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| Service project scraps = Teddy Bears!! |
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| My District is the Best in the Whole Wide World |
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| 19th Birthday!!! |
Hello All
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
So much has happened in this past week--so much Christmas
cheer and love!
Christmas here at the CCM was totally the best! Our district did service (cutting blankets
for old men that sleep on the floor) and a present exchange and we had a mini
tree and so much more! We had a fiesta because one of the boys in our district
got a whole pie in the mail and also bags of chips and soda and cookies so we
had a good ol’ time and shared our favorite memories of past Christmas’. The Spirit here at the CCM was just so strong
on Christmas day! We had devotionals
broadcasted by Elder Nelson which was live from Provo and then a recorded one
from Elder Bednar that was literally the best talk I have ever heard in my
life!! I’d share my thoughts on it but
my notebook is back at my casa and honestly I’m so brain dead I can’t think. We
also had an Area Seventy come and speak to us which was great but it was in
Espaniol so I didn’t get very much out of it!
Christmas morning we weren’t sure what to do as a district so I
suggested we go caroling and we did--to every single class room and also the
president’s
house which was really scary but turned out alright!
All the natives here really enjoyed our singing and would get pictures with us
and I really think I have the best district in the whole wide world. We spread the Christmas cheer like wildfire!
The next day was my birthday and I am now 19!!! (How did that happen!!!) My birthday was a little down because
everyone knew Christmas was over and we all had to get back to work but my
district sang to me and made me a present and I felt really loved so it was
just great! I loved the
presents you sent me mother! The
pictures especially! A missionary can
always use more pictures!! All in all my
birthday was really good and I’m extremely happy and honored to spend my last
teen year serving the Lord! There’s
nothing I would rather be doing!!
This week has been a bit of a struggle because on the 27th
I got a cold and have been fighting it ever since! I am still happy but all the district members
are constantly asking me if I’m ok because I’m not smiling so much! I just tell them that I’m being how I was
before my mission and that I am still happy--just feeling really sick so it’s
hard to smile. That also kinda hit me in that people really do notice if you
smile or not. It made me realize that
smiling is a good thing and can help other people smile! It’s contagious!! So I’m trying to smile even though I feel
like I’m going to die!
We teach people every day and my Spanish is slowly
getting better! I love being able
to teach. It’s really the coolest thing
to watch people feel the Spirit as you sit there and teach them the
gospel! My comp and I work really hard
preparing for lessons and I do think its pays off! The Lord blesses those who work hard!
A few days ago Elder Richardson and I saw the natives eating
whole chilies at lunch and crying because they were so hot! So being the smart elders we are we thought
we minds well experience the feeling too!
Let me say this-- my whole body has never been so hot! We literally cried for an hour straight and
they had no milk so we each drank about 20 cups of apple juice and I’m kinda
glad I did it but at the same time I just wonder how much of an idiot I really
am! If natives cry because it’s so hot
then Americans should just back off!
I’ve spent the last few gym times walking the perimeter of this compound! It’s huge--96 acres I think! It feels really nice to just walk though and I like to jump up and look over the big wall and see real Mexico right on the other side! It smells so bad here like dead bodies and feces mixed together and it’s really hard to get used to but I think I’m making progress with that!
Last night for New Years all the Elders in my district got
up at midnight and cheered and drank sparkling cider that again an elder in my
district got in the mail--5 bottles! It
was really fun and fireworks were going off like crazy so it was just so cool!
I’ve been learning a lot about prayer this past week--learning that we will receive answers to anything we ask about as long as we have sufficient faith and patience! I’ve really put this to heart and am working on the faith aspect for sure! I’ve had a lot of really specific and personal things I’ve been praying about lately and I know God will answer.
I’m so happy being here as a missionary! It’s a new year and I’m 19! I have great friends here and back home, a
family that loves me and supports me, Heavenly father who’s watching over me
and a Savior that knows exactly what I’m experiencing with the good and the
bad! I’m so blessed and I can’t not be
happy knowing that!
I pray all is well back home! I apologize if I don’t respond right away to
people that email me! My time on the internet is very limited and family comes
first! I’ll write as soon as I can
though!
I love you all! Be strong!
Know that God loves you and you are important--important to Him and
important to me!
With Love,
Elder McClure
OH also for my blog:
We had a Costco pizza eating contest! Each slice is about a third of a large
pizza! I’m sick so I lost... I ate
2. Elder Taylor, the giant in our
district ate 7!!! He didn’t feel too good
afterwards though so I’m not too jealous and mad that I lost!
One more thing to the blog:
Elders Richardson and Greig in my district snuck into my
room before I woke up on my birthday and locked themselves in my closet. When I woke up and opened up my closet they
jumped out and I almost wet my pants!!!!!
What a horrible birthday surprise!
They got pics of it right in the moment.
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| The Birthday Surprise! |
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