Dear Family,
Well, this week was, once again, jam-packed with stuff! And
unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time, but here are the
highlights!
It starts off with a sad story. We have been working really hard with
our investigator named Keith. He lives with his grandma who is a
recent convert in our Ward. Well, out of nowhere, Keith's mom decided
that she was ready to have him come home. So, Keith moved back down to
Baltimore to live with his mom. Honestly, we were devastated. We are
so happy that he gets to be back with his mom, but we were so sad to
see him go! Before he left, we made sure that he had his Book of
Mormon and he promised that he would continue to read and pray about
it. We are trying to convince his mom to let the missionaries in
Baltimore come and visit with him, but we will have to see. She
doesn't seem too excited about the idea. We just really pray that he
will keep going strong!
On to happier things! We also had a mini Pioneer Day celebration at
district meeting this week. Sister Schettler and I made rolls and
honey butter to share with the district. We all told stories about
pioneers and I was able to share about how Grandma Lemon used to make
7 loaves of bread a day! Pretty impressive! It was fun!
We were also able to see the Blankley's again this week! They are
super solid and progressing so well! We set a date for all of them to
be baptized on August 22nd! It was super special because that day is
the Dad's Birthday! We can't wait! To top it off, they all came to
church this week too! We were super happy that they came!
Kim was confirmed this week! It was beautiful! Truly, "in the
ordinances thereof is the power of God manifest." I always feel the
Spirit so strong whenever I see an ordinance performed. And I know
that this has changed Kim's life! I love her so much and I'm so
excited for her to continue to progress! We also set up a day that we
can go do baptisms for the dead with Kim! I'm so excited to go to the
temple soon! I haven't been in over a year, and I miss the sweet
spirit that is found only in the temple. And I'm so excited for Kim to
experience it as well!
I love you all! Hope you have a great week!
Love,
Sister McGuire
P.S. Sister Schettler and I found our new favorite hymn! It is In Our
Lovely Deseret. You all need to go look it up, because it has been
stuck in my head ALL week!
Monday, July 27, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
An Incredible Week!!
Dear Family,
I had an incredible week! We saw so many miracles and blessings this week! I don't know where to begin!
Story 1: The Tickets. So, we were weekly planning at our apartment, but we had left something in the car. We ran out to go get it really quick. Well, in the parking lot, we met a super nice guy who wanted to chat for a bit. While we were talking he told us about his wife who passed away a few years ago and how it had been hard on him. We were able to testify to him about eternal families! It was so neat! After that, he said that he had two tickets for a baseball game in Aberdeen that night, and he wanted us to take them, because he wasn't going to be able to make it. We tried to turn him down because we had plans (Oh yeah, and it's SO AGAINST EVERY MISSION RULE IN THE WHITE HANDBOOK!) But, he insisted! So, we got the man's information and left.
On our way up the stairs to our apartment, we remembered a cute young couple that lived below us! They would love the tickets! So, we stopped and talked to the wife for about 30 MINUTES! She asked what church we were from, and we told her "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" She jumped and said, "NO WAY!!!!!! I used to go to the one in Missouri with my best friend!" Wow! She asked where our church was, and she totally wants to come next week! It was awesome! We were super excited! Hahaha! It turned out that two baseball tickets=two New Investigators!!!!! Super awesome!
Story 2: Rocking the Plan of Salvation! So, we had dinner with Brandi and Rocky this week! We were able to teach Rocky the Plan of Salvation and it was AMAZING!!!! Hands down, the best lesson I have ever had! He had a ton of questions and we were pullng out scriptures and explaining things like crazy! It was awesome! At the end, he told us that he had a huge question that he had asked every preacher/priest/bishop/pastor he had ever met, and none of them could answer it, and he wanted to ask us! (No pressure!) He had a super confusing scenario that I didn't really understand about how the Lord will judge people, but Sister Schettler was so in tune with the Spirit! She testified that no matter what our actions were, the Lord will judge us by what was in our heart. He was stunned and over-whelmed by the Spirit. It was awesome! He paused for a minute and said, "It's true. That's the answer I have searched for my whole life." AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
Story 3: New Horizons! So, I live in Maryland right? What is Maryland most famous for? Crab! Remember how much I HATE seafood??? Yeah, it's not a good combo. Luckily, I have been able to avoid my fishy foe thus far.... Until this week. We have an awesome couple in the ward that wanted to treat us to dinner. Not just any dinner, but they wanted to take us to the fanciest place in North East! Which is....... A Crab House! Oh dear..... I was so worried! But, I decided that I would pray extra and hope there was Chicken Alfredo on the menu! So, we go in and Brother Shepherd orders FOR us. He gets the Net Buster, which is the biggest array of every type of sea food they serve at the restaurant!!!!!!! Now, I'm practically sweating! They bring out the smelly net, full of food! I realize, that there's no getting out of it, because Sister Shepherd wants us to try some of everything! I crack open the Snow Crab Leg and resign myself to my fishy fate...... I prepare myself mentally to choke it down........ and in goes the meat and....... Actually, the consistency is pretty good.... It tastes alright..... actually, it's not even chewy and slimy....... actually, this is incredible!!! Before I know it, I am chowing down on the crab and the crab cakes and the Lobster and Mahi Mahi like there's no tomorrow! That stuff was amazing! Except for the clams. Those are definitely still gross. But the rest of it was awesome! I never thought I'd say it, but I actually LOVE Sea Food! It just has to be done right. And don't dip it in cocktail sauce.
Story 4: The Miracle of the Week! The Crowning miracle of the week was Kimberly's baptism! It was a beautiful service! She was beaming! I can't believe the changes we have seen in her over the last 6 weeks. It's hard to believe that just 6 weeks ago she didnt want anything to do with us. It was an incredible experience. She asked me to play Amazing Grace and two little girls sang it. It turned out so beautiful and the Spirit was amazing. I felt the joy it talks about in Doctrine and Covenants 18:13. How great is His joy in the soul that repenteth! What an amazing thing it is to know that she came to know her Heavenly Father and now she is on the covenant path towards meeting Him. Missionary work is the best!
Story 5: The Cherry on Top. To finish of this awesome list of tales, we got transfer calls this week! I Am STAYING!!!! So is Sister Schettler!!!!! We get to spend 6 more weeks here in Bayview together! We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!!! Have a fantastic week! And Don't EVER forget to appreciate the little miracles everyday!!!!!!
Love,
Sister McGuire
I had an incredible week! We saw so many miracles and blessings this week! I don't know where to begin!
Story 1: The Tickets. So, we were weekly planning at our apartment, but we had left something in the car. We ran out to go get it really quick. Well, in the parking lot, we met a super nice guy who wanted to chat for a bit. While we were talking he told us about his wife who passed away a few years ago and how it had been hard on him. We were able to testify to him about eternal families! It was so neat! After that, he said that he had two tickets for a baseball game in Aberdeen that night, and he wanted us to take them, because he wasn't going to be able to make it. We tried to turn him down because we had plans (Oh yeah, and it's SO AGAINST EVERY MISSION RULE IN THE WHITE HANDBOOK!) But, he insisted! So, we got the man's information and left.
On our way up the stairs to our apartment, we remembered a cute young couple that lived below us! They would love the tickets! So, we stopped and talked to the wife for about 30 MINUTES! She asked what church we were from, and we told her "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" She jumped and said, "NO WAY!!!!!! I used to go to the one in Missouri with my best friend!" Wow! She asked where our church was, and she totally wants to come next week! It was awesome! We were super excited! Hahaha! It turned out that two baseball tickets=two New Investigators!!!!! Super awesome!
Story 2: Rocking the Plan of Salvation! So, we had dinner with Brandi and Rocky this week! We were able to teach Rocky the Plan of Salvation and it was AMAZING!!!! Hands down, the best lesson I have ever had! He had a ton of questions and we were pullng out scriptures and explaining things like crazy! It was awesome! At the end, he told us that he had a huge question that he had asked every preacher/priest/bishop/pastor he had ever met, and none of them could answer it, and he wanted to ask us! (No pressure!) He had a super confusing scenario that I didn't really understand about how the Lord will judge people, but Sister Schettler was so in tune with the Spirit! She testified that no matter what our actions were, the Lord will judge us by what was in our heart. He was stunned and over-whelmed by the Spirit. It was awesome! He paused for a minute and said, "It's true. That's the answer I have searched for my whole life." AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
Story 3: New Horizons! So, I live in Maryland right? What is Maryland most famous for? Crab! Remember how much I HATE seafood??? Yeah, it's not a good combo. Luckily, I have been able to avoid my fishy foe thus far.... Until this week. We have an awesome couple in the ward that wanted to treat us to dinner. Not just any dinner, but they wanted to take us to the fanciest place in North East! Which is....... A Crab House! Oh dear..... I was so worried! But, I decided that I would pray extra and hope there was Chicken Alfredo on the menu! So, we go in and Brother Shepherd orders FOR us. He gets the Net Buster, which is the biggest array of every type of sea food they serve at the restaurant!!!!!!! Now, I'm practically sweating! They bring out the smelly net, full of food! I realize, that there's no getting out of it, because Sister Shepherd wants us to try some of everything! I crack open the Snow Crab Leg and resign myself to my fishy fate...... I prepare myself mentally to choke it down........ and in goes the meat and....... Actually, the consistency is pretty good.... It tastes alright..... actually, it's not even chewy and slimy....... actually, this is incredible!!! Before I know it, I am chowing down on the crab and the crab cakes and the Lobster and Mahi Mahi like there's no tomorrow! That stuff was amazing! Except for the clams. Those are definitely still gross. But the rest of it was awesome! I never thought I'd say it, but I actually LOVE Sea Food! It just has to be done right. And don't dip it in cocktail sauce.
Story 4: The Miracle of the Week! The Crowning miracle of the week was Kimberly's baptism! It was a beautiful service! She was beaming! I can't believe the changes we have seen in her over the last 6 weeks. It's hard to believe that just 6 weeks ago she didnt want anything to do with us. It was an incredible experience. She asked me to play Amazing Grace and two little girls sang it. It turned out so beautiful and the Spirit was amazing. I felt the joy it talks about in Doctrine and Covenants 18:13. How great is His joy in the soul that repenteth! What an amazing thing it is to know that she came to know her Heavenly Father and now she is on the covenant path towards meeting Him. Missionary work is the best!
Story 5: The Cherry on Top. To finish of this awesome list of tales, we got transfer calls this week! I Am STAYING!!!! So is Sister Schettler!!!!! We get to spend 6 more weeks here in Bayview together! We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!!! Have a fantastic week! And Don't EVER forget to appreciate the little miracles everyday!!!!!!
Love,
Sister McGuire
The Giplin's Covered Bridge in North East!!
The Plumpton Park Zoo! I think we fit in a little too well with the Monkeys! ;D
A little Jungle fun!
Kim's Baptism!!
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Insane Serenity!
Dear Family,
It has been a busy week indeed! I love being a missionary and I LOVE
being able to see so many miracles everyday!
Tuesday we went to see Sister Doe. We haven't seen her for a while,
but she called and asked us to please come! So, of course we went over
first thing on the morning. It went really well, and she has missed us
so much that she wanted us to come back on Wed for dinner.
After our appointment with her, we left for Philly! We had a meeting
there for all the new missionaries and trainers. It was so cool,
because the meeting was held at the Chestnut building, which is right
in the heart of Philly, only a few miles from where the new temple is
going to be! The meeting was amazing and we learned so much from the
Assistants and from President and Sister Anderson. Unfortunately,
President had been caught in traffic, so our meeting started an hour
late! Which means the meeting ended TWO HOURS late! AHH!!! We were
panicking a bit because the meeting finally ended at 7:00. Then, we
started the long drive back to Bayview, calling and re-scheduling
every appointment we had planned for the night. Well, right as we were
leaving the center city..... my GPS died! And the charging cord was
fried, so it didnt work at all! I was totally lost in West Philly
without a GPS!!!!! YIKES!!!!!! So, at this point we are an hour late
for our dinner appointment, we were quickly running out of our
allotted miles for the month, and I had no idea where we were! We were
driving in the direction I thought we were supposed to be going, but
there's no mountains in Philly, so I had nothing to orient myself
with. SO, we locked the doors and said a little prayer and kept on
driving. Then, out of nowhere I saw a sign for a road that I vaguely
remember hearing about. So, we jumped on that road and prayed even
harder. It went on for a long time... I was starting to second guess
myself when...... The entrance for I-95 came up right in front of
me!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!! We hopped on the Interstate and we were home
free!!!!! It was such a miracle!
The next day we went on exchanges. Sister Asi stayed in Bayview with
me for the day, while Sister Schettler went to Dover with Sister
Hepworth. Sister Asi and I went to contact a referral that we had
received for a lady named Carol. We shoed up at the address and
knocked on the door. Carol was home and let us in! Sweet! We went in
and the apartment was in shabby shape, but oh well! Missionaries dont
care about that! So, we sat down on the rather rough looking couch and
SIster Asi and I began sharing the Restoration. Well, I glanced down
at the couch and I started to notice little bugs all over..... I'm
sure its just flys....... Nope, they dont have wings...... Umm......
What are those things.......... Uh oh........... BED BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!
The entire couch and floor and everything was crawling with BED
BUGS!!!!!!! Now, I'm trying so hard to focus on what SIster Asi is
saying and not scream like a little girl! Basically, we wrapped up the
lesson about as fast as possible and practically bolted out the door.
We got out into the parking and brushed each other off. Sister Asi's
feet and shoes were covered with bugs and bites! It was so nasty! We
re-scheduled our next appointment and went to decontaminate ourselves.
So, we spent the rest of the afternoon washing ourselves and making
sure all of our clothes went through the dryer at least twice.
YIKES!!!!! Hahaha!! But, it was a great day!
Sunday was the best!!!! Our focus this week had been to invite
everyone to church, and SUnday was the day to see how well it went. We
ended up having 7 investigators come to church!!!!!!!!!!! That's more
than I have EVER had on my mission!!!!! It was so amazing to see them
all come out! And it was even MORE amazing to see the ward take care
of them! They were fellowshipped and friended so well! It was a
miracle! It was also exhausting! Haha! Sister Schettler and I went on
splits all through church because we were busy trying to get everyone
where they needed to go. But I was so grateful that they all came.
People can't change unless they choose to act! And I'm so glad that
they came to church!
So, It has been an adventurous, exciting, amazing week!!!! I wish I
had the time to write down all of my stories, but I guess I will have
to fill them in later. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!
Love,
Sister McGuire
It has been a busy week indeed! I love being a missionary and I LOVE
being able to see so many miracles everyday!
Tuesday we went to see Sister Doe. We haven't seen her for a while,
but she called and asked us to please come! So, of course we went over
first thing on the morning. It went really well, and she has missed us
so much that she wanted us to come back on Wed for dinner.
After our appointment with her, we left for Philly! We had a meeting
there for all the new missionaries and trainers. It was so cool,
because the meeting was held at the Chestnut building, which is right
in the heart of Philly, only a few miles from where the new temple is
going to be! The meeting was amazing and we learned so much from the
Assistants and from President and Sister Anderson. Unfortunately,
President had been caught in traffic, so our meeting started an hour
late! Which means the meeting ended TWO HOURS late! AHH!!! We were
panicking a bit because the meeting finally ended at 7:00. Then, we
started the long drive back to Bayview, calling and re-scheduling
every appointment we had planned for the night. Well, right as we were
leaving the center city..... my GPS died! And the charging cord was
fried, so it didnt work at all! I was totally lost in West Philly
without a GPS!!!!! YIKES!!!!!! So, at this point we are an hour late
for our dinner appointment, we were quickly running out of our
allotted miles for the month, and I had no idea where we were! We were
driving in the direction I thought we were supposed to be going, but
there's no mountains in Philly, so I had nothing to orient myself
with. SO, we locked the doors and said a little prayer and kept on
driving. Then, out of nowhere I saw a sign for a road that I vaguely
remember hearing about. So, we jumped on that road and prayed even
harder. It went on for a long time... I was starting to second guess
myself when...... The entrance for I-95 came up right in front of
me!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!! We hopped on the Interstate and we were home
free!!!!! It was such a miracle!
The next day we went on exchanges. Sister Asi stayed in Bayview with
me for the day, while Sister Schettler went to Dover with Sister
Hepworth. Sister Asi and I went to contact a referral that we had
received for a lady named Carol. We shoed up at the address and
knocked on the door. Carol was home and let us in! Sweet! We went in
and the apartment was in shabby shape, but oh well! Missionaries dont
care about that! So, we sat down on the rather rough looking couch and
SIster Asi and I began sharing the Restoration. Well, I glanced down
at the couch and I started to notice little bugs all over..... I'm
sure its just flys....... Nope, they dont have wings...... Umm......
What are those things.......... Uh oh........... BED BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!
The entire couch and floor and everything was crawling with BED
BUGS!!!!!!! Now, I'm trying so hard to focus on what SIster Asi is
saying and not scream like a little girl! Basically, we wrapped up the
lesson about as fast as possible and practically bolted out the door.
We got out into the parking and brushed each other off. Sister Asi's
feet and shoes were covered with bugs and bites! It was so nasty! We
re-scheduled our next appointment and went to decontaminate ourselves.
So, we spent the rest of the afternoon washing ourselves and making
sure all of our clothes went through the dryer at least twice.
YIKES!!!!! Hahaha!! But, it was a great day!
Sunday was the best!!!! Our focus this week had been to invite
everyone to church, and SUnday was the day to see how well it went. We
ended up having 7 investigators come to church!!!!!!!!!!! That's more
than I have EVER had on my mission!!!!! It was so amazing to see them
all come out! And it was even MORE amazing to see the ward take care
of them! They were fellowshipped and friended so well! It was a
miracle! It was also exhausting! Haha! Sister Schettler and I went on
splits all through church because we were busy trying to get everyone
where they needed to go. But I was so grateful that they all came.
People can't change unless they choose to act! And I'm so glad that
they came to church!
So, It has been an adventurous, exciting, amazing week!!!! I wish I
had the time to write down all of my stories, but I guess I will have
to fill them in later. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!
Love,
Sister McGuire
Monday, July 6, 2015
A Great Week!!
Dear Family,
I can hardly believe that another week has gone by! I can barely even remember what happened this week..... Hahaha!
A lot of our plans got thrown off this week because of the Holiday. A lot of people were out of town or had plans. So, one afternoon, everything fell through. We had the prompting to go visit a woman that we haven't seen in a while. I didn't really want to go, because she lives about 15 miles away (which is WAY too far for our limits). But, like 1 Nephi 3:7, we just go and do! So, we went and saw her. She was actually home (YES!) and she was so excited to see us! When we came inside she burst into tears and told us that she was about give up on trying to be good and in her moment of despair she had prayed that Heavenly Father would do something, anything, to show her that he cared. About 5 minutes later, we knocked on the door. WOW! It was so neat to find out that because we had followed that prompting, we ended up being an answer to her prayer!
We went to see another woman in our ward named Sally. She was baptized a year ago, but is now completely inactive. We had prepared a lesson to talk about the Atonement. We got there and about 5 minutes into the lesson we somehow got on the subject of temples (so random!). Sally looked at us and said, "I don't understand temples. What are they? What do you even do in the temple?" So, we explained about temple marriage, baptisms for the dead, sealings, and the other ordinances and covenants there. She was blown away! She had never heard of baptisms for the dead before and she was so intrigued by the concept. She said that she really wanted to do that, but she didn't feel like she would ever be worthy enough to go. We taught her that Heavenly Father wanted to go to the temple as soon as possible! And we could help her get there! So, now she wants to go! She committed to start coming back to church and to prepare to go to the temple! It was so cool!
Saturday we had a tri-ward Pancake Breakfast at the Stake Center. We invited tons of people and a lot of them came! It was an awesome event and it gave us a chance to meet many people! One of our recent converts even brought her whole (non-member) family with her! It was huge success! Plus, the pancakes and sausage were amazing too! Hahaha!
Then, we went to a barbeque with a part-member family. It was awesome because we were able to share a gospel message and the nonmember Mom asked for our number so that she could have us over again!!!!
Because of the 4th we were allowed to stay out until 10:00 to watch fireworks. So, we got to go with an awesome family in our ward to watch the fireworks! It was amazing! We had a good time! And we even met the member Family's neighbors as well!
To top off the amazing week, we had an awesome Sacrament Meeting yesterday. All of the testimonies were so sweet, and really helped me appreciate just how much Heavenly Father loves us. Then we got to teach Young Womens. It was my favorite! I love the Young Women.
All in all, it was a fantastic week! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
Love,
Sister McGuire
I can hardly believe that another week has gone by! I can barely even remember what happened this week..... Hahaha!
A lot of our plans got thrown off this week because of the Holiday. A lot of people were out of town or had plans. So, one afternoon, everything fell through. We had the prompting to go visit a woman that we haven't seen in a while. I didn't really want to go, because she lives about 15 miles away (which is WAY too far for our limits). But, like 1 Nephi 3:7, we just go and do! So, we went and saw her. She was actually home (YES!) and she was so excited to see us! When we came inside she burst into tears and told us that she was about give up on trying to be good and in her moment of despair she had prayed that Heavenly Father would do something, anything, to show her that he cared. About 5 minutes later, we knocked on the door. WOW! It was so neat to find out that because we had followed that prompting, we ended up being an answer to her prayer!
We went to see another woman in our ward named Sally. She was baptized a year ago, but is now completely inactive. We had prepared a lesson to talk about the Atonement. We got there and about 5 minutes into the lesson we somehow got on the subject of temples (so random!). Sally looked at us and said, "I don't understand temples. What are they? What do you even do in the temple?" So, we explained about temple marriage, baptisms for the dead, sealings, and the other ordinances and covenants there. She was blown away! She had never heard of baptisms for the dead before and she was so intrigued by the concept. She said that she really wanted to do that, but she didn't feel like she would ever be worthy enough to go. We taught her that Heavenly Father wanted to go to the temple as soon as possible! And we could help her get there! So, now she wants to go! She committed to start coming back to church and to prepare to go to the temple! It was so cool!
Saturday we had a tri-ward Pancake Breakfast at the Stake Center. We invited tons of people and a lot of them came! It was an awesome event and it gave us a chance to meet many people! One of our recent converts even brought her whole (non-member) family with her! It was huge success! Plus, the pancakes and sausage were amazing too! Hahaha!
Then, we went to a barbeque with a part-member family. It was awesome because we were able to share a gospel message and the nonmember Mom asked for our number so that she could have us over again!!!!
Because of the 4th we were allowed to stay out until 10:00 to watch fireworks. So, we got to go with an awesome family in our ward to watch the fireworks! It was amazing! We had a good time! And we even met the member Family's neighbors as well!
To top off the amazing week, we had an awesome Sacrament Meeting yesterday. All of the testimonies were so sweet, and really helped me appreciate just how much Heavenly Father loves us. Then we got to teach Young Womens. It was my favorite! I love the Young Women.
All in all, it was a fantastic week! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
Love,
Sister McGuire
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