YOSO- You Only Serve Once!

Hello everyone, how has your week been? I'm not sure why I start off my weekly emails with this because hardly any reply, but being my awkward self- I'm not sure how else to start!😂

Okay, well since that's out of the way, let's get down to the good stuff!!

This past week has honestly felt super short, but when I look back at it and realize that I was in a trio only a few days ago- it seems like forever! So many things have happened and many miracles have been seen.

Sister Christenson and I have this goal to see the little things God has given us, the little miracles of each day, because they truly add up to the big things. If someone is going to get baptized, they need all the little lessons, all the little moments of prayer, scripture study and confirmations from the Spirit. Every night we talk about at least one miracle we saw that day, and it is the BEST way to end the night. Even if we didn't have a lot of "success" that day, we always have things to be grateful for and recognizing those blessings makes the day seem so much brighter.

First off, it has been a miracle that I have a greater love for finding! I have never been the hugest fan of finding (my dear trainer, Sister Schmoekel, would know that I didn't give her the easiest time when we had hours of finding to fill), but when we went about 3 weeks with hardly any time to find, due to being in a trio covering 2 areas, I realized how much I actually missed it! I missed walking and meeting new people, and I knew my "talking to new people about the gospel" skills were getting rusty. Sister Christenson and I hit the streets after Sister Child received her new companion on Thursday and it has felt SO good! Yeah, it was hot and we have done a lot of sweating, but to be able to meet new people and add them to our list of previous 5 potentials, man-it just felt good! I do miss being really busy with lessons, but I think I'm learning how important it is to have a balance of activities in missionary work.

One night, a recent convert of about 3 months (Ashley) asked us if we could go out walking with her. We have brought her to a few lessons before as a fellowshipper, so we were all for it! We planned a lesson with a member and then picked up Ashley early so that she could walk around with us beforehand.

She told us about how she might not talk, she wasn't sure, and we were totally okay with that. But when we contacted the first person, man- she was a POWER HOUSE! The guy wasn't very interested and his mom tried to Bible Bash us, but Ashley just says, "Well, we just want to talk to you about God!" She was so brave, trying to pull out her own copy of the Book of Mormon to give away (she came so prepared).

We then drive to the members house with a few minutes to spare and ask Ashley which way we should walk. She replies, "Well, we just passed a park and there were people there. Let's go talk to them!" ...OKAY!

We get out of the car and Ashley said that her goal was to give away the Book of Mormon. She sees a group of young girls, points to them and says, "ooh, I feel good about them!" And away she went! She marched straight over to them, placed the Book of Mormon on their table and says, "Here is a Book of Mormon. it is a really good book. I love it and I know it will help you." Sister Christenson and I dive in to tell the girls more about the Book of Mormon and they eventually accept the copy, but I could not BELIEVE how brave Ashley was! She has grown so so much and I felt like a proud mom- I couldn't stop smiling!!

God is so good and I am thankful to be here in this area. This past week I have also learned a lot about the doctrine of God's love.

My companions and I were watching a Broadcast of "Face to Face" with Studio C (I love Studio C, as my little brothers would know, and I would highly recommend it). It's super cool because even though they are known for being funny, they are all members of the Church, so during the broadcast, they got to bear their testimonies and it was super cool!

One question that the audience asked was about parenthood (since a few of the cast members are parents) and I absolutely loved what one cast member said. She explained that the love she has for her son, especially that the love she has for her son, especially in the moment of holding him for the first time, gave her a tiny glimpse of the love that Heavenly Father has for us. Her newborn didn't particularly do or accomplish anything, but just the magnitude of love she had was so easy because her's- because he belonged to her.

Heavenly Father loves us because WE ARE HIS! Of course, He wants us to succeed and He is sad when we make mistakes, but His pure love is unchanging. I love that principle of God's unconditional love. I think I understand it just a little more!

I love this gospel and I love my Savior. He is my rock and my salvation (2 Nephi 22:2). I am so lucky to be here as a missionary, especially here in the OSM (AKA. "awesome")- Oregon Salem Mission. This truly is the greatest work and the best thing I could do at this time in my life. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I hope to hear from you all soon!

Sincerely

Sister McCown

Coincidence? I think NOT!

Hello everyone! How has all your weeks been? I'd love to hear about all the miracles you've seen this past week, and I'm excited to tell you all the ones I saw within these past 7 days!

To start off with, it's been another crazy week of being in a trio and covering 2 areas: practically going from appointment to appointment to meeting to studies, etc. etc.

It has been SO good though! I've been going through finding withdrawals because we don't have much time each day to go outside and talk to people, but I LOVE teaching! Finding has never been my favorite, so these past three weeks I've been on top of the world with all the opportunities I had to go to lessons and teach people about the restored message of Christ. It has, though, made me appreciate finding more, which has been good for me. I'm excited to have more of it this transfer, because unfortunately, the trio is getting split up😪

We just got transfer calls this past weekend, and our apartment is pretty much staying the same, except Sister Child will be getting a brand new missionary. Sister Christenson and I will be staying in Council Creek! I'm excited for this new transfer and I'm ready to hit the streets and talk to everyone we see!

This past week, though, we saw a ton of cool things.

Aurora received her patriarchal blessing this past Sunday and that was a super cool experience. We were the only ones that were going to be there with her as support, but at the last second, Aurora's mom came! I know it meant a lot to Aurora to have her there, and it was cool because her mom is a nonmember! I could tell her mom really felt the Spirit during the blessing and she thanked us all for what we have done for Aurora. Aurora has grown so much since I've been with her and it has been such a blessing to be with her as she has made this great leap in the gospel! It will help her so much all throughout her life!

We also went on exchanges this past week, and Sister Hair from Dayton joined Sister Child and I in Forest Grove for the day. She is an amazing missionary! Holy goodness, for only being out 5 weeks at that point, she knows so much and she just knows how to be a missionary! I loved her bright attitude and she is so fun to be around. She really taught me how important it is to have a good and optimistic attitude, no matter what trials we may be going through.

This past weekend, we also had an opportunity to go to the temple with a recent convert, Sara! She has been soaking in the gospel, so being able to go to the temple with her was so cool!

We did family history earlier this week with her and she had 9 names to take with her to the temple! We were SO shocked- that's a lot for her first time and not having much time to get her family tree started!

When we were waiting at the recommend desk, guess who walked in!!

President Wilde and his family!

We were all so shocked and I just laughed...seriously what are the odds!

They were so happy to see all of us, especially since we were with a recent convert!

President Wilde told us that they tried to come earlier, but it was super busy, so they decided to come back at a later time. He said that they were meant to do that so that we could see them! There are seriously no such thing as coincidences!

Their 16-year-old son, Fielding, actually ended up doing the baptisms for us, and President Wilde did the confirmations! I was so happy the entire time- who knew this would happen....not me! It was so fun.

When we were driving home, Sara talked about how bringing family names to the temple made the entire experience so much more special. She said, " When I was baptized for my grandma, I felt something different. I felt the Sprit more in that moment than I have ever felt before. It feels good to know that I am not alone anymore."

My heart melted when she said that and the love I have more her just magnified in that moment! How cool is it that the veil was so thin in that moment during the temple when she was baptized for her grandma!

I know that Heavenly Father qualifies those whom He calls!

This past week has had it's own trials, one of which has been a struggle to sleep for me. I'm not sure why, but it's hard and this week it took its toll. One day I was just so tired and every spare moment not doing missionary work, I was crashed on the couch! But I know that the time in which I needed to work, Heavenly Father gave me the strength and energy I needed to do it! I know that even though I wasn't my "100%" I did the best I could, and He magnified my efforts.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to receive a priesthood blessing and I feel so much better! Being able to receive that guidance and comfort from Him through one of His priesthood holders means so much to me.

I love this gospel and I love my Savior. I am thankful for the daily strength they give me so that I can do my very best to do His work. I know that my efforts are not enough to build His kingdom, so I am so thankful for His grace and His ability to make so much more out of us that we can on our own. It is a glorious and perfect Plan that He has created and I feel so immensely lucky to be a part of it.

I love you all! Thank you for all your support. It means the world to me!

All my love,

Sister McCown

Temple, baptism, patriarchal blessing...oh my!

Happy Monday everyone! Okay....if anyone could explain to me why it is still cloudy in JULY, I would really like to know! The "Oregon Spit" aka, lingering dark clouds and mists of rain for hours on end, is still with us....AND IT'S JULY! I mean, in a way, it's nice because we're not sweating all day, but I feel like it's still spring!

Anyways, other than the weirdness of the weather, it's been a great week of many many good things!

We started this week off my going to the temple! Aurora was baptized only a couple weeks ago, and on Tuesday we got to go with her and a couple ward members for her very first visit to the temple! The cool thing about it was that when Sister Christenson, Sister Child and I went over to the member's house, Aurora was already there, doing her family history!

This past week we also had a baptism in the Forest Grove 2nd ward! Her name is Sara and she is so so cool! I've been able to go to a few lessons with her and she is so prepared! She was baptized only 3 weeks after first meeting with the sisters and finished the Book of Mormon the day of her baptism! She is amazing and I love her a lot!

Another cool thing: Ashley received her patriarchal blessing this last week and we were able to go with her! She doesn't have a lot of family, so she asked us to be there to support her and I felt so lucky to be able to go! It's cool because only 4 months ago, she didn't know anything about the church. She has come so far, and even though I know I played hardly a part in her conversion, I'm grateful that I could be there for many of her steps in the gospel. She has grown so so much since I first met her and I'm so excited to see how much she will continue to grow!

With all the good things that have happened, this past week seemed to fly by! This Saturday, we get our call for next transfers and who will be staying or going. At this point, I have NO idea what is going to happen! It's also weird because we're also in a trio, so we're pretty sure something has to happen!

Oh, and I also went Spanish for a day! We went on exchanges with the hermanas in McMinnville, and so for a day, I was basically following around Hermana Larson as she talked to people in spanish... and I just stood there. It was the wierdest thing, but I had no idea what to do! I could actually pick out words and phrases that people would say, but no one we talked to or taught spoke English, so I wasn't very much help to Hermana Larson and I felt so bad! Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun with her and she has so much energy for the work and diligence. She was a great example to me!

Spiritual note of the week:

Yesterday during Relief Society, we went over a talk from the most recent general conference, "Abound with Blessings" by Elder Renlund. We talked about how we may not recognize the blessings we receive and how Heavenly Father wants to shower us with blessings, but He is waiting for us to ask and act.

My favorite part, though, was at the end where we sang hymns that demonstrated the blessings we have in our lives. There were the common ones of, "Count your Blessings", etc. but then there were others that were all about Christ. The Spirit was overflowing the room and I had goosebumps on my arms as we sang the songs. 

The hymn that came to my mind was verse 3 of Hymn #136- "I Know that my Redeemer Lives":

He lives to grant me rich supply.

He lives to guide me with his eye.

He lives to comfort me when faint.

He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives to calm my troubled heart.

He lives all blessings to impart.

The greatest blessing I have received in my life is the confirmation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the love that God has for each of His children, including me.

Because of His sacrifice, I never have to feel alone. I decide how long or how severe my afflictions and trials affect me. I can choose to put them at His feet and turn my will over to Him. I can decide to leave the past in the past and face the future with optimism, hope and charity.

All these decisions are easier said than done, believe me- but I know that also because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can give us the strength to make these hopes a reality. He knows what we are going through, because He went through them Himself! I came to know these things through prayer and study of the Book of Mormon, and I know life would be so much harder without this testimony that I have and want to continue to develope all throughout my life.

I love the gospel and I love being a missionary. I love helping others to learn more about His gospel, and be able to experience the eternal, priceless blessings as we are obedient.

God is so good!

Thank you all for your love and support! Have an amazing week!

Sister McCown

It's been a WILDE week!

Hello everyone! 7 days later from when I last emailed, and it feels like a month! Not that this week felt necessarily long- many things just seemed to pop up here and there throughout the week! It was crazy, but we survived to tell the tale today!

Let's see...

So this past week, I had the opportunity to meet the new mission President and his family a couple times this week!

We had a big conference with a bunch of the missionary leaders of the church, and there President Wilde introduced him and his family. He has 2 kids still living with them and they are so cool.

I had the opportunity during dinner to get to know Brecklynn, their 12 year old daughter, and she is so cool! She reminded me of my little sister so that was pretty awesome tender mercy.

On Wednesday, there was a shuffling of sisters in the mission because there is an odd number, so my time in a trio was over for a couple of days!

Sister Men (one of my previous companions) came with me to my area from Wednesday till Sunday and it was super fun! It was cool to see how much we had grown since being companions and how much we had gone through. It was like old times, but also not! She has grown such a strong reliance on the Savior and her faith has kept her strong throughout her mission. It was so cool!

We saw a lot of cool miracles yesterday!

Aurora (baptized 3 Saturdays ago) had her interview with bishop and received her temple recommend! We are going to go to the temple on Tuesday and I am SO excited! She has amazing faith and such a strong desire to do good.

This past week, we also met with Ashley (baptized back in April) and we taught her about patriarchal blessings. It was cool because before we could even tell her about it, she expressed her concerns about having lack of faith when hard times come and how she worries sometimes about the mistakes she makes. When we told her about how patriarchal blessings are like "personal scripture" and are direct revelation from God to us, her eyes grew so wide! She got so excited and eager to learn more about it.

By Sunday, she had read several talks/articles about patriarchal blessings, and also scheduled and went to a meeting with bishop to receive recommendation for getting her patriarchal blessing. She took all the initiative in calling the patriarch and called us later that day, excitedly telling us that she will be receiving her patriarchal blessing NEXT Sunday!

We are so happy for her and this next step she is taking in the gospel.

This past week, we also had interviews and zone conference with President and Sister Wilde, and man- do I love them!

It is actually super cool to see how much love they have for each of us as well. You can just feel it as they talk to you, and I'm looking forward to every second I have to serve with them!

In zone conference, we talked about the difference between the "authority" and "power" we have as missionaries. As set-apart representatives of Jesus Christ, we all have the authority to preach the gospel, or permission from God to do so. But we all have varying power. Power comes from obedience and striving to do the Lords work with most effectiveness. I've seen how much more success you have as a missionary when you strive to be obedient and diligent. And success doesn't necessarily mean "higher numbers", but its seeing the hearts of those you teach change to be more in line with God, and working so hard that you know you did all you could to help others.

I am so thankful for the calling I have as a full-time representative and missionary of Jesus Christ. It is truly an honor and I love being here in Oregon! I know this is where I am meant to be and I love serving my Heavenly Father.

I hope everyone has a great week!

All my love,

Sister McCown

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Well...I guess all I can say is that it's been quite a week. So many things have happened to make this the absolute most crazy week of my mission so far. I sure hope it's the craziest week, because I don't think I could handle much more insanity!

Lesson of the week: since I survived this week, every week after will be a breeze.

To start off with, it was our Mission President's LAST week! Because of that, we had our last zone conference with him and it was pretty emotional.

President and Sister Tateoka spent the conference bearing their last testimonies. President focused on developing the gift of charity and Sister Tateoka focused on strengthening our conversion to the gospel all throughout our lives.

Many missionaries, both elders and Sisters, were crying at the end when we all gathered in the foyer to shake their hands one last time.

Earlier in the week, President and Sister Tateoka also took us out to dinner, so that was pretty cool!

Then on Friday, President and Sister Tateoka joined our District Council last-minute. It was super cool to have them there!

This weekend I also went on exchanges! I went to Vernonia with Sister Mecham and she is an awesome missionary! Vernonia is a teeny tiny town in the north mountains of Oregon. It is seriously like a hallmark movie. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, knows the missionaries and people driving by get super disappointed if we don't wave to them! It was super fun being with Sister Mecham- we know a lot of the same sisters- so it was so cool to be able to finally get to know her!

This weekend, we also had a sudden surprise: because of the odd number of sisters in the mission, I'm now in a trio! I'm with Sister Christenson and now Sister Child, and we're covering 2 neighboring areas. It's going to be pure insanity as we work to balance all the lessons of our two areas.

Yesterday, we were at church and meetings until 2pm! We didn't have a minute to go finding because we were doing studies, going to lessons and trying to figure out our areas. Needless to say, it's been pretty crazy, but our brains feel better and we're excited to see miracles together these next few weeks!

Something that I've been thinking a lot about this past week is just the calling that I have as a missionary, and how much of a privilege it is for me to be here! I love being a missionary and I love helping people to experience the blessings that come from living the gospel.

I've noticed how much more my love for the gospel has grown the more I share it and the more I learn about it. There is no where else I would rather be at this time in my life. Come what may- all the stresses and trials! I know that, through it all, Heavenly Father will sustain me and strengthen me in all that I do. I have faith that He is involved in every stitch of our lives and will magnify our every righteous effort.

I love this gospel and I love my Savior! Thank you everyone for all your love and support!

All my love,

Sister McCown