"One Real Week Left . . . My Heart is Full"

NOTICE: Elder McClure will report his mission in sacrament meeting of the Timberline Ward on Sunday, November 27, at 9:00 AM.  600 East Swallow Road, Fort Collins, CO.
Our home phone is:  970-225-6946

Hello World!  

I’m not sure what to say ... maybe that I only have one real week left as a missionary …or that we are going to baptize in a week from today … maybe that my heart is full and that I’m very happy with where I am and my progress up until this point.  I realize that I only have one p-day left after today and I do have some final words I’d like to say in that final email home.  But for now, I must say that life is good.  I’ve been studying the Book of Mormon in English these past few weeks and it’s the first time I’ve done it in almost a year and a half.  It’s funny how now I prefer to read in Spanish.  I feel like I understand more and enjoy more of what I read when it’s in Spanish.  I now get caught up on words in English and I’m not sure how to pronounce them.  Who would have ever thought that would happen!  These past few days I’ve been trying to organize myself a little better.  I’m not packing up yet … don’t think that … but just organizing.  I pulled out about 10lbs of Dear Elder letters from my suit case the other day that were from my parents as I started my mission.  No wonder my suitcase weighed so much!  I’ve also been looking over my three 16gb memory cards that are now practically full of pictures from the past 2 years of my life.  I’ve been looking at all my now yellowed shirts and stained ties, holy pants and scripture cases that have withstood one too many rain storms.  Life is good when you’re dedicating every minute of every day in service to your neighbor and representing the Lord Jesus Christ.  My heart is full.  BUT, it’s not over yet, so let’s just take a nice pause right there. :)

What a miracle!  Saturday and Sunday, we as a mission, fasted for the wellbeing of the Elder that ran away.  We all ended our fast in the afternoon on Sunday.  Our President ended his fast at exactly 3pm and at that same moment, 2 youth from a ward in Iztapalapa saw the run-away missionary walking in the street.  They ran looking for the elders of that ward to tell them the news.  The word got to President that night and early Monday morning President and Sister Mecham were able to find, talk to, and help the runaway elder.  The Elder’s heart was softened, along with others who knew where he was, and because of that he was found.  I do not doubt for a second the power of fasting.  When we unite in a worthy fast, miracles happen.  What a blessing!

This week we got to continue doing our Chicken Fat workout routine with Sister Mecham at Zone Conferences.  It’s been pretty fun to participate and teach and train with the other leaders of the mission.  There’s always lots to do and we really do enjoy what we do.

Monday I believe it was, President called us into his office.  We thought it would be something about the mission, but it turned out he wanted to talk to us.  Supposedly he saw something that I wrote a few weeks ago on my blog when I talked about being an office assistant.  He said my comment had been buggin’ him for weeks and so he finally had come up with a plan.  We are now in a new area. The ward is called Educacion and it’s been a rough ward for years now, I’m pretty sure.  It’s close to the offices.  So now we are in-field assistants.  President took away almost all our responsibilities and now we are dedicated to our area and helping the zone leaders by bringing them to our area to see how we are doing it.  We are pretty much the role models for the mission and right now we are starting out at 0.  The goal is to build up the area real good so that next change it can be in full function.  It’s pretty exciting and we have lots to do!  President also told me that he didn’t want me to finish my mission in the offices like he’s seen so many of his other assistants do.  He’d rather we be working hard in the field until our last day.  I like his idea!  It’s a strange transition and for these last 2 weeks we are also gonna stay working in Taxqueña because we have an investigator that’s gonna get baptized on the 19^th--my last Saturday here. :)

This next week is going to be crazy, crazy busy!  We have leadership councils, final interviews, the big change meeting that I’m absolutely stoked to be in, going to the temple and probably interchanges with a few zone leaders, a baptism on Saturday and confirmation on Sunday.  There’s lots of sickness going through the mission right now and I can’t afford to get sick-- too much to do!  Pray for me please!

Thanks for your support!  I’m doing great!

Love,

Elder McClure

New Magnum Bars ... Cookies-n-Cream

"I Wish I Had More Time"

NOTICE:  Elder McClure will report his mission in sacrament meeting of the Timblerline Ward on Sunday, November 27, at  9:00 AM.  600 East Swallow Road, Fort Collins, CO.  Our home phone is:  970-225-6946

What a beautiful time of year!  We have had such a fun and amazing time this past week having meetings with President and big councils with mission leaders, reunions with stake presidents and Area Seventies and 3 of our 7 zone conferences!  We have been busy and busy is just how I like it! 

Last Saturday was the meeting with President Mecham.  We did it in his home and the goal was to get a better idea of what should be taught in the zone conferences.  Sister Mecham made us homemade banana cream pie and, oh boy, I sure love banana cream pie! 

Sunday was special too.  We had to get up early and President picked us up at our house.  We went to the Ermita Stake and there we participated in a meeting with all the stake presidents in our mission (there’s 7 of them), Elder Castiñeda of the 70 and President Pino of the area presidency.  President Pino used to be part of the Temple Department and so he knew all about the Fort Collins Temple being dedicated.  Our meeting was set so we could learn how to use Facebook and other social webs to help in missionary work.  Mostly it was just fun to participate from the back and watch these incredible leaders as they do their thang.

Monday we had a large consejo (council) with all the zone leaders and sister training leaders.  We did practices and talked about needs.  My comp and I made a test about Preach My Gospel that everyone had to take.  Half the mission has taken it now and not one person has pulled off an A.  Ha.  We are pretty good test writers I guess.

Tuesday was a big and rough day for just about all of us.  One of our missionaries just took off while his companion was in the shower.  We got the call and went to go help his alone comp, but as we were on our way there President called us telling us he needed us with him in his house.  So we ran back and got to his house where we waited for phone calls from Elders who had been sent to check all the bus stations to see if they could find him. After a few hours we decided to take a break and go shopping with Sister Mecham while President stayed by the phones.  We hit up City Market and Michaels so she could get Christmas supplies and really it was just so fun to get out and do some shopping with my mission mom.  When we got back to the house President took us to the airport where we went looking for the lost elder, but there we didn’t have luck either.  We still don’t know where he is.  We are sooo worried with it now being 4 days since he took off.  We are very hopeful to find him soon.  At the very least he sent a Facebook message to his family telling them not to worry.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we have been in zone conferences teaching missionaries about health and food and exercise.  We dance a Chicken Fat routine and it’s so fun, haha.  President has focused much of his teachings on living the temporal gospel, which I absolutely love learning about.  Sometimes I feel like we get so spiritual and totally forget about the temporal things.  He’s taught about tithe-paying and work and saving money.  He teaches by stories and life experiences and let me say he’s got a large variety to pick from.  We also helped Sister Mecham make chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.  It’s pretty fun.  But yeah, this week’s been a week, let me tell you.  I can’t explain how much I’ve learned just from these conferences and it makes me sad that I don’t have much time to apply what I’ve learned in my missionary life.  I wish I had more time.  I wish I was just starting, but that’s just how it goes, I suppose.  I’m doing great.  No complaints from me.  We are just still worried about this elder.  I hope he comes home soon.  We are all praying for him, as a mission.  I’m just so happy I can be a part of it all.  I love helping, even when its mostly from a distance.

Love from Mexico from an elder not wanting to go,

Elder McClure

Breakfast at the President's Home

Dead People Bread for Halloween

Krispy Kream

"It's Just So Much Fun to Be A Missionary!"

Happy Birthday to the Best Mission Mom Ever!

Pinata

HELLO ALL!

Oh, what fun it is to ride in … President’s van!  Hahahaha

I’ve had lots of time with President lately and I just LOVE it!

I’m having a really hard time remembering what has happened this week.  Partly because it didn’t even feel like a week--more like a day!  All I know is that it sure is the fall season here in Mexico!  I’m just loving it--cool crisp breeze, amazing sunsets, leaves falling, and big puffy clouds in the sky.  We’ve had a lot of fun.  I don’t know why it was so fun.  I’ve felt like I’ve had a lot of fun.  Last Saturday we had a ward activity and no one showed up, just us 4 missionaries.  So then the sisters went and found 4 kids and brought them so we could play.  It was a pretty lame activity, but we had fun … and ate a ton of sandwiches afterword.

Sundays are hard.  The church services just make me think about home and we never have appointments after the services and so we always walk a lot.  But we found ways to work and have fun. The best was being invited to eat with a very well-off sister in the ward and we ate sooo good.  I sure love food.

Monday we reported with all the zone leaders and then had a huge council with President and it was really amazing.  I love these opportunities to serve and observe and learn from other leaders.  We talk about our worries in the mission and how we can improve and fix things.  The biggest blessing has been having President Mecham here all week so that we aren’t in charge! 

Wednesday we got to celebrate Sister Mecham’s birthday with waffles and a piñata and then some sister missionaries took her out to eat.  Later after helping President take some sisters to their houses in his van, we went to his house and the sisters had made us homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Oh, yes. We hadn’t eaten all day and it was just what we needed.  I love me them cookies!  Other than that we have been cleaning a lot--the offices and the yellow house.  My comp found a giant rat bathing in the toilet bowl in the downstairs bathroom in the yellow house.  So yeah, we have some work to do.  

Office work is fun, too.  I get to go with the secretaries to Immigration which is way outside the mission, and to government buildings, and fill out paperwork.  Mostly I’m just the tag-a-long, but I like traveling and seeing these places.  Yesterday we were up at 3:30 to take an elder to the airport.  President bought us Krispy Cream donuts, which was amazing, and then we talked about women on the car ride home.  I like the advice he gave us.  He sure is an inspired man.

Next week we start zone conferences and that’ll last 2 weeks.  Then my last week here, it’ll be change meeting week and we will also go to the temple and I’ll have my last interview with President … so really, my last weeks are already planned.  Lots of training to do and lots of learning as well.  I’m just so happy. Even though we don’t teach much … it’s just so much fun to be a missionary!  There’s so much joy … even in the little things!

All is well.  Thanks for your love.

Elder McClure

"I love President and Sister Mecham!"

A clean office . . .

"Sacrifice . . . Lots of Patience"

Riley's Computer Monitor in the Office

Elder Jennings is the cousin of Zach and Alex and just barely got to our mission 2 weeks ago. Well, he got sick and ended up in the hospital and it was fun to spend some time with him and catch up on things.  He's JUST like the twins and it's so fun to have that connection.  I've personally been trying to help the new white elders feel good and start their missions strong.  They are a strong generation and have great potential.

Hey guys!

The days are just flying by!  I just want to shout out "STOP".

Things have been good here in the offices of the mission--lots to do and just not enough time!  Somehow each week I realize that plain truth, but somehow I just don’t like accepting it.  This week has been especially special for some reasons I don’t think I’m authorized to mention, so let me just say it’s been pretty crazy and cool and hard and full of emotions and overall … fulfilling.  I miss preaching.  I’ve heard that in other missions the assistants are in-field assistants and so they still carry out a full work load in their area while also being assistants and training and doing lots of interchanges.  Our mission isn’t like that.  We are office assistants and so really our area almost doesn’t exist.  But it’s all good.  The administrative aspect of the mission is absolutely mind blowing.  So much work is done "behind the scenes" in order for the mission to succeed.  I like participating in the “behind the scenes”.  It gives me just a bit more time with President Mecham and helps me see how easily the revelation flows through him.

Computers are not my thing.  I sure struggle with the whole computer business thing, so my companion has been doing lots of that and I just find ways to be a help to others.  I go with the secretaries to buy things and pay rents and pull out money from the bank … stuff like that--really whatever I can do to make their loads light.  In the past the office people have not taken care of ANYTHING, at all!  Everything was a complete disaster when I got here.  So, work it’s been-- lots of cleaning and sorting and trying to make right just about everything!  Elder Carling, the new materials secretary, and I have gone to town cleaning out the offices and closets and sheds and yellow house.  It’s still a work in process, but I plan to have everything in perfect working order when I leave this place.  I’ve got a month to do it.  Also, sometimes if there is something broken in a house that we are renting we have to go fix it.  So this week my companion Elder Avila and I got to fix a broken toilet.  We thought it would be pretty easy-- just change out the bobber floating thingy and everything else in the tank, but oh how we were wrong!  It took us 3 HOURS and a whole lot of getting dirty and breaking things in order to get the job done.  After that experience I realized that plumbers are a whole lot cooler than I thought!   Respect!

President gave me permission to watch the Fort Collins Temple Cultural Celebration online and so Saturday night I plugged in, but only got to see the first half hour before having to go home to get home on time.  How cool!  Then Sunday in church all I could think about was the Dedication and how I wasn’t there!  Aaaughh.   Now after seeing pics and stories I’m even a little bit more jealous, but I’ll be ok.  I’m so excited to go and enter inside the temple and do a session in just a short month from now.  And until then I’m going to go enjoy the Mexico City temple one last time.

Life is so good.  I feel this week I’ve learned a little more about sacrifice.  I’ve had to do things that I really didn’t want to do and these things lasted longer than I preferred.  I’ve learned how to love people that really put all they have into disrespecting you.  I’ve learned that everyone has their own situation with their own trials and really we can’t judge.  All we can and should do is love and help.  Patience is a Christ-like virtue.  I continue learning patience. It never quite seems to end!  haha.

Love from Mexico,

Elder McClure

Fixing the toilet . . .

"I Love the Mish" . . . Changes!

Valeria and Fernanda were baptized.

A wonderful day!!

Hello Family!

Oh what a week it has been!   And really I’m not sure where to start.  But now thinking about it, I think I will start with what happened last week because we had a WONDERFUL last week of the change!  The baptismal service of Valeria and Fernanda was absolutely wonderful!  After going through another rough experience trying to get everything ready, people started showing up!  Really from the ward there was only a few that came … like 9.  But more than 40 relatives of the girls showed up and so we had more than 50 people in the service!  What a wonderful time it was!  I’m hoping the pictures I send will help show what I’m saying, but it was absolutely wonderful.

I also got to go to the temple last week!  My companion was invited to go to an endowment of a friend and I was obviously invited because I’m his comp.  Sister Mecham also went because she knows the gal well and was her escort.  So yea, I got to go to the temple on the 7th of October and there in the chapel waiting area I finished the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time in Spanish.  It was a very, very, very sweet experience and I might have cried … might.  While in the changing room of the temple I ran into a bunch of elders from the MTC and I asked if they knew an Elder Thurgood.  One told me he knew him and they were zone leaders together and that he had been in the earlier session.  Sadly, I never saw him, but we were in the temple at the same time.  It would have been wonderful to have gotten to see him!

Well, Saturday night I got a phone call I wasn’t at all expecting.  My idea was to finish my mission in Churubusco with Elder Herrera as zone leaders and baptizing everyone we met.  But, my idea wasn’t at all the Lord’s idea.  So I was informed that I had changes on Monday and that started the process of packing and saying goodbye to all my friends that I had made in the ward.  I love the Churubusco Ward.  I can easily say it’s the best ward I’ve had in my mission (although that’s not to say that I don’t love the other wards) and saying goodbye was really, honestly quite hard.  In fact, I didn’t even tell anyone at church it was my last day because I didn’t want the attention and I didn’t really want people saying goodbye to me because that just makes me sad.  And so it was.  Oh, and I might say that that sacrament service was incredible with Gabriel’s, Fernanda’s and Valeria’s confirmations and then testimony meeting--so sweet--the best going away gift I could have asked for!

Monday was a dreaded day-- so sad.  Paco took me to the church where the changes were.  After waiting a few minutes and talking to tons of missionaries, the assistants came out with the changes and my comp was the first to get the list of the changes for our zone.  He looked down, saw my name and took the surprise out of it by yelling where I was going.  Haha.  Now I’m in the ward right next to Churubusco.  It’s called Taxqueña and my new companion is Elder Avila.  He’s from Chiapas and is one of the funniest 24-year-olds I know.  We get along great and have already had much time in the mission getting to know each other.  I’m excited to end my mission in this area with Elder Avila even though I’m a little sad that I had to leave my beloved Churubusco.  But the Lord knows best.  Now I’m learning a few songs on the ukulele and working hard.  I don’t think I’ll be baptizing again on my mission … but who knows …a miracle could happen.  And even if not … I’ve done all that I can.  I feel good about my work and dedication.

I know my preparation days (P-days) have been a little crazy these last few months with special changes and all, but now they should for the most part be solid and normal ... but on Fridays.  Friday is my new p-day and if we are ever too busy to write on Friday then it’ll most likely be Saturday when I write. Anywho, sorry for all the changes.  I’m incredibly happy and working hard, hard, hard.  It feels good to know that people trust me.  I’m healthy too-- happy days.

Loves to all,

Wish I could be at the temple dedication, but just know that my thoughts are there.  :)   I have permission to watch some of the Cultural Celebration tonight (Sat), but it starts at 8:00 my time, So I won’t have much time to watch.   All is well.    Elder McClure

YUM !!

Good-hye to Elder Erickson

Hello Elder Avila

Saying "hi" in Ajusco.  Wooooooooooooooo, I ove Sebas and Lety.

"Here's Some Fun from Last Week"

We didn't get a letter yet.  But, Elder McClure sent these photos.  It doesn't get much better than this . . . baptisms and the Temple!!

Glory Days!!

Gabriel and Elder McClure

A united, healed family!

Rubi's birthday and baptism celebration.

Oh, how wonderfullllllllll!!!

I sure did love me this past week.  So much good was done.  I love successful weeks!

Thursday was one of the most stressful days of my missionary life!  Honestly just about everything that could go wrong, went wrong.  Well, at least in my perspective it was that way!  Getting the baptismal service ready was a rough experience!  We went about trying to get keys to the boiler for the hot water in the font and after begging and pleading and searching just about every house in the ward we found keys.  Yay.  But, then we opened up the closet where the boiler is and realized there was no gas.  That made me mad.  Maintenance in Mexico is not a forte.  Then, calling our bishop asking for help, he told us it wasn’t his responsibility and that he was going to arrive late to the service, if he was even going to get there.  We went running to the mission offices to ask help of the assistants and they told us “tough luck”.  Then President saw me stressed and I told him why and his only reply was "Well elder, in my mission we baptized in rivers," and ya, that was it.  No help from the mission.  So we decided to just go with ice cold water, but as we started filling the font we realized that the drain was broken and that all the water just left the font.  Ahhh, what do we do?  My companion is brilliant!  We got a black trash bag and used it to cover the drain!  Wooo.  It kinda held!  Cold water and broken font, but fixed, none the less. 

What else could go wrong?  Well, more went wrong, but I’m sure that by this point you all are bored of reading about my stressful day, so let’s just say more stress happened and then ya, it was time for the service!  Oh how sweet it was!  It was Rubi’s birthday and she had no clue that her dad was getting baptized!  She, along with everyone else, was just waiting for the service to start, thinking 2 little girls were going to get baptized, when her dad walked in wearing white.  She, in that moment, was Skyping in with my old comp Elder Stout and Elder Crandall for her birthday and she was taken by surprise seeing her dad in white!  Then it hit her, and she started to cry.  It was the sweetest service ever and you know what?  I couldn’t even feel the cold water.  To me it was warm for the happiness that filled my soul.  And that’s not to mention Gabriel.  He told me the same thing.  He couldn’t even feel the ice cold water.

The baptism was a little rough because that man is like 6 foot 3 and I’m just a little small fella!  But by a miracle I got him up and out of the icy font and oh how sweet it was!  Their testimonies afterward were incredible!  This family was a ruined mess just a few months ago.  In Gabriel’s case he had to hit rock bottom before coming to his senses and learning about the gospel.  But, oh how they have changed!  They have been healed!  A broken apart family is now together.  All are members now and they are working together toward a temple sealing in just a short year from now!  I’m so grateful to have been part of this miracle!  Thanks to Elder Stout being guided to find that family.  He was able to help the mom and daughter and I got here just in time to participate in the miracle that took place in papa Gabriel’s life.  I personally watched a broken-down, mad and sad man make a full 180 with a twist and he is now a holy man.  He went from rock bottom to heavenly high and all in a matter of weeks!!  That, my friends, is a miracle and I’ve been seeing so many miracles and eating so many tacos in these past few weeks that I must say I do believe these are glory days!

Life is good--too good and I love it.  We are so blessed.  We are seeing the hand of the Lord in all we do and it is refreshing and renewing.  It would be impossible to say that God is not involved.  It’s sooo easy to see His love spread upon all who learn His word and obey his commandments.  After all the trials of that cold and rainy Thursday I’m happy to say that we won.  And we will always win, so long as we have the Lord on our side.

How happy I am.  How tired I am.

We are so very blessed.

Loves,

Elder McClure

I want to throw a shout out to Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita.  (See Elder Yamashita on the screen.) As a missionary myself his conference talk went straight to my heart.  I can’t explain how it feels to personally know the person who’s speaking at General Conference.  It helps me be more receptive to his words and just lets me know even more that he’s a chosen servant of the Lord.  I LOVED Elder Yamashita's talk!

Elder Yamashita Meme

"We found a beautiful canal by our house."

Ward party (food) between sessions of General Conference.

Tacos following the General Priesthood Session of conference.