Wow!! So amazing.
Best week of my life!!
This was the last week in my wonderful mission in Rancagua, Chile.
What an adventure! Its interesting when everyone asks me: "How was it down there?" and then I am supposed to respond like it was last nights dinner! haha. How can I possibly even put into words what a 2 year, full-time devoted, serving the Lord mission is like??
Of course I could say, It was amazing with all the energy I could muster in my voice. Or I could even sit you down and show you all my pictures and explain it for 2 hours, but I still don't think I would be able to convey the wonderful feelings I felt down there. It was a 2 year period of CHANGE. I am just such a different person with such a different perspective on life.
I lost myself in the service of the Lord.
And now Im supposed to come back to this world of selfish pleasures and a get rich, take over the world attitude.
Its been a huge change trying to get adjusted this past week. I mean the 2 cultures are incredibly different! I will say as I arrived in Atlanta, I bought my self the biggest Bacon and egg bagel from einsteins! Woo!
Im ready for this new challenge to survive in this new world!
But I definitely learned and experienced things that I can not put into words. Especially that moment after 2 years of not seeing your family when you see them in the airport. Priceless.
I tell you what, thanks for all the support that you guys gave me out there, It was felt.
I think the best way I could possibly put an end to such an adventure would be by sharing the wonderful truths I came to know.

1: We are eternal. We will be living in 500 or 1000 years, and we need to prepare now. God gives us so much love to speak through a living prophet to allow us to know his plan. Sometimes it takes a little bit of humility to accept something like this!
2: The Lord Jesus Christ lives. He is our savior and is at the head of this wonderful work. I felt that I had a special opportunity to get to know him over these past 2 years. Its amazing how a servant can truly know his master as he serves him.
3: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the restored church upon the earth today. I Know it. There is no other path or way. This is it. I invite you to know what the restored church means if you don't already know.
4: There are more good people in the world than bad people! I know this because I witnessed this as I talked to thousands and thousands of people throughout the course of those 2 years.
5: God is very real. He is our Heavenly Father. He wants us to have success and loves us so much, but when we disobey there will be justice just like a Father and his Son! We as offspring of God will one day become like him and become perfect. Its all part of his plan.
6: The book of mormon is the coolest book ever written. It contains everything we need in this life to be able to make it back to our Heavenly Father. It contains the truths on how to resist temptation and the truths of eternal life. It even teaches us simple things like the correct way to baptize. AMAZING BOOK. If you haven't read it, hit up Mormon.org and find the number of the missionaries or just let me know and Ill get you a copy. (: It teaches how to have harmony in our families and how to know our purpose in life. Amazing.

Really I could go on and on about all the many things Ive learned int these past 2 years, but Ill keep in to those couple of things.
So let me know if you wanna know more about what I was doing down in Chile!
I loved the country and the people there. And ohhh especially the food! Now its time to move on and take over the world with some crazy ideas. I plan on studying international business and doing something with photography or film!
I hope you enjoyed my 2 year experiance as I ventured into the unknown and became familiar with it! It truly was a life changing experience that I will never forget, that changed me, and something I won't even be able to share completely because of all the wonderful experiences I had!

So good to be back in America with my loving family!!

For the last time,
Elder Jordan Alexander McGee

Good afternoon!

This past week has been a crazy one! Sometimes the Lord has different things in mind than we do! But we just have to sit back, smile, and obey!

Isaiah 55:8-9

​:​

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither areyour ways my ways, saith the Lord.
 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are myways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We had special changes and I am now in another ward of 150 people! Woo! Its called Rengo. About 45 mins south of Rancagua.
Sometimes you just have to trust in the Lord and follow your heart. Im not with another peruvian, Elder Soto and a mexican named Elder Montoya. We are in a trio just like Lauren! Woo haha. Trios are fun. Its my third one. And we are already having a blast here. Its awesome because I felt a strong impression that I wasnt needed any more where I was, that I had done enough there and I was needed here. Its awesome how our spirits communicate by feeling.

​We are working with a couple of awesome people here and I am ready to baptize again woo! Im in the game of preseverance and this time winds down. Its my time to prepare and strengthen my testimony as much as I can because I know its hard out there. Its my time to work as hard as I know how to do, and to have as much fun possible while being as obedient as possible!
This could be my last sector and I plan on making it the very best!
It was sad to leave Los Jardine in Buin because I truly found a love for the people there in such a short time. But its all gonna be awesome!
Today we went to rancagua and I saw a couple different people from more than a year and a half ago! It was great.

​"Beautiful things happen when you distance yourself from the negative."​

​Elder McGee​

 

Im old now... 20 years old!

hey!

Im old now... 20 years old! Im entering my third decade! Wowww. Its funny because Im still young to be a missionary! haha.

This week was awesome. We brought a whole family of less actives to church, and it was so cool to see them there nice and happy. They are preparing to go to the temple, and little by little they have progressed. It all starting my just giving the dad a big ole hug and showing him some real love!

We had some good progress with a guy we play soccer with. He really opened his heart, and let out alot of his feelings. One thing that Ive learned is that everything I really want is on the other side of fear. Ive also learned that God is more powerful than any large man with lots of money. His wife explained to us that he worked for the U.S. embassy for years and has very little confidence in other people. She said that we were the first people he let into his house in a long time. The Lord is powerful and gets things done.

Its so crazy how in the beginning of the mission, it was so hard to get used to the language, the food, and the way of life here. Now it is my life, its my language, and I love the food. I dont know what its gonna be like going home. I have the same bitter sweet feeling that I did 2 months before I left home, 2 years ago.

I read an amazing talk this week by President Monson called the bridge builed. If you havent read it, I highly reccomend it. (:

Today we played soccer with the zone, and it was funny because there were like 20 elders, and 4 sisters. We played to where the sisters had to make the goals. It was funny! They all sang to me and it was a good moment. Tonight we have 3 family home evenings to attend. So itll be a good birthday in all. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I was stoked to see all the emails today (: I have the best family and friends!

This week our relief society president told us that the sisters were getting mad, because they couldnt give us food during the week because all the other sisters already reserved it. It was a nice compliment for me and my companion that everyone wants to eat with us.

The poeple here love us. They bring us food at night, and they do anything to serve us. Its so great!

I think the best part of being a missionary is having set aside time to study for 2 hours every single day. The words of the Lord are powerful. I was reading in doctrine and covenants 132 this week. 14-20 something are absolutely amazing and powerful!

The Lord has spoked a ton, and if havent read everything he has said, how can we expect that he will give us more than ponder and think of. We have thousands and thousands of pages of holy scripture of the Lord speaking. POWER.

​"Whether you think you can or you think you cant, you're right."

 

 

​Elder Jordan Alexander McGee

*we helped some members make ovens out of these barrels. (:​

Well hellllo!

Well hellllo!

These weeks are just so great, fun, and filled of happiness!

I feel like Im just really becoming a Chilean. I dont remember the differences between home and chile anymore.

I wonder if it will be hard to adjust again! haha.

We had some awesome things happen this week.

We gave the best zone training presentation Ive ever done! It was powerful, spiritual, and fun! I feel like Im definitely the best missionary Ive ever been.

It was fun passing through all the general conference talks this week.

The members here are soooo loving! Its awesome. We come by and they go buy a coke or sandwiches or whatever it may be! I hope you guys take care of the missionaries at home as well (: Especially if you see them on the side of the road, pick them up and take them where they need to go! For the amount of times that I have hitch hiked here in the mission, Im gonna owe it to the missionaries at home (:

We had a baptism in the zone this week of a lady who is 113 years old! You can never  be too old to change and follow Christ (:

I got to go on divisiones with Elder Hynes who is from Kansas City! Wooo. I didnt know that missouri has a professional soccer team at home. Totally gonna do temple sessions and go to soccer games now (: We had a good time.

On monday we had a family home evening with 3 different families. We taught the restoration of the gospel using candles! We put out the 13 candles representing Christ and his apostles. When it was pitch black dark, we explained the apostacy! It was powerful. The spirit was thick, and people were in tears. Its so gratifying to be able to bring the spirit into a home, especially while speaking a foreign language. POWER.

Today we had an awesome zone activity playing bebida pong (:

On sunday we had a powerful testimony meeting.

​

"I​

 attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.

​"​

​

​Elder McGee (:​

 

Heyyyy!

Heyyyy!

Here we go into another change! Im still here in Buin with my awesome Peruvian comp!

General Conference was so inspiring. I absolutely loved it. Elder Zeballos, one of the ones who spoke in spanish, is from chile and was just with us a few weeks ago! Awesome. Here in chile there is always another room in english for all the gringo missionaries and others who wanna learn. As the spanish speakers got up to speak, it was funny because we all ran into the room because its easier to understand when there arent translators!

So many awesome quotes to inspire us to live better lives. It was funny how much they were focused on the family. The talk by Sister Burton was a nice talk about being married and what not. There were a few jokes thrown around because the time is coming soon for me! haha.

​"I am here because I desire with all my heart to follow my master Jesus Christ" -Elder Utchdorf​

​"Life is not confined to a 4-inch screen" -Elder Texeira

 

"When was the last time I chose to be happy, instead of demanding to be right," -Sister Burton​

 

​"God care alot more about who we are and about who we are becoming​

 

​than about who we once were." -Elder Renlund​

​Its amazing to be able to look back 6 months ago and think we were just having conference. Its awesome because I dont feel like I progress much every day, but after 2 years of study in the scriptures and talks, I have made it a long way to who I was and what I did 2 years ago! Life is such a wonderful gift given from God, and its amazing that we all chose to be here!

We are still looking for an awesome family to teach. This place needs lots of help with the members, so we have been focusing on them. The mission is changing and the Lord is hastening his work here in the South America South area of the world. We are now going to stop recording how many new poeple we find each week and how many lessons we teach, rather how many people we helped make it to the temple. We are focusing alot more of the family. Its amazing. I could truly feel the power behind President Warnes words as we attended the Leaderhsip meeting this last thursday. So many things are going on, and the work is picking up speed. The work of the Lord cannot be frustrated by man. We either take part in it and see the amazing fruits of it, or we sit back relaxed and miss the amazing oppurtunities. We know so many people who dont have knowledge of the temples, let alone the gospel! Lets go to work. Sheep need to be found and feed.

Life is good, and there is lots of work to be done. (:

love,

Elder McGee​

Hey familia!

Hey familia!

Life is good here in the outskirts of santiago, chile!

Not too much happened this week, everything tranqi like the chileans say.

We found a coulple of new families to work with here, and one of them brought his buddies, and we all played a little pichanga(soccer match) behind the church. I think we should build a soccer field behind all the churches at home too!

We had kinda a rough week because noone showed up to church. But its all good! I got to go on divisiones with one of my good buddies from arizona, Elder Benavides. We had a blast, and found one of the new familes!

We had a bunch of big rainstorms here this past week, which was way fun, because all the streets fill up with tons of water.

My comp and I are having a blast. We made corn bread this week, and spent time with so many wonderful people. I am so blessed to be here doing the Lords work. Im super excited this week to be able to hear all the living prophets and apostles speak. I cant believe that its been another 6 months already. I know that many of our personal questions and concerns will be answered and solved as we tune into what the Lord has to say to the world through his servants here in the earth.

I finished mosiah today in my studies. What an awesome book on how the people here in the americas created their goverment and the church. So awesome. King benjamin, and Mosiah were studs.

After Alma was struck dumb after seeing an angel, his words realled moved me this week as he recieved power in his heart and limbs saying:

 29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.
 30 I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all.
 31 Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; then shall they confess, who live withoutGod in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his all-searching eye.

​There are so many powerful leaders in the scriptures. We should never stop figuring out what they have to say.​

​thanks for all the support!

Love,

Elder McGee​

​Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will!

Hey familia!

This week was a roller coaster!

We had some rough days where we got a little down on ourselves because we were achieving the success that we wanted, and then the week ended marvelous.

An elder got back from his mission this past week, and gave an awesome testimony. We usuyally have like 85 people come to church, and this week we had 113 in church! We brought an hermano to church this week after many years of not wanting anything to do with the church. We walked into his house, gave him a huge hug and showed him some true charity and christlike love, explained a little bit of the catholic churches history and american history and explained how it all intertwined into the restoration of the church today! He was stoked, and we talked about an eternal family, temple sealing and everything. He is ready to start progressing baby! 

We also brought an entire family to church, and the father is not a member. We are getting some work done, we are suprising all the members in the branch with a huge amount of excitement, and energy. Everyone is like who are these 2 elders? hhaha. getting WORK done just being ourselves. My companion, Elder Plaza, and I get along really well!

This week Elder Zeballos came to speak to the mission. What an incredible man. He spoke to us about how sometimes we have to climb one moutain before we see the next mountain we have to climb. Sometimes, we as humans have to be in a certain situation or place to be able to see that there is another mountain hiding behind the one we just climbed! haha awesome talk!

Today my companion and I went running about 5 miles to the neareest mountain. We climbed it, and found a cave. We read the scriptures up there, and I felt like Enos or Nephi! haha. It was powerful. We were above the clouds (:

Dont wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect!

 Angels still come these days to help us. I know it. Ive seen the power of them.

Elder McGee

Hey family! This week was awesome.

Hey family!

This week was awesome. The amount of inspiration one recieves on a mission is incredible. I love it. I dont know what Im gonna do when Im not a missionary.. haha.

Life here in buin is great! This district has a high velocity. Lots of activities, lots of missionaries, lots of energy. Itll be a stake soon!

Today we made some american hamburgers for everyone in the zone. I was the griller and boy, was I a little bit proud to make all these missionaries a little taste of america.. (:

I think the coolest thing that happened this week was that our investigador, Sebastian, has had a hard time following some of the commandments. He has been struggling for a while. He wants to get baptized, and he comes to church every week. We didnt know what to do with him to help him, cause weve tried everything! We decided to pass by every day this week and read a little bit of the book of mormon. Finally the other day, something caught his attention. We started talking about the 3 major sins. He felt pretty bad, and we went outside with him and he told us everything. We explained how sometimes sin is what makes us confused and why we are low of energy sometimes. We explained the power of repentance, and boom. It all changed. He wants to drop everything and go head strong towards a baptism!! Im excited. (: The spirit is power.

Life is good here in the mission.

This week a 70 is coming to speak to us. Elder Zeballos! After, we are gonna watch meet the mormons! AWESOME.

If you cant fly, then run,
if you cant run, then walk,
if you cant walk, then crawl,
but whatever you do,
you have to keep moving forward!

​         ​

-Martin Luther King

​ Jr.

 

​Elder McGee​

 

​BUIN BABY!

​BUIN BABY!

Life is good here in buin. MY vans that I bought in the beginning of my mission have oficially died... which means that Ive had them a long time.. which means that Ive been here in Chile a long time.. but that doesnt mean anything! (: We gotta keep baptizing!!

We had an awesome district conferance this week! Very inspiring. One thing that really called my attention is when the district president spoke about our temple reccomends. He said usually we go to the bishop hoping that he will sign our reccomend. But really the most important signature is OURS. It went perfect with what I was reading in the book of mormon that dad when I read in 2 Nephi 9:

 41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

​When we arrive to the glorias of the heavens, we will have to sign our own life saying we did our best! (:

We were teaching a new investigator this week and out of nowhere his little brother walked down stairs with a byu shirt on! We put baptismal dates with them for the 4th of April! WOO (:

I got to go on divisones with a newer elder this week who is also into cinamatography and what not. We shared some good ideas, and boy am I stoked to make videos again! We found 4 new investigators that day withing like an hour! It was fun (:

LIFE IS AWESOME.

​"If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will make an excuse."​

​

​We were teaching a kid this week, and we went up stair into his room in this really old sketchy house. We watched the restoration video with him, and in the middle of it, he just got up and left and went outside to play baseball... We left his house and noticed that there were marijuana plants everywhere. hahaha. Oh the joys of trying anything posible so that someone will hear the great joy and pleasure of the knowledge of the gospel!

Love,

Elder McGee​

 

​Here we are reporting from BUIN!

​Here we are reporting from BUIN!

This sector is awesome. We had so much fun this week!

Today we had this grand idea for all the 28 missionaries of zone to come and do an awesome scavenger hunt! It was super fun, they all had to take pictures of 26 chilean things like a typical chilean cowboy (huasso) or the typical chilean flower (Copihue) and it was a blast! The last picture they had to take was with us! haha (:

We had some good success this week as we found a couple new families to work with! ​The branch that Im in now is Los Jardines. This week 100 people went, but usually we average around 80 people. It was a very loving branch on sunday and I was pleased to share my testimony with everyone! I felt the spirit launch out of my soul like a flame thrower as I testified of the truths I have come to know in the mission. BOOM. Powerful.

On friday we had a special lidership meeting in Presidents house and it was fun getting there because here in Buin there is no bus station, so we have to roll out to the highway and flag down a bus to take us an hour south to Rancagua. The meeting was powerful and it was super fun, not to mention the delicious hawaiin hay stacks! Yumm!

We brought a new investigator to church this week and he is way awesome, but he showed up drunk! It was kinnda funny, but he has good intentenciones to leave it all behind.

Life is good here in the mission(:

I enjoy being in a rural town again as you can see in my pictures (:

I'm officially down to 3 changes left.

Hey Family (:

Well, Im officially down to 3 changes left. Cant believe the time is coming so fast! It only makes me wanna work harder! We had interviews this week, and President was telling me how sometimes missionaries come into his office and tell him they are tired and cant work anymore. He says Youre only 20! How can you be tired? haha It made me laugh!

Big news of the week is that Im getting transfered from the farthest zone south: Talca, to the farthest zone north: Buin. Ill be in a branch called Los Jardines. Im super excited. My new companion will be from Peru! My first latin comp in 5 months! haha. Im ready to swing it back into to spanish 24/7.

I got to go on splits with another Elder from colorado. He is in his second change. We had so much fun together. He was crackin up the whole day at the funny things I would do with people, like pick them up, give them a big rasberry on their neck, or do some rapping. You gotta do whatever it takes to win peoples trust over. And as soon as you win their trust you blow them away with something from the Gospel and they end up changing their lives! haha. Live is awesome here in the mission. Its awesome to be able to share ideas with new Elders in the mission!

We were teaching the story of the brother of jared this week (which is found in Ether 2 and 3) to some of our recent converts. As soon as we read the scripture that talks about the Lord touching the rocks to make light, all the power cut off. We finished the lesson with candles. It was pretty funny how it all happened the the precise moment.

So with the whole being transfered thing, we didnt get a chance to call this awesome family who we are working with. They arrived a little late to church on sunday so we didnt get the chance to tell them we were leaving, because both my comp and I are leaving. They are white washing us! Bishop got up and announced that 2 missionaries were leaving the ward and they were gonna give their testimonies. My comp got up first and gave a nice message. Then, I stood up and I heard the whole ward take a gasp. It was kinda cool. As I bore my tesimony I looked over to the mom of the family we are teaching and observed her break down in to tears. I never knew what it meant when people said that the people of the land will love you. I really found that this has been my favorite sector and favorite ward. I really came to love the people of Independencia, Talca. I bore my testimony of the powers of Christ and the divinity of Gods plan. I testified on the truths I have come to know and feel and felt an inner peace as I did. It truly is impossible for all of this stuff to not be true! Im excited for the new changes, and I know my mission president is very inspired and that the lord is the head of this marvolilous work!

We visited many of the people we were teaching these past couple of days and I received many wonderful comments. I love this work. Its a blast. Its sad when missionaries stop working hard. Its too fun to stop working hard. And this work is only fun if you work as hard as you possibly can.

Elder McGee

Obispo and his family

Familia Valdez

La zona Talca 2

20 weeks left. WHAT.

HEY!

20 weeks left. WHAT.

4 and a half months left. I gotta work even harder!

This week was great. A little more relaxed because we changed houses and had a ward activity out in the campo!

We moved to a sweet new house! I got to do some realestate for the second time in the mission following my dads footsteps! We live in a super nice apartment complex that doesnt even compare to the rest of the houses here in Chile. We moved everything over using tricylces! Its like the chilean form of a truck. We had 2 of them rolling down the street. 

On saturday we rolled out to the country on a old bus with the ward and had a blast playing soccer on a dirt field and having a huge asado(bbq) It was a ton of fun.

The family we are working with is still doing great! We found another young couple named Sebastian and Valentia. They are stoked to start working towards a baptismal goal! We were also teaching another dude who has been taught by missionaries for years. I give him my all when we are in teaching him. Yesterday he gave out the example of a shoe box and a coin, and he feels that he is shaking the shoe box to see if there is a coin inside. He said he is shaking the box but he doesnt hear the coin. At the end of the lesson his wive came in with a coin taped to the top of the box and said maybe you should stop shaking the box and open it! The spirit just came rolling in and he kept his mouth shut. AWESOME.

This week I gained an even stronger testimony of the sacrament. I had a relaxed week like I said and felt like maybe I didnt give it my all. I felt a little down. I had been praying and trying to get my energy back up. On sunday I got to church and during the sacrament just started thinking about the atonement, the enabling powers of it and the benefits it gives us and the positive acts it has over the fall of adam and eve. I felt and ever-so-strong feeling of the spirit rush into my heart and fill out the little holes in my soul and got the strong impression that i shouldnt worry, that everything was gonna be okay, that I can only work harder the next week, and recieved a ton of energy to keep working hard! We later had the chance to give a blessing, and I felt all the energy from the atonement flow through me as I let my tongue flow. I had another chance to give a blessing this week, and both times, there were many tears. I feel so blessed to be able to bless the lives of others and become the hands of God himself.

I read an awesome talk called Praise to the Man by President Gordon B Hinkley this week.

He exclaimed that we must reaffirm our testimony of the prophet jospeh smith and the book of mormon EVERY DAY. I loved that.

Creativity is just connecting things.

​ -Steve Jobs

​So yeah,

have a good one (:

Elder McGee​

 

Wow! Awesome week!

Wow! Awesome week!

On wednesday I was priviliged with the oppurtunity to train 2 zones of missionaries. About 45 people in total. I was thrilled to share some of my ideas and passion towars being a proactive positive person. I felt the spirit fill my soul. Later I went out to the beach sector Constitucion with an Elder from Colombia. Farther south than where dallas is at! I was once again priviliged to be able to help him confront some of his fears and worries. We ended almost in tears and with a long hug as the spirit filled our hearts. He felt like he wanted to go home recently but he explained to me how I had answered his prayers and given him an extra boost of energy and love towards the work. I was then later filled with the spirit as I testified to this lovely family we are teaching about the plan of salvation that we can live. Later, I was filled with the spirit once again on Sunday as I was asked to give a talk right before we started the sacrament and I was to give it as soon as the sacrament finished. I was thrilled to see the promise of recieving the precise words in the precise moment as we always study the scriptures. I was inspired quickly with 2 examples that went perfect with some of Christs invitations that we anilized. I took them apart word by word and gave the most simple powerful talk I have given so far in my life.

I love being an ELDER. Someone who teaches the doctrines of Christ. Its such an honor. I love it and have so many oppurtunities to teach and be creative.

The person who hears the truth is not the same as the person who understands the truth, and the person that understands the truth is not the same as the person who LOVES the truth.

​ -Chinese Proverb

 

Romans 14: God gives us trials so that we might obtain patience.

Our patience then can turn into hope. Hope in who? Hope in Christ that he will reedem our sins. Coming unto Christ can only bring us to something bigger. God. Its a big circle of Gods love for us.

Today we explored the mountains in a place called Vilches. About 2 hours towards the mountains. It only takes 4 hours to cross chiles width. Awesome.

Love,

Elder McGee

WOO what a week!

WOO what a week!

We have been finding so many awesome people! Im so excited to continue working with all of them. I am in my favorite sector Ive had for my whole mission!! This ward is awesome, and I feel like Im doing my best to make sure there is more unity! 

We have been teaching the Valdez family this whole week. Ive never met someone who was so prepared in my life. They are what we call: Una familia de Oro.

They came to church and everyone made them feel so welcome!

We had a leadership meeting on friday, it was pretty cool. I got to give a 10 minute workshop on how to bring people to church. I had a blast with that of course! We had papa johns for lunch as well which was awesome. We tried to get home but there were no buses. So we went to the train station and the train wasnt gonna come for another 3 hours, so I went and helped out the secretaries with their work. We went back for the train and it looked like one of those japanese train videos where a million people are trying to get on.. So we didnt dare to try to smash ourselves onto it. So we had to stay the night again and we finally made it 2 hours back to the south to Talca. Its kinda cool here in chile. There is one train track and one high way that extends from the north of chile all the way to the south!

On sunday we got to church and we went up to talk to a guy who we hadnt seen before. He says "hey elders! Where are you guys from?" in english! It was funny. My companion replied saying he was from utah and I said Im from missouri! He replied and said wow! What part of missouri? I said Springfield! He says wow cool, do you happen to know who Shaun Breckenridge is? I said Wow! Thats my bishop. He says "Hes my brother. hahahaha. So I met bishop breckenridges brother here in my ward in Talca, Chile. Who wouldve known! There are like 12 wards here in Talca! What are the chances! He baptized some of the members we ate with last week. SMall world!

Today we played some good ole futbol. I was prideful to wear my new US soccer jersey! I get prideful about our country alot. (:

Today Im on divisones with my best buddy from the mission Elder Horsely. Were gonna be millionaires after the mission. Our companions are both ending their missions so they went up to rancagua for a special meeting.

Elder McGee

I took some great pictures with Bishops brother and other stuff this week... but I forgot my camera in the house. Until next week (: but here is a picture from the temple in mexico! almost 2 years ago...

This week was AWESOME! (:

This week was AWESOME! (:

We have so many people to teach in this sector, but no one has really showed forth the effort to want to progress. I was pretty fed up with it one day, so I just got down on my knees and just let my heart go. I expressed my feelings to want to find a wonderful family to find. I was so determined to find them because I felt such a peace in my heart that we would be able to find them that we cancelled all plans for 3 hours and just went looking for a family who was waiting for us. We entered houses, and talked to everyone and after like 3 hours of rejection, lo and behold, we found a marvelous family! WOO! They said they were waiting for us because they had wanted to change the course of their lives. I was almost in tears staring at this family that is now going to be able to come unto the gospel in its fullness. I thanked our Creator that night and went to sleep peacefully. awesome. awesome. awesome.

One night, my comp and I got home and we had bought a huge watermelon! I barely put the knife into it and it exploded! We ate tons of sandia (watermelon) that night (:

Soooo we taught a new less active, brought him to tears reminding him of his glory days in the church, and arrived at the house of 2 people who were in need who thanked us with tears. The second house we got into was a member who hadnt come in a while. Her nonmember son was sick that week. We gave him a powerful blessing pulling down the powers of heaven. He lives in a city about an hour north of here in Curico. We got news from the elders up there that he went to church yesterday. Pretty cool experiance. I wrote him a list of questions that the book of mormon answers.

There was a big earthquake here on saturday morning. I woke up to my whole bed shaking. Its always a cool experiance.

We made brekafast sunday morning for some less actives who havent come in years. They came to church and were so happy. It paid off to make them some delish eggs with peppers on chilean bread. YUM.

AMAZING WEEK.

DyC 88:22

 "For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory."

Lets pick up our consecration (:

Elder McGee

this is how much chileans love their pan (bread)

Elder McGee Creative Extraodinaire Independencia, Talca

Hey!
This week was pretty cool! We had changes. I am staying here in Independencia, Talca. I have a new companion named Elder Spriggs from bountiful utah! We have already become good friends and we are having tons of fun! Today we had a big sprite pong contest between all the 40 missionaries in the two zones of talca. It was a lot of fun!

This week we had a less active who told us alot of crazy stuff about her life. We would kinda blown away by what she told us. We had a long lesson and just pleaded with her to repent of all that she had done and she would be forgiven. The spirit was way strong as we testified of the trutfullness and the joy that comes as we repent.
On sunday she came up to us almost leaping of joy. She told us to come by later that day, so we went by and she said she prayed for like 2 or 3 hours just pleading with the Lord to repent just like it explains in Alma 36:

 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am inthe gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlastingchains of death.
 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember mypains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

​She was so filled with joy like 20 and 21 decribe to us. I too have passed through this process and it is so sweet to the soul. Its like vomiting. Whenever we have something bad in us, we must vomit it all out, and as soon as its all out we can usually fall back asleep in the night. Just as your stomach becomes clean and realxed after vomiting, our souls too can become clean and relaxed as we use the healing powers of the atoning sacrifice of Christ to HEAL US. (: DO it!

On thursday we rolled up to Rancagua, where I started my mission for a special training. We stayed in a house with like 20 other Elders. Super fun times!

The mission is so great! I love it!

Love,

Elder McGee

Creative Extraodinaire

Independencia, Talca