Elder McGhie's experiences as a missionary in Peru.

April 11, 2011

Hay Carumba... haha!!

Well hello there fam and friends another week has come and gone, and of course as usual, what a roller coaster ride it was!  Well wow I can honestly say my patience has never been tried harder than this last week. So my companion well he is a a good guy.  But definitely the weirdest person i have ever met in my entire existence on this earth.  Holy Cow.  So my comp is a great teacher and a hard worker when he is awake! O woof, he cannot get his butt out of bed to save his life.  Apparently the Lord really wants me to learn patience during my mission cause its definitely not one of my strengths and its just getting hammered.  My comp doesnt want to go to bed ever he just keeps talking and talking and referring to Preach my Gospel every 5 seconds.  Haha so we never get to bed on time, but i still get up so im just so tired and then he just sleeps in till flippin 7:15 AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! So difficult!!  So one night we were walking back to our room and i said man im so tired lets try to actually go to bed on time tonight.  And he said, well you cant go to bed till i go to bed its a rule.  I said yes your right but we really should try to get to bed at 10:30 as it says in our schedule, so we can get some sleep.  Then he started to get all butt hurt.   He then told me since i get up 10 minutes before 6:30 i am breaking the rules? HAHAHA He tried to convince me that i cant get up till exactly 6:30, i said no thats definitely not a rule, but i was breaking a rule without getting up at the same time as my comp... because he sleeps in till 7!!! I then told him no we can definitely get up before 6:30 to do exercises and such, but we definitely CANNOT sleep in past 6:30.  He then got Royally Butt Hurt cause i was calling him out on sleeping in for the 50th time this week.  He tried to convince me that it was different and not really a rule and he told me we should look at the missionary handbook to see what it says.  I said POR FAVOR lets take a gander and see what the handbooks says, it says we have to be up at the latest 6:30 at the same time as our comp.  But he realized that he was wrong before i could whip out the handbook and stopped me and said Elder McGhie, how much time in the mission do i have? (1 year) And then responded to his own question and told me, Now Elder McGhie i think i know the handbook and the rules by now.  I laughed out loud and said, Wow that is great comp you have been a missionary for a whole year and you STILL CANT GET UP ON TIME!!!!!!! Hahahahahaha to say the least VICTORY was mine, and oh it was SO SWEET!  But yeah he still doesnt get up on time... ugh, but he definitely is almost the spitting image of Steve Erkle and laughs just like him.  And in the middle of our planning session he just screams at the top of his lungs for like a good 5 seconds and proceeds to laugh hysterically (just like Steve Erkle) for like 5 minutes.   I just try with all i have to smile and try and laugh.  Sweet Death, i mean honestly will everyone receiving this letter please pray that i can have the patience not to kill my comp.  I seriously thought, i have now learned why he has never had a companion for more than 1 transfer - for his whole mission.  Haha but yeah thats the mission right, lots and lots of experiences! ;)  Moy Bien sorry i really just had to get that off my chest, if it made any sense I’ll be happy!!

So, this week we did have 2 more baptisms! YEAH!!! We had the baptism of Hermana Carmen and her son who is 12.  Her husband is a member and was inactive for about 7 years but he is definitely re-activating and the baptism of his son and wife was a huge step! I have pictures to send.  I honestly cant explain the feeling of baptizing someone.  I got in the Baptismal Font and it was freezing cold, but honestly i never feel the cold of the water.  The spirit is so strong and its honestly like my chest is on fire it just has this warm burning great feeling right in my chest and i know for a fact without a doubt it is the Holy Ghost.  And its in that moment when all the frustration, all the home sickness, all the doors not opened, all the people that just laugh in my face when i try to contact them and they just yell GRINGO! And run away, its really in that moment when all the frustration of companions and everything hard just melts away.  Im so blessed to have this gospel in my life its unbelievable.  And really the baptisms are amazing but that’s not all, maybe the very best part of the day is before i go to bed i can get on my knees and just talk with my Heavenly Father and knowing that i did everything physically possible to talk to people to teach with the spirit to love my comp and all others, its when i can kneel down and express my gratitude to my Father in Heaven knowing he is listening.  That is an experience i can have every day, i just got to go and work and try my very best.  And it'll all work out. Cause there won’t always be baptisms, but my Father in Heaven and his son the Lord and Savior is ALWAYS going to be there.  Sometimes we just got to get on our knees and ask.  I would like to issue a challenge to everyone reading this, probably you are already doing this but if not, please just try it, it will change your prayers.  First of all Kneel down, not on your bed but on the floor, secondly pray out loud, find a private spot and really just have a conversation, and 3rd at least once a week in one of your prayers, dont ask for anything just give thanks.  And if you do these things i promise you will see a change in your life and your prayers.  Love all of you, sorry if i just got crazy preachy on all yall, or if i sounded just like my dad... hahahaha but its true!!! The Gospel is True, LIVE IT!
Love ya!
Elder McGhie
O yeah remember the church songs that we always listened to when i was little, like Have you received his image in your countenance and How could they not believe? Those are the choruses of the songs and my comp has them in Spanish i all of the sudden heard those songs and i was paralyzed and like 10 thousand memories of my childhood came flying into my head! I cant lie i was a little trunky in that moment but hey just thought you would like to know and its a good memory for the fam too! And great songs! Well random i know but love you!!!

Carmen, Vidal her son and Lady her little girl and her husband Edgar and my ward! The guy with the glasses kneeling down is my Bishop John Bravo!

 Carmen and her son Vidal and her little girl named Lady and her husband Edgar.

April 4, 2011

Choose your love and love your choice... yeah maybe in November of 2013 (or way later than that! this is his mom :)!!!! haha

Buenos Dias!!! Que Tal? (Marty says it means how are you)
Well first off i will start by saying conference was just AMAZING!!! For the first time in my life i listened to every talk and took like a billion notes... haha how great is the mission or what! So first off im going to tell you dont worry im still in my same area! HORRAY! And i have a new companion! Haha o boy =) he is one of a kind, but really pretty awesome! So im going to describe him the best i can and i just have to clarify first i cant complain cause really all he wants to do is work and be obedient! But i gotta tell you about him, He is one of a kind to say the least haha.  So his name is Elder Arnoa (Are-now) he is Peruano from the city of Tacna, which is very close to Chile or so he tells me.  He is almost black but has a mole right in the center of his forehead so he looks like he is from India haha... Anyway so first off,  he is 24, has a girlfriend that is serving a mission in Mexico. So he really, really, really likes to talk and talk and talk.  He reminds me a lot of Steve Erkle, kinda laughs like him and he is the District Leader and he is freaking out and terribly nervous, its seems more like he is district leader but im the senior comp, haha he is really nice, really goofy, and well pretty funny.  He is just one rare bird.  I thought we were going to have problems the first day cause everyone groaned and told me sorry when they heard the announcement that he is my comp, but really i love the kid he is great, a little over the top but hey thats fine by me!!! For example the first morning i got up at 6:20, (yes that’s right its a miracle i know, 10 minutes early, im almost a morning person now!!!)  But he slept till like 7am and  i was like woof  i have to do this all over again.  But that night he asked me if there was anything he needed to improve and i just told him straight up, get your  butt outa bed (But with Amor) haha and I’ll be darned now he gets up! He really is quiet the character, a talking machine! But he teaches awesome and i can learn a lot from him! Its sorta a test of my patience, he is kinda “captain obvious” and when i ask him a question instead of  just answering the question he talks about the question and everything else possible like im 10 and then answers, i just grin and say thanks haha... Our first morning he tried to teach me how to tie my tie haha i was just laughing  and said yeah dont worry, i know how to tie my tie, my friend.  He is the king of cologne and deodorant; he uses about 4 different ones in the mornings and irons his clothes everyday!  I  couldnt help but laugh, he really is great, dont take the comments wrong they are with love, i just had to give you guys the down low! But yes that is my new comp! Ill send ya some pics too!  Alright now wasnt conference the BOMB!  First off all i only cried a little bit, when the Mo Tab was singing “The Spirit of God”! And one other time, during Elder Nelsons talk when he had that picture of  his grandson, then he paused and just looked me right in the soul and said,” in a little while that little boy will go through the temple, then he will go and serve a mission.”  I dunno it just hit me like a ton of bricks that the little kid was and is me!
I dunno,  alright dont judge me for being a softy! He also said then that little kid will go and get married... ummm yeah that definitely isnt me quite yet!!! Haha, what was up with that?  Like every talk was about getting married! Haha it made about half the missionaries in my district trunky especially the one with 20 months already! When President Monson in Priesthood started talking about that we just kinda laughed, i just shook my head and thought, well this talk definitely is NOT for me for 20 more months.  It was pretty funny! So we got to listen to almost all of conference in English! Funny story, so the first session of conference we got there and there wasnt the feed for English. So i was just thinking o yeah its alright i can watch it in Spanish and enjoy... WOOF!!! Conference in English is 10000000 times better!.. in Spanish its just not the same at all! Its not their voices, and there is no emotion! So that first session of Saturday was just not the same!  But the stake president hooked us Gringos up with English and we got to watch the rest in English!!! It was AMAZING! Just us four gringos with our own television and room and English! Yeah i know im spoiled and a baby but hey i have no problem admitting  it! So yeah conference was awesome and apparently with all those talks on marriage, ill get home in November of 2012 and be married before conference of April 2013... Or NOT! Haha!!  But it was such a great conference! I loved the talk by Elder Anderson in Priesthood about Missionaries for sure! I also really enjoyed the talk by Elder Scott about his wife, that was so LEGIT!  It was great to see good old Utah again! And mark my words family, April of  2013 we are going to the Sunday Morning session or a session together in the conference center!!!  All the talks were fantastic, the quote that i have in my mind is the one from Elder Anderson, “Its not what you can get from your mission, Its what you can GIVE!!!” Oh and of course the other one from Elder Scott, Serve an Early mission, then get back and get married! Umm... can anyone say that is terrifying to think about! haha but yeah i have a long time until i have to worry about that! As of now im just here in Huanuco Amarilis in my area Paucarbamba just preaching the Word!!! Love ya fam and friends, thanks for the letters and all the support!!  I’m always here, just waiting for packages!!! HINT HINT!
LOVE YOU GUYS!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!!!

The pic is taking forever to load so im just going to write you a little message while im waiting! So mom i really did feel really close to the fam while watching conference, i felt united! We were hearing the same words from the Prophet and the other Gen Authorities! I really kinda teared up thinking about you guys sitting in the house watching but its okay! we will watch together again really soon! !!! Oh and what day do Dayton, Kyle and Jake enter the MTC exactly? And if ya dont mind, instead of sending me just one big package, every now and then, how about sending  a lot of smaller ones??? haha sorry im a baby i just need some packages filled with lots of love with just weird things and crazy stuff and notes on napkins (like in my sack lunches from Altara) haha!!! Oh and please send me next week,  the quote that is framed in my room from Patriarch Stenneck!!! Love ya !!!

Spencer and his new companion, ElderArnoa, he is from, Tacna, Peru

Spencers own words: Title of the Picture: Personal
 Study, Lehi´s Dream... haha im so funny!


March 28, 2011

March 28... A lot of Chicken and a lot more Rice!

Hola Familia y mis Amigos,

Hows life treatin ya these days?  Life is pretty grand out here in Peru!  So my email is probably going to be pretty short, cause i have a bunch of  pictures i want to send home today! So I’ll start out by telling you about last P day!  So after the  internet time, we went to hike the top of this Hill, well here it is a mountain but compared to the mountains in Utah... yeah not so much a mountain haha but it was actually a pretty good hike, and i was dang tired! I think i sent pictures of us up there before, but we only made it half way! So this time i was bound and determined to make it to the top!!!  There is a giant Cross at the top of the mountain that overlooks all of Huanuco, so that was our goal and we made, and so im going to send ya the pics of that, they are pretty legit!  Its like little old me with my Book of Mormon, and the giant cross representing the Catholic Church! haha but as i was saying it was a pretty tough hike to the top, not many of the latinos made it to say the least haha, but so here we are in the middle of Peru hiking this mountain, it was so awesome.  So the question is when you are a missionary in the middle of Peru, hiking a giant mountain what do you do while hiking or climbing the mountain?  Of course me and one of the other gringos in my district sang Miley Cyrus,  ITS THE CLIMB! Haha I cant lie it was so perfect, and yes sadly i knew all the words along with the other gringos, Elder Porter from Arizona was singing with me, im sure Elder Corbridge would have sung with us but he was a little too far ahead so he didnt get the chance to sing with us haah.   It was just so funny to think, what the heck, im in the middle of Peru hiking a mountain right now!? What should i do? I should definitely sing some  Miley Cyrus right now! haha so that was pretty awesome, and we did sing it pretty well with giant leaps and dance moves to go along with the song! Haha   
 (Hi, this is Carrie, jumping in with a comment here:   Can’t you just totally see Spencer and some of the other missionaries, Giant leaping and doing dance moves and singing Miley Cyrus while climbing  up a mountain/hill, it is just so Spencerish (I made that word up, Spencerish, let’s get it in the dictionary already J !!) 
Okay, so also we had 2 more Baptisms and a Wedding this week!!! Yep thats right Luis and Ines finally got married and baptized!!! it was so great! They really are so awesome! The wedding went really well... haha Luis the husband got married in his fire fighter suit and they drove to the chapel in the fire truck hahaha, classy right? I just imagined what Grandma Spencer would say or do if i came home from my mission and decided, yeah for my wedding i think im going to be dressed up like a fire fighter and drive around in a fire truck hahahahahaha!  I think its fair enough to say Grandma Spencer would either disown me or beat me hahaha, Man I love Peru!!! So that was awesome, I baptized Hermana Ines and my comp baptized  Luis, cause Hermana Ines is a little dare i say Bigger? haha but in Peru it is just blatantly clear she is fat, its crazy how open everyone is about that stuff! Still shocks me every time haha but yeah she was afraid she was going to drown or when i baptized her i wouldnt be able to get her up out of the water and then once again, she would drown... Haha i reassured her that really it was going to be alright, and i have been doing my pushups in the mornings to prepare for this! Haha well really, i didnt say that to her, my comp did and of course they all just laughed! But yeah the wedding was great, we had a really good turnout from the members so thats always awesome! Its amazing to see the change in their lives, Hermano luis went from being a heavy drinker, fireman, who didnt believe in God, and used to mess around with like dark dark evil stuff, to being baptized and being a Father and a Husband.  How great is the work of the Lord in the lives of people! Like Joseph Smith said No Hallowed hand can stop this work!!!  Its really quite amazing! So all is well here! We find out Tuesday night about the changes and Wednesday morning everyone goes or stays.  Rumor has it my comp is leaving and its almost for sure ill end up staying here for at least one more change! I HOPE SO! Oh and mom my Pensionista sends her love! She told me at breakfast this morning to tell ya, hey and she loves you!!! So i really want to stay sososososo bad! Well family and friends I love all yall so much thanks for the letters the prayers and the suppport! God Speed! (Carrie again, what does… God Speed mean??? I am so confused??)
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!

Us and Luis and Ines after their wedding! 
After the wedding with my wardies


La Cruz! I think it must mean, The Cross?
 
This is me overlooking good old Huanuco!!!


This is me after a great day of work,
Thursday night pondering about my COUGZ!
 Dont worry i m not trunky!
 But once a Coug always a Coug!
 

Me and My Companion Elder Rojo



 

March 21, 2011

And they call me GRINGO...

Hola! So i got a lot to write about and not much time to do it, so
enough with the chit chat, its business time...
Alright so another great week here in wonderful, wonderful Huanuco
PerĂº! So lets see, i have a pretty great Gringo Moment for yall... So
its monday evening(last week), just at the close of another P Day, and we have
interviews with President Leyva the next day, so obviously everyone is
going to get a haircut even if we dont need one haha, so my hair was
pretty short, but my comp needed one so i just figured why not, right?
Wrong!! haha so we went to find this members little barber shop, but it
was closed, so we just picked some random little barber shop.  So we
were in a pretty big hurry cause it was almost dinner time, and i was
dang hungry.  So i sit down and the lady asked me a question, she said some
word that i had never heard of, i just figured it meant short or
something... WRONG; turns out the word she used was Pelado... aka
BALD! So me being such a newb just nodded my head and was like yeah
sure! So she whips out the clippers and i watch as she procceeds to
just pretty much BUZZ my head bald! HAHAHA! I almost screamed, it
honestly was as short as possible without being considered bald! WOOF!
My comp was sitting behind me just laughing hysterically.  The lady
asked me if that was good i straight up said ummm NO! haha but it was
really too late, so she had to straight up buzz the whole side of my
head, and then leave some on the top, hahaha i was so bald and so
ugly! And it was just in time for our interviews with the President the next
day! And our double zone conference the next day too! To say the
least i took some pretty hard flack for my haircut haha, President
Leyva asked me what happened to my head in my interview, i told him
what happened, he just kinda laughed and shook his head.  Haha so im
going to send pics of our 2 baptisms home, they were saturday and
sunday so my hair had definitely grown back, so look at the pictures
and if you can imagine my hair shorter! haha, But yeah thats my life!
So anyways like i was saying we had 2 baptisms this week one was for
Hermano Junior.  He is about 27 years old and single, works in a little
internet cafe, his family owns.  The most rewarding thing was how we
found Hermano Junior.  It was clear back in January, when i was so brand
new it was ridiculous and could barely speak at all! My comp needed to
call one of the other missionaries or something to set up an interview
or something, i dunno, but so he was in the little telephone booth
inside the internet cafe, of Hermono junoir.  And here i was just standing
there and the Spirit prompted me to go up and talk to him.  But i was
terrified, cause he was sitting behind a big computer screen, i
couldn’t see his face and he had a buddy with him and they were
laughing, listening to music and playing some games on the computer.
I shook off the first prompting with my excuse of i can’t speak the
language.  But the Spirit prompted me again, i looked over and my comp
was on the phone, so i was on my own! I just said a prayer in my heart
that went like this... Dear Heavenly Father I’m trusting the Spirit and
I’m going to go talk to these guys, please help me to not look like a
fool and actually communicate! SO i walked up like a terrified little
3rd grader going to the principal’s office and i just opened my mouth
and just started talking! At first they just kinda looked at me like
what the heck are you doing? But they turned down the music and
listened.  I explained about the restoration and some points like
that in my broken “4th grader” spanish and then i asked them if we could
come by again and share more about our message, and they said yes! It
was definitely the first time that i had done a legit contact where i
like wrote their names and numbers and when we could teach them! The
buddy of junior stopped progressing and we havent seen much of him, but i
had the chance to Baptize Hermono Junior saturday afternoon, and oh how
sweet it was! To know that hey, i actually was working for the Lord
and He led me to Hermano junior! It really was such a neat experience! Just to
think, what would have happened had i not followed the Spirit! But i
did! So lesson learned for the 50th time, ALWAYS FOLLOW THE HOLY
GHOST! No matter how crazy it seems! We had another baptism of an 80
year old guy named Dimetrio, the father in law of the bishop, i got to
baptize him yesterday, he is 80 years old and has a bad back, but we
got him submerged and all was well!!! So for this up and coming week,
we have the Wedding of Luis & Ines, remember them? Well luis has
changed incredibly a total 180, or in the words of Karl Malone a
total 360 haha!! but yeah and then we have Hermano Jon, and Manuel, they
are just little kids that came to us and want to be baptized so we are
working with them! Oh and one more guy named Paul, but it’s like pAoool
haha! He has been coming to church for over a year and i think we
can get him baptized this week! So please pray for them, and of course
me! Cause i need all the help i can get! Thanks to all of you for your love and support!
LOVE YOU ALL!!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!

Oh, I got a bunch of dear elders from people today and a letter from
Missy!!! Thanks so much! Tell everyone that i love em and thanks for all the
Love and support and for their prayers! Oh and I demand to hear from
Liney and Collin though!!! I haven’t read my dear elders yet, so im
going to do that now! SEE YA!
Elder McGhie
Ps Im serious about my next package like 5 or 6 just crazy awesome
ties! Haha! Cause i have kids in my ward getting ready to leave on
their missions and i want to give them some ties to! LOVE YA!!!


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March 14, 2011

The Times and Seasons Peru Style!

Hola again from Huanuco!!!
How is good old life in Utah treating all ya!? I hope all is
well and life in good old America is as good as life is here in
Huanuco Peru in Amarillis! (my district or whatever they call em here
in Peru) But yeah so life is good and now onto the business!  So the
package has arrived!!! I havent opened it yet but im very very
excited! Today i also got a bunch of Dear Elders and a letter from
McCall Peterson! Thank you sosososososososo much for the letters
And the package and the prayers!!! I really can feel the prayers
strengthening me! Its so true! SO please keep it up!  So the last time
we talked i was having some really tough times with my pronouncing my
spanish, and i can really say that from your prayers for me and my
spanish i cannot describe how much my Spanish has improved. It really
is just incredible, i cant thank you enough for the prayers in my
behalf! And to say the least my Spanish still needs work, so please
keep praying for me!!! It really is amazing how much it helps! So this
week, lets see, we had a baptism, but it wasnt really a mission
baptism, a girl in our ward who is 18, doesnt have her records,
or the church doesn’t have her records, so she was a member, but then
she wasnt technically cause they don’t have any records for her.  I dunno it
was weird so we had that baptism, my comp always preaches to me how
numbers dont matter to him, but he was more than thrilled when he
found out this girls papers had been lost, because apparently that
baptism counts for us and our numbers too... i dunno i just was like
umm ok? Not really excited, i mean sure its good to help the girl out,
but i didnt have really any joy from the baptism cause, well we did
absolutely nothing for it? I dunno how to describe it, but yeah i
dunno. I love my comp, i really do, hes a great guy, he just honestly
doenst get the real purpose of the mission.  Im trying to help him i
just get really tired and worn out sometimes, but i keep fighting! I
dunno its like all of our lessons are the same, just boring, there is
no passion, like if these people really, really knew what we were
offering, what our church has, why we are here, if they really
understood, that if the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith
really saw God, the Father and Jesus Christ. If the book of Mormon is
true, then the Heavens are opened again.  The Heavens are open
pouring out Modern day Revelation, if they really understood, then
they would honestly read and search the Book of Mormon and pray
and ask God if its true or not.  And that is really our obligation, to
help these people really GET IT! But i feel we are defiantly failing
in this task.  Its like for example im teaching the 3rd principle in
lesson 1 about prophets and the 4th about Christ and how He
established his church, and i can just see these people, their eyes
glaze over and they just absent mindedly nod their heads like they even
care.  Its our duty to help them really get it. I dunno if they really
got it they would be hanging on every word trying to grasp what we are
saying.  But its not their fault it really is mine and my comps! SO
thats my quest right now, to really improve our teaching styles, when
we teach and read 10 different scriptures from the bible, that really
doesnt give them anything.  I dunno sorry im just ranting here, but it
really is therapy.  But once again the Lord provides a way for me
always! This week i got to be on splits with Elder Corbridge again! So,
remember Luis and Ines? Yeah we hadnt talked to them for like 2 weeks
they just stopped progressing and so we had like this last lesson with
them. I told Elder Corbridge the down low and if they didnt really
show improvement and have that desire to get married and baptized we
had to drop em for good.  So i was half expecting them not to be
there for the appointment but they were! So here we are, 2 Gringos, 2
really new gringos, elder corbridge has 1 more transfer than me.  And
we had like 45 minutes to just teach em. And i honestly had no idea
what to talk about.  All my comp had planned the night before was
marriage? Haha, i dont know how to talk about marriage even in English
for 10 minutes, let alone Spanish for 45! So i honestly just said a
prayer in my heart, asking Heavenly Father to guide me, i have
prepared the best i can, Father just please guide me and Elder Corbridge
for the right things to say. And you know what? It was the best gosh darn
Lesson i have ever given. The Lord just put words and scriptures in my
head, me and Elder Corbridge were just teaching boldly and powerfully,
we were just so open to the Spirit it was amazing.  In the middle of
the lesson a miracle happened, Hermano Luis stopped us and just looked
me in the eye and said, you know what, I want to get married.  When
can I get married so we can get baptized! I almost fell off my chair!
It was sososososo amazing! So we have their wedding planned for this
saturday and their baptism next week, but maybe this week it depends
if they are ready for baptism, we will see.  But honestly can you
believe that! 2 gringos just new guys and honestly my spanish was so
amazing, I was rolling my tongue and honestly speaking near fluent.  I
cant describe the joy i had after we left that lesson, Elder Corbridge
and i were like little kids, just jumping and fist pumping and
celebrating! I really in that moment realized why the mission is the
best two years.  For lessons like that! Now the trick is discovering
how to bring that power and passion to all of my lessons!  The mission
is the best thing or decision i have ever made, Its  such a giant
adventure and emotional roller coaster.  I remember Saturday night i
was just so tired and frustrated and really just down, we went through
another day of lame lessons, lame contacts, no fire or passion and i
was just down.  I remembered a scripture in Matthew 11:28-30, the
lord gives us a promise, Come unto me all ye that are burdened, tired
and heavy laden and i will give ye rest, for my yolk is easy and my
burden is light... its times like that when i remember that scripture
and sometimes i just get on my knees and i just pray, and pray and
pray... Cause the Lord will never forsake me, i might feel so alone
cause im in some other continent with another language, with some comp who
sometimes i wanna just throw out the window, but im never alone, the
Lord is with me! So, Family dont worry about me, im really probably safer
than i have ever been in my life.  Cause literally my life is in the Lords hands.
I only have like 19 and a half months left to just giveit all to the lord, and ya know what, thats what im going to do!
Thanks so much, for everything, just everything!! To think i have never
been further away from you guys in my life, but i have never felt
closer to you guys ever.  Mom, i love your emails and dear elders,
they make me laugh and i really feel so close to you guys! Mom, tell
my friends i love receiving emails but i cant reply by internet, i dont
have hardly any time on the internet, i will hand write em a letter back!
I sent a letter to Ashley, Jake, Bubba and Seth last week, I think, so tell
them to be on the lookout for those and to let you (my mom) know if they dont
get them, its Peru so you never know??! Tell everyone that I love hearing from
them and their letters are so great and their prayers too!!!But really thanks
so sososos much for all the prayers and letters and dear elders and the emails
from everyone! I love everyone so sososososo much!! Mom, tell
all my friends thanks for being so great and hang in there and stay strong!!
Love Yall!!!!!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie
Oh and tell Collin to write me dangit!!! And tell Ryan that we
will have plenty of Big Gulp time in November of 2012 babay!!!
haha love yall! PEACE!!!

Since I have no pictures of Spencer to post I thought I would post some pics of his family :)!





Isnt he just so cute :)!!

AT LEAST MARTY IS HAPPY BEING SO WEIRD :)!!


MARTY THINKS HE IS A NEPHITE WARRIOR??
YES WE ARE GETTING HIM SOME HELP :)!

Dont have a clue what Ainsley is doing ?

Carolines lovely Black eye a week after
 she was knee'd in the eye at a church bball game!!

Amazing Natalee made Marty this book of his
 head on all the old basketball greats in a book :)




March 7, 2011

The names McGhie, Elder McGhie...

The names McGhie, Elder McGhie...
Hola Familia! Que Passa! How we doing all the way over there in the good old United States! I hope all is well and life is just grand! So I have one photo to send cause all my others are on my camera card waiting in the office to be picked up! With videos and my ipod! Dad, when is Charlotte going to come? Like what day exactly will she go to the office? i kinda need to know to tell the secretary! But hey onto the business! This week has been pretty awesome! We had 2 more baptisms this week and it was pretty awesome! Well we had the Baptism of an 11 year old boy named Diego, haha he is so funny and he is so FAT! Haha he is hilarious, and one thing that just shocks me everytime is how open everyone is that people are fat, skinny, or ugly haha.  So
this kid Diego is 11 looks like he could be 15 and he is a tank! He cant button the top button of his white shirt haha and my little peruano comp baptized him and when he was trying to pull him up out of the water he like fell and he was barely able to get him out of the water haha it was dang funny! But so we were spreading the news about the baptism inviting members and everyone, we would say hey there is a baptism tomorrow at 5, in the church, they would ask of who, we would tell them a youth named Diego.  They were like who? Then my comp would say yeah the really fat kid that lives on the street Ataylualpa and has been attending the past 3 weeks, haha they all just laugh and say o yeah i know him the really fat kid! Haha And when Diego told my
comp he was going to baptize him, my comp told him, no cause he was going to get a hernia when trying to lift him out of the water! And then everyone just laughed, Diego to! I was a little Horrified, haha but welcome to South America Elder McGhie! Haha so we were supposed to have 2 more baptisms and a wedding.  Of two older folks, named Moises who is like 65 and his wife, Catalina who is like 36? Yeah a little weird... and they have a 2 year kid together??? Haha i have no idea
how that was possible or how that worked out? HAHA sorry i had to ask, it is a real mystery but anyways... haha so we had their wedding and then they were having their interviews for baptism.  Turns out Moises was in jail like 2 years ago and is on probation for 1 more
year! So he couldnt get baptized! It was dang sad. So we had the wedding and the baptism of Catalina.  Moises was pretty sad, so i ask for ya to pray for him to stick close to the gospel! And not lose hope! Because he really is great, they are really really poor and need the gospel in their lives! But hey maybe the lord has the test for
moises to see his patience i dunno.  But yeah.  So for this next week we have 2 people preparing for baptism.  Hermano Junior, yes the same junior for the last month and hermana Erica, a 14 year old girl, yes the same erica haha! We kinda dropped Erika cause she wasnt
progressing at all and then all the sudden on her own she came back to church and started progressing again! The problem now is that Erika needs the permission of her parents, her mom is in but she needs it from her dad, who is a bum! So pray for her and her father’s heart to
be softened! We lost contact with Junior for a while but now he is back, assisting and progressing! He is 28 and owns an internet shop, he really gets it to! We are going to use our other convert Hermano Rocemberge to help get hermano Junior more excited and just to have
someone to support him! So for me personally this week has been really good.  I think before this last two weeks i was serving really hard, and really trying to help the Lord, but i was only serving with my Might, and Strength, i was withholding my heart and mind from the lord.  I did some real soul searching this week and decided to stop fighting in my mind and my heart, the lord, to stop fighting and just to give it all to him! It’s been a process but im starting to get it! Cause really all we give the Lord is already his, our time (2 years) well
its already his, he created us, our tithing cause he created all we have, and everything else is really the Lords, except our will. We have been given the great gift of Agency through the Atonement of Christ, and really the only thing the lord doesnt already have of ours
is our will, our hearts and our minds.  And if i serve without giving it all to the lord, just with my might and strength i will return home knowing i failed. And have to live with that regret and question  if forever! But if i give it my all, everything i humanly possibly can, he will bless me 100 times more than what im giving.  If i give
him my all, he will give me himself, he will make me into a man, like a real Priesthood Holder, not some lazy punk who is going to serve the lord halfhearted for the rest of his life, no a real man, who will serve him for the rest of my life.  These next 20 months of my life are 100 percent for the lord.  The question is how can we really do
this? Well the answer is simple, really its to ask in every situation, every decision we can make, What would Jesus do in this situation. The classic question what would Jesus do, is the answer to happiness in this life and life to come.  I dont know how i kinda missed that before the mission, but i just didnt really get the big picture, i
know i dont get it totally now, but at least im starting! Well enough preaching i guess, haha im starting to sound like Dad more and more every day! HAHA! SO family and my friends, i love you sosososososo much, i can never thank you enough for your love and support and your prayers! LOVE ALL OF YOU!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie
The picture is of a little lady in our branch, notice her hat haha!!

February 28, 2011

What is happening all the way over there in Utah??

Feb. 28, 2011
Hola Famila and Friends! What is happening all the way over there in Utah! So I took a quick glance at my emails and saw the one forwarded from Dayton about his mission call! I really was going to write this week and ask que pasa with BIG D! I cant flippin believe it! JAPAN!!! That is so amazing! He will do so much good for those people and he is going to just love it! Send him my congrats and love! Tell him i miss him to, my brochaco! I was so happy to read that! What a stud and a half!!! He better send me his mtc address and everything so i can write him! Ok I dont have time to read the email from bubba but tell him i love him and im sorry i havent written him but i will! Tell him i love him and to keep his head up and charging forward!

Ok, on to the email.  SO this week has been rather interesting to say the least.  It started out, we had splits this week for a day, and i couldnt believe it i got to go on splits with Elder Corbridge! HE is another gringo in my district, he has one more change than me and we are going through the same stuff with companions, language, changes, so we have really become great pals.  So yeah i got to go on changes with him for a whole day! IT was so sososososo AWSOME! HE is from Pleasant Grove, just graduated in 2010 as well so we have a lot in common, and we both just want to work and serve with all we have! So pretty much it was the best! It was an awesome day and it was cool because for the first time, we could just both go out there and work, work, and work! And the first time, we were like the leaders of the conversation, leaders of the lesson, actually doing the legit stuff, it was so fun! It was like a day of what i can have my mission be like if i keep pressing forward, and work through these hard times, I’ll be rewarded and then one day I’ll get to be senior comp, make the decisions and we can work, work and work some more!!! So that was awesome, we were contacting like crazy, teaching lessons, practically running around my area just PREACHIN THE GOSPEL! 
Oh what an amazing feeling it was! I know i was supposed to be on splits with him that day, because it just kinda reenergized us to start  kinda picking our comps up and going to work! It gets hard, i get worn out, but it is good, and good lessons.  My comp really has kicked it up about 10 notches; we are doing a lot better! He really is a great elder just kinda lost his purpose for a while, but we have found some excitement and we are doing really well actually! We had another baptism this week.  A teenage boy age 17, named Kevin Wisawski Herrara.... yeah you heard me like Mike Wasowski from Monsters Inc! I had to do all i could to hold in my laugh when i heard his name! And yep I nailed the name, and the baptism prayer... im practically a seasoned veteran now... haha or NOT.  But that brings the count to 5 baptisms, meaning i have passed Steven Shelley hahahahah tell him I’m sorry but I guess I’m just a better person? haha so anyways of course i have a great Gringo Moment for yall.  So its Thursday night, we finish our
lesson and its 9 o’clock, and time to return to our room.  It starts raining, it had been a crazy weird, hard day, but all was well, so we got in our room flipped on the lights and the lights were like freaking out and flashing, because our switch is up on the roof and not covered by anything.  So the rain was messing it up.  So me and my comp went to go upstairs to fix it.  We have 2 doors in our room, one in the front by the street and one to the back by our Patio.  So we walk out and my comp goes first and for some reason i dont know, reflex or because im a moron, i Shut the DOOR! UGH! Haha yeah i locked us out of our room! All of our books and keys were inside haha so here we are outside, without light, and its pouring rain! Luckily there is a side door to our little building/patio thing and the owner of the house forgot to lock it.  SO we were able to get out.  I felt like such and idiot. SO we went to go sleep at the zone leaders house just a couple blocks away, but they were running late (shocker) haha and we were waiting and waiting until it was almost 9:30 and we have to be inside by 9:30 so while we were waiting i bought ice cream and sat and ate it cause i was depressed because of my stupidity haha and cookies... after i ate them i definitely felt better, like in harry potter, chocolate can solve any problem! Even dementors! So we returned to our room, and we had one choice... break the window! Haha yep so we busted the window with a rock haah luckily for me the little frame only costs 2 soles! So no biggie!! I talked to the owner of the house and she could care less haha!.  So we have our window and one of the frames is cardboard, haha i made one out of a box and with my knife! Just like my shipping days at Ferrari Color working with boxes! Good
times. So there’s you a tale, yes i know im a moroon but its ok, i have learned a lot of lessons this week. One great one in 1 Corinthians 13, versus 1-3, it pretty much says, you can give anything to the lord, 2 years, your life, service, money, everything, but if you do it without Charity, if your heart is not right, then you will have no reward.  People can serve missions without giving all their heart to the Lord it is sad, because they will have to pay and answer to that someday, but me i want to give it all. I want to serve the lord with All my Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength, like it says in D&C 4, so the Lord can take little old weak me, and shape me and mold me into a man, a real Priesthood Holder.  I had to make some changes, some hard personal decisions to do this, make sure my mind really is only focused on the mission work.  Its been hard, but o great will be my reward knowing i gave it my all. Every time i have a challenge a temptation or anything i have two choices, to respond how Christ would or to not.  My quest is to always responds how Christ would.  Andthats what happens when we truly give our hearts to the lord.  Because, if we have not Charity, we are NOTHING.  So i hope that made sense, you know me im a rambler, but hey that’s me! Well guys im checking out for now, but know i love you all and i hope all is well!
Elder McGhie

Oh, I found my pictures so all is well! LOVE YA ALL! And Liney! I love ya little sis! Take care of Ainsley, sounds like her boyfriend has some issues, I cant believe he doesnt like The Lord of the Rings Movies or Harry Potter! AHHH NO WAY JOSE! That’s your job Liney, to change his way of thinking cause that’s  just WRONG,  booyah!! (Liney, Mom can help you since she is one of the biggest fans ever of both of them haha!!!!) Love yall! PEace! 
TTFN!haha!!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!!!

No new pictures :(!!!  But, until I get the pictures,  here are some
old pictures of Spencer  :)!!


Yes, Spencer wore this to
an actual BYU football game!
He basically dressed like this for
every BYU football game, only I think it
got worse as he got older.......same blue
hair wig through all the yrs!!:)

Halloween 2010, Spencer dressed
up like his dad and his dad
dressed up like spencer :)!

This picture just makes me laugh
and laugh, funny kids :)!!

Spencer being a cowboy!
He is so cute :)!!

February 21, 2011

!UNA SEMANA LOCO!

Hola Fam and Friends! How yall doing this fine day? Well its me again just out here in Peru preaching the Gospel! So all is well here, this week has been nuts! We had changes and all that so that was crazy, they re organized Huanuco, there are now 2 zones here and my zone is Zona Amarillis, we have Cerro de Pasco as part of our zone now to! So maybe we will get to go up there for a pday and we can play golf on the world’s highest golf course! I want to so bad! But if not, dad we will have to play when you guys come to get me! Sounds good to me! So yes finally we had the Baptism and Marriage of Rocemberge! It was really awesome! That day was pretty nuts with the wedding and the baptism the same day, plus i had a Gringo Bathroom problem all day that day!
Welcome to Peru right! Dad i almost became a ¨Real¨ South American Elder this week but i made it to the John just in time, so still waiting for that great experience which i have discovered  is pretty much a for sure experience i am bound to go through haha! So also we had another baptism of a Teenage boy named Christian, yeah i didnt know him either haha, turns out he lives in our area, but attends a different ward.  So yeah with the changes the missionaries that were teaching him all got changed, so my comp pretty much just argued his way with the new elders to have him as our baptism for numbers.  It was kinda lame, cause he isnt going to attend our ward so i thought the other missionaires in the ward he goes to should baptize him, but welcome to the life of a junior brand new gringo comp right? I feel like the penguins on Madagascar sometimes, Just smile and wave boys, just smile and wave... haha just waiting for my time! But thats the lesson i have to learn as well called Patience... not enjoying that one to much, but im working on it! My English is getting pretty bad, i wont lie so bear with me! So Sunday was absolutely nuts! We have these
3 little girls that assist every week and are about 10, turns out they arent members so they want to be baptized so we are teaching them.
The problem is they absolutely love me! Like during church they forced me to sit with them, because they kept stealing my dang backpack till i would.  And my comp sat with me for like 10 minutes then moved 2 rows back to sit with other investigators which definitely isnt allowed, but welcome to my life! I couldnt move cause they would start screaming if i tried to leave, and to think they are like 10 or 11.  So while i was going through that trying to keep them quiet during the sacrament while they asked me questions like... So are you parents Gringos too?
I was tempted to answer No actually one is Black and the other is an Indian i mean what kinda of a question is that, honestly Of course they are gringos haha but yeah then 3 minutes before sacrament meeting the 1st counselor asked if i could give  a 10 minutes talk.  So for you guys that doesnt seem much because you can get up there and have the liberty of speaking freely! I have to do it in Spanish! So im in sacrament meeting with 3 little girls jumping all over me stealing my stuff and screaming, trying to prepare a talk, then along comes the little son of Our Baptism Hrn Rocemberge who is 2 and a half and a demon child! So he comes over and starts ripping my book of mormon out of my hands while im trying to prepare my talk in Spanish with 3 little demon children screaming, Elder MAGGIE. ELDER MAGGIE! Do you like the united states? Is it pretty there? where are you from? Do you have a family? I mean honestly, my life haha, so then little Mattius, the kid of hermano Rocemberge, rips a page of my book of mormon, for the 2 nd time and Hermano Rocemberg comes over all worried and is like o no i will buy you a new one! So then im trying to explain to him its really alright and not to buy me a new one.  He finally agreed that he wasnt going to buy me a new book of mormon and then it was time to give my talk! Haha it all worked out, i spoke about Christ, shared some scriptures, told some stories,  got some laughs, so it was all good.  But yeah it was nuts! This week was kinda hard, my comp has ZERO desire to contact people, but if we dont contact we arent fulfilling our missionary duty and we wont have appointments, so finally sunday night i had enough and i just started contacting every person, he would walk past someone, then i would just start contacting them, he has no choice, he has to stay with me, so if he doesnt want to contact i dont really care he can stand there all day. Woof, but yeah im working on it! I shared the scripture in D&C 61: 3,  about contacting, but nothing has changed, but o well thats life! So lifes is good, my spanish is improving, dont worry dad im really trying my best to practice my words so my accent is legit! I dont know what it is but i have like this burning desire to be able to speak spanish so perfect! Maybe its just a McGhie trait, it kills me sometimes when i hear other gringos just butcher words! Haha what can i say, like father like son i guess? So thanks family and friends! Love all ya!
Till next week! TTFN Ta ta for now!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie
p.s. I got most my pics back so i will send my memory card to the office tomorrow for Charlotte to pick up  and i sent home a letter for all of the fam today so look for it in a couple weeks! LOVE YOU GUYS THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DO!
Love you again and agian and agian!

p.s.  Mom, tell Seth I will write him back next week, and tell big daddy k, Kyle congrats for me on his detroit spanish speaking and to ball it up! So awesome, we will all be speaking spanish when we return! When does he report to the mtc, thanks mom send him my love please -  and Seth and Bubba and Collin and Brandon and Will and Jake and all my boys cause I have run out of time so I cant write all their names but I love em all too!!! Love ya!


THIS IS SPENCERS MOM NOW............I NEED SOME PICTURES!!!! :)


SPENCER BEING A TIGER

SPENCER SITTING IN A BASKET READING :)!

February 15, 2011

Happy Valentines Day HaHa!!!


Well another Pday is here! How we all doing? So yes this week its official i am on the board for baptisms!!! YEAH! We had 2 baptisms this week and i got to Baptize em both! i really cant describe the feeling i had it really was amazing! We baptized a hermana named Mary she is 17 years old, her mom is a member but inactive, so it was really great! she works in the market in our area, she and her mom have a sewing shop, and it really is a blessing because now this is the 3rd article of clothing i have ripped that they are reparing for me... haha yeah i even surprise myself at my Spastic Abilities... but i figured i saved her soul so the least she can do is sew some pants and a shirt for me... haha yeah i know im a horrible person! Dont worry fam they werent bad rips just like a little rip i got snagged on a fence one time, the other i ripped the but of my slacks getting into a little moto taxi... i tell ya i am a real spaz! But all is fixed and well so dont go sending me more clothes, i got plenty! O and our other baptism was of a 13 year old boy named Javier.  He is awesome and really wants to serve a mission! He didnt have a tie so i gave him one of mine! I would send pictures home, but after the baptism i was fiddling with my camera to try and fix the resolution so it is on the highest quality, and I cant believe it I DELETED ALL MY PICTURES! It was all i could to do to keep myself from cursing.  I honestly was depressed! But i was talking to another missionary and telling him what  happened and turns out they might not actually be deleted, he said it happens to missionaries all the time, they accidently reset the camera, he is working on it right now so i dont know he says its easy to get em back! I pray! So i dont know how he is going to do it, maybe using some dark magic or something, doesnt matter to me as long as i get my pictures back! So weird its valentines day haha but i sent liney a letter home! Have you gotten my package yet? It should be arriving this week! SO i of course have some more Gringo moments  for ya today... this one is pretty classic! So as we were in an appointment with Mary the girl we baptized, we were preparing her for the baptism date, she asked what she needed to bring.  What i meant to say was bring yourself, your family, a change of clothes, and most importantly your smile for the pictures! Hahah but the word for smile is sonrisa, not songrisa... haha a Songrisa is a type of beer! So what i really said was bring yourself, your family a change of clothes and most importantly THE BEER!!! Haha they all just looked  at me like what the heck? And my companion was just dying of laughter haha yeah I was confused to say the least, they explained to me what I did... haha yeah so that was pretty interesting. So at the end of the lesson they were asking how was our p day and what did we do.  I told them we played volleyball and so i was like, OH YEAH, WE PLAYED VOLLEYBALL !!!! And i started to do the overexaggerated poses of bump, set and spike haha when i was doing the poses of course it had rained, i kinda slipped and of course i pulled my groin muscle, DON’T SAY IT MOM, I KNOW IT ALWAYS HAPPENS !  AHHH MY LIFE HAHAHA! So there are your laughs for the week, hopefully laughing with me and not at me, but either way i guess it works haha.  SO hopefully next week i will have my pictures back and be able to send you the photos of my baptisms! Oh and i have a wedding this week and baptism of Hermano Rocemberge! We have been waiting for his the mother of his spouse to come in for the wedding but it shoudl  be tomorrow! I hope! SO pray for her to come so we can have the wedding and the baptism! Other than that my investigators are Junior, a 20 year old who is really interested! His date of baptism is for next saturday, Also looks like Erica is back on the list, she came back to church, she is 13 knows the church is true, she just has a fear of actually committing to the church so pray for her! Those are our only 2 investigators that are really progressing so pray for them!
And Rocemberge! So life is good, all the Latinos love the fact i can talk soccer with all of them! They dont believe me that i know the teams and all that, until we start talking smack! ITs pretty fun to say the least, but no one respects my boy Lionel Messi here! They all like Christiano Ranaldo who is garbage! But dont worry, tell collin and bubba im always backing up our boy MESSI! Haha im loving life, looks like changes are this week and im with my comp for 6 more weeks...yay... haha i dunno it just feels  like we do the bare minimal of the work, there is so much more we could be doing! Im just frustrated cause i want to utilize every possible aspect we have to help our investigators but he just doesnt have a passion or fire for the work!
I feel like im being trained wrong, but its ok  i can do it! He is just kinda counting down the days till he goes home, but he doesnt even have a year yet! So that is my task now, but im trying my best!
Love ya all, sosososososososo much family and by sayin family I an talkin to all of ya my friends too haha!! But my comp and I were walkin and  we heard a song playing really loud in the street and it was one of mine and Lineys songs! This club couldnt even handle me right now! I froze in the street and all these memories came flooding back, dance parties in lola, us eating wendys haha !! good times haha!! Remember everyone that  im always praying for ya! LOVE YOU ALL haha!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!

SPENCER STANDING BY THE
"PREPARING HER SON FOR A MISSION
STATUE IN NAUVOO!:)!!

February 7, 2011

Another Day another Dollar!

Hey hey fam and friends! Whats happenin out there good old sandy utah!?Well enough with that and onto the email haha, so here i am in some shifty internet cafe and this guy is playing some hard core Eminem rap music next to me that happens to be swearing every other word haha so if this email comes across like a gangster its because im typing to the music haha thug life baby! Alright time for another excellent set of Gringo moments! First of all we were supposed to have our first baptism this week! Haha key word supposed to, welcome to the misson right... But this one was a little different, so its Hermano Rocemberg he has a kid and a wife who is a member, or we thought it was his wife... yeah so after he had passed his interview with the STAKE PRESIDENT and everything, he is friends with the stake president and the stake president was going to do the baptism, so it all looked perfect.  We went to his house the next morning and were filling out the Baptism info, roster thing, like dates of birth,  full names and all that.  So then we got to the question, where were you married, he just got this confused look on his face and was like huh? Remember we had already taught the law of chastity, and he passed his baptismal interview with the stake president and our Stake Pres is really awesome, well i mean he is no President Smith, obviously! But he is pretty good, but no one can take President Smith, and im pretty sure no one would pass a baptismal interview with President Smith without being married! I just laughed and i couldnt believe it haha.   But its all good so now we have a wedding and a baptism this week! Haha oh Peru never ceases to amaze me! But yeah this week was pretty good, my companion is doing better but we still have some work to do for sure.  I only have one week left in this transfer, crazy, i have next transfer to be a new missionary and after that i can actually do stuff and i wont be with my trainer.  There is a chance we are together for next transfer its about 50 50, ill be fine either way so dont worry i can do it! Whatever the lord gives me to do i can do it cause all is possible with the lord! Sorry this is a short email, but I am uploading some pictures before my mom flies to Peru to get them from me..............you dont fool around with my mom and her pictures haha! Well thanks for all the prayers and love, I really appreciate it and couldnt do it without yall! Paz y Amor haha
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!
Showing his scriptures to the World???
Spencers favorite thing to do in pictures is to have his mouth open???