9.8.14

So, 

Elder McRae will be serving in Rivera for another change!!! I'll be staying with E' Neilson too!!! This change is going to be awesome!!! By the end of everything I'll have almost 8 months here. 

Tonight we'll be having a talent show and we've been practicing some songs with some families. I love practicing songs and singing with people and getting parts down and stuff like that! It's so fun! 

We're preparing to have a bunch of baptisms for the 27th. Bishop loves the fact that I'm staying. 

The power was cut in our house so we have no power. We have to warm up hot water on the stove and then pour it on each other! (now it feels like a real mission in South America!) 

Cool story...Saturday we were looking for a girl that was inactive in our new area, and we knocked on a door that turned out to be a bar. 8 men told us to come in, all saying that they would pay for a drink for us. We politely declined and started laughing. We asked for the girl and they said that she lived there, but she wasn't there. They went on to ask dumb provoking questions like the fariseos would do to Jesus, like, “Why doesn't your church allow you to drink!?” response, “Our church allows us to do whatever we want. I choose not to drink because I know it’s bad for my body.” “Jesus said that a man won't be judged for what goes into one’s mouth but for what comes out!” “He also said that the body is a temple and that the spirit can't dwell in unholy places.” Others talked about a bunch of other stuff...calling us spies, saying that we study other countries’ governments before coming here and blah blah blah. 6 out of the 8 were atheists. Just angry, drunk people that looked helpless. When we were in the bar I answered some questions, took some of the verbal blows and left. Some men were impressed with us and asked that we pass by their house later, but the majority just continued getting wasted at 4 pm. Fast forward to Sunday.  I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting, listening to all of the ward members’ testimonies, and I just couldn't stop thinking about those 6 men who didn't believe in anything. I started getting teary eyed and just felt horrible for them. I felt sad because every person that went up to bare their testimonies looked SO MUCH happier than any person in that bar. About 20 people went up to the front, stating words like, I KNOW THAT MY LORD LIVES and I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR MY HEAVENLY FATHER. I just couldn't imagine not feeling the spirit ever or not knowing that I have a Heavenly Father or not knowing what will happen after this life. The bar customers screaming at us and stating a bunch of antichrist information just strengthened my testimony that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ… that He exists, lives, and has a loving father that has a plan for us to return to live with Him again. 

The letters did arrive and they were my favorite! I've saved every letter and I'm planning on writing each one back thanking them for their letter. Receiving letters in the mail is the BEST thing ever...even if it’s a letter that's not even meant for me! Thanks for everything. The work is going well... I need to change a lot this change and I'm looking forward to doing it. Love you

E' McRae