HaPpY BiRtHdAy Week!

April 28, 2015

Hey Family,

So this last week was my Birthday!!!!!! It was a good week. Bitter sweet at some moments but it was good. I am so grateful for all of the birthday letters that I got. They made my day start off good with all of the testimonies. 

On Monday (Preparation Day) we all went out and played baseball on some field, and we had a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to hang out with everyone and being able to relax for a little bit. 

On Tuesday, We all went over to Robyn's house and we did some service. Sister Ridge and I helped clean out the shed and the Elders mowed the lawn and cut down a tree, which they had a lot of fun doing. But mostly we did service today.

On Wednesday, we had our district meeting and I was teaching the lesson. I taught on how important it is to have members involved with missionary work. The lesson went very well and I was super proud of myself. After we just tracted for about 2 hours and that was okay. Then we went to go see Brandi and her girls, but they didn't answer, which made me a little sad but we will try them again. Then we traded with the STL's (Sister Trainer Leaders) to go on exchanges. Sister Ridge went to Jackson and I stayed in Flowood with Sister James.

So on Thursday, It was my first day with taking over the area and I was super scared. I drove the car which it has been about 4 months that I haven't drove. But it went well. We went and visited Tracy Green, and talked with her to see if she needed anything. Her husband went back into the hospital for more chemo so we are just praying that he gets better. Then we went tracting for about an hour and a half, and no one answered their doors. After we went to Mustard Seed and that was so much fun. Mustard Seed is a place for adults who have disabilities and we visit and play games with them. They were all excited to see the Sister Missionaries. It was really nice to be able to hang out with these perfect children of our Heavenly Father. Then after we did more tracting and again, no one answered their doors. After we traded back.

On Friday it was my birthday. Yea 20 years old now!!! So I woke up and got ready and then I opened all of my letters and packages. It took about an hour and a half to open everything. I loved everything and it started off my day in a good way. Then we went and visited Shari before we got already for the Baseball Game. She made me a cake and we just got to talk with her for a little bit. Then we went to the apartment and changed. We then met the Elders at the park and we watched the game. It was so much fun. Elder Gray had a baseball passed to him and he then gave it to me. I bought a key chain and a Mississippi Braves towel. We were having so much fun just to be able to watch the game. We were also able to talk to people about our church because we had our name tags on and people were asking us questions about our church. It was a great experience of how you can share the gospel no matter where you are. It could be you knocking on doors or at a baseball game. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

On Saturday, we met with the Pearl Elders to do some practices. We do a lot of practices here. And we did that for about 2 hours and then we went to the Crowder’s for dinner. When we got there, I opened the door and they all surprised me. I had no idea that they had done this. I felt so loved at that moment and I was very happy that they did that. We had a lot of fun and you probably saw that on the video.

On Sunday we had church and a lot of people were wishing me a happy birthday. Then we had “Linger Longer” after and it was good to be able to talk with the members. Then after we went and took a little nap, which we really needed. Then we went and had dinner with Tammy. She talked about her cruise and it was fun to talk with her.

Sister Mayo (Beth) showed me the Facebook post that you posted and I loved it so much.

Love you guys so much!!!!

Sister O'Connor

Sister O'Connor opening her over 20 birthday cards, letters and testimonies.

Mississippi Braves game on her birthday. (Of course you know she was

raised in a sports family.)

Game under the lights!!!

Sister O'Connor and Sister Ridge loving some baseball.

Elder Clyde and Elder Mobley

A game is never complete without some fireworks!!

My Birthday Week

April 20, 2015

Hey Family,

So this week has been great. I think the best so far. 

On Monday , the elders went to a Mississippi Braves game so it was just me and Sister Ridge. We got a bunch of shopping done and went and got hair color. Surprise I dyed my hair. It's a light brown with red in it. I love it so much. 

On Wednesday we had Specialized Training. It went really well, they just asked all of the new missionaries if they had any questions and we practiced a few things. It was so nice to be able to see everyone and to spend time with them. After the meeting we all went to Cane's for lunch. It was pretty fun to see about 30 missionaries in one place. After lunch, I went on mini exchanges with Sister James. We went tracting for about 2 hours, and it was pretty hot out. No one was answering their doors, but then a guy named Matt answered. We talked to him for about 30 minutes and it went really well. We set up another appointment to meet with him on Sunday. We switched back companions so we could get to our ward correlation meeting at the church. After the meeting, Sister Ridge got a prompting to go visit Demond, so we drove over to his house. When we were pulling up, I saw two girls who were doing flags and I got SUPER excited. I was such in a hurry to meet these two girls. We went and talked with them. Their names are Taylor and Brooklyn and they are super cute girls. Tryouts are coming up so they were practicing and they let me do some tricks with their flags, which made me so happy. It has been a long time since holding one. Well Demond came out during this and he helped us teach the girls the Restoration. It went really well and I was so happy that the spirit led us there.

On Thursday it was Elder Gray's Birthday. When the Elders went and worked out, Sister Ridge and I went and decorated their apartment. It was super cute and he was really surprised by it. After we all went out to breakfast at the Waffle House, we had fun there.  After a little nap, we went to the church to have a District meeting. Following the District meeting we went out to lunch to Applebee's. They have this game where if your food isn't out within 12 minutes then your food is free. So we did that and while we were waiting, we were all just talking and laughing. When we looked at the timer, it was 10 seconds till 12 minutes and nobody's food was out. So we were all getting pretty excited, finally the food came out and it was way past 12 minutes. So we were all happy about it. After lunch we went tracting and then we went and ate dinner and the Young's home. They are an older couple and they were super sweet. They were very welcoming to us and we had fun talking with them. So today was a pretty great day.

On Friday, we met with the Saucier’s and ate lunch with them. They are so cool and Sister Ridge talks about them all the time. They are from the Gulfport area, the Long Beach, MS Ward. I really want to serve in the coast so I can be able to serve around them. Then after we went and tracted and went and saw Shari and grabbed my birthday package from the Mayo's. Then later that night we went and made pizzas at Cindy's house.

On Saturday, we did the normal routine and then that night we went to the Usry's house for a surprise party for Elder Gray. We got there and we surprised Elder Gray, and he doesn't like to be surprised. And I love being able to be with everyone in my district. During the party, we were talking about going to baseball game, Mississippi Braves, before Sister Ridge goes home in a few weeks. We decided to go to a game this Friday, MY Birthday.  I am super excited!

No but this week has been such a great week. I was able to remember the reason of why I came out on a mission. 

I will be staying out in Flowood for another transfer. I will be taking over the area, which I'm a little nervous about. Everyone in the ward and some of the elders are saying that I will be training someone, but I have no idea. So we will see. President McDonough calls us the weekend before transfers, so we will see what happens.  I have interviews with him next week.

I love you all so much.

Sister O'Connor

 Sister Ridge and I after lunch with Kristin

 Church in Brandon Area

 Beautiful trees on streets in Flowood

 Mississippi Braves Stadium

 Sister Ridge and I

Elders at the Specialized Training Meeting

 Sister Burgess at I after the training

Sister Poulson, Sister James, Elder Gray and I after the training

Spring in the Mississippi Jackson Mission

Sickness and Patience

April 13, 2015

Hey Family,

That sounds like a fun Spring Break. 

Well this last week was a pretty hard week. Ridge and I have been sick and not feeling well. So we have been trying to regain our strength and taking it slow. We went to go visit a bunch of people this last week but no one opened their doors. We also went tracting and no one wanted to talk to us. It is really hard when you tract 7 hours and no one wants to talk. So it has kind of been an emotional week, but I found myself on my knees a lot praying to my Heavenly Father and asking for strength to continue and also for peace.  I know that he answers my prayers and one of these days, someone will open their door and listen to us. I am grateful to have Ridge as my companion to help me take one day at a time.

Love you all,

Sister O'Connor

PS. I promise picture will come this next week. It is Elders Gray Birthday this week and so a lot of things will happen

Happy Easter and General Conference

April 6, 2015

Hey Family,

So this week has been a great week. We got to do a bunch of things. Of course it was the week before Easter and so it was a very spiritual week. On Wednesday it was April Fools Day, and I was getting ready for the Elders to do a prank on us. But we had District meeting on Wednesday and I learned so much that can help me become a better missionary. Then we all went to Applebee's for lunch and that was super fun just to be able to hang out with our district and talk. After lunch, Sister Ridge and I went out and tracted. No body answered their doors but that’s okay. Then we went to our correlation meeting. That went pretty good and we all just helped each other out with our investigators. After the meeting, we sat outside the parking lot waiting for an updated ward roster. We had a candy fight, and we were just talking with members and laughing. Then we had to leave because we had an appointment.

We went and visited Brandi and her two daughters. We taught them the basics of what we believe in and they asked questions. While we were talking, I found out that Mykayla who is 13, is on the Marching Band and is a competitive dancer. So we talked about Marching Band, Dance Mom's and Twitch from “So You Think You Can Dance” (See mom, watching TV has helped me on my mission, Haha!). Then she told us how she has been bullied and then we showed her my favorite Mormon Message video, “Our True Identity”.  She and her family really loved it. We set an appointment to meet with them again, but because of Mykayla's competition schedule we won't be able to see them until April 22nd. They said that they will try to make it to church this Sunday. So we’re just praying that they do. Oh and the lesson went on for about an hour and a half.

So after the lesson our phone was lighting up like a Christmas tree. The elders had called and texted us and so we got back to them and they didn't answer, so we were just going to call them back when we got home. So we got home and we realized that the dead bolt was locked and we normally don't lock it. So when we opened the door, all of our furniture was upside down, toilet paper everywhere, it was a mess. And at first I thought that we had been robbed, but then we realized that it had to be the elders. So were looking around and all of a sudden the door flies open and all of the Elders walk in and Elder Clyde is holding his camera and filming. We kept on asking them how they got in and they told us that they had copied our key a few weeks ago. Ridge and I were just laughing because we thought that it was pretty funny. After, the Elders were nice enough to help us clean up. So I thought that it was a pretty fun day.

I was super excited for General Conference. I took advantage of it when I was home, thinking, “Oh I will just watch it later,” but being able to watch it live, I was able to get more out of it. I felt the spirit so strongly and some of my questions were answered. I just love being able to hear from our Prophet and Apostles and hearing what our Heavenly Father wants us to work on as His children. 

I love you all so much and I am so grateful to have everyone in my life and to be able to have this gospel.

Sister O'Connor     

 Dying Easter Eggs with Sister Ridge at Cindy's House

 Elder Clyde sporting the Easter Bunny look!

 Elder Jake and Elder Clyde enjoying some ice cream.

 Elder Jake sporting the Easter look too!

 Elder Gray and Elder Mobley chillin'

Elder Mobley getting into the Easter spirit!

 James Mayo and Carrol Davis enjoying the fun.

 Enjoying some good food and great company.

 Elder Clyde, Sister O'Connor and Sister Ridge having fun

 Sister Ridge getting in on the Easter fun!