10.03.16 Last Week Going Strong!

Hey everybody today is the last p day i'll ever have as a missionary!! Sad to think that this is it, but I am super happy and content because I know that i served 100% and that I left it all on the field. I don't regret anything, I wasn't a perfect missionary either, but I was constantly progressing, learning, and improving over these past 2 years. Last night some older lady in our ward came up to me and said, now elder mcleod, never go inactive!!! Haha I just told her that I only converted 1 person in my mission, it was me. And it's the truth, I know it's all true, and I'm so stoked to be able to apply what i've learned in the mission to regular life!  This week was super short but awesome, here's the update-

This general conference was awesome, I loved the talk by Dallin H. Oaks, THe talk by Ballard, and the talk by Nelson, those 3 were my 3 favorites! This was my 5th and final general conference in the mission....... haha I was blessed to be able to start and end the mission with a general conference.

This week Brenda came to general conference and she loved it. Her daughter is super cute, pics attached! This week I had my final interview, then my comp got called to train so he had to go to the new trainers meeting. This week we had a ton of meetings so our days weren't amazing, but we did work hard when we could. We contacted like animals and we taught as much as we could, I'm happy with how it went.

Ya so my comp is training, he is super pumped but super scared! This will be his second time training, the first time he trained, he trained a kid from brazil, but now he thinks he will be getting a gringo so he's nervous. Turns out that my grandchild is training also!! So i'm a great grandpa in the mish!!! Haha that means that the kid I trained ended up training also, and his kid just got called to train this change!! Haha it doesn't happen too often so we are excited haha.

So Today we will just finish saying goodbye to people and take care of some bank stuff. Yesterday I said goodbye to a ton of families, and today will probably be the same.

Well we are gonna go get stuff done, but I love you guys a ton! Have a good next couple days. I'll see you guys on Thursday!!

Love

Elder McLeod

9.26.16 Well today is day number 726...... my comp told me

Hey everyone how's it going!! This week was a killer week for us, we are working super hard up here, calvario is seeing a ton of miracles!!! My comp told me i've got these many days in the mish, i'm not keeping track i promise, i'm not baggy.

This week we had 8 investigators in church!!! That is not a typo, we had 8 and we were stinkin psyched!!!! The members were are super jacked, everyone keeps joking with me and telling me that i'm baggy, but after all 8 of the investigators walked in they stopped talkin trash, It was pretty awesome.

Margarito, is a beast. Haha he is dreaming like crazy, but the best part is that he told us a bunch of doctrinal dreams that he had had a couple of years ago, but that he had never found the answers to what his dreams meant, he searched in all the churches but never found the answers, until we started teaching him!! IT was stinkin legit, he is super sick so he couldn't come to church, but we will be getting baptized in october for sure.

Patty is reading  like crazy, she always has awesome questions. She came to church on sunday and has come 4 times now, I think she will be getting baptized in october also, but we will see, miracles always happen!!

We contacted 50 people this week, that is a heck of a lot for our area size and dats history. We were killin it, we didn't find too many positive people but we did find a couple.

Besides all of that stuff, we have been working hard and trying to find the chosen people. This last week was super fun and successful, and I want this week to be just as if not even more successful and sick. We are working hard till the bitter end! But always enjoying every minute of it. We are in good health, it rains a lot but it's actually pretty nice. I love all of you guys a ton, this is my second to last p day as a missionary, it's sad, but I always knew that one day it would eventually have to come to an end. Well, have an awesome week, we will talk next monday!!

Love

Elder McLeod

9.19.16 Week 1 With My New And Last Comp

Hey everyone how's it going! Here we are, 1 week down and only 2 to go with my new and final companion!!! He is a really cool guy, last week I wrote about him so you already know where he's from and stuff, we have been getting along super well, this half change that i'll have with him is gonna be so sick.

So Brenda came to church on sunday! And she brought her 4 year old daughter ashley, she was sooooooooooo cute not gonna lie. They both loved church, they only could stay for 2 hours but that's ok, they loved it and said that next week they are going to come back!

We learned how to make some traditional guatemalan dishes, when I get home i'll make them and they are gonna be soooooooooo good.

This week was independence week for guatemala, needless to say it was crazy, and very hard to do missionary work. But we worked the whole week and had some little success.

We are healthy

Recently we have been finding some huge  tarantula babies in the house!! They are HUGE and have big fangs, pics below.

Well we have to go, we actually have to get some other stuff done, but this week was awesome and I know that this next week is going to be a whole lot better. I love you guys a ton, keep the faith and keep helping the missionaries!!!

Love,

Elder McLeod

9.12.16 Emergency Changes/New Comp to Kill Me

 Hey everyone how's it going!!! Well big news, Elder Riley is not going to kill me, he had emergency changes Sunday afternoon! He got called to huehue to train some new gringo, I'm super happy for him cuz its his time to take to lead. He is an awesome missionary and I know that he is gonna kill it!

Ya so I have my new last comp, his name is Elder Foster, he is from Salt Lake City and is super cool. He is a big football/ baseball player and he also loves hunting! He is one of my past comps kids, so i've heard some pretty good things about him. He has got 15 months in the mish, so he's got some experience and is a good teacher. The guy is super fun, I know that we are gonna get along real well and that we are gonna kill it together these last 3 weeks.

This week Indyra and Patty both came to church again which was sick, they are progressing well and will be baptized......... when, i'm not sure, but they WILL get baptized.

This week we contacted an older lady who did not want to talk to us, but after a little bit of casaquiando, she actually let us come back last night. We talked a bunch with her and she admitted that she is catholic but does not go, nor does she want to go. She told us that when she was little she was close to being baptized, and she showed us her book of mormon.......her 1st book of mormon.........from the 60s......... its blue bro!!

And I told her how sick it was, so she said to me, Well since you appreciate it more than I do, take it, it's yours.

I died, it's so beautiful. We will keep teaching her to see what happens. We also found a new family this week just by contacting, it is made up of a bunch of less actives who are super nice, tonight we are going to meet with them and I'm stoked!

We are probably gonna drop Carolina. She isn't progressing at all and really doesn't want to read/pray/do anything related to God. We will see what happens, this week will be her test cuz we have given her like 10 last chances but she never ever acts. We pray that we can make the right decision.

Well it looks like i've only got about 3 p days left! ITs insane but inevitable. Im excited, but working hard still dont worry. I know that i'm where I need to be, and I know that I'll be here doing what i'm supposed to be doing until october 4th. I'm gonna take advantage of the time that I've got left, I love the mish and I can't wait to tell my kids all about it one day.

Love you guys, stay strong, keep being righteous and have a great week!

Love

Elder McLeod

9.05.16 Successful Week!!

Wow this week was a super awesome/ tiring week! Hope you all had another great week of Highschool, NFL , and College football, I heard BYU beat Arizona on a last second field goal, too bad, but i'm sure it was a good game. Everything here is perfect, the weather is nice, it's always raining a little and it's windy, I love it. My comp and I are working really hard together, this week we found 8 new investigators and had 27 sit down in the house lessons!!! It was an awesome week.

We had 5 people in church which was sweet, Indyra and her sister Patty came. I don't know if I've told you about them, but they are two sisters, both single and 40 years old, one is divorced. They are inactive in their church and are both reading the book of mormon and coming to church. Patty is in 2 nephi 5 and Indyra is in 1 Nephi 17, Patty has come to church 2 times, and Indyra has come 3 times! They are super positive, the only problem like the book of mormon says is that the lamanites cling to their traditions even though they openly admit that their traditions are false. That's been the hardest part, traditions. But little by little.

Edna is the friend of Indyra, she has come once to church with us and she like it. She is finishing 1st nefi right now and is reading like crazy. She is very positive also, but she has the same problem as ever here, she knows her traditions are false, but doesn't want to give them up. Little by little.

Margarito, this guy is a stud. He is an inactive pentecostal member, he is 60 years old and he builds houses. This guy came to church with us this week and stayed the whole 3 hour block! He loved it, he felt really good and he learned a lot. He loved that the church has so many programs geared towards helping the members, on sunday we talked about auto sufficiency which he loved cuz he is currently searching for work. He is currently reading the book of mormon and already has a couple of friends that attend our ward.

Brenda. Brenda we contacted while eating ice cream haha. She is a single mom, also inactive in her family's church, and wants to know the truth. She is reading the BOM and praying everyday, but she hasn't been to church yet. She has a 4 year old daughter named Ashley who is super cute, once they come to church I know that Brenda will want to keep going. Its cool cuz she gives us free ice cream a lot=)

Carolina, well she is a different story. Single mom of two boys, her husband passed away about 2 years ago, and she has been struggling every since. She has many addictions and problems that hold her back from feeling the spirit. It's been tough with her, she did come to church once and she liked it, but because of her addictions it makes it really hard to teach her, her addictions have affected her ability to learn and process information a lot, we have to explain everything super slowly, but little by little she's progressing.

Cantel has a new branch president, he has a pupusa business here in our area. He told us that whenever we want, we are welcome to come and eat whatever we want for free!!! We did it today, haha they even give us imported barqs root beer for free=)

Well, it looks like there are only 4 weeks left (My companion told me exactly how many days I have left haha), but i'm not counting my time. I know I'll be sad when it's all over, but I'm excited to go and apply everything i've learned but in the real world. Im working as hard as I can cuz I know that I can make a HUGE difference here in these next 4 weeks. I know that we will see MANY miracles in these next 4 weeks, but only if we have the Lord's confidence. We always have confidence in the Lord, but does he have confidence in us???? that's the big question, and if you aren't sure, go and earn his confidence. Have a great week, Gain his confidence, We don't receive blessings when we need them, but only when we obey the commandments upon which said blessings are predicated.

Love you all

Elder McLeod

8.29.16 Week Of Good Food!!!!

Hey everyone!! Hope you all had great weeks, as August is heading to a close the greatest sport in all the world is just beginning, FOOTBALL!! Sounds like my Campo Verde is killin it out there, hopefully this year they get past that 2nd round.

Well this week was awesome, 1st of all I got my new comp, his name is Elder Riley!! He was in the CCM with me in Guatemala almost 2 years ago. He went home shortly after we got to the field, but has returned to the mission. He is a stud, we get along sooooo well , he's probably gonna end up being my favorite comp!! It's nice cuz no one is baggy, everyone wants to work hard, haha its sad that there aren't too many companionships that function this well, honestly I've been super blessed to have been put with him.

So this week we ate good. Dinner 3 nights, lunch every day, haha people were giving us pizza and pupusas, barqs root beer, cake, tons of fruit eggs beans tortillas, and TACO BELL!!!! Thats right, Today I ate taco bell for the 1st time in my whole mission, (23 months), it was the best thing i've ever eaten. hands down. 3 Beefy 5 layer burritos and tons of hot sauce with a whole bottle of red grape sparkling cider. We were so happy.

This week we had a lady named Carolina come to church, her husband passed away about 2 years ago, and she has been single and struggling ever since. Her son Eric is 12 years old so he could be a deacon, We are super stoked for her cuz she came to church and wanted to stay till the end! She stayed the whole time and really liked it, she even wanted to sit in on the primary to see how it was, she said she loved it, especially the children's hymns.

This week my comp and I contacted about 50 people, and pretty much no one wanted anything. BUT, we didn't give up, we actually had some pretty sweet lessons regardless of the uneffective contacting. Here are some quotes from the week from some of our investigators. ¨¨Every Time you boys testify about these things, I feel something different and special in my heart.¨¨ ¨¨the plan of salvation is perfect! No human being could have created it, its perfectly just, and loving, its God's plan.¨¨ ¨¨So, my catholic baptism didnt count, I realize it now.¨¨  ¨¨I want to do the Lord's will, make me a list of all of God's commandments so that I can know them, and keep them!!¨¨

This week was awesome, I'm so happy that Its Elder Riley who's killin me, he's such a bro, it's gonna be such a blast, WORKING till the end, but enjoying every minute of it. I love you guys a ton and I hope that you are growing spiritually every day like I am. If you are not, just realize that our earthly existence is so we can progress, if we aren't progressing, then we are just wasting our time. Love you guys, keep the faith!!

Love,

Elder McLeod

8.22.16 New Companion...Changes

Hey everyone it's pouring rain right now and we are running around so that my comp can say goodbye to everyone before he goes home! THis week we had 2 new people in church which was awesome, we also had 2 less active families in church which was so sick. Our attendance in church was 132, the highest in about a month which is good. We are super healthy, but super tired. Oh and about 7 months ago My comp and I reactivated a 21 year old inactive kid in Las flores, and TOMORROW he leaves on the mission!!!!! So stoked for him!!!!=) His name is Joseph and he is going to serve in Bolivia Cochabamba!!pics below

My comp says it's time to go, haha i didn't even have time to read all of the emails that are in my inbox, but oh well that's fine. Next week I will have more time and i'll have more pics to show you guys, have an awesome week and know that I love you and pray for you all the time. The church is true, the gospel is true, and i've only got 1 change left, haha but let's not focus on that. Well, have an awesome week, see you on monday.

Love

ELder McLeod