Happy Fourth of July!!!!!

Dear Family,

Happy Fourth of July this week!!!!! I am super excited to be spending
Independence Day in Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission!!!!!!!!! I am so
lucky to be so close to the birthplace of our nation AND the Capitol!
I read 3 Nephi 21:4 yesterday and it pretty much sums it up! I'm so
grateful that we live in a free country!
Also, Congrats to Bradley and Sharlee!!!!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!!
Now for the stories! Wow, it has been a FULL week!
It started off with Mission Tour on Tuesday. Elder Kacher (of the 70)
and his wife came to visit! We learned about how we can better work
with the Ward council to find people to teach! We also talked about
overcoming negative mind sets. It was an amazing conference!
Wednesday, we saw Kate again! She is reading the Book of Mormon and
she is progressing so well!!!! She is so excited to be baptized! We
asked her why she had accepted the invitation to be baptized so
quickly and she said, "Well, I was kind of shocked when you asked me,
but then I had this warm feeling come over me, and in that moment I
knew the church was true and that everything you guys were telling me
was right. So, choosing to be baptized was obvious." Wow!!!!!!! We
were so excited to see that she was SO PREPARED to hear the gospel!
On Thursday we saw the Blankley family. They are a family we met a
couple weeks ago. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and they
were so interested and excited about it. We invited them to be
baptized, and they all said yes!!!!! Except for Josh, the Mom's
boyfriend. (but we will get him next!) They are all reading the Book
of Mormon together now and we are so excited to keep working with
them!
Right after that appointment we met a young couple. They invited us in
and we talked about what we do as missionaries. Dave said that he was
looking for more faith in his life. He wants to believe in God, but
has a hard time trusting what he can't see. We told him that we as
missionaries help people build their faith in God and prepare to make
covenants, like baptism. He said, " yeah! I want to get baptized! I
want to believe in God enough that I want that!" Wow!!!!! We were
blown away! Ahhhhh!!!! So many miracles! We are excited to go back and
see them again this week.
On Friday we had dinner with Shotgun and Penny and they threw me a
belated Birthday Party! It was great! They had cake and
everything!!!!!! They are so sweet! It made my day!
Sunday was amazing! Kate came to church! And she loved it! She was
also able to witness the baptism of an 8 year old boy in our Ward. It
only made her more excited for her baptism!
We also had a girl show up to church. She had never come before and
she was told us that her co-worker in New Jersey is Mormon and he had
told her to check out the church! So, I asked her what her co-workers
name was. It turns out that it was a man in the MEDFORD
WARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone that I know super well! It was so
crazy!!!!!! We set up a time to meet with her and we can't wait!!!!!
So many miracles are happening here in Bayview! I am so blessed to be
here! I know that so many blessings come from being obedient! Mosiah
2:41! It's the best!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!
Have a fantastic SAFE and amazing Holiday!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister McGuire

Shotgun and Penny threw me a late Birthday Party!!

Mono, Milestones, and Miracles!!!!

Dear Family,

Well, I have a packed subject line to represent a packed week!
To start off, on Tuesday my new companion started feeling sick. :(
that's the worst! But, she is a trooper and just pushed through! She
informed me that she has mono and that it goes away, but it can be
triggered again by changing climates or being in a high stress
situation (aka everything about mission life). So, we would go out and
work hard, but we had to stop and rest throughout the week. In a way,
it has been a bit of a tender mercy, because While she slept I was
finally able to finish unpacking our apartment from the move and also
set up appointments and spend extra planning.
Also on Tuesday, we presented the quit smoking program to two people
who are working on quitting! One is an investigator of ours who wants
to get baptized. The other is his less active friend. It was pretty
incredible to be the one teaching these people how to live their life
with out smoking! The word of wisdom is such a blessing! It also makes
your house smell a LOT better!
On Wednesday we had a cool experience with family history. So, a
recent convert in our Ward, Bunny, went to the temple about a month
ago to do baptisms for the dead. She loved her experience so much that
she told all of her family about it. Well, last week her
brother-in-law (a nonmember) called her up and asked her to be
baptized for his deceased mom! She was touched and honored! So, this
week we helped Bunny request the ordinances so that she can go next
week to do the work. Unfortunately, her relative lives in Arizona, but
we are working on getting the missionaries over to see him!
Thursday we saw our investigator, Mandy. Her husband is a less active,
and we have recently started teaching her. She has been atheist her
whole life, so this week we taught her who God is. It was amazing! The
Spirit that filled that lesson was incredible! It was so sweet to
watch her come to see that there is someone out there who loves here
and cares for her. It blows me away because, ever since I was in
primary I have sang the song, "I am a child of God". But watching this
31 year old woman, come to realize this simple truth, made me
appreciate it so much more! Especially as we celebrated Father's Day
this week.
Friday we saw Kate! She is our new investigator that we had recently
met. It was our first lesson with her, and we had felt impressed to
teach the Restoration. We had role-played and prepared and we were so
excited! When we got there Kate told us that she had downloaded the
Gospel Library App and had been reading the Book of Mormon all week!
We shared with her the story of Joseph Smith and she really felt the
power of it. We showed her how her story is very similar to his. She
was touched. Then, Sister Schettler invited her to be baptized and she
said YES! It was a thrill! She is so excited! We are too! We can't
wait to help her get ready to make that covenant with our Heavenly
Father!
Oh yeah, and it was my Birthday! I opened my package from Mom first
thing in morning. We set up the decorations and baked the cake! Then,
that night I opened my presents. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! I
love my new clothes and the CDs, and the Mike and Ike's and the Frozen
cup! Everything was great! I also got a package from Jill and a card
from Grandma McGuire! It was all sweet!
Yeah, it has been an awesome week! Also, HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!
Another milestone is that this Thursday marks exactly one year since I
left on my mission! That's so crazy!
Also, this Friday is Bradley and Sharlee's wedding!!!! I wish you the
best you two crazy love birds!
Anyway, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!! Have a fantastic week!!!!!

Love,
Sister McGuire

Party Time!

I am spoiled!!!! (sorry about the pajamas)

Birthday Cake!!!! It was sooooooooooooo good!!

Present from Aunt Jill!!!!! Look out Sacrament Meeting Programs! They will never again become paper airplanes! LOL!!

Transfers, Training, and Miracles!!!!!

Dear Family,

This week has been insane to say the least!!!!! Hahaha! But, I have loved it!
It all started on Monday. The phone rang and it was President
Anderson..... Uh oh. He asks if he can talk to me. Double uh oh.... In
my head I'm thinking through everything I did wrong this week and I'm
waiting to be called to repentance.... To my utter shock, he says in a
super cheery voice, "Sister McGuire the reason I'm calling is because
I need you to train a new missionary." What!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? So yeah,
I'm training!
On Tuesday, Sister Maughan packed up her stuff and said goodbye to Bayview.
On Wednesday we had Transfer Meeting at the mission office and that's
where I met Sister Schettler!!!!!!! She is fresh off the plane from
the MTC! She is from Alpine, Utah. She is amazing!!!!!!!!! She went to
Utah State before coming out and she has so much excitement and zeal
for the work!!!! I love having her here! She is exactly what Bayview
(and I) need!!!!
Thursday we got right to work! We went out street contacting most the
day and found two new investigators!!!! We also helped a non member
family move in next a family in our Ward! They were so appreciative of
the help and we are going back this to help them finish unpacking.
Transfers were also great because Bayview gained another set of
missionaries! So now our Ward has a set of English Elders and a set of
Spanish Elders and a set of Sisters! We have 7 missionaries in our
Ward! Talk about an army! We are so stoked to be able to have so much
support in our Ward!
The rest of the week was awesome too!
Sunday was amazing because we got to church and this girl had just
randomly decided to come check out the church! What!?!?!?!?!? It turns
out that her husband has even read some anti material, but she wanted
to see what it is really like! Oh my goodness!!!!!! What a blessing!
We are going to see her this week as well!
We also had a totally inactive woman show up at church! She is the
Sister of the woman who died a couple weeks ago. She came came to
church and told us that she wanted to quit smoking too. Oh my
goodness!!!!! Miracles everywhere!
So, it has been an awesome week! I love you all! Have a good one!

Love,
Sister McGuire
   

Sister Schettler and I! The new dynamic duo of Bayview!

On Sister Maughan's last night here we got showered on! This is what

we looked like after walking from our car to our apartment! (Only

about 20 feet!)

Sister Schettler's first TastyKake! Hahaha!

Insanity!!!!

Dear Family,

Wow! What a week! We were even busier this week than normal. I don't
even know how that is possible, but it happened! Yikes! Hahaha! I had
keep checking to make sure I didnt lose my companion while we were
traveling faster than the speed of light!
It started on Monday, we got a call from President Stevenson saying
that we were okay to move in to the new apartment! So, we packed
everything up and called the Elder's Quorum and we were all set to go
for Tuesday afternoon to move. Then, we came to our new apartment to
check in and get the keys and they said that they hadnt received the
check in the mail from the mission office yet, and they couldnt let us
move in until they had it. :( So, we called off the troops, but we had
packed everything up already! Hahaha!
Tuesday we did our best to live out of boxes. Hahaha! We couldn't find
anything! But it didnt matter anyway. We went to see the Gregson's
again. We were finally able to teach them the whole plan of Salvation.
They loved it! They told us that their niece had even gone to church
last week, but when she showed up no one was there!!!! It was stake
conference last week!!!! Oh man!!!!! We were so bummed! But, we're so
glad that put forth the effort to get herself there!
On Wednesday we got to see Alli, the 13 year old girl we are teaching.
She was scheduled to be baptised yesterday. Since we have been
teaching her at a members house, we've never met her family.Everytime
we've tried to talk to them or schedule something Alli said that
something came up. But, she told us that her parents had given their
permission for her to learn and to be baptized. So, we gave her a
paper that her parents could sign giving their permission for her to
be baptized. But, something was off. Brother Ellery (The
fellowshipper) decided to take an invitation to Alyssa's Dad
personally. When he got there, he gave her Dad the invite. And he
found out that Alli hadn't told him about her baptism at all....... Uh
oh..... But, her Dad said that he would be willing to meet with us to
learn more about what Alli is so interested in. So, we called her Dad
yesterday and we are going to meet him this week. Pray for us! We
really hope it goes well!
On Thursday we had the most amazing Zone Training I have ever been
to!!!!! It was incredible and exactly what I needed! Our Elder Weisler
talked about true love. The kind of love that the Savior has for
everyone, and how we can feel that love for the people we serve. It
was really inspiring.
After that we met a less-Active woman and her non-member daughter.
They invited us right in and talked to us for about an hour! Holy Cow!
They love the church! And missionaries! Well, this woman's Visiting
Teacher (Bless her sweet soul) had reached out and offered to pick her
and her daughter up for Stake Conference last week. It turns out that
her daughter had always thought our church was a cult. But last week
when she came to Stake Conference, she said that she realized that we
were all just normal people and we just want to be good people. Now
she wants to come to church and she wants to start meeting with
us!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!! And she is bringing her Mom right
along with her!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so humbling and amazing to see that it
just takes one small experience with the Spirit to get someone to have
a desire to do amazing things! And THIS IS THE POWER OF VISITING AND
HOME TEACHING!!!!!!! WITHOUT THAT VISITING TEACHER, NONE OF THIS
WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!! PEOPLE!!!!!!! THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS TO JUST DO
YOUR VISITING TEACHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Friday we met this sweet old lady named Emma Jane. She was out
working in the yard and we stopped and offered to help. She was
shocked that we would even offer. It just so happened that we had our
service clothes in the car, so we changed real quick amd helped her
weed and mow the lawn. She was so amazed! It was so cute! When we were
done, she adopted us and told us to call her our East Coast Grandma!
Hahaha! I'm finding my extended family out here apparently! Hahaha!
that night, we finally got the call saying the check had arrived and
we really could move in that night! So, our ward pulled together and
showed up! They had us completely moved in 2 hours! WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?
It was awesome! We are so grateful for those amazing people! It would
have taken us days if it had just been Sister Maughan and I.
Still that same day, we got transfer calls...................... Dun
dun DUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister Maughan is being transferred and
I am STAYING IN BAYVIEW!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy to be staying! But, I'm
so sad to see Sister Maughan go!!! :( UGH! I will miss her so dang
much! Man, I can't believe I'm getting another companion! Yikes! I've
had 8 companions aleady! And I have come to love them all! I don't
want to keep trading! Hahaha! But, I know that the Lord is in charge,
and I will have a new best friend on Wednesday.
On Saturday the Relief Society came out and helped us clean our old
apartment so that we could check out. They were awesome! This ward is
so great!
So, that was my week! I hope you guys all have a super fun FIRST FULL
WEEK OF SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Love,
Krissy

Julious's Baptism!!

The Wilmington-Delaware Zone!!

Sister Hanks with Us! Senior Couples Rock!

The Sisters...... Leave Saving the world to the men? WE DON'T THINK SO!!!

June Already?????

Dear Family,

Wow, That week went fast! Hahaha! I feel like I can hardly keep up! Time keeps disappearing!
WIth school winding down, missionary work is picking up! (If that's even possible!) As a past District Leader of mine said, Summer is the season of missionary work. And boy are we feeling it!
This week we had so many things happen that I don't even know where to begin!
We met a man named Bill this week. He is blind, but he is so nice! He told us about his personal beliefs. He doesn't drink alcohol, coffee or tea, and he doesn't smoke! He believes that girls should be modest and that you can't just go to church on Sunday, you have to work hard all week! I told him that's he's Mormon and he doesn't even know it! He just laughed. We are going back to see him next week!
On Wednesday morning we got a call asking us to teach the mission prep class that night. We pulled together a lesson about Recognizing the Holy Ghost and following its promptings. It turned out so well! We had 5 youth and 3 leaders there. We were definitely led by the SPirit, because it turned out great!
On Thursday, we went to Rita's. It was awesome! Life is always better with a Mango Gelati! I heard that there's one in Lehi now! You guys should go! It will change your life forever!
We also helped one of our investigators clean her house! It was so great! Because that was the first time she let us come over. We've always been meeting her at the church, but now we were able to go to her house! And she's a lot more open to talking with us! She has no religious background at all, but she has been coming to church faithfully for about a month now! She has a lot of things that she needs to resolve before she can get baptized, but we are helping her get there.
Saturday was our Ward Barbeque at a local park. It was so fun! It reminded me of the old 45th Ward Bubble days! Hahaha! So fun! It was also awesome, because everybody brought their non-member friends and family! We made a lot of contacts out of that, but unfortunately, they all live in the Elder's half of the ward boundaries! That's okay though! We are all on the same team out here!
That night we had the Adult session of our Stake Conference. President Anderson was there and he was able to share his testimony. Elder Gay and Elder Sinclair of the 70 were visiting our conference as well. It was an amazing session! They talked about the sacred experience it is to take the sacrament.
Sunday morning we had Stake Conference again and all 3 of our Recent Converts came! It was awesome! Then, they called a new Stake Presidency for our Stake! President John and his counselors were released and they called President Jordan to be the new Stake President of the Wilmington Delaware Stake. It reminded me of when Dad was called to be the Stake President! That was a weekend I will never forget.
To top off the week We were able to go to a baptism for an 8-year old boy in our ward. His Mom has been Less-Active for most of her life and has recently come back to the church. His baptism was amazing! It was so special because we have worked with them a lot, and it all went so well!
So, It was an amazing week! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!! Stay fantastic! Have a fabulous last week of school!

Love,
Sister McGuire