Kimber mail 11-14-16: "Oh Hey Elder Stevenson!! :D"

   So yeah....Elder Stevenson, Elder Kunz and Elder Hallstrom all came to the mission this weekend. It was pretty much the greatest day ever! Saturday was a day I will never forget! 
   Let me give you a little sneak peak into what the conference was like: 
We walked into the chapel and immediately I saw so many of the amazing friends I've made on my mission. I am overwhelmed with so much gratitude that the PPM really is a huge family, I have no clue what I'd do without all my mission homies. Poor sister Roper, haha I'm like having her meet everyone "hey this is Elder so and so or Sister so and so" - but it was fun! 
   Then we got all seated and PJ got special permission to show us all the Christmas initiative and it is SO GOOD. I think its my favorite one and you all better get pumped and use it up this year because it's going to work miracles! So keep an eye out for it at the end of the month:) Oh man I could just ramble for days about the whole day but so as not to bore you (more than I already have haha) I'll just share some highlights:
- Standing and reciting D&C 4 and our Purpose as a whole mission (180+) was POWERFUL. It really hit me how lucky and blessed I am to be serving right now alongside so many amazing servants of the Lord 
- Laughing and yet being still and learning from these amazing men that I had witnessed to me over and over again, that they really are called of God. 
- Feeling much needed overwhelming peace and love. In everything each of them said there was so much love it was...ahh I just don't even know how to describe it. It was as if they were talking just to me. I didn't want it to end. I know this is where I'm supposed to be right now. 
- I loved the personal stories they shared it was awesome to see that they really do respect their calling but that they are hilarious at the same time. It was cool because Elder Stevenson grew up with President Johnson and shared some great stories!! 
- It was so cool being able to shake Elder Stevenson's hand. As soon as he grabbed my hand I was filled with peace and love. All the stress and worries and struggles seemed to melt away for a moment and it was amazing!
- Something I loved most, that I learned from the conference came from both Elder Hallstrom and Elder Stevenson. I was reminded of the power and blessing it is to witness of Christ's name and that we need to be promising blessings just as Christ would if he were teaching the very people that we teach. I had a pretty cool experience with that this week- we were visiting a less active, Brother Himes, and he was telling us about his financial struggles and how he wanted to come to church but didn't have the gas or money to do so. I promised him, in the name of Jesus Christ, that if he would make the effort to come he would have the means provided for him until his next paycheck comes. Well Saturday night he texted us saying someone just came and bought his van, he had the money needed and he would be at church! And he came. Sitting in church on Sunday I looked around as we were singing the sacrament hymn. In front of us were a couple recent converts, next to us sat Bro. Himes, behind us sat a less active and her recent convert granddaughter. I started to tear up as I realized how selfish I've been the last couple of weeks thinking how rough this is and how I'm not doing anything. I realized once again- this isn't about me. This work is about bringing all of our family together and making it home. I am grateful for all the wonderful things I learned on Saturday and for the inspiration all 3 of them- Elder Kunz, Hallstrom, and Stevenson had when they spoke. 
   So as you can see it was a once in a life time amazing experience and really was just what I needed. I love serving and being able to be on the Lord's errand. I know I'm far from a great missionary but I know that I'm doing all I can do and doing what the Lord needs and that is enough. :)
   Okay and here's some other sick highlights of the week:
- We taught the restoration to this awesome guy, Brother Miller, who referred himself on mormon.org. So you're probs like: "okay Sister Mcdonald you probably teach lots of restoration lessons why is this one special?" Well this one was a gem because 1) We brought a member that is trying to come back into being active in the church and the whole time she was grinning ear to ear and said afterwards 'wow! I felt so good the whole time!! I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a long time' and 2) Brother Miller is such a gem he had such great questions and really has that sincere desire to learn. It's not every day you see that so it was legit! 
- We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Melissa and set her with a baptismal date in December. She loves the gospel and it's been cool to see the gospel change her and her families lives just in the few weeks we've been teaching them. This family needs all the prayers they can get so pray for the Hurleys!!
- Alsoooo I hit my 15 month mark. It's CRAZY! This is legit every person's like "wow...you're almost done!" Nope nope haha still in denial....now I've just resorted to saying "I've just been out a little over a year..." haha;) time is a flyin! 
   Welp! I think that's all for today folks! Thanks for the love and support. It means more than you know. Sorry I'm not the best at emailing or writing letters to you all individually but just know that I love you TONS and couldn't do this without all the love and support. Love you:)
💕Sister McDonald 
Ponderize: "For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven" ~ 3 Nephi 12:12 
Commitment: "Seek, study and ponder restored truths and ask 'can ye feel so now?'" And "let today be a day of gratitude " ~ Pres Uchtdorf 
Charity Attribute: "seek not her own"

Month 15 done! #missionnotes

All done with month 15!

Kimber mail 11-07-2016: "New Bloom or Bust... #We'reStillInOnePiece"

   I just love fresh starts and new weeks. This week was definitely a lot better than the last and slowly but surely New Bloom is startin’ to bloom! See what I did there ;) ha, ha, Okay, okay, let me just fill you in on what gems we were able to see this week:

   Monday night: We taught this awesome member, Sister B's, son-in-law Nobu! He's from Japan and is legit the funniest and greatest person. He's reading through the Book of Mormon like a champ. He showed us these encouraging flash cards he made to encourage people (in his broken English) and had us laughing so hard. He reminded me of the awesome people from the good ol’ State College days! Then we just went home and cleaned our apartment like champs. We even found some legit spiders and if you know my love for spiders you can imagine how happy I was 😆🕷🕸🎃 #HappyHalloween.

   Tuesday: We did some awesome service at a food bank (I'll have you know I am now a certified professional box- ripper- upper💁🏾) and we helped a member clean out her attic. I love doing service, it's nice to help other people and lift whatever burdens we can of theirs.  We also went and visited this lady, Shelly, who used to take the missionary lessons and we had a powerhouse lesson reading out of the Book of Mormon with her.  I love that every time I've opened the Book of Mormon and read with people hearts have been softened, answers have been received and the Spirit has certainly been felt.  It's sad that sometimes we take this amazing book for granted.  We tried to do some tracting in that town, New Port. No real luck there but it was legit as we were driving back out of town to see that every house had either pass along cards or pamphlets- every house was hit with Jesus #You'reWelcomeNewPort #You'llThankUsOneDay

   Wednesday: District Meeting was all about being a "successful missionary" and it was a much needed reminder that as long as we are doing our best to fulfill our purpose we are successful in the Lord's eyes.  Much needed.  Then we had some great lessons: 

- Trinity is a recent convert and the new member fire is real. I love this girl, she has such a love for the Savior and the gospel, it's contagious!

- We taught this lady who wasn't too open at first about God's love for her and the Plan of Salvation and by the end, her heart had softened and the spirit was so strong as we left her with a prayer. 

- We stopped in to visit this less active member, Sister Mcminn.  She let us in and conveniently they were just about to eat and had made 2 extra burgers. So we talked about the Atonement and the power of joyful repentance in our lives.  It's going to take some work but I love when I am able to see people just a fraction of the way Christ sees them.

- We felt like we should run out back to the church and meet some of the young women that were at mutual (legit the church is in our backyard) before we headed in. So, we did and a cute girl runs up to us and says "hi! I'm Emma! I just got baptized! Can we do a lesson?!" Ha, ha, ha like what?! Sure...) so we talked about family history and temples with her and she was practically jumping on the couch she is so excited to go to the temple. It was so cute!! 

   Thursday: We taught our golden investigator, Melissa. Boy oh boy do I love member referrals!!  While we were teaching her she testified that she felt like this church was the true church and that she loved coming to church and wants to be baptized but just needs to pray about it. These are the things that make all the hard-days worth it. Now let’s just all pray she will stick with it!  J  Afterward we did lots of tracting and were able to contact an awesome referral and teach him about the Book of Mormon. We decided to try his neighbors as well, and his next door neighbor was Hispanic but was super interested. We taught her a bit and promised to bring a Book of Mormon in Spanish back next week. Ca-ching!  It's amazing what some faith, prayers and listening will do.

   Friday: After weekly planning we went and visited this less active member, Brother Himes. Oh man I just love this man! We taught him about his divine potential and talked about how much his Heavenly Father loved him. We were all in tears by the end of the lesson and he told us he knew we were heaven sent just when he needed us we showed up.  I love listening to the Spirit!!!  We also had dinner with Sister York who invited her ex-husband to come join us who apparently was “anti,” but after talking with us his heart was softened and he's going to be back next week to listen! 

   Saturday: We both woke up and felt awful. We were sick all day but it was nice to just let our bodies rest-up.

   Sunday: Church was pretty good- our investigator Melissa came so that was pretty awesome!  After church we were able to go visit this sweet lady that's recently started coming back to church and wants to be active again.  I love the atonement- it's the greatest thing to see it literally change lives! Our bishop and his wife fed us dinner too afterward. 

   I'm grateful for all the support and love we've been getting.  Slowly but surely we are doin’ it!  Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging thoughts. They help more than I think you realize.  Keep your head up and if you're struggling, just remember you are loved and that I'm praying for you! J

💗Sister McDonald 

Ponderize: D&C 19:23 "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my spirit and you shall have peace in me." 

Commitment: Pres. Uchtdorf~ "Don’t give up. Seek God with all your heart. Exercise faith. Walk in righteousness." 

Charity Attribute: Does not behave itself unseemly (1 Cor. 13)

Kimber Mail 10-31-2016: "There's a Bear in our Back Yard!"

   Hey, hey. It's me, Sister McDonald, reporting live from New Bloomfield, PA!  Oh man this week has been a crazy whirlwind - all over the place but we are surviving 😜  To catch you up to speed, here's some updates:

   Okay so Tuesday after sitting in training meetings all day I finally found out who my new comp will be!  *Drum roll please* Da-Da-Da-Daaaaa: Sister Roper!!  This girl is so legit - she just graduated high school and is from South Jordan, Utah. She's pretty great, loves to work hard and have fun - so already we are off to a great start. So after about a 6 hour car ride to our new home, we  made it in at about 9PM, we were ready to crash. Well the next day as we are meeting our sweet neighbors, one of the older ladies tells us to “watch out - there's a bear on the loose roaming around town.” Apparently he had been in our back yard a few nights ago. We just kind of laughed until we heard it from a few more people. #NoJokes. So we are keeping our eyes peeled for this lurkin' bear! No sightings yet, thankfully  :)

   So, today, I'm going to be real with you. This week was brutal! It was one of the toughest weeks of my mission. I feel like everything that possibly could go wrong did.  The plans that the previous Sisters left us were just kind of all over the place. After lots of prayer and some visits, we decided to drop some of the few investigators we had. It took a lot of faith but we were determined to find the elect. I was super pumped to take Sister Roper tracting and the first experience had no real luck. But I was determined to keep tracting. Side note, I am sooo thankful my trainer, Sister Hansen, helped me to enjoy tracting - it's made my mission so much better because of that positive attitude. So we decide a couple days later to tract again because all of our appointment in this far out city fell through. We pray and start tracting. Door after door, rejection after rejection. But we laughed it off and stayed positive. Earlier that morning we had read the "Fourth Floor, Last Door" talk by Pres. Uchtdorf and we were pumped to find our 'last door' gem. But it didn't happen. We felt like we should go try this less-active member who wasn't far but was in the next city over. As soon as we knock her door her son tells us that she was just rushed to the hospital. We were able to comfort him a little I hope and let him know we are there.  We prayed again and I felt strongly "go back to Duncannon" (where we just were.) I sassily thought "are you serious?!...ugh okay" So we did. After another hour of rejection but still following the Spirit we decided to walk down the main street. This man in a van yells out to us "you Mormons?!" I look at Sister Roper and her face shows straight fear. I laugh and respond 'yes sir!' He yells back something to the extent of our crazy beliefs. He pulls his van over and I march right up (Sister Roper's eyes at this point are about ready to bug out) and I asked him what he believes. He says "well in the restoration of the Lords true church and that Joseph Smith was a prophet." He said 'sorry to sass you Sisters ha, ha, but we just saw you out walking and I just wanted you to know how much of an impact you had on us. Seeing missionaries in action and doing hard things even if no one wants to listen and boldly defending the faith- it's refreshing!"  Anyway come to find out he used to be a Bishop out here years ago but now lives in Arkansas. It was a tender mercy for sure. They came to church yesterday and thanked us again for our dedication and told us to never give up. 

   Now even though this week was rough there were so many little blessings looking back:

- We survived 

- We worked hard and did our job to invite ALL to come to Christ 

- We were where we needed to be 

- We followed promptings and relied on the Lord 

- We tried to stay positive 

- We were fed so much this week 

- The Lord put people in our path to remind us that he's aware of us. 

   I could go on and on but I really am grateful for the lessons I learned this week. Even when things don't work out how WE want them to, they work out how the Lord needs them to.  Even when we think we haven't touched any lives, we just might have without knowing it. I was reading Pres. Monson's talk 'The Call of Duty' from April 1986 and there were so many gems. He said "Do your duty; that is best. Leave unto the Lord the rest!"  So true. I know that this is the Lords work and for anything to happen we need him. President Monson also shared this powerful poem:

 

Father, where shall I work today?

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then He pointed out a tiny spot

And said, “Tend that for me.”

I answered quickly, “Oh no; not that!

Why, no one would ever see,

No matter how well my work was done;

Not that little place for me.”

And the word He spoke, it was not stern;

He answered me tenderly:

“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine.

Art thou working for them or for me?

Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.”

 

   He ends by saying, and I second this plead by inviting you to this week "listen for the sound of sandaled feet. Reach out for the Carpenter's hand." Let's let Christ more fully help us and lead us this week! I’m grateful for the time I have to serve and labor for the Lord.   

   Thanks for all your support and love. I Love you all  J 

💕Sister McDonald 

 

Ponderize: "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up"~ James 4:10 

This week I will: "see my potential and rise up" ~ Sister Oscarson 

Charity attribute: not puffed up and envieth not! 

Kimber mail 10-24-2016: "PA here I come!!"

   PA here I come!!

   Well guys I'm going back to PA!!! This is going a fast email sorry not a ton of time today but I'll try to do the highlights!

   Well, you know that it's never a good thing when President Johnson calls at 7AM Saturday morning! ;)   So I found out that I am leaving Sister Jacobson and going to New Bloomfield, PA! Not only that but I am going to be doubling in and training again!!   I'm super nervous but really excited at the same time.

Here's my new address:

418 W Main St, New Bloomfield, PA 17068

   Some highlights from this past week:

   We went on exchanges in P3 again and I was able to go see, Rachel, a lady I used to teach and the Sisters are going to be teaching her again!  Following inspiration is the best!!

   We contacted a referral, Karen, who sounded less than happy to have us over when we talked to her on the phone. BUT we ended up teaching her and she is now a new investigator.

   The investigators investigator, T.J., who's we helped teach too and is like a grandpa to us, got baptized!!!  The Spirit was so strong.  It was a cool experience seeing him go from no belief in God to having a strong testimony in the restored gospel.

   My last Sunday in the Wheeling Ward was the best.  Two less-active members, John and Pat, that I feel like I was sent here to help were able to make it to church and both are on their way to being active members again!  It was a great day! J

   Well I love you all.  I've loved being in Wheeling and working with Sister Jacobson.  I have learned so much and am excited for the next journey to come my way.  Send some prayers my way ‘cuz I'm gonna’ need all the help I can get!  Till next week :)

💗Sister McDonald

(heads up... this vid is a long one ;) )





Kimber mail 10-17-2016: "Week 11..round 3!!👊🏽"

   "With the help of the Lord, our limitations can be overcome!" ~ Elder David A. Bednar 

   What a beautiful thing that we aren't alone in this journey, right?! This week was awesome and was a powerful learning experience for both Sister Jacobson and I. 

   Guys I love week 11! So for new missionaries, week 11 is when they get to step-up and take charge basically (and the trainer just gets to step back and offer support).  😜 Ha, ha but it is really a great learning week.  It's hard to believe I'm almost done training Sister Jacobson - one more week! 😱.  It feels like just last week Sister Hansen was training me and I was freaking out trying to lead out week 11.  And it feels like just yesterday I was cheering my other amazing "daughter", Sister Thorson, along as she killed leading out her week 11.  Time is seriously flying!!  But this week I was so impressed and proud of Sister Jacobson! She reminded me a lot of myself- had some “spazz-outs,” unsure and feeling inadequate at times BUT she worked hard every second of every day and we saw miracles! I think one of the things I was most impressed with was that she made the effort to stop and talk to every single person we saw.  Her love for the Savior and His gospel is so contagious! There were so many blessings and miracles this week, I have no clue where to start but stay with me!! 

   Monday- On our way home Sister Jacobson felt like we needed to call 3 specific less-active members so we did and had some amazing lessons over the phone with them.  All 3 of them were going through very different trials but as we listened we were prompted to share a different talk from conference with all of them.  Isn't the spirit a gem?! 💎

   Tuesday- Okay there's a few highlights from today I'll try to make them brief, I couldn't choose just one:

   💎We met up with some girls - Kristian and Elizabeth- who used to take the lessons but stopped taking them. We had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings with them and this is where the gems come in: 

   1) New Investigators: We talked about the gospel the WHOLE time. It was such a great discussion and the Spirit was so strong- right there in BWWs - hearts were being softened. They both agreed to take the lessons again and start fresh! Holla! 

   2) Free Food: Okay the Lord really blesses us in the funniest/ coolest ways. So apparently BWWs has this legit lunch deal (maybe it's new, maybe not...idk I don't go there often so I couldn't tell you for sure) where if they don't bring your meal out in 15 minutes it's free. Well our waitress punched the timer on the table and by the time we got our food it was 15:43. AND OUR FOOD WAS FREE! Greatest tender mercy everrrr! 

   💎 Next highlight was we went back to follow up and see if this guy, Ray, that we met last week had read out of the Book of Mormon we left him. Well this older woman comes running toward us as we are walking up to her house and I'm thinking "oh man she's going to scream at us...this is never a good sign". But as we get closer, sweet Sister Jacobson smiles and tells her who we are and that we have a special message for her. She exclaims "I know I've been waiting for you to come back!" We proceeded to have a lesson with her and talked about the power of the Book of Mormon. She told us her name was Charlene and said that her son never answers the door and really felt like he needed the Book we were talking about and that she was hoping we would come back so she could learn more too! 

   💎 Something I just love about Sister Jacobson is that she's not a quitter. She didn't just turn around after that lesson with Charlene and say 'alright done!' We walked that whole street and the streets around that street sharing cards and Books of Mormon left and right. Right as we were hurrying to our car so we wouldn't be late for dinner she stops in the middle of the road and pulls me toward the sidewalk. She told me that we needed to pray and that there was one more house that we needed to stop by. We prayed and walked up to this house in the middle of the street. The lady came out and was so kind! We shared a Book of Mormon with her and I'm pretty sure the message we shared about families touched her. It was legit! 

   Wednesday- We had training in Washington, PA all day and learned about how to have more effective chapel tours. It was a fun day! Well that training came in handy because Kristian (see Tuesday gem 1) came to Book of Mormon class and we gave her a little tour! 

   Thursday- Sister Jacobson also is amazing at knowing when people need some extra help. We asked Millie (who was feeding us dinner) if she needed anything. Normally she just tells us she's good but this time she told us she needed help pulling out weeds in her back yard- she couldn't do it because of her back. So we went early and helped her and it was so great to get to know her better! I love helping people feel our Savior's love!! 

   Friday- We tried some referrals and we were able to have more awesome lessons and share more Bibles and Books of Mormon. And then it was Dave's baptism!! Dave is just the coolest. He's one of Brother Orum's friends and has come so far. Just a month and a half ago he said 'maybe in a year I'll start taking the lessons'. Even though we didn't get to teach him (the Elders did,) it was awesome to see him progress and become happier and happier as we would see him at Book of Mormon class and at church each week. He was SO happy as he came up out of the water and had the biggest grin I think I've ever seen on his face! The spirit was so strong. 

   Saturday- We had the Sikoles big Halloween party that we've been helping get ready the last couple months. It was awesome seeing my mission "sister", Sister Johnson and her mom, as they came back to visit the mission! We were able to talk to so many people at the party and it was such a fun service, leading tours through the Halloween -trail. #ProTourGuides

   Sunday- I think my highlight from today was seeing little Wyatt Phillips be baptized. He is 8 and has this rare ear problem that if water gets in his ear it causes major problems. So understandably he was nervous but he was so excited to be baptized. He had some special ear plugs so that nothing would go wrong. Everyone was on the edge of their seat. Wyatt was baptized a good 3 times because his head didn't go all the way under. The last time brought tears to everyone watching. His dad held him close and as Wyatt quietly said 'Dad I'm scared. Do you think I can do this?' His dad knelt in the water to be on his level and held him close and said 'I know you can!' It reminded me of how our Heavenly Father never lets us do anything alone. He is right there helping us through anything and everything so that we can progress! It was amazing. 

   Well I love you all and hope you all keep noticing those tender mercies daily! J ‘till next week~

Sister McDonald 

Ponderize: "They did pray unto the Lord their God continually"~ Alma 62:51 

Commitment: "Choose to repent (daily) and immediately invite the savior into our lives" ~ Elder Renlund (oct 2016) 

Christ Like Attribute: Kind!

Month 14 Complete! #missionnotes

month 14 complete!  Way to go!