sammission: Wow, what an eventful week

Hey guys! Thank you so much for the emails that you have sent me. It was a joy reading them! It is so nice to hear about the things happening at home. The weather has been going wonderful. I am loving how perfect it is. What a great week to be a missionary in the Utah Ogden mission!!!!

Easter was absolutely amazing! We were able to attend three different sacrament meetings. All missionaries in the Utah Ogden covers 1 or more stakes. All of the speakers spoke on the Atonement and everyone except one did an amazing job. That one spoke unaccountable things, like Mary being super annoyed and irritated when Jesus Christ said, "Why weepest thou?". He also mentioned that if he could change the Bible, he would. My companion was so mad at him for doing that. I had to calm him down. But, all of the other speakers did amazing. I learned so much about the Atonement.

During this week, Anthony texted us and told us that he is going to get divorced from his wife and is moving to SLC. We are trying to get his address so we can contact the missionaries in his area. I hope he texts back about that. He is super solid and I don't want this whole thing to hold him back from being baptized. He is a great man.

Last Wednesday, I was able to do exchanges with Elder Freitag and it was amazing. Elder Freitag is from Erfurt, Germany. And guess what?! His companion is Elder Zarse (my trainer). If you remember him, you would know that Elder Zarse is from Germany too! They get along so well. Haha. He has been out for 6 months. For this exchange, I was able to come to his area. He is assigned to the Clinton North stake. His area is doing pretty well. They have two on date.

Elder Freitag is an amazing missionary. I have learned a lot from him, with patience being one of them. Last Wednesday night, we contacted this ~75 years old man who is on the Part-Member list. We started off well, then I bridged in the gospel and from that point, everything went sour. He went off claiming that we were not Christians because we don't display the cross in our homes, and church buildings. After he made that claim, I began to explain why we don't use the cross. I started to talk about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and then he interrupted me by saying, "Look son, you don't know what you are talking about!". That started to make me so mad.

But we had some amazing lessons. We taught this Navajo family that is from Yuma, Arizona. They are AWESOME! We talked a lot about Arizona and how hot it is. The funniest thing is that Elder Freitag said that he never wants to go to Arizona. Everybody just started laughing. Anyways, we taught them the plan of salvation and since they are a less active family, we committed them to make a goal of going to the temple to get sealed. After they said yes, the Spirit got so strong and the mother started crying and she said, "Yes.. I know this is true. We need to go to the temple." That whole experience really strengthened my testimony of temples and its sacred ordinances. Being sealed to my family has brought numerous blessings. When I was reading, Our Search for Happiness (can be found in Gospel Library 3), it was talking about temples and how being sealed to our families changed our perspective on families. When we know that we will be together for eternity, there is a special bond between family members. I testify that the statement is true!

The Cefalo family is doing amazing. I really love teaching them. The kids are so exciting! Ethan (the 9 years old) is super solid and really wants to be baptized. His step-brother, Gage (the 12 years old boy), is struggling. He really wants to be baptized but his mother (whom his father divorced and she is anti) is telling him how disappointed she would be if he got baptized. But Gage is doing really well. He is understanding all of the principles that was taught. Overall, the family is doing amazing. They are beginning to come back to church and become an active family. The mother loves us, she makes us food every time we come over. She is amazing at cooking. Last time we went over, she made us these huge tacos that is seriously the best taco I had on my mission.

Alright, I have to get going. I love you all. Have a great week! When you guys get a chance, read Our Search for Happiness, Jesus the Christ, Our Heritage and True to the Faith!! I promise you, it's worth it. I finished three of them and I am working on Jesus the Christ. I learned SO much and it is amazing. This gospel is amazing. Jesus Christ did so much for us and He is truly the Savior and Redeemer of the world. #BecauseofHim, we all can have eternal life (2 Nephi 31:19-20).

I love you all! Love, Elder McGrath