Spencer's Take 2, Semana 46 - Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Monday, March 23, 2015

Hello my dear friends! 

This week blew by! I went on a long 2 day division again this week! I went and worked in a trio which was fun! Their names are Elders Brazzel and Trent. They are both studs! I swear that the Lord sends them more and more prepared every time! I guess I have to submit to the fact that Jonah and Alec are better missionaries than me. It's doctrine. You can't argue with doctrine. They are so funny those two! Especially Elder Brazzel. I thought he was weird but then I got to know him and I about died because he made me laugh so much!

 

It's so funny talking with new missionaries in Spanish because they struggle soooo hard to express themselves but miraculously it comes out in an understandable way! We had a pretty rough week as far as numbers go. We worked hard but we think the Lord punished us for letting time slip doing stupid stuff. We learned our lesson fast because Saturday we walked around for about 5 hours straight without sitting down to teach even one lesson! That night my comp and I talked and we came to the conclusion on a couple of things. We made adjustments and Sunday we had an awesome day! We had two guys walk into the house during one of our lessons. They grabbed seats and joined right in!

 

It was so funny, we were reading in Moroni 10:3-5 about how we can know if the Book of Mormon is true. When we got talking about the Holy Ghost and how he works I explained that he talks through subtle promptings and we feel peace and love and stuff like that. I said that in some churches they act like the spirit makes them fall to the floor and tremble and that is not how he works. right as i said that one of the two guys named Emanuel said, "It's interesting how you say that the Holy Ghost doesn't make us fall because that actually happened to me, I have experienced it." I about died right there! haha

 

And on top of that earlier in the week while on divisions with Elder Hales in his area, we were talking about how our parents are a gift from God. I said I know that my parents love me. If they were abusive or something like that I probably wouldn't love them. And then the kid said, "Actually my dad hits me a lot...." I wanted to die again! I need to stop talking so much i guess...

 

I had a great birthday. A recent convert bought me an ice cream cake and that is how we celebrated; that and empanadas!!!! It was a normal p day. We studied, cleaned, bought groceries, and played paddle. Simple but perfect. 

 

I love you all so much! I hope you all know that I love the mission! I love it like Argentina loves Messi! 

Elder Spencer McKee


p.s. Congrats to Heather Whittle and Skyler & Julia on their engagements! That is awesome! Shout out to Brandon, Chett, Quinn and Adam.... Please don't date anymore. What am I going to do if all my wing men are married by the time I get home in November! :P

 

Jonah's Week 21

Monday, March 23, 2015

Ok! Well to start off I am now forgetting English! haha I know that sounds weird but it's the truth! I am forgetting English! The other day I was out contacting and I ran into a guy that speaks perfect English because he lived in Los Angeles for 3 years! He started talking to me in English and I swear to you my brain blew up!! I could feel the gears of my mind clogging as I tried to figure out why I could understand what he was saying... It was not registering with my mind that he was speaking English! I could only register two things in my mind: 1st that he was not speaking in Spanish and 2nd that I could, for some strange reason, understand what he was saying. MY MIND JUST WASN'T WORKING!! haha I continued responding to this man in Spanish because I was so confused and did not understand for the life of me that he was speaking in English until he finally said to me "Hey you can speak to me in ENGLISH, I want to practice" right after he said that I could just feel my brain jam right back into gear and I started spewing out English! haha 

I honestly do not know how to describe how mind boggling the experience truly was! haha Well yea I can say I was lost for a good minute there and after I started speaking to him in English I felt even more lost! haha It has been so long since I taught in English that for me to teach in English felt like it was forced! It felt like I was searching in my mind for the words I wanted to say like as if I was using a dictionary; just flipping through the pages of this dictionary that I have bottled up in my big head! It was so surreal I can't even express! after leaving that appointment I felt so tired! I felt mentally exhausted like it was hard work for me to teach in English but it was all fine because now he is an investigator and I am happy about that! So yea all day I was mind blown and all week I have been thinking of how I could possibly describe that situation and this was the best description I could come up with but still, it doesn't do the moment justice!

So yea to day is my p-day and for our activity went to the Cristo here in Honduras!!! I had a really good time and to be that close to a giant sculpture of Christ really is something special! It makes me wonder, why doesn't our church have giant statues of Christ? Then I remembered that we have something better! We have a temple! It's the House of the Lord and even though I felt close to God while I was at the Cristo I still didn't feel anything close to what I feel while I am in the temple!

I love the Lord and today I really learned one thing amazing! This world is a small world and all of us are children of God! I am here to teach people of Christ and today I had my second opportunity to teach in English this week! I was standing beneath the Cristo and I heard somebody in English say " why are there holes in His hands?" I then automatically responded and said, "Hi! I speak English too! Where are you from? I'm from Las Vegas!" The people then began to explain that they live in Tucson, Arizona and I then began to explain to them why there are holes in the hands of Christ! I was amazed that they did not know the story of the crucifixion but now they do!  

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here to preach of Christ and I am especially grateful for the opportunity I had to preach at the feet of Christ today! I hope to one day join Christ in the spirit world and do that once again! Stand at the feet of our Lord and Savior and declare His gospel to every soul waiting to receive it! I love temples and I know the work we do in those temples is for the eternal salvation of man. Take advantage of the opportunity you have to do temple work and know in your heart the whole time you're there in the temple that you are saving the soul of a person and bringing them unto Christ! I love you all and I love this church! Please keep me in your prays! I am in an area that really needs as many blessings as it can receive so please pray to help me progress the work here in the area "Valencia B".

Thanks for everything!!! I love you!

 

Elder Jonah McKee

 

 

 

Jonah's Week 20

Monday, March 16, 2015

Easily the best native food here is the Baleadas!! haha They are basically tacos with way soft, fat tortillas that are really similar to the tortillas in a Cholupa at Taco Bell and they have refried beans, quesillo (crumbled cheese), crema (sour cream), and eggs inside!  They are super simple but they are seriously soo good!! Basically the secret to making good baleadas is in a nice moist tortilla with super good beans!! My favorite beans are prepared with onions and jalapenos inside! It makes the flavor soo good!! 

But yea this week has been interesting!! This week was my first full week here and to be honest the days here are a whole lot less busy than my days in my last area. We have a total of about 6 investigators and that is seriously terrible!! We are working super hard to change that but it's going to take some time. It's always super interesting to see what the people say while we are contacting and normally they just say things like , "Hi I'm catholic so you can leave." Or my favorite part is when I ask them things like "Do you believe God has the power to do anything?" Of course they always say yes and then I respond with another question

"Well, do you think that God has the power to restore the original church of Jesus Christ in the earth once again?" Almost always they say no....? haha For me it's really funny but after about 10 times in a row it can get really frustrating!!

 

So because my comp and I were getting a little bit tired of knocking on doors in this part of our area we decided to take our time and efforts to a part of our area that elders have not entered for 6 or more months!! We were super excited to go over there and figure out what it's all about and why missionaries haven't been there in ages so we took one full day to go there and contact, basically to re-open the area and introduce ourselves! The enthusiasm was there but quickly began to fade! The houses were huge and super pretty but just about every house had a security guard out front with a shotgun or a rifle of some type. haha The only way we could communicate with the people inside the homes was through the walkie talkie that the security almost always seemed to have! To say the very least it was a new experience for me! And also I realized that people with money here only trust other people with money so towards the end of the day I was introducing myself a little something like this, "Hi I'm Elder McKee like Mickey Mouse, I'm from Las Vegas in the United States, and I am here to share a message with you!" To be honest that technique was actually working! I was super excited and I'm even more excited that 2 of the houses actually invited us to come back this Thursday! I'm stoked to find out if they are people of their word and actually let us enter their houses to share a message but I won't know until I show up at the time we have set up!

 

But yea the week was pretty much just a bunch of contacting and a bunch of exploring the richest part of this city! During my explorations I found the embassy of Panama and also the embassy of Mexico which was cool but we couldn't enter so we only had the chance to look from the outside but none the less it was a cool find! Also, lastly the most exciting thing that I did this week was probably step in poop.... haha I am convinced that there is nothing more dangerous in this world than the dark walkway filled with brown death charges called "La Jungla!" haha It's a shortcut in my area that we walk almost every night and there is always poop somewhere in the path and you never can see it because it's soo dark!!! La Jungla is whack! And dangerous! I hate dog poop more than anything in this country!! But hey it's fine. This week was cool I guess! 

Oh and lastly I ran into a friend from the brigada here! haha She was one of the girls that my translator, Carlos, asked to marry me while I was here for the service mission in April! It was pretty funny and it really made me realize that this is a way small world we live in and it's even smaller if you're Mormon! haha Well love ya all and thanks for all of your blessings and prayers! Please pray to help me find people to teach! We are in desperate need!!!

 

Love ya all!

Elder Jonah McKee

 

 

Spencer's Take 2, Semana 45

Monday, March 16, 2015

What a glorious day! I'm 21. Watch out Las Vegas.... in 8 months I'll be there to destroy the clubs and buy all the rated M video games and spray paint and guns there are! Just kidding.

 

Being 21 in Argentina isn't anything crazy. Here the big days are 15 for the girls and 18 for the guys! When girls turn 15 they get huge parties thrown for them and when the guys turn 18 they get beaten up and their hair buzzed off and then wake up the next day reeking of wine and sweat and mud. My plans have nothing to do with that! My birthday plans... nada. I'm going to do the same ol' same ol' that we always do on p-day. Clean the house. Study. Buy groceries. Write home, eat lunch with Alan (a recent convert) and then go play paddle (a mix between tennis and racket ball!).

 

The birthday traditions here involve flour and eggs being smashed on the head of the person whose birthday it is! Our ward mission leader came over this morning to bring me a birthday breakfast and to congratulate me with an egg on the head! I had to let him do it because it is inevitable here. It has to happen. I feel older this year. That is a new thing!

 

This week was awesome. I went on divisions with the elders in a small little farming town called Monterrico. Monterrico is Elder Ellertson's last area and he hated it, so he told me allll about it. Going there was like a dream come true! Like a book being made into a movie! It was fun going there. I stayed with an elder named Elder Limatu. He's from Guatemala. He's a little anime lover which is a little weird but that's okay, I love him like he loves Naruto! We had some good times together. I was with him Tuesday and Wednesday and then we on Thursday we went back with our companions in my area where we had zone council.

 

President and the assistants came to train everyone on some stuff. Zone council is always a blast! After zone council we went on divisions with the assistants. We had a competition to see who could make the most street contacts. It was funny because it ended up being Americans vs Canadians. We all know the end to this classic story. It was like the NFL champs vs the CFL champs.

 

We had a really good week this week. Tons of success! The excitement levels are up and nobody is sick this birthday! What more can you ask for!? Anyways, I love you all. Thanks for the birthday wishes. 

 

I want to make a shout out to two my close friends. Monica Terrero and Heather Whittle...... HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I will never forget your birthdays! 

 

I love you all so much!  

Elder Spencer McKee

 

I don't know why but my card isn't working to send pics, stink.

Jonah's Week 19

Monday, March 9, 2015

Wow so this week has been crazy!!! I just had my very first change!! I left the area that I finally grew to love called El Paraiso (the paradise) and now I am in the city!! I'm in a section called Valencia and it's super close to where I was with mom! haha We were in the stake Neuva Esperanza when we were here for the dental mission and right now that is my neighboring stake!! haha It's super cool having the opportunity to go and explore the places that mesmerized me just from looking out the window of a bus! haha This area is soo much different than my last and that is both a really good thing and also a bad thing!!  There are tons more people here and they have a ton more money! haha I know it's weird but it's true, money hardens the heart! We have very few investigators and I think that's why I was sent here. When I started my mission in Paradise we only had 6 investigators and when I left we had 37. I always pray that God will give me more opportunities to hasten this work and I think this is my answer! I need to do the same thing here that I did in paradise! Yesterday was my first sunday here and when I had the opportunity to introduce myself I made sure that everybody would know who I am and know I am here to work! I always introduce myself as "Elder McKee Mouse", the people love it and they always remeber my name! Also I told them all I am from Vegas and that also helps out a ton!! haha I have never been so proud to be from the "City of Sin" as I am here in the mission! People always have a ton of questions and that's an awesome oopportunity to share the gospel or share with members my willingness to work! I hope I will be able to make an impact on this area and I know this area is going to make an impact on me.

Today is my first p day and today while we were playing soccer we had a phone call from one of our inactive families. They called us and asked us to come over! They were crying and so we knew it was an emergency!  We rushed over there as fast as we could and when we got there everybody was crying! There were people all around the house and so we rushed in to understand the situation. The grandma of the family was laying sprawled out on a bed without a top and she was unconscious. There was foam coming out of her mouth and her jaw was locked tight! I don't know very much about this stuff but I am pretty sure she had a stroke. My comp and I took action. We first rolled her onto her side so she wouldn't choke on the spit in her mouth. Then we did what we knew to do and that is give her a blessing. In the blessing that my comp gave her he blessed her that she will follow the light and return home. We had no control over the situation and no person had even thought to call an ambulance. We called an ambulance and waited for it to arrive. We took care of her as we waited for the ambulance and the situation was heated. One of the women that lives in the house was cursing at us telling us that this is our fault and that if we would have just been here then this wouldn't have happened... I couldn't stand to listen to her so I stood up and told her to leave. I told her that her anger is bringing Satan into the home in a time when we need God's help. I told her to leave the home and not to come back until she can come back with faith in her heart. I was so incredibly nervous but as I finished she said sorry and left the house.

The ambulance showed up about 5 minutes later and we did everything we could to help the paramedics! After the ambulance left we re-entered the house and offered a kneeling prayer with everybody there. I have never been in a situation like this before and I hope I was able to help! I now know how my dad felt that year at scout camp when Brother Lowe had a heart attack. I never was able to relate to this story but now I can. I hope I was able to do everything in my power because in this moment I felt helpless and everybody was looking to me and my comp, two 19 yr old boys, to lead. I have never had an experience so intense in my life and I wasn't expecting an experience like this to come in the mission; but for me it was a testimony that people are always looking to us to be leaders, to always have the power of Christ with us that we may be able to act every second with the guidance of God. I know that the priesthood power that we hold is real and I know that the blessing we gave her was inspired by God! I am eagerly awaiting an update on her situation and until I receive more information all I can do is pray that she is in the care of well trained professsionals and that she will be fine. 

Today was an extremely different day from the normal day and it was a pretty big sign to me that we are needed here in this area! We are here to work and that is exactly what we will do! I am proud to be here and proud of the opportunity I have to be a representative of the Lord. There were a lot of people there at this house and they were all witnesses of our actions. I hope we were able to represent the Lord in the best way possible.

Love you all,

Elder McKee Mouse!!!

 

 

Spencer's Take 2, Semana 44

Monday, March 9, 2015

This week started with our usual trip to Salta for leaders council. This time, arriving from Jujuy to Salta, we arrived really early and were the first ones there. It was a new experience being in the mission house first, and picking where I wanted to sleep! Before when I was in Tucumán I always had to sleep outside. It was also way fun seeing everyone arrive! The last transfer sent home 9 zone leaders from the 13 in total so there were a bunch of new and familiar faces in the leader council! A bunch of my buddies that I lived with or just came to love were called as zone leaders like Elder Contreras. It was also really nice to see Elder Ellertson again. He said everyone in Tucumán misses me. I miss them more!

We got home from leaders council Tuesday night. Wednesday was Elder Fillis' birthday! It must have been one of the worst birthdays ever! He spent it throwing up and in bed the whole day! Then the miracle happened.

On Friday we recieved a call from a sister in the ward saying that her grandson wanted to be baptized. All was good but the problem was that he lives ourside of the ward boundaries. We made a few calls and we recieved yes's and no's from various people. In the end our mission president gave us the go sign so we baptised him! We had to teach him all the lessons in 2 hours and he learned so well that he passed the interview without a hitch! It was the easiest and fastest baptism I have ever had! His name is Fabrisio. Also one of my investigators in Tucuman was baptized! Her name is Beatriz and she is a miracle.

 

I love you all so much! Take care! 

PS. My b day is next Monday! I'm gonna be 21! Just in time to get home and get wasted and go to the clubs!!!!!!! jk

Photos: Elder Filis is the one with the blue tie and the one in the dark behind the candle. Our light was cut so we had to plan our day by candle light. The muchacho is Fabrisio! He is so smart that he learned 4 lessons in 2 hours! 

 

Jonah's Week 18

Monday, March 2, 2015

 

Hey you guys guess what! My mission president changed the criteria for our baptismal interviews and now I have to teach 2 more lessons to each person before baptism.... so guess what!! I didn't have any of my baptisms this week... We had to move them all to the 14th...

 

But hey. how's everybody doing?? The highlight of my week was I was called a wizard!!!! haha There was this one crazy guy walking next to us and I started talking to him. When I asked him what his name was he said he couldn't tell me! He told me I am a wizard. I told him to look at me because there isn't anything about us that's different and he told me he can't look at me or I will turn him to stone!!! haha At this point I was just curious about what else this guy thought I could do so I asked him what he thinks will happen if he tells me his name and he told me that if I know his name then I will cast a spell and brainwash him!! haha I told him that I promise we don't have powers and I asked his name again and he screamed you're a liar and then ran away!! haha I was dying and for the rest of the week! Every time I got our investigators to commit to something then my comp would call me a wizard :P 

I don't know his name but he was easily my favorite person I talked to this week!!!!

 

But hey mom I just want you to know that I love you and I am so proud to be your son!!! I found out that you really can send packages in whatever way you want to! The best way to send a package is just at the post office!!  You can send me whatever you want! haha 

 

I want you to know that I'm here loving life"! I had an interesting experience this week when a guy called me a wizard but that was not all! On Saturday night I was walking through the main part of our area and there was this guy walking in the middle of the street with a big bottle of booze in one hand and a machete in the other! This place is freaking insane!!!! The guy was cussing a ton and he didn't want anything but trouble! Everybody that was in the street was hiding just waiting for him to pass and it was seriously one of the most intense moments ever! We saw a group of girls walking and they were completely oblivious to the man walking with a machete because  they were all talking and being dumb. My comp and I told them to hide and they did so without even asking why. My comp and I started to talk because he started walking towards the girls and other people telling them all he knows where they are and so my comp and I came out of hiding and called him! We just said ¨hey man how are you doing? What's your name?¨ We knew he wasn't going to want to talk but we didn't want him to get any closer to the other people! We continued talking to him and asking him how he was and the whole time we were walking backwards because he was following us slowly with a drunken stupor in his step, the whole time cussing at us telling us we are the reason this world is a bad place! We continued talking to him and telling him we are sorry for the problems we caused him (even though we don't know him). We kept his attention just long enough for the people hiding behind the truck to come out of hiding and run far enough away to be safe and then the guy threw his bottle of booze on the floor and started swinging his machete in the air so we decided it was a good time for us to run!! I don't know why but this world has a lot of people who are confused and blame their problems on everything but they never accept responsibility for themselves! I was shocked and I was so scared to be in front of this man! Satan has a hold on him and my comp and I are warriors of god here in this country! On Saturday night we looked the devil in the eyes and now I know that the power of the priesthood and the ability we have to feel the Holy Ghost is our sword in this battle with Satan! I don't know what would have happened if we didn't stand up and open our mouths! I don't know what the intentions of this man were but I know that he didn't have control of his actions in that moment!

 

Our job is to combat Satan and save as many people as we can! I think that on Saturday night we may have saved a life! I was scared more than anything I could possibly describe, but it wasn't for me! It was for those people! It was because I felt something telling me it was time to intervene! I don't know why but I know it was something we were meant to do!  The war with Satan is real and we are God's warriors! It's our responsibility to combat the darkness everyday and be a light in the world! I know God was there that night and He was protecting us! He was also using us to protect His other children!

 

I am honored to be on this team. The team of light and truth! God is real and He cares and loves each of us! Even those who are under the control of Satan! Combat the darkness! Share you light and your love daily! I love  you all and I will always be the brightest light I can be!  

With much love and gratitude for this life we have,

Elder Jonah McKee

 

 

Those three boys are my Brendt, Jacob and Ethan here in Honduras

and two of them are getting baptized this month!!! The third was

baptised 5 months ago!!! Also the cake is a cake we made for a

bake off with one of the moms in the ward! We invited our

 investigators to judge. The comp and I lost but it was way fun!!!

 

Spencer's Take 2, Semana 43

Monday, March 2, 2015

So..... this week was rough! You don't know what you have until you lose it! I love Tucuman sooooo much! I am already missing it. But I can't, because I'm here in Jujuy and I have to work like it is the love of my life!

My first 3 days were really rough! I don't know why but I was really sick. I honestly think I got so sick from just all the nerves I had from transfers! Transfers can be a really traumatic experience! Elder Ellertson explains transfers like leaving home all over again! It's so true! I really made myself at home in Tucumán. I left behind some really close friends and loved ones. The dream for every missionary is to return to visit with their converts and stuff and I really hope that happens some day for me!

So back to being sick.... I was so sick I couldn't eat anything! I threw up when I ate more than half a plate of food and plus I live with just me and my comp so it is a change of atmosphere. I have really gotten used to living as 4 which is the best in the mission. I was so tired those days too. I felt bad because I had to take naps or else I wouldn't have been able to function. I don't know when I will learn that it is okay to just admit to being sick and rest to get better. I think I'm too prideful to admit to being sick or weak or whatever it may be. Once I started feeling better my attitude really turned around.

The work really is different here but I know I can do it. In Tucumán everyone sits out front drinking so it is no challenge finding anyone. Here in Jujuy it is a real challenge finding people! We found a couple of good people this week. None of them came to church but miraculously, 3 people came that we met in church and now we are going to meet with them this week. The members here are really awesome. They are going to be the way to success here; I know it. I was given the special opportunity to share my testimony and introduce myself in church. I told a few jokes and made everyone laugh and then told them how excited I am to help them strengthen their ward. I felt well received by the members.

I am so proud to be from Las Vegas. Every single time I say that I'm from Vegas the people freak out! They say... "oh you're from Vegas! The city of lights! Sin city! Where all the pretty ladies are at! It's a desert there!" That is about the extent of their knowledge of Las Vegas!

The first week in a new area is always weird but I'm glad to be here and I know things are going to get better! 

 

I love you guys a ton. I usually just say thanks for the prayers but this week I'm asking for more! I'm gonna need them to get used to this new area!!!! 

 

I have never used my boots so much. The streets are rivers of mud, haha. Thanks grandma for the boots!!!! :D 

 

Question of the week: Who is the most interesting person I met this week? 

Answer: Elder Fillis! He is my companion. I never new Canadians could be so proud of their country! He gets really excited even at the smallest things. Today he was studying Spanish and every time he got an answer right he cheered like he just won the world cup! He's pretty awesome you could say! 

 

con mucho amor,

Elder Spencer McKee