7/28/15

My son Alex came home today and it was one of the best days of my lilfe.  It was so great to see him again.  We told him there would be only 4 of us there but there were really about 30 of us there.  Lori's family was there along with the Iversons.  My sister Scotti was there as well as Jack.  He was speechless when he first got off the plane but it was a priceless moment.  This is the end of his blog.  It was a fun ride!!!

7/27/15

hola padre mio,

Bueno, in about a few hours, there will be nothing that separates us from seeing each other.  Dad i have always admired your courage and your example that you have always given us.  i can only imagine how much stress and anxiety at times you may feel especially because there are no girls in the home.  you can always count on my being the nephi of the family doing what ever it is that my father lehi (you) needs.  it has been my pleasure and always will be...an example to my younger brothers.  you are not alone when you feel the weight of being a good example.  

it really has been 2 years of very memorable moments.  moments i will never forget, moments that will be there when i am stuck in a decision on what to do, moments that have changed my life forever.  if there is one thing that i would like to tell you dad, is that i can not go back to my old way of living.  i not only have to be a good example to my brothers and those around me but to those i helped come unto the lord.  there might be some things that i will not do, but that is because i have ingrained in my heart, the importance of following  living and loving prophets of god.  i will need all your help to continue spiritual growing, not just personally, but as a family as well.  

i am very excited to see you guys.  it feels like just yesterday that i was saying goodbye.  i hope that you have waxed up my surf board a bit for me! ;) as long as you guys are there in the airport that is all that really matters to me! it for sure will be hard to say goodbye...quite a few converts will be heading toward the airport to say goodbye. will be harder than stepping back on that plane.  

bueno, just for the sake of time dad, i would like to share my testimony with you.  i know from my head to my toe that this work and gospel is true.  that a young man named Joseph, saw the father and his son and they spoke with him. they even called him by his name.  and if it wasn't for the restoration of the gospel we would not understand that we are children of god.  so thankful to have come to a knowledge of how important it is to live the gospel. so grateful to have the most perfect book belong to our family, a book that has changed my life forever.  i feel nothing but gratitude to have been born in a family knowing that i will one day return and be with Him and the ones that i love most in this life.  half of my heart will for always belong to the people of peru.  people who have helped me come to know better my savior. i love the man who gave his life.  how honored are we to know all this. there is nothing that i want more in this life and i will never feel satisfied, until i make it back to his presence with all those that i love. 

see you soon dad! your son,

Elder Macdonald  

On Sun, Jul 26, 2015 at 11:59 AM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Alex;

As a father of four boys I have always felt a great responsibility to set a good example for my boys.   Whether or not I've done a good job is open for debate.   But I am thankful for your help in being a good example for your brothers.   They all look up to you and your influence for good will always be appreciated.  I am so looking forward to seeing you.  There are some cousins/family coming to town mid week but won't make it to the airport.   Kyle is in the middle of school and won't be here until Thursday night.  Mom, hake , Josh, and I will be there.  It will be a small group but it will be awesome nonetheless.  We are so excited to see you.  I know it will be hard to say adios to Peru.   But, the good old USA awaits.
Love you.   Dad

Sent from my iPhone

7/20/15

hola mis padres! como estamos?? 

bueno i didnt know how many days exactly i had til i saw mom had written 8 days left!! it feels just like yesterday when i was greeted by the ones i love most in the celestial room, walking down that terminal to a country i knew nothing about, kissing the surfboard goodbye and having my eye single to the glory of god.  all this stuff seemed like yesterday and i can not believe that i am knocking on the 5 yard line on the football field.  many say that their mission was a dream. a sweet dream that seemed to never have an end.  bueno, it definitely has been a dream come true to stand side by side with the savior in his quest to bring the immortality and eternal life of man.  what a pleasure and satisfaction it has been for me to come to understand him and what he did for me.  what a blessing for me to understand that if life was never easy for our savior, how could we expect anything different? a blessing to have such wonderful and great people help me through my quest to gain a testimony, to walk in his shoes, to do his will,  and for once in my life put my own life for the sake of others.  

this week we will have the baptism of the family malliqui... their 21 year old son will be baptizing his parents this week! we are all super excited... their son is going on his misison in cusco Peru and it will be a great testimony to say that he was able to baptize his parents.  we are very excited along with the ward. most likely they will be the last ones i will help come unto Christ unto baptism in my mission but they are super awesome.  we have a family home evening with them tonight.  

i had the pleasure yesterday see some of my converts that came to church to say hi to me! next week they are going to come back because it will be my last Sunday in Peru...... for now! its crazy what small things can do... when it talks about small thigns bring about big things even the salvation of many... i have seen it. it is true.  i look forward seeing you all.  what a joy it will be for me.  but an ever bigger joy for me knowing that we will one day, all be together in his presence. this work is true, the book is blue, and i love you! 

Elder Macdonald 

On Sun, Jul 19, 2015 at 11:38 PM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo Amac;

How's it going Alex.  You are quickly running out of time and I'm stoked about that.   Time to come back to the good old USA.   I hope things are going well for you.   There is a hurricane out in Baja and it's been raining in Cbad for the last course days.  When you come home I will be there but I do have to fly out that night and work s couple days.  But I will be back Thursday.   We are all looking forward to your safe return.   The truck is finally fixed.  It was very expensive.   Love you bud.   See you soon.

Dad

7/13/2015

Hola mis padres! que tal como estamos?? i am quite jealous of the waves that you guys were riding... looks like the classic July swell came in like always! but for reals it doesn't seem real and it is really hard to understand.  like many missionaries say, it appears to have been all a dream.   

thanks for the advice dad, its much needed.  i am going to need your help for sure... its going to be nice to have you  and mom  as my companions again.  and don't worry i am already making arrangements with all the stuff that i am not going to take and make sure that it gets to people less fortunate.  and no way i am going to speaking with Gygi... how much time are they giving me? do they have a topic? am i allowed to speak in all spanish ;) hahaha... bueno... i have been thinking lately and it struck me real hard, how fun it is to be on the lord´s errand... and it was funny to receive a quote from uncle Brent about how doing tasks and if they are fun tasks, it makes the time go by fast.  i think that if we see the gospel as a blessing to live it, in the end it will be just fun.  but i think our problem so many times is that the gospel starts to be something casual in our lives... but one thing i have learned is that the atonement should never ever be something casual in our lives and if the atonement can not be something casual, then neither can the gospel because they go hand in hand.  

the family malliqui that we found by miracle all came to church this Sunday and the dad came in his suit... it was a beautiful sight seeing all them because they are a family of 6 but their kids are already members and we are helping out the parents! they are awesome too we are doing a noche de hogar with them tonight as well! hopefully all goes well for the baptismal dates that they have... they will be the last people i help get baptized on the mission.  hopefully el hermano felipe as well... he could get baptized this week, he just doesn't feel ready, wants to learn more but there is a doubt that he is having and we have to help him out with it.   its quite funny, everyone comments me on how good my spanish is... they think that i am a peruvian that no longer has the north american accent! i really do love the spanish language and testify that reading the book of mormon is the key to learn a new language... and i really hope you guys grab a book of mormon in spanish and start reading it and by the time we go to peru in a year, you will be able to talk to the descendants of lehi!  someone stole my camera which i am quite upset about but its all good. anyways, i love you guys mucho! espero que esten bien y que todos les vaya bien en todo! les amo mucho! 

su hijo,

Elder Macdonald 

On Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 10:42 PM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

To Amac;

How's it going buddy?   I'm at the Airport waiting to fly back to phx to work.   Always rough to leave everyone and go to work but somebody's gotta do it.  It was a great weekend because the surf was pumping.  Great surf on Friday and Saturday and I had my fair share of great waves.  Teramar on Friday and cherry street on sat.   The triathlon was today but none of us did it.

We have a couple of weeks left and then your home.   It's hard to imagine.   You've been gone so long.  It almost doesn't seem real.

I hope things are going well for you.  Do yourself a favor.   When you leave the mission don't look back.  Continue to look forward and embrace new experiences and new adventures that will surely come.   Be patient with us less than perfect people and love us for who we are.   I can't wait to catch some waves with you.  Give most of your clothes away to those in need.  You are speaking in church with Jared Gygi who is leaving for Argentina.  We need to look for a car for you when you get back. I'm gonna wait for you to get back so we can look together.   I'm very proud of your service.   Be good.  Be safe.

Love. Dad.

Sent from my iPhone

7/6/2015

Hola mis amados padres! que tal como estan? how was the fourth of july for you guys this year? is there no good swell this year? how was cherry street! bueno, this week was a rough one until sunday! there was some awesome miracles that happened on Sunday! but this week we had hermano felipe come to church for the 4th time.  his family are all members.. he is the dad and his daughter has just went out on the mission a few months ago... he started coming to church and we are helping him get ready for the 25th of july! we also have another person who is not member and the rest are and she has fecha for the 25 as well.  

but this entire week really was a struggle for us to find people to teach... we did almost everything possible but nothing was really working... we came down to domingo and we went to visit a few recent converts with some of the leaders of the church to help them continue in the gospel. and when we finished... the president of the elders quorum asked if we could do division... i felt good about it and so we spilt up and did division with some members... me and the president went off to visit some of the less active members who have been flaking out on coming so we went to visit them.  we got to the family manrique but they werent ready to let us in so we asked him that we would come back in an hour and i asked him if there was any members close by... he told us there was the family malqui so we went over there... the president remembered that the parents weren't members and that they had listen to the missionaries and all their kids are members and the best thing is that the parents are married too! and i told the president lets go and see how the intentions are... maybe the lord has humbled them.  as we got there, they were just about to leave in their car when we showed up! after several minutes of talking i convinced them to sit down with us for a second and he brought the whole family in on his couch... we started talking and the president remembered the goals that he had left with this family a month or so ago... they father started opening up and in the end, he said, hermanos... estoy dispuesto a hacer lo que el señor quiere de mi ( i am willing to do what ever it is the lord asks me to do.)... right after hearing that, i didn't hesitate to ask him and his wife to get baptized... he looked at his family that were all seated down and said, si lo voy a hacer. (yes i will do it).  his wife had always wanted to but couldn't with out her husband... you could see that the lord really did some work with this family.  his son as well just got his mission call to go to cusco peru! he will be able to baptize his parents before he heads off as well... they will be getting baptized on the 25 of July! it went from a terrible week to a great week in a matter of minutes.  working hard and trusting in the lord that the things will all work out in the end really are true. it was a great testimony builder not only for me but for the elder quorum president! they have 4 kids too so it is going to be a great addition to the ward and the lord! 

right after that we went to teach another less active family and helped them and encouraged them to stay strong in the church.  after that we decided to go look for another family that was on the border line of going in active and in the process, we mistakenly found another little family of three that let us in to teach them about us... it was quite funny so we were talking for like 15 minutes at their door and i just wanted to get into the house to teach them and so i cleverly said to them... would it be okay if we could continue talking in your home, our legs hurt and it would be so much better to sit down and talk calmly... they invited us in... we taught them lesson 1 and we left and they committed to pray, read, and get baptized when god answers their prayer and the best thing is that they knew that god would already answer their prayer and with out fail, the promise in moroni will work every time.  all this stuff happened in one day... it was a day very uplifting and awesome to see the lord doing HIS work and letting me work with him.  i am going to miss these moments.  

hope all is well! i miss you guys mucho! love your son,

Elder Macdonald 

On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear AMac

How's it going elder Mac? I am loading up with uncle Alan to go for a morning surf. Maybe Tamarack;  Maybe Teramar.  Not sure.    It is lightly raining outside or maybe just misting....perfect for surf.   We spent 4 July at the beach and then went to the firework show at Avaira.   It was a fun day.  Josh loved it.  Time to surf.  Cherry street it is......   More later.
Sent from my iPhone

6/29/15

Hey dad! que tal? 

bueno, i am sorry to hear about the email that got lost into cyberspace! i bet it was good! you will have to write me another one soon then.  and CONGRATS on 25 years of marriage! my companion says congrats as well! and you sure did score! i hope that i get married to a girl as fantastic as mom! one of the things that kind of worries me is making that decision, but i know that the lord will help me out. 

this week we had a baptism! her name is aholiva campos.. she is a girl who hasnt had much support from her family and she was working with a member making pants and she presented us and we started teaching her and she ended up loving the gospel and what it does to people... it was awesome to help her come unto Christ and be part of her conversion... now the real conversion starts for her.  but she is a great person and grateful for all that the lord did for us there.  we have a dad who is not a member and we have been teaching him and he has come to church 3 times already and we are working with him to get baptized on the 25th... his daughter is in the mission as well which is really helping out.  its quite sad to see the division of members when their husband or wife is not a member and how sad it is... the attitude is like this... you go and do your things and i will go and do my things... that really is not the way the family should be... definitely have learned a good lesson about that... as of right now it really hasn't hit me the time that i have... i feel like i just had turned the one year mark and i feel like i am missing alot of time but in fact it is the opposite... it makes me sad that i wont be able to have the power and authority to invite people to come to baptism... i will have to settle with sharing, being a good example, and having the missionaries do what i wish i could do for all my life.  i think the saddest part about leaving and not being a missionary how close you get to the savior and how he works through you towards his children.  it will be hard to say goodbye to this life, but i hope to find myself one day back in his full time service.  i look forward to some good surf and i think it would be cool and if you could dad... reserve a session in the San Diego temple with you, gramps and whoever wants to go. something i would like to do when i get back and do it quickly.  when does Michael head off? this week?? i didn't get to write him or anything.  and how is Kyle's experience going? is he going to be in cali when i get home? anyways, got some awesome photos to send! haha... i hope all is well! i love you too dad! 

Your son, Elder Macdonald 

On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 2:07 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Alex;

I am so bummed because I drafted up this cool email to send to you last night and then today at work I noticed it didn't go through for some reason.  So, I ran home at lunch to send you so mething.

Mom and I were in CBAD for the weekend for our 25th wedding anniversary.  What a lucky guy I am to be married to such a beautiful, and fun person.  I remember back to walking down Hukulau beach and Heavenly Father letting me know that this was the girl for me.  I will never forget that...I will always be grateful to him for this confirmation..  And He was right.

How is your new companion.  Finally a gringo...  How is the new area?  I am so proud of what you have done with the time that the Lord has given you.  You have been an excellent missionary.  But, missions come to an end and you need to be ready to accept that.  Heavenly Father Will accept your sacrifice and your work on his behalf and then He will want you to move on.  He has plenty of things in store for you.  You will be free to pursue your education;  Free to date:  Free to surf and Shred; Free to travel where you want.  I hear guys come from their missions and say that it was the best two years of their life.....that is a shame.  It is a great two years....but life has some much to offer.  There are so many great things ahead of you.  A mission is a great foundation to build the rest of your life on.....centered in Jesus Christ.....but be ready to move forward with your life.

Jake & Josh are in Palo alto hanging with their cousins.   Kyle drove down with cousins this weekend to st. George to listen to Michael Wade's farewell.  I hear he did a great job.  He is such a solid kid.  Kyle is loving BYU.  Sounds like he has made some awesome friends.  I am happy for him.

I love you son.  I have a hard time thinking about your return because I get excited.  I hope you will enjoy some decompression time in CBAD where you can paddle out on your board and think about all the blessings that have come into your life from this experience.  BE safe....

Love;  DAD

TWO GREENIES AND A GRINGO

                                               
                                          Alex with his two "sons"..... in other words he trained them.

6/22/2015

Hola daddo! que tal? 

bueno, i am in a new area for my last six weeks of my mission! very strange but bueno, the lord and president must have their reasons.  still trying to figure out why, but i will find out soon... all i know is that i have a strong testimony of the divine revelation recieved through the leaders with the experience i have had so there is a good reason why i am here.  my companion is elder webb! MY FIRST NORTH AMERICAN COMPANION!  hahaha... i never ever expected to have an american companion but he will be my last... he is a really cool kid... we are like the same in alot of ways... he has ten months in the mission... he is from midway utah snowboarder and a swimmer... swimming is just a whole lot better when you got a board underneath you. hahaha.. but we get along great and it will be awesome to be his companion.  this week we had the pleasure to watch the dedication of the new peru trujillo temple! it was truly awesome... uchtdorf and bednar came down... we watched it through transmission in the stake center.  he taught some really cool things and it was really interesting to hear and listen to the dedicatory prayers of the temple.  here are some of the things that i learned and that i was impressed to write.  

1. to have a photo of the temple always visible in the house.

2. buy your own white temple clothing.

3. fill out my family 

4. to do everything possible to have a recommendation

5. attend the temple often as a family and individually.

other notes: 

1. to walk before god with all their heart means to have a current temple recommendation and a determination to serve him... a recommendation is a symbol of love that we have towards god and the covenants that we make with him.

2. more temples means that satan has lesser power in the saints will keep their covenants.

 

3. when we dress in white, we are ALL the same... there is no difference between us or nothing that is seperating us... quite funny, in lehis dream... it talks about how the people in the great building had really fine clothing and it was something that seperated them people.  wearing white clothes throws away all barriers or means of seperating.  

4. our lives and conduct should be the same in the temple and outside of it.  there should be no difference.  

5. practice what we learn and feel in the temple.  

just some cool things that i learned that could help in your lives as it has helped in mine... i love listening to the hermanos mayores... which means the brethern... apostles and the prophets. 

this week we are going to have the baptism of hermano aholiva... she is a girl that has gone through alot of problems but is looking for a solution to help get her life on course and what better way to do it, by choosing to accept christ and live his gospel... there is no better thing that watching children of god choose for themselves the higher road instead of settling for less then what they really deserve.  we might have another who is from a part family who is having a hard time because she listens more to her friends that what her family and the lord thinks... but we are working with her.  we have a few more people that we are working with as well... like hermano felipe who is a dad who is not a member and has been coming to church so we are hoping that good things will come from that.  

this new area that we are in is filled with a ton of dust...there are no paved roads or nada por aqui... there is alot of work to be done too... which is good... it will have me working till the end. i want to hear more about kyle and byu! stoked to hear that he is up there! i hope that he does good so that he will stay! anyways, love you mucho dad! you are the best! 

Your son, 

Elder Macdonald 

On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 1:20 AM, Keith Macdonald <klmac4@aol.com> wrote:

Back again:

Flight is very turbulent.  I hated leaving mom and the boys but it's time to work.  I have s busy week ahead of me.   Tell me all about your new area?   Companion?  Hopefully all is well.   Grandpa & grandma Wade are driving to hang out w mom.  Lisa is also coming over.  But they should have fun.   Utah is hot but green and beautiful.  We spent some time up at Sundance.   Always beautiful.   I went on an epic ride with Uncle Alan but was pretty tired when done. I saw Matthew Macdonald today and he told me that he wants to be an orthodontist.  Interesting....I am going to work until Thursday afternoon and then drive over to Cbad.    My truck is still screwed for the moment....trying to fight w Toyota of North America to fix it.  Look forward to hearing from you tomorrow.

Aloha......Dad

Sent from my iPhone

THAT NEW COMPANION LOOKS A LITTLE GREEN !!!!

6/15/2015

On Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 4:31 PM, Alex Macdonald <alex.macdonald@myldsmail.net> wrote:

hola mi compadre! que tal? 

bueno today they just let us know about changes and after a quick six weeks, i have changes... looks like i will be finishing my mission in some other place and tomorrow i will find out.  i cant tell you how fast these past 6 weeks have gone by.  after opening up the area with my son, we had our first baptism!! his name is angel moises romero tarfur! he is a 51 year old man... and was a student of the bishop in this ward... he was a reference from the bishop about a year ago and when i was looking through the area book i saw his name and saw that he had a baptismal date a long time ago, we called him and set up a time to visit him. he was stoked to get a call from us.  and from there it all took off,  the ward members still cant  believe that he got baptized because they said that he was a completely different person before.  it was awesome to see how determined he was in his decision to get baptized and follow christ.  he invited a ton of his family to be apart of his baptism and now more than half of them are interested in the church which is awesome.  we also taught a man yesterday the restoration and we told him to pray about it and if he receives his answer, that he would follow the example of Christ and be baptized and we saw him this morning before he was heading to work and we were buying breakfast and he told us, "elders i want to be baptized", i am going to talk with my boss so i don't have to work Sundays.  it was pretty cool too see that little miracle.  today i tried to challenge my companion in ping pong... lets just say he destroyed me.... he competed back in Chile and does work on the ping pong table.  i am not surprised that mom is already in cali! hahaha... and really 1600 turn out! that is awesome!!! and makes me laugh about you surfing in big surf! how was the wave?? hahaha.... bummer about the truck! 

wow, Kyle is on his way up to byu huh! awesome! i am stoked for him! bueno dad if you want to know what i think,  is that you should put out the fire and the goal if he wants to go out in fall.  i will make sure that he is ready to go, in fact it could be better for him that way and especially if he has the desires to do it... you just got to encourage him because by telling him to wait could put the desire and fire out.  6 weeks seems like nothing... i am nervous, scared, sad, and a whole bunch of mixed emotions right now... i see other missionaries going home and its not really a happy face that they have.... its more sad than anything... but i will be happy to see you guys but sad to leave the side of the savior and how awesome it is to work with him.  

and Satan just doing his work no! hahahahaha... reminds me of the time that one brother had a heart attack right after singing! some interesting stuff.  sounds like all is well back at home! the next time you hear from me, i will be in another area! 6 areas and 10 different companions.  i am going to miss my second son.  he is a stud and is going to be one great missionary.  love you dad! and by the way.... its buenas noches ;) hahahahaha 

On Sun, Jun 14, 2015 at 11:23 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo Alex;

Whats up broddah?  It has finally gotten really hot and as usual mom has made her exit.  I don't blame her.  She left for Carlsbad today since Heather & Ryan are over and Josh will have lots of cousins to play with.  Josh always prays that you will come home soon.  He is excited to be baptized soon.  We will have to teach him some lessons so he is prepared.  We had our annual pool party this weekend and this year we had it at Big Surf.  The City of Mesa told us that our party was too big for their pools.  Last year we had 700 people.  This year we had over 1600.  It was crazy but really fun.  Patients loved it.  It was a little more expensive for us but I hope it will be worth it.  They had a couple of surf sessions...so the guy in charge got me a board and I surfed in the desert.  It was pretty funny.  Big Surf has it's own set of Locals....but it is always fun to ride a wave...even if it is big surf.  The bad news is that we burned up the engine in
 our truck.  It is going to be expensive to fix.  So, i'm in the process of figuring that out with Uncle Alan.  Such a bummer.

I have a busy week at work and then we leave Thursday afternoon to take Kyle to BYU for summer semester.  He is excited about it. We went home teaching today to the Piersons and he was telling Mike that he is going to go to Fall Semester and then put his papers in.  I was excited to hear that....although i would rather see him reapply to BYU for Winter Semester and hopefully get an acceptance and go on his mission after winter semester.  That way you guys can shred over the winter.  What do you think?

It sounds like the work is coming along in your area.  You come home in exactly 6 weeks.  I am trying not to think about it because I just get excited.  I am looking forward to getting over to CBAD soon as I am ready for more surf.

In Sacrament meeting today the fire alarm went off in our building and there apparently was a little fire in the mens bathroom.....So church was cancelled.  So, Kyle and I did our home teaching.  Jake was called to be the Teachers quorum president....and he called his counselors today.  He goes up to basketball camp at BYU in about 8 days.  He is playing basketball with the high school team.   Love you bud.....be good......have fun.........Buenos nochas.........

DAD

6/9/2015

June 9, 2015

YOOO... que tal dad?

well this week was not a bad week for us! we had some highs and lows but we are going good... this week we are going to have the baptism of hermano angel romero! a 51 year old man who is looking for a change and to follow Christ in his life.he is super stoked about being baptized and to start his life all over again... he is a very interesting man... he is been to many places around the world and has even been to Israel! but we are super excited about it... it will be my companions first baptism in the mission...  wow i can not believe that 26 of you guys went off on Zions camp! that is just quite crazy! glad that you guys had a great experience and that everything went perfect! and ouch.. the wisdom teeth are not fun.  and wow he is close to starting summer semester! is the time really going by that fast?? things are going good.  

dad i am not going to lie, i thought that the mission for me would be alot easier as to coming towards the end but it seems like the opposite... its like its harder to get people to come to church and it just seems alot different...  i know the lord is trying to teach me something really important and that i need to be pay attention to what he wants to teach me in this moment.  this week was a week were we learned about agency and gods great gift to man kind in how it can be a blessing or damnation, happiness or sadness, and a whole other comparisons that you can make.  that sure was a good lesson that me and my companion learned and it doesn't matter how good of teachers we are or how much we love the people, in the end it all comes down to the people and their desires.  a mortal man loses his life when he no longer has the desire to repent.  something we learned the hard way this week.  the lessons you learn in the mission are quite incredible.  the things we experience as well.  its been such a cool experience to feel just a little bit of how the lord felt when we walked on the earth.  we have found several good people to teach this week! including a family of 4 which are awesome. we are going to teach them the restoration... they loved the family home evening that we did with them and want to know more about having an eternal family so we are pretty stoked about that... we also have the dentist that we are teaching as well! 

this week for sure wasn't as good as the last! but this week will be a great one.. the offices of the mission have not sent the info? they told me that they did...bueno i will give them a call tonight as see what is going on and let you guys know next week! they usually do the info like 6 weeks before the send us home and the 6 weeks mark comes up next Monday! on the 21 is the dedication of the temple in Trujillo and that will be cool! good to hear that everything is going well! i love and miss you guys mucho! 

se cuidan,

Elder Macdonald 

On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 12:05 AM, Keith Macdonald <klmac4@aol.com> wrote:

Yo Alex;

How are you buddy old boy? We just got back from our priest/teacher super activity at the Zions national Park. It was awesome.  But you stayed in a nice cabin just outside of the park that slut 26 people. It had ping-pong and foosball and a nice flat screen TV to watch the first game of the NBA finals.  Golden State one game one and Cleveland one game two.  On Thursday we did a very fun mountain bike ride at Gooseberry Mesa. It was a crazy ride but lots of fun. We rode for about 14 miles which is a lot on a mountain bike.  The next Day we went into Zions national Park and hike Angels Landing. It was a crazy hike. It is absolutely beautiful.  When we got to the top it started to rain and hail on us and blow very hard. It made the dissent very exciting.  We had ping-pong tournaments and Foos ball tournaments and then we had a really good testimony meeting on Friday night. Both of your brothers for beautiful testimonies. Both of them mentioned what an inspiration you have been to them while on your mission. What an important example you have set for your brothers. I was also very touched by your last email. I sent you a bunch of pictures of Costa Rica and all the fun things that we have been doing. You recognized how cool that stuff was mentioned how stoked you were to be in the Service of the Lord doing what you are doing. I showed all the boys the picture you sent and talk to them about your experience.  What a cool thing for your convert to baptize his parents.
Kyle has to get his wisdom teeth out tomorrow so he will be laid up for a little while. We take him up to BYU not this weekend but next Thursday. He is excited to start summer semester.  Jake just got called to be the teachers corm president today so he is excited about that. I hope everything is going well for you.   We still don't know exactly what day you are coming home. If you have that information please forward it to us. We love you and we miss you.

Take Care.    Dad
Sent from my iPhone

D & C 18:16...................

"Words cannot describe the feeling to see and hear that your converts continue to progress in the church and to be apart of this work right now.  There is no other place i would rather be, even though you guys went to costa rica, i dont think it could make me feel how i do now doing the work of the lord.  its a great feeling."

 Elder Alex Keith Macdonald

Hermano Toledo and his wife Cindy were baptized several months ago in Puenta Piedra....Alex has a strong connection with them.  Hermano Toledo is receiving the Melchizedek priesthood and recently baptized his own parents.  :))

Costa Rica..............who cares..........this guys focused!!!

aloha! 

jeez i am just speechless with all the photos that i have seen! those waves just looked sooooo good, its killing me.  but i am glad that you guys had a good time together.. i am sure that it was much need with Kyle.  

bueno, i don't know if you guys remember hermano toledo and his wife Cindy but they were the people that i baptized back over in Puente Piedra and he just sent me a picture telling me that he had the privilege to baptize his own parents... it was incredible to read his letter that he wrote me.  he is also preparing to receive the Melchizedek priesthood along with Jaime, the other family that i baptized with elder Riveros.  words can not describe the feeling to see and hear that your converts continue to progress in the church and to be apart of this work right now.  there is no other place i would rather be, even though you guys went to costa rica, i dont think it could make me feel how i do now doing the work of the lord.  It's a great feeling.  

This week we have found some awesome people to teach like Laura and Giancarlos who came to church this week! its a family of 4 they have a 7 and a 2 year old.  cielo and alessandro are their names.  we also are teaching a man named angel romero who is going to be baptized on the 13 of june! me and my companion are both stoked about it... i know it has been a huge blessing because when elderss open up areas, its because there was nothing going on and to be able to have a baptism during this time is quite a blessing because it takes time to build up an area and they have to come to church 3 times for all 3 hours to be able to be baptized so its been quite the blessing from the lord.  dad we are also teaching an orthodontist!!! hahaha... its been my dream all my mission to teach and baptize a family where the dad is an orthodontist and it was quite funny and a little miracle... we had walked around and talked to alot of people that day and it was near 820 in the night time when we decided to look for one last direction that we had.  and in fact my companion read it wrong and we didnt realize it but we went to the wrong house and knocked on the door.  it happened to be a really nice house and it had one of those doorbells that talk where they can talk to you through it and the majoirty of the people here hide behind it when they hear our voices but as my companion, who has little time, started to say who we were, the man asked, what church are you guys from, and my companion with a little fear in his voice said, the churhc of jesus christ. he told us, wait for me a sec... i am coming down... we got to know him, and in fact he is looking for the truth in his life.  he wants to know why there are so many churches and if one of them is true. he invited us over to his office where we taught him a bit about prophets and apostles and how the church was back in his day and then satan came dressed as one of his patients but tomorrow we are going to teach him all the restoration! it was a cool experience and hopefully we can help this familycome unto christ.  they also have plans to go to disneyland in august so who knows, after we help baptize them we can meet up with them.  bueno... the week has been good. the days are going by extremely fast like insanely... played some good basketball with some elders and we made tacos... succesful pday for sure.  there is nothing more exciting that sharing the gospel.  i hope you guys pray everyday for the opporutnity to share the gospel and strenghten your testimonies.  dad, i have so many ideas on what we could do in your office to share the gospel ;) haha... love you guys withall my heart! dont forget, family home evenings, reading the book of mormon, praying and going to church as a family, and its increbile the things the lord will do. coming from a recent convert of ours who cherishs the gospel so much... something that we often take for granted.  

your son, 

Elder Macdonald

On Sun, May 31, 2015 at 8:49 PM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo elder mac!!!

I'm not gonna lie.  We had a most awesome trip.  We flew into San Jose, Costa Rica. We spent the night there and then rented a car and drove to Arenol.  This area is near an active volcano. It is a very lush and green jungle.   We took a hike and saw a lot of wild life and then Kyle and I did an extreme zip lining. It was raining cats and dogs. The first section of the zip line was 600 feet high.   It was very intense. The lowest section of the zip line was very long and they cleared a hole in the jungle canopy and you went right into it. We average speeds between 50 and 60 mph.  We also did some very fun white water rafting.  We drove to a place called rio Perdido which is a thermal stream of about 90 degrees.  This is where I made the nacho video that I sent.  From there we drove down to Playa guinones on the pacific coast and the waves were coming in 6-8 ft.  We had some good waves.  There were lots of iguanas and stuff around.  We went from there to playa Papaguyo.  This resort was beautiful.   Kyle and I got to surf Ollie's point. It is inaccessible by car so you have to take a boat. It took about an hour to get there but we had it all to ourselves. We surfed for about an hour and a half on flawless beautiful fast rights that were pristine.   It was heaven.   "Celestial"!!!!  A dream come true.   I will take you there.   You will go crazy.  We had to leave to go to airport.  I hope things are going well.  I'm so proud of what your doing.  You are awesome.   We will get you back to C. R.    Super activity next week.

Love you bud!!!!

Dad

Sent from my iPhone

5/25/2015

hey dad que tal?

thanks for the pictures! it was awesome seeing kyle in his graduation clothing! i bet he is sure glad and happy to be over with high school! haha... i can imagine that it has been really busy for you guys... we are just a busy family.  did you get a video of grad night? wow this week is quite busy for everyone... and yeah you will have to send me the photos of all the cool stuff you guys do down there in costa rica ... it means rich coast in English! 

the things in Peru are going good! this week we had found 18 new investigators... that means that we taught alot of people the restoration many times... and we invited many people to be baptized as well.  it was quite cool we found a family of 5 in a very interesting way.  me and my companion decided to take like a 5 min break and we sat on a bench and right in front of us about 10 yards a little crowd started to gather... to make it short... a little girl was lost looking for her parents and at last someone came.  as we watched from a distance we approached a man and asked him if everything was alright... he went on to tell us what had happened and then he asked us who we were... we told him that we were missionaries and he told us that he has a friend and his son is in the mission and he invited us over to see what is it that we do and why his friends son is serving a mission like us.  the next day we returned and we taught them the restoration and invited them to be baptized... they are catholic and are a little bit duro but we are going to work with them... we also have parents of a convert that was baptized about a year ago who now wants to go on a mission and because of it, his parents got more interested in the church and now want to belong to it!!  we are also teaching a man named angel who is quite interested in the church who came to church and everything this week and we are going to continue working with him... it was quite interesting how this week just like shoot up... i can really say that being diligent really pays off in the long end because we were blessed to at least teach some of the children that god wanted us to teach.  

over this time it makes me so happy to belong to this church... to not be  confused... to not have to worry what happens after this life and what awaits us because i already know it... its such a sad thing when people throw out the hope without even giving it a chance.  can you imagine how the lord feels when he gives his children opportunities and then we just throw them away... shrugging it off as if it were nothing.  its quite interesting the lessons i have learned and observed from the people this week.   not to mention we had a great training sesh with president about charity which was a great time... charity really is an attribute that we really need to have to be happy and successful in this life and in the one to come.  

the area is really starting to shine and hopefully we will be able to see the fruits of it all.  we also contacted a family of 8 that we are going to teach this Saturday which i am stoked about!!! Anyways, i love this work, love this gospel... i wouldn't know what i would do without it... if it weren't for the restoration, i wouldn't understand who i really am.  love you guys.. have a great week! don't forget to read the book of Mormon even while on vacation ;) nos vemos!

your son,

Elder Macdonald 

On Sun, May 24, 2015 at 7:32 AM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hey bud;

I am sitting on a plane waiting to take off.  We fly to Houston and then to Costa Rica.  It had Ben a busy couple of days.  Kyle graduated w honors and he is stoked to be done.  Grandma wade drove in and will be watching Josh and Jake.  Jake has basketball camp and trek.  He is excited about trek.  We have a fun itinerary down in CR .... Will send pix next week.  Grandpa went w Dave to England and the fjords of Norway.   It had always Been his dream to see them so we are stoked he could go.

How's everything in Peru?  Sounds like the area is better than you thought.  Gotta run.   Plane taking off.

Love.    Dad

Sent from my iPhone

Transfer night

Dads apology; 5/11/2015

love you dad no worries ;) miss you too! you are so right, it is all about teaching! 

On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 10:38 AM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Alex;

I reread the email that I sent you last night and I am sorry if it sounded negative. Truth is I just miss you and I'm really looking forward to you coming home. I know you're working hard and you are tired. We love you and you have our full support.  DL or ZL big deal....  It's all about teaching.  Love you son.

Dad

Sent from my iPhone

Mother's day skype: 5/11/2015

hola mi padre! it was great to see you yesterday as well! still cant believe that in such a short time there will be no screen separating us.  and yes elder chavez is a great kid, one that is super easy to get along with and that is willing to get out and work... as a missionary you can not ask for anything more.  its quite interesting, but i just know that these two missionaries that i will train in the end will be a great help for the mission and that is what i feel the lord and president needs right now. more missionaries in the future that can start doing the work quickly because almost all the missionaries with time and experience are finishing there missions.   

i could tell that you guys were quite upset with the time limit and how other parents of missionaries have the opportunities to talk with there kids for as long as the want like Emily or a few others for as long as they would like.  the way i see it is, that the lord wants me to be as focused as i can in doing his work for these two years.  even thought it was hard to make that decision, i have learned something to me that has been very valuable for me which is being obedient even to the small and things that seem harmless.  something that i didn't really do to well back at home but something that i have learned and come to learn in the mission.  something that will help me endure to the end as well.  but you know that every misson president has his way of doing things, and being missionaries we are subjected to be obedient to the man who was called of god just like you have the solemn responsibility to be obedient as to what president monsons says or the 12 apostles. 

but you are right... sometime there are problems with some members that are pharisees and critize everyone to the T as they say or people who look to try to accuse us or have false witnesses against us, but they will have there reward because they will be judged for their own judging.  the only thing that is important in this life is obeying the commandments, making and keeping your covenants and always listening to the 15 prophets, seers, and revelators.  these are the things that help us get through the forest and see the meadow that awaits us on the other side and not get distracted by the pharisees because you know even the very elect will be tricked by Satan in the final days of the world.  i am just grateful that i had those 30 minutes to be able to see your faces and say hi! for me that was perfect.  

i am super jealous that you are going to be going golfing there in pebble beach! make sure to take pictures for me! i miss you alot too dad! its a great honor to be able to call you my best friend. thanks for all that you do! and don't worry about the negativity, it all gets the best of us.  Luke 19:11:17... we must always be the man who came back and gave thanks. love you mucho dad! 

your son,

Elder Macdonald 

On Sun, May 10, 2015 at 10:46 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo Alex;

So great to talk to you today.   You look good.  We sent your picture to all of your relatives.  Your new companion seems like a nice guy and you have such a wonderful opportunity to train him.  Your president seems like he is trying to get everything out of you that he can.  Make sure that you teach this new "Green " elder the importance of having fun.  You will have a couple of weeks of R&R when you get home.....Beach.....surfing....the ability to roam past your 1 x half mile area.  That's a tough one.

I appreciate your desire to be obedient to your mission presidents rules.  Truthfully....I don't think you need more than an hour to communicate via Skype.  We talked to other parents who have missionaries out and they were able to talk as long as they want....but usually that was an hour.  I don't really understand why your president wants to take a stand in this area and take away from the opportunity of a son to talk with his mother on mother's day...but it is his prerogative.  It is not gospel....it is a clerical decision.....it is ridiculous.....but you will find that kind of stuff in the church and you just have to roll with it.  Again, I appreciate your desire to be obedient to this most absurd ruling.  Ok.....I'm off my soapbox.  I have found in my studies of the Lord's life that he got very tired of the stupidity of the ruling class of Jews and some of their dumb rules.  One of the best examples I can think of was when He and his apostles stopped
 and picked corn on the Sabbath...They received alot of criticism by the ruling class.  When asked about it Jesus answered....that he had picked and ate corn on the Sabbath because he was hungry.  then he asked, "Was the sabbath made for man or was man made for the Sabbath.....  They picked and ate corn because they were hungry and needed energy to do the Lord's work.  Commandments are good.....Rules can be good.........but sometimes we lose sight of the forest through the trees.....

I am meeting Clark and Darin Iverson at pebble beach this next weekend to play some golf.  Can't wait,  Love you son...  Have a good week.

Love..........DAD

PS....Jordan and Laura just had their baby girl.  I think her name is Aubrey.  Both mom and baby are doing well.

The color of success : white

5/4/2015

hola padres! que tal? como estamos! bueno this week was a good week for us! and you will not believe how hard Satan worked to make sure that Jaime and his daughter didn't get baptized this weekend, but we prevailed!!!! i will send the photos! as we walked to the font, hermano Jamie said, i am going to be a new man.  seriously this man has gone a mile and a half in such short time.  he has left so many things and he doesn't know how he did it. i had the privileged to baptize him and his daughter, his wife was already member but less active and went inactive because she could never get his husband to go with her and over time fell away from the church and what we did in 6 weeks, she tried doing over 10 years and never could.  you could see the look of happiness on her face to see her husband being baptized in the church of Jesus Christ.  the water was freezing as well... haha but the best part was that as i was baptizing because i had to baptize the hermana from the sister missionaries as well... but while i was doing it, i wasn't cold at all.  as hermano Jamie was changing he told me, elder macdonald, as i entered in the font i was freezing, but when i left i wasn't cold at all.  in fact i felt really warm.  it was a great moment for me to testify to him what the lord was trying to tell him and he before he didn't want to give his testimony in front of the people but he volunteered to go up and express his feelings! it was awesome! it has been a pleasure to help this family come unto the gospel. his wife told me yesterday, what have you guys done with my husband... he is a different man! and i asked her well is it for the good or bad, and she said of coarse for the good! in fact is quite weird seeing him like this but i am so thankful the changes that has happened in him.  he also told us that he hates getting dressed up and that he never would and this Sunday he put on  a white shirt and the next week he said he would come in a shirt and tie! crazy the changes that happen to people in such little time from the gospel! 

jealous that you guys just had your father and sons activity... i loved those moments! do you remember dad i am not sure who it was, but when we were little either me or kyle or jake when one of us tried to take a crap and we crapped in our underware! hahahaha... i still remember that moment of coarse those famous horse shoe matches with gramps and andy and dave... and good to hear that those stupid spurs got knocked out of the tourny... 

sadly i have changes! tonight i will going around saying goodbye to all those people... its been crazy the friendships and the moments that i have passed in this area.... its going to be hard to say goodbye tonight.  but the lord needs me somewhere else to finish my ministry here in Peru.  

hey before i forget, this Sunday i will be calling you guys from skype for the last time!!! my username is still the same... alex.macdonald1994 i will be calling at about 4 oclock Peru time! if there are changes i will let you know! 

don't got much time but i will see you guys this Sunday!!!!!!! love you guys!!!! 

elder macdonald 

On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 10:57 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo Alex;

so probably the most important new of the day is that the San Antonio Spurs lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the LA Clippers.  The Clippers are pretty good this year but it is still amazing.  It was probably the best series I can remember. The games were really close and hotly contested.  Josh pitched again this week and did good.  He is a pretty good little pitcher.  They won both their games this week.  We had the father & sons outing this weekend which was pretty fun.  we stopped off and got KFC which was of course nasty....but I didn't have time to get food as I played in a golf tournament with Uncle Alan and it took a long time.  Kyle also went to prom this weekend and had a good time.  I will have mom or Kyle forward you some pictures.  His date got sick right before they were supposed to go have pictures and went to the emergency room.  She later showed up for dinner and apparently they had a good time.  Work is going well and we are
 finishing some beautiful cases right now.  We went out on the boat on Thursday and had a good time wake surfing.  The new boat is really awesome.  the water was glassy and it was a gorgeous day.  School is winding down and we are heading into summer.   We just got your itinerary today and it shows you flying home on Monday July 27.  It also has you flying into phoenix.  We thought you were coming in the 28th and you were supposed to fly into San Diego.  So, we will have to deal with that.  Let us know where your new area is....that will be a big change for you.  I hope all is well.  I hope your baptisms happened.  Love to you son.  Sure miss you!

Love,  DAD

"feed my lambs"

4/27/2015

hola padres! que tal? 

things are going alright! we didn't find many new people this week to teach... ;( its hard to work with people when you haven't found anyone so right now we are doing what you call, the dirty work which is trying to find the elect of the lord to help them come to the fold.  what types of things dad did you do in your mission to find new people to teach? and i mean things out of the ordinary that worked... right now in the mission we have to have 10 ways to find new investigators and we have our 10.... i am just curious if you had any cool experience with ways of finding new people to teach! this week we should have the baptims of hermano Jamie and his 12 year old daughter....they are really excited... they were supposed to get baptized this past Saturday but sadly didn't happen because he wasn't sure but that Saturday we had a really good lesson with his family and at the end he said, okay i am ready to get baptized this next Saturday.. its has been a   cool experience to see how much the teaching of the gospel has changed  this mans heart from not wanting nothing to do with religion and not have the slightest desire to listen to now wanting to listen and make the changes needed to do what is right and make the decision to get baptized... the spirit is the only thing that can change a mans heart. its great to understand that this work is a spiritual work and i love seeing how the spirit does his work behind the scenes. its so awesome to the spirit as my best friend. a friend that is always loyal and true and will never lead anyone astray. love this work and what it does to us and to the people.  yeah there is things that he needs to work but its so so important to have the spirit always to be with you.  

and this next Monday we will know if we have changes or not... as of now, i have one more solid week to do some good damage here for the lord in puente and unfortunately no we don't get to pick... i have been in lima all my mission... i am pretty sure that i will be getting out of lima for the last few months of my mission. 

wow seriously Kyle is going to graduate! i just cant quite comprehend that right now... i wish i could be there for his graduation... make sure to take a video of it so i can see it! where do you plan on taking Kyle for his grad trip? and are you stoked for the super activity! sounds like it will be a blast!! and you got to send me a video of josh pitching!!!! i want to see that! haha... what kind of pitching motion is he doing? 

ouch i hope that you guys don't get the stomach flu... that wouldn't be good... its always the worst getting sick in the mission... anyways, the last birthday in the mission was a fun one.. in the night time our pension did a little family home evening with a few other people and we celebrated my birthday! it doesn't seem real that 21 years have already passed by... i cant believe what i will be saying when i am have gramps age... jeez! 

our converts yon and cindy were called and given callings in the church already after 2 months of being members... the husband is secretary for the young men and his wife is working as the 2 counselor in the primary... it has been just so cool to see their transformation into the gospel and how ready they both were and what the lord had done... and the best thing is this week as we were talking with him he went on to tell us, elders it is so easy to tell when the spirit is in the home or no and i can not thank you guys enough for bringing this spirit in my home because it is a huge blessing to have the spirit with us and in our home. it made me think, for how long i took for granted that lovely spirit that we can feel at home if we do what is right.  i learned a great lesson on how important it is to always have the spirit with us and in the home and do everything possible to keep it there.  the key to have a happy family. 

is there anything new that has been going on at home? i hope that everything is going well! love you much!!! ;) 

your son,

elder macdonald  

On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 10:04 AM, Keith & Lori Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo Alex:

How's it going buddy? Sounds like the work is doing really well for you right now. When did you say your next transfers are? Sounds like you might be on your way out. Do you get to request your last area? Or do you just go where you are assigned.

Kyle graduates from high school in about one month. We are trying to figure out a trip to take him on that would be fun. We only have a week to take it since I have to be back for the super activity with the priests. Are super activity is to Zions national Park and should be really fun

Josh pitched for the first time in his rookie Little League game. He struck out the first two batters and he had the next batter 0 & 2 and the kid hit the ball to 3rd base and went under the 3rd base mans glove and into the outfield.  They ended up scoring a couple of runs. But Josh did really well for his first time.

 Mom was out of town this weekend. She went to Santa Barbra to hang with some friends. One of her friends daughters plays for USC's tennis team. So they watched her play. She got back late last night and I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet. I'm sure she had a good time. Josh threw up yesterday as we were getting ready for church. I hope none of the rest of us get the stomach flu. It is very contagious. I hope all is going well. I'm sure it will be difficult for you when you are transferred as you have made a lot of good friends and contacts. But new adventures await.

Love Dad

Sent from my iPhone

Birthday Dinner

4/20/2015

hola mi querido padre! como estamos? 

i cant believe it either that i am 21! i guess this makes me not a mini adult anymore! hahahahaha... but thanks dad! its always reassuring that you are proud of the work that i am doing.  that is my biggest goal as of right now to just make sure that i am doing everything i can to please heavenly father.  but its always good to know how proud my father terrenal is and i know my spiritual father is in that same boat.  and i have finished Jesus the Christ and i am just about to finish the book of Mormon in Spanish! i want to read it again after the mission and really bury myself in it.  one thing that i have loved that the mission has done to me is how much i crave to read... especially the scriptures and the words of the prophets and all the deep doctrine.  like peter says, where will we go... you have the words of eternal life.  that is how i feel now which is a great feeling knowing how important the scripts are to me now.  

and wow you guys did have a crazy weekend but it sure does sound fun! the videos are awesome! and many of my friends are jealous of the boat and looking forward to coming down to Arizona for a weekend to take it out.  and for sure... nothing beats the ocean! there is something cool in spanish wave is called ola... and its cool because its an acroymn... o for orar which is prayer...l for leer which is read... and a which is asistir which means attend church... if you do these three things its like a wave that doesn't stop until it hits the shore which for us is exaltacion... and it was cool to make that connection especially how much i love the ocean and the waves.  and i am not surprised that is what happened with alec but i have big hopes to help change is life.  i glad that he is doing well tho... miss that little kid haha! 

bueno changes are in two weeks.... i am mostly likely will be out of here. this week our converts got callings and hermana cindy is now the 2 counselor to the primary and her husband sectary of the young men and they were baptized in march! you could say that they are doing really good and it has been incredible to see there change... it will be a hard one to say goodbye... the baptisms of hermano jamie and his daughter are this Saturday... hopefully Satan doesn't get himself in there and make a problem.  today the invited me and my companion over at 11 in the morning and to my surprise... all their workers for the work and gotten together and we played football for like 2 hours straight... my legs right now are shaking... they play good as well and not to brag, i put in a few of my own goals ;) hahaha... but it was awesome the surprise they gave me... they sang me happy birthday and even bought me a cake... it was awesome.... such great people.  we are going to have a little lesson and afterwards a huge family home evening in the night time and our cook i think has invited alot of people from the ward and they are all going to get together... today is the bishops birthday too which is funny! but this ward has alot of cariño for me and they are awesome.  i think its from the last name ;P and yeah i am really excited to live with Kyle! it will be awesome! anyways, even though i am far, thanks for the video!!! it made my day ;) one thing about being a latter day saint is that we are a huge family and it doesn't matter where we are from or who we are or if you are far away... we are one big family and its quite a good feeling! love you guys mucho!!!! 

your son, elder macdonald 

On Sun, Apr 19, 2015 at 10:53 PM, Keith Macdonald <kekelolli5@yahoo.com> wrote:

Yo Alex,

Happy bday dude!!!!  you are 21  ....I can't believe it.  I can remember as plain as day when you were born.  It was probably the most incredible experience of my life.  It was repeated 3 more times with your brothers.  I loved you from the first minute I saw you and nothing has changed.  I am so proud of what you are doing in Peru.  So happy for the person you are becoming.  It sounds like you area is booming.  That is a great feeling.  How is the District Leader thing?  Have you had a chance to read Jesus The Christ?  Such a great book.  A great read on the mission when there is no distractions.

We had kind of a crazy weekend.  Mom and I flew up to SLC on Friday morning and went skiing/boarding at Brighton.  We stopped off at Astro Burger and then flew back home and were home by 7:00 pm.   It was great fun and the snow was pretty good as they had gotten some earlier in the week.  It was not crowded at all and it was kind of like we had it to ourselves.  I'll send you some pictures.  Jake had a volleyball game and Josh had a baseball game on Sat morning and then we went to the lake with Uncle Rob's family.  We did some wake boarding and some wake surfing.  It was great fun.  I'd rather surf in the ocean but it was still pretty fun.  The new boat is awesome.  it is a 2008 Supra....24 ft V drive.  It is really nice ...you will love it.  I saw Alec Gentile at the gas station....he was happy to see us.  His hair is longer and he has some TATS but he looked good.

When are next transfers?  It looks like you will be shipped out ...The NBA playoffs are on now...it is the first round so nothing much to talk about.  The Suns didn't make it.....again.....I read the letter Grandpa Wade sent you and it was awesome.  It is so great to have him in our lives.   Save those....his advice is Gold!!!.  Kyle is excited to live with you.  He has many important decisions to make here in the near future.  Your patience and your guidance could be very helpful to him.  We love you bud!!!!  take care and be healthy and be happy.  The Lord loves you and your family loves you.....That's what matters!!!

love;  DAD