Happy Monday everyone!

Yet another week has come and gone, and this week is transfer calls! WHAT?! Yup, you heard right! After this week, I will have officially completed my training as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I can't believe this time has come already, but then again, I never thought I would make it this far haha! 

Anyways, it's been another week of walking, talking, biking and teaching. Unfortunately, we haven't yet found anyone new to teach, but Sister Schmoekel and I are working hard to keep our heads up and our faith strong despite whatever challenge we may face! We had zone conference this past Friday, which really helped to lift our spirits and give us the motivation we need to persevere. President and Sister Tateoka are very inspired and taught us some things that we needed to do, little changes that will help us to be more obedient. Something that I am so blessed to have learned from Sister Schmoekel is the importance of exact obedience. It truly does bring blessings! 

So to explain the purpose of the Subject:

We met this guy named Joe, who we have met on the streets on Lebanon previously. We saw him earlier in the week and talked to him about family history and he seemed genuinely interested in creating his own family tree. So we set up an appointment with him and our amazing family history consultant on Thursday to help him. We are so excited (it was our first time doing family history with a nonmember haha), but literally 25 minutes before the scheduled time, he texted and said that he was busy. No reason. No forewarning.

I guess the adrenaline from not teaching very much during the week seemed to kick in, because we were not going to let that fly! We hop on our bikes and zip over to his house (which is conveniently only a few blocks away). We knocked on a door that we hoped was his, but no answer. We then talk to his neighbor for a few minutes, and just before we're about to leave, Joe walks out of the door we knocked on! We rush over and talk to him about why he skipped out on our lesson. Within 5 minutes, we pretty much guilt-tripped him into coming to the family history center, where the consultant was still waiting. Crazy, right?! We even got a return appointment set up to teach him. 

That experience taught me that I should always look for opportunities to try harder in helping people come to Christ- to be creative and go that extra mile! 

On a spiritual note, this is my thought for the week: 

I know that even though I am not learning a language like many missionaries throughout the world, I'm still learning a language...in a metaphorical sense. 

I am learning the language of the Spirit. It's a really difficult and complex language, too! To be able to listen to the Spirit and recognize its promptings is a talent- and one that will, for me at least, always be a work in progress! 

I've come to see how essential having the Spirit is in missionary work. I need the guidance the Spirit in all that I do, say and think! To be able to receive impressions for what someone needs to be taught, to know where to go and what to say to someone when we begin talking to them. It's hard! And I'm barely learning the basics! 

But I've grown to learn this past week that that's where faith comes in! I need to have faith to know that the Spirit will help me and guide me to know what to say in the moment that I need it. I need to have faith that God is preparing His children to meet the missionaries, and that we can find them! 

I always tell Sister Schmoekel that we're never just a companionship, but a trio, because the Spirit is always with us in the work of the Lord! 

I love this work and for the happiness and guidance that it has brought into my life! I am so excited to continue to share that with others and help them to experience those same blessings in their life. It truly is an amazing time to be alive!   

I love you all and I am so beyond thankful for all your support! 

Sister McCown 

Out come the rain jackets!

Yep...you read the subject right...the clouds have come to Oregon! It was early last week when we woke up to them...literally, the day before it was bright and sunny...and now the clouds can't seem to leave! It's the absolute weirdest when you wake up for your 6:30am run with a thick layer of fog over the whole town. Then you have to wipe your hair and eyelashes of the dew that built up as you ran. So weird! I am definitely not in Arizona anymore! 

It is quite interesting trying to bike and talk to people in the rain. No one really wants to talk to you, so many times you end up biking next to people as they walk so you can talk to them. Not awkward at all! Not to mention how insanely squeaky my bike gets every time it gets wet! But hey, at least we aren't confined to only walking in the rain!

Anyways, another week has come and gone. It wasn't by any means the easiest or most thrilling I've experienced on my mission thus far. It consisted of a lot of walking, biking, talking, being rejected and experiencing many lessons that fall through. All a part of the mission experience, I guess! 

This week we spent a lot of time contacting less actives in our ward that haven't been seen in quite a while. Many of them, we came to find out, moved out of Lebanon, but it gave us more opportunities to talk to people! 

No matter how hard or stressful Sundays may be, I always gain so much peace as I partake of the sacrament. I feel so spiritually filled as I take the time to think of my Savior Jesus Christ and all that He did and continues to do for me. 

There is no way I could be here without God at my side. There just isn't. 

We were expecting three of the people we're teaching at church yesterday, and none of them ended up on coming for various reasons, but all in all, it was pretty disheartening. 

But hey, every week has it's ups and downs! Actually, writing emails gives me a great opportunity to reflect on my week, and even though it didn't end as I had hoped, it helps me to remember all the miracles and tender mercies we saw during the week! 

One miracle: I have the BEST ward mission leader! 

He is seriously so awesome! He is like the "dad" of the mission! 

His name is Brother Miller, and he is a mechanic, which comes in super handy when you have bikes that are practically broken. Thursday night, Sister Schmoekel's bike broke yet again...but this time for good. Her brakes broke. Haha, yup, she broke her brakes! Brother Miller comes to pick up our bikes, with Sister Miller in her car to drive us home (this is about 7:30pm). He gives us the diagnosis the next morning that there was nothing he could do, and that the bike was so old there wasn't any practical solution. So Sister Schmoekel is currently borrowing Sister Miller's bike until we can find a more permanent solution. 

We love and are so thankful for Brother Miller, that Sister Schmoekel and I decided to make tshirts for him, just as a little thank you. We've been working on them steadily for the past 2ish weeks, and we conveniently found out that yesterday was his birthday! So we devised a plan with his wife to sneak into his house and surprise him. It was so fun! We gave him the tshirt and had him try it on, and he actually got a little teary-eyed. It was so sweet! 

I am so thankful for this gospel. It truly has been able to help me push through the challenges I face. Every moment when I don't think I can do one more second on a bike. Every time I wish I could just collapse on my bed and never wake up. Every day when I wonder if I've actually made a difference. 

It's amazing to me how much the gospel is helping me, when really, I'm sharing the gospel so that it can help others. And that's no coincidence! I know that God works through the weak and simple (ME!), because he wants us to be stronger. He wants us to rely and have faith and trust in Him, so that He can bless us and build us up. 

My testimony of the Plan of Salvation grows each and every day, because it gives me the eternal perspective that challenges don't last forever. That there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that God truly does assist and guide us in all things. 

I apologize for how scattered this email was- my whole life at this point is a little messy! Enjoy this scripture that has helped me more than words can describe. 

Alma 37: 36-37

"Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and withersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Sister McCown 

Line upon Line of Learning the Gospel

Hello, everyone! 

I can't believe Monday is already here...each week is passing faster and faster! We are already half way through the transfer- what in the world?! 

Anyways, this week has been so crazy! Sister Schmoekel and I have been working hard trying to find new people to teach, using every moment we can to talk to people. We didn't have many lessons planned throughout the week, so we had many opportunities! 

The work is BOOMING in Lebanon! It constantly amazes me how many people there are that are being prepared to receive the message of Jesus Christ. We have so much support from the ward, it is a huge comfort and blessing to us as missionaries. I don't know why God has blessed us so much- I know that I have not done anything to deserve or earn it. 

Biggest highlight of the week: Lance was baptized! AH, such an amazing experience! We have been teaching him since we got here (about 9 weeks ago), and he was so ready! I can't say I did anything to help him be baptized, he was pretty much handed to us from another ward. 

Teaching him actually made me realize how little I know the gospel. I barely know the scriptures, and I've barely scratched the surface of the doctrines of the gospel. It has actually been a lot harder than I thought to try to explain things that you have known all your life. You have to know the ins and outs and forwards and backwards of so many truths, it's crazy! It's hard to not know how to answer a specific question, or get tongue-tied on explaining things simply. Oh the things I have to learn! But that's what amazes me! There is constantly so much we can learn about Jesus Christ and His gospel. 

Spiritual thought of the week:

There's this line in Preach My Gospel that says, "Successful gospel study requires desire and action". I read this when I was studying on how I can study more effectively (ironic right?). And something just clicked!

This is what I wrote in my journal: "As I thought about it, that meant studying was also repenting. It is part of the repentance process! If true and sincere study is supposed to help us learn and apply skills and help us to be better (which it is!), then we are repenting. That is exactly was repentance is- turning to God and changing our ways to become better. When I said that, Sister Schmoekel agreed and pointed out that invitations we give to people are "calls of repentance" to those we teach and most often one of the things we challenge them to do is study from the Book of Mormon. Coincidence? I think NOT!" 

It is so immensely important to study from the Book of Mormon each and every day. It doesn't have to be extensively long or thought-out. It's kinda like brushing your teeth. If you brush your teeth every day for 5 minutes, that's good. But if you brush your teeth only on Sundays for 35 minutes...not good. I don't think many people would want to talk to me if I didn't brush my teeth. That's like reading the scriptures! Having a daily habit of scripture study is necessary for our spiritual survival in being able to resist temptation and feel the promptings and confirming witness of the Holy Ghost throughout our lives. I know that as we read the Book of Mormon and truly seek to applying the doctrines and principles we read into our daily lives, we will continually be refining ourselves to be more like our Savior Jesus Christ. 

I love my Savior, my Redeemer. I know He truly died for me and my sins, as well as for you and all your mistakes. I know that because He performed the Atonement, I will never need to feel alone or forgotten. He knows me! He knows better than anyone else the things I go and will go through, and because of that, I can draw power from the Atonement of Jesus Christ to endure! 

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!

Sister McCown 

September is here!

How could it be September already? I was sure Sister Schmoekel was joking when she flipped our calendar to September- how could that be?! It's so weird to think that one year ago, I was up at BYU, almost starting my first year of college...and NOW I am here in Lebanon on my mission. I have officially been here for 8 weeks in Lebanon!

We've seen some big miracles this week! For one, Sister Schmoekel and I currently have 4 people on date to be baptized! We have a baptism for Lance this coming Saturday on the 8th!! It has been such a cool experience to see how much he has progressed since we have started teaching him. We didn't even do anything- he was a referral! As a new missionary, I've pretty much been going with the flow of how do organize baptisms and all the little things we need to do to prepare him to be baptized, but it has been a life-changing experience. It's helped me so much to ponder upon the promises I've made with God when I was baptized 11 years ago, and how much I have taken it for granted. Just the promise that we can have the Spirit to be with us at all times as we keep Gods commandments is so priceless! There aren't enough words to describe it.

Sister Schmoekel has told me that it seems like every time she has gotten close to seeing someone be baptized, Satan works hard not only on the person being baptized, but also the missionaries. And this past week, we have seen that! We talk to so many people each day, and it's so easy to talk to everyone because we're on bikes, but NO ONE wanted to talk to us. Rejection met us at almost every turn all over the spectrum. People talking to us just to be nice, and then people who swear at us to go away. It's so hard to see people reject something you know to be true- something that has brought you so much joy and know that can bring them a lot of joy in their lives. But I know that not everyone is ready to hear the message quite yet. That's why we have to talk to EVERYONE- because God will always lead us to the prepared.

I came up with a cool analogy for sharing the gospel: It's like a cupcake. For me, it would be a triple chocolate cupcake with fudgy icing on the top (can you tell I'm a chocoholic?). I love this cupcake so much, that I want others to experience the joy that has come into my life from eating the cupcake. But I can't give others the cupcake because who knows when I'll see someone who will accept it? So, I prepare little cards with the recipe of the cupcake that I can hand out. And I can offer to come to their house to teach them how to make it. That's so much better than just giving them a cupcake, because after they've eaten it, it's done. But if I teach them how to make it, they can use it and eat it for the rest of their lives.

That's like sharing the gospel. I can tell people what I know to be true, and others can feel the Spirit, but our job as missionaries is to teach them how they can feel the Spirit in their lives by living the gospel of Jesus Christ: by reading the Book of Mormon, praying, going to church, being baptized!

My knowledge of the Book of Mormon has grown exponentially. I still have yet SO much to learn, but I can see how much it's improved, and how my gratitude and love for the Book of Mormon has increased with it.

This past week I have pondered on the question: What is the Book of Mormon to you? Specifically to YOU, what is it?

I wrote this question at the beginning of my copy of the Book of Mormon and have begun answering the question:

- evidence that God loves all of His children

- the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

- a testament that we can receive personal revelation!

- a witness that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God to restore His Church

- evidence that God has called prophets and continues to call them today

- a shield.

My list is continuing to grow. So how would you answer the question? What is the Book of Mormon to you?

I am so thankful for all of your love and support. I love this work and the opportunity I have every day to be apart of it! Have a great week! <3

Sister McCown