Truckin...

This week was pretty fun. We went on two exchanges. One with a district leader in our zone, and the other with the assistants. I guess I'll try to get everything in order. Tuesday, we had a meeting with all the zone leaders, district leaders, and sister training leaders where we learned how to use the new area book planner application. It's pretty awesome! We put everything in there. All of our plans each day, all of our lesson reports. All of our goals and key indicators. It is pretty amazing. On Wednesday we got together as a zone and we taught the rest of them how to use the application. It was a fun meeting. Some people are really good with technology, some people aren't haha. Then right after that meeting we went on an exchange with our district leader. I went with his companion to their area. Another Spanish area. That was fun. It was cool to be with him though. His name is Elder Gee. We are actually a lot a like so it was a great exchange. Then on Friday we went on an exchange with the assistants, Elder Wise and Elder Flack. I went with Elder Flack to their area in Sandy. Elder Wise (my old zone leader) came here with Elder Covington. It was a really good exchange and we both learned a lot. I can't believe it's almost May! It's going to take awhile to get used to the application. There's a lot to learn. I most likely won't use Facebook on my mission. I might use it for the last month or so, but that's it. I'm glad and sad about that. We had one of our investigators come to church on Sunday. That was nice. It's been awhile since someone's come to church. Things should hopefully pick up a bit more. We are struggling to meet with everyone and get them to church. Well, I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!

-Elder McKinney

When I went with the assistants I got to ride in the truck :) ours is the one with the number on the bumper.

Dust, Snow!?

It has been an interesting week to say the least. I'm exhausted right now. So if my thoughts are disconnected and don't make sense, I apologize. Tuesday we had a bunch of crazy wind! Our area is next to a bunch of huge fields that are just filled with dirt and so all we could see was dust. I think the entire valley was filled with dust, it was disgusting. We could hardly see a few hundred yards in front of us. You could taste it whenever you were outside. It was also raining a little so it was nasty muddy rain. It was a nice 70-75 degrees though so that was nice. Until it dropped to about 30 degrees and started snowing after dinner. That was not too fun. It snowed and then the next day kept going. We probably got about 6 inches of snow. It was terrible (for me, the moisture was definitely needed). We went on exchanges Wednesday to Thursday, so I went with one of our district leaders to his area. Walking in the snow, no Bueno. He covers a Spanish assignment so it was kind of weird to just sit and listen and wonder what they were saying. I don't know a lick of Spanish. It was cool though and I could definitely feel the spirit during lessons. We also picked up a family of new investigators this week. There are seven kids in the home and so it's absolutely crazy and I have no idea how to teach them. It's fun though. We still struggle helping people come to church. A lot of people we've been teaching are moving, and the ones that aren't are super hard to get a hold of. So it's interesting, but things are still going well. The zone is starting to improve so I'm glad that is happening. We have a meeting tomorrow with the mission leadership to learn about the application for our area books and planners. Then on Wednesday we will meet as a zone and teach everyone else how to use it and such. I'm glad to finally be getting it. It will be really nice and will help to hold us accountable for a lot of stuff. This will definitely help a lot. Things keep moving forward. Hope you all have a great week. Love you!

-Elder McKinney

Father-Son reunion...

This week flew by like nothing. I don't know where it went. We went on an exchange with one of our district leaders. We are going on another one this week. It will be interesting though because they are on Spanish speaking assignment. That will be fun. Only one person out of everyone we are teaching came to church yesterday. We are teaching close to 20 people at least. Our zone isn't doing too good either. We've had the lowest key indicators as a zone as I've seen since I've been here. Definitely doesn't make me feel good since I'm responsible for the zone, but we will keep working on it. We had our zone conference this week, that was good! Got to see Elder Laughlin again, that was nice. He's a great Elder. He used to be in this zone, but left when I came in. I wish he was still here so I could have both of my sons with me. It could be one big family reunion haha. Elder Koo is doing awesome. He's serving just down the street from me basically. So that's kind of a brief summary of what's going on. Hope you all have a great week! Love you!

-Elder McKinney

Elder McKinney and Elder Laughlin

General Conference!

Hello Everyone! General conference! That was the last general conference I will watch as a missionary. I can't believe it. I loved every minute of it though. There were great talks and I was definitely uplifted and edified by it all. The Saturday afternoonsession I didn't see all of because the home we were watching it at had some technical difficulties, so I will be excited to read the talks when they come out. I also missed theSunday morning session because we were traveling to the conference center to watch the afternoon session live. Both my companion and I received tickets from the mission to attend. It was amazing and I was glad I got to go for my last time. Of all the talks I heard I loved them all. I learned a lot and understood the things I need to do better on. I know I will be a better person as I apply the counsel from the Lord's servants. There was a lot about family and marriage in there, not sure if it was a coincidence with it being my last conference before going home, but I definitely took notes :) I am excited to one day have my own family, but I'm still focused on the work I am currently engaged in and will give all I have, and some. It's hard to contemplate that time has gone so fast. In a short few months I will be away from what I have loved for the past two years. It will be hard, but the work will still continue, just in different ways. I know that God lives. I know that His son is Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself for us. His atonement is not only infinite, but intimate. It applies to each of us on an individual level as we apply His redeeming blood in our lives. If we but turn to Him we will find peace and happiness, strength and healing, as well as hope and love. He is our Savior, Redeemer, and Advocate with the Father. His love for us is more than we can comprehend. I know that He is there. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Keep being awesome! Love you all, have a great week!

-Elder McKinney