as hot and sweaty and hating-humidity-because-it's-of-the-devil as I
am in Jersey right now ;)
This week was a week of miracle after miracle after MIRACLE! And I'm
exhausted haha- but it's so worth it! Ok, so this will probably be a
super long email, because SO much has happened this week! Sorry!
Monday was the 4th of July!!!!! It was fun. There wasn't any fireworks
near us because of rain, so we didn't see any fireworks. And we didn't
have any members invite us over, so we mooched off the elders BBQ with
some members of our ward haha. It was fun to just sit and talk, and we
watched the NYC fireworks on TV and stayed out til 11pm. Man, I was
feeling soooooooo weird that night though. I kept thinking "we should
be doing something, there should be some ppl we try to talk to. Yikes
it's 9, that's curfew! Oh gosh, it's 10:30 the Holy Ghost just went to
bed!" Etc etc. LOL! All 4 of us missionaries were just so on edge that
night 😂
And then this week I had the privilege of being on exchange
practically ALL week. I went for 3 days with S.Shaffer and 24hrs with
S.Hale. S.Baine and I were only together on Mon,1/2 of Thurs, and Sun
this week! But it truly was amazing and I love my sisters SO much!!!
I'm so grateful I get to be an STL because my love for missionaries
and the sisters out here, and my mad respect for each of them too, has
grown exponentially! They are such dedicated workers and they strive
so hard to follow the Spirit and bring souls unto Christ. Each
exchange it's more like I'm learning a ton from them, rather then them
learning from me. Honestly, these 2 sisters are going to be leaders at
some point, because they are WAY more qualified than I haha. They're
stellar!
Anyways, so on Tuesday S.Shaffer and I started our exchange and we
went to Laura's (a recent convert) house for our weekly meeting.
Awesome news: she's been out of the hospital for a whole 2 WEEKS
now!!!! That's the longest period of time she's been out since 2 years
ago! Unfortunate news: I don't know how long that will last because
while we were there her stomach acted up. I won't get into all the
gory details and gross visuals, but it was bad to say the least. Her
insides are paralyzed, and have been for 15 years. Laura's gone
through so much. But getting to the miracle part of all this- she was
basically groaning very very loudly in pain, and it was really scary.
But S.Shaffer and I were able to get her medicine for her and all that
so she could take some, and then I knelt and offered a prayer. Wow.
That was the strongest I've felt the Spirit in a while. I prayed that
Laura would be watched over and protected, and that the pain she was
experiencing now would pass soon. When I closed, S.Shaffer and I were
both crying, and Laura was no longer groaning in pain. I felt God's
love for Laura so powerfully. It was a testimony to me that He knows
each of us exactly where we are and what we're going through, and that
we only need to ask and He'll help us.
Wednesday we knocked for hooooooooouuuuuuurs in the 95 degrees 90%
humidity heat. We were both super heat exhausted and sweat was
literally pouring from every part of us (sorry gross visual). But we
were able to talk to so many people, and S.Shaffer really taught me
the meaning of hard work, just through her example. She truly is an
amazing missionary. I could see her being the 1st sister assistant to
President haha.
On Friday I got to be with the wonderful S.Hale. She is a rockstar
missionary as well, and I can see her being S.Shaffer's companion as
they become assistants haha! We knocked for 5 hours straight on
Friday, 1st in the gross heat and humidity again, and then it turned
into a torrential downpour for the last 2 hours- it was an adventure!
We were running from apartment to apartment getting SOAKED. But it was
sooooo worth it. We met 3 FATHER LED FAMILIES! And all 3 of them are
the most solid return appointments and new investigators that we got
out of the 10 people we taught and got information for. One just moved
here from Nigeria, another is from the Dominican Republic, and the
last is from Haiti. And all their kids were SO cute, and we get to
meet their wives this week when we go back to teach them!!! Ah. My
feet hurt so bad, and I was uncomfortably sticky with sweat and
rainwater, but I could not have been more happy. Missionary work
brings such joy into my life!
AND THEN: we had a temple fireside with the one and only Vai Sikahema
on Saturday about the PHILIDELPHIA TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE! Guys, I get to
go to Philly on the 24th!!!!! The Spirit was so strong in the meeting
and I literally cannot wait to be a part of this once in a lifetime
opportunity! I love the temple so much. I'm so grateful I got to be
here at this time in this stake, the only one in the mission, that is
a part of the temple district. I get to go to Philly!!!!
Ok ok. Last miracle, I promise! Then you can go on to better things
than me rambling about my week- we met a super prepared and amazing
woman last night named Jackie. We were walking around a complex
talking to people and knocking. Honestly, neither of us were feeling
super thrilled, and it was 20 minutes before we were going to head
home and eat dinner and end for the night. When S.Baine sat on the
ground and said she would wait there for a miracle....guys. That
miracle came! A lil white dog ran up to us out of nowhere with 2 lil
kids chasing it, and they led us back to their mom on her porch.
Originally she said she's not interested and she doesn't speak much
English so we should go away. But S.Baine pushed to show her "Because
of Him", and it turns out Jackie is a sucker for movies haha. She
watched, and it devolved into an hour long conversation about her
life, her struggles, her questions, her searching soul, her hopes for
her kids, her desires for herself, and very personal information about
herself and her upbringing. I felt so much love for Jackie in that
moment. I KNEW she was my sister, and I KNEW we were supposed to talk
to her last night. And in this contact, it was clearer than ever
before to me, that the Gospel really does resolve every concern,
answer every question, make every unfair thing fair. Ah! It was
wonderful and beautiful, and she opened up to us right away because of
the Spirit. And the Spirit was able to testify to her, and to answer
some of her questions, and He led us to her last night. And we had no
idea. But God did <3
HOW COULD I ALMOST FORGET!?!?!? OH MY GOODNESS, GUESS
WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE MY 1ST EVER PERSON ON BAPTISMAL DATE AND
SHES FOR SURE GETTING BAPTIZED ON THE 24th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FINALLY
GET TO SEE SOMEONE ENTER INTO A COVENANT WITH HEAVENLY FATHER AND BE
BLESSED FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES WITH THE COMPANIONSHIP OF THE HOLY
GHOST AS LONG AS THEY REMAIN WORTHY AND IM JUST SO UNBELIEVABLY
EXCITED FOR LYDIA I CANT EVEN CONTAIN MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh wow.
Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow WOW! Isn't this so cool??? I finally get
to be a part of someone entering the Lord's kingdom! All the past
13months of work has paid off because my joy is so great bringing one
soul unto Christ :D
Love you all!
Stay Jersey Strong.
Love, Sister McAllister
Hindu Temple
President and Sister Sikahema and group
exchanges
another exchange
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