McKaylas Mission Blog: I learned it there

a lot of crazy things happened this week, things that made me reflect.... (sop email im sorry... i will make fun of pictures for you at the end to make up for it)

in stake conference we were talking about how to raise a missionary. and it hit me hard.

you raise a missionary by having a strong testimony of the gospel of jesus christ yourself and from teaching your kids about jesus christ. when i think about what it takes to be here. i realized that it all came from growing up.

i learned to cook, i learned to change a tire, i learned how to work even if you do not want to. i learned to pull myself up by my bootstraps and not complain despite whats going on around me. all that i learned from back home, and all have come in pretty darn handy here in the mission field.

but the stuff that hits me the most is the stuff that i learned at home that isnt a measurable skill.

like, wanting to brighten someones day so i try to eat random things (mini oranges that in hindsight are just decoration..... war heads have a new competition on the sourness scale). i learned to take peoples mean words with a smile and wish them a good day. i learned to bear others burdens and be sincere as i speak to people.

but the thing i think i learned most comes in the form of a story,

so my parents and my siblings are HUGE role models in my life. and they always taught me to stop and try and help people, that is why i took emergency response, because i hate being helpless when someone needs my help. well, my fear came to life on Saturday. we were driving to stake conference when sister sprouse had a feeling to get into the next lane, and its a good thing that she did because a few seconds later a man on a motorcycle goes FLYING by, like he would have been considered speeding on a freeway, let alone on a small highway. he would have hit us if she had not moved. this highway a few... maybe a hundred yards up the road has a big bend, and the man goes completely off the road and we watch him fly. i immediately tell my companion to pull over as i already start to take off my seatbelt and as soon as she stops i hop out and run to him.

he had a very large head wound and is in the middle of a broken bush. and i could do nothing. i had nothing with me to help him. so i sat and talked to him, trying to keep him calm and trying to keep him from moving his head or doing anything that might cause him to damage his spine more. luckily, he was really close to a hospital and the first responders and paramedics took care of him.he was (according to the policeman who took our statements) stupid drunk and chose to forgo his helmet. when i first was running up to him. i thought he was dead. and as soon as the police came my companion and i said a prayer, asking heavenly father to watch over him and the medical team.

i realized that i was helpless, in more ways than one. we all really are. no matter how much we try, how much we know, or how grand our skill sets are. without jesus christ we are nothing, we never will be good enough to make it back. but because we have him, if we choose to come unto him and to try to do as he did. try to follow him. we never will be enough, but with him we can be. isn't that cool? i think it is!

also, i learned to follow promptings from the holy ghost, if sister sprouse had not moved. that man would be dead.

so the question is asked, how? how can i know? how can i know if there is a God? how can i know what his plan is? how can i know the answer to any of my questions that really matter (sorry math... you dont usually count in my book) the awnser is to pray. the coolest thing about that experience is just how many people pulled over to help him. and the feeling of peace we had when we prayed. we still knew there was a large chance that man could die, but we received comfort in knowing that he was one of Gods children and that whatever happened, Heavenly Father had a plan for him.

i know that jesus christ lives!!

thank you to everyone who has taught me and helped me so much. you have made a huge impact on who i am, as a woman and as a missionary.

Alma 26:

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

docterine and covenants section 4

now behold a marvelous work has come forth among the children of men. therefore O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. therefore if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work; for behold the feild is ripe and ready to harvest; and lo he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; and faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask and ye shal recieve Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

signing off <3

sister (hermana, sestra, mckayla, whatever you want to call it) cordon :)

1 cant see too bright