Dear friends and family – as the ‘SisterMcD’ blog comes to
an end, we want to take just a moment and thank you for your love and prayers,
your support and dedication to our beautiful Missionary girl.For our family it has been an amazing 18 months
of blessing and joy we simply can’t describe.While we are ecstatic to see and wrap our arms around our Kimbee girl, we
know she will desperately miss the joys of serving as a full-time missionary of
the Lord.She has been so richly blessed
to have served with fellow companions who worked hard and loved the Lord, who
helped her to grow in so many ways, more than she could have ever done here at
home with us.She was cared for and
inspired by choice leaders, President and Sister Johnson, who helped her learn
to love and teach and serve.She was
supported, prayed for, written to and encouraged and motivated by all of you!We are amazed that the blog history had over
10,500 views throughout her mission!
It is amazingly rewarding to see the
fruits of our faith and trust in the Lord that our little girl, who would go
out with tender faith and trust, would return home an amazing woman, empowered and
prepared with a powerful testimony and spiritual experiences that will forever
help shape her life. She is returning with charity and the ability to
truly love others, with an understanding of what it means to rely fully upon
the Lord, and an ability to recognize the power and influence of the Holy Ghost,
the Scriptures, and the amazing gift of the Atonement. She has forged wonderful
friendships that have become a part of her heart which we’re sure she will
always hold dear. Most of all, she has grown stronger in love and
devotion to our Heavenly Father, His Son, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
its wonderful eternal plan for our families.
May God bless you all!Thank you for your love and support!
Well this has by far, been the weirdest
week... because there's been a constant thought running through my mind
"take it in it's not going to last much longer!" Which, in some ways was good because I was a
lot more reflective this week, just
taking everything in. But it's also been the greatest of weeks, here's why:
Blessings:
This week I got pretty sick one night and I
was like are ya kidding me?! Not now! I
don't got time for this! So I asked the
elders for a blessing the next day. Guys,
not only am I so grateful for wonderful friends that can give a blessing
whenever needed but I'm most grateful for the priesthood power- the power to
act in God's name. As Elder Heywood was
giving me a blessing I felt immense peace and comfort. At the end he mentioned to remember how much
Heavenly Father loves me and how many people I am leaving out here that love me
too. *Cue tears- they've been free
flowin' all week ha, ha* But it just really hit me that sometimes we just never
know just how many people we really are affecting around us.
You Never Know:
Probably my favorite day of the week was
Sunday. As I looked around I felt once
again overwhelming joy. I love
Pennsylvania. I have loved serving in Monongahela
and seeing so many people change so quickly in such a short time. Here's a few glimpses of the lives of people I
love so much:
I sat by Rebecca and the kids in Church and
Maddie and Greyson kept asking me if I could just stay at their house. I love kids😂Rebecca was cracking me
up she's like "no crying on me yet! Jim and I are bringing the kids to Greentree
(transfers) so we can see you right before you go!" I LOVE THE CHABALIES 💗
Janice is still a spiritual stud and you
would never know she's just been baptized! She seems like she's been a member forever.
She walked up to me at church and said "This is the tough part about all
of this- letting you guys move on. Thank
you, Sister McDonald for teaching me and for your insights and for being
you." I love Janice she feels like
another grandma.
Sam: our Investigator we've been teaching
that just agreed to a baptism date, #miracle. He came to church on Sunday and after Sacrament,
we asked how it liked it and he said "I LOVE IT!" Ha, ha, well in Sunday-School he raised his
hand as we were talking about prophets and kinda rambled about how much he
appreciates me and Sister Jackson helping make all these topics clearer for him
and for leading him to the true church. He's
the sweetest fella!
Sister Johnson and Mal! So these are two
ladies I was just my crazy self around and they both walked up to me crying and
saying how grateful they were that I served here and that they loved that I was
really myself. It touched my
heart!
Sister Jackson: I've really come to love
this girl. If you guys knew what she's
been through... wow she is really so strong! I'm grateful she's been so patient and loving
this whole transfer and especially this last week #CryBuddies. It's never easy to send your 'mom' home so
this girl is a champ. But she has taught
me so much and I know that she will continue to work miracles here!J
Some other people that have had a HUGE
impact on me, it is obviously all the comps I've had. Right before my mission I remember having a breakdown
and freaking out about getting bad comps and my wise dad said something to the
extent of “there's nothing that says
you'll get a bad comp, just have faith!” I am SO grateful all of my comps have
been amazing. I could ramble for hours
about each one but here's just a few things I learned from each one:
COMPS: Shout
Out to these winners🎉
Campbell: naps
are exercise 😜,
testify as much as possible, be yourself, listen.
Hansen: never
be afraid to testify, be exactly obedient, laugh, love unconditionally.
Thorson: pray
for challenges- ha, ha, or not! talk it out, don't be afraid to be sassy, have
faith and rely on Lord.
Chuah: never hesitate
to remind people they are loved, hug lots, be optimistic.
Roberts: LOVE,
work hard and do it now, be confident, testify always, laughing and crying are
a must.
Taunima:
testify to the max, good prayers, service and turning outward brings true
happiness, llama pal.
Jacobson: be
energetic about the gospel, notice good in every day, be a real friend.
Roper: always
strive to improve, take time to breathe, be brave and strong and talk.
Jackson:
fearlessly defend your witness, complete faith in the Lord, push through
trials, laugh and love like there's no tomorrow.
Leavitt:
patience, There's a scripture for everything, be yourself.
Testimony:
So I'm going to share my last testimony as
full time Sister McDonald with yinz kinda differently. I made a little video so
enjoy.;)
The Hardest Thing I've Ever
Loved To Do:
So yes, I chose the well-known Nashville
Tribute Band song as my title because it sums up so well what this experience
has been for me. I wanna share like the last verse of the song with ya:
"The
hardest thing I've ever loved to do was getting on this plane and coming home
to you. In a million ways completely torn apart as a land so far away still
owns my heart.
In the
most sincere prayer I've ever prayed- I thank my God for each and every day.
For the blessing of the (woman) I've come to be as I walk up and kiss my mommas
cheek…"
I am in awe and amazement that
God is so good. He knows perfectly where I needed to be. He knew I needed to
serve with President and Sister Johnson to grow to my fullest. He knew I needed to be with each one of my
companions at that specific time. It
blows my mind how perfect his timing is. This experience has made me fall to my
knees in tears pleading for help more times that I would've ever imagined. There have been times when I've been ready to
pack my bags and leave, but I've realized the good always, always, ALWAYS
outweighs the bad. There have been beautiful moments where I want to pull
an Ammon and serve for another 14 years. I remember coming out here and hearing
missionaries talk about how their best friends and family were the other
missionaries around them. I remember
thinking ‘you guys are a bunch of weirdos!’ Ha, ha, ha, ha, but it's true. This mission has been the hardest thing I've
truly come to love to do and it breaks my heart to have to see it come to a
close. I know the work continues even at
home. I want to share this awesome poem
Sister Roper shared with me when I was with her. It's called the Plane Ride:
As I
stare out the window, the tears still in my eyes.
I see
friends, family, and those I love as we've said our last goodbyes.
The ride
was long and trying as two questions plagued my mind
'Do I
want the life that's up ahead or the one I left behind?'
Two
years is such a long, long time for going door to door,
In my
reflecting I thought to myself there really must be more.
I
dragged myself down off the plane and stared smiling at the beach,
When a
man turned me the other way and said 'sister, go find and teach.'
I sit
reflecting once again as this day is my last,
Please,
Lord, this isn't fair. The time goes way too fast.
And I
stare out the window the tears still in my eyes,
I see
Elders, Sisters, and those I love as we've said our last goodbyes.
The ride
was long and trying as two questions plagued my mind
'Do I
want the life that's up ahead or the one I left behind?'
So let’s all keep striving for
perfection along with the perfect one by our side leading us if we will allow Him.
I know coming to Him brings fullness of
joy.I love Him. I love the PPM and I love you for taking the
time to pray for me, write me, and for having played a part in the last 18
months of my life. I love you all! See
yinz soonJ
Guys,
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! And I love the Mon-valley :) This week I really
learned once again that Heavenly Father is pretty much the best listener EVER! Here's
a few examples of that from this week- YAY for answered prayers!
Antoinette: I love this girl! She has fought through thick and thin to find
truth and we've been able to build up a real good friendship with her. She told
us this week that she was frustrated that she couldn't kick her Word of Wisdom
problems like she wanted to. She said she was just 'done' because it was too
much work. And that Satan started to make her question everything and get real
sassy. Well not today S! So, Sister Jackson and I called up the elders and told
them to bring our ward mission leader and meet us at Antoinette's. We showed up
earlier to try to talk to her and she was still in her PJ's and tried to shove
us off with some lame excuse. The cool thing is the Lord listens and while she
was talking I was praying so hard we would know what to say for her to let us
in. He always follows through! I'm like "Well looks like you could at
least use a hug..." and we push back the door to tackle her with a bear hug. 😏 Ha, ha sometimes you gotta do what
you gotta do but she let us in! We were able to listen as she vented her
struggles and then when the Elders and Brother Frederick (Ward Mission Leader) got there we all
talked about the power of blessings and they were able to give her one. The Spirit was so strong. I love the priesthood and know there's literal power that
come to us every time we pray. So Antoinette is doing good again she came to
the baptism we had Saturday (hang tight for more info🤗) and she loved
it!! The spirit was once again so strong.
Sam: Sam is this sweet older man that's been taught for a while. His
daughter-in-law is a member and referred him to us. He has come to church
several times and loves it. But he has been Roman Catholic his whole life and
has slowly allowed his heart to open to more truth. I admire how firm people
are in their beliefs out here but it especially makes it hard for them to be
open to the concept of baptism. So yeah, the struggles real ha, ha, but it's cool, it's cool! Anyway, so we were teaching him this week and taught him about the Apostasy. We asked him what he thought and he didn't respond. We just sat
there in silence. At the beginning of my mission I really struggled with
silence, (ask Sister Hansen and Sister Thorson😂 ) But I've grown to love it. It's
the silent times when the Spirit does the talking. He's the most important
teacher and he needs his time to teach. So I'm praying that he understands and
that Sam's heart will be open. Then he starts saying "I know that Jesus sent
you to me. You are his disciples. You want to help me get on the path." We're like- wow! Yep true and true! And he keeps going on about how he's always
been roman catholic but he feels different at church and with us and knows
that's the Spirit. He said "you asked me a couple weeks ago if I would be
baptized and I've been thinking a lot about it since I told you no. I know I
need to be baptized. I know it's right!" With tears in our eyes, we
testified of the truth of the restored gospel and restored priesthood power. I
couldn't help but want to pause time and never let that spirit of peace and joy
leave.
The Langs: I love Brother and Sister Lang! They are hilarious and always take
such good care of us. Well when we arrived at their house to do service with
the Elders everything was going wrong and chaos was everywhere. Sister Lang
hollered to all of us once we gathered "Okay, before we do anything else we
are having a prayer!!!" Ha, ha, ha, ha, it helped that's for sure. The tension in
the air cleared, problems became solved and laughter was passed around like the
plague. After the prayer I looked around at those standing around and
realized how grateful I am that I came to serve in PA and to have made so much new family out here!
Baptism Joys: Well like I said last week I'd give you more back story of our
gem, I mean Diamond, investigator - Sister Gessel! Okay so her story starts
back in Cali, right about the year I was born. The missionaries knocked on
Janice's door and she soaked up the message. Slowly...but she loved every piece
of it. She wanted to be baptized but her husband at the time wouldn't give her
permission to do so, he was strongly against the church. So she wasn't
baptized. She stopped meeting with the missionaries and moved several times. Fast forward 20 years. She's now remarried and lives in PA again. She is
visiting her mom and runs into the sisters. They thought she was a member but
nope! Ha, ha, so fast forward a tad bit more to when I get here. She comes to
church every week and Sister Jackson and I get to teach her all the lessons
together. I'm not sure why the Lord needed her to wait 20 years....probably cuz
I was sassy and called dibs on teaching her in the pre-earth life 😂 but I'm grateful I was able to
teach and learn from Janice. The first time I met her I felt so strongly like
I've known her forever. I love this woman so much she has become such a
wonderful friend and example. Her love for the gospel is contagious and her
patience is inspiring. Her baptism was beautiful and she just kept saying
"I just feel pure joy." I know that just like Janice said, joy comes
from living the gospel. I also am inspired by her story and wish I knew the
original missionaries that taught her so I could tell them that their efforts
weren't wasted. We may never see the fruits of our labors with some things but
no testimony is wasted, no smile goes forgotten and the love we share lasts
eternally.
I
think that's it for this week my emotions are kind of all over the place with
this week being my last as a missionary. I just want to say thank you for all
the prayers and love and cards and food and love and more love that I've felt
from each of you. I love the PPM with all my heart and I am forever grateful I
chose to serve. Stay tuned for the last weekly next week it'll probs be a
ramble😂👍 oh oh fun fact! I'm going to be
in a trio my last week here. We are getting a temple square Sister and what's
even funnier is that she's from state college! I knew her family from my
greenie days there😂👌🏾
Hey hey what's up yinz?! We are going to
spend our PDay in Pitt with my girl Anne from P3 today- so let's jump right in!
I feel like anytime I talk to anyone now a
days they ask how trunky I am...😵👊 Like, I have no time to be trunky people!!!! Ha, ha, ha,
the work is working and I LOVE IT! #CantStopWontStop
Okay first
highlight is our investigator Janice!! I'll have to give you more of her story
next week but for now just know that she is what we like to call "beyond
golden!" The Lord has prepared this woman for years. She is going to be
baptized this Saturday so prayers for her would be real appreciated! But this
lady! I love her. It was pretty cool the first time I met her when I got here I
felt like I knew her from somewhere. Pretty sure it was from the pre-earth when
I called dibs on teaching her ;) Ha! It's always so fun to teach her cuz she
asks great questions and testifies along with us. Well this week we committed
her to invite friends and family to her baptism. She was super nervous about it
but did it! She tells us that night that her daughter said she'd come but her
daughter's boyfriend went off on her about how we are a cult yada, yada, yada,
anti joys. But how she responded was the best. In her own words ladies and
gents "I explained that being a member of the Church to me is a deeper
walk with God. I wanted to say it is the one true church but felt like it was
not the time to argue. I simply said it's ok if you disagree."Janice Gessel the next member missionary
everyone! 👏
So if you've been reading along as I write
these every week you could probably guess that my all time favorite weeks are
the weeks when we get to have interviews with President Johnson. This last week
PJ and SJ came and I got to have my last interview! It was the most bitter
sweet thing. PJ starts off by asking why I'm leaving him and I'm like 'I don't
know President you tell me! Give me an extension!' We had a good laugh and lots
of good talks about my life and how I've grown over my mission. I got to share
with him one of my favorite scriptures - D&C 101:16 "let your hearts
be comforted...all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am
God." A simple one but one that sums up how I've been able to get over my
worries and trust God. Something that has changed my life. He also gave me my
new temple recommend! I'm SO PUMPED TO GO TO THE TEMPLE AGAIN😆🎉
But really I love President Johnson he has been my dad away from dad and his
sass and love are so real. There was one point in my interview where he
straight up just laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed some more as I had
a mini freak out about life after the mish and struggles. Telling him to stop
laughing only made him laugh harder. 🙈 But President and
Sister Johnson have changed my life. One day I hope to be like Sister Johnson a
friend and light to all- a walking testimony and I hope to be as patient and
strong and sassy as PJ one day. I know for a fact a part of the reason I was
called to the PPM was to meet and learn from the Johnsons. 💕
My last stake conference yesterday and
Saturday was the best. I love the Pittsburgh stake and it was so good to be
'home' and see so many familiar faces.I
had a couple major highlights:
- President
Peterson (the stake president) asked the missionaries to sing our EFY medley of
As Sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman. I've come to really love this song- there
have been some powerful experiences with it. Before we get up to sing it I say
a little prayer that I'll be able to have another powerful experience and be
able to share my testimony through this song. Guys the spirit was so strong!!
Afterwards Sister Peterson (pres. Petersons wife) comes up to me with tears in
her eyes, points to her son that just got home from his mission and said
"I want my son to marry someone like you!"... I'm like umm what?!
Ha, ha....okay lady. But she goes on because I'm sure my face showed my
confusion, "no, no, not weird like that just that when you were singing you
can tell that you know who you are, you love being a missionary and you love
the Lord. Your smile said it all!" That one little comment reminded me the
Lord does listen and he helped me share my testimony in a different way that
day. :)
- My other highlight was when Sister Johnson
had all the full time missionaries stand up. It was cool to look around and see
these other Elders and Sisters that have become like family over the years. She
also had all the new members within the last year stand up and Rebecca and Jim
who were sitting by us popped up. Then Sister Johnson asked for the current
investigators to stand and Janice practically flew in the air. Ha, ha, :) Then she
had everyone that had been baptized stand. I looked around with gratitude to
realize how grateful I am to be a missionary, to help family come home. That's
really all it boils down too.
I want you all to know that I love this
gospel with all my heart. I know the atonement works and is so real! It gives
us the power to change, the power to endure and the power to find joy in the
journey. Don't give up remember all the good you've felt from the gospel!! I
love a little poem President Monson shared in one of his talks "God gave
us memories that we might have June roses in the Decembers of our lives".
I will be forever grateful for the memories and lessons I've learned out here
in the PPM and for who they've helped me become.
Till next
week-
💕Sister
McDonald
Ps - I
didn't think I was scared of bugs....until we were doing service with the
elders at a members and there were gross stink bugs galore. The next thing I
know I'm getting a whole box of stink bugs dumped on me. -_- I almost
died....and so did Elder Heywood once I got them all off of me. Wow good times.
This
week I was reminded that it's moments like this that make all the tough times
of missionary work worth it. I'm going
to try to recap some of these amazing moments from this week:
Moment
#1- There's a little saying, I'm sure you've probably heard it, it goes
something like: "A missionary is someone that leaves their family for a
short time so that others can be with their families for eternity".
This week as I watched Rebecca and then Jim Chabalie be baptized and confirmed
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, my eyes filled with
tears as this saying hit home. There
have been hard days over the past months when I wanted to jump on a plane and
go see my family. But this week I was
reminded that the tiny sacrifice to step away from the ones I love to be able
to be a part of setting another one of my brothers' and sisters' families on
the path back home is SO worth it. This
isn't about me! It is moments like: watching the smiles on Brother and Sister
Chabalie as they came up out of the water, seeing them look at their kids with
the excitement that they can be raised with the truth, and hearing them tell
their little girl, Maddie, that in just 3 years she can be baptized by daddy-
moments like this that make me turn in gratitude to the Lord.The Spirit was so strong during the meeting
and everyone in the room was clearly touched by it. Rebecca and Jim told us how touched they were
that so many people would come to support them. There was a ton of ward support
and our whole district came #ThanksElders and President and Sister Johnson came
too. We reminded them that they are now
part of this ward family and are so loved. Ahh I love the Chabalies and I am excited to
see how much they grow in the gospel in the months and years. Thank you all for
your prayers for this family! Keep it up
J
Moment
#2- My last Zone Conference! One of my
favorite things is being able to get together and see friends and learn from
President and Sister Johnson and the Zone Leaders. The Spirit is always so strong at these things
and I feel like my spiritual "tank", so to say, is always refilled to
the brim! Ahh I just love Zone
Conferences. I also never thought this
day would come. 😭😱 Right before
missionaries go home they normally give their departing testimony and I had the
opportunity to give mine this last time. It was so bitter sweet. Being able to give my departing testimony in
the same chapel I gave my very first testimony as a missionary was special. I reflected on how much I've grown and changed
over the last almost year and a half and I realized just how grateful I am that
I was called to the PPM and that I chose to serve. This mission has changed my life!
Some
other gem moments from zone conference were:
- The other departing testimonies~ These
sisters and elders I am going home with have inspired me my whole mission and
have become great friends. Hearing their
testimonies strengthened mine!
- The music choices were so inspired!
Songs that aren't normally sung/played were, and they are songs I've come to
love: Rock of Ages & Brightly Beams our Father’s Mercy, were fo’ sho’
tender mercies!
- I love being trained by PJ and SJ too.
They are always inspired!!!
Moment
#3- Exchanges with my girl Sister Simpson! She goes home with me so it was super fun to
catch up and see a good friend again. I
got to be back in good ol’ P3 for the day and see so many people that I've
missed. It was the BEST!! Let me give you some updates on the good old
Pitt 3rd fam:
- The Eichenmillers: we got to go see
Grant and Mary Lou and their daughter in law, Angela, came with her boys
Spencer and Nathan. Oh man I just love
this family. They have grown so much
since their baptisms and to see them working to get to the temple to get sealed
is the best. It was so good to see them again.
- Sister Snodgrass: she's a less active I
worked with while I was there who is active now! It was also really awesome to teach her and
see how far she's come just in the last many months!
- The RITZES!!! Oh man they are still the
best. They fed us dinner and Chris had all my requests- garlic bread, her salad
and croutons and she even made her delicious homemade cheesecakes!!!! I WAS IN HEAVEN. It helped so much to see them one last time
before I leave. They truly have helped me so much though-out my mission and I
am forever grateful to be part of the ritz fam J
Moment
#4- My last fast Sunday on the mission. Wow I keep finding myself thinking 'I
never thought this day would come!' I
felt really strongly like I needed to bear my testimony so I did and I love
that every time I share my testimony I am reminded of all that I have come to
know. I am especially grateful for the
amazing wards I have served in and to be in the Monongahela ward now. Our investigator Janice, even got up and bore
her testimony and shared how excited she is to be baptized on the 18th! Ha, ha, ha, it made for a great end to the
testimonies. Amen to that!!!
It
honestly is the little things that make all the hard times worth it. I love being a missionary and seeing lives
change around me every day including my own! I have a firm testimony that our attitude
makes all the difference when we look for the good even when it's not easy and
finding the little moments daily that make it worth it.
My
dad sent me this awesome quote from President Hinckley that I wanna end with
today:
"I come with a plea that we stop
seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that
we accentuate the positive. I am asking
that we search a little deeper for the good....Cultivate an attitude of
happiness....a spirit of optimism. Walk
with faith rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you
love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning the divine. The Lord's plan is a plan of happiness. The way will be lighter. The worries will be
fewer....if we cultivate a spirit of happiness!"
So be happy and enjoy this next week :)
LOVE YINZ!
Love always,
💕Sister
McDonald
Ponderize- "Be still and know that I
am God" ~D&C 101:16
Commitment- "focus on Christ and
feel joy amidst trial" ~ Elder Yamashita
