TORNADO SIRENS...WE HAD APPLESAUCE SO WE WERE GOOD :)

Hey! So last night was a memory! We were across town and an appointment fell through, which is a huge blessing because as we get back in the car we hear THE TORNADO SIRENS go off!!! So we quickly hurry to our apartment praying our way there. Book it into the house, grab mattress and food and dive into our basement, where we patiently wait for the tornado warning to be over. It was fun bonding times. We had tortias, water, and applesauce so we were good! So grateful we have a basement. This is the 3rd tornado warning I have been in, but the first time the sirens went off. Today though is a beautiful day! We went as a zone to Hocking Hills and explored Old Man's cave. It was gorgeous!! We met some 2 nice men who one had been to church and stuff before, it was great! 

Our investigator came to church, a baptism, and a ward potluck! She talked in Relief Society how much it has meant for people to reach out to her and say hi. 

I have definitely seen on the mission how critical the members are, missionaries can only do so much. The real thing that helps people make the change is the member's reaching out and sharing their testimonies. It makes it more real, because they are "real people". Also the missionaries will eventually leave, so they need that support system there for them. 

I got to go to an amazing Sister Training meeting! It was so great! We have been blessed to do lots of service this week! I love you all!

P.S. Keep reading those 10 pages! Makes a huge difference! Not to late!

Love Sister McDougle

I love being a Missionary

Hey! 

This week was great! 

We have been working with this amazing lady (Our recent concert's friend). She wasn't going to be able to come to church on Sunday. After having lots of opposition and people telling her to stop going to our church, she prayed and asked God that if this is the direction He would like her to go, that He would open a door for her to go to church. And it was opened! 

We had a great talk with her last night and she said she believes the Book of Mormon is true, the Church is true, and that she believes this is the path Heavenly Father is leading her to! She is so amazing!

I got to talk in zone meeting about our mission's goal. I got to share an amazing talk by Elder Bednar, about the enabling power of the Atonement. That we can only do this through Christ's atonement. In the talk he talked about how when Nephi was bound with chords and left in the wilderness to die by his brothers, he didn't pray to be delivered and his brothers to be punished- but instead he prayed for the strength to break the chords. That is the enabling power of the Atonement. 

I need not to pray for baptisms, but for the faith to believe it can happen, the humility to be in tune with the Spirit to be led and guided to those who are ready and prepared. 

Ah, I love being a missionary! 

 I am so grateful for my Savior. I know that is only through Him that I can do any of this. That I can share the joy I feel with others. I love Him. I am so grateful for all the trials I have been through to be honored to get to lean on Him and get to know Him better. 

I love you all!

Love always, 

Sister McDougle

Challenge! Read 10 pages every day!

This week was great!

So we had Zone conference, so half the mission was there. Our mission president had the people stand who have been out 9 months to a year. There was only about 7 or so of us and I was in the back. He went around the room asking them to say one thing we do not stand for in this mission. Well he skipped over me. He didn't realize I was standing. The assistants on the stand were trying to hold it in, when he went through everyone and started to move on to a different subject his wife interrupted him and said, "Sister McDougle is standing". It was really funny, and he apologized.

Our investigator came to church and bore her testimony! It was amazing, and it was so cool to see others go up there and say how her testimony strengthened theirs. She talked about how she died on the operating table and was sent back, and she doesn't know if this is maybe the reason why. The whole reason she became opened to the church is because she saw the ward family reach out to her friend. That and seeing the change her friend has made since she started investigating the church, is what led her to be open to investigating the church.

We helped do service for a man whose wife is a member, he is a baptist preacher. We helped him split and stack wood that he cut for firewood. Just call me Paul Bunion. 

We have been able to serve the sisters we train a lot this week. It is amazing to see how the Spirit can work through you. It's still me and my personality but we have been blessed to be able to help with situations, that I know on my own I could not have been able to and would have no idea how to help. I see it a lot with those we teach. There are so many horrible problems people have to deal with, things that I have never been able to and can't even begin to relate with them on. But it is amazing how the Spirit leads and guides you on what to say to comfort them. I love knowing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bless them no matter what circumstances they are in. It shows me how much Heavenly Father loves us, knows us,  and answers our prayers.

Challenge: Starting November 1st Our mission started reading 10 pages of the Book of Mormon every day. So you will be done by Christmas. I invite everyone to join in. I promise if anyone will do it with a sincere and open heart, it will help you come closer to Christ and you will know weather or not the Book of Mormon is the Word of God.

I testify that it is.

 I love you all.

Love Always, 

Sister McDougle

I am so blessed to be on my mission!

This week it got was great! 

We had a lot of La/pm we visited. It was cool because two said that they were not supposed to be home, but things got cancelled or they skipped- it was so inspired! 

Our recent convert is on fire! She is amazing! She gave out three Book of Mormons last week and some pass along cards! Her son shared during his recess the Gospel to his friend. They are amazing! And her friend, we have been teaching, came to church! During Relief Society, during the "good news moment", she got emotional as she announced that she had a really spiritual experience that morning as she read a pamphlet we gave her and as she read the scriptures and that she loved us. She is amazing! 

There are so many amazing people I have blessed to meet. So many people go through such hard things, but always trust in the Lord. It was amazing to see how different her countenance was at church, she was so happy and peaceful. 

I am so blessed to be on my mission! I am so blessed to learn more how to rely on the Lord. I know He gives us trials so that we can learn to rely on Him and grow. I know He uses those trials to help us so that later when bigger ones come, we are prepared and can handle it through His help. I know that His Atonement is real. That He Jesus Christ took on all our heart ache and pains, so that He could succor us. 

I am so grateful for you all! 
Love you!

Love Always, Sister McDougle

Forgiving is a principal of power!

My Life is changed. 
My week can be summed up in two things: 

Pumpkin Show and Elder Robins. 

Elder Robbins, a member of the Seventy, came to our stake conference and all the Zone Leaders, District Leaders, and Sister Training leaders got to have a meeting with him. 

Pumpkin Show:

Found out it is the 6th biggest fair in the US or something like that

They have the World's largest pumpkin there (well I don't know if this year broke the previous record they have had or not, but it was BIG)

They have the World's largest pumpkin pie!

The main streets shut down, the schools have school off thursday and Friday for it!

Members took us their for dinner one night (we all shared different stuff) and now I can say I have had: fried pumpkin waffles, fried pumpkin blossom (my favorite, tasted like fried zucchini a little), pumpkin burger, pumpkin fudge, pumpkin doughnut, and pumpkin ice-cream!

We ran into a lot of LA so that was really good. We passed out some cards. Shinning moment- passed out a pass along card to a man in a chicken suit!

WE also had a cool experience where we went to a part-member home for an appointment with a girl, she wasn't there, we left. Later we felt like we should go back. Prayed and went back and got to set up a return appointment with the mom!

Elder Robbins:

Stake conference was amazing! Sister Nilsen talked, and she realized a different folder she had. She just pulled it off amazingly and was definitely inspired. Elder Robbins talked a lot about marriage and then in the meeting talked a lot about agency and responsibility. 

Some notes:

~There is power in the book of Mormon!

~Win a friend instantly by helping them with a problem they have.  

~How did the Lord win your heart? By helping you with 2 gigantic problems, we needed a Savior.

~How many times have you been carried back on the Lord's shoulders?

~It takes some not so perfect days to get to that perfect day

~Nobody can replace the work you individually need to do!

~Only about 25% of the U.S. say the phrase "I love you!"

 in their homes! We need to say it!

~I love you" is a promise of behavior.

~If you were in the Savior's presence you would feel His love and He would express it!

~Our success in life is going from failure to failure without any lose of enthusiasm!

~We need the Sacrament, it allows us to get up again

~"Do you want to be right or be married?"

~Anger-withdraw of love, is only the manifestation of fear.

He taught us theses amazing concepts! He talked about how we have 100% agency and the doctrine that goes with that is Responsibility with 100% agency have 100% responsibility

We are not free because we have chosen, we are free because we have chosen well!

If we choose the wrong road we also choose the wrong destination.

This List is what destroyed Laman and Lemual.

Doubt

Self Justification

Fear 

Blame

Murmur

Laziness

Ignorance

Pride

Running Away

Giving Up

Hide

Rebellion

Lying

Excuses

Complain

Self-pity

Even if they are right champions do not go to this list. 

THE DAY A PERSON CROSSES THIS LIST OUT OF THEIR LIFE IS THE DAY THEY BECOME A CHAMPION.

He taught a lot about agency and responsibility. Basically by blamming others and giving up responsibility we are giving up control. By blamming someone else you give up control on the outcome!

If it is to be, it is up to me.

Responsibility is the courage to face and resolve pain, fear, shame, and guilt.

Assuming responsibility increases our options, blessings, happiness, and control, while blamming, excuses, self-justifying, and self-pity limit our control and freedom. If others are at fault abnd have to change before further progress is made, then others are in control of the outcome or desired results. Agency and responsibility are inseperably connected. You can't avoid one without affecting or loosing the other.

Even if you are right you dont need to blame.

Forgiving is a principle of power and control in your life.

I love you all so much! 

Thank you for all the support, prayers, and Love! I know this gospel is true! I am so grateful for the Savior and his love for us that motivated Him to Atone for us. 

Love you!

-Sister McDougle

I Love General Conference!

This week was great! 

 

We have been meeting a lot with our media referral investigator and he is progressing! He has said how he already sees the change in him. It is awesome!

 For one of the exchanges we did we went to Reynoldsburg. Sister Malloy, my old companion from Greenfield, is now there with Sister Hansen. It was kinda surreal working in my last area Reynoldburg with my old companion from Greenfield. She and Sister Hansen are amazing and it was so great to work with them both again. They are both so awesome! I got to see a less-active we worked a lot with. It was so good to see her. She is amazing i love her! 

She came to general conference with us and President Utchdorf's talk spoke right to her she was saying. It was so amazing to see how she was touched and how Heavenly Father knows his children. 

We went back to our area and watched it at a member's house, and A who was baptized last week was there. The next day we watched it at the chapel. In between a member invited us over for lunch. Then we gave an investigator a Chapel tour. He watched the second session with us. It was amazing how the talks were perfect fro him! I love general conference! Ah so great! I love you all!

Countdown: Who will you help bring closer to Christ before Christmas?

Love, Sister McDougle

121 members present!!!!

This week was great! 

It consisted of a training, 2 exchanges, 3 baptisms, 3 confirmations, and a bunch of other great things! Our zone broke the mission record with 121 member presents!!!!! (The previous goal was like 80 something). It was definitely a miracle. Lots of fasting, prayer, and hard work. We had 8 in our area! It was so great! The members are amazing here! 

One member invited H to go with him to the father son camp out, it meant so much to H and his mom! Another member took H to her house so A could watch the relief society conference! It was amazing. The talks were all on keeping your covenants by serving and the member, in the conference offers to walk h to her house to play with her kids. It was amazing! 

The ward is getting so involved with missionary work it is great! They make all the difference. If it weren't for them fellowshipping, offering rides, and testimonies those 3 baptisms would not have happened. The baptism was so great! The spirit was so strong!

 It was amazing to have 3 baptisms for our ward. It was kinda great to have both sets of missionaries having someone baptized and so many of the members there and involved. That is what is supposed to be like, a group effort. Where everyone is reaching out and being Christ's hands by reaching down and lifting up. 

On Sunday we had the 3 confirmations! It was great! And then H bore his testimony! it was amazing! Sister Dycus and I got to teach real quick in combined priesthood and relief society.  It is so great to see how much hope this gospel brings, the Atonement brings. I know that this is Christ's gospel. That His church and authority has been restored!

 I love you all!

 -Sister McDougle

Angie is Amazing!

Hi! 

This week was great! We had exchanges with 2 sisters. 

I got to work with Sister Hansen and Love again which was really fun and great! 

Broke a HUGE blister- bigger than a quarter that went through3 layers of  skin...like a champ :)

Hunter and Angie had us over for dinner and made us each individual cakes! 

It was soo sweet!

We watched the Testament with them one day, it made me cry when Christ comes. I love how He knows each of us by name.

Angie is amazing! Her baptism is this weekend, so Satan is working hard but she is so amazing and always putting God first! 

Love you all!

They call me Sister Goofball :)

I kinda loudly said, "No Way!"

Hi! 

So Wednesday was a crazy day! It was really hard saying goodbye to people in Reynoldsburg. There are so many amazing people there who were amazing examples to me. 

President Nilsen called on Wednesday to call me as a Sister Training Leader. He said it's like a Zone Leader. Said some hard goodbyes and then packed everything up that night. 

Transfers were crazy! Over 90% of the companionship's in the mission were affected! So, basically most of the mission was there. Also super crazy, a lot of the areas now have Elders and Sisters in the wards/branches. 

They called Sister Training Leaders to be with Sister Training Leaders, kinda like how zone leaders are. So.... I am with... SISTER DYCUS!!!!!! I am back with my mama (Trainer)! When they were announcing our names I was so shocked I kinda loudly said "No Way!" We were stocked! 

I am now serving in the Canal Winchester ward. I am in Circleville. The area is split, so the Elders have Canal Winchester and we have Circleville. We have a big ward, the biggest I have ever served in. There is about 100 active members! In our area though we have about 4 active members. But it's all good, we're working on that! It is a lot like Greenfield. Lots of corn here. It's so different going from the city and suburbs to this area. It's great! It is just super surreal when I look over and see Sister Dycus driving with cornfields all around us, I feel like it's a flashback of 6 months ago. 

We have amazing investigators we are working with! Two are on date! And guess what, the kid we are working with his name is Hunter, just like in Reynoldsburg! He is great! He just turned 8. He calls me Goofball. 

It was such a blessing, because the first Sunday is always a little crazy, it was so cool that I knew some people! A family from Reynoldburg was visiting and one of Sister Love's mini missionaries that we worked with is in that ward. She is awesome! 

Today we had a mission luau. It was so fun! We had a bunch of fun games: volleyball, water-balloon volleyball, corn hole, stick pull, and other stuff. We also had our amazing "King of Tonga", senior couple Elder and Sister Neu, made us a BBQ. It was really fun! 

Tomorrow we have interviews with the President. Sister Dycus and I will be helping train the zones during it. Then Wed is Zone meeting, which we are putting on with the Zone Leaders, and then we have exchanges that day with one of the companionship's, then on Friday with another companionship, and then a really cool Relief Society Fireside on Saturday. At the fireside, Sister Nilsen will be speaking, some of the Amish sisters who recently have been baptized will be speaking, and they are going to have Cafe Rio style food! So excited! 

I love you all! Thank you so much for the support and prayers it means a lot! I love being out here and seeing how the Atonement not only works in others lives but in mine. I know that it is only through Jesus Christ's sacrifice that I can do and be more than I am.

 I love you all!

 

Love Always,

 Sister Mcdougle

I'm being transferred!

Hunter got baptized!!!!! Ah it was so amazing! It was great! He looked so happy! And the next day he got confirmed! He is such an awesome/amazing kid! 

We have also been working with this one less active who has honestly changed all of our lives. He has changed his life around and is working towards going to the temple!! He is such an example to all of us. And he is really awesome because at one point we were talking about donuts and Ohio is different and doesn't have any maple bars that aren't filled!!! Crazy right? Well he is close with the donut people and got me two non-filled donuts. It was amazing and tasted like home :). Also he has been talking to his brother about the church and how he is going back, and his brother has seen all the changes and is open to learning more and we got to teach him the other day!!! He is awesome!

Went on exchanges with Sister Dycus and Pricket. They are great.

On labor day we went park contacting at Blacklick park. It is so gorgeous! I love it! So green and has all these walking trails through the forest that make me think of the sacred grove. Ohio is funny. We went in sweating because it was sooo hot and left running to our car drenched from the pouring buckets of rain. 

Learning about the enabling power of the Atonement. It is life changing! I love it! 

I was invited to go to the leadership council this week. It was so great! I received a lot of amazing training! 

Miracle! So on Sunday we really wanted to find 2 more new investigators. We felt impressed to visit an investigator. So we basically got down to we had 2 hrs left. We prayed for help. The first door we went to we met this great lady who became an investigator, saw members invited them to the follow up lesson, and then I felt impressed to go to this random house. She became an investigator! It was a pure miracle!!! Like that doesn't happen!! Ah! And we did it all in an hour so we had time to go visit the investigator! And the lesson was super cool because we felt impressed to suggest that he reads Proverbs and then the footnotes on it to the Book of Mormon, since he was reading in Proverbs and stuff. He said that when we said that it clicked. It was really cool. Plus he has been going through a hard time so it was really great we got to see him.

Today we had zone day fun day! We played glow in the dark volleyball! We also played normal volleyball, ate spaghetti, and played a game like dodge ball. It was so fun! 

I got the call. I am being transferred and Sister Love and Hansen are staying. I am so grateful to have served here, especially with them. It's cool because we can see how inspired it was to have us together this last transfer. It is really cool. I am so grateful for all the amazing people here. Ah the ward is so great. And I have learned so much from Sister Love and Hansen. They are such amazing missionaries. I love them. So I guess on Monday I will let you know where I am. Love yah all and thank you for all the support!

Love, Sister McDougle

Three little girls in skirts pushing a car...

Hi everybody! 

This week has been good! Honestly, I know a lot happened but I can't really remember any of it right now. :)

Our car was in the shop, so we walked A LOT! But it was cool because we had a lot of miracles happen.

One lady who's son is  a member was hopping to see missionaries and saw us! She gave us a ride. She is so sweet! (This same sweet lady took a picture of the sisters and e-mailed the picture and a note to us parents! She wrote what a blessing it was to see them and even though she isn't a member of our church, she is is so proud of their commitment!) 

Oh one day we were on our way to an apointment  and were so blessed. We weren't paying attention and didn't cross when we should of, and a car that was stopped at the red light got hit and was pushed to the intersection! We were defiantly protected! Luckily no one was hurt. We helped push his car into the parking lot. We were laughing the whole time, just thinking how funny it must be to all the cars driving by to see 3 little girls pushing a car up this small hill in skirts! Turns out he was a baptist pastor! The whole thing sounds like a bad punch line. He was really nice.

We had great lessons. And were able to have four lessons that members were present! It was great! Members there make such a difference, because people don't think we are normal people. One guy we are teaching was so surprised when he found out Mormons watch movies. It helps to have members there a lot!

I love it here! It's going great! Hope all is well! Love you all! 

Love,

Sister McDougle

Like Some Cheesy Romantic Comedy

Hey! 

I hope everybody is doing great! 

This week has been eventual! We ran out of miles so we walked like 6 or more miles everyday. It was good though! I liked being able to be outside walking and talking to people on the streets. There was one homeless lady we talked to who was really nice, I don't know it was really cool to think how much love Heavenly Father has for His daughter. 

We had one great day where one guy decided he wanted to teach us and then when we politely said it was great to meet you sir but we do have to go, we set apart an hour for this and now we have to get to our next appointment. He said "Thank you for setting apart the time to come, you didn't have to. And I don't believe that anyone really Wants to go to Hell. So I ask you to pray and think about what I told you." So that was a great "bonding moment" as Sister Hansen called it. 

And then a lady who was so prepared for the gospel, she cancelled on us because we believe God and Jesus are the same person, but we don't, and she wouldn't believe us so that was a fun day. 

J moved her baptisms date to the 24th. And then when we went over the other night she dropped us because she doesn't want to quit smoking and stuff.  

And then we got stood up and dumped by almost everyone we were teaching. So basically it is like some cheesy romantic comedy. But there has been lots of miracles. We have found more people to teach who are great. H came to church again and is planning to be baptized the 31st. 

I love being in a trio! It is fun and nice to have more people to talk to. We got into less active members homes! One lady really opened up to us and it was cool to be able to relate to her. One guy we are now teaching he had just finished saying he doesn't like reading Proverbs right now and I opened my Bible and it opened to Proverbs and 3 scriptures that I had marked applied exactly to what he was going through, it was cool. 

I tried peanut butter and mayo. Um, that was interesting. I didn't know how picky I was until I came out on my mission. It's all good though! I love being out here. I found out Reynoldsburg is the birthplace of the tomato! Things are starting to look up! And like one of my investigators said- "like Katy Perry said there is always a rainbow after every storm". 

I love you all!!!! I hope you are all having a great day!

Love, Sister McDougle

Sister Hansen

Hi!

So I am still in Reynoldsburg. I am now in a trio. I am still serving with Sister Love and she is training Sister Hansen. Sister Hansen and I actually knew each other before! We were in the same EFY group! She is so great! She is super bold and an amazing missionary! I was nervous about being in a trio (three missionaries), but I love it! It is so great! It is nice to always have someone to talk to and a different perspective. It is really great. 

So we are kinda running low on miles (we get a certain amount each month). So yesterday we walked most of the day. It was such a blessing! We were able to meet so many prepared and amazing people! It was so great! One kid has such a love for Jesus Christ, it was so great! He just had a true desire to do anything that would bring him closer to Christ. We are excited to teach him this week. 

Our mission President is doing a lot better! He has his energy back and is moving the work even more. The standards of excellence for the mission has been raised. He has such faith in continuing to grow and put our faith in the Lord. He is such a great example. Our bishop is also healing! 

We have great people that are making great progress! One lady it was so amazing- she said how she would never feel worthy to be baptized, we got to explain to her how you don't have to be perfect. We got to go over the requirements with her and realize how much she truly believes and is prepared. She is on date for next month! We have been praying very specifically. 

I have been studying this week about Christlike attributes and how much faith and hope truly means to trust God.

 How we have to have enough faith to believe something will happen, not wait for the miracle to happen to then believe. I am so grateful for the experiences to see how much faith people have and how our faith can continually grow. One sister mentioned God doesn't care where you are on the path as much as He cares about which direction your headed. 

I love you all!

Love Always, Sister McDougle

I Love Being a Missionary!

HI!

I hope you all are having a great week! Today was zone fun day. So we had a BBQ as a zone, played put put, and made zone shirts. I have such a great zone they are great!

We had district meeting this week. I have a great district. We practiced giving chapel tours. It is so awesome! (If you have never been on a tour of one of our church buildings you should go on mormon.org and ask a missionary to give you one). 

You can feel the Spirit so strong! We are teaching a family. They are super great. On Wednesday we had 24 hour exchanges. We went to Lancaster and worked there. Sister Allen is in my zone! And she is my sister training leader so we got to be companions on the exchange. She is so amazing!! I love sister Allen! Ah it was so cool to see how much both of us have grown from being MTC companions. I love her!

 I love being a missionary! It is so fun! The kids in the ward here are so fearless. We gave some pass along cards with picture of Jesus Christ on them and they are giving them to friends they want to invite to church. I love how they just love the gospel so much and their friends so much so they just want to share what they love. Sister Love and I get along great. We were low on miles so the other day we walked for about 7 miles. Yeah being blessed with mad calf muscles! Just kidding. 

But seriously I love you all! thank you for all the support!

 Love You!

P.s. Jenessa Van Buen (sorry if I spelt that wrong) Sister Reed is Sister Allen's companion and in my zone!!!

Please keep him in your prayers

This week was great! Reynoldsburg is wonderful!

We found a new investigator this week, she is awesome! We also got to teach this young man the missionaries have been teaching for a long time. He has met with 5 different  misisonaries. We talked about Alma 32, and he said he finally gets it. It was so cool! He is a great young man who is really looking for the truth.

We had zone conference. It's a bunch of zones get together and the Mission President talks to us. It was so much fun! They had car inspections and we won a golden key chain for having one of the cleanest cars in our zone! We also got 50 extra miles for the month!! They played Jeopardy with Preach My Gospel questions, ones about Ohio/Kentucky, and random facts. We also received some training. The Mission president and his wife are so amazing! We found out last week that he has cancer. They are so positive and humble. They are so grateful because the reason they found the cancer was because he was experiencing pain so they went to the e.r. If that didn't happened they would have never noticed the cancer. President is so grateful for the blessings and so grateful to be able to raise his children. He is such an amazing example.

 Sister Allen is in my zone! It's so awesome! 

 I also got to go to the Posey's family's ceiling! It was amazing! They are from our last area! They are such a wonderful family. The spirit was so strong there! Ah, it was so awesome!! 

Last Monday my bishop collapsed at work . They found out he had bleeding in his brain and is in critical condition. So keep him in your prayers. We fasted as a ward for him yesterday. The ward has so much faith in the Lord. I am so grateful I know I can rely on the Lord for comfort and to know the plan of salvation that the Lord has for his children. 

Love you all!

Sister McDougle

I'm in Reynoldsburg!

Hi! Happy Late Father's day! 

So I have been called to serve in the Reynoldsburg area. It is great! I am still in the Ohio Columbus mission. My companion is Sister Love. She is awesome! She came out a transfer after me. She is really great! 

Sister Allen is in my Zone!!!!! So excited about that. This week we have zone conference ( a bunch of zones together) so I get to see Sister Allen, Sister Malloy, and the Wallbecks!!!! I am so excited! 

This area is great! The ward is amazing!

This week was so crazy. The minis were awesome. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was so amazing!! I loved it! 

Transfers was so crazy. It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone. The members here are so amazing! They are really nice. It feels a little bit like I am training again because this area is soo different than Greenfield, but it's exciting. I know that the Lord is in control. I hope everyone is doing great! 

Love yah! Alma 36:27

Love always, 

Sister McDougle

7648 North Oakbrook Drive, Reynoldsdburg, Ohio

So I got the call.-

So I got the call I am being transferred. I was not expecting it. 

This week has been exciting and crazy. We had a great week last week. We have an investigator who wants to be baptized at the end of this month! She is so amazing! I love her. 

We had two investigators at church this Sunday it was so great! So this week we had mini missionaries. We have four of the greatest teenagers from the Ohio area who are with us this whole week. They are all so outgoing and cute. They are really bold and have no fear to teach!  They are awesome!

Wednesday we are going to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert! We will be staying the night at a member's home up there and then we are going to the transfers meeting tomorrow to find out where I am going. My mini missionaries will be going with me. This is the transfer that decides what mission you will be in because it is being split. So I will let you know what happens. 

We got to take members to a lot of our lessons. It makes a world of difference. They are so amazing! The members have helped us so much this week and let us come with our mini-missionaries and teach lessons, do service, and have us over for dinner. They helped us out so much! 

I am so grateful to have served here in Greenfield. It has been emotional the last few days. The branch has become such a family to me. They are all  so loving and sweet.  It is crazy to think that I have been here for 4 months. 

Sister Malloy is amazing. She will do so much for Greenfield. Exciting stuff will happen. It is hard to leave her. I love her so much! We have become so close. She is a fantastic missionary. She will do so much here. 

I am excited for whatever comes next. I know it's all in the Lord's hands. I am just really grateful to have served here for as long as I have. I love Greenfield. It is so pretty. The people are so amazing!

Today we got a tour of the High School. It is beautiful! It was a gift to the town from Mr. McClain. It has a lot of statues in the hallways, paintings in every room and hall, a marble staircase, Greek freeze statues on the wall. It is so incredible. 

I will have my next preparation day on Monday. So I will let you know then where I am. 

Love you all so much!!!

Thank you Activity girls for the package! It was perfect! I loved it! It really meant a lot. Thank you!

Love Always, Sister McDougle

What Mission will I be in?!

On Memorial Day we went to the parade, but we were 15 minutes  late and it was over (forgot how small the town is). Then they had a service at one of the cemeteries. (There are four cemeteries in this small town). It was really great! The High School band played, they read off the names of those that have served and passed, there was a firing squad, they placed a reef at the memorial, and then a reverend said a prayer. It was so great! Got to see some of the members and also got to meet some of one member's friends.

Saturday was the branch softball game! It was so great! This was the 3rd year they did it, it started as a missionaries' activity, but now the young women and young men are in charge. It was a great event to bring friends to and really strengthen the branch. It was really great and really fun! 

We had another Sister with us for a tiny bit this week. Sister Finafuiaki. She is awesome and amazing! And taught us a lot.

We went back to an appointment with this one guy we met, who originally said he wasn't interested. When we talked to him it was so great. He said, "If this book (The Book of Mormon) is true I will give up everything and be baptized!"

He is so awesome! 

We have been blessed this week to get to know some of the less actives. We are really blessed and have a lot of opportunities to serve them! 

So exciting craziness in two weeks! So all in one week we will:Thursday: Have transfers which determine what mission you will be in (because our mission is splitting and they are creating a new one), Wed- we get to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Sooooooooo excited! The Spirit is so strong!!! Listen to them if you have or have not YouTube them they are amazing!!!!),

 and all that week we will be having mini missionaries! 

Mini missionaries are 16-18 year old's who get to basically be missionaries for a week to help them prepare and see what it's like. They will be living with us, keeping the same schedule we do, and working with us. It is going to be awesome! We will have at least 2, but possibly more because there are so many sisters! So exciting!

This week we also have interviews with our Mission President and workshops to help us!

I love it here! Sister Malloy is awesome! I love Greenfield!

Love Always, 

Sister Mcdougle

Working on talking to everyone :)

This week was great! We had Sister's Specialized training, where all the sisters in the mission went to President's house and we did workshops. A Sister, Sister Blackham, is traveling around the mission to help train sisters. She was with us for a few days. She is so great! We had a lot of fun and worked hard! We do lots of role playing, and she gave us mustaches to do them with. We have been working on talking to everyone! 

We ended up teaching all these teenagers hanging around the school stairs. It was a miracle we got through the lesson, but it was great. By the end 3 of them said they would pray and read the Book of Mormon and would be baptised when they find out it is true.  

We had a mission fast this week. It was amazing! We all fasted and then if we had miracles they would forward it to the mission. There was so many! It was so amazing! The Lord is blessing us so much! 

I tracked in my first thunderstorm this week! 

Sister Malloy is awesome! I love being her companion. She is so positive. And it is nice that some one shares my crazing for Costa Vida and Creamery ice cream! I love you all so much! Thanks for all the support! I love it here! It is so amazing! I love learning to trust in the Lord more. He loves us all and is always there for each and everyone of us. 

Love Always, Sister McDougle

She want's to get baptized!

I am still here in Greenfield area. So I finished my training on Wednesday and became a trainer on Tuesday! I am going to miss my trainer, Sister Dycus she is so amazing but my trainee is great too! Her name is Sister Malloy. She is from Valencia, California. She is actually from my friend, Ryan Day's home stake. Also we were in the same stake in Provo this last semester. 

Last Saturday we got to have dinner with a part member/less active family. They are so sweet! They live in the country. They showed us this old grain mill they have and their chicken coop. On Sunday we had Stake conference broadcasted. Had amazing talks! President Utchdorf talked about how every family should have a Preach My Gospel. They are amazing! I loved the talks so great and uplifting! 

This week has been great! We have found a lot of people!We have been working really hard and reacting a lot. Heavenly Father is definitely blessing us! 

We had zone meeting which always makes us want to work harder.

We have found a lot of great people this week. I am so grateful for this opportunity to train, it makes me have to step up a lot. Sister Malloy is awesome! We have met with a lot of less actives, taught, been able to talk to people. It is amazing knocking on doors and you think- OK this is not going to go anywhere- or they will tell you that, and then the Spirit inspires you what to say and you actually end up teaching them and they  say they felt the Spirit! 

One guy wasn't interested since he said he already had his beliefs, but we just asked about his beliefs and then I said stuff that I normally never say, and he invited us in and turned off the video games and radio. He  told his family that there must be a reason that of all the places we prayed and felt we should be on this random street. He said it must be a reason. So we ended up teaching his family and they just had such a thirst for it. His sister said you could tell felt the Spirit. They accepted to read the Book of Mormon and pray to find out if it is true or not. 

Another girl we tracked into, let us in to teach the first lesson and she prayed with us and agreed to read, pray, and if she found out it was true to be baptised next month. 

Another girl we are teaching told us that her mom said it's her choice and she wants to be baptised!!!! She believes that the Book of Mormon is true, after reading and praying about it.  

A boy we met wanted to go to church, and when we came back said he has been reading the Book of Mormon every day and he feels good. The Lord is blessing us a lot. There is a lot of difficulties working against them and us, but the Lord is blessing us. 

 Trust in the Lord!

Love you always,

Sister McDougle

It's been kinda hard, but it's picking up!

This past week and a half has been kinda hard- but it's picking up! 

We lost like 6 progressing investigators, all for different reasons. So it was kinda really hard. But it's getting a lot better! The sun is shining, literally it's 82!!!! And we have gotten to meet with part-member families we have been trying to meet forever! So that is exciting.

 One member is less active, so we stopped by his house to meet him. He is out in the country and he invited us right in. His wife looks just like Andee Neff and is just as sweet! They invited us over for dinner next week and gave us sausage and pork chops he slaughtered himself. They were so nice and they also had this cute 3 legged dog they are fostering. 

Speaking of dogs...Monday when we went tracking a dog followed us for a good 45 min. He had his tongue hanging out and would brush against me and slobber all over me. He was really sweet though. We named it Sandy (like from Annie), then Poppi- realized it was a girl then Olive Oil, then Squishy ("Finding Nemo" quote)- then thought we should change it because he kept running into the street and calling it squishy was asking for trouble. So we then called it Ohio... We tried tracting, but he would try to go into their houses which made it difficult, luckily his owner finally got him. 

We did service the other day for a member pulling weeds. So I never knew how much of city folk I was until I got here. I had to ask about what to pull... and ended up pulled out one of her plants. Luckily I didn't pull the root, so technically I just trimmed it. 

Transfer calls are today so I will find out sometime today if I am staying here, going, training, or new companion. 

I love you all so much! Hope everyone is doing great in school and work and everything! Love you all!!!!!!

Congrats to Christiana on the engagement!!!!!!!!

Love Always, 

Sister McDougle

Two Missionaries and a pastor walk into a nursing home...

So two missionaries and a pastor walk into a nursing home.... and nothing happens because the person they went to both see was asleep. I just thought it sounded like a punch line for a joke. The pastor was really nice to us though. When we went back to see the lady her family was there and the pastor. She said she has lots of questions for us when we come back. 

One guy we tracted into decided to teach us about the Bible, and kept inching closer and closer that by the end of talking to him we had inched slowly back from his front door, across his patio, to the step, about 5 ft. He taught us for about 20 or so minutes we shook his hands several times to say goodbye, but he kept going. He was really nice though. When I would try to testify about what is important to me is knowing Jesus Christ is my Savior, he would say oh I know that, but do you know what this word in the bible actually means. It was interesting. One of our investigators said how she wants peace that we talk about. Another one said he isn't angry when he reads THE BOOK OF MORMON  and days he doesn't he is. 

 One guy we met told us he didn't have a name, and he asked us if we belive in Jesus and we said we did and he said I'm sorry. It was cool though because by the end of it he was smiling and saying he believed in God, in the begining he said he didn't. He also told us his name. 

We went to sealing on Saturday for a couple in our branch. It was so great to see a couple sealed for time and all eternity. 

We had exchanges this week. They were good. It was great to see my friend from the MTC for a sec. Some members came with us to teach investigators. They were so great! They make such a difference! 

It is so green here! There are so many different shades of green!! And there are purple, white, and pink trees everywhere! 

An investigator came to church!!! 

One member told me about the heat, "Wait till the summer you will die." ha but it is really pretty, There are tullips everywhere.

 I love being here! It is really hard but I love my mission so much! I hope all is going well!
Love you all, Sister Mcdougle

Crazy Week!

This past week has been so crazy! We had a meeting that was changed up on us, then we had a different meeting instead. We watched a cool video there where Elder Holland talks about how missionaries say how it's hard. How they don't understand why people reject Jesus Christ's gospel. Elder Holland talked about how the course to salvation was never ment to be easy, it takes a part of our soul. He said it better, but it was just really good. In the meeting they talked about how to deal with crazy questions, my companion Sister Dycus and I talked later how we don't get too many crazy questions just people talk a lot. The next day and yesterday we got a bunch of interesting questions- "Don't you not drive cars? Did Jesus smoke weed?" and other things... We also had this missionary who extended her mission a few weeks to go around training the Sisters. She was so great! So bold! I love how she just talked to everyone and gave it her all! We were in this little town, it is so cute! We ate at a Ma and Pa's resterant and I got Mexican food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Conference was so great! I loved it so much! We went to the temple today! Hope all is well! 

You made a serious impact!

Hi! 
     
Hope all is well.
     
This week there was a few days of sunshine so that was so great!!!! We had our first district meeting as a new district. It was great. I feel like a baby because everyone has been out forever and I just hit my 2 month mark. My companion hit her 9 month mark! We tracked a lot.

 Easter was so great! I got to see how essential and life changing the Atonement is. One man asked us if God can forgive us if we don't forgive ourselves. It was so amazing to see how essential it is to have faith in Jesus Christ's Atonement. Part of having faith in it is having faith that you truly can be forgiven. Heavenly Father loves us so much that He wants us to forgive ourselves and let the Atonement heal us. It is just so amazing how we have to forgive ourselves to truly apply the Atonement. I also got to see how it can change us so much. It was just so great! We got to eat with great members!

I love our branch! There was a child's baptism on Friday and they talked about how special it is to have the Holy Ghost as a companion. 

We got to watch some of the Young Women's broadcast. I was so grateful it was so amazing. There was a talk by Sister Dalton about Sarah (or Rebbecca, ahh I forget right now the name) from the Bible. How when the servant came to find a virtuous lady and found her that her family asked her to stay a few more days, but she said "I will go." Sister Dalton talked about how she could go because of the virtuous life she lived she didn't need to wait and prepare. I am so grateful for my family and friends, and all my leaders in the Bishopric and in Young Women's. They all made a serious impact on my life and helped me so that when the unexpected call to serve a mission came I could go and didn't have to wait to prepare for it. I am honestly so incredibly grateful for everyone's love and support I have always been so blessed with. I am so grateful they have helped me be able to serve a mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so grateful to be able to serve as a representative to Jesus Christ, every day and invite people to come closer to Jesus Christ every day. It is sooo hard, but I am so grateful for this opportunity. Ahh! Sorry rant there, I am just extremely grateful for everyone that helped me. 

Funny story- When we were tracting the other day these two little boys were on the door step whispering here the girls come. As we walked closer they sprayed silly string over us. 

Love you all!


Love Always, 
Sister McDougle

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! 

My companion and I stayed in Greenfield for this transfer, so I will be here for 5 1/2 more weeks. (530 Jefferson St, Greenfield, Ohio 45123)

Work is going great! We have 5 new investigators in one week! Miracles!!!!! After we taught one lady I felt impressed to bring her a Proclamation to the World, (about families it's amazing, ask a Missionary or mormon.org if you don't know what it is.)  Then I thought it best not to give her the Proclamation because her family life is hard, but we felt prompted by the Spirit so we did it. When she read it, it meant so much to her and she said it was so beautiful. We are meeting with her next week. So I'll be able to teach someone a 3rd lesson!!! It's so amazing how it's all in the Lord's hands. 

We had an appointment but he wasn't there, so we went to our backup trackting and found a man. We taught him, but when we went back for our 3rd lesson he wasn't there, so we went to our backup trackting and that is how we found her! 

Another man we met said he would come to church. (We make breakfast every Sunday for people who say they will come, but so far no one has.)  So I fasted that he come or someone will come. He didn't show, BUT a less active did! Amazing how the Lord hears our prayers and blesses us, not always they way we think He would, but how He needs to. Ah I love this work! Defiantly seeing blessings after the trial of faith. There's a cool video called Finding Faith in Christ, you can order for free if you want to learn more about Christ. It's awesome and can probably find information through mormon.org. 

Thank you everyone for the letters and e-mails. I love going to my mailbox and getting mail! They are so supportive! Love you all!!!

Ah I love it!

Hi!!!
Elder Porter came and talked to us. It was so amazing!!! He taught about the first principles of the gospel: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. It was so great! The Spirit was so strong! I love how simple the gospel truly is!
Went on companionship exchanges. I traded with another companion for 24 hrs. It was great to see how a ward works and everything. I also got to see one of my best friends from the MTC. So it was great!
Miracle: An appointment fell through so we went to our back up plans. And we tracked into this lady who was so prepared.The Spirit was so strong and everything we felt we should say was exactly what she needed to hear. She was crying as we talked to her. She could not wait to read the Book of Mormon! The Spirit was so strong!
I am now allowed to e-mail family and friends also!!!
I am so grateful for this opportunity to testify of Jesus Christ everyday! Ah I love it! Nothing can make us more happy and bring more joy into our lives than the gospel
 of Jesus Christ! Ah I love it! I love how much we can grow once we do His will. I love this gospel. I love this church! I love this opportunity to serve a mission! I love it!

 I miss you all and love you all so much!!!!!!
Love Always, 
Sister McDougle

I Don't Like Dogs :)

Hi everyone!! I hope all is going great! Yesterday was sunny!!!! So I was happy! We also had a snow storm and ice storm this week also. They always say "If you don't like the weather here wait ten minutes it will change." It is so crazy true! Honestly they have more variation in temperature change in a day than Irvine does through the whole year. After a huge snow storm we were driving to another town and it was so gorgeous! All the fields covered in fresh snow were so pretty!

I have learned that I don't like dogs. I like dogs just not other peoples dogs. Every since I have realized this I have never seen so many dogs outside not on leashes.  

We got stuck in the mud the other day, like really stuck. I had to get out and push. After prayers and lifting the side up we got out. This week has been busy and crazy. Heavenly Father is definitely blessing us. 


We met with a less active member who has Down Syndrome. She has so much faith and loves Jesus Christ so much. She is so amazing!

New lingo: 
warsh = wash, boot= trunk, mamu= grandma

Akita WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!!!!!! I am so excited for you and Ky! He sent me pictures and you look gorgeous as always! I love you both! 
Kyle congratulations! Thank you so much for the pictures! I loved them!

Thais- Thank you so much for the clothes!!!! They are exactly what I need, Thank you!

Thank you so much for all the e-mails! I do read them and I do love them but unfortunately I can't e-mail back. But I will write  soon! They mean so much to me thank you! Thank you also Sydney, Ash, and Mo for the letters! Love you girls! They helped me so much! I promise I will write people back! I only have a few hours on Monday to do it and today we have "Fun Day" or as my companion was joking Mandatory fun :). We are meeting with a bunch of zones to do all these games and stuff!  I am excited but it is a far ways away from us so we don't have time to write sorry. I will though. I love you all and am so grateful for all of you!

Sorry for the short letter we need to hurry so we can go to fun day! Thanks for the prayers and all the support! Love you all so much! I am so grateful for you all! 

Love, Sister McDoulge

Blessed

Dear Family and Friends,

 

Congratulations to Kyle and Akita on the engagement!

 

This week we have definitely been blessed. It was kind of a hard week. I got sick and had to stay in one day, unfortunately. The rest of the week we did a lot of tracting in other towns. Lots of tracting. I started to get bolder so it's been good. I got to testify about Joseph Smith's first vision to a young man on the doorstep, I have done it before, but that time I looked him into the eye and could just feel the Spirit so strong. It was great! He is going to read the Book of Mormon and ask Heavenly Father if it is true. Unfortunately one investigator stood us up. And another lady was sick, but that was a blessing because that was right when I was getting sick also, so I am glad we will teach her when we are more with it.

Our branch is so sweet! We had to cancel dinner because I was sick and within like an hour someone else was calling to see if I was OK. One member gave us tissues, soup, cough drops, and other things to help me get better. They are so nice. So we made plans to teach her on Saturday since she was sick. I have been looking forward to it because she seemed genuinely interested. When we got there, no one was home. So after leaving a note we went to our back up plans. I was kind of down because of some discouraging things that seemed to be adding up that day. My companion just reminded me that we needed to have faith and obviously the Lord wants us somewhere else right now. So we went to our back up plans. We went to the street that we were going to tract on Monday but halfway through we had to leave because I was feeling nauseous. So we went back there and the first door we knocked on the lady let us in before we said much. She was really sweet and we talked a bit about God is our loving Heavenly Father and other things, and we got to talking about how they are moving when we offered to help her husband started listening and they started to care more. When we talked about how there is a living prophet she was sincerely listening. She invited herself to church before we could ask. It was so great! Her husband was tired so we made plans to come back the next morning to bring breakfast and we were going to find a ride for them and made plans to meet next Sat to talk!!! Pure Miracle!!!!! We could not find a ride for them for the longest time and then our prayers were answered and someone could!!!! Unfortunately the next morning when we showed up they were sick, but they still want to meet with us on sat and seem interested!!!!

There was a baptism in our branch on Sat. The Spirit was so strong there! We watched the Restoration video and then had the opportunity to testify after that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ truly did appear to Joseph Smith, that Jesus Christ did restore His church on the Earth today and invited all those who have not to follow Jesus Christ's example and be baptised.

One member we have been meeting with has completely changed his life around it is so amazing! Ah it's so cool that Heavenly Father lets us witness the change of heart.

One lady was actually there for our appointment!!!!!! She is so sweet! We asked her how it felt after we gave Joseph Smith;s account of the first vision and she said it felt like the first time she prayed. Ah the Spirit was so strong!!!!!

A member who hasn't been active in the church in like 30 years came. He told us he knew this was the true church. We got to talk to him and he wouldn't make any promise to come back to church, that it would probably be 3 or 4 months till he came back. The Spirit led us to be so bold, I don't know if I have ever been so bold in my whole entire life. My companion also was bold. By the end he committed to come back next Sunday and meet with us again after church!!!!!

Tracked yesterday in the country for about 6 miles. A horse drawn buggy went by us.

This week we have been so blessed to see that this is the Lord's work. If it was up to me I would have all these lessons we get to teach, people coming to church, and baptisms. But it's not mine, it's the Lord. He blessed us with seeing that even if our numbers aren't showing anything that we are making a difference. I have learned so much more how it is not about numbers but doing the Lord's will. I am so grateful for all the blessings Heavenly Father has blessed us with. This week we have appointments to meet with a lot of the less active members so I'm excited!

I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all so much! Thank you so much for all the love and support!!!

Love, 
Sister Kellie McDougle 

 

P.s.  Natalie I need your address, Jordan thank you for the e-mail I didn't get the first one, Kara- CONGRATULATIONS on your mission call to FIJI!!! You are going to rock it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Grandpa and Thais for the Birthday package! Also Grandma Judy and Grandpa Jim for the birthday wishes!