Sorry I'm so late with this this week. We got caught up in preparations for our family trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park. We've been back about an hour. Here's your weekly update -
So, I kind of love New England...a lot! It's so great here and I feel
so blessed to be able to serve here, especially since I'm in the
greatest area of the entire mission! Skowhegan holds a special place
in my heart and I'm going to be devastated when the day comes that I
have to leave.
In the meantime, I'm loving every minute here and serving with all of
my heart, might, mind, and strength (Doctrine and Covenants 4:2).
Monday:
Monday was full of goodbyes for Sister Davis. We were running around
like chickens with our heads cut off trying to prep for the week and
get her final goodbyes in. It was so hard to see her so sad, but I
know that Heavenly Father has a plan for her. She's needed elsewhere
and Skowhegan will always be here for her to visit...after her mission,
of course.
Tuesday:
Transfer meeting! Talk about a crazy day! We left at 5:45 to get to
Manchester in time and I basically felt like a walking zombie. Great
first impression for my new companion, right? I thought so!
I'm guessing that finding out who my new companion is will probably be
the most exciting part of this email, so here it goes! My new
companion is Sister Craig! She's from Eagle, Idaho and is so sweet!
She's been out about 9 months and is a pretty rockin' follow-up
trainer! I'm already learning so much from her and I'm so grateful to
have her as my companion. It's going to be a great transfer, I can
feel it!
Tuesday was pretty cool, too, because we met a sweet potential named
Brandon. We're visiting him later today, so hopefully he's still
interested!
Wednesday:
First district meeting of the transfer! There was a change in every
companionship, but everyone is great, so I'm pumped for this transfer.
Yay!
Our investigator, Ryann, has a baptismal date for next Monday and her
interview was Wednesday! It went so well and I'm so happy! She's the
daughter of a member in our ward and I'm stoked to be teaching her.
She's great! Her mom is great! Their family is great! It's all, well.
GREAT!
We also had a super powerful lesson with one of our investigators,
Nancy, who we've been working with for awhile. I love her and can't
wait to see her testimony continue to grow.
Thursday:
Well, the soup kitchen was grand, as always! I love serving there!
We also had correlation meeting and, can I just tell you all, I
absolutely love the Peck family! They're so great and so loving and so
missionary minded! I love love love it! They're just all awesome and
I'm so glad we get to interact with them so much!
Friday:
Friday was so awesome! So, we finished weekly planning in the 3 hours
which has NEVER happened! I knew from that point on that Friday was
going to be a great day!
We also invited 13 people to learn, which exceeded our goal by 3! Woot
woot! While we were tracting, we had the neatest experience, too! We
met a man with an Army truck and he let us see it! I'll send pictures
at some point. It was so legit!
I also got my full hour of language study which is a miracle in and of itself!
Saturday:
Well, we found out that two of our less-actives were coming to
church...yay! So excited!
We also had "ice cream soup" with Aaron and that was fantastic!
The best part of the day was probably when we met with Sister Paradis
and had one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission! We taught
about temples and the blessings that accompany the temple and it was
so powerful. There is absolutely no way it was my doing. When we, as
missionaries, listen to the Spirit, that's when the lessons go the
best. We are not the teachers, the Spirit is. I wish I could emphasize
that more, but I don't know how! We definitely don't have all the
answers, but we have been called of God to share what we do know. I
know that God is my loving Heavenly Father. I know that Jesus Christ
is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know that He lives. I know
that Christ suffered, bled and died for me and for you. I KNOW that.
The Atonement is real and we can use it every day. I know that the
priesthood power, the power to act in God's name, has been restored to
the earth. The power of the priesthood has blessed my life. I'm so
grateful to have such amazing priesthood holders in my life and around
me all the time. These are the basic principles that make up my
testimony. These are the things that make me so happy and these are
the reasons I am serving a mission.
Sunday:
Sunday's are always great!
We found a new investigator who we have a return appointment with for
Sunday and she's pretty cool.
We also got to have dinner with the Cooks and I love love love them!
The Skowhegan ward is just the best! #love
Well, I'm out of time, but I love you all! If you haven't yet, watch
this amazing video! helives.mormon.org
I love it and it's only 2 minutes or so. Watch it! It'll change your life!
Amo sempre,
Sister McEldowney
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A bit more from the keeper of this blog -
RE: Thursday
"We also had correlation meeting and, can I just tell you all, I absolutely love the Peck family!"
As noted in a previous blog, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles assigns missionaries to their respective missions. They also call mission presidents and their wives, typically for three years, to run each mission. Click the links below to learn more about Mission Presidents.
Mission Presidents
Kayla's Mission President - Brazil Santos Mission
At the ward level Ward Mission Leaders are called by the Bishop to help the missionaries correlate/coordinate their work. Kayla's dad is currently serving in this position. Brother Peck is currently serving as Kayla's Ward Mission Leader in Skowhegan. In each ward that she serves in, either in the U.S. or Brazil, there will be a Ward Mission Leader called to assist her in the work as the ward members and full-time missionaries come together to help bring people to Christ. The link below is from the church's training library and is directed to Ward Mission Leaders, but serves as a great catalyst for understanding the role of a critical person in Kayla's success as a missionary and may help foster understanding of why she appreciates the Peck family so much. Ward mission leaders do help coordinate the work, but they, and often their families, also provide a supportive respite from work that is sometimes thankless and HARD no matter how much conviction you have.
Ward Mission Leaders
RE: Saturday
"We taught about temples and the blessings that accompany the temple and it was so powerful."
I found a great description of the blessings that accompany temple attendance. The link is below -
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