Todo el dia, cada dia

What a goof!

Hey familyation!!!!

How is everything doing out there in the great state of Utah!!!?? I hope everything is cool and good. Everything is going good here in the dirty, hilly, dusty, paradise that is Lima Peru. I would just like to explain to you guys the amount of dirt there is here, but seeing that there is a ridiculous amount of dirt, I will not be able to. But its a cool place. Just really dirty and really hot. Haha. 

But this week was a good one! Especially thanks to some awesome quotes from our beloved prophets!!! In these past weeks I have really been looking for ways to have more love and more charity for the people and serve them more. I searched the scriptures, PMG, and the modern day prophets. And I could find a lot of things that really helped me. But what helped me a lot was the last conference talk from Elder Holland "Aren't we all Beggars?". In that talk he talked about helping the poor and the needy all that we can. One thing that he said was "Although I may be my Brother's Keeper, I am my BROTHER'S BROTHER, and because I have been given much I too must give." Even though we aren't responsible for all the things that the people do we should at least love them and do what we can to help them serve them, and go that extra mile to serve our Brother. 

That was an awesome lesson I learned this week and well I also got your package mom! Thank you for the candy and talks!!!! I had already read the Fourth missionary like five times but I had never read The miracle of Mission and it was awesome. I loved it so much. I love how Jeffery R Holland talks about giving your all all day every day. Just like in sports, to succeed we have to give our all. 110%. And in the mission it is even more important. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WILL EVER DO. Explained Elder Holland. I do not want to waste a minute I have. I will admit, my body is tired and destroyed. The physical toll of a mission huge. But now I am on the last lap of the mile. My body is weak, my legs are aching, I can't breathe and everything is telling me to rest up a little, slow down, it's okay if you're second or third place, you still get on the podium. The gold is my goal. Strong until the End! 

I am loving my mission right now. A little stressful at limes but it is fun and I am happy. Just a tired happy man. 

Thanks for all your love and support and everything you do to motivate me and keep me going!!! 

I love you all!!!!! Keep strong until the end!!!!!

Elder McIff

Sabias? Dios es un Dios de Milagros

Hello family and friends!!!!!

Well Just to start off, I want to tell you guys that GOD LOVES US; HE EXISTS, AND HE IS A WHOLE LOT POWERFUL THAN WE CAN THINK!!!!!! Now with that said I would like to relate what happened this week, the best week of my mission.

So everything started last Saturday night with a phone call from the sister missionaries. they called us saying that they wanted to marry a family they were teaching this week. But I kind of freaked out because the deadline to turn everything in was Monday, we had two days, two days to do papers and a process that takes at least two weeks. Obviously I told them no and that they would have to wait until next month. Obviously they didn't like that answer so they decided to take manners into their own hands and started calling the whole world to find the papers necessary for this family. Sunday we get to church and they tell us, hey! We got it!!! We got the papers!!! What??? I said how???? Obviously they had a lot more faith than I did. So we said right there and then that we would go to Lima first thing Monday morning. 

So that's what we did. Right after I wrote you guys we grabbed a bus with Elder B. and booked our way for an hour and a half to Lima to sign up the family for a group marriage. Now, like i have explained before, Marriages here are super complicated and require lots of papers and certificates. So in Lima we had to go to a government building to take out a certificate, but it was closed.... We were like no.... So we didn't know that to do so we ran over to like the city hall, I guess its called that, to what we could do. It was the last day and we just needed one paper but we couldn't get it because there was no power in the place!!!! But Thanks to God, the lady there told us that we could come back like on Thursday to turn it in. But she told us that we had to come tomorrow so the couple could sign some papers. 

So ya we went home and we got back at like 6:00pm. Making all the plans to get everything done on Tuesday and Thursday. So Elder B. went on Tuesday with the family to sign the stuff and got back safe and sound and told us the only thing left was go on Thursday. Whew, were good.

So then came Wednesday, and guess who else came, Elder Godoy from the seventy!!! The Seventy that spoke in general conference in Portuguese!!!! It was awesome!!! the conference started at 8:00am and first he met with all the Zone Leaders and it was super sweet to talk with him and learn some new things. He truly is a man called of God and he gave us a lot of tips to help our zones and receive revelation for them. Then we got together with like 2/3 of the mission. Like 160 missionaries. And President Erickson taught us and Elder Godoy as well and it was awesome. And well Elder Godoy was teaching us a bunch of about the mistakes we make and the traps we fall in and then we asked for one companionship to come up and do a practice with him, to teach a seventy!!!! And then out of no where Elder M. jabs me in the side with his elbow and lifts up his hand. I was like, WHAT! Were gonna teach a Seventy!!! What are you thinking?? And well I raised my hand too. And so he told us to come up, Me, Elder M., and Elder B., to teach him and commit him to baptism in front of 160 missionaries. 

In this moment it didn't even cross my mind what I was about to do. But he told us that we was going to be baptized this Saturday but now had decided not to. So we had to fix his doubts and commit him again. So we fixed his doubts and everything. He believed that the church was true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and the Book of Mormon was true. But he still didn't want to get baptized. So we whipped out our scriptures ready to share a lot of scriptures about baptism and repentance and then he told us, Elders, wait, just think a little bit, why don't I want to be baptized. And then he taught us that Even though people know that the church is true, if they don't keep the commandments they won't want to be baptized. So we had to find out what commandment he wasn't keeping. Turns out that he was unfaithful to his wife and he had to change it. It was so awesome!!!!!!!! I learned a bunch!!!! WE TAUGHT A GENERAL AUTHORITY!!!!! A SEVENTY!!!! Amazing. So dang cool. 

So the conference was amazing and we learned a ton and it ended around 1:00 and right when it ended Elder Blackham got a call from the guys in the mission offices and they said that we had to go that same day to Lima to finish all the papers. Oh no we said. But we acted. We grabbed a bus back to our house, changed, grabbed the papers that we had to turn in called a young man to do divisions, grabbed a taxi and Elder B. and I were off. This was at about 2:30 pm when we left our area heading to Lima. We were freaking out because the city hall was going to close at 4:00 and we still had some papers to do in Lima to have everything ready. So he told the taxi driver to step on it!!!

We got to Lima in like 45 minutes, went to the government building did all the papers and started booking it to the city hall. By this time it was 3:30. So Elder Blackham I started running to get there. Running running and we turned a corner and we realized, crap we don't know where we are. We're lost, and the City hall is gonna close in twenty minutes. Right there I just shouted out, GOD GUIDE US! And started running down the first street I saw. Running Running and running, we pass a lady, ask her where the city hall is and she says, oh, one block that way. THANK YOU GOD. We got to the city hall with 15 minutes to spare. And then the sisters showed up with other papers about 20 minutes later and they let us sign up everything and it all happened. The family got signed up and now they are going to get married and their family of 5 are going to Baptized this Saturday. 

This is God's work. We did not have faith and God showed us that for him everything is possible. I was humbled more than ever and I now know that God is doing everything here. We are just his servants. 

That was just until Wednesday. A lot more miracles and blessings happened this week. But we don't have time and has Mormon said, just the hundredth part of the miracles and occurrences I can write this week. But I want you to know that this has been a mission changing week and I am very very happy right now. :)

Thank you for all you love and support!!! 

I love you guys!!!!!

Livin' it up in LA

Hey there!!

Well Tuesday was transfers and I am now in La Zona Los Angeles!!! I am now in a trio with Elder M from Santa Fe Argentina, and Elder B from Las Vegas!! We three are the Zone Leaders here. It is super cool. Being in a trio as Zone Leaders we are doing work visits everyday to the missionaries. Helping them out how we can. It is pretty cool! 

We are in a city called Carabayllo, and it is ENORMOUS. Our areas are huge!!!!!! Right now the ward I am in (Los Angeles) has 9 missionaries, 4 companionships and every area is about the size of an entire ward. Our ward alone is about the size of an entire stake here in Peru. Lots of Work to do!!!! My area is pure hills. We climb tons of stairs and tons of hills everyday and it is just super killer. My legs are dying. My last area was somewhat flat but here its just straight up. super crap. But strong mind strong body!!! 

Like I told you in my other letter I am just tired. just super tired always. just the thing is that the food is super bad here. Well it tastes good but it doesn't do much for your body and it is rough. So some vitamins would be awesome and maybe you can suggest like food to buy so make it myself or something but now I am just tired of the food here.

But other than that I'm good!! I am learning now a bunch from the scriptures and having sweet studies. I now look forward everyday to learning from the scriptures and growing my knowledge of the gospel. I am having a lot of fun with my studies and learning a lot of interesting things. I am going to start looking for stuff to share with you guys from my studies. 

But something cool that my companion and I could learn was thanks to Elder Uctdorf. In the last women's conference he said something very interesting.He said "Part of our challenge is, I think, that we imagine that God has all of His blessings locked in a huge cloud up in heaven, refusing to give them to us unless we comply with some strict, paternalistic requirements He has set up. But the commandments aren’t like that at all. In reality, Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us. It is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us." That just blew my mind. I always thought that I Had to keep the commandments and doing everything right to receive the blessings of God. But it is the other way around. He is always blessing us, it is just us that impede those blessing from getting here. I loved it so much and know I just need to look for more blessings of the Lord in my life to be able to feel his love and do his work. I am so ever grateful for his love and help and I just hope that I can find more of his grace in my mission and my area to keep pushing on. 

I have to tell myself that always. Let us all press on.

I am just trying my hardest to do the best job that I can do to have success. 

Let us all press on. 

Poco a Poco

Elder McIff