Start Spreading the News...: Thanksgiving in NY

Dearly Beloved (I have to mix it up every now and again!),

I was so happy to see all the Thanksgiving pictures and to hear that it was a happy day. I am honestly touched by the decision to omit the green bean casserole in honor of my absence. Why is my family so cool? You guys are the best. Honestly. All the food looked really good! What else would I expect from the kitchens of the world's greatest culinary masterminds? I have definitely come to miss the fantastic cooking skills of my mom and grandma. I can't thank you both enough for all the years worth of delectable fare you have provided. And thank you for teaching me some of the trade as well. It's definitely come in handy. Thanksgiving was great over here. My zone had a turkey bowl in the morning, and then my district went to the American Legion in Broad Channel for the Thanksgiving dinner there. It was cool to be amongst some who we've served for Thanksgiving, and they had some good food too. Two fairly prominent political people were there too. I believe one was a city council member and the other was a senator. The only name I remember is Eric Ulrich. So, it was a fun event to be at. The spirit of Thanksgiving was there in abundance. But that wasn't the end of my Thanksgiving. No, it had only begun at that point. I still had yet to experience a once in a lifetime (Ok, maybe twice in a lifetime. I'll be here for next year as well.) Thanksgiving experience: Thanksgiving dinner in the projects. It was certainly a departure from the Thanksgivings of days past, but I loved it. I was with the Carrattini family, and Sister Carrattini is a great cook. My only complaint is that they could have definitely provided a few more vegetarian options. I'm afraid that the plant-based options were drowned out amidst a cacophony of ham, turkey, two kinds of chicken, and curry goat. Needless to say, I received plenty of protein. But don't worry at all. It was a really fun Thanksgiving, and I was well taken care of. I don't know if I should admit this, but I will anyway: By the end of the night I had eaten around seven pieces of pie. So don't worry about me not getting enough to eat! I was filled to excess. It was a good Thanksgiving.

Besides Thanksgiving, this week was really good. We've continued doing service, but there have been opportunities for proselytizing and teaching as well. There is a really cool investigator named Sarah (I'm not sure if I've mentioned her yet) that Elder Tremble and I taught this week. She's really cool. She's a filmmaker, and it's fun to hear about her work. She is also very interested in finding the happiness and dedication in her life that come with the gospel. She told us that she is looking for truth, and since we began teaching her, she's began to pray to seek that truth. She said that she hasn't had the ray of truth that she expects, but she has felt an overall feeling of calm and well-being. That made me super happy to hear, because she described the influence of the Spirit perfectly, and she's been feeling that. The lesson was also really powerful for me, because I related to Sarah's situation and search for truth. When she was talking about how she has been looking for the truth, I just kept thinking about how I went through the exact same thing not too long ago. Just like her, I expected some great ray of truth, and in my search for that I overlooked the still, small voice of the Spirit. I shared this with her, and I told her about how I came to ultimately realize I had a testimony. It was really cool to be able to relate to her so well. It would make me so happy to help her find the same thing that I ultimately did. Elder Tremble and I also had the chance to teach a really cool family named the Hanssens. We found them while we were knocking doors, which is always a miraculous situation. They invited us in, and we taught them the Restoration. They were very receptive, and we are teaching them again tonight. They're honestly the coolest family ever. I loved them right away. I hope that they can come to accept the gospel and thus become infinitely more happy as a family.

Yesterday provided Elder Tremble and I with a classic NYC Sacrament meeting experience I have to tell you guys about. So, we were both asked to bless the Sacrament, so we were just sitting up on the stand while the announcements were being made. All of the sudden, a cockroach ran across the cloth spread over the Sacrament table and took shelter underneath a fold in the cloth. Elder Tremble saw it first, and he was like "Cockroach! You have to get rid of it!" From where I was, I could see it just hanging out in its little den, but I didn't know what I could possibly do to resolve the situation without creating a scene. I was like "What am I supposed to do?" "Kill it!" was Elder Tremble's response. I told him that there was no way I was going to squash a cockroach on the Sacrament table. That would be way too messy, and I didn't want to cause a scene as I slammed a hymn book down on the table for no apparent reason as far as the congregation was concerned. After a bit of debate, we determined that the only option was prayer. Prayer works. When we lifted the cloth to pass out the Sacrament, there was no cockroach in sight. A bullet was definitely dodged. Only in New York.

Well, my battery is about to die, so I have to get off now. I love you all and I hope that everyone is doing well. I miss you guys a ton, but it's so good to be a missionary. It honestly is a huge privilege, and I'm grateful to be out here. I gotta go!

Love,
Elder McDonald