Okay seriously
guys this week was AMAZING! I'm honestly sad that it had to end. It was
probably my most productive week of my mission so far! Ha, ha, at least it felt
like that. There were so many awesome things that happened each day. I truly
know that the Lord helps us and is always with us. Sometimes we have to wait
long for those great things to show up but they are always there and always
come if we do what we need to and rely on the Lord. Some main themes that stood
out this week were: being bold, following inspiration and turning outward to
serve and love others to the best of our ability. I hope you are able to see those as I tell you
some snippets of the week J
P-day power: So there was something that happened while we were out bowling with the Elders that caught me kind of off guard and I honestly didn't know what to do or how to respond all I could do really was say a little prayer. The Wintersville Elders were there with us and I stinking love them! They totally boldly stood up for me and had my back and it was just the greatest tender mercy. I never would've thought I'd make so many close amazing friends out here and man, am I thankful for them.
Tuesday throw-down: We were able to have 7 powerhouse lessons - which is a ton for one day. I think that's the most lessons I've had in one day my whole mission. I just want to share a few of those powerful lessons:
🌀As we were driving to an appointment we felt like we should try to contact a less active member and so we pulled over and did. She wasn't home but her boyfriend answered. Normally he's not the nicest to us but today he was SO nice. It was another tender mercy. We had made a goal to knock at least one house around any house we try this week. So after we left their house we prayed to know which house to try. I felt like we should try the house at the beginning of the street so we did and turns out the lady, Shirley, had briefly talked with missionaries a while ago. She had the 1st of 3 pamphlets that they left with her but didn't have a Book of Mormon. She had been waiting to read more, so we talked about it with her, left her one and promised to come back soon! Then Sister Jacobson felt like we should try the house across from Shirley. We knock and Katherine and John were just chillin’ watching some Family Feud on the couch and shouted for us to come right in. So we do and end up having this awesome lesson with them about the restoration and Book of Mormon. As soon as I asked if they would like a copy- they exclaimed "YES!" Ha, ha, I haven't had anyone that excited to have their own copy it was awesome J So moral of the story… follow the Spirit.
🌀Next story: our last appointment of the day was with Sister Patterson. We are trying to find her house walking up and down this street (because there is no rhyme or reason to how houses are numbered out here!!) Any-who we walk up to this house with things ALL over the lawn and house and it was crazy. Sister Jacobson is the cutest! HA, HA, she's like "um...look at that house!" And I laughed a bit and said "it's normally these unique houses that hold the miracles..." And sure enough it was the right house! Well she comes out and talks to us for a good hour. At first she started rambling about all these bad experiences she's had with the church and how she has gone to another church for the last year. Well...long story short the more she talked the angrier I got and the harder it was to love her. Not Christ-Like right. Ha, ha, well once I realized I needed some serious help I prayed hard. I prayed to know what to say, to love her and to do what Heavenly Father needed me too. Then the coolest thing happened. I felt overwhelming love for this woman and got the distinct prompting to "testify, listen and be bold!" So I testified. I acknowledged her feelings of hurt and related how our own Savior felt the same way and still forgave those who were so rude to him. I don't remember exactly what I said to her in the "bold" part but I do remember the gist of it telling her to get over the hurt, let Christ heal her and get back to Church. I felt prompted to ask if she still had a Book of Mormon. She remarked that she didn't. We ran back to our car, wrote our testimonies in it and gave it to her committing her to come to church. So yeah I don't want to bore you too much but basically today was da bomb.
Wonderful Wednesday: It was Sister Jacobson's b-day and our last district meeting of the transfer. So it was a party all around! Our Zone Leaders Elders Hummer and Hatch came too and it was fun to see them! Oh man, it was so fun. Then ba da da daaaa: EXCHANGE POWER! We got to go back to my old area (P3) to do exchanges with our STLs - Sister Taunima and Sister Bartlett. They are killin’ it! I got to be with Taun again one last time and it was awesome. We got to have dinner with the RITZES!! Oh man I miss Chris and Mike so much. They seriously take such great care of us. They have been going through lots of trials. And I mean LOTS but they are the perfect example of endurance and perseverance. So if you could keep the Ritzes in your thoughts and prayers it would be greatly appreciated. We also got to teach BOM class. It was really cool because we finished the book of Alma and I was there when we started it. So it was awesome to finish out with the good old P3 homies.
Top it off Thursday: We finished out our exchanges by visiting good ol’ Char and by doing some service for Sister Eichenmiller!! Man it was just awesome to be back. Oh how I've missed it. We had a less-active member family take us out to dinner and then we went back and taught Frank again. It was SO AWESOME! We taught him the restoration and really focused on the need for prophets and the Book of Mormon and he loved it! Stay tuned for more!
Fabulous Friday: We went back and helped myrtle (Sister Collin’s sister that we tracted into) clean her house and carpets. It was great! Then we had our Relief Society activity on communication and it was surprisingly really awesome. We talked a lot about empathy and turning outward which was much needed.
Sikole Saturday: Service is da bomb! I have really come to just love serving my fellow brethren and sisters. We went out to help the Sikoles put together their Halloween trail and put up corn stalks and clear weeds and stuff out and put little scraps of fabric in the mummy area. It seems like it's going to be so legit! They are expecting like 200+ people this year to come through. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Hopefully I'll still be here to see the finished product :)
Sweet Sabbath: So Sunday rolls around and with some doubting Thomas' in the ward not thinking Sister Patterson was coming, we prayed harder… and she came. It was awesome!! Who knows if she will come again or what is in store for her, but God. I am grateful we followed promptings and helped her out just a little bit at least. I also reflected all day just how grateful I am to live with as many freedoms that we do have. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior that made a plan all centered on our freedom of Choice. Freedom to accept the wonderful gift of the Atonement and the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this gospel is truly the way back home and that if we choose to follow our Savior and do all we can to live up to the promises we make in this life, we will be prepared to see him again and to live with them forever. I love you all and hope you have a great week J
P-day power: So there was something that happened while we were out bowling with the Elders that caught me kind of off guard and I honestly didn't know what to do or how to respond all I could do really was say a little prayer. The Wintersville Elders were there with us and I stinking love them! They totally boldly stood up for me and had my back and it was just the greatest tender mercy. I never would've thought I'd make so many close amazing friends out here and man, am I thankful for them.
Tuesday throw-down: We were able to have 7 powerhouse lessons - which is a ton for one day. I think that's the most lessons I've had in one day my whole mission. I just want to share a few of those powerful lessons:
🌀As we were driving to an appointment we felt like we should try to contact a less active member and so we pulled over and did. She wasn't home but her boyfriend answered. Normally he's not the nicest to us but today he was SO nice. It was another tender mercy. We had made a goal to knock at least one house around any house we try this week. So after we left their house we prayed to know which house to try. I felt like we should try the house at the beginning of the street so we did and turns out the lady, Shirley, had briefly talked with missionaries a while ago. She had the 1st of 3 pamphlets that they left with her but didn't have a Book of Mormon. She had been waiting to read more, so we talked about it with her, left her one and promised to come back soon! Then Sister Jacobson felt like we should try the house across from Shirley. We knock and Katherine and John were just chillin’ watching some Family Feud on the couch and shouted for us to come right in. So we do and end up having this awesome lesson with them about the restoration and Book of Mormon. As soon as I asked if they would like a copy- they exclaimed "YES!" Ha, ha, I haven't had anyone that excited to have their own copy it was awesome J So moral of the story… follow the Spirit.
🌀Next story: our last appointment of the day was with Sister Patterson. We are trying to find her house walking up and down this street (because there is no rhyme or reason to how houses are numbered out here!!) Any-who we walk up to this house with things ALL over the lawn and house and it was crazy. Sister Jacobson is the cutest! HA, HA, she's like "um...look at that house!" And I laughed a bit and said "it's normally these unique houses that hold the miracles..." And sure enough it was the right house! Well she comes out and talks to us for a good hour. At first she started rambling about all these bad experiences she's had with the church and how she has gone to another church for the last year. Well...long story short the more she talked the angrier I got and the harder it was to love her. Not Christ-Like right. Ha, ha, well once I realized I needed some serious help I prayed hard. I prayed to know what to say, to love her and to do what Heavenly Father needed me too. Then the coolest thing happened. I felt overwhelming love for this woman and got the distinct prompting to "testify, listen and be bold!" So I testified. I acknowledged her feelings of hurt and related how our own Savior felt the same way and still forgave those who were so rude to him. I don't remember exactly what I said to her in the "bold" part but I do remember the gist of it telling her to get over the hurt, let Christ heal her and get back to Church. I felt prompted to ask if she still had a Book of Mormon. She remarked that she didn't. We ran back to our car, wrote our testimonies in it and gave it to her committing her to come to church. So yeah I don't want to bore you too much but basically today was da bomb.
Wonderful Wednesday: It was Sister Jacobson's b-day and our last district meeting of the transfer. So it was a party all around! Our Zone Leaders Elders Hummer and Hatch came too and it was fun to see them! Oh man, it was so fun. Then ba da da daaaa: EXCHANGE POWER! We got to go back to my old area (P3) to do exchanges with our STLs - Sister Taunima and Sister Bartlett. They are killin’ it! I got to be with Taun again one last time and it was awesome. We got to have dinner with the RITZES!! Oh man I miss Chris and Mike so much. They seriously take such great care of us. They have been going through lots of trials. And I mean LOTS but they are the perfect example of endurance and perseverance. So if you could keep the Ritzes in your thoughts and prayers it would be greatly appreciated. We also got to teach BOM class. It was really cool because we finished the book of Alma and I was there when we started it. So it was awesome to finish out with the good old P3 homies.
Top it off Thursday: We finished out our exchanges by visiting good ol’ Char and by doing some service for Sister Eichenmiller!! Man it was just awesome to be back. Oh how I've missed it. We had a less-active member family take us out to dinner and then we went back and taught Frank again. It was SO AWESOME! We taught him the restoration and really focused on the need for prophets and the Book of Mormon and he loved it! Stay tuned for more!
Fabulous Friday: We went back and helped myrtle (Sister Collin’s sister that we tracted into) clean her house and carpets. It was great! Then we had our Relief Society activity on communication and it was surprisingly really awesome. We talked a lot about empathy and turning outward which was much needed.
Sikole Saturday: Service is da bomb! I have really come to just love serving my fellow brethren and sisters. We went out to help the Sikoles put together their Halloween trail and put up corn stalks and clear weeds and stuff out and put little scraps of fabric in the mummy area. It seems like it's going to be so legit! They are expecting like 200+ people this year to come through. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Hopefully I'll still be here to see the finished product :)
Sweet Sabbath: So Sunday rolls around and with some doubting Thomas' in the ward not thinking Sister Patterson was coming, we prayed harder… and she came. It was awesome!! Who knows if she will come again or what is in store for her, but God. I am grateful we followed promptings and helped her out just a little bit at least. I also reflected all day just how grateful I am to live with as many freedoms that we do have. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior that made a plan all centered on our freedom of Choice. Freedom to accept the wonderful gift of the Atonement and the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this gospel is truly the way back home and that if we choose to follow our Savior and do all we can to live up to the promises we make in this life, we will be prepared to see him again and to live with them forever. I love you all and hope you have a great week J
💗✌ Sister McD
Ponderize: Alma 26:30 "we supposed that our joy would
be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some."
Commitment: "Think of Jesus often!" ~ Elder
Waddel
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