Merry Christmas!

Dearest familia y amigos

Our week was nuts.  I was sick for two days. I slept for most of the first day and was sick all night and sick the next day.  I lost a bunch of weight though, so I can't complain about gaining weight for Jesus anymore! I lost weight for Jesus!

Then the Sister Training Leaders came and stayed with us.  Then they got sick and slept at our apartment while we were working.  They came to go on splits with us and evaluate how we're doing... so they didnt' really get to do that.  

Then I found out that I am finally getting transferred!  I am going to Clinton, Mississippi.  I'll only be 4 hours from home! I looked it up.  Isn't that weird? Don't come visit me.  

We've spent the last two days visiting members and my investigators.  One investigator named Amy Gandy (I've mentioned her before) came to church on Sunday to say good bye to me.  I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting and she cried and then after church we bawled our eyes out saying goodbye to each other.  I love that woman.  I really hope she gets baptized someday.  

I accompanied people on the piano 8 times in the last two weeks.  Multiple performances were without ever practicing with them.  It was stressful.  We had our stake christmas music program last night and I played for both the ward choir and the branch choir.  I was so proud of the servicemen who sang in the choir.  They all wore their service uniforms.  They looks so sharp and nice in their Air Force blues.  I got a picture with them because I kept telling them that they looked so cute in their "little outfits."  I'm going to miss working on the base. 

We taught one last airman yesterday after church the basic restoration lesson.  He started going off about end of the world things and England being a lion bird with its wings cut off.  I chuckled afterward because my companions are going to have a fun time teaching this one.  

Well, I'll get to talk with you guys in.... a week and a half? That sounds about right.  Let me know details that I need to be aware of.  Other than that, Merry Christmas! I love you guys! 

Love,

Sister McElderry

P.S. We went carolling a bunch this week and it was AWESOME! The Christmas season is the best time to share the gospel!  So many people were uplifted by our carols.  I even sang the alto part a cappella! 

Transfer!

Hey! Just a quick note:

Everyone- I'm getting transferred on Tuesday up to Clinton, MS. Mom- I need a coat.  I think I put my coats in the back of the coat closet.  Will you send me my tan colored pea coat? And send it to this address:

175 Burnham Rd

Brandon, MS 39042

Actually, just send everything to that address from now on.  I'll be right next to the mission office.

Love,

Sister McElderry

Productive Week + Preparing for Christmas

Hey there!

We had a fun and productive week!

Starting on Tuesday, one of my favorite members in the ward had a shrimp boil for us.  Her name is Sister Curtis.  She's the lady who threw up with her companion on her mission because they ate too much.  She also let me borrow a bunch of winter clothes because I was very unprepared for the winter weather down here.  She also takes us out to eat and to fun places on our P-day.  She also goes on splits with us so we can get more work done.  She also got us stockings with fun goodies and giftcards in them.  She also will feed us any time we don't have a meal appointment.  Needless to say, I am very indebted to her.  Ideas on how to repay her are welcome! (I wrote this part 8 hours ago.  I would like to add that I got super sick today and Sister Curtis let me sleep on her couch and took care of me so my companions could continue with their p-day)

I participated in musical numbers at both big missionary meetings we attended this last week.  I also participated in one at church yesterday, and will be accompanying the choirs for both the ward and the branch at the stake Christmas fireside and I'll be accompanying two soloists and a quartet for our branch christmas program.  I didn't realize I came on my mission to play the piano for everyone!

Highlights from the week:

We participated in a Christmas 5k on the base with one of our investigators and a less active airmen on the base.  It was pretty fun, but super hot and humid.

We attended a conference with Elder Zwick (don't remember his first name) which lasted all daySaturday.  And by "all day" I mean we were in our seats by 12:30 and didn't leave them until 8:30.  It was NUTS! But there was a lot of good information shared that will help us all become better missionaries. 

We had 4 investigators at church this Sunday and they all had a nice time! It was wonderful!  Although some of our other investigators aren't doing so well.  Keep them in your prayers! 

Transfers are next Thursday, so I don't know what's going to happen to me.  I've been here for almost 6 months.  

Other note: Another elder from the MTC with me got his visa.  He is leaving December 16th.  That's 8 out of 10 as far as I know.  I tried to check my visa status online and it didn't show that my name was even in the system.  Ma and Pa if you want to trying doing some investigating? Or just pray for that too.  Don't get me wrong though, I love it here.

Well, this email ended up being a little more hefty than I was intending, so I'll go ahead and close now.  

I love my mission.  I love the people here.  I had a moment where I truly and powerfully felt the pure love of Christ for a man on his door step.  We talked with him and he described how he didn't have a relationship with God and didn't want one at this point.  My companions were ready to give up on him, but I felt so strongly that I needed to tell him that despite his current beliefs, he is in fact loved by God.  His heart was softened toward our message and agreed to try and come to church on Sunday.  I don't expect anything to come of this encounter, but I learned a valuable lesson about God's love for each of his children and it strengthened my testimony that we are doing the Lord's work, even if it doesn't turn in to a baptism statistic.  

I love and miss you guys.  We're using an advent calendar that Mama sent us to count down the days until Christmas.  I'm counting down the days until we get to call home.  I'm still working out the details, but I would love to either google hangout or skype with the family.

Know that you're in my thoughts and prayers every day.

Love,

Sister McElderry

Thanksgiving on the mission

Hello all!

We have had a fun, holiday filled week!

To kick it all off we suffered through Thanksgiving.  I say "suffered" because we attended 4 Thanksgiving meals.  We were forced to eat at every single house.  I have never eaten so much jello in my life.  Most of the food was pretty good, we just couldn't enjoy it because the thought of eating any more made us sick.  We got to the last members house and just CRASHED on her table.  She laughed at us because she served a mission in California and knows how we feel.  She told us about eating so much, her companion threw up in front of their car.  She said it was dark so the headlights of the car illuminated her companion so the whole apartment complex could see her.  She went to see if her companion was okay and the smell hit her so she started throwing up in front of the car too.  I thought I was going to die laughing.  We felt pretty close to throwing up at that point.  We ate at one house (the native american man's house- I've written about this family before) and they forced us to eat all of these DISGUSTING dishes.  I have no idea what they were.  Sister Armstrong told me she's never eaten a Thanksgiving meal where she didn't know what 90% of the food on her plate was.  Luckily one of the Spanish elders is super clumsy and knocked their gross stuffing off the counter and broke the bowl.  Blessing in disguise.  At another house, Sister Armstrong and I were placed at the kitty table away from everyone else, so we ate really SMALL portions at that meal.  We tried to cut corners where we could, but everyone still managed to get us.  Our funnest meal was at the LDS Chaplain's house.  23 airmen (members and their friends) showed up for the event.  It was SO FUN! We met lots of their friends and hopefully we can get them to all come out and get to know the branch some more!  I love working with the air force base.  A highlight of my mission.

We helped an elderly couple put up their Christmas tree and lights on their house and such.  This couple feeds us every Thursday and have been feeding missionaries since the 70's.  They keep our pictures in a photo album that goes back to Katrina.  (all the pictures pre-Katrina were destroyed).  It helped me feel less homesick because I was able to participate in Christmas traditions with a family.

I didn't have a chance to email yesterday because we had our Christmas zone conference.  I accompanied an elder in a special musical number.  It was nice (mom, I used that christmas hymn arrangement book you gave me for christmas last year!)

I'm looking forward to a zone conference this weekend with Elder Zwick who is the 70 over missionary work.  Or something like that.  We just found out about it so I don't know anything yet.

Life is good.  Our investigators have kind of plateaued for now.  We're hoping that we can get things moving again now that Thanksgiving is over.  Say a prayer for us!

Love,

Sister McElderry

Grateful (from Nov 25)

What Sister McElderry is grateful for this week:

I'm grateful that we have several really good people that we are teaching.

I'm grateful that we work with a really supportive ward, where people sacrifice their time to go out and work with us. 

I'm grateful that we have a nice car that keeps us warm instead of having to bike everywhere.

I'm grateful to Sister Curtis in our ward for loaning me tights and sweaters and a coat to keep me warm because I thought I was going to warm, sunny Brazil.

I'm grateful for the 8 Thanksgiving dinner invitations we have.  (And for the P90X DVDs I was given to help me work those meals off!)

I'm grateful to all the people this week who sent me letters and packages and made my week a little bit brighter. 

I'm grateful for all of the character building experiences I have while tracting.

I'm grateful that I've been in Biloxi long enough to watch our investigators grow in their faith and testimonies. 

I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has called me to be a missionary at this time and has blessed me with all of these experiences.

I'm grateful at the start of this holiday season for my Savior, Jesus Christ.  That he came to this earth to humbly show us the way to eternal happiness and salvation.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Love,

Sister McElderry

P.S. 

Me and my baby girl, Sister Armstrong doing companion study in the triangle chapel on base.

The other is our district with the Zone Leaders and Assistants to the President

A Better Week! + Onesies and YouTube Sensations

Hellooooooo!

This week was much better!  President McDonough (the mission president) called Ryan's baptism a "practice baptism."  Wasn't that comforting, but I'll take it!

We worked really hard this week teaching lessons and visiting less active members of the church.  We had some funny experiences while tracting.  We met a man who claimed that our church persecutes people of his faith.  I asked him which religion he was a part of (because I was sincerely curious and had no idea what he was referring to) and he said he that was a very personal question and started to slam the door in our faces.  As he was slamming the door I shouted "We don't discriminate against anyone.  We LOVE everyone!"  through the doorway.  Maybe that wasn't the most mature response, however I got a little frustrated.  I'm not perfect yet.....

 

We had 2 investigators and 3 less actives we've been working with show up to church on Sunday! That is a pretty dang successful in my book.  We have a baptism date set for one of our investigators, Josh.  He's 13 and his mom has been less active for several years now.  He's nice and really enjoys wednesday night activities.  He's making friends really well.  Good for him!

Melissa is certain she wants to get baptized.  She is going to set a date and talk to her family about it when she goes hom for Christmas.  Good for her!

Lilly came to church yesterday and is picking out wedding dresses this week.  She wants us to go with her.  I told her that all my years of watching "Say Yes to the Dress" will finally pay off for something! She's excited about them getting married.  Good for her!

 

We are having fun as a companionship.  Some fun highlights are:

#1- Our new christmas tree and our onesie pajamas! (seriously, they're the best invention EVER).  We set the tree up last p-day and listened to Christmas music.  My trainee, Sister Armstrong, loves all things Christmas.  We're even trying to see if we can go try and share the gospel with the people waiting in line for black friday! They can't loose their spot, so they HAVE to listen to us, right!?

#2- We have been practicing reciting the first vision while another person hums "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" in the background for added impact! We can hardly make it through the first vision without someone breaking character.

#3- We sang all Christmas songs at the retirement home this last week.

#4- We made a competition with our investigator Lilly to see who can make the cheesiest Christmas card.  I need ideas! GO!

 

All joking aside, Heavenly Father definitely blessed us with a productive week to follow up our last week of disappointments.  The work never ends, and we don't want it to!

Love,

Sister McElderry

P.S. I keep forgetting to send everyone this link.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it.....  My former companion, Sister Thomas, made it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B6i6oa8I5s

Ups and Downs

So this has been the craziest week of my whole mission.  I got my new Trainee, Sister Armstrong.  She's really awesome.  I absolutely love her and I could not think of anymore more perfect to work with. We are still in a trio.  We get along really well, I just think we're a little more productive with the 3 of us.  Trios are hard because it's more people to keep track of, but they give you a personality break.  Blessing! 

So we were getting Sister Armstrong settled in at the start of the week.  Then one of our investigators named Ryan texted me and said he is ready to get baptized.  The problem was, he is getting deployed TODAY, so the following Monday after he texted me.  So we meet with him a ton between Wednesdayand Saturday getting everything worked out.  Teaching the rest of the lessons and getting him interviewed and such.  He got baptized on Saturday and it was really spiritual.  It was a baptism for the Keesler Branch, so we carpooled and took all of the branch members over to the ward building to where the font was.  It was nice.  We got to the branch on Sunday and are excited for him to get confirmed and he doesn't show.  I call him and he says he doesn't believe anymore.  This was a huge blow for me. He was my first baptism, well almost.  We met with him last night and had like a 3 hour long discussion with him.  He's very confused and doesn't know what's true anymore.  Well he deploys today and if anything, we gave him a good foundation to grow upon.  We really cared about him and were hurt by his decision, but we can't take away his agency.  I know that I was given this experience to help me learn a lesson and grow as a missionary.  It just really sucked.

That's the biggest thing thing that has happened this week.  We are putting last weeks events in a box and leaving it on a shelf.  Onward and upward.  Some prayers would be appreciated.

Love,

Sister McElderry

Below is our baptism picture

Longer Letter from Nov 6th - Training a Greenie

Where do I begin.....

 

So I got my new companion.  Her name is Sister Armstrong.  She is from Dallas, Texas.  She is a visa waiter for Brazil as well.  She's super nice and we get along well.  I am her trainer, but I feel like it's more "the blind leading the blind!"  I just barely finished training myself!  Sister Garzand is still here with us.  We are in a tri-panionship. We got a brand-spanking new Chevy Cruze to drive.  It's super snazzy and pretty.  We stole it from the elders.  They're pretty bitter.  We scheduled a meal appointment for Sister Armstrong her first night here.  We got to the house and the whole place smelled like vinegar.  It was super gross.  The couple said "since you're the newbie, we will serve you first!" and they brought out some rice dyed green and some pickled pigs feet on top.  They didn't tell her what it was, but told her that it was their favorite.  So we're all watching from the kitchen and see Sister Armstrong eating this gross looking pickled pigs foot.  There was still bone inside of it and everything.  They asked her what she thought and she was like, "it's delicious" and then we all started laughing and they brought out the real food (which they added green food coloring too as well).  In case you dont know this specific aspect of Mormon culture, brand new missionaries are called "greenies," so that's where the green food coloring joke comes from.

 

As for our investigators, Melissa is still WONDERFUL.  Just like always.  She is 100% certain she wants to get baptized because she loves everything that she's learned.  We just have to set a date.  She says she doesnt feel spiritually ready, so we're talked about that for a while and gave her some homework to help her learn more about the role of the Holy Spirit.  She's wonderful though.  We absolutely love her.  She's always so nice and happy to see us.  It's a pleasant change from the knocking doors.

 

We are teaching a young man named Ryan.  He's a young airmen and he's about to deploy to Afghanistan for who knows how long.  It's been an interesting journey with him.  He's been very hot and cold with the missionaries for the last 8 months or so.  Anyway, we've been talking with him a lot and assigning him talks to read and things like that.  His heart has softened a lot toward the church and he told us today that he wants to get baptized.  Like he wants to NOW.  I don't know if we can get it all together before he deploys.... NEXT WEEK.  But who knows.  We're meeting with him tonight, so maybe we can set some realistic goals with him.

 

Lilly is still Lilly.  She works a lot, we love her a lot.  She's getting married in a month and a half!!! She chose next transfer day, so I hope that we are still here so we can see it!

 

Those are our biggest people.  Other than that, we're working with less actives and some potential investigators.  The work is good.  Training is good. I miss home.  I'm happy here though.

Love,

Sister McElderry 

 

P.S. Did I already mention that 7 out of 10 of the missionaries from my district in the MTC are in Brazil now? Is that old news?

Hoping the Visa Comes Soon - Short Letter from Nov 5th

Hey! Biloxi is great! Having fun, working hard.  I'm going to train a Visa waiter for Brazil.  Her name is Sister Armstrong.  She's from Texas.  That's all  Iknow so far! Haven't met her yet! I'm working on getting my paperwork done for the Visa so it can continue to process.  7 out of 10 of the missionaries from my group in the MTC are in Brazil now.  I think I'll be the last one now....

Love,

Sister McElderry

Gulfport Zone Interviews - A Sneak Peak at Sis. McElderry!

I stole this gem off the Mississippi Jackson Mission Blog. Look at our sweet Sister McElderry!

Blessed in his Service

Dear Everyone:

No news yet on my visa! I am now 5 months along on my mission.  I had a man ask me how long I've been out on my mission.  I told him 5 months and he said, "dang girl! You better hurry up and get to Brazil! You're mission is almost over!"  Thanks.  It's not a big deal though.  I love the people here.  I have developed some very special friendships here.  

Our investigator Melissa Yates (25, in the air force) is progressing beautifully.  We talked for 2 hours answering her questions and talking about the idea of baptism.  I read over all of the baptismal interview questions with her.  She answered all of them perfectly.  She knows so much.  I really want to see her get baptized, but transfers are in a week, so I don't know if it will happen.  She's ready to get baptized (ready as she'll ever be) but she is still uncertain.  That's okay.  I love that she is taking it so seriously.  She was even talking about how she decided not to buy a dress because she didn't think she would be able to wear it after going through the temple in the future.  I'm telling you, she's AMAZING!  So much faith.

We are teaching Lilly about the commandments now.  Her mother, who has previously been very opposed to the church, sat in on the lesson.  We talked a little bit about how we lived with our Heavenly Father before this life on earth and shared some scriptures to back it up and she was like "I want to learn more about this!" and told Lilly later that she wants to take the lessons, and is praying to know if our message is true and attended church yesterday with Lilly without us even inviting her!

I truly love the people here.  I'm crying right now just thinking about how much the Lord has blessed our work here.  I'm thinking back on how rough the beginning of our work here in Biloxi was, but Heavenly Father has truly blessed us and helped us develop this area.  It's so amazing to me how much the gospel can bless our lives.  I told Melissa that she is standing at a cross roads now.  She can continue on the path she was traveling before she learned about the gospel, or she can turn and take the path that follows the gospel.  She said that no matter what happens in her life, her path has been permanently altered by the knowledge and the testimony she has gained.  I feel the same way.  I'm so happy I made the choice to serve a mission right now.  I took that path that is leading me to greater knowledge and a stronger testimony. I don't know what will happen in my life or if I will ever make it to Brazil, but I'm so grateful for the way my life has changed because of my mission and the gospel.

Love,

Sister McElderry 

October 21 Letter

Hello all!

I'm trying to remember what we did this week.....

Haha.  Two weeks ago, I discovered that one of my zone leaders has dinosaur socks. I asked him to wear them, but he said he would only do it for a special occasion.  So I told him that my birthday was this last Wednesday. (that was a lie)  One of the elders who serves here in Biloxi with me, overheard our conversation and asked to make me a cake.  I told him later that it wasn't actually my birthday, but he insisted and said he wanted to make a cake for our next zone meeting anyway.  So I show up on Wednesday and there is a cake with candles and everyone (like 16 people) sing to me and I got a present and everything.  My zone leader said, "Sister McElderry, how old are you today?" and I said "21!" (not a lie).

I was given a $1000 sewing and embroidery machine by a random woman this week.  If it weren't so dang heavy, I would contemplate sending it home.  

We have been tracting like crazy the last two weeks.  We have hit like 10 houses with "No Soliciting" signs on them.  Only 1 person was nice to us about it.

This is just a quick email today.  My comp. and I had to have an extra extended companionship inventory.  It was good.  There were tears (not mine).

I spoke in the Spanish branch yesterday.  My favorite comment, "when I asked you to give a talk in spanish, I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  You actually surprised me." 

My friend Shauna came to support me.  Have I ever mentioned her before? She's 30 and recently divorced.  She has been less active for a number of years now.  Anyway, she has become SUPER active since we sisters got here and we LOVE her! She just got a calling and she went on a date with a nice LDS man she met.  I picked out her outfit and did her hair for it.  I'm living vicariously through her.  She also helped us scrape cat poop at that lady's house.  A few days later, she bought me a little "Scrapper Jr." keychain for all of my future cat poop-scraping endeavors.  Anyway, she came to hear my talk.  She listened to the translation of it on some headphones.  She told me afterward that she cried because she was so proud of me. I love that girl.  

We're going to Goodwill today because I don't have any warm clothes! I better get my Visa soon because I'm going to be cold and broke here soon!

Love you guys.  The gospel is true.

Sister McElderry

October 14th Update!

Quick update on our week.  We had an awesome week.  We worked a ton and taught a lot of people a lot of lessons.  We tracted for 7 hours! (For those of you who served missions back in the day, you may be appalled that I tract 7 or less hours, but we are productive all day without tracting!) 7 is the mission goal and for the first time in my mission, I reached it!  It was just awful and we literally found no one who was interested, but I see the blessings for my obedience in other ways.

Melissa Yates is our investigator on the air force base.  She is progressing beautifully.  She loves everything we share with her and is so kind and willing to learn.

We had a funny experience with Lilly and Carlos.  First of all, they set a wedding date for December 17, so that was progress! and they agreed to come to the Spanish branch on Sunday night because it was after Lilly got off work.  We texted and called her Saturday and Sunday and got no response.  So we showed up at her house at 6:15 (the branch starts at 6:30) and they were walking toward their car getting ready to go to walmart.  We innocently said "oh! We thought you said you would come to church with us tonight!" and then they argued for a minute because Lilly wanted to go to Church and Carlos didn't want to.  Finally Carlos gave in and they got in their car.  We got in our car and waited for about 10 minutes until they pulled out and we drove behind them all the way to the church.  We were about 15 minutes late to church, but it was 100% worth it! Everything was in Spanish, so I'm not sure how much Lilly understood, but they loved it! Carlos even thanked us afterward for pressuring him to go.  The elders quorum president invited them over for dinner and FHE tonight and hopefully they'll come to the branch next week! Especially since I will be giving a talk IN SPANISH.  I'm so nervous! But secretly excited.

Anyway, I need to go.  But I love everyone.  I got some mail this week! It was awesome!

Love,

Sister McElderry

More Adventures...

Hello from Biloxi!

I hope everyone had a good General Conference weekend! I sure did!

Update on our week and our investigators:

Amy Gandy- We had a wonderful lesson with her on Tuesday.  We haven't been able to help her understand that we're trying to build her foundation in the Gospel before we answer her obscure questions about the president bombing other countries and such.  I took a poster board and glued a leaf-less tree on it.  The trunk of the tree says "Jesus Christ" and each branch is a foundational lesson that we teach.  As we have lessons with her and as she learns concepts or asks questions, we write them on a leaf and put them on the tree.  It a way of helping her see how much she is progressing and showing her that we will answer her questions, but we need to always remember the foundation that her questions go back to.  She really liked it.  I felt kind of cheesy when I presented it to her, but she really understood it.  We've talked a lot about comparing faith to a seed and growing our tree of knowledge, so I thought it was very apropos.

We got a new investigator named Melissa Yates.  She is a young woman in the air force and she met with the missionaries in Texas before she came here.  She is WONDERFUL and I've already grown to love her after just one week! She really likes the church, but is waiting to receive an answer from Heavenly Father about the truth of our message.  She came to the Relief Society broadcast and all 4 sessions of GC this weekend.  We're meeting with her again tonight.  I'm really excited.

 

Funny story.  Well actually, a really DUMB story.  (Mom and dad, stop reading after this point!)  I went out on splits with the Relief Society president and we were driving past the library at like 8:00, so it was super dark.  I saw a man crash his bicycle, so I had her turn around so we could check and see if he was okay.  He was pretty scraped up, so we gave him some bandages from her first-aid kit.  He told us his name is Doug and he lives in the overhang in front of the library.  He was on his way to scavenge for some food, so I gave him a granola bar and told him I would bring him some food on another day.  He thanked us and we went on our way.  The next night, my companion and I were given a pizza and we were driving past the library (again at 8:00 so it was dark and no one was around).  I told her to pull in to the parking lot because I wanted to give Doug the pizza.  So we go over there and I approach the overhang.  I see something like 5 homeless men who have been drinking and have a big dog come out.  I STILL didn't think.  I walk a little closer and ask if Doug is there and he comes out and I gave him the pizza.  "Like I promised I would!" He thanked me and then I got in the car and we drove away.  It wasn't until I got back in the car that I realized just how DUMB that was.  I can laugh at myself now because I wasn't harmed, but I will not be doing that again!

Anyway, I'm including a Mormon Message this week.  It makes me cry everytime I watch it. No exaggeration.  It's kind of embarrassing.

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#mountains-to-climb

I love everyone.  The mail box was kind of empty this week.  I'll try to hand write more letters.  

Love,

Sister McElderry

One more thing:

I made a birthday cake for a less active man we visit (the son of Brother Chief). He turned 31.  I tried to put "31!" in lemon heads on the cake, but I mixed up which direction 3 goes!

I didn't realize it until I finished.  

Transfer Day

Hello All!
Today is transfer day! I'm losing my two companions (Sister Keyes and
Sister Thomas) and getting a new one, Sister Garzand.  I haven't met
her yet.  I am currently waiting for her to come down from El Dorado,
ARKANSAS! She's been serving in Arkansas for the past 6 months.
Sister Keyes is going about an hour west of Biloxi and Sister Thomas
is going home to try and work out her back pains.  It's unfortunate
that she has to go home, but we weren't being very effective this last
week because of her pain.  Hopefully she can get everything worked out
and come back out!

Because we weren't able to do much work last week, I don't have much
to share. So I sent the two pictures of me and my trainer! I'm going
to miss her.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Love,
Sister McElderry

My Trainer

Me and my trainer, Sister Keyes

<3 Her

Editors Note: If you follow the Mississippi Jackson Mission Blog, you will be pleased to have learn Sister McElderry and her companion won the "Golden Mop Award" for their area for keeping their place so clean. I think the mission must be doing good things for Sister McElderry...

Food, Beaver/Rats and Haircuts

Hello all!

photo from a training on MJM Blog

I don't have a lot of time to write today.  A member took us to the buffet at the Beau Rivage casino for brunch, so that took two hours from our P-Day and then we attended a play group with some of the moms for fun and we're getting ready to go get our hair cut.  All three of us are getting it down by a member who lives in another city.  Sister Thomas (who has never gotten her hair cut before and has hair down to her butt) is getting layers today! This is a super exciting and big step for her.  She's never lived away from home and is having to grow up really fast out here.  I'm proud of her for taking this step and getting her hair cut.  (I'm also excited that we won't look like sister wives anymore because of her ridiculously long hair)

 

Some highlights from my week:

- All three of our investigators did not attend church this week even though they told us they would.  Surprise, surprise.

- We found these beaver/rat combination animals at a park here called Nutria.  (I will attach an image of one)  They are really friendly and will get really close to you.  They almost look like beavers when they swim in the water.  Apparently they are from South America and were brought up here for the almost beaver like pelts, however there is no natural predator so they run rampant. 

- We invited some of the young women to help us write messages in chalk along the sidewalk next to the beach.  It was super fun and the girls enjoyed doing missionary work with the Sisters.  We drew pictures of temples and wrote mormon.org and such. 

- A member made the best ribs I've probably ever had and his pulled pork tasted exactly like Whole Hog.  I was in HOG heaven.  (Get it?)

 

Anyway, those are the highlights from my week.  I saw that my blog got updated so there is plenty of other stuff to catch up on. 

Love everyone back home!

Sister McElderry

they have red teeth, too

Recent Photos from Sister McElderry

We didn't get a formal letter from sister mcelderry september 2, but this is what we did get:

"Just some fun pictures my companion took.  One is when we're going to Zone conference.  The two others are from our picnic yesterday for Labor Day!"

September 9th Letter

Dear Everyone back home,

 

Yet another week has gone by here in Biloxi.  We are definitely having a blast down here!  We have been battling menstral cycles, cat poop, and colds this week.  I would say it was a roller coaster of emotions.  We decided that the best course of action today would be to take naps and relax.  Hopefully that actually happens! 

 

Updates on our investigators:

 

The Powells- We tracted in to this couple one evening and they instantly invited us inside.  We sat down on the couch.  We had no idea what to expect from this visit.  NO ONE is that friendly to us!  The first thing they do is point at a painting of "Black Jesus" above their TV and proceed to explain to us that they don't believe that Jesus was black, so they just call him  their "Black Hebrew." And then they start telling us about how they found God while in prison for murder and became Pentecostal after that.  She said "I could feel God SKRENGTHENIN' me!" They are the funniest couple.  We love them! We went back yesterday and tried to share a little about the Book of Mormon with them.  The wife didn't really listen, but Mr. Willie understood.  He said "Now y'all make sure you leave that book for me.  I want to read it!" (He has a Barry White-esque voice.)  I can't wait to go visit them again.

 

Lilly- I've mentioned Lilly before, I think.  She is a young mother who is living with a less active member name Carlos.  She really wants to get baptized, but she knows they have to be married first, so they're working on getting married while we meet with her.  She is so funny.  We haven't quite figured out how she thinks, but without fail, the Spirit helps her understand what we're teaching in a way that she can understand.  Some of my favorite highlights: when we taught her about prophets, she said "oh! so you guys are like my baby prophets because you're here teaching me what God wants me to do!" which is true, however we are not THE prophet. She also said when we taught about the premortal existence that "we all probably knew each other up there and I told you that I was going to be rebellious but yall were going to come find me and teach me. Then we all held hands and jumped down to earth together."  Her take on life after death: "And then we're all going to meet back up in the Celestial Kingdom and have a fiesta!" We love her.  Her enthusiasm about the church is contagious.

 

Jonathon and Samantha-  We tracted in to them one day and found out that Jonathon has had a couple of the lessons about a year ago.  So we had two lessons with them this week.  They're an interesting couple.  Very simple people.  I'm not sure either of them really have a job.  When we come over, they sit on the couch and we sit on the floor across from them.  They're funny because she's PAINFULLY shy.  Whenever we talk to her, she ducks behind him and starts giggling.  He's very outgoing and kind of hits on us.  It's pretty uncomfortable actually.  He always refers to us as "pretty ladies" and things like that.  One funny thing (which is actually not funny, given my recent WEIGHT GAIN).  He offered us some crackers and we all said no, then he turned to me and said "come on." so I took some.  And he said "see, I can tell that you eat a lot." WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?  Darn you Mississippi!

 

Final story- This is about a less active member here in Biloxi.  She is in her 40's and has Lupus.  I'm not sure how debilitating of a disease it is, but word on the street is this woman can actually function a lot more than she claims she can.  But no worries, we're sister missionaries and we love to do service! So we tell her that we'll come clean her house for her.  We get in there and the place was a disaster! They recently bug bombed the apartment so there were dead bugs EVERYWHERE.  While my comps cleaned and organized the kitchen, I started sweeping.  I got behind the table and found a pile of crumpled newspaper and started to pick it up until it stuck to the floor and a bunch of cat poop fell everywhere.  I had to scrape that CRAP (literally) off of the floor with a plastic spoon.  Then I decided to be Christ-like and clean the litter box for her.  WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE.  I'm pretty sure my nostrels are still burned from the impact of the smell.  The cherry on top is that part way through, she texts us from her bedroom upstairs and says "do you want a jolly rancher?"  That was all. 

 

I laugh about the funny people that we meet, but surrounding these experiences are tender mercies from the Lord.  I wouldn't be able to keep going week after week if I didn't see the Lord's hand in our work.  I know that I'm out here serving my fellow man because I love the Gospel.  I will scrape cat poop all day for the opportunity to share our message and help people increase their faith in Jesus Christ, but God sure does have a sense of humor!

 

Well, until next week!

Sister McElderry

August 26th Letter

Hey there everyone!

 

Just a quick update about my week!

We went to the beach last Monday and of course, I got sunburned!  I even put sunblock on! We flew kites and played Uno next to the water (but not in the water). 

 

Tuesday wasn't very eventful. 

 

Wednesday was interesting.  We met with an older woman named Betty who invites us to her backporch and feeds us while we talk about the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  She's super sweet and just enjoys talking about the Bible.  I love her.  Afterward, we ate dinner in a Native American family's home.  The father of the house's name is Brother Cheif and he likes to tell us stories about how to kill a bear and become a man and how eating black cats cure asthma.  Our visits are very interesting.  Anyway, we went over for dinner they served us heaping helpings of lasagna and then expected us to eat seconds and dessert.  (This is normal here in Mississippi)  After dessert, they offered us some canteloupe.  I didn't think I could eat any more, but I agreed to it because people down here are emotionally attached to food and I wanted this family to like me.  Anyway, my companion Sister Keyes declined the offer and he turned to her and said, "You not happy.  You no eat my food." and made her feel super bad.  What's funny is that I told her before we went in there that she had to eat all of the food they offered us because that's how we'll get them to like us. 

 

You won't be surprised to hear that I've gained 6 pounds since I've been here, BUT people like us!  I'm gaining weight for Jesus!

 

Anyway, I'm happy and healthy and a little bit chunky.  The work is hard, but worth it.

Love,

Sister McElderry

August 19th Letter

Note from Kristin: Sorry I have been behind posting these!!!! I am catching up now!

Hello from Biloxi!

 

This has been an interesting week.  We had transfers and they white washed our Biloxi Spanish elders.  We got two new ones and they are AWESOME.  They get out and actually work and ride their bicycles.  It's awesome. We can actually depend on them.  I don't know if I ever mentioned before that our last elders were kind of lame.  Loved them, but they were lame.  We have so much potential to get work done around here.  We have two really great wards that we work with and everyone is enthusiastic about working with the missionaries.  Our bishop came in to Relief Society this week and talked about how hard we sisters work and how he wants the sisters in our ward to go out with us at least once a week.  It's awesome.  We're starting to get more involved with the branch on the air force base.  We were asked to teach a young airman named Brian who was introduced to the Church through his roommate.  We met with Brian and he had already read about the restoration and the beginning of the Book of Mormon and believes that it's all true.  We set him with a date for August 31st.  He wants to meet with us every day.  He asked us to meet with him EVERY DAY!!!  That doesn't happen here in Biloxi!  It just gives me the faith and confidence that Heavenly Father is a part of our work.  He has prepared people to receive our message and we just have to do our part to put ourselves in positions where we can meet those people. 

 

We have another woman who we have been meeting with regularly named Jessica.  She has been a puzzling investigator.  She's really nice and welcomes us into her home, but we can't tell if she's actually interested or not.  We found out that her husband is a very devout Catholic and has some strong objections to her meeting with us.  We finally asked her to talk to him and ask him if it's okay for her to meet with us and we even offered to have our Spanish elders (the new ones who are awesome) come over and explain what it is that we teach about to her husband (he doesn't speak English).  We'll find out either today or tomorrow what's going to happen with her. 

 

That's pretty much it as far as our investigators go. We spend the rest of our time knocking doors, meeting with less active members, and doing service projects.  Probably my favorite service we did this week was we cleaned a woman's home whose husband is deployed and her kids all have impetigo- which is aparrently a form of staph?  Anyway, I was super freaked out the whole time, but she really needed the help around her house.   We cleaned the entire downstairs part of her house for her and folded her laundry.  She cried when we left.  It was worth it.  But now every time I get a bug bite or a red mark on my body, I freak out thinking it's staph.

 

I forgot to mention that we have visited a woman named Michelle a couple of times.  She's really interesting.  The two times we've visited her in her home, we've taught the lesson while she put weave in someone's hair.  It's very interesting and distracting for me, but we get to teach 2-3 people each time we go in her home! And we're learning all about weave and weave products!  Maybe I'll become a hair dresser someday.  (Just kidding Dad)

 

I would be lying if I said every day was sunshine and happiness.  It's pretty stressful trying to teach people the keys to salvation and getting turned away.  But we always take time to find things to laugh about each day.  Sometimes we're so discouraged, we force ourselves to laugh until we're sincerely laughing.  Probably my favorite moment was when we were driving to lunch and the elders were following us. Sweet Sister Keyes, who is so careful with what she calls "The Lord's Car," flipped a u-turn in an intersection that was too small and instead of backing up to give herself room to complete the turn, gunned it and drove over the curb.  It was very abrasive and I'm pretty sure we need to get the tires realigned.  *PARENTS: DO NOT BUY TEENAGE GIRLS NEW CARS!*  They don't take care of them.  But we have been chuckling about that all week.  Any time things get stressful, we say "Hey, do you remember when Sister Keyes drove over that curb in the Lord's Car?" and we laugh our problems away.

 

Anyway, we're going to play frisbee and soccer on the beach today with our new elders.  I'm excited to expend some energy.  I love and miss everyone!  I hope everyone is doing well. 

Sister McElderry

Short but Sweet

Hello from Biloxi!

Today is kind of crazy because it's transfers day and we have a very limited time to email. 

Sister Thomas was sick for a couple days this week, so it kind of hindered our work, but we still had a lot to show for it at the end of the week.  We thought we were going to have a ton of less actives and investigators come to church and a baptism but then they ALL cancelled! Broke my heart and my spirits for a little bit, but Heavenly Father provides.  It made me sit down and reevaluate my effort and the way we are approaching missionary work.  We have found a couple knew potentials but I don't want to write anything about them until we have some more solid information about them.

I realized that I haven't said anything about my companions yet.  Sister Keyes is my trainer.  She's really fun and dedicated to the work.  She keeps me in line, and I keep her relaxed.  Sister Thomas is super sweet.  She is the one who was in the MTC with me and is also waiting for her visa.  We sometimes have communication issues and we're learning to teach together as a group of 3, but we also have a lot of fun. 

Okay, have to go.  Sorry my email stinks.  Until next week!

Sister McElderry

Sister Turtle and other funny moments

Hello All!

I have had an interesting week.  I don't even know where to begin.  So many miracles, that's for sure. 

I guess I'll start with a funny story.  We were tracting on a random road and we saw a house with a wooden question mark "?" on the front of it up near the pitch of the roof.  My companions challenged me to knock on the door and talk to them.  So I did and I said, "We saw that you had a question mark on the front of your house and thought to ourselves, 'they must have some questions that need answered!' So we're here to answer them!" and she let us in! Upon entering, we met the real owner of the house.  It was an older lady named Leslie and she grew up mormon in Utah and is now an atheist.  She told us that she has asked the Church never to contact her again.  We let her know that we honestly didn't know and just knocked because we saw the question mark.  So then we had a nice discussion of our believes and let her know that we wouldn't come back again.   I just thought that the question mark was funny.

Other funny story.  There was a woman in our ward who had all sorts of health problems and couldn't do much.  She and her husband were only here temporarily for military training and they were preparing to move back to Washington.  So we agreed to help her clean her house.  We got there and the place was absolute chaos. (When I walked in, I thought to myself that Dad would have walked away and told them to call him when they finished packing)  Anyway, I couldn't handle the mess and her telling us stories about every item in her refridge, so I decided to clean her oven.  She didn't have any cleaning supplies, so I had to scrape it out with a plastic spoon.  It was an experience for the journal, that's for sure. 

Speaking of nasty houses.  There is another lady here who has a lot of health problems and can't clean her apartment.  So she asked us to do it.  Luckily the Sister Training Leaders called us the day before to go on exchanges with them, so my Comp. and one of them went over there.  They had to scrape up cat poo off of the floor with a knife and use dirty laundry as wash clothes.  I thought that I missed that bullet, but she wants us to come again and I think we're going to count it as part of our service hours each week.  I may or not be grumbling a little bit.  I'm not perfect yet!

Another funny experience.  I had my first double meal appointment.  We did some service at a homeless shelter and then grabbed some food around 1:30.  We had an appointment to visit an elderly lady at 2:30and when we showed up, she had cooked us fried chicken, mac and cheese and all the works.  So we ate all of that and had seconds because she kept hinting that we eat more (I literally thought we were going to throw up.) We then had our dinner appointment at 5:00, which was once again a dinner and dessert.  And then we tracted out in the hot humidity.  I thought I was going to die.  It was the worst.  And both of the people sent us home with food.  I'm pretty sure we threw it away.

Okay, enough with the funny stuff.  We had a FANTASTIC week as far as missionary work goes.  We fasted last Saturday to find 3 people and commit them to baptism on a certain date.  *Spoiler Alert* We got it! We didn't think it was going to happen because we weren't teaching anyone, but we found people and they were so open and receptive to our message and wanted to learn more.  We have never felt so invigorated and excited to do missionary work.  I am truly humbled and blessed.  

Another high point: We got a pet turtle! We named it "Sister Turtle."  We let it go a couple hours later though, but I will never forget her!

Well, those are the high points.  I can't write a ton because my P-Day is kind of crazy.  My companion woke us up at 4:00 in the morning throwing up.  Sorry I didn't write anyone! I still love y'all!

Sister McElderry