12.28.15 Another Quick Email After Chrismas

December 28, 2015

Hey everyone Merry Christmas!!! and Happy New Year, this week was an awesome week for us, we saw some HUGE miracles up here, we are even going to have a baptism this saturday!! we are running cuz there is some stuff we have to do, so here are some highlights.

             Carlos and Celica are progressing well, the 2 are past 1 nephi chapter 10 and have only had the book of mormon for 1 week! Carlos is in chapter 18, they are progressing super well. This week he has left with us everyday to go teach, he actually teaches with us and testifies of the truth of what we teach............. and he isn't a member............... and he looks kinda rough like gangs, but doesn't matter, he is a stud. He even told us this week what we do good and bad when we teach people...... haha this kids got a big head

              Diego had some evangelical prophet lady give him a paper with apostasy lies about the mormons, one of them being that the missionaries at night turn into wolves.............. how did she know. So, our lesson with him was just answering questions and explaining the lies that she fed him, but everything is good cuz this saturday he said that he is ready to be baptized.... super excited cuz my area here has not baptized since june!!!!

                This week my comp followed the spirit to contact a house way up on the side of the mountain. Turns out, the guy is late 20s, not married, doesn't go to any church, had a mormon cousin who died in an accident, and has always wanted to go to the mormon church to see how it is and what we teach..................... it was an inspired contact. He accepted to go to church this sunday with us while we were contacting him, we are visiting him friday.

                On my birthday, we were running around teaching and visiting that we didn't have anything planned dinner wise, but at 8 a random member called us and said that she had had a feeling to invite us over for dinner, a steak dinner, but she didn't know why, she didn't know it was my birthday, best surprise birthday steak dinner ever. The spirit works for everything!!

                  We had a ton of miracles this week, and a lot more things that i want to tell you, but there is no time. I love you all, hope that christmas was awesome, and i hope that new year's is even better!! We are doing well and we are in good health, i feel old now that i am 20, but honestly i haven't been thinking about it that much. Love you all, study those scriptures, and keep the sabbath day holy!!!

picture of me with a drunk byu fan wandering in the street

Love

Elder McLeod

12.21.15 Already The Week Of Christmas

December 21, 2015

Hey guys, sorry we were running around last week, we only had 5 minutes to get on literally, so i didn't get to write a bunch, but right now I have a little more time so i'll write some more. I can't believe that it's already christmas, it's crazy how fast the time is going!!! It has gotten really cold here, my comp is super sick with the flu, I hope that I don't catch it too. the markets here are crazy right now with all kinds of cool stuff, next monday we are going to go to the huge market in the center of Xela to go look around and maybe buy some stuff.

                This week was another awesome week for us. First of all this week we were able to find 13 news which was awesome, last week was also a great week with 12 news, we are super excited and working really hard. Someone that we found who is super positive is Carlos, an 18 year old guy from Honduras who lives here with his aunt and his cousins, we contacted them all and they are all reading the book of mormon right now!!!! They are super interested, but only Carlos could come to church this week. He stayed all 3 hours and loved it, haha he even already has some friends in the young women's group!!=)

                  Another family we have consists of Dali, Anna, and Olga. Olga is the mom, dali and ana are 25 ish and are the daughters of olga. They are all super catholic, but this week dali and ana read from the beginning of 1st nephi until chapter 10 so they are progressing well!! They came to our ward christmas party this week which was awesome, they are really good at basketball which is awesome because today the young single adults are going to be playing a game of basketball with them. They will be coming to church this sunday.

                 Another family that we contacted in the street consists of 5 people, the dad which we don't know, the mom, and their 3 kids. This week we taught all of them but the dad because he was working until late, we taught the restoration, they were super interested in the book of mormon and reading it, they said that they are going to read this week as a family which would be awesome!!!

              This week we had our ward christmas party which was a huge hit!! We brought 3 families of investigators with us which was such a huge miracle, and the members got pretty excited about it too which was awesome! All of the acts were great, but when we did our act everyone was dying!! We did minute to win it on the stage, and we invited families up from the audience to participate, it was hilarious!!!!! At the end of our act, we brought a cake out for the new sister from New Zealand who is sharing the area with us!!! Haha in Guatemala we do something which is called the mordida, where the companion pushes the birthday person's face into the cake!!! Well sister Fale from new zealand had never heard of nor seen the mordida before, so what happened was super funny!=) pictures below

                 I am super excited for christmas, we are going to be caroling in the villages at the base of the volcano, and to a bunch of less actives! There is a lot of service to be done in this epoca of the year, a lot of people are going to hear the gospel of christ!!!! I love the people here so much, they really are the descendants of the lamanites, and as they hear this gospel, it's like 2000 years of dust is being wiped out of their eyes, it really is one of the coolest things ever. I love the people here, and I also love all of you guys a ton, i hope that you guys have an awesome christmas, but to have a great christmas you have to focussed on the meaning of christmas=) Eat well, have fun, and we will talk next week!

Love ya

Elder McLeod

12.16.15 Running

December, 16, 2015

Hey everyone we are running around preparing our ward christmas party act, we are going to do minute to win it guys versus girls (couples) it's going to be sick. This week was awesome with lots of miracles, but monday i will be able to sit down and write, love you guys, have a great weekend!!!!

Elder McLeod

12.7.15 Xela Here We Go Again!!

December 7, 2015

 Well friends and family I got the call this week and it looks like President wants me back in Xela!!! I will be in Xela Centro, it's the zone with the mission office in it,  i am excited because my comp is a stud! His name is elder Guzman and he is also from my group!!! Really I think that I am only going to be with Latinos but its whatever, I am pumped but at the same time super super super sad that I won't be here the 19 for the baptisms.................... they will send me pics, but it's not the same, at least they will be baptized.  But it's crazy that we are already 1 week into december, less that 3 weeks until christmas!! It's craziness, this week was crazy also

            This week we had a ton of meetings............ first we had the multi zone meeting with Elder ochoa from the seventy. It was so cool, he is such a spiritual guy!! I learned a lot from him, he got us all really pumped up to go out and be better  missionaries. That was thursday, then friday we had to go to Xela for the conference with Elder Ochoa and just the Zone leaders.................... we were sure that a huge machete was coming, but it wasn't like that at all, he really helped us narrow down what exactly we need to teach to our zones, especially in this upcoming zone meeting that we will be having this week (now in Xela centro). Those 2 days were all day meetings, so not much was accomplished those days.

            Paola is doing really good, we are going fine for her baptism scheduled for the 19th. She is progressing perfectly, too bad I won't be here to see her get dunked=( But I am pumped for it, she is getting baptized for sure!!!

            This week our sacrament meeting attendance got cut in half because everyone went on vacation, but not just the members went on vacation, almost all of the investigators also................ haha well can't really fight that, but we did have a few there with us sunday, just not a bunch. This week was an ok week, we did have about 3 huge meetings which was rough and we finished a huge service project, so there weren't as many lessons as usual, but we did find some news, new families which is good.

               There really isn't that much to report, all is well and we are in great health. I am nervous for the changes, for my area and companion, When I email you guys next week I will be in Xela. WE are short on time, I love you guys a bunch, I hope that you are all preparing for the christmas season, we are super excited up here because we are going to do a huge mission wide activity for christmas!! Love you guys a ton, have a great second week in december, we will talk next week

Love

Elder McLeod   

11.23.15 Week Before Thanksgiving

November 23, 2015

Hey all my gringos how's it going! I hope everythings great over there in AZ. Right now we are running a little bit so there isn't a ton of time to write, so i might just do bullet points

            Visited with Carlos y Eveline, right now they don't live together and she actually might not want to get married to him after all.............. huge gamechanger, so she might actually be baptized soon............. we will see what happens, she told us that she wants to be baptized because she KNOWS that it is God's true church.

           New investigator Angeline went with the youth to the coast for their huge youth activity, she has a baptism date for the end of december, she is progressing well.

          This week we had our huge ward mission activity, the activity that the missionaries do. We had 27 families there!!!! 2 whole families of less active, 1 complete family of investigators, and about 5 other investigators, it was an awesome turn out!!!! I thought it would be funny to do a MINUTE TO WIN IT type game night, so that is what we did=) It was hilarious watching these people do super funny things in a minute, everyone loved it and everyone participated which was awesome. the families were winning points for their families determined by  those who won the activities, 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, etc. at the end , the 3 families who had the most points won 1st place, 2nd place, or third place. First place won meet the mormons the movie, a bunch of food and candy, and other stuff. 2nd place won the movie and a good amount of food . 3rd place won the movie and a tiny bit of candy. 1st place also won a trophy that says THE SUPER FAMILY OF WARD CALVARIO. It was a huge success, the bishop said that they are going to do the activity  every 3 months and the trophy will go with and stay with the family that wins until the next activity. It was awesome, we took a ton of pictures, but right now I don't have any, next monday I will send some.

                This week as a zone we had 5 baptisms!!! We were the most baptizing zone in the whole mission this week! We are super excited, everyone is working so hard and we really feel like a big family. Tomorrow in district meeting we are going to reward them big time=)

                 My comp and I get along really well, we are doing super well and we have a ton in common. Every night we end up talking until it gets pretty late, honestly he is probably one of the best comps I have ever had, and he is from my group!

                 I love the mission!!! everything is awesome. I haven't gotten the package yet but I am sure that it is in the mission office waiting to be brought up here to me the 3rd of Dec. I've got to go, love you all, I am doing great and am in great health, the church is true, i feel my testimony growing everyday from this gospel!! Have an awesome week, like my good friend from Hawaii says, Give em that good heaven!!!!

Elder McLeod

11.16.15 Just Workin

November 16 2015

Me dressed in the prettiest flag ever on top of Lamanite Temple

Hey everyone hope you all had an awesome week! I am sure that  right now in AZ that the weather is perfect, I don't know why but here the weather hasn't really changed, it still feels like summer here. Well I don't have a ton of time so I'm gonna give the update now

                Eveline and Carlos are doing great, this week eveline bore us her testimony! It was awesome, she knows that this church is so true. They both came to church on Sunday, they have a date to be married in December.

                Asusena is doing great, we are also working on marriage arrangements with her and her less active companion. Their marriage is scheduled for the first week in January.

                This week was a good week for us, we were able to find 15 new investigators! It was awesome, and mostly from just talking to everyone in the street here, references from members are very very few). My comp and I were also able to teach a lot of lessons and put some more baptisms dates! All of them are for December right now, hopefully I am here for them.

                   Our zone is killing it right now, exciting things are happening! Recently a couple of new families have been baptized which is really exciting, things are happening which is good. This pday we went to the lamanite ruins of Zaculeu again, it was super fun, really cool tourist attraction.

                 My comp and I are doing great, we are in great health and are working hard. Sometimes we get a little stressed out, but all in all it's been a blast these last 3 weeks with him. He has a  huge desire to learn english so recently we have been studying english a lot, he is actually learning really fast and loves it, it's super fun/funny listening to him work hard at pronouncing the words correctly.

               Well personal update, I am progressing really well in my studies and am learning a ton every day. Haha i've also been progressing well in just teaching the people, it's been super fun being able to just walk into a lesson with my comp and just follow the promptings that we get, there aren't any nerves or anything, The best feeling is when we are in the middle of a lesson just teaching by promptings we get and i look at the faces of the investigators and they are just staring at us intensely very interested, you can just see in in their eyes that they can feel something different, they are actually feeling the spirit right in front of your eyes. THat is one of the coolest moments in all of the mission.

                  I love you guys a ton, this week was a success, but I feel like this next week will have even more oportunidades in store for us. I love the work, it goes by fast which isn't good, but every moment is special, even when you have to hike up a really steep paped road in the hot sun, they are unforgettable moments! Have an awesome week, thank you to those who are praying for the people that we teach and for us, you guys are the best!!

love

Elder McLeod

mayan descendants worshipping mayan Gods at the base of the Mayan temple

11.9.15 A Week of Huge Miracles

November 9, 2015

Hey fam and friends, hope you guys all had great weeks, I also hope that you are starting to get your christmas trees up because if you haven't, the Guatemalan people beat you. Thats right, all of the people you have money already have their trees up,so if you haven't put it up yet, it's time. Like the title says, we had some sweet miracles this week, here we go

               Miracle number one, Brenda. So my comp and I were praying for a miracle with Brenda so that she wouldn't have to move down to Xela and then come back in january. So this week when we were on divisions, another Elder and I were walking close to Brenda's house when I just got this feeling that we should go knock on her door (we had thought that she had already left for Xela like she had told us she was going to). So i knock on the door and this random guy answers and says, oh the mormons!! Brenda is next door if you'd like to go talk to her. So we went next door, where she was cleaning this other lady's house!!! I asked her why she wasn't in Xela, and she said, Well I got really sick this week and had to go to the hospital where they informed me that I have arthritis and that I need to take special medicine right now, where I live in Xela this medicine does not exist, So I am going to have to stay here for a while. HUGE MIRACLE!!!!!! So long story short, Brenda is still in the game!!! She is super young, (like 34) and she is super sick, it's not a good thing, but the lord works in mysterious ways=) She came to church again and said that everything is true, her daughter even participated in the primary program!!! Super Sick family,getting baptized for sure in weeks we pray!!

                 Miracle number two, Asusena. So this week when we were finishing the lesson with her, she told us out of nowhere, Can I bear my testimony with you guys? Well yes you can............. so she did,, I have been having to massage my baby boy because his body is not growing properly. This week we went to the hospital to see what else we can do, but all they said to us was that he is going to need surgery big time. So, I went home super sad, but I did what you guys said I should do If I feel like this, and I opened the book of mormon and read a bunch, and then I prayed for help. My baby is now perfectly ok, in 1 week everything went away after I read and Prayed, I know this book is true and I know that this church is true.                   Crying my eyes out this lady has a testimony=) Still can't get baptized because they aren't married. Work in progress.

                Right now our zone is killing it, we are progressing amazingly and us and the district leaders are super tight, one is even from seattle washington, he's a stud.

                My comp and I are doing really well, we are working super hard and we are showing faith and doing everything right, but it just seems like a never ending battle to find positive people. We have been searching and searching, but without much luck. So we have been struggling a little bit due to that, but we will continue to focus on our positive investigators (the chosen investigators), and on finding new people.

                 We are working hard, right now there isn't a ton to report other than the miracles that we had this week. Below I am posting some pics.Love you guys, have an awesome week, keep studying the scriptures!!

Love

ELder McLeod

11.2.15 New Comp and New Zone

November 2, 2015

Hey everyone hope you had a crazy halloween, I was expecting a sweet halloween tradition here in Huehue but I was let down, the catholics just did their saint stuff and did a small prayer thing in the park, then went to paint the cemetery, and at 2 in the morning everyone went to go and sing/serenade their girlfriends, haha it's a lot better in Gilbert=) But besides the wimpy Halloween tradition here, this week was an awesome week for my new comp and I, we found a ton of new families to teach and we are super stoked!

             My new comps name is elder Galicia, he is from el salvador and is also from my group!!! He is a super sick guy, this is his first change as a zone leader so he is super excited, I'm excited too because I knew him in Xela, we were in the same zone for a couple of months and we got to know each other really well. This week we worked harder than ever and we found a lot of new families so we are super excited to work here together.

Elder Galicia and Elder McLeod

             Asusena and Mario are doing well, we are figuring out marriage stuff for them, so this week we are going to be busy calling the lawyer who is a stake president and working with him to try and get them married, hopefully by next day we will know how long the wait will be!

             Carlos and Eveline are doing really well too, this week they went on vacation so we didn't really get to teach them, but we did get to help them paint a room in their house to prepare for their kids birthday party. After we painted the room, Carlos took me aside and said something really cool to me, he said, Elder McLeod thanks so much for your help, my wife and I have been talking a lot lately about how much we love your church, you guys all love service and are so friendly, we really love going to church with you guys, I don't feel this way about my church, the catholic church, or the evangelic church, my wife's church, your church is very different, and we love it.     Wow, I was super pumped after he told me that!!!! They are progressing well, But they will have to get married too which could take some time.

               So big news, Brenda our street contact a week ago, the young mother of 2 daughters, came to church with us for all 3 hours! She absolutely loved it, as soon as sacrament meeting ended, the bishops 5 year old daughter ran over and took brenda's daughter by the hand and took her off to class/go play!! IT was great, and then the relief society came over and just practically carried her to class with them. At the end of the block meeting, we walked Brenda and her daughter home, on the way I asked her how she had felt in church, her response was our miracle of the week. She said, I just had this really strong feeling in my heart the whole time, I don't know what it was, I just can't describe it, but it's a really good feeling. I then asked her, what does that feeling mean Brenda? She replied, It was telling me that right there is the truth. Where I was, and what I was learning, was the truth. It was such a huge miracle!!!!! She wants to be a member, the thing is that she leaves for Xela this week to visit her family and won't return until January............................ I won't be here for her baptism, but At least I was able to be here for her spiritual confirmation.

                THis week was an awesome week for us, we had a ton of lessons, and we found a ton of new people. This week we had a setback on sunday because of the cemetery catholic tradition thing, a lot of investigators did not come to church because they went to bring flowers to their dead in the cemetery................. even a third of our ward went................. apostasy but its whatever.

                      The mission is awesome, I am loving every bit of it, the time is just passing super fast which is the sad part. I can't wait until one day when I will be able to come back and visit these people and cry with the families that Iv helped become part of the church!!!!! I love the people here, I hope that this week we have some more spiritual experiences with some of these families! Keep the faith, until next week, love you all.

Elder McLeod

10.26.15 A Crazy Week But No Time To Write About It

October, 26, 2015

Hey family and everyone that I love!! Right now I am in xela because my comp is becoming the new assistant to the president, he is super excited, I know that he is going to kill it!! So I am here in the church offices using the secretaries computer. Today we didn't have pday, so I only have 5 minutes to right, so i'm going fast!

                So my comp got the call, he is going to be an assistant, my new comp is elder Galicia who is a super sick guy from honduras who has just as much time as I do, he is a new zone leader so i will be training him, so excited!!

                This week our zone killed it! Everyone progressed really well in their areas and we found a ton of new families to teach that are super positive/ pilas!

               Got some wendy's today in Xela, so good

               Geronimo and Janet made huge steps this week, he finally said that he would read, he got over his pride and told us that he is going to read! His wife was so pumped that she started clapping!

               Esgar, a guy that we rarely can visit with due to his schedule, told us this week that he is going to read and pray everyday! We are excited because he wasn't even that positive, but now he is going to read and pray everyday, could be a miracle.

              We have to go, sorry guys, we are doing so good, I am happy, healthy, and working hard! I am loving the mission, I love when president smith teaches us and especially has meetings or talks with me, He is such a spiritual guy who is guided by the spirit always. Well, looks like i've got to shut off, tomorrow is changes, and by noon we will be back in Huehue working hard! Have faith and the Lord will bless you, show your faith and the Lord will bless you with what you want. Love you all, keep the faith!

Elder McLeod

10.19.15 Week 5 of "The Change"

October, 19, 2015

Hey everyone how's it going, hope you all had an awesome week! So this week was week 5 of the change, every change is 6 weeks for those who don't know, so changes are in a week from tomorrow. I think we aren't going to have changes, but my comp thinks that he is gone for sure, we will see what happens. This week was a good week with a lot of interesting things that happened.

           So before we had gone to visit eveline and carlos again, we heard from a member that they weren't very excited anymore and that they weren't interested, which kinda freaked us out. So we went and taught them the ultimate lesson, the secret weapon, temples and eternal marriages. Boom, they are back on the map and want to get married in the temple!!! They were stoked after the lesson and told us that they were going to ^^talk^^ more about it as a couple later, and then when eveline ended the visit with the prayer, she said in her prayer, God please help us so that we can become part of your...................... amen. THe thing is,before the lesson she had told us that she hadn't received her answer yet, but in the prayer she almost asked God for help so that they could join his true church!!! Needless to say, they came to church on Sunday for the full 3 hours, big blessing, and they are continuing to progress well.

          This week we did divisions with the assistants which was a blast! They are so smart and it was really cool getting to watch how they contact, teach certain lessons, plan, and do other things, it's always nice to be able to learn from them and always find ways to improve. Since we are more than 2 hours away from Xela, they both were with us in our area and ended up staying the night with us which was sick. This change we will be getting a new assistant because Elder Bryan, from payson Arizona is ending his mission, so we will see what happens.

           Jeffry came to church again this week which was awesome, he is a lot more friendly and comfortable with the members and in our principles of the gospel class. He even came with us to a baptism that the other ward was having in our chapel. He is progressing really well, his baptism is scheduled for this saturday but we are thinking that it might have to change. He hasn't received his answer yet, if anything 1 or two more weeks might be needed.

            This week Asusena and her boyfriend who is less active came to church, making it the 2nd week in a row!! THis week we taught her about eternal families also, and then she told us that she wants to be baptized!!! She received her answer and now wants to be baptized and enter the temple, but the problem is that we need to marry Mario, (her boyfriend), and her! But to make it a little bit more complicated, Mario is still married to some random lady, they both want to get divorced, but the process here in guatemala is ridiculously long........... so it might be 4 months they say............ but we will keep praying and teaching her.

              Today we don't have a whole lot of time, so this email might be a little short. I attached a picture our zone below, we love all 14 of them!!! Best zone in the mission. I am learning a lot every day and my testimony is always growing, this week my testimony grew a little bit more on the subject of eternal families and temple marriages, It's crazy how true it is and how important it is too!!!! And it's all in the scriptures which is the best part, the family is the 2nd most important thing in the plan of God, 1 jesus christ, 2 eternal families. We can not be saved, (have exaltation), without our families, it's as simple as that! I feel like I am growing so much and preparing myself for the life that is ahead of me. Like they say, right now we are in the school of how to become Gods, and right now as a missionary I am applying for external scholarships!!! I love you guys so much, keep the faith, share the gospel, and write me back, that would be awesome=) Have an awesome week, the next time I right you I will know if I'll be having changes or not.

Love

ELder McLeod

ps. below is a picture of our monthly meeting with president, the assistants, and the hermana leaders

10.12.15 Top Of The World

October 12, 2015

Hey everybody hope you had an awesome week!!!! It's crazy to think that october is almost halfway over, it's almost halloween! My comp and I were talking about that the other day and he told me that we should dress up as jehovah's witnesses for halloween................ haha not gonna happen but it would be hilarious. This week we had a bunch of cool experiences, and like the title of the email says, we went to the top of the world.

             So Eveline is progressing really well, this sunday she came with us to stake conference and she really liked it!! Her husband had to work which was a bummer, but at least she came with her 2 boys and stayed the 2 hours with us, it was awesome. She is progressing really well, she struggles with her book of mormon study because of how busy she is with her 2 little boys, but we are helping her and I know that she will receive her answer

            Jeffrey is also progressing really well, he also came to stake conference with us which was great, he, like eveline, is having a little bit of trouble keeping up in his book of mormon study, but we get him pumped and ready to go every time we visit him, he seems really excited and he really wants to get his answer.

             This week one of our investigators cousins died, so we went to go and visit the family of his deceased cousin. His cousin was the only other member of the church in their whole family, so his 22 year old deceased cousin's mom has a lot of questions. We went and visited them, they are inactive catholics, and they are a family of 5!! We explained a little bit about the family and the importance of it in God's plan and they invited us over this week to teach them some more.

              On Saturday and Sunday our mission president came up to Huehue to teach in the stake conference sessions. Saturday he came up and taught the priesthood session which was awesome, he really called all of our youth to action, there might have been a little machete, but for the most part it was great.

               Today for Pday we went with our district to the mirador, up in the cuchumatones, the highest mountains in Guatemala. It took us like 45 minutes of just pure switchbacks in a microbus to get up to the huge old wooden cabin that stands right on the top overlooking all of the valley. When we got up there we could see our breath in the air! We could see all of Huehue, and even all the way to Xela! We could see the volcanos from Xela and the other mountains, it was super fun, it really was a breathtaking sight. like i said, on the sight there is this huge dilapidated cabin overlooking the valley, so of course we climbed up in it and took some pics! I attached some below.

                  My comp and I are doing really well. We are working hard, and we are teaching a lot of families, not just single people which is a huge blessing. Miraculously, we have been able to find a lot of them just by contacting in the street, we have really seen some of the fruits of our labors. THis week was another great week for us, but it's still going to be a long process here. Thank you all for your love and your prayers, hope you all have a great week.

With love,

Elder McLeod

10.5.15 Week of General Conference

October 5, 2015

Hey everyone hope you loved the weekend of conference!!!! Can't believe we got 3 new apostles, numbers 98 99 and 100 of all time, the interview with them was awesome (right after the saturday afternoon session), they are definitely nervous, but they will be great apostles  i'm sure.

              So this email won't be super long today so I might do some important bullet points.

  .    This week Cristy, Jeffrey, and Geronimo went to church/ conference!!! Surprisingly, Cristy loved it! We were so pumped, she even came to both of the saturday sessions! Oh ya, so of course my comp and I did the gringo room again which was amazing, we did it all of saturday and then on sunday we tried it in spanish in the chapel...................... long story short we went back to the gringo room, it's just a different conference in english.

  .  This week we had interviews with President Smith, it went great. He is so happy about the progress our zone has made in this past change, it went from the worst zone that's wise to actually leading the mission!!!!! We were so pumped, our zone is killing it!

     . This week Jeffrey accepted a baptismal date for the 24th of October! We are excited for him, he has attended church 2 weeks in a row  now so he is progressing really well!

      . Oh ya and this week I completed a year!!! It was an awesome year, but there are SO many more miracles to come! (pic below)

      . So due to the crazy rain/flash flood storms we have had, we finally have enough water to have running water showers! What a blessing, something that we take for granted in the states, but here it is a miracle in itself.

       .  My knee has been healing well, it's going to be a long recovery, but at least it isn't hurting as much. I've been doing everything right, I even ice it with a tin bag of refried beans that I freeze in the freezer during the day!

         .  Oh ya, Eveline had a miracle experience happen to her this week, she is still in shock, and haha I am sure she knows the church is true now. Savin it for the homecoming talk sorry=) Her and her husband are progressing well, they love the church, and they love what we teach them!! This week I took a picture of my comp. and their kid Charlie, literally the cutest kid ever, 2 years old!

                  This week was a great week, not just for my comp and I, but for our zone as a whole. Conference was such a blessing like always, even though president monson is having a hard time standing up there, he is powerful like always. This week I watched the movie of President Monson called. On the Lord's Errand. Wow that guy has such an amazing life!!! If you haven't seen it, I recommend that you see it so that you will be able to understand a little bit more who President Monson it. The mission is awesome, I love it, I love you guys too, Thanks to those of you who emailed me this week, I honestly love hearing from you guys, it makes my day. Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder McLeod

9.28.15 Another Week In Paradise

September 28, 2015

Literally where I am is paradise right now, haha the members give us so much food and it is the best food i've ever had in the mission, but every day=) I love our area, it is improving little by little, this week we had some pretty big breaks!

         Ok so This guy named Jeffrey is 19 years old, he works for a member in his taco stand, this kid is a stud, pro chef and soccer player! The member family has been trying to get him to go to church forever now, but without success. So, this week when we went to go and teach him for the first time without the members present, we just said, ¨¨ look, I wouldn't go to a church that I know nothing about, don't worry about it. So, we are going to explain to you what we believe in and what is the mormon church, and then if you feel like you should come, you are invited.¨¨ Well long story short, he came to church on Sunday!!! It was awesome, he loved it, and is reading the book of mormon! He is super positive, we are thinking about a Mid october Baptism if he keeps progressing like he is.

            Ok so we have been teaching this crazy lady for about 2 weeks now, but this week we had some serious breakthroughs with her!!! She actually told us her name, she wouldn't tell it to us before, she is super reserved/ different. So she told us her name, and this morning after we taught her, she offered her first prayer in front of us!!! It Was huge, she has NEVER prayed in front of us before, this was a big step for her. It was a small and simple prayer, but we were so happy afterwards. THis week she wants to go to church, but first she wants to get to know the bishop, don't know why, but she is super insecure so if she has to meet our awesome bishop first before she comes on sunday, so be it.

           Eveline and Carlos are progressing really well, the problem is that This sunday they bailed on us with the whole church thing, and they did it while we were standing in the door of the church building waiting for them............... we were super bummed, But at least they are reading and praying and can't wait for us to go visit them again shortly.

            Haha so i've got something crazy to tell ya, so a couple of nights ago, I walked out of our bedroom to go turn all the lights off, when out of the corner of my eye in one of the smaller study rooms, I saw a dark shadow move.............. So I flicked the light on and found a HUGE rat!!! So nasty, so I shut the door and put a blanket on the bottom crack of the door to trap it inside. I called my comp over, and we planned out how we were going to get rid of it. Long story short, we filmed what is the funniest 4 minutes of my life! All you can see is a rat flying around the room (by ground and sometimes by air) and us running around with a broom and a dustpan (the only things we thought to go grab at the time). It was hilarious, and in the end we got the situation taken care of. (picture at the bottom)

              This week was an awesome week, even though our family bailed on us for church, 3 other people came which was super great=) I am doing good, I am healthy, my knee is starting the healing process, and the mission life is good. Love you all, miss you guys, have an awesome first week of October and general conference!!

Elder McLeod

9.21.15 Generator Powered Church Buildings

September 21, 2015

Hey family, friends, and everyone else that I love I hope you had an awesome week!!! We are already in week 3 of september, so that means that High School football is about half way over, man the seasons go by too fast, and so does the mission!

             Ok so this week Eveline made huge progress!!! A member family invited her over for FHE which she really liked........... like a lot......... but her husband is still kinda anti mormon. So, we had an awesome lesson with her and a member that is young and has a baby also, the spirit was strong, and she accepted to go to church! So when we went to go pick her up sunday morning, she was ready to go with her coat in hand, but her husband wasn't there. She said, to our surprise, ¨my husband is just finishing getting ready, go and we will catch up in our car.¨so, a little stressed out, we went without them. They arrived after the sacrament finished up, and we brought them in to sit with us like halfway up the benches in the middle. They really like the meeting and the organization! Their kids loved primary afterwards, and they really enjoyed our gospel principles class that we taught!!! They had to leave after the 2nd hour, but when we tried to put an appointment with Eveline, her husband said, ¨why at 3 pm, I won't be able to be there, why don't we do it at 11 am so that I can be there.¨It was a miracle!! I think they both were really intrigued by our service and how the members interacted with them. The members were on the ball, we ran around before the meeting assigning people to go and talk with them and shake hands and become friends=) Haha, usually the members here don't take the initiative too often, so we were running around making assignments So that they HAD to go and talk to our investigators!=)

                 This week we got caught in the rain a couple of times, haha The rain here is so cold, but usually the weather is so hot so the change is nice.

                 Oh ya, so with all of the storms and stuff, Sunday morning the power went out all over HueHue. So, our first sunday with our new family in church for the first time was going to be a disaster, but, some pilas members decided to bring a gas generator and hook it up to the church building!!! (didn't know that was possible), but it is, so we had half of the lights on in the chapel, and the microphone worked liked 95% of the time, it was a miracle!!!!

              Ok so quick surprise, about 5 weeks ago I hurt my knee,  but I didn't think much of it. So we've been working like normal for 5 weeks now......... but it's still been hurting. So the mission sent me into the doctor today in the morning, and what do you know, it turns out that I slightly tore a ligament in my right knee. Its nothing serious, but all of the pictures you see of me in the near future will include my robotic looking knee brace that I will have to wear for a while. I am SUPER lucky that it was nothing super serious, I know that I am being watched over by guardian angels!

             Things in our area are really starting to pick up, we are getting really excited about all of the stuff that has been happening recently, the future has big things in store for this area!!! Our zone, even though it is fairly new, has been killing it lately!!! It has been so cool doing interviews and getting to meet people for other areas in our zone that have true testimonies of the true church of christ. Honestly that is one of my favorite parts about the mission, is doing baptism interviews for other areas and getting to listen to the testimonies of people who recently have received answers that this church is true. They are always so strong and spiritual, it is the best!

                This week was one of the best weeks we have had here so far in Calvario! We are loving the mission, it is honestly the coolest experience!! Until next week!

Sincerely,

Elder mcLeod