7 weeks in Volta Redonda

Hey Family, How´s it going?


Sounds like you all had a pretty eventful week for sure, carumba! We´ve been pretty dang busy here as well. Yep, I am still here in Volta Redonda, Usina;I´m very happy about that! Our Zone and District moved around a lot; now it´s just us and the Sisters in our district. We have a lot of new people in our Zone, as well as new Zone Leaders. We have Elder Corrêa who was my old Zone Leader in Rio das Ostras, so that is sweet. I was telling him that I can´t get away from him, no matter how hard I try. haha. He´s a good guy. We are trying to change what we are doing here so that we can have some baptisms, and we have been sacrificing a lot and working extremely hard, and we finally found some really elect families yesterday and Saturday. The first ``family`` is Douglas and Luciana, but they aren´t married so that doesn´t count as a family. They seem really interested and they were really welcoming with us, so we are hoping that we can teach them more and get them baptized. He teaches Brasilian Martial Arts so he was showing us around his studio, it was pretty cool. We also found a really awesome couple yesterday that we taught, and THEY`RE MARRIED!!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!  It´s a miracle for sure, and they were really receptive as well so I´m excited to teach them. The problem is that they are both only home on the weekends, so we don´t have anyone to teach throughout the week. I know that the Lord left us here for a purpose; there´s someone that we still need to teach here and we are hoping we can help more people come into this Gospel.

So we were walking down this street one day, and we happened to run into a man who is wearing a Utah State University sweatshirt. How nuts is that? I can´t get away from Utah down here haha, just messing. Maybe I will take that as a sign of where I should go to school when I get home, but maybe I won´t. I don´t care right now. We had another experience with a hill and hauling heaving things up it again; these things seem to find us a lot. We were helping someone move into her house, and she has this huge bed frame that we had to haul down one set of the steepest stairs you've ever seen, and up another set which was even steeper than those. I felt bad for Elder Glade because he had the heavier side and I was trying not to laugh so I wouldn´t drop it, because it was so ridiculous, oh man! I´m so glad that I´m with Elder Glade still though, he´s hilarious. He was doing this contact with a guy in the street yesterday who neither of us could understand because he talked really weird, and afterward Elder Glade´s like, ``What´s wrong with that guy? What are you, a goblin`?``  haha It was really funny, I couldn't stop laughing. The other day we were on the bus and he was falling asleep, so his head was drooping down, you know? And some punk girl was looking back at him laughing and then she starts clapping really loud to try and wake him up, but it didn´t work. So I´m just sitting there laughing my butt off and then she gets off the bus at her stop and walks past his window and claps one more time to wake him up, but still nothing. Then when he finally woke up, I told him what happened and he´s like, why didn´t you wake me up so I didn´t look like an idiot? And I just told him he looked so peaceful and I didn´t have the heart to wake him up.

He had a crazy dream the other night that he was telling me on our way home from church and I was trying not to die laughing because of it, too. He said he had a dream that he was teaching an investigator and all of a sudden this tank shows up out of nowhere and shoots at him, and he´s like,``Heh, this is just a dream, nothing is going to happen.`` All of the sudden he shoots up out of bed and hears this loud sound and is just freaking out. He didn´t know what to do. He´s like, should I pray? Did something happen to Elder McDonald? Do I need to do something here? Then he gets up and checks if I´m still there, and I´m still just sleeping through all of this. So he decides just to say a prayer and go back to sleep. Oh man, it was too funny. It´s just one of those dreams where you wake up really confused and you have no idea what to do. Classic.

We´ve had some great times here for sure. We are still working our hearts out here trying to find people to teach that will actually follow through with their commitments. It has definitely been a huge challenge, but I am learning so much everyday. I´m learning how important it is to have the Spirit with us in our lessons, because without it, we are just saying words and nobody is learning. It is really hard to keep the Spirit with all of the distractions that are going on during the lessons, but we are getting better and our lessons have gotten much, much better. We still have a lot of improving to do, but we are praying for more help everyday. I know that as long as we are being obedient and sacrificing a lot, the Lord will bless us. It reminds me of the Scrípture in 2 Néfi that says that,``it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do.`` As long as we are doing our part here, the Lord will help us. He knows our struggles and knows what we need to experience in order to be stronger. He has a purpose for us here and we are working everyday, trying to follow the Spirit and find out what we need to do to have success here in Usina. I´m glad I´m still here with Elder Glade.

I love you all and hope that you are all doing good still. I love you all and hope you have a good week. . Talk to you next week.

Love, Elder McDonald

Portuguese Translation-Week 6 in Volta Redonda

Hey todos!!!


O que anda acontecendo? Como vão as coisas?

Parece legal que vocês todos tiveram uma semana e domingo emocionante, cheio de estresses e tal..hehe.. Não foi nada diferente aqui. Certo, quando nós chegamos na igreja, o Bispo perguntou-me se eu poderia dar um discurso porque eles não tinham ninguém...Isto foi ótimo. I só falei sobre a importância de ser obediente e acreditar no Senhor com os mandamentos que ele dá. Então, eu estava tentando falar sobre a história de Nefi, quando ele estava mandando construir um barco, aí na hora, eu esqueci a palavra para barco quando eu estava de pé para todos, isto não cheirou muito bem. Então, Nefi estava mandando construir um...um...seja como for, continua na escritura que eu tanto amo...hahaha; isto foi muito engraçado. Eu não pensei que ninguém realmente notou além de meu companheiro. Ele estava gostando, você deveria ter me visto, eu estava falando a palavra barco para tentar ajudá-lo! Eu só ri e disse: oh, bem, acabou agora. Foi engraçado porque eu já estava sentando ao piano, então eu levantei, dei meu discurso, então voltei e sentei ao piano e toquei o resto do hino logo após. Foi muito bom, eu fui um show de cara legal ontem Esta semana foi realmente interessante, muitos acontecimentos, a maioria de coisas engraçadas. Isto é ainda é muito legal, realmente legal.

Então, terça, fomos a Juiz de Fora para a Conferencia de Zona e foi realmente incrível lá, muito mesmo. Embora, o caminho até lá foi bem louco haha. Tivemos que levantar iluminados e cedo ás 3 e eu tinha cinco minutos para ficar pronto, com quatro de nós em nossa casa, de modo que foi muito divertido. Se eu não tivesse de barbear 8 vezes por dia, teria sido menos agitado. Então nós entramos na van com o resto da nossa zona, que vieram para nos pegar, e colocamos na RM e comecei a ver isto no caminho, muito engraçado. Então ... no meio do filme, ouço um barulho estranho de um dos Elders sentados atrás de mim, quase como se estivesse prestes a vomitar ... hein, isso é estranho. Eu me viro, e ele vem até a frente da porta de correr, abre a janela e colocasse para fora da janela ... mas você sabe o que acontece quando você está se movendo e tentando jogar alguma coisa para fora da janela, geralmente se trata de volta para dentro, bem ... Tão nem precisa dizer, eu tenho um monte daquilo sobre mim e meu terno. Eu sou muito sortudo. Então, eu estou tentando não surtar e tentar limpar a maior parte com algumas das que você me enviou (obrigado mãe, salvou minha vida). Não foi divertido. Haha, então eu estava conversando com a Sister Alves quando chegamos lá, e ela estava me perguntando se eu tinha limpado tudo e disse que agora eu estou preparado para quando eu tiver filhos, então eu acho que ela tem um bom motivo haha. Embora, fosse tão desagradável aquela situação. Claro que eu fui o único que teve aquilo jogado em cima, só eu. Ai ai ai. Enfim, está tudo bem agora. Apenas uma outra boa e velha lembrança para guardar e refletir.

A Conferência Zona ainda foi realmente surpreendente! Eu vi Elder Billin novamente, então isto foi muito bom! É bom conversar com ele e ver como estavam as coisas lá. Tudo o que posso dizer é que nosso presidente é surpreendente. Suas palestras que ele deu foi tão bom e o Espírito que ele dá quando fala é tão poderoso. Acho que ele vai estar nos Setenta, uma vez que ele aprende o Inglês. E, depois, tivemos a prática de convidar as pessoas a ler o Livro de Mórmon e orar sobre ele, e os assistentes foram os primeiros e nos deu um exemplo, e, em seguida, o presidente disse, tudo bem que quer ser o próximo? E ninguém levantou a mão, então é como Elder Glade gosta, vamos lá Élder McDonald, e eu gosto com certeza. Então nós começamos a caminhar até lá, e o presidente pediu ao bispo que estava lá, se queria fazer isto, e acabou sendo eu e ele lá praticando, e Elder Glade apenas voltou e se sentou. Estou como, oh cara, fui brindado. Obrigado Elder haha Glade. Mas acabou sendo muito boa e o presidente me deu alguns bons elogios depois da minha entrevista com ele por ter feito a prática na frente de todos e por tocar o piano também haha. Foi realmente ótimo. Eu tenho o pacote também e um monte de cartas de amigos, assim, isto foi ótimo. Obrigado por todos os doces e as coisas que você me deu, é incrível.

Esta semana, nós convidamos cerca de três ou quatro pessoas para serem batizadas, mas todos eles caíram, meio triste, mas... bem, ainda estamos tentando apenas trabalhar tão duro quanto podemos. O adversário é muito forte aqui com essas pessoas, mas só precisamos ensinar com mais poder e rezarmos firmemente para eles e sei que ele vai se realizar e ficará melhor. Nós aprendemos muito com a Conferência de Zona e temos notado uma diferença enorme em nossas aulas por causa do que estamos aplicando. É realmente incrível. Eu sou tão grato pelo Espírito e como ele é poderoso por trazer conforto e paz. Ele me ajudou muito. Eu sou tão grato pelo testemunho que eu tenho e muito grato pela força da oração. Também sou muito grato pelo amor que o Senhor tem para todos nós, por expiar por todos os nossos pecados e receber todos os nossos pecados sobre ele para que possamos voltar ao nosso Pai Celestial e ser feliz para sempre. Eu amo todos vocês e espero que vocês todos estejam indo bem. Vou tentar lhe enviar algumas fotos de hoje já que tenho um leitor de cartões agora. Te amo e vou falar com vocês na próxima semana.

Week 6 in Volta Redonda

Photo from Rio das Ostras-Braden with Elder Billins and Sam Jr.

Hey Everybody!

What´s going on? How´s everything going? Sounds like you all had an exciting week, and an exciting Sunday, full of stress and such haha. Wasn´t any different here. Right when we got to church, Bishop asked me if I could give a talk because they didn´t have anyone...that was great. I just talked about the importance of being obedient and trusting in the Lord with the commandments that he gives. Then I was trying to tell about the story of Nephi when he was commanded to build a ship, except I forgot the word for ship when I was up on the stand, so that kinda stunk. So Nephi was commanded to build a.....um......anyway, going on to this scripture that I just love....hahaha it was funny. I don´t think anyone really noticed besides my companion. He was like, you should have looked at me, I was mouthing the word for ship to try and help you out! I just laughed and said, oh well, it´s over now. It was funny because I was sitting on the piano already, so I got up, gave my talk, then went right back and sat down on the piano and played the rest hymn immediately after. It was great; I was a nice one man show yesterday :) This week was really interesting, a lot happened, mostly funny stuff. It´s still pretty cool here and it´s really nice! :)

So Tuesday, we went to Juiz de Fora for Zone Conference and it was really awesome there, so pretty. The way there was pretty crazy though haha. We had to get up bright and early at 3 and I had like 5 minutes to get ready with 4 of us in our house, so that was pretty fun. If I didn´t have to shave 8 times a day, it would have been less hectic. So we get in the van with the rest of our zone that came to pick us up, and we put in the RM and started watching that on the way, pretty funny. So...about halfway through the movie, I hear some strange noise from one of the Elders sitting behind me, almost like he is about to throw up...huh, this is weird. I turn around, and he comes up to the front by the sliding door, opens the window and just throws up out the window...but you know what happens when you are moving and trying to throw something out the window, generally it comes back inside as well... so needless to say, I got a bunch of it all over me and my suit. I´m so lucky. So I´m trying not to freak out and trying to clean up most of it with some of the wipes that you sent me (thanks mom, saved my life). It was not fun. Haha then I was talking to Sister Alves when we got there, and she was asking me if I got it all cleaned up and said that now I´m prepared for when I have kids, so I guess she has a good point haha. It was so nasty though. Of course I was the only one who got thrown up on too, only me. Ai ai ai. Anyway, it´s all good now. Just another good old memory to hang on to and reflect on.

Zone conference was really amazing though! I saw Elder Billin again so that was really good! Good to talk to him and see how things were going there. All I can say is that our President is so amazing. His talks that he gave were so good and the Spirit that he gives when he speaks is so powerful. I think he will be in the Seventy for sure once he learns English. And then we had practice for inviting people to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and the Assistants went up first and gave us an example, and then President said, alright who wants to go next? And nobody raised their hand, so Elder Glade is like, let´s go Elder McDonald, and I´m like alright. So we start walking up there, and President asked the Bishop that was there if he wanted to do it, so It ended up being me and him up there practicing, and Elder Glade just went back and sat down. I´m like, oh man, I´m toast. Thanks Elder Glade haha. But it ended up being really good and President gave me some good compliments after in my interview with him, for doing the practice in front of everyone and for playing the piano too haha. It was really great. I got your package too and a bunch of letters from friends so that was great. Thanks for all of the candy and the stuff that you gave me, it is awesome.

This week we invited about three or four people to be baptized, but they all fell through, kind of sad but oh well, we are still trying to just work as hard as we can. The adversary is really strong here with these people, but we just need to teach with more power and pray harder for them and I know that it will work out and be better. We learned a lot from Zone Conference and we have noticed a huge difference in our lessons because of what we are applying. It is really great. I am so grateful for the Spirit and how powerful it is to comfort and to bring peace. It has helped me so much. I´m so grateful for the testimony that I have and so grateful for the power of prayer. I am also so grateful for the Love that the Lord has for all of us to Atone for all of our sins and take all of our sins upon him so that we can return to our Father in Heaven and be happy forever. I love all of you and hope that you are all doing well. I will try to send you some pictures today since I have the card reader now. Love you and I will talk to you next week.

Love, Elder McDonald

Translation in Portuguese

Sam,  a friend from Rio das Ostras, Brazil translated Braden's last message for those in Brazil.  He said it helps him learn English better too.  Maybe it will help us learn some Portuguese too.  Laffy Taffy in English is still Laffy Taffy in Portuguese.... Thanks, Sam

 The English version that Braden sent is below it. 
The translation to Portuguese is here:


Oi todo mundo!

Foi muito bom falar com vocês ontem! Eu adorei, senti-me realmente bem ao escutar as suas vozes novamente. Agora, estou “morrendo” porque nós estamos aqui, em uma Lan House, e eles estão tocando Pink Floyd e eu estou tentando não curtir haha. Estou contente que todos vocês estão realmente bem. Fiquei feliz em poder falar com vovó e vovô. Estou contente em saber que eles estão bem. Parece que eles estão ainda realmente ocupados. Eu não tenho muita coisa para escrever para vocês todos; não muito mais que a última noite. Pensei bastante nos doces que eu adoraria ter, Pez, Laffy Taffy, more Skittles, Starburst, and Mike and Ike!! Também queria, se vocês pudessem, ver quanto custa a camisa de malha de futebol do Real Madrid, que seria incrível.

Recebi um e-mail do Jordan hoje e isto foi muito legal da parte dele. Eu retornei para ele e ainda preciso enviar e-mails para Jon e tia Ruth desde sempre. Sinto-me mal por isto. Nada de mais aconteceu entre ontem a noite e hoje. Depois que falei com vocês todos, fui para a sala da Sandra e José, e troquei de lugar com o Elder Glade ao telefone. Foi bom conversar com eles um pouco e conhecê-los melhor. Sandra estava falando algumas histórias engraçadas sobre missionários e carnaval. Foi muito engraçado. Existe uma razão para que os missionários fiquem em casa durante o carnaval, e essa é uma boa razão. Depois disto, nós fomos para a casa do Bispo porque ele queria que fossemos e ajudasse ele com algumas coisas. Acabou sendo para ajudá-lo com seu teste de inglês para o trabalho, e eu e Elder Glade estávamos verificando as questões que eles perguntaram e elas eram ridículas! Nós não sabíamos mesmo o que algumas daquelas palavras eram haha. Isto foi muito doido. De qualquer jeito, eu não tenho muito para escrever. Elder Haws e Elder Kunz estão vindo para o nosso apartamento para dormir hoje a noite, assim eles podemos levantar e sairmos para Conferência de Zona amanhã, pela manhã. Estou muito animado. Isto vai ser muito doido com todos nós na mesma casa haha. Temos algumas boas beliches mesmo assim, então isto será muito legal. Estou muito animado para ir a Petrópolis para a conferência amanhã apesar disto. Eu ouvi falar que é realmente, realmente bonito.

De qualquer forma, espero que todos tenham uma ótima semana e eu amo vocês todos. Falarei com vocês, novamente, na próxima semana.

Com amor, Elder McDonald

Week 5 in Volta Redonda

Hey Everyone!


It was really good to talk to you yesterday! I loved it, felt really good to hear your voices again. Right now I´m dying because we are in the LAN house here and they are playing Pink Floyd and I'm trying not to enjoy it :) haha. I am glad that all of you are still doing really good. I was happy to get to talk to Grandma and Grandpa. I´m glad that they are still doing good. Sounds like they are still really busy. I don´t have too much more to write to you all; said most of it last night. I did think of more candy that I would like though haha. Pez, Laffy Taffy, More Skittles, Starburst, and Mike and Ike!! I also was wondering if you could look and see how much a Real Madrid soccer jersey is on Amazon. If you could, that would be awesome.

I got an e-mail from Jordan today and that was really cool to hear from him. I sent him one back and I still need to email Jon and Aunt Ruth from forever ago. I feel really bad about that still. Nothing much has really happened between last night and now. After I got done talking to you guys, I went into the family room of Sandra and José and traded places with Elder Glade on the phone. It was good to talk to them a little bit more and get to know them better. Sandra was telling me some funny stories about missionaries and carnaval. It was pretty funny. There is a reason that missionaries stay locked up during carnaval, and it´s a good reason. And after that, we went to the Bishop´s house because he wanted us to come and help him with something. Turns out that he needed help with his English test for work, and me and Elder Glade were checking out the questions that they asked and they were ridiculous! We didn´t even know what some of those words were haha. It was pretty crazy. Anyway, I don´t have too much more to write. Elder Haws and Elder Kunz are coming to our apartment to sleep tonight so that we can get up and leave for Zone Conference tomorrow morning. I´m pretty excited. It´s going to be pretty crazy with all of us in the same house haha. We have some sweet bunk beds though, so it will be pretty great. I´m excited to go to Petropolis for it tomorrow though; I hear it´s really, really pretty. Anyway, I hope that you all have a great week and I love you all. I will talk to you again next week.

Love, Elder McDonald

Week 4 in Volta Redonda

Hey Everybody!

I was really excited to open my email today, I have tons of stuff to read! I got an email from Dylan and that was really awesome to hear from him! Tell him he can keep emailing me even though I can't email him back. But I´ll send him letters as much as I can still. Tell him it´s the same thing for me here; I wish he could be here for some of the things that happen to me because I know that he would appreciate them as well. I can´t joke around with anybody as much as him, so it kind of stinks. I hope he is still doing good. I also loved that picture of Ashton, that was hilarious haha that guy. And it was really cool to see those pictures of Tanner and JJ and Spencer too on their missions. Awesome. I can´t believe that Spencer and JJ are going to be home in a few months, Crazy! That´s way sweet that Tanner is training now haha that´s pretty funny. Maybe someday I´ll be there as well. He´s almost been out a year as well, that is ridiculous! Time is just flying by like crazy! Where did April go? The months honestly feel like weeks, no joke.

Alright, I have the number that you can call this Sunday Mom and family. You will have to call me, I won´t be able to call you. You will have to call me from 4-6 my time, which means it would be from 1-3 your time, right during your church, go figure haha. Sorry about that, but that will just have to be :). But if that number doesn't work, you can call our cell phone as well, plan B.  You´ll have to find the area code for Brasil in order to call me because I´m sure there are more numbers in front of that. You could ask Sam, the guy in our ward, or just look it up on the internet I´m sure.

I have a ton of stuff to tell all of you this week, and this week I kept my planner with me and wrote them down as they happened so that I wouldn't forget. And oh yeah, my area here is Usina, in Volta Redonda. Forgot to mention that too. But anyway, I´m just going to write down these things as they happened so they will be really random, sorry. First of all, one of the Counselors of President Bezerra played for Flamengo and he played in the World Cup a while ago, so that was pretty awesome for sure. His son is playing for Flamengo right now. He visited us in Rio das Ostras at church on Sunday, but I forgot to mention it before. Also, could you guys ask Samuel for the recipes for Bolinhos and Açaí and also find out if they have açaí in the States for me? Cause I don´t think I'll last without it when I get back home. Alright, thanks. Tell Sam that I sent him a letter this last week and I don´t know why he hasn't gotten it yet, that´s weird. Haha he calls Dad Papai McDonalds, it´s funny. Tell him to also put up my address on my facebook so that people can write me or email me as well. Well, sadly enough, people here are crazy about Twilight here as well. Or as they say here, Crepusculo. It´s driving me nuts ainda! I also forgot to tell you about this nasty thing I saw at the bus station a couple weeks ago. So there´s this chubby boy without his shirt off and his stomach´s hanging over like a mile past his belt line, and his mom sticks her mouth and her face on his stomach and does that stomach blowing thing that you do to your baby, and I about throw up cause it´s nasty as heck, you know? haha it was pretty hilarious. I was like, alright, that´s nice. Thanks for sharing that with me. Oh man, and the funniest thing happened to us when we were on our way back to our apartment one night this week. This drunk guy comes up to us and wants to talk about the Gospel so we talk to him about it a little bit, and figure out that he is drunk. He keeps walking with us a little while, and then he tells me that my English is really bad, while we´re speaking in Português. Then he tells my companion how good his English is, and then I just start dying laughing and he keeps smiling at me. Then finally he´s like, I like this guy, and gives me this big old hug. hahaha it was so awesome, stinkin hilarious. Then Elder Glade is like, man, the only compliment I ever get on my mission is from some drunk guy and I wasn´t even speaking in English. haha it was sweet, he´s hilarious. We have had some funny times for sure. He keeps getting me in trouble though, because sometimes we start off our lessons singing hymns to people and he always seems to pick the hymns that have this note that is impossible to reach because it is so low, so then I´m trying not to crack up when we are trying to hit it. haha oh man, it´s bad. Needless to say, we've started to pick the hymn more wisely before we decide to sing anything. haha oh man, so funny.

 I've taken a poll with my age here, and the average age that everyone has said that I look like, is 23. It´s pretty great. I have also had about 4 people who thought I was Brasilian here so far, so that´s great too right? I have gotten a lot bigger here I think so far, but not fat-big. This is the closest to a six pack that I have had in my life haha. It must be because we have to exercise for a half hour everyday and my legs get bigger from walking up these hills all day long. So, we were going to do a service project on Saturday, and I was trying to put on my jeans and my shirt, and all the sudden they are really tiny. This was when I wish Dylan would have been there, because he would have died. The clothes were so small haha. Then I didn't want to wear my skate shoes that I brought and get them all messed up, so luckily, Elder Rezende left some running shoes here when he left and they fit me. But they were the goofiest looking shoes ever to wear with jeans. Elder Glade said that I looked like a dad, all I needed to do was tuck my shirt in haha. It was way funny, I should have taken a picture. I looked like a bumpkin.

They have holidays here every week, I swear. They just make up holidays to take the day off, it´s awesome. They had one this week, last week, and then we have mother´s day this weekend as well. Lucky them. Another funny story for you guys; we were at this lady´s house, Olga, teaching her another lesson. We were sitting on her porch on her little porch thing, and I sit down and realize it´s wet. I get up, and I realize that I sat in bird poo... I look up and there are bird cages hanging everywhere, so it only made sense. So, trying not to make a scene, I´m trying to clean it off my pants during the lesson, very sly-fully. I got most of it off, but it was pretty crazy. Another time I wish Dylan would have been there haha. Then later that night, I stepped in dog poo on the way back home. It was wonderful.

We were looking for this kid to go and teach him, and we were at the address that he gave us, and there were a bunch of different buzzers to ring, so we tried the first one, wasn´t it. And we just kept trying all of them, and Elder Glade was like, these are all probably the same person because that lady sounds pretty similar. She is probably freaking out in her house, wondering why we keep pushing these buttons haha. It probably sounds really lame; sounds really lame while I´m typing this, but it was really funny then. We've run into some really crazy people here that make me laugh. It´s great.

We have had some really amazing lessons this week as well though, we taught a guy about the Restoration and it was the first time that I have seen someone cry during the first vision. It was incredible. The Spirit was so strong and I am hoping that this guy, Marco, gets baptized really soon. We had 5 new investigators at church with us this week and they were all really cool. I hope that we can baptize them all this next week because they seem really interested in the Gospel. We have been so blessed by working and working every day. It is so cool to see how the Lord blesses us so much when we are obedient. This week started out with us having no one to teach, and it ended with having a lot of people to teach and bring to church. It was awesome!

Anyway, I loved all of your letters that you sent me this week and all of those pictures that you sent me. I still haven´t gotten the package yet, but hopefully I will at our Zone Conference next monday. I am excited to talk to all of you this Mother´s Day; that will be really awesome! I can´t wait. You guys can tell Dylan to come over so he can listen to if you guys want. It would be cool to talk to him as well. But I understand if you just want it to be a family thing. Either way, it will be really awesome! Remember to call at 1-3 your time, okay? Love you all. Love you Mom, HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY!!!!!! I will talk to you all this Sunday! Have a good week!!!!

Love, Elder McDonald