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 ;)
