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