Week 26- another week another 1000 miracles

Dec 16, 2013

Hola mi amigos como estan!?

Pues Felix Navidad

esta semana fue muy bien como siempre.

Lunes. during dinner one of Hna Pacheco's friends showed up, she met with the missionaries before but in Carpintera (a town north of Ventura) and we talked to her about the book of mormon because it is only the most important thing about our gospel. We asked her if she had a question and she did and then Elder Cavazos answered it with the Book of Mormon as I was talking to one of the girls who also had a question so we did a Q&A session.

Martes. we had a lesson with the Gonzales family and when we started (felipe) he thought that babies need to get baptized or they live in "limbo" we talked and he didn't say anything and I said "tenia pruguntas" and he said "no tenia pruguntas" and believes that babies don't need baptism. woohoo. and the mother (Carmen) wanted to get baptized! but she doesn't want to go to church alone and felipe can't go tell January. that was Tuesday!

Wednesday. we had 3 people with a baptism date!! so we visited the Vera family or the Pinedo that what the kids last name is and we asked them if they wanted to get baptized and they said yes and we asked them how about we set a goal for the 28th and they said yes!! so we create a plan to prepare them for the 28th. Wednesday was great!

Thursday. was better then Thursday! so we had 3 lessons first was with the Pinedo kids and we showed them "on the way home" a movie released by the church that talks about a family who lost a daughter/sister in a car crash and there family is falling apart and the gospel brings them together. they got baptized in the movie so we wanted to show them how we do that. second was with a man named Eusibio he is dating one of our members for awhile but he doesnt want to feel pressure or take missionary lesson so we shared a Christmas lesson using both the bible and the Book of Mormon and gifts God and Jesus have given us and what we can give them oh it was so good you should have been there. and third with Jose Gracia he didn't have much time so we just talk/gave a condensed version of the Christmas lesson he loved it and asked us to come back Saturday.

Friday. after a good doctor visit and weekly planning Elder Cavazos played the flute for the English wards Christmas party he did pretty good and then got chosen to play for the Christmas zone devo. on Wednesday this week. 

Saturday. so we went back to Jose's house and taught him the Plan of Salvation he like it a lot and after we finished he showed us his church's webpage and showed us the thing that were the same but he said ours made more sense. we then showed himlds.org and showed him who to research topic using lds.org and he said he is going to read some stuff. I'm not sure if that is going to be good or bad. but after that we headed to Ojai they replaced the Spanish elders up there with English ones so we got all the Spanish into our area. so we taught the Torres family all are members but the father oh and the mom and dad aren't married.. but we had a great lesson the spirit was very strong. we set expectations with him and his family it was very very well done i feel.

Sunday. we missed the Pinedo kids at church so we had to drop there date so we went to visit them to talk about it and set them for the 11 of January (they didn't know they had to go to church 3 times before getting baptized). so all is well. we also talked to Maria Carrera she has those vein things in her foot (like my mother) and she is getting them removed (huhh) but we some how remembered that she wanted us to visit her son in Ojai so we stopped by and talked to him he was busy but told us to stop by later. and reported what happened to Maria. so that was Sunday.

so sorry but i forgot my camera at home so pictures next week :( 

but hope you have a great week love you all take care!

-Elder Joshua Mackay

Week 25 Hola

December 9, 2013

 

Well hello there, I didn't see you looking at the computer screen, well or your phone or tablet.

 

So this week has been great, very interesting in a lot of different ways.

 

So to start of the week Monday, as many of you are aware I stayed in the San Buena Ventura Branch, so I didn't go to transfer meeting... :( I hear it was really good! A lot of great missionaries going home. But Tuesday morning we got a call from our Zone Leaders, they gave us a call with a special assignment to go to Camarillo  to help the United Methodist chursch set up for an event called "no room at the Inn" where they display nativity sets from around teh world. We spent from 9am to 4:30 pm moving tables, boxes, chairs, and many other things. We were so tired but it was tiring! But all is well I got a good nap on the way home:)

So Wednesday after District meeting and language study  we found out that the new sisters branch didn't dinner. So we made a few calls (1) and found them dinner and after dinner we went down the stairs to an investigators house (Moreno Family) and we started talking about Chapter 7 and out the window we saw the other Elders ( Elder Moreno and Elder Fernandez) run by heading to the sisters dinner, following we saw the sisters run by and the Elders again  and then the sisters came back and me and Elder Cavazos were confused about what was going on. So after our lesson we headed to the car as we unlocked the car the sister came and explained the whole story and lead up to the point, that they had left the lights on.

Thursday. Oh man, so at 4ish we picked up some recent converts and walked with them to the Vera's house and they had a great lesson about how baptism has changed their life. After the lesson one of the recent converts Crystal invited them to church, and told them that if they say they are going to come, they better come. It was great, but whether they came or not you will have to wait... Then we taught Jose Gracia and he is golder then the gold plates!! We taught the restoration and we loved it and then he told us about his fellowship in Santa Paula who would come to Ventura to go to church with him! He asked all the right questions about the church, doctrine, oh man so much gold!

Friday, we went alone to the Vera's house this time just to see what they thought about the 3 kids and all that. Somehow we started talking about our bodies and tattoos and piercings and we then proceeded to teach them about how our body's are temples and we shouldn't do those things. Elder Cavazos showed them his hole for his brow piercing.

Saturday. We thought before dinner we should stop by the Vera's house and remind them about church, but their mom was there. She is a less active member and we have been trying to see her since Elder Cavazos joined me (we have been together for 1 transfer and going on 2) so we had a lesson about church attendance and the mother said she would go to church for 1 hour on Sunday and leave her kids with us! We were so excited that we showed up late to dinner! But after dinner we had a lesson with Hermono Torres and we taught him the plan of Salvation because he thinks his Grandma is dying soon. (she is 105 as of yesterday/Sunday) and he knows a lot about the Plan of Salvation just not the whole thing like where we wait to be judged and other small things like that. We also had a lesson with Guadalupe the daughter of Guadalupe we taught her the Restoration and she also loved it and said that as we spoke that she felt it is true and just felt peace, well that is how she described it.

Sunday. If you haven't watched the Christmas devotional from the first presidency go look at 3 Nephi in the last chapter, and read the 2nd verse and then continue to repent and watch it;P That's all I got for Sunday.

Have a great week love you all take care. and Happy Holidays

-Elder Joshua Mackay

Sunset at the cross

Elder Fernandez, Hermana Howell, Hermana Fitzpatrick, Me, Elder Cavazos, and Elder Moreno (only the sisters left)

Elder Van Every (he came home) Elder Hofhienz

Week 24 Transfers

December 2, 2013

so im staying 6 more weeks here in the good ol' San Buena Ventura Branch

so highlight of the week was the baptism we had on Saturday oh it was so good!

but anyways the week went a little like this:

Monday was a normal, p-day with shopping, washing everything. but after 6 we went over to join a family home evening with the Diaz family and they were watching "a special witness of Jesus Christ" its a good movie it just all the of the 12 and the first presidency bearing testimony of Jesus Christ. oh so good and after the movie me and Elder Cavazos bore our testimonies. and then went and made a program for the baptism on Saturday.

Tuesday. so something interesting happened that day during distract meeting we were coming up with ideas for service and Elder Smith (Distract Leader) asked me what i was thinking and i said "it sounds crazy but helping people to set up or take down bouncy houses" and he said i like that idea so we prayed to help people with bouncy houses, lights, and washing dishes. and then in the evening we talked to the Gonzales family about faith and hope. it was a pretty good lesson and they are looking forward to meeting tomorrow.

Wednesday. we had a couple lessons that day. starting with the Vera family they were watching a scary movie when we came over and we asked them how they sleep after watching that they said its a long night but we talked about prayer and there is a great scripture in Alma 37: 37 that talks about praying to the lord before you sleep and he will watch over you and in the morning you need to pray giving thanks for the thing that he has given so we shared that and headed on our way. we then went to Hna. Ruth lopez's house for dinner and her boy friend Eusiebio was there and we talked about the 12 tribes cause hna was confused about them (we talked about them in Sunday school). after we meet Ricardo (the one who got Baptized) and talked about the priesthood and what it mean and what you can do with it. and of course where it comes from.

Turkey day!, i mean Thanksgiving, i mean Thursday. well happy Thanksgiving to all of you. hope it went well and for some reason all of our evening lesson cancel to meet with there family(who would ever do that). but we had a great thanksgiving dinner with the branch and we meet an x-Elder Vaca Guzman from South America somewhere i cant remember. but that was thrusday.

Friday. so we talked to Ricardo and he changed his mind on the pictures he wanted for the program so we went to do some Black Friday shopping to print out 2 pictures our total on black Friday was $0.50. and then we went to change the pictures. but for we meet with a resent convert (baptized in june) to talk about "stand ye in holy places" (talk by John Bytheway) but her cousin came to town from Oxnard so we shared it with her as well.

Saturday. all day Saturday i had butterflies in my stomach. my first baptism and i have to do it in Spanish :S. but all went well i spend a lot of time that day repeating the pray in my head and out loud. Elder Cavazos must have been tired of it, but we taught some people thing as well. first we talked to Julio Flores and we taught him the Restoration, until his dad came in and told us to go away, well nicely he did. so we left after we prayed. then we went to a Jakie Orozco and she has been talking to her cousin (a member) about the three kingdoms so we talked to her about that and explained that a little using combo sizes! and oh course the baptism, where the water was way to hot and i want to repeat the prayer 5 times and his elbow and foot didn't want to be baptized but other then that it was a great service and then the english crowd moved in and did there baptism. yep it was all good.

Sunday, was a great day we just meet with some members and less actives and resent converts cause we thought we were both leaving but were not so here we are!

anyways have a great week love you all

- Elder Joshua Mackay

Week 23 1 more week in the Transfer

November 25, 2013

Hello!

So where you think am going? Staying, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Santa Barbabra, or somewhere else?

so this week was great well better then that we had our first zone conference!

so Monday! or cleaning day cause zone conference is on Tuesday so we did everything and cleaned  out car and went bowling as branch missionaries (3 companionship's) 

then we had a lesson with Magaly and we taught her the Restoration and she really liked it and thought that this might be the true church with all of Christ teaching restored to full form. so it was pretty solid.

Tuesday we had Zone Conference so we had a long but very spiritual day in the church. we didn't get out of the church until 7:00 pm and we got there at 9:30 am but every moment was worth it i learned a lot and how i need to improve my teaching skills using scriptures, defining words, and direct commitments. it was great!

Wednesday. the week begins with a bang! so we got a new scripture to use for obedience its D&C 130 : 20-21 and we used that to share with everybody that day.. ok only the dinner message but its a great scripture look it up! after we taught the Bribiesca family about the tree of life and they como siempre (like always) liked it a lot. then something awesome happened! Ricardo Zavala wanted to meet with us at the church so we headed down there and we started talking about baptism and he said he wants to get baptized on the 30th. so we taught him the 10 commandments and test drove the interview questions and started to create (in our minds) a baptism program (whos going to pray and give talks) so Wednesday was a great day. 

Thursday. in the morning Elder Cavazos read the story of the ten virgins and wanted to use it that day well teaching people. so we were knocking door and we came across a women from Mexico named Lara who had dinner with a member the night before and she asked of after talking about how God loves us today so he called a prophet asked if we could say a prayer with her so we taught her how to pray and we prayed with her. then we visited the Bribiesca's home and only the mother was home so Elder Cavazos took the chance and shared the ten virgins story and we talked about how we can prepare our families for his coming. then we went to talk to Hna. Arenas about Ricardo (they are dating) so we wanted to make sure everything was alright, but he was there so we thought it might not be a good idea to do that at that time so we shared a bible story of the ten virgins and talked to Ricardo about what he can do to prepare for his baptism. and we set up a time for his interview on Saturday, we also created a baptism program.

Friday. after weekly planning and all that fun stuff we eat some food and headed to correlation meeting. after that finished he followed Hna. Arenas home to meet with Ricardo and teach him the final lesson The Law of Chasity, but we found out that they don't live together and have set boundary for what they do and don't do, Hna Arenas is the Best!

Saturday. the day of Ricardo's interview. so we meet him at the church that night and Elder Carter came down from Filmore to give that interview and all is well so were having a baptism this week (if all goes well this week and he doesn't change his mind)

Sunday. most of church Elder Cavazos and I made sure that everyone knew about the Baptism and made sure that the people praying and talking knew and are planning on going as well after church we made some tune salad sandwiches (so good) studied Spanish and went back to work after dinner we went over to the Bribiesca's and Luis and the mom went leaving to get some food for dinner so they asked us to come back in 30 minutes so we said that works perfect. we headed over to see Magaly (she wasn't home) but we saw a man talking on the phone driving passed so we walked over to talk to him and he was just standing outside and we started speaking to him in English and he only know a little English but after we heard dios after we asked "do you believe in god" we switched to Spanish and we had a great chat with him and we invited us over on Thursday. but we got to Magaly's house and her mom opened and we started talking to her about what we are teaching her daughter. and she asked if we could share it with the whole family after they get back from Mexico to visit there grandpa who is very sick and about to pass away. so we might be getting 2 more families this week!

this week was great hope your was as well.

-Elder Joshua Mackay

Week 22 My Weekly report (Mostly in Spanish)

November 18, 2013

hello everybody glad to hear from you all

So this was great como siempre!

ok so well start with Martes (tueday). we had distract meeting and an exchange with the zone leaders Elder Hofhienz y Elder Van Every. it was great. and we talked about the coming up (Manana) Zone Conference my first one its going to be fun! and after that we went to work and we worked hard to create a lesson for one of our investigators and then 3 hours before he called us a cancelled cause his mom came into town but all is well in the west! and i learned how to say green beans ajotas or something like that. pues Martes fue muy bein  apprender mucho como ensinar ninos. Elder hofhienz es un bien misionero. el es de Beaver Utah (so I told him about the beaver curse) pero que es Martes.!

Mericoles. ensenamos mucho personas y tenemos dos neuva investigatoras. (magaly y esmeralda) entonses en Martes durante los encambios mi companor mirar un neuvo area por tocandos los portas entosnes nos vamos y habler con magaly despues pregunamos ella si necescita ayuda con limpando su carro ella disa no pero hablemos y dar un trajeta con la templo de Salt Lake con nuestro numbero y nombre y ella envio un mensage pedinos ensanar ella Lunes a las 6. entonses hoy ya vamos. despeus hablamos con la famila bribiesca y ello tenia 2 hijos y 1 hija que no sabemos ensenamos la hija y invitemos por cena por le dia de gracias en la 16th de esta mes. y en la noche ensenamos un investigator llame Ricardo sobre el evangelio de jesuchristo.

Jueves. recibimos dos packages (gracias la famila de Sandberg y mi mommy te amo) pero Jueves ensinamos maria carrera sobre el plan de salvation y yo peinse que ella gusta mucho peus tambien mi campanero. ella es preparando por la evangelio ella es muy especial. pero cuando passemos la famila diaz miramos Ricardo y ensinamos sobre la poder de el libro de mormon.

Veirnes. no mucho paso en Veirnes despues planamos de esta semana. despues comemos mucho duleca de canada damos los misioneros en mi rama un pocito y una de las misioneras gusta los Smarties y los canadaes kit kats pues si es esta veirnes.

Sabado. en la manana tratamos un hombre llamar gatilupe entonses tocar la porta y un murjer abier la porta y hablar con nosotros por un larga tiempo y mi companero ensina sobre y como orar y el dijo yo oro y despues orara y ella dica si!! y despues hablamos con los ninos de la famila vera de la luz  y hablamos sobre un descourso llama "happily ever after"

Damingo. hablamos con los ninos de famila diaz Allison y domanic. hablamos sobre mat. 4 y depues ellos salen por dormir y Ricardo y hna Arenas comrando en la casa (hna Arenes es la madre de hna Diaz) y mi companero hablando a ricardo sobre hablamos con los ninos y Hablo con hna diaz sobre Emma Smith y que paso con ella.

Great week right? sorry i got into spanish mode but here is the translation   

Wednesday. we taught a lot of people and we had 2 new investigators. Tuesday during the exchange my companion found a new area to knock so we went there and talked with magaly for a long time after we asked her if she needed help cleaning her car she said no and we gave her a card with the salt lake temple with our name and number on it and she sent a text asking if we can meet her monday at 6, so today we are going. after we talked with the bribiesca family they have 2 sons and a daughter that we didnt know about so we taught the daughter and invited them to the thanksgiving dinner the 16th of this month. In the night we taught Ricardo about the gospel of jesus christ.

Thursday we got 2 packages (thanks sandbergs and my mommy I love you) but thursday we taught maria about the plan of salvation. and I think she liked it a lot well my companion as well she is prepared for the gospel and is very special. But went we passed by the diaz family we saw Ricardo and taught him the power of the book of mormon.

Friday. Not much happened on Friday after we planned for the week. After we ate alot of Canadian candies we gave a little to the missionaries in the branch. Ane of the sisters loves smarties and canadian kit kats. Ya that was friday

Saturday. in the morning we tried a man named Gatilupe so we knocked the door and a girl opened it and we talked for a while and my companion taught how and about prayer and he said i will pray and after will you pray and she said yes! 

After we talked with the Vera kids and talked about a talk called happily ever after.

Sunday. we talked with the Diaz kids. We talked about Matthew 4 and after they went to bed Ricardo and hna Arenas walked in and my companion talked to them about what we taught the kids and i talked to hna Diaz about Emma Smith and what happened with her.

Sorry I

 

Sorry have gone over my time got to go love you all!!

-Elder joshua Mackay

Here is a link if you want read about Matthew 4

I am not sure what part of Emma's story Elder MacKay was sharing with Hermana Diaz but if you want to learn more about Emma, here is a link Emma's History told by her great great granddaugher She was a remarkable woman, who went through so much.

The best gift ever...

I was given a priceless treasure this week! Elder MacKay's dinner appointment sent this to me

Elder MacKay and Elder C, are they not the cutest, healthiest and totally alive boys ever!

 Then I got this, which I am sure you can imagine how many times I have watched it, over and over again!

A Halloween package

I decided to send Josh and his companion a Halloween package.

Ideas came from my friend Mel and Pinterest of course!


I did up a bunch of these Pumpkin Seeds package (this picture is of the ones I copied off of Pinterest, I will try to find the link to give credit where it is due)(I cannot find a actual link, but I think it might be sugardoodle.net)

 

We found these Evil Twin candies, so put a picture of our sweet twins on the back.

We filled is with glow sticks, candy, some costumes, decorations, and these cute Mummy chocolate bars, again from pinterest! I will look for the link!

 

I decorated pringles chip containers for each missionary and filled them with pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I also included these halloween marshmallows (probably taste nasty)

Decorated the box inside and out with pictures and die cuts from my friend K

 

The result was perfect, Elder C loved his treats and took pictures of himself with his mummy and Josh in the costume Meliah picked out for him! Are these Elders not the cutest on the planet!

Week 21 Time has flown by and left me in the dust!

November 11, 2013

Hello every body how was your week!

Well that sounds great my week was fantastic I love it here

Anyways so lets start with Tuesday. Tuesday Elder Cavazos taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to 2 different families and in 2 different ways. 

First we taught the Vera family using science and stuff so we got a bowl of water, pepper, dish soap, and something to wipe your hands. so we got the bowl of water and put it down and put my CTR ring in it and told one of the kids to touch it with out getting dirty, then before they could put their finger in the water we poured pepper in the water (pepper floats) and they couldn't touch it with out getting dirty so we asked Steve (the helper) to wipe his finger off and get cleansed from sin (or pepper) and get baptized and receive the holy ghost (dish soap) so we put dish soap on his finger and told him to touch the ring and he put his finger in the water and the pepper all went to the side of the bowl and he could touch the ring without getting dirty or sinning. It was pretty good, they understand that they need baptism now. 

On the other hand we taught the Gonzales family were we talked about and alot about baby baptisms and why they don't need it but they didn't understand that part of it so tomorrow were going to talk about it, other then that that lesson went great they understand that they need baptism and we also talked about temples and marriage.

Wednesday. we found a new family of investigators! It was a referral from a recent convert and she said that they want a blessing for their son (Luis) so we went over to there house and meet the Bibriesca family we talked about how we do blessing and what they are we gave the son a blessing and talked a little about prophets and they asked us to come back latter that week.

Thursday not a lot happened on Thursday. I'm kidding we had a great day we did a reenactment of Samuel the Laminite with a family, we did some more service and talked to some less actives about going on there mission.

Friday. we found another 2 investigators Esperanza and Roxanna. Esperanza we talked to early that week and asked us to come back any day after 5 than we got her address and went our way but Friday we were with Roxanna we have talked to her a couple times and she said she was busy every time but this time she want time and so we taught a quick lesson and how to pray and she said the prayer and asked us to come next week so where going tomorrow but after the lesson we looked at our watches and it was 5:05 and we looked up and we saw where Esperanza lived so we took 13 steps to the door knocked and she had just finished cooking for her kids so we shared another quick lesson with her taught her how to pray but she didn't want to pray so we asked her if next time she will say and she said yes got another time to come back and we prayed and left her to eat with her kids.

Saturday. so remember the Bibriesca family well Saturday was the day we went back and we taught them the Restoration, they loved it before we could invite them to church they asked where and when our services are! So we answer there questions and talked about baptism they said they will if they find that the church is true it was great. Then we ran home got some service clothes on and helped destroy a roof. later that day we were walking down the street and one of Elder Cavazos old investigators flagged us down and told us her son had ran away we talked about faith and we offered a prayer that her son with get home safely.

Sunday morning we got a text saying her son got back home safely! The rest of Sunday was great Elder Cavazos had to translate the talks from the high counsel. We talked about the plan of salvation in gospel principles. and of course all of the people who said they would come to church didn't.

So that was my week in a nutshell lots of fun and lots of work

Week 20 Another Great Week

November 4, 2013

Hello again my good friends

I hope your week was just as good as mine or even better!

Lets start on Tuesday cause that when stuff happened. Tuesday. we had a great day as always but Tuesday we found a new person Delia is her name we have been meeting with her daughter we invited her to go to mormon.org and watch some videos and she did that and said she really liked it. so we talked to her mom a little bit and shared some scriptures and talked to her about prophets and set a return date, said a quick prayer.

Headed down the road where we meet with the Vera family and taught them the 10 commandments and invited them to church and they said they will try to come but Sunday is there bowling day so they couldn't promise anything. 

After dinner we went to another family's house cause the father wanted to teach me Spanish so for the first 30 minutes he taught me the Spanish numbers and how they work, and for the next 30 minutes we taught the plan of salvation and they loved it a lot and then they said "we love your teaching but we don't like what happens at the church "and we asked "what do you mean" they told us how they thought we still believe in polygamy and were concerned that they would enter the church with one mother and come out with another so we explained that and they said they are coming to church this week. and that was Tuesday.

Wednesday. We did exchanges with the distract leader so I was with Elder Smith. OK mom skip the next sentence. so here in Ventura they has been a lot of murders 6+ in the last 2 weeks. So we went over too our investigator's house Karen and we taught her the Plan of Salvation and she liked it a lot and after she asked if we could say a prayer for her friend who was recently shot and killed just down the street so we said a prayer and she was very thankful and we walked away counting blessings. Wednesday was a great day.

Thursday. Halloween so we had to return to the apartment at 7:00 pm. but never the less we worked hard. We had found 4 new investigators that day!! Blessings. All older guy and Catholic. But in the morning we went to find a Guadalupe and we found him, he had just got home from work and we asked if we could teach him a quick lesson he said sure and let us in. We started with a prayer, taught him the restoration and when we finished he asked "How can I know that what your telling me is true" we replied "You got the read the Book of Mormon" he responded "well give me one" so we ran to the car to get one and brought it back and he said he will see us Sunday so we told him what time it is at and left so he could shower and start his day off work. 

Then walking down the street we saw 4 guys staring at us so we walked by and said nothing the person we planned on see wasn't there so we decided to go talk to that group of man. So we walked over there said hello and they asked what we are doing dressed up in white shirt and ties so we explained that to them and they asked us to teach them something that other churches don't have so we taught the restoration and one of them left cause his phone went off and soon after one more guy showed up and he asked a question about where our spirits go and so we answered him using the bible the book each of them was, they were surprised we could do that. They then asked were my companion is from and he talked about where he if from and how he changed from Catholic to Mormon they started to laugh at him and teasing him about why he changed he then asked "do you have the gift of the holy ghost?" they said "No" we then flipped to where Peter is talking to a group of people who were baptized by John the baptist and how he only had authority to baptize but not to give the holy ghost, they asked "well do we have to get baptized again?" we replied " yes until you get the gift of the holy ghost and our church the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is the only church that gives that gift to people after they are baptize"they were quiet for a little bit and asked us to come back he set up an appointment and just as we were leaving they asked us "are we bad man for offending you" my companion said "you guys are great man its OK I forgive you" and we left great day!

Friday. we went back to Maria Carrera house because that referral wasn't in Ventura so we asked her where it is and she told us and she got talking about her son and what is going on and how she doesn't know what to do so we shared some scriptures prayed taught about fasting and she asked us to fast for her family this week so we did. We talked some more about thing we can do to help prayed again and left. That night we had a lesson with Ricardo we taught him the Plan of Salvation. he liked it he told us more about why he wants to get baptized in December and told us a little bit of his history we set up another lesson prayed and then we headed home for the night.

Saturday. Saturday we went to go meet with Guadalupe but he wasn't home but his son was so we talked to him a little bit and he said that he went to our church back when he was 13 so we talked to him and he said he was going to be there and told us a better time to catch Guadalupe we said a quick prayer with him and asked if we can come back and teach him and he said sounds great Thursdays are my day off work, so hopefully Thursday we meet with him again.

Sunday. was a normal Sunday not a lot happened a lot of people out with there family but not even a single person who said they were coming came to church so we felt alone but it was all good.

so anyways have a great week I love you all take care

-Elder Joshua Mackay

Week 19 I ran out of idea for topics so - weekly email!

October 28, 2013

OK this week was been a lot of fun

So after transfer meeting Elder Cavazos and I where driving to get some food for the week and we seen a red truck in the road with a dirt bike on the ground and a biker get up and moving it to the side of the road so we pulled over to help and we seen Elder Hernandez get out of the truck to back it up (missionary rules) and it turns out that they didn't have a phone to call anyone so I got to spend an hour with my older companion after they got hit by a dirt bike!

Just 1 funny story this week.

So Monday Elder Hernandez packed all day and then we went to the cross to write in shout out journals. (I will send pictures)

 

(Side note from Heather, for those of us wondering what the Cross is, here ya go!  The Cross)

Tuesday. Transfer meeting and the car crash, and not much after that.

Wednesday. we had a lesson fall though so we went to go see a part member family(vera de la luz) and we taught the kids so at the beginning of the lesson we asked them if they had read the book of Mormon at all and they hadn't so I asked if they had any questions about anything and Steve the oldest asked "how can we make God happy"  I responded saying I don't know can I see your book of Mormon so he handed it to me and I opened it up and read the first thing I saw that scripture talked about how God is happy of what we have done already and what makes him happy and he was surprised that I answered his question like that then Kimberly asked "does every one make it to heaven" again I said I don't know and opened the book of Mormon and that scripture talked about healing people that are lame and deaf, wounded and many other illness and I told her we are all spiritual sick and deaf but though Jesus Christ we will all make it to heaven. that was a powerful lesson and they said they are going to start read the book of Mormon.

Thursday. Thursday we found a new investigator named Maria Carrera she is catholic and doesn't think that God talks though the pope like he talked though the old prophets we told she is right and there is a prophet on the earth right now and he is in our church we shared a couple scriptures with her about that and we asked if we could pray with her and she said we could but she wanted to give us something. So she went back into her house and 2 minutes later came out with a piece of paper with her sons address on it and said I want you to teach him this as well. We then said a prayer and created a return appointment and went our different ways.

Friday. one of the members of our branch took a tumble down some stairs and ended up in the hospital so we went to make sure she was OK we went to the first hospital and she wasn't there we then got a call from the branch president (President Rivera) saying he had checked both hospitals and she wasn't at either but we tried the other one regardless and we found her there so we talked to her made sure she was alright and went back to preaching the gospel. Of course after we shared a message with her and her son and friend that was there but they live in the other Elders area.

Saturday. so Saturday was a good day as well we meet with some investigators that want to get baptized but can't cause their dad doesn't want them to get baptized but we talked about taking steps of faith stepping into the darkness and the light will follow. So we created a baptism service program. We then met with the Gonzales family the father doesn't like transfers so we were scared what might happen with having a new companion but they opened the door said come on in its very nice to meet you, when can we feed you guys dinner and teach Elder Mackay some Spanish? We looked at each other and said How about Tuesday? they said OK that sounds great! we then did some get to know you stuff and talked a little bit about the plan of salvation and told them that is what we will talk about on Tuesday. They are something else they are better then golden investigators.

Sunday. so after church we went to a lesson that forgot we were coming and asked us to come back some time later this week so then we went and had some lunch studied Spanish and headed back out the door and we went to see the Vera family and there was some older man there that we have never met before but we knocked on the door and Steve opened it and the man said that they aren't interested and to go away then the kids (Steve, Jakie, and Kimberly) all looked at him and said "What!?" and it was really funny but he didn't want us there so we said OK have a great day be careful and stay safe. We're planning on going back either today or tomorrow or both:)

well that was the week in a nutshell it was great!

love you all see you later

-Elder Joshua Mackay

This is what Josh's area looks like...

Week 18 Transfer Calls!

October 21, 2013
 

Hello everyone.

So I am STAYING in the San Buena Ventura Branch for 6 more weeks and Elder Cavasos is coming to work with me.

So a lot happened this week but I have forgotten it all, so in a nut shell:

We are having a baptism on Nov 2nd for 2 investigators ages 10 and 9. Their mother we have re-activated (Hna. Diaz) its going to be pretty fun. We have taught all the lesson there interview is on Thursday and then we will set up the program!

So were also teaching a family of 4 (mother and 3 kids) the mother is a member but has coming in a couple mouths and she works all the time (3 different jobs) so we have taught her kids over the past couple weeks and they all got baptized Catholic but don't think they need baptism again so we talked about authority and they understood.

This week were also dropped a man named Ricardo because he kept falling though with appointments. But Saturday he called and said we forgot about him and he said he wanted to meet up later that day so we did and he told us he wants to get baptized on Dec. 7th so we said ok and this is how your going to have to do it. set up more appointments (2 a week) for the next couple weeks and he is good to go.

anyways love you lots!

-Elder Joshua Mackay

Week 17 One more week left in transfer number 2

October 14, 2013

Hello everyone!

Biggest news of the week

is am out of my boot!! unless it hurts a ton then i have to put it back on!!

Monday. a normal P-Day with cleaning our apartment, shopping, emails. dinner. and of course knocking doors trying to find new people but all we found were English people so we sent those to the English missionaries.

Tuesday. we had a lesson with the Gonzales family as well as the Lopez family. The Lopez family is a less active family that wanted to feed us so we couldn't say no to food so we went over there had some beans, meat, salsa, and tortillas. The lesson has very good we asked them why they haven't been to church. Their reply was that they didn't like our branch president so we just talked about what happened and shared Elder Uchtdorf's talk about coming back to church cause we are all not perfect teacher. The Gonzales family we talked about what we do as missionaries and Hno. Gonzales wants to come out and work with us! And he isn't even a member yet!

Wednesday. we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders (Elder Wallace and Elder Van Every) so I worked with Elder Van Every and we talked to a man named Jim who many many years ago was trying to invent something to break gravity in a space, but one night he was drinking and driving and crashed. He is now stuck in his wheelchair but he loves to go to church (vineyard its a Christan rock church) and so we sang him "I know my redeemer lives" he loved it a lot so we shared a scripture with him and he shared some with us and we went on our way.

Thursday. Thursday is what missionaries call a shaft day (were everyone closes the door or aren't home) but after a hard day we went to dinner and we were stuffed. We then went to the church so Elder Hernandez could interview someone for baptism. Following that we went to a members house to help fix his washing machine he then fed us again (meatball soup) and gave us some cake and more soup to take home. Then we went to our lesson with Ricardo who wasn't there so we went to a members house to see if she saw him. And he was in her house so we taught him a lesson and after the closing prayer that sister filled up a cloth shopping bag full of oranges, beans, peanut butter and gave it to my companion and me. So our shaft day turned into a blessed day.

Friday. so my companion had to go to Oxnard to work on cars again so I worked with Elder Epps in Ventura. We got back to Ventura from dropping off Elder Hernandez and it was time for lunch but Hna Diaz made some crepes and wanted us to eat some so we went and had crepes (they are the best crepes i have had) and afterwards we went to see if Keran and Maria were home but it turns out that Keran was graduating from college so we talked about Temples and how much they bless our live and we invited her to be baptized and she said "Yes" so we had her pray after that and we then had to go get Elder Hernandez so we did that.

Saturday. we were on exchanges with the other Elders in our branch (Elder Fernandez and Elder Cavasos) so I worked with Elder Cavasos, but we had the car so Elder Hernandez needed us to pick him up for the baptism so we had to give them a couple rides to places and we meet a lot of people.

Sunday. yesterday we had someone receive the Aaronic Priesthood that was pretty good. Church was great, but there must have been a good football game cause nobody wanted to talk to us because they were watching "the game" but all is well in the Lords vineyard.

So it was a great week hope you all have a great week i love you all take care BYE!!
 

Week 16, Best Week Ever

October 7, 2013

Hello my friends and family

Monday was pretty busy being we have to do alot of stuff to get ready for the rest of the week.

Tuesday we did some service and sorted over 100 bottles and cans to be recycled and then we were invited to a family home evening were we watched Joseph Smith movie and the Restoration and gave out candies for correct answers. It was pretty powerful and those kids are very smart.

Wednesday we taught a less active family who have studied the bible and we spent an hour answering questions about the Revelations and the second coming and we also talked a little bit about bad spirits. It was a very interesting lesson that's for sure.

Thursday. I had another exchange it was a pretty good day though to say the least. We taught a young woman and we both felt that she had been prepared to receive this message that we shared. We then watch the testaments with a less active young man. That movie is so powerful it was a great lesson afterward. We then went to Hna. Diaz to drop off the testaments so she could watch it and we told her to text us what she thought but we never got anything so we went back on Friday.

Friday so in the morning Elder Hernandez was fixing cars so Elder Epps and I returned to Ventura to get some work done we went to give some service to Hna. Diaz so we started cleaning up those bottles we sorted and cleaning the rest of her back yard and she told me that she had written 2 and a half pages about the Testaments movie. I has so happy to hear that. We then got a call from my companion says he finished and needed to get picked up so we did that and started weekly planning and had dinner and a meeting to finish out the night.

Saturday. OH MAN the Saturday morning session was the best. Edward Dube was great Dieter F. Ucfdorf was fantastic, that sister that spoke has great. Moral of the story if you haven't watched conference do it now and read this later, and go work with the missionaries in your area.

Sunday. OH MAN I miss conference, but after conference we had a lesson with the famila Gonzales and it was so powerful Hna. Gonzales asked for a blessing so we gave her one and after she said she felt a warm power move though her entire body.

This week was great. but the next week is going to be better. don't look back and what you have done and look forward to what you can do.

-Elder Joshua Mackay

Week 15, Another Week Another Victory

September 30, 2013

Hello every one!

This week has been another great week full of crazy goodness and missionary work like the other week.

This week we did a lot of service both for members and the city of Ventura

On Wednesday we were trained on how to fit people with helmets so that on Saturday we could help give helmets away for a bike fest thing, it was pretty fun and we got to teach a couple people doing it as well. We did that for most of Saturday. Then we went to help the Cisneros  family move and repaint there house. We also did some yard work for a member in Oxnard (I was there for Friday).

Monday. Was a normal Monday email, shopping, resting, and writing.

Tuesday. We had district meeting in the morning and after we went to go see a man named David Hernandez. He has busy so we got a return appointment and left. We also went to see a less active Maria Vera De La Luz (Maria Vera of the light) Spanish names are cool like that, so we went over there and she had a rough day so we talked with her and had a pretty powerful lesson and we then helped her get back on track and on her feet. Tuesday evening we visited Hna. Diaz and she had a great day and told us how her life is turning around and she is getting a job and its all because she started studying the scriptures and praying and said she would come to church.

Wednesday. We meet with David Hernandez and taught him the Restoration and he looked like he enjoyed it a lot and we could all feel the spirit. We also meet with some former investigators seeing how they are doing,  we went to Caridad (Charity) house and turns out she lives with one of the most active members but she wasn't home so we checked to see if there was anything he needed and it turns out he had a leaky washer and Elder Hernandez used to fix them them so we did that and so I learned how to fix washers this week! Wednesday night we had the training for Saturday and a meeting for an exchange on Thursday.

Thursday. We had an exchange so I had Elder Smith from Idaho for the day. Who doesn't know a lick of Spanish. so he was pretty quiet all day. So we tried to visit people who spoke a little English but there isn't a lot of them but we saw Ricardo Palomio a former investigator and he has so happy to see of he wanted us to teach him so I retaught the Restoration and Elder Smith bore testimony and we set him with a baptism date for the 19th of October. We then went looking for a former investigator named Edgor and turns out he moved because that is were our dinner appointment lived. So we had dinner a little early :) We then visited Hna. Diaz and her mother trying to find Ricardo (different Ricardo but I can't remember his last name. sorry) but he wasn't there so we talked with Hna. Diaz about teaching her kids so they can be baptized, she said sure! We then had to trade companions back.

Friday. My companion knows how to fix cars and make them mission approved so we had to go to Oxnard for that and so he worked on cars with Elder Sheilds and I worked with Elder Jamison. We visited an older lady Sister Anderson and that is were we did some yard work. We then got preached at by a JW (Jehovah Witness) and we preached back and left him with a card cause he gave us some of the flyers they give out.

Saturday. We did that bike thing from 9 to 3ish so we then headed to help the Cisneros move and painted there house and after that we had to go to a baptism for Marcos (Elder Hernandez did the interview so he was to go) very powerful man and there was a strong spirit there as well. we went to Hna. Diaz so we talked to her about her studies and how her life has improved because of it it was pretty powerful.

Sunday. We had fast and testimony meeting and it was fantastic I talked to Presidente Castro about Alex Castro my MTC teacher :) we finished our studies after church went to dinner watched the testaments movie with the Cisneros family. Its so good you should watch it after you read this and reply if you feel like you should.

Elder MacKay

Week 14 Time for the half way point in transfer two!!

September 23, 2013

OK so its week 3 time!

This week was been rough on me and Elder Hernandez a lot of work and Elder Pann went home sick this week and hopefully will return soon.

This week we did a lot of work knocking and finding and teaching its also been the plan of salvation week as well everyone we taught this week wanted or needed the plan of salvation.

We were knocking on this door and a women came out so we introduced our selves as missionaries and all that stuff and we started to listen to her cause early that week some Jehovah witness came by and told her that her 2 month year old baby that died is going to hell. We taught her a shortened version of the plan of salvation and told her that her baby is in the presence of God because she died before the age of baptism. Powerful spirit there.

Case 2. We felt like we should visit a fully active member of the Branch hna. Tadeo, so we did and she asked us about where her daughter is, she was stabbed 133 times and if in the Resurrection will she have those wounds. We told her that her daughter is in the spirit world teaching others the gospel and that in the Resurrection she will have a perfect body like everyone else in the Resurrection. Also a very powerful spirit there.

After those two lesson me and Elder Hernandez walked away and we felt blessed to know even if anyone of you were to drop dead right now we would see you again in that great Resurrection. We will become perfect and a glorified human being. If you are even not sure where someone is and where you are going look to the plan of salvation because it saves lives literally. I read a talk out of the Ensign this month about the grace of God. It says that we are saved by His grace. So everyone is going to be resurrected so why do anything? Well would you feel comfortable in the presence of God know that you could have been better.

Anyways I love you all have a great week.

-elder Joshua Mackay 

Week 13 For some Reason the weeks keep getting better

Sept 16, 2013

Okay well first off hello.

0k so this week seen one of my companions as a district leader we had to give 2 baptism invites and go to a baptism

Monday. had my first tie trade and I feel very good about it. got some great ties and lost some great ties but its all good fun! oh and transfer calls!
 I'm in ventura serving in san buena ventura branch with elder hernandez elder pann as my companion then there are 3 sisters and 2 other elders in the branch!

Tuesday. transfers!! meet my great companions and got to work once again. well paper work the other 2 elders in the branch elder cavazos and elder fernandez are white washing/opening a brand new area in the branch so we had to divide our area into two areas and that took up most of Tuesday then we went to a less active part member family and talked with them and they said we always show up at the right time to help them.

Wednesday. district meeting!! so that took up alot of the morning and little in the afternoon but then we went to work we tracted 2 streets and got a few new investigators it was awesome. we had a recent convert feed of dinner (enchiladas) so good. and we played a book of Mmormon game elder Hernandez created about the gadiandton robbers.

Thursday. we had a baptism interview with a kid named james (the one that got baptized this week) and so we drove about 20 minutes to ojia and then headed back to get back to work where we had a lesson with a investigator named ricardo getting baptized next week (21st) if he keeps on doing the things he should be. and then we went referal searching to see if some members had referals for us and they did.

Friday. we went contacting those referrals but none of them were at home. but we continued to work and found some new investigators well of course after weekly planning... got to love it but we had lunch at this place called the Cross oh man I should have brought my camera to take pictures sorry.

Saturday. we had to go to that baptism so Elder Hernandez could take care of some paper work you know those baptism records. so we went to that and we showed up and we had to sing a musical number and it was a great baptism but Ojia doesn't have a baptism font so we did it in a pool.

Sunday. MAN I LOVE PRIMARY PROGRAMS. so we had a primary program if you missed that and man those kids had the spirit with them they song my favorite song to oh it was great and i understood alot of it as well. then we had meeting for awell and when out and worked hard.

so ya that was the week so have a great one love you all

-elder mackay

Week 12, One Transfer Down, time for round two!

Sept 9, 2013

Hello my friends and family who are reading my letters!

So I am being transferred to Ventura tomorrow into a Tri-Pan with Elder Hernandez and a brand new Elder on a plane right now.

Monday we had dinner with an investigator who has been investigating for 11 years. We invited him to be baptized and he said he will when his son gets home from his mission. 3 out of 3 of his kids are serving missions right now. But I love him so much, he gave me his salsa recipe, so Good and Spicy!

Tuesday we had a lesson fall through so we felt like we should go to Manuel's house, just up the street. He is also a investigator, we went over there and he came out and told us he wants to be baptized after reading 2 Nephi 33:12-14! We set him with a date of the 28th and then he didn't show up to church so we might visit him today and see what is up.

2 Nephi 33:12-14  And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his ^akingdom at that great and last day.

And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the earth, I speak unto you as the voice of one ^acrying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come.

WEDNESDAY was THE BEST DAY EVER oh man I miss Wednesday.. We went to the investigator who fell though on Tuesday and we talked to her about the gospel of Christ and then we set her and her kids with the 28th of October to be baptized! Then we went to a investigators house and he wasn't there but his sister was so we had a lesson with her and she wants us to come back. After that the same thing happened trying to contact a referral!! We then had dinner at a part member house and got a new investigator!!!

Thursday we got a car!! We spent the day in the areas we can't walk to and oh man we taught so many people it was crazy! We went to recontact some people and they weren't home or didn't want to open the door then this ice cream truck drives by and flags us down. We go over there and he told us the best Mormon and Catholic joke and gave us some ice cream and told us about his crazy girl friend and we left him with a picture of Jesus. Then we had dinner at an investigators house and had a great lesson with them about how they can share the gospel.

Friday. oh man Friday was a great day! We tried some referral searching to increase our teaching pool just in case we got white washed so the next elders would have something to work with. It worked out pretty well, we got some referrals for people, we meet a crazy guy who tried to heal my ankle..... and said he could speak the language of the end? But he said he could borrow his bike if we wanted some time. I am not sure what is going to happen with him. After that we went to visit a less active family and they needed us there, they have had it rough. Some girl came over there the week before and beat the mother! They threatened the manger that if he told the police and just all this bad stuff! So they are trying to move and they might just take there clothes and get out of there. It is sad but it happens.

Saturday we found a old investigator walking over to see another family. We also had a dinner where we were going to eat cactus but they didnt have time to cook it so we had some In and Out which was also good, but cactus fruit is the best (mom can you buy me a cactus so i can have cactus fruit when I get back its taste like apples and bananas mixed into one amazing fruit) 

Sunday was a normal Sunday where we are in meetings all day, but I got out of one to go see some investigators who didn't show up to chruch and one we found out doesn't want to get baptized until she knows its true.. Hopefully that happens soon since she has the cutest 1 year old baby. Sorry to all those babys out there but its true...

anyways see you next week

-elder mackay

Week 11 - Update with some pictures

September 2, 2013

Okay well if you havent heard it yet turns out 5 weeks ago I broke my ankle :)

This week went pretty good that i found out why my ankle was hurting 24/7.

Monday we got are shopping done and someone from a different chruch gave us a bible (new king james version) its alot different that what we read but we had a good talk about our church with him.

Tuesday we had a lesson with our investigator Jenny who we had set up to be baptized October 12th by her husband. We talked alot about scriptures that mean something to us tend to replay over and over in our minds, for Jenny is was Mosiah 18:10. We talked about how Joseph Smith had the same thing but with James 1:5 and with me 1 Nephi 3:7 and how it is important to know the scriptures and to read them often.

Wednesday so me and my companion got to go to the LA Temple!!! It is the best one I have been to in my opinion, and after that Sister Castro called and told me its time to see a doctor. We headed to the doctor he thought I had torn my peroneus longus tendon and so he told me to get an x ray and MRI on Thursday.

Thursday I got my MRI and x ray and they gave the results to the doctor I saw on Wednesday night. He called me and told me I shattered my leg at the ankle joint and so I thought I might be sent home and he told me to see this foot doctor in Ventura so we went over there and he showed us the MRI and the x ray and I had only broken my ankle a little bit and I am staying here!!!!! So now I am in a boot for 3 weeks. But I can finally do some more work!!! Went with the zoneleaders in a car to a lesson about the Book of Mormon.

Friday.We had a meeting all day about staying healthy...... and keeping apartments and cars clean. I got to see Elder Simpson and Elder Phillips from the MTC!

Saturday. I got to go out and walk to places so me and my companion walked to a investigator named Alma (which means soul in spanish) we taught her and her family about the gospel of Christ and how we are cleansed from baptism. We visited some less actives close to home because you cannot walk far with a boot... We got picked up for dinner which was a party for a member in the ward and I ate one of the spiciest pepper I will ever eat but it was so good! We were sitting there eating and the member that picked us up introduced us to her friend who is Catholic! She believes their is a God and a true church but hers isn't it!! We taught her the restoration in Spanish and after we taught her she helped us with our Spanish cause she speaks English pretty good. We left her a Book of Mormon in English and a card to get one in Spanish, as well as a card with our number on it because she forgot her number, so hopefully she calls us back because she believed everything we taught her!

Sunday. We went to church but none of our investigators showed up. I got a pair of crutches from a member after chruch and we had a meeting with our ward mission leader. He is so good, just got back from Holland and is landing on his feet but has a great spirit with him. Then after we got back and finished our studys we headed over to Jenny's house to see why they didn't come to chruch and we had a great lesson about patience with there one year old boy and with other things in life like work and joining the chruch.

anyways i got to get running so im going to add some pictures now

first two are the ocean

the la temple

a palm tree (there all over here)

my boot:)

my tan watch line:)

have a great week love you all

-elder mackay

Mosiah 18:10  Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being ^abaptized in the ^bname of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a ^ccovenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

James 1:5 ^aIf any of you lack ^bwisdom, let him ask of God, that ^cgiveth to all men liberally, and ^dupbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

1 Nephi 3:7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I ^awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no ^bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall ^cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

The boot

The boot

Ocean view

Watch tan line

LA Temple

Palm Tree

Ocean view

Mom of the Year

I won the missionary mom of the year on August 28th!

I was looking in a $4.88 cell phone case bin at Walmart when my phone rang... It was President Castro from the California Ventura mission....

Firstly, if you call a mother, you really need to open with Hi, your son is fine, this is the Mission President....

So once my heart started beating again, the mission President was concerned about Josh's ankle. It seemed to be fine, then bad, then fine and he feels that no one knows a child like a mother! So he wanted my opinion whether Josh might be making a excuse to get out of work, or if he has some past injuries...

I couldn't think of any injuries other than the dislocated shoulder and concussion... So figured he might just be having trouble adjusting to the all day work and bike riding...

I suggested he sit him down, and lay it out for him and then give him time to reflect before he answered.

His very kind Mission President said he would get his ankle checked out and then talk to him...

So Saturday I get a message, Josh's ankle was broken... The Tabia bone was broken and he would need to be in a boot for 5 week or so...

Ya way to go mom!

Week 10 - Another week another victory!

August 26, 2013

Hello my fellow human race people things:)

Ok well this week has been good lots of studies...

So Tuesday was great lots of people visited, gave a book of Mormon to a new investigator. and then we had meetings for 4 hours...:)

Wednesday I woke up and my shoulder was hurting so I shrugged it off and went out to work we had a few lessons that day one of our investigators gave us a tour of his back yard and he has like 7 different fruit trees and a chicken coop so we helped him pickup the eggs and then played some soccer and taught him a lesson and when we went out side my tire was flat so we used my new traveling repair kit for my tire (that I'm getting a new tube for today) and headed off to go see some less actives. None of which here home, common on Wednesday when working with Spanish speaking people - it is soccer night.

Thursday my shoulder was hurting a lot so we decided it was best if I stayed home and rested it well and ice it. We had a great study about my missions five areas of focus those being

1, we are preach my gospel missionaries. 2. we baptize. 3. we obey with exactness. 4. we seek to be trusted more then loved. and 5. we teach with power and authority. We also had district meeting in the morning.

Friday my shoulder was fine and then I slipped coming out of the shower and twisted my ankle again so we stayed home that day as well. But i got a package from American Fork for an Elder Mckay Johnson... that was pretty funny

Saturday we also stayed inside for my companions back it was bugging him.

So all in all this week was alright oh wait Sunday.

Sunday so we had meetings all day and got home at 8:45, home 15 minutes early so thought we would make some calls and no one answered so its now 8:50 and we have 10 minutes so me being me say hey lets run about 1 mile to an investigators house..... so we did and got there at 8:59 so we have 1 minute to get into a lesson or we have to head home. so we knocked on the door they opened and we got a lesson. and so we asked them why they didn't come to church and they are both 19 with a kid and they over slept. normal for a teenager and so we talked about her baptism date to see if we could do it the 5 of October and she said YES so hopefully i stay here for one more transfer.:) and then we walked back home to get home by 9:30

So this week went fantastic!!!!

love you all 

Elder Joshua Mackay

PS mom I have envolpes thanks for the stamps but i have another favor could you get me: terry bell's address you i can write him, and tom houg's address so i can write him as well, also the spadifora's address I have a letter from them but no address.

Missionary Moms Lunch!

I am in a email group for Missionary moms, we decided to have lunch one day! It was so fun!

From the English Ventura mission I met Sister Tufts, Sister Driggs, Sister Smoot
From the Spanish Ventura Mission I met Sister Parrish, Sister Johnson

Elder Driggs and Josh went out together.

It was really fun and cannot wait until we do it again!

Week 9, Another Week and still loving it

 August 19, 2013

Okay, really fast because I don't have time, so I am discarding grammar completely, Sorry! 

I need stamps and more stamps! After today I will have 2 for Canada and needing 2 to finish sending the ones I have to send. Stamps please por favor

This week has been a great highlight, we got 2 people to commit to be baptized next month.

Other things that happened this week, my leg has gotten a lot better but we worked to hard Monday and so Tuesday we had to stay home because I shouldn't re injure it. Because then I have to wait a long time. I have lost so much weight that one of my investigators said that I look thinner than on the first day. So either I am losing weight or my body is changing to be aerodynamic... Speaking of which my front tire has been a lot better this week, but it looks like there is duct tape instead of rubber so today I am getting a new tube.

On Saturday we had exchanges with the Zone leaders, Elder Putnam and Elder Bernards. I was with Elder Putnam on the bikes and a marine flagged us down to talk about joining, but we taught him about the restoration. Then a drunk guy wanted to talk to us, but we were late for a lesson so we told him sorry we have to go, and said that is okay and stumbled back to work. After that we went to the lesson which they forgot about. Elder Putman looked at me and said there was going to be someone we can talk to on the over to El Camino, and right then someone walked out the door with their daughter so I said, how about him? Turns out he has met with the missionaries for 3 years in Bakersfield and he dropped them and so he said after we were about to leave I will call them when I get back to Bakersfield. So we felt good and headed to Rio Camino where we invited by a Enteragator (eternal investigator) to be baptized. He said yes and told us (all in Spanish and I understood:) that the JW's came over yesterday and he turned them down because he likes our teachings . The spirit was so strong and powerful at the moment and we both testified about how awesome getting baptized is, and a good idea. Then went to El Rio to talk to a investigator who wasn't home. We headed home to finish up some meeting with the exchange.

So yesterday me and my companion (Elder Fairbourne) went to one of our investigators house who is married to a member and she was sleeping, so we talked to him about priesthood and baptizing people because she wants him to baptize her and then she came down and we shared the Mormon message and she didn't pay attention and missed it so we are going to try it again and maybe move the date to something earlier then September 30th.

That is what is new and some old stuff, and family I need stamps if you want a letter this week.... maybe

Elder MacKay