Elder Mackey's April 25, 2011 E-mail - Pictures!

A family we stayed with

BOMB cake

Tavirus and his mom

How about this Rock, Dad?

Elder Steele

Elder Mosley

Awesome car

Dear Family!!
Vern and Jess you better watch those bunnies. haha Thank you everyone
for the cards and the gifts! Thank you Shirley for the movie, it was
awesome! I liked Wes's and his brother (I forget his name) wrestling
match! That was very sneaky Luke. Zane you are getting so big now keep
your hair as long as you can before you turn out like your dad. :D Hal
and Whit are cute plus their younger brother. I am forgetting names.
Brandon's kids thank you and Carter and Gavin it was so cute watching
you guys sings. :D Ella, Caden, and Tay Tay plus Jill and Zack are
really good at singing. haha Where was Jeremy? Val thank you very much
for the sweet card and for the chicken making some macaroni. Did he
get deported? haha Thank you very very very much Sister Tryon and
Rachelle for the letters you send me and for the Easter package.
Sister Johnson and Lauren thank you so much for your presents and
candy and your letters! :D THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! Plus for mom and dad
for your love and prayers for me!!! I LOVE EVERYONE! (even when I dont
remember your names)

So this week was awesome! We had great success! So on Saturday I kinda
should of shut my mouth but we were talking to some kids that came out
of the house right after we talked to the mom. I asked if the adults
in the house were doing bad stuff because they were cussing at us and
ya. Well we got a voice mail of this lady yelling at us for telling
their kids that they were doing drugs. I felt so bad. :( That day too
I prayed to have a trial to follow Elder Christoferson's counsel. Well
I got through it. On Wednesday we had a dinner with a member where a
non-member is living with them. I did not know this. So she walked in
during dinner and got some dinner and sat down and I started teaching
her. She knows the Book of Mormon is true and love the Mormons because
she was raised around Mormons her whole life. Her only problem was
that she was already baptized in the Catholic church. We were going to
give the Sister that lives there a blessing and I asked her if she
would like one because she was going to have surgery the following day
and she was really scared and nervous. She wanted one. The Spirit was
so strong in there and right when Elder Holmes started the blessing
she started crying. After the blessing she said that she had a lot of
fear and nervousness before the blessing but right when it started she
felt it all leave and then the Spirit come and give her peace and
comfort, it was so cool! Very spiritual.

I didnt get any mail on my birthday but that was ok. :) I had a lot of
mail before and after. What I have written in my Journal is about a
handicap black boy. He is so funny and I love him so much. We tracted
into them and the mother became an investigator. We go on bike rides
up and down the street with him for like 10 min 2-3 times a week. He
loves it as do I! His name is Tavirus. On Thursday we went by to go
bike riding and we caught them just leaving and Tavirus was asking us
when we were going to come over again (he asks us that every time we
meet with him) and I said tomorrow at 4 and his face lit up and his
smile was so heart melting. I love this kid. As we were riding down
the street (this whole street is 90% black) he was asking/telling
everyone to come to church with him. We asked him to come to church
Sunday. (He didnt make it because he forgot. His mom had to work in
the morning.

Friday was awesome! The Spirit was with us the whole day. Cool
experience: So I learned that every street we pray to tract during
planning the night before, there is always at least one person there
that Heavenly Father wanted us to meet or talk to. We were tracting
this one street, Peters PL NE, and we knocked on a few doors and then
came up to an apartment where you had to buzz in but the buzzers were
on the other side so we skipped it and went to the next building. The
next one was apartments where you had to buzz in and I felt or the
Spirit taught me to look at the number or names and buzz one that you
feel you need to talk to. So I felt like I should push 106.... nobody
answered so I pushed 203 and the door opened right away. I didnt know
who opened it so I went to 106 and the kid was walking down the hall
and I acted like we have already met before and he acted like he was
waiting for us. He wanted us to come in and we taught him a short
lesson and we invited him to be baptized on 6-4-11 and he accepted but
with the intent on when he finds out. His name is Juan and he is 19
living with his girlfriend. His gf is a Jehovah Witness and was having
them come over and teach him but he wasnt really into it. I could see
some of his answers were similar to the JW's teaching. He works at the
Marriot and said that he could read the BoM there (we didnt have
anymore on us at that time). So we learned that when we come up to an
apartment with a buzzer to look at the names/numbers and feel for
which one you should buzz. So the next one I tell Elder Holmes its his
turn to receive revelation at which one to buzz and a lady came down
that looked really depressed. I offered to give her a blessing and she
accepted and so today we will be going over to give her a lesson and a
blessing. Then the next apartment was my turn and we find another guy
who wanted to come to church (never did) and learn more. The day was
very Spirit led. Then we had a sesson planned at night and we were
going to do a Restoration chapel tour and it was awesome and we
invited the investigator to be baptized and he accepted for 6-4-11.
His name is Nate. He is 22 years old and we contacted him while he was
walking drunk. He didnt want to meet with us but gave us his brothers
address and told us to talk to him. We stopped by and he was there and
we taught him a lesson. (he lives there as well)

The next day was awesome as well. I am guessing it was for my birthday
but I hope not. I want it to be awesome for the rest of my mission. We
read the Bom with a member who as Alzheimer's in a rest home and he
wasnt there on Saturday. One of the workers there knows I play piano
so asked if I could play for them. So I just played for 45 min then
taught the worker. (she is so awesome! he three year old son is always
asking questions about Jesus so I gave him a Jesus picture) Then we
helped on of our investigators move (she is going to Wisconsin) and
had a great lesson. Then went to Tavirus to ride with him and then
teach his mom which was a great lesson and invited her to be baptized
and she said when she knows but she also said that she felt really
good about the lesson. Then we came home a little early so I wanted to
go to the apartments behind ours and check up on an investigator and
stop by a potential. Well the Investigator wasnt there but we stopped
by the potential and her whole family was there. They believe in the
rapture I didnt know what that was and they told me. (its bogus, I
didnt say that but something similar) I told them that when the
tribulation has come and she is still there to give us a call. They
laughed A LOT about that and they said ok. On our way out we were
stopped by a lady (everyone in the apartment building is black) who
see's us all the time and didnt want anything to do with us but then
all of the sudden she wanted to know what we do, why we do it, and
whats so important about it. We gave her a BoM and told her to read
it. Then we wanted to have a pot-luck lunch and have it be mexican, we
got chicken for really cheap, then everyone was like ya lets do it and
all the blacks there became our friends. The only thing is we dont
really know how to cook the chicken in a crock pot but it will work.

Then Sunday we had another Spiritual day with many blessings. We did
the same thing while we were tracting and found a new investigator and
then we taught a kid who felt shameful and bad about drinking the
night before and then we met another black kid who does wrestling in
college and has three really cute kids and we taught them and it was
just awesome! We taught 21 lessons that week and our numbers were so
high. The Zone Leaders called us wanting to know what we are doing and
how so they can apply what we are doing. :D it was cool. :) I love you
all! I need to write my Pres. Letter. I got some pictures here. One of
me and my trainer, my new companion, a picture for dad with me on the
rock with the question, "How about this rock dad? You think we can get
this one?" haha one of the family in the last area we stayed with.
Tavirus and his mom. Elder mosley. One crazy thing....BYU Idaho was
here doing a singing thing and Jordan Curtis was in the Choir and I
though he looked familiar. Me trying to make the BOMB cake and failing
at it. haha and another one of me and this awesome car i wanted to
buy.

My shoes are great and I dont wear my jackets in a bike area. but no
we dont have to anymore.



--
Love,
Elder David Mackey

Elder Mackey's Letter dated April 18, 2011

Why thank you for all your birthday wishes!!! Well I dont know what
events are going on. haha we did have a lesson yesterday (yesterday
was awesome!!) and we were trying to set a return appointment and she
kept saying that she will just see us on Sunday. I just looked and her
name was on Thursday. I asked my Companion and he said that he had it
too but we dont remember setting an appointment. Maybe its a gift. I
have not received G' Flaherty's email. :( My mailing address 5931 W.
96th St Bloomington, MN 55432 and this is to the mission office. So
this week was awesome! We did a lot of good work. We talk to 34.9
people a day and had to quality gospel conversations with 9.6. the
week before was better though 12.6/47. But we taught 17 lessons that
week and obtained 9 new investigators. I would have pictures but this
computer is not working for my camera. It wont show up in the My
Computer window.
Anyways...So our dateset Chue dropped us last Wednesday. :( Her
husband finally moved back and he said that she cant meet with us.
Then another one of our investigators who was pretty solid and genuine
dropped us as well. Although he did say that he will come to church so
he will come back and be baptized after he comes to church. Yesterday
we taught a lesson to a very sincere guy who really just wants to find
truth. He use to be a youth pastor for 10 years and now when back to
school because he felt the Spirit direct him to be a cop. He is a
school cop for the Middle school and he says that he has more action
in one day than most cops get in one week. There is lots of gangs and
stuff downtown. Anyways, he met with missionaries once before but they
just said that if he really wants to know to read the Book of Mormon.
That was a while ago. He has read almost the whole book and he said
that he has been praying before during and after reading and he has
never received an answer. Now this guy is very humble and I told him
that maybe he is not praying right nad gave him the pamphlet and
showed him the correct way to pray. He said that he will try it that
way to pray. This man really made me humble by he being very
submissive and really wanting to know. I ask for everyone to pray for
him to receive his answer please. His name is Brian. Thank you for you
letter Jeremy. I knew there was some rebel in you. I am so excited for
this week. It could be for all the presents I am going to get or maybe
we are going to get some awesome success!!! I have been having some
really good conversations with the members here in New Brighton and it
really is helping me find my reason or helping me towards the reason
of why I am here. I had an interview with President and the Spirit
told me that I am tyring to make this mission mine when its not and so
I stopped studying spanish. I just needed enough to contact with.
President did say that I should stop for right now. Well I love you
all and I thank you all for all your prayers. Oh Trevor I love your
letter. It was perfect for what I needed for when I got it. Ella and
Caden I will write you a letter, I just need to get on it. It just
stinks because I dont have that much time in one day. The weather has
changed a lot. It did snow again two days ago but it melted the day
after. They have a Cub foods and a Rainbow but we mostly shop at
Walmart and Cub. Rainbow is kinda far with the Target but we go down
there for deal and ya. I am in my short sleeves now. I thought I would
never get to that point. haha but it gets really hot here even in the
50 degree weather on your bike. I love you Dad. I hope you stay alive!
Grandma and Grandpa I love you too! Man I have a lot of relatives!
Welcome Shirleys new baby. (i dont remember his name...i think its
trey) Anybody else pregnant? How is Jimmy and is new wife doing? When
is Adam sending in his papers?

Love,
Elder David Mackey

Elder Mackey's April 11, 2011 Letter

Dear Family, (Mandy)

I am so happy that far off tangent helped someone out. :) This past
week I have been under the weather. I got pretty si O MY
GOODNESS!!!!!!! I wrote this HUGE letter about this awesome story and
it got deleted!!!!!! >:( Stupid Computer!!!!! Danget I dont want to
write it again. I will write it again but there might be stuff left
out and may sound all over the place. Man my wrist was starting to
hurt from typing so much.

Well lets just say I got sick but I kept working hard and the Lord
blessed us so much with many miracles. :) We have 5 new investigators
where the majority seem pretty solid! One of our investigators Chue is
so awesome that is Golden. She was a referral ffrom a different set of
Elders and her story is like so: She was going to get something from
the bank and she saw the missionaries. The Spirit told her that she
needed to tell them her miracles and she didnt think it was God and
said that if I see them agian I will tell them. she got to the bank
and was gathering papers to go in and then looked up and saw the
elders again. She was like whoa ok well then if they wait there then I
know it is from God. They waited there and were actually walking
towards her. (I would like to know the elders side of the story)  She
got out of the car and yelled, "hey Mormons, I have some miracles to
tell you." They got her information and refereed her to us. They
taught her a short lesson on the BoM before I was Transferred over to
here. We tried to get a hold of her two times but was unsuccessful. We
finally got in touch with her and we taught her about the Spirit and
it was strong there. We challenged her to be baptized on april 30 and
she accepted but then said that she wanted to be baptized by some guy
from another church. We told her that she cant and said just a little
about authority and then left. Oh we also found out she smokes but the
Spirit has been telling her that she needs to quit and she has been
doing it. Before the next meeting she was going to drop us 30 min
before nad i tlaked to her and the Spirit was with me and I boldly
told her that you need to read the BoM (she was saying that the Spirit
was telling her to read the Bible) and that you want one of us to
baptize you. She didnt know that we could baptize. I then said that we
are coming over in 15 min. I think my filter left me haha its actually
weird because my companions sya that the things I say would make
people mad or whatever but in the way i say it or something happens
that they dont. So I need to work on that and I have been doing a lot
better. We taught her the first lesson and it made more sense to her.
We told her to read the BoM and come to church. The day before church
she told us how she got her answer to the BoM.

She had a dream 2-3 months ago and in the dream she was at the bottom
of a staircase and a women in the middle with a man at the top. the
man handed the women goden plates and handed them to Chue. She siad
that she didnt know what they were and that they were not her's and
handed them back and the women handed them back to the man. The man
saidthat they were not his and handed them back to the women and the
women handed them to the man syaing they were not her's but for you
chue, its a gift. (the women and the man could have been switched) She
woke up and didnt know what it meant. Well she started to read the BoM
at the introduction and she read "golden plates" and the Spirit
brought her back to that dream and then she under stood. That God
wanted her to have and read the Book of Mormon.

She came to church for the first time and bore her testimony and it
was legit. Afterwards the bishop wanted to meet with her and we were
waiting outside for him and she was saying that the Spirit has been
teaching her stuff that we havent even said like that the Bible is the
word of God and that the BoM is the Power of God. and much more but I
dont remember. She is such a sweet lady. oh also we found out that she
is only traditional married so we will see if her husband will want to
get married. he didnt want her to meet with us. but ya we are so
blessed with her. :D

Last thing is that we asked president if we could study spanish for 15
min after compaionstudy and he said yes. We have a lot of spanish in
our area and so we wanted to be able to contact them. So we have been
contacting like crazy!!! I love it! I am not that good but I can at
least say: Somos misioneros de la inglesia de Jesucristo o mormones.
Tiene Fe en Jesucristo? Queremos compartir un mensaje de jesucristo
con ustead. Nuestro mensaje no quita de sus creencias solo ayuda a
usted a: -aumentar en su fe -acercarse mas a Jesucristo -realizar que
las families pueden ser junto para siempre. Esta interasado(a) en
nuestro mensaje? Tenemos amigos que pueden hablar espanol. Cual es su:
-munero de telephono -direccion -nombre. A que hara es mejor para
usted? We are starrting to pray in spanish as compaions but we need
more. I dont know very much vocabulary and I know how to conjugate but
i dont know like all the grammar stuff. I would like some books if any
have any. a vocab book would be awesome with verbs. I feel the power
from on high helping me. its way cool. I have faith that I will learn
spanish! Well I need to get going. I hope this is ok. :/ I love you
all and please pray that i will acquire the gift of tongues. :D

--
Love,
Elder David Mackey

Elder Mackey's April 4, 2011 Letter - Conference, A New Area and a New Companion

Mandy,
Well really I think or thought that I would write you the e-mail for
everyone to read so I would write a lot of whats going on so everyone
could know as well. If someone writes me an e-mail I will try to write
them back but I will always leave all the main stuff in the e-mail I
send you. I LOVED conference! There were a lot of talks I liked. The
last e-mail I said I was transferred and the new area is very
different. It looks like downtown Phoenix except without the nice
building. I live in an apartment now and the church is right across
the street. Its real nice to wake up and look out the window and see
the church building. Its probably the nicest building around. So
anyways, two days before conference we met a guy at a bus stop and
invited him to conference. He said he would like to come and he did.
We had a lesson before the first session with him and we gave him the
Ensign where the Apostles give their testimonies of Christ and stuff.
It was a special one that they put out. He liked it. He also liked
conference and said that he would come for both session on Sunday but
he never showed up. :/

It snowed this morning while we were inside. Stopped before we got out
so we were lucky. The snow is going down a lot. Its awesome. I had
this thought come to me right now. There are some places were the sun
doesn't reach. In those places there are still heaps of snow. Where
the sun does reach the snow is gone or almost gone. The sun is very
powerful, when its really cold outside but you stand in the sun, you
feel the warmth that it gives. Same with Jesus Christ, when you dont
let Him in your life you will feel the cold and your sins will never
melt away. We need to step out of "hiding" and bask in the sun. Let
the Savior warm our hearts and open our minds. Even when I am out in
the cold and I am walking around, I dont feel the sun. The sun is
shining on me I just dont recognize it. But when I pay attention to it
I feel the warmth. We may be walking in life and have the Spirit with
us but we dont recognize it. We we stop and listen we then will feel
the warmth. (I think it goes along with Elder Bednars' talk) Ya that
was just what I was thinking.

Anyways, my companion is pretty fun. He is actually only one transfer
older than me. We both are learning a lot. He is from Utah and he
loves to hunt and camp and stuff. When I came out here there was no
success. They havent had baptisms for a while here. Way different than
my last area. The people are not too friendly out here as well but we
do find those that are friendly. When I got here there were 5
investigators who are very hard to get a hold of. We now have 4 more.
One of the 5 is an awesome old man. We had such a great lesson. We
were just going to stop by to see if he was there because they couldnt
get a hold of him. He was there and I started to talk about the Book
of Mormon but felt that I should teach the whole first lesson. My
companion felt that too and he was just right on the ball. Oh when we
talked to him at the door he was in a lot of pain because of his leg
and I asked him if we could just share a short 10 min message. He
agreed and then thats when we both felt like we should do the first
lesson. We were there for 40-45 min and he was understanding and the
Spirit was strong there. At the end he said his leg did not bother him
at all while we were talking to him. Our joint teaching gave him a
blessing and we left. It was amazing. The work out here in this area
is tough but those experiences give me hope that we will find another
one like that.

Thank your so much for all your prayers! They are very much needed.
Please pray for the area that I am in. I love you all and this will be
continued till next week.

Elder Mackey

Elder Mackey's March 28, 2011 Letter - First Transfer

Mandy,

Man you wrote me so much!! I hope I can get it all in here and plus
write Jessica, Katie, and Jeremy! So You have a awesome new job! I
knew you would be bringing in the big bucks! hehe Did you pass the bar
yet? Man I miss the big family parties with all the food! Out here we
get fed soooo much and I feel so fat! I am officially 205 now. :( I
need to work out. I like saying tho that I am only weighing so much
because of my massive thighs (muscles weigh more than fat). :D I was
excited when I got a letter from Shirley! I was hoping for a written
letter and everything but then I open it and its just an announcement.
Why do women like to take naked baby pictures? I could so see you
driving a huge truck! haha I have in my mind an only lady in like a
monster truck. haha

I am doing better. I understand that a mission will be hard is never
going to get easy. :/ That is how life will be. Transfer calls were
today and actually we were called last night and my trainer will be
training again (I will have a younger brother) and I will be
transfered to New Brighten. My companion is Elder Holmes. They say is
way cool. He has been out two transfers before me. Its another bike
area. A few days ago the snow melted a whole bunch but then it snowed
once again. Now it is warming up and everything is starting to show
and snow is dissapearing! YEAH!!!! Its still cold though. They say
that last winter there was a total of 40 inches and this winter was 90
inches. I was here on a very very snowing winter. Made 2nd place for
record breaking.

We find a lot here in Apple Valley. We have had a total of 18
investigators but they either drop us on the next visit or they dont
meet with us again. We set a date with a 19 year old who is a black
hole therian. (look it up) We are passing him off to the sisters
though because  they are over the singles ward. We taught 20 lessons
the week before and just this last one we taught 20 again!!! We are
getting bad though on Member presents because we will have lessons
planed for with a memeber and then all of the sudden they cancel. We
found a family tracting and we kept stopping by the house trying to
catch them but the mom would never answer the door or say that they
were busy. We finnally knocked when the husband was there and he let
us in and the wife was driving up and saw our bikes and stopped and
backed up and drove away. The husband was wondering what her problem
was. She came later after he texted her and we taught them a lesson
and they liked it. we are teaching them again tuesday and hopefully
they wont drop us.

I am excited for my new area! I am also stoked for my new companion. I
need a change! I love Elder Steel and all but I need something
different. We both need a change. He is way excited too. Oh guess
what!!! I am soo excited about this too! One of our Zone Leaders is a
spanish elder and he was on exchanges with me. I asked him if you
could tell me how to contact in spanish so I wrote them on cards. I
carry them around with me everywhere. I keep meaning to memorize them.
Well we ran into some spanish peoples and I contacted them in
spanish!!!! I was so excited afterward. Like it was crazy the feelings
I had! I have a spanish pmg, bom, bible, and the study stuff they give
missionaries. I got them from Elder Steel because he was wanting to
learn but never did so now he is giving them to me. I will hopefully
learn spanish when I get home. :) Well I need to get going. Thank you
very much and I love the Quotes!!!! I love you very much!

Love,
Elder Mackey

Elder Mackey's March 21, 2011 Letter to Dad

Happy Birthday Mandy!!!!!!! Here is the e-mail that I am sending to dad. :)

Hello Daddy,

I don't know why I was having a hard time. Thank your for your letter
and your love dad! I love you very much and I want to make you happy.
I love teaching the Gospel too, in fact we picked up a ton more
investigators. But like you said most of the appointments fall
through. The people are friendly and they are Minnesota nice, or they
don't know how to say no, and they are not interested because they
have there own church. I actually went to a Lutheran church on
Thursday and it was different. They have like 500 hymns. Afterward the
pastor talked to us and he was very nice and did not bash with us at
all. He let me play a song, Savior Redeemer of My Soul from the Joseph
Smith book, and I bore my testimony. The investigators that brought us
I know felt the Spirit but then on the way home they were saying that
our religion is not right. They kept going in circles and its amazing
how they cant see it at all saying that we don't need baptism but we
don't but its not really necessary. The people out here are set in
their traditions and so it is real hard to get them out. We have this
one investigator that does dialysis because he lost both his kidneys
from too much drinking. He went from no church to a denominational
church. We tracted into him and he said that we can come back. We
taught him about the book of Mormon and how you can apply it to
yourself. He like the verses in there a lot. We did Heleman 5:12. He
wanted to bring it to a Bible study class that he goes to. Well we
caught him in his truck and he stopped and he was going to drop us
right there but we asked him what his problems were and he had friends
tell him anti stuff. well we answered his questions and he felt better
about us because it didn't make sense to what they were saying since
we are nice guys and don't teach what they were saying. But then just
yesterday he said that he is fine with his church so he was dropping
us. Bummer. We worked hard this week and we achieved 20 lessons. It
was awesome cuz we got 17 Saturday night and Sunday we had like 3 or 4
scheduled. All of them but one fell through. We had one with a member
so we needed just one more and we had tracting left. So our faith was
put to the test. Door after door and person after person we get
nothing. No interest at all. There was this big hill we were on and we
didn't want to waste all that force we were getting by turning sharp
to where we needed to go to go to the next house. So we went to this
place that we were not going to tract that night and turned around and
we were coming back and caught 4 kids coming out of their car. (God
placed them into our path) We talked to them for a few minuets and
then I asked if we could teach them a short lesson. We taught them
about God and a little about His characteristics and His plan for us.
Taught them how to pray and I asked one of them to kneel down and say
the pray. They all want to learn more but there is one that seems like
he is serious. They are all coming out to play some dodge ball with us
today. We are having a lot of success. We actually had a baptism
Saturday and I comfirmed him on Sunday. His name was Alex and he is a
9 year old. The family is way cool and very humble. Thank you for your
e-mail dad. I love the quotes you gave me, especially the boxing one,
and they will help me through my whole mission. Keep them coming
though. I love quotes! :D I hope you are doing well and that the wall
is getting finished! :) Thank you so much for teaching me how to work
and to work hard. I know I didnt do it all the time but I am now
seeing that it is blessing my life. Please continue to pray for me and
my investigators and also could you pray that I will learn to pray ALL
the time? I love you all!

Love,
Elder David Mackey

Elder Mackey's March 14, 2011 Letter to Mandy

                                                      Cats Love Missionaries

Mandy!!!!

Well I was struggling a lot in the beginning of the week and went on
until near the end. I am just fighting myself and my emotions and its
a tough battle. :( I almost gave up on my mission. I felt like I
wanted to go home because I was just feeling like I don't belong here
and that I am not contributing anything here. Also, I was feeling like
I had no purpose on a mission and that my dream was ruined by
something and that I ruined my mission somehow. :( It was pretty bad.
I went on exchanges on Wednesday hoping to advice from my district
leader and in fact the district meeting was really good that day as
well. After lunch we had a lesson with one of their investigators and
she is awesome! We had it at the church and near the end I asked her
if I could play the piano ( the lesson was on Chasity and I just
didn't really feel the Spirit that strong) and I asked Elder Reupena
(district leader) to sing. It was really awesome and I bore my
testimony and I asked her to be baptized and she finally accepted for
March 26! She said that she was going to actually suprise them the day
before and ask them to baptize her. So the exchange started out really
good for him and me. Everytime I go on exchanges with him he always
seems to get lost and I always end up finding where we need to go.
Well we get lost again and we were trying to find where this address
was. Oh and I forgot to put this in: he has this tiny bike that is
like for Hayden and its really junky. I am in an area that is really
hilly and he takes the really nice bike. So I am always far behind him
trying to catch up and I am working really hard getting really sweaty
in 20 degree weather. So I finally find the house and we past it like
5 times and the address is in huge letters. I am a little frustrated
but I dont act like it cuz I really dont care so maybe I wasnt but I
am now. haha We have dinner and then we tract in this one area. I
kinda critiqued him saying that he wasnt doing what he told us that
morning in district meeting and he told me that I am annoying. So I
stopped talking to him and he doesnt talkt to me the rest of the night
and morning and until we leave. So we leave the area to go home and he
just leaves me in the dust and we are going on freeways (remember I am
on this junky bike) going up and down on hills. So I have no idea
where I am going and I dont know where he is and I just had it. I was
going up this hill and I got off and started to say, "Why am I here,
what is my point, I dont get it, this is dumb, I want to go home but
then I would feel like I am  not strong enough." it was tough. I got
back on the bike and I found the appartment and get in and he was in
the bathroom. I just sat outside cooling off and remember he doesnt
talk to me. I was hoping to have a PPI but we dont and I was just in a
pickle. Thursday I call President saying that I need to schedule to
get drugs because I was almost out and I also told him that I am
thinking about going home. He asked me what was going on and I told
him I just dont feel like I am doing all that great. He told me that I
was doing better than what he thought I would be (because of the
letters from the doctors and my condition I guess) but I just wasnt
feeling that way. Friday, I felt like we should tract in this one area
and the first door we knock on the man, Matt, let us in. He told us he
knows a lot about the church that he shook President Hinkley's hand
and talked to him for a bit. I was thinking, wow that is every members
dream. haha He had a favorite BoM chapter, 2 Nephi 31. I asked him if
we could have a lesson and he said that he was just going out for
dinner and that we go lucky because he usually isnt home. He also said
that the night before he was praying and asking God where he needs to
be and what he needs to do and then we show up the next day. Elder
Steel then tells him that this is no coincidence and that we were led
by God to you. I asked him again if we could just read 2 Nephi 31 with
him and he agreed. The Spirit was so strong. We told him that he needs
to continue to read the BoM and that he know what he needs to do and
that is to be baptized. He said that he knows. We have him say the
closing prayer and it was very angelic. Then Elder Steel invited him
to be baptized and he said he would. First time meeting him!!! :) It
was awesome! He committed to be baptized on April 3 between the
conferences. It was awesome and later that night I saw him in his car
smoking and told him he needs to quite. So I took the pack from him
and he said he is going to start. :D Then after that door the next
door we knocked on (next door I guess) it was a mom of 6 kids who are
looking for a church. We couldnt go in because of the rule of three
but we left her the mormon.org card and gave her our number. Later
that night we got a text from her saying that her daughter was real
excited to meet with us and asked us what a stake was. That was cool
cuz she was checking it out and already doing what we said. Then on
Sunday we had Matt call us and set up the appointment and that was
awesome because he is serious and we know he is committed. Then we
found a less active with 5 children that are not baptized and she
wants to come back. So it was awesome!!!! But I still feel like I dont
contribute. :/ What am I doing wrong? I feel like I am not getting
anything out of studying most of the times and I just dont seem like I
am "treasuring up the word." I feel lazy and now complainy. Im sorry.
I just didnt have my PPI and I need to discuss it with someone. :/ But
I love you Mandy!!! The weather is getting warmer now, we will get
those days were it is very windy (45mph) and its really cold but we
work so hard on our bikes to get to places. I am excited for spring as
well. I am tired of the snow. I really want to see the fall though
with all those colors. :) Thank you for the letter. I loved the
poster! It was nice seeing all the neices and nephews, boy i miss
them. I love my family. I thought the story was hillarious!!! hahahaha
Mandy that is so funny, I am telling my companion about it. haha Well
I need to write my Presidents letter. I will talk to you later. :)
MAKE YOUR MORMON.ORG PROFILES!!!!!!

Love,
Elder David Mackey

                                                              The Village People?

Elder Mackey's February 28, 2011 Letter

Oh its OK I was just wondering if I was going to get any mail Monday
but I didnt so no biggy, I just got stuck in a rut of my family doesnt
care about me. :p So you dont think you did good on the bar then? :( I
hope everything went OK and that your brain in still intact...if not
you know where you can get the best brain therapy. :D I love Grandma
and Grandpa!! I need there address so I can send them mail. Tell them
I love them very much and I am grateful that Grandpa taught me how to
work!! Dont forget to tell them please! Could you tell me stories
about Mommy Cindy? I want to hear them. That is very cute about mommy
Cindy being shy. hehe So I bet you are not liking cold because over
here is gets sooooo cold and I freeze to death. For example on Friday
it was like -2 degrees but the wind and the humidity is what kills
you. First we have to bike everywhere and Friday we went really far
and so I got really sweaty and I then we went tracting, at night, and
so all my sweat freezes on my back and just makes me really cold. :/
not fun. The snow just stays everywhere! My blood is too thin. I think
any of Dads kids are desert kids and are like reptiles and like to
bake in the sun. yup thats what it is. :D Now I do remember about my
evil ways back then and I feel bad. :/ But that is whats wonderful
about the Atonement. :D Tell Grandma as well that I am very sorry.
So Friday we biked really far and I had no problems falling. But on
Saturday it snowed in the morning and then after lunch we went almost
to where we were the day before. So it was really cold riding our
bikes out there but then we got really hot. We were coming back and my
companion got ahead of me like 50 yards because I got stuck in a lot
of snow so I just started running. Well I was coming up to an
intersection and there was a ton of snow where the street and the
sidewalk meet so I wanted to just go right through it so I was going
really fast. Well the snow got real hard and icy so instead I went
right over my handle bars in the street. haha My companion saw the
whole thing on the other side. He told me he did the same thing. Then
I got ahead of my companion on this side street and I went for a turn
pretty fast, forgetting that there could be ice, and I just went
straight down and slide. I always manage to fall.

So we got 3 new investigators this week. My companion and I were
pretty bad on Sunday and Monday so we had a bad week this week. We
repented and had an awesome Thursday through Sunday. Saturday we got
in with a potential we tracted into a month ago and he is so prepared
for us. He thinks it all makes sense and loves the Book of Mormon. His
wife is real cool and loves what we teach. She is Jewish and she is
being taught by the Jehovah Witnesses. Hopefully they dont give her
anti-stuff. :/ Then on Sunday we met a referral at President Fireside
and she is so awesome! She knows its all true but has commitment
problems.

I am still being trained by my trainer. I am in this 12 week training
thats part of the pilot program. The letter I received said that I
need to be trained well enough to train a new missionary at the end of
the training. It also kept saying that in the training packet we
received. So I may train soon. I am a little nervous because I am not
good at teaching. I may turn down the calling.
I love you Mandy! :)

Love Elder Mackey

Elder Mackey's February 21, 2011 Letter

                                                           Jabba the Hut Snowman

No one e-mailed me!!!!! Yesterday we had a big storm. It was

awesome!!! We will be getting 10 - 14 inches of snow. Today we are
going around shoveling snow. Its still snowing crazy. We went to
dinner last night and people our here have to shovel their driveway
every so often to stay on top of it. Not so much has been going on
this last week. Our investigator Earl was doing awesome but we were
not able to get in with him lately because he got stuck at work and he
has been sick. He committed to be baptized on March 19 but we dont
think he understands what that means. He was saying that he was going
to get baptized in our church and then on the next day he will be
doing baptizing for others in his church.

Oh Elder Steel and I met two knew investigators and when we taught
them we think they were on drugs or something. They didnt even blink
or move and they were calm. It was funny. They were saying that they
were saved because they accepted Jesus Christ. I said that was part of
it and then said that they need to repent, be baptized, receive the
Holy Ghost, and then endure to the end. They then asked us if we can
baptize and we said yes and then they wanted to be baptized that day.
We told them that there are requirements to prepare them to make
covenants to God and that making a covenant is a serious thing, big,
and its rewarding.

But those where pretty much the two big things that happened this
week. Except this awesome bike crash I had. haha Ok so in our
companionship we love to tease eachother. Since Elder Steel's bikes
brakes can only work on the front he was complaining wishing that his
brakes were working in the back instead. I asked him why and he said
that when you pull the front  brake on ice you lose control and fall.
I was going against him of course saying that he needs to just suck it
up and I dont believe him. (really I didnt believe him anyways) So we
were biking on the sidewalk and right when I got on this like 20 foot

long piece of ice Elder Steel told me to pull on my front brake and so

I did. Right when I  pulled it I went straight down and and stumbling

and hit hard. I was laughing and slipping and it was just funny.

hahaha From right there I told myself that I was always going to

believe Elder Steel. :) I love you individuals of my family!!!! Oh and

I need to send you guys the First Epislte of the Elders to the Dead

Letter Writers.

Love,

Elder David Mackey

     

Elder Mackey's February 14, 2011 Letter to Mandy and Family

Elder Steel, new member and Elder Mackey

Dear Mandy and Family,

Well Mandy I guess I will be sending you the e-mail for the family.
This week was pretty rough but ended pretty awesome!! My trainer went
on exchanges on Wensday so I was left to take charge of the area. I
did pretty well but I ended up losing an investigator. It wasnt my
fault though. :-p I did pretty well at the baptism with my talk.
Everyone really liked that I could play piano and sing. (Apparently a
lot of people cant play piano that well which is kinda weird because I
think I dont play that well or even sing that well) I did a musical
number yesterday and I did the confirmation. I felt like the
confirmation wasnt that good. Well let me explain why...

Monday we lost two investigators, Kristin and her friend Chad. We have
been teaching them for a long time but wouldn't allow us to pray and
one night I just told her that I can not do well with out the Spirit
and that we are not helping you. So we asked her to pray and see if it
was ok if we pray before a lesson. (she thinks we dont pray to the
same God) So next lesson we pray which was awesome cause now she was
progressing but then every lesson she is always treating it like a
bible discussion and it just frusrated me and Elder Steel. She always
trys and make the lesson go over an hour and we get no where or we
think she is getting it but then she asks a question thats way off
topic and doesnt apply. ahhh!!! The last lesson we left all of the
pamphlets and told her thats all we teach and to read them and prepare
with questions that involve the lessons. On Monday we get a call from
her saying that she has all that she needs basicly and that she doesnt
need us anymore. (I dont think she liked us and that she liked the
Sister Missionaries that were before us.) So she dropped us.

Tuesday it was pretty much a tracting day. We did have an appointment
but then she dropped us because her dad didnt want her meeting with
us. She was meeting with us behind his back at the library and we kept
tell her to tell her dad but she would "always forget." She was
awesome though and she was doing pretty well. I called her up to reind
her to tell her dad and he was yelling and so we were not allowed to
teach her anymore. She did say that she was going to read the BoM in
her room still and still pray about it. So that was pretty cool! While
we were tracting, it was a pretty cold day, we knocked on this door,
Mike. We did the normal approach and he seemed like he had a lot on
his mind. He did really want to talk about anything because he had a
lot going on. My companion asked if we can come in and warm up a
little and so he can put on his scarf a little bit better. He let us
in and I started asking him quesitons and he opened up. He has
prostrate cancer that has moved to his bones and he look real tired
and sick. We taught him the second lesson and it went awesome! He said
we could come back but he didnt know when. So we will stop by hoping
to catch him.

Wensday it went ok, that the day that Stacy, one of our investigators
dropped us. We had a lot of hopes for her but I went in and asked her
if she read the BoM and she said that it was hard for her to read it
and think of it as a trure book or something. I thought it was a dumb
question. She was stuck on the fact that Joseph Smith had many wives
and that was wrong and also he found gold plates somewhere in New York
was bizzare. Plus that there is no more need for prophets because
Christ came down and did it all for us. It was a not a good lesson and
we just asked her to read the BoM and pray about it and that we will
pray for her and she said that she will pray for us for help. :/
Whatever.....(i didnt say that)

Thrusday we met with one of our investigators who is from Peru and
know ok english. Her "mate" is austrian and know german, spanish, and
snglish. We only met with him once and he is the kind of person that
wants proof. We brought a Brother from the ward that knows spanish and
he pretty much did a lot of the talking but it went awesome! We
challenged her to be baptized and she wasnt sure but she wants her
family to be united. In a nut shell her husband isnt the family man
kind and likes to play the game WOW. Ask the brothers about that game.
So she will pray about it and we will see on Thursday what she thinks.

Friday was Awesome! So we had an appointment with a black kid who
lives in kinda like "the square" in phoenix I guess. We were going to
have the lesson in the lobby but there were people there that did not
like us so we were thinking of a place to  go when this ex-marine guy
came out to get his mail and he was cussing everyother word and I was
thinking in my mind, "oh man this guy is going to beat us up!" He was
saying some degrading stuff about the Church and came up to Marcus,
the black kid, and was asking him if "these cats are givin him
trouble." I think my companion or I said that we were just thinking of
a place to share a message to him. Aaron, the ex-marine, then said
that we should have our lesson in his place. Marcus started to follow
him so we started to follow. In my head I was thinking and saying
prayers, "Oh man this guy is going to kill us. We are so dead. Please
help us." I was trying to feel if the Spirit was prompting me to
leave, and I think I was hoping haha, but I didnt feel bad or
anything. We went into his room and there was beer everywhere because
they had a party I guess and it smelt like chew. He was cussing
every other word looking for his dip and talking to us and about
"religion" in general. We were doing pretty well and I asked if we
could sit down and he smoked a cig and got his nicatine in him and he
stopped cussing. Marcus left and we didnt even teach him but we left
Aaron a BoM and challenged him to read and pray about it. He told us
he wasnt going to join but that he would. So we stayed alive! Right
after that we felt like we needed to visit a less-active member who
acts just like Jimmy. It was weird, he looks like him, acts like him,
and it was just weird. He even is the same age. We stopped by and we
asked if we could share a 5 min lesson. He let us in and we started
with a prayer. Elder Steel started with the scriptue Chr 28: 10,20.
Saying that we need to do it. I then gave him the scripture Phil 4:13
and said that we can do it through Christ. Then I felt prompted to ask
if he wanted a blessing. The Spirit was sooooo strong! He said he
wanted one and he asked if I could be the voice. The Spirit guided me
in what I needed to say and it was just what he needed to here. That
he needs to do it and dont slack off so to say. He was very emotional.
it was just awesome!!!!

Saturday we got a new investigator who is awesome!!!! He is a short
black guy who has big muscles. He is a decon in his church but he
needed some good words from us or something. We shoveled his driveway
when he was at work and so he was touched by that. It was funny
because while I was praying he will say "thank you Jesus" or "uhh hmm"
or "prais the Lord." it was a long day but the lesson was so good. :)

Sunday I was voice for the confirmation and I felt like it was so bad.
I did not feel the Spirit guide me like I did on Friday. I feel so bad
that I didnt give that good of a good blessing. :( I did a nice job
though on the musical number and people came up to me saying that they
never thought that I would play the piano let alone sing. It was a
good day though. Elder Steel and I stayed up talking about what
President told him and me before we came together. We are staying
another transfer which is awesome! What is interesting is that
President told Elder Steel that this assignment is going to be the
most important assignment in his mission and that he needs to be
patient. Hmmm.....he and I are still thinking about it. But its
interesting. Also to know that he has gotten a transfer call every
transfer except this one. :o Well I need to go. I will talk to you all
later.....I love you very much and thank you. Oh I fell a few time
walking and Elder Steel thought it was so funny. I will beat him up
after the mission. But then he fell on his bike which was funny. Big
gulp eh? Welp see ya later!!!! And yes I am getting better talking.
The shoes are great! I love them. I got to learn how polish and also I
need to learn how to keep my bike up. (any ideas orrin?) Good luck
Mandy! Philipians 4:13 - You can do ANYTHING through Christ, who
stregthens you!!
Love,
Elder David Mackey