Greenville, MS Here I Come!

April 18, 2016

Hey Family,

So as you know, I am in Greenville, MS. It is very different from the coast but it has it's own beauty. There are a bunch of fields up here and pretty open.

So the drive was pretty long on Tuesday, but we all had a lot of fun on the way up. It was great to get to Clinton, it has been 6 months since I have been here. Also it was pretty cool to see a bunch of my old companions. Then they got all of us together and I found out that I was going to Greenville to be with Sister Durtschi. She is from Carey, Idaho she has a brother on a mission in New Zealand and has twin sisters back at home. She has been out a year on the 22nd. I love her so much, we have talked so much these last 6 days then I have the last couple months. We get a long so great and have a vision for Greenville and I am so excited to see where it goes. So Greenville is about 2 hrs away from Clinton so we are kind away from other missionaries. My district is: Elder Shreenan, Taeatafa, Ross, Butterfeild, Sister Durtschi, and myself. So right when we got to Greenville, we dropped my stuff off and we went to go see Kyah. So Kyah was a former investigator and Sister Durtschi and Sister Demo tracted into her about 2 weeks ago. Her biggest concern that we knew of was baptism. The spirit guided us to go over the baptism questions with her. She got every answer correct the only problem is word of wisdom. She likes her coffee and has a few smokes here or there. But we were able to help her substitute coffee for coke. We promised her if she didn't have coffee for 2 days, then we would bring her a pack of coke. But other then that, she is so great. It has such a great experience and the spirit was so strong. I haven't felt this way for a while. Also we have so much in common. She also did Color Guard and also was bullied, so it was so great to talk with her. I feel like this is why I am in Greenville.

We tried a lot of people these last couple days and not everyone was home or too busy. We got to go out with the Turley's to visit some less-active out in Hollandale (we have a lot of cities in our area). Also we are part of the Monroe Stake but it is kind of hard to get there. So I have been in 4 stakes on my mission.

So on Sunday, we had church and it was pretty different then from Ocean Springs. About 30 people were in church and it was really different. It was great to meet everyone and getting to know them. But we will be focusing a lot on less-actives and trying to make the ward stronger. Also we had interviews with President Olson in Greenwood. So right after church, we headed up there. It was really great to get to meet with him and his wife. Interviews with President went so good, probably the best one yet. He went over my mission application with me and was very impressed with all that I have done. Also I got to ask her what the process is for transfers, and I told him how I thought that I had gotten sent out to banishment. But he told me that it wasn't like that and that the spirit helped guide of where people need to go so that gave me a lot of comfort.

After we drove over to the Turley's for dinner and we had a lot of fun there. They are such a great family.

Can y'all believe that I will be 21 on Sunday. I love y'all so much and can't believe I only have about 4 and a half months left till I come home.Time truly flies!!! Hope y'all have a great week!!

Love and Miss y'all!!!!!!

Sister McKenna O'Connor