St. Patricks Day and Musical

March 21, 2016

Hey Family,

Looks like y'all have had a good/full week. So much going on, but no surprise for the O'Connor Family, haha!

So this past week has had some ups and downs.

A lot of our appts. fell through and also not home. Little frustrating. We did get to meet a new family that just moved in. The grandma and granddaughter are mebers so we got to visit with them for a little and they are such a nice family. Hopefully we will get to see them again this month. So we have a problem with our car. So we get an allotment of miles each month and we have to drive up to Hattiesburg this week for Zone Conference. And that is going to take a lot of miles, so we are having to be very careful with the miles. Which is frustrating cause our area is so big and we need the miles. But this helps us be able to call members to help us out. After our visit, we went to the church to help set up for the relief society activity. We were doing Mormon edition of Family feud. We had a lot of fun and we also had Oliver Garden cater which was really good. And there was so much extra food and we got some of it to take home, yum!

Thank you so much for the St. Patrick's Day package!

We got to have the STL's come down this week to help us weekly plan. President is having us do it more from preach my gospel. It's a little hard trying to get out of the way that we have done it. But it is really good cause we now get to focus more on those we are teaching. So that was nice for them to help us out. Then we got to go over to Sis. Masich's house for dinner. Sis. Stewert and Sis. Agradi was there with us. I always love being with these ladies and talking with them. I always love there sweet spirits.

Saturday morning was full with service. We went to help at Bishop's storehouse and then we went after to "The Lord is my Help" soup kitchen. The ward helps them out every year with yard work, painting, making repairs and what ever else they need help with. That was so much fun helping out with and we are planning to help out there, so we are excited about that. We got to go out with Sister Ganschow and we tried to see Adam cause it has been a while since we have seen him. He wasn't home so I looked through the ward roster to see who we could visit and felt prompted to go see the Griffins. They haven't been to church in a while so we wanted to check-up on them. They were home and we got to go in to talk with them. There was a little girl there and we found out that they are  their grandkids. Jesse (he is 7) and Miley (she is 4). Miley was there and she is the cuties thing. She was shy at the being but she started to lighten up and was showing me a bunch of things. I gave her a picture of Jesus and she was so excited and was going around and saying, "This is Jesus Christ". The Griffins also want to get sealed in the Temple so we are going to work with them and help so that they can get sealed.

Sunday we had meetings and we were able to talk a lot about those we are teaching. And we also challenged the ward council to pray for us to find new investigators ans also for missionary opportunities, so we will see how that goes. In Sacrament meeting, the talks were about Jesus and the days following his crucifixion. The talks given were so good and the spirit was so strong. The whole day, we focused on Christ and the Atonement and just getting ready for Easter and Conference, which I am really excited for. After church, we went and tried to see Carla Cannon but she wasn't home. Instead a girl named Kennedy was there and we got to talk with her a little bit about the Gospel and then this guy named Joseph pulled up with whataburger and went inside. Then a few seconds later, he came back out to listen to us (they are both some how related to Carla). And we got to  talk to both of them for a little and they are willing to take the lessons and we have an appt. with them today so we hope that it goes well. Then we got to go out with Ashley to an Easter musical that is called "The Choice". It's about this Roman guard who is trying to chose between Pilate's court or following Jesus. We got to go see it at a Methodist church and it was a pretty interesting musical.

 

I love y'all so much and miss ya. Hope y'all have a great Easter and enjoy those scones, yum!!

Sister McKenna O'Connor

Cool knitted fish hat

 Musical

We love doing service at the Lord Is My Help

Snake!

 Program from the Musical

Sister Poulson and I walking

Lots of Rain

March 14, 2016

Hey Family,

Looks like y'all had a fun week with Prom and mission call openings. I am so excited for Brielle and she will be a great missionary. I really loved seeing Mikey's picture of Prom. He and his date look so cute. This week has been an okay week. 

On Monday, all of the missionaries ditched us so we just chilled at the apartment, which kind of stunk. Then we were able to have a combined FHE with the Scaturo's and the Thomas's. We had a really great lesson talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really great and was able to feel the spirit. This past week, we were able to have Zone Training Meeting with everyone from the Zone and also President and Sister Olson were there as well. We talked about working with members and having them help us out with finding people who are ready to hear of the gospel. We learned a lot of great information to help us and our areas. Then after the meeting, we had a meeting with President and Sister Olson with just the Sister's. It was really great and just being able to talk with them. We also had learned that from this last transfer in the MTC that there were 51% of the missionaries were Sisters. We were really surprised to hear that. The talk that was given this past October conference given by President Russell M. Nelson, "Plea to my Sister's" is coming true.

When we got back from our meetings, we got to go out visiting teaching with Bobbi and Shunta. One of the ladies we visited, her husband is really sick and is almost his time to return to our Heavenly Father. His daughter was also there who is active in the church and you could see the sadness in her face. She then asked us to come in and to give a prayer. SO we walked in and the room was just all lite up and it was so peaceful. As Sister Poulson was giving the prayer, I was just consumed with the love that filled this room. I could feel past loved ones there comforting the family, and I could just think of Grandma and Grandpa Wright and how it must of felt when Grandma finished her mission on this earth and just how peaceful the room must have been. And right then, I got really emotional and needed to leave the room because of what I was feeling.

We were able to see Tonia and Brittney also this week and when we got there, they were a little hesitant talking to us. We asked then what was going on and they told us that they don't think that they can see us anymore. Friends of theirs    have told them not to talk with us anymore because we have weird beliefs. So we tried answering some of their concerns. And they were a little more open, can y'all just keep them in your prayers so that they will continue to learn more. We then got to see Thelma and talk with her a little bit. She always loves when we come over. We then had correlation with the Elder's and Brother Bahr. After the meeting, we had to leave and drive to Wakeland, MS (which is about a 40 min drive) for exchanges with the STL's and it was about 8:30pm by the time we left. As I was driving, it was pretty windy but we were able to get to the STL's apt. safe. While in Waveland, we got to go to the Soup Kitchen and help out there. Sister Uffens and I got to help out in the closet while Sister Poulson and Ali-Savory helped out in the kitchen. We had a lot of fun helping people out to find things that they need. We then got to go try a couple and had a good time talking.  Then we went to the stake center to finish the exchange and we did a companionship inventory.

Friday we were able to go to seminary in the morning and I always love going to be with the youth and they are always excited when we come. We read from Isiah and talked about putting our trust in the Lord. It was really a great discussion. As we headed back home, it was raining cats and dogs. It was coming down really hard, the roads were flooded and it was hard to see. But we were able to make it home safe. We also got to try to visit a couple of people; we got to see Elizabeth which this was going to be our last meeting because she leaves to go back to Texas. So the elders were able to come and give her the sacrament because she wasn't going to be able to take it this Sunday. So that was cool to see her take the sacrament and how important it was for her. After we got to go try Blake but he wasn't home so we just tried people and somehow we found ourselves at a less-actives home. So we knocked on the door and she was home, so she let us in and we got to visit with her. Sister Booth is an older lady and is just so sweet. She is just so nice to us and she loved that we had stopped by and we need to do it again.

We were able to see Carla Cannon and she was happy to see us. She is having a hard time and we are trying really hard to lighten her load and to more days get her back to church. Then we got to see the Haley's and I always love going to see them and talking with them. They always pick on me but I’m used to it, ha-ha. We then went to see Tonia and Brittany but they weren't home so we tried potentials in that area. We got to see Jolynn, which it has been about a month or two since we have seen her. We got to talk with her about some of our beliefs and it went very well. After when we got in the car, Sister Poulson and I were not feeling to good so we decided to head back in. We don't know why but we were having a hard time but we got feeling better.

Sunday was Day-light savings time so we woke up and it was 6:30am but as I was getting ready something didn't feel right so we texted someone to figure out the time and we found out the it was actually 7:30am, Opps. But we were able to get to church on time which was good. In sacrament Bethany Shumaker was talking, which she is deathly afraid of speaking and she was crying before she went up. So when she got up there, she started crying and it took her a min before she started talking. She gave a really great talk about modesty and as soon as she finished she ran outside crying, my heart just broke for her. Then her dad got up to talk and he was too emotional and was just telling us how happy he was that Bethany was brave enough to get up there and how he loved her so very much. It was so cute!!!! Church went really well and after we were able to go see the Jellums. The kids and the wife came out and talked with us. We were there for about 45 minutes just talking about how her and her husband met and it was really good. Right now it's a little hard to teach them a lesson but our focus right now is to gain their trust and we are making such wonderful growth with them. Then we got to go visit with sweet little Sister Leonard. She is such a sweet lady and love coming over to give her company. She was just talking our ears off but we could tell that she loved it. We are going to see if we can come visit with her more often.

So we had a pretty good week getting to visit a lot of less-active members.

Hope y'all have a blessed week. Love and miss y'all!!!!!!

Sister McKenna O'Connor

All my planners so far

Pied in the Face

March 7, 2016

Hey Family,

Looks like all y'all had a great, busy week. We were able to get a lot down this past week, it felt really well.

We got to go with the other Sister to Sharkheads (it's a shop on the beach). It's a really big store and go to wonder around for a little bit and get a few things, then we went to the church and played some volleyball. So funny thing, one of the Elders in the Biloxi ward, Elder Andrew Tranior, he went to Westlake and is from Eagle Mtn. Dad failed him in Driver's Ed because he was speeding during the test, haha! Then we got to have dinner at Sister Ladniers and then got to go to the Thomas's to see how they are doing.

Tuesday was a really good day. We went and stopped by Steve and Debbie real quick to drop off a bible that Debbie wanted and also to invite them to the ward Luau. They were okay with seeing us and we got to talk with them for a little bit. But Sister Poulson and I have decided to take a break with them. We know that Debbie wants to learn more but Steve is in the way and we don't want the situation to get any worse. So just keep Debbie in your prayers. After we got to go try Blake. Blake is the guy that Sister Burgess and I tracted into. It has been hard trying to catch him but he was outside when we pulled up. So we got to talk with him about the Restoration and he had really good questions. Just pray that his heart will be soften. Then we got to see the Haley's. They are doing pretty good. They are always happy when we come over to see them. They are basically my mission grandparents. I love them so much.

Wednesday we had a great District meeting. We talked about Alma 7 and Preach My Gospel. Then we all went out to eat at Mugshots. Really good burger place. Also they have a Mugshot Challenge so 2 of the Elders decide that it would be a good idea to try it. So they basically have to eat 3 burgers stacked on top of each other with a lot of fries and they have to eat it in 12 minutes.  They did a pretty good job but they weren't able to finish it, so they had to pay $20 and they got a belly ache. Then when we got back to the apartment, Sister Poulson went and lay down because she wasn't feeling good. Then we went to Church to have correlation. We had a really good talk with one another, and Elder Schleip ( he did the Mugshot) was totally zoned out during the meeting, so he had a food coma, ha-ha!

We got to see Tonia and Brittney this week and we got to take Sister Cardon with us. So their preacher told them not to read from the Book of Mormon but they read it any way. We were so happy to hear that. So we talked with them about the Restoration and right at the beginning, Tonia, started to cry. So we waited in peace for a little bit then asked her what she was thinking. She told us that she has done a lot in her life that she wasn't proud of, but we talked to her a little bit about the Atonement and how our Heavenly Father still loves us when we do things wrong and that Jesus Christ knows what we are going through because he went through it. As we continued on, they were asking really good questions and were saying why they don't know why people say we don't worship Jesus because we talk about Jesus (It's on our name tag). You could just feel the spirit so strong and it felt really good. Then we got to go out with the Chesley's for dinner. We went out to Newks. I always love being with the Chesley's, they are great. As we were having dinner, Sister Chesley told me that I reminded her of her sister. So that is pretty cool.

Also the Melines took us out this week for dinner and we were joking of how there is no parade this time, As we were eating, we talked about the Luau and how the dessert auctions get intense and Brother Meline was saying that he would help us out getting a dessert. Saturday morning we had Bishop's Storehouse and that always goes great. Then we went and tried a couple people, but they were home or they were asleep. So as we were walking back to the apartment, we decided to stop by Carla Cannon's (it has been a while since we have seen her). So when we knocked on the door she was home and we got to talk with her. We got to share with her "God is the Gardner" and also about the 2000 stripling warriors. It went very good and hopefully we can see her more often. So we got home and got already for the Luau. So Ashley Thomas picked us up and we headed over. As we walked in, the youth put fun luau hats on us and also leis.  It was a lot of fun getting to see all that they had set up with all the desserts on the table. As I was looking at the desserts, Bro. Meline came up to me to figure out which one I liked. So we decided on one and he told me that I needed to bid for it. So we got our food and it was really good. Then they started the dessert auction. As they got about half way through they brought out whip cream pies to pie people. So Bobbi got the first pie and decided to pie Elder Schliep, then Sister Water's pied Elder Crouch. It was pretty dang funny. Then the Elders went over to Bishop Williams and was able to get the next pie, and they decided to pie Sister Poulson and I. I was a little upset but I just accepted it. So we got up there and had to put our faces really close together. So they pied us and I got most of the pie and it was all over the place (at least it didn't get on my clothes). Then we got to pie someone, so we decided to pie Bishop for helping them out. It was a lot of fun. But the smell of it was making me really nausea. Then they continued on with the dessert auction and of course the cake I wanted was the last one. So as they started off, I would look over to Brother Meline to see what we wanted to do and he would just tell me keep going. So the auction was going and it was down to me and a Sister in the ward. And as the prices were getting higher, people were starting to freak out that I was bidding a lot. The Elders were right next to me and they were freaking out so much, it was pretty funny. Brother Wright was the auctioneer and he was kind of freaking out too. I'm pretty sure people were bidding just so I didn't have to pay. And during the whole time, I was keeping a straight face and would just check with the Meline's. Finally I won the cake for $125. I then go up to the Meline's to figure out to pay for half, but they said it was okay and that it was on then. They are so amazing and they do so much for us. It was a lot of fun to end the night off. Also none of our people we invited showed up which kind of stunk.

Sunday was Fast and testimony meeting. I always love testimony meeting, it's always great to hear other's testimonies of the Gospel. One of the sister's in the ward was telling us that her father in really ill and is just waiting to return to our Heavenly Father. It was really sad and it just made me really miss everyone. The whole theme was The Plan of Salvation. It was a really spiritual testimony meeting. Then in gospel principles, we got to talk about the Millennium. It was a really good discussion. Then in Relief Society we talked about our trails and enduring them. It was a great day. Then we got to have dinner at the Cardon's and I always love hanging out with them. We had a really good dinner and our lesson was great. We talked with them about the Gospel and the Atonement. Everything we had talked about just tied with each other. Then after, the Elders came over so that we can talk about the Missionary experience that we want to have for the youth. We planning to have them get mission calls and then they get to go to the MTC then they get to go out into the mission field. It is going to be a lot of work but it will be worth it to show the youth a little bit of mission life. So we are pretty excited about it. It will happen the last 2 weeks of March. So we had a pretty good week and are excited to see the work that is happening. The Vision of the South is starting.

I love and miss y'all so much!!! Hope you have a great week!!

Sister McKenna O'Connor