Nov 10 Letter

Hello everybody!

I don't have much time to write.  Our day got all weird.  I think we will be emailing later??? I hope so at least.  We have lots to catch up on!  Like..... a baptism! Wayne Roberts! It was SO GOOD!   Sister Ray and I sang a special number for it.  We've also been packing and cleaning like crazy because....... two more sisters are moving in TOMORROW!  They will spend a week with us before we go home, then they will take over our area! It's crazy and stressful and beautifully busy.  I'm really excited to finish strong! We have another baptism planned for Friday too! 

List of interesting things done this week:

Deer ribs

Packed all of my stuff

Skinned a raccoon.  We're going to feed it to the new sisters!  I cut off one of the feet!

Baptism and confirmation of Wayne Roberts.  *Magical*

We are preparing a musical number for Sunday as well.  Sister Ray has convinced me to learn to play piano and sing at the same time.  So we'll see how it goes!  It could be flop, but I think it will be fine.

We found an abandoned piano in the street and played duets on it for a little while!
Built a blanket fort at a member's house.

I'm Still Alive - Oct 20th Letter

Helloooooo Everybody!

I sure hope these emails are getting forwarded out??? (Dad)

We're doing well.  I've been coping with my hair cut.  It's okay, I guess.  I have to style my hair every day though.  :(

We had our fireside this last week.  It was good! 

Here is a picture of the 4 of us who put it on.  So good! (You can't really see it in this picture, but my bangs are crooked.)

Anyway, I don't have much to say.  Just doing the same old, same old while I can!

I would love to hear from someone.... anyway.  I'm not picky! Even an email would be nice.

K. Well, Love you!

Sister McElderry

Nov 3 Letter

Hello everybody!

I just wanted to send some quick words about the goings-on in my life! 

I had my final interview with my mission president yesterday.  He informed me that I have served an honorable mission and am prepared to meet the challenges of the rest of my life. He also talked about me getting married someday, which brought on a wave of embarrassment and blushing and such.  TOO SOON PRESIDENT!  He also informed Sister Ray and I that we will be getting two new sisters in our area..... NEXT WEEK! They will join us for our last week while we teach them the area and introduce them to everyone.  It's going to be crazy as we pack our stuff, move them in, unpack their stuff, say goodbye to people, introduce them to people, prepare for 2 baptisms, and hand over the area to them after one week. I'm going to be a stressed out mess when I get home.  But it will be worth it!

Hopefully I will get my flight plans in the next couple of days and then I can let you all know my itinerary.

Love you all!

Sister McElderry

Oct 27th Letter

Hey Everybody!

The mission continues on! My companion and I have become bogged down with all the people asking us to come and eat with them and we have 3 baptisms coming up before we go home.  Needless to say, we are a little "flustrated," as they say down here, by everything we need to get done.  We turned our marker board into a big calendar with the last 4 weeks of our mission on it.  We put literally every single appointment and thing we need to do on it.  We felt a lot better afterward.  :)

Charles Lane got a calling this week! He's now the youth sunday school teacher.  It will be interesting....

Wayne Roberts and his son Tyson are working toward their November 7th baptism date.  They are doing really well!

Laura Parnell is getting baptized on November 14th with her son who is turning 8 that week.  She's really excited!

We have lots to do and very little time to do it! Everyone has decided they want to feed us a ton of food and pre-thanksgiving meals.  Expect me to look very rotund when I get home!  

Just so everyone knows, I get home November 19th.  Not sure what time my flight is though.  I saw a discrepancy in an email about the date I get home.  

Anyway, I appreciate the emails I got! They made me feel loved!

See you soon!

Sister McElderry

1 Week, 2 Emotionally Reckless Sisters, 4 Bad Haircuts - Oct 13th Letter

Dear Family,

You will all be seeing me in just over 5 weeks.  I hope you will recognize me despite the TWO bad hair cuts my companion and I got this past week. I think I have learned my lesson that "free" doesn't always mean "good."   The only way I know how to describe it is to say "business in front, party in back."  Sister Ray and I are doing well for the most part.  Sometimes we both get emotionally compromised by the idea of going home together, and make bad choices, like our haircuts.  We don't have that newer companion who balances all the emotions out.  

Anyway, I don't have time to email much today. We're emailing again on Wednesday.  Elder Zwick is visiting our mission tomorrow.  And I'm performing two musical numbers in front of over half the mission (with the bad haircut of course!)  And we have a big musical fireside Friday night in front of all of the members and our investigators.  

Pray for me.  More importantly, pray for my hair to grow!!!

Love,

Sister McElderry

Still alive... and a Baptism!

Dear Family,

I am writing for the first time in a while to let you know that I am still alive.  Bug bitten, but alive.  

Sister Ray and I have been working hard to get this area going! We are getting a branch activity going for this weekend and a musical fireside for October.  It's going to be SO GOOD!  I love having a musical companion! We use our talents to spread the gospel!

Speaking of spreading the gospel, we had a baptism on Saturday! Charles Lane! He was so excited! (We were too!)  He's most excited to go to the temple and do his home teaching work! He reads everything he can get his hands on! 

What else..... welp, nothing else! We're teaching some other people.  We'll have some more solid information on them next week!

Love everyone!  Talk to you later!

Sister McElderry

Sister M keeping a clean apartment and getting awards...

The mission must be good for her! :P She won a polished apartment award recently, featured on the Mississippi Jackson Mission Blog.