#transferred

In reference to the hashtag title: I've found that lots of missionaries use hashtags or make other social media jokes because we're basically all social media wannabes. It's just one of those things we don't have, so we have to make up for it somehow!

Last Sunday in Aiken

I don't have much time left to write this, so here are the highlights for my last Sunday in Aiken.

Sunday is always the day that missionaries go visit people before they leave because transfer calls are Saturday nights and Mondays are Preparation Days. Plus, people are usually home and you can just stop by.

As we stopped by the houses of all the friends I've made, I realized how much I was going to miss them, but also how grateful I was for the time I had with them. I got pictures with all the coolest people out here, some who have reached great heights and come a long way, and some who have so much potential.

Working with the ward in Aiken has been absolutely incredible. The people have become my family. Shout-out to Brother and Sister Karchaske, who never cease to make us laugh; to Sister Novak, for always being willing to help us out; Sister Keaton, for those drives in the country and "warshboard roads," to Brother Day for being an awesome ward mission leader, to Sister Day for being a ray of sunshine in the hard times, and to Sister Brede for having us over for game nights and dinners. I missed so many people, but know that you are right there, close to my heart.

Testimony

Brother Novak, the 1st counselor in our ward, had me bear my testimony in sacrament meeting. I've learned so much in the past 18 weeks that I didn't even hardly know what to say. I learned that charity is real and that, when you look to the example of the Savior, it's so easy to love just about anyone. I learned that God is always there for me. He wants His children to have the joy that comes from hearing the gospel. That's why I'm here!

Love all y'all to pieces!

Sister McKay

Investigators at church! 6-19-17

Duke, Cookie, and the Kids

Remember them? Yeah, Duke and Cookie came to church for the first time! It was so awesome! They were late, and they only stayed till the end of the first hour, but they CAME. I was so happy!

We have an appointment with them on Wednesday, and they're really close to being on date for baptism! Hopefully we can get them to come to church consistently. They don't have a lot of income and have trouble getting gas for church sometimes. Prayers needed. We love them so much already!

Tram and Eric Simmons

These are our other investigators that are really close. They've been coming to church consistently ever since I've been in Aiken. Tram's family is devout Catholic, so she was concerned about that for a while, but she has progressed leaps and bounds since I first met with them. We have them praying about baptism, which is a monumental step in the right direction!! They've also started to work on the Word of Wisdom. Whoo!!

Other News

Transfers are coming up and I've been out almost 5 months.

Heh?

Yeah. I have no idea what just happened, but it was awesome, whatever it was. I've made so many memories here in Aiken, and I ain't finished yet!

Fun Fact: Did you know that kids in high schools around here are allowed to use "ain't" in their assignments and essays?

Transfer calls are this Saturday. Stay tuned to find out whether I'm staying in Aiken or traveling to some new and unknown world.

Dun.

Dun.

DUUUUN!!

Adios, y'all. Keep being awesome.

"Every day is a new day with no mistakes in it."

-Anne, Anne of Green Gables

Sister McKay

Wow.

Note from Sarah: I forgot to post this when it came last week so you'll get two this week instead. ;)

Yep. That's about all I can think to say about this transfer so far. Taking over the area has been insane, Sister Wagner is basically perfect (except not really because only Christ is perfect), and I can't believe it's already week 5 of the transfer!

People

Duke and Cookie met with us this week. Their other daughter, Ebony, joined us for the lesson partway through, and we gave her our last Book of Mormon. (We had to get some more from the elders a few days later.)

Ebony asked us, "So, how long does it take to read the Book of Mormon?"

Us: *awkward laughing* "Well, uhh... we've heard stories of people reading it in 24 hours, but it just depends on the person!"

She wants to read it ASAP. She's already talking about getting work off to come to church. She and Cookie both said they would be baptized if they got an answer. This is the first lesson, people! We got 3 new investigators in that lesson, and we're working to get them all the church. This week, we think they slept in again, but we have plans to meet with them on Wednesday, so hopefully we can work something out to help them get themselves and the kids (Ja'Kobi, Ja'Layia, Jaliyah, TJ, Zaden, and (update) Talisha) to church. Pray for them!

Millie has been texting us. She has to work more hours now and can't meet with us because she's either at work or asleep. We're praying for miracles because she's really prepared.

Fanny is a lady we met by going through old potentials. Every now and then we'll look in the area book for potentials that people never ended up teaching and see if people are still interested. Fanny let us in and pulled out her Book of Mormon and pamphlets. She has trouble with getting to church, but she loves us and wants to meet with us. Hopefully something will go somewhere there!

Language

I never really included these tidbits.

"Have a blessed day!" Everyone says this to each other all the time. I've picked it up and usually say it as we walk away from someone's house who didn't want to listen. People really show how much they care about people, and that's one way I figured I could do it back.

Old man. You know how people refer to their dad as their "old man?" Well, out here, your "old man" is your husband. I'm still not used to that.

For example:

Us: "Hi, is Kaneesha home?"

Person at the door: "Ah, nah."

Us: "Oh, okay. Do you know when she might be home?"

Person: "Well, she and her old man went shopping for some stuff for the new baby, so I dunno when they'll be back."

Us: "Oh, okay! Well, we'll try to stop by another time."

Person: "Alright, Ah'll tell her you stopped bah."

Us: "Thanks! You have a blessed day!"

Miss/ma'am and mister/sir. Everybody out here uses these. When I noticed that people started referring to me as "ma'am" and to each other as "Miss So-and-so" and "Mister So-and-so," I decided to pick it up. People also say, "Yes, sir" and "Yes, ma'am" all the time. (Like, all the time.) So I picked that up too.

We've started a daily text group called "Power from Heaven." We have two people on it so far: Brother Seker and Tram Simmons (one of our investigators who keeps coming to church and is super close to agreeing to be baptized!). It's a scripture text we send out every day to hopefully help people learn from the Book of Mormon. It's really neat! I highly recommend doing something like that with a couple friends.

I love all y'all!

Quote of the week: "Do you believe God can forgive other people's sins?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe He can forgive your sins?"

Love,

Sister McKay

Blog post: Little Teachers and Lightning Bugs

Well, the weeks are totally zooming past. I've been out 4 months now. That's 22% of my mission! (Yes, I used a calculator.)

Tender Mercy: Little Teachers

Sister Wagner and I were walking down the street to an investigator's house one day. We spotted some people sitting in front of their house and, like the good little missionaries we are, we walked up to them. There were a bunch of little kids playing around outside, and they swarmed us as we introduced ourselves. Turns out, these were the same kids that Sister Hale and I had given Jesus cards (Book of Mormon cards) to a few weeks before. (For future missionaries, always give Jesus cards to little kids. It's so genius.)

The people on the porch were a black couple. They introduced themselves as Duke and Cookie ("Our real names are John and Natalie, but we go by Duke and Cookie"). We started talking about how we believe Christ's church was lost but has been restored (i.e., the Restoration!) and were giving Restoration pamphlets to them when all five of the little kids started asking for Resto pamphlets too.

Sister McKay (to self): We're almost out of Restoration pamphlets, what are you doing?!

Sister McKay: Everyone deserves the gospel!!

Sister McKay: Well, there goes our supplies. Oh, well. You're right. Everyone deserves the gospel. We'll make it!

The little kids were all over us. Apparently, because of the Jesus cards and pamphlets, we had become some sort of idols to them. We asked them what their names were and how old they were. Two of them were neighbor kids named TJ and Jaliyah Goodwin. I think Jaliyah was around 8 or 9 and TJ was probably 7-ish. Their three kids were 9-year-old twins named Ja'Layia and Ja'Koby and Zaden, who's around 6. Okay, so. We have TJ, Jaliyah, Ja'Layia, Ja'Koby, and Zaden. You know how hard it is to keep those names straight? But hey, I remembered them all! The only reason I know how to spell them is because, as we were leaving, we were trying to get their names down, and one of them suggested that they could write them down for us somewhere. Of course, out came our planners. We gave them our pencils and let them write their names. Now I have the handwriting of 5 little kids in my planner. It's adorable.

We set up a return appointment (we're seeing them on Wednesday!) and kept walking towards our investigator's place. She couldn't meet with us right then, so we turned around and headed for the car. On our way back, we passed Duke and Cookie and the kids again, and you'll never guess what we saw. 4 of these kids were sitting on a bench in front of the house, their backs facing us, and one of them (I think it was Jaliyah or Ja'Layia) was reading from the Resto pamphlet while the rest of them followed along! Yeah, our hearts melted. They spotted us and called out, "Heeeeyyy!! We're reading your books!!" Of course, we called back, "Good job!! Keep reading!" It was totally adorable, and that was a tender mercy that lasted about the whole week.

Bucket List: Lightning Bugs

Ever since I was little, I've wanted to see/catch a lightning bug. It made it to the bucket list a while ago. Well, there aren't really lightning bugs in California (where I was born) or Utah, but when I got called to the South, that dream was suddenly made possible! What I didn't know was that lightning bugs only come during lightning bug season (a.k.a. summer). I had kinda forgotten about them until a few nights ago.

We were on our way home from bible study at the church when Sister Wagner said something. The sky had been overcast all day, so I thought she said, "Oh, I just saw lightning!"

Me: "Lightning? Where?"

Sister Wagner: "No, a lightning bug! OH I JUST SAW ANOTHER ONE!"

Me: *almost dies* "WHERE?!"

Sister Wagner: "They just fly around and light up sometimes- OH LOOK RIGHT THERE!"

Me: *GASP* "I SAW THAT!! WOW!"

I think I had a spaz attack. It was hilarious. I haven't seen one since, but they were everywhere that night! It was so. Cool.

We're hopefully teaching Millie again this week, along with Duke, Cookie, and the gang, and hopefully another investigator named Nikki and maybe a guy named Rayvis. Whoo! The members have been a lot better about helping us out lately too, which is totally awesome! I'm really excited!

Love y'all!

Sister McKay