When your only set appointment is feeding the cat...

Well, the title of this post might explain a bit about our last couple weeks.

We didn't get any new investigators, anyone at church, or anyone on date for baptism the past two weeks.

Except...

Anita Brown

We've been trying to meet with Anita ever since we got to Tifton. The biggest problem is that she lives in Fitzgerald, which is an hour away from Tifton, where we spend most of our time. Since we have limited miles every month, we only get out to Fitzgerald about once a week. We've tried knocking on her door every time we've been out there, especially since the elders (who took over the whole area for a while when the sisters left) told us they had an awesome Restoration lesson with her. She hadn't answered at all in the weeks we tried her.

Until this Saturday.

We noticed that there was a truck home that day, and it looked like someone had set up a little picnic table right outside the side door. Everybody uses the side doors in the south. Sometimes we've been able to get someone to answer their door just by using the side door instead.

Anyway. We saw the little picnic table that made it look like someone was home. So we knocked at the front door because when we went to the side door, it was kinda open, and there wasn't really a good place to knock. Someone actually answered the front door this time! It was her husband, who grunted, "She's around back."

"Thank you!" we said, and proceeded to awkwardly walk around back. (There's a #awkward missionary moment for you.) She didn't have a fence, so we just walked into her backyard. There was a stand-up pool. And some chairs. Buuuuut we didn't see anyone.

We looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do. Here we were awkwardly standing in a random lady's backyard, and we couldn't find her. Well, a second later, we realize there's another little car parked by the pool, and that there's a kid in the pool, and that there's a lady in the little car. We awkwardly approach the lady in the car. She's on the phone. (Even more #awkward.) We stand there, not saying anything, until she gets off the phone and gets out of the car to meet us.

We introduce ourselves and she leads us to her porch at the side of her house. She tells us she's going to go put on some shorts (she's in a bikini) and grab us some water and popsicles. She gets us two otter-pops each and glasses of water with ice. Southern hospitality much?

She then proceeds to ask us all about the Restoration (without knowing what it is, of course). We teach her all about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and she starts asking us when church is and when we can come back to visit her. We have an appointment with her Thursday! We are so excited! She is super excited about the fact that we have no paid ministry and that we have a prophet today. We told her all about the priesthood and how we receive revelation from God today, and it made so much sense to her. It was the most incredible thing. It's amazing to see how God prepares people and how true the gospel is!

Y'all, there is no way God would abandon His children or leave them in the dark. He loves us and leads and guides us every day if we let Him and look for His influence. He loves me and loves every single one of y'all. He wants us to be happy, like all parents want for their kids.

Soooo, sorry for forgetting to explain the title!

Since we didn't get any new people for a while, we didn't have any set appointments. Except a member in our ward, Sister Rawlins, who's an older lady, went on a trip last week, and she asked us to feed her cat. So we went over there every evening last week, and it was our only set thing for the week. The joke was that the work was so dry that it was sad that our only appointment was the cat. So. We laughed. That's what you gotta do when the going gets rough.

As Marjorie Pay Hinckley once said, "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

Love y'all!!

Sister McKay

The Mish in Tifton

July 18, 2017

Mish. Short for "mission."

Tifton is amazing. I've been here 3 weeks. It is the place you want to go if you want an authentic southern experience!

Language

Prayer talk. When you're praying at the end of your lesson and your investigator (or whomever you're praying with) says things in the middle of the prayer like, "Yes, Lord. Hallelujah. Praise Jesus." Yes, this happens to me. Pretty often, actually. It's weird to get used to because you feel like you have to stop and let them talk before you keep praying. But you just gotta keep going! It's one of those awkward moments I mentioned in my last post.

VBS. The abbreviation for Vacation Bible School. It's like girls' camp in Utah, but it's for all religions. Mormon families with younger kids and teenagers will send their kids to a vacation bible school every summer. There are also no Mormon preschools here, so I've heard stories of little 3-year-olds coming home and telling their parents they'll pray over the food, and then they start reciting the Lord's Prayer. It's pretty great though!

A missionary saying I learned: "Knock once for their salvation, twice for yours." Sometimes you can just tell someone isn't home. But lots of people don't have cars, so sometimes you might be wrong. People will also "blind-check" you (look out their blinds to see who you are) and then just not answer. So you knock once to get them to answer and twice to give them a second chance.

Rain

Yes, it rains all the time here. It's rained every day for the past week. On Sunday, we planned Windows of Heaven, which is where you plan a solid couple of hours and a place in the neighborhood to just talk to everyone you see. Well, we pulled in to the park in Tifton on Sunday during a thunderstorm and looked at each other, then looked around at the depressingly empty parking lot. While we were trying to decide what to do, lightning flashed super brightly in front of us and there was an immediate thunder crack. We decided to go visit less actives instead. It turned out alright though! We met a few people we hadn't been able to get to before, and we planned Windows of Heaven for exchanges on Wednesday. It'll be great!

Y'all, I know God lives. I also know that that sounds super cliche, but it's true. You have no idea how few people realize that God is their loving Heavenly Father who absolutely loves them, to the ends of eternity. Something I've learned on my mission is that He is ALWAYS there for me. Always. No matter what. And He is ALWAYS there for you. If you were the only human being that came to earth, He still would have suffered in Gethsemane for you, and He still would have died for you, just so He would know exactly what you're going through and be able to help you along this rough road we call life. He's there. Remember that.

Love y'all! #prayforjoy

Love,

Sister McKay

Pictures:

A bunch of pictures some little girls took while we were visiting them.

Pictures of water towers (they're all over the place) and old buildings painted crazy colors.

Love Avenue and 4th Street.

A horse statue at ABAC college in town.

An actual swamp. (It's a really  bad picture but it's totally awesome.)

Me trying to take old fashioned selfies by holding my camera backwards.

Awkward is My Middle Name

July 10, 2017

I don't really know why I chose that title other than it is SO true. My new companion, Sister Harward, came up with that phrase this week after a few mildly awkward situations happened in a row. There's really no avoiding it. As a normal person, I tend to avoid awkward situations. As a missionary, you find yourself in so many different situations and with so many different people that you literally just cannot avoid those awkward situations. Just go back and read some of my previous posts. Maybe I'll try to remember some more hilarious ones for next week's post.

Tender Memory

This week, I thought of a sweet memory. I was contemplating what makes me happy in missionary work (because let's be honest, sometimes times get rough and you just need a reminder). This little story came to mind.

In Aiken, we had an investigator whose multiple grandkids (of all ages) lived at her house with her. She was talking to us about the two who were sitting on the couch next to her.

Now, people in general out here are very open an honest. About everything.

Our investigator was talking about these two grandkids who were sitting on the couch next to us as if they weren't there. She described how one of them was very quiet and sweet and the other one could be naughty and mean. His name was Nahlen. She was describing a couple of the things he did sometimes.

When she started talking about this, I looked over at him. After a second, he put his head in his hands and was very still. I could tell he felt bad. While our investigator talked with my companion, I sat down next to him on the couch.

"Nahlen? You okay?"

Silence. He put his hands in his lap and looked straight ahead.

"Hey. Guess what. You're pretty awesome."

Silence.

I thought for a second. What to do? How to help him?

I pulled a pass-along card out of my bag, a picture of Christ. (It's the one where He's walking out of the tomb.) I showed it to him and asked, "Do you know who this is?"

Nahlen looked up and shook his head no.

"That's Jesus. Here."

I gave him the card. He looked at it for a second while I thought of what to say next.

"You know what, Nahlen?"

He didn't say anything, just looked at the card in his hands.

"Jesus loves you," I told him.

He kept staring at the card.

"Now, who is that?" I pointed at the card.

He said the word: "Jesus."

"He loves you, right?"

Nahlen nodded.

"Yep, He does," I said. "Guess who else loves you."

Nahlen looked up at me.

"I love you."

What I didn't realize up till that moment was that I did. I really did love him. He was a child of God, just like me.

I think I got teary-eyed, too.

Nahlen kept staring at the card.

"Now, remember, that's Jesus," I said. "He loves you."

Nahlen nods.

Our investigator, Nahlen's grandma, turned and said, "It's true, He does love you. Jesus loves you, Nahlen! I love you, too!"

I smiled and got up off the couch because it was time to go.

"Nahlen, put that next to your bed, okay?"

Nahlen nodded.

"Remember that Jesus loves you. And I love you, too!"

Nahlen nodded and got up. We all gave each other hugs to say goodbye.

That's one of my absolute favorite little tender moments.

Now, since I'm out of time, here's my quote of the week: "Sorrow is not forever... Love is."

I saw that on an old man's wall. We call him Grandaddy (because he told us to). He was telling us about his wife who passed away just under a year ago and how much he loved her. It was so sweet.

Always remember that, y'all. Never forget it.

Love all y'all!!

And never forget that Jesus loves you, too. Remember Him.

Love,

Me

(Sister McKay)

Below the Gnat Line

Yes, that's a thing. Let me 'splain.

Bugs are bad in the south. But as you go further and further south, you pass an imaginary line called "The Gnat Line." It's where the bugs get really, really bad.

If you stop walking, you'd better have a free hand to wave the gnats and mosquitoes away.

Quote of the week: "People think us Southerners are real friendly, but it's just because we're waving away the gnats!" -Brother Flanders

#Whitewashed

Whitewash. 1. To get sent to an area of the mission that hasn't had missionaries for a while. 2. To reopen an area to missionary work. 3. To go on an adventure!!

I said goodbye to some good friends I made in the last three transfers, but I've met some amazing people out here! My new companion is Sister Harward, who goes home at the end of the transfer, leaving me to take over the area in a whopping 6 weeks. And she's the designated driver until right before then, so I'll have to learn how to get around in just the 2-3 weeks before she leaves.

Heh?

Yeah, I'll make it! I hope. :D

We've met some incredible people out here. Everyone has a southern accent, including (and especially) the leadership in the ward. I mean wow. I'm living in a story book.

The roaches here are 3 inches long, all the animals have fleas, and the gnats getcha. I've had to shoo so many out of the car.

I've learned not to leave my bag on the floor during lessons. You just don't. It's too risky (see previous paragraph).

I've also learned so much from Sister Harward. Oh man. She is a powerhouse. I'm learning to be myself and, most importantly, to be bold about the gospel. Always be bold about the gospel. There's nothing that has blessed my life more than knowing I can repent, than knowing I can be with my family for eternity, than knowing I can bring souls unto Christ.

Welcome to the Ward! Bear Your Testimony.

This always happens, so I wasn't surprised when the 1st counselor in the bishopric waved us up on Fast Sunday.

I bore my testimony about joy. That's been the theme of my mission. When I got into the MTC, I was struggling big time.

"What am I doing here? Why am I on a mission?"

I decided to pray for joy.

Oh it worked.

I became the craziest person in the district. I had more energy than I ever thought I would, and I was SO happy.

I know it was because Christ knew exactly what I was going through and what I needed. There's no way it was a coincidence. I was scared and apprehensive and anxious and worried, but I felt so much joy. I felt like I could take on the world with the Savior on my side.

Never forget how much God loves you and wants you to be happy. 2 Nephi 2:25 says, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." The whole reason Adam fell was so that we could come to earth, and the whole reason we came to earth was because God intends for us to have joy.

And yes, that means even in the hard times.

It's called the Plan of Happiness.

Love all y'all!!

And so does Jesus.

Sister McKay