thanks for all the leters!! thats awesome that nathan is going on a
mission!! he will never regret this decison. who helped him get
ready!! anyway this was another great week, the language is still
coming great, im working hardest at understanding native speakers
right now, i just have to focus 100 on what they are saying and i can
do it, its all about faith. we had 5 baptisms on saturday, i did four
of them!! it was sdo awesome, it was a family of ayoung kids 15 13 10
and 8. all of them were really excited, and u could see a change in
them immmediatly after the service, i forgot my camera but ill get a
pic with them later. suday the 8yr old girl did not awanna leave my
side, that waspretty cool. ill gt the letters in the mail today
actually, the mail here is crazy and we have strict rules, i haven`t
ñgotten the first letter u sent yet mom, i should this week or the
next though, i sent a list of things that u can send if u can find.
well of cours there are difficulties in the field, my trainer got sent
home the other day and so i ahve a new comp. we get a long good, and
he loves sharing the gospel, the other night we had a cool eperience,
he had knocked this door for 8 minutes, we had already contacted the
wife of this family and we had a lesson scheduled, we could see
people inside but they would not answer the door!! i got a feeling to
pray, so we prayed right there and asked for someone to open the door
because ourr only desire is to share the gospel with them, we
finished, i knocked again, and immeditaely the wife answered. god
answers our prayers, we only need to show faith. con amor elder
donaldson. please forward this to danica and cass, and the other
family!!! love ya tons!!
Elder Duskin Donaldson
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
March 21, 2011
Hey, sorry for the shor leter last week. this week my computer is
really slow, but im writing u first, and i told people that aren`t
immediate family i can`t email them any more. well this was a very
productive week. before i forget i do need u to check on my
scholarship, i turned in everythng but i don`t know if it went
through. anyway i have a very long leter for u, that ill get in the
mail today hopefully. there isn`t a postoffice in my area so i guess
it is very hit an miss when i can send mail cause the president has to
approve it. but this last sunday we had 20 investigators in church,
which i s awesome, and we have 13 people with baptismal dates, which
is also great. this last saturday we didn`t baptize cause they all
got moved back to the 26 of this month, i think we have 6 and then
like 10 more for april. well i guees my companion was using the phone
too much or something cause we had an emergencyu exchange last night
and i now have a new companion. this will be intereseting because
neither of us know our area very well. but he is another really cool
elder. i really liked my other one too, and we accomplished a lot of
good things together and he taught me alot, but hes in a place outside
the city now. oh well. we have been teaching this lady that is 21,
and has a young baby, her sisters family are recent converts, and she
lives with them, this last week we had a great time with her, at the
beginnign of the week we had a great lesson, but at the end, she said
she didn`t want to be baptized, and didn`t think that there were
prophets , but a couple days, and lot of prayters later, she had a
change of heart. i think it helped that her baby was sick so we gave
it a blessing and she got better. the following day we had another
great lesson for her, and she committed to be baptized and saked me to
do it, so i was really excited about that. i explain this story
better in the letter, but theres not a ton of time for it on here.
anyway, everything here is going well, i love the people, the food, my
comp, and the language is coming more everyday. and tell the young
mens president, i can`t remember his name!! but tell him that i take
the first shower every morning haha hell appreciate that. he was my
mission prep teacher, kinda big guy, you know him. any way, tahnks for
everything.elder donaldson
really slow, but im writing u first, and i told people that aren`t
immediate family i can`t email them any more. well this was a very
productive week. before i forget i do need u to check on my
scholarship, i turned in everythng but i don`t know if it went
through. anyway i have a very long leter for u, that ill get in the
mail today hopefully. there isn`t a postoffice in my area so i guess
it is very hit an miss when i can send mail cause the president has to
approve it. but this last sunday we had 20 investigators in church,
which i s awesome, and we have 13 people with baptismal dates, which
is also great. this last saturday we didn`t baptize cause they all
got moved back to the 26 of this month, i think we have 6 and then
like 10 more for april. well i guees my companion was using the phone
too much or something cause we had an emergencyu exchange last night
and i now have a new companion. this will be intereseting because
neither of us know our area very well. but he is another really cool
elder. i really liked my other one too, and we accomplished a lot of
good things together and he taught me alot, but hes in a place outside
the city now. oh well. we have been teaching this lady that is 21,
and has a young baby, her sisters family are recent converts, and she
lives with them, this last week we had a great time with her, at the
beginnign of the week we had a great lesson, but at the end, she said
she didn`t want to be baptized, and didn`t think that there were
prophets , but a couple days, and lot of prayters later, she had a
change of heart. i think it helped that her baby was sick so we gave
it a blessing and she got better. the following day we had another
great lesson for her, and she committed to be baptized and saked me to
do it, so i was really excited about that. i explain this story
better in the letter, but theres not a ton of time for it on here.
anyway, everything here is going well, i love the people, the food, my
comp, and the language is coming more everyday. and tell the young
mens president, i can`t remember his name!! but tell him that i take
the first shower every morning haha hell appreciate that. he was my
mission prep teacher, kinda big guy, you know him. any way, tahnks for
everything.elder donaldson
Monday, March 14, 2011
March 14, 2011
heyy!! i finally made it to bolivia and enrything is good here. mycomp
is from peru and has 4 months left hes a gfrat elder. we taught 11
lessons the othere day, and have 8 bapts lined up for this month and a
couple otheres for april. so im very excited about that, my area is
called the garden haha kinda ironic, my house is one room with a
bathroom, its small but it works. the people here are so humble!!
they hel`p me so much!!! the languafe is still coming, but needs to
get a lot beter. that is good to here about everyone doing well in
there activities!! well i really dont have a ton of time, i promise
ill write more next week, but everything is good here, con amor,
elder donaldson
is from peru and has 4 months left hes a gfrat elder. we taught 11
lessons the othere day, and have 8 bapts lined up for this month and a
couple otheres for april. so im very excited about that, my area is
called the garden haha kinda ironic, my house is one room with a
bathroom, its small but it works. the people here are so humble!!
they hel`p me so much!!! the languafe is still coming, but needs to
get a lot beter. that is good to here about everyone doing well in
there activities!! well i really dont have a ton of time, i promise
ill write more next week, but everything is good here, con amor,
elder donaldson
Sunday, March 6, 2011
February 27, 2011
Dear Family,
I had another great week. Only about ten more days until I get to Santa Cruz!!!! This week in my classes we just reviewed. Hermano Garcia, one of my teachers, served in Santa Cruz and got home six months ago. So he has been sharing a lot of cool stuff with us. He said he only served in the city for four months. And while he was in the jungle he saw a lot of crazy stuff. He saw anacondas and gitche (another kind of big snake) quite a bit. And tarantulas that are 10" in diameter. And kinds of little bugs and parasites that you have to be extremely careful of or they can put you out of commission. He told us that in one of his areas he had to cross a river that went up to his chest every morning in his church stuff. But it is so hot that in 10 - 15 minutes he would be dry. He said that quite often he would have snakes in his room and in some areas it was like "The other side of Heaven" movie, where rats would chew on your feet if you left them uncovered. Hearing all of this was kind of startling me but I am still very excited to get out and teach the people there. I was kind of worried with this new group of Latinos coming in because our last group was so awesome, but this new group is growing on me. Most of them are so humble that it is hard not to like them. There is only one elder from Argentina that is prideful but other than that I am really enjoying this group of elders. Tracting this week went pretty good, not as good as two weeks ago but definitely better than the first time I went out. We contacted quite a few people that we referred to the missionaries and taught two good lessons. Apparently the place we went to "Los Lobitos" was a pretty dangerous place. They wouldn't let us wear any watches or carry any money. This area looked pretty scary too. So every group that went out had a teacher or a member with them. This is a first time I ever had a teacher with me while tracting but it was pretty nice. He helped us out a lot. So the first guy we talked to was named Cesar. He was a middle aged guy who lived with his parents and family. His dad has been sick for a5 years so I think that it helped him to be submissive. He said that he had talked with the missionaries before, but he thought that we would not eat meat so we told him that was not us so he agreed to listen to us for a little bit. We taught about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. It was hard for me to understand because he was talking so fast and my companion and teacher talked most of the time. The spirit was strong but when i really started to feel it strongest is when i got to testify of the Book of Mormon, and we had already talked about how i was from the states, and i just told him that i have read and prayed and know that this book is true. That is why i am here for 2 years. He committed to read and pray so that is always a great feeling. the other good lesson we taught was to a lady named Yajaira. She was probably around 30 and she talked to us on the street right before lunch. We did not have time to teach her a lesson then so we went back after lunch. It was a really cool experience being able to teach her. She had attended one of the churches by her house before, but she didn't have a great knowledge of church things. She had faith in God and wanted more in her life. We taught her a quick lesson. My companion said the opening prayer and at the end we tried to teach her how to pray. Apparently we weren't specific enough because she said, " padre celestial, te agredecimos, te pedimos, en el nombre de jesus christo, amen." haha. So we tried to explain that a little better. She committed to read and pray and attend church the next day. That was awesome. Today has been kind of crazy. I blessed the sacrament for the second time in a row and because i gave a talk the second week i was here, i thought there was no way that i would go again because there are eight other people in my district who haven't gone once. Luckily i threw a couple thoughts together in English before sacrament. Low and behold i was chosen again to talk, kinda crazy. I was the last youth speaker and my district sang a special number, then in our combined district meeting i had to teach with another Elder, and tonight at the Devotional we have another special number. So needless to day i have been bussy. I hope everything is good there because it is here. Con Amor, Elder Donaldson
I had another great week. Only about ten more days until I get to Santa Cruz!!!! This week in my classes we just reviewed. Hermano Garcia, one of my teachers, served in Santa Cruz and got home six months ago. So he has been sharing a lot of cool stuff with us. He said he only served in the city for four months. And while he was in the jungle he saw a lot of crazy stuff. He saw anacondas and gitche (another kind of big snake) quite a bit. And tarantulas that are 10" in diameter. And kinds of little bugs and parasites that you have to be extremely careful of or they can put you out of commission. He told us that in one of his areas he had to cross a river that went up to his chest every morning in his church stuff. But it is so hot that in 10 - 15 minutes he would be dry. He said that quite often he would have snakes in his room and in some areas it was like "The other side of Heaven" movie, where rats would chew on your feet if you left them uncovered. Hearing all of this was kind of startling me but I am still very excited to get out and teach the people there. I was kind of worried with this new group of Latinos coming in because our last group was so awesome, but this new group is growing on me. Most of them are so humble that it is hard not to like them. There is only one elder from Argentina that is prideful but other than that I am really enjoying this group of elders. Tracting this week went pretty good, not as good as two weeks ago but definitely better than the first time I went out. We contacted quite a few people that we referred to the missionaries and taught two good lessons. Apparently the place we went to "Los Lobitos" was a pretty dangerous place. They wouldn't let us wear any watches or carry any money. This area looked pretty scary too. So every group that went out had a teacher or a member with them. This is a first time I ever had a teacher with me while tracting but it was pretty nice. He helped us out a lot. So the first guy we talked to was named Cesar. He was a middle aged guy who lived with his parents and family. His dad has been sick for a5 years so I think that it helped him to be submissive. He said that he had talked with the missionaries before, but he thought that we would not eat meat so we told him that was not us so he agreed to listen to us for a little bit. We taught about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. It was hard for me to understand because he was talking so fast and my companion and teacher talked most of the time. The spirit was strong but when i really started to feel it strongest is when i got to testify of the Book of Mormon, and we had already talked about how i was from the states, and i just told him that i have read and prayed and know that this book is true. That is why i am here for 2 years. He committed to read and pray so that is always a great feeling. the other good lesson we taught was to a lady named Yajaira. She was probably around 30 and she talked to us on the street right before lunch. We did not have time to teach her a lesson then so we went back after lunch. It was a really cool experience being able to teach her. She had attended one of the churches by her house before, but she didn't have a great knowledge of church things. She had faith in God and wanted more in her life. We taught her a quick lesson. My companion said the opening prayer and at the end we tried to teach her how to pray. Apparently we weren't specific enough because she said, " padre celestial, te agredecimos, te pedimos, en el nombre de jesus christo, amen." haha. So we tried to explain that a little better. She committed to read and pray and attend church the next day. That was awesome. Today has been kind of crazy. I blessed the sacrament for the second time in a row and because i gave a talk the second week i was here, i thought there was no way that i would go again because there are eight other people in my district who haven't gone once. Luckily i threw a couple thoughts together in English before sacrament. Low and behold i was chosen again to talk, kinda crazy. I was the last youth speaker and my district sang a special number, then in our combined district meeting i had to teach with another Elder, and tonight at the Devotional we have another special number. So needless to day i have been bussy. I hope everything is good there because it is here. Con Amor, Elder Donaldson
February 20, 2011
Dear Family,
This last week has been a blur, I can hardly remember what happened this week because time is going so fast. Much has happened this week. This was my last week with Elder Cumes as my companion. It was kind of sad to think that I might not see him again in this life. Last Tuesday I had to wake them up at 4am so they could prepare to leave at 6am. I think I woke everyone in my room up everyday for the past three weeks because none of them would set an alarm and get up when it went off. So it was a cool morning to get them up again for the last time and watch them leave. It is a tradition before missionaries leave, to sing God Be With You Til We Meet Again. It is awesome because all of the elders are just belting it but I can still feel the Spirit. I also finished the Book of Mormon this week. Granted I started in Alma 26 in Provo, but it has been awesome to really study the scriptures and learn so much from them. By praying everytime before I started reading, the Spirit directs my thoughts and I am able to see scriptures in a different way. And am able to learn by the Spirit. The scriptures will teach us so much if we will pay attention to what they are saying. I have also realized that depending where we are in our lives, different scriptures will stick out to us, I already realize that as I go over chapters that I have already marked, and I find profound scriptures that I hadn't noticed before. I wish I had a lot more time to study because one hour is not close to enough. I need an hour for English Book of Mormon, one hour for Jesus the Christ, and an hour a piece for Preach my Gospel and scriptures in Spanish. You'll probably think I am crazy when 40 minutes of study of the Book of Mormon isn't enough but it isn't. Anyway, we had to go on a tour of Lima. It was kind of stupid because our buses windows were blue and we couldn't see out of them, and we stopped at a lot of random places and wasted time. Finally we got to down town Lima where the capital buildings are. The biggest Catholic church I have ever seen was right next door to the capital building. It is no wonder there are so many Catholics here. They have huge churches everywhere. I will try to post some pictures that I took. But Elder Hansen (Thatcher) and I went around looking at stuff that was around the town square. We ate at McDonalds but my Big Mac wasn't great but it was amazing to have good french fries. After we were done eating we went around to some of the guards that were by the capital building and were getting pictures with them. When Elder Hansen was getting a picture with the guard, this bigger girl that was scantily dressed came up to him and was trying to get in the picture with him. It was so funny. He was trying to get away from her but the guard was on the other side so he was kind of stuck. It was hilarious because we are in the "shake hands with girls mode" so anything more than that is startling. So the tour was kind of fun but I would have rather stayed at the CCM and done my own thing. My new companion is from Lima. His name is Elder Aquino and I could actually hold a decent conversation. Thanks so much for the stamps I will definitely use them. One other cool thing, Elder Neal A Maxwell's granddaughter is in my district. She is really cool and obviously knows alot about the gospel. Anyway I will get back to you next week, Con Amor, Elder Donaldson
This last week has been a blur, I can hardly remember what happened this week because time is going so fast. Much has happened this week. This was my last week with Elder Cumes as my companion. It was kind of sad to think that I might not see him again in this life. Last Tuesday I had to wake them up at 4am so they could prepare to leave at 6am. I think I woke everyone in my room up everyday for the past three weeks because none of them would set an alarm and get up when it went off. So it was a cool morning to get them up again for the last time and watch them leave. It is a tradition before missionaries leave, to sing God Be With You Til We Meet Again. It is awesome because all of the elders are just belting it but I can still feel the Spirit. I also finished the Book of Mormon this week. Granted I started in Alma 26 in Provo, but it has been awesome to really study the scriptures and learn so much from them. By praying everytime before I started reading, the Spirit directs my thoughts and I am able to see scriptures in a different way. And am able to learn by the Spirit. The scriptures will teach us so much if we will pay attention to what they are saying. I have also realized that depending where we are in our lives, different scriptures will stick out to us, I already realize that as I go over chapters that I have already marked, and I find profound scriptures that I hadn't noticed before. I wish I had a lot more time to study because one hour is not close to enough. I need an hour for English Book of Mormon, one hour for Jesus the Christ, and an hour a piece for Preach my Gospel and scriptures in Spanish. You'll probably think I am crazy when 40 minutes of study of the Book of Mormon isn't enough but it isn't. Anyway, we had to go on a tour of Lima. It was kind of stupid because our buses windows were blue and we couldn't see out of them, and we stopped at a lot of random places and wasted time. Finally we got to down town Lima where the capital buildings are. The biggest Catholic church I have ever seen was right next door to the capital building. It is no wonder there are so many Catholics here. They have huge churches everywhere. I will try to post some pictures that I took. But Elder Hansen (Thatcher) and I went around looking at stuff that was around the town square. We ate at McDonalds but my Big Mac wasn't great but it was amazing to have good french fries. After we were done eating we went around to some of the guards that were by the capital building and were getting pictures with them. When Elder Hansen was getting a picture with the guard, this bigger girl that was scantily dressed came up to him and was trying to get in the picture with him. It was so funny. He was trying to get away from her but the guard was on the other side so he was kind of stuck. It was hilarious because we are in the "shake hands with girls mode" so anything more than that is startling. So the tour was kind of fun but I would have rather stayed at the CCM and done my own thing. My new companion is from Lima. His name is Elder Aquino and I could actually hold a decent conversation. Thanks so much for the stamps I will definitely use them. One other cool thing, Elder Neal A Maxwell's granddaughter is in my district. She is really cool and obviously knows alot about the gospel. Anyway I will get back to you next week, Con Amor, Elder Donaldson
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