Macon Miracles

So. Praying for miracles this week.

People

Joseph and Mary were progressing really well until we brought up the Word of Wisdom. I think they might have gotten overwhelmed. They told us they wouldn't be joining after all, but we said we could still come back and visit and they said that would be okay. Pray for them! I think as we keep visiting them and help them gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, they'll eventually come around. We'll see.

Patrick hasn't been able to meet with us for a while, so we're working on catching him!

Nikki is an investigator that we're praying really hard for! She let us in one day because it was hot and we were tracting, and she gave us some water. She is so sweet! We're hoping the rest of her family will want to listen to the lessons, but we'll see what she says this next week.

Story Time

So, last week I had no time left to write my post. Here's what y'all missed.

Last Wednesday, there was a big storm near us. We weren't really affected, but we were on lock down with the rest of the zone, so we had to stay inside. The rain out here is real rain! It's so... wet... And I mean, it doesn't just kiiiiinda rain for a couple hours. It rains. All day. Lots of it. So we were inside. And we were bored. Very... bored...

We decided to make a blanket fort. It was so legit. And awesome. And wonderful. We watched Legacy in it, on our little DVD player, and had milkshakes for dinner. Seriously, it was painfully boring. But it was fun! Ya know, kinda.

Later, we heard that one of the ward missionaries from the Coker Springs ward (the other ward in our building) lost power at their house and had a tornado pop up. That was a little scary! But it was a little tornado that didn't cause too much damage, so everyone was fine and dandy. For the most part.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Sister Hale is a whole foot shorter than me, so it makes for some interesting conversations. I'm so tall and she's so short that she can stand on that bed in the picture and we'll still be almost the same height! The funny thing is that we get asked all the time if we're actually sisters, because our badges say "Sister." We surprised someone once when we told them we weren't biologically related. I definitely laughed!

Learning Curves

Well, people have agency, that's for sure. I've been learning that in-depth lately. Sister Hale and I have had some awesome chats about it during companion study. The cool thing is that people can choose to accept our message and apply to their lives! The less-than-cool thing is that people can also choose not to accept our message and apply it to their lives. Sister Hale says, "Agency is a blessing and a curse." It's really true. Used correctly, agency is a wonderful and beautiful gift that can bring us back to Heavenly Father and help us become like Him. Used incorrectly, agency will lead you away from Him and away from His presence. Agency is a divine gift. Don't forget that God gave you freedom of choice. It's the one thing He gave us that is truly and wholly ours to give back to Him. Use it wisely because it will change your eternal destiny.

"Remember that, if you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain." I know it's cheesy and you hear it all the time. I used to think, "But the rain is awesome!" Well, yeah, it is. But that's not what the quote means. It took on new meaning for me just this morning. We had been talking to our district leader the night before after we reported our numbers for the week, and we told him how the week had been a little rough and long. This morning, we got a text from him with that quote. It really reminded me that, as long as I'm giving it my all and doing my best to help others come unto Christ, God is going to bless me.

Rainbows are coming.

Go give 'em heaven!

Sister McKay

No time!

Mom/Sarah:
Amory wrote responses to 4 questions I asked her. Apparently she had a very busy day so she couldn't write a lot.

Amory: 
Sorry, peeps, I have no time today!

Mom:

What do you eat for breakfast?

Amory: 

I mostly have bagels and cream cheese. Toasted ones.

Mom:

What have you been eating at people's homes lately?

Amory: 

We haven't been eating at people's houses much lately because it was conference and people didn't get a chance to sign up on our meal calendar during Relief Society. So we haven't been eating anything weird.

Mom:

When do you get to drive?

Amory: 

I've been driving for 4 weeks! It's super nice to be in control. Haha. ;)

Mom: 

We heard about some bad weather. Did that affect you?

Amory: 

We had to stay inside ALL DAY because of the bad weather! It was painful. But it just rained at our place. One of the brothers in the Coker Springs ward had a tornado near their house. They live 5 minutes away from us! Yikes! Oh, and thunder and lightning is way cooler out here because it actually rains!

The gospel is true, the Book is blue, and Moroni's on a ball!

Hallelujah,

Sister McKay

Striking Gold

P-day and Transfers

Good news! We had enough money for food today! We got our cards reloaded because it's the beginning of the month. We usually eat dinner at members' houses, but we ran out of breakfast foods for a few days. Don't worry, I still had other food! It was fun. Good times. Missionary life is the bomb.

Transfer calls were Saturday after the second session! Half of the elders (3 of the 6) in our district are getting transferred, but my comp and I are staying together! That means I'll probably kill her off because she only has one more transfer after this one. And by "kill her off," I mean I'll see her leave. Oh, yeah. That reminds me.

Language

Windows of Heaven. A two-hour block of time set aside where a companionship prays about a time and place to go walking around an area to talk to everyone they possibly can. This does not include knocking on doors. It can be much more effective because you certainly seem more human when you greet someone cheerfully as they walk past than when someone opens a door and you say, "Hi, we're missionaries-" *slam* (An example of the effectiveness of this to be given in the section titled, "Umm, People!! Obviously..."

Kill. To be your companion's last companion and be the one to send them home.

And then there's this one...

Die. To finish your mission and go home.

This one gets me every time. Because Sister Hale only has two transfers left, I'll probably (1) kill her off and (2) see her die. That is, like, super weird. She'll be on the phone with the elders during call-arounds, and I'll just hear Sister Hale say, "Yeah, you'll probably see me die." I'll be taken aback for a second, then realize it's mission lingo, sigh, and shake my head.

And then...

Funeral. An event held at the last district meeting before an elder or sister finishes their mission. Held to commemorate and celebrate their mission and to say goodbye.

I think I'll end up in charge of Sister Hale's funeral.

Umm, People!! Obviously...

On a happier note...

I bet all y'all thought that, by "striking gold," I meant getting our cards reloaded for food. Not the case.

Patrick

We met Patrick during Windows of Heaven. Here's why this was a miracle. For Windows of Heaven, we prayed and felt good about going to this one community called Gatewood and walking around there to talk to people. When we got there, the first person we ran into was Patrick. We talked to Patrick a little about the Restoration, asked him if he'd like us to come visit him, and got his address and asked him when we could stop by. Great! He seemed like a neat person. One down, lots more to go.

Or not...

The next person we talked to was the manager... lady... person... I'm not sure what you would call her. But she came up to us and was super duper friendly. She told us that, unfortunately, she couldn't let us stay. We thought she might be under the impression that we wanted to knock on doors, so we asked her if we could just walk around and talk to people. She looked really sad and said, "Unfortunately, no... My phone will start ringing. But I really think it's wonderful that you girls want to do this! I just can't let you stay." We thanked her and headed out, feeling a little sad and maybe aimless because now we had a whole two hours of blank time. We ended up heading somewhere else and kinda visiting some people and doing Windows of Heaven around there instead.

But here's the miracle.

When we stopped by Patrick's house the next week, he didn't answer, but we tried again the week after that and were able to have a lesson on his porch! He answered the door with a toothbrush in his mouth. Umm... slightly awkward! But we waited for him and taught the Restoration. We mentioned the word "baptism" about once at the beginning of the lesson while we were talking to him about why we wanted to teach him. And then we asked him to pray.

The end of his prayer included the words, "...and hopefully I can join this church..."

*Missionaries explode inwardly with excitement while trying not to conduct themselves in an overly enthusiastic manner outwardly when the prayer is finished*

I mean... WHOOO!!!!

Video game voice: "The gold has been struck."

We set up a return appointment with him, and we're teaching the Plan of Salvation and hopefully getting him on date for baptism! We just have to get him to church. It might be difficult for him because he works a lot of night shifts. Prayers.

Ready for the next miracle?

Joseph and Mary

Yes, you read that right. We met a couple whose names are the same as Christ's earthly parents. Is it a sign?

Well, no. But here's the story.

The elders in Coker Springs have been giving us lots of referrals lately. They met Joseph in Walmart and got excited, but then they realized he's in our area. I think that's happened more than once now! So they sent us his info. We weren't able to get over there until Wednesday, but here's what happened.

We had planned in to go see an older sister in our ward named Sister Keaton. She is the sweetest lady, and she's always home. Well, on Wednesday evening she wasn't home. We actually still don't know why. But we had no other plans and weren't really sure what to do. So we prayed. Sister Hale is usually the idea person in our companionship. Sometimes I get ideas right away, but usually my mind goes blank. My mind did it's thing, so I waited for Sister Hale.

"Do we have any potentials we need to follow up on?"

I'm the record-keeper. It's something I love to do and that I'm good at. I pulled out my planner, in which I keep a list of potentials and their info in the "Potential Investigators" section. I scanned through the names, trying to pick one out that we hadn't tried yet.

"Oh! Joseph," I said. "The referral the elders met in Walmart."

"Okay, let's go try him."

We got to Joseph's home, a trailer (not uncommon out here), and knocked. After taking care of his dog (literally everyone out here has a dog), we talked to him and told him we were missionaries just like the elders he met in Walmart.

"Oh! Great! Come in!"

His wife was in the other room, he said, so we went in and started talking to him. He was extremely friendly. At first, he seemed like one of those people who just wants to meet and talk to you about Jesus but not change religions. That's happened to us a lot in the past six weeks.

We started talking about the gospel and baptism. I talked about how baptism by proper authority was important. I used the analogy about a random person trying to pull you over on the freeway versus a policeman with authority trying to pull you over. I related it to baptism by proper authority and asked him if it made sense.

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," he responded, deep in thought.

Sister Hale asked him, "As you come to know our message is true, will you be baptized by that proper authority?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely."

*Missionaries' eyes widen as they explode internally while trying not to seem overly enthusiastic outwardly*

Video game voice: "The gold has been struck."

His wife came in towards the end after being on a phone call and he said to her, "I think I'm gonna join the Mormon church."

*More explosions*

We invited them to conference, and they came! Whoo! We're hopefully getting them on date for baptism during our lesson this Friday.

Now, ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?

Pray for gold.

Sister McKay

Peoples is Peoples 2

Once upon a time, Sister McKay actually found time to send pictures!

Language

Eterna-gator. An investigator who doesn't want to get baptized but does want to keep investigating. For example, we teach a 69-year-old lady named Mildred who says she believes in God but isn't going to change religions unless she believes God is directly leading her to do so.

Which He is.

Through us.

Oh, well. She loves us and wants to learn more, but we'll have to stop going to see her because she's become an eterna-gator. Sadness.

White-washed. When two new missionaries are sent to an area. Most of the time, it's staggered so that missionaries don't have to start all over. One missionary will already be in an area, and another missionary will get transferred to be with them, learn about the area while they're together, and then be the one to stay when another missionary gets transferred to the area in place of their first companion. No one particularly wants to be white-washed to an area. But it could happen! And transfer calls are this weekend, so we'll see if it does.

Wait.

Transfer calls?

*distant screaming*

Have I already been here almost a whole transfer?!

People

This week, Terra, the girl who was baptized on the 18th, got pretty sick. She was throwing up an such. So the elders gave her a blessing. We weren't there, but she did get better after a few days! She didn't come to church on Sunday, and we're not sure why, but we have plans to go see her this week, so we'll see if we can figure that out.

Two Tuesdays ago was District Meeting, in which we set a goal to contact 10 people every day. Since we were already halfway through the day by the time District Meeting was over, I asked everybody if we were going to go with only 5 contacts that day. They said, "Whaaaat! Sister McKay, you gotta have some faith!"

Whoops.

So, we had faith. And Sister Hale and I got 15 contacts that day.

I may or may not have had to repent.

Tiffany came out of those 15 contacts! She is the sweetest lady! She's in her 20s, and she let us in right away. She had seen the Restoration video and really liked it and related to it (whoo!!), and she told us we could stop by. We taught the Restoration and asked her to be baptized in the first lesson! And she said she wants to be baptized!

But... she wants to be baptized... with her child.

Um. Heuston, we have a problem. (Yes, I spelled "Heuston" right. Ask Indigo.)

So, she's not married, nor does she have any children. I quickly explained that they would have to be 8 to be baptized, thinking that she would say, "Oh, okay. Well, then, sure!"

Instead, we got, "Well, we can wait, right?"

Ummm... For your salvation?! N-not really!

Hm.

So, we'll be working on that.

Macon Miracle

Because I'm being trained, we had to drive 300 miles round-trip to Macon for a training a couple Saturdays ago. We have 1200 miles a month. And we have a lot of driving to do because we cover an area with really spread-out houses.

We asked a member if she would be able to take us out to Wagener, a tiny town that's kinda out in the country. She said yes! And we got a new investigator out of it!

That was our #MaconMiracle of the week.

I want y'all to remember that Christ is the source of all the joy we feel. And never forget it.

Sister McKay

Peoples Is Peoples

"The Lord had a perfect church... until He let all of us inside."

-President Eyring's dad.

Day in the Life

I've discovered that there are two important measurements by which missionaries live: Transfers and miles.

Transfers are every six weeks. We do certain things once or twice a transfer. For example, we are required to clean the car at least twice a transfer; Zone Conference is once a transfer. And miles are basically what determine how we go about each day. We had to drive to Macon this week for a training (because I'm new), and that carved out a quarter of our miles for the month. It was a little painful because that means we'll have to do a lot of walking, and that's not as efficient as driving. Oh, well. #positivity!

I've started referring to myself as "Sister McKay" when I talk to myself. It is so weird. I've almost forgotten that my name is Amory on more than one occasion.

Language

Birth. When I came out into the mission field, I was born. My trainer, Sister Hale, gave birth to me. She is my... (cue next definition)

Mission mom (parent). Your trainer.

Death. When your companion is sent home, they die, and you kill them off.

Lock your heart. *thud* This is a phrase used by some missionaries in reference to a talk given to a group of missionaries some time ago. If anyone in our district mentions something about someone of the opposite gender, the missionaries around them say, "Lock your heeeeaaaart!!" in a high-pitched voice. It's gotten a bit annoying. But it's still funny. The "thud" comes after. You use your fist to stab your heart, then turn your fist like you're turning a key. It's actually pretty great. I love it!

People!

So, I only have a couple minutes. But Terra was baptized! Sister Hale and I couldn't be there because we had to go to the training in Macon, but we were there when she was confirmed! It was awesome! It was cool to have a baptism already in my first month. Terra is awesome. She turned 16 the day she was confirmed, and she gave up coffee and tea! It was so cool! She told us that she actually spit out some tea she accidentally drank last week! It was pretty great.

Alright, I wish I had more time, but know that I miss all y'all!

THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!

Sister McKay

In which, Sister McKay is kissed. Wait, what?

Exchanges and blisters:

So, I went on exchanges with Sister Bradshaw this Wednesday and Thursday. She's one of the Sister Training Leaders. I was in North Augusta, SC. It was fun! We visited some less actives, and we knocked a lot of doors. Let's see...

Oh! Good news! I got my first mission blisters!

WHOO!

Because of the limited miles we have per month (1200), and the fact that we have to drive to Macon this week for training (which is 300 miles away), we've decided to have a car fast every week. That means we walk everywhere. We don't use the car for anything whatsoever.

That also means we get blisters. And we knock. A lot.

But you should have seen Sister Hale's face when I realized I was getting blisters and was all excited!

Also, first door slammed in my face this week. That was monumental. It went something like this:

Sister Hale and Sister McKay walk up to a house and ring the doorbell.

A man answers the door.

Sisters Hale and McKay: Hiii!!

The man slams the door.

We walk away.

Sister McKay later realizes how sad this is, but at the moment is just gleeful because she isn't phased and is willing to continue working with a (perhaps overly) positive attitude.

In which the kiss is explained:

Soooo, all y'all are probably wondering why on earth I said I was kissed.

Well, truth is, I was.

By an old lady.

Probably one of the friendliest old ladies I'll ever meet.

As evidenced by the title.

On exchanges, we went to her house. She was apparently kind of high because she had just gotten back from the hospital where she'd gotten two shots for a strange bug bite she found that made her face turn red.

0_o

Anyway. She fed us girl scout cookies and milk, showed us her backyard (which was absolutely gorgeous!), and sat and talked with us about, um, working in the OR (operating room). Interesting stories were told.

As we were leaving, we prayed with her and her son in their garage (through the smell of cigarette smoke). Then she gave us each a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

It was fun!

I love missionary work.

Terra:

Terra is 15 and is totally golden! I think I mentioned her in my post last week. I came into the picture about two lessons in, but the story is as follows.

Terra has a few Mormon friends.

They brought her to church and seminary.

She said she wanted to be baptized.

They said they'd better call the missionaries.

The missionaries met with her and taught her 1.5 lessons.

She prayed about baptism.

The third time she met with missionaries was when I came, and she said, "I prayed about march 18th, and I want to get baptized. I talked to my mom. We're good to go."

Missionary: *tries not to explode from happiness*

So, in the past two weeks, we've taught her all the lessons, planned her baptism, and watched her progress exponentially. It's so amazing! She gave up coffee and tea in an instant and hasn't (purposely) had any since our Word of Wisdom lesson. She's basically set for everything else. And when we came for our fifth lesson with her, she and her member friend had already sat down and planned literally the whole program for the baptism. Sooooo... Yeah.

The only problem is that Sister Hale and I can't go because we have a training meeting in Macon that day and her baptism has to be at 11:30. Sadness. But the cool thing is that she's going forward with it anyway!

In which Sister McKay realizes she refers to herself as Sister McKay:

That was just plain weird. I was going to say, "In which Sister McKay says goodbye," but it came out like that instead.

Alright, well. I love all y'all!! And I miss you!

The work is hard, but here's one of the quotes that has kinda become part of my personal motto:

"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."

-Majorie Pay Hinckley

Sister McKay

"Hi, my name is Sister McKay, and I'm addicted to the Spirit."

There was an elder in my zone at the MTC who introduced himself like that, and I liked it, so I adopted it. Kinda.

Fun Facts of the Week

Macon, GA, holds the world record for most denominations per square mile. Yes, that's right. The world record. The cool thing is that most of those denominations have a focus on Christ, and literally everyone out here knows who Christ is, whether they believe in Him or not. Makes my job just that much eaiser.

Gas is, like, so much cheaper in Aiken than back home. It's also crazy out here because neighborhoods are so different! On one street, there could be super nice houses, and on the next street, it could be trailers, and on the next street, it's ghetto. And no, I'm not using that word incorrectly. But it's so cool to see how the people live. It's really made me think. There's one little apartment complex that's made out of old stables, and some people out here don't have cars, but they pay for phones and rent. One person we teach, named Theo, hasn't had electricity for a while. But hey, he's come to church a couple times!

Language Practice

Apos. Short for "apostate." Pronounced "AY-poss." If something is apos, it's against mission rules. For example:

Sister McKay(siniging): "You don't have to try, try, try, try-y-yyy!" (popular pop song)

Sister Hale: "That is SO apos!!"

Sister McKay: "AAAHHH I'm sorry!!"

Tool. A word Sister Hale uses to describe people who are annoying or rude or who tease her. For example:

Elder Billman (he's in my district): "Sister Hale, your skirt looks like basketball shorts." (It kind of does, I won't lie. But it's a running joke.)

Sister Hale: "You're a tool."

Chitlins. A dish made in the south. It's pig intestines, basically. I haven't had any yet. Sister Hale said she's only had it once. 0.0

People!

We visit one family from Honduras, the Martinezes. They're less active, but we go visit them. They are so awesome! What little I've learned of Spanish is paying off, and I've learned a few things from them! Here's my favorite one:

"Nuestros Padre Celestial, gracias por la comida."

And then there's this one: "Gracias por dejarnos entrad en su casa."

Whoo! They told me I have a pretty good accent and that I'm good at rolling my R's. Haha!

We have someone on date! Her name is Terra and she's 15. She's been coming to church, and Sister Hale and her last comp taught her the Restoration and part of the Plan of Salvation. She's given up tea and coffee, and she's on date for the 18th! I am so excited!!

I've never smelled so much smoke in my life. It's crazy. We visit an old lady named Mildred who's a chain smoker. The elders always look at us weird when we come back from her house. It's great.

Joy

Psalms 16:11 says, "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

There are so many reasons to have joy! I'm talking to people about the gospel all day every day. Like, what?! I'm going to miss that when I come home.

I just got called weird by one of the elders.

I said, "Thanks!"

He said, "Well, you're not as cool as you think you are."

"Thanks!"

"I can't insult her! She's too happy!"

I love life. Here's something I wrote in personal study this morning.

I don't want people to go through life without joy.

Without joy, life is sad. I becomes dark, gray, miserable.

Without joy, death is full of sorrow, unknown, and endings.

Without joy, life is meaningless, pointless, and worthless.

With joy, life is beautiful. It becomes bright, colorful, and vibrant.

With joy, death means contentment, surety, and beginnings.

With joy, life is meaningful, purposeful, and worthwhile.

Joy comes from knowing the Savior.

If you know the Savior, you see the word "Creator" written on the rocks, the leaves, and the life.

If you know the Savior, you marvel and wonder at His works and at His omniscience.

If you know the Savior, you remember His resurrection when death occurs, and the great Plan for which He died.

If you know the Savior, you know why we're here. You know that He can help you make it through any trial, overcome any sin, and find His peace in any confusion.

If you know the Savior, you can find Him and feel His everlasting, true, and perfect joy.

THAT is why I want to share the gospel.

Because God made it possible for all of His children to come unto Him and find peace and joy forever.

All I have to do - and all YOU have to do - is share it.

Sister McKay