In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

Greetings from the city of Wyatt Earp!

Things are going pretty good out here in Dodge City. We’ve been focusing on inviting people to church. We made up some nifty pass-a-long invitations to give out. It seems to be going pretty well so far. Hopefully we will have a few new people at church this Sunday.

We had a member request a Braille Book of Mormon for a friend of theirs who is blind. It took a while to obtain it because the mission office had to special order it and then find a way to get it out here. Once we received it we were amazed at how huge it was! I don’t think I have ever seen Braille book before. We got a few pictures with it before giving it to the member who requested it. [Pictures attached]

Our church building never had artwork ordered for it so the walls were pretty bare. Over the last few months Bishop Smith has been ordering art and last Thursday we helped unpack it to be put up. It was during our weekly District Meeting. It was exciting to be one of the first to see the new artwork. [Pictures attached]

Last Sunday we had dinner out at the Brinkerhoff’s. They have a little farm about 40 miles from here. It’s a nice place with goats, cows, and horses. We had a good time taking pictures. The horses were pretty crazy. They have personalities all on their own. Elder Larson and I ran around with our cameras taking various kinds of pictures. I shot one I really liked of an old barn garage door. The sun was setting behind me and my shadow was cast on the door. I liked it so much; I thought I would send it out. [Pictures attached]

The other evening we had a little photo shoot of sorts at the old Boot Hill Cemetery building. The sun was setting fast, so we were losing our lighting, but we ended up getting a few good shots. [Picture attached]

Yesterday was a little different. We got a call from one of the Sisters in the ward asking us to bless a house. We met with her later that day and found out that the people living in the house (including her son) have seen and heard a little boy in the basement of the house. The boy was white with blonde hair. The people living there are Mexican. They would see this boy for a moment and then he would disappear, or run into a closet and vanish. We went inside the house yesterday afternoon and toured the basement and listened to what the people had to say about what they had seen. There were rosaries on every wall and in every closet in the basement. I didn’t feel any overwhelming feeling or see anything strange as we were in the basement. We told them that we would meet with the Bishop later and come back in the evening. The Bishop came along with us and said he didn’t feel a bad presence in the home, but would bless it anyway (as all homes should be blessed). So we did that and talked to the people and assured them that they had no need to fear. A little different. I don’t think I ever thought I would be dealing with haunted houses on my mission.

I hope all is well with you. I would love to hear from you and I promise that I’ll reply to all e-mails (and letters) sent to me. Thanks for reading!

[Pictures not attached as noted]

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

Wow…people actually read these updates online! I’ve received so many thoughtful messages from people asking if I was doing ok, as there had been no updates on my live journal. Sorry about the lack of updates. I’m not sure if the last update was too long or if it was something else. All I know is that it didn’t post. I’ll try to take a little time to investigate today.

Things are going pretty well right now. Two weeks ago we had General Conference, then Stake Conference, and then Zone Conference. Way too many conferences and way too much information to try to process.

For everyone who was asking. I’m doing fine. We’ve been doing a lot of service for people lately. We’re helping a family in the ward renovate their bathroom, I’ve set up a DSL connection, and I’ve been doing other computer odds and ends for people. Perhaps computer work is not traditional missionary service work, but it helps people and they are appreciative.

Elder Larson has finalized his plans to return home on December 23rd. The mission office has been calling, asking him what airport he wants to fly into and whatnot. Still 275 days for me. I hope I can make the best of them. (I don’t really keep count…but my website does!) http://www.joel-junior.com

Last weeks issue of Newsweek featured a cover story on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called, “The Mormon Odyssey”. It’s a pretty good article about the beginnings of the church and its growth. You can read it online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9630255/site/newsweek/

When Elder Larson and I bought our copies of last weeks issue of Newsweek we were dressed in our dusty service clothes (from the bathroom renovation). I went through the line first with nothing unusual. Then Elder Larson went through. The girl at the register said, “Mormons? I’m a Mormon.” It turns out that she was in Dodge City for school and had not been to church in six years. Boy was she surprised for find out that we were the missionaries for Dodge City! We got her name, phone, and address; and we invited her out to church.

There are so many things that happen that we cab write up as happenstance, or sheer luck. The scriptures, however, tell us that we should acknowledge the Lord in all things. It doesn’t how big or small an event is in our lives. The Lord is behind it. It’s difficult to think of that sometimes. When you really get to thinking about it, the more it makes sense to truly seek out what the Lord wants for us in our lives and to follow his commandments. Faith + Obedience = The guidance that we want for our lives.

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