Week 32 - Week 3 of Transfer 5

February 3, 2014

ok well hello everybody so highlight of the week is Sunday i confirmed someone into the church in Spanish it was mas o menos.

but Monday, Monday we only had one lesson with Norma Perez and we just talked about Alma 37:37 and how  we must report to the lord what we did that day and then give him thanks in the morning. it was a pretty good lesson she was very open and said we could teach her more later.

Tuesday. we had 2 lessons one with the Diaz family and the other with Eusebio, the Diaz family we taught them about the Plan of Salvation it was a pretty good lesson its hard to teach kids so that they understand but i feel like we did a great job with that. and Eusebio we just talked to him about the book of Mormon and asked him to read and pray about and he didn't really give us a yes or a no but we taught him later this week and he said yes.:)

so Wednesday we were walking down the street and we found an Adriana and she is golden will get baptized here soon, we gave her a Book of Mormon and she gave us some water and a pop, and said she will read the book before we could ask her to do it. we then went to visit another person who wasn't home but there son was interested in learning more about the church and also took a Book of Mormon (we have been giving those out like candy) ha we told us to come back next Wednesday so hopefully he is there. and we also taught Horacio and we just talked about 2 Ne 25:26 he is slowly moving forward we invited him to the baptism that night but he was sick and couldn't go so he told us to come back Saturday. oh and we had 4 investigator at Jamie Sanchez's baptism (Elder Moreno and Elder Simpson are teaching him)

Thursday we had an exchange with Elder Rasband and Elder Mckinley so i was with Elder Rasband in Ventura and we taught a lot of lessons well only 4 but a lot of Spanish for me and little English for him but we talked to the Vera family (they went to the baptism) about the baptism and what they taught and Kimberly the youngest asked why we baptize in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. she is Lutheran and believe they are all one person so we talked about the godhead and invited them to be baptized and they said they would talk to there mom about it (she was working). we also taught the Diaz family about the Gospel of Jesus Christ using the pepper and soap experiment and they loved it! it was great they are going to teach us the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Tuesday (tomorrow). we taught an Esperanza BuenaVentura about the Book of Mormon and she said she would read it after we gave her one we are going to follow up on Thursday, it was a funny lesson cause twice during the lesson some kids asked us for cards in Spanish so i would tell Elder Rasband to give them cards. we also taught David Hernandez finally after 2 transfers of searching for him we found him and we talked about the Restoration but he wanted to talk about parenting so we talked about Lehi dream of the tree and what his kids did or didn't do, it was a powerful lesson he told us to come back again this week.

Friday. we taught Eusebio again about the book of Mormon and got him to say he would read and pray about it, but his girlfriend is moving in tomorrow so its going to take some pushing to get him baptized but we just chippin away, chippin away. yep we also had correlation and it was good we found out were an less active lives so we are going over there today, the work is picking up a lot of speed its great.

Saturday we had an exchanges with the Zone Leaders Elder Kleinman and I worked in the Spanish Area and Elder Lee and Elder Crandel worked in the English Area but we had a great day we taught Magaly the Plan of Salvation and she really understands it we went in and made sure she understood everything before we continued. it was great she still doesn't want to get baptized tell she receives her answer though. we also talked the the Vera Family again and this time the mom was there but she didn't want to sit in on the lesson so she sent her kids outside but we talked about Mosiah 18:8-10 and invited them to think more about Baptism and what it would mean to them.

Sunday, well i confirmed Jamie and it was terrifying i was so nervous but once it was done i felt like it was the easiest thing in the world. but we taught the Diaz family again... about Ether 12:27 and making weak things become strong if we go though the lord and ask for help it was great! we also stopped by the Vera family agian... and taught about prayer and how Enos hungered for prayer and Ribay (one of the priest of the branch) invited them to Young Men's and Young Women's. it was great!

well hope you had a great week tell next week

-Elder Joshua Mackay  

Elder Lee Driving

Elders Mackay, Moreno, Simpson, Lee

PICTURES!

A sweet Sister from Elder MacKay's area sent these pictures:)

Branch Choir

Sweet Hermana~

Elder Moreno, Cavazos, Fernandez, MacKay and a Rose amongst the thorns:)

Elder MacKay and Hernandez and their little friends.

Elder Cavazon, MacKay and Fernandez

Elder Cavazos and MacKay with my Favorite Hermana!

My sweet boy with his flock

Elders with a investigating family

This little Girl Adores Elder MacKay, her mom says she hovers over him always.

His little side kick A

Singing at a Christmas party

Week 31! Another Work week!

January 27, 2014

ok well its been a great week.

so Monday we had a lesson with the Hna. Bribiesca. we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went very well after we finished the lesson we asked her to be baptized on the 22 of Feb. and she said si! we are so existed its going to be great!

so Tuesday was a normal Tuesday with district meeting and stuff and that night we went over to the Diaz family and briefly went over the Joseph smith story and talked about how god answers prayers and a million different ways it was also a great lesson. they have been going though a rough time so we though it might be a good idea to talk about it and it was a fantastic idea!

Wednesday we went on blitz with all the Ojai Elders (Elder Mckinly and Elder Rasband. And Elder Smoot and Elder Anderson) for the first one i was with Elder Mckinly and we taught a lesson to a older couple about what we had studied that morning and it was all on the same topic it was pretty cool. and the second one i was with Elder Anderson and we knocked some doors and ran into an lady that doesn't speak English.. or Spanish... Japanese though so i tried my best to remember my Japanese class but it didn't happen so we told her to call the number on the back of the card or go to mormon.org and she can find someone to talk to her in Japanese. oh and then we got a new car! (2014 Toyota Corolla)

Thursday walking down the street we started talking to a Manuel and we taught him the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon but said he wont read and gave it back but said we can come back to talk more with him. he is a pretty cool old guy who was feeding birds spicy cheetos.. we also stopped by the Diaz house and shared Alma 53:20 and talked about how we have to be good people so we can be trusted in all things. it was a great lesson.

Friday we went to see magaly on her day off but she got called in to work about 30 minutes before we got there so we talked to her mom instead and talk about Ether 12:4 and how great faith is but her aunt has in town with her so she asked if we could come back later and talk more about faith but to me it seemed like her aunt liked it a lot. we also talked to Luis Bribiesca and we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and asked him to be baptized on the same day as his mother (22 of Feb.) and he said he wanted to pray about and get back to us later. he is golden and will get baptized soon here.

Saturday was great we talked to a Roberto on the street and gave him a Book of Mormon and he said "i promise i will read it" !!!!! he is so golden we going back tomorrow to see what he thought about it. we also talked to a Meggy and gave her a Book of Mormon and she also said that she would read some of it. were going back on Wednesday. so i have been in Ventura for a while now and we have been trying to see this Mairela for a while now and we popped in to visit her mother in law and she walked in about 5 minutes later. so we talked about families cause she just had her baby (it 1 and 1/2 months old) it wa a great lesson (she thought my mom is Latino....) oh ya i showed them my family. and then we talked to Eusibio he was going to feed us the night before but he his son do it so we went back to teach him his dinner lesson. we talked about the 2 great commandments in Mat 22:36-40 (i believe) it was a great lesson. and we went to Ojai to see the baptism of Doug (Elder Smoot and Elder Anderson's investigator) and we found a man named Jose and we taught him the Book of Mormon and he liked it a lot.

and finally Sunday. we brought Ribay with us again and visited Gustaba who is in his Spanish class and we talked about the Book of Mormon and gave him one. we going to see him on friday to see what he thinks about it. we also visited the Vera family and invited them to a baptism on Wednesday for Jamie (Elder Moreno and Elder Simpson's investigator) and shared a quick message with them and were going to see them on Wednesday. we also seen Hna. Bribiesca and shared Hel 12:5 and building our houses on Christ. it was a great lesson.

so overall a great week see you next week take care and have fun!\

-Elder Joshua Mackay

Elder Lee

District
Anderson, Smoot, Mckinley, Rosband, Moreno, Simpson, Mackay, Hermana's Siddoway and Linford

Elder Smoot

Week 30! Round 2! Preach!

January 21, 2014

Hello every one i love all your beautify smile on this Monday.

my week was great lets start the over review!

Monday, so Elder Cavazos (my older companion) was being transferred to Santa Barbara so he wanted to say good bye to some investigators, the Gonzales family, the Bribiesca family, and the Hernandez family. at all of those places we shared a scripture, Elder Cavazos bore his testimony of the gospel and how it has helped them out and then encouraged them to continue taking the lessons. all three lessons were very powerful and hit hard to all 3 families, we might have 3 baptisms this transfer!

Tuesday. of course we had transfer meeting were I meet Elder Lee (my new companion) it was a great transfer meeting. we had a great day we went to visit the Torres family and we had i little lesson there about how god supports us in our righteous actions. hna. Torres has been in Mexico for a while working on her teeth and the more work she is getting done the more work she is needing. funny huh. we also had a lesson with the Diaz family hna. Diaz is going though some medical problems are right now so we went over to see if we could help so we gave her a 15 minute break as we taught the kids a quick lesson. about 2 Ne 4:20. its a good one!

Wednesday. we had district meeting. after that finished up and we had lunch we went to see some people cause that's what we do as missionaries, but we went to the Pacheco house to pick up Marco to take him out with us to see the Vera family and we had a lesson with them about how we can pray for answers, it was pretty good we had Marco bear his testimony and man members and missionaries working together is so much better then just members or just missionaries.

Thursday. Thursday was a lot of talking to other people on the street we found 2 new investigators and had a lot of fun that day probable my favorite day of the week. so we tried to teach Magaly a lesson but she was at work so we talked to her mom and taught her instead. I love missionary work! but we talked about Hel 5:12 another great one. and building our families on the rock of Jesus. we then ran into Jose on the street and gave him a Book of Mormon of course after talking about it and stuff, he took it we went to some other houses in that apartment complex and when we were leaving we saw him reading it and Elder Lee said "bien hecho Hermano" (good job brother) it was great to see him doing something with what we taught him. and then we started talking to a Juan Pablo and about mind way though our conversion we asked him what he thought about our message that we shared (we just taught him about Joseph Smith) and he told us that he could see that we knew that this was true and he asked us to come back Saturday and teach him more about it. so we went back on Saturday.

But Friday is before Saturday. so Friday after we finished weekly planning and all that funny stuff we headed out to work. and this time Magaly was home! so we taught her the restoration again cause she forgot what that is it was a very powerful lesson and she almost said yes to a baptism date of the 15th of February but she said "I will think about it" which is ok but good, better, best or the 15th of February. I think this week she will say yes to a date. we also taught the Bribiesca family the Plan of Salvation it was very powerful we asked the 17 year old what he taught about it and he said it makes sense its clear simply and perfect. Oh man i can't wait tell they get baptized its going to be a great day! little by little we are seeing them today so hopefully it goes well.

Saturday. was another great day. so early in the week we talked to a Sosa and he asked us to come back on Saturday so we did and we taught him the Restoration and he enjoyed it he told us that he is not looking to change religion and we told him we not looking to change him only to invite to come closer to Christ. he invited us back this week. we also had Marco come out with us again but this time we went to see Eusibio, and we shared Mos 2:41 and invited him to church to receive more blessing. it was pretty good. after we took marco back home we tried to visit xochil (pronounced so chill) but on the way we started talking to Jose and he told us to come back on Sunday to teach his family. in the evening a different Marco came out with us to visit Juan Pablo and we taught him about the Book of Mormon. and invited him to church and Marco bore his testimony SUPER POWERFUL. and then we had Saturday night session of conference.

Sunday. we had 4 lesson with one of the Priest from the branch Ribay. we had and saw Keran, Jose, Magaly, and the Diaz family but i will; have to tell you later about them and picture next week!!

love you got to run!1

-Elder Joshua Mackay  

Week 29 - 6 more weeks!

January 13, 2014

So I am staying for 6 more weeks well maybe more but I don't know.

!nyways welcome back hope you had a great week.

So nothing happened on Monday other then it was p day. oh and it was the day of the kings!

so Tuesday. Tuesday we had two lessons, one with Jose Gracia and another with Felipe Gonzales. with Jose we just stopped by to see how he was doing and we ended up talking for a little bit cause we haven't seen him in a while and he told us he wants to meet with us but he doesn't have time and so we told him who is really working hard to keep him from us and so on and so forth. and Felipe we meet with them every Tuesday but last couple of weeks couldn't due to the holidays so we stopped by to see how they were doing but his wife was very sick so he didn't let us come in, so we pretty much had the same conversion with Felipe as we did with Jose it was pretty cool.

Wednesday. we meet with the Vera family and talked about Hel 5 :12 and building ourselves on Christ. and then we smashed our fingers under a can (don't try that at home) but because we built on Christ he took the blow and we aren't hurt at all. and we also talked to the Bribiesca family. and we re taught the Restoration and asked them to be Baptized and they said when they find out if it is true then of course they would get baptized! i was so happy that they understood it!

Thursday. we finally caught Horacio off work and at home so we taught him and set some expectations with him and his family and he asked us to come back on Friday at 5 and so ya he is great he has lived a tough life, 2 months ago he was shot and the bullet went in one side and out the other and he live to tell his tale. and many other stories where he is saved from something he will probable get baptized this transfer.

Friday. so we went to see Horacio and he told us that he told his friends about us and that he wasn't going to be home but changed his mind and stayed at home so we talked to him about what he is willing to do if we finds our message true and after we talked to his almost 8 year old son (feb 4th)and asked when we could teach them as a family and they said Tomorrow! they are great! we also taught Marlen she was found by Elder Fernandez but lives in our area so we get to teach her she is prepared for the gospel it was great she asked us were our church was before we could invite her to come! and she is home all day every day.

Saturday. we taught Jaime Sanchez as we had lunch with some resent converts (he has a baptism date for the 26th on jan) and we talked about Mosiah 18 and wanting to get baptized it was a great lesson! we then taught Magaly and we haven't seen her in a while so we just read 3 Ne : 11 and talked about that for awhile and what she would do if she lived in that time. and then we went to Horacio Hernandez house to teach his family and when we got there we just left 5 minutes ago to get some parts for his car so we taught his son and his wife the Restoration and after we finish we invite them to be baptism and they said yes they would but wont commit to a date until they believe the Book of Mormon is true. but all is well is the vineyard.

so Sunday i woke up sick but i didn't want to be so i pretended that i wasn't tell after dinner i told elder Cavazos i need to lie down for 20 minutes and i ended up sleeping for 2 1/2 hours and then admitted i was sick and crawled back into bed to rest. (but i feel a lot better right now so)

anyways that was my week in a nut shell see you next week love you all take care

-Elder Joshua Mackay   

 

Week 28 -It is last week again!

January 6, 2013

so donde es Elder Mackay va a esta cambio?

and hello so i told you i would tell you about last Sunday so were starting there!

ok well not a lot happened other then President and Sister Castro gave a talk and the missionaries gave the 3rd hour lesson about missionary work it was a great Sunday to be frank with you. President and Sister Castro talked about Mosiah ch. 2, and we talked about "hasting the lords game plan" (pg 33 of this last conference ensign)

Week 5

so i start my second diet even (the first one was to gain weight for football) and ironically this one is to lose weight for missionary work!

so Monday i spend a lot of time throwing out food i was not going to eat and bought 4 things eggs, fruit, yogurt, and water. and some how i survived this week on only those 4 things. i have learned my lesson. but we had 2 lesson that day one we talked to Enrique and he was asking us how we were raised and so we talked about that for a little and we asked him how he raises his kids and he told us and then we discussed it and i happened to have a "for strength of youth for Parents" in my bag so we looked at that for a second and he liked what he saw, it was a interesting lesson. and second we talked to an English speaking man named Jesse and we talked about 3 Ne 11 and how it took 3 times before the people understood the voice from heaven. we then sent a referral to the English missionaries.

Tuesday. HAPPY NEW YEARS. so after District meeting we had a lesson with Julio were we finished talking about the Restoration. he liked it a lot and said he believes that but he doesn't know if god is even there. so we asked to pray about it and if we receives an answer would he get baptized on such and such date, he said i will not on that say yes to a date but if that happens yes i will get baptized.

Wednesday, Jan. 1 2014, weird. so we had one lessons with the Pinedo kids and they told us they have found another church.... turns out there mothers (less active member) boyfriend Corey was been taking them to an Lutheran church. so we talked about it and they liked that church better so we don't know what to do with them.

Thursday. so we had one lesson with and less active members dad, Carlos and he told us that he is scared for him. we didn't tell us why but we shared a scripture with him i forgot to write it down so i don't remember what one it was. but after we shared it he asked for our phone number to call us when his son is home to find him at home.

Friday. after all the fun in our apartment with weekly planning. we had 3 lessons 2 of which on the same street just 3 house down. Spanish work is great! so we talked to Vanessa and with her we talked about Luke 1: 37 and how she can do all things with god. short sweet and straight to the point. and as we were walking down the street we started to talk to a Maria and she had said something about how she has been waiting for her husband to stop smoking and drinking so we looked at each other (Elder Cavazos and I) and shared Romans ch 8 24-25 she then finished her story about how then one day her husband woke up and said he would never smoke or drink again and has lived to those words ever since. and finally we were passing by the Perez family and they were taking down there Christmas lights so we helped them out and then shared a lesson with them before we had out to correlation and then start our exchange with the zone leaders.

Saturday. we had exchanges with the zone leaders and we taught a potential investigator John, and we taught him the Restoration. we asked him what we believes about god and we explained the Trinity by saying GOD send HIS SON, Jesus and when he died that created the Holy Spirit and they are all the same. and we told him what we believe and he responded i take back my statement it doesn't make sense. WOW is all i could even think it was so good. we also talked to a less active Bro Head and we read 2 Ne 4, it was pretty good. and Elder Klienman need to do a baptism interview for someone in Santacoi east of Ventura. it was a great day!

Sunday. well we went to church in Ojai to bear our testimonies and introduce our selves it was pretty good. and then we went to Ventura where they changed to branch presidency. other then that it was a normal Sunday preaching the word

anyways have a great day

-Elder Joshua Mackay

     

  

Week 27 - FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

December 30, 2013

well first off merry Christmas o feliz Navidad (which ever you prefer)

second Happy New Years

third yes i spelled feliz wrong on my Christmas card so Felix Navidad (they should be in the mail or i don't have your address, which my mom is working on)

so this week was short since we had to be in a 8 for Tuesday and Thursday, and p day was on Monday and weekly planning on Friday but all is well in the vine yard of the lord!!

so Monday we had two lessons but i forgot to write them down so I forgot who they were with... Wait i remember wooh!! so for dinner we ate at Hermana Pacheco's house had some great Mexican (como siempre, y yo como siempre:D) but since she doesnt have a husband or a son older then 17 we called eusibio to eat with us and we gave he well a Christmas lesson... it was in two days! then we went over to the Pinedo family's house and shared another Christmas story it kinda what we do around Christmas share the word!

Tuesday after having Distract meeting and taking care of some doctor co payment. we headed to the mission home to drop off result of some tests with a Christmas "Felix Navidad" card and Elder Cavazos gave them some Chocolates and we are driving away after leaving he left it on the door step and i put mine in the mail box about 5 minutes later we get a text from Sister Castro that said "Thank you for the gift. My favorite thing. You both are so kind and thoughtful. I love the picture. "felix" Navidad. We sure love you!" Elder Cavazos and I laughed about that one for ages, I don't know what was going on and we then went home for lunch and language study and for lunch I had baked cookie to drop off to people but we forgot them at the apartment :( (almost 3 dozen chocolate chip kiss cookies and 6 candy cane cookies) but we still went caroling with Elder Moreno and Elder Fernandez. (don't worry mom i got feed good on Tuesday and Wednesday)

Wednesday. Well after the longest studies of my life we open all the gifts we received, so thank you if that involved you. and after we cleaned up and Elder Cavazos tried his first Terry's Chocolate orange we went over to the Cisnero's family who invited us over for lunch, after lunch we returned to call our families, which was the highlight of the day. after call we went caroling again with Elder Moreno and Elder Fernandez. we ha dinner with one of the many Hernandez families and well after we learned we forgot to do cookie drop offs so we went and did those after dinner before heading home.

Thursday. Finally i full day of working Wooh. and we got back to work teaching the Diaz family, and we talked about D&C 4 and missionary work it was a great lesson and after everyone taught of someone they could teach the gospel to or that they said they would introduce them to us to teach them so we are following up this week so cross your figures. and we went to go talk to Magaly Perez but she was working so we talked to her mother and she asked about where we wait to be judges so we semi taught her the Plan of Salvation and by semi I mean from when we die tell when we are judged and go to one of the 3 kingdoms. she liked it a lot and asked us to give her the full lesson on Thursday.

Friday, back to semi full days!! so after we finished weekly planing and all that fun jazz, we headed up to Ojai for dinner after we finished eating we talked with Enrique and his family about creating spiritual goals for the coming year, but they said being from 2 different faiths makes it hard to do that and Enrique said that religion is like a math problem, the catholics have the simple way to get to god and the mormon have the long complex way after he said that Elder Cavazos replied that though the long way we get more blessings, like temple marriage, eternally families, and many more, and like math test the people who do it the long way learn more and are more prepared for the test.

Saturday, so we had a funny lesson for dinner cause a resent convert asked "if god made the universe who made God?" so since we didn't want to go that deep into doctrine we gave them the scripture in 1 NE 13: 22. go read it.

but i have gone way over and we have to go so turn in next time for sunday and this coming week!!!