In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

Hello!

Wow. March is almost here. I can’t believe how fast time flies.

This week has been filled with so many ups and downs. I think I’m finally getting in a position to fulfill the rest of my mission in a positive manner. It’s been rough, but it’s been rough because of my perspective. I am so blessed to have friends and leaders who provide counsel that had made me think in areas that I hadn’t thought in before. Sometimes it is all about perspective.

We had a baptism this week. Annika is nine years old. Her mom is a member, but she hasn’t been too active. Elder Cohen and his previous companion started teaching her and I am in on the second lesson. I don’t think I have ever talked to a nine year old as smart as Annika is. It was amazing to teach her and have her explain the principles that we hat taught. She was so excited to be baptized that before we even fully taught about it, she asked when she could be baptized. It was neat to see her excitement. He baptism was wonderful. We just hope that he mom will continue to come to church and become more active in the ward so that the family will be strengthened.

Last Sunday we taught a couple on Fort Carson. The husband was baptized when he was eight years old, and the wife was born and raised in the Catholic Church, but she hasn’t been involved in church for a while. He was injured in Iraq and the experience has caused them to look deeper into his former faith. They have a lot of friends who are in the church. We had a wonderful first lesson with them. The Spirit was there. We were supposed to have a lesson with them yesterday, but his ex-wife found out that they were meeting with us and is now threatening to take them to court to get custody of the kids. She also printed off a bunch of anti-Mormon material from the Internet and gave it to them. It’s amazing how hard Satan works against the truth. Christ told his Apostles that, “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2). Satan will always work against the truth. I wish people would take the counsel of a member of the Sanhedrin when he said of John and Peter, “And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God” (Acts 5:38-39). They still want to be taught, but they are going to take a little time to figure things out.

As we’ve been running around, we’ve found some neat street signs such as “Okinawa” and “Funk”. We’ve taken a few find pictures of these.

I hope all is well with you. Feel free to write me back!

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

And another one bites the dust…

Greetings from cold and, at least for a couple days, sparkling white Colorado.

This past Saturday we had dinner with a young newlywed couple in the ward. She is a member, but he is Catholic. I hadn’t met them prior to dinner and I just could not get over the feeling that I had met her somewhere before. I asked he how long she had lived in Colorado and she said only about 7 months. I’ve been away from the springs for nine months, so that didn’t work. She then said I probably saw her in Virginia Beach, where she served her mission. I didn’t remember having Sister Missionaries in my ward, but she said she had served in the Bayside Ward, which is my ward. Then it clicked. Shortly after I moved to Virginia Beach, a pair of Sister Missionaries stopped by the house to welcome me to the ward. She was one of the missionaries! How cool is that? Small world.

Sister Ruggles came and had lunch with us this past Tuesday (picture included). She’ll probably wring my neck for sending this out, but at least she’s smiling in the picture. It was great to see her again. Sister Ruggles helped us out sooooo much when I served in the 9th and 10th Wards for six months about nine months ago.

Other than those two events, nothing too exciting happened this past week. Our car was parked for a couple days due to snow, so things slowed down a bit.

I hope all is well with you and yours. Have a good day.

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

Happy Day Before Valentines Day To All!

Hello!

I love being back in the Springs. I love the mountains, I love having access to anything. It’s just different from the last 9 months.

Elder Cohen and I are getting along well. He pushes me when I need it. It’s good.

We had an amazing (in the fullest sense of the word) lesson with with a wonderful lady. I don’t think I have ever taught anyone more in tune with the Spirit than she is. We had a lesson on the commandments. The lesson was so spiritual. She expressed what she had felt as she prayed, the joy of the Spirit and the struggle of trying to make the right choice. She related an experience that hit close to home for me when she described herself singing during a prayer, a song that she had never heard. I too had this experience when I was praying to know the truth. The scriptures speak of the Lord placing a new song in our hearts, a beautiful song. When I related my experience, shared the scripture, and testified, the Spirit was so strong. I extended a commitment for baptism. She was so overwhelmed, but still could not make the decision. I thought that the lesson had probably hit a climax and we should end, but I also felt like we should teach about the Word of Wisdom (which is a revealed health code which includes not partaking of alchohol, tabacco, tea, and coffee). I began teaching on the premise that if she followed this commandment, she would be able to be guided by the Spirit better. When I extended the commitment to live the word of wisdom, she told us that she usually had a cup of coffee every day at breakfast. That morning, she prayed before breakfast and then took a drink of her coffee. She described the feeling of the coffee hitting her stomach like a bomb. She then said a little prayer and thought “Maybe Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something.” She decided to stop drinking coffee that morning before we came and taught her about the Word of Wisdom! Definitely one of those “WOW” experiences.

I’m sorry, I don’t have any pictures to share. I did take pictures, but I forgot my jump drive.

I hope you are well. Feel free to write back!

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

Hola!

Got to make this quick. Elder Cohen and I are doing well. We are still trying to sort through the information that was left for us by the previous missionaries serving in the 17th wards. We do have a car, but we have no clue how many miles we will have.

All in all however, I don’t think I have ever entered an area with more people being taught and actually progressing. I am amazed and humbled to have been called to serve here. I am excited to see what transpires.

Because Elder Cohen and I are both converts (he joined the church about two years ago) we have been invited to a special leadership meeting tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to it. I think Elder Cohen will be a strong leader in the mission anyways, so it will be good for him.

It’s still weird to be back in the Springs, to see mountains, to deal with the strange traffic patterns. At least I haven’t seen any uncontrolled intersections here. Those bugged the heck out of me in Dodge.

I think serving here with Elder Cohen is going to be a really good experience for me. We see things in much the same manner. I don’t know if there has ever been a time where two converts have ever served together, but I am excited as it does add a whole new dimension to the work, especially while teaching.

I hope you are doing well. You are in my prayers frequently. I would love to hear back from you. I’ll try to have some pictures next week.

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

Good Day!

Well, transfers have come and gone. I am now serving in the 8th and 17th Wards in the Fountain Area of Colorado Springs (southern part of the city). I am blessed to have a wonderful companion, Elder Cohen (Florida), and a car. 17th was just combined with the 8th Wards, so serving in that part of the area is new for the both of us. Mailing addresses as below…

My Apartment Address:

109 A Kokomo St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80911

The New Mission Office Address:

4090 Center Park Dr.
Colorado Springs, CO 80916

Please send all mail to my apartment address. If you are ever unsure about the address, please send mail to the mission office. It will then be forwarded to me.

Hope all is well for you. Looking forward to hearing from ya!

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