Happy Thanksgiving #2!

Loved Ones!

Hello! Well, I'm just feeling great about life. Elder Durkin and I
were talking to a brother in the Midwood ward a couple of weeks ago,
and he mentioned how he feels that being on a mission is kind of like
being on a crazy reality TV show. You get dropped off in a foreign
place with people you don't know at all, and your task is to start
talking to as many people as you can about religion. It just sounds
like the stuff of prime time. I liked that perspective, actually. It
really is such a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience. But the
missionaries shouldn't have all the fun! Everyone can join in on this
work. Eternal friends will be made, eternal families will be expanded,
and eternal love will grow. That last one is my favorite, and the one
I most need to work on. Though a mission is a very unique experience,
our whole lives can be simultaneously full of whimsy and deep meaning.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has a way of making paradoxes possible.
Speaking of whimsy, let me share a funny moment from yesterday. Elder
Durkin and I were walking to the church late in the evening, and, for
some reason, we started to perform a little two-man band routine in
which we were both air guitarist. Elder Durkin started with the rhythm
guitar while I soloed on top, and we would switch back and forth as we
walked. This went on for at least 5 minutes, I think. Life is a lot of
fun. In other news, it was cold enough to send a yeti to Florida
yesterday. Our ward mission leader checked the weather report and said
that it felt like -8 or something ridiculous like that. All I know is
that it was really cold. But it was not in vain! I gained a deeper
respect and appreciation for the pioneers who trekked across the
frozen plains and sacrificed their very lives for truth. I am so
grateful for them. While walking through the cold in the Crown Heights
area, I also had an "I-can't-believe-I'm-in-New-York" moment. It came
as I gazed upon the Chrysler building, beaming with golden sunlight in
the distance. Those moments come from time to time.

But enough about me! How are all of you? Jacob, way to nail a sweet
improv talk in church! I can't wait to hear about it. You know, I feel
that the most powerful way to give a talk is to simply study
beforehand and have an outline, and then just deliver whatever message
the Spirit directs you to give. I've been blessed by using that format
in preparing talks and workshops. I wish I could have been there,
though. I'm happy that everyone is getting settled in to the new
place. Does it feel home-y yet? I don't mean in the gangster sort of
way. I hope that everyone feels at ease. I also hope that the classic
St. George Thanksgiving is great, as usual. What fond memories pour
into my mind as I think of St. George Thanksgivings! Have lots of fun!
I am ever with you in spirit.

I just would like to share something with you all really quickly. One
thing that has really been a blessing for Elder Durkin and I is having
a vision for our work. We decide what we would like to see (and make
sure it's what The Lord would like to see as well), then set goals and
make plans to accomplish the vision. Goals help to bring about the
vision in a measurable way (when they're measurable, it helps us stay
motivated so that we can see the progress that we make), name plans
help us achieve our goals. Having a vision to guide our efforts has
been such a big help. We feel more purposeful and honestly more happy.
I know that this will be the case for everyone. So, I would like to
extend an invitation to you guys. I invite you to get together as a
family and create a family mission plan, detailing how you are going
to be missionaries and help hasten the work of salvation. A great way
to start is by going onto the new Hastening the Work website and going
over the material there to catch the vision and learn what your role
is in all this. I promise that you will find greater peace, joy, and
love (perfect for Christmas!) as a family if you will do this. Having
a plan not only provides purpose and direction, but it also is a great
way to show The Lord you're serious so that He can begin to open doors
for you. When we commit to doing things, and really desire to serve
God, He makes things happen. I'd love to be a part of the plan. What
do you think?

I love you all so much! Thank you! I may be a broken record, but I
can't thank you enough. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder McDonald

Catch the Wave!

Loved Ones,

Guess what? (I figure it's always good to start with a cliff hanger).
I'm typing up this email from underground. More specifically, I'm at
the Times Square subway station. Well, At least I was. The N train
just came by and whisked Elder Durkin and me off towards our
destination: the mission office. We need to attend to a bit of
business there. I just think it's cool to be writing my family an
email from below the streets of New York City. Every day brings a new
adventure! But anyway, how are you all doing? I have not been able to
check my email yet, so I am lacking a report of the previous week's
events, but I trust that it was a great week for all. At least I hope
it was! On my end of things, this past week was exceedingly speedy.
Elder Durkin and I have been staying busy, and that makes the time
whiz by faster than a flock of seagulls gathers when you throw a pizza
crust on the sand. And what's great is that we have also been having a
lot of fun. We're truly finding joy in the Lord's service and feeling
the excitement and urgency that is characteristic of this special time
in the history of the Church and mankind.

I imagine that everyone is stretching out their stomachs and getting
geared up for Thanksgiving feasting. You still have nearly two weeks,
I suppose. I've been feeling anxious because I have a burning desire
to sing and listen to Christmas music, but I can't justify such an
indulgence until after Thanksgiving. I've downloaded the Bible Video
that depicts Jesus Christ's birth on my Gospel Library app so that,
come Black Friday, we are all ready to fully swing into the Christmas
season. I will miss you guys during this special time of year, but my
heart will be warmed by the many happy memories I have accumulated
courtesy of each of you. What is a holiday without family? And what is
a family without the people in it? Though our family may be
geographically challenged for a time, we can still be one as we knit
our hearts together with love and a common vision. I am happy that,
wherever I may roam, there are always hearts and hands to welcome me
back home. I won't be home for Christmas, but we will always be a
family. How amazing is that? Not even death can break the bonds with
which we are bound together if we honor our commitment to God and each
other. In Preach My Gospel, we are taught how to be successful
missionaries, and somewhere in that counsel, it says that a successful
missionary is motivated by a firm belief that he or she has made
covenants (or commitments) with God. May we ever remember the
covenants we have made and the promises that accompany them. I want to
thank all those who have shown me by their actions how to honor
covenants.

As I mentioned earlier, Elder Durkin and I have really been feeling
the excitement of the times. We have been trying to hasten our work so
that we can do our part to help move the work of salvation forward,
and we have seen The Lord open doors and pour out blessings as we've
sincerely done our best. I have gained a testimony that The Lord will
make things happen if we just turn our hearts to Him, and "show up" to
the worksite, ready to give our best effort. Miracles attend those who
embark in the service of God with all their heart, might, mind, and
strength. And that's not all! When we become active participants in
the work of The Lord, we have a lot of fun! It really is exciting.
Yesterday, I thought about all this in terms of surfing. I thought of
a surfer out in the line-up waiting for a wave. When a set comes,
there will be swells that pass through the spot where the surfer is
waiting. At this point, the surfer has a choice. He can just stay put,
rising and falling slightly as the swells pass, or he can paddle as
hard as he can and catch a wave. I don't know about you guys, but I'd
rather catch the wave. It's a lot more fun that way. Right now, in
real life, we are in the midst of a set. The swells are rolling in,
or, in other words, The Lord is hastening His work. We can just sort
of stay put, and perhaps feel a slight rising and falling, or we can
anxiously engage ourselves and catch the wave. Then, the fun starts. I
can testify that it really is fun. Joy comes as we labor to bring
souls to Christ.

I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you do for me. May God
bless all of you.

Love,
Elder McDonald

Thanks for the door hanger, Mia!
(We're all dying for the story behind this jacket!)

iPads!

Loved Ones,

Better late than never, right? I'm sorry to leave you all hanging for two days. The libraries were closed Monday, and the week has been jam-packed already. I don't have much time to email right now, so I'll have to be brief. But there is much to report on.

First, let me start with you guys! It sounds like everyone is doing dandy. Mom and Dad, I'm glad you had a good time in Palm Springs. I just thought of the Palm Springs segment in "Soarin' Over California" and how I always flinch when the golf ball comes at you. It gets me every time! I'm glad that you were able to experience the wonder of a Jewish deli. Our Jewish friends know how to do food. I'll be sure to try the lox on my bagel next chance I get. And I'm happy that the housing situation is being resolved hitch-free. I really like the new place from what I've seen. Can we have a sign up front that says, "Welcome to the McDonald Homestead"? A random funny thought: Everyone always gets a kick when I tell them that I celebrated my first birthday on a ranch and share some of the stories from the Boulder days. This gives my fellow missionaries fuel for even more "old McDonald had a farm" jokes. It's all in good fun, of course. I hope that everyone is loving school (you too, Mom!) and work and life in general. Be sure that I am loving you! 

I will now give a rapid-fire report of what has recently occurred. As I've already mentioned, I have a new companion. Holy moly, we are having a blast. Elder Durkin is hilarious. He was born in San Diego, but he's spent the most time in Las Vegas. There is no one quite like Elder Durkin. It's his birthday today, so please send him lots of happy birthday vibes. All in all, we are just having a great time and really trying to work as hard as we can. We are initiating some changes and improvements in the zone and in our personal work under the Lord's direction, and I have felt the power of seeking to more fully serve the Lord with all of our hearts, mights, minds, and strength. That is truly the way to find happiness and to find yourself. It's paradoxical, but true. In other news, I am 96.4% sure that Elder Durkin and I saw Ben Stiller in the neighborhood the other day. We were walking down a street and stumbled upon a film production, and we were told that it was a film with Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts. We were allowed to walk down the street, past where they were filming, as long as we didn't stop. So, we tried to get the best look we could while still walking, and I'm pretty sure that I spotted Stiller in the midst of a scene. So that was pretty cool. Now, for the really exciting news. Yesterday, the missionaries received their mini iPads as the next step in hastening the work of the Lord. What a peculiar thing it was to be given an iPad as a missionary. But, Elder Durkin and I used those wonderful little devices to study this morning, and I give the iPad two enthusiastic thumbs up. The Gospel Library app is amazing, and using it with the iPad allows you to streamline and enrich gospel study in an amazing way. The iPad literally puts everything right at your fingertips. It's great. Now, missionaries can begin to go forth without purse or scrip. All we need is the iPad to preach the gospel. The Lord is truly hastening His work. It is such a privilege to be able to participate with Him in the greatest cause of time and eternity. 

I'm about out of time, but I just want to tell you all that I love you. I really do. I pray for you nightly, and I am very grateful for your prayers for me. I'm sure that it won't be until heaven, when a perfect account of all things is given, that I will be able to see how much I have been benefited by the prayers of those who love me. Until then, I have faith that I am being buoyed up by those prayers, and so I wish to express my deep gratitude, not only for the prayers, but for all the labors of love which I have been blessed by. I testify that God is our Father in heaven. He loves us and wants us to be happy. That is His way - happiness. We should be happy each day, and if we aren't, we need to work things out with God so that we can be. If you don't know where to start, just start with prayer. Of course, you could always ask the missionaries - they can help you! I love you all! Have a great week!

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

Loved Ones,

Good day! What a fine day it is in Midwood! The air is crisp, the trees are colorful, and my heart is warm. I believe that the phrase that I could use to most accurately sum up my feelings is this: I am loving life. Honestly, I am just very happy. Thank you for sending pictures of your Halloween adventures! I loved them. I'm glad to see that the tradition of holiday festivity is still going strong in the McDonald household. You know, as I've spoken with other missionaries about family traditions and such, I've come to realize that we have always had a very strong sense of tradition in our family. We always found fun ways to celebrate even the most obscure holidays. Mom and Dad, I want to thank you for establishing a good, strong family culture. It blessed my childhood and continues to bless my life. From time to time, I have ideas about family traditions that I can establish once the time comes, and I've been writing those things down. Of course, I plan on continuing many of the awesome traditions already in place in our family as well. I believe that it is because of our strong family culture that I have such a deep love and appreciation for culture today. That has helped me as a missionary in New York, and I know it will continue to bring me joy throughout my life. So, thank you for the legacy. I feel a great responsibility to continue it. I also offer a big thank you for the lovely fall package that you sent. You guys are the best. I loved it. Thank you so much.

Well, the time has come for an update. Elder Monestine was transferred, so I now have a new companion named Elder Durkin. Words fail to measure up to the description that Elder Durkin deserves. He is one of a kind. This last week has probably been the most fun I've had my whole mission. It has just been great. Almost counter-intuitively, this past week has also been the most focused I've been in a while, and I've also felt a great desire to lose myself in the work of the Lord. Heavenly Father knows our needs. He loves us and He gives us so many wonderful gifts. This last week was just what I needed. I am so pumped right now!

Fun story of the week: Elder Durkin and I were walking down the road, and Elder Durkin was talking about how he'd like to learn how to introduce the Book of Mormon in Arabic. We passed a Middle-Eastern man as we walked and made it about 10 paces before I felt that I should turn around and ask this man how to initiate a conversation in Arabic. He actually spoke Urdu, but he taught us an introductory phrase that is used in Urdu and Arabic. We came to find out this man's name is Waka Kahn. He's from Pakistan, and he's been in New York for 5-6 months. As we spoke, Waka told us that he hasn't been able to make any friends during his time in New York, and that has been hard for him. He then said that he was happy that we were now his friends. He invited us to come to his house. So, we followed him into an obscure basement apartment where we met Waka's father. Both Waka and his father were just completely stoked that we were there. Waka's father doesn't speak English, but Waka told us that he was asking him how he got these Americans to be his friend. It made me so happy to see how happy they both were to have someone to be friends with. Throughout our visit, Waka's catchphrase was "You are my friends!" and, "When you are happy, I am happy!" We were given a fruit smoothie, a Pakistani lamb dish, and a bowl of fruit. It was royal treatment. We had a wonderful conversation with Waka and his father, and gained an interesting insight into the perspective of an immigrant. Waka talked about how the Pakistani people feel isolated because the Americans don't reach out to them. The Pakistani people are afraid to reach out because they feel like Americans have a negative view of them, especially because they are Muslim. In the mean time, Americans often don't reach out to immigrants because we don't know their language or we simply feel that they are just doing their own thing. At least, that's how I sometimes feel. So, both sides give each other the cold shoulder because we just misunderstand what the other side is thinking. This was a profound lesson for me. I have noticed that if I offer a friendly "hello" to my Pakistani brethren, they often respond back in a very friendly, gracious manner. Waka reminded me that we are all children of God, and we ought to extend a hand of fellowship to everyone we meet. How many people to we pass on the street without even saying "hi"? I feel the world would be a brighter place if we just loved a bit more and tried a little harder to reach out to those we don't understand.

I want you all to know that I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is so true. It is a pattern for our lives. I have been blessed immeasurably by the gospel, and those blessings continue to come every day. I know that God lives. He loves us. I know that we each can receive eternal life by following the principles and ordinances of the gospel. I love you all. I'm so grateful for your presence in my life. Stay the course!

Love,

Elder McDonald

These pictures are with Elder Brodowski and Elder Miller. They were in the zone waiting on their visas to Brazil. 

Elder Durkin teaching "Joe". We enlist him for help when we practice teaching. Also, a picture of my Halloween costume. 

 A picture of the gifts Elder Durkin and I made to deliver to members. I made the bread, and Elder Durkin made the paper plate boxes. I felt you would be proud of our craftiness. Oh, but the way, I have a new companion :)