Hurricane

From Sarah/mom: I am so late posting this. Sorry!

9-13-17

Well, I survived my first hurricane! That was a trip! And we're all alive.

Short on time since I had to catch up on 2 weeks of emails.

We stayed in the mission home for 3 days. Monday was lockdown. On Sunday I got to go out with one of the Macon sisters and a sister from Savannah who also got evacuated. My first trio! We got a new investigator and it was the BOMB. Wow. It was a super amazing experience. I cried. For the first time in a while. Let's just say prayer works. It does.

Listen, y'all. I want you to pray. Tell God everything. I'll do it too. I promise it helps.

Love y'all!

Sister McKay

Man plans, and the Lord laughs.

The quote is from Stake Conference. It's so true. Sometimes we make plans in our lives and then something happens and those plans go down the drain. God lovingly chuckles and says, "Oh, dear. I have something so much better for you. Now let me help. You'll see."

This happened to me when I was figuring out college and, you know, plans. For life.

I had just started my first semester of college at Utah Valley University last year (that was last year?!), and I thought I was going to apply to be a girls' camp counselor at an LDS girls' camp in Kamas, UT, that year. The application was due in January, and I was already writing out my application essay. Whenever people asked me if I was planning on serving a mission, I would sigh and say (perhaps somewhat exasperatedly), "I haven't decided yet." I think I knew all along that I was going to be serving a mission at some point. But my plan was to see if I got accepted as an Oakcrest counselor. If I did, I was going to decide whether I wanted to serve a mission after the next summer was over. If I didn't, I was going to decide once the school year ended. It was too much to decide right then, I told myself.

Well, God chuckled.

Long story short, I received more than one prompting from the Holy Ghost that I was going on a mission. In 6 weeks, I had gone through the temple and my papers were submitted. In 10 days, I got my mission call to the Georgia Macon Mission. In 2.5 months, I left. God chuckled and told me it would all be okay.

Guess what.

It's all better than okay.

I've experienced quite a few challenges: getting used to being away from home, talking to everyone (literally everyone), meeting new people, moving around, getting used to new companions, dealing with disappointments when things don't work out with people we're teaching, and learning to take the responsibility to fend for myself, among many others.

But I can honestly say there's no better way I could be spending these 18 months of my life. Sometimes I do wish I was home, I'm not gonna lie. I miss the people there. But doing the Lord's work is so rewarding. I've come to realize how important and how amazing it truly is and how important it is for everyone to have it.

Listen, y'all. Here's the most important part of the gospel.

GOD LOVES YOU.

You are His child.

He loves you more than you can even comprehend.

That's why He gives us the gospel of Jesus Christ: He wants us to live with Him again!

Is that not the most amazing promise?

I love y'all too. I know God wants us to live with Him again. So take the steps to get there, will you?

Sister McKay

I dropped my cream cheese toast. And not only did it fall face down, it fell face down AND STUCK TO THE WALL. So. That was my laugh of the week.

Missing Peacocks

Great Companions Are the Best

Well, Sister Lanigan is the legit. She's from Cali and likes the color pink. And cherries. And calling me a gorilla and a donkey.

Last night, we were talking before going to sleep, but Sister Lanigan started "drifting into dreamland" (as she put it). She randomly said, "You look like a gorilla and a donkey..."

Me: "Umm, what?"

S. Lanigan: "Oh, um, sorry. I was kinda seeing things in my head. I saw my cousin and he had on a gorilla/donkey mask, so I was talking to him, but I said it out loud and you heard me."

Both: *bursts out laughing*

Gators!

No, not alligators. (I still haven't seen one, by the way. Hopefully I'll be able to check that off the list soon.) A lot of times, we missionaries call investigators just "gators," because it's shorter and we have to say it so often.

So.

We've been getting some great new investigators! The two we got on Saturday are Moses and Hannah. Neither of them knew much about Christ, and we were totally shocked. That had never happened to either of us before. EVERYONE in the south knows about Jesus!! So S. Lanigan totally taught by the Spirit, and we were both blown away. The lesson went so well! We taught the plan of salvation because Moses said he'd lost his parents in a fire when he was 15 and wanted to be with them again. Hannah said she'd come to church if we got them both a ride. They both said they'd be baptized!

So now we have to get them a ride to church.

And they live in Fitzgerald.

That's an hour away.

And nobody from the ward who's active lives over there.

Prayers, please! Miracles can happen.

Next week, we'll be on exchange during the lesson we have set up with him. My STL (sister training leader), Sister Bradshaw, is coming over from Albany for the day. She'll probably help me teach the Restoration, depending on how the Spirit leads us when we plan for their lesson that morning. If all goes well, we'll invite them to church, and hopefully we can have a member in Fitzgerald bring the two of them. A member named Princess who lives in Fitzgerald is getting back into church, so maybe having an obligation like that will help her come!

Please pray for us. These people need the gospel. Moses and Hannah need the gospel. Princess needs the gospel. And they barely know it yet.

I can't believe how much I've come to realize that on my mission. Every moment of the day, we need Christ. Especially when it gets hard, but mostly when it's not. Think of Him every day. Think of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane when you're about to make a wrong choice. I promise He loves you, because I've felt His love. I wouldn't be able to love the people here without the feeling I get from the Holy Ghost that God loves His children. It's an incredible feeling.

Never forget that God loves you. It sounds cheesy, but it's more true than anything else I've ever said in my life.

God.

Loves.

You.

"Love is patient. Love is kind. Love never fails."

Love all y'all!!

Sister McKay

Pictures:

A great big... thing... (I don't know what) in Fitzgerald.

Bible Way.

A church sign. "Exercise daily. Run from the devil. Walk with the Lord."

A totally legit sunset.

Definition of a missionary.

Elvis. And a giant chicken. Next to a "Roach Killer" sign. Could it get any more southern?

My trainer's street! This is for you, Sister Hale!

A McKay-esque cake.

Nametags.

A road. We see dirt roads like this a lot on our Ocilla/Fitzgerald trips.

The kitty fell asleep on my lap!

Aaaaaand another totally random thing you would only see in the south. (Who loses a peacock, of all things?)

New Companion, and Yes, I Took Over the Area

We went 70-some-odd miles yesterday.

Usually we go 30-40.

#SisterMcKayTookOverTifton

Yes, this usually happens. While a missionary gets used to figuring out where things are, they often go way overboard on miles. Right now, we have a total of 1150 miles to use this month, and that's 50 down from last month. The good news is that we should be okay on miles as long as we get a ride to the two district meetings this transfer that will be outside of Tifton. The bad news is that, while Sister McKay figures out how to arrange visits so that miles will be used most efficiently, miles are... not being used very efficiently...

But it's okay! Missions are adventures! That's why we have prayer. And inspiration.

My new companion's name is Sister Lanigan. She's from the LA area in Cali, and she went to high school in Park City, UT. She's the oldest of 3 and likes the color pink, milk duds, and cherries. She's the bomb, and I love her to death already!!

Shout out to my 8-year-old brother, Mason, who got baptized on Saturday! I couldn't be more proud of him. I'm sad that I missed his baptism, but I'm so happy that he's making the best decision ever!

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

(That's a saying I've heard from missionaries around here.)

Love all y'all!!

Sister McKay

A note from Amory's mom:
We decided very unexpectedly to buy a house in Herriman. It's such a great opportunity that we couldn't pass it up. We were pretty worried about Amory's reaction so we sent her an email and told her she might want to have her companion make a video of her reaction. Here are some screenshots of that video. She was surprised! But ALL smiles!

Just come to church! Read! Pray! -And Updates About Transfers

By way of transfers: I'm still serving in Tifton, and I find out who my new companion is when I go to pick her up on Tuesday

 morning.

One of the hardest things to get people to do as you teach them is to keep commitments. Here's why:

You meet someone who wants to learn more about the gospel.

You start teaching them about the gospel.

They get excited and say they want to learn more, and you invite them to (fill in the blank: read the Book of Mormon, pray about Joseph Smith, come to church) and they say they will.

They don't (come to church, read, etc.).

You come back and ask them why they didn't, and they tell you they (fill in the blank: slept in, forgot).

You repeat the process with them, and they still don't keep their commitment.

Here's the hardest part: You continue to repeat the process with them until you get sad. Why do you get sad? Because they have NO IDEA what they're missing.

The gospel - the Book of Mormon, the bible, the priesthood/authority to baptize, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Plan of Salvation - is the purest truth we have in the whole world. The joy repentance brings, the knowledge that we can be with our families forever, the comfort that Christ is always with us, the knowledge that we can truly be saved by being baptized by God's proper authority that has been restored to the earth - who wouldn't want that?

The joy, love, comfort, and excitement I feel when I ask God for help through Christ's Atonement every day is so, so real. I want everyone to feel it. That's why I'm on a mission.

If you haven't felt that joy in your life, pray. Ask God to help you find the truth. "Ask the missionaries! They can help you!" ;) (Quote by President Nelson.) And when you find it - when the missionaries come by to talk to you, or when you pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true, or when you read the scriptures, or when you go to church - ACT ON IT. I promise it will be the best thing you will ever do.

God loves everyone. I feel it every day when I talk to people and invite them to learn about the gospel. He wants us all to have the knowledge of the gospel and the knowledge that He loves us. Did you know that that's the very first thing we teach people in our first lesson? In the missionary pamphlets we use, the very first section we teach from is, "God Is Our Loving Heavenly Father."

I love spreading the gospel. I love my Heavenly Father. I love y'all. So does God.

Sister McKay

I don't really know what to title my post today.

Is that a lame title? Oh, well. Sorry! Low on time today.

Language

"It's been a minute." A different way to say, "It's been a while." Could also be phrased, "It's been a good minute."

Finna. Short for "fixin' to." Instead of saying, "I'm about to..." or "I'm going to..." or "I'm gonna..." you would say, "I'm finna..." It's a southern thing. Ex.: "I'm finna get a drink."

Member Tips

So, I figured if there's some of y'all out there that love having the missionaries over but don't know how to make them most comfortable or help them the most, I would give y'all some tips. Here's Tips from Sister McKay on How to Be a Helpful Member.

#1: Be friendly! Let them know (if possible) that if they ever need to stop by for extra water or popsicles or ice cream that they can come over whenever during the day. And tell them they're not allowed to knock but are expected to walk in like old friends. That'll help break the ice quicker than anything.

#2: Relax! If you're having missionaries over for dinner, get the boring questions out of the way first (where they're from, how long they've been serving, etc.). Then have a nice but casual dinner, and make sure they know that they don't have to eat anything they don't like. In fact, if there's something unique you know they might not like, offer to have them try it at your place so they don't have to feel obligated to try it somewhere else and won't feel bad if they have to spit it out. (I'm serious. Don't laugh.)

#3: Don't call them a hundred times a day! There's few things worse you can do than make a missionary feel obligated to spend their precious proselyting time making sure they don't offend you by turning you down or not answering your phone calls. Shoot them a text if you must, but the absolute best thing you can do for missionaries is just to let them know that if they need anything, they should ask. (And that you might be disappointed if they don't!)

#4: Always keep your commitments. If the missionaries challenge you to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, do it. Take it seriously. Make it a priority. Give it special attention. And be open with them. If they ask you to pray about what friends you could invite to church, do it, but be honest with them if you don't feel particularly impressed to invite anyone or you don't feel like you know how to do it. Ask them questions, and let them know you trust them. A missionary's job is to help you and your family come closer to Christ, and that's their goal when they meet with you.

This week, I tried Mountain Dew for the first time in my life. It was tasty! And it sure keeps me awake. XD

Love y'all to pieces! And so does Christ. Why do you think I'm on a mission?

God loves you. Remember that.

Sister McKay

Us trying to hold a really cool-looking sun.

What our desks look like.

Waterford Way.

CHURCH ZONE. #southern

The elders trying to play Sister Harward's violin at FHE. Needless to say, they had a... difficult time...

Oh, and "Shady Lane" drive-in. Who would think to name a drive-in something like Shady Lane?! It made me laugh.

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