In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

Greetings,

I hope everyone is doing well, this has been a busy last week for Elder Redden and I. We’ve been biking a lot so my legs are a bit sore. Not to happy about that, but as the old saying goes, “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do”. Woke up not feeling to well this morning, stomach not agreeing with me, and the discomfort comes and goes…which is not fun. The Bratwurst I had for lunch is sure not to help.

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for my grandmother and all your messages of support. She is now in rehab and is doing much better. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

We are working with about nine people right now, which is great. Two are very close to baptism and could happen this weekend…I think Easter Sunday would be a wonderful day to be baptized. But I also know that sometimes it takes a while for someone to make that commitment…I should know…it took me two and a half years.

The weather is hopefully straightening out now. We were biking in the snow last week, which isn’t too fun. Bought some sun glasses as Walmart to keep the snow out of my eyes for next time.

My companion, Elder Redden, and I are getting along very well, which helps the work tremendously. We have been blessed as we have been able to get out and do the work of the Lord.

Last week I was in charge of the Zone Activity for Preparation Day (P-Day). We decided a fun thing to do, with Easter coming soon, would be to have a Zone Easter Egg Hunt. There was a little bit of a missionary twist to it, which made things a little interesting, but it was a lot of fun. The winners were appropriately “crowned” and given a special prize because they are “cracker jack” missionaries. [Picture Attached].

We have been teaching a little boy who was baptize not too long ago. We had a great lesson with him last night were we taught The Plan of Salvation where we drew a big picture of the plan while we were teaching. It was pretty fun [Picture Attached].

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. I have truly found an amazing peace while being immersed in the Lord’s work and have been amazed constantly at the strength beyond my own which presses this work forward. Take Care!

[Note] If you are reading this on my Live Journal, you can click on the pictures to view the actual size.

God Bless,
- Elder Joel A. McDonald Jr.
Colorado Colorado Springs Mission