12-2-13

hey everyone hows it going, hope you all had a great thanksgiving back home. our last week was pretty up and down you could say haha. on firday elder valenzuela of the area presidency came to the mission and we had a conference together with him and our ward leaders. it was a pretty cool meeting. basically he came to get after everyone for not having effective ward council meetings and to help the members have a little more vision in terms of how they can work more effectively in the work of salvation. but it was pretty cool just being there in the meeting with him, general authorities always just have a special spirit about them haha. 

he talked about some things that really called my attention, one of the most outstanding comments he made was something that elder packer said; that what is happening right now in missionary work is at the same level as the first vision, the translating of the book of mormon, and the restoration in and of itself. i thought that that was pretty cool. he took a chunk of time to talk about all the changes and things that have happened in missionary work lately and it truly is amazing. everything that he spoke about was to help us see that the time truly has come for the completion of the Lords words found in doctrina y convenios 88:72-73. but ya it was a pretty cool meeting, the highlight of the week haha. 

also this past week i got suuuper sick again. i seriously have been more sick in this last area than in my whole mission i think. what happened was that a few weeks ago i got bit by some insect thing and it ended up leaving this infection rash thing in my skin (and of course it was on my forehead of all places) and so i was taking medication to help me with the infection in my skin, and then this past week i started suffering from like freezing cold convulsions to having a killer fever and a ton of pain in my bones and joints and diarreah and just super messed up, i seriously felt like i was dying haha, and so when i talked to the mission doctor it was like oh crap cuz they thought i might have dengue fever or malaria, thinking that maybe it was a mosquito that bit me a few weeks ago and so i had to go see a doctor and thankfully it wasnt anything to bad, i just had a gnarly stomach virus that was infecting my system and just doing work on me. 

so for the past couple days ive been on a diet and im absolutely dying haha nothing but rice, apples, bananas, pears, vegetables and jello. its rough haha. but the good thing is that im doing alot better now. i wasnt able to enjoy a nice thanksgiving dinner, but i dreamed that i was there with you all eating haha it was nice, just sucked waking up. but everything is going well hear in the mission, last week i completed the 23 month mark and its so crazy how fast the time has gone by and how little time is left. just got to keep working hard though and keep my eye on the prize. take care everyone, i love you all and have a great week! love you!

with much love from mexico,

Elder Maccarthy