Beautiful Pro-Lima....District of Palermo (just outside of Puente Piedra.......Trash anyone?

Reactivation of a father so he could baptize his eight year old daughter.  Good work guys!!!

From: Keith Macdonald Date: March 2, 2014 at 9:01:49 PM MST To: macdonald@myldsmail.net Subject: The gilbert temple is now dedicated! Hey Alex; como esta brodda! I was excited to get your last email. You talked of many great things that you are doing and I could feel your excitement. The mission is truly a roller coaster with it's ups and downs. You have to enjoy the ups and survive the downs realizing that what goes down will probably go up again. You looked very stoked in the picture where you baptized the woman. That was good to see. Sounds like you will be getting a new companion pretty soon but will be staying in your same area. Does that sound right? We are going to take Kyle up to SLC next weekend to hang w/ Scotti at BYU. Mom and I will get in a little bit of ski time so that should be fun. Utah got a bunch of snow this week. We also got a lot of rain this weekend which was badly needed. Mom and I went out on a razor ride and had a good time. We stopped on this hill and watched the rain all around us. There was a ton of thunder and it was just cool. Then it started raining on us really hard so we headed home. I love desert rains. President Monson was in town to dedicate the Gilbert Temple. We didn't have church today so that we could go to the Stake center and listen to the temple dedication. It was pretty cool. I had never been to one before. It is always good to hear the prophet speak. The Gilbert temple is really beautiful. Kyle and I picked up granny mac yesterday and went to Jake's basketball game. It was one of those really tense games with parents yelling at the referees, etc.... Jake's team one in the last seconds of the game. Jake got a key offensive rebound and played good D....although he didn't score any points. I got on him about being more offensively minded. Russia just invaded the Ukraine.....and Obama is weak as usual....oh well....same old crap. I hope things are going really well for you. Work is going well right now and we have had a good year so far. Always a plus. We love you and are happy for your success. Be careful and stay well. Love you so much!!!! DAD...............xoxoxoxoxo PS...I sold your motorcycle for $1800 bucks..... :( Alex Macdonald Today at 9:18 AMToKeith & Lori Macdonald, PhotosRSCN1320[1].JPG DSCN1438[1].JPG Download All hey fathaaaaaa! como estaaa! i was really stoked that week for all that happened last week and then this week came and like you said was crap...i am having a hard time surviving the times when the roller coaster is at the bottom of the tracks hoping that it will catch the chain again and start heading upwards again. this upcoming week i should be getting a new companion and should be staying in the same zone... we are getting hermanas in the upcoming changes which shall be interesting. i am very excited to get a new companion and for a new start but i know i will miss some of the good qualities about my companion now but not his laziness at all... and awesome!!!! that should be a good and fun experience for doobs! i hope you has a desire to go to byu for summer and realize how awesome it is to be there. and wow the year that i am not home they get tons of snow in utah!!!!!! ughhhhhh so lameeeee but its okay i had a good year last year of snowboarding... and wowwwww presidnt monson came to the dedication of the temple! that is awesome!!!!!! how and what was his speech on? and wow how was the mud run with the razor! i miss the razor... and driving... and wow jake seems to be doing really well and enjoying basketball more than baseball which is good to hear. i hear josh is play basketball too? does he tear it up? and wow russia invaded ukraine! how scary! are they going to start a war? how is the economy? cant wait for that scum bag to leave! hahah... this week was different then normal... this week my and my companion got robbed about 20 yards from our house! some guy approached us and started demanding for money and we could tell that he was a drug attic! he didn't steal very much from us... only 3 soles but still it was a pretty cool experience for us... we have alot of part families that we are working on and that their kids are not members so we are working with these families and trying to re active them... we also have a little family that hope to marry and baptism them this month in 28! still working to find more people that are really interested in the message. i am just ready for a change. wow i am really sad now that you have sold my dirtbike and for such a crappy price... that baby was worth alot more but its okay dad i believe in the gift of forgiveness ;) at least she is being ridden by someone now. anyways dad, things are going okay, could be better...just hoping that the lord will bless me with all the hard work i am doing for him. words cant describe how much i miss you! love ya daddy love your son elder macdonald

On Sun, Feb 23, 2014 at 11:29 PM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hey Alex;

Judging by the pictures you probably see that Jake and I went skiing up in Salt Lake for the weekend.  We went snowboarding at solitude on Friday and Park city on Saturday. The conditions were pretty good, we hiked to find powder most of the day. Darin Iverson flew in from Virginia and snowboarded with us. We had a great time.  I went for a run with mom this morning in the desert and tripped and fell on a rock and cut open my knee and cut my left hand.  I also hurt my left shoulder. I feel like a real klutz.  Hopefully I will heal quickly. The suns have been doing really well lately. They are very fun to watch.

How is everything going in Peru? Have you found any new interesting people to teach?  I was really glad to hear that you are working to reactivate members. It is my personal opinion that that is important as baptizing the new member. If any of this sounds weird it is because I am dictating it off of my phone while I'm watching the last two minutes of the suns game. I thought of you many times while I was skiing in Park city and told Darin several times how much I missed you being there. But I know we will enjoy that again in a short while. We are very proud of what you are doing and pray for you every day.  Good luck in this most important work.

Love DAD..…
Sent from my iPhone

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PADREEEEE! 

como estasss! puedo ver que ustedes se fueron a esquiar! que chevre! estoy muy celoso! i hope that you you can read a little bit of the spanish i wrote, if not, you can put it in google translate :) but that's awesome you guys went snowboarding up in park city and by the pictures the snow looked awesome and you got some powder! how did Jake do in the back country? and that is awesome that Darin came too! that is funny that he said he missed snowboarding with me! we will have to do a snowboarding trip to Alaska i guess ;) would be sweet! and hahahah dad every email you make me feel that you are becoming and old man!! this week you tripped and destroyed yourself, what is next week going to bring! hahahahahaha... i hope you heal quickly! 

this week we had a baptism!!!!!!! se llama hermana conny! she is a single mother with an 8 year old son who i believe we will baptize him when the mom feels a little more comfortable with the church but she was the first person i have baptized in the mission... she is part of a family that is less active which is a lot easier to find investigators because there is a million part families.  but i was so nervous when i was saying the words to baptize her it was ridiculous! not to mention she didn't bend her knees at all so i accidentally put her under the water to far but i was still able to pull her out fine but she was under a tad bit longer than normal! hahahaha... but what an experience it was for me to be able to help someone make a covenant with god and how now she is on the right path to salvation.  it really sparked my determination to  find more people and show them the path. we also helped a father baptize her daughter that same day too! it was a great experience to the joy this man had for his daughter that is eight years old.  very cool experiences.... we also have a couple that is not married but we are in the run to get the married so that they can be baptized! its a family of three! they are very interested and assisted the church with us already.  tomorrow we are going to know about a date for the wedding and everything.  other than that we are still on the drawing board trying to find people that want to accept our message! but things are getting better day by day, Spanish is still a struggle like always but i can express my self about 70 percent.  need to improve the vocabulary.  and i totally agree that reactivating is just as important and we have reactivated quite a few poeple already. 8 to be exact! its still blazing hot here and my tan lines are getting worse every day hahaha. the stomach is still mas or menos but i'm getting used to the food.  still dreaming of the day i can go surfing! Kurtis finishes in 5 months. crazy! anyways things are going good! we are having some problems in the ward with my companion but its getting resolved. one thing that i have noticed is that here they take all the good leaders and put them in the stakes.  there is a elder that has baptized 14 weeks in a row... crazy too.! anyways i hope you like some of the pictures! love you with all my heart mom and dad! 

love your son! 

On Sun, Feb 16, 2014 at 11:27 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hey Alex;

How's it going my friend?  It is Sunday evening and we are sitting watching the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  We just watched Bode Miller get a bronze medal in the Super G.  Pretty fun.  It has been a beautiful weekend but a little bit warmer than I would like to see it this time of year.  In the mid to upper 80's in February is too hot.  I played a fun golf game this weekend w/ Mcbride at Longbow.  He shot a 40 on the front 9 while I shot a 44.  I started playing really well on the back 9 and shot a 38 while he shot a 42.  So we tied at 82.  It was a good come back for me.  Always fun to play a competitive round of golf.  Mom and I enjoyed a fun valentines day.  we went to lunch and went shopping and then went to down town phoenix to Pizzeria Bianco.  It was a fun evening.  We met the Dahl's and the McBride's there and had a great dinner.  The Jacobsons were also in town so we went to dinner with them on Saturday night which was fun.

How's the work coming along?  How are your P-days?  Do you get to do anything fun?  Tell me what your average day is like?  are you still struggling with your companion and his work ethic?  Please don't beat yourself up if you are not achieving the numbers that your mission president is asking you for.  You are working with people....not numbers.  Numbers are a way to track things and they have their place, but don't make the mistake of condemning yourself.  All you can do is try to work hard and keep your mission rules and try to have a good companionship (even if the guy is a tool).

Tomorrow is presidents day and I am very busy at work.  Mom got Imagine Dragon tickets tomorrow night which is Jake's favorite band.  I am also taking Jake with me to SLC next weekend to meet Darin Iverson to hit the slopes for a couple of days.  We love you buddy!  Keep up the good work and know you are loved by your Heavenly Father and your earthly parents as well.  Have you written mom lately? make sure you do that...and Kyle also.

Love, DAD

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Hola my long lost father! how are you doing on this fine day dad! i am extremely jealous that you get to watch the Olympics! AND WOW the temperature is that hot already! that is not a good sign at all but at least you konw how i feel because i am sweating bullets over here! hahaha... the sun is crazy strong here. and wow what a comeback! i bet Andrew was furious! hahahahaha... and i am glad you had a good valentines day with mom and all that jazz! hahahaha... but the work is coming along ever so slowly.  this week we had 5 investigators come and 8 less actives come to church this week.  i feel like i work better with less actives because of my own history so right now i am focusing on getting these less active families back to church.  and the p-days are usually the same thing but right now in the month of Feb is called the month of carnivals when everyone just throws water balloons at whoever whenever! its crazy! the passed a law that its prohibited to play the game if you do not agree to playing but people still throw water at random people so we have to always be on the look out.  but in April we have a p-day libre where we can go anywhere in the mission but we have to return back to the house in time.  pretty excited for that.  we should be having a baptism this week of a single mother who son is 8.  some of her family is Mormon and we are reactivating the family! everyday is the same as you know.  study, get ready, eat, look and teach people, and sleep. and then repeat. hahahaha... pretty exciting i know but hey its only 2 simple years.  yeah i am still struggling with my companion but things are getting better ever so slowly.  he is just one of those guys who doesn't think before he speaks sometimes and doesn't understand the gravity of some of the things he says.  and thanks for you words about the numbers dad but still i stress over the fact that i am not doing what the president has asked us to do because he is called of god to tell us the things that we need to do.  but your are right  all i can do is work hard and give it my all at let the rest depend on the lord and if the people are ready to accept it or not.  wow i bet Jakester is very excited to see imagine dragons! i have heard that they are very good live as well.  and i am very jealous of the slope session that you are going to have.  save some powder for me!!!!!! had a cool experience this week.  we have this investigator that we thought was tricking us. so before we left we decided to pray that the lord will give us an answer if this guy was lying or telling the truth.  as we went to his house we found his drunk as could be.  it was really cool to see how Christ answered our doubt about the man.  we can always receive answers through the power of pray. i can testify of that! anyways its good to hear that you are staying busy with the practice and the family and that everyone is doing great! miss you everyday dad! te amo! ;) 

con mucho amor,

su hijo elder macdonald