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