Sister Malena McKee : The Lord is Huge

Helllooooo everyone! It's been another great week deep in the heart of Texas! ❤🇨🇱

It's now day 19 of self-isolation. This week some changes came that we can't have members feed us, we aren't allowed to hangout with other missioanries at all, (before Tuesday we could hangout with one other pair), and now we have to make masks to wear in public because the CDC has recommended all wear them, and we are law abiding citizens. What an exciting time to be alive! It's so crazy! I feel like every week we get on higher and higher alert. I've included my counties latest corona update from yesterday.

Even though we were trapped inside some more, it was a pretty eventful week.

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We joined a bunch of facebook Christian groups and there were some interesting ones out there. Then, I offered to put together a Bible study group and got over 30 responses! So, I reached out to each of them individually and asked to set up a time! A lot actually got back to me, some went better than others. Let me tell you about the cool people I've met:

•Eriko, A woman who really wanted a Bible study because she doesn't like her current church and believes there is more out there to learn. I asked her if we could teach her about what we believe and she said yes. Once I said our church name she dropped us like a sack of flour. I actually was super sad, because she is so ready, but blocked me on Facebook.

•Beth, she asked for a Bible study and when we called it turns out she is actually a less active member and is trying to get her records removed! It was so cool to talk to her and she agreed to meet with us if we help her learn the Bible! Which is great because I love the Bible.

It was actually quite a miracle because I had arranged this whole group Bible study and all these women said they would join, and we got on at 1 like we talked about and no one got on for about 10 minutes, and then Beth got on! And it was such a miracle that no one else joined (and a major bummer cause we planned an awesome Bible study but whatever) because we were able to talk to Beth and get to know her needs and she is willing to meet with us!

•Mindy: a Southern Baptist we had a phone lesson with who was so excited because her church is cancelled and she wants to have another next week too!

•Oligair: a man from the Dominican Republic who didn't really understand what my purpose was and kept calling me "honorable sister in Christ Malena McKee" and inviting me to come save starving orphans in the DR.

And a bunch of other cool people.

Then, a lady asked if anyone knows any good Christian literature, and I, of course, commented, the Book of Mormon, and my comment got deleted and my Bible study post got deleted, and all my post requests get denied. So, that ain't cool, so I just comment everything I would pos, on other people's posts. Nothing can stop this great work. Some of these posts are actually pretty good, so I've included a few. Something I don't understand about other religions is people's Idea of "Jesus's blood". It might be a Southern thing, but people throw that phrase into everything, and me and Sis.Elkins love to see how people use it. I'll try to find a few.

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We also had the chance to teach some of our family at home and it was so fun! I would love to share a short 20 minute spiritual thought with all yall! I'll make you feel like you are right in Texas by showing you my big hair from the humidity, say Y’all, and also help you learn about the necessity Jesus Christ has in your life. Hit me up! Really, don't think we are too busy, we want to uplift anyone and everyone and are encouraged to teach people at home, too!

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Conference this weekend was so amazing. I loved how it didn't focus on our current situation. Like that one talk that spoke about how a home should be a refuge from the storm, I feel like conference was a time for us to not worry about everything going on and just focus on the Restoration and joy of the gospel! It was so great, I loved it. I heard a lot about recieving personal revelation and how we can all gain our own personal revelation.

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Ok yall: this may be my most Awkward Malena Moment ever, because I don't get embarrassed that easily, but wow, this was a dousy.

So, we had a zoom call with all our mission, and Sister Elkins sang a special musical number. Then, right after, I muted our phone and turned off the video so we could just listen. Well, we were commenting on it the whole meeting, then at the end President Chapman got on and was speaking and I made a comment to Sister Elkins and we laughed, then made another comment, and turns out our phone HAD GOTTEN UNMUTED SOMEHOW and apparently the comments sounded really mean and I interrupted President and we laughed, and wow I was humiliated and felt so bad and ahh. It was so awkward and all the other missionaries were messaging us "McKee mute your phone!" And it may not sound that awkward, maybe you had to be there, but Sister Wind called me after and said “Awkward Malena Moment!" So wow. I felt so bad.

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So, a few weeks ago me and Sis. Elkins were watching a video, and I wish I could remember it because its stuck with me for a while, but I think it was Jeffery R. Holland. He was talking about how we all get addicted too suffering. How we all focus on the hard stuff, and get caught up in the suffering, and the mode we are in, thinking we are important because we are suffering for the Lord. And it's been hard, especially with everything going on, and other stuff happening, and it's so easy to be caught up in suffering. But, what was said next is so cool, because he said that if we were focusing on the right things, we wouldn't be suffering, because if we were really focusing on Jesus Christ, we would have joy. Because no matter where we are, what we are going through, and what we are suffering, we can find joy in Jesus Christ. And I wish I could express this better, because I've been planning this spiritual thought in my head for 2 weeks and it was so good, but really, I feel like it snapped me out of the negative, like something told me "yeah Malena, this isn't great, and life is hard, but it's always hard, get over it, you have a chance to be happy and you're wasting it focusing on the suffering.” So, this week I have been trying to focus on Jesus Christ and joy and studying joy. And life is still hard, but I feel more hopeful. So in conclusion...

- don't get addicted to the suffering

- life will always be hard, but we don't have to be swallowed up in the negative

- focus on Joy and Jesus Christ and we will have hope.

- email me/facebook message me so we can have a spiritual thought.

That's all folks! I hope you have a great week! I love you all! Stay healthy!

Love,

Sister McKee

ALSO! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE IN MY GOOGLE DRIVE FOLDER WHERE I HAVE PUT MY QUARANTINE VIDEO DIARIES, PICTURES AND POTENTIALLY FUNNY SONGS, LET ME KNOW. LOVE Y’ALL