Just a Crazy Week (Semana 73)

Que onda amigos???

This week was super crazy.....and when I say crazy I mean crazy! like so many weird things happened and I don't know where to start!

- On Tuesday 3 huge trucks full of armed narcos pulled up next to us because they thought we were from the DEA. so that was pretty dope. They even pulled out their M16 to show us but I cracked a few jokes with them and they ended up driving away laughing.  

- Also this week was going to be the baptism of Yamilet, but....she left for Veracruz on Wednesday. It has been pretty ugly in the nights here (gunshots and what not) and her son bought bus tickets for them and they all left for Veracruz. So that was pretty sad but hopefully she will be able to get baptized in Veracruz.

-We also had two other things happen with the narcos this week. On Saturday they 'borrowed' our bikes to go drop something off in a different colony and then came back to drop the bikes off...so that was weird. Also last night we were waiting by a bridge and we saw a huge Toyota Tundra with some narcos in it fly by and then we just heard gun shots when they got to the other side of the bridge and we just took off flying on our bikes jajaja. So yeah its been pretty wild here! 

-Although we were sad for Yamilet we were able to keep working with others and find some really awesome new investigators! Raquel is progressing really well and even went to church by herself which amazed us.  We also found a new couple named Karen and Francisco. They are super awesome and they also went to church this week! It was cool because Karen and Raquel were talking about the class and the talks in church and they were basically sharing their testimonies that this is the true Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ! They are all really great and are progressing really well. I love their faith.
-Also we are teaching these kids that love the church and this past week they came on last Sunday, then an actividad on Thursday and another actividad on Saturday and then to church again this Sunday! They love the church and are super awesome!

- So there was a great family we had been working with but they had to leave for a few weeks because of some threats from the bad people here. They finally came back and showed up to the church on Sunday. It was such a surprise!  We still can't visit them in their house because its a little dangerous but we are teaching them in the church and they are really excited for their baptism in a couple of weeks!! 

We are honestly seeing so many miracles here in Nuevo Laredo and it is a testimony to me that this is truly the Lord's work. That we are His servants and that we must do all we can to help as many people we can here come unto Christ and He will help us along the way! 

well i got to go

les amo y les extraño

con amor

elder mcclellan

Never Confuse Movement With Progress (Semana 72)

Hey, what is good in the hood my peeps!! 

We have had a pretty great week over here in Nuevo Laredo. We have been working hard, training well, making friends and having a blast. 

Alright so I will start with the working hard part: So this week we were able to find and teach this family that we met at the carne asada last week and it has been a great experience! We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they loved it. They went to church and had a great time. The kids loved the church and are super excited for next week! We also found and amazing señora named Raquel this week.  She is amazing and really wants to learn the gospel and act! She reads everything we give her and loves it when we come and explain it. She even went to church and told us that she felt the Spirit and loved it. She also told us that its very different from her old church and that we have to help her adjust. She is so amazing!!! (also i'll share a cool story about her later)

Training: This week we had our zone conference and Elder Gutierrez and I had to train a little bit. We talked about our purpose as missionaries and the potential we have here in Nuevo Laredo. It went pretty well and everyone said they liked it which was cool. We also had the chance to go on intercambios with Elder Garrido and Elder Memmott. I got to work with Memmott and we balled out in my area. He is a new missionary from Nephi, Utah and he is super cool. He's gonna be a great missionary!

Making Friends: Ok so I had 2 cool experiences this week with the husband of Raquel. Ok first when Memmott and I arrived there was a drunk guy outside that was trying to mess with us and was saying some stuff to us. Then the husband came out and told him to get out of here, but the dude didn't want to. Then the husband told him that if he didn't leave he would talk to the "men" outside to escort them away from the house. The "men" outside were the 30 armed narcos thats were right by the house getting ready. So yeah the dude left real quick without saying anything. SO DOPE! Oh yeah so those men always say hi and sometimes talk to us and its pretty cool. They actually have a rule that the can't touch missionaries and they actually protect us instead. so that's awesome to hear.

Having a Blast: I LOVE NUEVO LAREDO. It's the best zone ever! Today we went bowling which was pretty fun and then went to Little Caesars. We are just out here playing hard and working even harder!

I love this quote I heard that can help us in our daily lives. "Never confuse movement with progress".  It's like running in place for 30mins. It can seem like you are doing a lot but you really aren't getting anywhere. You always need to do something productive by working diligently and efficiently to get anywhere in life!

well thats all I got 

les amo y les extraño

con amor

elder mcclellan

WE BALLIN (Semana 71)

gutierrez y yo just biking (peep my no hand skills)

This week was a pretty solid week of work and grinding.  To start off we had some sad news that the family we had been teaching and that was going to be baptized had to leave town and go to Texas for a little bit so that was really sad. BUT hopefully they will come back soon so that we can continue teaching them.  An awesome miracle did happen this week with this family because we weren't able to talk with them but they showed up to church anyway. They made a huge sacrifice to to be there and then headed back because they knew how important it was!

Also last night we had an awesome experience. We were riding down the street and passed a members house and they were all outside eating some carne asada. They saw us and invited us for a taco. So we ate a bit of carne and we were visiting when their son and grandchildren showed up. They told us that their son and his wife are inactive and that the grandchildren aren't baptized but that they want to go back to church.  They said that they've waited for us to come to teach them and help them. SO yeah that was definitely an awesome miracle. It shows me that the Lord is helping us in His work, especially when it's with members and a carne asada (this is the second time this has happened now). 

We also have an investigadora that is super awesome named Yamilet. She really wants to do everything she can to follow Christ but whenever she tries to acercarse mas to Him she has a lot of oposicion come into her life. She asked us to stop by for her on our way to church because she wanted to go but didn't know if she could go alone. BUT on Sunday morning she called us and told us not to stop by because she woke up with a lot of ganas to go to church and that she would get there.  And that she did. She even got there early!

This week I also got to work with the Elder Schenck which was pretty dope as always! It's so great to have been with him for the most part of our missions.  We about to go hard post mission up in Utah. Also, I got to work with Elder Lemmon and Elder Padilla out in Villas de San Miguel. It was fun to be in an All American Trio jajaja. I 100% talked straight English in the two intercambios. It was good because I am getting pretty bad at English now jajaja.

well thats all I got 

les amo y les extraño 

con amor
elder mcclellan

i'm officially on the mueble 

we bought a rosca de reyes (king cake)

this dog/wolf always tries to kill us

wow...ITS 2019 (Semana 70)

Well y'all its officially 2019! That’s so crazy.

So we got here kinda late so I won't have that much time to write but i'll give some highlights from the week. 

We had a leadership council and then divisions with the assistants this week so we were in Monterrey from Wednesday until Friday.   It was really fun. I forgot what the city looks like. It is honestly such a cool place and it was fun to work there for a day. I got to go with my dude Elder Riches so it was hecka lit! We worked on a mountain so that was a change. I was dying but it was totally worth the view.

We also had a pretty rough few days when we got back to Nuevo Laredo.  We had 5 baptismal dates fall through so that was really sad but we are gonna keep working hard. 

We saw an awesome miracle happen this week though with a family that we found! The mom is a member but hasn't gone to church in forever. She has an awesome daughter who is 13 named Jaimie that we just started teaching and also her friend Naylini. They both went to church this week and they loved it. Hopefully they will keep progressing and that we can help them right now because they are passing for some hard times.

My goal for the start of the year is to read all of the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. I know that by reading and studying the words of Christ we will grow closer to Him. We will actually begin to know Him. And knowing Him es la Vida Eterna!  So yeah, my goal is to know my Savior more!! .....oh and to lose weight.

well i got to go.

les amo y les extraño!

con amor

elder mcclellan

Hope you have a POPPIN año nuevo!!!! (Semana 69)

Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!! Down here in Nuevo Laredo we had a blast!!!

We worked on the 24th, visiting and going caroling to investigadores and members, spreading some Christmas cheer! Then at night we headed over to the Familia Dominguez for dinner.   We ate some good pollo asado and some frijoles charros. It was an amazing way to spend Christmas Eve. On the 25th we had a great day of cleaning the house and resting in the morning.  

BUT the night was super dope because I got to talk with the fam!! It was so awesome talking with them again! Love them so much!!! Then after we ate some tacos de carne asada, so it was a 10/10 night!

Tomorrow is my P-day but our president told us to write real quick today because everything is going be closed tomorrow so I don’t’ have too much time! Just wanted to say that I hope everyone has an awesome new years and an amazing 2019!!

Its crazy to think that all of 2018 I have been here in Mexico serving the Lord Jesus Christ! It’s honestly the best thing I have ever done and I have loved every minute of it.  It is amazing to be able to help so many of my brothers and sisters come unto Christ.  I know that I am where I need to be and I am happy to be here!!

well i got to go!!

les amo y les extraño muchísimo

con amor 

elder mcclellan

ohhh yeahh so I hope everyone has a poppin new years because down here in nuevo laredo its about to get hecka poppin!!  Everyone just shoots off their guns here at midnight to welcome the new year and there are a LOT of guns!!  We have to be in by 6 p.m. that night.   Should be fun.  Love y’all, Happy New Years! Bye!