Thursday, May 22, 2014
Mother's Day
Alex Macdonald
To Me
DAD
hey daddy! thanks for the quick little not! it really means alot and it was very difficult to cut the cord as well. there is only 2 more calls and i am back in the states. crazy no? and i knew that mom would cry for a while. i couldn't hold back the tears either. i would like to tell you guys one thing that happened during the call. when mom was giving the prayer and trying to hold back the tears and i felt something that came into my heart as if it was a burning that i couldn't explain and have hardly felt in my life. after i hung up i reflected on the feeling and knew with out a doubt that i was feeling the love that mom had for me in her prayer even though i am thousands of miles away. it was feeling of joy and happiness knowing how much i mean to mom and how important she is in my life. i had to give a little sunday school lesson in class and i gave a little talk about mothers which made me even more grateful for mothers and having my own mother here with me in the world. the scripture i love about mothers in the book of mormon is this. in alma 56:47.... a great scpriture about mothers and their importance in the raising of their kids and in general. ill try not to let anyone get me down even when its the missionaries themselves or the mission president that gets me down at time but i will continue working hard and doing what needs to be done. and for sure that is the battle most difficult in the entire mission. the battle with myself. not only is he my master but my father. never knew that he was... the importance of studying the scriptures. i miss an d love you like crazy dad! look forward to you next letter!
thanks for all that you are doing for me dad... i could never thank you enough
love your son
elder macdonald
Alex Macdonald
May 11
Just a quick note to let you know how much we love you. I couldn't be any more proud of you son! It was so good to talk to you and so good to see you. Your mom cried for quite a while after our skype. She misses you beyond words. She wants to come get you and to bring you home. I know how she feels. But, we realize that you are doing the lords work....I know it is hard. I know it is tiring. I also know that he is walking with you. I know that he will continue to bless you as you labor in his vineyard. Don't let anybody ever tell you that you are not good enough. Especially don't let you tell yourself you are not good enough. You are a chosen son of God who has accepted a difficult assignment in Peru and I guarantee that the Lord will bless you and your family for all of your efforts. Read Romans 8: 35-39. He is your Master! He is your Elder Brother. I might have shed a tear or two after our call. True that I miss you like crazy.....but I am thankful that you are doing what your doing. Love you Son!
A Trip to Ecuador
hey daddy!!!!
you guys are probably freaking out why i am writing you guys write now and that you guys didn't get the letter yesterday, but yesterday i had to travel to Ecuador for the day because something was wrong with my passport so i had to cross the border of Peru with 12 other missionaries yesterday. we got to fly in an airplane and i kind of felt like i was taking the plane back home but in reality i was going to a place called tumbes. tumbes is a really small town closest to Ecuador! it has one terminal and a little landing strip that we landed on. it wasn't a long plane flight at all... about 1 and half... we then got picked up by some guy to drive us to the border where we could leave Peru for a few minutes and then we crossed back over so that we could be legal for another 180 days which gives the church enought time to make me legal here in peru. me and elder Larsen didn't pass at first and then our guide told me to go to the other guy in charge of the passports and somehow we passed. the person that didn't pass us was a girl and we didn't understand how we didn't pass with her. only two thoughts came to our mind... she doesn't like Americans or she was have that bad time of the month.... hahahahahahaha...but we ended getting through at it was all good. afterwards we have some free time to explore tumbes the small town before the plane flight back in the night... it was awesome... we found some cool things (in the pictures), we ate at a pretty good restaurant, saw a river for the first time in awhile along with alot of green, and some very interesting things of Catholics and their churches. not to mention it was bloody humid and hot... i am so happy that my mission is not in the jungle area because of how humid it was and because of the humidity, girls hardly wear alot of clothes... its very very interesting. i bought a cool gift to remind me to tumbus. it was a great little trip.... on the way back we sat in the terminal for quite some time dying of the humidity and then it just started to down pour. i was so stoked because i haven't seen it rain so hard for more than at least 9 months. as we were walking on the landing strip it was quite the scene... a bunch of Americans playing out in the rain because we haven't seen it for so long. it was awesome... we finally got on the plane about 11...and we didn't get back to the offices until about 2 in the morning. went to sleep about 230 and we woke up at 630 to head back to our areas. you can say that i am very very tired right now...i know that i will sleep really good tonight besides that my bed is crap haha... anyways that was a little part about my day yesterday.... i am super happy to hear that you guys had a great time up in LA! hahaha how embarrassing dad that you weren't even there when they gave you recognition for your work! but i am very interested what they said because i would like to know it was that you did about your research. and how dad i think this is the first time i have heard that you didn't got out and surf and that you just watched from the side. are you doing alright? hahahahahaha.... super jealous...wish i could have gone to Malibu but one day. last week we also married a family again and the father should be baptizing his wife and son this week which i am really excited about. it was a great party and marriage. this week we also reactivated a less active family and should pass as a family rescued this week as well. should be a good week.
however, with all this stuff going on... i have been struggling. lately i have been more focused on doctrine and reading the lessons and kind of lost my Spanish. from my companion to my district leader and to others have told me that my Spanish is not really good for 9 months and that i need to improve it. not to mention my companion is not really helping me reach my potential and teaching me more things about the lessons. I'm pretty sure he is making me learn it on my own because that is what happened to him and so now i have been struggling again and i just feel like i have been getting attacked from every corner lately. i feel like i am not a good missionary right now and its really depressing and i am really really frustrated. i don't know why this is all going on but it is. changes are coming up. i really hope that i can experience a new change. i really need it. my companion is great but he has alot to learn about helping others before himself. i am doing everything to keep my spirits high but its been a struggle right now. i hope you the boys have fun at their camp-outs...i really miss camping out.... great memories.... really jealous you guys are hitting Hawaii next week. i cant believe mom is 46... sure doesn't look like it that is for sure. it was an experience very awesome for me as well.... definitely have deeper love for ya mom;) so glad and thankful that you guys are my parents. i don't know how you put up with me but i am sure glad you did. hope you like the email this week. love you guys so much!
love your son
elder macdonald
To Alex MacdonaldPM
Yo Elder Mac;
How's it going bud? Mom and I just got back from LA where we spent the weekend. I had an alumni day at UCLA to attend and mom came with me so that we could play for a couple of days. We really enjoy the Santa Monica/ Malibu area. I attended alumni day which was on campus. I really like the campus of UCLA. Not many of my friends were there except for Mike Hawkins who recently went through a divorce so he seemed kind of sad. I had to leave at 3:30 to meet mom and my former director was lecturing. I guess a couple of minutes after I walked out he started talking about my research and gave a shout out to me and I wasn't even there, How embarrassing. oh well! Mom and I had a great time. We went on a couple of hikes in the Santa Monica mountains and we also spent the day at Malibu surfrider beach. I watched guys surf all day but I didn't even go out myself. Crazy! I didn't have my board or a wet suit but it was a nice day. Oh well! We met up with Jed & Lenna Udall and enjoyed some desert with them up by their house. I really love to spend time with Lori....and she got to shop some for her bday.
Hows everything going? How are your investigators doing? I know you are probably ready for a transfer and a new scene. I think that will be nice for you. Hopefully you get a companion that you can work with. I have been meaning to write a letter to your mission president but I haven't done it yet. I just want to say hello. Uncle Rob is out of town this week so I will be working at both offices. Then we leave next Sunday for a little aloha time. Try not to think about that. I stay for a week with everyone then come home with kyle and jake. mom and josh will stay for two weeks and Dave will be over there as well. We come back so that Jake can go to scout camp and then kyle and I will go on our superactivity to the white mountains towards the end of the week. Kyle will be working with me over the summer.
Tell me about your week. Give me the highs and lows. We sure love you and hope that you are happy. I hope you are able to keep your spirits high. I especially hope that you can look for ways to help people in your ward. Look forward to hearing from you. Miss you so much. I am really glad that the Lord gave you an insight on how much your mom loves you. What a beautiful experience for you. She does love you more than words can write.
Love, DAD................
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