7.13.14

A note to my father:

First thing… I want to say that I love you, Dad, and everything that I have and do is thanks to the life that you've given me. I want to do everything I can to make you proud of me and repay you for all of the selfishness, disobedience and taking for granted that I put you through. I love you so much. We had our Zone Conference with Pte Smith, and he said that the only way that we can be happy is by repenting and repairing what we've done. This week has been hard and I've felt the need to repent for a lot of things. When I think of how I acted with you at home, I feel the great need to repent and ask you for forgiveness. I love you Dad. Even if it's not Father's day, you deserve this because I totally forgot when Father’s Day is. 
 

So this week didn't go too great...I have not felt like I have been training my companion the best way possible. We've lost a bunch of people to teach due to the temptations of the world and the ward members’ lack of work ethic. But while things were sucking, we had our meeting with Pte. He taught about being clear with the people and the doctrine of Christ. It was amazing. In interviews, he told me not to worry about if things aren’t going perfectly with my companion. (just so you know...I have no problem with him. He's the best. But I want to show him how we should be working with the members, having success, obey everything...ect) He said that he has so much trust in me and that the Lord can make up for my weaknesses as a trainer. He also said that E' Neilson has that best trainer and that the Lord has been preparing him to be trained by me for a long time. We've been working hard and everything, but I have only had one baptism since being in this area. I don't know why, but there is nothing better than baptizing people...it feels so much more rewarding for some reason. But, while I was thinking (and sulking) about the lack of success, I received an email from a member that we helped return to the church, thanking me for everything that I have done. Then, I also received an email from Spencer, expressing gratitude for what I've done for him. It does feel good helping people that I actually love and care about, instead of watching all of my hard work go to crap. But all in all it was a pretty good week. 

I never really got the chance to see David Luis play, but he must be a stud(; Yeah, so many people stopped us and asked if we were German after the beating, and we were like, ''no we are not… so please don't hit us!'' (because there are a lot of Brazilians here) All of them also say that my companion looks like Sweinsteiger haha. But when we're around little kids, we pretend that Elder Neilson's Sweinsteiger's cousin or something to make them so amazed. It's cool that Abbie's playing well. My companion and I go to the church in the mornings and play, so hopefully I won't suck too much a year from now when I get back. It feels like time’s going by faster now, but two months ago, I felt like I had been here for 3 years already. But I think the time is going at a good pace right now. I will probably be celebrating with my child so I might use my card if I need to. 

But thanks for everything. As much as I liked being able to watch a few games here and celebrate the world cup with these Uruguayans, I'm sure it would have been more fun with you guys. 

E McRae

7.6.14

Wow, 

Sounds like the funnest things ever happened this week! Spencer will be speaking Mexican just like Conner did and gets to flirt with Tyler while he's in Honduras...that’s just not fair. But that’s so sick! Did you guys take any pictures of the family? You better have... you all have I-phones and all the latest technological devices! So for the 4th of July we had the most American food that we could find!!! That’s right...tacos (; Hno. Sander is the Stake Patriarch.  He has a kid on the mission in Paraguay and makes the best tacos! We also watched the Germany game while we were eating. 

My new companion is really pampered. We have the best area, the best food, the best apartment and he has the best companion ever! jk about the last one… but he is loving the mission and thinks that I should be a Spanish teacher when I get home because I explain things so well. You guys know how Dad likes to use gross, funny things to explain stuff so that it just gets stuck in our heads...that’s what I do with him when I'm teaching him Spanish. Sometimes he can't stop laughing because of the things that I say to get him to understand. But I'm loving it so much right now! 

We had a baptism the other day. When the sister missionaries asked “A” who she wanted to baptize her, she was like, ''I want that super pretty Elder who looks like one of the vampires from Twilight because his teeth are so pointy and straight!'' I tried to warn her that I really am a vampire but she wanted me to baptize her anyway! 

We had a family home evening with a family that said that Americans can't cook or bake so I finally used those cookie mixes that you guys sent me for Christmas and baked those and they thought I was the best cookie maker ever! … until my companion revealed my secret. 

And the missionaries from San Isabel (an area in Rivera) had to sleep in our apartment because their house got infested with rats and flees. They were kicking a ball and it hit this box that they never opened or cleaned up and a swarm just attacked them and everything in the house haha. They were talking to my companion like,'' you are so lucky that your Dad (ME) got you guys this apartment. It’s the best house en the mission''

But yeah, that part of your email about the 4th of July pierced my soul! We were talking about what we were doing the last 4th of July, E' Neilson and I and I almost started crying because it was when I was in Utah during probably the funnest time of my life (with coaching those camps, being at BYU, hanging out with all of the family) I can't believe that that was a year ago! But I'm glad everything is going good.

 

Love you and miss you! 

E McRae

Ps.. E' Neilson has a blog and stuff...I hope you guys are showing family members my pics so they don't think I'm all the way dead...just MOSTLY dead!

6.30.14

Yeah, so the World Cup seems to be the only thing that people care about. Our ward mission leader is a high school teacher and so is our Elders quorum leader and they were basically the only teachers that went to work this week. They said that they had to take care of 7 classes each day, all day, because the professors just didn't show up because of the games. During a Brazil game, or a Uruguay game, you couldn't find a single person in the street. Then when we beat Italy, the entire country was crazy! My companion got a couple videos that you probably won’t ever be able to see, but it is insane. We walked around in our Uruguay capes all that day. Luis Suarez is an idiot and I want to punch him in the face for being so stupid. People tried to tell us that the FIFA is just racist, that the Italian player bit himself and framed him and that it is completely unjust what they did to Suarez. We saw the bite and I still don't understand why he does that...THE US MADE IT OUT OF THE GROUP OF DEATH THOUGH! Does Belgium even play well? So I'm pretty sure that a missionary did something stupid because we weren't allowed to watch the game against Colombia. We, instead, had to sulk in our apt. and study till the game was over. 

The work has been going really well. Winter break is here so we're going to take advantage and do a bunch of visits and activities with the youth. My companion is going to have his first baptism this Saturday. My throat has been hurting from talking so much to people. We try not to ever shut up in the streets. I'm still always super tired. E' Neilson is learning Spanish little by little. Our bishop went with us to a lesson we had with an investigator, and it turned out that this woman we're teaching and he dated for 4 years when they were in high school. The work is going well and this week we're going to have a bunch of success… if it doesn't rain too much. 

E' Neilson enjoys asking questions about how BYU was and stuff like that so I've been talking a lot about Utah and BYU and all of that and just forgot how incredible it was. I miss Utah so much. Especially my uncles, cousins, school and sports. I've tried to tell him to not talk about all of that stuff because it just makes me remember babysitting Lilly and Isaac, hanging out with all of the family and just everything. He murders me. 

But things are going really well. My companion got an email from his girlfriend asking, ''is the fourth of July a holiday down there?'' I told him he must end things right now with her. But it reminded me that Conner's birthday is coming up. I'm going to get him something sick! 

We had service this week too... just made a ghetto roof. 

Love you all!!

Elder McRae

6.23.14

First I want to talk about the games. Suarez is the best player in the world! He really is the only reason that they are any good! I have to buy his jersey but you can't find it anywhere here... like a real one. We watched it with the Hornos family and they have the cutest little girl named Isabela and she was making a bunch of noise with her play tea pots and table and when England scored the Hno kicked the table and broke everything. It was hilarious and when we won we freaked out and all of us lost our voices and could barely talk the next day. When we won, all the streets were packed with Uruguay flags and we really couldn't walk because so many people were celebrating the victory. We saw highlights of the US game and I have never seen the US play that good! Dempsey is a monster and I can't believe that they scored with 15 seconds left. But everyone is coming up to us saying, your team is playing really well! And it’s a great way to start conversations. 

I'm glad that Gavin's doing really well at soccer. Will he be good enough to go play for BYU? Is he going to go to a camp? I heard that the BYU team isn't doing too well so maybe he could make it. I did buy garments so I'm good. Just need a Dempsey Jersey is all. 

So my child's name is Elder Neilson from Eden Prairie, Minnesota.  He’s super tall and can't speak Spanish at all. I do not remember struggling with Spanish that much, but he is a total stud! When I went to Montevideo to pick him up, we were singing Called to Serve in Spanish and they had their eyes closed. When we finished, they turned around and I freaked out and gave him a big hug, and Hna Smith started crying. He’s super awesome and is ready to start off the mission in the best area. He thinks I'm super awesome because I just talk to people in Spanish and laugh at their jokes and understand them. He gets down sometimes, but around people, he tries his best. Things have been a lot harder because he really doesn't speak at all. I definitely haven't been this tired throughout my entire mission. But things are going really well. Keep praying for us and thanks for all of the stories. I forgot how awesome summers were there...nothing but soccer!!! 

6.17.14

Best week EVER!!!! Ok, so to start off, we went to Montevideo to have a conference with President, all of the missionaries from my mission, and then both missions combined to listen to Pres. Robins. Of course I loved Pte Smith’s conference more. He gave a bunch of examples of things and spoke about talking to everybody. I couldn't even tell you all of the spiritual things he talked about but he asked me to go up and talk about the letter I wrote to him last week. I got up there and talked to everyone about how working with the members went, applying everything that Pte taught us, and convincing people that Sacrament Meeting is more important than the World Cup. Everyone was laughing and they loved it. But, when I went and sat down, Pte got up and announced, ''Thank you E' McRae. I loved your idea about getting the ward together to watch the Uruguay game on the 19th. Which sealed my thoughts on the World Cup. It’s only once every 4 years and a huge cultural event, so all of you guys can get together with people that need your help and watch every game that Uruguay plays.'' When he said that, everyone started freaking out!!!! I was freaking out!! He was like, ''but watch it as representatives of Christ and not like psychopaths”  haha…  It was the coolest thing! So I've been planning the activity with the ward and we watched them play Costa Rica...I'm not going to lie. ''I'm embarrased...'' (Will Ferell) That was just awful!!! Uruguay stinks. Nobody wanted to talk to us and a bunch of people got into fights with people from Brazil. Things are a little crazy. Luckily, the US won. In order to have the activity on Thursday we had to ''test'' the projector and internet connection with Hno Hornos (best elders quorum leader ever) on Monday at 7. It was so weird that we HAD to test it out Monday at that time(;  But anyways, Sunday came around and we had our fireside where we had a bunch of special musical numbers and that was awesome. At the fireside, Pte gave me my change and told me that I'd be seeing him shortly in Montevideo to pick up my new companion who I'll be training. So that’s going to be really exciting.  I'm going to buy some stuff (garments, pmg small, the district dvd to teach my new companion, ect...) in Montevideo and probably use my card. Sooo much more happened but I don’t remember. I'm loving it though, and things are going really well! 

I'm glad Gavin, Abbie, and Dad liked the trek. I thought it was super easy, and fun just to get to know new people, however, I had a super fun family! Haha, I love how Gav got stuck with a boring family.  At least he was with Taylor Venturina. Taylor says she’s going to get baptized pretty soon. She said that she loved having Gav in her family and that he is the funniest kid she has ever met. I'll write more things down...I always forget. Oh and I'll be district leader. I don't think you guys know what that is but Conner can explain. It'll be interesting. Love you all. 

6.9.14

Ok so this week I came up with a new way to teach one of the lessons that we teach to the people that makes it almost impossible for the people to deny us. I went on divisions with the zone leaders and taught it to them and they want to teach the entire zone. Just by doing everything that we're supposed to be doing, we have seen so many things change here. The bishop thinks that we're the best missionaries ever and I never want to leave this area with what's been going on. 

Also, as the World Cup gets closer, people have been telling us that we shouldn't work when Uruguay plays. I've been talking to the bishop and the leaders and they have been saying that we can't have an activity this month because of the World Cup. I about lost my mind...I was like,''WHAT!! that’s the best way to get these people to come to an activity at the church. Let’s get the game going in the church and we can have a dinner or lunch while the game’s being projected.  Nobody likes lame activities and why not use this awesome event to our advantage and get the ward together to watch ONE game.”  I will be emailing Pte Smith to see if it would be ok to do this, and maybe make tacos or something with the members before the game. We probably won't be able to watch the game with the ward but we could easily go around looking for people who are down to watch the game with a bunch of Mormons in a clean environment. (wow my spelling has become even worse...) But yeah, I'm working on that too. 

I didn't receive an email from Paris. But I’ll be sure to resond when she emails me. Things are going amazing here. Thanks for everything, I always feel like I forget to talk about things with you, but I’ll start writing things down from now on. 

E McRae

PS tell Abbie I said happy birthday...I'll be sure to get her two awesome gifts for the two birthdays I’m going to miss. 

6.1.14

A letter to my sister... a week before her birthday!

Hey Abbs, you know that joke you told from that stupid book you got in like 5th grade?  How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on it! How do you catch a tamed rabbit? Tame way, unique up on it! I've told that joke like a million times on the mission and it is still my favorite joke. I love how you just thought that that was the funniest joke and I love how you're like that about a lot of things. Or how you would laugh so hard at how you actually were able to steal the ball from me in soccer… your laughter caused you to pause, and I'd steal it back from you as you continued laughing at your accidental success. There are so many things that I admire about you. The biggest one is the fact that my failures as an older brother didn't stop you from growing up into an awesome and successful person. I hope that you know that I love you and that I know you can become so much better than you are now. I know that as you continue to obey and love Mom and Dad with exactness you will gain happiness. Never justify or question a single thing that they tell you to do or not do. You will find that the result is exactly the same as that of trying to justify or question the things that the Lord wants us to do or not to do... sadness, regret, a stationary eternal progression, and a need for repentance. On the mission I have found out that our family is the coolest family in the world. But our family wouldn't be the best without that best, and last member. Love you!!

And now… for my weekly report:

Things are really starting to happen here in my area. We've managed to get another family to return to the church and it seems like we do that every fast Sunday. The Hna that retuned after not going for 30 years thanked us in her testimony and said that she knew that the work really is the work of the Lord. I have been thinking a lot about what Pte Smith said to us. He said that we are responsible for acting upon the things that pop into our heads. For example, if we are walking on the street and we think...hmm maybe we should talk to that person, and we don't do it...we need to repent. I started thinking about a lot of the things that I don't do that I know I should do. We receive so much revelation from the Holy Ghost every day. If we don't act on the things He is telling us to do, we need to repent. It is incredible the amount of things the Lord is trying to tell us to do. I invite you all to be open to what He has to say and obey it the very moment that He tells you. As you do that you will see more blessings in your lives like I have seen in mine. I'm happy and we're working on obeying in everything possible. I know that my obedience is what has made me happy in the past and that the more I decide to obey, the happier I will become. I think it kind of stinks that I pretended, justified or just didn't know about some of the rules.  There are commandments that I could have obeyed and didn’t, and I really limited the blessings that the Lord had ready for me. I'm also working on getting better at my prayers. Pte Smith said that we only want something as much as we're willing to ask for it from the Lord. If obedience is something that I want and desire, it will be in my prayers. If I want certain people to progress and find the truth of the gospel, they will be in my prayers. If I desire success on the mission, I will be asking for strength to gain that success and act on the responses to my prayers. I know that you guys can better your prayers just as much as I can. I have acted on the invitations of Pte Smith and have gotten SOOOOOO many results. I know that you guys will also. I love you and hope that the vacations go well. Maybe you can take some pictures for me. 

5.26.14

Random thoughts: I saw the goal by Bale. It was sick. EFY is awful. Cristiano is still my role model... even if he did flex on the 5^th goal (unearned PK)…jk, but I wouldn't mind baptizing him. We were walking to church yesterday and a homeless man came up and we walked to church together like nothing happened...we were just like, ok, let’s go with this...walked for 10 minutes, trying to talk to him in Portuguese. Then, he went on his merry, homeless way.  A new family came into the ward this week.  They were investigating the church in Mercedes and so we just got a new family to teach. Finally things are falling into our laps...it’s easier that way! We've been teaching some great lessons about the desires of your heart and it’s pretty awesome. I'll teach it to you guys in Spanish when I get back.  sound cool? Its just long...Pte came up because we're going to have a fireside thing in 3 weeks and we're going to be singing. But we moved into the new house and Pte said the next time he comes up to Rivera to sleep, he'd just use our apartment because it’s so close to the stake center and because it’s gorgeous. We have the best house ever. We were also in charge of filling it with furniture so we'll be shopping today... they trust two missionaries with 55 thousand pesos! We're buying alfajors!!! Just kidding...maybe only one. In three days it has gotten freezing. A brother in the ward gave me two pairs of pants and a new pair of shoes because his son didn't want them before he left on the mission, so he said I was the next closest thing. Good things are happening...I ate writing though. (especially when the 'h' doesn't work and it changes hate to ate) I got thhe package. Love the tie. Ties can keep coming, same withhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh garments, socks (white and black), white SHORT sleeve shirts...ect. Love the gospel and the Book of Mormon. It just all makes sense. I hope Gavin gets huge...I'm just getting fatter and fatter... just in the gut and moobs. It’s disgusting. Everything is going well though. Sorry if this email wasn't as good. I'm rushed...we have a lot to do with the house (cleaning). Love you!

5.19.14

I was thinking the other day about how I'm still waiting for Grandpa to show up here and start correcting me on my Spanish during a random lesson. I'm glad my buddies are moving on with life and actually progressing. I feel like it was a million years ago since I graduated from high school. I’m happy for E-man, even though he just wants to play Call of Duty in real life. 

So, on the way over here to the cyber, we passed through a school street thinking that nobody was on it. Then when we were in the middle (E Running, Devashrayee, Gropp and I) school got out and a stampede of high school kids got out and all just started saying things to us like HELLO, I SPEAKA ENGLISH! and one kid screamed FRIDGE! It was pretty funny.

This week we had a Zone Conference and had to travel to Tacuarembó. So we had to wake up early. We were fasting before we went and every time we fast, E Running gets a migraine and gets sick. So that morning, we woke up and E Gropp was like... “What...the...FREAK! Did somebody throw up or poop in my garments?”  We wash our garments in buckets. And I looked over and was like,  “no... no way. It was probably Elder Sasser's cooking and it spilled in there.” cause the bucket was by the stove close to the back door. And E Gropp was like, “no, that’s puke or poop...look they missed some and it got on the floor!'' Elder D Ray pointed to E Running and was like, “NIGHT PUKER!!” and Elder Running appeared as if he was still sleeping. I was like...  “if that’s puke, I feel so bad for whoever did that last night and went back to sleep, knowing that they'd have to explain themselves in the morning.”  then E Running puts his hand straight in the air and yells,  “It was ME ok!”... at that time Elder Lima comes out of the bathroom saying,´´Fahw loco quien destruyó el baño. Alguien vomitó, hizo crap y cualquier otra cosa en el baño!´´ translated... “someone destroyed the bathroom...there’s crap and puke and other stuff all in the bathroom.”  and Elder Running was like, “I promise I will clean it up when we get back from the conference!”  It was the funniest and weirdest thing ever!  What is his recap of the barf-attack when he writes to his family?

Anyways, the conference was awesome and Pte focused on how we need to learn how to pray correctly and with faith. It was super awesome and also one of the 70s came and talked to us. Also our buddy Gerardo was baptized. It was a good week and hopefully by tomorrow we will have our own apartment finally!

Same ol’ same ol’ going on here. Church went really well. I have had to get upset with a few people for not doing what they know they are supposed to be doing, but luckily we have all of the support of the bishop and his leaders. Hope everyone’s enjoying that heat because it’s beautiful here!!!

E' McRae

5.12.14

It was so good to speak with you yesterday!  Everyone looks great.  I went to Burger King...and found the coolest store ever... I might take out some money to buy something, or not idk.

 

 

 

I also ate Carpincho...look it up. It’s like a mixture between a guinea pig and a hog. They are illegal to kill and I ate it! The BK was at a real store with a real parking lot! 

This is a picture of the best cake ever...chocolate bar, cake, dulce de leche, cake then other chocolate bar...it’s like a giant alfajor!  YUMMY!!

Nothing new to discuss since 12 hours ago when we spoke. 

LOVE YOU!!

 

5.4.14

This is a recap of a conversation that Cameron & I had while he was on the computer emailing me… and I happened to be checking email at the same time (which meant we could just chat back and forth)

Cameron: Yeah, I totally forgot about mother’s day and that we will be skyping. So we will have access to a computer with skype at 5 our time. I will be on from 5 to 6ish and my companion will get on at 7. Does that work out for you guys?

Me: Sounds great… and yes, Abbie will generate a list.  What have you been up to today?

Cameron: We actually did a good service project and took down three trees. Here’s a picture. I look like a lumberjack!

Me: How are you?  Everything ok?

Cameron: Yeah everything’s going fine. We don't have much to do on P-Days. We played soccer and ate some empanadas. I'm with Elder Devashrayee (my companion from the MTC) emailing right now. But nowadays, it doesn’t take me long to email.  I just email you guys, Grandpa, Paige and Pte … so writing doesn't take long at all. I don't have anything to talk about ever so it’s usually just pictures and cool stuff every now and then.

I really don't think I'll need to use extra money...I don't know why everyone else just runs out of money all of the time but I'm really good at not buying food and useless items, so you don't have to worry about the money thing. You guys know all about that stuff right?

Me: All about what stuff?  Money? No… we don’t. 

Cameron: Like how much money is in there, if I ever use the card, stuff like that... I remember using it in Argentina once and it worked. Did you guys get that information on the bank statement?

Me: Yep!  We see your activity, and I think Dad gets a kick out of following your mission through following your expenses J.  You have a card & there’s money in the account.  You should never have to go without. 

Cameron: I don't want or need anything really...I still haven't made the cookies yet and the candy isn't all that cool. I don't care for food. If you could send me more socks...playing socks, that would be nice. I only wear three pairs of pants...the ones Conner gave me (my favorite), ones that E' Xavier gave me, and my suit pants. But yeah, sport socks...OH a new watch...my 10 dollar watch from Walmart that I loved and has last me all of this time broke the other day. I would go and buy one but I’m lazy and don't want to search... more garments would also be nice...but again, these aren't things I NEED, just things I would love getting.

Me: we can order garments at the Distribution Center and have them shipped to your mission office… that’s easy. 

Cameron: I'm getting fat in the gut, but all of my pants fit me still...and I think they expand if they need to. Don't send pants though. I have five pair that I haven’t even touched.  Well, Elder Devashrayee is finished emailing, so it’s time to go.

Me: fabulous… it was SO good chatting with you.  I love you!!

Cameron: love you too!

4.28.14

This week was pretty awesome. We finally got one of our investigators to go to church and he loved it. We jumped the attendance up from 78 to 102. A family was reactivated. And I was playing with a baby during Sacrament meeting and it threw up on me a little bit...(that’s what I get for not staying focused!) I finally feel like I am making an impact in this area and getting results. Elder Running was happy that I wasn't mumbling under my breath and being all angry during the walk from the church back to the house. Last night topped it off when the bishop called us and told us that he was very grateful to have us working in the ward. He said that he has immediately seen a difference and impact in the church due to having us working in the ward. We also did yet another worthless 25 minute service project. The old woman was like, “sorry you guys are going to have to do this but yeah...you're going to have to move these pieces of wood 10 feet to the left so that we can cut the grass where it’s sitting.” Before we started moving the wood and other things I asked, “now, you're not going to have us come over in a couple of weeks just to have us move the wood to another location 3 meters to the left, right?”  and she said, “of course not.”  The wood is just going to stay there for the rest of her life. Some people confuse me at how they just deal with certain living conditions here. Elder Running and I have said that if our mothers were here, they would lose their minds over the inefficiency, lack of work completion, and lazy Uruguayan tendencies. 

Thanks for fasting. Things are getting a lot better and I know that Rivera will be able to feel your fasting and praying from here!

E' McRae

4.21.14

So, this week was kind of terrible (in terms of results). We worked hard on finding a bunch of people and inviting them to church, but by the end of the week, nobody who we wanted to see at church showed up. This is the first area where the people have just not gone to church at all. A couple of less active members went, and we had a ward baptism (which was awesome), but out of the 16 investigators that we met this week, nobody went. People are fine with talking to us and they love having us in their house, but for some reason, attending church is the last thing they want to do. It’s not like they have excuses... all of them have like 3 cars to use and they have enough gas money to make the short drive. People here also think that because I love playing with little kids that they can just leave their insane children in our hands during Sacrament meeting… so I just didn't have a good Sunday. We did, however, have a meeting with our bishop and have a huge plan on how we're going to bring the gospel to every family. We have to get to know every person in our area and write their information on a massive map. It’s pretty cool and we're supposed to be receiving help with it so, we'll see.  They changed the rules to where we have to be in our proselyting clothes all day on P-Day. Which means if you're going to play a sport, you have to bring your clothes, change and then change back when you're drenched in sweat which makes it a punishment to do the thing I love… so yeah... I haven’t been able to play soccer for a while and that sucks. But I feel like things will start getting better. I just want to start seeing results or at least understand why we aren't. Hope Easter was fun, we watched a talk from Holland about Easter and it was awesome. 

E' McRae

4.14.14

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PARKER!!! That’s exactly where he needs to go. New York, New York!!  Of course!!  Wow, when does he leave? That’s awesome. 

So, this week we had stake conference (in Rivera) and also interviews with Pres. Smith, which means best week here! During his talk, he spoke a lot about our desires (Alma 29 doctrine of desire). He discussed how the Lord gives us what our heart really desires. If we want happiness, he gives us happiness through our decisions. Like Joseph Smith, when he wanted to give the papers to Martin Harris. His desires at that moment weren't the same desires of the Lord’s. But that’s why the Lord gives us the opportunity to repent.  Read it in D&C 3:3-10.  We are still chosen for this work and we are still important to our Heavenly Father. He just makes me want to change my desires...he talked about a bunch of other things. A cool part was when he was talking about working with the members and getting them to go on visits with us. He started teaching, but then he paused and said, “you know what? Let’s just have E Running, E McRae, Hna. McMurray and Hna. Ramirez come up and teach us about it because they are working with the members so much that their bishop talks about how amazing his missionaries are with the members in that ward… and how they are the best missionaries he’s ever had.” Then, with interviews... So E Running is a genius on the piano and Pres. Smith's daughter (who is a singer) flew in to sing a song in the stake conference, so they had to practice the song. His daughter asked if it was ok to practice for a bit so we stayed in the church. While they were practicing, I basically talked with the rest of Pres's family. Sister Smith, Audry (18 was studying at BYU I and is preparing to serve a mission) Jerry (16 and has a professional trainer helping him with golf every day) Starla (10 and the princess who loves me). Pres was also there.  I really wouldn't mind staying around him and his family all day long. They are just amazing people and they said they would love to adopt me if it was ok with my parents. I told Sister Smith about how you (mom) said I would love her and how the first day I met her I instantly took her as my mother on the mission. She said she loved me so much and couldn't imagine how much my real mother loves me! Pres took that time to interview me, and he said, “first, I want to tell you that I loved your last letter. I don't read that many letters to my family but for some reason I just love reading your letters to my family. And of course they love them!” I sent him the one I sent you about conference and all of that. H said, “Did you know that when your bishop asked me for the best missionaries I had for the job, I knew exactly who I was going to give him?  He speaks so highly of you and how you are just a light for the ward and for his family. Thank you so much, Elder, for shining in any circumstance that I put you in!”  He said a bunch of other things and I just loved it!!! I wish we could have him in our presence at all times! He is the most successful person I know, and I hope I can be like him. Not just because he’s rich!!! But I loved the emails. I wish I could write more but there’s not much time. After this past week, I am in kick-butt mode and getting pumped to get people to come unto Christ! Thanks for everything!!

Elder McRae

4.6.14

First things first, conference is the coolest event of all mankind! Why is it that we looked more forward to watching the lame Super Bowl than General Conference?! This week has been really hard, and yet it was an incredible one due to conference. As I was watching, I kept forgetting that I was in Uruguay and thought I was in some random hotel room in Las Vegas or California for one of my soccer tournaments. I never really paid too much attention when we watched it in the hotel rooms, but I do remember that we still watched it as a family, no matter where we were. The amount of blessings that these people here have received just by going to the church to watch conference is incredible. But yeah, it made me constantly think about home and I wanted to just save Arizona by sharing the talks with them. I also wished that we would have been able to talk to you guys about it over skype, but we'll probably forget about everything awesome that happened. Anyways, I loved Hales's talk on Saturday about obedience! Something that Mom always tried to teach me was that the reason I was to follow her stupid rules was to show my love towards her. This is a LAW of God. As we are obedient, we are demonstrating our love for our Father in Heaven. He went on to talk about Satan and his followers who were disobedient to their first estate and just gave away their salvation… just like that. I was thinking about it and was like...Why in the world would they disobey, if they knew that the consequence was going to be eternal damnation? What idiots!!! Just obey?! Then literally two seconds later, Hales says, “and you would probably ask, why would they disobey knowing what would happen to them afterwards?” (I was like...wow, yeah that’s what I'm asking) and he said... “Why do we disobey him? Even when WE KNOW the consequence to our actions...because WE LOVE SATAN MORE!” BAM!!  After that, he just slapped me across the face. I started thinking about all the times that I was disobedient, knowing the consequence...What an idiot I am... I also totally loved Uchtdorf’s talk about how there are people who are facing ends. He said that the cure is GRATITUDE. Why does God command us to be grateful? Because with every commandment there is a blessing. What kind of blessings do you think you guys will receive while being grateful for the midget house? Mom barking at you for something not even that bad? Living with lazy people who love to blame problems on other things so that they don't have to do anything about it? We choose to limit the amount of blessings that the Lord gives to us!!! I also loved Ballard's. Who did you guys baptize before Christmas? Who did you guys help to find the love of Christ in their lives? Who are you guys working on bringing into the fullness of the gospel right now? As I listened to these talks, all I was thinking about was how easy it would be to convert people at home. Every single member of our family will be serving a mission in this lifetime and are in need of preparation NOW. Mom and Dad will be serving a mission when Abbie and Gavin have already left. Gavin and Abbie NEED to read the Book of Mormon and finish it cover to cover. The first time I honestly read the Book of Mormon was in Spanish because my English scriptures were robbed and I can't think of a single excuse as to why I didn't read it 10000 times in English before the mission. I feel so stupid for not at least testifying to all of those kids in high school who were just lost, in need of something like the Gospel to give them a purpose in life… or referred them to the Missionaries. I was thinking about how easy it would be to work with my awesome family bringing people unto Christ. 

Dad, to tell you what you could do to make things better. First, be grateful, like Uchtdorf says. Another thing you can do is work on helping some of those ghetto people to go to church or get in contact with the missionaries. I heard a handful of missionary stories from you and your mission and am confused at times of how you didn't beat us for not wanting to read the scriptures, pray, and watch ALL of conference. Clearly, Satan works on us when we're off the mission and with work, school and other things getting in the way of reading every day, praying every day and focusing on the Lord's work.  It’s difficult to maintain the happiness of just keeping all of the commandments. Study all of the talks again and share what you learn with Gav boy and another person that needs revelation from a living prophet.

Reading Gavin's email was the best!!! I'm working on getting a sick Luis Suarez jersey but I’ll have to wait until I go to Montevideo again to buy it. I know that it’s tough to listen to Mom sometimes, but she is the best mother in the world. She knows exactly what you need to do. Seriously, though, sometimes I think about how much fun we had messing around with Spencer, Parker, Tyler, Jared, Kyle and many more. I tell the story about what we did to Bailey Baird a bunch of times to people here and everyone is confused at why in every story I tell, I'm hanging out with my little brother. Being at BYU was awesome and I know it would be even better if you could go there with me when I get back. It’s not too hard to get in. I'm a retard and if I could get in, you can too. You really need to focus on school, sports and church and nothing else. Friends are awesome but you can't let them get in the way of those other things. Girls are jokes and you don't have to worry about any of them. Females are better at BYU when they return from their mission. I don't want to talk too much about the mission because I know that when Conner said anything about the mission I was just like, I don't give a flying fetch...but the mission is first priority! I miss you too and I keep thinking about that one time when you scored the free kick against some lame team we were already beating five to zero and we freaked out! Remember, THAT'S MY DUCK! and THIS IS MY TABLE! 

Our area is really tough though and I feel like we're going to have to do a lot of work here. I'd like to ask you guys to continue to pray for me so that I can get through this change successfully, stop thinking about my problems and start really helping these people. I loved Eyrings talk about heroes. I have so many heroes in my life that have impacted me so much. Like his parents, my parents have placed so many heroes in my path. I'd like you guys to thank some of the heroes that came to my mind during conference. Uncle Jared and Uncle Tommy. For dealing with me while I was in Utah. Coach Hussey. The Nelson’s… especially big Rog and Marideth. Grandma and Grandpa Merideth. For some reason I thought about Mark Frandson. I thought about Bishop King and want to thank him so much for being an incredible bishop for me. Stake Pres. Hinton. and many more. 

Thanks for everything! Love you all. 

(ps...I lost my Patriarchal blessing. Can you send that to me?) 

3.31.14

Everything sounds awesome back at home! Rivera is awesome! Even prettier than Artigas! I'll get some pictures for you next week. But it also boarders Brazil and there are a lot of people who speak only Portuguese. My ward is the best ward ever! The first Sunday, the bishop had a meeting with the leaders and us.  He said that they have to leave with us to visit the people at least one time a week and he gave us a huge plan.  In the sacrament meeting, he talked about missionary work and how blessed their ward is for having two more missionaries. He talked us up a bunch and basically said that we’re going to explode this ward. He is the best bishop I have ever worked with. He said that the work is not our job to do (mine and Elder Running’s) but the work of the members. The members aren't there to help us with the work...we're here as missionaries to help the members with the work. It was awesome! We have been a bit lost for the past couple of days and we have a total of 50 members (listed) in our area while the other half of the area (the sisters’ half) has 268 listed members. Our job is to get every one of those members active and to get baptisms. But the bishop knows everything...it’s up to us to just walk and give lessons. I love it!!! We're sleeping on the ground in a different elders’ house because ours still hasn't been cleared to live in. We don't have a cell phone and we're living out of our suitcases... I HATE IT!!! But- whatever. Things are going really well, and I feel like this change is going to be really difficult… but memorable… and spirit strengthening. Love you all!

E' McRae

3.25.14

Hey family,

 

So this week was pretty cool. We have changes today. I am, surprisingly, going to be transferring to Rivera and E' Mar is going to stay here to train. He has been here for forever, so I was totally expecting to stay. But when Pres. called me he explained why, he told me that I'd be opening up a brand new area in Rivera. He said that the bishop there asked for two of his best missionaries- missionaries who know how to work and know how to make a ward explode. Here in Artigas, we (God, E' Mar and I) doubled the attendance in the branch from 50 to one hundred and something, baptized more in this area since the time that Pres. Smith was there, and have 100% retention (the converts that we converted are all active and going to church every week since 2013). Pres. told me that he wants me to do the exact same thing in Rivera with E' Running. I hear that Rivera is a lot like Artigas; people speaking Portuguese, beautiful Brazilian men and women, and cheap (food, soccer jerseys, etc.) I'm pretty excited to head over there.

 

I've been living in a four-person house and E' Lopez (my zone leader that told me that I was basically his companion the entire time) and I were talking about college. (I know I shouldn't be talking about that, but it’s a little tough when everyone in your house is dying -finishing their missions- in the next 4 months) He was talking about how he couldn't get into BYU so he said he’s going to just go to UVU with his younger brother. When we were talking about that, I was thinking about how awesome it would be to be going to college with Gavin when I got back. He needs to graduate early so that we can do that!! I was also trying to explain something to my companion and couldn't find the right word, so I just said ´´bescana´´. Gavin will understand what that means and it just made me laugh thinking about all the funny stuff that Gavin would do.

 

The work is going really well though, and I managed to play soccer three times this week. I hate not playing every day...If I have any time to think about something, besides for working, I'm thinking about soccer… going through games in my head and all that. Well, I can't write much more...I have to go pack. You know how I hate packing. I am always just terrified that I’m going to forget something because I'm retarded. Bye to all of you who pay attention to my beautiful emails!!! (Mom)

 

E' McRae

3.16.14

Well Spring Break sounded like bundles of fun!

 

This week was awesome. Let me explain...no there is too much...let me sum up. We had stake conference, I was on the pot for a couple of nights and the work is going well here in Artigas. So about being a little sick...we have an investigator named “R”. He knows everything about the church, loves the church, and wants to get baptized but can't stop smoking. My Zone Leader told me if you want to see miracles on the mission, fast. So we started to fast with “R” and his family. We ate lunch at 11am on Saturday and didn't get to eat lunch until 2:30pm Sunday. But the worst part was not being able to drink water...it was pretty hot out. Saturday night, I was on the pot and had cramps from not drinking any water. My companion gave in, and said that water was ok to drink, but I don't believe him so I didn't drink water. I woke up in the morning dead tired from not sleeping and told myself, all will be worth it when “R” gets baptized. So at conference the next day, “R” walks in and was like, “sorry, but I smoked and drank this morning.”  I about slapped him across the face.  Really?  He couldn’t go without for even ONE DAY!?!?  I was pretty upset and thought that fast was useless. As the meeting went on, we saw that 6 of our 6 investigators were in church (never seen that happen in my life), Pres. Smith gave an incredible talk (I’ll explain more later), the choir sang a song about the temple and families, and I wanted to cry like a little baby...you know how there are times where you just forget how strong the spirit is? I know how the spirit feels...If there is one thing I know for sure it is that the Spirit is real and he hits you hard. I forgot how incredible it felt and got caught up in the mission and maybe got used to helping people, getting baptisms, and seeing awesome things…  but when the choir was singing that song about the temple and families, the spirit hit me so strongly. I started thinking about my eternal family. Then, I thought about all the people I was helping to have eternal families. I'm going to go all over the place here, but Pte. Refati gave a talk about how the most important thing to have is a temple recommend. What good is a family if you aren't worthy of a temple recommend to have them for forever? (his talk was incredible also) But I just felt the spirit so strongly in that meeting and I knew it was because I was fasting...I needed that spirit. I need to feel him strongly every once in a while and when I do, I don't feel anything else besides for happiness. Pres came and talked to me after the meeting because he wanted to congratulate E' Mar and I for doubling the assistance and having the most baptisms in the zone. He asked about “R” and I told him about how we fasted but he gave in and smoked. He responded by saying...don't you just love that about fasting, E McRae!? Now you know the will of the Father. We don't fast to get what we want. We fast to find out what the Lord wants and “R” getting baptized this week isn't when “R” needs to get baptized. He taught me a huge lesson about fasting. Oh, in his talk, he talked about the Plan of Salvation. He started by saying how he loved his wife and when they had their first little girl, they said that they didn't think it was possible to love another child as much as they loved her. He went down the list calling his children by name saying the same thing afterwards...we didn't think it was possible to love a child more than this one. After 8 children (the members were shocked that he had that many children and started laughing each time he said...and then we had so and so) he said but I love every single one of them. I couldn't imagine my family without so and so. Then, he spoke about his grand kids, sons in law, and so forth and said that he loves his family. He said that that is exactly how our Heavenly Father is. He knows us by name and loves every one of us. He can't think of how his family would be without us. President said how The Father sent Christ, who loved us equally, to die so that each and every one of us can live with him again. It was a great talk. But, I just want to say that I loved the week, I hope you're all going to the temple and enjoying EVERY member of our family because I definitely love every one of you and couldn't imagine how it would be not having one of you in the fam!

E' McRae

3.10.14

Everything is going well here. I have the language down, understand everything and can express everything, but I miss my wide vocabulary, so that’s basically what I’m working on. The temperature is cooling down so that’s good and our Branch is exploding with success. E' Mar and I are 100% sure that it’s not just the hard work that we're doing, but that the Lord is speeding things up here. Our area is the best of the mission right now with regard to the three mission goals...100 baptisms, 100% retention and double the church assistance. We have had at least 2 baptisms a month, 100% of our converts are partaking of the sacrament, and we more than doubled the attendance during sacrament meeting. (When I say “WE”, I mean, God, the branch, and maybe us) It’s going really well, and things never get old. I love a lot of the missionaries here. With Gavin, I'd say his first focus should be just graduating early so he can go to college before the mission (preferably BYU). I miss Gav so much and seriously want to get back and hang out with him and my buddies. I could see why it'd be tough. Basically everything I did with my buddies I'd do it with the G and have a bunch of fun. All of the stories that I tell to the others elders here are about me, my brother Gavin, and my best buddies doing stupid stuff. That’s why he needs to get good grades and graduate early so he can study and hang out with me in Utah. Also, I could see why the church thing would suck for him, but he’s got to be less selfish. Those kids in the ward deserve Gavin in their presence, and he needs to learn to be friends with everyone. Even the weird ones that look at you funny when you quote a movie line from a PG13 movie. Driving will help him out a bunch, and so will the Trek...he could work on baptizing his buddies that aren't Mormon if he wants! I'm still in Artigas and will probably be here for another 3 months. I'm seeing all of the new missionaries come to the mission wearing tan pants and brown shoes and I’d love to be able to wear my tan pants and shoes that I had...that'd be the only thing that I'd say I would like to get. Love you all!

E' McRae

3.3.14

Hey Family,

So this week was the week of Carneval!!!! It’s super cool and the biggest Carneval in all of Uruguay...It’s almost as good as the one in Rio. But yeah, it starts at midnight so we don't have to see any of the half-naked women dancing, but we do get to see some of the cool floats that these people spend the entire year making!!! And then of course, there are some interesting people passed out all over the place in the mornings. I've never seen so many crazy people passed out before... like just sleeping in the middle of the street.  Why is that ok?  But it’s a huge thing in Artigas so we were expecting it to harm our assistance in the church but NOPE!!! We still went up and will be having three baptisms (one’s a family) in the next couple of weeks...it just goes to show that the Lord does what he wants, even if sin covers the world(: It was an awesome week and we were able to go to the temple on Tuesday!!!  I loved the 8-hour drive, seeing the new stuff in the temple, and getting to spend a whole day with Sister Smith and her 7-year-old daughter who love me!!! But here are a couple of pictures...These people spend the entire year building these things… CRAZY!

 

love you all!!!

E' McRae