McClain Mission

Hey dad. Thanks for reaching out on my Birthday. I always appreciate seeing emails from you especially because I feel like you are one of the few people out there that understand me and how difficult it can be to be a missionary. I am really missing you all a lot right now. Sometimes I have a hard time seeing the blessings as well, so every morning I write down three things I am grateful for, and that has helped. I have been doing that for a while now, and it has made things better since I first came out into the field, but it can still be really tough for me at times. What were some of the things you did, or think I could do to help me focus on my blessings and be happier in the mission field. I really pray to feel like I am loved, and to help spread the love of the gospel to others that we are teaching. I am trying to focus on my purpose, to help others, and when I focus the most, I feel the best, it is just really difficult a lot of the time because we are in the apartment making c...

Hey everybody! Today marks the end of my second transfer as a missionary! Transfers are blocks of time, usually between 5 and 7 weeks, at the end of which missionaries often switch companions or areas and move apartments. I am staying in Santa Clarita, but I did get a new comp, Elder Ostler. He is a super cool guy, and we're already buddies. We are really excited to get to work out here and see what we can do! In our last week together, Elder Stastny and I spent a lot of time as usual working with members in the branch, as well as working with some investigators. This week I had the chance to do a lot of talking over the phone, and I am proud to say that my Spanish has really come along well. This week, we shared a lot of messages about how privelaged we are to freely choose for ourselves how we will act, our free agency is a gift from God! We are allowed to pick between right and wrong, and given countless opportunities throughout our life to decide the type of person we will b...