pues.. allí esta
Aug. 22, 2011
Well it’s a good week. It’s been another hard one but it’s ok. I’ve grown some and a lot of things have change. Beings how this is changes of course there are lots of changes.
Well to try to catch up on everything, it’s been going well. It’s hard to remember what all is going on. Our investigators are few, but good ones. We had a super cool experience finding one. On Tuesday we had a zone conference and president talked about some missionaries that had asked for a man on a certain street that was dressed in a certain way that would accept the gospel. We decided to do the same and see how it went. We set up a time, the street and we asked that he would wear a hat with a collared shirt. Well, we went out there and we were super excited to find him. We walked down the whole street and we didn’t find him. We were a little shocked and we figured out a few things that we could try. So then we continued on the day and we had to use a bathroom, so we visited a house of some members. A long time ago we were teaching a guy named Miguel Campos. He never got baptized because he couldn’t stop smoking. While I was in the bathroom my companion talked and Miguel had stopped smoking! I couldn’t believe it. He got sick and had to go to the hospital and while he was recuperating, he forgot to smoke. He has already seen the good effects of not smoking so he’s not going back. So we set a baptismal date with him and walked away with big grins. Then when we were walking I was picturing what all just happened in my head. I realized what he was wearing too; a hat with a collared shirt. It was a testimony builder that the work is being directed.
On the rough side we had two people that had potential to be super good members, but they didn’t work out as well as we thought. The first one is named Laura. It’s crazy how much she reminds me about mom. She is a teacher, loves her grandkids, works hard, and is enveloped in life. She says that she never has a spare minute, not even to clean the house. When we contacted her, she had a lot of questions about a purpose in life, and why we were here. We came back and explained how in Alma we are taught that this life is the time to prepare us to meet God. Eventually she opened up and said that she already knew who the church was and was afraid of the Book of Mormon. She wouldn’t accept it or anything we said. It was sad to see someone who had asked and done everything that a golden investigator should do and then not accept. The other one is a lady that we contacted last week. We were looking up some old investigators and I knocked the house in front. She came out and we talked for a second. We came back on Thursday and had good lesson. My companion started out with a great question. He asked, “did you know that all you sins can be washed away if you follow Jesus Christ?” She said that it wasn’t that easy or shouldn’t be. Later, we talked more and more and had a good solid first lesson with the commitment that she would pray to know if she should be baptized. We came back on Saturday and she opened up. She already was member, but she stopped going. Her mom was a member and was even a temple worker, but for some reason stopped paying her tithing. Well, without paying tithing, you can’t go to the temple so when her recommend was up, she stopped going to church and nobody ever knew why. It was a super powerful lesson but taught me a lot. One is that I need to remember that it’s not the church that makes mistakes, it’s the people within. Also I remembered that even like David, we are never sure of salvation until we are on the other side.
Also this week… there are changes, but I’m in Pensiones still. Elder Wynn left to a state called Campeche. It was good to be with him. I learned from him and he is going to be a zone leader. He’s even a bigger boss now. Now I have to show the area to another elder. My new companion is Elder Nguyen ( it’s like Elder When; I went from elder “Win” to elder “when”, just some commentary on the side). He is from New Jersey and was a zone leader. I have heard a lot about him and met him once. He has three changes left so I am going show him the area this change and then the next two changes after that he is going to get a greenie and then he’ll go home. I hope to learn a lot from him. He seems like a pretty cool elder and they say that he knows how to love people. I’m excited and a little bummed but that helps lead into the spiritual thought.
It’s hard to see so many people that started the mission the same time or before me and see them progressing. One is zone leader, and all the rest I think are senior companions, except me…. Don’t worry I have already heard all the “all it good time… your being watched over… its better this way…” but in the mean time, its still not that rosy. In the zone conference, President talked a lot about the why behind missionary work. He talked about Ammon in the Book of Mormon leaving on a mission to the Lamanites who wanted to kill him and all other Nephites. He went despite how crazy and how glum the path might be. He did it and we do it because we love the Lord. We love him and want to serve him. Now is the time on earth “to see if man will do what so ever the Lord their God would ask of them.” Our president asked us, “if you were assigned to just carry the scriptures of your companion for these two years would you do it? Or if you could only contact, but never teach, would you do it? Or if you could teach but never baptize, would you do it?” It made me think and now in my situation it made me think even more. Do I really submit to do whatsoever the Lord asks? Right now the Lord isn’t asking me to do much. He is asking me to have patience and do what I am asked to do as a junior companion. And if I was not sent here to do what the Lord asks, then for what purpose am I here? I love the Savior, because he has atoned for me and done what I could not do. He has done so much for me and I want to serve him. And that’s why I’m in the mission; because he loves me and I love him.
Con Amor,
Elder Mackay

Aug 15, 2011
Well another good week. This is the last week of the change which is kind of crazy because it seems like a week or two since Elder Wynn got here. I don’t get how it is that time goes by so fast here. I have over four months here and I am almost halfway done with this experience. I heard about waking up and realizing that it’s half way and not believing it. I’m starting to experience that. This week was good. There’s so much stuff goes on but Monday comes and I seem to have a blank.
The new news that goes on is that we have new investigator that is super sweet. It’s the daughter of Maria de Carmen. Her name is Ana. She went to her mom’s baptism last week and it was good for her. We watched the restoration while the people were changing and I think it had an impact. We went Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tuesday we had a get to know discussion kind of deal. We got there before Maria de Carmen had gotten there. She came and said, “Maria hasn’t come back yet.” And we said, “that’s fine, can we talk to you? “ “Um… just a sec.” We had magically skipped over the barrier of being her mom’s visitors to being her visitors as well. We had a discussion on praying and she said the closing prayer. It was cool because Maria de Carmen shared experiences about how prayers really are answered. She said that she had been looking and praying for a spiritual path for a little while when we knocked on her door. It was super cool to be able to hear that we were an answer to the prayer. Wednesday, we finished watching the Restoration and talked about it. We gave her some things to read. Actually, Tuesday we had left something to read for the daughter Ana and she didn’t read it all. It was nice to listen to her mom get after her for not finishing it. Also the daughter had a doubt that one beer wasn’t going to hurt that its just one. The mom came back with that the Spirit can’t be in unclean temples, that our body is a temple and in order to have the spirit that we need to be clean and pure, not even a little dirty. Nice to have lessons with a recent convert, bottom line. On Thursday it was cool because the daughter was going on vacation and was going to be gone for her birthday. We bought a little cake and split it before the five of us (us two, Maria de Carmen, Ana and her daughter Marionette). I could hear you (mom) getting after her because she kept sticking her finger in the frosting! She is on vacation but should get back in a few days.
Also it isn’t super crazy but it would be really nice if it worked out. There was a family that supposedly lived in a house not far away from our house. We checked on it, and they didn’t live there, but we were greeted by a very nice family. The mom loves to talk and talk. They thought they were from a big family of four kids. When we told them that my companion is from a family of five kids and I’m from six she got wide eyed. That was some weeks ago. We went over there and it was finally a good time to teach. We didn’t teach to everyone but we stuck our purpose and message out. They invited us over for dinner on Friday this week so there is hope with them. It’s a family of four kids, a mom and a dad. They are a Christian family and it would be really cool but hard to see them progress. I haven’t been able to teach and baptize a whole family yet so here’s a good chance to do it.
The Lugo family that their daughter got baptized last week is still going good. The daughter got confirmed on Sunday. They are always crazy and it’s a bunch of laughs when we go over there. I would like to see them in about 10 years and see how they are doing. They are really an example of how a family can change and pick up the gospel. Even they would admit it that before their life style was different, but now they know where they want to go and what they want in life. The mom gave us home made rolls and it was good, but not as good as the ones from home.
Some of the other “business” of the week: I got a package of jerky from Chris Dahl oops, PRESIDENT Chris Dahl. I would have loved to have eaten them, and I almost did eat one, but then I realized that it was covered in mold. Sorry, I don’t know what the difference is but this time it didn’t make it. I was going to say something else but I don’t remember… oh yeah, this is turning out to be one of the Salt Lake City areas. Yesterday we had breakfast, lunch, lunch, dinner and dinner. All that weight that I had lost felt like it had came back in one night.
Well now the best part. I have really come to understand how much things work better when we work by importance. That’s really something that I thought about this week; how some things are important to others but for others aren’t for others. But that’s what makes us different from others. To many it doesn’t make sense for someone to be in the heat of Mexico and walk around and not get paid for it for two years, but I do it because the people here are my heavenly brothers and sisters. They are important to me. And because they are important to me it makes me go to extra lengths. When the Savior, was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he went and did it because he knew how important it was and would be. And because he loved you and he understood the importance of it, he did it. This life is short, I’m coming to realize that as I “gain more experience and gray hairs.” There isn’t as much time as we think. We need to realize and reorganize our priorities by not what we want, but what’s most important. To me is being with my family and my future family in the Celestial Kingdom. That is the thing that is most important to me. What is important to you?
Con Amor
Elder Mackay
Oh yeah, can’t forget! happy late birthday Dad. Yes I did think about you, just not so much on Monday. I got busy and lost track of time and we had to go like right away. So, feliz cupliaños papí. Also happy marrying to everyone especially Julie and Cliff. ¿Oye, Cliff, sabes español? yo no sabia que lo sabes. ¿Donde lo aprendiste? Me encantara al regresar y hablar con tigo. pues asta luego
Elder Mackay


August 8, 2011
Well another week. Seems like so much happens, but at the same time, I was just here yesterday; its pday, a long, long day, Sunday, then pday again. And I have more news, well I don’t know if its news, but my USB is full. It’s got about 500 pictures on it and I think that I’m going to need a new one. Well, I just found out I had a 1 gig file on there and I just erased it so I’ll be good for a little while. But it would be nice to have a new one if you could find one. I got a dear elder from Ross (thanks man) and Sarah (from trek). It’s good to hear from them. I realized that I don’t get mail from many people outside of family. It’s a bit different, and would be nice to have some more (hint hint=))
One of the hardest things that happened this week is that Yuri, (the investigator that was so golden and so perfect) is going to go live in Tabasco (another state outside the mission). She told us on Tuesday that there was a possibility then in the end, she left either yesterday or today (Sunday the 7th or Monday the 8th). On Saturday, we had our last lesson with favorite scriptures and all that. I talked about the 2000 stripling warriors and all that. It brought back some memories of about a year ago when I was saying goodbye to a big group of people. We finished talking about the Atonement and then just other stuff. She started crying and almost made me cry. She says that more than anything else, she wants to be baptized and wants to have an eternal family in the celestial kingdom. Just why can’t she stay here! I told her that when she finds the elders in Tabasco she needs to march up to them and say “I want to be baptized.” Happy Birthday to some obedient elders over in Tabasco.
This week was the baptism of Maria de Carmen. Everything with went along smoothly. First on Saturday we left in the morning and went to the temple to just look around. When we got there, the temple president was talking to about twelve three to seven year old kids. After, we showed her around and she said that everything even the kids were really calm. After that, we went to the distribution center behind and she bought some stuff. She’s a lot happier than when first saw us. She was really unsure of what we were up to. Now she looks for us, worries about us, thinks about questions during the week and things like that. It’s fun to see the difference in how everything has changed in her. Her baptism was in the afternoon, and it was cool. Our missionary leader believes in letting the missionaries take it easy in the baptismal services. So we didn’t have to speak or direct. At the end of her baptism, she spoke up and said she wanted to say something. She said that she was grateful for the missionaries and how patient we were with her. That she had a lot of questions, but that we answered and complained until she understood it. And that we were her guides while she made this decision to be baptized. Sounds like she understands pretty well how things work out.
Then on Sunday, we had another baptism after church. It was of Yoani and it was one of the coolest so far. It was different, because her dad got to baptize her. Not only was it making sure that she knew what to do, but also what her dad had to do. First though, was a fast and testimony meeting. It was cool to listen and I really wanted a lot of the people from their family to listen to how much the gospel helps people change their lives. Afterwards we had it and we had a good turn out. While we were waiting for them to change their clothes, we watched on the way home. It was applicable to their situation. This is one of the families that has changed 180º in their life style. They are a super happy family and love having missionaries over. In about 10 years, the older son wants to go on a mission. It`d be pretty nice.
Well, not much else crazy stuff has gone on. Just so you know I was going to write something and I started writing, but it came out in Spanish. My brain is short circuiting. That actually happens a lot now. Sometimes Elder Wynn and I (look mom, I used good grammar) will be talking, and just things change in Spanish. Or sometimes we have something to say but we can’t remember how to say it in English so it comes out in Spanish. Sometimes we convert Spanish words into more or less an English modification. I'm going to come home speaking way weird, and I haven’t even been with many Spanish companions!
Well, the thought for the week came to me in sacrament meeting when Maria de Carmen got to partake of the Sacrament. It hit me that that is what we do as missionaries. Many years ago, about two thousand more or less, a man suffered in Gethsemane and died on Calvary. Rising victoriously as a resurrected being on the third day (Sunday) was the crowning event making the Atonement of Jesus Christ complete. This is the biggest, most important act that has even happened, or will ever happen, because it has eternal affects for everyone. Everyone, through the resurrection, will receive something from the Atonement. But a missionary who has been set apart can be a guide, along the path. He holds a beacon to the nations saying that there has been an eternal atonement made, that they can be cleansed of their sins. And that the priesthood authority to partake of said sacrifice has been restored to the earth. He instructs how to be peaceful with life while we are here on the earth, and how to prepare for the life to come. He helps people be happier, “by helping them receive the Restored Gospel.” And he and his companion are the only ones in a certain area who are called and are able to do it. To the audience that receives this letter, if I could have you do one thing, it would be to pray; to pray to know how to apply the atonement better in you life. All of us are in this path, some farther along than others. This is the time to start again. This is the day for men to prepare to meet their God. This time here on earth is so short in perspective of the eternal consequences of our decisions. We need to remember, where we want to go, and why we do the things the way we do them.
Have a great week everyone. Love you all
Elder Mackay
Ps The picture is from Leanor last week. I think I’ve caught up on pictures finally.

August 8, 2011

August 8, 2011
Well another week. Seems like so much happens, but at the same time, I was just here yesterday; its pday, a long, long day, Sunday, then pday again. And I have more news, well I don’t know if its news, but my USB is full. It’s got about 500 pictures on it and I think that I’m going to need a new one. Well, I just found out I had a 1 gig file on there and I just erased it so I’ll be good for a little while. But it would be nice to have a new one if you could find one. I got a dear elder from Ross (thanks man) and Sarah (from trek). It’s good to hear from them. I realized that I don’t get mail from many people outside of family. It’s a bit different, and would be nice to have some more (hint hint=))
One of the hardest things that happened this week is that Yuri, (the investigator that was so golden and so perfect) is going to go live in Tabasco (another state outside the mission). She told us on Tuesday that there was a possibility then in the end, she left either yesterday or today (Sunday the 7th or Monday the 8th). On Saturday, we had our last lesson with favorite scriptures and all that. I talked about the 2000 stripling warriors and all that. It brought back some memories of about a year ago when I was saying goodbye to a big group of people. We finished talking about the Atonement and then just other stuff. She started crying and almost made me cry. She says that more than anything else, she wants to be baptized and wants to have an eternal family in the celestial kingdom. Just why can’t she stay here! I told her that when she finds the elders in Tabasco she needs to march up to them and say “I want to be baptized.” Happy Birthday to some obedient elders over in Tabasco.
This week was the baptism of Maria de Carmen. Everything with went along smoothly. First on Saturday we left in the morning and went to the temple to just look around. When we got there, the temple president was talking to about twelve three to seven year old kids. After, we showed her around and she said that everything even the kids were really calm. After that, we went to the distribution center behind and she bought some stuff. She’s a lot happier than when first saw us. She was really unsure of what we were up to. Now she looks for us, worries about us, thinks about questions during the week and things like that. It’s fun to see the difference in how everything has changed in her. Her baptism was in the afternoon, and it was cool. Our missionary leader believes in letting the missionaries take it easy in the baptismal services. So we didn’t have to speak or direct. At the end of her baptism, she spoke up and said she wanted to say something. She said that she was grateful for the missionaries and how patient we were with her. That she had a lot of questions, but that we answered and complained until she understood it. And that we were her guides while she made this decision to be baptized. Sounds like she understands pretty well how things work out.
Then on Sunday, we had another baptism after church. It was of Yoani and it was one of the coolest so far. It was different, because her dad got to baptize her. Not only was it making sure that she knew what to do, but also what her dad had to do. First though, was a fast and testimony meeting. It was cool to listen and I really wanted a lot of the people from their family to listen to how much the gospel helps people change their lives. Afterwards we had it and we had a good turn out. While we were waiting for them to change their clothes, we watched on the way home. It was applicable to their situation. This is one of the families that has changed 180º in their life style. They are a super happy family and love having missionaries over. In about 10 years, the older son wants to go on a mission. It`d be pretty nice.
Well, not much else crazy stuff has gone on. Just so you know I was going to write something and I started writing, but it came out in Spanish. My brain is short circuiting. That actually happens a lot now. Sometimes Elder Wynn and I (look mom, I used good grammar) will be talking, and just things change in Spanish. Or sometimes we have something to say but we can’t remember how to say it in English so it comes out in Spanish. Sometimes we convert Spanish words into more or less an English modification. I'm going to come home speaking way weird, and I haven’t even been with many Spanish companions!
Well, the thought for the week came to me in sacrament meeting when Maria de Carmen got to partake of the Sacrament. It hit me that that is what we do as missionaries. Many years ago, about two thousand more or less, a man suffered in Gethsemane and died on Calvary. Rising victoriously as a resurrected being on the third day (Sunday) was the crowning event making the Atonement of Jesus Christ complete. This is the biggest, most important act that has even happened, or will ever happen, because it has eternal affects for everyone. Everyone, through the resurrection, will receive something from the Atonement. But a missionary who has been set apart can be a guide, along the path. He holds a beacon to the nations saying that there has been an eternal atonement made, that they can be cleansed of their sins. And that the priesthood authority to partake of said sacrifice has been restored to the earth. He instructs how to be peaceful with life while we are here on the earth, and how to prepare for the life to come. He helps people be happier, “by helping them receive the Restored Gospel.” And he and his companion are the only ones in a certain area who are called and are able to do it. To the audience that receives this letter, if I could have you do one thing, it would be to pray; to pray to know how to apply the atonement better in you life. All of us are in this path, some farther along than others. This is the time to start again. This is the day for men to prepare to meet their God. This time here on earth is so short in perspective of the eternal consequences of our decisions. We need to remember, where we want to go, and why we do the things the way we do them.
Have a great week everyone. Love you all
Elder Mackay
Ps The picture is from Leanor last week. I think I’ve caught up on pictures finally.
More pictures - these are some baptisms from this week. The first lady is Maria de Carmen with my companion (he baptized her). After it's me, her and my companion and her daughter. After its just her and her daughter. After are some pictures of the other baptism. The dad baptized the 9 year old daughter. First is immediate family. Second is with the missionaries. Third is with the extend family

July 25 - August 1, 2011

Elder Wynn (From Aberdeen, Idaho) and Elder Mackay

August 1, 2011
Well… it’s been a super long week full of ups and downs, but it’s been fun. In case anyone forgets, I have 11 months today! How crazy is that! One more month and half way through, or so they say. I still don’t want to believe it. Before I forget, yes mom the package did get there. It got there about a month before my birthday. I didn’t like the sign that met me before I could open it. And I like the fact that you put the 2011 on there just to make sure that I couldn’t get around it. It seems that you know me all too well. The banner of course was the best thing. It brought back a lot of memories and such. The egg timer was exactly what I was thinking and yes, I have used it. Everything was just like I hoped. The next time you send a package I need two things. One is that my watch died. I went to a watch shop but then somehow water got in it so… well it doesn’t work. Also for a long time I didn’t want to say it, but when I was in Kanasin, my last week my pants, and white tie and a long sleeve shirt disappeared in the church. The next day I got changed out so… didn’t really have time to look for it. I don’t know if you can do anything about it. The shirt isn’t a problem, just the pants and the tie.
This week was the Hermana Leanor`s baptism; finally. It’s been crazy to think of how her ride has been. She came earlier than us to the church for her interview. She had been waiting for a sign basically a lightning bolt, but it finally worked out. She is super happy. When she was waiting I asked if she was nervous and she said no, she just felt peaceful. Then we had the baptism and I got to baptize her. It was way cool she came out of the water and she started crying I think. She was so happy. Sunday I got to do the confirmation. It was my second but I can’t wait for her to be in the primary or in the nursery or something. She is a way cool lady.
The Lugo family that I think I have talked about has finally brought their daughter back. I think I have talked a little bit about them, but they have really changed their life around and are going well. The dad is going to get the priesthood and we are teaching his daughter so that he can baptize her not this Sunday but next Sunday. It’ll be pretty special. We go there and it is a circus. It’s so much fun to be with the kids. They are so hilarious, but you have to know the family. We are teaching the daughter and everything is going well.
Also the lady Yuri finally came back from Cancun. It was a relief to find her again. She is really easy to teach. We taught the word of wisdom this week and the law of chastity. With the word of wisdom it was pretty sweet, because she drank coffee. She said, “good thing you guys told me, otherwise I would keep on sinning! I’m going to tell my family here about this.” So everything is going well with that. She hasn’t drunk coffee since. Apart from that we were worried that we were going to have problems with the law of chastity, because she has a three year old son and no husband or boyfriend that we have heard from. We were a little bit worried about how she was going to take it, but she took it well. She said it was a lot like the word of wisdom that you need to take care of yourself. So she is good. She just didn’t go to church last week so we got to figure out why.
There is another lady named Maria de Carmen, she is going to get baptized this week and she is super excited. I remember the day that we found her and she wasn’t super big fan of commitments, not even to put down another appointment. Now we are going to her house every day almost this week. On Saturday in the morning we are going to the temple in the morning and baptizing her in the evening. She has changed a lot and is a cool lady.
But the real circus was Saturday. At seven, we did some service. Then in the rest of the morning/noon time, we had the baptism of Leonor. After that we had another lesson with the Lugo family. After that, we had plans all set up to go with the mom of the Jasso Pocheco family to go to a baptism and then later to the temple. But for some reason, she sent us a message and said she couldn’t go or something like that. We went back to her and talked to her face to face. I was about ready to get… intense with her. We did things the nice way and she decided that she would go. We went back to get the ride and turns out that he was out of the city. We were devastated and started scrambling for another ride. We tried calling a few people, but nobody could. Finally we were calling someone, then someone that I would have never guessed that helped us, came up alongside and said they would give us a little bit of help. The grand daughter in the car just happened to see us walking and they decided to see where we were going. So we got the investigator to the baptism in another area, and it was a special baptism because the mission president did it! It was intense and our investigator took a group picture with the mission president. After, we got on a bus and took her to the temple. We got there and went into the waiting room. She said she could feel the difference, and that when she talked about not going to the church again, she hurt inside. She already has her answer she just needs to accept it! Then we went home but that was all one day.
The spiritual thought is about being happy. One of the reasons why I love the mission is because of how much it changes people to be happier. It’s funny to the point of being a little unbelievable when you go tracking and you say to their face that you want to help them and their family be happier, but they still shut the door. The reason why a missionary can say that is because they (I) know that it makes happy. The gospel brings the closure that people crave, the idea that all will be well. The happiness comes from knowing that there is someone that always loves you. There is the happiness that there is always a way out because of the eternal atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Because of the participants work in the gospel, The Spirit begins to be with that person more, when the person receives the gift of the Holy Ghost, they begin to change even more. Because the natural man is much like Satan, he is unhappy and never satisfied. But the man who has let The Spirit and the Gospel take part in his life begins to put off the natural man. Then becoming a saint becomes full of happiness. Be happy this week, know that there is help around the corner, put one more step or as mom would say, eat one more bite, then its gets easier. We are sent to this life to have joy. Now there is still more to do, but one day I hope that we can all achieve the eternal happiness that awaits us in the Celestial Kingdom. So… be happy!
Con Amor
Elder Mackay

These are just some birthday pictures. I figure you would like to have them. (Editor's note - this is the package that I sent him for his birthday. The first picture is how it looked when he opened it up. I had no idea when it would get there and so put the paper to make him wait until is birthday. The next picture is after he took away the paper and the last is the homemade chocolate chip cookies that spelled 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'. Here are some more birthday pictures. The little cake is one that Elder Wynn bought me. Then the other pictures is Maria de carmen and her daughter, when they bought us a cake. Then to cap it all off, there is a bread company here that their slogan is ¨Ayer, hoy, y siempre (which means yesterday tomorrow and forever). Thought that they had it right, just for the wrong thing. Then and the end, there is a little Tai-kwon-do. They are doing it for mutual and they needed a volunteer. That's all for this week!
cumpli años felic! (birthday was happy!)

July 25, 2011
Wow! I’m old! Well not that old, ok maybe a little bit old. I’m twenty. It came like a ton of bricks. Well not at once though, I just always remember always being the young squirt and now, well I’m not so young anymore!
This week was a good week. A change in companion has really seemed to change the area around. We are now just trying to use our time more efficiently. We found some new ones and some old ones and well, it’ll make sense as it is all explained.
First thing is our investigators that we already had. I talked about a lady last week named Yuri. She went to Cancun and we couldn’t find her all week. It was pretty sad but we hope to find her safe and sound. We’ve been checking her house a lot to see if she has been home but to no avail. She did bring her Book of Mormon with her and a couple pamphlets. It would just be nice if she read aloud or gave them to her sisters to read too. It’s about a two and a half hour ride to Cancun.
Leonor is doing really well (she’s the one that has read all the Book of Mormon already). We had our last lesson on Saturday and she said that everything just seemed to work out. From the moment she saw me she said that my figure was in her head and that she could always remember me. Another thing is that we can’t teach in her house because she lives with her daughters who are Christian and they don’t want us teaching there. So we do it in the church and she said that was another miracle. She was already keeping the law of chastity, word of wisdom and likes going to church. When we talked about tithing, she said that she would pray so that the Lord would give her work (right now it would be taking care of two dogs in front of her house) so that she could pay tithing. We explained 1 Nephi 3:7 but looking at things from the back end. We saw the Lord how he had prepared everything leading up to this moment. It was nice to see it from the back side for once instead of having to assure people that the Lord would provide a way.
The other lady is Maria de Carmen. We met with her Thursday and Saturday. Thursday we had a nice little lesson and we talked about a bunch of little stuff. I told her about my upcoming birthday. She went to the Relief Society activity on Friday (by herself) and then later on Saturday. She said congratulations for my birthday. Hardly anybody else remembered but her and she said if it was alright, that after, she would bring out some sandwiches and a birthday cake. I was super surprised (also she snuck in a hug which felt really awkward). I didn’t bring my camera so next time send the photos.
The new people are two families. One is a family of three. The dad’s name is Victor, the mom’s name is Sonia and the son’s name is Santiago (son is 5). They are really cool people and are very accepting to let us come in. The dad sells clothes and gave us each a free shirt. One is yellowish so we can’t use it but the other one is an American brand. We got in and talked and I asked, “What are you expecting from the church that you want? Or how what would define the church so that you would say ‘Aha there, this is my church?’” The dad said was a little bit surprised from my question and said it was a good one. The mom is Christian and the dad is “a believer”. We talked and such and basically all the needs that they have came out in the first lesson. They want to know what the Book of Mormon is, they want to see our church and see what the services are like, they aren’t married and the dad at least has word of wisdom issues. Now the only problem with teaching them is knowing where to start. They invited us back over for the next day to have lunch and we ate home-made pizza. We were going to have a walk through the church to get use to it before but they couldn’t come.
The last family that is new is actually not a new family. A while back we talked about the family Jasso Pocheco and that they didn’t go to church and didn’t read the Book of Mormon so they weren’t as high on the list and well… fell off the edge. We were in the area by their house one day and remembered them and I decided why not go visit them. We went and visited and the mom was about ready to send us a message or something. We came back on Saturday and we talked. It was long but super intense. She said that when we came over and talked, she just so calm. Also she had had problems with being a little down (like a little more than the blues) but when we came over all she felt was just peace. We helped her understand that that’s not us, that’s the Spirit (good to know that we do something right and that the Lord has blessed us with the Spirit). She thought that it was because of the way we talked but now she knows the difference. But things have happened since. The son that was Christian now has moved back to Catholicism with his dad. So the mom and the daughter are Christians and the dad and the son are Catholics. We finally got the mom and the daughter to come to church on Sunday so they’ll probably all be part of the same church soon=).
Sunday I really did get my birthday present. We had 4 planned to go to church, but 7 came and we had a baptism! It was super crazy. The bishop here asked us about the baptismal font. We told him we’d take care of it and he said that there was going to be a baptismal after. We asked and found out that one of the kids that was going to be baptized was 10. So because he wasn’t 8 he wasn’t under the bishop’s direction, it had to go through the mission. We talked with him for a second and then we had a zone leader come in and do an interview and then we had the baptism. His family already had it all planned out so we didn’t have to speak or lead or anything. Talk about a free baptism! It was literally a blessing. That doesn’t ever happen so I think someone remembered that it was my birthday.
So with it being such a good Sunday with so many things that just went right, this week is kind of a follow up week of the miracles that I talked about a few weeks ago. The formula for a miracle is to have faith in the Lord, believe that it is possible for Him to do it, and put in our part. Then after we receive the miracle, we need to remember where they come from or else they stop coming. We had had a pretty good week and we were fairly happy with the people we had going to church. We made lists of old investigators we were going to visit and part member families. We got up at 6:30 and all that other stuff that it would be easier to just do it another way but that’s not how you are suppose to do it. We put in our part being and doing what we could. Then on Sunday, the blessings and miracles came. But this formula isn’t only applicable in missionary work. When I would take finals, I knew it was almost useless to try to pray for guidance in a test without having studied first. I didn’t put my part in. When the brother of Jared needed light in the barges, he melted and worked the sixteen stones before asking the Lord to touch them. When we try and put our best effort, then the blessings of the Atonement can be applied, and the plan of salvation can be accomplished. But the biggest piece of the puzzle is only if we put our part in. If we could have done better, we will not be as blessed as we could have been. Who knows what would have happened to the stones with the brother of Jared had he just picked 16 random ones. But because of the purpose of preparing ourselves to return and live with our Heavenly Father, we have time to become like those sixteen stones; molded, refined and made ready for That Day. I invite all to put this formula to the test to see if it isn’t true, I know that those who do it and with sincerity believing will be blessed. We are asked to put in our part and nothing less (because that not be just to less of some and more of others) or nothing more (because that would not be merciful to ask of that which we cannot provide). These are the eternal laws by which things are done.
Con Amor
Elder Mackay
oh yea, it also rained a couple hours on my birthday. I’ll send pictures next week.