Cosas estan despesando (I think that's right)

Hola otra vez!!!

So this week I will be honest was super slow. I guess all good things have to come to end right? We didn't have any baptisms and we speant the entire week finding new investigators, which we did! But it was tough. 

Your week sounded awesome! I am so proud of Jessi!!! She looked so happy and so grown up! I've been gone for two months and she already looks differenet! High school.... I will honest, I am super jealous of her Ansah jersey, but jokes on her because I'm gonna be rolling the in soccer jerseys when I get home!! Haha kids kids. I love that you went all out for her recognition night! I'm so  proud of her and you!

Okay so some news from this week, we have five new investigators! And boy are they awesome. I am finally getting my spanish teaching skills down and finally teaching with power and it shows. The difference in their countance at the end of the lesson from the begining is incredible!!! The power of the message of the restoration is real. They realize that there is something more out there other than  the catholic church. Everyone here is catholic here by the way. 

But some cool stories from this week! We knocked on this door of a guy we contacted like two weeks ago and he let us in and we asked him if he had any questions and he said he wanted to know why there were so many churches.... WE STRUCK GOLD!!! we immedietly started teaching the restoration and he was eating it all up! Also his brother came in right after we shared the joseph smith story and we were talking about the Book of Mormon and he was super interested! It was so awesome. The spirit was so strong ad I can't wait to teach him again! 

Another awesome thing happened yesterday. After lunch we were walking back to our room to change out of our suits and we past a house that Elder Ruiz and Elder Carroll (district leader) had contacted a couple days ago and I was like hey lets visit! SO we knock and the person they contacted wasn't there but we asked his sister if we could share a message with her and she was like of course! But I'm very catholic and won't change my religion but I want to hear what you have to say. So we come in and teach the restoration and she was super interested and had a ton of questions, which I answered, in spanish, by the way. At the lesson we gave her a Book of Mormon and Alma 7 to read and said we would be back to teach more! She said that she wouldn't change her religion but at the end of the lesson there was a definite difference. So I am hopeful!!!

But yeah this week was slow but good! I am finally teaching and conversing with people and it is really nice! Hopefully next week we will have more success! But I am having a great time and learning so much!!!!

Awkward: Me and my comp were preesnting in ward council and my fly was down the whole time....

Awesome: I ate shark!!!!!!

I love you and miss you!!!! 

Poco a Poco

Love,

Elder McIff

El Bueno, La Mal, y Bruce Willis

Hey Everyone!!!!

So it is Monday again!!! The day I smile the most because I get to hear from you!!!!  I'm dying for snow right now. For the past week it has just been super overcast, foggy, humid, and cold. Kind of depressing to be honest. It reminds me of March in Utah. Which makes me even more bummed out. Haha but I am trying to keep Utah out of my head! 

I hope the Cougs are killin it in basketball and the family is doing great! I haven't gotten any letters from my aunts and uncles yet. I would like to! I want to know what they are up to! 

Okay now for my week. It was pretty decent! Not as rocking as last week but still pretty good. We ran out of investigators because everyone we talk to gets baptized (totally kidding, absolutely jokes) but we had a hard time catching our investigators because they would bail on our appointments but we kept coming!!! We really focused on less actives this week which is a little harder than investigators because we have to explain to them why they still need to come to church and stuff. This is the problem with the people here. They are so receptive to the gospel and want to get baptized but three months later they are inactive because it is just another church to them. They don't realize the severity and seriousness of our church. Now, I don't know who's fault that is. Whether it is the missionaries or the members or what but it is really frustrating. THIS IS SALVATION PEOPLE!!!!! I want to just drive that into their heads. This is the most important thing they can do in their lives. And they just act like it is another church that they can just go to whenever they feel like. We were teaching this one lady and she was a less active and she hardly knew anything about the church!! She didn't even know what the priesthood was. I was in shock. After that lesson I made it my goal to not just baptize people, but to convert them. Not to just teach lessons, but to preach with the power of God. Not just reactivate people, but reactivate the Spirit of God in their hearts. 

So that was my rant for the week. Haha. BUT! I did baptize another person on Saturday! His name is Ruben and he's 11 and he was so prepared for the gospel. He is such a stud. He knew all the answers and kept all our commitments and was just golden. And he want to serve a mission just like us! He is a special little guy. His sister also got baptized and she is also super awesome. Their mother is also a less active and she was supportive of them but really doesn't want anything to do with the church. But we will keep trying!

This week was a roller coaster but it ended on a good note! I Gave a surprise message in sacrament metting yesterday which I think went pretty well! The Holy Ghost definitly helped me out on that one. And afterwards the stake president stood up and gave me props and explained to the congregation how much Spanish I have learned in three weeks. Which is a ton!!!

I am running out of time but a couple more things. There is a missionary in the ward that is serving in the Salt Lake City West mission! Crazy huh?? And also my companion fully believes that dad is Bruce Willis. Like 100%. It is so funny. 

Awkward: I had to baptize Ruben three times...

Awesome: I taught a whole scripture study class in spanish!!!

I love you all and can't wait to hear more!!!

Poco a Poco

Love, 

Elder McIff

I'm a real missionary now!!!

So this week was so awesome! Like super!!!! Yeah I'll be honest it is ridiculously hard but who said who said it wouldn't be? Okay I can't to tell you this later.... I BAPTIZED, ME PERSONALLY, SOMEONE!!!!! That's right I had my first baptism on Saturday. We were supposed to have three but unfotunately there were complications with two of them so they couldn't this week  but we had a 12 year old girl who we've been teaching switch to this week. She has been so excited about baptism that she wanted to get it done as soon as possible! And so we switched her to Saturday and she graciously allowed me, the hopeless gringo, baptize her! It was seriously amazing. There was an amazing spirit there and she seemed so happy! Unfortunately people don't really know how to smile all that much so you can't really tell but she bore her testimony and she was just so grateful and happy! Her name is A.C. and her mom is an inactive member so hopefully we can get her to start coming but I dont think so. But we will keep trying!!!

This week my spanish has really progressed and I have learned so much! It is no where near perfect but it's getting there! I can actually converse with my comp about stuff and we joke around and just have a great time! Unfortunately he never tells me what we are doing so I am constantly confused! But it okay. I'm just going with the flow. He's my trainer so I kind of have to listen right?? But it's okay.

I am so thankful for my area. It is super hilly and poor but it is such a good area. Every one is so nice and accepting so its easy. I went on two splits with the District and Zone leaders and there areas are so much harder. The people have more money and are a little pridefull so they never accept messages. So I am definitely thankful!!!! 

I am having such great time. It's hard and I get discouraged a lot but by the end of the day I end up with a smile on my face because I know that the Lord is carrying me every step of the way and I owe everthing to him. I just have to keep pushing forward and keep a positive attitude. K.B. sent me an awesome letter last week which had an awesome quote from Jeffery R. Holland of course. It is the best missionary pep talk ever. Get's me pumped. 

I did get your package though!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! It was seriously the best thing ever!! I loved it! I was a littel taken aback when I found skeletons and ghosts in it but I loved it anyways!!! I gave some of the decorations to our pensionista and she loved them! She doesn't have a lot so she thought they were the greatest thing ever! And I gave her little boy the little hand car things and the glowsticks and he was just going crazy! Plus I loved the candy of course. And so did my comp! Thank you so much. I really wish you could send more but oh well... Please send letters though! Like for my birthday and Christmas. I would like something physical. Haha. But yes I can get everything I need here. Hopefully... I brought the only i'pod cord in our house that doesn't work so... yeah. .

But this wek was great and I am having an amazing time!!! Jessi looked so pretty and I'm so glad she had a good time! Seeing her big group made me kind of miss high school! Dances were the best!! But it's okay!! I hope everyone is doing great and you are handling life with out me! I love you so much!!!!

Awkward- I Was eating some fish and I wanted to say i like fish! So I said Me gusta pecado! Now, the word for fish is pescado. Pecado means sin. I said I like sin. Smooth I know. But luckily it was just at home. 

Awesome.- I BAPTIZED SOMEONE!!!!!!

Poco a Poco

Love,

Elder McIff

First Week in the Mission Field!!!

Well first week in the feild is almost over!!! It has been absolultley crazy. My trainer is Elder R. from Iquitos Peru and he is great! My area is the ward La Habana in the Carabayllo stake. It is so awesome here!!! I don't really know where to start!!! But it's been a definite learning experience.

First off, I don't know how to speak spanish. I can understand mostly everything based off of context and just their body language and stuff but when they ask me a question I just smile and nod. I can answer some questions, like about my family and the US but anything else is a struggle. Especailly with my companion. He's from the jungle so he has a really thick accent and speaks super fast so I have to ask him to repeat things like three times and I feel like he is getting really impatient with me. But he is a worker. Holy heck. I am so dang tired at the end of the day. Our area is pretty much San Francisco on steriods. It is built right on the side of the mountain and the hills and ridiculously steep and ridiculously long. My legs are getting ripped. And when you think of where I am just think of Mars. NOTHING grows. It's incredible. It is so dry and dusty here. I am dirty 24/7. But it is a good fun dirty.

Me and my companion have worked our butts off. I don't remember the numbers but appartently they were good! My comp keeps raving about them. We taught so many lessons and contacted a ton. The people are super receptive here! They are all super nice and EVERYONE believes in Jesus Chirst and God. That makes it a lot easier. But I am so stoked because we have two baptisms on saturday and then next week we have three! I'm not taking credit for the one this week because they were before I came but next week I gonna take credit for the three because we've taught all the lessons while I've been here. So three already!!!! But it's not about the numbers. I've got to keep telling myself that. 

The first few days were super hard and I got super discouaged because I couldn't understand anything and I thought I was absolutely useless. But I started talking and everything has gotten better. One thing I want to share is that the people here are so dang poor but so dang happy. It is the coolest thing but a little unerving. But super cool! I don't know. Everyone lives in tin shacks and has a plasma tv in the middle of their dirt. Its really wierd but I guess they have different priorities here!!! But don't worry mom, i don't live in a tin shack. We live with a member family who is also our pensionista and they are all great!!! They are super nice and make super good food. It's always rice and chicken or beef but I like it! Also thier portions are massive!!! Like you thought Americans ate a lot, come to Peru!! These guys can eat for days!!!

I am having a great time and I am feeling the blessings of God everyday and I thank you so much for your prayers!!! They have definitely helped! 

You sound great back home! It sounds like you are having so much fun!!! I hope the ward is doing awesome and Jessi and Jenni are doing awesome!!! I actually don't know if I got the package, no one has said anyhting but based on the letter I sent you I don't think so... But I hope I get your letters!!! 

Awkward: I keep using the feminine form of spanish and calling myself a girl

Awesome: I am starting to teaching parts of lessons and its going really well!!!!

I am having a blast!!!

I love you!!!!

Poco a Poco

Love,

Elder McIff