Family,
This week has been a great week. Thursday morning, my companion got sick. By the afternoon, he was in his bed… too sick to work. He asked me when I came in that night if I could give him a blessing. I said, ‘of course’ even though I had no idea what to say, especially in Spanish! But I went ahead and gave him the blessing the best I could. He was so thankful, and then he hopped into bed… coughing all night. He was up a few times in the middle of the night (to go to the bathroom) but shockingly, he woke me up at 6 25 to get ready for the day. He said he felt completely better. I still think it was a miracle because of the faith he had that his white companion, who didn’t know enough Spanish, could help him be healed. I know I will probably have countless experiences like this on my mission, especially after reading my patriarchal blessing. It was a great experience for both of us.
Saturday we went out tracting. Me and my companion were without another member, which at first, made me hesitant. Besides the fact that i didn’t know where we were, I knew my companion hadn’t had a lot of practice and was already shy to begin with. I have learned from the past 2 times tracting, that we can´t pass anyone up. I told him, “every single person we pass we have to talk to.” We had to have talked to 50 people. It was an awesome experience. We had tons of great lessons with people. We met non-members and members of other churches, and people that said they had no purpose in their life. Many people were very willing to listen to us. It bugs me every time though, that we can never see these people again. Ecuador will be amazing because we will get to see them grow.
One man we talked to was great. He was sitting on the curb, just staring into the park across the street. We started talking to him and asked what was most important in his life. He said, Faith in Jesus Christ. We were so shocked to hear such a perfect response. I told him that that was the first principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ… and then we taught him a bit about our church. He asked us, ¨When will Jesus come?¨ We said, “soon, but no one knows, so we have to prepare.” We asked him to come to church the next day… and he asked if Jesus would be there. I said ABSOLUTLY. If you want to feel closer to Jesus and your Heavenly Father, and feel the Spirit, come to church. He was so excited to come to church. Now again, I don’t know if he went to church or anything, but seeing his eyes as we taught him gave us plenty of joy. I can’t wait to go to Ecuador and begin my mission. The MTC has gone so fast. When you’re working hard, the time goes by too fast. This time next week, I will be in Ecuador. It is so exciting.
I am so thankful for my opportunity to serve a mission. I have read the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and I am finishing the New Testament this week. I see why people don’t want to leave their missions ever. And I haven’t even gotten to mine yet. But… I always feel so close to the Spirit- it’s almost tangible. It’s an amazing feeling. The next 22 months are going to be the best time of my life.
Love,
Elder McRae
P.S. Get Grandma baptized so she and Grandpa can be mission presidents… or presidents of an MTC. Our president reminds me so much of Grandpa. He is as tough as nails when he needs to be… but also has so much love for the missionaries. And he is a historical genius and loves sharing deep doctrine and historical evidence to back up the Book of Mormon. He is amazing. Just like Grandpa.
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