Happy Monday everyone! I can't believe yet another week has gone by (wow...it's crazy how much I tend to say that!), but it's so true! Especially this week, we had a lot of things going on that just made it fly by!

Every Tuesday, we have this thing called a "car fast" which basically means we can't use the car at all every Tuesday. It's kinda hard, but it is so good for us. We spend practically all day outside if we don't have lessons, so we have tons more opportunities to talk to people we meet outside. We've seen a lot of miracles from it as well!

This past Tuesday, Sister Leifson and I wanted to go see some people that were on the other side of our area (about a 2 hour walk from our apartment each way) so we snagged the bikes from the other sisters and rode around all day! It was a major flashback to the beginning of my mission (my first area was a biking area for 3 months)! All the memories of slamming on the brakes to talk to everyone on the sidewalk, sweating as you enter every house and facing the common struggle of finding a sturdy pole to lock up on our bikes on. It was great though and I loved it! We ended up biking over 30 miles that dsy... and let's just say Sister Leifson and I were pretty sore the next couple days afterward... :)

On Thursday, Sister Leifson and I got to go with Ashley to the temple to do baptisms for the dead for her first time! It was an amazing experience and it was my first time doing baptisms for the dead in the Portland temple. I love the temple so much and it's amazing how much of the Spirit can be felt there.

Ashley was able to bring 6 female names of her ancestors to do their baptisms, and the baptistry was overflowing with the Spirit as she was baptized for them. She was so overcome that she was weeping in the baptistry. She was so happy for her ancestors and the opportunity they will have to accept the baptism she did for them, and it brought a lot more meaning and reality in what we are doing as we do temple work for our family. It truly is a miracle! How blessed we are to have the power of the temple in our lives to help us have a more eternal perspective and to bring our families together!

This past week I also went on exchanges! Hermana Larson from McMinnville came up with me to Forest Grove and we had a good time. She is a really good missionary- super bold and super kind! I loved getting to know her and she was a good example to me of the importance of talking to absolutely everyone we see outside.

This past week we've also been working a lot with a young recent convert named Lillie. She's been struggling to come to church these past few months because she doesn't have very many kids her age at church, but we recently got back into contact with her and she is the cutest thing!

She is nine years old, so the lessons we had with her all have activities and crafts for her to do. She loves them!

This past week we couldn't have a technical lesson with her, but we were able to stop by and see her to give her some coloring pages of Jesus Christ. We were walking to her hour when she pulled in the driveway, and her face just lit up like a Christmas tree! She was so happy to see us and excitedly showed us the assignments we gave her to finish. She also said she would come to church on Sunday...and she did! It was her first time to church in over 3 months! Not only did she really enjoy it, but she wants to come in the future! We have some super fun upcoming lessons with her that we are really excited for and I'm really looking forward to!

Spiritual note of the Week:

This past week in my studies, I've been thinking a lot about the Plan of Salvation, and most specifically, the premortal life. It absolutely amazes me to think of the life we lived before we came to earth, and that even though we were only spirits without a body, we spent our time learning and progressing. Our whole lives- before mortality, here on earth, and after this life- is all about PROGRESSION!

I love thinking about all the questions marks of the gospel- and in the Plan of Salvation, there are many! I've learned that I'm the type of person that wants and feels like I need to know everything! I've learned that I don't like question marks and it, at first, made me impatient to think of all we don't know about pre mortality and what will specifically happen after this life. But as I've studied it more and truly pondered and prayed about it, I've gained a peace of mind that I don't really have to know or understand everything! I'll never know everything, no matter how much I may want to. But right now...I'm okay with what I do know now and I have comfort in knowing that I will continue to learn and grow. My testimony has grown so much and I'm so excited to see how it will continue to grow. This gospel is amazing and has become the foundation and center of my life.  That testimony has only come and will only continue to grow as I've studied it through the Book of Mormon, prayer, and acting in faith on what I am learning. How blessed I am to be on a mission and having the opportunity to learn these things!

I love this gospel and I love all of you! Thank you for all your love and support. I would love to hear from any of you and I hope you have a wonderful week!

All my love,

Sister McCown 

Mother Nature can't make up her mind: sunscreen or rain boots?

I just don't get it!! I thought I could pack my rain boots in my luggage until winter, but Mother Nature had her own ideas! This whole week has been so cloudy and the Oregon spit (constant drizzle) has dragged on this whole week! It's been crazy, and a little sad, because I was JUST starting to get tan lines from my watch, rings and knee-length clothes! Oh well, maybe this is a blessing in disguise: this gives us more time to figure out how to install our AC box before the sweltering heat comes back. 😁

Other than the drastic change in weather, this week has been good!

We had a lesson with a cute 9-year-old named Lillie who was baptized last year. She's been struggling to come to church because she doesn't have any friends and doesn't think it's entirely entertaining. For our lesson, we brought over fun activities to go along with the lesson. When we pulled out our rainbow pack of 20 colored markers, her eyes got so big. She yelled, "Ooh, La La! Those are pretty!" She jumped off the couch and gave us a big hug when Sister Leifson said that she could keep the markers. I guess you can say we won her heart and 

I'm excited to teach her again soon!

This past weekend...I also got sick...again. AGAIN! It's bad enough to get sick once while being a missionary, but twice?! It was also only about a month ago that I got sick last time, but oh well! We did our best to keep busy while I rested (or at least, as much as a missionary can rest...). Sister Leifson was so good to me and helped me to not over-work myself. She was like my own personal nurse and took all the initiative when we walked outside to talk to people. What would I do without her!!

This past week we met the coolest girl! Her name is Teresa and she was walking to work when we talked to her.

This is how our conversation went:

Us: "Hello! How are you doing today?"

Teresa: "I'm doing okay, I'm just really stressed out" (proceeds to tell us her crazy work life of covering for her coworker who had surgery)

Us: "that's crazy! Is there anything we can do to help you?"

Teresa (looking at our name tags): "Yeah, can you share a scripture with me?"

[Jaw drop]

We ended up talking to her for just a few more minutes, and all about the Book of Mormon and how it can be a source of strength in our lives. We shared Ether 12:27 with her about how through Christ, we can overcome our weaknesses and afflictions. She really liked it and it was a testimony-builder to me of how much the Book of Mormon can give us peace and an eternal perspective to see our trials as a growing experience! I love the Book of Mormon!!!

Yesterday we also had stake conference and it was amazing! Our church leaders of the stake spoke, and had an unassigned theme that I noticed throughout the conference! Many of them spoke about the Spirit, and the importance of following its promptings. I thought a lot about the things I may be willing to sacrifice in my life to have the Spirit more in my life. If we want to have His Spirit to be with us, we need to be living worthily! I want to do absolutely everything I can to be worthy of His Spirit in my life- not just because that is the ONLY way I can do His work as a missionary, but because I couldn't imagine my life in general without His guidance! I need His help and direction! I know that we can be so immensely blessed as we do our best to be obedient and righteous, and I know the sacrifices we make to have our will more in line with His will cause us to receive so many blessings, much more than what the sacrifices were worth. The gospel is so good and I love being a missionary! It is a great blessing in my life and there is no other place I would rather be in this time of my life!

Request!

I need everyone's help! I'm starting something new with a copy of the Book of Mormon I have. Will everyone quickly email me their favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon, as well as a small note of why it is their favorite or how it has helped them in their life! I would love to receive as many as possible, pretty please! <3

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

Sister McCown

Happy happy Monday, everyone!

It's been another great week here in Forest Grove!

The sun has been out, and so have we! We've been spending a ton more time outside, and talking to so many people! It's been great and we average about 7 miles a day walking, some days less because of lessons and other days definitely more than 10. It's so good though, we love it and it gives me more opportunity to talk to Sister Leifson and get to know her better!

Some events from this past week:

Sister Christenson and I went to MLC this past week, which is basically a meeting like zone conference, except those who are there are the leaders from all over the mission. We got some direction from President and Sister Tateoka about what will be taught in zone conference and it was super exciting!

There are a ton more changes coming that will increase the diligence of the work here in Oregon, especially in including the members more in hoping those we teach to progress in the gospel!

Two days later, we had interviews with President and Sister Tateoka, and man, do I love them! They are both so wise and full of the Spirit. I left those interviews just feeling so loved and uplifted by the things they told me.

The rest of that day was absolutely INSANE! we had District council in the evening and after dinner went to three lessons back to back to BACK! Needless to say, Sister Leifson and I were mentally SPENT by the end of the night. We fell asleep pretty fast that night!

One of the lessons was with an older lady named Francine. She recently moved from a small town in Oregon, Vernonia, and we've been teaching her for a while. She was baptized in another church previously and she's been struggling with why she would need to be baptized again in our church. We were trying to figure out how to best help her, and we felt prompted to invite a member from Vernonia that she is good friends with. He was so willing to drive the 45 minutes to us! The lesson was awesome and he was so lovingly bold when talking to Francine about baptism! It was a great example to us about how much a person's heart can change by being bold!

She still isn't on date as of this moment, but we are hoping that will change with this next week!

So much has happened this past week, it's hard to write it all in one email! All in all, it's been great! I love being here in Forest Grove, especially with Sister Leifson! She's so great and has blessed my life in so many ways! During the interview with President Tateoka, he asked me if she would be ready to leave and be a senior companion somewhere else. I mean...she definitely is because she's an amazing missionary...BUT- I don't want her to leave me!!! So yeah...definitely mixed feelings about my reply to President Tateoka but all is well! I'm just trying to soak up every second I have with her!

Spiritual message of the week:

Today I've been thinking about "worth". On our way home oftentimes, we pass by this car that is for sale. It's a bug (so we usually race to see who can punch each other when it comes into view) and was pretty old but really nice looking. I don't know cars at all, but one of the first times we passed by it, Sister Leifson was baffled by how expensive it was, because I guess it's not a very high-quality car to begin with.

I was thinking about how the cost of something is decided. The nicer it is and the more it can do, the more expensive it is. The more that someone would want it also causes the cost to increase. In order to buy something, you have to wager how much you are willing to work for it in order to obtain it.

Being the missionary that I am haha, I related it to the gospel. You quite literally cannot put a price on Salvation! But what is up to you is what you are willing to do in order to obtain that Salvation. The price that Heavenly Father puts on it is living the gospel (building faith, repenting through the Atonement of His Son Jesus Christ, making covenants by the authority of the priesthood, and continuing to live faithfully and diligently). It is most adequately described in the Book of Mormon. In 3 Nephi 12:19 when Jesus Christ says, "I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit."

I was thinking a lot about what I am willing to do to pay the price of Salvation. How hard and diligently am I willing to work?

Literally nothing that we actually do will be enough to pay that price- because we need to be perfect in order to do so. But we are promised that we can receive grace as we obediently live the gospel.

How perfect is the Plan of Heavenly Father!!

Ending on a funny note:

We had dinner with a cute old couple, the Naones, and they were having a super hard time saying my name. Sister Leifson probably said it like 10 times. Because a majority of mankind can't say my name right (they usually say it like "McCowen") I just accept how they pronounce it, even if it's wrong.

The Naones end up repeating my name like "McCowen" and as they looked at my name tag, they were confused and went off by saying that there is a vowel missing in my name. They thought my nametag was misspelled because of how they were pronouncing it!😂

Have a great week everyone! I would love to hear from anyone how their week was!

All my love,

Sister McCown

The sun brings out opportunities...which also includes the crazies!

Hello everyone! It's been another fabulous week here in the town of Forest Grove/Cornelius, Oregon. I love being a missionary and we've seen a lot of progress in those we are teaching!

For starters, THE SUN IS OUT!

The rain is officially over and good thing, because Sister Leifson and I have been doing a ton more walking! We usually walk between 5-10 miles each day, and the sun is causing people to actually come outside! It is a tender mercy and we've been able to meet some really cool people!

We had some pretty funny experiences as well with those that we were able to talk to.

One night as we were walking into our apartment, we see a group of 4 guys talking, one of which was talking really passionately and using some rather "colorful" language. Talking to groups always makes me nervous, but when they said hello to us as we walked by, it was easy to turn around and talk to them.

The guy who was talking began to tell us a story (which to me, didn't make much sense) but you could tell that he had a very strong opinion on the situation. The others were trying to hide a smile from how passionately he was telling the story.

He asked us our viewpoint of the situation, and literally the second after we introduced ourselves as the missionaries, he interrupted with several apologizes. He was sorry for the way he talked and acted and it was so funny how much he apologized before leaving the group. We ended up talking to the other guys as well before leaving and they were pretty cool.

As we left that conversation, though, I thought about how much we truly have an influence on others. Our representation as missionaries of Jesus Christ really do have an effect on people. It was a good reminder for me that I always need to be doing my best to represent Jesus Christ, because we bear His name right on the name tags we wear everywhere we go!

The evenings here in Oregon now are just so beautiful. There always seems to be that slight breeze that helps us to stay cool during the day, which is usually not seen back home in AZ! Even though nothing can compare to the sunsets of Tucson, the beauty of the colorful trees, bushes and flowers that line the streets and fill the yards are truly breathtaking!

With all the increased time spent outside, I'm getting more tan! My watch tan line is coming back steadily, haha!

Last night we also had an AMAZING lesson with Aurora! We had it at the stake president's house in our ward and they are amazing fellowshippers! As soon as we walked in the door, they asked questions to get to know her- I've never seen members do that before! They actually wanted to get to know her and were able to have a connection with her right off the bat because they both went to BYU and Aurora will be attending in the fall!

The lesson was focused on the temples...and man, those are my favorite! I just love the temple so incredibly much and the spirit was overflowing the room. President and Sister Brown were able to share experiences of going to the temple, of having an eternal marriage and doing their family history work. I felt the Spirit so strong and it once again confirmed and strengthened my desire to be in the temple as much as I can after my mission and to make an eternal marriage in the temple a priority.

Aurora also had some really good questions that the Browns were able to help us answer. They both spoke with such eloquence and faith, it was so so fun!

With all of the changes this past week in transfers, schedules and finding, I'm so glad that Sister Leifson is still here with me. She is an amazing missionary and she has helped me SO much in the things I'm going through! Its super fun to talk to her as we walk the miles on the street and we get along super well. Members in our ward have even commented that they will see us along the side of the road, talking to each other and laughing, and they like how we get along so well, so that's pretty fun!

One of my favorite things about her is how protective she is. Whenever we're walking, she will always walk on the side of traffic, and one time when we were talking to this one guy and began walking with him, we sensed how creepy he was and she pushed me away from him so that I wouldn't have to walk beside him. There are so many other things that I love about her, but not enough time to write it. All in all, I am just super grateful and lucky to have her in my life.

I hope everyone has a great week! Good things are about to happen, to everyone- I can feel it! I know that as we truly rely on Christ and His will and timing, we can be given peace and assurance to endure through our trials. We can have hope for our futures and strength in our weak moments. I love this gospel and I love my family (and that goes far beyond my immediate family). I know that relationships are eternal and that Heavenly Father created us to grow and have joy! I know these things are true because I study the Book of Mormon and prayed to know if these things are true. And I am so thankful for the opportunity I have every day to extend that same invitation to those we meet.

I love this work and I love my Savior!

All my love,

Sister McCown