Goodbye, October and hello, November!
The other day I was reflecting on these past few months and how fast they've flown! The missionary schedule I live daily now is strict and concise, but so good for me! In some ways, I feel like I've been a missionary for a lot longer than 4ish months, and in other ways, I still feel like a "greenie" that just arrived in Oregon.
On Tuesday, Sister Schmoekel and I got to go to the temple and it was an AMAZING experience! Most of the day was spent traveling and being inside the temple, and by the time we got home, we only had an hour and a half to email, clean, eat and do our laundry.
It was such a physically tiring day, but so spiritually renewing! It was felt so good to be inside a temple after 5 months of not be able to attend one. It was so hard because before my mission, I went to the temple weekly, and now, we're just so busy and focused on the Lord's work that we only have a few opportunities to go to the temple.
I know that the temple is the Lord's house and is the closest place to heaven on this earth. The Spirit that can be felt there is timeless and just can't be found anywhere else! It is there that I am reminded of my divine identity as a daughter of God and spiritual energy feels like it's being injected into me. I came out feeling so pure and at peace with everything. I can understand why President Nelson challenged us to go to the temple more consistently and I urge every one of you to make it a priority in your life to go to the temple
This week was more mellow than weeks previous, sadly, concerning the people we're working with. As the clouds roll in and the time changes for daylights savings, our opportunities to talk to people outside just minimized tremendously! It's dark by 5:30 now and our strategies of missionary work have been shifted so much these past few weeks. Now we try to prioritize lessons in the evening, and the light we have during the day has become very precious to us! It's great though- it helps us to plan out our day more productively.
Wednesday was definitely one of those days. Because it was Halloween, we had to be in our apartments with the doors locked by 6pm for safety reasons.
To explain my email headline for the week, it's a joke between Sister Schmoekel and I that I was a leper for Halloween because pretty much all last week, I had hives (AKA nasty, itchy rashes that were splotchy all over my skin). So I had a costume this year for Halloween.
Was it by choice? Not really. Could I take it off afterwards? I wish...
We don't know the cause of it, but the night before Halloween I hardly slept because of the hives. Being inside and weekly planning on Halloween night was hard because I wasn't moving constantly until 9pm. Then the medicine I took made me really drowsy. The only thing that got me through that night was knowing that I just couldn't stop working. I'm giving my whole heart and soul into the Lord's work and I can't stop to breathe! It was a blessing, though, because I know God magnifies our every effort as we exercise our desire to follow Him.
Just an update:
The hives are gone now (thank goodness!) but it definitely made for some pretty interesting days! :)
Spiritual Experience for the week:
The Book of Mormon is amazing! I don't think I could ever fully express the love and gratitude I have for the Book of Mormon! I have seen it time and time again how it has opened hearts, answered prayers and been a guiding light in people's lives. Just this past week, I can think of multiple times that I have seen this on the street and in lessons, but because I don't have time to write a novel right now, I'll tell two of these experiences!
1. We had a Book of Mormon reading with Kelcey and the Spirit was so strong as we read 1 Nephi 8 about the iron rod and the tree of life with her and members in our ward. Before they came, we talked with the members about what we wanted them to specifically talk about (because one of the members had faced family opposition before he was baptized like Kelcey). He came in just at the right time and bore the most heartfelt testimony that was so much more natural and spirit-led had we not prepped him beforehand.
2. We had a lesson with Codi, someone we've been teaching for about a week now. Her 17-year-old son was baptized a few years ago and now she is showing interest, but comes from a pretty strictly religious background. We taught her about God's Plan for us and the importance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the Plan of Salvation. For the first 20 minutes of the lesson, she seemed really skeptical about the things we were saying. But what changed the entire atmosphere and really opened Codi's heart was when the member we had brought with us opened up to Alma 32 and bore her testimony of faith in God's Plan during the challenges we face. Her entire countenance changed and she accepted invitations to read the Book of Mormon and come to church next week- invitations we weren't sure she would've accepted had we not opened the Book of Mormon and brought it to life.
Something that really stood out to me was the importance of APPLYING the Book of Mormon to the lives of those we teach. They need to be able to connect to the words of the prophets and see how it is more than a story or history book. It is so much more- it truly is another testament of Jesus Christ!
I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and the bounteous experiences of peace and relief that it has brought into my life.
Thank you everyone for all your support- it means more to me than words can express.
Have a wonderful week!
Sister McCown
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