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
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