Attrictive and Trio

November 17, 2015

Hey Family,

So this week has been good and the weather is starting to change. Sometimes it feels like Utah weather which is nice. So last Monday we played basketball at the church. It was a lot of fun and a good work out, haha! It was good playing with the Elders but it has been a while since I’ve played.

We then went to go see James who is an older gentleman that we tracted into a few weeks ago and when we got there, his daughter pulled up and told us that he has his own church. She then went inside to get the Book of Mormon that we gave him and she basically opened the door and threw them at us. They were all dirty and had stuff on them. So we just left and were amazed how rude people can be. We got to visit with Johnny this week and he lives out in Vancleave. He was a media referral and we got to talk with him about the priesthood and baptism. We asked him to pray about a baptism date and he told us that he would be at church Sunday with his mom. We were pretty excited about that. After, we went to try a less-active and we wet off-roading down this long dirt road to get to the house. When we got to the house, it was Sister Oliver (Mother of all the Oliver kids, which there is 9 of them). One of her sons is starting to come back to church with his wife, and the other one we got to meet with on Monday. The whole Oliver family are amazing. The father is super sick and is in a nursing home now, he has Alzheimer’s. So I understand how they all feel. When we were talking with her, she admitted to being in-active. Most of the family is. So we are just meeting with the family now just to gain their trust and one day have them back to church. So can you keep the Oliver Family in your prayers?

So we have been able to visit the Thomas Family a couple times this past week. We have started reading with them from the beginning at the very beginning. It has been really cool to read with them and help them grow their testimony on the Book of Mormon.

So on Thursday we had a cool experience tracting with Bree Thomas. We sometimes go out with her every week. We tracted in her neighborhood and we went to go see one of her friends. When we got there, Bree was talking with Paige and we got to talk with her grandma. We talked with her about her life and how she was serving in the Navy a while ago, and then Paige came over to use and asked us "What is the Book of Mormon?" So we pulled out a copy and started telling her and her grandma what it was about. But the grandma didn't agree with us having a prophet now. So we just stopped there so we didn't offend her. Then we headed back to the house and we were so proud of Bree bringing it up with her friend. She also talked about FHE and things we do at church. She always gets excited going out with us and we love when she comes.

On Saturday, we had ZDM (Zone Development Meeting) and President Olson was there. He told us that a General Authority is coming in December and so we are having a Mega Zone Conference up in Hattiesburg on December 9.The Jackson, Hattiesburg and Gulfport/Slidill Zones will be meeting. It will be so much fun to see all of the missionaries. Also President has made some changes. He wants everyone to do a survey about miles on cars, so if he needs to ask for more miles or cars. Which would be nice because our mission is sooo huge and there are a lot of places we can't get to because of lack of miles. Another thing that he changed was the Music Policy!!!! So excited about that. He told us that we can listen to anything that can be played in sacrament meeting. So we can listen to hymns sung by other artist, Daniel Beck, Hillary Weeks, some of Vocal Point and many more. We are all so happy about it. So if you guys could get some of that type of music and send it to me (email/mail) that would be awesome. Cause I can't get any of it on iTunes. Also President taught about Our Sacred Calling! It was a really good lesson. He talked about how we are Attractive spiritually and have a glow about us. So that was really cool. Also I talked with president and he should have signed the endorsement. Then after the meeting we headed to Cane's for lunch. When I was waiting for my food, a gentleman came up to me and asked what church we were from. I then told him, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He then replied saying that we all look really nice. I thought that what President Olson had just said an hour earlier was true. We do have this spiritual attractiveness as missionaries. Later in the evening, we went out with Sister Ganshow to go try some referrals and less/in-active. We tried a lot of people and most of them was either watching the Alabama Game or not home. We were driving all over Vancleave and it is really big. We went and tried a referral that I had gotten from another missionary. We got to her home and she didn't answer. So when we left, she texted us to tell us to come back on Wednesday. Then Sister Ganshow took us out to dinner at the Shed (So that is kind of funny that you brought it up). It's a fun cute little place and the food is pretty good. After, Sister Ganshow took us back home. We had a really fun time being out with her.

On Sunday we had ward council in the morning, and we were able to talk about the people we have been visiting. When we brought up Dimaris (the referral) The members had told us that where she lives is not in the ward boundaries or in the mission. So they basically told us that we had left the mission. Opps :( We were kind of in shock about that. We called President later that day to tell him and he said that it was okay and to get all of her information so that he can get permission to talk with her. It was a blessing that he responded that way. So hopefully we can get permission to visit with her.

On our way to dinner on Sunday, we were walking and we were passing James house. We were joking about how the daughter is going to come out and yell at us to get away. Then all of a sudden, she pulled up right next to us. She wanted to apologize for the way she acted a few days earlier. She was in a hurry and didn't mean to be ugly. Then as soon as she pulled away, we saw someone else that we tracted into a few weeks ago. Susie was talking with us and telling us that she really wants us over for lunch one day. So we will see how that goes. After Dinner, we went and tried Tequina Sparkman. She is a less-active/recent convert. Her husband is a Jehovah ‘s Witness. We got to visit with her and her kids about the Restoration. It was nice to refresh everything for her and to teach her kids. After we walked over to the Thomas Family and read from the Book of Mormon. We had a really good Sabbath Day.

Then on Monday, we went bike riding with Bree and Scobby Thomas. It was fun riding our bikes around the neighborhood. It was pretty fun though, because Scobby ran his bike right into a basketball pole. I had to stop my bike because I was laughing so hard. He was good though, no cuts. We then rode back home and went to dinner with the Chesley’s. They are such an awesome family!!! We got to talk about the Holidays coming up and having Christmas at their place. They are so nice and caring about us. I always feel loved going over there. Then they drove us home.

Also President called us this morning. We will be in a trio starting on Thursday till the end of the transfer. One of the Biloxi sister is really sick and needs to go home early, so her companion is going to be joining us. Her name is Sister Thompson and she is a childhood friend with Sister Burgess.

Yea we got news of what has happened and it is just sad how much the world has changed. We are all children of Heavenly Father and people have forgotten that. So sad to hear about Aunt Rosie. Everything happened so fast. I am thankful that the spirit was there though and that they know that we will all be able to see Aunt Rosie and many other loved ones again. That is the great thing about the gospel. I can't believe Mikey didn't make the team. But what I have learned is that everything happens for a reason. So the Lord has something else in store for Mikey. That is cool about Dad's new calling. You can probably just send the packages to Sister Cardon. That is so cool about Markee Jones coming to the MJM. Apparently the Lord needs missionaries in the south.

I love and miss y'all!!!! Have a Great Week!!!!!

Sister McKenna O'Connor

Kenna eating at the SHED!