crazy busy week...

basically this week was spent planning for zone conference. we put together this awesome Christmas party with ugly sweaters talent show and testimony meeting.

Friday was zone conference so we got a lot of training and had so much fun. our training was really good. we hope that it helped everyone. during planning earlier in the week though we had this deer head... remember what mission im in but we named it Steve and there are some funny videos hahaha.... 

1our Christmas tree

2 us and the zone leaders with Steve the deer..

3 Christmas party night

4 our amazing zone :)

5 some of the decorations we had

love you all have a great week :)

--

Sister Haley McDonald

december...

well first off we are getting snow this week hopefully we haven't gotten like any thus far. but maybe this week

we have been working on family;y mission plans with everyone lately. so let me explain a family mission plan is a plan to accomplish by the end of the year and then have goals to get there

so like for the year have someone take the discussions so monthly you'll have family home evening or attend the temple and daily you'll pray for mission opportunities for yourself not just missionaries. so thats a lot of fun seeing what families want ot do and you are able to measure what you need help with.

so 25 ways over 25 days

day 1: we cleaned a ladys house because she cant do it anymore and there was a lot of trash we didnt get it asll done because there is so much we wish we could do more

day 2: i wrote the parents but it probably isnt there yet..

day 3: told someone how awesome there are

day 4: we went to church

they are so easy everyone should do them and it really just helps you be a nice human being its great.

i dont think anything crazy happened this week so i love you all you awesome have a great week :)

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 went on exchanges this week

2 our cool district

3 most of our zone at mt rushmore

4 the missionaries in the rapid valley ward

Happy thanksgiving!!

well its been a good life 

Monday we played some sports and then we played card games at a members and its so much fun they are the best. then me and sister wright had a really good conversation about being better to really help the ward do missionary work.

tuesday was like the best day we had awesome lessons and it was just a wonderful day.we had a less active really tell us what is wrong and it was the best thing i have never felt the spirit work through me like that and all it was was tesimony thats it and it was like the best thing of my life.

Wednesday we saw a less active and her home is always amazing i love it. she also told us why she doesnt come to church and how its hard for her it was great.we planned with the elders that day to help the members and that was good as well.then we went tracting pretty good stuff. then we met with a new family who are the best they just get it all. they also got home like 2 years ago from their mission in boston they are the best!

Thursday was THANKSGIVING but odly i didnt eat until i died it was weird..... but loads of fun we hung out with members all day and played games got to really know them. and it was great kinda weird going to someones home for thanksgiving but all good haha

Friday was good too. during studies i was thinking about how i can find people and district meeting was all about it how unique haha.we talked about the new christmas video.

the rest of the week was trying people so nothing crazy.

https://www.mormon.org/?cid=HP_FR_25-11-2016_dMIS_fmorg_xLIDyL1-A_

so this is the Christmas video and everyone should watch it and do the 25 ways over 25 days its the best thing and i just love it so much

enjoy this Christmas season but remember we should always be willing to help others love you all!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 selfies with the rapid sisters

2 thanksgiving day

3 the dog its huge so cute!!!!!!!!!!!

Another week gone by

well im just slacking on my group emails oh well

 we got transfer calls this week and we are both staying so we are excited about that. we poured cement on Tuesday that was fun and now i could do it if i wanted to but its hard stuff holy cow. we also had an awesome lesson with Jennifer and we are introducing more people to her which is really good.

   Wednesday we had an awesome lesson with a less active sister who is amazing and has such a strong testimony its great.we tried a ton of people that day and got cussed out by someone because he doesn't want anything to do with the church life of a missionary some days...

   Thursday we weekly planned a long time and everyone cancelled because it snowed that day and guess what i drove in it and everyone is still alive so that's a success.also i hit 9 months that day wohoo!

   Friday we had district meeting and it was really good holy cow. then we tried this less active.. now this was interesting she was reading us and apparently we are seers and i have felt the devil and seen him... we weren't sure what to do or say like the entire time..... then we saw some people before dinner and it was good.we also went to lunch to celebrate my 9 month and sister wrights 1 year mark it was yummy.

  Saturday was busy we had a meeting and then had lunch with the sisters then we saw brother Hilton who is a hoot never know what he is gonna say next. then we watched a movie with this less active guess what she fell asleep second time on my mission... then we had dinner with a part member family and it was good but awkward they kinda just left us there soo it was interesting... then we had a lesson with Jennifer about tithing it was really good and she is doing great.

  Sunday we drove to Philip with the elders. me and sister wright gave talks they were good. so in Philip they have a group which is about 15 members who meet in someones home like when they church first started. probably the best church meeting i have been to it was so personal and amazing! then we drove home and i had a break down because i was tired and frustrated so my companion let me sleep for a little and then i was golden haha. so we went to a missionary thanksgiving party put on by our ward it was so good.

crazy life as a missionary you never know what you will do. well i hope everyone is having a great week i love you all!!!!!!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 road trip to philip with the elders in our ward

2 philip sign 

3 art in rapid

4 9 months old!!!!!!

5 snow!🐧

im so old!!!!

well im old in the mssion time anyways. this week on Thursday i hit 9 months which means im over the hill ill be half way done what is this crazy stuff!

so this week was crazy and i love it!

we had a lot of good lessons this week but im just gonna skip to the best thing ever!!!

we had a baptism!!!!!!! Megan got baptized and it was amazing oh my word she was so nervous but after she said she felt so good and just wished she could do it all over..... it was so awesome to hear and she got confirmed yesterday oh my word and this morning she asked to meet with us!!!!!!!!! ahhhh okay im crazy but it was so good. a previous missionary came back to baptize her and it was great he bore his tesimony and it was wonderful. then the 1st counselor in the bishopric bore his testimony and it was great the spirirt was so strong and she could feel it!!!!!! it was just fabulous.

well thats my life this week

i love you all have an awesome week!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 this gorgeous hike from Monday

2 Megans baptism

3 my awesome district

4 selfies

5  i have my own street in Nebraska!!! and its spelled correctly

what a fabulous crazy week

so monday was halloween so we couldnt go out so we played sports all day long and then watched toy story 3 and it was so much fun!

tuesday we drove to bismarck and we had dinner with all the zone leaders and sister training leaders with president and sister hess. then we went to the temple and it was so much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wednesday we had a meeting about things going on in the mission and how to help the missionaries it was a lot of fun. then we drove home.

Thursday we meet with the zone leaders to discuss what we need to go over for our training so we spent a lot of time on that.

friday we had our training and then i went to belle fourche with sister dillion and that night....this dude asked us out and told us we were hot it was so hard not to burst out in laughter.

saturday we exchanged back and nothing too crazy happened that night.

sunday was awesome our investigator got her interview done and is getting baptized on thursday and we are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its amazing

hope you all have a fabulous week i love you!!!!!!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

sister dvaz and i

exchanges with belle

our hike with the zone leaders

at the temple with the zls

Crazy Life

we had some awesome lessons this week.

We put megan on date for the 10th and she has a lot of questions but is so excited to get baptized. she is so prepared and its amazing to see!! we are so excited for her and our life is gonna be crazy for a couple of weeks.

  we also had a great lesson with jen about the plan of salvation we taught in a members home and the spirit was so strong and she almost cried it was amazing. she is progressing to just slower but she has this awesome glow that she knows it is true and its great!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

  we have had anawesome week with a ton of service. we helped move people for like 9 hour in basically 2 days... i was a little sore but its been a lot of fun plus we had elders to help which was nice haha. 

  we also had someone try to tell us this church wasnt true because he did research online..... if you want to know the truth ask an active member or go onto lds.org . we were frustrated but we had a good day after that and i know even more now that the gospel is true and i love it.

 

love you all have a great week!

 

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 me and sister wright!

 2 me and olaf at the trunk or treat

3 guard geese its a thing

4 tiny trash cans!

5 our awesome hike we went on today! its so pretty here

I'm not in Nebraska anymore....

so you are probably confused on why im not in nebraska anymore. I got a call wednesday night at 9 from president and sister hess asking if i would be willing to pack my bags and head to rapid city south dakota to be an STL or sister training leader with sister wright. her previous companion hurt herself and had to go home. so wednesday i had to pack my bags super fast and then thursday we headed to murdo so i could come with sister wright to rapid city.

if anyone would like to write my new address is

4136 Bernice St. #103

Rapid City, South Dakota 57703

 Monday we had peanut butter pie!!!!!!!!! its so good if anyone can find a recipe please send it to me! it was an uneventful day.

 Tuesday we had exchanges so we went to mudro to exchange sister baadsgaaurd cam with us and we had fun. we came up with a ton of ideas of things to do and it was great.

 Wednesday we had lunch with a member and had peanut butter bacon burgers and it was soo good. then we tried a former who is really nice and we talked for a whue but then had to leave for murdo. we exhanged back and got home. we had dinner with the shutts who are funny her son kept making random comments that didnt help our lesson but were funny. then we had a lesson with george and we watched the restoration it went well and the member who came helped a lot thankfully.then presdient call and i packed in like and hour or so.

  Thirsday i finished packing and then we went to cody to teach an investigator it went well. then we went to murdo so i could meet sister wright. we got here i unpacked for a while then we went to dinner and i went on base. there is an air force base that we cover so we get to go on base every now and then.then we meet with some less actives and had a good lesson.

 Friday we went to olive garden with a member for lunch and it was yummy then we had distrcit meeting. it was good and then we got to weekly plan all day. we had dinner with a fun family and then drove to the taylors.

  Saturday we helped this man pack up his house and he gave us lunch and some random things to take home.then we meet with an older lady and read the scriptures with her.then we meet with another less active who has a hard time leaving her house but it went really well.the rest of the evening was spent trying people and knocking a lot of doors.

  Sunday we had ward council and then church. it was the primary program so it was super cute! after church we meet this lady on our ward list who is very unique and super cool.then we had a lesson with another less active who doesnt want to live the word of wisdom.then we had dinner with a fun family and then went home to plan. its been a crazy week everyone.

hope life is going well with you! love you!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 heres me packing super fast

2 by the Valentine sign

 3 heading to south dakota

8 Months old today

so im almost over the hill as of next month and its crazy! ill probably say something like this the rest of my mission just so you know haha!

 Monday Sister reis decided to cupcake my face so that was entertaining! we had dinner with the johnsons and holy cow they are the best! they do a ton of missionary work and its the best thing ever. then we did some paper work for the rest of the day.

   Tuesday we did nails for the nursing home and they are so funny. one of the residents likes to pick on sister reis for being so happy! then we tracted and tried some other people before doing a family history class but sadly no one showed up so we went through our ward list. 

   Wednesday we put together a survey for our family history class to figure out how to get people there! then we tracted and tried some formers. then we had dinner and tracted some more before our lesson with a recent convert. he is having a hard time but it went really well actually.

  Thursday was weekly planning but that evening we went to a familys home and sat around the fire and it was great! love being outside and the fire :)

  Friday we got up early because we had to drive to pierre for zone training. it was a long drive and we were tired by the end.itwas a good training. then we had lunch at taco bell what is that place??? haha little towns are great. i love them so much and i really mean it everyone is so nice its great!!!!!!!!!! we drove home and had a lesson with a family and it was so interesting... they live streamed us! they are sharing the gospel by sharing with all there friends what we teach! we gave permission by the way but it was so cool.

   Satuday we drove to spring view another town an hour away. we meet with this family but it was an odd lesson they werent paying a whole lot of attention.. then we had dinner with the amazing stokers and then we taught brother yoda. we taught he plan of salvation and it went pretty well and he isnt arguing anymore wahooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

    Sunday we had church and then branch council and president allen from he district was there and he had thees awesome things to say and gave us some great ideas so we are super excited about that! we got a dinner appointment with a nonmember because sister johnson is amazing and asked her friends and some said yes!. 

 It has been a fun crazy week oh in December i get to go to rapid for zone conference super excited maybe ill see mount Rushmore! love you all hope you have a great week!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 fun companions

2 Nebraska sign

3 fun things around here

Transfer week

lets talk about crazy!

almost every night since calls we stayed up till midnight getting packed. we made it thankfully.

Monday to Wednesday we visited families a lot and got a lot of food but it was so good! i think my stomach grew again though.

Thursday we had to be in glendive by 7 so we left pretty early since Wednesday it was snowing! i was cold.... so we drove to glendive then followed/passed/ got passed by elders on the way to Dickinson for transfers. got on a transfer train(a 15 seater bus) to Bismarck. where i didn't know many people but it was fun. then i got in the car with my zone leaders to go to Pierre south Dakota. then my companions sister Ries and Haubner picked me up there.they are so cute and happy its great! then we drove to valentine Nebraska. so i hit 4 out of 5 states in the mission on this trip and now i need to go to Minnesota to complete my journey.

   Friday we weekly planned which took a little while since i dont know much.then we read to some people at the nursing home and then we had dinner with this awesome family and they are great at missionary work! everyone knows everyone in this town of 2800 people who are all the sweetest people in the world!

   Saturday we did bingo for the nursing home. then we had studies and a baptism for a little girl and she was really sweet.then we drove to ainsworth and saw a few less actives who we aren't sure really need us. then we had dinner with the stokers and b Evans or Yoda yes they call him Yoda and its great. we had a good lesson with him and apparently he has changed a lot which is great.

  Sunday we had church im in a branch and they are really big big enough to be a ward but you cant have a ward in a district and i didn't know that. its so cool learning new stuff.then we had a lesson with an investigator who is super solid! then we did studies and planned. it was fun. everyone here has a Nebraska huskers thing on there house somewhere and its great!

its amazing here i hope you all have a great week love you!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 trio

2 heart sign

3 hearts on sidewalk

4 tags in hearts!

Transfers happened!

Monday we had dinner with the batty s who are loads of fun then we did some tracting and trying a bunch of referrals we got. not to crazy of a day

   Tuesday we did some extra planning for our investigators. then we saw a less active family and had the best lesson ever. the husband opened up about some things he has been struggling with and it was awesome extremely spiritually lead. then we saw pat and it was her birthday so she made food and we made her day she is so sweet. then we had ward coordination then we saw an investigator and had a good lesson with her. we are taking things slow with her.then we tried to see someone who dropped off the face of the earth and she is still here but wont answer and has her boyfriend pretend she is gone but we saw her with our eyes so it was frustrating.

   Wednesday we did some tracting and weekly planning. then we saw a less active who has been coming to church lately. then we drove to fairview and saw Tanni she is having a hard time and things aren't working out right now but the ward is trying to help her a lot right now.then we had dinner with Tammy it was a lot of fun. then we helped a less active move stuff around it was heavy. then we talked to our investigator for like an hour or so it was really good and they are super sweet.

  Thursday we volunteered at good scents and it was a lot of fun. then we weekly planned which is hard when transfer calls are on Saturday. then we had an awesome lesson with Tammy son and her husband it was really good. then we had dinner with them and then saw the Daniel's and talked about some people they are close too.

   Friday we tried some potentials and went tracting. then we went to district meeting which was fun it was someones birthday so we got food haha. then we tried some people in savage before going tracting in Sidney and then we had dinner with the nelsons and they had a hard week hopefully we gave some comfort. then we saw Ben who is doing pretty good. 

   Saturday was crazy we got transfer calls and i'm going to Valentine Nebraska and ill be in another trio. i'm gonna have a long trip on Thursday. then we had general conference and i know i'm supposed to go to valentine and i'm excited now.then the Daniel's took us out to lunch at rod iron really good food. then we watched more general conference wohoo. then we helped out in a baptism and it was fun the bishop asked us to bear our testimony so i cried but it was really good. then we had dinner with the Hinck's and they are so sweet. 

  Sunday we dropped some baby stuff off for someone. then we watched general conference. then we had lunch with the other nelsons. it was really good and a ton of fun. then we watched the last session of general conference. it was sad that it was over. then we meet with a member to talk about an investigator and we have a new plan which is awesome.then we had dinner with a part member family and it was fun. im gonna miss this area. then we had dinner with our investigator yes we had two dinners. we had so much fun with them they are a little younger than us but its so much fun!!!!!!!! we have a blast together.

  crazy life going on and getting ready to transfer crazy life.hope you all have a great week love you all!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 The best district

2 pretty view

3 selfies why not

One odd week

well we hav had one crazy week and it was a roller coaster.

  Monday we stayed in because sister wells still wasn't feeling good so she FINALLY RESTED. 

 Tuesday we stayed in most of the morning so she could rest more but she is feeling a lot better and she hasn't needed to rest since.Then we tracted until we had an appointment and she is sweet and has signed up to feed us next month. Then we had dinner with the lunstads and talked about the temple since she was preparing to go through.then we had a lesson with and investigator and it was really good she is now staying out of deep doctrine which is really good.

  Wednesday we did some weekly planning and then saw mickey who is still in a good mood. we tried a few people and saw tammy...we were hungry...but she was so tickled that we came then we saw a less active who is soo sweet and an awesome cook we had loads of fun with her and her kids who are attached to us some days but they are cute and we bring stuff for them to do. then we tracted and handed out 2 book of mormons in 15 minutes... plus we contacted a referral in the time which was awesome. we had lots of fun then we had dinner with the harpers and it was so good and we had a lot of fun talking about the area and whats going on. then we saw a less active who is doing good but not really keeping commitments right now.

  Thursday we went to good scents and we were told we could charge things and that is dangerous but i didnt buy anything thankfully. then we weekly planned until we saw a less active who wasnt in a good mood at all and it felt a little awkward but oh well.then we had dinner with the nelsons and he is leaving for  5 weeks so we wont see him for a while. Then we saw another less active who loves watching the church videos we show. he loves teaching us as well and he is trying to do better which is really good.

  Friday we drove to Crane to see sister hinck who gave us snacks for our trip down. she gave us this sour cotton candy it burns holy cow but its really good too. then we saw sister mecklenburg who spoiled us and gave us more clothes..... my bags are gonna explode one of these days i swear! then we drove to Glendive for district meeting.we ended up staying in Glendive to go to Bismarck we left like 3 hours late though and made it to Bismack close to 10 North Dakota time 9 Montana time. it was a fun trip though.

  Saturday we had studies and extra studies before the temple.Tammy lunstad went through and it was amazing so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so glad i could go with a ton of the ward and she is glowing!!!!!!!!! we all cried a lot. after the temple we went to hu hot Mongolian grill so good and they have some good crab things as well.then we had a long drive home and got some heavy storms so had to drive slow but if anyone knows me i slept but only on the way home i swear. we got a home a little late.

  Sunday we church and it was a lot of fun. after church we watched the general women's session since we missed it on Saturday. then we knocked on doors until dinner. dinner was a lot of fun the family has an autistic boy who is getting baptized in November and he is so sweet.  After dinner we had a lesson with an investigator and she is so golden just need the husband to meet with the bishop.  then we saw mickey who left for billings today. she is going to a nursing home until she can live on her own again which hopefully will be soon. she has improved on walking a lot since being in the hospital.

 well hope you have a fabulous week and don't forget questions for general conference love you!!!!!!!!!!

--

Sister Haley McDonald

1 Mickeys last day

2 food sister hinck gave us so good

3 pretty fall trees

4 tammy at temple