Stinkin' Lincoln - April 27, 2015

Hey everyone! I'm in Lincoln Maine! I have a new companion from Vernal Utah. His name is Elder cook and he's pretty cool. Lincoln is like the booniest of the boonies. Everything has already been tracted out and we're running out of things to do. It's cool though. We'll have fun.

I live in a super ghetto trailer now. It's pretty cool! oh, and we found a tank on the road. That was cool.

The branch here is about 30-50 members strong and I'm starting to learn all of their names. It's cool. we have a super tiny branch building. It's a whole new world out here in Maine! I'll keep y'all posted on how things go!

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

The Call. - April 20, 2015

So, I'm getting transferred. I got the call on Saturday night, Giving me a day or two to get all of my things packed up and ready to go. Tomorrow morning I'll show up with all of my belongings to a meeting in Manchester (a.k.a Manchghanistan) where they will tell me where I'm going. Immediately following transfer meeting I will be leaving with my new companion and head to my new area. I'm really excited!

The news about me leaving has given me some time to have some real introspection on how my mission has gone so far. The conclusion I came up with is that I've done more growing in the past 5 months or so than I have done in the 18 years that passed before then.

I'm growing so much because of one simple thing.

Grace

In a BYU devotional called His Grace is Sufficient by Brad Wilcox (which you can find by clicking here) he says: 

   "Grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather, it is our constant energy source. It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel. Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now."

Grace isn't something that is there for us after we've done all that we can. It is always there for us, the debt has already been paid. So this brings up the question, "why should we live the commandments then, if we're already saved?"

The reason we have commandments is to prepare ourselves to live with God. We need to let grace change us to be the best we can be and be happier than we have ever been. Whatever the challenge may be, it can be overcome with the help of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His grace is sufficient.

I'm finally figuring out how to let that grace make a difference in my life and it feels great! I know that what Christ did, he did because he loves each and every one of us. I also know that if you let that love he has change you, you'll become happier and more full of love for others than you have ever been. I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

Hey everyone! - April 13, 2015

Early this last week was pretty good! We went to Pittsfield on tuesday and taught our investigator named Alisha. it was good!

This week I went to Bedford on exchange! it was fun. I got to volunteer at a horse stable and do service for some members out there. One of the members we did service for was a crazy lady who had a ton of pet peacocks, true story. She would do these crazy bird calls and she talked to herself a lot which is cool I guess. I was a little worried for my life at first but everything ended up ok.

After exchanges Elder betts and I got sick so we stayed in the apartment and chilled the rest of the week. I'm pretty sure I slept for 40 hours between friday and saturday. I'm better now though.

I hope you all have a good week!

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

A pretty good week. - April 6, 2015

THE WORK HERE IS EXPLODING!!!!!!!!! we got 3 new investigators last Thursday and one of them seems golden! He said that he wanted to be re-baptized into a new faith before we even started teaching him the restoration. I'm learning a lot. Elder Betts makes me do everything because he says he's preparing me to be a leader. He thinks I'm going to go district leader or senior comp next transfer. It can get annoying at times but I know I'll appreciate it in the weeks and months to come. It has been great! Conference was so good! My thoughts were "You better get ready because crap is gonna hit the fan real soon." I'm learning so much!

On Friday we got to do some service helping a guy burn a bunch of piles of brush and wood on his land. We made a few bonfires. It was way fun!

I'm so grateful for the chance I had to listen to General Conference. I'm so grateful for a living prophet. I'm grateful to live in a time with so much revelation so readily available to us. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

A walking week. - March 30, 2015

That's right. We walked almost everywhere this week. on Friday we walked 18 miles over the rolling hills. 

I guess walking wouldn't seem like a big deal to some of you. but you have to take into account that I live at LEAST 10 miles outside my area. which is why we ran out of miles in the first place. Hopefully we can move soon. We want to live in our area. week get new miles on Wednesday so that's good.

On the bright side we found a new investigator in Pittsfield! Her name is Brittney. she wants to get Baptized!

If you haven't had the chance go visit helives.mormon.org it's incredible!

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

A pretty good week. - March 23, 2015

This week was a pretty good one. Elder Betts and I actually got sick for the first few days of the week. So the week started on Thursday. We had a few really nice meal appointments too. We're still working very hard on working with less active members. We've also been planning out some firesides and youth activities.

We have been working extra hard on follow up and gain trust from ward members. I've been learning about the importance of following up quickly and being accountable and showing people that they can trust us.

Not a whole lot of particularly specific things about the week jump out at me. But we did have 9 less active members at church on Sunday! So we are making a difference even if we don't really feel like we are.

We had a zone conference on Friday and I learned so much about planning and using time wisely. President Hawkes, one of the counselors in the mission presidency, said that he wanted to clone Dad because I quoted some of the things that he used to tell me, and gave some examples of things I have learned from him. It was great! Thanks for everything Dad!

I have also been reading Jesus The Christ lately and it is incredible to learn so much about the life of Christ and how incredible everything he did really is. I have been gaining a much greater appreciation for everything my savior has done for me. I am truly grateful for all he's done for me.

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37


A picture of Elder Betts and I at a really fancy restaurant!

Hey everybody! - March 16, 2015

This week has been really good. I got a new companion named Elder Betts. He's from New Mexico. We have spent the past week doing what should have been done much earlier. Trying to contact every person on the ward list.

On Friday night we made at least 100 phone calls and we've been driving all over the place trying to figure out how many of the addresses we have are valid. It's been good.

On Thursday we got a NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His name is Ted and he's a really nice guy. We bumped into him when we were buying sodas at a convenience store and he asked us if we were Jehovah Witnesses. We quickly responded no and told him that we were Mormons. We asked him if he knew anything about Mormons the only thing he could think of is that we live the law of chastity (to put it nicely). He seemed to be curious about what we believed so I asked him if he had ever wondered where he came from, why he's here, or where he's going. He said he had actually wondered a lot about that so we went over to his house 2 hours later and taught him the plan of salvation. He was really cool and he wants to be baptized! We're going to teach him more tomorrow. It was amazing.

Hope the week goes well for all of you and I hope you all try a little harder to be a little better. Because if you do that, you'll never fail.

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a couple of weeks. - March 9, 2015

Hi! Sorry I dropped off the face of the planet for a week or two. I've been a little busy TRIPLING MY TEACHING POOL! We've had a lot of success finding and working with the members over the past two weeks.

One of the new Investigators we have is named Matt. He's 17 and he has gotten himself into all kinds of trouble. When we asked him what he was looking to learn from our lessons he said "I want to learn everything, I want to do what's right and I want to go to heaven, not hell." This answer really impressed me. He can't read very well and he really likes to play baseball. He's just doing his best to do right in God's eyes at this point. I really respect that. 

We've been doing a lot of really good finding lately. We're becoming much more successful when it comes to finding people to teach and be friends with. I have really been enjoying the past couple of weeks. Elder Jensen is leaving me tomorrow. I'm getting a new companion! I'm excited to be able to show someone new the ins and outs of working my area!

In other news we've had a heat wave! it hit around 47 degrees today. I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt to honor the occasion! It's been great but there's still somewhere around 10 inches of snow on the ground even though it hasn't snowed in at least a week. It's been good!

Hope all is well for y'all!!!

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

The Book of Mormon is so true! - February 17, 2015

I just recently finished reading the Book of Mormon and I don't have any more time so I'll just leave you all with this amazing experience I had. 

When I finished reading it I took Moroni's challenge again and I was expecting some huge spiritual experience, maybe an angel would show up or something. When I finished praying I sat there for a while, and I felt nothing, nothing at all. I was actually pretty disappointed. I went to bed feeling pretty discouraged and as I was trying to sleep I pondered what had happened. 

It was then that I had the thought "Elder, What are you thinking. You already know that this book is true. You should be thanking God for it, not asking a question you already know the answer to." 

So I did. I got on my knees and I prayed thanks for all the wonderful things that I learned and I also thanked God for giving me access to such a great amount of knowledge. 

then, It happened. Everything new that I had learned from this most recent reading of the Book of Mormon hit me all at once. and I mean EVERYTHING. It was like the lives of all of those ancient prophets had flashed before my eyes. It was truly incredible.

The Book of Mormon is so perfect!

Always remember. The church is true, the book is blue, and it's all for you!

Have a great week!

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

When will the storm end?! - February 9, 2015

Well... It's still snowing. There's so much snow that they have to use construction tractors to pick up all of the snow, load it into dump trucks and then the dump trucks go and dump all the snow into a river. It's CRAZY

I made a goal when I got into the field to read the Book of Mormon within the first three months (My training period), I just finished reading the part in 3rd Nephi when Christ comes and visits the people and it really touched me that after he prayed for the people and after he blessed the children he wept. When I thought about it I realized that Christ knew exactly what would happen to the people in the Americas. It must have been so hard for him to have seen the people having such great faith and knowing is would all be gone in a few short generations. It made me really sad for him. I'm not sure I could have handled that. It's truly amazing that he made the sacrifices he did for someone like me who has so little faith. It's incredible!

We also got a new investigator this week! His name is Fabiano and he's from Brazil, he's very cool. we got in contact with him through a member and y'all might not realize it but as members, you can be much more powerful missionaries than us full-timers. If you don't believe me read about Amulek in the book of Alma. it was his testimony that brought the people to repentance, and he was a less-active member at the time.

Also today on p day we couldn't drive until the plows caught up so we Built an Igloo that Sister Burton, Sister Boyce, Elder Jensen and I all fit into! it was awesome!

​-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

I wasn't lying when I said snowy season. - February 2, 2015

Since the last email I sent we've had about 3 feet of snow. Last Tuesday we got around 18 inches only to get around 6 more later in the week. Today we've gotten near a foot and I walked 2 miles in a near blizzard to be able to get to the library and send emails!

This week we spent most of the week shoveling snow. I have shoveled so much snow you could melt it all down and fill a lake with it. It's a really good way to meet people and show people that we aren't just a bunch of crazies with horns and seven wives though. So that's good. I enjoy it. Shoveling is fun.

Like I said most of the week was spent shoveling but when we weren't doing that we were visiting less active members. One of the less active members in our area, Sister Creon, is having a really hard time lately. Her husband had a stroke and she slipped and fell at the hospital and it left her in pretty bad shape. She is working toward attending the temple for the first time which is wonderful! We've been working with her and it's great to see how much she loves the Book of Mormon.

We haven't seen many investigators lately because we don't have many but the one that we have seen is great. His name is Dan and he recently lost his wife and it has been really hard for him. He is planning on getting baptized but he's not the best at keeping commitments. We fasted for him on Sunday along with the Sisters. He really loves Jesus he just has a hard time with the commitment keeping.

I would've sent some pictures but I forgot my card reader when I came here. So I'll get them to y'all next week.

I love my mission and I know that all things are possible with God on your side.

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

Snowy Season - January 26, 2015

So everyone so far has told me that December and January are just cold, and then it starts to get snowy in late January to early February. This is becoming more and more evident as time goes by. On Saturday we got about 4 inches and we're supposed to get 2 to 4 FEET tomorrow through Wednesday. IT'S CRAZY. I'm excited because it will give us a lot of service opportunities to help people shovel.

This week was good but I'm very out of time. I went on exchange with Elder McMahan he's new too. We had a good exchange, We both learned a lot of new stuff and I'm striving to be more like Christ. I just do my best. that's all I can do. I know the atonement will make up for my shortcomings. Hope all is well for all of you.

-Elder McKenzie

Luke 1:37

You're Grounded! - January 19, 2015

That's right folks, we got grounded. There was freezing rain so we weren't allowed to drive anywhere yesterday. so we walked instead. My name tag grew Icicles it was awesome! we were walking on sheet ice sliding around and singing "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today" It was actually really fun.

Earlier in the week I went on exchanges with Elder Erekson, one of the Zone Leaders. I went to Bedford which is right next to Manchester. We did a lot of finding which was a lot of fun! It's a city area so we did a lot of street contacting. It was really good to have a change in scenery. We taught an investigator named Sarah and I extended a soft baptism invitation and she readily accepted! It's so good to see people who are prepared to receive the gospel!

We also had a wonderful Zone Conference on Thursday! It was all about recognizing the spirit and it was excellent! There is a video series that Elder Bednar is in called Patterns of Light and it's AMAZING. I would recommend you go watch it!

I'm just about out of time but all is well here in the NHMM (New Hampshire Manchester Mission). Hope all is well for you all too!

1: Me after walking for hours in the Freezing Rain.

2: An awesome sunset in the hills.

3: A foggy night in the city.

A new family for a new year - January 12, 2015

That's right everyone! we're teaching a new family! We got a referral and set up a lesson and taught them about the Restoration! it was a really good lesson and they fed us dinner once we were done teaching! it was really good to get to teach new people. 

We had an awesome District meeting this week! We had a great lesson and we all got to give other missionaries advice on how to better help their investigators who were struggling. After District Meeting we had District Lunch. Our Zone Leaders were there for the meeting and lunch so we decided to shoot the zone leaders with nerf guns that we all had stashed away in our pockets and bags. we got it all on video too!

This week has been super good! We taught 7 lessons to less actives and I'm hoping to see more of them coming every week.

I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday! I was the concluding speaker. The ward mission leader, one of the sisters, and I all spoke on our ward mission plan that we're putting into action and a lot of the members seem really excited about the work! Everything is great here! It's getting colder and snowier but I have a coat and the warmth of God's love so I'm all good :) Hope all is well for all of you.