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😂👌🏾
Love
Always 💕Sister McDonald
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