Joyfully Becoming a Disciple of Jesus Christ!!

Hello everyone! It's me, Sister McKee. 

This week in Texas was good, and crazy!! We were super busy all the time that I would crash at around 10 o'clock every night from exhaustion. It's so great, I love it :). 

So I don't remember if I mentioned Katherine in the past months but a little run down...she is married to a member and has been receiving missionary lessons on and off for about 5 years. And she told us that she is going to join another religion so we stopped going by. But, I really wanted Sister Wind to meet her and her husband so we went over last Saturday night. But the doors were locked and the lights were off so we left. Well, on Sunday Katherine comes to church, and her husband, Hundson, had passed away in his sleep the previous night. It was really sad. And then on Monday Katherine called us and had decided to be baptized so that her and her husband can be sealed! That is exciting!! We set a date with her for October 19th!! 

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This week was super stressful, I feel like I'm in a water treading contest, and losing, which never happens. I used to be so good at treading water. There is just so much to do and not enough time to do it all!! But it's okay! I'm learning how to manage everything! And we are getting stuff done, I just want to do everything and cannot. 

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It's been really fun. I love my companion a lot. One day she forgot to bring her church shoes with her after service and someone told her she looked like a Jehovah Witness in her dress and tennis shoes and I couldn't stop laughing all day. I had to stop looking at her because I would cry from laughter in lessons.

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Yesterday we were asked to go visit an inactive family and we went in and it turns out their 3 daughters aren't baptized yet and willing to learn about our church! The mom was so excited they wanted to learn and told her conversion story and was so excited! Two of the daughters wanted to listen and we promised to bring them popcorn and cinnamon rolls. I love them so much! I'm so excited to teach them! 

We also found this amazing woman, her name is Wilma. She was asking us to interpret her dream about her seeing God but we decided not to, and then we started teaching the restoration. When we got to Joseph Smith's first vision, we showed the picture and she gasped and said "that's my dream, I saw that. I was standing where that boy is. I know that is true". And she was so excited about everything we taught her and told us she had been asked to read the Book of Mormon before and said no, but she said she knows its true now. Wow. I was in awe. 

Guys, listen. This church is true. It will bless you so much. Look into it.  

Love y’all,

Sister McKee 

Proof I have been wearing closed toe shoes:

 Olive Garden Before and After:

Look who I found in Texas:

And I'm Sister McKee, like McKee woooo....

Hey everyone! 

This week was great! 

So, we had transfers this week and I stayed in Arlington! Which I'm so happy about! I also got a new companion, Sister Wind! She's great and I love her so much! We get along very well. Let me tell y'all a little about what I've learned from her all ready: 

She's so funny, and bold. I pointed out a woman who won't meet with us and she walked over and asked this woman to make us dinner on Saturday night at 8. So we have an appointment and Samoan food on Saturday.

We were also out to dinner one night and a man told us he's been to Salt Lake and tried to go to our church (temple), but wasn't allowed. And I tried to say "oh that's the temple, but you can come to church!" And Sister Wind said "yeah! You have to be worthy to go in there, and be baptized into our church! We can help you do that! When can we stop by and teach you more?" I was in shock, but it was so great. He told us no, but it was great. 

When she introduces herself she says “Hi I'm Sister Wind, like the wind" then acts out wind with her fingers, so I've started saying “And I'm Sister McKee, like McKee wooooo" and waving my fingers. Hopefully it will help people remember us.

We had a great week! It's been stressful because now I'm leading the area, and I've been out like 2 weeks so it's been stressful to plan everything out but I feel like we are going to get a ton done!! I feel like Heavenly Father is definitely helping me out at this time.

One day we went to a referral who'd met with missionaries previous and he was not interested. But he had some questions. And he tried to bible bash us. But we didn't. We just tried to bare our testimonies and gave him a Book of Mormon. He thought we were funny, and then he told us he thought we were 27 year old women. Then, he had two offended 19 and 20 year old girls on his hands, so he tried to cover it up by saying we are matured by the spirit 🙄. So okay, I guess I've aged on my mission. Don't be surprised if I look 45 soon. 

We tried visiting some people and finding people. We visited a man and it was around 8:30, so it was dark. His door was wide open and he was passed out on the couch, so we just left, but walking back to our car we met a woman named Sarah! And Sarah was so sweet and talked to us for about 30 minutes! She told us she wants us to come by and talk to her! Then I felt like I should give her a Book of Mormon and she said “My son was baptized into this church! In Mexico!" And her son has been telling her to meet with missionaries for a long time! The only problem is, she actually lives in Denton, so I don't know if we will get to teach her, but someone will. It was so great, and if we hadn't visited that passed out man, we never would've met her. 

We had a picnic in first ward on Saturday! It went really good! Therese and her grandson came to the picnic which was so so awesome! She talked to a ton of people and there were specific people I sent her way that she really clicked with! I love Therese! She is so sweet!  

We also continue to teach Tywu and she uses her Yoruba Book of Mormon. We taught the plan of salvation and she told is how she feels like we are all damned after this life and we explained that there is joy after and throughout this life! She enjoyed it! She has health issues so she can't come to church but I think she would be solid!

We got to ride in a convertible last night and it was so much fun! 

Awkward Malena Moments: 

• So last Monday on p-day I was sitting against the wall on the stage at the church and I got hit in the face really hard with a soccer ball 😂😂. And this entire zone of about 25 people fell silent and all watched me. This poor elder felt so bad, because he had kicked it as hard as he could. And my face was swollen. It was so awkward. But it's okay now! Just a little bruised. 

• The primary program was yesterday, and I was getting really into it. And they started playing a song and I started singing! But I was the only one singing in the audience and I accidentally sang really loud. I caught myself after 2 words but everyone around me heard. And Sister Wind couldn’t stop laughing.

I know this gospel is true. I know it can bless us. When we were talking to the man who wanted to argue about the bible, we told him he MUST read the Book of Mormon on his own to gain a testimony. I said “Do you think either of us could've lasted this long on our missions living off our parents testimonies! NO! We read it and figured it out for ourselves, and then realized we want others to feel the joy too. So you have do do the same!" And it was so powerful to me, just a reminder of why I'm out here and what this is all about! It's about growing closer to Jesus Christ. 

That's all! I love you all! 

Sister McKee 

Email me this week:  malena.mckee@missionary.org

Haha, jk that's not all. P.s. Many of you may have seen the video of Bobbie singing! I showed it to the bishop and he gave her a calling to teach kids songs in primary!  She is so excited! She also got a calling as an usher and so at a fireside last night we had her practice and she went to every single person in the room and said “Praise the Lord, I'm Bobbie!" And talked to them. I love Bobbie so much. 

 Lunch with the Hermana's and Sister Swenson before transfers.

 Made this for Sister Minson for her hump day.  But my mom blew the surprise when she asked what it was for on the phone and Sister Minson heard her.  Oops.

 A member bought us ice cream from an ice cream truck.  Got this pictures since my mom loved her ice cream man growing up in Corona.

 We got to tour the Rangers Stadium.  Wish I liked baseball.  But it was cool.

PTL Saints!

Guys, this week was soooo awesome. I cant even describe it. But I'm going to try.

We had a lesson with Bobbie and she sang us church songs from her past churches. She also told us that she went to a different church where they also called themselves saints, and when they'd say hello, they'd proclaim “PTL Saints!" Try to guess what it means, if you can't, I'll put the answer at the end. But I love it and will probably say it forever. 

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We met a man named Moses, and I kept messing with him and calling him Abraham, Isaac, Noah etc. But, we gave him a pamphlet and asked to come back and he was so moved by our generous offering that he asked us to please stay while he goes and gets us something. He comes out with a bag with two cans of pralines (the chocolate straws, aka my favorite) 

and two cans of Pepsi. He was such a nice guy! And he said we could come back and he'd love to speak at our church sometime. 

Another man just yelled through the door that he doesn't have any clothes on but is grateful that we stopped by. 

A man answered the door and was looking right at us. He told us he doesn't believe in organized religion and we asked if he would like a card. He looked very offended and said "I can't read! I'm legally blind!" And slammed the door. 

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Wednesday was an awesome day!!! We had a mission conference with ELDER PATRICK KEARON. He was really funny and we came in late and ended up in the FRONT ROW. And just got to look him right in the eye and also awkward eye contact with the AP's constantly because they were sitting right in front of me. But anyways, at lunch, we saw empty chairs so we ran over to his table and then I slyly said “Hey can we sit by you?" And I literally rubbed elbows with a general authority!! Oohhh so cool. And he was really funny. I told him I was glad that I sat by him because I felt like I was In a mini general conference and he looks at me and says “Yes, this all is just for you. This whole conference, President set this all up for you. He asked us to come to help you, he was actually pleading and crying a little." Now imagine it with his British accent. it was really funny. I didn't know what to say. I felt struck down with his authoritative power. 

But he was awesome. I learned so much. He talked a lot about worrying and perfectionism. Something that a missionary close to me struggles with a lot. But why struggle so much for something that is literally impossible to achieve in this life. We can't be perfect in this life. We can try our best to be our best, but perfectionism is just a mask. It's something that hides how wonderful mistakes can be! I make a ton of mistakes, you all know that and I hope you all still love me despite them.  I think mistakes make us who we are, and learning from mistakes makes us who we can be. So quit worrying so much! Mistakes are fun!! Don't wear yourself out trying to hide them. Everyone is thinking of themselves anyways, so no one notices each other's mistakes. 

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We also had two dinners on Wednesday. Kenneth and Griselda wanted to take us out but we already had a dinner set up so we just ate two! But the Lord blessed us because we didn't feel sick at all! It was great. And Griselda gave her mom a Book of Mormon and shared scriptures with her. She told us she also has been reading a tiny little bit. But I am so excited for her because she is starting to progress!!

Also, we are still meeting with Sean and he called us one day and we were talking about the Book of Mormon and he says "I didn't bring it with me, but I have a spare 15 minutes, do y'all have an app or something I can download?" And we said YES! And over the phone we helped to download the BoM app and also invited him to stake conference. And he wanted to come to the Saturday adult session!! He told us "well if I want something I've never had I have to do something I've never done, and I've definitely have never gone to church on a Saturday night!" So he came and he said he liked it!! I am so excited. He seems to want to make a change. 

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MICHELLE GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!!!! it was sooo exciting!! She did so good, went under and back up and everything. And she said she feels so clean and happy and calm. And the ward is so great, so many people came to support her. We love Michelle.

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Here's an awkward moment: 

Michelle asked if I could give a talk on baptism. I told her I could and some elders told me I had to do a cool object lesson so she would remember it. So, I was talking to some members about it and one suggested that I take a cup of water, put food coloring in it, and then add bleach for baptism. He kept talking about when he saw this at a baptism and the food coloring disappeared instantly and it was so cool. So, his wife gave me some bleach and I practiced and it disappeared instantly. But I only had a little more so I couldn't try again. So I prepared a few scriptures and practiced with pretend water and bleach, it went really well. But, I stood up to give my talk, I put food coloring in the water, and added the bleach and NOTHING happened!!! So, I was trying to do anything to mix it, and then resorted to covering the cup with my hands. It was really awkward. But, over time it continuously got more clear. Super awkward though. The bishop used it as "sometimes repentance takes a while" Haha 

Awkward Malena Moments:

A lady made us dinner and I was helping and she handed me two pans of vegetables. But I didn't have oven mitts and proceeded to burn the tips of my fingers off while running to her kitchen. 

She also handed me a pitcher of something. I asked if it was ranch (it looked like ranch!!) And she just looked very exasperated and said “No, this is gravy! You're not from the South are you? How much ranch do you need?" She kept passing me the actual ranch for salad though and roasting me on my lack of gravy knowledge. 

Remember how I spilled salsa on a member a few weeks ago? Well, I didn't tell anyone here about that, but a man was talking to us and the elders and he joked that he is nervous to have the missionaries over because he heard they break dishes. And we all were confused then he said "do you guys know who the missionary is that spilled salsa on the Andersons?" Ahh it was so awkward. I felt so bad. 

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Also we rescued a stray cat yesterday, named him Gidgidoni and took him to a womans house. She has 13 pets so we just snuck him in. Haha, no not really. But she helped us clean him and now we have to find a animal shelter for him.

Haha I love you all!! Praise the lord saints!! 

Sister McKee.  

Sister Davis, an office missionary who is going home soon.

Trainer Picture:

Therese and her grandson, Lance, we're teaching them! 

Donald Trump's Side Job

Hey everyone!

So this week was great, kinda! We didn't find a whole lot of people this week, so I feel unproductive, but we did a lot! 

 On Tuesday we visited a lot of inactive members. There was one woman named Ann who has been inactive for 25 years. She stopped coming for a lot of reasons, but mostly because someone offended her. They said a comment that made her feel bad so she decided that church could be cut out of her life. And now 25 years later, she is still upset and that member doesn't even live here anymore! 

We also visited a woman named Linda who loved us and told us she would love to have us over for lunch, and she promised not to feed us liver or oranges. What a woman. 

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On Wednesday we were going to a lesson and while we were praying in the car this man knocked on the window! We rolled it down a little and he asked to use our phone to call his friend. I asked him if he was trying to steal our phone (even though it's a terrible phone) and he said “What! No! Do I look like that type of man!" He did. But we called it for him and he talked for a minute and then when he was leaving I handed him a pass along card. He said "woah. You know, my friend has changed his life through God. And I think this is a sign that I should too." And we asked if he wanted a Bible.  And he was very shocked and said “Wow! You know. I came to Texas and forgot all my clothes and my Bible in North Carolina and I knew I needed a Bible. Thank you." HOW DO YOU FORGET ALL YOUR CLOTHES IN NORTH CAROLINA?! But anyways it was really cool. He seemed really excited and wanted a Book of Mormon. 

We also knocked into some cool people this week. One man talked to us for 30 minutes. No, he was not at all interested. He told us he isn't into new age religion and Christianity is only 2000 years old. He likes Judaism (5,000 years old) . We talked but that for  20 minutes when suddenly he asks “What are your thoughts on our current president?" And I said “As missionaries we are politically neutral," and he said “Well, that's a lie, but Donald Trump is a great man. Our dads worked together, so me and Donald used to play together. He was my babysitter." And then, told us a bunch of other interesting stuff about the life and character of our president. and then said “Do Mormons originate from Utah? Because I don't know what mix you both are (as in our genetics), but its working well for you both." Super Weird. As we were leaving he told us he will listen for us, and if we scream he will come out with his guns. What a guy, he was nice. 

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We had a lesson with a woman named Velma, who has been going through a really hard time. We read her Alma 7:11 and she cried. It was amazing. Haha, she just felt the spirit and told us she wants a Book of Mormon to read. 

We went and met with an African woman named Tayu (tie-wu). We wanted to read the Book of Mormon with her but she only had it in Yoruba. So we read anyways. We went in a circle and she read in Yoruba and we read in English and then talked about it. It was really cool. Probably in my top ten coolest moments in my 3 months so far as a missionary.

The Book of Mormon really is so amazing. I was thinking about how we've had the Book of Mormon for almost 200 years now, and there are currently 16 million members, and then there are a lot of past members. So, a lot of people have read the Book of Mormon, but each time someone reads it, they get something different out of it. It truly is a book of God and it blesses those who read with an open heart. 

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We had a lesson with Griselda. And she hadn't read. We tried to help her plan out when she would read and she said she needs to do it on her own. Then, we had a lesson and at the end I said "look, we aren't here to baptize you, that is a lucky side effect to being a missionary. We are here to teach you about Jesus Christ and his plan for you and if you get baptized while we're here, that's awesome! But if we just teach you and leave, that's okay too. And we can sit here and talk to you for 10 hours straight, but unless you start making those commitments and coming closer to God on your own, nothing will change". and she told us she actually will read this week! She really wants to change, I think she just needed to realize that meeting with us once a week isn't going to do it. She's so awesome. I do hope I baptize her, because she's awesome. 

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Now that you've endured the rest of my email (we always talk about the importance of enduring to the end!), its time for:

 Awkward Sister McKee Moments! 

•An old man at musical memory singers asked me if I'm married yet. I told him no and he asked if I have a kid yet and I said "no! I'm only 19!" And he said “But aren't you Mormon?" He got me there. 

•After a correlation we were walking through the church and I did a perfect Michael Jackson impression while walking out of the chapel, and our ward mission leader was sitting there. He just stared at me, he probably thought he heard Michael Jackson's ghost or something. 

• I kicked a cat bowl at someone's house (who puts a bowl of water on the floor, right by a widely used counter!?) And then used napkins to clean it up, but I couldn't find a trash so I just had to keep a pile of wet napkins by me the whole dinner. 

• I'm lucky I didn't go to South America because we were having taco salad last night and there was pico. I ate some and suddenly I was dying. I told the lady feeding us I was dying and need water and then she said "oh I'm sorry! I got medium pico, was that too hot!?" So I felt like a wimp. But my whole face was burning for like 25 minutes. 

•I I accidentally called an elder cute when he showed me his license from 3 years ago. I meant cute as in small and young, but all 5 missionaries looked at me and one said "page 33 of the handbook, Sister McKee, no flirting". Very awkward. 

I hope y'all are having a good week!! I love you all and I'm praying for you all! 

-Sister McKee 

Today we went to the greenhouse, and as I was waiting to check out I have a fun conversation that goes like this: 

Woman: You look a lot different than when I was in school.

Me: oh really haha?

Woman: yeah, well I went to a Catholic school 

Me: okay...

Woman: aren't you a nun 

Me: hahaha ohhh.... no I'm not a nun, I'm a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Woman: oh I thought you were a nun...

Me: oh, I'm not a nun. 

Malena's water color

 Sis. Swenson and Malena out to dinner.

 Baby Turtle

The story of how Sister McKee isn't allowed to lead anymore!

Hey everyone! 

I usually start my weekly emails with a weekly weather report. It rained, we rejoiced and it's all anyone talked about. 

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On Monday night we did exchanges and it was my turn to lead the area (which means I'm in charge), which I was nervous about. And although Sister Simmons would deny this, it was possibly the worst exchange ever in the history of all missionaries ever. Story time: 

We had 2 lessons in the morning, the first with Brandon. But we get too Brandon's and he says "I can't right now, come back at 2.” Then, we had our other lesson which went pretty good and then we went to the church to do companion study before meeting Brandon again. At about 1:45 we leave and the car is locked. So, I asked Sister Simmons to unlock the car and she asks me to unlock the door and we had LOCKED THE CHURCH AND CAR KEYS IN THE CHURCH BUILDING!! and for some reason our first solutions is to walk to Brandon's. Which is 3 miles away through the city. So, we are walking on this sidewalk on these very busy streets and it was so fun! We ran into this super old man and we say hi and he says "I am 84 years old! I am in Texas to visit my friend!" He was a very old Vietnamese man who spoke almost no English, we think he thought we were gonna mug him so we gave him a  Book of Mormon card.  Haha. 

We get to Brandon's house 39 minutes late after walking and walking (3 miles is not that long, I know, but I haven't walked that far in months). We knocked on his door and we ask for Brandon and his father says “Brandon doesn't live here anymore, quit coming around here". And walks away and slams the door. We are stunned. Then, we start walking away and he comes back and slams the door again for emphasis. Then, we are calling Brandon (on the phone) and his father comes back out and starts yelling at us and saying mean things and THEN Brandon texts us, and tells us he can't make it. So, quite the let down. Then, it was a process to get back to the church and unlocked and everything the rest of day also fell through. Dinner was good though. I felt so bad, it was rough.

 But, it was the funnest day of my mission. No joke. I had the time of my life. We both stayed positive and laughed at all the things that went bad. 

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Our area is the weird area in the zone, because we meet a lot of weirdos. Or maybe its because we are the weirdos. Either way: It's the best. 

•one man answered the door naked. Completely. He hid behind the door, and then after a minute said "I don't really want to talk about this right now".  But let that be a lesson to you all, you can't hide anything from God. 

•one guy was so completely high and it was so funny. He was covered in tattoos and had a cross by his right eye and another tat by his left eye. I made him promise that he will come to church on Sunday and he said "I love church, Jesus is my man! You know me! I just do what I do! I got his cross on my face" and he points to his left eye. We both just said “Other eye, Michael" and we just leave him laughing and talking to himself. 

•one woman asked us to come over but when we do her grand daughter answered and we asked for Darla and a minute later she comes back and closes the door without saying anything to us and Darla won't answer the phone. Super weird. 

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During weekly planning we were going over people and we got to Sean who I wrote about a few weeks ago. But he practically died, we haven't been able to reach him in 6 WEEKS!!!! But we decided to call him one last time and if he didn't get back to us, we'd drop him. Well, he answered on the first ring! And he told us he had a ton of stuff going on and then asked if we could come over! It was so amazing!! He was so excited and brought a notebook and while we were talking wrote down notes to hang on his wall so he remembers. Haha. He told us he's been struggling because he just wants friends who will sit around and talk about Jesus with him, so hopefully he'll stay in touch cause we've got that one in the bag. 

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Awkward Sister McKee moments: 

°at dinner one night I tried grabbing salsa and ended up spilling it all over the table, table cloth, floor and the man who was hosting us for dinner. I tried to clean it up but didn't know what to clean so I just ended up sitting there with paper towels and his wife cleaned it up. 

° Bobbie bore her testimony yesterday and it was beautiful. Except she told the congregation that Sister McGee and Swanson come over and read the Koran with her. But she did beautifully besides that. I had to tell a few people that, no, we aren't using the Koran to teach our investigators. 

My mother will hate me for saying this, but I am sorry it's so long. I didnt mean for it to be!! 

I didn't take many pictures this week, or I looked bad in them! 

Sister McKee 

1. I got my flag signed and hung up!! ( This is a Munoa Family flag that started with Phil Munoa 47 years ago when he was on a mission in Korea.  Every missionary gets to sign it.  It's quite the family legacy!)

2. Sunsets 

3. Sister Tshimanga (chi-maanga)