There is sunshine in my soul, but none in the sky...

Happy Last Day of 2018, everyone! 

It's seriously so crazy to think about what has happened this past year.

- I completed my first year of college at BYU 

- I submitted my mission papers and received my call to Salem, Oregon 

- I came home and prepared for my mission 

- I went to the temple often as an ordinance worker before my mission 

- I entered the MTC and gave my last hugs to my family for 18 months 

- I flew to Salem, Oregon and have had experiences for the past 6 months that have changed me as a person. 

I've learned to be more obedient, selfless, diligent. I've had companions who have helped me to be more of the individual my Father in Heaven needs me to be. I've taught people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and have had the opportunities to see how it has blessed their lives, no matter their challenge or concerns. I've realized how immensely blessed I am to have the knowledge (despite how little knowledge that may actually be) of the gospel in my life. I've learned more about my Savior and His marvelous, unfathomable sacrifice, and what it truly means to us as children of God. I've come to see how I only know and understand the tiniest fraction of the gospel, but I've also come to see the blessings of seeking to know and understand more as I read the Book  of Mormon and pray. 

It's been a good year!

And next year is going to be even greater! 

This past week has been crazy! Sister Men and I have been doing a lot of walking and talking to people outside due to the lack of lessons and greater amounts of open time. It's been a huge blessing though! 

Sister Men and I have gotten to know each other pretty well in the short week and a half that we have been companions. She is a great companion and an awesome missionary and I'm super blessed to be here with her. 

Due to the holidays, we unfortunately have not seen the people we're currently teaching too much. People are just busy! But it's totally understandable, and we've been able to adjust well. 

After over a week of not seeing them, we were finally able to have a lesson with Brooke and her family! They've had a hard week due to challenges they face in their lives, and it was amazing to see the connection they made that they knew they could've done better if they would've put God first in their lives. We've seen them for the past few days and they said that they have felt so much better as they've had us over and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ with us. 

Cool miracle of the week: Carrie!

So I felt really prompted that we should go and visit someone who used to be taught my missionaries months ago. Her name was Carrie and it didn't really say why she wasn't being taught anymore. The only things it said in her bio was about her 10-yearish-old kid. 

So we stop by one evening and a middle-aged woman opens the door. We introduce herself and ask for Carrie (assuming that it was her), but she says, "okay, let me go get her". A few seconds later, out comes this 14-year-old girl. We were so confused! 

The conversation we had with her was weird but so awesome! She has one of the strongest testimonies of Jesus Christ that I have ever seen! She said that Jesus Christ was her Best Friend! I told her about the Book of Mormon and we gave her the invitation to read it, and when I handed it to her, she reacted like I had given her a special gift. It was so sweet! 

So the weird part is that the name and address match, but on our records of her, nothing in her bio matches with the conversation we had with her. We're not sure if it was just a fluke or what, but it was a tender mercy to have been able to meet her! 

I am so thankful for this past week and for all the miracles that we were able to see! When I came into the field 6 months ago, I received a challenge from my mission president to read the Book of Mormon with a specific color-coding system based on Christ, and then 4 months later President Nelson challenged the women of the Church to begin reading the Book of Mormon again and finish it before the end of the year. So...I was reading in 2 different places in the Book of Mormon at the same time. It was crazy...but I finished both of them! I finished one challenge on Christmas, and the other one a few days later! It was super fun to have been able to read the entire Book of Mormon twice within the first 6 months of my mission and it was amazing to see how much my testimony has grown in that span of time. My appreciation for prophets and my love for the Savior has grown so much! I am so thankful that I have the Book of Mormon to read over and over again, because I don't think I will be able to fully understand everything that is taught in it. I love the Book of Mormon so much- the peace and guidance that I receive from its teachings are things that I just know can't be received from anywhere else. 

What a blessing it is that God has given it to us for to read and study! 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week and remember that you are all children of God! Talk to you all in 2019! 

All my love, 

Sister McCown

He is the reason for the season!

Hello, world! Merry Christmas!!

I can't even believe that Christmas is already here- the time is just slipping through my fingers!

So much has happened this past week; it seems like much more than 8 days when I last emailed!

Firstly, my previous companion is now HOME! It was such an honor to be her last companion on the mission and I am so immensely grateful for all that I was able to learn from her. She is such an inspiration to me of the kind of hardworking, patient, fun missionary that I want to be!

Sister Boss left me on Tuesday of last week (holy cow, 1 week ago!) and 2 days later I picked up my new companion, Sister Men! She is a brand new missionary, straight from the MTC and she is awesome! She is so spunky and full of energy, but so kind and genuine! I love her so much already!

The 2 days that I was companionless, I was still in McMinnville, but I was in a trio with the spanish sisters, Hermana Plowman and Hermana Kilpack. It was really fun but also kinda weird! I don't know ANY spanish, so in lessons I would just sit there and try to look like I was paying attention, but slowly falling asleep on the inside because I couldn't say a word. But it was great! I learned a lot from them and I got to know them pretty well in just the couple days I was with them!

I also celebrated an anniversary this past week...6 months!! WHAT?!? I'm officially 1/3 of the way done with my mission and it hurts my heart. It's crazy to look back at the person I used to be when I left home, and the person that I am today. I have learned so so much, especially about the Book of Mormon and the gospel, and my testimonies of the principles that I teach every day have grown tenfold!

I can't fully put into words the gratitude I have for the gospel in my life...now that I have the opportunity to study it each day and my companion and I teach it to those who don't have it...I know that I could never live without the gospel in my life. It is just too important!

The blessings we can receive and the lessons we can learn far outreach the sacrifices.

The past couple days have been a little hard- no one wants to have lessons with the missionaries during the holidays!! I felt bad that Sister Men hasn't been able to teach many lessons the first week of her mission. Yesterday we didn't have a single thing planned, so when we weren't eating or studying, we were walking! We estimated that we walked about 7ish miles yesterday and it was super fun! It gave us plenty of time to talk and get to know each other. It was such a blessing though that most of the time we walked, it wasn't raining!

A Christmas miracle!!

Lesson of the Week: Everything will work out!!

I tend to stress myself out when things don't go as planned or when we don't have things planned, and we've seen a lot of that this past week! Sometimes missionary work is just harder than other times and these past couple days I've had a lot of feelings of inadequacy.

With a lot of prayer and study, I've felt a lot better. Yesterday morning, even though we didn't have a single thing planned, I had a lot of peace.

I know that it is only the gospel that can give us lasting peace and comfort. It gives me joy beyond description and I'm so thankful for the gospel in my life!

Thank you for all your love and support! I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and keep in your minds and hearts the true gift of Christmas- our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He truly is the reason for the season. I know that as we learn of Him, our faith will continue to grow, as will our desire to be better people and disciples of Jesus Christ.

I am so thankful to be here in Oregon, serving the people and teaching about Jesus Christ. I love this work!

Merry Christmas! Send me a quick email or letter and tell me about how your faith grew this Christmas season! 

Love you all!

Sister McCown

Man’s Greatest Invention – RAIN BOOTS!

Happy December 17th, everyone!

Holy goodness, how has time flown just so incredibly fast?!? Sometimes I can't even fathom how crazy it is.

Anyways!

This week has been awesome and a lot faster than other weeks! Maybe it's because it was my dear companion, Sister Boss's last week! So crazy!

Prayers were definitely answered! All week long we prayed specifically for busy days, but not just any kind of "busy"! We prayed for busy days that will help us to find those who are ready to be taught and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Busy days that will help us to feel that we tried our absolute best to teach and testify to people of Jesus Christ and His restored church. Busy days that will lead to helping others to make the promises of baptism with God!

Experiences of the Week:

-- The majority of Tuesday was spent walking outside and talking to those that we saw. It was so fun! It felt so good to be outside, even if it was the rainiest day of the week (which explains the subject!). We were wet pretty much all day and were grateful for anyone who would let us into their home for a minute. Rain boots are a miracle! They may not keep them entirely warm, BUT they keep them nice and dry, which is more than half the battle.

-- We had our Christmas Zone Conference this past week and it was so fun. That was probably one of the only Christmas parties that we will actually be able to go to, because we're just so darn busy doing missionary work! It was SO fun though- we had a nice lunch and then a three and a half hour talent show of the two zones. There was such a huge variety of talents- from skits to music to extreme juggling to mouth-stuffing contests to lip sync battles.

-- Yesterday at church, Brooke and her family finally came early enough to partake of the sacrament!! She has 4 kids under the age of 12 (so early Sunday mornings are a struggle to get to church) and they've been late every other time they've come to church. They walked in just before the sacrament prayer! We talked to them afterwards and she just radiated with light. Brooke loves going to church and knows how important it is!

-- While out proselyting, Sister Boss and I got a call from the mission president's wife. She said that they had just gotten out of a baptism service for a girl named Sarah, someone who I taught in Lebanon! She was a friend of a member who lived in Lebanon, but lived in another northern town, so we referred her to the missionaries there after we taught her a couple times. I was so happy- practically squealing on the side of the road. It was such a tender mercy for her to call me and tell me of the news that she had been baptized!

-- Transfer calls came in! I'll be staying in Amity! Surprised? For me, not so much! I've only been in Amity a little over a month now, so I'm glad I'll be here for a little while longer!

Only one week till Christmas! I challenge everyone to take this time up till Christmas to focus more on the birth of Christ our Savior and Redeemer. He really is the reason for the season!

Being a missionary, I'm not exposed near as much to what Sister Boss and I call the "commercialized Christmas" of presents and Christmas movies and Santa. I'm so focused on Jesus Christ that I actually forgot about all those things (which I'm pretty ok with). But I challenge all of you to take extra time this week to think about Christ and the role that He plays in your life.

There is a special sacrament meeting this upcoming Sunday for everyone! It's worldwide, so any building of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints you go to will be holding this one-hour special sacrament meeting all focused on Jesus Christ. There will be short spoken messages and tons of music, and I challenge each of you to attend one this upcoming Sunday and feel of the Christmas Spirit there!

Thank you all for your love and support! Talk to you all on Christmas! <3

Sister McCown

Joy to the World, Joy in my Heart

Happy Monday Everyone!

What a week it has been! So many miracles and so many experiences I wish I had the time to tell you all about!

This past week we went on exchanges, which simply means that I switch places with another sister missionary in another area and I spend 24 hours with her companion.

I went to Forest Grove on exchanges, and I was with Sister Peterson for the day. It was super fun being in another area and meeting new people. We saw many miracles and tender mercies in just the short time I was there!

One of those tender mercies was when we met a guy named Shane. We stopped him in the street as he was going to dinner (so he naturally didn't want to really talk to us) but as he asked him questions, we got him talking. He started talking about his family and his adopted son especially, and as he did so, he got teary-eyed! He loves his family and it's hard for him to be gone all the time for work.

We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and told him about how it was another witness of Jesus Christ and that it can bless his life more than anything else.

He said he would read it, but as we walked away, I realized that we didn't get his phone number so we could follow up with him and see if he had any questions. Man, was I kicking myself for that!

But here comes the tender mercy: a few hours later, HE texted US- thanking us for the book. That NEVER happens! We were amazed that he actually tried to get ahold of us, most commonly it's the other way around!

Probably the coolest experience of my mission thus far: 12-8-18

This is the entry from my journal-

"This morning, we woke up early so that we could get ready to be at the Salem stake center ( a 45 minute drive from McMinnville) at 7:30am. Within 15 minutes, President and Sister Tateoka began ushering us into the cultural hall to spend the next hour shuffling us around so we can line up for a picture to be taken. Every missionary in the Oregon Salem Mission was there, which has never been done while the Tateokas have been here, so it took us a while to get all situated!

We spiritually prepared until the doors opened and in walked...Elder Quinton L. Cook!!!

Elder Cook is an Apostle of the Quorum if the Twelve and he came this past Saturday to come and visit our mission! We had a 2 hour devotional with him and a few other leaders in our area and it was absolutely amazing!

The Spirit was so strong and I felt like I was within the walls of the temple, rather than a church building.

Elder Cook talked to us about having a sense of urgency in missionary work. To make every moment count. He talked about expressing gratitude and to have a greater understanding of how precious our missions are and the opportunities we have to be here.

After the meeting, we all stood as Elder Cook, his wife and the other church leaders walked out..you could hear a pin drop. It was amazing the reverence that 150+ missionaries had (all 18-21 years of age!) during the meeting.

I know that Elder Cook is an Apostle of God, a special witness of Him and one we can completely rely on to help us more obediently follow our Father in Heaven.

My testimony of the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ has grown so much- how lucky are we to receive guidance and counsel straight from God through His chosen servants!

My dear companion, Sister Boss, is leaving me! This is my last full week with her before she goes home! I have absolutely loved being her companion and sometimes I feel a little jipped because I didn't even get her for a full transfer (we had a short transfer for Christmas), but I am so eternally grateful for the opportunity I had to be her companion.

One thing (of the many things) that I've learned from her is to remember that everything will work out. I tend to get stressed out when things don't necessarily work as planned or in the timing we plan it, but Sister Boss has helped me so much to go according to God's timing and ways. Everything WILL work out!

She also just keeps me sane. She makes me laugh every day and I love all her quirkiness! She is also just an amazing missionary!

I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and love for all the things I've experienced, especially this last week. It's amazing to see how much missionary work changes as I come to truly love the people around me- to see them as children of God.

I'm so blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and to be diligently engaged in His work. What more could I want then to serve Him who has given me everything?

I love this work and the privilege it is for me to be here. Thank you all for your love and support. It means the absolute world to me!

All my love,

Sister McCown

Happy Happy December!

December...it's December? What?!? I seriously can't believe it's already the last month of the year...that's just insane!

The subject is a quote from someone we're teaching. We went and visited him a few days ago in the pouring rain and he called the rain our "liquid sunshine".

So it's been raining the past few days, but today there is hardly a cloud in the sky! It's super weird and my eyes hurt from the sun this morning...even though it's only been like 4 days without seeing it. Imagine how crazy it will be when I only see it once every couple of weeks!

In honor of the Christmas season, we had our Worldwide Day of Service on Saturday to kickstart Light the World. This day of service was a great opportunity for us to reach out to those around us and brighten their day.

Sister Boss and I decided that we should make a ward activity out of it! We decided to go and serve at a place called the Juliette's House (a home for abused children) here in McMinnville. When we told the members about our idea to serve there, they lit up and supported us fully! They got really excited, telling us about all the great things that the organization does for the community.

For the service project, we deep-cleaned their facility. They had a list of things for us to do and we expected maybe 15-20 people there. BUT...almost 25 members came!! It was so awesome! They planned to keep us in the two big rooms of the facility, but the members were so enthusiastic to work that we cleaned every room in the building! Cleaning windows, shampooing carpets, moving furniture, mopping and vacuuming, and so much more! I wish I would've taken a picture of all of us together- but we were just so busy working that I didn't even think about it!

It was a great thing to do in the community and it was amazing to see how many people participated on such short notice (we announced the service project 6 days before it happened!).

I love service!

Speaking of service...we also served a nonmember lady named Patty. She is a hoot! She is so funny. She took us on a mini tour of her property in the mountains of Amity- she has this pond and a goose named Emit. We talked to her about the purpose of life and why the choices we make here on this earth are so important.

I have a testimony that the gospel truly does change lives. It's absolutely amazing to see the difference in people as they apply the things that we teach them into their daily life.

I've seen this as we've been teaching Brooke and her family. Their desire to follow Christ and learn of Him was their first step in living the gospel and they are acting on that desire!

One night we had a lesson with them and they wrote on their calendar, "Church and Family Day" on every Sunday of the month. They also made a new rule in the family that the kids weren't allowed to have sleepovers on Saturdays so that they could all go to church as a family on Sunday mornings.

That just warmed my heart and truly testified to me how the gospel can change our hearts little by little to be in more accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel really does help us to be more like Jesus Christ and makes us happier! They are hand in hand!

I love this work and for all that I do as a missionary of Jesus Christ. I am so thankful to be serving here in Oregon, especially with Sister Boss. She is an amazing friend and an even more amazing friend! We are always laughing and having fun- but nonetheless, working hard all the time! She is a great example to me of the missionary I hope to be one day.

Thank you all for your love and support- it means the world to me!

All my love, 

Sister McCown