May 23, 2016

Hey Family,

So we just got Transfer calls and they told us that Sister Durtschi and I are both staying together in Greenville. So I am pretty excited about that. Good things are happening in Greenville, so it will be good to see the change. 

So we got to go help out at St. Vincent’s and I always love going over to help out there. The people that work there are so great and love having us coming to help. Then we went to the hospital to go visit Ms. Debbie because she wasn't feeling to good and they are just checking to see what’s up. So we got to visit with her and she really loved that we came to see her. Such a sweet lady and I just hope that she gets feeling better. Then a member picked us up and took us out to eat lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant and it was pretty good. After, we got to go see Ms. Rosezena. 

Wednesday, we had our last district meeting with the group we have right now and we had a pretty good lesson. We got to watch Johnny Lingo and talk about are self-worth and also the worth of our investigators and how the gospel makes them become an 8 cow child of God. It was really good. Then we went and tried a less-active member Ms. Betty and it was a really good visit. She hasn't been to church in a long time and she had some family pass away so we were able to talk a little bit about the Plan of Salvation. Hopefully we can get her back to church. Then we went to the church to have our scripture study and at first only sister Herron showed up but then  Sammy and Kesha showed up, so that was good. After we got to play some ball outside and that went really good. 

So we tried a lot of people and they all weren't home but as we were walking, this guy saw us and waved for us to come over. So we were pretty excited and when we got over, he talked to us about what his purpose in life is, so we started to talk to him about the Plan of Salvation and he started to cry. But then he kept on asking us what are names were and then we could smell the joint he had just smoked. So we left and were kind of bummed. Then we got to go over and see Lisa and we got to talk with her for a little bit and she told us that she would come to church on Sunday so we hope that that happens. We had a Relief Society Activity about how to use our food storage and it went really good. I learned a lot.

So we got to see a less-active Edna, which she lives in a senior living center. She has Alzheimer's and she is a really lonely lady and so it was good to visit with her. After we got to go over and see Kesha and Sammy. When we got to the hotel room, they were making dinner and something happened and somehow hot oil got split and got on Nisha and Sir and it was a little crazy. The feeling in that room wasn't a good feeling. SO we started the lesson and we went over repentance and had this cool object lesson and knowing when we repent we can be forgiven and they really loved it. And something cool that happened is that when we were taking about them in companionship study, we talked about teaching them repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost or sacrament but we weren't completely sure. But when we got in the lesson, we talked about all of them. The conversation just leads us to talk about them all. And it was amazing to feel the difference in that room. Also we mentioned how we will be talking about the Plan of Salvation next time and Sir was saying how he remembered it from when the Elder's taught him it about a week ago. So we started to go through it and he got it all right. It was pretty amazing and cool to see him remember it. The spirit was for sure there and probably one of the most powerful lessons I have had. Durtschi and I left and we were just amazed to see how the spirit totally helped us out on that lesson. 

So funny story, we were waiting at a gas station and we saw about 3 drug deals go down. Not a boring life as a missionary, haha! So we got to see Sammy ans Sir again and we got to go more in depth of the Plan of Salvation and while we were going through it, Sir and Sammy were making great comments and understanding it. Then we got to talk to Sir about being baptized and he said that he wants to be baptized and it was pretty cool. So now we are just hoping that Sammy and Sir will make their baptismal date for June 18th. After we went to Taco Bell for dinner and the workers there were pretty awesome. We got to talk with them for a little bit and have some fun with them. Then we got to talk a little more with Jamie and she was asking us questions about what we believe in and what we do. SO we got to talk a little bit and she gave us her info for us to come over to her house and talk with her more. It was pretty dang cool and we are seeing her tonight so we hope it goes good. 

So on Sunday, we got to church and it was probably one of the most powerful sacrament meetings that I have gone through. Taking the sacrament was really reverent and then Bishop got up and talked for a min about how important it is to be reverent in sacrament and the true meaning of it. It was a great thing that we all needed to hear. And then Elder T got up to talk and he talked about missionary work and how it blesses our live. It was a really good talk and there wasn't a dry eye. Then Elder Shreenan got up and also talked about missionary work, and then he played on the piano and gave a musical number. It was pretty powerful and we could feel the spirit. Then Brother Motten got up and shared his experiences he has had going out with missionaries and how it has blessed his life. He did a really good job. Then during third hour, Sister Durschi taught the lesson in Relief Society and I gave the lesson in Young Women's. I talked to them about Testimonies and the foundation of a testimony. The lesson went really good and it was so great to talk to them about testimonies because I share mine every single day and just how important it is to have your own testimony. Church went really well. Then we got to go to the Turley's to have dinner and they are so great and loving of the missionaries.

So it has been a pretty good week and I look forward to serving another transfer with Sister Durtschi. Everything happens for a reason and God sees the bigger picture.

Hope y'all have a great week!!

Love and miss y'all!!!!!

Sister McKenna O'Connor 

Our District!

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