Palm Bay, Florida

First area of Palm Bay, Florida with Sister Hunsaker

I MADE IT!!!!!!!

I am here. I am alive and it's so beautiful here! I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm gonna be a missionary! Life is good!

It's time!

Time spent at the MTC is over, but with both memories and friends made and never forgotten!!

Four o'clock in the morning!

I'm Wearing Jeans!

 I just wanted to tell you its the first time I've worn jeans in 2 weeks and that's weird.they feel weird but I love it. Today is a little less crazy without the morning devotional. We can finally focus just on emails and laundry. (also I'm sorry about  any spelling or grammar. My keyboard doesn't do the space bar well. and I'm trying to type fast so I can say everything.)

This week has been crazy!! I can't believe the we're on our last week here. Next Pday I will be emailing you from Florida!!! Ahhhhhh!! I'm seriously so psyched though. Like terrified but super excited. So  let me tell you about this past week. It's had some crazy ups  and downs.

So I was really hard on myself this week because I thought our first lesson with L. went really well. And we definitely improved with teaching K. But seriously.. we really had some big flops. You'd think because you've lived in the gospel all your life you'd be better at telling people about it. Wrong! And it's a little bit different from your missionary days because we don't do the little memorize the discussion thingy. We have to go by the spirit. Yes they have lesson plans but in addition you have to: teach to the investigators needs, bring them closer to Christ, teach by the spirit, apply it to their lives, show them the importance, ask inspired questions, use scriptures effectively, bear testimony, and also look kinda like you know what you're talking about. It's a lot to think about. And seriously. Me and sister Heywood were struggling. I felt like we were doing everything we could but it wasn't working. I was trying to be obediant, to love my companion, be Christlike, but our lessons still weren't hitting home with the investigators. Like they weren't bad... but I didn't feel the spirit that I have felt in the past when I've talked about the gospel before. I knew what it felt like and that wasn't it. When we finished our last lesson with L-, we felt that she was progressing enough and decided to invite her to be baptized. And she said she wasn't ready. I don't know how much she really read and prayed.. ( I'm really hoping she's actually a member and I don't have to actually be concerned about her eternal salvation though) regardless, it was still kinda disappointing because we felt of our two investigators she was more responsive. Then with our last lesson with K- we had no idea what to do. We felt we should go more by the spirit instead of being so structured. So we tried to pray and study what we feel we should teach her but our ideas didn't align. We figured we would still study both and then go into the lesson and let her lead it and ask questions if she had any. I was so nervous going in there and not knowing what I was going to talk about I started crying. I felt so overwhelmed because I knew I needed to trust God but I wasn't sure how to. I was trying my best but it wasn't happening. If this moment the spirit was going to kick in, it needed to happen now. We went in there and we were vulnerable and honest with her. We asked her what she wanted from us and how to help her further. Because we had no idea. Then she told us she had read the book of Mormon and prayed about it and she felt that it was true (she was hesitant about it because she likes to be sure about things but that was a crazy step forward for her) And then we panicked. Because we definitely should've talked about baptism like we did with L, but she had psyched us out so we had no idea what to tell her. She wanted to know what her next step was and it was obviously baptism but we didn't know what to say. Anyways we walked out of the lesson and I cried. I felt so dumb because it seemed like everyone else was doing good and having cool spiritual experiences but we were flopping. We'd done it before I didn't know why I couldn't do it again. The district leader saw me and came up to me and him and his companion talked to me for awhile. They gave me some good advice and reassured me that everything would be ok. They even offered to give me a priestood blessing later, which I accepted. They seriously are so good! All of the elders are just wonderful.They're not perfect and sometimes they're kinda dumb but they mean well. I think it really helped.

 

This week we met our new investigators. Both younger females that attend UVU. Both adorable! We were super nervous again because we wanted so badly to connect with our investigators and help them feel God's love for them. We planned to teach the restoration. Our  lessons are 45 minutes but we spent like 30 minutes talking to her about her life and her challenges and helping her recognize God in her life. Her name is J- and she's married to a member and living with her grandparents who are also members. She is studying Elementary Ed like me. It was incredible. We felt the spirit so strongly and scriptures came to my mind and I knew what to say. (I didn't know exactly where the scriptures were but I knew how to find them.) Sister Heywood killed it too! Sometimes I get a little worried because sometimes when I'm not talking she doesn't always jump in but she had some wonderful stories and comparisons to help J- apply the gospel in her life. We finished up with talking a bit about Joseph Smith and how he wasn't super different from her. He was young,had questions and wanted to know who God is. 

Our next investigator S- is a legit investigator, which is super intimidating but she is the cutest thing ever. She is so sweet. loves to learn and is so ready to accept the gospel. She knows a lot about science and has done a lot of thinking but regardless believes that this earth didn't just happen just because. She already knows there's a God,she  just doesn't know who it is yet. Same thing,we mostly talked to her for our lesson and learned about her family and what she believes. She's actually from Daytona Beach and she was so excited when she heard we were going to Florida! (we knew she was a real investigator because she didn't know what we meant by "proselyting" when we talked about trying to teach at Disney World). Once again the spirit was so strong and she was super willing to pray about what we taught her and read the  pamphlet on the restoration. I wish we could've gotten to more because she doesn't know really anything about what we believe. Ahh I'm so excited to teach her! I really hope we can help her come closer to Christ.I want it so badly for her. I know I can't do it on my own. I just have to keep doing everything I can to invite the spirit in. 

Anyways so life is really good. Yeah there are still times that suck, but even when it does I still like being here. Which is crazy. Ahh God is so good! I have never been so sure of anything in my life. His promises are real. And I know without a shadow of a doubt, if you ask you will receive.

Almost a week in the MTC!

So we have 12 people in our district. 6 sisters, 6 elders, which I don't think is super common but it's a good balance. 4 of us are going to Orlando, 2 sisters and 2 elders are going to Lubbock Texas and the other 4 elders are going to Adelaide Australia, we are all speaking English. Our teachers are incredible!!! We have Sister Miller and Brother Alley and they both served missions and have been back for a few years.

The next day on Sunday was when I had my emotional breakdown. Seriously the first 4 days I did great, which surprised me but I'm so grateful for. And I'm doing great now but Sunday was hard. I just couldn't stop crying. Ugh we got to sacrament meeting and I thought about how it would be a really long time until I would go to church with you guys and church just never feels the same without my family and that you guys were probably in sacrament right now and I could have been with you guys but I wasn't and after that I just could not stop. But my district sisters were really nice to me and all gave me hugs and told me they loved me which was really sweet. Also thank heavens for the Branch presidency!! Oh my goodness they are angels sent from God! Sister Webb the Branch president's wife came up to me during sacrament and put her arms around me and asked me what she could do for me. I told her it would be nice to talk to someone by myself. Later when we had a little break Pres Webb took me into a classroom and talked to me for awhile. He is seriously the most genuine man I've ever met. He kinda reminds me of Pres Eyring. He just told me that I never have to apologize for my emotions and talked to me that God loves his missionaries more than almost anyone else and that he was looking specifically into my needs. He told me to immerse myself in the scriptures and maybe look into how other people in the Book of Mormon have overcome their trials. and then he asked if he could pray with me and it was the most sincere prayer on my behalf I've ever heard. Seriously that almost made me cry again. So I'm so grateful for them. They are just like our pretend family. So there are miracles. They just happen slowly.

We had a miracle the other day with teaching our first TRC's. That stands for Teaching Resource Center but it's where we teach people who are playing investigators. The scary part is that we don't know which ones are members and which are actual investigators. I guess they had 5 baptisms last year from teaching in the MTC. So that's kinda cool but intimidating. Both of our girls are college students around our age so I feel like we could relate to them really well. We kinda slaughtered our first lesson. We taught the plan of salvation and probably went into too much detail which led our investigator to some questions we couldn't answer. And we stumbled over our words a lot and kept repeating things and we tried to connect with her in the beginning but I didn't feel that she trusted us or felt like we genuinely cared. She took our invitation to read Alma 7 to learn more about the atonement and then pray and write down her feelings. She wanted to know about Joseph Smith next so we'll do the restoration. But yeah I did not feel great about it. But it was our first ever so that's ok. It's all good learning experiences. So we regrouped and reevaluated and really REALLY simplified it like we were teaching primary. And then we decided that we should use our individual strengths more. Because she's not extraverted and I wanted to make her feel like she still played a role in our lesson, but small talk is not her strength. But it is mine. I'm really good at asking the questions to get to know people quickly. So we agreed to let me start out with the conversation and if she wanted to pipe in she could. But then she started the lesson and introduced the topic. then we kinda scripted out who would take which part and it was Soooooooo good!! a million times better than the first time. And I truly believe that was because we trusted each other, but mostly the spirit. We both felt so in tune and preached from the heart. We related her life experiences back to the gospel and shared how it had helped us with the same experiences she was going through. Seriously I almost cried. She was so invested with us. We taught simply so she could understand and put the focus on the atonement and how its the sole reason why we're here on earth. And she seemed really excited about our challenge too. So that was good! Seriously, God is so good! He was the one that led that lesson because obviously we are not talented enough on our own. It was all him. And I'm so grateful.

I'm learning so much and developing so much gratitude and love for Jesus Christ and God. I love focusing on nothing other than the gospel all day. But also I want to go to Florida right now. I want to be free! not stuck on this cold campus. If you have any tips about companions, scripture study, or how to stay focused I'd appreciate it. Love you and miss you sososososososo much!!

~Sister Grant

Trip to the MTC

Got up at 6:30am just like a good missionary should. We went and picked up Kylie from school and drove to Provo. Had lunch at Rumbi's and then as we were driving along University Pkwy we saw the Sister Missionary Mall and we had to stop! We ran inside and in five minutes found a dress, two more skirts and a couple of cropped under t-shirts. You can never have too many clothes. After a quick trip to the temple to take pictures and say good-byes we drove across the street and into the underground parking lot. And then...final good-byes and a few more tears shed.

It's Official!

I got set apart about 2 hours ago so it's real folks! I don't feel super different yet but I'm sure it will hit me like a bus tomorrow morning. I got to meet with the stake presidency and my bishop and they gave me some insightful words of advice. They reminded me to stay humble and always remember who my blessings come from. They also reminded me that whoever gives their life for the savior shall gain it, so it brings me some peace that in a small way, my sacrifice is giving back to the savior. He gave me everything and I'm so grateful to him. This is going to be a crazy new adventure! I'm excited to teach and to grow and change. Wish me luck! 

A little about me

Hey everyone! My name is Mackenzie Grant and in October of 2017 I was called to serve an LDS mission in the Orlando, Florida Mission speaking English. I am so incredibly excited! Life has been kinda busy so I'm just barely getting around to working on my first blog post, but I wanted to share a little about who I am, why I wanted to serve a mission and my testimony.

I grew up in Kaysville 18 years of my life until we moved to Layton a few miles away my senior year of high school. Changing schools at that point wasn't an option so I am proud to have graduated as a Davis Dart (super lame mascot, but don't get me started on school colors). I've always loved the area I've lived in. It has connected me with my best friends and given me wonderful opportunities. I love musical theater, ballroom dancing, playing the piano, and little kids. I did all of the plays I could at Davis and my senior year my dream came true as I was cast as "Cosette" in Les Miserables. I also loved working at the childcare center on campus. It was honestly the highlight of most of my days at high school. I graduated with high honors in performing arts and education. Currently, I am attending Southern Utah University with a major in Elementary Education (which is subject to change but the plan for now). My first semester I won't lie, I hated college. I missed home and didn't know what to do with myself. But after I joined the ballroom team and started to enjoy my independence I grew to love it and I'm going to miss the school and my friends dearly.

In reference to going on a mission, I'll start by saying it wasn't a part of my plan. I never grew up wanting to be a missionary. Yeah I loved the gospel and I loved sharing it with my friends but it just wasn't in the cards for me. I'm a planner. And when I got to college I planned out classes for my next 4 years there. I had considered going on a Performing Arts Mission in Navoo, Illinois and I even got my entire audition tape ready to submit, and it was at that time I felt I was being prompted to "think" about going on a full-time mission. The voice didn't tell me to go but just to ponder and consider it. It was about a year ago from now. I think the Lord knew that it would take me a year to get my nerve up to make a decision. It was my decision, because there were countless times where I asked what He wanted me to do, but I always came back to the conclusion that He wanted me to do what I wanted to do. That was very frustrating for me. As my testimony has grown I've learned that I am completely willing to do whatever the Lord wants me to do, I trust him with all my heart, but he wasn't telling me. It helped me realize there is an interplay between God's will and our agency. I believe that no matter what anyone does they can't screw up God's plan that badly, and he knew this choice would be beneficial for me to make to learn for myself what I wanted, and give me an opportunity to choose. Ultimately, I don't think going on a mission or not would really alter my future too much, but it is what I want. I want the growth. I want to learn. I want to be challenged. I want to teach others. I want them to come to Christ the same way I did.

It was a unique experience making my decision. I kept hoping that I would have this moment where I received an answer, get some sign that this was right. I prayed a lot. I read blogs by missionaries, read conference talks, read my scriptures, talked to my bishop, my family even went on a church history trip and I prayed in the sacred grove! Of all places to recieve an answer. Looking back, I did get subtle answers. It was slight nudging that told me to "just do it" "why wouldn't you?" Things like that. When people asked me about it, it was so hard to actually say the words, "I'm going on a mission." because I didn't want to say it if it wasn't true.  I decided I would just start my papers and if it didn't feel right, I would stop. I started attending mission prep, and the more I filled out, the more confident I felt. Most things about my future scare me, but this didn't. I felt that everything would work out and I wouldn't have to worry about leaving family, school affairs, or anything. So I decided to take a leap of faith and just do it.

So with 4 days left... how am I feeling you may ask? I honestly don't know... I mean I got a little emotional on the last day I left Cedar City, and I got emotional a few nights ago when I was with my family. But I still feel like it hasn't hit me yet that I'm actually leaving. It probably won't until I see my family driving away. I hope I'm ready. I feel like because It doesn't feel real I haven't felt the pressure to prepare. I have no idea what I'm doing. Ahhhhh. This will be an adventure. I know that I'll have time to learn and prepare, but I want to be good at it now. I hope I'm ready. Wish me luck!