our zone went thought alot of changes... elder brown left which i was pretty bummed about.  this happens to be the last change for my companion too... its crazy to think that he is going home and i have just started...one day there was a massive game of bingo being played... and like the whole town was there playing because of the prizes they had.. it was funny to see... i had a pretty funny momnt the other day with a family that we are teaching... so i needed to use the restroom but the mom was showering... everyhouse here only has one toilet... we in the states get to enjoy the satisfaction of having more then one toilet so we dont have to wait and i tell you that is such a blessing... anyways when the mom was finished the father was then trying to explain to me that i could now use the restroom but i was not understanding him because of how fast he was talking... he then went on to make the motion of peeing and the noise associated with it and i finally understood what he was saying....everyone was laughing so hard it was pretty funny... on nov 16 we have 3 people getting baptized and 4 on the 23 of nov... one of the kids said when he went to church with us and his family he said he felt really calm and peaceful like it was where he needed to be... it is awesome to see the gospel working in other people and when they fell the love of Christ because everyone has the light of Christ and they just need a push or missionaries to get them started.  i want to change every bodies life here but my Spanish needs to get alot better for sure... it is getting better day by day but it still is pretty sucky... i think the people are trying to make me fat wit how much food they are giving me and i hate it because there is no gym i can go to or anything.  the last pday we went to the beach with some of our investigators and i was in heaven for about an hour... it was awesome...however i wish i was on carlsbad beach instead with you guys... i took the Frisbee and the paddle ball and we had a good time... anyways i am loving the mission more and more each day.  i a m really trying to forget myself and worry about those people that need me because they really need it here.  these people need the gospel in their lives ... a perfect scripture that goes with this is Luke 9;62 ..."and Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god" i know this could have a different meaning but i like to relate it to missionary work... i really dont want to look back on my mission wishing i could of done more... another great missionary scripture is right below it in Luke 10:1-3... awesome.... well anyways life is going good and it seems like it is for you guys! i miss you guys like crazyyyyy... wish i could wake early to go surf instead of studying Spanish... anyways... LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOUR son, ç

elder macdonald

pictures of ancon and the ocean and my companion on halloween!

A Night out on the town!!!

• Alex Macdonald
• Oct 28 at 9:01 AM

To

• Keith Macdonald

 

buenas dias mi familia! como estan? estoy muy animado para la oportunidad que tengo escribir usetedes hoy dia.  yo he realizado cuanto yo extreno ustedes mientras que serviendo este mision. me gustaria empezar con algo que paso en el bus.  me and elder benites were taking a bus to puente piedra for our weekly district meeting.  there started to rise some tension between two women. and i dont know exactly what they were saying because i don't really understand screaming Latino women but ten minutes later it turned into a brawl!!!!! on a moving bus! let me tell you it was a little scary watching this lady pound the living crap out of the other... luckily others ran to her help pretty quickly and where we stopped there was some police to help break it up all up but it was a very crazy and drastic thing! haha... i dont know if i have told you guys but the drivers here are crazy and they don not know how to drive stick... it was like me when i was learning to drive the bus dad and how i would rev the engine to much or let the clutch out way to fast and give us wipelash... yeah that is every driver here.... it is awful hahahahaha... oh and during pday there was a garbage turck going through the city and you should of seeen the people running to give them their trash.... many people where chucking it out the windows... it was hilarious.... but i have learned that the tierra es cada personas basura...i got to ride a members longboard and it made me wish i was out on a longboard at old man´s with ya dad! mommy i just wanted to let you know that i got one of your packages finally! it was the one with the Frisbee and beach stuff! you are seriously the best mom ever and that is an understatement! i don't know how you do it but i am sure glad you do because it made me so happy that stuff that was in there. don't ever stop mom! you are amazing and dad is lucky to have you :) this week i got to work with the zone leader and i learned alot from him and how he is able to almost baptized someone every week.  not to mention he lives above a fricking gym which he can use every morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this Sunday we had a whole family show up to church today and a bunch of people Kyle's age came! it was awesome but we see everyday how hard satan is working on the people in our area...he have had multiple people want to get baptized or to talk to us but they cant because of their parents or they say they don't have time to talk.  all we can do is pray on their behalf hoping that they will invite us in... i love the pictures you guys send so feel free to send me some! this week wasnt as action packed as my other weeks but it was a good one for sure! MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKESTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

October 21, 2013

October 21, 2013

On Sun, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:48 PM, Keith Macdonald wrote: Hey Alex; Hows my boy. I hope you got Grandpa & grandmas email. Mom just got back from Baltimore this afternoon. She went to a girls weekend with all of my sisters and Granny Macdonald. They had a good time. Fall is a pretty time in that area so I&apos;m glad she could go. So, it was a boys weekend. The weather has cooled down here and it is very nice. Our yards are looking good and the winter grass is filling in. Josh and I went for a razor ride this weekend and it was really fun. Polaris just came out with a new Razor 1000 (mine is the 900) but who cares. Work is going well but a little slow right now. I was a little bummed when I heard that your companion is kind of trunky. That is hard. You can&apos;t control everything, so just do what you can do. Who is Elder Brown? (from mountain view) Did you meet Elder Arnett? My friend said that his son is in your mission and that he met you. The Denver Broncos just played in Indianapolis tonight for the first time since Payton Manning has moved to the Broncos. He got a standing ovation from the crowd. Unfortunately for him they got their butts kicked as Andrew Luck had an awesome game. Why did you and your comp have to move rooms? are you teaching anybody right now? you misspelled the word pissed....you spelled pist....very bad!!! Keep plugging along with the espanol... you&apos;ll get it. It will be worth it. Continue to exercise and I am glad that you are keeping things clean. Cleanliness is next to godliness.... filth is just plain discusting. It is okay to have up and down days.....that is very normal. One thing that I was really impressed with before you left is that you new that your calling was from God. Don&apos;t ever doubt that. He has a work for you to do and in time you will do much good. I am looking forward to your photos. make sure you give some kind of synopsis of each one. Read Isiah 52: 7-8. You are sorely missed but we are so pleased with what you are doing. Thank you for your example. Learn to look for the good in people and do your best to exentuate the positive. I look forward to your letter/pictures tomorrow. Love, DAD Alex Macdonald Oct 21 at 8:42 wrote: hola dad i got grandpas email! sounds like mom had a fun weekend... fall here is pretty lame i assume because there isnt anything green for miles... haha but that is ok becauses this is where god wants me to be. hahahaha i am laughing right now that you put in that they came out with a new razor... makes me think you are jealous and want that one instead! haha i see that you guys went to an asu game! miss those days! how was the game? anyways i dont know if i have but i cant remember and yeah elder brown is from mountain view and a really good friend of a friend of mine and now we are friends. its great and he is a really chill kid. it is crazy how many friends i have made because of the mission. awesome... and that is so sweet... payton is a phenominal athlete. and i am sorry about my spelling... spanish is screwing me over! and ya tell me about it... i am definitley learning the importance of being clean from my companion and the olther latino elders... words cant describe how much i miss ya dad! always thinking about the day we can go surfing on beautiful overhead waves or snowboard through knee deep powder or seeing ya after these two years... it will be a happy day...here is the letter for both weeks! "wow this week was definitely a wierd one but fun! i would like to start out by saying my nickname is joseph smith! hahaha... i guess it isnt a bad nickneame but wow was joseph smith a man that no one could be compared too. during one lesson we were teaching a 16 year old boy who started to believe that everything we were saying was true.. his dad then came in and it was the first time i had a bible bash with someone and of coarse i could not understand much but would i could make out of it is that he thought that what joseph saw was a dream and nothing else. he was also the kid we asked to get bapitzed and now he doesnt anymore because of his dad... it was a kick to the juevos...we finally visited our other area. essentially our area is hugeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... it is seriously a different world out here... women breast feed their babies with no blankets... people dig through trash... you name it... they have it here..... everyone says that they are catholic here but i bet they cant even tell you where they think they get their authority or stuff pertainint to their religion... it is retarded... and it is the most common phrase i hear.... soy caltico... lo sento... everynight here is bombarded with fire works...i found out that ancon is a tourist beach in the summer! it would be awsome to come visit here and all that stuff after the mission and show you guys my first area! EVERYTIME i am around little kids they are alwasy facinated by me and my hair hahah... one day we were twalking back and i heard this one girl say that my eyes looked like a cats haha.... one saturday we had a talent show with all the elders... we decided to do something like american idol and guess who i was ... BON JOVI!!!! hahahah i got a video of my performace... they were laughing historically. i would like to share an experience... when i first got here i was really struggling... michelle told me to read alma 26:27-30... those versus spoke right to my heart..." now when our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back, behold, the lord comforted us and said, go amongst they brethern the lamanites and bear with patiecne thine afflictions and i will give unto you sucess..." i felt as ammon did and it is so true with what i am doing right now because these people are the lamanites... it was awesome scripture that really helped me get over that hump... we play soccer every pday and last pday i scored 3 goals which is the most a greengo has scored!!! yeahhh buddyyyyy! i told dad that i have been craving in and out really bad so that is the first thing we are doing when i finish this mission! hahaha... for some reason alot of drunk people like to talk to me... one guy said... how many girls do you get with your eyes... hahahah... this is just some of the stuff i hear from people over here... we had to move into a new room because the other was was extremely small and only for 2 people... so we moved into a new house and it is right above an aposticia evangelist church! hahaha they sing and dance till like 9 oclock! haha... the other day i saw a kid with a surf board and i wanted to cry... oh and i also got my first hair cut! i couldnt tell them how i wanted it so i just pointed to a picture and it happened to be the picture of jacob from twilight! hahaha... i serioulsy cant wait for you guys to try the food here! it is really good especially the pasteries...everyday i continue to to see how many popele dont know what this life is about, where we are going, or where we came from. but at the same time how so many popele only think that the bible is the owrld of god or that salvation depends soley on your heart and the man... so many people are lost here... i have also learned that jack johnson and jesus christ are my best friends! please tell me how his new ablum is and i would love it if you guys sent it to me...on thursday will be my first month in the field and i only have 20 more months left! sketch! oh and i guess earthquakes a frequent here too... there was one the other day but it didnt even wake me up and i am a light sleeper! but that is about the extent of my week! you guys are sorely missed in my heart and i always am looking at your pictures i put up on my desk... i love hearing from you guys every week... makes me feel like a new person! the you guys more than ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love your son, Elder macdonald

10/13/2013

On Sun, Oct 13, 2013 at 10:33 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hey Alex;

 

hows it going brodda?  I hope you are at least getting a little settled into the Peruvian way of life.  I am sure you are still struggling with the language.  That is to be expected.  How awesome will it be to be fluent in Espanol.  It will be worth all of the hard work.  I hope you find time to read The articles of Faith, by James Talmage.  Great Book.  I would read Jesus the Christ later....after you get a better handle on the language.  It has been a good week.  It was October break.  Mom left last Saturday to go to Carlsbad where they had great weather and warm water.  I worked Monday and Tuesday and then flew out.  Tuesday night the wind started to howl and wednesday the ocean was an angry beast.  Totally unsurfable.  It rained pretty hard Wednesday evening and night.  Thursday it was eerily calm with some good sets rolling in at South Terramar the right just off of the steps.   There was only one other guy out on a paddle board (James LeSuer) because of all the bacterial contamination in the water.  It was now or never for me...so of course I paddled out and scored some Great sets.  All to myself.  surfed for almost 2 hours and was dead.  A few more guys came out after my first hour....I guess they didn't want me to have all the fun. So far...no sickness....knock on wood.  How do you like your Trainer?  Does he try and teach you alot?  I heard you ran into my friend Rob Arnett's son....he is in your mission.  We came home Thursday evening so that we could go to Kyles football game on friday.  He is still not playing due to his knee strain.  Red Mtn killed Mesa pretty good.  We play Desert Ridge next week.  I enjoyed watching conference last week as well.  I did not see all of it.  I have been listening to the talks i did not hear while I am running.  It helps the time go faster.   Alan and Linda were in town for the weekend to get some braces done on the kids teeth.  We went up to the cabin saturday night into sunday.  I had the RAZOR up there and we went for some fun rides.  The weather was beautiful...very crisp and the leaves are changing.  Do YOU have any bugs in your apartment?  have you been sick at all?  Do you walk everywhere?  Give me an example of what your day is like???  I will try and be on line tomorrow when you email.  I have study group in phoenix tomorrow.  We love you buddy.  The weeks are going fast.  Be humble, have charity, be helpful.....I listen to your phone message sometimes.  it makes me feel like your still up at BYU.  Love and Hugs.....

 

DAD

 

hey dad!

como esta? yeah the language is killing me! i struggle everyday to get my point across and to talk with the latinos but it is really hard.  but yeah i seriously can not wait to be fluent! it will be a miracle when i am! but yeah i havent started reading it yet because i do most of my studying for spanish but i have personal study in the mornings.  wow i would die to go surfing right now.  and i would of done the same thing you did so great move.  it is nothing but sand and dust here.  me and my companion had to move rooms becuase we were with other missionaries but now we have our own room and we didnt bring our stuff and then my companion went back and he said he didnt have time to get our stuff and i have no idea what they were doing for the last 2 hours and it is just stupid and i am pretty pist off right now because it had my camera and everything that happened this week and my clothes to play soccer so now i cant... yeah i am pist. and yeah his name is elder brown! He is from mountain view but we are pretty tight besides the rivalry.  and my trainer is ok.  he doesnt really tell me new words or what stuff is unless i ask him.  he is a trunky and is just waiting for the last two months to go by is what it seems like to me.  and wow kyle really hurt his knee didnt he! i wish i could be there to watch his games! tell him to write me back! he hasnt for a couple weeks now.  and there is no bugs in the room but it is really dirty.  latinos never clean. i am the one always cleaning the apartment and doing my part.  they just throw their stuff everywhere and it is really annoying.  an average day for me is wake up at 630 and go to my make shift weights, get ready, personal study, companion study, language study until lunch time, the lunch here is great and it is huge which is awesome! then we go prosolyitng after lunch until the end of the day.  . yes i walk everywhere and everyday in dirt streets.  i am living in ancon it is a pretty popular beach during the summer which is vastly approaching. and no i have not been sick yet either knock on wood and i am suprised because of some of the stuff i have been eating. i have been craving an in and out cheeseburger really bad. there are many days where i wish i wasnt surviving a mission like right now for instance but there are many other days where i am stoked that i am! like i am really pist off at my companion because i had no idea what was going on today and got screwed hardcore on pday out of all days.  i had some sweet photos for you guys but it will have to wait till next week because of my gay companion but it is all good or that is what i keep telling myself.  anyways, love you dad! my letter next week will be alot better! i hope you are online too

October 6, 2013

On Sun, Oct 6, 2013 at 9:47 PM, Keith Macdonald wrote:

 Hey Alex;

 I am sitting at home in the playroom on Sunday night in a very quiet house. Mom and the younger boys are off to Carlsbad for October break. I am at home with Kyle since I am working Monday and Tuesday and Kyle has football practice all week. Kyle's knee is still a little gimpy but it looks to be getting better. Hopefully he can play soon. Their team beat Mountain ridge handily on friday night. It looks like they had a great day in Cbad today. Waves looked good and it was really warm out. Priesthood meeting was on Cable tv this time. Dave came over and we watched it together. I especially liked Elder Uchdorfs talk about getting up again and again....no matter how many times you fall. It was a great message. I really liked President Monsons talk today in the Sunday morming session. It is amazing to me to watch the world continue to spiral out of control. OUr government is a joke and continues to battle across party lines. It seems like the american people are really disenchanted with our representation as a whole. I am amazed at how the Lord's kingdom continues to roll forth. I am reading a book called "death of a superpower" and it is talking about how the protestant churchs are dwindling and how christianity in America is failing and how it has really failed in Europe. They said that a church that doesn't require sacrifice from its congregants seems to be doomed to fail. While Church's that require more from it's paritioners (like the Mormons) are thriving. They made the point that we are not sure exactly what the Mormons believe....but we know that they really believe in it. I hope everything is going well. I knew that these first couple of months in the mission field would be really trying for you. I pray that you will understand that The Lord gives trials to those whom he loves. It is after a trial of your faith that He blesses you. Please read D & C 121: 7-8. Hard work and prayer is the remedy for adversity. I know that you will do well. You have many God given talents that will bless the lives of the people in your area. It is okay to feel frustration. But let it motivate you to try harder. How are your living conditions? How is your companion? Where is he from? How is the food? It looks almost as if you are living on the moon? Is there any vegetation there? Mom and I have alot of questions and you are not giving us much detail. Detail is important!!!! Jordan and CJ just ran the ST George marathon this weekend. Mom in still training for the NYC marathon. Dave accepted a job in St George at Dixie university. He is excited to move there. We will miss him but are glad that he can move on with his life. He is truly an exceptional person. I hope and pray that he can find somebody to be happy with. He really deserves it. Josh scored 4 goals in his soccer game. He was awesome. It is funny to watch how aggressive he is. We are so grateful for your service. What a great example you are for our family. We continue to pray for you all the time. Words cannot express how much we miss you. Don't worry about missing out on things at home.....it will all be here when you get back. Mom lost the key to your GTI so we had to get it towed to the dealership. Bummer. I am going to CBAD on tuesday nigh and will come home on Thursday evening in time to see KYLes game on FRiday. Remember..... DETAILS The U.S. just beat the international team for the presidents Cup Golf tournament. Our government has been shut down for almost a week. I pay over half my salary to the government in taxes and it is still not enough for them. I guess I will much prefer the Lord's theocracy over our present democracy when that day comes that the Lord comes again. Ciao buddy; we love you!

 xoxoxoxox        DAD

 Alex Wrote:

 i bet you enjoyed the quiet house for once i assume but probably not becasue the waves look awesome! yeah i read that verse too and it gave me hope and joy. lately i have been reading in the new testament of christ and all the adversity he went through and it brings me alot of joy because he did too. yeah there is no vegitation at all and it is sand everywhere. just picture the dunes with houses on it. that is what it is like here. mom and dad i will respond to both of you guys on here and for all the family to read too. i hope you are sending this stuff to grandpa and can you please tell him to email me! " i forgot to tell you that the videos do work on these computers because they are not the mtc computers. i admitt i was in a really bad mood this week. i has in a really bad slump and could not pull myself out of it. i realized that i need alot more help than that because i can not do it on my own. the living conditions are fine! i have a bed to sleep on at night and a place to shower and brush my teeth which is all that matters. my companion is from peru as well somewhere! just send me all your questions and i will answer them because i do not know what you guys want and mom they ask you to send it through that service because if you use the others the package will most likely get stolen because i havent gotten any packages lately expect the soccer ball in the mtc! sounds like josh is tearing it up on the soccer field... i wish i could watch that! i know i am not missing much at home but there is alot of things i wish i could be there for which is primarly being with you guys! my spanish is still pretty crappy and i keep praying everyday that it will continue to get better. the city of puente piedra is awesome and pretty big! we walked through an outside supermarket and it was like a walmart on steriods not to mention everything here is like dirt cheap. emailing you guys always makes me feel 100 times better. we play soccer every pday in the pretty nice soccer fields which is alot of fun and i am starting to get pretty good! Just walking around the city everybody looks at me. alot of them try to talk to me because that is what all the latino elders say. i keep my distant. you should see how amazing people are at soccer down here it is crazy. the next day we had to go to the bank to get money and there was a pretty long line for some reason. the next thing i knew there was latinos cutting in front of us because most of us are white they think we have money. to make a long story short there was some arguing and a cop had to tell them to go to the back of the line. not sure they were happy but i couldnt understand most of it anyways! haha...me and my companion have a completely new area and we have to start from scratch. and for those who have served missions know that it is extrmeely hard to get started but we have managed to do quite well and have alot of potential with a few families. the pastories here are incredible. one day i was scrolling through my camera and noticed i took a picture of dave´s email he sent me a long time ago. in the letter it says," let the spirit and your grandpa macdonald walk with you in those dusty streets." that sentence hit me like a ton of bricks and i couldnt hold back the tears. thank you dave for those words they meant alot to me. there are a million menos activo here because they do not feel the love from the members or something happened with the member or they lose intereste and it is so sad. one day during the week me and elder beneites were walking in the dusty roads and this massive dog comes up and almost bites me and my companion. luckily benties quickly grabbed a rock and the dog ran away. i literally almost crapped my pants. another thing i learned is that peruvians can talk for hours and most of the time it is about a bunch of useless crap! haha... this week we had zone conference too. i have come to know my mission president pretty well and he is a man of great scriptural knowledge. for lunch we had papa johns too. i really miss american food. feel free to send me food when ever mommy :) if you send the packages in the soft packages they come straight to the mission home so! i attended my first baptism this week. the man´s name was domingo and he has an awesome story. he was a sailor for many years and has know the church for over 40 years or more. he never had the time to meet with missionaries because he was always traveling. finally he had the opportunity to sit down with the missionaries and now is baptized. he was very emotional and bore an awesome testimony. it was also very inspiring to me because i cant wait to have my first. our area is the highest baptizing in our whole mission which is awesome. i had an awesome missionary moment this week. one day me and the other greeny elder howell got pared for the night. it was our last cita with a nice family. to make a long story short, we both bore a powerful testimony about this gospel and the power behind moroni 10;3 and i knew he could feel the spirit as he sat motionless in his chair. i hope he exercises his agency in the right way. wasnt conference awesome too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i think this general conference was one of the best i have heard. and yeah dad that talk was amazing and spoke directly to my heart. i think it was the first time i actaully watched all five sessions too. i am sure you guys have heard but there is a new challenge for members. monson said that every member needs to be a missionary. so i challenge my family and extended family to be like me. i really hope you do this challenge and dont put it on the side buecause it isnt what monson wants, it is what the savior wants. i encourage you all to try to bring a soul unto christ because in my eyes, there is no better christmas present than that. during priesthood i couldnt stop thinking about sitting in those hard chairs with all my brothers and you dad and the rush to venezias after. dont worry mom i think about you every day especially when i make my bed in the mornings :) uchtdorf is now my favorite aposlte after this seshion. i would just like to leave some of my favorite things said in the talk. doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith a greatful person is rich but an ungrateful person is poor if the bitter cup doesnt pass from me, drink it, and hope for better days never to young to learn, never to old to change nothing is more important in this life then your family there were so many simple truths these are just some of my favs... guys i would like to express my gratitude that i have to be called your son, grandson, nephew, cousin, and brother. words can never describe the love i have for all you espeically my family. I LOVE YOU and this is about the time i get on so be near a computer next time ;)

Alex's First Area - Puente Piedra, Peru

Alex's first area.  Click here to see in GoogleMaps

Sep. 30th pics

Sept 30th email

Hey guys hows it going!!!!! sounds like there is alot of stuff going on that i am missiNG! dad i hope you had an awesome birthday! i am sad i missed it ;( but keep working hard mom! i wish i could be there to cheer you on but just know that i am cheering you on in peru! and sounds like jake is tearing it up on the basketball court that is awesome! tell him to keep working hard! but i really dont know hwere to start and what the crap i am doing here haha... wheni got dropped off in my area reality finally set in and i realized the life i would be living for the next 21 months. i was in shock and still am because i have no idea what is going on around me or how to speak spanish.... and its rough... all i want to do is to just be able to talk and express my feelings about our church and what it can do for peoples lives but most of the time i just sit there and listen to my companion talk with the less actives or new investagotors. whenever i do talk i am pretty positive it is contrary to the converstaion. i absolutely hate feeling helpless and hopeless. i am sure you guys are curious about my companion. his name is elder benites and he is 25 years old and has been in the field for 21 months which means i am his last companion. he is very short only about up to my shoulder... but that is alot of people here! every wehre i go i get starred at because of my blond hair and how tall i am here. my first area is called puente piedra and i am in mi amar 3. its right next to the beach.. about a 20 min walk or so which is prime! but for the most part in the little strip there are some nice houses but the further you go up the hill the more it turns into wooden shacks and huts. we have an awesome pinchanesta who makes really good food thank goodness. we are living with two other latino elders named elder tunque and elder chura who has just aquired chicken pox and is in pretty bad shape... haha... the first night i slepf on an air matress where my feet where hanging off the bed by like a foot haha... i wanted to shoot myself when the alarm went off because the lack of sleep i had... but its okay now me and elder chura switched beds. we also have a warm shower if we remember to turn on the water heater which takes about 30 mins to have alot of warm water. i have met some other missionaries in our area and there are quite a fewnorht americans but most of them are fluent already or can understand and speak spanish. i just wishi could be right now buecause i am so frustrtaed about spanish. second night me and elder tunque went out teaching and we were supposed to teach someone else but they invited us in and we noticed they had a resturation phamplet... he said that he had talked to elders before and he wanted to hear our message... we talk about pray and the plan of salvation with him. a couple days later we went over the resturation just in case he had any questions. after the lesson we gave him a date and asked him to pray to recieve an answer if it is for him. he is about my age too which is pretty cool. its very common out here to have only one or two members in a family. on the way back i saw an old lady in the door and i said "buenos noches, como esta" shortly after she gaves us her information so we could come back and teach her. crazy the things that happen just by opening your mouth. on the top of the house i made a make shift weight room with dibs, bicep curls, push ups and some more for the morning. everytime i wake up in the morning to excerside i think about when i would wake up in the morning and work out with you dad. i wish i could pick up a phone and call you guys every once in awhile. the next day i went teaching with e. chura before he got sick and we gave a lesson in a house that couldnt of been bigger than kyles bedroom. very humbling circumstances out here. later that night we went to a members house and it was pretty run down and he had a smart phone with facebook and other things on it. people down here have different priorites that is for sure. the people here love to feed you food when you visit and i just hope that one of these times i dont get sick because it is very rude to say no thank you too them. it is really hard to put both feet in the mission when i am struggling with spanish. it is nothing compared to the mtc life which was absolutley fantastic and i loved every part of it. howerever all they teach you is the basics of the gospel. despite all the hardships im not going to quit because i know that the savior never did. i am constantly on my knees asking for help. some days i wish i would of gone on a english speaking mission. the moment i can finally understand spanish and speak my mind and heart i know my mission experience will be different but right now, its killing me. i wanted to mention something to you guys. i was reading a talk given by elder uckdorf called "of regrets and resolutions". it is an AMAZING talk that applies to people in so many ways. you should read it with the family and with dave. there is a good part for dave in there too. there are millions of dogs here that are all rabid but its ok, if you pretend you are picking up a rock they run away. on a funny note, the latinos asked me how to say barco and la playa in english... because of their accents, they saw cuss words "shiz and b%%%%) i laughed pretty hard after that. i want to end with a quote from a man who has meant alot to me in my life...." the weight of your charges(missionary work rests heavily upon my shoulders and upon my mind. the strengh to carry that weight is made possible only because of my conviciton of the divine and prophetic destiny of this great work..." grandpa´s ignaguration speech. words cannot describe how much i miss you guys. i love you dearly. your son, Elder Macdonald P.s if you want to send me packages it must be like this; Elder Alex K Macdonald mision peru lima oeste carlos salaverry number sign 3664-los olivos casilla de correo 39-054 Lima 39 Peru

September 17th

hola buenos tarders mi familia!!!!! como estan? come es la afuera mundo? vida en la mtc es empzado llegar a ser abburido. cada dia sento la egualmente. sentio listo para el campo. pero mi espanil es no bueno y es muy dificil entender la palabras de gente cuando hablen rapido.  i just thought i would start my letter out in spanish to show the family some of the stuff i have learned.  i have heard some crazy things about what has been goin on in the outsdie world. for example we are at war with syria and ther is now an iphone 5c coming out.  sure sounds like the second coming is approaching haha... not to mention jack johnsons new ablue is coming out this week i think!!!! :( please tell me how it is. i have very high expectations for this. any new movies?  pelase can someone keep track of them for me so we can have a huge family night of movies! but anways here is how my week went....

 

last week i neglected to tell you guys that i had aquitre food poisioning.... dont worry it wasnt just me and it only lasted one day.  about twenty other people had it too. i definiteily caught up on my sleep though! aaron got his mission call to guatamala so that means almost every single one of my really close friends all went to a  latin country and we will all be speaking spanish! its so awesome!!!!  oh and dad thanks for sharing that story to me! i loved it and shared it along with bearing my testimony and i got alot of compliments and they could see why as well.  on 9/11 we decided to sing america the beautiful... our latino teacher had no idea what we were singing until we got to the chorus... our teacher then decided to pull a joke on us because its not like we hear the news or anything.  our teacher went on to say that a plane had crashed into a building in chicago..... i dont think the understand the gravity of that day to every american... we started to freak out in the process... our teacher quickly noticed our mood swing and quicily said chiste which means joke in spanish... good thing too... we have gotten new roommates thank goodness... elder sandavolt was absoluetley crazy!  they are from mission viejo too... one of them snores like a freight train though which suckssssss... at lunch they only had fish to eat and you guys know me that i cant stand eating fish... i reluctantly swallowed some of it beacuse of how hungry i was... i hope i never have to do that again... everyone in the mtc always plays the song " near my god to thee". before coming to the mtc i loved it... however the next time i hear that song someone will end up near my god to the for sure! hahah i seriously have heard it at least 50 times now... the other day we were also given a lecture on how when we give high fives it comes off as flirting towards the latino teachers so we are no longer allowed to high five... another rule is taht we can no longer wear basketball shorts on pday if we are not playing sports... crazy right? it is getting pretty retarded if you ask me. im so glad this is my last week here.  oh and one of my teachers noticed that i was wearing my your braclet dad from your work and so then translated it for me in spanish which is " sonrie con estilo".  i guess it is come kind of phrase down here... interesting fact the most times someone has taken a dump in one day is 22 times....my record is 11... its nuts how much you use the bathrooms down here...there has also been 3 latinos that have already gone home and they only lasted 2 days... its crazy...i have also just finished the book of mormon for the 3 time and i did it in 5 weeks... it was alot of reading but i loved all of it. it was awesome... starting the d&c next... i seem to keep breaking the rule of not going to bed on time because i am always up late write in my journal and studying because estoy muy nervioso para la campo.  i hope you find some enjoyment in this email... and happy birthday dad!!!!! i wish i could be there to celebrate! i bought the whole family llama ties too :) mom thanks for the soccer ball! that was the lastest package i got! but I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!

Peru MTC Bro's

September 10 email:

FROM Alex Macdonald TO You

Show Details

From

• Alex Macdonald

To

• Keith Macdonald

 

hey Everybody!!!

 

can you believe that it has been been a month already!!!!  seriously the time flies especially when you have a sweet district! my companion is awesome! we have became really good campanions and it just makes the experience that much better.  and dad you didnt really make me homesick at all I just wish more than anything i could of been out there with you on that day.  sounds amazing.  but ya i cant believe that tree feel down guys that is crazy!!!  what are you guys going to do now?? but sounds like you guys are getting lost of much needed rain... it still hasnt rained in lima yet... it prolly wont ever either...dang i wish i could watch all these games that are going on!

 

Jake: dude im so proud of you! keep up the good work man! i heard you made a sweet 3 pointer! tells me that you have been working on that shot of yours! and dont worry dude, school only gets harder ;) but do yourself a favor now and get good grades so you can go to the college that you want too (which i hope is byu) because you would love it buddy.  and i am loving every moment of the mission jake... cant wait for the day that you get to go on one yourself:) keep working hard buddy... i miss and love you buddy! tell me how your week goes!

 

but anways back to all the stories of this week. so me and my companion decideed to buy some real cereal becasue the breakfast food and food here is not that good.  the next day the president banned us from bringing in food... so now we are basically screwed and have to eat grease filled eggs every morning... we also have devotionals on tuesday and sundays and this one guy talked about how the missionary didnt know spanish hardly at all but he could still feel the spirit... awesome especially for me.  today me and elder inkley and we dont know if he broke the rules or not but we brought my ipod out on pday today and listened to jack johnson because you cant in the mtc so we did it outside of the prison.  but anyways i got the wart on my foot removed! its 100 % better and is almost healed! so happy that i will finallyl be able to walk normally again.  however i missed out on the prosoltying day.. all the elders and hermanas in the mtc got to teach and stuff and they had alot of success but i had to stay back so i basically studied spanish for like 6 straight hours... it was like i was back in college again studying for american heritage... me and my companion had the worst latino in our room... the other 3 were really cool... of coarse they spoke no english... however 2 of them almost got in a fight and i broke them up... the next day i was told by someone that they had to talk to president cardid... later that night elder sandovault.... the latino i did not like at all... started to get up in my face and yell at me in spanish... having that macdonald attitude i wasnt going to talk that... i started yelling at him at in english and he eventually left me alone because he probably knew that i would of destroyed him if he layed a finger on me... so glad he left tho... but one of my roommates gave me one of his ties and i gave him one of mine and he loved it because it was the nicest one he had... its a very humbling experience seeing people who are less fortunate and how great full they are.  me and elder grow also had to teach a sunday school lesson this sunday.. it went really well and we got alot of compliments for it... i must be a good teacher or something ;) and like always i planned the whole thing in the morning... i have almost finished readying the book of mormon already... dad and mom you guys should read it as a family again... i always like it... just something to think about... we also heard like 10 gun shots go off during priesthood meeting... BENVENDIDO PERU!!!! haha i have only two more weeks left in the mtc... i cant wait to leave but at the same time i dont want to because my spanish isnt good enought yet... however i have come along way.  i love hearing about life back home even if it is about the waves... oh and just to let you guys know... there is really good surfing in southern peru and the water in northern peru you can go in at anytime! just keep that in mind!  anways you guys can post this on the blog and the pictures i send! it doesnt matter to me! I LOVE AND MISS YOU GUYS ALOT! I look at those pictures that you put in my suitcase mom everyday! see you guys in a week!

 

love your son

Elder Macdonald

On Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 11:04 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo Elder Mac;

 

how is everything going.  I was chastised a little for letting you know in my last lertter about the surf.  People said it would make you homesick.  So, I'm sorry for reporting that.  I just knew you would appreciate some good barrels.  Things here are good.  Just trying to get used to our house without our big tree in front.  It looks very naked....or exposed.  It rained on Friday for about 15 minutes like crazy so I decided to take josh out on a razor ride.  We had a lot of fun and discovered a new trail that had some new hills to climb.  It rained again on Satturday in the morning during Josh's (Bugs) soccer game.  it was his first game.  He did really well.  He was very aggressive and made some great plays.  Unfortunately no goals.  He is fun to watch because he is so fast.  We went to the lake later with the Dahls and it was pretty fun but very crowded on the boat.  You know that I don't like crowded boats!!!  It rained again on Sunday and pretty much all day today.  It feels great to get some rain.  We had dinner at Granny Macdonald's house on Sunday evening and that was fun.  I heard that my cousins son, that attended your farewell speech, decided to put his mission papers in.  One of the reasons was because of the honesty of your talk.  I guess he could really identify with it and it helped him to make the decision to put in his papers.  It was kind of funny because the day before your talk I just had the inclination to send them a text and invite them to your talk.  I have not invited them to anything.  So, the Lord works in mysterious ways.  The best we can hope for is that we can be of some use to him as he goest about his work.

 

Hows the language going?  How is your exercise?  We made a blog for you and will post whatever you want us to post to it..  That way your family can see what your doing.  it is:  eldermac.blogspot.com/  .  I went to Jakes first basketball game for the Fremont 7th grade team and they destroyed some academy school from west mesa.  Jake played well.  He drained a nice three-pointer.  They won by like 65 points.  Kyle's football team went to Los Angeles and played a school called Westlake.   They played a good game but lost by 2.  The coach complimented Kyle in front of all of his teamates for practicing hard.  He still doesn't get any playing time on varsity....not totally unexpected.  Are you enjoying the MTC?  Do you still have the same comp?  Do you get maids in your areas in Peru? 

 

I hope all is well.  We love you. We miss you!.  I nheed to get your motorcycle cleaned up and sold.

 

Love  ,  DAD

In Venzuela and Peru the Church is growing and strong; Elder Cook's Visit

Alex mentioned that Elder Cook was in Peru and got to hear him speak. The article above talks about his visit.

Farewell cake

Pictures

          Sept. 3rd email 

HOLAAAAAAAA!

 

come estan!!!! it sure sounds like i am miss alot at home! i cant believe that the tree feel over! that must of been some storm that came throught. and dad.... you have no idea how jealous of you i am right now... i am liking crying to go see and be in the ocean and when you said you that there was no wind and perfect barrels... that like sealed the deal.  how did kyles first game go??? i wanna hear about it! but i am going to answer you guys all on this email so i can keep it together! oh and can you tell grandpa wade to email me next time so i can write him because i dont have his email... but here is my week...

 

this week our american roomates left the mtc for bolivia... they were an awesome group of guys.. one is from arizona... but we just resently got some new roommates and guess what... they are all latinos and none of them speak any english and they speak so fast you have no idea what they are even saying... we always have to tell them to slow down so we can pick words and phrases to understand them... we also had elder cook here i think i already told you guys about but it was an amazing experience for myself.  for breakfast they serve eggs and toast for every breakfast so on my last pday i went and got cereal. it was so good to finally not have something so plain tasting... then next day it and i am not even joking when i say this but like half of the mtc was sick... my companion was puking his guts out along with half the guys here... but i listened to you mom and i didnt get sick ;) thank goodness too.... our latinos in our room love to not sleep but just stay up and read the scriptures which is great and all but you only get an 8 hour block of sleeping time and no more... lets just say it is really hard to stay awake sometimes... oh and another thing about my roommate he like chemically burned his arm pits with his deodarnte... dont ask me how he did it... all i know is that he cut himself using it and then the lotion made it worse... it was quite classic... he couldnt raise his arms higher than his head all week... i can not believe josh is 6 tthought.. i couldnt stop thinking about him the whole day of his birthday... please give him a hug for me as well as the whole family... i was looking at those photos in my suit case the other day and i just wanted to give you all a huge hug... our district is so awesome... i couldnt ask for better guys.... except elder moore... he is one of those guys who likes to be in charge and is always correcting everybodies spanish... we play volleyball every physical activity time and it is really fun to just get away from studying the scriptures all the time... it can be exhausting but at the same time a very humbling and awesome experinec... on fast sunday they made us fast for dinner and for breakfast... so basically they made us fast for like 24 hours and it was killer.... i was SOOOOOO HUNGRYYYYY! hahaha... and another thing that was funny was that the latinos asked how to say run in english and quickly after that they said, run niger run! it was so hilarious and i had no idea where it came from.. we had to quickly tell them that it was bad but it gave us a good laugh for sure... words cant describe how much i miss you guys... however i am having a great time serving the lord and i know it will be 100 times better when i can acutally speak the language... so i hope this answers all your guys questions... i am loving all the stuff i am learning because i can already see the changes i need to make in my life... mom could you send me some jiff peanut butter tho! they dont have any here... but i love you guys so much... try not to worry either... i am in the lords hands ;)

 

your son,

Elder Macdonald