survival. Had to fight off a pack of wild turkeys for food. Went
scrounging thru the sewers for something to eat. There was destruction
and death everywhere. Hardly anyone survived. But I did it! We managed
thru sheer grit and willpower. On this day, we decided the storm would
not own us- but we would own the storm. *dramatic trudge thru 2ft of
snow into the distance*
Hahaha
HELLO EVERYONE! Holy moly it feels like a year since I last talked
(well emailed) with y'all. This week was soooooo long! But amazing ❤️
I am SO BEYOND GLAD to hear that the Broncos won!!! Here we go Super
Bowl 50!!!!! Gah, that's so exciting!
Ok, I know y'all want to hear about my CRAZY AWESOME INSANE ADVENTURES
WITH THE HUGE NOR'EASTER, but I'm going to go in chronological order
as I do most emails ;)
Monday was a pday spent playing intense basketball with the elders,
and obliging my dying companion as she spent 2ish hours getting her
hair dyed. My backside was a little sore for sitting for so long, but
it was ok. Patience is my middle name. Then we went and saw the
awesomesauce Sister Woods. She made really good spaghetti for us and
we had some good conversation over my first ever glass of herbal tea.
It was actually really good. I was pleasantly surprised lol. It's
chamomile with vanilla and honey and the secret ingredient is vanilla
creamer that normal ppl put in coffee. But us cool ppl put in our A-OK
herbal tea.
Tuesday we once again went out with Attorious whom I love dearly with
all my heart. She's such a special flower, but she's like the most
down to earth chill person ever. "So great my man, so great!"
Wednesday we had the amazing Worldwide Missionary Broadcast!!! It's
the first worldwide broadcast they've done in 10+ years! I'll just
kinda briefly go through my favorite things from each speaker. Elder
Andersen started by explaining that we as missionaries should always
have "His name on our lips". Whenever we are unsure of what to say or
do, that's when we speak of the Savior and testify of Him and His
Atonement. As missionaries "we teach repentance and baptize converts."
And we help them know that the Doctrine of Christ can only be received
through revelation. They have to ask- in order to know- in order to
begin changing. Then Elder Bednar lead a discussion with missionaries
from the Ogden Mission (which if I was a part of I would be sitting in
a back corner not making eye contact to answer any of his questions
lol) but he taught about how we as missionaries can bring the doctrine
"unto" the hearts of our investigators, but only the Holy Ghost can
bring it "into" their hearts. And that without the Holy Ghost we
missionaries are "utterly incapable of doing what we have been called
to do." Brother (Elder?) Waddell said that when we invite others to
keep commitments, we are inviting them to "become agents rather than
an object." Elder Clayton reminded us that member involvement leads to
the most baptisms. We have to be confident when asking for referrals
from them, and we have to be persistent and smart in the questions we
ask. And finally, Elder Oaks took us by the shoulders and shook our
naive missionary bodies when he told us to "have the Doctrine of
Christ engraved in your hearts" and that we are called to "introduce
righteousness and heaven's laws to the world". Man is that a big
calling. It's so humbling to know that the Lord truly does call the
"weak and simple" to do His work. How in the world can I introduce
people to the laws of heaven and have them accept it when their whole
life they've been taught something different?? But the Lord can. And I
can only be His instrument, to be used as needed.
On Thursday s. Kafu had her dying temple trip, so I went on exchange
up in Maplewood for the day. It was so nice to be up in the North
again! I miss it haha
Friday was awesome! I got to take pictures with Barbi (short,
ironically, for Barbecue) and we got to meet with Sister Woods again!
And then that night we got to meet with a new investigator Chris! We
talked with him and his brother on their porch in the cold the whole
time, but we could have stayed there all night with the 2 of them. We
went through the whole Restoration and they had question after
question after question and it was great! He said that the last time
the sisters came around they talked to him about prayer in passing,
and he thought why not so he started praying, and because of that the
Lord helped him stop some WoW stuff!! And when we asked him this time
that when he knows it's true will he be baptized he said...and I
quote..."of course!!" Of course??! Of course??!! That never
happens! Ever! And then we invited him to read the Book of Mormon and
the Restoration pamphlet and all that and he said "man, you guys are
making me want to go inside and talk to God right now." !!!!!! Gah.
It's so beautiful and I just want to jump around every time I think
about it. We're meeting with him again on Tuesday!
And now. To the moment you all have been waiting for. LET IT SNOW LET
IT SNOW LET IT SNOW!!!
We have indeed been snowed in for the past 2 days- I'm kinda going
stir crazy! It snowed for like literally 36 hrs starting on Friday
night. And lemme tell you, the Jerseyites went CRAZY. The shelves at
the grocery store were not only bare of the normal things like bread
and milk, but of paper towels and toilet paper...like how much do
y'all think you're going to go through in the weekend were snowed
in??? They all went mad and the grocery stores started closing on
Thurs and Fri because of it lol. They're just super hypersensitive to
the word *whispers* storm out here. Ever since Sandy they kinda over
do it for most things, which I guess isn't bad considering Sandy took
everyone by surprise.
So yeah, we've been pretty cooped up. And you know how fast my sanity
gets thrown out the window when I'm bored! Lol! I feel so bad for S.
Kafu. But we went and walked to McDonalds on Saturday night- in the 2
ft of snow while the wind is still blowing and it's still snowing-
only to find it closed! So we went to the Chinese place across the
street and talked to the cashier lady a bit. She was super nice. Then
we ran around like little children and jumped in the snow because we
could. And I got a lot of my energy out- It was great! We also got a
call that night that all church meetings were cancelled the next day.
Soooooo, Sunday was a repeat of the previous day, except we couldn't
go out anywhere to eat haha. But we have awesome Zone Leaders who
live in our same complex and they have members who invited them over
for breakfast and a lesson since church was cancelled. So we went. And
ate glorious waffles and eggs and bacon. Only problem was- they spoke
Spanish. The whole time. And s. Kafu and I were the only ones who
couldn't in that big group. So that was fun! Lol
The snow has made me feel at home here. It was so bizarre to me that
it wasn't snowing and it was Oct, then Nov, then Dec where is was 60
on Christmas, then most of January...and now there's snow!!! I was so
excited when I heard about the blizzard. It was a perfect way to spend
my 7 month mark :)
We've spent the past 2 days digging out cars, pushing out stuck cars,
wading thru snow, etc etc. so to say I'm a little sore is an
understatement haha! But it's been so great. Just another way to
serve! I love Jersey. I get all mushy inside when I think about it
hahaha
And now, today. I am currently in Elizabeth after fighting thru
traffic and snow and Jersey drivers, I am here for pday while s. Kafu
goes on her dying trip to Ellis and the Statue. Sooooo this'll be a
fun day haha :)
Hope y'all are staying warm and safe over there in the west!
Love you all!
Stay Jersey Strong.
Love, Sister McAllister
walking to McDonald's in the snowstorm to find it closed!
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