Plugging In!

Loved Ones,

It's strange how national holidays become a nuisance when you're a missionary and you need to talk to your family on Mondays. I missed hearing from you all yesterday. But getting your emails today was a great boost that will help me cruise through the week. I would like to issue a formal apology for how feeble my letter was last week. It was severely lacking in the information department, and so I have resolved to give some good intel this week. But first things first. I want to tell you all how much I love you and how much joy you bring into my life. Thanks for that. This morning, I was reading in 2 Corinthians, and I came across a verse that I really liked. It is verse 24 in Chapter 1. This verse uses the phrase "helpers of your joy", and, as I understand it, the context is that the leaders of the Church help the Saints to have joy by serving them. I want to say that you guys are definitely helpers of my joy. And because you bring me so much joy, I can then share that joy with others and become a helper of their joy. And by helping them to have joy, I have more joy. Thus we have the circle of joy. I hope you all experienced exceedingly great joy as you had the opportunity to see Wyatt yesterday. I have to say, I am jealous. I remember hanging out with my good cousin in Newport not too long ago. What fun times those were. Welcome home, Wyatt! You are awesome. I hope everyone is loving school and life. I pray for you constantly. 

I have an exciting announcement to make! You will all likely see some activity on my Facebook page today or tomorrow, and this is not because I have chosen to be disobedient. This is because my mission is one of the missions that will be piloting the jump to the digital age of missionary work. I am going to start using Facebook, Skype, and possibly blogging as tools to serve the Lord and my fellow man, and I am excited. I'm actually extremely excited. I think this is going to be awesome. So here's the deal: I can use these online resources, but I'm still doing what I do with the purpose of helping others to "come unto Christ". I can't just Facebook chat with you guys to see what's new. But I think that more important than what we can't do is what we can do. I am really excited because now we can team up and engage in missionary work together in a much more effective and unified way. The Internet is a wonderful tool that can bring the gospel to all the world, and so I invite each of you to work with me and with each other to lift up our lights and let them shine. This will be possibly the coolest thing ever. So that's the big news for the week. 

If I may, I would like to change gears a bit. I promised some more information in this email, so here we go. Let me first tell you about my neighborhood. Basically 95% of my neighbors are Jewish. I have grown to love the Jewish culture. Most of the Jewish people here are very orthodox and dedicated, and I think that is refreshing to see in New York. Naturally, many of the establishments in my neighborhood are heavily influenced by the Jewish culture. I have developed a deep and abiding love for kosher bakeries. There is a place called Ostrovitsky's just up the road from my apartment that purveys the most delectable of offerings. If you walk anywhere near Ostrovitsky's in the morning hours, the redolence of homemade pastries and breads envelopes you in a warm, loving embrace. It is out of this world. And that's before you've taken a bite. Words cannot describe what my taste buds experience at that moment. We will definitely have to go there when we take our New York tour. Another great thing about the neighborhood is that a 7/11 was recently opened a block from my apartment. I didn't know this was possible, but I had a kosher Slurpie the other day. How cool is that? I love it. Also, there is a great Jewish barber shop that does an excellent job for a very reasonable price. And the barber shop also became the scene for a funny only-in-New-York-moment last week as Elder Monestine tried to tell the barber how to cut a black person's hair. It didn't come out quite the way he was hoping. I think that he was the first black person to have his hair cut there. I am sharing this experience with Elder Monestine's encouragement. In summation, I am a big fan of my area, and I am very blessed each and every day. Even if it's just a simple thing that makes me smile. One of those blessings came yesterday and allowed me to realize one of the goals of my mission. I will tell you a bit about this and include a picture next week. I have to include a little suspense to keep things interesting! I have to tell you about one last thing. I went on an exchange with Elder Cabeza de Vaca last week and had an absolute blast. Let me tell you just a bit about Elder Cabeza de Vaca. He's from Ecuador, he is the most energetic person ever, and his name means cow head. We had a lot of fun on the exchange. He told me about how they make peanut butter by hand in Ecuador. I want to go witness this first-hand now. There is just so much I could talk about, but so little time. I am truly loving life, and I hope that all of you are as well. And, I love each of you even more than I love life. Thank you for being the best family around. Whatever neighborhood I find myself in, I will always feel blessed and comforted by my wonderful family. 

I just want each of you to know how much I believe in what I am doing. In high times and low times, my testimony of this work remains as the great constant of my life. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed my heart and helped me to live better and love deeper. I know that we have a source of help in all circumstances, no matter how trying. The Savior Jesus Christ will always have His arms outstretched. "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows". May we each turn to Him more and find strength from the source of light and truth. I love you guys! Please never forget that! 

Love,
Elder McDonald