Thursday, May 7, 2015

Wow!! So amazing.
Best week of my life!!
This was the last week in my wonderful mission in Rancagua, Chile.
What an adventure! Its interesting when everyone asks me: "How was it down there?" and then I am supposed to respond like it was last nights dinner! haha. How can I possibly even put into words what a 2 year, full-time devoted, serving the Lord mission is like??
Of course I could say, It was amazing with all the energy I could muster in my voice. Or I could even sit you down and show you all my pictures and explain it for 2 hours, but I still don't think I would be able to convey the wonderful feelings I felt down there. It was a 2 year period of CHANGE. I am just such a different person with such a different perspective on life.
I lost myself in the service of the Lord.
And now Im supposed to come back to this world of selfish pleasures and a get rich, take over the world attitude.
Its been a huge change trying to get adjusted this past week. I mean the 2 cultures are incredibly different! I will say as I arrived in Atlanta, I bought my self the biggest Bacon and egg bagel from einsteins! Woo!
Im ready for this new challenge to survive in this new world!
But I definitely learned and experienced things that I can not put into words. Especially that moment after 2 years of not seeing your family when you see them in the airport. Priceless.
I tell you what, thanks for all the support that you guys gave me out there, It was felt.
I think the best way I could possibly put an end to such an adventure would be by sharing the wonderful truths I came to know.

1: We are eternal. We will be living in 500 or 1000 years, and we need to prepare now. God gives us so much love to speak through a living prophet to allow us to know his plan. Sometimes it takes a little bit of humility to accept something like this!
2: The Lord Jesus Christ lives. He is our savior and is at the head of this wonderful work. I felt that I had a special opportunity to get to know him over these past 2 years. Its amazing how a servant can truly know his master as he serves him.
3: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the restored church upon the earth today. I Know it. There is no other path or way. This is it. I invite you to know what the restored church means if you don't already know.
4: There are more good people in the world than bad people! I know this because I witnessed this as I talked to thousands and thousands of people throughout the course of those 2 years.
5: God is very real. He is our Heavenly Father. He wants us to have success and loves us so much, but when we disobey there will be justice just like a Father and his Son! We as offspring of God will one day become like him and become perfect. Its all part of his plan.
6: The book of mormon is the coolest book ever written. It contains everything we need in this life to be able to make it back to our Heavenly Father. It contains the truths on how to resist temptation and the truths of eternal life. It even teaches us simple things like the correct way to baptize. AMAZING BOOK. If you haven't read it, hit up Mormon.org and find the number of the missionaries or just let me know and Ill get you a copy. (: It teaches how to have harmony in our families and how to know our purpose in life. Amazing.

Really I could go on and on about all the many things Ive learned int these past 2 years, but Ill keep in to those couple of things.
So let me know if you wanna know more about what I was doing down in Chile!
I loved the country and the people there. And ohhh especially the food! Now its time to move on and take over the world with some crazy ideas. I plan on studying international business and doing something with photography or film!
I hope you enjoyed my 2 year experiance as I ventured into the unknown and became familiar with it! It truly was a life changing experience that I will never forget, that changed me, and something I won't even be able to share completely because of all the wonderful experiences I had!

So good to be back in America with my loving family!!

For the last time,
Elder Jordan Alexander McGee







Friday, May 1, 2015

Good afternoon!


This past week has been a crazy one! Sometimes the Lord has different things in mind than we do! But we just have to sit back, smile, and obey!


Isaiah 55:8-9
​:​
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither areyour ways my ways, saith the Lord.
 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are myways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We had special changes and I am now in another ward of 150 people! Woo! Its called Rengo. About 45 mins south of Rancagua.
Sometimes you just have to trust in the Lord and follow your heart. Im not with another peruvian, Elder Soto and a mexican named Elder Montoya. We are in a trio just like Lauren! Woo haha. Trios are fun. Its my third one. And we are already having a blast here. Its awesome because I felt a strong impression that I wasnt needed any more where I was, that I had done enough there and I was needed here. Its awesome how our spirits communicate by feeling.
We are working with a couple of awesome people here and I am ready to baptize again woo! Im in the game of preseverance and this time winds down. Its my time to prepare and strengthen my testimony as much as I can because I know its hard out there. Its my time to work as hard as I know how to do, and to have as much fun possible while being as obedient as possible!
This could be my last sector and I plan on making it the very best!
It was sad to leave Los Jardine in Buin because I truly found a love for the people there in such a short time. But its all gonna be awesome!
Today we went to rancagua and I saw a couple different people from more than a year and a half ago! It was great.

​"Beautiful things happen when you distance yourself from the negative."​

​Elder McGee​
 

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Im old now... 20 years old!

hey!
Im old now... 20 years old! Im entering my third decade! Wowww. Its funny because Im still young to be a missionary! haha.
This week was awesome. We brought a whole family of less actives to church, and it was so cool to see them there nice and happy. They are preparing to go to the temple, and little by little they have progressed. It all starting my just giving the dad a big ole hug and showing him some real love!
We had some good progress with a guy we play soccer with. He really opened his heart, and let out alot of his feelings. One thing that Ive learned is that everything I really want is on the other side of fear. Ive also learned that God is more powerful than any large man with lots of money. His wife explained to us that he worked for the U.S. embassy for years and has very little confidence in other people. She said that we were the first people he let into his house in a long time. The Lord is powerful and gets things done.
Its so crazy how in the beginning of the mission, it was so hard to get used to the language, the food, and the way of life here. Now it is my life, its my language, and I love the food. I dont know what its gonna be like going home. I have the same bitter sweet feeling that I did 2 months before I left home, 2 years ago.
I read an amazing talk this week by President Monson called the bridge builed. If you havent read it, I highly reccomend it. (:
Today we played soccer with the zone, and it was funny because there were like 20 elders, and 4 sisters. We played to where the sisters had to make the goals. It was funny! They all sang to me and it was a good moment. Tonight we have 3 family home evenings to attend. So itll be a good birthday in all. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I was stoked to see all the emails today (: I have the best family and friends!
This week our relief society president told us that the sisters were getting mad, because they couldnt give us food during the week because all the other sisters already reserved it. It was a nice compliment for me and my companion that everyone wants to eat with us.
The poeple here love us. They bring us food at night, and they do anything to serve us. Its so great!
I think the best part of being a missionary is having set aside time to study for 2 hours every single day. The words of the Lord are powerful. I was reading in doctrine and covenants 132 this week. 14-20 something are absolutely amazing and powerful!
The Lord has spoked a ton, and if havent read everything he has said, how can we expect that he will give us more than ponder and think of. We have thousands and thousands of pages of holy scripture of the Lord speaking. POWER.

​"Whether you think you can or you think you cant, you're right."
 
 
​Elder Jordan Alexander McGee

*we helped some members make ovens out of these barrels. (:​

Monday, April 20, 2015

Well hellllo!

Well hellllo!
These weeks are just so great, fun, and filled of happiness!
I feel like Im just really becoming a Chilean. I dont remember the differences between home and chile anymore.



I wonder if it will be hard to adjust again! haha.
We had some awesome things happen this week.
We gave the best zone training presentation Ive ever done! It was powerful, spiritual, and fun! I feel like Im definitely the best missionary Ive ever been.
It was fun passing through all the general conference talks this week.
The members here are soooo loving! Its awesome. We come by and they go buy a coke or sandwiches or whatever it may be! I hope you guys take care of the missionaries at home as well (: Especially if you see them on the side of the road, pick them up and take them where they need to go! For the amount of times that I have hitch hiked here in the mission, Im gonna owe it to the missionaries at home (:
We had a baptism in the zone this week of a lady who is 113 years old! You can never  be too old to change and follow Christ (:
I got to go on divisiones with Elder Hynes who is from Kansas City! Wooo. I didnt know that missouri has a professional soccer team at home. Totally gonna do temple sessions and go to soccer games now (: We had a good time.
On monday we had a family home evening with 3 different families. We taught the restoration of the gospel using candles! We put out the 13 candles representing Christ and his apostles. When it was pitch black dark, we explained the apostacy! It was powerful. The spirit was thick, and people were in tears. Its so gratifying to be able to bring the spirit into a home, especially while speaking a foreign language. POWER.
Today we had an awesome zone activity playing bebida pong (:
On sunday we had a powerful testimony meeting.

"I​
 attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.
​"​

​Elder McGee (:​
 

Monday, April 6, 2015

Heyyyy!

Heyyyy!
Here we go into another change! Im still here in Buin with my awesome Peruvian comp!
General Conference was so inspiring. I absolutely loved it. Elder Zeballos, one of the ones who spoke in spanish, is from chile and was just with us a few weeks ago! Awesome. Here in chile there is always another room in english for all the gringo missionaries and others who wanna learn. As the spanish speakers got up to speak, it was funny because we all ran into the room because its easier to understand when there arent translators!



So many awesome quotes to inspire us to live better lives. It was funny how much they were focused on the family. The talk by Sister Burton was a nice talk about being married and what not. There were a few jokes thrown around because the time is coming soon for me! haha.

​"I am here because I desire with all my heart to follow my master Jesus Christ" -Elder Utchdorf​

​"Life is not confined to a 4-inch screen" -Elder Texeira
 
"When was the last time I chose to be happy, instead of demanding to be right," -Sister Burton​
 

​"God care alot more about who we are and about who we are becoming​
 
​than about who we once were." -Elder Renlund​

​Its amazing to be able to look back 6 months ago and think we were just having conference. Its awesome because I dont feel like I progress much every day, but after 2 years of study in the scriptures and talks, I have made it a long way to who I was and what I did 2 years ago! Life is such a wonderful gift given from God, and its amazing that we all chose to be here!
We are still looking for an awesome family to teach. This place needs lots of help with the members, so we have been focusing on them. The mission is changing and the Lord is hastening his work here in the South America South area of the world. We are now going to stop recording how many new poeple we find each week and how many lessons we teach, rather how many people we helped make it to the temple. We are focusing alot more of the family. Its amazing. I could truly feel the power behind President Warnes words as we attended the Leaderhsip meeting this last thursday. So many things are going on, and the work is picking up speed. The work of the Lord cannot be frustrated by man. We either take part in it and see the amazing fruits of it, or we sit back relaxed and miss the amazing oppurtunities. We know so many people who dont have knowledge of the temples, let alone the gospel! Lets go to work. Sheep need to be found and feed.
Life is good, and there is lots of work to be done. (:
love,
Elder McGee​

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Hey familia!

Hey familia!
Life is good here in the outskirts of santiago, chile!
Not too much happened this week, everything tranqi like the chileans say.

We found a coulple of new families to work with here, and one of them brought his buddies, and we all played a little pichanga(soccer match) behind the church. I think we should build a soccer field behind all the churches at home too!
We had kinda a rough week because noone showed up to church. But its all good! I got to go on divisiones with one of my good buddies from arizona, Elder Benavides. We had a blast, and found one of the new familes!
We had a bunch of big rainstorms here this past week, which was way fun, because all the streets fill up with tons of water.
My comp and I are having a blast. We made corn bread this week, and spent time with so many wonderful people. I am so blessed to be here doing the Lords work. Im super excited this week to be able to hear all the living prophets and apostles speak. I cant believe that its been another 6 months already. I know that many of our personal questions and concerns will be answered and solved as we tune into what the Lord has to say to the world through his servants here in the earth.
I finished mosiah today in my studies. What an awesome book on how the people here in the americas created their goverment and the church. So awesome. King benjamin, and Mosiah were studs.

After Alma was struck dumb after seeing an angel, his words realled moved me this week as he recieved power in his heart and limbs saying:

 29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.
 30 I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all.
 31 Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; then shall they confess, who live withoutGod in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his all-searching eye.


​There are so many powerful leaders in the scriptures. We should never stop figuring out what they have to say.​

​thanks for all the support!
Love,
Elder McGee​

​Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Hey familia!
This week was a roller coaster!
We had some rough days where we got a little down on ourselves because we were achieving the success that we wanted, and then the week ended marvelous.





An elder got back from his mission this past week, and gave an awesome testimony. We usuyally have like 85 people come to church, and this week we had 113 in church! We brought an hermano to church this week after many years of not wanting anything to do with the church. We walked into his house, gave him a huge hug and showed him some true charity and christlike love, explained a little bit of the catholic churches history and american history and explained how it all intertwined into the restoration of the church today! He was stoked, and we talked about an eternal family, temple sealing and everything. He is ready to start progressing baby! 
We also brought an entire family to church, and the father is not a member. We are getting some work done, we are suprising all the members in the branch with a huge amount of excitement, and energy. Everyone is like who are these 2 elders? hhaha. getting WORK done just being ourselves. My companion, Elder Plaza, and I get along really well!
This week Elder Zeballos came to speak to the mission. What an incredible man. He spoke to us about how sometimes we have to climb one moutain before we see the next mountain we have to climb. Sometimes, we as humans have to be in a certain situation or place to be able to see that there is another mountain hiding behind the one we just climbed! haha awesome talk!
Today my companion and I went running about 5 miles to the neareest mountain. We climbed it, and found a cave. We read the scriptures up there, and I felt like Enos or Nephi! haha. It was powerful. We were above the clouds (:
Dont wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect!
 Angels still come these days to help us. I know it. Ive seen the power of them.
Elder McGee