Spring! Maybe Not...

Loved Ones,

My internal season detector is short-circuiting right now because when
we walked outside this morning, it was snowing! It just came out of
nowhere. It's a perfectly lovely day now, though. Actually, the
impromptu snowstorm awoke me to the realization that I have grown
quite fond of snow. Even with the snow only being absent for a few
weeks, I felt a strange joy upon its return. I'm not going to realize
how much I really do love New York until I am no longer here. I have
wandered off on a tangent. And I was monologuing about the weather!
It's time to change gears.

I am really happy right now! I hope all of you are as well! You know,
I have come to strongly believe that we humans can go through just
about anything as long as we have loyal people by our side. In the
words of "The Muppets", "Life's a happy song if there's someone by
your side to sing along." That is the truth! Thank you for being there
for me and singing along. Having my family by my side bolsters me up.
This effect is strengthened by my knowledge that we are a forever
family. It's not just a few short years we have together! It's
forever! We all remember how our favorite castaways in "Lost" stuck
together even after they got off the island. I'm so happy that we can
stick together when the time comes to depart from our island. Thanks
for being there!

Forgive me for getting back to the weather, but are you all going to
start doing the family home evenings at the beach soon now that it's
warming up? Those were fun! It sounds like everyone is doing well. Mom
and Grandma, I'm happy to hear that you had a good time at the General
Women's Meeting! Just as a quick reality check, Mia will be able to
come with you in just a year and a half if I'm not mistaken. That made
me double take! I can't believe it! Mia, you are officially awesome. I
love you so much! And the same goes for each and every one of my
family members. I love you all! You all are just so special and so
wonderful.

Last week was really great! Some very exciting news is that "Jim" was
baptized! How cool is that? He transferred over to the single's ward
and found a perfect fit there. Elder Booth and I were able to attend
the baptism and participate in his confirmation. It was really
special. Jim is an amazing guy and a phenomenal missionary. He tells
everyone about the Church, and his final for his photography class is
a documentation of his faith. He was taking all sorts of pictures at
the baptism. Isn't that great? You all need to meet him for sure.
Another cool thing that happened is that Elder Booth and I found a new
investigator who is just awesome. He investigated before, and he is
married to a member of the Spanish ward here. When we showed up, we
found him totally ready to investigate the Church again. We're
teaching him again tonight. And another bit of news is that my bishop
may or may not be in Oceanside right now. He definitely was there, and
there's a good chance he still is, so if you meet a fellow by the last
name of Rathgeber, then that's your man.

I mentioned the General Women's Meeting earlier, and I want to just
talk briefly about a thought I had in relation to it. I was thinking
about how having that meeting creates an experience similar to that of
the General Priesthood Session: child and parent, youth and adult
going together to receive counsel and instruction from the Lord's
prophets and servants. I also thought of the unifying of the women of
the Church that the meeting represents. With those thoughts in mind,
let's look at a scripture from the New Testament. Paul writes:

"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and
which are on earth; even in him:" (Ephesians 1:10)

Not too long ago, we heard a prophet of God teaching us that we must
be one in the Lord's work of salvation. President Monson said, "Now is
the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work
together, to labor in the Lord's vineyard to bring souls unto Him."
And to add to add to that, the new vision for the work of salvation is
"We Are One". That vision works together with the recently-emphasized
teaching that the work of salvation is one. Missionary work, temple
and family history work, teaching the gospel, caring for the poor and
needy, helping new converts remain active, and reaching out to those
who have slipped from activity -- it's all one great work, and we must
be one in accomplishing it. I think that the General Women's Meeting
is another example of all things being gathered together in one in
Christ in this, the dispensation of the fullness of times. We are
living in the "most remarkable era in this history of the Church!"
I've often thought that it would be amazing to be living in the times
of the Restoration, and it would be. But, Elder Perry has compared our
time to those "days never to be forgotten." We are living during the
hastening of the Lord's work! The Lord is pruning His vineyard for
this last time, and we are watching it happen. This is a wonderful
time to be alive and to be a member of Christ's Church. Let's not
watch it happen from the sidelines! Let's jump into it! It's more fun
that way!

Well, that's all for this week. I love you all! I really do! Thank you
for being such stalwart family members and friends.

Love,
Elder McDonald