Sunday, March 26, 2017

More Adventures!

March 20, 2017

Busy week. 

We walked for an hour through the countryside to teach an investigator. It was beautiful, but super hot and a ton of mosquitos. Annnnnnd then she ended up not being there hahaha. S'all good, asi es la mision.



There was some gnarly rain. It actually got a little cold, I had to put on a sweater haha




Made a new friend during our activity Thursday night, lil guy with my glasses is Oki. I taught him how to dribble a basketball (I know I know, wrestlers don't play basketball haha)


Fun facts about Bolivia: milk usually comes in bags or boxes here. And its super processed so you don't need to refrigerate it. Fry sauce is called salsa golf here haha

Here is another example of Bolivian ingenuity; this bathroom is made of 2 liter bottles, dirt, and clay. Crazy hahaha



Les amo,


Elder McClune










March 13, 2017 

Its been ridiculousy hot here.

While Elder Taco and I were studying in the morning, some Jehovahs Witnesses knocked at our door. They looked a little intimidated when they saw my plaque hahaha. They asked if we were Mormons and we chatted with them for a little bit. They gave us a pamphlet so I gave them one on the Restauration!

We were contacting (knocking doors) when we met this sweet elderly lady with the brightest smile. Her name is Hermana Jesus. We taught her and her son Moises how God loves us and has a plan for us, and about the Word of Wisdom. She thanked us for our lesson, said that she felt something special while we taught.


Points from an awesome talk by Elder Dale G. Renlund (link below):

"A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying"

In less formal terms, God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep on trying.

If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners; if we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and if we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day hypocrites. As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/latter-day-saints-keep-on-trying?lang=eng

The only perfect person to have lived on this earth is Jesus Christ. But through his Atonement, his loving sacrifice, we can overcome our flaws and mistakes and return to live with our Heavenly Father.

Les amo,


Elder McClune



Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Transferred to Montero with Elder Taco!

Hola, 

So I don't have a ton of time it here it is:

Carnaval (a festival in Latin America) was wild. Just spent 3 days sleeping, eating, working out, studying, and playing board games. We played chess and a Spanish board game version of Trivia Crack called Preguntas hahaha. Also, tried to make bread.... without measuring ingredients...and without yeast.....or an oven. Needless to say, the result was interesting (kind of like crapes??) hahaha but delicious!



We found out about transfers. I got moved to a little city outside of Santa Cruz called Montero. I hated to leave and I miss Universitario, but I'm loving my new area. My companion is Elder Taco from Peru! Kinda wish my name was Elder Bell  hahaha



Out of time so I'll tell you guys more about my area and comp next week.
 ​Parts of a beautiful talk that I read by Elder David A. Bednar. I included the link if you want to read all of it.
President David O. McKay (1873–1970): “The purpose of the gospel is … to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature.”

The enabling power of the Atonement of Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own.

The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No one understands. No one knows.” No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/04/the-atonement-and-the-journey-of-mortality?lang=eng


Les amo,


Elder McClune





Note from Elder McClune's Sister: Derek wrote me a letter in Spanish, and I was very impressed with how much he has learned! He gave me a little more detail than he did in the blog so I translated a little bit of it:

"I am in a new area called Estadium.  It's a city outside of Santa Cruz.  My companion is Elder Taco, he's from Peru.  We get a long well and we are working really hard.  In the first three days we have 13 new investigators! (**Investigators are the term for people who are investigating the church, that the missionaries teach**).  I still miss my old area a lot, but I'm really enjoying my new area.  Elder Taco wants to learn English so I'm teaching him....Here the Spanish accent is very different.  Here they don't pronounce the "s" in words like 'estamos, vamos, buenas' etc.  Instead they say 'estamo, vamo, buena, etc...I'm also learning how to cook Bolivian food and other Latin American food.  Delicious!
...It's crazy how time passes so quickly but at the same time so slowly.  I'm working very hard.  I'm focusing and enjoying my mission, but of course I miss everyone at home, BYU, BBQ, clean water, more than one piece of toilet paper, normal milk, wrestling, and more.  But thats the mission! 

¡Vale la pena Elder McClune! (It's worth it!) He's working hard and giving his whole heart to the Lord and the people of Bolivia.  We are very proud of him!