1.16.12 Indpendencia, Ecuador

Family,

That stinks that the Broncos lost. Oh well. That’s awesome that you’re all going to the USA game too. Today was so long. We had to go to the mission office to pick up a few things so we were there all day. This week nothing crazy happened. We were focused on our baptism. Karolina was baptized this Saturday and it was a great experience. I don’t have much more to say than that. Also, this year some more of my friends should be turning 19. I know Justin´s birthday is in February so where is his call? Jory and Tyler still have a long time to go but what about them too? And the next time you send a package down here can you send shoe laces? … dress shoe style. I can’t find shoe laces anywhere here so I have been using light blue shoe laces. They’re the only ones I could find. Anyways, next week I am hoping to have permission to go to the mall and buy my Ecuador jersey. Other than that everything is normal. The work is rolling on and we are working crazy hard to keep up with it.

Love,

Elder McRae

1.9.12 Indpendencia, Ecuador

Family,

Holy COW!!!!! I haven’t seen the Broncos even in the playoffs since 8th grade! The fact that they beat Pittsburgh is awesome!!!!! New England already smacked the Broncos around this season which means like Thunderbird, it is going to be hard to beat a good team twice. That is so awesome though. I can´t believe it. I haven’t bought the Ecuador jersey because we haven’t had permission to go to the mall. Other bad missionaries already ruined our chances at having P Days. We need permission to go anywhere outside of our sector. That would be like you having to ask permission to leave Vistancia. What could you possibly do? So P days are spent in the house bored all day long.

So my letter last week talked about my talk. My favorite part of this week relates to that talk as well. Yesterday in church one of the members bore her testimony. She talked about how the Elder last week explained the atonement in a way she had never thought and was an answer to her prayers and led her to sharing the gospel with someone. It was just awesome to hear how my talk touched her heart. It reminds me that i am always doing missionary work no matter what i am doing. These next few weeks we will be nice and busy with lots of baptisms. Elder Johnson and I are working hard and it is paying off. The president must have been inspired to send two newbies to a slumping part of the mission.

That´s really all I have to talk about this week. I love hearing about the stuff going on at home. It sounds super fun. I still cannot believe what the Broncos did. That is incredible. In the next email, either tell me every detail of the game or copy and paste part of an article or something. That’s awesome.

I have some pictures of our last baptism and our house that we played soccer in.

Love,

Elder McRae

1.1.12 Independencia, Ecuador

Family,

Again, Not a lot to talk about.  This Tuesday, we had changes.  I am still in Independencia living with Elder Curtis and Elder Cederquist but I got a new companion.  His name is Elder Johnson.  He is from LA.  He has 6 months in his mission.  Tomorrow I have 5 months.  So we are both new.  This is good for both of us though because we don’t have anyone to rely on to speak perfect Spanish for us.  I don’t see us having any problems though.  It’s funny because he is a little like me in the sense that he is not afraid to be frank with people.  I absolutely know people can feel the power that we teach with. 

New Year´s was spent playing soccer in the house.  However this time, we didn’t just play the crossing game.  We cleared everything out and played 2 on 2.  Ecuador is humid.  In the house is more humid.  Add sprinting, diving, slide tackling and ripping shots to that... and you get the all-time sweatiest, hottest, and mustiest indoor soccer game ever.  I played in bare feet so my feet were completely black and gross. My companion sweats more than any other human on earth.  He was dripping wet. Elder Curtis and Elder Cederquist also were gross and sweaty.  But all and all it was a great Saturday night.  We all went to bed at 10 30 like obedient missionaries should, but of course we were all awake at 11 30 because of the sounds of bombs going off right outside our window.  It was so loud there was literally no way anyone in the country could sleep.  Fireworks were shot off and they burned the Muñecos all night.  The city was covered in smoke.  The streets all were on fire.  It looked like we were in a war zone.  Finally at about 1, the fireworks died out and it was just blaring music.  We all passed out after church the next day. 

At church, we started the sacrament meeting with 6 people.  Two were me and E. Johnson, another was our investigator, the Bishop, his wife, and the first councilor.  By the end of sacrament though there was about 12 or 15 people.  My companion and I were called up to give the talks since no one else was there.  I realized one of the gifts of the spirit that I have.  The gift is not the gift of lounges because I absolutely cannot speak Spanish.  But there is something about the way I talk that God has blessed me with… I’ve been blessed to speak with power.  I talked about the atonement and the role we play in it.  I talked about how if we really, truly claim to love Christ, the best thing we can do is help him by sharing the gospel.  He had to suffer for every mistake that people would ever make.  We have the privilege and the obligation to cry repentance unto the people of this world and lighten the pain that Christ had to go through.  Even though I couldn’t use fancy words, or big analogies, or anything like that, I could still tell the people were understanding me and feeling the spirit.  It reminded me of a part of my patriarchal blessing when it said, ¨You have the gift of bearing a strong testimony,  your words will ring true in their ears, and it will lead them to change.¨ That is what I was feeling when I was talking.  Just an assurance that, yes you can talk, and yes they are understanding you.  The language barrier doesn’t change the fact that I can bear a strong testimony.  So that was my favorite part of this week. 

Everything sounds super fun in Arizona.  When I think about how I used to live that life, I feel so weird.  Everything normal is just a vague memory to me now.  I always, before, talked about how I would not let my mission change me.  And I am still the same person with the same personality and everything but I can tell I am changing.  Things that used to be important to me are still things I love but I ponder on other deeper things now.  Things that are really important.  Anyways, I like that I am growing.  Time is going be dangerously fast.  I will be home in 19 very short months.

Love,
Elder McRae

Christmas greetings from the zone!

Dear McRae Family,
               For us it is a pleasure and a privilege to have your son serving in this mission. We have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas lunch. Attached you will find a picture of your son, the zone and our family. We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
With Best Regards,

President and Sister
Montalti
and our children

12.26.11 Independencia, Ecuador

Family,

Yeah I can´t think of anything to write.  I hope I answered all your questions.  If you ever think of questions, just write them and I can respond to them.  Because like I said yesterday, the weird things just seem normal to me now.  Changes will probably be tomorrow so I will probably have a new companion or a new area or something like that to talk about with you guys next week.  Also, New Year’s is this week so we will probably be playing some more soccer in the house all day Saturday and Sunday.  

Oh, after we talked we were playing soccer and all of a sudden, the tile on the floor in the corner of the room just rose up and started cracking as if an earthquake happened.  We tried to figure out what happened but all we could think of was it’s just a poor, Ecuadorian building.  But it was crazy to see all of the tiles moving around on their own and then listening to the cracking sounds move through the floor.  We thought we were going to have to make an escape or something before the building collapsed on us but it was just the top layer of tile.  Still a fun experience.  Oh and Elder Curtis was on the phone with an investigator last night just going over some baptismal questions and things.  I heard him say, ¨¿Si, y donde vamos despues esta vida?¨ (Where do we go after this life?) then he looked at me, pretended to throw the phone out the window and said ¨Si... Y tambien vamos al mundo de los espiritus¨  (Yes... and also we go to the spirit world)  When he hung up the phone I asked him how it went and he laid on the floor and said ¨What´s wrong with these people!?¨ I asked why he was frustrated with the people, and he said, “i asked her where we go after this life and she said ¨A la Iglesia¨ (To church) I thought it was awesome because I have had so many experiences like that.  Anyways, now you guys know a little bit more about life on the other side of the border.

Merry Christmas,

Love,

Elder McRae

12.19.11 Independencia, Ecuador

Family,

Okay this week was absolutely crazy. First of all yes i received one of the packages this week. I got the one with the peanut butter and the Liberty Jersey. The Jersey is awesome!! So you said grandpa wants to put money in my account. Between you guys, and grandpa, and whatever other family members want to contribute to my ¨Ecuador Jersey Fund¨ i need 60 dollars for an Official Long Sleeve Away Blue Ecuador Jersey. This is beautiful. I have been eyeing it in the mall the past two weeks. The mall, by the way, is amazing. It is gigantic. It is three stories and plays English Christmas music and when we’re there, it actually feels like Christmas. In independencia it never feels like Christmas. Anyways though, I love hearing about the stories from home. I remember that whole life was so fun. Gavin wanting to kill dad, traveling to soccer games, all that stuff.

So Friday night we passed by their house to confirm a time for the baptism the next day. They were going to be really busy so we were afraid that the baptism wouldn’t happen. It was about 7 30 or so and i said jokingly well lets just do it right now. Elder Sulla said that is a great idea. We sprinted to the chapel and back and got everything ready and I baptized Yamilet that same night. There was a party at the church that same night so about 30 people attended the baptism. It was such a great baptism. Everyone felt the spirit but especially the mom, Jessica. She said she didn’t know why she felt so good. She felt like God just took all her sorrow away that night. It was such a powerful experience. I felt so bad for Jessica because there are so many people out there who are rejecting the gospel. She actually understood it and excepted it, but couldn’t be baptized. But i know that she will do everything she can to make sure Yamilet grows up strong in the gospel.

Okay so if you want to call on Christmas Eve that is fine. You can call anytime after 4pm and before 7pm Ecuador time. Or if Sunday is better you can call from 3pm to 5pm. The number is 011-593-8-759-0259

Anyways, life is fun down here in Ecuador. We will be in the house all day the 24th, 25th, and 26th. It’s too dangerous to leave so be thankful for a happy Christmas with family, and toys, and xbox! oh and cold weather. IT IS SO HUMID HERE!!!

Love,

Elder McRae

12.12.11 Independencia, Ecuador

Family,

Dad´s email was awesome! Everything I wanted to hear about. High School sports, and the NFL. Okay so again… I completely forgot about Christmas. You can call me from the 23rd to the 28th but only once. However, the 24th, or 25 is the best time because we are in the house all day. I will get you the number and all that this next Monday. I don’t know what Dad can do about the Fulham jersey but that would be the best present of all time. Oh and I saw Van Persie’s goal the other day. Beautiful!

Okay so this week was much better!! Yesica and Yamilet came to church and are ready to be baptized this week. It’s so great to see the change in Yesica.

So during my study i have been reading Jesus the Christ. This book is Amazing. Also I was reading in Preach my Gospel about the attributes of Christ. I read a quote that said your diligence is a sign of your love for the Savior. I thought about that as I started reading some scriptures. I thought about the atonement. And how all the apostles were sleeping as Jesus suffered. Jesus suffered for all these people´s sins here in Ecuador. The harder I work, the less sin these people commit. I have the power to lessen the burden of the Savior’s suffering by helping these people change. So i don’t want to be one of the apostles that is asleep. I want to be the missionary that the Savior is grateful for by doing everything I can to lessen what He had to go through.

As far as the people… the people who crucified Jesus beat him, spit on him, mocked him, and finally nailed him to a cross to die, and Jesus didn’t say one thing bad about the people. These people don’t come to church and then we think that gives us the right to talk bad about them. Until they nail me to a cross, i have decided to just love them and not complain about them. There is always going to be frustration but my mission is to help the people and to love the people. So that is something I learned this week.

SO… to answer some of Dad’s questions…. We have a lady in the ward that washes our clothes for us. There are little shops on the streets with computers that we pay for to use. I forget to tell you guys stuff because i have completely forgot about the US. This just feels normal and like home so when I see crazy things, I don’t pay attention to them because they are normal to me now. Anyways, it’s good hearing from you and how Liberty is doing in soccer. I imagined they would take a few solid beatings this year. A few of the things i miss about home are football and soccer. Anyway, my companion, elder Curtis, and his companion, and I are going to the mall now. Chao!

Love,

Elder McRae

12/5/11 Independencia, Ecuador

Family,

Okay, so a little bit of how the mission runs. Our investigators have to attend church two times before they can be baptized, which means Sundays are the most important days on the mission. The two sure investigators that we had lined up to be baptized the 10th of December completely ditched us on Sunday. We passed by their house and they said they were coming. As we returned a few minutes later the door was locked shut from the outside and they didn’t return until later that night. So we had zero investigators come to church yesterday. Basically what that means is we wasted a week. Seven people who had a date to be baptized can not be baptized on that date now. So Sunday was completely disappointing. We really only have two real investigators. Everyone else avoids us at all costs. No one wants to listen to us. It seams like everyone is content with just sitting in their sin. Nothing we can say to them catches their attention. They all act like they know Jesus and are so thankful for Him but they can never explain to us what He actually did for them. They don’t understand their own religion either. They don’t think logically so when we just break it all down for them, they just vomit one of their memorized phrases to us. I don’t know how to just get them to think like a normal person. It is getting so frustrating. Everyone talks about South America being this amazing baptizing place but none of the missionaries here are baptizing anyone. I have been studying about agency and the spirit and trying to find ways to get these people to understand the importance of being baptized so they can be saved, but nothing is working. It is like there is no cure for... (i cant think of the word) its like being oblivious. We can’t cure their illogical thinking.

So yes, I am frustrated. I am not sure what I am supposed to be learning from this experience. I know there are missions out there where elders don’t get any baptisms for two years. But knowing that this is Ecuador, just makes me angry. Our president talks about how we should just be dunking people every week. But we are not doing it. So there must be something wrong with us... But that’s the thing. There really isn’t anything wrong with us. We are being obedient, we are teaching well, we have the spirit, we can even feel the spirit testify to the people that the things we say are true. They just want nothing to do with it. And it is like this all over the mission.

But really, i am having fun. I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. It is just frustrating right now. Anyway, everything sounds good in AZ. It is so humid here that it’s disgusting.

Love,
Elder McRae

11/28/11 Independencia, Ecuador

Family,

So on Thursday, Elder Curtis said to me, as we were all lying in our beds, “How was your thanksgiving?” I totally forgot about that. We just decided that holidays do not exist here. For Christmas, since we are not allowed to leave, we will just do whatever we can to not even think about the holiday.

So on Friday mine and Elder Curtis’ companion had a meeting, so we got to work that whole day together. It was awesome! That day flew by. We finally had someone we could laugh with and have fun with. Also it was nice to be able to say we didn’t understand what the people were saying when they went off the topic. We taught some lessons and honestly, i felt like they were the best lessons i have ever taught. When it’s just me and elder Curtis it is a lot easier for me to take control of the conversation. Because it’s not the investigator talking a million miles an hour with my companion about the bible, or something someone else said that doesn’t have any relativity to the lesson. So that was a good experience. In our last lesson that day also, our companions returned and another companionship was there too. So this family had 6 missionaries testifying of the importance of baptism to them. It was powerful. They can never deny that they didn’t feel the spirit and know that these things are true. But of course, like tons of the people here, they don’t care if its true, they just want whatever best fits their desires so they will lie to us and tell us they know what we are saying is false. The problem is, the son of this family really wants to be baptized.

Yesterday, we were walking across the freeway in our sector and as i turned around, I saw a car accident. Instantly, everyone came running out of their house to see what happened. Both drivers were fine. People crowded around the cars and then I noticed one of the cars was trying to drive away. People were diving in his window and trying to turn the steering wheel or pull the emergency brake. The guy ended up driving into the big curb that divides the free way. The people finally got the car stopped but it was crazy. My companion and I had front row seats across the road.

Now for some reality. I sometimes imagine hell, to be exactly like where i am now. This is the reality of these people`s lives. The filth that these people are living in is unbelievable. The world right now is disgusting. The strongest of people are falling into the temptations of Satan. I see wives and children get beaten. Every man in the city is drunk all the time. So one, be thankful for what you have and two, stick close to the gospel because Satan is everywhere. And he is working harder than ever. The world’s morals are completely gone at this point. At least here they are. Which is why this is exactly how i imagine hell.

But luckily, there is hope. The gospel can change anyone’s life. Jesus performed the atonement for every sin that would ever be committed. Each and every one of these people has the opportunity to repent, and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is what we as missionaries are trying to do every day... Save the world from the gulfs of hell.

Besides all of that though, it really is fun. It’s an awesome experience. And the time goes by fast. This week is my 4th month. It is a great learning experience for me, and i am thankful to be here. But it sounds like you’re having fun in AZ. I will be calling home Christmas day. I have no idea what we will talk about but yeah i am looking forward to it.

Love,

Elder McRae