Ahh
I just love being a missionary. One of my all-time favorite things is getting
to have interviews with President Johnson.
“PJ” as we like to call him! He started
talking in district meeting about an email our district leader sent him that
said "you are one dope mission president." He's like "back in my day if someone
called you a 'dope' it meant the drug or that you were stupid. So what are you
guys saying?!" He then looked it up
in the dictionary and then read those same definitions and last read the
adjective definition "very good- example: that suit is dope! Okay that's
cool I guess..." We were all dying.
J But
yes he's a ‘dope’ Mission President! Ha,
ha, ha! Oh man my favorite thing though was that he walked into interviews all
frazzled and his tie is over his shoulder I asked what happened and he's like
'Sister McDonald here we go again! I was preparing myself the whole ride over
to deal with you. Let’s get the toughest one over with!' Ha, ha, ha, ha I love his sass! He listened as I rambled about my amazing
mission 'family,' my family back home, my goals, freaking out that my time is
ending, my success and struggles with the area. He listened and gave great
advice and counsel and reminded me that I'm loved and doing great work. He told me "You know there's lots of
great missionaries in this mission but there's only one Sister McDonald." I started laughing a bit and said
'PJ...There's legit two Sister McDonalds...." and he looked at me all
serious and said "Yes, but there's only one Kimberlyn McDonald." Right then I was reminded how grateful I am to
have him as my Mission President. The Johnson's are just like second parents
and I just love them! Not only that, but President Johnson is so Christ-like.
Out of the 600+ missionaries he's has now it amazes me how he always manages to
make you feel known and special. So it was a major highlight and a much needed
reminder!
This
week New Bloom was lit! We had a great
week full of little miracles. I can
honestly say it was one of the most humbling and amazing weeks. Nothing crazy happened but my heart has
definitely been softened which is the best! 🙌 ❤
So
some of my favorite ‘light-the-world’ days this week were: humility, compassion
and song. I'll give ya some examples for each:
Compassion: So
many of you know I'm a little stubborn and also that I love washing people's
dishes - call me crazy but I do. If you
were to ask Sister Roper how many times this week I said "we're not leaving
here until you let me wash your dishes" she would say too many! Ha, ha, it was said in a loving, joking-way ...but
seriously I did them. We didn't leave
until they were done and you may say 'Sister McDonald why? That's silly!' But ya-know if I can relieve someone's stress
about doing dishes then I'm happy to help. J
We
also were able to move some firewood, stop and offer to help some people and
just lend a listening ear. We had an ice storm one night and the roads were bad
so we decided to have our lessons on the phone. We even took it a step further
and decided to call all the older members who are less active that haven't let
us come visit and we actually were able to talk to a few of them FINALLY! Just a simple thing like listening and hearing
their testimonies was amazing! We talked about the influence of our mothers and
it made me appreciate listening and learning from what they had to say. Oh man
the ramble never gets old!
Speaking
of rambles, last experience and then I'll stop rambling ha, ha! So we went to visit this member’s house to
help them decorate but she had to take her husband to the doctor so we ended up
talking to her mom who lives with them that's not a member. She didn't waste any time telling us that she
admired what we were doing but that she was firm in her 'dying' church.... ha, ha,
sweet lady 😂 But we asked her if we could help her with
some pillow cases she was making. So we
ended up jumping in and helping her. We had some great talks about faith and
were able to share our testimonies and the Light the World video with her. She even offered to say a prayer for us and it
was so good! 40+ pillowcases, a box of chocolate, and lots of laughs later we
left with a greater love for our new friend. Ah, I love how the Lord softens
hearts.
Humility
and Song: Okay so I'm pretty sure we did more caroling this week than
I have in one week before! It was cool
cuz for most of it was with our whole district. We went at least once every
day, sometimes twice! Even though we
weren't on American Idol or anything it was pretty legit. It was humbling to see just how much the
elderly people loved having us there. It
was so fun to hear them sing along! But
I'm pretty sure the part that was most humbling, that helped me to appreciate
caroling more than ever, was after the singing, when we all went around and
just sat and talked with the people. I LOVE OLD PEOPLE! They are hoots and they
have some great stories.
This
week I really learned that if we take time to slow down to smile, listen and
love a little more than we already do, that the Savior can help us work
miracles. The pure love, light and joy
that comes from doing what the Savior would no matter how much our backs ache,
how cold our fingers are or how tired we may be is way better than anything
else! I mean the Amish doughnuts someone introduced us too weren't bad either
but ya know, J ha, ha jokes! But really I know that
Christ lives and truly guides us with His light starting right where we are at.
Something that stood out to me when I watched the Light the World video several
times this week was that Christ always comes to our level to help us. I know He is waiting to help us grow and
progress and will if we will let him. I hope yinz have a Merry Christmas and
make this last week of Light the World a great one! Make sure you do day 25 - it's
a good one J!
Love you!
💕Sister McDonald
Ponderize: "search diligently in the
light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon
every good thing" Moroni 7:19
Commitment: "Act on promptings and
repent" ~ Elder Cornish
Charity Attribute: never
faileth
No comments:
Post a Comment