I've been assigned to Greenfield Area

Hi! How are you? I have been assigned to the Greenfield area. It covers about 9 small towns and farm land in between. The total area I cover takes about 2 hours driving to get to one area to the next. And everyone in that area belongs to one branch. They recently just got a branch building in November, before they were meeting in a doublewide pink tailor. The branch is amazing. They are all so welcoming. Besides a handful of families, most of the members are recent converts within the last 6 years. They are so great! We have someone signed up to have us over for dinner almost every night, besides Monday because we have to leave that free to go trackting.

My trainer is amazing! Sister Dysic is so great! She is from Arizona so it's nice to have someone who likes the heat on also. She is so positive and an amazing missionary. So many doors that I thought they were just going to slam the door, they keep listening to her. She is able to be so honest and bold but nice, she's awesome! She is honestly such a great trainer for me. She encourages me and is able to tell me what I can work on in such a positive way. She also pushes me, which is great. The first day she had us trackting and she had me get the second door we knocked on. Trackting is hard, but she is so positive about it. Like she said, either you get someone who you get to teach or you get a good story out of it. Last night someone opened the door called us Jehovah witness then slammed the door in our face before we can say anything. And the other day a dog was following us around.

I've seen some Amish people. A few nights ago when we were driving home from a dinner appointment we pulled over to let a horse drawn buggy through. I've seen sheep, cows, and horses on the side of the highway on our way to the different towns. The towns or cities are very different from each other. I am so grateful for my trainer and this area. It is completely different than what I have ever experienced. This is kind of the tip of the bible belt. A lot of people here already go to church. 

Definitely have already seen little mercies of the Lord. One day we were trackting and talking to this lady on her porch. Then out of no where this like blizzard of hard pelt like snow was coming in sideways, almost directly at us. They lady let us in and she started to open up more and we got to set up an appointment to see her again. So that was like a miracle.

Most people here are very open. A lot of people will tell you their life's stories before you even tell them who you are or why your there. It's great just so different than California. One lady we saw walking we asked how she was doing and she said not good. When we asked why she told us all this stuff she's going through and by the end we prayed with her on the sidewalk. It was great.

I am so blessed to be able to serve. There is a lot of room for potential in our area, so it's exciting. Definitely going to see some miracles. We are excited to work hard. We think it will be great. One thing we are working hard at is being exactly obedient. Our mission President has told us, "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles."

My mission president and his wife are so amazing. I'm in such a great area to train in. I have an amazing trainer.

I know this gospel is true. That we have a Heavenly Father that loves us and loves us so much that after the proper authority was taken away from the Earth when Jesus Christ was killed and the apostles, that He loves us so much He restored that authority again through Joseph Smith. I am so grateful we have a prophet today. I know that Jesus Christ died for me. 

I love you all!!!!

Love Always, Sister Kellie McDougle

Last letter from the MTC!

Hi family and friends!! How are you? Thank you so much for the letters! I loved the package! Thank you!!! And I literally started screaming/squealing when I saw the nut bars! Thank you mom! Thank you for the pictures of the Johnson cousins and of Katie! They are so cute! And Katie is gorgeous.  I showed my district them! I loved the pictures thank you so much! Please send more! 

So like I said, I leave next Wed! I can not believe have been here for two weeks. It has felt like I have been here forever, but at the same time last wed seems like yesterday. I love it here! 

I got to help welcome 2 new districts in our zone! They are so awesome! Going to Canada (some are from Canada and have amazing accents)  and Washington. Tonight we are getting another district going to Tuscan. They are all so nice and amazing! Also some are really good volleyball players, which makes gym time more fun!

Right now i'm waiting for my laundry listening to my district sing "Nearer My God To Thee" (Look up this hymn it is amazing!!!!!!) Everyday is so amazing and such a learning experience. 

Amazing experience the other day at TRC! TRC is when we teach volunteers or staff, some are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some are not. We went in, and knew nothing about him. He was visiting his friend at BYU this week, because he has never seen snow. He was visiting from Malibu, but he is originally from Israel. He grew up in this atheist village in Israel, yet he always believed there was a God. We got to talk to him about how he is a son of a loving Heavenly Father, prayer, Jesus Christ, and how Jesus Christ died for us, and also about the Book of Mormon! (I f you haven't yet read the Book of Mormon and pray about it!  It will change your life!) Ahhhh I love the Book of Mormon! So amazing. Every time I pray for help or with a question and then go read from the Book of Mormon, I find an answer and feel so much love and comfort. (Mormon.org is awesome if you have any questions or want to have missionaries talk to you). Sorry back to the story. But it was an amazing and spiritual. He had so much faith to believe in God, even though everyone in his village, including his parents, told him otherwise. He prayed in the end, and I thought his english was good but he didn't, so he prayed in Hebrew. It was so incredibly beautiful and the Spirit was strong even though I didn't understand what he was saying, you could just feel the Savior and Heavenly Father's love for him!

They added another bunk bed to our room! It is crazy, over 800 missionaries enter today. I love it here! The Spirit is so strong. Hymns and prayers and studying the gospel of Jesus Christ!!! Ah I love it! I have taken some pictures and will try to take more and send it from Ohio.

In other teaching it has been amazing how much Heavenly Father answers prayers! We felt prompted to teach about this one thing, and that is exactly what they needed! Cool story. One of the Sisters in my room (C) was having a hard time. She also didn't feel good so she left class early. The girls next to our room also where in their room because one of them had a really bad migraine or headache. One of the girls (let's call her H) came over to our room and talked to them. C was telling H about the problems she was having, and then H told her she had to tell her something. H's dad had a dream before she came to the MTC and wrote it down for her and gave it to her before she got into the MTC. H didn't;t read it until later when she was having a hard night. In it it said that her dad's dream he dreamed about a Sister C (It was this sisters real name) and that sister H would need to help her. It was so crazy!!! I probably explained it a lot more confusing than it is but, it is just so amazing how much Heavenly Father knows us. 

Thank you all for the support. I feel so blessed to have it. Thank you everyone for your letters! They have meant so much to me! Shout out to my roomies for the cupcakes- Thank you so much and I love you girls!!!!! 

Sorry this is so rambled and didn't just trying to get a bunch out before my time is over. I love you all!!!

The next e-mail I write will be from Ohio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love love love you all!!!!

Love Always, Sister McDougle

Kellie's First Week!

HI!!!! How are you??? I love you all so much! Thank you so much for all the letters and packages! They honestly mean so much to me! I LOVE it here! I have never smiled so much in my life! Ah I just love the doctrine of Christ!!!! I have learned so much! It is so crazy! I realize every day how much more I need to learn! I am so grateful to be here and experience it! Sister Allen is the most amazing companion! She has helped me sooo much! She is always so positive and in tune with the Spirit. Seriously in teaching lessons she is just in tune with the Spirit. Our first lesson we taught was to our teacher, who pretends to be an investigator. We did not do so hot. But it was a great LEARNING EXPERIENCE, WE LEARNED SOOO MUCH! sorry just realized my caps lock was on but I wanna just keep going. We had our first TRC. A volunteer came with a friend from his singles ward. He has been inactive for like 20 years or something like that. We had no idea about him before so we had to rely on the Spirit so much! It was such an amazing experience! The Lord blessed us so much. We were so blessed and the Spirit just guided the lesson. The spirit touched him and he was just so amazing. One thing that I love is that the Spirit blesses you so much with love for these people, even though you don't know them. Ah the Spirit is so amazing!!! I love this gospel! I am so grateful for this experience to constantly be learning about the doctrine of Christ. I am so blessed! The blessings just keep rolling. I have been super blessed to be able to serve the Sisters in my branch as the coordinating Sister. I love it! All these Sisters are so amazing and so in tune with the Spirit and have so much love for others and the Lord and Jesus Christ and his doctrine. I got to go to like 7 meetings on Sunday! I t was crazy but great! I also get to help give tours and teach orientation stuff to the 2 new districts we are getting today! On Sunday for relief Society we had the general relief society president come and talk to us about Relief Society! Relief Society is so amazing!!! If you don't know what it is- ask a missionary ormormon.org.  Yesterday for the devotional L Whitney Clayton of the presidency of the seventy and his wife spoke! So amazing! "Embrace challenges as opportunities! Ah I love it here! My district is just purely amazing! I love them all sooooo much! Seriously they have such amazing testimonies and each companionship is so inspired. They are all going to Ohio Columbus mission also! We have another district in our branch going to our mission also!! Ahh it is so amazing! I seriously love it here! Thank you so much for every letter and package it means so much! I love you all so much!

          Love Always, Kellie McDougle