A TUFF WEEK!!!

\HOLA MI ESTIMADA FAMILIA  Y SORPRENDENTES AMIGOS!!!!!!!!

Well here I am in HUANCAYO!!! Holy Smokes it actually happened I got TRANSFERRED!   I was very excited, haha and I had no idea what was in for me!!! So I am training a new missionary again, I’m opening up the area and I have been called as District Leader!!! AHHHHHHHH… HELP!!!  So I get here and my area is called La Florida, it is GIGANTIC!!! And well the missionaries before me, they both have like 22 months in their mission and left me with absolutely nothing!!! We got to our room and it was so disgusting.  The First night we cleaned for about 3 hours, to make our room at least livable…  But now I have got to tell you about how HARD it was to leave Huanuco, Hermana Genoveva, My comp and my ward.  Tuesday night after we heard the changes, I immediately went to talk to my pensionista and her fam.  I went and she wasn’t there!!! So Wednesday morning after being up until 4 in the morning packing and writing in people’s memory notebooks, I went to eat in the house of Hermana Genoveva for the last time.  Well actually I was running really late (no surprise there) so I just went to say bye, I got there and she said breakfast was already ready.  How could I say no to that… so I sat down and it just hit me like a ton of bricks that I wouldnt be returning to eat with here until who knows when…??  She started to bawl, my comp too and of course  me…!!!  After almost 6 months of just being with her 3 times every day, talking laughing and all that it just hit me and the tears came storming out…  I won’t lie it really was almost like I was leaving my family again.  We took some pictures and we all left bawling…  MY first night here, I was just distraught.  My area is huge, my knew comp is a Chileno again, but he isn’t like Elder Encina, who was the best companion I have had yet in Peru.  I just knelt down so overwhelmed and slightly scared of failing and I didn’t have any idea how to open and area with a new missionary, I really was just freaking out.  I wont lie just typing this out is making me cry…  I miss hna genoveva, my comp, luis and ines and all of the wonderful people in the ward so much!! It was like I left my family again.  Just like that, 6 months flew by and now I have no idea when I will get to see them again.  Then I get here in Huancayo, with absolutely nothing, not one investigator, nothing in the area book, I didn’t know a single soul, my pension is great, but she isn’t  Hna Genoveva.  Huancayo, is nothing like Huanuco.  Its so much bigger and world like… There are actually cars here and big buildings, and paved roads… in the morning and in the night it is FREEZING, and in the afternoon, the sun just burns cause we are so high up! Almost 14,000 feet!!! I Think… So I just had no idea what to do.  SO ya know what I did?   I just started over, and started from square 1… CONTACTING,  and contacting isn’t the most rewarding or easiest work.  But it sure paid off.  After being here for only 4 days, we had 13 new investigators and 4 attended church!!! BOOM! Just like that!  I was walking down the street at night after contacting all day and finally we found a member to show us the area.  SO usually when your with a member you don’t street contact, but we were walking down the street and I saw a little family that reminded me of Luis and Ines, a young couple and their little boy.  I just saw em there I kinda stopped but kept walking and something hit me, that they were just like luis and ines, so I backtracked and contacted them.  Their names are Miguel and Rosario… and we had like a 10 minute lesson with them the next day, they accepted a baptismal date and a date to get married!!! WHAT!!! That never happens in a little 10 minute lesson, but the spirit was strong!!! And they attended church Sunday.  To say the least my area here is ready!!! There hasn’t been much success here in a while but we are here to change that!  Also I had to do my fist baptismal interviews yesterday since I am the district leader AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! I was soosososososo Scared! But the spirit was unbelievably strong and guiding me!  I interviewed a man and his daughter and the man… well he didn’t pass!!! AHHH!!! He and his wife had an abortion a while ago, so he has to talk to a counselor in the mission presidency… I was like Oh CRAP when I heard that! But the Spirit acted quickly, I wasn’t speaking, it was all the spirit, I could see he really had repented of it all and felt really bad.  But rules are rules, he will have another interview this week, and I still think he will get baptized.  His daughter passed though!!! SO to say the least it has been a tuff week!!!!  So, I will need a lot of letters and encouragement this month!!! I missed the fam a lot this week, I hope all is well, when is youth conference and EFY???

Okay, dad, I need some help here since you have already done your mission.  I would like to hear how your mission blessed your life??  I just need to hear some serious stuff about serving your mission and how it has impacted your life!!  I just need some serious help from EVERYONE!!!!!!!  Please pray a lot for me because I am really overwhelmed and could just use some extra help here!!!!! Don’t worry I’m not failing or thinking of bagging it, I would never ever do that; I just need to be able to do this assignment in Huancayo!  So please say some extra prayers for me this week!!!

LOOVEEE YOU ALLL SOSOSOS MUCH!!!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!

P.S…….Mom I’m in Hunacayo... its COLD!!! Haha !!!  I am sending some of my last pics in Huanuco ... man i miss Huanuco!!! It cut deep to leave!!! Love you guys!!!!

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HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!

FELIZ DIA DEL PADRE OLD MAN!!!

Maybe a day late and a dollar short, but hey ya get what ya get man… HAHA!  Hope it was a pretty awesome day for ya Pops, I’m sure it was hard to enjoy it without this guy there… (IM NOT PRIDEFUL… JUST SURE) haha,  just messin but don’t fret pops I was thinking about ya yesterday and I hope it was GRAND!!!  I hope ya got my father’s day letter I sent it like 2 weeks ago!  Oh and before I start letting ya know what’s going down here I gotta say, the package you sent me was AWESOME!!! But….. What happened to LINEY!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!  I cracked out the pictures and started looking at them and I just about fell off my chair and onto my face!!! SWEET DEATH MY LITTLE SISTER IS LIKE A WOMEN OR SOMETHING!!!AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!  HAHA! I mean honestly,  holy crap!  I Whipped out my photo album with all my pics that I left home with and I was comparing the difference, the only words I could manage to mutter were; Holy Crap, Sweet Death, and ¡¡¡AY CARAMBA!!!  Haha but seriously everyone is changing and its freaking me out!

So, sorry I had to get that off my chest and now I can start giving ya the Down Low on what happened this week…. Well alright, let’s see, this very well could be the last email I send home from Huanuco, Paucarbama.  I don’t know we will see soon!!!  It’s a pretty exciting time here, we have transfers coming on Wednesday and we will be getting a new Mission President on July 1st.  I love President Leyva and it’ll be sad to see him go.  But that’s the mission for ya!  One day your in the mission, lost in the work and then boom, it kicks ya right back out, into the cruel reality of “real life”!!! Haha!!  So, I think it was Thursday when we stopped by to see how Luis and Ines, 2 of my converts were doing. Do you remember them? They are the young couple that got married and baptized way back when I was with Elder Rojo(his trainer).  Luis who had all the problems and he left for Lima and it was a question if she was going to leave him or not. Well you should be happy to know that they are some of the most faithful members we have in our ward!!! Hermano Luis has the Melchizedek Priesthood and they both have callings and the change in the lives is a full 180 degrees (or 360 if you’re Karl Malone!)  They are amazing!!! So we went by to see how they were doing, they said they were doing really well, but they were hungry… I was like Huh?  They said they were fasting for their first time… and do you wanna know why they were fasting? They were fasting so that I will be able to stay here for 6 more weeks and not get transferred !!! HAHAHAHA!!! I couldn´t help but laugh, it surprised me, but it also is a very nice gesture on their part!!! Haha!!

The Zone leaders ate lunch with my buddy the Stake President here in Huanuco, Puacarbamba and they were talking about the possible  upcoming transfers and they told him that it is very likely that I will get transferred since I have the most time here of any missionary in our Zone.  The Stake President said that it just couldn’t happen and that he was going to call the Mission President, Pres. Leyva and tell him that I need to stay here in Puacarbamba and keep working here for at least one more transfer! Is that nuts or what!?  I do feel loved to say the least… haha I don’t know what will happen but it will be the will of the Lord.  If I had a choice I’m pretty sure I would like a change of scenery.  I mean, I love it here but I have almost completed one third of my mission and I’m still in the same area… Haha I mean I gotta get to know more of Peru and see more things and meet more people!  But my companion is an absolute champion, we have a lot of investigators progressing so if I stay… yeah it’s alright but whatever happens is for the best!!!

Yesterday, I almost lost it on myself.  I was dead tired from working this week(We kicked BUTT) we had like 25 lessons. 13 new investigators, 5 investigators come to church and 17 baptismal challenges, I was sososo dead tired Sunday night. We were eating dinner and we had this onion potato soup with a random hunk of meat.

I tried to cut my meat and it spilled ALL OVER ME!!! I was so flippin mad at cursing myself out as I went to the bathroom to try and wash the stains out (KEY WORD TRY) and then I just looked in the mirror and I just realized, Im just a flipping KID! Hah I’m only 19 years old!  I need to have more patience with myself, sometimes I am just so hard on myself and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing but if I keep it up at this rate, I don’t know if I’ll return home with any hair on my head!  So it was just an interesting lesson that I should apply.  I dunno if someone could help me here with that????

So, I have a few questions for the “Old Man” meaning you dad!!!!  What’s your opinion on the 2nd coming and how close do you think it is? Also I need some info on the Spirit World.  Are they allowed to see what’s going on here? Just some questions that I have gotten during some of our lessons with investigators and I just thought I should find out more about it????

Well I love you all!!! Thanks for all the support, the prayers on my behalf and the letters and emails are all so great!!!  It all helps me so much!!!!

Talk to ya next Monday!!!

CHAU!

Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!

PS I hiked to the big cross again with an Elder Fogleman from California, he is my zone leader, his mom is in the Peru missionary moms group that mom is in and he is awesome! LOVE YA! BYE

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Whats the Word !!!

¡HOOOOOLA FAMILA Y MIS AMIGOS MUY MARAVILLOSAS 

¿Como le va mi estimada familia y mis amigos? ¡Espero que todo este bien para ustedes!(google translator: As you will be my dear friends and family? I hope that all this good for you!???) (Martys translation: How are you my esteemed family and friends, I hope all is well for all of you!!)!!

Well that was fun while it lasted haha.  But really, how ya all doin?  I pray for yall every day and night that all is going well!  So reporting here live from Huanuco, Paucarbamba, got some good news, i got my package today! Holy smokes that got here fast!!! Haven’t opened it yet, but I’m stoked! (my comp as well haha)  So as for now everyone can breathe a little, there won’t be any changes in the mission as of now.  They said it all depends on how Ollanta is when he is the actually president.  SO we will all just wait and see, but as for now I’m just here preaching my guts out in Perù! And I have to say I flippin Love Perù!!!  Its just too great! 

So this week has been one of the tuffest weeks of the mission.  We had a bunch of Investigators and a really high Goal for this month...  and they were droppin like flies!!! UGh it was the worst!!! I probably called all of them at least 30 times this week and they didnt answer their phone or their door!!! ¡¡¡NO HAY AMOR!!!  I was just really, really frustrated and i have this blasted head cold, i cant think straight! It’s like walking around with a cloud in my head trying to speak Spanish!!! NOT EASY! Haha but the other day I was just doing my personal study and I’m reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish, right now I’m in 3 Nephi and it is just too awesome!!! I was reading in 3 Nephi Chapter 9 and reading in Spanish isn’t the easiest thing, cause there are always new verbs and sometimes I gotta whip out my BOM in English to understand and sometimes it just frustrates me! And this particular morning (yesterday) I was in no mood to go through the translating onslaught, I just was reading “Our Search for Happiness” in English and enjoying it very much.  But the Spirit told me I needed to read my Book of Mormon in Spanish, dang I was in a personal Battle, my Natural Man did NOT want to but the spirit told me to! So I just went with what i felt, I mean what else can we do these days, and 3 Nephi 9 just spoke to me! It was just awesome.  Its right after Christ was Crucified and what happened in the Americas and the voice of the Lord just comes over all of the people and it’s just straight up AWESOMENESS!! From verse 13 till 22, he tells us what we must do to be saved.  The Lord tells us that His arm of Mercy is always extended and we just have to accept it! But how? This also refers to 2 Nephi 28, 31 and 32, some of my favorite scriptures in all the world.  But we just need to take his hand, but how... by offering a Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit.  NADA MÁS! But the question now is how to we offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit? By repenting and returning to the Lord as a small child, humble and meek.  That is what I was lacking this week, I was just losing my mind and flippin out about our investigators, then I realized, that I dont have to do it alone, I just gotta take a deep breath, Humble myself, take the Hand of the Lord as a small child and we will walk together.  We will just take it all on, and we will not lose or fail.  Because with the Lord, Nothing is Impossible.  So I did just that, knelt down and just said, I’m sorry for all the wrong I’m doing and that I had forgotten the Lord.   So, me and my comp decided to start a fast, and I have to tell you, I never really had a testimony of the Power of Fasting before my mission.  Before the mission, I fasted until after church and thought, yeah that should do it, and I would just sit my butt on the couch and watch football... I WAS SUCH A CHUMP!!! Fasting is sososososososo amazing.  If anyone out there is feeling confused, or just lost, then you should FAST!!!  But do it right, the full 24 hours, with prayer in your heart always, and dont forget to start it with a prayer and end it with a prayer and you will see miracles. 

So the bishop asked me to give a ten minute talk, 2 minutes before sacrament meeting started, and now I’m just like sure… Why not! I was TOTALLY UNFASED haha, but I got up there and I spoke on, “How we can’t wait till tomorrow to make changes, cause if we wait till tomorrow to act, Tomorrow might never come!  We have to act TODAY!” And I thought it was good, but you know me, when I get up and start talking who knows what’s going to come out of my mouth, and I just thanked them simply for their love, patience, and examples to me.  That they just accepted some Strange Gringo that doesn’t speak Spanish and they just loved me and really helped ME!!! I of course once again, you know me, THE TEARS STARTED COMING OUT LIKE A WATERFALL!  But it was sincere and real.  I love these people so much.  I can’t put it in words.  And maybe I only have 10 days more here (transfers are in 10 days) and after that who knows when I will see any of them again.  I had to tell them how it was.  I looked and the whole ward was all balling.  I closed by choking out Amen, and quickly returned to my seat, when I was ambushed by like half the ward. It was quite embarrassing, it was a Peruano Blur like 10 people were just hugging me and I dont even know what happened.  Haha it was really, really sweet. 

I love these people so much.  They are so amazing.  They just have something that isnt found very often in the USA and I think it is a pure and unconditional love for their fellow men.  If anyone ever thinks or says that they are better than someone because they are from the United States they are DEAD Wrong.  God loves us equally and Peru, here in Huanuco, they have something that we should all strive to have, especially me, a pure, unconditional love for everyone.  I love my mission i wouldn’t trade it for the world.  The Church is true.  So live it! 

Hey, I got a little trunky thinking how lucky Liney is to have visited and be visiting in Europe!!! You sly dog Liney!!!  I can’t believe your growing up sosososo fast!!! I’m jealous of ya little Liney! You will always be my best pal!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!  I pray for you constantly as we are apart!!!

KEEP IT REAL!!!

Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!!!

I have a couple extra seconds so i will send you a recap, I sent 2 emails home full of pics and then my normal email... hope it all worked out, also I sent a letter to Seth Tippets, Shawnie Holt, Bubba and Dad (for father’s day).  I’m sending Seth’s today and the others were sent last week... so tell em to be on the look out for my letters!!! LOVE YOU Mi MAMITA!!! CHUA!   Oh and my first photo is me and my zone on p day, second one, a returned missionary here in my ward made us tacos!!! SO GREAT!!! First time i have had a taco in like 7 months haha, that is me and my taco having a discussion before devouring it! The next picture is me and a Little Guiney Pig friend, and the next one is me eating it... HAHA DON’T HATE ME MOM!!!!  (Hi, this is Carrie/MOM and it wasn’t a funny picture at all, the poor little Guiney pig looked so scared! I totally raised Spencer to always respect animals…….Oh, he is so grounded when he gets home (in 16 months J)!! ………The picture haunts me in my dreams, just kidding but it isnt a nice picture and it wasn’t funny Spencer Martin McGhie!!)! MOM, I haven’t eaten Guiney Pig yet, so dont judge me….MOM!!! (Oh I am totally judging him J)!!!

PS, (sorry its me again!) I will send you guys the pictures in a 2^nd  email!!! But he is totally grounded when he gets home J!!! Oh and just so you know, the one picture with the Guiney Pig is not funny……….so not funny!!

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Love it while you have it

Well Hello there Family and Friends,

How we doing today!?  So first ill start out with some replies from the last emails i received... First of all a huge congrats to my boy Big Will Pavia!!! That mission sounds absolutely Awesome!!! Congrats my brother!!! Also a big congrats to Ainsley for her huge new calling in the ward, NURSERY!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! Ainsley, you stole dad´s dream calling!  So I’m interested to hear how Ainsley´s babysitting adventures turn out in the Nursery.  Also mom, thanks so much for your email last week, it was honestly AMAZING!  You were wrecking house in that email!!! My respects for sure!!! Oh, so last P Day we watched Mobsters and Mormons, and it was hilarious, and so weird to see Utah again!!! You guys should watch it for family night this week!!!

Well onto the big news, that tool, Ollanta won the election for President of Peru... oh crap! Im flippin out, I won’t lie, the rumor is that if he won then the church would automatically pull out all the Gringos as they did in Bolivia about 3 or 4 years ago! I wont lie I couldn’t sleep last night! I was just up and just thinking the whole night! I cant leave my Beloved Peru! I love these people too much! This is my mission; no other mission is my mission.  

 I dunno I was just thinking a lot and it hit me, the key to life is, ya gotta love all ya got, while ya still got it.   It is really the key to life.  Live, Love, and Laugh every single day. Enjoy every second of everything we have, because we just dont know what tomorrow will bring.  I don´t know how much time I have left in Peru.  But I will love every second of it.  Who knows maybe I will get to stay here, but it is doubtful... I have learned a valuable lesson; we must live every day, every moment and every second like it’s the last.  We must love it all, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly! When it seems like every person you talk to and contact in the street is an Evangelist that hates Mormons and just want to take you down, when the only people that want to talk to you are Drunk Guys, and Teenage Girls, and when not one of the investigators will even try to read the Book of Mormon and meditate about what it says and then pray to know if it’s true, what can or what should we do? Get on our knees and thank the Lord God above for one more day of life, another moment or opportunity to do something great.  We must enjoy every second of every day.  Life is too short, it is always changing, Time waits for No Man.  As I returned back to my room one day after having only a few lessons and the lessons didn’t go well, when I honestly can say almost every person we contacted was someone that attacked at least one aspect of the Church, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.  It is just so hard and so tuff sometimes, but it is so necessary and worth it.  And what we need to do is kneel in prayer and thank our Heavenly Father that we have this Gospel in our Lives, thank Him that we have this great opportunity to be here on the earth today.  And that there is hope in this world, we just have to BELIEVE! Just live with hope and trust in the Lord.

As I was studying I found a great scripture in D &C section 68 verse 7 (i think)  But it says ¨Be of good cheer, for I am the Lord they God and I WILL STAND BY YOU and you will preach of me, that I came, that I am, and that I will come again.”  Now I absolutely butchered that scripture but you get the picture.  It will be Terrible if I have to leave Peru and go to another country, but it’s not my will that matters, it’s the will of the Lord.  I don’t know what is going to happen, but what happens; let it happen, because I’m a Disciple of Jesus Christ.  I am his servant, Called By a Living Prophet of God, and in the end it doesn’t matter where you serve, be it Peru, Chile, The States, Canada, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, or Honduras it doesn’t matter where you serve, what is important is HOW you serve.  As the Hymn says, I´ll go where you want me to go dear Lord, over mountains, or plains or seas...  Now it’s my turn to show the Lord my loyalty to him.  And go and do, with a big old smile on my face!!! Cause we don’t know how long we got people!!! We dont know what will happen tomorrow, what circumstances will change, so we MUST enjoy all we have TODAY! Right NOW! I dont know how much time I have left here in my Beloved Peru, but I will enjoy, live, and love every moment I’ve got here in this wonderful country with these people i love.  Life is too short and too fast to be thinking of tomorrow or next week or in 2 years, let us live today with all we got, and wherever thou art, do well thy part!!! I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ.  My challenge to all today and forever, is Live today like its your last, love all around you, (even the drunk guys that just want free stuff and to bug ¨The Gringo¨)  If you could do anything for me today, just live it up today!!! Dont be afraid, cause we just never know what tomorrow will bring!!! Thanks Fam and all my great friends out there,

I LOVE YOU ALL SOSOSOSO MUCH!

And dont worry mom, all will work out for the best!

Elder Spencer Marty McGhie...

Hey……….I have a few more minutes, Oh what the bum, no email from dad!!! LAME SAUCE!!! Hey I’m sending home some letters today to Bubba, Ashley Anderson and Dad for father’s day. Tell Jordy I’m sending him a letter to his mission! So they should keep a look out for my letters, even if they are kindof short!!!! Haha   Love ya,  mom and dont worry everything will work out for the best, I’m worried but I’m not freaking out much anymore, it’s the will of the Lord, its in His hands!!! Sorry my email was a little bit crazy! Oh, when does Jake Corry leave?

I havc no idea, but he makes me laugh :)!!

The week of 7 months! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!!!

HHHHHHOOOOOOLLLLAAA FAM Y AMIGOS!!!

What is up!!! So reporting from here in Huanuco Peru, is of course your prodigal son (friend, grandson, uncle, nephew and well everyone) SPENCER!!!  That is so weird to use my first name, I wont lie!!! Alright first of all shout out to the Letters I got last week!!! And to others from weeks past!!! Cause next Sunday, Peru is having elections, so we have to stay in the apartment for the WHOLE day… So I will be writing about 15 letters that day! I owe Seth, Collin, Shawnie, Ashley Anderson, Emily Clark, Cole Herrmann, THE ONE AND ONLY BUBBA! And a lot more people so, mom please tell these people and whoever wrote me, they will be getting a letter in about 3 weeks cause im going to write em all this coming Sunday and ill send em next Monday! But for real Letters  are the worlds greatest invention!!! And of course mom, thank you so much for the dear elders, they are always amazing, and crazy and just pure awesome!!! I wouldn’t have you dear elders or emails any other way!!!

Well alright enough of that business I have to say this week was just NUTS!!! And it is official, We met our goal of 5 baptisms this month!!! HOOOOORRRAYYY!!! But its not really us, we made our goal because of the Lord and his hand in our lives as Missionaries. I can honestly say I have never seen more miracles or the miracles of the Lord in my life like this!!! It’s CRAZY AWESOME!!!  (Hi, me again Carrie, I am having a hard time translating Spencer’s “English” that he is speaking like Spanish and then translating it into English that we can understand???It is very confusing for me, so I hope you can figure out what he is trying to say =)!! So we had 2 baptism’s this week, Hermano Nilton and Hermana Cindy, but Im just going to tell you about Saturday cause it was nuts!!! First of all it was the big soccer final or championship with Barcelona (who I love) and Manchester United (who is garbage) =) Haha and I am always talking smack with the sons of my pensionistas,  their names are Junior 18, and also Richard 23 (who is a great guy and he told me he wanted to marry Ainsley, cause we had a family home evening and I brought my pictures Haha !…only one problem, he doesn’t speak a word of English… Haha, Also, Ainsley there are like 15 missionaries that are ready and willing to marry ya here haha, but most of them are only a little over 5 ft tall !!!haha!!!) But anyways so I’m always talking smack with them about soccer cause they are real Madrid fans, (Losers, haha !) And of course I’m for Barcelona and a MESSI Fan, the best soccer player in the world! So we always are going at it and Saturday we were eating lunch and in the room next to us they were all watching the game and I could hear every word!!! It was awful!!! We finally got out of there and we walked to the house of our appointment after lunch and of COURSE, he was watching the game!!! AHHH!!! He invited us to watch with him till half time, but I RESISTED!!!  We had him turn off the tv… it was rough! And I know my main man Bubba was watching the game at the exact same time, so weird to think of that!

So Saturday was full of temptation to watch the game and everyone was talking about it, but I managed to block it out! Then it was time to go to baptisms.  So we went to find Hermana Cindy… of course she was NO where to be found! AAAAHHHHHHH!!! It was awful.  We ran around our whole area searching and calling and all that and we couldn’t find here anywhere.  By this time we were a half hour late for the baptisms!!! All we could do was pray, and as always, the Lord Blesses those who obey and He helps his missionary’s.  Cause finally we just had to go to the church to have the baptism and 2 of the new converts, Kevin and Jesus went on a search to find Hermana Cindy, they returned like 20 mintues later and said she was no were!!! I honestly was so discouraged and about to cry, but then they all burst out laughing and yelled hey Cindy come in!!! And she walked through the doors!!! SIGH OF RELIEF!!! It was just nuts, but we got the baptisms done, Thankfully!! After the Baptisms, we had to help the other elders here with their wedding and Baptismal service. (This is Carrie again, I guess in Peru no one gets married, must be a Peruvian cultural thing so the couple has to get married before they can get baptized…….so they get married and then after that service they get baptized??? ) They asked me if I would give a talk in the baptismal service, which isn’t too big a deal, other than the fact thatthere were like 40 people there and only like 7 of them were members!!! AAAHHHH!!! And most of them have never seen a Gringo in their lives! haha  It was pretty funny, they were all taking pictures and trying to do it secretly but it was pretty obvious when like 7 people are half standing up taking pictures and whispering, it was just nuts!!!Haha!  

But to say the least the mission is the BOMB!!! It’s very hard at times, but then I just have moments of peace, like the time during the Sacrament every Sunday, just like 10 minutes of pure peace and reflection.  And I can sit there in peace knowing that my family is clear in the United States but at the same time, taking the Sacrament.  It’s powerful to say the least.  The Church is true, read the Book of Mormon, it’s the key to happiness and EVERYTHING!!! Thanks for all the letters and prayers, I can feel of everyone’s support and it really helps me a lot!!!

LOVE YOU ALL SO, SO MUCH!!!!

Until next Monday,
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!



Marty, Spencers dad when he was in the MTC
going to Argentina on his mission!! 



My favorite picture of Spencer so far :)
How could you not love that face :)!!

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I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS LOVELY THING IS???  A PHONE BOOTH?

Miracles and the Runs... Welcome to the Mission!!!

Warning!!!!! ....this is from me, Carrie and I am preparing you with this warning because Spencer’s first paragraph below probably has more information about his digestive system, than you would ever want to know ....so read on with caution !!

¡¡¡ Hola familia y todos mis amigos maravillosos ¡¡¡

Well this has been one of the craziest weeks of my life!!! Craziest… meaning, it was

hard and rewarding at the same time!! TO

say the least, this week is  best described

as a Roller Coaster Ride. But before I give

ya the details, I would like to start with a question....  Have you ever taken a Gallon of Milk that is full, taken off the lid, turned it upside down (over a sink, hopefully) and listened to the noise it makes?  Well If you have you can think of that and then imagine that sound and me on the TOILET, ALL WEEK!!! I have had the

worst case of the Runs known to mankind this week…  I don’t know how I didn’t have an accident, it was some type of  a miracle or something.  Thursday we left the house of Hermana Genoveva after dinner and about 5 minutes later I was half sprinting to her house to run to her bathroom!! Oh I love PERU!!!  But anyways, sorry if that got a little graphic for ya, haha! I felt it was necessary, and mom you don’t have to send that part to like my Grandmothers or aunts, but I figured the returned missionaries especially from South America would appreciate it, and of course my buddies... haha!!!

So, anyway we finished the week with 3 BAPTISMS!! The theme of the week is MIRACLES.  We had miracles on a daily basis, they almost became normal! Haha just kiddin, but seriously this week was just completely nuts!!!  Hermanos Juan, Javier (they are 14 and 15 yr old brothers, oh and in case you didn’t know this is Carrie talking in the parenthesis, also does anyone remember Spencer talking about an investigator named Jesus in his last emails??) and Jesus all were baptized this week!!! And it was just nuts finding them for lessons, interviews and all that jazz!!! So it started last Monday, we had an appointment scheduled with Juan and Javier to see how they were doing and to see if they still wanted to be baptized.  We went to their house but of course they weren’t there.  Then we went to their aunts house, who is a member and their cousin’s house who are members as well, and they weren’t there… I was so bummed because they wanted to be baptized like 2 weeks ago and now we cant even find them to talk to! But we kept the faith and endured, so like 20 minutes later we went by their house again, but there wasn’t anyone there! As we were walking down the street we turned the corner and we saw this little pack of hoodlums walking down the street about 100 yards away, I said that they looked like Juan and Javier, so we started walking faster and it started looking more and more like them. So we walked a little faster and faster and faster and as we got closer to them, I knew it was them, but they saw us and started to run away (they ran away when the saw the missionaries?  Maybe they don’t like you, Spencer)! Haha, I wasnt having any of that, so we started to chase them down! Haha!!  I was like HEY, HEY!!! and then, HEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY!!, Calling their names and then we caught up with them and we "GUIDED" them to their house to talk to us!!Hahahahaha!!! It ended up being just a fantastic lesson, FULL of the Spirit and they both said they wanted to be baptized and that they had already told their mom that they were going to get baptized no matter what she said, cause they now knew it was true!!! How great is that! Then we had some other crazy ups downs with Hermano Jesus who also is 15 years old. But I’ll tell ya those stories in 17 months (that statement makes me as a MOM, just a little bit nervous??) haha!!  But another great opportunity was that I got to Confirm Hermano Juan a member of the church. The Bishop gave me permission, and we had to do it later in another ward cause he couldn’t come in the morning to our ward, he had a mandatory meeting at his school. But he almost didn’t come to get confirmed, we were on a wild goose chase to find him again, cause if you don’t get confirmed your baptism isn’t complete and you aren’t an official member of the Church. AHHH!! It was so nuts,we couldn’t find him and so I told my comp, we gotta pray!!! So right there in the street we just walked over to the corner and just prayed we could find him and confirm him.. and of course the Lord Provided us the way, we found him, went to the church, and I got to confirm him a member! Apparently he forgot he had to be confirmed!! Jeez!!!(Just me again, this email was sort of confusing to me?? I am not sure why it was the hardest week ever and I don’t understand why he wouldn’t tell us what happened with the Jesus guy (just a bit concerned about that one??)  Also why were those boys running from him if they wanted to get baptized???, I am feeling a bit confused but I just had a happy thought, I think I will send Spencer some DESITIN in his next package !!!  …….just kidding, well maybe its a good idea, for real???)

Well guys, I gotta go, I was trying to send the pics of the 2 guys, but this computer wont read my camera!!!  Well, love you and this really was such a tuff week, but I could really feel Christ guiding me every step of the way.  And also satan working sosososososo hard to discourage me!!! OOHH the mission, crazy,crazy stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
Your Son, or Brother, or Pal,

Elder McGHIE!!  LOVE YOU!!!!! 

My new Chilean Son, Elder Encina

HOOOOLLLLLAAAAA FAMILIA y AMIGOS!!!

Como Estamos!!! Well enough with that and on to the good stuff!!! Well there was a slight change of plans, Elder Gaspar left!!! He is in the same zone, but just went to another area...But dont fret, I have another kid!!! He is a Chileno kid!!!  His name is Elder Encina, from Santiago, but yeah i asked him if his house was in the Santiago North mission boundaries to see if he might know J Brown or Alex, but no, he lives in another mission!  So i was slightly worried when i heard my kid was going to be from Chile.  To say the least Chileans dont have a good reputation or name, in Peru haha!! But Elder Encina is really awesome, he looks just like Shrek but in Chilean form, and he is pretty funny!  I was scared because there is another Chilean in my district and he is pretty annoying, every other sentence is about how much better Chile is than Peru and Chile this Chile that!!! Can’t lie I’m not the biggest fan of Chile… AT ALLLLL!!! Sorry, Jordy and Alex… and whoever else likes Chile.  But Elder Encina has changed my opinion somewhat……...  But it’s all good, Elder Encina is pretty awesome and he is helping me a lot with my Spanish, like to pronounce the words the best i can and all that, its a work in progress, i can pretty much talk about anything that has to do with the church and sports but yeah its a work in progress (Sigh) haha!! 

So this week was fairly interesting, Elder Encina arrived Wednesday night so Tuesday and Wednesday I was with Elder Gaspar and we had some interesting experiences that I would like to share…. Aka:  GRINGO MOMENTS BABY!!! So first of all we are teaching this guy named Virginio, and he told me he will attend any church where he can just cry out and sing praises to the Lord… I just kinda thought, great we got a Crazy guy on our hands… and to say the least I was right haha! I explained to Virginio that we would like to start with a prayer, but that when we pray in group, one person, prays and we all listen and we pray together like that and in the end if we all agree with what was said, we say, “amen”.  And to say the least, he didn’t care what I said.  So Elder Gaspar started to pray and so did Hermano Virginio.  He started out quietly and then he got louder and louder and louder and before i knew it, he was like on the floor almost yelling, ¡¡¡OHHHH SEÑOR MY SALVADOR; SALVA ME!!!!!! And a lot of other things I just kinda looked at Elder Gaspar like ummmmmm??  WHAT is going on, it was all i could do to keep myself from bursting out laughing. But i held the laughter in.  SO to finish the lesson he said the closing prayer and I said, how bout we all kneel down this time, so that he didnt have to go all crazy, so we all knelt down, and he stood up!!! Haha I just shook my head and he started to pray and after about 5 minutes he fell to his knees in prayer and just kept praying his little Peruano Heart out!!! Haha but he didnt attend church Sunday and i dont think he is very interested, so we might not see much of dear old Virginio, haha!

Another interesting moment was we were walking through the market after a no-show lesson and I was talking with this old guy in the market and then I asked him when we could come by and teach him, he was thinking and said, how bout now? Umm…I thought to myself, You bet you bottom dollar brother, lets go!!!  SO this old guy invites us over and there wasn’t anyone else home and about 3 minutes into the lesson he says, excuse me one second, im going to go and buy us some soda and he just leaves us all alone in the house, he just straight up bails?? Haha!  We could have robbed the joint, its amazing the trust here in Peru ahah, but then he CAME back we proceeded to talk and then he pulls out this Bible and it looked like it weighed about 50 pounds.  He said that he bought from the Catholic church.  He said he paid 1 sole every day, all of last year to buy it, but that he never reads it and wants to learn??? Haha! and this Bible was like the biggest thing I’ve ever seen haha, I mean seriously, it was GINORMOUS !!! So we taught him and we go back for the next lesson tomorrow and we will see if he is really interested or not!

Well EVERYONE, thanks so much for all the support, I hope you got all the pictures, i sent two emails home loaded with pictures so if you didn’t then mom you can log on and snag em!!!

Thanks so much!!! LOVE YOU SOOSOSOSOS MUCH! Till next Monday!

Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!!!

Ps- Im waiting for my package! Haha I need some deodorant,  old spice- pure sport, like 3 of em and a laminated copy of my mission call and D&C section 4, typed up by MOM!!!

LOVE YA BYE!!!



Elder McGhie and Elder Encina

 




RAINBOW





SAME RAINBOW, DIFFERENT COLORS





Spencer LOVES his MOM, thats ME!! :)





Happy Mothers Day to their Pentionsita,
She is really great and they love her and her cooking :)!!




Elder Gaspar and Elder Mcghie

 

Elder Gaspar and Spencer :)!



ISNT SPENCER CUTE !!!  I SURE MISS HIM BUT HE IS DOING GREAT!!!  THIS PICTURE IS OF SPENCER AND ELDER GASPAR BUT I DONT KNOW WHO THE WOMAN IN THE PICTURE IS, SORRY!!!

ELDER MCGHIE AND ELDER GASPAR!

I'm a (missionary) Father!!! haha!! Dont Judge me!!!

Well Howdy there Fam and Amigos!!!

Seems like just yesterday we talked or something?  Oh wait because we did!!! That was so awesome i can’t even describe it! It was sososososososo Great to actually hear your voices and to talk!!! I was just the happiest little camper in the whole wide world!!!  And I only cried like 4 times during the phone call, look at us, we are improving! Haha!! Well i should start off the email by saying that we got a phone call from the zone leaders last night saying we had early changes, and my comp Elder Arnao was going to Lima and leaving tomorrow morning!!! So off he went this morning and here I am, with Elder Gaspar, ¡¡¡MI HIJO!!!(that means “My Son”!!) Haha! Hooray im a dad!.... Well in mission terms, so its looks like I’ll be training Elder Gaspar from Colorado, here in Good old Huanuco (note from Carrie again, sorry, but it took me a while to figure out what they were talking about with them being dads and sons and saying things like “my kid”, I thought they were talking about a young teenager who was staying with them or something?  I am sure you all are way more with it than I am and know that it means that Spencer will be this Elders trainer, but I thought, just incase someone out there isn’t quite up on the missionary lingo and was confused, I would clarify that !!Bye)!!! Looks like 6 more weeks for this guy at least in Huanuco! Haha that means, one fourth of my mission in Huanuco alone! Haha, thats nuts, im pretty happy with it, i wont lie. It isnt 100 percent sure or finalized but it looks like its pretty much a for sure that I’ll be here!!! Its like 95 percent sure.  So that’s pretty awesome news! I can´t lie i was fairly happy to see my comp, Elder Arnao go...... dont judge me!! I love the kid, but its that type of love, that ya love em from a distance haha!! Almost like talking to someone with bad breath, sure ill talk to ya but from about 5 feet away.  So yep there’s the big news, I, Elder McGhie am a dad and my kid is the Best!!! He’s a champ, all he wants to do is work hard, baptize, and obey!!! We are just going to work to death!!! Im pretty sure this is an answer to my prayers.  And if im here in Huanuco for 6 more weeks i gotta start running or something, cause im just a fatty(* note of explaination from me Carrie again (sorry!)……he thinks he is getting fat because he ran into someone he hadn’t seen for a while and they said, “getting a little bit fat, Elder McGhie”?  So now he is paranoid) ! And in six weeks ill be a flippin tank walking around here. Haha!!

So i figure ill share some of the frustrating news from last week.  We had 2 teenagers, Javier and Juan, brothers, their uncles and aunts are all members and cousins, they gave us the referral, so Saturday was supposed to be their baptism, they had received the answer to their prayers and were really excited for their baptism.  Then Friday came along and we went to get them for their baptismal interviews, and they were both gone, which was really strange of them to bail on an appointment.  Turns out that one of them had gone with their mom for the day and the other had a soccer game.  I gotta explain about their mom….. so they all were a happy family, Their dad, mom and the 2 boys, but she had an affair with some guy and then just bailed on the family and started a new one!!! Yeah, pretty messed up, and their dad works far away and is only home weekends so the boys are pretty much on their own (they are 14 and 15 yrs old).  When their mom caught word that they were going to be baptized she came and picked Juan up to go and  spend some time together (LIES!!! WOOF!),when all she just did was trash the church and bag on the church and put a bunch of doubts in his head and told him a bunch of lies! Juan is the younger one and she just destroyed the little guy!!! We found this all out Saturday when we went to get them for their interviews cause they bailed on us Friday, so we got there to pick him up and the other kid was gone! Javier! They said he wouldnt get back till 7 that night and his baptism was at 5!!! Then we talked with Juan and his dad, and their dad was so ticked off at their mom! He isnt a member and doesn’t wanna listen, but he wants his kids to be in the church to grow up right or something, so we just had to bag the baptism cause of their mean mother!!!  I mean seriously, if i ever meet that lady, I’ll give her something to think about

(He really won’t be rude to her, I promise!!)!!  And also they didnt attend church Sunday cause they were with their mom all day for mother’s day! AAAHHHHHH!!! So she probably just made it even worse! We have a lesson tonight with them, and i hope we can fix this mess and they can get baptized this Saturday! Please pray for them and me and my companion! I’m a bit scared cause my new comp doesnt speak Spanish and I have to train him and teach him Spanish!!! I gotta do it all! Pray for my Spanish and that I can do this! I cant lie, I’m kinda scared!!! But with all your prayers and the help of the Lord I know I can do it! Thanks to everyone!!!!!!!!! I love yall, sososososososo much!!! Talk to ya next Monday!
Elder Spencer Marty McGhie!!!

p.s. Sorry mom, no photos today, I have so many to send but I had to help Elder Gaspar figure out how to send his letter to President Leyva and I’m all out of time!!! Don’t worry I’ll make sure to send a bunch next week!!! With much love, from your slightly chubby son... hahahahaha Elder McGhie!!!!! (Isn’t he just the cutest missionary? Don’t answer that question………..I just wanted to tell everyone how cute I think he is, being his mom, who had to haul him up the stairs to his room about once a week and hold the door closed until he could figure out how to calm himself down (he was only like 5 and still so cute too!), I CAN SAY THAT!!! J!!!)(Spencer would not be happy I just said that about hauling him to his room but it is true, and look how amazing he is today J!!!)

HEY EVERYONE, GOOD IDEA FOR YOU……. RIGHT NOW OR WHEN YOU HAVE TIME (BUT VERY SOON), LETS ALL WRITE SPENCER A LETTER!!!  BRILLIANT IDEA ON MY PART J!!!  REMEMBER YOU CAN JUST SEND HIM AN EMAIL AND SEND IT TO ME…… csmcghie@signs.com and I will forward it to him (if emails come from any address other than mine they go in the trash file, I don’t know how but they did that in his mission?), or you can write him a “dear elder” letter at http://www.dearelder.com/, just write to Elder Spencer McGhie and pick the Peru Lima East Mission or you can just write him a letter, put it in an envelope with this address on it:

Elder Spencer McGhie
Peru Lima East Mission
Calle Los Agrologos 368
Urbanizacion Las Acacias de Monterrico
La Molina, Lima 12

And take it to the post office and mail it or someone told me a 2 page hand written letter would make it to Spencer with just one regular stamp * Note is has to be a 98cent stamp to make it to Spencer!!!.  J!!  Sorry to be a pain but I gotta keep Spencer happy and getting letters from all of you make him VERY HAPPY!!!! So let’s all write in our planners to write to Elder McGhie J!!!  Thank you all, you are all wonderful J!!!! Love, Carrie, the pushy mom of Spencer J!!!!!!  THANKS!!! WE LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!!!

SPENCER HAS BEEN ON HIS MISSION..6 MONTHS TODAY!!! :)

IN HONOR OF SPENCER BEING ON A MISSION FOR 6 MONTHS TODAY, HE AND HIS COMP BURNED A TIE IN PERU AND WE BURNED A PAPER TIE (I made it and it looks like a fish?), RIGHT HERE IN GOOD OLD UTAH, IN THE BACKYARD :)!!!  

Pictures of the GRAND EVENTS ARE SHOWN BELOW!!!  It was quite a celebration :)!!!haha!!!


                       SPENCERS PERU CELEBRATION :)
           I cant figure out why this picture turnd on its side when I added it?  So confused?? :)!!

SPENCER BURNING HIS TIE IN PERU,
ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET THE PICTURES TURNED THE RIGHT WAY???



OUR UTAH CELEBRATION



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WHAT A FUN TIME WE HAD BEING HAPPY AND EXCITED THAT WE LIVED THROUGH 6 WHOLE MONTHS OF SPENCERS MISSION, THE FIRST FEW MONTHS WERE A BIT ROUGH BUT WE DID IT :)!!!!