Want to know one of
the many things I'm grateful for, especially today??
A SUNNY DAY!
I love sunny days in
Oregon and I'll take every single one I can get, especially as the winter
clouds begin to roll in!
Despite not being
with my family for this holiday, I'm thankful to be in Oregon and being with
all my friends here! I love them all and it has been a comfort to me! I'm
especially grateful for the technology that allowed me to talk to them today!
So much has happened
in the past 10 days since I last wrote, I honestly have no idea where to begin!
Let me just sum up
the week in a few stories:
We met with a woman
named Ruth these past couple of weeks that we are helping to be baptized in the
near future. She has been taught my missionaries a lot in the past, but the
questions she has about the Church have kept her from progressing.
One evening we had a
lesson with her and she shot several questions at us, all about the Book of
Mormon and Joseph Smith, and how she can truly know truth for herself.
As missionaries we
teach a lot of people about the Restoration, all based upon their needs, but I
haven't had a lesson as Spirit-filled as that one in a long time! As we began
from the basic knowledge of God as our loving Heavenly Father, I could feel the
Spirit literally take control of the words that I said and the scriptures that
we shared. Ruth listened so intently, and by the end of the lesson when she
said she understood more and some of her questions had been answered, I felt
like I was on Cloud 9!
The message of the
Restoration is my favorite lesson to teach, because it is the very foundation
of everything that we believe! It is all centered around the love that God has
for us, and the potential He sees in us as His children. In order to reach that
potential, He sent His Son Jesus Christ, as well as prophets both before and
after Him. Through this cycle of prophets we have access to this priceless
truth, and we can know it ourselves through Study and prayer. And how grateful
I am for the Book of Mormon! It is the physical evidence that Christ's Church
is on the earth today, and that God is continually reaching out to His
children.
A "first"
on the mission: going on splits!
Last week one
evening we found ourselves in a pickle. We had 2 lessons planned at the exact
same time, and they were both very important and not changeable. So what do we
do? Sister Morgan and I divide and conquer!
Sister Morgan went
to a lesson focused on family history and for that time, her companion was the
family history consultant we brought. Then I went with a member in the ward to
go see our friend Robert before he left to go back home to Taiwan!
Robert is the
foreign exchange student that we began teaching when I got here. We helped him
to learn about who Jesus Christ is and what He did for us, and it was such a
cool experience for me to teach someone who has never learned about Jesus
Christ before!
During that lesson I
focused on how the gospel can be learned step by step. It was so weird teaching
without my normal companion!
At the end, Robert
prayed, thanking Heavenly Father for bringing missionaries into his life. It
touched my heart when he said "especially Sister McCown" because I
had been here the entire time he met with missionaries! I'll miss him a lot,
but I'm so excited for him to continue to meet with missionaries in the future.
We also got transfer
calls...
And I'll be staying
here in Albany! I guessed that because I actually don't have too much longer,
but I'm also so excited to just put everything I have into the work and really
see this area grow! I love this work!
Last spiritual
message till Monday:
Party of my journal
entry from Nov. 22nd: "I'm truly thankful to be a missionary, especially
in the Oregon Salem mission. It truly us
the best mission in the world for me and the experiences I've had here have shaped
me for the better.
I am a better person
in deciding to serve a mission. At this point in my life, its the best decision
I've ever made. I wouldn't trade these experiences I've had or the relationships
I've created for every star in the galaxy.
For that reason
alone, I would want everyone to serve a mission. There are just things I have
learned here that I wouldn't have been able to experience anywhere else, at
least, not as quickly.
I truly love my
mission. I've never done anything so hard, but nothing has brought me greater
purpose, joy or love for my Savior. I could never fully put until words all the
blessings I have received in serving a mission as a representative of the
Church of Jesus Christ."
All my love
Sister McCown
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