Lyfe ...And Christmas

Sister Pitchford and I have been having a ball. We're working on building up the teaching pool. Right now, we aren't teaching anyone specific, but there are a lot of recent converts and returning members here! I'm so excited to work with them!

We've had some adventures trying to find people's houses lately. Usually it results in me turning around at least 3 times, although we have made it to 5 or 6 before. Some houses are easier to find than others. This last time, the end result was that we found the house (and no one answered, so we still don't know if the person lives there), and I ended up parking over this phrase (see picture below).

We also had the ward Christmas party! Our ward mission leader was Santa. That was fun. He made a good Santa.

This week, my studies have still consisted of prayer. My parents and my grandma (thank you, family!!!) sent me an AWESOME mini quad. Basically it's a mini version of the Holy Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price put together. The thing is, I didn't have mini scriptures that included the bible dictionary and topical guide, and this set does! So now I can carry everything I need with me and use it for studies. That way everything I mark during studies will be with me when I go out proselyting, instead of in a different set of scriptures. Yay!

So. I got these scriptures. And they are SO clean. No marks. Nothing. I decided to read the Book of Mormon once through without marking it. And it is amazing. Everything that stands out holds significance for me, which makes studies that much more meaningful. I love it. I never realized how much Nephi prays! And the story is amazing. The Book of Mormon makes so much sense when you read it with the understanding that the people in it were real. I love it.

Have the best ever Christmas! There won't be a blog post next week. Our mission president has told us that Skyping our families will replace email time.

Love y'all! Don't forget who the center of Christmas is!

Sister McKay

Statesboro!

New Area, New Comp

So, I actually knew last week that the Tifton sisters area would be closing. But I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. And it was SO. HARD. To keep it a secret. Oh man.

So now I'm in Statesboro with Sister Pitchford! Whoo!

She is from California and loves the color green. She's been out 13 months. She is so so cute and a giant ball of energy! But I'm still taller than her. ;)

Bye-bye, Tifton!

I said goodbye to everyone in Tifton! It's so hard to leave. I've discovered that I get attached to people. Because I love them. And it's hard to leave them behind. I hate leaving people behind. But here's what I learned.

1. I can be grateful for the friendships I made and the love I felt in the Tifton ward. I am SO going back! It's better to be grateful for the time you had than to be sad about having to go.

2. It's better to love and hurt than to not love and therefore not feel. I've experienced both. The former is always better.

3. God loves every single one of His children and wants each of us to love them too, even if it's only for a little while. Because maybe that's why we're there!

Y'all, listen. Statesboro is going to get blasted with Sister McKay love!!! Seriously, this town had better watch out.

Love y'all!! Don't forget to find ways to #LightTheWorld, even if it's after Christmas!

Sister McKay

1. McKay Drive! This is at the Macon stake center (a.k.a. Mission Headquarters)

2. "Got Jesus?" "Yep."

3. Elder Bowler, Elder Snow, and Madison. Elder Snow took the next picture and snuck a selfie while he was at it.

4. Largers

5. Sister Rawlins

6. Sister Mills and Tannesha

7 & 8. Sister Adams. I'm way too tall for her!

9. The Mitchems

10. Sister Miller and kids

11. Grandaddy Catell!

12. The Flanders

13. Sister Thomas

14. Olivia

15. Bishop Spikes and fam

16. The Burns

17. Spikes family

18. Brey family

19. Sister Williams! And investigator who's getting baptized on the 23rd!

20. Vicars family

21 & 22. Elder Cayton, our district leader, "died" yesterday. So at district meeting last week, we put together his funeral. We made do with what we had. (Don't worry- it's just a funny tradition when the missionaries leave to go back home.)

#LightTheWorld

#LightTheWorld

If you haven't watched the #LightTheWorld video yet, go watch it! I've watched it a bunch of times, and it doesn't get old. See how you can show others some love this month.

Because that's what the gospel is all about! The Savior served others out of love for His fellow men. We can do the same.

We have been handing out special #LightTheWorld cards like nobody's business! Everyone is SO open to talking about Christ during the Christmas season, it's a HUGE blessing.

Christ

Lately I've been studying prayer. I printed out about 20 (actually, I counted and it was 20) conference talks about prayer, and I've been studying them intensely. I actually didn't mean to print that many. I just started printing and printing and then I was like, "Um, I think this is enough talks now..."

Sometimes we take prayer for granted. I know I have. I started to realize how much I needed it to get through some of the stressful times I've had on my mission: trying to spread the gospel, being with a companion 24/7 (like, literally, we're never out of sight or hearing distance of each other), working together with said companion, working with and talking to everyone, and also being away from home for Christmas for the first time.

There are lots of other things that are so stressful too, and last week I was starting to feel so overwhelmed. I finally decided that I needed to pray, but I needed to learn how to pray effectively, and I needed to learn quick! Hence the 20 talks.

As I learned and practiced, I felt the strength and comfort I needed. I learned that prayer is literally like having a conversation with a Father who loves me and wants to listen. And He's perfect at listening and understanding.

Please pray. God is our Father. He wants to listen to you, and He hears you. Have a conversation with Him. And go to church!

Love,

Sister McKay

1 & 2. Sister Lanigan and I are 5 days apart (her birthday is the 9th). A member bought us an ice cream cake to share with us and Elder Bowler, whose birthday is the 6th. We had a mini birthday party. And the little one photo-bombed.

3. This tree has asked that we creepily stalk all children at the park. (Or give them Jesus cards. That works, too.)

4. We volunteered at the animal shelter on Monday (washing dog bowls and litter boxes! Yay!). It was on Dog Catcher Blvd, which we thought was hilarious.

Miracles

Miracle. An event that cannot be explained except by some unseen yet powerful force (a.k.a. God).

Elise Williamson* showed up at church two weeks ago when Sister Lanigan and I were sick. Since we weren't there, we didn't get to meet her, and she wasn't there the next week. But this past Sunday, she was! We met with her after church, and she is so prepared! God has answered her prayers about the Book of Mormon, which she's already been reading, and she is already excited to be baptized! She said her friend from Germany, who's a member of the church, was talking to her about the Book of Mormon because she was looking for a church. He told her to pray about it and to call the missionaries. She never did call us. She came to church instead.

And that, my friends, is how you do member missionary work. I am so grateful for the members who befriended our investigator and shared their testimony with her. It has already changed her life.

Friends and family, you never know how much the gospel will bless your life until you try it. Sister Williamson tried it, and she's so incredibly happy already.

The gospel is life.

Make it yours.

Sister McKay

*Names have been changed

1. Upside down stop sign. Umm... go?

2. For the morning of Thanksgiving, Sister Lanigan and I went to the local park and drew up a thankful list with chalk. We were hoping people would add to the list, and they did! This entry took the cake. Our hearts melted.

3. One of the member families' little kids grabbed Elder Snow's bag and decided he was a missionary. I decided it was too cute not to take a picture. (By the way, whenever we play a game with teams, Elder Snow and I are on the same team and we call it the Prophet Team. It's awesome.)

This Week, on The District

The District. A show made to instruct missionaries on the subject of how to accomplish their purpose, which is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel. In our mission, it is also a requirement to watch it daily. Admittedly, it gets old, since there are only so many episodes, and I've been watching them for about 10 months now.

Well, 9 months and 3 weeks, as of today. Close enough.

We've been working our tails off! I've never tracted so much my whole mission! I've also never had so few investigators to teach.

But Here's the Good News

We got two new investigators yesterday! It was such an amazing lesson! Their names are Janice and Derek. Derek was asking all the right questions. He's excited about coming to church. Janice loves the fact that we have a modern-day prophet because of God's love for his children and desire to guide them today. And they believe Joseph Smith was a prophet! I am SO excited for them. He even asked us to set up an appointment! We're praying for them. Really hard.

We found them while we were looking for a less active member who had moved. We were about to knock on the door when these two cute little cats showed up. We stopped to pet them long enough for the lady who lived there to walk out to talk to us: Janice. We asked for the less active member who we thought lived there, but she said she didn't know who that was. She had moved in 5 or 6 months earlier.

We said, "Okay, well, can we give you a card? This is a picture of the Book of Mormon, a book that helps us come closer to Christ." 

We explained a little about it. We left.

As we drove away, Sister Lanigan said, "You know, the whole time we were talking to her, I kept feeling like we should give her a Book of Mormon!"

*gasp* "Me too!!"

We turned around and knocked on her door this time, but she didn't answer. We left a Book of Mormon on her doorstep with a sticky note that said, "Hi, Janice! We don't know why we didn't just give you a Book of Mormon!" and a couple other things I don't remember well.

The next week, we knocked on her door and she said her husband had been reading it and they wanted us to come back. We set up an appointment, and had to reschedule a couple times, but eventually we got to teach them! And it was awesome!

So pray for them. I want them to have the gospel so bad!

Love y'all! Don't forget your awesomeness.

Sister McKay

1: The missionaries from Nashville and Moultrie (our district) came together in Tifton for P-day last week. This is our fleet.

2: And someone is going (or has gone) to BYU! This was taken in the Chick-fil-a parking lot. I wonder if I have a stalker... 0.0

How to Be Awesome

Be Southern!

Just kidding.

(Although that would be a smart option. ;))

Here's how, ready?

If you want to be the coolest person ever, pray sincerely.

I'm not kidding.

The best missionaries I know are the ones that, when I hear them pray, do so sincerely, with conviction, and with the knowledge that they are talking to God. They do so with pure love for Him.

These are the missionaries I look up to and want to be around. They're the ones I want to make friends with and the ones I want to emulate.

And they are the coolest people EVER! And they're happy. Which makes them that much more fun to be around.

So. That's my challenge.

And don't think I'm not taking this challenge with you!

Love y'all!!

Be awesome (in a gospel way)!

And as the southerners say, be safe out there!

Sister McKay

Picture taken on November 9, 2017. It was hot that day. The weather here goes through its ups and downs in the winter. It should be noted that this picture is of the car thermometer, which isn't very accurate. But you can tell it's really hot when the car thermometer goes over 90. And this morning, 5 days later, it was 51 degrees when we got in the car.

Shhh...Amory doesn't know I posted this!

Christmas is coming! I asked Amory what she wanted for Christmas. Her list is simple and if you'd like to send her something, even a funny comic strip in the mail or some stamps, she would absolutely LOVE IT.

Here is what she wrote:

Copies of the Book of Mormon with a testimony written in the front of each one

Stamps

Letters! - stories, jokes, how's life, WHATEVER

Drawings from the little kids

Videos

Pictures

Different music maybe? - we can now listen to EFY, MoTab, hymns, and contemporary Christian (doesn't matter who it's by)

Recipes maybe

Fun stationery is always good but I'm not about to throw a fit if that's too much. I have paper. ;)

Maybe like fuzzy socks

Or a cute DownEast shirt (size L)

Please don't send candy or treats unless it's Emily's fudge. ;) Or rice krispie treats. Or maybe hot chocolate packets... But seriously, the members always have us covered.

Love you!!

Sister McKay

Blog post: t-5 Minutes and Counting

Like, literally, this library computer is timing me.

That's how long I have left.

So, cool quote of the week.

Brother Mitchem, a member of the ward, got up on Sunday and bore a powerful testimony about the Plan of Salvation and how we can be with our families forever.

Quote, "We can't earn heaven, but we can most definitely learn it."

Even with Christ's infinite Atonement, we can never truly be perfect enough to make it to heaven and live with God in His ultimate glory. But we can try. And learn. And come closer to Him every day. We can strive to learn of Christ and emulate His life.

I love y'all. So does God. He is our supreme Maker. Isn't that incredible? Doesn't it make you want to follow Him and do as He asks? He loves you so! much!

Until next week,

Sister McKay

Blog post: Zone Conference, Among Other Things

Elder Klebingat of the first quorum of the seventy came to our zone conference on Friday. He spoke to us for 6 hours about missionary work and how we can be better missionaries and people in general. Two of my favorite quotes from zone conference are as follows.

Sister Grayson, the mission president's wife, talked about how we can encourage investigators to come to church. She said, "Church isn't about having fun or being entertained. Church is about reconnecting with God."

Elder Klebingat said this about what we can say to people who ask us about missionary work, and I agree with it wholeheartedly:

"I didn't come here to lie."

I came on a mission because I know this gospel is true. Do me a favor and read this talk by President Callister.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/gods-compelling-witness-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng

There is no way this gospel isn't true. Elder Klebingat also had us read these scriptures from the Pearl of Great Price about God.

In this verse, Enoch is speaking. "30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; ..."

Then in this verse, God speaks to Enoch. "36 Wherefore, I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them also ..."

All those creations, and He can hold them is His hands!! For those who don't know, one of the missionary rules, which has been discussed and prayed about by our leaders who are called of God, is that we have to get up at 6:30 every morning. Elder Klebingat said, after sharing these scriptures with us, "That's the God you pray to every night. Why wouldn't you want to get out of bed at 6:30?"

Listen, y'all. I know life is hard. But God can literally hold the world and worlds in His hands, yet He knows you personally. Pray to Him.

I know this gospel is true with all my heart. I didn't come here to lie.

Pray daily.

Love,

Sister McKay

1. Dad. You should live here.

2. Shout-out to my lil bro!

3. Not-too-uncommon thing to see around here.

Be Careful What You Pray For

Hump Week

I did the math last week, and it turns out my mission is halfway over, and I didn't even realize it!

Every day, I feel more and more of an urgency to share the gospel. I can't believe how quickly it's gone by and how little time I have left! My love for the gospel, for my Father in heaven, and for those around me has increased exponentially, and I just want everyone to have all the amazing blessings and opportunities I'm privileged to have!

Be Careful What You Pray for

In other news, we came the closest we've ever been to having an investigator come to church... without actually having one at church.

Reno, the dad of the Johnson family, came to church.

He was here.

He was at the door!

But he didn't know which one to come in.

At 9:02, he called us, but we had silenced our phone for sacrament meeting. We called him back as soon as the meeting got out. He said he had come to the building but didn't know which door to come in, so he left. He wanted to come, but we didn't answer, and he didn't come in.

We had prayed to have the Johnsons at church.

AT church, mind you.

But he didn't come in the church.

Hence, "Be Careful What You Pray for."

We'll continue to work with the Johnsons. They are such sweet people and we're so excited to have them come to church!

Y'all, the gospel is incredible. I'm on a mission now because I want people to have it. So live it! Live it with all you've got! It will bless your life more than you even know!

Love y'all!!

Sister McKay

1. The avenues in Albany, GA. I was on exchanges.

2 & 3. Also exchanges: I got to see the original Sherwood Baptist church!

4 & 5. The minion fire hydrant that every Tifton sister has to take a picture next to.

6 & 7. A garden spider. I walked out the door, felt a huge web on my skirt, and saw this ginormous spider in the doorway. I quickly jumped out of the way of the spider, whose web was now ruined, and, while my heart was still pounding a little, took a picture of the poor guy before heading to church. It died that day, and then I accidentally stepped on it a day or two later. Needless to say, I do not like having giant spiders in my doorway or giant spider guts on my shoe.

8. A "g-sled" at Walmart. "G-sled" is short for "ghetto sled."

Ghetto sled. A very old car with very new wheels, typically found in the ghetto of the South. Or Walmart.

9. Transfer predictions! Most everyone thinks I'm leaving Tifton, and half of them think I'll be in leadership this transfer. Any guesses?

10. District picture!

11. Sister Lanigan and myself taking a random selfie in the middle of Fulwood Park. It was a hard day, and I just decided to be spontaneous.

12. Last but not least, a very odd snail Sister Lanigan found while we were out walking after a rain storm. The wildlife here never ceases to amaze me.