I'M ALIVE!!! I made it to
West Virginia and Ohio! Man is it weird not being in PA... :P Okay really
AWESOME fun fact that I spaced to mention last time (which I'm not sure how I
did...) BUT GUYS I AM FINALLY CLOSE ENOUGH TO A TEMPLE TO GO! Brother Orum (a super awesome member in this
ward is going to take us to the Columbus temple in a couple weeks) and I am PUMPED!!!!
I haven't been able to go to the temple in the last year and I finally get to
gooooo! So stay tuned!!
Okay but serious now- Thank you so much for
all the prayers and support. In the training meeting on Tuesday, one of the
Elders there said something to the extent of "as we go out to train we
need to remember and help our new missionaries remember that we are not alone
in the work. There are more prayers being uttered in our behalf than we realize
and those prayers back us up 100% as we do the work!" So true! I felt
those prayers more this week, than ever- THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Looking
back I see how crazy, stressful, awesome, hard and miraculous this week was.
So, not to make you 'hold your horses' any longer...ha, ha here's what our
first week in the Wheeling West area looked like:
Tuesday: After a tough adios to my 3
transfer llama homie, Sister Taunima, Sister Penrod (from Greensburg) picked me
up and we travelled to Green Tree for the trainer's meeting. It was so awesome to see Sister Thorson and
other missionary buds I haven't seen in a while. We had lunch and mingled with the new greenies
and not to brag... but I totally guessed who I would get. J So without further adieu: my
new companion is ~ SISTER JACOBSON! She is from Rexburg, Idaho (#Idahome #SpudBuds) and is such a great missionary. Like really. She already speaks up and talks to everyone,
helps out a ton and testifies at every opportunity and has a heart of gold. We call that- the greenie fire! I realized early on that the Lord knew I would
need Sister Jacobson's hard work, patience, love and chill-ness, to help me as
i figure out what in the world I am doing in this new area. Ha, ha! Time and time again I see that the Lord really
does know what he's doing. He knows how
to put just the right people in our lives to help us grow and accomplish what He
needs of us at that very moment in our lives!
It's awesome!!
Wednesday: We went early in the morning to
help a lady in the ward, Sister Oliver, to pull some weeds. I think my
highlight from this whole experience besides talking with Sister Oliver, was us
all getting locked out of the house. The
new Elder, Elder Noyes, decides he's going to Spiderman-parkour his way up
their two story balcony. And by golly he
did! It was hilarious! 😂👌. We also had
district meeting and got to meet the new district. Our district leader, Elder
Mills, is so inspired and funny and just plain awesome! #TenderMercy. One of my favorite things about district
meeting is making the district prayer list. Sister Jacobson and I decided we
need all the help we can get coming into this area trying to pick it up and
work with what we've got, so we asked to put our own names on the prayer list.
Here's kind of a spoiler alert- THE PRAYER LIST WORKS MIRACLES GUYS. After
district meeting we went and helped pass out watermelon at a rest home. We met a few members there - you gotta love sassy
old people! Always a hoot!
Thursday: We went and helped at a food bank
with the Elders in their area (WV) in the morning. It was really fun and I seriously have grown a
love for doing service. Is there a
better way to start the day?! It was
awesome because with all the people coming through that I was talking to, I met
two less-active members, and two ladies that were interested in learning more
about the gospel!🎉. After lunch we went out to tract! :D I
put in the wrong address to try a member but I told sister Jacobson we were
going to tract anyway where we were at, because there was someone prepared
there. So we start knockin’. No answer.
No answer. No answer. I'm praying like crazy that someone will answer because I
really felt like someone here was ready to listen. So we knock the 3rd door, and this awesome guy
named Jared answers and actually comes out on his porch to talk to us! We had
an awesome discussion about the Book of Mormon and families. We are going to go back this next week and
teach him. After that, we were able to
go meet some members that aren't very active but they were all really nice!
Friday: We did some glorious weekly
planning. Gotta love those days... they take forever! But it is much needed. So
after we did that we went to try to contact a lady that referred herself to get
a Bible! We knocked on her door and she
came right outside as well and told us she'd been waiting for us! Cool beans,
right?! Well we had a sweet discussion
with her too and shared both The Bible and Book of Mormon with her and she
excitedly set up a time for us to come back this next week! Woo woo! See,
success all around! Well I got the
feeling that we should keep tracting around her house. It was off a main road
so there weren't a ton of houses by her. But the last one we tried (always
gotta save the best for last right?😜) we talked to a girl named Shelby that isn't very
religious and pretty young but was open to learning more about the restored
gospel. We also shared a Book of Mormon with her and set up a time to come back
this next week as well. Then we went to dinner
with the Lawsons and met our investigator Gay (Sister Lawson's friend!) She's
super awesome and told us she's working on the Word of Wisdom and giving up
some bad habits and is excited to keep learning more. She wasn't feeling very good but still tagged
along to the relief society activity.
Saturday: We tried some contacting down by
the library after we did our mormon.org time and nothing too grand happened but
you never know what a smile or a simple question can do for someone! We also
got to go out and try to contact some less-active members with the relief
society president. We met this awesome lady, Julie, who has been through a lot
but was so positive about her situation. In my studies earlier this morning I watched
the bible video "for God so loved the world" and felt strongly that
we needed to share it with someone today. Well while I was listening to Julie's
story I realized that she was the person that needed to see it, and it was
powerful! I was reminded once again- always listen to the spirit.
Sunday: We had a meeting with the Bishop
before church. He is super nice and just reminded us of our purpose and working
the hardest we can! Church was awesome - our investigator Gay came and really
liked it. She's come a couple times before and we are going to try to keep her
comin’! J After church
we got to go do a little church service with the Elders, for the nursing home
we went to earlier in the week. A sweet older lady named Barb (who's a member)
spoke up at the end and testified of the Church and the Book of Mormon. It was
awesome to see and really reminded me- everyone can testify no matter where we
are at in our lives! J Then we had
Family Home Evening at Sister Folmer's house with some members from the ward. I decided that I want to be a 'Sister Folmer'
and make Family Home Evenings a life-long priority. Then we had dinner with
Bishop Orban's family. Their kids are so stinking cute! I love that family
already J.
And today we are just taking it easy, going
to get some pie from Brother Oliver's famous pie shop in a bit!! Can't wait. :)
But I really just want to end by going back to my spoiler alert earlier:
Guys, prayers work. I have seen, this week
more than ever, the strength, help, comforts and miracles that prayers bring. I love Sister Jacobson for having such strong ‘greenie
fire’ and love for everyone she meets. Honestly
it's like she's training me ha, ha. I've
learned so much from her! I know that
even though this area is a huge tough adjustment that there is work to be done
here and if I can just brighten lives and help them come closer to Christ, then
I will be a happy camper. As happy as I
am to realize that this week marks a year of being out on my mission... it's
sad realizing that I only have 6 more months! I promised the Lord I'm going to
work hard and do the things that help me stretch and grow. I've come to see that attitude is everything. I'm going to work with Sister Jacobson to
bring happiness and love to this area like never before! And I invite you all to do the same wherever
you are in your lives. Be happy and make
the days count instead of counting the days! I love you all and hope you
have a great week J
💕 Sister McDonald
Ponderize: "Pray
always, that you may come off conquerer" ~ D&C 10:5
Commitment: "Ask God
any question weighing on your heart (daily!) " ~ Elder Mazzagardi
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