Adjusting to Mission President and Companion Life!

 Malena and Sis. Swenson made President and Sister Chapman a booklet to help them adjust to Mission President life.  So creative, and The Chapman's loved it.

Hide and Seek with Jesus

Hey everyone! 

Another great week deep in the heart of Texas! The weather has been great! And I actually mean that, I saw a cloud in the distance one day and it's cooled down to a nice 95⁰.

This week had a lot going on! We tried to do some finding but knocked a lot and no one wanted to recieve eternal salvation (ugh):

One lady smiled and said hi when she answered then she saw our tags and suddenly she was mute and slowly closed the door. No, I didn't try using sign language on her, I learned the hard way.

Other people, when we knocked, they always say "oh don't worry, I've found Jesus." What does that even mean?!? Is everyone in Texas playing a big game of hide and seek with Jesus that I didn't know about?! As for me, I'm still looking. It's like a game of hot and cold. We're all slowly getting hotter or colder depending on how hard we look. 

Another woman was a bible request and we went to her house and after she yelled at us through the door for a few minutes, she opens her blinds and (shes also in only a towel) says "Is that one of those moron books? I don't want a moron book, just a Bible!" So we give her a Bible and she says that we can come teach her any time... I think I'll use my "moron" book. 

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We found a couple...well actually they found us! We were walking to the apartment of someone we're teaching and this woman walks out of her apartment and says “Hi, I am BOOMEE" and she was this awesome African lady who told us she wants us to come back and teach her. Then, she brought her whole family out they stood behind us while we knocked. It was lucky no one was home. So, we came back and she was going to work, but her and her husband told us when to come back and they really want to learn about God! It was so awesome! I am so excited to teach them! 

A woman called me an Energizer bunny this week (I think she was exasperated by my attempts to come back) but I think it means I'm doing something right! 

We had another lesson with Griselda and her husband, Kenneth, who's a member! She is so sweet and we talked about commandments. I was trying to explain why we need daily scripture study, prayer and going to church every week and suddenly this analogy popped into my head and I didn't even take time to double check it before I said “It's like having a water cup and a syringe... you can only put a drop if water in the cup at a time, but over time the cup gets full! And then you can..." and then I realized that analogy was not so good and they were laughing at me. But her husband said "I know you think that analogy was terrible but it's actually what I was thinking I just didn't know how to put it into words!" So that was good. Sometimes analogies don't make sense and that's okay! Sometimes we just have full cups and nothing to do with them. 

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So we tried to do a lot of Inactive member work. We visited this couple one night and it was so sad. They happily bragged about how they haven't been to church in 8 years. They didn't care if I shared a spiritual message (I did anyways) and they have 0 desire to grow their faith or testimony because it would get in the way of their grudges and lifestyle. Why would anyone NOT want to grow closer to God?? It can't do anything but good! And this couple kept going on and on about how active they used to be and how much everyone loved them but they are missing the most important step of enduring to the end! It made me so sad for them. It makes me sad to see these people who could be so happy by living the gospel, but they are so scared to let go of the worldly things that are holding them back. 

In Alma 23:6-8 it talks about the Lamanites and how they became fully converted unto the Lord and "laid down their weapons of rebellion and no longer fought with God". What weapons of rebellion are we holding onto? We all have our favorite sins, we all have something that is holding us back from fully living the gospel, and it's scary to let that go. I invite all of you to think of what your weapons of rebellion are and think of how we can bury them and move on from our grudges so we can no more fight against God and become fully converted into the Lord. 

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This week at Arlington Charities we helped pass out food to people at it was a ton of people. And I was in charge of bread and watermelons. The two most saught after things. It was so hectic But one woman, I swear "subtly" took home like 8 watermelons. People were going crazy for them. I felt like a banker when the market crashed in 1929 and everyone wanted their money and I couldn't supply it all (how did I get only get a 1 on the APUSH exam??). 

Anyway, I love you guys! I pray for you all! 

Sister McKee

 Would you look at that pretty sunset!

 The closest I'll get to swimming in the next 15 months 

 Sister Thorpe who went home this week! 

 I just love this random building that no one answered their doors at lol. 

I'm a real girl Pinocchio

So this week was AMAZING! I've been calling it the week of miracles because: 

On Tuesday night we started on our list of inactive members in a ward. We went through maybe 10 people before someone answered. It was a husband and his wife isn't a member. But he agreed to let us come over the next day. So we went over and she told us her story. She has been interested in the church for almost 8 years and knows there is something special about it but has been hesitant because of her family. But, apparently on Sunday, her mother had a heart softening experience and is more open to her daughter in this church. So I said “So this happened on Sunday? And we out of the blue called you on Tuesday?" And she said "I thought my husband called YOU!" And she agreed that her time has come to learn more. It's awesome!!!! 

Then, as we were walking from her lesson we ran into this man. He stopped us and said “Are you missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?! I am a member!" And he is an inactive member that has to work on Sundays but has been praying for months for someone to find him and help him have church visitors. He was so excited when we came and kept saying "I love The Church of Jesus Christ.” 

THEN, we had a little while before going home and we got on area book and there was another inactive member in this complex, and we look up, and we are standing RIGHT NEXT to her building. And, she was so sweet and has health issues so she can't come. But what a day of miracles.

I also had a cool experience because we have been able to find people to teach every week. But, this week on Saturday morning we hadn't found anyone. And I was praying in the morning that we will be able to find those that need the gospel and need us and we found 4 people that day!! It was 2 sisters and a couple! It was great!! I know it may have been my hands knocking the doors and my face facing the rejections, but it was the spirit that found those 4 people and I got to watch it working its magic. And, I was okay with getting rejected because everyone needs the gospel whether they think so or not. I'm glad to invite them. 

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We also had to drop Wanda. She is the one who read the Book of Mormon in a week. She is not ready, and isn't as open as we thought. She spent a while ridiculing us and degrading us and tbh, I almost cried and yelled in the same lesson. Luckily, my mom kinda taught me the art of a neutral face so I just sat and listened to her. Sister Swenson said I was glaring, but she wouldn't let us even get a sentence out without telling us we're wrong but wouldn't listen, so I was getting frustrated and was trying to fit more words in before she interrupted me so I was talking really fast and then we left.  But yeah, not ready. It's sad. 

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So now I would like to share maybe the scariest door approach of my 2.5 months. Background: So as many of you may know, one of my fears, or very very strong dislikes- are things pretending to be people. This includes dolls, puppets, claymation (especially claymation), stop motion puppetry, ventriloquists, all of it. It's creepy, but I didn't think I'd have to deal with it on my mission.

But we are knocking doors and knock into this lady. We start talking and she is telling us about how she teaches children bible stories. And then for 30 MINUTES, NOT exaggerating, she showed us puppet videos she's made. And I didn't care about the animal puppets but then she starts showing videos of her ventriloquist old man and it was getting really hard for me to fake smile. She then offered to teach us how to use her puppets if we want, and I said "yeah and maybe we can teach you some stuff in return!" And she said "yeah… maybe." We call her the puppet master. I won't go back. 

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Malena’s Awkward Moments:

My whole life is awkward, but Sister Swenson helped me think of moments to include. This week is mostly about weird old men: 

•Yesterday we were at dinner and eating meatloaf and the wife asked if we wanted bbq sauce or anything for our food, and I said “No, that's okay! Im good!" And the husband said "oh really, let me see" and grabs my hand off my lap and "tastes" it and says "yeah, she's good." All 5 of us just sat in silence for a while after that while I was wiping my hand on the table cloth for 10 minutes. Super weird.

•We were at Musical Memory Singers this week and we invited our district to come with us. One of the elders was sitting with this old guy behind us. After about 45 minutes I feel my hair being pulled. I turn around and this guy is giggling. His wife says “You gotta watch out! He has a thing about hair! He loves it!" And I said "oh I guess I'll have to wear it up next time..haha (nervous laughter)" and she says "oh, he'll find it anyways!" and Elder Paulson said he had been reaching for my hair the whole time. Also another weird old guy haha. 

• I ALSO had 2 old men argue for 5 minutes if I was brown enough to be hispanic or if I knew Spanish or not. Did they ask me? nope. Do I speak any spanish? Sí. 

I love you guys! I love being a missionary! Its great! Hope y'all have a good week! 

-Sister McKee

Sister Simmons, Sister Swenson, Malena, Sister Larson

 Zone on P-day

 Sang in Sacrament.  Don't think it was too good.  A lady came up after and said to 

blame the bad singing on the Piano Player.  haha

Classier, but in a more humble way...

Hey everyone! Thanks for tuning into my weekly epistle! 

I had to give a talk this week in 1st ward and was searching like crazy on a topic and I came across a talk called “Taking Upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ" by Elder Robert C. Gay. It talks about how we can better take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ by seeing as he sees, serving as he serves and putting our trust in him. I liked the suggestion of trusting in him and wanted to include the part of my talk in here. If it's too long for y'all, I'll put a divider so you know where to skip too. I have been on the other side of missionary emails, I understand.

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The most vital step to taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ is to trust in him. This can be the hardest step. I personally struggle with giving up the metaphorical steering wheel of life to someone else when I have a set destination in mind, but as we let "Jesus take the wheel" (yes, I did say this and no, no one laughed) and trust that he will take us the way we need to go and we will be so blessed and be taken on amazing paths in our lives that we never imagined! 

In Helaman 12:1 it reads 

1...yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him. 

An experience I've had with putting my trust in the lord started when I was 15. I made a 10 year life plan. This included my graduating GPA, where I'd go to college, what my major would be and even who I hoped to go to prom with. But, life got the best of me. And so far, in the past 4 years, not a single thing on that list has gone the way I wanted it to. But, I realized that my plan led me to receive many worldly joys. And Gods plan for me has led me to grow my testimony and if my plan had worked out, I wouldn't be here. I wasn't planning on a mission, but I am so glad I was able to trust the Lord and take this big step of faith and come on my mission! It's already been such a great blessing in my life! And as we all work towards trusting fully in the Lord and his miracles, we will also have so many great blessings and experiences we'd never dreamed of! 

As we pray to Heavenly Father for guidance and support, knowing that He will answer and help us, we are learning to depend on Him, trust Him and learn from Him.  And then we are taking upon the name of Christ because we are constantly turning to Him and depending on Him. It's like how I have a companion. You may know me as Sister McKee and my awesome companion as Sister Swenson, but because we are together all the time, you associate us together. If we constantly have Jesus Christ and the spirit with us, those around us will recognize it and associate us with the spirit and therefore, with Jesus Christ. 

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I encourage you all to go read this talk, it was so good and I was tempted to stand and read his talk aloud.  After me, a man in the ward spoke and he also was told to choose his own talk. So, he got up and gave a 15 minute description of the whole entire plot of “Meet The Robinsons" with character development, foreshadowing and great detail. He then spent the next 10 minutes talking about how that movie relates to the scriptures and the atonement. Its lucky I was hidden behind the podium because me and the 1st counselor were cracking up. It made me think of Amber (Sister Alldredge) because she loves that movie.

This week we didn't meet a whole lot of people because of the heat. People didn't want to open the doors in 103⁰ weather and we tried our best not to go outside during it. When people did open the door, we got a lot of sympathy water, so I'm super hydrated. I am not even a little upset about the heat though because I am just glad that I'm not somewhere cold.

We started new member lessons with Bobbie and she is so cute. She tells all her friends about the church and talks about how she wants to go on a mission. She actually texted us and said she can't have a lesson this week because she is ministering all week. I hope this excitement for the gospel never wears off. The world needs more people like her. I am a little worried about what she's teaching though, because we went over to have a new member lesson and she pulled out her Bible and Book of Mormon and her Bible was different. I asked her what Bible it was and she said the one we gave her. But turns out she got mixed up as to which missionaries in the past gave her what and was using a Jehovah Witness Holy Scripture. I read some, it was cool.

We actually were going to a members house last night and knocked on the door and she asked who it was. So we said “Sister Missionaries!" And she said "no thank you!" So we were very confused and then she called and we explained and she let us apologized! She thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses. 

People also ask us if we are nuns. And when we tell them no that always say "are you sure?"  One guy we talked to named Brandon was interested in our missions and I was explaining how it works and how we leave behind worldly things to serve the Lord for 18 months and he asked if we have internet on our phones. We said no and he said “What! That's crazy! Well, you can come over here if you need internet any time!" It was funny, he was so worried that we don't have google. Then he asked if we wanted paper towels for our faces (I wasn't even that gross looking, it was only 101⁰ outside) and we said no because we were leaving and he said "ohh...  are paper towels against your religion too?” Hahahahaha, Sister Swenson just said “We're not amish!" It was sooo funny.

On Friday night we went  to dinner at a members house and she said “Do you have any appointments after this?" And we said no and she said “Great! You can stay longer!" And it was this huge Philippine birthday party (a lot of them were from where my friends are on missions!) and she wanted us to stay because she invited some of her nonmember friends. As we were talking to one of them I hear "MALENA!" And I jump and flip around and this guy is talked to his wife and pointing to this girl and saying “Her name is Melina too!" And I broke missionary character and said “Hey dude, me too!" So we got a picture with the 3 Malenas.

We were walking in the dark home from a lesson and we saw this security guard walking towards us. We said hi and he said “Are you girls on missions? Are you missionaries?" 

Me: "yeah! How'd you know?"

Him: “Well, just how you're dressed... its not…."

me: “normal?" 

Him: "I wouldn't say not normal... I'd just say.. classier but in a more humble way" 

Us: “Wow, thank you so much.” haha

This week we had another lesson with Therese. Therese is the sweetest person in the world. She saw the previous sisters on their bikes and pulled her car over and said “Are you guys Mormons? I love Mormons!" And invited them over. She is a strong Catholic but her little sister is a member and has been discussing ours and their beliefs for years.  So, we set an another appointment and we thought she was just interested in a discussion and spiritual message but she had her Bible, Book of Mormon and iPad sitting out so she had all the resources to learn. She told us that she loves the Catholic Church, but has felt a shift in the vibes (yes a 65 year old woman said that) and is willing to go wherever is true and wherever the Lord wants her. I love her. We taught her about the restoration and she loved it! She is one of the most open people I've met. A lot if people say their open, but that's usually only if we're teaching something they agree with but she actually accepted it and said she needs to pray about it and get back to us.

Awkward Malena Moments: 

•so yesterday at church we were welcoming people and I was playing with my hair tie on my fingers and just as a woman walked into the chapel it flung off my fingers. Very luckily it did not hit her face, but she did step on it so it was wrapped around her shoe. And it is my only my only hair tie that fits my wrist. So I had to crawl on the ground and get my hair tie off of her shoe and she was so confused as to why the Sister Missionary was touching her shoe. But I got it back. 

•In the next sacrament I was sitting up on the stand and playing with my rings and I dropped one and it landed like 4 feet away, in the middle of the sacrament. I was nervous the Deacons would step on it, so, during the prayer I very silently stood up and grabbed it and then when I was sitting down the chair squeaked very loudly. I don't think the bishopric saw me but a couple in the crowd were giggling after the prayer. 

I love you all! I hope you enjoyed reading my own personal Book of Alma. 

- Sister McKee 

Saw this whale rug, and loved it.

 Liked this scripture that talks about America, so I tried to color it like a flag.

 Sis. Swenson and I went to the Guitar Center so I could get a Kapo and tuner.  So many pretty guitars.

You Never Forget Your First Baptism!

Hey everyone!

I had my first baptism this Week! It was so great! Bobbie was so excited that she had her clothes laid out since Tuesday and got to the church almost an hour early and just sat and waited while we got ready. Also, it was super fun because the baptismal closet is infested with cockroaches. So, as it was filling up all the bugs appeared, so I had to get in and pick up the bugs and squash them on the wall.

The baptism was so amazing. Bobbie told us she feels like a new woman and is so excited to be a member and have the Holy Ghost. She was confirmedt in church the next day and was shaking hands with people all the way down the aisle. I love her, she has such a strong testimony.

Her grandkids

This week we found a ton of new people! Sometimes people would just start talking to us or would tell us we could come back after we only introduce ourselves! It was awesome! This one guy and his friends literally started asking us about God and prayer and repentance and it was so cool! We gave him a Bible and BOM and he said "ok, I'll read, when will you come back”. 

We were sitting in our car preparing for a lesson and looked over and these two guys jumped in their van and started rolling joints. I wanted to knock on the window and give them a Book of Mormon but Sister Swenson said they wouldn't feel the spirit, so we didn't.

We continued to teach Taylor, who was the 14 year old who said we talked to much. She said she had been praying and hadn't recieved an answer. We asked her what she feels and she said "idk, relief" and we said "THATS YOUR ANSWER!" and we mentioned Jesus Christ and she had 0 idea of anything about him. She's had a really hard childhood.  We gave an outline of His life and when we told her of the atonement she was amazed and kept saying “Why would he do that?" And “Wow, he's so strong". It was so cool to be there to watch her learn about him for the first time, she reminded me of what it means to become like a little child, because she was so unknowledable and curious.

Awkward Malena Moments: 

•We were saying goodbye to a guy the other day after talking to him on his doorstep and I fell off his step onto the grass. He was laughing so hard so we just walked away.

•One night we went with a member to visit less actives and she was so nice and picked us up and drove us to our first house. This house was coincidentally next door to hers. And this member was so sweet and talked to everyone for a long time. Welllllll... on Sunday she got up in testimony meeting and says “So, I went with the Sister Missionaries this week to visit less actives. And I had forgot. And I was dreading it and didn't want to go, but I just went anyways. I drove up north to get them and drove all the way back to my neighborhood to visit less actives. So, she practically roasts us from the pulpit. And we were just sinking into our seats. So awkward. Eventually she linked it back to a positive note but it was funny. 

•We went to this door and this guy named Jeremiah answered and we introduced ourselves and almost immediately he says "I'm very interested can you come back tomorrow?" And I was in shock and said "yeah sure! Just so you know: we believe uhh.... we believe uhhh..... we believe... Sister Swenson take over, I'm struggling". All my knowledge totally fell out of my head 

I love this gospel! Its amazing! Hope y'all have a great week! 

Sister McKee 

Pizza for Sister Swenson's 6th months!

 Michelle and Jason Shumate

 Me, Sis. Swenson, Whetton, Simmons

 One of the members brought us dinner to the church, and 2 roses also.  So sweet.

 Missionary Pictures

 Mom sent face masks.

 Today, Elder Tafua died.  We had to send him home.  

Sisters Perry, Thorpe, Me, Swenson, and  Elders Thorpe, Paulson, and Batton