Pics from the week of February 3

February 3, 2015

So we got transfer call last night and.... we are staying together!! I am so happy because it is usually kinda weird/bad in this mission to be split 1/2 during training (unless the trainer goes STL or something). Sister Morrow and I are thrilled to have another transfer to work together. We know that this transfer will be a miracle transfer. We do not know how, but we feel that we are capable of baptizing each week in February. I love her fire and passion for the work-we are on the same page and nothing can stop us. 

This past weekend was Stake Conference and Elder Munns came and spoke and he is amazing... so eloquent. He spoke a bit about the reality of angels... especially of those angels who minister to children. I was so uplifted and edified.

Yesterday morning we got to help our Relief Society President and her husband move. I remember seeing the missionaries help us when we got our carpets cleaned and thinking, "That is the worst Saturday morning I have ever seen. I feel bad for them." And now service as a missionary is the highlight for me. Strange. Not sure how it happened. But basically, dad I will never EVER whine again. In fact, I am excited to deep clean the garage, house, and backyard frequently with you. Yeah I just said that. Who am I?

We have been blessed by working with the members. We reactivated one member, and now he is helping us teach his roommate. These guys are awesome! The respect that they have for us as representatives of Jesus Christ is humbling.

We have also been fed a lot by the members this week.... when I say a lot I mean a lot for me and Sister Morrow because we don't eat a whole lot. Whereas the elders put down like garbage disposals. However, I have an amazing comp and we are as one because we both had the same crazy thought to go to bed early so we could get up early Friday so we could run extra Saturday. We ran 6.5 miles. It felt so good we did it again yesterday. Then 3.5 today felt like a break. I love my exercise junkie comp!!

Anyway, we have a wonderful teaching pool and are being blessed as we work to pair members with investigators... because MPLs are serving their purpose! We are still working with a woman who we think will be baptized later in February. She is too elect not to be!

I am reading in Ether right now and I decided that the story of the Brother of Jared is my favorite Book of Mormon story. A scripture that sums up my feelings of this story is Ether 3:19: 

 19 And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.

This is the kind of faith I am striving to have. I want the Lord to be unable to keep Himself from me. I want my faith to be so steady and sure that I no longer believe, but I know... "nothing doubting."

Something that I have learned on my mission is that we want so many things, but do we pray for them daily? Sometimes we say that we want more faith or patience, but do we plead with our Heavenly Father each morning and night for those things specifically? Whenever I am preoccupied with confusing, discouraging thoughts, I think, "have I prayed about it as much as I have thought (or talked) about it?" Usually, my answer is no. I love learning these simple truths and practices more fully on my mission. These things I am saying are so simple, but my testimony of them are so deep.

Sister Morrow is the epitome of service. She is always jumping to help me out. I know that I can trust her with absolutely anything. I know that she loves and respects me, and through this knowledge, my love and respect for her grows daily. I love the security that comes from the absolute trust in our companionship. She is herself and I love seeing her teaching skills AND Spanish skills grow daily. She is a blessing to be around. Thank you for allowing us to be together for another transfer to not only baptize together, but also so I can learn and grow from her. I know with every fiber of my being that I needed to be paired with her to learn about charity. She is changing me for the better!

I have to end on a spiritual note, but before I do that I have to tell you people about MACA POWDER aka love of my life. Apparently it is an Incan super food. A member from the English ward that I met at Stake Conference (basically super mom awesome lady and I want to be her) told me about it at the Saturday night session, THEN brought me some Sunday morning to try!! How sweet. She also wrote down some good gluten free tricks and snacks. Which reminds me, accidentally had some gluten at the ward dinner Friday............ yeah not brave enough to make that mistake again. Enough said. Okay but maca powder, cinnamon, almond butter, almond milk, banana, ice, raw cocoa, and some water... delicious shake. Low cal and fills you up super well. And apparently maca powder gives you energy and good protein. Love it. You bet we are on our way to Whole Foods after this to investigate. 

I love you all and your support more than words can explain.

I am deeply grateful for my life, here and now. I love being a missionary. I love being on my mission... representing our Savior each day. Our calling really is magnificent. I love how I understand obedience and other aspects of the gospel more and more each day. The blessings of missionary service are so real, and I know that this is just the beginning. 

Con amor,

Hermana McCormick

They BOTH love to clean

January 26, 2015

This week has been incredible. Sister Morrow and I have learned so much together, and grown even closer. I look back at the trials of my mission, as well as those that we encountered this week, with a sense of fondness. I know that in those lonely, difficult moments, I grew closer to my Savior.

We had Interviews with the mission president this week and mine was revelatory and amazing per usual. It was such a special experience.

Our ward was blessed to finish off 2014 with an increase as we and the elders baptized a few families. Our only desire is to continue that and help build Zion in this area of Florida. This month has helped me to learn a lot about others' agency and so many other things. However, the biggest thing I learned was how important communication is.

We have two investigators who have set dates for baptism and are progressing really well. One came to church yesterday and loved it. She said that she felt like she was learning so much and that she liked the way she felt there. This woman has such a pure heart. We love her so much and we love seeing her receive more happiness through the gospel as she reads the scriptures. The Relief Society was so good to her yesterday. She is getting baptized on the 8th (due to Stake Conf. this week). Her testimony will continue to grow and I will be back in a year when she receives her endowment. 

We were blessed this week to find someone who is so kind and interested in learning more about the gospel. We were looking a former member and told her that we were looking for the so-and-so family. She said they did not live there, and accepted us and a return appointment. This REALLY is a miracle because we were looking for a former member and usually, if the people move, the new residents are not willing to accept us. However, she is so interested and we are returning to see her tonight!

We also had a member we hadn’t seen for a while. He was smiling ear to ear walking around church as he was welcomed back with open arms. Everyone was telling him they were so happy to see him, asking why he came back/how he knew it was at 1pm now, and he just said, "mis chicas me invitaron."

This week during my Book of Mormon studies, my testimony grew immensely of footnotes. I took my President's counsel and am using the footnotes way more in personal study, and by doing this I have come to see that the Book of Mormon and Bible really do support and strengthen one another. The footnotes in the Book of Mormon take me to references in the Bible to help me understand what certain things mean. That was an incredible realization that came to me this week and I am so grateful for that.

I have enjoyed pondering the words of a specific hymn during the sacrament throughout my mission. Hymn 266 is probably my favorite hymn to read. This hymn is so special to me because these words are so symbolic to me of my time as a missionary. Verse 4 is especially dear to my heart:

         1. The time is far spent; there is little remaining
 to publish glad tidings by sea and by land. Then hasten, ye heralds; go forward proclaiming:
 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand,
 repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.

         2. Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant, but follow the Savior, your pattern and friend. 
Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,
 ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end,
 ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end.

         3. What, tho, if the favor of Ahman possessing,
 this world's bitter hate you are called to endure?
 The angels are waiting to crown you with blessings!
 Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure. 
Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

         4. Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
 the weight of your calling he perfectly knows.
 Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;
 His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.
 His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

I love the power of hymns. I love how they can bring peace and strength.

I love this work more than anything in the world. I love laboring with my Savior and coming to know Him more and more each day. I never knew what it meant to have a personal relationship with my Savior until I came out on my mission. I feel so blessed to learn so much in such a short amount of time. I hope and pray that I can retain all of these treasures and incorporate them into my character.

Thank you for who you are. I love each of you more than words!

Hermana McCormick

January 20, 2015

Sorry this is so long. If you love me, you'll read it #guilttrip. I saved the best for last. No cheating and scrolling down!

This week has been full of hard work and lots of teaching. It has been an incredible blessing to have so many amazing people to teach. We were able to find 8 solid new investigators. We have returned to each of them with a member to help us teach, and we have seen amazing progress thanks to our members.

We received a referral from our bishop two Sundays ago and checked on her three times... all different times of the day and could not seem to find her. Sunday night, however, we felt that we should try one more time. Sure enough, she opened and let us right in. Her name is E. and she is so ready to accept the gospel. She explained to us that she is so incredibly confused, so we did not hesitate in teaching her the restoration. She accepted it all and a return appointment. Last night we shared the restoration DVD with her and explained it all to her and introduced the Book of Mormon. She has committed to praying about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and has already committed to be baptized. We are being so blessed!!! We already love her so much. We know that she will be a member of this church soon.

I was impressed as I read 3 Nephi 4:33 this week:

 33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the 

hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting

destruction.

This might seem like an unusual scripture to share... but this verse means a lot to me. I truly do not know what I did to deserve a mission. I am blessed a million times over for this decision. I know that I did not get myself out here, nor did I bring myself back into activity during high school. For some reason, Heavenly Father did not let me go. He had greater plans for me. Despite my poor use of agency earlier in my life, I am here, laboring with people I love more that I can describe, meeting and teaching people that I know I knew in the life before this. Truly thanks to the Lord's mercy, I am learning more than I ever imagined possible. I will forever be in extreme debt to my Father in Heaven.

Sister Morrow and I are just such good friends. Her testimony is powerful, and she is not afraid to share it in Spanglish. She is motivated to do all that she can do in order to contribute equally to each investigator's progression. She has a fire and passion for the work. I have been so blessed to have gotten her as a companion. I am learning so much each day from her. She is an example to me of relentless service and is a joy to be around.

I had two of the coolest experiences of my mission this week:

A certain investigator was totally not going to come to church. One of our lessons fell through, we knew there had to be a reason, so we prayed to know what to do. We felt that we should stop by at his place. We asked him to get his Book of Mormon from inside, and a line from my favorite talk entered my mind: "A fireball missionary starts when an investigator says no. This is a plain and simple concept, but very true." I decided that we were going to testify and we would not leave until he had committed to church. We switched off boldly and taught by the spirit. We invited him to take a chapel tour before sacrament meeting (make them feel comfortable at church, and make sure they aren't late... two birds with one stone) and he accepted. We were thrilled! Okay miracle time: we walked around the church building before church and talked about the different paintings. He likes to ramble and joke around with us, so sometimes getting him to focus and feel the spirit is tricky. We got to the first vision painting. We talked about Joseph Smith's confusion, and in Spanish, I recited the first vision. It was the coolest experience of my mission. It came out of my mouth by the spirit... so well…and he was quietly gazing at the painting. The spirit was so strong.

I thought back to the night before I left for the Mexico MTC. I remember Brandi telling me to remember that "it is impossible to not feel the spirit when talking about Joseph Smith and the first vision." I remember that whenever I teach the restoration, and I tell that to our investigators. It is impossible to not feel peace and light as we talk about Joseph Smith.

Another awesome experience related to the First Vision. As we watched the restoration DVD with another investigator last night, she took it all in. She sat in silence the whole time. She felt the spirit and her concentration was not broken once. As the DVD got to the part where Joseph has the vision I felt tears build in my eyes. I felt so much love for him, for my calling as a missionary, and for our investigator. In both lessons we have taught her, I have felt an overwhelming feeling of "I would not rather be anywhere else in the world, but here."

I love those moments on my mission. They are so pure and authentic, and to me, a gift from the Lord. We get to feel a portion of the love our Heavenly Father has not only for His children, but for this work as well.

This week, I have been thoroughly impressed as I have pictured the Savior laboring with me in His vineyard. That is what it is. My mortal mind and eyes cannot understand nor see that, but I know that is what is happening in this work.

I would like to invite you all to read D&C Section 135. By studying those eloquent words this week, my testimony of Joseph Smith has grown even more. I have so much love for him-who he was and what he went through. He never relented. He is amazing. I love the part where it talks about save Jesus Christ, he has done more than anyone to live for the salvation of mankind. Thinking about that intrigues and humbles me.

I would also like to invite you to read a talk from this past GC. It is called "Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority" by Elder Scott. Man, it is powerful. Printing it out and marking it has been a spiritual experience for me. I learned a lot. I suggest that you all do the same... it has so many amazing thoughts.

Best for last............we gained 30 new missionaries. Our mission boundaries grew, and now we have the Ft. Myers stake, aka 30 Tampa missionaries. I am excited for this!!! To have another mission experience, another president to learn from, another culture to adapt to... exciting times. I know their excitement will build as we welcome them with open arms.

I am so grateful for my calling. This work is too important to waste a day, or even an hour. This time is short, but eternally important. Thank you all for your support.

Jake: Happy early Birthday! Best BIL shoutout. Enjoy your day.

I love each of you so much!      

Hermana McCormick